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Description
Astral Dusk's pencil - attached to the writing glove his mother had kindly made for him - scritched across paper as he hunched over his Canterlot High workbook. The colt was focused, brain churning and eyes locked on his schoolwork as he worked math problem after math problem. In the silence of his room, Astral felt he would've normally appreciated the solitude. He was free to think and work on what he wanted or needed to without interruption.

But as things stood, this silence was nothing but unsettling.

Astral paused every few minutes, tensely listening for the return of his family. In the past he was almost never left alone in the house. If one parent wasn't home, then the other was certainly present. If both were out for any reason, then...there was his sister.
Eventide Twister would always drop by his room without fail, whether to ask him about what he was doing, happily ramble about her day, or invite him to some sort of activity. While he would sometimes have the time to stop and listen, he more often than not found her intrusions and chatter to be a bit...annoying. It was a natural occurrence between an older brother and a younger sister, he once believed.

His past self would have loved this silence, at least as something temporary. Yet this silence had been his reality for his past five weekend-visits to Equestria, ever since...Eventide's bullying incident.

The colt had grown accustomed to staying at the Sparkle-Spruce household in the human world for Canterlot High, only visiting Equestria on the weekends once or twice a month. While the same routine was going to be followed for his second year, Astral had made a conscious decision to return home at the end of each week. It was the least he could do to support his parents and sister through what had obviously caused more damage than he would have imagined.

Though...Astral also wondered if he was really making a difference. It appeared that his parents appreciated his presence as they tirelessly planned appointments to help the young filly. And yet, he hadn't held even one viable conversation with Eventide herself, aside from attempts at supportive words that were met with little to no response.

The colt exhaled slowly, filling the tense air with taps from his pencil. It was then, from the corner of his eye, that Astral's attention was caught by the familiar glowing and faint shaking of a certain brown magic journal of his, one that had a decorative design of his cutie mark displayed on the front.

Astral pulled the journal closer, opening it to where he had bookmarked it last. There, he found a new message scrawled out in green ink:

"BOI

WHAT CHU DOIN"

The corner of his mouth twitched upward. Like past messages, the sentence ended in a small flower doodle, signifying that his friend on the other end was done writing. In one swift motion, Astral replaced his pencil with his red pen and responded, ending his answer with a small diamond.
“Homework??”

“Wow nerd...”

Astral snorted, skipping a line to write.

“Terra, I’m willing to bet $5 that you’re also doing homework. You just messaged me because you’re bored.”

A long pause followed, causing the colt to smirk. A few seconds longer and magic shimmers revealed green ink as words yet again formed on the page.
“I feel attacked...”
“Who’s the nerd now?”
“Still you~”
“Ah, denial. Must be nice.”
Not long after he had finished his diamond, he watched as Terra Rosa quickly drew the biggest, most aggressive frowny faces she could manage, taking up almost all of the latter half of the page. Laughter escaped Astral, the colt shaking his head at his friend's...would you call this a response? He watched where he wrote, careful to avoid Terra's pen.
"Terra Rosa Spruce, you need to calm down."

"Hm. You mean you want me to...hold my horses?"

"Oh my God"

Astral could picture the girl having a snicker fit in her room. He waited, but for some reason, there was another long pause.

"...did you fall off your bed again?"

"WOW. Firstly, rude.
Secondly, nah. Just hoping you got a good laugh?"

Things added up quickly after that, a light smile gracing the colt's mouth. She certainly knew how to help put him at ease.

"Thanks for trying to lighten the mood, Ter."

"Of course! So how's Eventide? Is she doing any better?"

....
"She's still not talking. It's hard to say if she's improving."

"Gosh, sorry Dusky...if you guys need anything, just let me know. We're here for you."

Astral's smiled softly to himself. He knew that. Miss Twilight Sparkle and Timber Spruce would probably do anything to help out family friends if they could. Terra Rosa was no different.

"Thanks. Really."

Astral's head jerked up at the sound of a door shutting down the hall. Straining his ears, he could faintly make out the sound of movement downstairs, as well as faint chatter. Standing up from his chair, he quickly scrawled one more message.

