Love
Raindrop slumped faintly as her hooves hit the ground, and she took a shaky few steps towards a bench and collapsed across it wearily. Her wings burned, and her chest hurt. She had just flown back from Cloudsdale, and was sprawling herself across a bench in front of the Canterlot Palace. One thing was for sure about the Wonderbolts, they were a hard group to please.
It was near nightfall, and Raindrop was hungry, sore, and annoyed. Without anything to focus on, she had nothing to do but think. And all she could think about was what Sentinel said. It was depressing, and it made her want to curl up and cry. She didn’t love Sentinel. Deep down, she knew it. She liked him, a whole lot. And maybe that would develop into an actual love at a later point. But right now, he was just a handsome pony to rebound from Shine with. Any deeper feelings simply weren’t there yet.
Raindrop definitely felt strongly for the guard, but it wasn’t love. She owed him her life, several times over. And they had been through so much together, it wouldn’t even be surprising if she fell in love with him. But when he had said that to her, she was more concerned about the fact that she couldn’t say it in return, and that it would hurt his feelings because of that.
The young pegasus sighed and stretched out on the bench, resting her chin on her forehooves. It was an impossible situation. And she didn’t even have anypony to talk about it to. But there was also no escaping it. She would have to face it sooner or later, and given how often her and Sentinel were thrown together, it would be sooner rather than later. What could she tell him? That she wasn’t actually in love with him but really really liked him and thought he was a good guy? Everypony knew that was code for ‘hey, we’re never gonna happen’. And that just wasn’t how she felt. She needed more time.
But the look in Sentinel’s eyes when she had tried to let him down gently... He was hurt. He might be a Royal Guard. He might have been able to stare down a hydra without fear. But Raindrop knew that she had snuck a blow past his armour and hit him where it hurt. And that was the last thing she wanted.
It was all just so depressing! But as always, Raindrop didn’t get sad. She just got annoyed. Anger was a good coping mechanism, it blocked out everything else.
Raindrop pushed open the door to the private room in the Hall of Elements, poking her nose in. Celestia was sitting on her rump, staring up at a blackboard with complicated equations all over it, seemingly at a loss.
“Can’t figure something out?” Raindrop queried helplessly.
Celestia nodded to herself, and then looked up at the jumbled writing again, shaking her head slowly. “It is the formula for the magic used to contain the essence of the elements in the Seeker Stones.”
“You lost me at ‘magic’,” Raindrop admitted, slipping into the room and closing the door behind her.
“I must improve this formula so that the Seeker Stone will find the Element of Magic. But it is difficult.” Celestia turned around, shaking her head and rubbing a hoof against her eyes. She looked tired, and worn. “I must thank you for finding Firebrand. You have an exceptional intuition for finding those who would be fit as bearers.”
“Thanks,” Raindrop said with a sheepish smile. “Maybe I’m the Element of Searching or something?”
“It may very well be,” Celestia said with a gentle nod. “We now have only four elements remaining. I am quite certain to whom Magic belongs, but Loyalty, Generosity, and Kindness, I have no idea about.”
Raindrop frowned at that for a moment, “Well, Loyalty is guesswork, since we don’t have the Seeker Stone any more... But, I think that maybe... I think Sentinel is the Element of Loyalty.”
Celestia raised a brow at that, ears perking. “Truly?”
Raindrop nodded, “I think you should test him.”
“That would be pointless at this juncture,” Celestia stated firmly.
“...Pointless?” Raindrop asked, confused.
Celestia opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment, the door opened, and Sentinel himself stepped through.
The guard cast his gaze across the two of them, lingering on Raindrop for several long seconds, before he slowly walked up to the table, and placed his helmet upon it. “Princess Celestia, I request a day to myself.”
Celestia looked down at her guard for a long moment, before giving a gentle nod, “I shall grant you this.”
“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” Sentinel said with a salute, and then turned, giving Raindrop another silent glance, before shuffling out of the room.
