Eye of the Storm
The Study of a Winning Pony
Chapter 27: Eye of the Storm
We watched as Rainbow Dash flew away until she was over the horizon, heading towards of Fluttershy's cottage. Whether she did so intentionally or out of some instinct I could only speculate, but her wake left an uncomfortable silence. Everypony had stopped with their Tornado Day activities and were looking to one another and whispering quietly.
Ditzy Doo applied her hoof to her face. "Rainbow, you numbskull."
"I don't think she's going to be coming back anytime soon," I said lamely.
My mind was already racing about what to do next. While it was true I had said I was going to quit helping with Tornado Day activities if Rainbow Dash didn't give Cloud Kicker her job back, that was more to push Rainbow to do the right thing, not sabotage Tornado Day preparations.
Though now I wondered if I had taken the right approach in the heat of the moment. Confronting Rainbow Dash in front of everypony had only provoked her pride and put her on the defensive. It didn't sit well with me that my attempt to fix things had only made them worse. Now I had a full crisis—both with my friendship to Rainbow Dash and Tornado Day in general.
But now wasn’t the time to focus on what had already happened, figuring out how to get Tornado Day preparations back on track was the more pressing concern. Before I could figure out what to do next, one of the gathered pegasi, Flitter I remembered right, trotted up to me. "Um, what are we supposed to do now? Because Rainbow, Cloud, and Blossomforth are all gone." Suddenly there were a lot of eyes on me as everypony looked to me for direction.
"Yeah, who's in charge now?" asked Flitter's twin sister, Cloudchaser.
Ditzy looks to me. "Um ... that's a good question."
Knowing I didn't have time to think of a real plan, I went with the best option I could think of after everything that had happened. I raised my hoof high into the air to catch everypony still left's attention. "Um ... I'm in charge now. We're calling it a day now! Everypony is doing really well, so take some time to rest those muscles and be ready to hit it up again tomorrow morning!"
It was far from ideal, but there was no way I could run everything by myself. Especially when I was only a volunteer, and I doubted Rainbow Dash had put in paperwork to give me any kind of official authority. After all the drama that had happened, it seemed best to just call it for the day, and pray we could get everything moving smoothly again tomorrow.
Cloudchaser exchanged an unsure glance with her sister. "Is Rainbow Dash gonna be back tomorrow?"
Thinking fast about how to respond and cover for my friend, I said, "Rainbow might have some paperwork to do, but don't worry, everypony else should be here." At least I hoped I could get Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth back in their roles as assistant weather managers. It all depended on how much damage control could be done over the next few hours.
"Even Cloud?" Flitter asked. "Rainbow just fired her."
I suppressed a wince as she pointed out the obvious. "They're just having a managerial disagreement," I tried to reason, though the explanation sounded weak even to me. "Everything should be normal starting tomorrow. All of you don't need to worry about that, just make sure to be here at the normal time for Tornado Duty."
"Let's not spread rumors, okay?" Ditzy offered quickly. "It's been a bit of a day, but we'll all be back tomorrow bright and early."
Bluebreeze raised a hoof. "Do we still have to show up if Rainbow isn't here?" Of course the perpetual slacker of the group wanted to know if there was an out to Tornado Duty. Worse still, I could feel the pressure of everypony silently asking me the same thing with their eyes.
I worked to keep my tone nice, calm, and rational. "Yes, everypony still has to show up tomorrow. No exceptions."
"So does Rainbow get fined if she doesn't show up?" Bluebreeze pressed with a smug smile. No doubt he was enjoying having Rainbow get some of the same medicine he had gotten to all but drag him to do Tornado Duty.
"That's Rainbow's problem," Ditzy replied evenly. "Concentrate on getting yourself here tomorrow and be ready to work." It wasn't hard to see the mailpony in her when she said that. You had to have a pretty strong work ethic to stick with that job day after day from what I had heard.
There was a general grumble of acknowledgement from the gathered ponies, and they went about dispersing into small groups. I stood there for a couple of minutes to make sure nopony had a question for me before making my way to the anemometer. I was terribly tempted to just go home and curl up with a good book after a day like this, though my conscience was nagging me to try and do something more to fix what had derailed Tornado Day preparations. Either way, I wanted to get all my things packed up and take Spike back to the library.
Thankfully, Spike was already in the middle of packing everything when I got to him. It seemed that he had gotten the whole process down over the last few days as he reviewed my packing checklist. I was about to join him when I heard Ditzy speak up from behind me. "Can I help with anything?" Her wings fidgeting, she held herself like a coiled spring. I got the sense that she just wanted to do something with her hooves after everything that had happened.
"You don't need to, really," I said, not wanting her to feel obligated to help. "We carried everything here to start with, after all."
"Yeah, I got it," Spike said proudly, pointing a thumb at himself.
"I know, but I don't mind helping." Ditzy rubbed her head. "Honestly, I'd just like to think about something other than this mess of a day."
"Now that I can empathize with," I said. "Once I get my mind on a problem, it can be really hard for me to not think about it until I solve it." In fact, that was exactly what my brain was in overdrive trying to do. I had one hay of a friendship problem on my hooves, and I didn't see an easy solution to it. Maybe I could ask for some of my other friends to help? They might have a solution to the problem I wasn't seeing. "Anyways, sure, you can help if you really want to."
"Thanks." Ditzy looked about the ground to see what she could help with.
I was in the process of folding up the quilt we had brought when Ditzy cleared her throat to get my attention. “Um, Twilight?” When I turned to face her, I saw that she and Spike were each holding pieces of the some kind of machine, with the rest of it lying between them. Spike was staring in disbelief at the pieces in his claws. It took me a few seconds to register that the anemometer, something I had put all that work into putting together, was now in a dozen pieces. “What happened?”
Ditzy’s ears wilted. “Um ... sorry. I was just helping Spike pick this up and... Something happened. I can pay for this.” She looked at the two pieces she was holding. “Um, this isn’t too expensive, I hope?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Spike sighed and carefully took the parts away from Ditzy. No doubt to keep the parts from suddenly bursting into fire. Normally I wouldn’t be concerned about that when the anemometer didn’t have any combustible components, but Ditzy’s record of accidental arson spoke for itself. “We can probably fix it.” He gave the pieces of the anemometer a frown. “Somehow.”
“It’s going to be my project for the night.” I levitated a couple of the parts to see what exactly had broken, and give myself an idea of what I was going to need to do when I got back home. As if I didn’t have enough to deal with as it was. We needed the anemometer for Tornado Day preparations, so fixing it was going to be a priority. “How did you break that? I just turned my back for a second.”
“Sorry.” She rubbed the back of her mane, sounding like this was a common, and embarrassing, conversation for her. “That sort of thing happens sometimes. Frequently.”
“I'll take care of it.” I considered the broken parts and how well my day had been going thus far. “I hope.” I was pretty confident that I could repair the device. Magic would certainly speed up the process, but it would take some time and effort to pull off. Whether I would have it back together again by tomorrow was a bit up in the air until I got to work.
Spike climbed onto my back with the broken pieces he had gathered. “So, we gonna head home now?”
“It would probably be a good idea,” I said, making sure everything had been gathered.
“Would you like to come over to my place for a bit?” Ditzy shuffled in place. “I owe you a muffin or two for...” She motioned at the broken anemometer. “That.”
I looked to Spike. “How does that sound to you?”
“There's food, right?” Spike asked.
Ditzy gave us one of her bubbly smiles. “Well, muffins are food last time I checked...”
“I'm in.” Little surprise, Spike wasn’t about to turn down some free food.
"Follow me, then!" She waved for us to come with her. "I have a few batches to spare with the girls away in Canterlot." Her ears wilted upon the mention of her daughters.
"Everything okay?" I asked instinctively.
"Oh, yes. Sorry, it's been awhile since I've had the house to myself." Her face screwed up in thought. "Probably only the second or third time since Dinky was born, now that I think about it. They're visiting my family in Canterlot while we have Tornado duty—after a full day of flying, I'd be too tired to do more than hug them and go to bed. Besides, my parents love to have them over now and again."
"That makes sense," I said, following her as we walked to her home. "I guess that means Tornado Day is pretty hard on ponies like you then?"
Ditzy nodded. "The entire idea is to fly hard, fast, and long enough to form a tornado that carries water from here to Cloudsdale. You could probably educate me about the physics behind that—all I can tell you is that it's exhausting work."
"Sorry about that, then," I said. "This project means a lot to Rainbow." Saying my friend's name caused me to internally wince. Here I had been hoping Tornado Day would be a simple project. Now it had become yet another big source of drama that I really didn't need.
Ditzy waved a hoof dismissively. "Rainbow's not a pony to do things by halves, and we know what we're getting into, more or less. It's why we're training, so we can actually do it. It is a civic duty, after all. Think of it like a draft, but shorter-term. The farmers need water for their crops, after all."