"I think they're back from therapy. I'm going to check on them."

"Okay! Tell Eventide that I miss her and to take it easy."

"I will."

With that, Astral strode out of his room. For a moment he paused at the top of the staircase, eyeing the closed door nearby, before he descended. At the bottom he found his parents in the living room, his mother Sunset Shimmer noticing him just as she was about to step into the kitchen. Although she smiled, Astral didn't miss how worn it was.

"Hey hun."

"How'd it go?"

Astral wasted no time in getting to the heart of things, carefully watching his parents. Valiant Heart joined them then, exchanging weary glances with his wife.

"Well..." Sunset began slowly, her eyebrows drawn back. "Not...well. The therapist still can't get a word out of her..."

His mother trailed off, staring at the floor quietly. There was no mistaking the exhaustion and concern practically etched into her features at this point. "...I'm thinking if this keeps up, we'll need a new approach. And I have ideas, but...I'll need to really look into it first."

Valiant Heart nodded solemnly, placing a hoof on the mare's furthest shoulder and pulling her into him. That earned him a gentle smile from her, one he returned with something soft, yet uneasy in its own right.

"Don't worry. We'll handle this." Valiant signed to his son, offering a comforting look. The colt could only nod despite his own concern, and not only for Eventide.

'I've never seen them this uncertain about anything...'

"Anyway, I'll start dinner. You two sit tight."

With that, Sunset Shimmer trotted into the kitchen, leaving Astral with his father. While contemplating on whether to offer his help anyway, Astral noticed an audible pause beside him. Glancing over, he saw his father staring at the very top envelope in a pile of mail he had picked up. Astral couldn't help his curiosity.

"What's that?"

"Mail for Eventide."

Seeing that, Astral moved to peer over his father's arm to read the sender's name: Monochrome Dashielle.

"Oh...that's Eve's friend."

Admittedly, the first face that had come to mind was not of Eventide's pegasus friend, but of the tall human teen that was Terra's friend back in the human world. He had to mentally remind himself that the two were, in fact, two seperate people.
Glancing back at the stairs, another contemplative thought flicked through Astral's mind. Maybe...this was the opening he needed.

"I'll take it up to Eventide."

Valiant scanned his face, the stallion's gaze softening upon reading his son's intent.

"I'll leave it to you, then."

With one last nod, Astral lifted his hoof to reach for the letter. Watching the appendage bump uselessly against the envelope, Astral blinked.

'...oh. Right.'

He supposed living in the human universe for a whole year would mess with his perception. It already changed how he chose to do certain things. Such as...writing. Or picking objects up. The colt found himself avoiding the use of his mouth, preferring other methods. Holding out his hoof, Astral allowed his rather amused father to balance the letter there. He then held the letter against his chest, turning to make his way back up the stairs.

Soon Astral was sitting before his sister's door, nervously hovering his other hoof in front of it. After a few more seconds of urging himself on, he knocked.
It took a few beats. First there was silence, and eventually it was followed by rustling and creaks. Eventide was laying in bed, he guessed. It was what she usually did now.

Standing back up, he waited. The knob turned and ever so slightly the door was pushed open. Eventide peered out from behind the door, and at the sight of her, Astral winced. Her now disheveled hair only seemed to highlight her dull, tired eyes and the dark circles forming under them. She quietly stared at him. Waiting. The colt felt nervous under her cheerless gaze. It was...uncanny, and disheartening. It was almost like he was facing a pale remnant of her once vibrant self.

"Hey, uh...welcome back. You have a letter."

He held the envelope out to her. For once the filly appeared confused, reaching out with her wing to take it and read the envelope's face. Almost immediately the pegasus sharply inhaled. Astral watched as what started off as shock morphed into something else. Something stressed or anxious.

"Are you okay?" he hesitantly spoke up, scanning the filly's stiff stance. Eventide quickly snapped out of whatever daze she had been in. Looking away, she awkwardly tucked the letter under her wing.