A silence stretched out for several long seconds as Raindrop stared after the guard, a strange expression on her face.
“You two are emotionally entangled?” Celestia asked, breaking the silence.
Raindrop jerked faintly in surprise, and then blinked once, looking down at her forehooves. “...I guess so, yeah.”
“I take it there have been problems?” Celestia queried, looking from Raindrop to the helmet on the table.
The young pegasus was silent for several moments, and then she gave a long sigh. “He told me that he loves me.”
“This is not cause for celebration?” Celestia asked, seeming genuinely curious.
“Not really, no. I... don’t love him,” Raindrop admitted.
“You do not love him, or you do not love him yet?”
“I... I honestly don’t know. The last person I gave my heart to basically ripped it out.”
Celestia nodded at that, and then gave a wan smile. “Even after several lifetimes, I find myself as well-versed in the matters of the heart as I was when I first entered the world.”
“Doesn’t get easier, huh?” Raindrop asked with a sad smile.
Celestia shook her head apologetically. “I’m afraid it doesn’t. The answers are never there to be given. They are to be found.”
“I’m not sure I want to find out the answer,” Raindrop admitted, shuffling her hooves. “And this sort of tops the ‘conversations I didn’t think I’d have with a Princess’ list.”
A soft snort left the princess, and she shook her head. “It is refreshing to think of mundane things during times of strife. It reminds me that the world outside the castle continues onwards without waiting with baited breath for my every decision.”
“That’s one way of looking at problems, I guess,” Raindrop said with a forced smile.
“I am sorry I cannot be of more help,” Celestia apologized, lifting a hoof imploringly to punctuate her sentence.
“No, no. As you said, the answers aren’t there to be given,” Raindrop said with another shake of her head.
A long silence stretched between them, before Raindrop stepped up to the table, and reached for a Seeker Stone. “I would like to chase Kindness, next.”
“Think not of it as a chase, and more as an adventure,” Celestia suggested.
“I’ll try,” Raindrop said, turning about to leave.
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it again. “Raindrop?”
Raindrop paused in the doorway, looking over her shoulder, “Yes princess?”
“I am horribly versed in the wiles of the heart... But a wise pony once told me ‘Truth is, everypony is going to hurt you. You just have to find the ones worth suffering for’.”
The young pegasus stared back at the princess for a long moment, before silently slipping out the doorway.
Raindrop frowned deeply as she left the castle, her ears pinned back and eyes on the ground in front of her hooves. She had something to focus on now, but even so, she couldn’t get her mind off Sentinel. What Celestia had told her echoed in her mind.
It was the truth, really. No matter who you chose, they were going to hurt you. It was inevitable. She just had to find somepony worth suffering for.
Was Sentinel worth suffering for?
Raindrop honestly couldn’t answer the question. She didn’t want to see him hurt. She didn’t like that she had hurt him. But the further question she had to ask: was she worth suffering for? She couldn’t even make her mind up on whether or not she loved him. Maybe it would be better if he gave up on her. She wasn’t fit for a normal relationship. She wasn’t even a full-blooded pony. She was a monster-cross-pony.
And that just made her feel worse. She was part changeling, Sentinel hated changelings, with a passion. And even with all of that, he still felt that strongly for her. And suddenly, Raindrop felt very small and petty.
Sentinel was in his quiet place. Not in his mind, but literally, his quiet place. There was a hill overlooking a lake, and if he was in the right position, he could gaze at the reflection of the moon and stars in the smooth, perfect surface of the lake. On a clear night, it was like looking through a portal, as though you could jump down into the star-strewn visage and just fall into the sky forever.
It was his favorite place for a night-time excursion. It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing he told everypony about, as it wasn’t exactly the most masculine thing for a Royal Guard to enjoy. Thus, his surprise at being found.
“You have no idea how hard this place is to find when you’re given such vague direction,” Raindrop stated with a huff, shaking her wings out and pausing a few steps from the guard.
“How did you find me?” Sentinel asked, without looking up.