"True enough." It was a big part of the reason why ponies put up with things like Tornado Duty and Winter Wrap Up. The weather needed to keep happening if we were going to maintain a healthy ecology.
"How ... well..." Ditzy seemed to struggle with herself before speaking again. "I guess I shouldn't beat around the bush. How are you, after what happened today?"
I sighed, the memories of the argument more than fresh enough to sting. "I'm not sure it’s really sunk in. I've never seen Rainbow act like that before. She's been mad, sure, but nothing like that. She just blew up—out of nowhere. She never treats her friends like that."
Ditzy grunted and nodded. "I haven't either since I moved to town. We'll be having a long, long talk when I see her next, believe me," she said with all the conviction of a mother who had just seen her child badly misbehave. "That was more than just unfair."
"It was weird," Spike mused. "Kinda scary, too."
"I'm tempted to give her a piece of my mind too," I agreed. "What was she thinking?"
"I have no idea." Ditzy nodded, determination on her face.
I shook my head. “Maybe the stress is getting to her?”
“She definitely looked stressed,” Spike said. “And pissed.”
“Maybe.” Ditzy bit her lip. “It's ... maybe. I just don't know. But I'll find out by the time I'm done with her." From her tone, I believed her. It reminded me of when my mom put her mind to getting something done, and it usually did when it was all said and done. Considering Ditzy and Cloud were paramours now and the fact she was lifelong friends with Rainbow, it wasn't hard to figure out why she had a few words to give to Rainbow.
"I think I should have a talk with her too," I said. At the very least I wanted a proper explanation for why she fired Cloud. Not to mention give Cloud her job back.
"If you don't mind, could I talk to her first?" Ditzy asked.
"I suppose." I bit my lip I considered what would be the most efficient way to handle this problem. "I'm going to have a tougher time finding her anyways. Especially if she doesn't want to be found."
"Well, having wings helps." She gave me a weak smile and spread out her wings. "Though if you managed to get Dinky on hoof, you have a pretty good chance of luring her in."
“She does seem to really like Dinky.” I couldn't remember how many stories Rainbow had told me about her goddaughter, and she had more than one photograph of herself hugging Dinky in her home.
“Or just ask her fan club,” Spike offered.
I grinned at the memory of Rainbow’s personal fanclub. “True.”
“Anyways.” Ditzy stepped onto the porch to her house. “It isn’t something that can’t wait until after we’ve had a muffin break first.”
"That is true,” I said as I followed her inside. Taking a break from all the stress sounded like a good idea. Going in circles about what to do next was going to drive me crazy. Eating some muffins certainly couldn’t hurt, and getting some food in my belly might help me think more efficiently.
Spike glanced around as we entered the kitchen. “So what kind of muffins do you have?”
“Oh, quite a lot.” Ditzy went to the icebox and pulled out a couple of plates of muffins. “Banana-nut is Dinky's favorite, but I have poppy seed, blueberry, almond, and I think a few with rhubarb.”
“Any with gems?” Spike asked hopefully, licking his lips.
Ditzy chuckled. “Sorry. We’ve got a little variety, but nothing like that. The girls don’t exactly ask for ground-up gems in their muffins.”
“Aww,” he pouted.
I nuzzled my assistant. “We can make some tomorrow if you like, Spike.”
That brought a smile to his face. “Okay!”
“But I know Ditzy's muffins are really good too,” I said. “About the best muffins I’ve ever had.”
Ditzy chuckled as she brought out some plates and laid up napkins. “You're sweet. And you can call me Derpy if you want; everypony does.” She smiled at Spike. “I'll tell you what—bring some gems by tomorrow and I'll see what I can make out of them.”
Spike smiled all the wider. “Thanks, Derpy!”
“Any time.” Ditzy took a moment to wash her hooves. “Anything else you'd like? Tea, coffee, cider?”
"Some tea would be nice," I said. "And thank you. You really didn't have to give us lunch like this."
Spike raised a claw to the side of his mouth and leaned toward me to whisper conspiratorially. "Quiet, Twilight. She's giving us food."
Ditzy snickered, no doubt hearing everything Spike had said. "It's no trouble at all." She slid the plates of muffins closer to Spike and then went about fixing a kettle of tea.
"Still, I have to thank you anyways." I nudged Spike to thank her too.
"Yeah, thanks, Derpy!" Spike was quick to say at my prompting and then went about picking up some muffins to eat.
"You're welcome!" She said with a big smile. "Have as much as you like, I have a lot more in the icebox. I'm used to feeding three around here."
"Okay!" Spike bit into one of the muffins he had in his claws with gusto.
"So, you been doing alright?" I bit into my own muffin with significantly more reservation than Spike had. He was at an age where table manners could take second priority to getting as much good food into his mouth as quickly as possible.
"Well enough," Ditzy said while watching the kettle come to a boil. "It's ... well, it's a bit odd to have the house so quiet, but I know it's only for a little bit."
"It’s normally a lot louder with the kids here?" I asked.
"Not louder per se. Just..." She paused to ponder. "Well, I'm not used to the quiet. It's hard to explain, but when the girls are home, something's always going on—homework, reading, a puzzle, baking or so forth."
"It's more active, you mean?" I guessed.
"Yes, that." She poured some tea for us. "Sorry—it's a little hard to explain."
"I think I understand well enough." Certainly my tower back in Canterlot had been a lot quieter than home had been. At least before Spike had moved in. It had suited me just fine at the time, though. It had meant that I could spend more time studying in peace. Now though...
Ditzy sat next to Spike and sipped at her tea. “On the other hoof, it's nice to have a little time to just ... well, think. ‘Me time’ I guess is what you would call it.”
“Now that I can definitely understand,” I said. “I know I need a lot of time for my studies.”
“I bet you do,” Ditzy said with a nod. “You especially, really—you know what it means to just have a day to yourself to think, or read, or even just have a nap.”
I shifted my cup around. “I guess I am pretty lucky like that.” It was almost unimaginable to me how much having a kid would change my life. I wouldn’t have nearly as much time to study, it would take time away from my friends, and there were a hundred other things to consider where the actual raising of a kid was concerned. To think, Ditzy had that change thrust upon her at such a relatively young age. Right when most ponies were going into college or starting a career, she had a foal she had to concentrate on raising, and that had shaped the entirety of her life. Maybe I would want to have a child someday, but that was a long way off.
Spike grabbed another muffin. “These really are good muffins by the way,” he said, breaking the silence before it could become awkward. He eagerly took another bite. “Delishush!”
“Spike, don’t speak with your mouth full,” I chided him.
Spike finished swallowing his food. “What? They are. I can’t help saying so.”
Ditzy smiled. “Thanks. I think Dinky made this batch, now that I think about it.”
I took a bite of my own blueberry muffin, it was of course every bit as delicious as I remembered Ditzy’s muffins to be. “Mmm, she takes after her mom then.”
“She loves them almost as much as I do,” her smile became one of maternal pride. “And I like to think she's gotten really good at it.” She picked up the last muffin on one of the plates. “Can I get you anything else? I know some ponies want more than just muffins for a snack.” She shook her head. “For some reason I can’t understand.”
Spike swallowed his latest mouthful. “Hey, I’m not complaining about the muffins.”
I finished my muffin, turned to the next thing I wanted to address. “Um, could you point me the way of the bathroom? I just need to use it real quick.” I fixed her with strained smile. It never felt normal to ask somepony else if you could use their home’s bathroom.
Ditzy pointed down one of the hallways. “Down the hall, last door to the right.”
“Thanks, I’ll be back in a bit.” I headed to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. The room was made of the same sturdy materials that most of the house was furnished with. It was clean, thankfully, and had some photos and decorations that brought a warm, homey atmosphere to the place. I took care of my business there and was in the process of cleaning up when I noticed something.
Next to the sink sat a manebrush with a few golden strands of hair within its bristles. I stared at that brush with its inviting golden threads as the gears turned in my head. It occurred to me that I may very well have the opportunity to solve the mystery that had been bothering me for so long—was my brother Dinky Doo’s father? There was a spell called the Heredity Spell that could identify when two ponies were related to one another, and I had taken the effort of learning it after my talk with Fluttershy about Dinky’s potential parentage. If one of these hairs belonged to Dinky then I could use one of my own hairs to see if there was a link or not between us. And what I had here was an opportunity to use it in secret, without any awkward questions or anything else that might clue anypony in on what I suspected.
I carefully picked out some hairs, then hesitated. I didn’t want to think poorly of Shining Armor. He was my big brother, and the idea that he could knock up some poor mare during a college party and not even know he had a daughter seemed so antithetical to him. I nearly put the hairs into the trashcan when I stopped myself. Fluttershy was right; either way, I needed to find the truth.
I plucked out a hair from my mane and then held up one of the hairs from the brush. I could only hope that it belonged to Dinky. That was the issue with this opportunity, considering how similar Dinky’s mane was to Ditzy’s, I couldn’t be completely sure which hairs belong to her. It would just have been too awkward for me to ask Ditzy who used the manebrush considering the situation, and would defeat the point of secretly trying to find the truth. Shame I wasn’t going to get anywhere by not trying.
