Grounded for Life

by Supremechief

Chapter 7: A Summer Night Stroll

Grounded for Life

By: Supremechief

Chapter 7: A Summer Night Stroll

***

After having the formality of a proper introduction out of the way there was a brief moment of silence between Steelbolt and his newfound friend. At least that’s what Steelbolt had hoped to call his rescuer. Even though she had a bit of an intimidating aura about her there was also a sense of comfort as well. Like a flower whose scent would cause your eyes to water and your nose burn yet had the softest petals and possessed nectar that could ease pain. Adding how the moonlight makes her black coat shine almost like her own body was the night sky itself. With these thoughts Steelbolt could not help but wonder why his cheeks were feeling a bit warm.

Unfortunately Midna noticed the slight tint of red on his check as well, “Hey Steelbolt, was it? Are you feeling alright?”

Here voice was like a morning bird to Steelbolt. It was sudden enough to cause him to snap back to reality but gentle enough to not startle. Shaking his head a bit the heat in his check faded as he resumed his attention to Midna. “Huh? Oh yes I’m fine. Just felt a bit hot in the head for a moment.”

Fortunately for Steelbolt Midna had decided to shrug it off and not think much about it.

Seeing how it was still a clear moonlit night Midna decided to help this colt enjoy it.

“Come on Steelbolt. The night is still young and I think we are both rested enough to go for a short walk now.” She said as she stood up from the spot that she had been sitting on earlier.

As she walked by Steelbolt as she began to lead the way she caught a glimpse of his wrench and screwdriver cutie mark that was exposed to the moonlight. She smiled to herself as she thought of a way to bring that up in a near future conversation. For Steelbolt he took a moment before he began to follow Midna but not before she managed to get a clear look at her cutie mark too. Standing out from her black fur there was a light purple kite shield with a waxing crescent moon that was the same colour as his coat. There was also a sword behind the shield its hilt on the upper right of the shield and a fair portion of the tip of its blade exposed on the bottom left.

They did not get far as they strolled around the unoccupied playground before Midna had decided to ask perhaps the biggest question on her mind.

“So Steelbolt,” She said to get the colt’s attention.

“Yes.” Steelbolt replied confirming that he was listening.

“What is a day walker like yourself doing up so late anyway? I mean, I now there are some adults who choose to live the nightlife but for somepony as young as you out this late would be curious.”

Steelbolt scrunches up his face as rocks his read side to side as he tries to come up with an honest explanation that does not make him sound like an idiot. “Long story short was enjoying a late night read until my pet hawk started to act up. As I approached him he took off into the night and in a moment of excitement I chased after him until I came across those Bat Colts and you know the rest.” He ended with a light shrug.

“A pet hawk you say?” Midna asked suspiciously.

“Yes.”

“And it led you towards those colts from earlier?”

Steelbolt rocks his from side to side and he thought about that description. “You… could say that.”

“Curious.” Midna says as she took a moment to sit down and think about it.

“What’s curious about it?” Steelbolt asked as he took as seat beside her.

“Before I found you I was training in my back yard by myself when I heard a screech. I looked around and found this hawk resting on the yard fence. At first I thought it just it was being territorial so I backed away from it and continued my training. However it kept in screeching and when I looked back at it, it swooped down and managed to pull my favourite mane ribbon off of me and took off with it. I then followed it until I saw you being surrounded. I’ll admit I was torn between chasing that hawk and helping you but you know what I chose.”

After Midna had finished her story Steelbolt had put a hoof to his chin. “If we are talking about the same hawk then this is strange. First he get me into trouble then he organises a way to get me out. Well for his sake he better be.” ‘After all, that could mean the difference of shortage of snack and an early molting.’ He thought to himself.

Steelbolt let out a small yawn as the tiredness that he felt before his late night chase began had returned to him. Seeing this Midna thought it was best to try to get this colt home. He was not of her kind so he was not accustomed to traveling at night let alone by himself. The natural light of the moon had been a blessing for him earlier as he was not aware of the dangers of traveling at night. Aside from falling off the city completely in the darker nights that occur in Cloudsdale one could easily get lost if they do not have any knowledge in navigation by using the stars.

Giving out a gentle sigh Midna turns her attention towards Steelbolt. “It must be getting late for you. How about I walk you back home?”

Steelbolt shook his head not in decline to the offer but to help ward off the drowsiness that was slowly overcoming him. “Thanks but I don’t know how to get back. While I was chasing Mihawk, I did not take time to memorise any landmarks.”

‘Mihawk, must be his pet’s name.’ Midna thought to herself. “Well how about I bring you over to my place? I’m sure my father wouldn’t mind in me bringing home a guest. I’m sure that he can help you get home.”