“Your Captain knows a lot more about you than you think,” Raindrop said with a wry grin.
Sentinel sighed and nodded slightly. The Captain of the Royal Guard was almost eerily aware of his underlings habits.
“I... Wanted to talk to you,” Raindrop said, slipping over to him.
“So talk.”
Raindrop gently settled herself down beside the guard, and then rested her head on her forehooves, looking at him sideways. “I’ve been doing some thinking.”
“Must have been hard,” Sentinel said with a brave attempt at a smile, before wincing, holding up a hoof, “I’m sorry, I’m trying to be cute... But it’s just coming out bitter.”
A soft smile lit Raindrop’s face, and she pressed closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “We’ve been through a lot.”
Sentinel nodded, gently resting his chin atop her muzzle. “Indeed we have.”
Raindrop looked up at him for a long moment, letting a silence stretch out between them. She had decided already, that she was going to tell him that she loved him. It wasn’t a choice any more. It was time to stop being selfish. Sentinel was worth suffering for, and it was worth her saying a few tiny words to put him at ease and repair some of the pain she had put him through.
“Sentinel, I l-”
Sentinel lifted a hoof, gently placing it over her lips, stopping her words. He stared down into her eyes, and slowly shook his head.
Raindrop tried to protest, but Sentinel shushed her again, still shaking his head.
“No Raindrop,” he murmured sadly, looking down at her. “Don’t just say it to make me feel better. Wait until you mean it.”
Raindrop pulled back with a snort, and then drew herself up, throwing on the facade of being offended. “You presume to be able to read me well enough to know my actions so well?”
Sentinel looked at her sideways for a moment, and then gave a sad smile. “Like an open book.”
Raindrop deflated instantly, and then sighed, leaning against him. “I wish I was a good liar.”
The guard nodded gently, leaning some of his weight against her in a reassuring fashion. ”It means a lot to me that you’d come and find me just to try and lie to me to make me feel better.”
“We have no chance of ever having a normal relationship, do we?” Raindrop asked after a moment.
“Would you have it any other way?”
“I can’t say I would.”
A silence stretched out between them, and after a little while, Sentinel rearranged their bodies so that he could spoon with Raindrop. “I have decided to be content with what I have.”
“And what do you have?” Raindrop asked after a moment.
“A fiery, emotionally traumatised, masochistic pegasus whose bloodline includes one of the most feared villains of the last five generations and who has been known to increase her strength to freakish proportions when she’s mad, and has a strong proclivity to hit me when I annoy her,” Sentinel rattled off blankly.
Raindrop stared up at him for a long moment, and then blinked slowly. “Well, when you put it like that, I sound like a real catch.”
Sentinel laughed faintly and nuzzled her gently. “I wouldn’t trade you for a princess.”
“Because I’d eat your face if you did,” Raindrop stated immediately.
“Among other reasons,” Sentinel admitted with a smile, giving a sigh and closing his eyes, resting his muzzle against her.
The two ponies lapsed into silence, and Raindrop wiggled back against Sentinel to get more comfortable, laying her chin on an outstretched hoof, staring out into the lake, watching the pristine reflection of the night sky.
Raindrop couldn’t even remember what made her fall in love with Shine, or any kind of gradual change in her attitude towards him at all.
‘You can’t choose who you love.’ It was an old saying, and Raindrop didn’t even remember where she knew it from. But it was the truth. But why did she love Shine and not Sentinel? Sentinel was superior in every way.
But when Raindrop looked deep inside herself, she already knew the answer. She was scared. Scared that Sentinel would turn into Shine. That Sentinel would look up one day and realise that he had chosen a changeling. She was afraid of getting hurt again. It wasn’t even a question of if any more.
Raindrop rolled over, to find the guard dozing against her. She reached up a hoof to gently move a lock of his blonde mane from his face, leaning up to kiss his nose. A gentle push of her hooves against his chest was enough to rouse him, and his eyes blinked open, staring down at her questioningly.