Taking a moment to breathe in and out and steadying my nerves, I cast the Heredity Spell, trying to find a link between my hair and the hair from the manebrush. Each of the hairs took on a magenta glow and I felt a tug of recognition between them.
A surprised scream nearly escaped my lips before I covered my mouth. There was a DNA match between the hairs. The link hadn’t been as strong as it would have been between a parent and a child or that of siblings, but it had been strong enough to be that of an aunt and a niece.
I fell to my rump. I was an aunt. My brother was a father. My parents were grandparents. A whole new branch of the family had been created in my head with a single spell. My brother had sired a child. He didn’t know, right? He couldn’t have. He would have done something if he knew he was a father. It was only reasonable he would have told me about something as important as being a father.
Just like how Dad would have told me about having affairs and me having a half-sister with another mare...
Or how Mom had given away my sister for adoption...
I lay down on the floor, the room spinning way too fast to be standing. It was only natural to want to lie down when that happened. Everything was fine, which was why I was stroking my tail for comfort. Nothing wrong with wanting to feel comfortable after finding out you had been an aunt for years and hadn’t known about it. And the cool tiles of a bathroom floor were as good for that as anything else.
There was a series of knocks on the bathroom door. “Hey? Twi?” Spike said through the door. “You've been in there for, like, half an hour. You okay?”
“I'm fine!” I assured him, continuing to stroke my tail. “Perfectly fine! I've only been in here for a few minutes.” I would know if it had been in the bathroom for something like half an hour. I was very good at keeping track of time. It couldn't have taken more than a minute to walk to the bathroom, then about five for me to take care of my original business. Then a few minutes’ deliberation on what to do with the hairs on the manebrush, and then a few more minutes thinking about something that should have been impossible. That meant I had only been in the bathroom for about twenty minutes--twenty-five tops. That left at least five minutes before anypony needed to be concerned. Obviously Spike was being overly worried about me.
"If you say so," Spike said, not sounding convinced despite the fact I had ironclad logic about my wellbeing.
"J-just go and eat a couple more muffins, okay." I wasn't quite ready to get off the floor yet due to the world not making perfect logical sense anymore. One needed a consistent base of knowledge in order to do things like standing and walking around.
"Waiiit, I know what's going on." I suppressed a squeak as I heard Spike musing behind the door. Had he guessed one of the reasons I had been so upset recently? I didn't think I had given him any clues, but Spike could pretty observant. I had taught him to be. "Don't tell me you're reorganizing their bathroom. You know ponies don't like it when you reorganize their homes without permission."
My muscles untensed. "Um, how did you know?" I asked, going along with a lie that was better than telling the truth. I really didn't want to have to explain this to Ditzy right now. It was all just too much for me.
"You say that like you've never done it before." I heard him sigh. "I'll go find something to read. But you're the one that is going to have to explain to Derpy why her bathroom had been alphabetized."
"Fine, fine," I grumbled. "I'll be out in a few minutes.” Really, it wasn't like I was in such a panic that I couldn't get up and leave if I really wanted to. I just had very good reasons not to immediately move.
"Yeah, okay," Spike said. "Just don't be forever. I wanna finish the comic I started last night." The sounds of his footsteps walking away worked their way through the door.
Right, everything was fine. I needed to get off the floor in about five minutes or everything would start becoming weird, which would mean something was seriously wrong with me. Obviously it was the world that was wrong and crazy here. Not that the world was going to acknowledge that.
I took a long breath and stood up. Well, the facts were what they were. What I needed to do was figure out exactly what I was going to do now that I knew I was an aunt. Thinking it over, it struck me as best to talk to Shining about this. I could take the next train out of Ponyville and be in Canterlot in a matter of hours. I was in the middle of thinking about the logistics of that plan when I hit a snag; Rainbow still needed me to help with Tornado Day preparations.
Tornado Day was hanging by a thread at the moment. Me quitting or just not showing up could be seen as a sign by others that Tornado Day just wasn't going to happen. It wasn't exactly helped by the fact that I had no idea who, if anypony, from the weather team's management was even going to show up tomorrow. Whoever did show up was going to need my help. There was also the fact that I wasn’t sure if Shining was even in Canterlot at the moment. As Captain of the Royal Guard, his job tended to take him all over Equestria and beyond on business.
No, I needed to do something, like sending a letter telling him I needed to talk to him, or ... something. I still wasn’t sure. My thoughts were branching out in too many directions. I needed time to think and determine the correct course of action, and inside of Ditzy’s bathroom probably wasn’t the best place for that.
I splashed some water onto my face and then dried it off, hoping the cold water would help reinvigorate my thought process. I didn’t want the first thing I did after walking out of the bathroom to be me blurting out that I knew who Dinky’s father was to Ditzy. Specifically, not right in front of Spike. Ugh, I was going to have to explain this to Spike at some point, in addition to Shining, and probably our parents, too. Then that was going to branch out to our friends and other family and—
The world was starting to spin again and I had to shake my head to keep myself on track.
Right, I would excuse myself, and then head back home to write that letter. That sounded workable. At the very least I would have the walk home to think things over.
I headed back towards the kitchen, hearing Ditzy and Spike talk in hushed tones.
“...not allergic to nuts, is she?” Ditzy asked.
“Nah, she's fine.” Spike turned his head to look at me. “Though speaking of nuts...”
“Um, sorry.” I gave them a smile that I tried to make reassuring. “Things took a bit longer than expected.”
“On the bright side, everything in your bathroom is alphabetized now,” Spike said sarcastically.
“It's okay.” Ditzy’s head tilted as she gave me a concerned look. “Are you sure you're feeling okay? You look a little out of it.”
“Yes, I'm perfectly fine,” I was quick to say, maybe too quick. “Nothing earth-shattering has happened at all.”
Spike crossed his arms as he frowned. “You sure? 'Cause you don't look fine. You’re kinda a bit pale.”
“You look like you've seen a ghost,” Ditzy agreed. “I heard there was something going around in Cloudsdale. It might have gotten to Ponyville by now.” Her head dipped and she spoke more softly. “Though if it was one of the muffins that made you sick, please tell me. I’ll just throw them out and watch Dinky a little more carefully next time she makes another batch.”
“Nonono!” I waved a hoof in negative. “I’m just... I think I need to go home and lie down for a bit. It’s been a long day.”
“You can crash on the couch or in one of the girls’ beds if you want.” Ditzy motioned at the living room couch. I got the feeling that her maternal instincts were kicking in, especially without her daughters around to nurture. “It wouldn’t be a problem, trust me.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. It’s just ... have a lot on my mind right now.”
Ditzy frowned. “No, it's okay. I should probably go check on Rainbow and Cloud before too much longer anyways. I'll pack some muffins for you to take home if you give me a few secs.”
“Oh, you really don't have to,” I said.
“I'll take them!” Spike was quick to say, not losing the opportunity for free muffins.
Ditzy chuckled and loaded a paper bag with muffins. “Believe me, I have plenty to spare.”
Spike happily took the bag. “Thanks, Derpy!”
“Any time.” Ditzy trotted to the front door and opened it. “Feel better soon, okay?”
“I'll try, promise.” I picked up our things, letting Spike walk beside me.
Ditzy closed the door after we all exited and took flight to look for Rainbow and Cloud. Best of luck to her there. Maybe after some time to cool off she could talk some sense into Rainbow, or failing at that, give Cloud some support she probably needed right now.
I had other things to think about at the moment. A lot of things. Thus I started towards the Golden Oaks Library with Spike in tow. When we got home, Spike rested a hand on my shoulder. “Twi? Need me to do anything?”
It took me a second to pull myself out of my internal thoughts and recognize the question. “N-no, no, you're fine, Spike.”
“Okay.” He wrung his claws. “Um ... I guess I'll just ... be quiet then.”
I sighed and hugged him. “You’re fine, okay?”
Spike hugged me back. “Are you?”
It took me a couple of seconds to respond. “I need some time to think. Something came up that’s bugging me.”
He broke the hug so that he could look me in the face. “You know you can talk to me about stuff, right?”
“Of course,” I said without hesitation. “But ... sometimes you have something come up that you feel you need to talk about with somepony before you talk about it with everypony else. There are issues so important that you can’t just go around gabbing about it with everypony. Am I making any sense here?”
Spike stared at me before making a reserved nod. “Yeah, kinda.”
I nuzzled him. “I’ll explain everything when the time is right. But right now, I’m going to write a letter.”
“Aren’t you going to lie down for a while, like you told Derpy?” Spike asked.
I shook my head. “First I need to write my letter.” Whatever I was going to write in it. “Can I have some peace and quiet?”
“Sure, if that’s what you really want.” Spike glanced about the library, not looking at anything specific. “I guess, I’ll stay down here then.”