“Ok lead the way.” Steelbolt said with a slight yawn as Midna began to walk in an unknown direction. So far Midna has been kind to him and he did not get any sign that she was trying to deceive him. Then again what does he know about know when a pony was lying? Whenever Mischief Day came around he was perhaps the easiest target for fillies and colts to pull small scale pranks such as the old misdirecting attention before sticking a ‘POKE ME’ sticker on him.

Then again what choice did he have if he wanted to get back home? At the very least he wants to be home before the sun rises and his parents find out his is missing. If they did then from what he had witness when Vetrini came home after going out with some friends and forgot to tell his parents he may get the same treatment as she did when she came home. First they may hug him in relief that his was safe then ground him for a week. Then again what choice did he have? He already admitted that he was lost and so far Midna was offering the only chance he has.

The two of them have walked a short distance before Steelbolt attempted to start up a new conversation. “So… what can you tell me about your parents?”

Midna turned to give Steelbolt a small smile before continuing to lead the way. “My father is a stallion of… ‘Unique’ social skills.”

“Unique how?” Steelbolt asked with a raised eyebrow

Midna looks upward towards the sky. “He tends to be a bit intimidating when meeting new ponies. I think it may have been due to him growing up in Bat Pony territory in the eastern mountains. Even though our small community in Cloudsdale does not compare to the homeland there is still the remnant of the ‘survival of the fittest’ policy.”

“Survival of the fittest? What’s that?”

Midna gave a small sigh as they continue their walk. “Long story short, the strongest makes the rule. If you’re strong then you can go far. If you’re weak then you are considered worthless.”

“And let me guess. Your father was at the top of that order?” Steelbolt said sarcastically. It was not uncommon for colts and fillies to brag how good their parents were.

Midna laughed. “No… that was my mother.” She said with a smirk.

Steelbolt admit that he was surprised. Even though he did not look down on fillies normally he was still young enough to think that stallions were physically stronger than mares.

“You see…” Midna continued after seeing the somewhat cute surprise expression on the light blue colt. “Back in the home country, bat ponies can force another to marry them if they beat them in a competition of strength and skills should they refuse a proposal. As my father described her, my mother was a popular mare among stallions so she was offered many proposals which she always turned down which lead to many challenges to force her hoof into marriage. In the end none of them were able to beat her which over time earned her the title ‘Bloodriver’, after the wife of the first bat pony king.”

Steelbolt stopped for a moment as something occurred to him. Noticing this Midna stopped as well. Before she could ask him why he stopped Steelbolt spoke first.

“If no stallion was able to beat her, how did your father? Did she accept his initial proposal?”

Midna smiled, “Nope. In fact he skipped the proposal challenged her to a fight right off the bat.”

Before Steelbolt could say anything she continued. “I know, I know. I said that my mother was undefeated but that was in the conventional sense.” Midna began to walk again which Steelbolt responded by following suit. “But my father was more of the tactician than the other stallions. The way he described it he noticed my mother never initiated but rather reacted. And thinking that he had my mother figured out he did something that everypony would denounce as idiotic if they heard of his plan before hoof.”

Now Steelbolt was curious. He had asked his own parent of how they met which could be summarized as a wounded soldier falling for his caretaker story. But here, it almost sounded like something out of ‘Capalltalamh’ stories.

“What did he do that was crazy?” he asked excitedly.

Midna smiled, “He ordered her to surrender.”

If Steelbolt had a drink in hoof he would be doing a spit take so hard that some may have come out of his nose.

“What?!” he asked.

Midna looked back at him with a smirk. “I told you it sounded crazy. And to everypony’s surprise she obeyed which then resulted in their engagement.”

“That makes no sense!” Steelbolt exclaimed. “If she was willing to surrender then why did she not just accept the proposal that came with the challenge?”

“I’ll admit I was confused about that as well. It was not until my father explained that he recognized that my mother was looking for a stallion with as the term goes ‘a spine’.” Seeing that Steelbolt was still confused she continued. “You see my mother wanted a stallion who was able to take command in a relationship and not ask for it or to force it unto her. To her when making the initial proposal it places the stallion in a position of submission which to my mother meant weakness as per the survival of the fittest policy. For those who challenge her and fight her it revealed that the stallion was willing to resort to abusive measures to get his mare in line.”

Midna looked back at Steelbolt with a curious look, “you know what abusive means right?”

Steelbolt thought about it only to shake his head.