"Thank you." she signed with a hoof, not even meeting her brother's gaze. Like previous times throughout the month, her choice to sign over speaking...unsettled him.

"You're welcome..." Astral jerked a bit, seeing Eventide begin to retreat. "Ah, wait!"

Eventide paused. Awkwardly, Astral shifted the weight on his hooves. When it wasn't related to geology, he was always so used to his sister doing the conversing between them.
"Why don't we do something together. I don't know what, but just...anything you want."

Astral wasn't sure if it was his desire to lend a helping hoof in the situation, or maybe it was guilt for all the times he had ever turned down her genuine offers to hang out together. Either way, he felt it was about time he made some sort of effort to spend time with his sister; time spent not because his parents forced him to or because he gave in to Eventide's prodding, but because he actually wanted to. And perhaps it would come off as insincere, with how he was only trying now, but...
Unfortunately his offer failed to stir her. With a droop of her eyelids, Eve feebly shook her head, staring distantly at the floorboards. But Astral couldn't bring himself to simply quit there. There had to be other things he could do, or suggest.
It came to him then.

"Well, what if...we didn't hang out here." Astral took a step forward, managing to regain her attention. "Mom's human roots are just as important as our pony roots...and you haven't been there in years. Maybe you just need to get away. You could take a break from Equestria and visit the human universe with me for a while. Terra misses you and I know her parents wouldn't mind having you as a guest too."

Without realizing it, Astral was staring off into space, his mind rolling through the fond memories he had gained over the past year. "In just a year I managed to make a group of friends there...thanks to Terra of course. I think you'd get along with them. Though...Sky and Summer would probably fight me over sibling rights to you."

Astral chuckled to himself, hoping his joke had gotten across to her. "Not only that, but there's another Monochrome on that side. I couldn't say how different or similar they are to the Monochrome you know, but-"

Looking back at Eve, Astral cut himself off. He discovered that the filly was staring at him wide-eyed. Still half-hidden behind her door, she appeared very much stiff and distressed by the very suggestion. His ears flattening, he realized she looked even more stressed than she was just moments before.

"Eve-"

"No thank you." she tensely signed. The sight of the movement had Astral pulling his head back.

Despite his concern, a tinge of frustration began to spark within him. He could understand her being stressed. He could understand her being hurt. But this silence...her refusal to talk. He couldn't understand it at all.
...it was time for him to step up and be firm with her.

"Eve, you don't need to sign," he insisted, brows drawing inward. "We're family. You can talk to us. It doesn't even have to be about how you feel or what happened, just...speak."
Astral roughly ran a hoof through his hair, his gaze imploring. "Look, your silence, it's...it's freaking us out. We want to help you, but we can't if you keep doing this. If you can't speak to us, at least talk to your friends. Like Monochrome or Heather or-"
Astral stopped in his tracks the moment he saw the look of deep guilt and anguish on his sister's face. The filly's head and ears drooped. There was nothing but misery reflected in her eyes, and to his alarm, he noticed her brimming tears.

"Eve wait-!"

"Bye."
It was a quick, weak sign. In seconds she was closing the door, and Astral could feel a pang in his chest as he heard the sound of a lock. With the silence that followed, it was as if Eventide had stilled on the other side, just...waiting for him to leave.

Astral knew he could do nothing but relent, somberly turning to retreat to his room.

'Wrong approach, you idiot...' he mentally cursed to himself. Astral didn't know what he had expected. There were few ponies he could understand, or be on the same wavelength with enough to respond appropriately to them. And as unplanned as that approach was...

The colt sighed, shooting one last regretful look at his sister's room before entering his own.

______________________________________________________________

Buckle up, got some notes for you guys:

Astral Dusk and Eventide Twister were siblings who didn’t have much in common and required a bit more effort to connect and understand one another. While Astral is observant and does care about his sister, he also lacks the level of empathy his mother has and in general can be unintentionally insensitive. Present-day, Astral and Eventide are too preoccupied with their individual lives and conflicts to see each other much.
Monochrome’s letter was nothing but sweet and encouraging. It touched Eventide, and yet...it also pained her. An anxiety-ridden mind has a way of being cruel.
She wanted to respond. She really wanted to see her dear friend again. But after such a horrible falling out with someone she had called her best friend, she was also just so...deathly afraid. She was so afraid to be an embarrassment to Monochrome too. If she wasn't already one.
Eve held off on responding, even as two other letters came. She held off for weeks...months...she held off until so much time had passed, responding felt like an insult. So with a guilty, lonely conscious, Eve deemed the friendship lost but kept Mo’s letters stashed away safely.

There were many levels to Eventide’s anxiety. A paralyzing fear of speaking, of judgement and public humiliation. Most of all, she just...loathed the very sound of her own voice, tied to vivid memories of her old friend and pain and humiliation.

In the face of Eventide’s unceasing silence, it wasn’t long before Sunset panicked and tried to get her troubled daughter the help she needed. Unfortunately, despite the weeks of therapy sessions, a mental block had Eventide unwilling to speak, even before her therapist. Any insistence or prodding to use her voice by anyone would only raise her stress levels until she shut down.

Sunset later tried other ideas. Speech therapy came first, with the idea that if Eventide could resolve what she didn’t like about how she spoke, maybe it would allow her daughter to find the confidence to speak again.
For her parents' sake, with Astral’s words in mind, Eventide tried. She really did. But the sessions, with no signs of improvement, only ended with miserable tears and eventual requests to stop. Sunset ended up pulling her out of those sessions.

In time, there was finally one therapy that Eve responded well to. Art therapy, or more specifically, poetry therapy. After months of having no motivation to do the things she once enjoyed, Eventide finally had a reason and way of letting out her internalized emotions through poetry assignments. Those sessions managed to help soothe Eve enough for her main therapy appointments. That, coupled with medication, eventually had Eve willing to speak short sentences around her family again. She also reached a place where she could walk around in public without facing crippling anxiety everywhere she went.

Though...even in present-day, there’s still so much that Eventide internalizes.
Destinyverse Archives
Feat.
Eventide Twister Astral Dusk

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Description
Astral Dusk's pencil - attached to the writing glove his mother had kindly made for him - scritched across paper as he hunched over his Canterlot High workbook. The colt was focused, brain churning and eyes locked on his schoolwork as he worked math problem after math problem. In the silence of his room, Astral felt he would've normally appreciated the solitude. He was free to think and work on what he wanted or needed to without interruption.

But as things stood, this silence was nothing but unsettling.

Astral paused every few minutes, tensely listening for the return of his family. In the past he was almost never left alone in the house. If one parent wasn't home, then the other was certainly present. If both were out for any reason, then...there was his sister.
Eventide Twister would always drop by his room without fail, whether to ask him about what he was doing, happily ramble about her day, or invite him to some sort of activity. While he would sometimes have the time to stop and listen, he more often than not found her intrusions and chatter to be a bit...annoying. It was a natural occurrence between an older brother and a younger sister, he once believed.

His past self would have loved this silence, at least as something temporary. Yet this silence had been his reality for his past five weekend-visits to Equestria, ever since...Eventide's bullying incident.

The colt had grown accustomed to staying at the Sparkle-Spruce household in the human world for Canterlot High, only visiting Equestria on the weekends once or twice a month. While the same routine was going to be followed for his second year, Astral had made a conscious decision to return home at the end of each week. It was the least he could do to support his parents and sister through what had obviously caused more damage than he would have imagined.

Though...Astral also wondered if he was really making a difference. It appeared that his parents appreciated his presence as they tirelessly planned appointments to help the young filly. And yet, he hadn't held even one viable conversation with Eventide herself, aside from attempts at supportive words that were met with little to no response.

The colt exhaled slowly, filling the tense air with taps from his pencil. It was then, from the corner of his eye, that Astral's attention was caught by the familiar glowing and faint shaking of a certain brown magic journal of his, one that had a decorative design of his cutie mark displayed on the front.