“Thank, Spike.” I gave him another quick nuzzle. “And thanks for being here for me. It means a lot, really.”
That brought a smile to his face. “Sure thing! You know you can count on me.”
And that I really did know. I had the best assistant in the world, and an even better friend.
This letter was proving impossible.
The trashcan next to my desk was nearly buried by crumpled up sheets of paper. Dozens of failures sitting there on the floor, mocking me. I rubbed at my eyes and tossed another letter I was unhappy with onto the pile. I had been at this for what felt like an eternity. How in the world do you write a letter for a subject like telling your brother that he had a daughter he didn’t even know about? I tried writing letters logically telling him everything I knew about the situation, but in the end it hadn’t seemed right to tell him he was a father in a letter. That struck me as something you should hear in person.
Then I had tried letters asking him to come to Ponyville as soon as possible—shame those letters made me worry that I was going to panic my sometimes overly protective brother and send him running to Ponyville. Next I had tried more letters asking him when would be a good time to visit him and talk about something important. None of them felt natural for what I wanted to talk to him about. None of it felt right. I had even started a few letters to my parents, trying to take a different approach to the problem, but tossed them to the side too.
I planted my face onto my desk and groaned.
“Hello, Twilight,” somepony suddenly said from behind me.
“Aaah!” I jerked so quickly to my hooves that I nearly fell on my face. My rear legs had fallen asleep during my marathon-letter-writing-failure epic and were not nearly ready for the sudden activity. I fell against my desk, knocking half of the items off its surface.
“Oh, I'm sorry!” Fluttershy helped brace me while I caught my bearings. “I didn’t mean to startle you!”
“F-Fluttershy!” I breathed to try and get my heartrate under control. I had been so absorbed in my writing that I hadn’t even heard her coming up behind me. “I-I wasn't expecting you.” Or anypony for that matter. “Not after, well, what happened earlier today.”
Fluttershy turned her gaze away from mine. “Yeah, um, could we just not talk about that?”
“I was worried about you,” I said without thinking.
“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy, sounding ashamed. “It’s just... everypony started laughing and... I don’t want to talk about it. Could we not, please?”
“Okay.” It seemed that Fluttershy’s performance with the anemometer was still bothering her. Mix a pony like Fluttershy, who was already self-conscious about her flying, and a public scenario where all eyes are on her, and it probably wasn’t a recipe for success. My own nerves were still feeling shot, so I didn’t particularly want to push her at this moment. I was more curious what had brought her to the library.
Fluttershy’s eyes glanced over me as she helped hold me in place. “Is ... is everything alright?”
“Y-yes, fine, everything is fine.” I cleared my throat. “Why wouldn't it be?” The overflowing pile of paper made me feel very conscious about how this must look. I could get rid of the mess a number of ways, but that would have made me look all the more guilty.
“You don't look fine.”
I groaned and rubbed my face. “It's been a long day.”
Fluttershy gently lowered me back to my seat by the desk. “Would you like to talk about it?”
“No, yes, maybe?” Now it was my turn to fail to meet her gaze. “Because it... I don't know.”
Fluttershy gave me one of those sweet smiles of hers that always made me feel better. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
My first instinct was to say no, I mean how could anypony really help me with something like this? And not like it would be right to dump something this big on them. But then I realized that I had already spoken to Fluttershy about Dinky’s parentage. If I couldn’t talk about it with her, then who could I talk to it about? Fluttershy was always a kind ear, she was here, and it felt like I was going to explode if I didn’t do something constructive.
“You know that one thing we talked about dealing with Dinky?” I asked, easing into the subject.
“Yes?” Fluttershy carefully hedged.
I stared down at the floor. “M-my brother is D-Dinky's father.”
She put her hooves over her mouth. “Oh ... oh my goodness.”
“Yeah.” My ears fell flat against my head. “I-I've been trying to write a letter to him, but ... how do you explain something like this?!”
“I ... I don't know,” Fluttershy admitted, sounding as beaten as I felt.
I covered my face with my hooves. “Neither do I.”
“I'm sorry, this isn't a good time for you.” She moved towards the stairs. “I should ... go. This isn’t a good time.”
I raised a hoof for her to stop. “No! Wait! Why did you come?” She must have had a reason for wanting to see me. It would kill me to turn a friend away right now. Besides, whatever problems she must be going through had to be easier than what I was currently dealing with.
“I ... there was something I was hoping you could help me with, but...” Fluttershy trailed off, losing her confidence.
“Go ahead, I’m listening,” I said, trying to encourage her along. Now I was in familiar territory.
After swallowing nervously, she finally said, “I was hoping you wouldn't mind checking up on Cloud.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Cloud?” Fluttershy asking me to check up on Cloud wasn’t something I had expected. Considering whatever history the two of them had. Ditzy or Blossomforth I could see asking me to make sure Cloud was alright at a time like this, but not Fluttershy.
“Yes,” she said, as though getting every word out was a struggle in of itself. “It's ... Rainbow's hurt, and...”
“Wait, Rainbow's hurt?!” I stood back up.
Fluttershy nodded, a nervous frown creasing her face. “Yes, she ... um ... her eye... It's ... an old injury that crops up.”
“I didn't know about that.” Not that Rainbow was the type to talk about any kind of injury she had suffered. Not unless it was the type she could brag about how she had shaken it off. “We should go see her.”
“Um ... I don't think that would be ... I...” She gritted her teeth and blurted out. “It's my fault! She came to see me after I ran away, and then she said she fired Cloud, and that made me really angry.” She sniffled. “We g-got into an argument, and... Then she flew off despite being hurt, and it's ... it's ... I don't want to talk about it.” Her shoulders sagged and her ears wilted. “She’s at the hospital.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Fluttershy wrung her hooves. “Please, I don’t want to talk about it. Could we not?”
“We should go see Rainbow,” I insisted. “She needs her friends right now.”
“I-I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Fluttershy’s gaze stared at the floor. “She’s r-really mad right now. I don’t think she wants to talk to either of us right now. Not after...” She hugged herself. “Just ... could you please check on Cloud for me? Please? She needs somepony right now. M-maybe you can t-try and talk to Rainbow tomorrow once she’s had some time to cool down.”
I had to take some time to think this one over. Rainbow was hurt, and at the hospital. My first instinct was to go to her. The problem with that plan was that if she had suffered some sort of eye injury then the hospital staff were probably going to busy with her for quite a while. That would make it difficult for me to see her for some time. Then there was the fact that I probably wasn’t one of Rainbow’s favorite ponies right now. Not after I had threatened to quit helping her after she fired Cloud. If she got into a heated argument with Fluttershy of all ponies, then her temper must really have been up.
I wanted to press Fluttershy to find out what happened, but she looked like she was about to flee at any moment. Pushing her too hard was probably going to make her run away. It added to my frustration, but I didn’t know what I could do with Fluttershy to find out what I wanted to know. Maybe I could at least see Rainbow tomorrow after Tornado Day preparations? It seemed worth a shot.
Starting to get a grip with the information I had been given, I asked, “So why did you want me to check up on Cloud. I mean, you’re about one of the last ponies I would expect to ask this of me.” At least with Cloud I might be able to do some good, so might as well concentrate on that.
“I, well, you see...” Fluttershy’s cheeks took on a crimson hue and the rest of her words became an unintelligible mumble.
“What's the matter?” I asked. “You know you can talk to me about anything. Is it because of how Cloud is? Trust me, I can understand that.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s ... Cloud's ... we were very close in Flight camp.”
I tilted my head, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “Like friends? You two? That’s something I never saw.”
“It's...” Fluttershy’s blushing intensified to something like the shade of a tomato and her words once again became an unintelligible mumble.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen Fluttershy this flustered. It didn’t seem right that she would be like this only from being friends with Cloud Kicker years ago. No, it would have to be something else. Something like...
And that’s when several pieces of the puzzle fell in place. “Wait.” I blinked a few times as several clues came together and I started to see the picture. “Were you and Cloud—?”
Fluttershy interrupted me before I could finish. “Ihavetogo!” She turned and ran for the stairs.
"No, wait!" I held up a hoof. "Don't go!" Fluttershy halted at the top of the stairs, her every moment a nervous twitch. "Please, we can talk about this. You know I just want to help."
"I've already said too much." She trembled like a leaf as she spoke, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry. Please don't hate me or be mad but I really, really, really have to go!"
"Why are you so scared?" I slowly and carefully approached her. "Does this involve Cloud? Or what happened today? Please, I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is."
"Y-yes," she said with great reluctance. "It's ... It's about things that happened back in Flight Camp. Mistakes I made."
I gently placed a hoof on her shoulder. "You want to talk about what happened?"
She flinched from my touch, making me feel like I had stuck her with a hot poker. "I shouldn't have said anything." Tears welled up in her eyes. "You can't help unless you change the past."
I looked down at the floor. "I can't do that." I couldn't use time magic to keep myself from worrying, much less anything more important.
"Then ... I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do." She backed down a few steps. "Please, I'm begging you, just go see Cloud and make sure she's alright. Blossomforth and Derpy were with her, but it ... it didn’t go well and I really want some pony with Cloud right now to make sure she's alright. And you know her, and you're really nice and..."
"Okay, okay." I rose my hooves to reassure her and try and make sure she didn't do something like trip and fall down the stairs. There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but all it seemed they would do was work Fluttershy into more of a panic, and without giving me any useful information. “I’ll go see Cloud soon, promise.”
"Thank you, Twilight. Just .. it means a lot to me." She wrapped me in a hug, and I could feel her trembling as her body touched mine. "Thank you. This means so much to me." I hugged her back. Her silk coat and mane felt nice. It made me yearn for what could have been. When she broke the hug, the absence of her touch made me desire it all the more. “I really need to go, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said, my heart not really into the goodbye. “Will you be coming to Tornado Duty tomorrow? I know it would mean a lot to Rainbow Dash.”
“Oh...” Her face turned away from mine again. “I ... I guess I could try. Maybe. A little.”
In other words, it wasn’t likely.
“Please try, at least.” I sighed. “I guess I better let you leave then.”
“Yes, I really need to go.” She started to turn to go down the stairs but stopped herself. “Um, thank you for going to see Cloud, it really means a lot to me.”
“Of course. What type of friend would I be if I wasn’t willing to help you out?”
After Fluttershy left, I took a little bit of time to clean up, apply some fresh makeup, and get a little bit of food and plenty of caffeine into me. That certainly helped to make me feel normal. I didn’t need to be going to Cloud Kicker’s house looking like a mess.
It was late evening when I arrived at her home and knocked at her door. Cloud opened the door, a cider bottle in her hoof. It seemed that Cloud had taken the response many ponies took to being fired, and had taken to drinking something with a bit of bite to it.
She blinked in surprise when she saw me. “Er ... hey.”
I gave her the best smile I could put on considering the situation. “Hi, Cloud. Um, I was kinda wanting to check up on you after...” I made a vague motion with my hoof. It suddenly didn’t seem like the smartest idea to bring up her being fired right out the gate. “Everything, I guess.”
Cloud sighed and nodded. “Come on in, I guess.” She kicked the door the rest of the way open for me. “Want a cider?”
“Oh, you really don't have to.” I walked inside and took a glance around the living room. The place didn’t look like a mess, and there weren’t a half dozen empty cider bottles lying around, so Cloud hadn’t fallen completely apart over the last few hours at least.
“Drinking with friends means I'm fun and sociable. Drinking alone is just sad and depressing.” She trotted to the kitchen and I heard her rustling around in the fridge.
“I guess one wouldn't be a problem.” I was here to help make Cloud feel better, after all. “It has been one of those days.”
Cloud made a humorless chuckle. “No kidding.” She walked back over to me and offered a cider. I took it from her and the two of us sat down on her living room couch.
I pulled the cap off the bottle. “I'm not sure we really want to compare days at this juncture.”
Cloud knocked back her cider for one healthy swig. “I got fired, my best friend put herself in the hospital because she's never forgiven herself for something that happened when we were kids, and my other best friend got into a fight with my fillyfriend in the middle of said hospital.”
It took me a few moments to respond to that full broadside of awfulness. “Okay, that is pretty bad all around. But what happened with Rainbow? Fluttershy mentioned that she got hurt somehow, but I couldn’t get any details out of her.”
Cloud’s ears drooped. “Dash came by sometime after I came home. She tried to give me a half-flanked apology for firing me. I wasn’t having it, and that ticked her off. So the two of us got into a fight.” She fiddled with her bottle. “It aggravated an old eye injury of hers, and we had to rush her to the hospital to get treated.” Tipping back the bottle, she took a swig of it. “Could we not talk about it? It’s still sore.”
I nodded. The fact that Rainbow might have aggravated an injury I hadn’t even been aware of worried me. When had she gotten injured? I badly wanted to see her and give her some kind of comfort if I could. “I think I can understand that. Do you, um, think Rainbow would want to see me, first? I can come back a bit later to make sure she’s alright.”
Cloud shrugged. “Knowing her, I’d recommend giving her a bit more time to cool off. She was really worked up, and if you’re one of the ponies she’s mad about, it’d be best to back off for a bit to let her get her head together.”
“I guess you’re right.” I couldn’t find any major faults with her logic. I just wanted to do something to make everything better. Though that was why I was here with Cloud to start with, now wasn’t it?
Seeing that Cloud had told me about everything that had gone wrong with her day, I lept into a torrent of things that went wrong during my day. “For myself, I got into a fight with one of my best friends over said firing, had to pick up the pieces of all the arguments almost by myself without any management when I'm just a volunteer, got the anemometer broken... somehow when Derpy touched it, and then I found out my brother has a daughter he never knew about.”
Cloud blinked in shock. “Er ... come again?”
My jaw dropped when I realized what I had just blurted out without thinking. I groaned and applied my hoof to my face. This conversation was starting out just great. “Um, oops? It really has been a long day. Mind not mentioning that to anypony? Please?”
“Right,” Cloud seemed more than happy to say. She ran her hoof across her lips. “My lips are sealed.”
“Thanks. I think I got a bit caught up there.” I took a long swig of cider and then immediately regretted it when the burning sensation in my throat caused me to start coughing.
“Little harder than you're used to?” she asked.
I cleared my throat. “Considering I normally don't drink anything harder than watered down wine?”
“Well, now's the time for it.” Cloud let out a long groan and leaned back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “I just wanna drink a little, then go find some reasonably attractive pony and screw their brains out.”
I couldn’t help but grin and shake my head in amusement. “A life of simple pleasures, egh?”
She shrugged. “It has its virtues.”
“I guess I can see that,” I said. “I know I want to curl up with a good book right about now.” I sighed. “Yeah, a nice good book, something nice to read, preferably next to a nice fire and a hot quilt.”
“That's not the worst idea I've ever heard.” Cloud grinned. “But I think I'll take the mindless sex anyway.”
I snorted. “And I'll take my books, if it’s all the same. Books have never done me wrong. Except for the odd really bad book, anyways. I've read a few stinkers over the years, now that I think about it.”
“Kind of inevitable when you read all the time.” She took a swig of her drink. “I know I've had some bad bed partners.”
“If you pick a large enough sampling...” I shrugged and sipped more carefully.
“So ... what's your bad day stress relief book?” Cloud asked to make conversation.
I rubbed my chin. “Hm, the Daring Doo books are always a good pick. They're always fun, even if I have read them about a hundred times now.” It probably said something when I have had to replace most of my Daring Doo books a couple of times now. Though as a kid I had been pretty distraught over my parents insisting that it was time to get a replacement book, even if the book’s pages were falling out and the cover was all but gone.
“Oh yes, I always liked them.” Cloud let out a hearty chuckle. “And if you ask Rainbow, anypony who doesn’t is just wrong.”
I laughed too. “Exactly.” The two of us clinked our bottles together.
We sat there in silence, just enjoying one another's company and sipping at our drinks. It was one of those nice and cozy moments that could only happen naturally.
“Thanks for coming over.” Cloud smiled appreciatively. “It means a lot to me. Really.”
“Not a problem,” I reassured her. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. Especially after Fluttershy asked me to.”
She blinked and tilted her head. “Fluttershy asked you to?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, though she was really nervous about it. Like she was about to jump out of her own skin just asking me to see you. It was weird to say the least. The only other time I can think of when she was that nervous was when we were about to face a dragon.”
Cloud stared at me wordlessly. I could tell the wheels in her head were moving, but not what she was thinking about. “Huh.”
I prodded her a bit more, wanting to figure out what was going on between her and Fluttershy. “So, you two were...” I searched for the right word, considering how sensitive the topic was. “Friends, once?”
Cloud spoke with barely more than a whisper. "Yeah. A long time ago."
"Is that why you two are so weird around each other?" A realization stuck me. "I mean, you haven't struck me as the type to keep things ... casual we'll say."
That could explain a lot. Cloud didn't have very many friends that I had seen that she hadn't had carnal relations with, and she had certainly put some moves on me in the past. Even her casual interactions tended to have a sexual undertone to them. But that could easily lead to problems with very shy ponies like Fluttershy. Considering we were probably talking about a younger and less experienced Cloud here, I could easily see a scenario where Cloud might have pushed Fluttershy too hard with her teasings or with more carnal advances. The types of things that could have led to major instances of miscommunication and incidents that could cause the end of a friendship. This would also help explain Rainbow's recent behavior. She had always been very protective of Fluttershy, and if Cloud had done something that really upset Fluttershy...
Before I could go any further down that train of thought, Cloud stood up from the couch and made her way towards the kitchen. "I'm not nearly drunk enough to talk about what happened with me and Eepy."
"Sorry, sorry!" Now I felt like a heel for bringing up the topic. Of course it would be a sore topic with Cloud if she had done something to gravely upset Fluttershy. Especially if it had been enough to end her friendship with Fluttershy. I know it would devastate me if I did something like that with any of my friends. "I didn't mean to make things worse. Promise.”
Cloud opened the fridge. "I know." She pulled another cider out of the fridge. "But ... could we talk about something that isn't Eepy?"
"Yes, of course," I quickly agreed. "So, um, what would you like to talk about?"
Cloud sat back down on the couch and shrugged. "I dunno."
I let out an annoyed huff. "Well, isn't this attempt to make you feel better just working brilliantly?"
The smile returns to Cloud's face and she chuckled. "Hey, I appreciate the effort. Just having you show up means something. The sincerity means a lot. It's cute even."
That reassurance made me feel a little better about coming here. "I've done that much right, at least. Showed up as a warm body."
"Yeah." She opened and took a drink of her new cider. "Now I guess it's time for me to get on finding the attractive pony for mindless casual sex."
I snorted, feeling like teasing with Cloud a little bit. "What, I'm not attractive enough to even be considered for mindless casual sex?"
"Nah," she said in an equally teasing tone. "You're way too special for me to just turn on my charms and have a good bang with. At the very least, I would need to give you a nice date and a good time before that. Plus, I promised not to take things too far with you. So a casual stress relief bang is out of the question."
“Thanks for that.” I finished off my cider. “Not that you would convince me to sleep with you anyways.”
A big grin worked its way onto Cloud’s face at the challenge. “Oh, I think I could manage it if I really wanted to. My charms are absolutely irresistible.”
“So you keep bragging about.” I gave her a teasing poke to the chest. “Not that I'm sure I see this oh-so high and mighty irresistible charm.”
“Oh, I haven't used it on you yet.” Cloud buffed her hoof on her chest.
A sense of curiosity of the forbidden came over me. “Dare I ask you to try?”
“Only if you're prepared for the consequences.”
“Would it at least make you feel better? That is why I am here, after all.” I shrugged. “What's the harm in it?”
Cloud rubbed her chin. “You know, some casual flirting sounds fun.” She rolled her head and shoulders, as though getting ready for some strenuous exercise. “And you asked for it.”
“So I did—” Something caught in my throat as Cloud gave me a look. Her eyes were half lidded and she scooted a bit closer to me on the couch, all while wearing a pleased smile that offered many, very explicit, promises.
“So...” She wrapped a wing around me with a gentle assurance.
I swallowed. “So?”
“So.” Cloud’s grin became all the more confident, and I couldn’t help but notice that her lips weren’t that far from my own.
My cheeks started to burn and my brain seized up as her eyes stared into mine. “Right, so.”
“So.” The tip of her hoof touched the top of my chest before slowly, sensually sliding down. “Why don't we get a little more cozy?”
“Um, sure.” A nervous smile working its way to my lips. “What did you have in mind?”
“Why do you ask a question when you already know the answer?” She nuzzled me. “You know...” Her eyes looked over my body, and I felt naked under her gaze. More naked, that is. “I can't help but notice that you're pretty attractive...”
I felt as my blushing intensified and I broke eye contact. “You've m-mentioned it once or twice before.”
“I’m mentioning it again now.”
“W-well, you're not bad looking either.” Complimenting her back seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. That’s what ponies did in a situation like this, right? “I think I might have mentioned that. Once. At some point. It’s a bit hard to remember for some reason.”
Cloud gently stroked my cheek. “Twilight Sparkle, you're a beautiful, beautiful mare. And I don't just mean physically, though you've definitely got looks. Your mind is at least as impressive as your body. Probably more. And more important than both...” She gently placed a hoof over my heart.
I squirmed in my seat as embarrassment fell over me. Nopony had ever spoken to me like this. Not with these tones and undercurrents. “You're too kind, really. I'm just like everypony else. Just trying to do the right thing where I can.”
“No. You're more than that,” she said, sincerity in her voice. “You're somepony special. Warm, loving, and giving. And I mean that.”
“Oh, some of my friends are better at those types of things than I am,” I said. “Fluttershy is much kinder and loving than I am. And Rarity more generous.”
“Maybe.” Cloud gave me a loving nuzzle. “But your friends aren't the ones I'm with right now.” She kissed me softly on the cheek. “Just you. And. Me.”
“Mhm.” I wrapped my forelegs around Cloud’s waist.
Cloud made a pleased grin. “Comfy?”
The realization about what I had just done made my voice crack when I spoke. “Maybe just a bit.”
Cloud wrapped her wings closer around us. “Now now, don't be shy.”
“It's haaard.” A giggle escaped my throat. “This is so silly. I feel silly.”
“First rule. Don't feel silly.” Cloud straightened herself and shot me an assured smile. “Feel confident.”
“Easy for you to say.” I poked her chest. “You’ve done all of this before.”
“It's easy for you to do, too,” Cloud said. “Know why?”
I shook my head. “Can't say I do.”
She brought me into a comforting hug. “Because right now I won't reject you. No matter what you do.”
“T-that's really nice of you.” It took me some time to really register what those words meant and then I relaxed. I felt reassurance knowing that I wouldn’t screw this up so badly that I would have to run away from here. This didn’t have to be anything like what happened with Fluttershy or Princess Celestia. “I mean... I don't have a clue what I'm doing right now. Which is odd for me, considering I usually go into most situations with some sort of plans. Graphs, charts, multisteps plans. It makes me a lot more confident about what I’m going to do.”
She ran a hoof through my mane. “Well, maybe you need more data first.”
“More data is always good,” I said. “What did you have in mind?”
Cloud shook her head. “It's not about what I have in mind. It's about what you want to do. With me. For instance ... would you like to kiss me?”
“I-It might be nice. To try, that is,” I said, not feeling fully confident. But you don’t learn anything without some experiments. “I guess there isn't any harm is just trying it. I've never really kissed anypony like that before.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not that hard, and I’m here to show you.” Cloud gave me a few seconds to settle myself. “So...” She leaned forward, her lips pursed.
“So, I just...” I leaned in and our lips met. It was ... pleasant. We held that pose for a while before I broke the kiss. It wasn’t any kind of revolutionary moment, but it still made me blush as I thought about it.
Cloud smiled warmly. “You're a natural.”
“Really?” I asked. “I feel like I'm stumbling through the dark here.”
“Everypony does their first time.” Her hoof ran along my cheek, making me feel a bit better with the touch. “Confidence is all about experience, after all.”
“That is true.” I nuzzled her, enjoying the physical sensation of the gesture. “Things are always the hardest the first time.”
Cloud nuzzed me back. “Mmm. So ... what do you think of the Cloud Kicker charm so far?”
I giggled, the mirth the kissed cause making it impossible for me not to. “Okay, it's pretty nice. You win.”
She grinned. “Told you.”
“Yep, and you got a kiss out of me.” I prodded her in the chest.
“A very good kiss, too.”
"I can see why ponies like doing it," I said.
"'Cause it feels great?" she asked in a way that said she already knew the answer.
I nodded. "Yeah, if a bit embarrassing." When she gave me a confused look I continued. "This kind of stuff is so... intimate I guess is the word."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Cloud said.
"Not bad, just..." I considered my words. "I'm not used to it, I think. I'm not sure how to describe it. It makes you have to put yourself out there, I guess." I shrugged and laid my head on her shoulder. "Still, I liked the kissing, and it's pretty nice being held like this."
Cloud laid her head on mine, making me feel relaxed in her embrace. "And nice to have somepony to hold."
"And what do you think about this?" I pecked her on the lips.
She pecked me back and smiled. "Oh, I'm definitely enjoying that."
"I guess I'm a bit curious about ... things." I had come this far. Why not see what else I could experience? Especially when I was kind of enjoying it.
Cloud chuckled. "Well, I can help you learn."
"I do like learning and you're more experienced at these type of things then I am." I met her lips in a slow kiss.
Cloud closed her eyes as she slowly returned that kiss. "And you're a fast learner. I could see some real advantages to all that brainpower of yours."
"You have your own positive features too." I drew a circle on her chest with a hoof. "You're physically attractive, having a nice shape and a soft feeling coat. Then you're nice but also brave and caring. And you can be pretty funny, once a pony acclimates to your type of humor."
Cloud grinned and puffed her chest out like I was inflating her with my compliments. "Go on..."
"And you've got a pretty nice butt." I let out a squeak as I realized what I had let myself say. It seemed I was really getting into this.
"Thanks." Cloud craned her head to get a look at my rear. "Yours is pretty good too."
"Really?" A new wave of embarrassment washed over me. "I never really thought about it."
"Well, I'm a certified butt inspector," she said with a grin. "So I can officially say that yours is nice."
I snorted amusedly. Cloud wasn't exactly original in the content of her humor, but it was amusing enough. "If you're an official inspector, who am I to gainsay you?”
"Exactly!" She gave me another peck on the lips.
