"And that, students is why mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!" Ms. Aero said as she wrapped up her lecture on plant studies. I have no idea what she was talking about because I had spent the entire class burning holes into the clock with my eyes. It was almost lunch time, a time I was going to get to spend with Whistle nonetheless! As it turned out, our lunch break was an hour long today and as luck would have it, we shared the same period together. We had agreed to meet up at her locker before we went in together but that also meant a sprint across the school to get to her class first. Dating is a lot harder work than I had thought.
"So class... It looks like we have just enough time to have a pop-quiz! Before we begin, does anypony have any questions?" The teacher said as she looked around the class. CRAP! I had spaced out for so long that now I had no clue what she had talked about! I had to buy some time! She has a nasty habit of holding ponies who bomb her quizzes over during lunch! This can not happen! The whole class groaned in protest along with me as I fought to think of a plan.
"Ms.Aero? Is mitochondria different in animals compared to ponies or plants?" Did I just say that? Where did I get that knowledge from!? Have I been sleep studying again?
"Great question Cask! But I'm afraid it will take too long to explain if we plan on getting this quiz completed." Damn it, work with me here!
"But, if there is a difference, wouldn't that be important information? Information that could dictate the answer on a exam?" I said near pleading.
"Cask, when did you get so interested in cellular biology?" CRAP! She's going to bust me! I just need to keep her talking so I don't have to take that damned test!
"It's just really interesting, knowing how things work like that!" I said, my every word dripping false enthusiasm.
"Very well... I guess we can take the quiz tomorrow. But I expect everypony to be prepared for it." Ms.Areo began to drone on about more stuff that would have little if any baring on our lives once we left school next year. I had settled in to listen to the lecture in case she called on me for more questions when a hoof touched my back. I looked over my shoulder to see a buck passing me a note. I reached back and unfolded it in my wing to read it.
"Nice! Good work on keeping her talking! I was sleeping the whole time, was totally going to bomb that quiz!"
I looked over my shoulder and gave him a 'your welcome' nod, that's when I saw the three other ponies behind him nodding in approval. I recognized them, one of them used to bully me when I first started going here over my name and our teachers love for saying the whole thing aloud. The rest of their faces were new to me, students of the school that just had always blended into the framework and never stood out.
Finally, the bell rang and Ms.Aero stopped talking long enough for use to grab our things and leave mitochondria to be mitochondria. Stupid plants...
"Hey, good work staling her like that. The names Brash, pleasure to meet you."
"Cask.."
"Yeah I know, colt from Cloudsdale, eh? We met a while back. We had first period Equiss together."
"Oh yeah, you were the buck that stole the answers for the final, right?" I asked politely. Now I remember him. "Sneaks, I think everypony calls you?"
"If you need somepony sneaky, you call for Sneaks!" He said proudly. "Me and the guys are going to sit together at lunch, do some first class pony watching, want to join?" He asked with a sly grin.
"I would but I have to meet my marefriend on the other end of school."
"Bring her too! The more the better. I just met the guys and all, but I don't think they would mind having you both along."
"Cool! I'll see you at lunch then!"
I can't believe it! Hot marefriend and I'm making friends! Was I dreaming? Or did somepony switch on the luck light for me!? I scampered down the hall to the other end of the school. Despite almost recreating another incident like I had the other day with the janitor, I made amazing time. I could have gotten there sooner if not for the schools stupid no flying rules. Then again, a school hallway filled with 60 or 70 flying ponies would be a disaster area! It would sure liven things up on my way to class.
I arrived to Whistle's locker in record time, all things considered that was. Whistle was just making it to her locker when I had made it through the crowded hallway. Flanked by her friend, she had done up her mane by tying it back, letting her bangs fall into her eyes. It was a subtle change, but it made all the difference in the world! Her blue eyes seemed to gleam now that they were not being shadowed by her mane, making me stand in awe for a moment before trotting up to her. Her friend, seeming to think I was a threat or something moved to stand between us.