Midna rolled her eyes a bit before looking forward again thinking that he would learn about it on his own eventually. “Back to the story, when my father demanded the surrender instead of charging at her for the fight it was a message that he not weak to ask permission from his wife but will not resort to abuse to demonstrate his strength. Instead he would show his strength by earning the respect of his mare. And respect can only be earned through by those who you respect as well. At least… that’s what my dad said.”

Even though the ending was not what Steelbolt expected he still liked the story none the less. However there was one small detail in Minda’s story that seem to hinting at something but he could not put his hoof on it.

Deciding to shrug it off, Steelbolt continued to follow the bat filly until they came up to house that Steelbolt could only assume was Midna’s. It was a simple one story house whose architecture was much different than what had been known as standard Cloudsdale architecture. While the majority of houses in Cloudsdale followed a design that had a smooth geometrical patterns and mathematical proportionality this house and the other in the immediate neighbourhood had what could be described as more pointy. There were a number of short curved spikes running along the edges of the roof and the corners of the building as well as large windows that where either circular or had a pointed arch instead of the standard rectangles. To Steelbolt these houses gave a warning yet a mildly warm welcome to guests.

As he was taking in the sight Midna walked up to the front door. As she grabbed the latch with her hoof to open she looked back at Steelbolt who looked like he was in a trance as he examined her house. Smiling to herself as she opened the door a crack, she called over Steelbolt as she walked in. “If you’re done appreciating my house feel free to come inside.”

Snapping back to reality Steelbolt followed. Not only was he getting his chance to get back home but because Midna’s story of her parents he was both scared and curious to learn about them. From what he gathered Midna’s family, her mother was probably going to be strong willed mare who does not like to be looked down on while her father may be a more authoritative stallion.

“Dad? I’m home!” Midna called out in the house. “And I have brought a friend over.”

As they waited for a reply Steelbolt took a moment to realize that the house appeared to be dimly lit from the large collections of candles illuminating the rooms. Not only that there was a noticeable sent in the air created by a few candles fueled by a dark blue oil. Recognizing the scent as his mother’s personal favourite to use on her and his father’s date nights as ‘Midsummer Night Breeze’ Steelbolt can only think that it seemed appropriate for a bat pony family.

Finally his train of thought was interrupted when a male voice finally replied back to Midna’s call. “I am here, in the living room Midna.”

The voice had slight monotone to it. Not one that sounded bored or neutral but rather… threatening. Like how a comic book villain would monologue to a hero without his emotions getting out of hand. Calm, paced, like as if he could finish his speech without worrying about interruption and if the hero tried to, the villain would fight back without missing a beat. And to Steelbolt that just sent chills up his spine as he followed Midna to the source of that voice.

As they both turned a corner they came into a large room that had a large couch on the far side of the room with a large bookcase behind it. There was also a small fire burning on the right side of the couch with a large collection of pictures on the mantel and a small coffee table in from of it with another scented candle burning on top of it. And to the left of the couch there was a large chair with a pony like figure sitting in it reading a book.

Under the dim light of the fire Steelbolt could make out that the pony was a stallion based on the build and appeared be wearing a black jumpsuit covered everything except the head, wings and tail and had metallic armour plating around his neck as well on his forearm and thighs. And lastly he appeared to be wearing a black helmet that completely encased his head with only his ears poking through appropriate holes and appeared to be lacking an opening for the eyes.

The figure took notice of the two young ponies. “So… how long has it been? A month, a year, a decade? Too long if you ask me since the last time you brought a guest over, my daughter. Ever since you decided to follow your parents hoof prints you have been more concerned with your training than making friend.” the stallion said as he closed the book he was reading. “And I’ll admit that not only am I surprised that it was a colt, but day walker none the less.” He said as he turned his head to face the black filly and the light blue colt revealing that he helmet was dual coloured. It was solid black on the left side with no eye hole while the right was tan revealing the stallions golden dragon like eye.

As the stallion climbed off the chair he began to approach the two young ponies. Steelbolt began to feel weak in the knees as the stallion began to make his approach more directly to him. Once the stallion was directly in front of Steelbolt he stopped. “Oh and to you colt.” He said as he lowered his head until it was leveled with Steelbolt’s own. In a menacing gentle breeze like whisper he said, “Welcome to our home child.”

Author's Note:

First: I will admit that the first half of the chapter may be weak as I had trouble getting the right chemistry between Steelbolt and Midna Guard.
Second: The reason this chapter took long is because I am now writing without an editor and I am now changing my goal marks when writing such as word or page count on Microsoft word. Going to try quality over quantity.
Third: For those who catch on, Midna's personality will be different than her inspired appearance.
Fourth: For those who get the inspiration of Midna's father that's the voice and mannerism I am going for that character.
Lastly thanks to anyone who offers suggestions on how to improve the character chemistry.