Astral pulled the journal closer, opening it to where he had bookmarked it last. There, he found a new message scrawled out in green ink:

"BOI

WHAT CHU DOIN"

The corner of his mouth twitched upward. Like past messages, the sentence ended in a small flower doodle, signifying that his friend on the other end was done writing. In one swift motion, Astral replaced his pencil with his red pen and responded, ending his answer with a small diamond.
“Homework??”

“Wow nerd...”

Astral snorted, skipping a line to write.

“Terra, I’m willing to bet $5 that you’re also doing homework. You just messaged me because you’re bored.”

A long pause followed, causing the colt to smirk. A few seconds longer and magic shimmers revealed green ink as words yet again formed on the page.
“I feel attacked...”
“Who’s the nerd now?”
“Still you~”
“Ah, denial. Must be nice.”
Not long after he had finished his diamond, he watched as Terra Rosa quickly drew the biggest, most aggressive frowny faces she could manage, taking up almost all of the latter half of the page. Laughter escaped Astral, the colt shaking his head at his friend's...would you call this a response? He watched where he wrote, careful to avoid Terra's pen.
"Terra Rosa Spruce, you need to calm down."

"Hm. You mean you want me to...hold my horses?"

"Oh my God"

Astral could picture the girl having a snicker fit in her room. He waited, but for some reason, there was another long pause.

"...did you fall off your bed again?"

"WOW. Firstly, rude.
Secondly, nah. Just hoping you got a good laugh?"

Things added up quickly after that, a light smile gracing the colt's mouth. She certainly knew how to help put him at ease.

"Thanks for trying to lighten the mood, Ter."

"Of course! So how's Eventide? Is she doing any better?"

....
"She's still not talking. It's hard to say if she's improving."

"Gosh, sorry Dusky...if you guys need anything, just let me know. We're here for you."

Astral's smiled softly to himself. He knew that. Miss Twilight Sparkle and Timber Spruce would probably do anything to help out family friends if they could. Terra Rosa was no different.

"Thanks. Really."

Astral's head jerked up at the sound of a door shutting down the hall. Straining his ears, he could faintly make out the sound of movement downstairs, as well as faint chatter. Standing up from his chair, he quickly scrawled one more message.

"I think they're back from therapy. I'm going to check on them."

"Okay! Tell Eventide that I miss her and to take it easy."

"I will."

With that, Astral strode out of his room. For a moment he paused at the top of the staircase, eyeing the closed door nearby, before he descended. At the bottom he found his parents in the living room, his mother Sunset Shimmer noticing him just as she was about to step into the kitchen. Although she smiled, Astral didn't miss how worn it was.

"Hey hun."

"How'd it go?"

Astral wasted no time in getting to the heart of things, carefully watching his parents. Valiant Heart joined them then, exchanging weary glances with his wife.

"Well..." Sunset began slowly, her eyebrows drawn back. "Not...well. The therapist still can't get a word out of her..."

His mother trailed off, staring at the floor quietly. There was no mistaking the exhaustion and concern practically etched into her features at this point. "...I'm thinking if this keeps up, we'll need a new approach. And I have ideas, but...I'll need to really look into it first."

Valiant Heart nodded solemnly, placing a hoof on the mare's furthest shoulder and pulling her into him. That earned him a gentle smile from her, one he returned with something soft, yet uneasy in its own right.

"Don't worry. We'll handle this." Valiant signed to his son, offering a comforting look. The colt could only nod despite his own concern, and not only for Eventide.

'I've never seen them this uncertain about anything...'

"Anyway, I'll start dinner. You two sit tight."

With that, Sunset Shimmer trotted into the kitchen, leaving Astral with his father. While contemplating on whether to offer his help anyway, Astral noticed an audible pause beside him. Glancing over, he saw his father staring at the very top envelope in a pile of mail he had picked up. Astral couldn't help his curiosity.

"What's that?"

"Mail for Eventide."

Seeing that, Astral moved to peer over his father's arm to read the sender's name: Monochrome Dashielle.

"Oh...that's Eve's friend."