"Whoa, what do you think you are doing?"
"Hey, whoa now. Whistle? Who's this?" I asked in surprise.
"For your information she is my friend and she happens to be waiting for her special somepony!"
"Uh..." I looked over her shoulder to see Whistle fighting back laughter. Oh this was too good to pass up. I was in a good mood and somepony is about to make a fool of themselves! "Well... Who is this buck? Think I could take him?" I said rearing up on my hind legs.
"No! You couldn't in your wildest dreams! He's big and strong and much better looking than you!"
"Really now..." I said leaning in. "What's he look like, I'll kick his flank!" I said falling into a soft smile.
"For your information, he is on the track team!" She started.
"Really now..."
"He even stood up to her dad!"
"Ya'don't say..." I said, polishing a hoof on my chest fluff.
"He has a yellow coat and orange mane..." She continued.
"Keep going..." I said leaning on a locker. Whistle was now in physical pain by the looks of it from her restrained laughter.
"And... And... He's you... Crap..." That did it.
Whistle's and I broke into uncontrollable laughter. Her friend on the other hoof... Oh now that's a look that could kill if I ever saw one!
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS WAS HIM!?"
"Because... I wanted to see what would happen." Whistle said, wiping a tear away.
"Hi, Cask, nice to meet you. Sorry about that, but you did kind of trot into that one." I said offering a hoof.
"Well... Nice to meet you. I'm Amberlight." She said, giving me the worlds weakest hoofshake.
"We were going to get some lunch, want to come?" Whistle asked. Ah, clearly this mare was in her close circle if she spoke to her.
"Yeah! You could join us!" I said, backing up Whistle's invite. I didn't want her to, but I wasn't going to say that to her.
"No... Thank you, but I need to meet MY special somepony myself. Maybe some other time." Amberlight said as she trotted off.
"Bye, I guess." I said, put off by her abrupt departure. "What was that all about?"
"She kinda looks after me. Last year a few bucks started teasing me because I don't like to talk in class. It got so bad that they started following me around calling me 'Mute Mare'." She said, her voice tapering to a whisper towards the end.
"Sounds like a couple of real asses if you ask me. I had a buck pick on me over my name for a while, but I guess he got bored. I even thought about changing it, that is why everypony calls me Cask. I have had enough dish washing jokes to fuel me for a lifetime."
"But I like your name! It's pretty."
"That so does not help!" I said laughing.
"Well it is! Better than Whistle Wind... Teachers used to whistle at me for roll call."
"Well they should! I mean look at you, I would whistle at you too. I mean your hot." I said trotting backwards in front of her.
"Well, go on then..." She said with a sly grin.
"Can't!" I said turning around to trot in front of her again.
"Oh? Am I not pretty enough?" She said nudging my flank.
"Nope! Don't know how!" I said, prancing in place. It was ended quickly by a large weight by the name of Whistle landing on my back and wrapping her hooves around my neck.
"Well, if your lips can't whistle... I guess they will have to learn to do something else." She whispered into my ear. Com'on legs... you can move, it's not like you were just petrified by a mare that jumped on your back and sent your body into lock up over what she just insinuated... You got this... "Da...Uhhh... What?" Awesome Cask! Smooth.
"Aw, your cheeks turn really red! It's cute!"
We trotted down the hall around ponies who were stuck with going to class while we were off to enjoy each other's company for a whole hour! Despite a few evil looks from the odd pony who seemed to be holding a grudge against our happiness and the odd teacher who seemed to not approve of our public display, things were going great! I was finally finding that little something that I had been missing for so long now. It had been friendship that was missing, being with somepony who understood what you had been through, because they had been there too.
It had been since Cloudsdale since I felt it, back when I was with my friends at flight camp. We would sneak out of the bunks late at night to go and hang out at the lake and chase mares together. Nothing ever came of it, but the time together we spend was invaluable to me and was something I had held onto for years after leaving them behind. Even now, when I would try and seek them out in my spare time, our moments never seemed to line up. They were always busy with school or their jobs, too busy to hang out or do anything more than just small talk.
But now, things were different. Where I had been lonely, I was happy again. Sure Whistle had her problems, but that just meant that now they were our problems. Pain shared is pain divided and from the work we both put into it, we would get to reap the benefits of a closer relationship... Gee... I wonder where all of that just came from... Thanks mom for never changing the channel from your soaps when I was a little colt... I guess.
We came to the cafeteria as a double decker pony, just as we had traveled here. All things considered, this was perfectly normal in our school. Bucks would often give rides to their mares from class to class when they could. The teachers were not fans of it, some of them would even hand out extra work for those in their classes who would do such things. But it was harmless, more of a hug than anything, but you would think that some of the ponies were out right having sex on the way to class by the way they would talk.
"Want to sit by the window?" Whistle asked. Fueled by the high of happiness, I took the chance and offered my suggestion.
"Actually... Some bucks from my class invited us to sit with them, would you mind if we did so?" I said, point to the small group huddled in the corner.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea..." She mumbled out. I had to try and break her out of her shell, this would be good for her after all. If I could get her to open up a little to other ponies, maybe it would help me out later when I had a talk with her about her father. Oh yes, that was still right at the top of my to-do list, right behind spending time with her.
"Com'on. It will be fun! I haven't gotten invited to sit at lunch with anypony before, now I get to do it with my favorite pony!" I said smiling to her.
"O-ok... But can we sit alone together after? I kind want to spend sometime with you." She said, giving my neck a nuzzle.
"You know it. We will just hang out for a minute or two, then we can grab a cloud out by the fields, deal?"
"Deal." She said, looking nervous to the thought of meeting somepony new.
Whistle climbed down from my back and trotted along beside me to the far corner of the lunch room. I couldn't tell if she was just nervous, or if she wanted to climb back on my back for the warmth, because she was not leaving my side at all. Every step closer we took, she seemed to press harder into my side. It felt like she was being repelled by the concept of being social all together! Maybe this was not such a good idea, we only just met and I was already pushing her into new grounds for her.
Relax, Cask. This will be good for her! If things start getting bad, you can always abandon all shame and take her away to be alone with. There was no shame in it if it was going to help and there was nothing wrong with taking her right back out of that situation. Just then, I felt Whistle press hard into me and give me a horrified look. Ok. This is to be expected, I will just have to break the ice and we will be fine... Hang in there Whistles...
"Hey guys! This is Whistle." I said in a grand gesture trying to be funny. Everypony looked at me like I was completely insane. Well... Except Sneaks. He seemed thrilled to see us both.
"Hey! What's up Cask!? This is the buck that detracted the WHOLE class and the teacher into not giving out a pop-quiz! Nice to meet you Whistles! I'm Sneak's!" He said, nearly climbing over the lunch table to greet her.
"H-hi." She said, shying away from his outstretched hoof.
"That's cool. Bit of a germ-o-phobe eh? Can't say I blame you, I don't even know where I have been!" He said with a snort as he sat back down. I looked to Whistle who was still trying to become one with me, but was at least smiling now.
"Cask, eh? Aren't you the buck with the funny name? Caskade Harmony?" One of the bucks said to me.
"Yeah. I guess that is me." I replied confidently.
"And look who it is. Who would have though we would see you again. Cask, do you mind telling me what you are doing here with her?" He said, pointing to Whistle. Put off by the bucks rude comment, I stepped in front of Whistle and put my hooves on the table.
"Hey! Easy there Hurtle! What's going on here?" Sneaks said, looking just as confused as I was.
"Hey, we are all friends here... Isn't that right, Whistles." Hurtle said. Now what was it in the way he said her name that I just couldn't stand.