The young pegasus stared up into his eyes for a long moment, and she felt it. Felt it deep inside her. Sentinel looked past her flaws. He understood her on a level that Shine never had a chance of attaining. He was perfect.
If trying to say it before was hard, it was even harder now. Raindrop’s hooves wrapped around Sentinel’s chest, and she pulled him close against her, burying her head against his chest to try and order her thoughts. It was just so hard to say it. Three tiny words that meant so much.
A lump rose in Raindrop’s throat, and she felt inexplicable tears springing into her eyes. She wiped them away hurriedly with a hoof, swallowing hard past the lump, and then clearing her throat, pushing and then pulling at Sentinel uncertainly.
“What is it?” Sentinel asked, gently nuzzling against her.
Raindrop swallowed thickly again, and then buried her face against his chest, feeling her cheeks burning. Her body was just going crazy all of a sudden. It had never been this difficult with Shine. But maybe that was the point? Maybe this was deeper than it had been with Shine?
Feeling her heart trying to smash through her ribcage, Raindrop lifted a shaking hoof to grip Sentinel’s muzzle, and then kissed him with furious intent, squeezing him close with her free hoof. After several long moments, when she had been deprived of enough oxygen to calm herself slightly, she drew back and then stared up into his eyes.
It took her three tries to say it, gaping at him like a stupid carp trapped out of water. But then she cleared her throat, and just said it, burying her face to in his chest to avoid his searching gaze,
“I love you.”
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This chapter was awesome. One moment while I process the paperwork to make that claim official
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Well done, my friend. As a romance writer, this chapter pleases me to no end. You wrote one of the most cliché situations ever, but you did well. You did really well.
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This gif has one flaw: he is not on his feet.
1066539
In all honesty, comments like those are why I write
They sustain me.
And it's not even over yet! There's still at least another romance to go, and more drama yet! Don't think it's over just because she said 'I love you'
1066544
I'd never dream on it! Romance writing 101: if it's not complicated, shred it. If it doesn't have conflict, burn it. If nothing remotely awkward or weird happens, make sure this story reaches the stomach of the hydras.
Amen
Finally real love! Nice romance fic.
Have some heart. 
:D
About time! *cheers*
Christ, that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
MFW at the last three words:
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I wonder what Chrysalis would think about her grand-daughter falling in love with a Royal Guard whos specific cutie mark is to hunt changelings.
That was, for lack of better terminology, the most adorable love scene I've ever seen.
Granted, I don't have nearly as much love-sceney experience as a great deal of the people here, but still! It was so right for these two!
... Now to see what torment-y evil trials you will fling them through in the following installments of their epic voyage that may or may not end up in completion of the original goal :D!
And yeah, you've heard it ten thousand times before (and probably dozens from me alone, at that X_x) but I must say that your writing is amazing, and only getting better - not to mention how crazy fast you can make these XD! Really, people like you are the ones who inspire all us aspiring (albeit lazy :c) writers to do our best!
(TL;DR ~ You sir, are the best pony)
I rather enjoyed the whole Sentinel x Raindrops dynamic and character arch. Yes, he is kind of a sexist douche bag but as the story went on he became more likeable to the point of no longer wishing him death and only little bitchy. Raindrops has gone through a lot and you get to see her flaws like her mood swings, snark, and violent tendencies. I actually like their dynamic for the message of nobody's perfect. Kinda like a function dysfunctional family who only don't become a 2AM domestic disturbance because their pros outweigh their cons.
1066978 Oh, I think what I just finished writing tops that scene on the sheer 'oh god HNNNG' metre. Too bad I can't post it as a chapter...it's too short
1067067
You need to do more GDocs sit-in writing sessions. It's fun to throw things at the stage while you're trying to work.
Well, that was cute. Very sweet. She seems to be pushing the cucking angle and that's starting to feel a little sick and vindictive. But this too shall pass.
YES!
What happened to the Seeker Stone of Loyalty? I don't remember.
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!!
kawaii~*
yes!?! WINNING!?!
HNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH