Questions and Half Answers
Steel looked out at the lake. It was beautiful in the setting sun. As he relaxed in the cool sand, he felt a warm, soft presence lean against him. He immediately blushed, but still proceeded to rest his head on top of her own.
"It's so pretty, isn't it?" Autumn thought aloud.
"Yeah..." Steel said.
Autumn could tell something was bothering him. "Steel, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
"Steel, it's okay. You can tell me anything."
Steel turned to face Autumn. He was temporarily dumbstruck by the sight of her. He had to shake his head to get his thoughts back in order. Autumn giggled. Wow, did Steel love that giggle.
"What was that for?"
"You're too pretty... I mean, I, err, um..." Steel cursed himself mentally. Why did he get so stupid around pretty fillies? His dad would be ashamed of him right now. Autumn giggled again, and a small blush formed on her cheeks. Steel's mouth hung open. Why was his heart melting right now?
"Oh Steel. There's no need to be so nervous. I like you."
Steel blushed hotly. "I... like you... too..."
Both Steel's and Autumn's blushes intensified. They each turned away from each other in a vain attempt to hide their faces, but they quickly realized their attempts were in vain.
"Steel, you never told me what was wrong."
Steel fought back the urge to lose his temper. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he also had no desire to share his.
"I don't really want to talk about it."
Autumn frowned, but quickly perked back up. "That's okay. You can tell me whenever you're ready."
Steel smiled. Autumn was always so understanding. "Thanks."
Autumn leaned into Steel and rested her head on his neck again.
"Anytime, Steel."
Steel wrapped his wing around her back. He didn't know what else he could say, so he didn't say anything. He was content to just sit and watch the sunset with Autumn.
Scootaloo laid on the floor, her legs pointing in four different directions. All she could manage was panting. A massive smile was plastered on her face. Lightning was in a similar position on his back next to her.
"I should probably go clean myself off a little," Lightning managed.
Scootaloo chuckled. "Yeah, me too. It's a good thing I got my hooves on some birth control pills, otherwise there would probably be a foal on the way."
"Yeah... I don't think I'm ready to be a dad."
"You think I'm ready to be a mom?"
"Not in the slightest," he replied.
"Wow, you couldn't even lie and tell me I am?"
"Sorry Scoot, but you know that if you ask me something you're getting an honest answer. You're as ready to be a parent as I am."
"I find your lack of faith disturbing! If I didn't wholly agree with you, I'd be seriously offended!"
"But you do agree, so that means I'm not in trouble." Lightning struggled to his hooves as he finished his sentence.
Scootaloo sighed. "Fair enough, Lightning," Scootaloo said as she got to her own hooves. "Come on, let's take a shower and go to bed. I need to rest up for tomorrow. It's going to be an emotional day."
"Tomorrow's the day Kat leaves for Canterlot, isn't it?"
"Yeah. We're sending Shepard and Big Mac along with her."
"Alright, I get why you're sending Shepard. Those two have been tight for years. Why are you sending Big Mac?"
"He wants to surprise Twilight at the school."
"Ahh. Makes sense. Well, I'll be sure to be there with you to see her off," Lightning replied.
"Thanks. Now we've stalled long enough. Let's get cleaned up and get to bed."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Lightning followed Scootaloo to their bathroom. He was happy they had a shower that could fit two ponies at once. Scootaloo was so hot when she was wet.
Steel landed on the front porch of the Dash home. The sun had finished setting, and he knew his adoptive family would be waiting for him. He smelled dinner before he even stepped inside. That was one benefit to living with Rainbow and Spitfire. No matter what time of day it was, mealtime was going to be wonderful. Steel pushed open the door to find Rainbow sitting at the kitchen table with her nose in a copy of the Manehatten Times, while Spitfire was finishing dinner in the kitchen. It appeared to be a normal family evening in most homes. Steel swallowed. That was a bad sign.
"You're home late, Steel. Where were you?” Rainbow asked without looking up from her paper. There was no hint of worry in her tone. Or anger for that matter.
"I met with a friend," the colt replied.
"Would this friend happen to be named Autumn Wind?" Spitfire asked while carrying a platter of stuffed potatoes to the dinner table. Steel blushed. They knew.
"Yeah..."
"Well, next time make sure you tell us beforehoof when you plan to spend an evening with your fillyfriend, alright?" Spitfire said calmly. Steel blushed madly.