"Whistle, what do you say we go grab a cloud..." I said aloud, the whole time staring daggers at Hurtle. Whistle said nothing, but instead leaned into me harder. Well, that's my signal. I pulled my hooves from the table top with a satisfying scrap and began to turn.
"What's wrong Whistles... are you afraid things will get too LOUD around here for your liking?" Ok, this guy is starting to piss me off. Just leave us alone, I already knew this was a mistake the moment he opened his mouth. If he wanted us gone, is that not what we were already doing.
"Hey, com'on dude. What do you have to say stuff like that for?" Sneaks said, still too confused by the situation to understand that clearly, Hurtle had an axe to grind, and Whistle was going to be the stone. I looked down to Whistle who's eyes were now glistening with tears and reflecting a glimmer of betrayal. Crap... I'm going to have to make this right somehow, but for now, I have to get her out of here.
"Com'on... let's go..." I said. But Whistle bumped me to look at her again. She looked to be in pain about something, something that was more than a few rude bucks sitting at a table making fun of her and I both. After a moment, it dawned on me. "That's him, isn't it." I whispered to her. With a shaky nod she confirmed it. Great, now what do I do!? I just led a lamb to slaughter by bringing her here. There is now way that I was getting back out of this, hell, I was going to be lucky if her any I stayed together after this! What am I going to do now?
"Hey... Don't leave now! We miss our little 'Mute Mare'." At the very mention of that horrible name, I heard Whistle whimper at my side. Now I know what I am going to do, and it's going to be stupid.
With a swift buck, I sent my right hind hoof right into Hurtles nose, sending him flying from his chair and into the wall behind him. In may anger fueled rage, I had not accounted for the distance across the table and ended up toppling it in the process. I trotted around the table to Hurtle who was now laying in a heap on the ground with both hooves covering his blood nose.
"Hurtle old buddy! You have to be more careful! You are going to break something leaning back in your chair like that!" I said loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear, my every word dripping in sarcasm. "Look at you! You look like a snitch who just ratted somepony out now!" I said, staring him down and helping him to his hooves. I knew this game all too well, it had been played on me more than once. Hit the pony, blame that pony for being clumsy, insinuate more violence if they squealed. Although I had always been on the receiving side of that game, I had to admit, it felt good to be the dealer for once.
I trotted past Whistle, I couldn't bare to look at her after what I had just done. I was ashamed of everything at this point in my life and I had just added another brick to my every growing wall of mistakes by resorting to violence. I shoved the door open into the cold snowy air and trotted outside.
I wasn't happy. I was still pissed in fact. I was mad at Hurtle for being an ass and picking on Whistle. I was furious at Sneaks for tricking me into coming to lunch with them, but worst of all. I was mad at myself for doing what I did to Whistle. She never asked for that when we decided to go to lunch together, she just wanted to spend time with me and here I was serving her up like fresh meat to a grinder.
What had I done... I was so upset by what had just happened that I had not even looked back to see if she was following me. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't. I know I wouldn't if I were her. A buck I trusted enough to break a vow of silence for just up and betrays me like that? I wouldn't blame her if she never spoke to me again at this point.
Feeling that I had sufficiently ruined everything, I took the the air in search of a quiet place to hide out until everything behind me blew over enough for me to go to class again. Hell, I might as well go home at this point. I would be in just as much trouble if I did and I could be somewhere I actually wanted to be. This could wait until tomorrow, right? But then I would be leaving her here all alone with a buck I had just kicked in the jaw. Celestia only knows what revenge he was already cooking up, probably at this very moment.
Soon I came to a nice puffy cloud that was showering the ground with its snow for the winter. Perfect! A cloud that looked just how I felt right now! What a great place to sit and have a nice long think about how I had it all and bucked it all away. I landed on the gray, cold mass of fluff and trotted to the edge of it. It was right over the track field where I was due to have practice later, something that I was now sure I was going to skip.
I must have sat there for a full five minutes, but it felt like hours. At this point I was falling back into my old routine of letting time slip by unabated just as I had for so long. I felt the cloud grow heavy behind me, signaling the arrival of another pony along with me. I clinched up, waiting to be screamed at by a teacher or kicked by Hurtle, my every fibber in my body tingling with anticipation for what was surely to come.
Just then, I felt the warm body of another Pegasus slowly fall atop me, wrapping their wings around me and holding me close. For a moment in my fractured mind, I could have sworn felt my mother hugging me just as she had when I had been beaten up by a bully when I was a colt. The feeling was all too real for me, It was just like back then. Who would have thought that these two points in my life could be so closely connected emotionally.
I felt a tear begin to form in the corner of my eye to the tune of a flurry of emotions I was being over comb with. I hurt Whistle, I did something stupid, I missed my mother and I blamed myself for all of it. Yet, despite it all, she was here with me still. Even after betraying her trust, putting her through hell with both her parents, me and theybullies back in school, she was still here. Somehow that made it hurt all the more, as if she were having to give up even more of herself in order to keep me in her life. It wasn't fair.
I felt a wing tip grace my cheek, brushing away the tears that I was silently weeping. Her legs wrapped around me tighter as she layed her head atop mine, trying to stop my now uncontrollable shivering of cold and mental pain. After a long moment together, it was Whistle that broke our silence.
"Don't you ever do that to me again..." I couldn't say anything, I was in the wrong. Her fractured voice broke through my self pity, sending it falling to the floor like a pane of glass. Even though I wanted to sit here and punish myself, there was still something about her that makes me push all of me aside just to be with her. My problems didn't matter when she was here, I didn't even acknowledge them. I guess it was because I knew deep down that she needed help more than me. Her's were real, mine were in the past. Whose to say that mine even mattered at all.
"I-I wont. I'm sorry I took you there." I said. Trying to hide the clear fact that I was crying still.
"No... Don't you ever fly away from me again." She said, leaning her head into me.
"W-what?" I said, rolling over to my back. I was floored, what did she mean?
"You said... Don't be scared, I won't hurt you..." She began. "It hurts to see you fly away, Cask. It hurts when you are hurting too and won't let me help! You promised..." She said with broken words. I couldn't say anything, instead I did what I only could do. I reached up and pulled her in close to me and held her.
"I'm not worth it..." I whispered to her as we lay there together floating in the air.
"You are to me."
After what felt like no time at all, the bell for class rang out across the yard. It is amazing that when you are drowning in self wallow how time passes slowly and how when you don't want it to move at all, it does so at a criminally fast pace. I waited for her to roll off of my chest to so we could return to class, but she never did. We had let the pain and crying pass by simply enjoying being close to one another. So much so that I honestly had forgotten why I had even been crying to start with.
"We have to get back to class..." I said softly into her ear. Whistle didn't budge, she didn't even say anything back.
"Whistles... Eqquis to Whistles..." I said playfully as I tapped her shoulder. Nothing. Canterlot, we have a problem. Over.
"Oh com'on, my hoof is asleep!" Said trying to shift my numb limbs. Just then, Whistle let out a groan, followed by a small snore.
"Are you kidding me right now!? Whistle, are you asleep?" I said laughing.
"Hmmm... No." She said as she snuggled up closer to me and proceeded fall back asleep.
"Whistles, we have to get to class or we will be tarty." Said trying to wake her up again.
"But... comfy..." She said, pulling me in tighter. Dear Luna... My need for getting to class was now in direct competition with her adorable demeanor.
"Babe... Com'on, we are going to get in trouble." I said as sweetly as I dared.
"Aww... You called me babe." She said, putting her chin my chest and booping her nose to mine.
"I'm screwed, aren't I? You are not going to let me up."
"I was... but now I'm not." She said, sticking her tongue out and against my lips.