I nuzzled her. “So, what's after kissing oh experienced master of the carnal arts.”
To my surprise, Cloud actually backed off a little bit from me. “Aren’t we getting a little too into this?”
“Huh?” I blinked a few time, not understanding what was happening. Had I done something wrong? I wasn’t doing something unattractive, as I? “What do you mean?”
Cloud withdrew her wings from the hug. “We might be moving this a bit fast. Look, we're both feeling pent up, needy and slightly drunk.”
“And that's a bad thing?” I shook my head. “I mean the last thing is obvious, though I've only had a single bottle. But the first two things?” Sure, I was a bit of a lightweight where drinking was concerned, but not that lightweight. At least I hoped so...
She sighed and broke contact with me. “Goes back to those rules of mine. I don't want either one of us waking up in the morning and thinking we made a huge mistake.”
My ears wilted. “Oh...” I scooted down the couch from her. It felt as though my heart were being clutched by something. “Sorry, I just... It's... sorry. It's my fault. I didn't mean to. I don't know what I'm thinking.” What was I thinking? I didn’t even know anymore. I thought the two of us were having a bit of fun, but now I felt like I had done something fundamentally wrong.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Cloud tried to assure me. “I should have been a bit more careful about launching a full broadside with my charms.”
My eyes started stinging and sobs racked my chest. I was making a mess of everything. Again. Even Cloud Kicker didn’t want me. Cloud Kicker! What did it say about me when I couldn’t convince her to sleep with me? That had to be a new low for me.
“Hey, heeey.” She drew me into a hug and rocked me gently. “You're okay.”
“No I’m not.” Tears streamed down my cheeks as I sobbed into her chest. “I'm being stupid. C-can't even get you to want to—to want to...” My chest heaved. “Even you don't want to g-get involved with me. Every time I screw it up. Has to be my f-fault when you think I w-would be a m-mistake.”
“Whoa! Not true at all!” Cloud squeezed me, holding me close to her chest. “I did not say that you would be a mistake! I just meant that us doing it right now would be a mistake. You're obviously going through some issues right now, and it would be wrong of me to take advantage of that.” She stroked my mane as I whimpered and leaned against her, feeling pathetic while doing so. “You’re something really special, you know that? You’re about the last pony I would want to screw things up with. You’re too good for me to do that with.”
“O-okay,” I managed to get out through the tightness in my throat.
Cloud continued to hold me as I cried myself out. “Hey, I'm here, Twilight. I'm right here.”
I rubbed at my eyes. “Sorry, t-this isn't what you n-needed right now. I was supposed to make you feel better, and now I'm crying all over the place. Making a mess of everything.”
Cloud gently wiped away my tears. “You know, it actually does help in a weird way.”
“Huh? How?”
She chuckled and her smile returned to her face. “As long as I'm trying to help you with your problems, I'm not worrying about mine. That’s something at least.”
I found her chuckle infectious. “That is true. Nothing like somepony else's problems to take your mind off of yours.”
“Exactly.” Cloud pecked my cheek. “Feeling any better now?”
I nodded. “Yeah, a little. I think I got it out of my system.” I sniffed and finished getting the tears out of my eyes. “I'm feeling a little bit silly now.”
“Glad to hear it.” Cloud gave my nose a poke. “You were being a little silly.”
“Maybe just a little.” I ran my hoof down my face. “You're right, it has been too rough of a day to make a crazy and far reaching decision like this. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Cloud raised a hoof in a reassuring gesture. “We all have bad days, so trust me, I understand where you’re coming from.” She hummed contemplatively to herself. “Lemme propose something to you. You've heard of the three date rule, right?”
“I've read about it, yeah.” It certainly came up often enough in some of the fiction I had read.
“I'll make you a deal,” Cloud said. “If after the first practice date, you wanna go on two more and still like me pretty well by the end of the third date ... and I like you...”
“Then...” I made a circular motion with a hoof. “Things might happen? At least if we want them to.”
Cloud nodded. “Exactly. No pressure. We’re both responsible adults, and can make whatever decision we want to once we reach that point.” She grinned. “Trust me, while it would be great to make out with a mare as great as you, I can completely understand if you decide to turn down a good bang when it’s all said and done. I want this to be the right decision for you, not something you’re pressured into.”
“I think I can work with that,” I said.
“Cool.”
I let out a long, tired sigh. “So maybe we should pick that up later then? Things got a bit awkward here, and you seem to be doing a bit better now, unless I'm wrong.”
“Yeah, I am,” Cloud said. “So ... I guess I'll see you at tornado duty tomorrow?”
I nodded. “I am. Are you? It would be nice to know I'm not going to show up tomorrow alone.”
Cloud helped me up from the couch. “I promise I'll be there.”
“That makes me feel better to know.” I walked to the door and stopped. “I guess I'll get going then. Thanks for the drink, and it's good to see you're doing better, really. I'm happy we can be friends.”
“Me too.” She gave me a lecherous grin. “And thanks for the hot makeout session.”
I rolled my eyes in an exaggerated manner. “Glad I could help you in some small way. And I suppose there’s no harm in getting a little something for the road...” I gave her a quick peck on the lips.
Cloud returned the gesture. “Now that I could get used to.”
“It's a date then.” I opened the door and walked out, and deciding to see what would happen, moved my hips in what I hoped were interesting ways as I went. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” Cloud said absently, most of her attention on things that wasn’t what I was saying.
I smiled. “Glad we could have this talk.” I closed the door behind me.
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Well this chapter was full of surprises, pleasant and otherwise
For some reason this just seems to be appropriate.
He's right you know.
Indeed, unless you have ANOTHER male relative you know nothing about.
Startled by Fluttershy, what is the world coming to?
This line amuses me.
With all the cheating going on in Twilight's family, plus the Shining Armor situation, I would love to see Twilight renounce her family name and be adopted into the Doo Clan. I mean, they already have two members of her blood there, assuming Sparkler is Amethyst.
I can see it now. Some big wig party at the palace, Twilight doing some big shame lecture on her family sans Shining, assuming he makes up with Ditzy and Dinky, and finishing it off with announcing her renouncement of her family name and being officially adopted into the Doo Clan. All in the name of brining family values back to Canterlot.
Of course this almost certainly won't happen, considering that would override some Winning lore.
Oh dear. Cloud Kicker, you SLUT
You damn near wrecked your relationship w Derpy by cheating w Blossom You no sooner fix that then you're hitting on Twilight?! 
You're response to finding out you're pregnant is to get drunk & hit on someone? Granted, on a Bad Day Scale yours has been at least a 7 (no one died or was permanently injured) but still. Being faithful just isn't in you, is it? 
...and just when it was getting interesting, too. Oh, well.
If I weren't shipping Twilight so hard with Cloud's cousin I'd say throw a third (maybe fourth) into Cloud Kicker's love boat!
I do like how Twilight's test leaves things still up in the air as to Dinky's parentage. She apparently has at least identified that a relative of hers has used that hairbrush... But was it her niece, or her sister given up for adoption? You would think that she would notice if one of the hairs she tested wasn't blonde, but then when she's picking it up in her magenta-tinged Magic...
So the big night arrived and passed without a bang! At least on Twilight's end... We know that CK gets busy before Tornado Duty resumes. You certainly kept us guessing right up until the very end... And now there's a three date extension on the will-they-or-won't-they. It seems odd for Cloud to be approaching things that way with Twilight. The possibility of picking up another serious relationship seems dangerously high, and frankly she has way too many going on as it is. It seems very awkward for Twilight too if she catches on to the romantic entanglements that her friends Derpy, Blossomforth and Fluttershy already have going on with Cloud. Telling any of them that she's going on dates with the pony they love might not go well and leave her feeling like the worst member of her family.
Boy, stuff did happen. I was a little worried when she showed up to Cloud's house and got drunk, since it would be like an upset and drunk Twilight to make an impulse decision she would actually be uncomfortable with. I'm glad it didn't get that far, though.
Also, am I reading too much into the last four chapter titles having Storm in them? I get that it's in reference to Tornado Duty...but...
Nah, Blueblood's the father, and he's her cousin, which is why the DNA wasn't as close a match.
6582868 That doesn't work here, since they don't have heaven. Or angels. And 1/3rd of them can fly, and thus fall...
Should be more like:
derpicdn.net/img/2013/4/30/312035/full.png
Edit: Oh and PS..
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/6/17/655821__safe_oc_comic_spike_big+macintosh_carrot+cake_artist-colon-edowaado_bad+pickup+line+spike_spike%27s+witty+pickup+lines.png
6583149 Like Blueblood would sully his royal body with someone that isn't an unicorn of highest rank. :D
6583381
Not that we know of. We've seen hints that they have religion in canon. The priest presiding over a funeral wearing the catholic collar-thingy, all the call-outs to Celestia which are just replacing a line with God in it with 'Celestia', usually by Rarity...
The 'mantles', as they were referred to in the Winningverse, seem divine in nature.
Welp, there it finally is. This can only get more fun.
Oh man...imagine if she had just tried one of Sparkler's hairs on a whim. Like just for a possible fail test to make sure that the spell was working correctly. I bet her head would've exploded right then and there. If she didn't have a complete mental breakdown first.
I'm still doubting that shining is dinkys father, I'm wondering if the hair is from ditzy and there's been some significant crossing over of the doo and sparkle families over the years.
6583460 True, but I expect drunken Blueblood to be both irresponsible and remorseless. Especially young, stupid academy Blueblood.
Then again, given the nature of the story, Shining might not even be her full brother. Which is liable to break Twilight.
6583078
Ah, since when is Kicky pregnant in this fic? I think you've got some bleed over from New Life.
As for the rest, we all knew she was a slut back in chapter one of the original. Heck she still is even in New Life, she's just a more responsible one now.
"on things that wasn’t what"
"something that wasn't" or "things that weren't"?
Cloud Kicker has blond hair on her head right? She is also over at this household a lot. Could the blond hair be hers? Isn't there a connection of some sort (distantly anyway) between the Kickers and the Sparkles? That might do it.
6584912 well we do know now that Shadow and Sunbeam had...dalliances after the war. But I doubt they were close enough for a love child. And that seems way too far in the past for how close the relationship was with the hair.
6584912 I would find it hilarious if Dinky is her niece, Sparkler is her sister, but it was CLOUD'S hair that set off the spell. Twilight said the match wasn't as close as a sister, so it shouldn't have been Sparkler's hair. But then again, since they'd only be half sisters... Well, no, a spell isn't going to care about legitimacy. A match on a spell like that would read the same for Shining as it would for Sparkler, as they both have the same amount of similar genetic material, per se. Well... Actually it might work like that.
Twilight said the match was as close as an aunt or a niece, which Cloud shouldn't qualify for, as their relation shouldn't be that close. They'd be distant cousins at most. I'd like to think she just picked up Sparkler's hair, and continue on with my theory that Dinky is actually Blueblood's kid. All the pieces are coming together...
*Rubs hands together evilly*
Soon Twilight. Soon you will wallow in... Whatever ponies wallow in when they horrendously misjudge their brother. Muahahahah!
6585225 A half sister shouldn't have as much of a DNA match as a full sibling... Twilight and Sparkler would each carry genes from one pony that the other was completely unrelated to. The same would go for a niece. So I would say the genetic test could still go either way.
6585270 Yeah, that's the conclusion I came to. I'm just going to stroll along my merry way, sure in the knowledge that I'm probably right about Twilight's twisted family tree. Maybe. Bah, whatever, I just want Sparkler to be Twilight's sister. It explains everything and makes it less likely that Shining is terrible. I'm perfectly fine with Blueblood being terrible.
6584912
The Kickers and Sparkles have intermarried, but not recently enough to be genetically significant to Cloud and Twilight. I doubt Twilight's spell would mix up a niece/half sister with a 7th cousin once removed (or something similarly distant: I'm not making up 900 years worth of family trees for the Kickers and Sparkles).
I had the biggest poop eating grin through the whole flirt scene
6584455
but she said the link was as strong as aunt and niece, so...
Devantejah As to class differences, I've often noticed "Stiff dick, limp conscience. Limp dick, stiff conscience" (Benjamin Franklin, I ain't). I also say "Why not let the little head do the thinking for the big head? The little head knows exactly what it wants & has a fair idea how to get it. The big head usually can't say the same."
Tsuguri Cloud Kicker found out she was pregnant uh, last chapter or the 1 before? ICR. A few drinks might not hurt the fetus, but there is such a thing as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & it is DAMN irresponsible for pregnant ponies to get drunk or high.
As to Dash being a jerk, well....
1) She does have a tendency to sleep in & shirk work + is probably not good w paperwork/admin side of her job. As a worker, she is probably good enough to overlook this, but they are poor qualities for a boss Perhaps she has hit her Level of Incompetence (Peter Principle)
2) Consider the source IMO, Dash has what CK wants & CK is, perhaps, a little jealous
So, if Fluttershy knows Twi has a brother prior to ACW, she's one hell of an actress.
6587142
Cloud Kicker isn't pregnant in this story. That takes place in New Life, which takes place during the trail end of Season 4, where this story is taking place during season 2.
Oh, sorry. I knew the New Life stories were side stories, I was just confused about time sequence. That is the problem w a series that has so many stories. If that is true, then I take back what I said about CK drinking. It's a bit irresponsible but understandable given the day she has said. I stand by what I said about her hitting on Twilight, though. In my book, you're in a relationship you don't screw around. You want 1 night stands & casual sex, fine -but don't be telling people you are in a relationship.
6586538
So obviously it's Bluebood.
Also, that flirting scene.
I totally wouldn't be surprised if Cloud managed to bed Twi by the end of this story.
I really liked that scene, btw. It was adorable. Just flat out adorable, with the complimenting and Twi's reaction to thereof, and the light kissing. Loved it.
6588447
She's also not cheating, since at this point in the story the only relationship she's in is the open relationship with Derpy. It might not be a bad idea to re-read the "Life and Times" chapters that line up with these (8-12) if the timeline's confusing you.
Though honestly, since New Life has pretty heavily referenced the Season 4 Finale and has Alicorn Twilight, while Study just finished "Hurricane Fluttershy" and a wingless Twi, I thought it was reasonably clear the two weren't concurrent.
Well. I sorta seen that coming about Dinky. But it was nice to see some confirmation.
Chengar
Maybe you're right & I should reread this. I seem to be a little muddled as to sequence. I thought this was AFTER her blow up w Derpy, but if they are not yet that far along, then, yeah go right ahead & hit on Twilight -I would.
They way I see it, if you aren't in a relationship then go ahead & get all you can where you can. Of course, when I was young & foolish I remember talking to a just married friend at a reception & telling him I envied him -now that he was married he could have sex whenever he wanted. (The weather was 'Drunk with a chance of passing out') He said "You're not married, are you" I said "You know that". & he said "Just talking to you, I could guess" So, IDK. But, the way I see it is that if you are in a relationship you stay faithful to the one you are with & if you can't or won't then don't get into a relationship.
6582868 I don't think it would be wise for Twi to use one of Lavernius Tucker's lines. She'd just probably get hit in the face with the butt of a rifle for her trouble!
Now, the chapter itself was a good read, but Ponibus you might want to have your editors take another pass at it. I spotted numerous errors in the first few paragraphs alone
Commence read.
Interesting.
Good for Twilight, getting them confidence boosters.
Though still things to fall together with things.
I was really afraid for a moment there, Ponibius. I was thinking that Cloud and Twilight might end up having sex without protection and that might be the reason for why Cloud is pregnant later. But then again, they could only conceive if they were truly in love with each other, so I guess it wouldn't happen. Still, I'm very interested in Cloud and Twilight starting a relationship. This is why I read this story, not the boring stuff we saw in the last chapter. We've all seen Hurricane Fluttershy and we don't need to see repeated references to the episode's plot to the point of even reusing lines from the episode itself. I come here for the character interactions and this chapter is a huge improvement over the last one.
All things considered, probably not.
Same kind of machine, maybe? Also, oh Derpy.
I do appreciate Spike's unceasing focus on the topic of free food.
Now she's done it. Twilight Sparkle, tired of secrets, goes and acquires another, one with potentially major political ramifications. And since it specifically wasn't strong enough for siblings, we know it probably wasn't accidently Sparkler/Amethyst's hair unless half siblings have enough less of a reaction than full blooded siblings that it would have confused the issue.
Given how the family has supported Vinyl and intensely regrets what happened with Amy, I think it's a safe assumption that had Dinky's parentage been known things would have been very different for Derpy.
And you know, that's probably a really, really good thing. Had Shining known about Dinky in advance of the wedding, then Chrysalis would probably have known and that would have likely been terrible for any number of ponies, but most especially for Dinky.
Dash is in the hospital? Guess that means her argument with, well, everyone is probably over.
Ooooo, so Fluttershy gets to know about Dinky. That's an interesting development.
Oh crap, and now Cloud Kicker gets to know, too. Loose lips sink ships, Twilight.
Well, that got a little hot and heavy, but thank goodness for a bangingless chapter. It would have been so against Cloud's rules to do so at this moment anyway. Alcohol, both ponies involved are fairly emotionally compromised, the aftermath would have potentially been full of regrets.
6587186 I've always assumed that of all the mane six, Fluttershy probably did know about Shining ahead of time given that in episode one Spike tells her the story of his entire life. It just seems really unlikely that he would have left out an older brother figure. And it's easy enough to believe that she just didn't speak up about knowing about him, it is Fluttershy after all.
Great chapter! A few twists and turns, but overall I liked it. Heh, gonna be interesting to see where will Twi end up with, considering we all already have a foreknowledge of what will happen with Cloud in the end.
There's also the fact that Sparkler's mane isn't blond...