"She's not my fillyfriend!" he half shouted that statement. Rainbow laughed.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Steel. Frankly you should be proud. Your sister didn't have a single coltfriend until she started high school," Rainbow said with a grin. "You can have bragging rights."
"Even when she started dating colts she couldn't keep them around very long," Spitfire added with a devious grin.
"We made a habit of scaring them off," Rainbow said with a smile that was equally devious.
Steel was terrified. Autumn was a sensitive filly, and she wouldn't do a good job handling Rainbow and Spitfire if the stories Scootaloo told him were true. He had to think of something to convince them not to scare her away, and he had to do it fast.
"You can't scare away a filly! That's just mean!"
Spitfire and Rainbow erupted with maniacal laughter. "Oh, you can be so foalish sometimes. The mother of every colt I ever dated tried to scare me off. It never worked, but they weren't as intimidating as Rainbow and I."
"Remember the morning Lightning woke up next to Scootaloo for the first time? How he was terrified because he thought we were going to make the soup?" Rainbow asked with a laugh.
"Ahh, yes. It's a good thing we had props, otherwise we never would have gotten him to even blink. I think Autumn will be a little easier to scare from what I know of her."
Steel was mortified. His adoptive parents’ tones were far too sinister for his liking. He had to put a stop to their madness, and he had to do it fast. "Please don't scare her! She wouldn't be able to handle it. You'd hurt her feelings, or worse."
Rainbow and Spitfire sighed in unison.
"You're no fun," Rainbow huffed.
"Fine, we won't scare her. But if you get home this late again without telling us about it beforehoof we'll have to ground you. Given that this was the first offense we'll let it slide," Spitfire added.
"Fine," Steel said with a huff. Rainbow's temper flared, but she quickly forced herself to relax.
Spitfire was a lot calmer. "Steel, there's no need to be rude. We were worried, that’s all," she gently reprimanded.
Steel immediately felt a small pang of guilt. It wasn't much, but it was enough. These mares were sacrificing a lot to take care of him, even he in his youthful ignorance could see that. There was no need for him to be so rude to them.
"Sorry," Steel mumbled.
Spitfire smiled. "It's alright. Just as long as I get to meet this fillyfriend of yours soon. Now eat before the potatoes get cold."
Steel shuddered at the thought of Rainbow and Spitfire meeting Autumn. He resolved he wasn't going to introduce them to her. No matter what it took. Especially when he saw that devious glint reappear in Rainbow's eyes.
Sweetie Belle woke in Jimmy's forelegs. They had managed to visit Kitty the day before. For Jimmy's sake they stayed for far longer than Sweetie would have liked, but she wanted her coltfriend to be happy. Granted, as soon as they got back to Jimmy's house they went straight to his bedroom. The two ponies had gotten right into the swing of things when they got together. As it turned out, neither one of them had had sex while sober in a little over a year, and they wanted to remember what it was like. Sweetie Belle was happy with it. Sex was a lot more enjoyable when she could remember it, and especially when she not only knew, but actually cared about the other pony involved. She turned her head to look at Jimmy. He was sound asleep, his mouth hanging open and a small dribble of drool rolled down his chin. His breath was one of the worst odors Sweetie had ever inhaled. She gagged, thus causing Jimmy to wake rather rudely.
"Sweetie? What was that about?"
"It was either the fact that you were drooling in your sleep or that your breath smells like a decomposing fish. I'll let you decide."
Jimmy took the opportunity to tighten his grip on Sweetie Belle and force a stream of rancid breath down her nose. She gagged again and kneed Jimmy in the stomach.
"I definitely deserved that. But it was worth it," Jimmy said after recovering.
Sweetie had managed to wrench herself free from Jimmy's forelegs and was now gagging in the corner of the room. "That wasn't punishment, it was self defense! Another second of that shit breath and I probably would have died."
"More than likely," Jimmy said. "I hope you can get used to it. That's what my breath smells like every morning."
"You mean it WASN'T a coincidence that it happened twice in a row? Why do I always end up in bed with stallions that have the weirdest quirks?"
"Probably because you scare off all of the ones with normal quirks."
"Normal is such a relative term."
"Weird is relative as well."
"Shut your mouth, Jimmy."
"You liked it open last night."
“Because last night our tongues were enjoying a nice little dance."
"Nice? Yours was getting rather aggressive, Sweets."
Sweetie Belle and Jimmy continued to argue like this until they were both ready for the day. The two had a routine that they carried over the last two mornings. Step one, get back to Jimmy's house. Step two, have sex until it's difficult to move. Step three, wake up the next morning and have a playful argument until both parties were ready for the day.
It was about halfway through step three that Jimmy made a request that would leave Sweetie Belle crushed for a long time. "Hey Sweets? I enjoy sex as much as you do, but you think we could hold off on it from here on out?"
Sweetie Belle dropped her toothbrush. "Wh-wha? Why?!"
Jimmy noticed Sweetie Belle's displeasure at the idea. Still, this was something he wanted. He wasn't sure why he wanted it, he truly did enjoy sex as much, if not more than Sweetie Belle, but he knew his logic. "Well, it seemed to work with Scoot and Lightning, and I was hoping to make this actually last. I'm sick of little celebrity flings that constantly get ruined by sexual tension, and I don't want that to happen with you."
It was right then that Sweetie Belle said something she would regret for a long time. "Alright. I guess that sounds like a good idea."
Jimmy could have sworn he saw her eye twitch as she said that, but he ignored it. He kissed Sweetie Belle. "I'm glad you're okay with it."
"O-of course. Why w-wouldn't I be?" Jimmy, somehow, was oblivious to the fact that she could not have shown more displeasure with the idea right there.
"Because sex is one of the most enjoyable things on the planet and nopony wants to live without it for a prolonged period of time, especially after getting to enjoy it for a while and then go for a prolonged period of time without it."
Sweetie Belle didn't believe in any supernatural deities, but she prayed right then to any one of them that would listen that Jimmy was simply messing with her. Or testing her to see if he could trust her. Anything other than being completely honest with her. Much to her future dismay, he wasn't.
Scootaloo landed in front of Steel's school. Kitty's sendoff had, oddly enough, gone smoothly, so instead of damage control she was able to go right to spending her day with Steel. She found Steel over by the school sign. He was, as Scootaloo expected, chatting with Autumn.
"Hey Steel. Hey Autumn. What's up?"
Steel fought back a snarky comment to reply with. Autumn was sensitive and wouldn't understand that Scootaloo could take it. "Hey Rockstar. How's it going?"
"Not bad. Ready to spend a day catching up with your sister?"
"You ask me that as if I'm a foal."
Scootaloo frowned. Steel wasn't usually one for bitter replies like that. "Everything alright Steel?"
Now Steel frowned. He wanted to know the truth about Jade, but he knew that was going to be a very bitter conversation. He didn't want to leave Autumn, but if there ever was a time to do so, it was now.
"Autumn, I need to talk to my sister in private. Is that alright?"
Autumn didn't like the idea, but she understood.
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow Steel." Autumn nuzzled Steel and flew off into the sky towards her home. Scootaloo looked at Steel.
"Steel, what's going on? You're never so snippy."
Steel shot a cold stare directly into Scootaloo's eyes. "Why did you kill my father?"
Scootaloo stepped back. She reflexively twitched her right ear.
"Steel, you already know that story. He broke in and attacked me. I did what I had to do."
"You held him in the air long enough to have a conversation with him, then you threw him into the ground!" Steel stamped his hoof as he screamed. "My dad was never as harsh to me as you told me he was to you. All I ever saw from him was a loving father!"
"Jade was far from a loving father!" Scootaloo didn't yell, but she was very assertive. "That bastard made my life Hell before Spitfire and Rainbow took me in. He is where he belongs!"
"If you hate him so much, why did you take me in?!" Steel yelled.
"You were a helpless foal when we took you in! You wouldn't have survived on your own when you were six! Besides, you're my brother! We're family, and we have to stick together!"
Steel laughed. "Says the mare who murdered her own father." Steel turned around and flew away. Scootaloo didn't bother to chase him. There was a reason his cutie mark involved flying, and there was no way she'd be able to keep up with him.
Spitfire was sifting through paperwork on the counter when Rainbow got home from the market.
"Hey Spitty. Looking for something?"
"Yeah, Steel's birth certificate. I know we got it when we adopted him, and we're going to need it when we enroll him in the high school."
"Spitfire, he won't be in high school for another two years."
"Never hurts to be prepared ahead of time. Ahh, there it is." Spitfire picked up the birth certificate. It dawned on her that she had never actually looked at the document until then. She had never even removed it from the envelope it was in. She opened the envelope and looked over the document. As soon as she got to his name her jaw dropped.
"That... can't be right. There's no way..."
"What is it Spitfire?" Rainbow was met with no response, so she walked over to her wife. Her jaw dropped just as far when she read the document.
"Rainbow...Why does this say this is the birth certificate for Steel Breeze?"