"You are playing with fire, you know that, right?" She said nothing, but instead began wiggling her tongue up and down.
"I'm serious... You don't know what you are messing with..." I said again.
"Oh I know what I'm messing with... I can feel it." She said with an evil grin as she began rolling her mid-drift into me. Oh wow, I had no clue just how deep of a shade a red my cheeks could get.
"What has gotten into you!?"
"Nothing... yet." She said giving me a healthy load of bedroom eyes. Oh my Goddess... My eyes grew wide and my body tensed.
"You can not be serious..." I said in fear of what was happening. I received no reply, but instead only got the raise of an eyebrow. "WE. ARE. AT. SCHOOL!" Despite the several fantasies I had had about something like this happening at some point in my life, ironically many of them while I was in fact at school, doing... THIS... at school was not on the list.
"So?" She said as I felt her adjust and press into me harder. Oh Celestia's sweet mercy... I could feel things... WARM things...
"What are you trying to tell me?" I said as I pressed my nose to her's.
"Shut up and listen..." She said as she pressed her lips to mine.
Her tongue danced with mine as we rolled about the cloud that was hiding us from prying eyes. Her body was grinding into me, driving me wild with her every move. Before long, the two of us had lost any and all inhibition, acting like wild animals as we simply got lost in the moment. Whatever she was wanting, she was going to take it from me and I had little say in it. She had found that place inside me that wouldn't say no to her, no matter the consequence.
She leaned up, sliding her marehood along me, lining up for what was to come next. My heart was pounding out of my chest, this was happening. I braced myself and pressed into her, feeling my every nerve tremble in anticipation. I was scared, it was my first time, but with a bight of my lip, Whistles weight began to bare down on me.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TWO... BY LUNA'S GRACE! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?"
We looked up in horror to see a passing Pegasus pony who looked to be hauling his daily haul to market. his stern glare screamed that he absolutely did not approve of what he was seeing. The old farmer's face was wrinkled and cracked from years of hard labor in the fields... a real salt of the earth pony who was probably looking at the very display of what he saw as pure sin.
"Shit..." Whistle and I both said to one another.
"AND AT A SCHOOL NONETHELESS! HAVEN'T YOU TWO GOT JOBS TO BE AT!?" He yelled to us both.
"What the..." Whistle started.
"Shhh. I got this..." I whispered. "What school old timer?" I shouted back, giving my best fake oblivious tone.
"You two idiots didn't even know you are on a cloud about a damned school!? Well maybe if you two got your minds out of the gutter long enough you would see that you are about to commit a sin in front of a bunch of kids!" He shouted in his holier than thou tone. I faked it, I looked over the edge of the cloud and pretended to be shocked at where I was.
"Oh shit..." I shouted. "Babe that is a school." I said looking to Whistle for her to comment.
"Oh... OH my!" She said, finally catching on.
"Sorry old timer! I guess we need to get out of here!" I shouted back.
"Ya'll two need to Celestia, that's what you need. Now GIT!" He shouted.
You don't have to tell me twice! Whistle and I made wake with how fast we took off, breaking the very cloud we had almost enjoyed a little too much. We flew as fast as our wings would let us, knowing that if that old buck even got the slightest whiff of us actually being students at that school, we were doomed. Whistle dad would do nothing short of murder me, and judging by the way he treated her mother, her as well.
"I can't believe that worked!" Whistle shouted to me.
"Me neither. I guess school is a half day today." I said as we banked around the castle to the edge of Canterlot.
"What are we going to tell our parents?" Whistle asked as we dove for the now sparkling white valley floor.
"Just tell them that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, they wont ask questions." I said as we soared across the tree tops.
The two of us laughed as we lit into the snowy fields outside of Ponyville. The snow had only began to fall yet it was already fetlock deep. What the hell had gotten into the Pegasi!? Did they have a vendetta against the ground!? I had to help clean this crap one year, you would think that making more work for yourself would out weight your need to make snow this deep. I played with the snow with my hoof as I waited for Whistle to come to my side as she always had when we would land.