Admittedly, the first face that had come to mind was not of Eventide's pegasus friend, but of the tall human teen that was Terra's friend back in the human world. He had to mentally remind himself that the two were, in fact, two seperate people.
Glancing back at the stairs, another contemplative thought flicked through Astral's mind. Maybe...this was the opening he needed.

"I'll take it up to Eventide."

Valiant scanned his face, the stallion's gaze softening upon reading his son's intent.

"I'll leave it to you, then."

With one last nod, Astral lifted his hoof to reach for the letter. Watching the appendage bump uselessly against the envelope, Astral blinked.

'...oh. Right.'

He supposed living in the human universe for a whole year would mess with his perception. It already changed how he chose to do certain things. Such as...writing. Or picking objects up. The colt found himself avoiding the use of his mouth, preferring other methods. Holding out his hoof, Astral allowed his rather amused father to balance the letter there. He then held the letter against his chest, turning to make his way back up the stairs.

Soon Astral was sitting before his sister's door, nervously hovering his other hoof in front of it. After a few more seconds of urging himself on, he knocked.
It took a few beats. First there was silence, and eventually it was followed by rustling and creaks. Eventide was laying in bed, he guessed. It was what she usually did now.

Standing back up, he waited. The knob turned and ever so slightly the door was pushed open. Eventide peered out from behind the door, and at the sight of her, Astral winced. Her now disheveled hair only seemed to highlight her dull, tired eyes and the dark circles forming under them. She quietly stared at him. Waiting. The colt felt nervous under her cheerless gaze. It was...uncanny, and disheartening. It was almost like he was facing a pale remnant of her once vibrant self.

"Hey, uh...welcome back. You have a letter."

He held the envelope out to her. For once the filly appeared confused, reaching out with her wing to take it and read the envelope's face. Almost immediately the pegasus sharply inhaled. Astral watched as what started off as shock morphed into something else. Something stressed or anxious.

"Are you okay?" he hesitantly spoke up, scanning the filly's stiff stance. Eventide quickly snapped out of whatever daze she had been in. Looking away, she awkwardly tucked the letter under her wing.

"Thank you." she signed with a hoof, not even meeting her brother's gaze. Like previous times throughout the month, her choice to sign over speaking...unsettled him.

"You're welcome..." Astral jerked a bit, seeing Eventide begin to retreat. "Ah, wait!"

Eventide paused. Awkwardly, Astral shifted the weight on his hooves. When it wasn't related to geology, he was always so used to his sister doing the conversing between them.
"Why don't we do something together. I don't know what, but just...anything you want."

Astral wasn't sure if it was his desire to lend a helping hoof in the situation, or maybe it was guilt for all the times he had ever turned down her genuine offers to hang out together. Either way, he felt it was about time he made some sort of effort to spend time with his sister; time spent not because his parents forced him to or because he gave in to Eventide's prodding, but because he actually wanted to. And perhaps it would come off as insincere, with how he was only trying now, but...
Unfortunately his offer failed to stir her. With a droop of her eyelids, Eve feebly shook her head, staring distantly at the floorboards. But Astral couldn't bring himself to simply quit there. There had to be other things he could do, or suggest.
It came to him then.

"Well, what if...we didn't hang out here." Astral took a step forward, managing to regain her attention. "Mom's human roots are just as important as our pony roots...and you haven't been there in years. Maybe you just need to get away. You could take a break from Equestria and visit the human universe with me for a while. Terra misses you and I know her parents wouldn't mind having you as a guest too."

Without realizing it, Astral was staring off into space, his mind rolling through the fond memories he had gained over the past year. "In just a year I managed to make a group of friends there...thanks to Terra of course. I think you'd get along with them. Though...Sky and Summer would probably fight me over sibling rights to you."

Astral chuckled to himself, hoping his joke had gotten across to her. "Not only that, but there's another Monochrome on that side. I couldn't say how different or similar they are to the Monochrome you know, but-"

Looking back at Eve, Astral cut himself off. He discovered that the filly was staring at him wide-eyed. Still half-hidden behind her door, she appeared very much stiff and distressed by the very suggestion. His ears flattening, he realized she looked even more stressed than she was just moments before.

"Eve-"

"No thank you." she tensely signed. The sight of the movement had Astral pulling his head back.

Despite his concern, a tinge of frustration began to spark within him. He could understand her being stressed. He could understand her being hurt. But this silence...her refusal to talk. He couldn't understand it at all.
...it was time for him to step up and be firm with her.

"Eve, you don't need to sign," he insisted, brows drawing inward. "We're family. You can talk to us. It doesn't even have to be about how you feel or what happened, just...speak."
Astral roughly ran a hoof through his hair, his gaze imploring. "Look, your silence, it's...it's freaking us out. We want to help you, but we can't if you keep doing this. If you can't speak to us, at least talk to your friends. Like Monochrome or Heather or-"
Astral stopped in his tracks the moment he saw the look of deep guilt and anguish on his sister's face. The filly's head and ears drooped. There was nothing but misery reflected in her eyes, and to his alarm, he noticed her brimming tears.

"Eve wait-!"

"Bye."
It was a quick, weak sign. In seconds she was closing the door, and Astral could feel a pang in his chest as he heard the sound of a lock. With the silence that followed, it was as if Eventide had stilled on the other side, just...waiting for him to leave.

Astral knew he could do nothing but relent, somberly turning to retreat to his room.

'Wrong approach, you idiot...' he mentally cursed to himself. Astral didn't know what he had expected. There were few ponies he could understand, or be on the same wavelength with enough to respond appropriately to them. And as unplanned as that approach was...

The colt sighed, shooting one last regretful look at his sister's room before entering his own.

______________________________________________________________

Buckle up, got some notes for you guys:

Astral Dusk and Eventide Twister were siblings who didn’t have much in common and required a bit more effort to connect and understand one another. While Astral is observant and does care about his sister, he also lacks the level of empathy his mother has and in general can be unintentionally insensitive. Present-day, Astral and Eventide are too preoccupied with their individual lives and conflicts to see each other much.
Monochrome’s letter was nothing but sweet and encouraging. It touched Eventide, and yet...it also pained her. An anxiety-ridden mind has a way of being cruel.
She wanted to respond. She really wanted to see her dear friend again. But after such a horrible falling out with someone she had called her best friend, she was also just so...deathly afraid. She was so afraid to be an embarrassment to Monochrome too. If she wasn't already one.
Eve held off on responding, even as two other letters came. She held off for weeks...months...she held off until so much time had passed, responding felt like an insult. So with a guilty, lonely conscious, Eve deemed the friendship lost but kept Mo’s letters stashed away safely.

There were many levels to Eventide’s anxiety. A paralyzing fear of speaking, of judgement and public humiliation. Most of all, she just...loathed the very sound of her own voice, tied to vivid memories of her old friend and pain and humiliation.

In the face of Eventide’s unceasing silence, it wasn’t long before Sunset panicked and tried to get her troubled daughter the help she needed. Unfortunately, despite the weeks of therapy sessions, a mental block had Eventide unwilling to speak, even before her therapist. Any insistence or prodding to use her voice by anyone would only raise her stress levels until she shut down.

Sunset later tried other ideas. Speech therapy came first, with the idea that if Eventide could resolve what she didn’t like about how she spoke, maybe it would allow her daughter to find the confidence to speak again.
For her parents' sake, with Astral’s words in mind, Eventide tried. She really did. But the sessions, with no signs of improvement, only ended with miserable tears and eventual requests to stop. Sunset ended up pulling her out of those sessions.

In time, there was finally one therapy that Eve responded well to. Art therapy, or more specifically, poetry therapy. After months of having no motivation to do the things she once enjoyed, Eventide finally had a reason and way of letting out her internalized emotions through poetry assignments. Those sessions managed to help soothe Eve enough for her main therapy appointments. That, coupled with medication, eventually had Eve willing to speak short sentences around her family again. She also reached a place where she could walk around in public without facing crippling anxiety everywhere she went.

Though...even in present-day, there’s still so much that Eventide internalizes.
Destinyverse Archives
Feat.
Eventide Twister Astral Dusk

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