"Hey Whistle, look at this, the snow is already-" My words were cut off by the freezing ball of ice that collided with my hindquarters. "YIKE!" I jumped into the air as the stabbing cold hit my sensitive areas. Whistle began laughing uncontrollably as I pawed at the freezing cold that was assaulting my genitals. I have had blue balls before, but this was just stupid.
"You should see your face!" Whistle said in her sweet voice that had now taken on a tone of maniacal mischief. I raised an eyebrow, scooped up some snow with a wing and send a ball of white fluff sailing right at her. It hit with an explosion of white, covering her ivory coat with splatters of white melting snow.
"You..." She started, but it was too late, it was ON! I sent mound after mound of snow hurling through the air at her as she dodged and fired right back at me. The two of us engaged in snow combat, neither wanting to back down, both of us laughing uncontrollably. We were both covered in melting snow, nearly soaked to the bone as we continued our battle.
"Ok! Ok! You win!" Whistle shouted as a large mound of snow I had tossed found its mark.
"You ok?" I asked as I stepped out from behind a snow berm. No sooner than I looked up, I saw a ball of white flying right at my face. I braced for impact, deciding that I would just let her get the last hit in so we could go and warm up somewhere.
Huge mistake. The ball of snow crashed into my nose, followed by the rock that had somehow found its way into it. Pain erupted from my front teeth and nose as I felt the blood start to pour and make little crimson puddles on the ground.
I was seeing stars and my vision bore the black edges of darkness that I had only seen after being punched in the face. I fell to the ground holding my nose and screamed.
"OW! What the hell!" I shouted as Whistle stepped out laughing, thinking nothing was wrong.
"Oh quit your whining, you lost to a girl. Its not that bad." She said as she trotted closer. I couldn't respond. I was too busy running my tongue across my front roll of teeth and feeling the brand new chip that had been knocked out. Whistle leaned down and pulled a hoof away from my face and gasped at the damage.
"Oh Luna! I'm so sorry! Cask, are you ok!?" She said cradling my head in her hoofs.
"Never better... Am I missing a toofs?" I asked, fighting through the pain.
"I'm so sorry!" She said as she helped me up. "Was there a rock in there or something!? I didn't do it on purpose! I-I swear!" She said, looking me over for more damage.
"Whithel... Ith's ok. You didn'th know. Really." Great... now I have a lisp.
"Oh..." Whistle said as she put me in a hug. "Lets go get you fixed up." She said as she lead me to town.
Lucky for me and my sore nose, my house was just on the other side of the field where we had been playing in. The pain in my mouth was gone, but my poor nose, it didn't feel broken, but it was swollen. We trotted through my front door, tossing our soaked jackets into the corner of the room. Thank Celestia, dad remembered to put wood on the fire and restock the wood box! Finally, some good luck. I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Whistle as the two of us sat on the floor in front of the fire place.
"Still thinking of me when you are the one hurt..." She said with a soft smile.
"It's in my nature." I said, delighted that the lisp was tamable if nothing else.
"Yeah? And how is that?" Whistle said as she used a napkin to try and clean me up.
"My mom, I guess. She would always be there when things went wrong to pick up the pieces. I remember this one year on my birthday. She had just found out that she was sick the day before, but she still put together this huge party for me. She must have invited half the school, there were something like 30 kids there running around screaming. It was chaos." I said laughing at the fond memory of everypony running through our small home in Cloudsdale. "She spent the entire night before cooking cupcakes for us, ordering balloons, she even woke up early to go and get a bouncy house for us to play on. All of it while dealing with being sick."
"She sounds like a amazing mom." Whistle said as she put a hoof around me.
"She was..."
"Can I ask, what happened?"
"Mom found out the day before that she had pancreatic cancer. But she still put me first. Before We lost her nearly three years to the day later, I asked her why she did that, put herself out like that when she was the one that needed somepony more than us. All she said was that she didn't want what was wrong with her effect us and that being happy with us and seeing us smile was what made her happy. But what she really did was show me that no matter how bad your life is, it could always be made better by being there for somepony else. I guess that is where I get my selfless streak."
Whistle pulled me in close as we sat warming by the fire. It hurt to talk about, but I knew that eventually it would come up. It always did with me. First it was the name, wanting to know why my last name was Harmony, a unfitting name for a buck. Then it was my mom, why she was gone and what had happened. It was like a curse I had to carry around, reliving everything tragic detail anytime I met somepony that endeavored to dive deeper than a simple hello.
"I'm sorry." Whistle said, wiping yet another tear away from my eye. The second time I had cried in years, both in one day.
"It's fine. Besides, I'm not alone anymore, I have you to look forward to seeing. And I take it you found my note..." I said, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah... About that..." She started with a uneasy sigh.
"If you tell me that you don't feel the same after my dead mom story AND after trying to knock my teeth out..." She gave me a shove at that statement.
"No, not that..."
"Oh, then I think I know what you are going to ask... And yes. All of it." I said feeling ashamed that I had been spying on her. Whistles said nothing as we sat there in a trance as to what we should do next.
"I hate him. Sometimes I wish I could just... Just leave and never come back."
"What about your mom? Is he always that way towards her?" I asked, treading softly on the mine field I knew I was in.
"Yes! He beats her, talks down to her and makes her his slave! And for what!? So he can spend all night with his friends doing Celestia only knows what! The only time we are not getting screamed at by him, we are alone. Mom is no help at all, she just sit by and let him scream at me and if I say anything, I get hit. The only thing she is there for is for him to fuck!" I felt my body tense at her words. The thought of somepony hitting somepony as fragile and sweet as Whistle set my blood to boil. "It got so bad that I can't stand to be around other ponies anymore. My brain just... locks up and won't let me speak when I'm scared, because of him! I can't control it! The doctors told my parents that it was selective mutism, but it's not. It's Rain. It has always been Rain!"
I held onto Whistle as she sobbed her way through her troubles, doing as much as I could for her and feeling completely helpless at the same time. I had to do something, ANYTHING to stop this from happening again. Watching her heart break before my eyes was torture, pure torture that hurt me almost as Rain was hurting her. I needed to be more than just an escape from the pain, I wanted to be the cure for it. But I didn't know how I could!
"Hey. I'm here. I'm not leaving. And nopony is going to change that, not even Rain. I'm here and I always will be." I said pressing my forehead to hers. We had been through so much in such a short time. The few days felt like years between us now, even with it flying by as if it were the blink of an eye. I was close to her and her to me. It was like we had just met, took each other's hooves and jumped into life head first. Is that what love at first glance is?
I know that the thought of losing her now, after everything that had happened, made my stomach twist into a knot. Just the thought of waking up with nothing to look forward to anymore took me to that same dark place I had been for so long. I would do anything not to go back there, if it meant running away with her to keep us both away from that cruel fate, I would in the beat of a wing. I knew just how I felt about Whistle, but I have no clue if she felt the same.
"I love you." I whisper into her ear.
"I love you too." She said back, pressing her lips to mine. And just like that, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. As if just speaking the words meant that now I was never going to be alone again. We sat kissing passionately as I felt her hoof fall between my legs, caressing my sheath gently. But as good as it felt, I didn't want it to ruin this moment we were in. I put my hoof on her's and guided it away to pull her in closer.
"Wha... But..." She started.
"You don't have to."
"But, I wanted to treat you, give you a reward." She said playfully, trying to change the mood. I pulled back to look her in the eyes. Those crystal clear blue eyes that I had come to love seeing as they grew wide when she would look my way.
"You are the reward."