//------------------------------// // Cloud Talk // Story: Strange Gifts // by Rocinante //------------------------------// I paused in front of the mirror to check how I looked. It struck me as an odd thing to do even as I adjusted my shirt. I wasn’t a preener, yet here I was making sure I looked good for Thunderlane. We had our second date tonight, and some little voice in the back of my head had me fretting over it. I wasn’t even dressed up, not really, just blue jeans and a shirt. Still... I didn’t want to look boyish. Swapping out my shirt for something sleevless, I called it good enough and headed downstairs. “Hey, Lambert.” Only silence answered. Frowning, I peered down the stairwell only to snicker at the sight of Lambert passed out on the couch. True to his word, Mac had put Lambert to work. After finishing the carving, Mac recruited him to help replace the floor in the bathroom. I knew Mac had been putting that job off for a while. Can’t say I blame him, I wouldn’t want to pull out a toilet with my teeth either, but Lambert’s talons had saved anyone from having to get too personal with the old throne. So while I spent Saturday afternoon running some errands and just enjoying some alone time, the three of them had gutted the bathroom, and laid down a new floor. There was still al lot left to do, but Mac was insistent that Lambert's talent with wood had saved him quite a bit of hassle. Apparently enough that Mac had happily sat twenty bits in his claws on the promise that he would come back to do the molding too. Which kinda left me uncertain about the topic of an allowance. I’d been thinking of giving him five or ten bits a week, but now I wasn’t sure if I should just let him earn his own money. Child-labor laws seemed pretty thin in this world, and following your talent was considered the command of Destiny itself. I’d have to pick one of the other moms’ brain about it. ‘Other moms.’ Had I really just thought that? Shaking my head, I reminded myself that Lambert would be going to a better home as soon as possible. I walked downstairs and nudged Lambert. A grumpy bird sound escaped Lambert as curled into a ball. “Derpy will be here in a bit. You won’t sleep tonight if you nap now.” Silence answered me. I started to nudge him again, but a knock at the door distracted me. “It’s open,” I called, assuming it was Derpy. Which it was. “Hello!” Dinky cheered, bouncing into the room as her mother opened the door. Lambert jolted at the filly’s intrusion. Before I could turn, he’d pressed himself against me with a yelp. “Dinky...” her mother scolded with a whisper. “I told you; don’t be loud.” Dinky’s ears hung limp, along with her lip. “Sorry,” she mumbled to the floor. Looking to Lambert, her expression seemed to get sadder. “I just got excited.” Lambert clung tighter to me for a heartbeat, then all but released. “I’m okay.” With surprising speed, Lambert hopped to the floor. His wings fluttered and tried to settle against him, but couldn’t seem to get comfortable. After the third attempt he rather begrudgingly nipped at a few feathers before visibly forcing his wings to lie still. “Your wings are a wreck.” Derpy said with a tone of surprise. “Have you been preening?” Shuffling his wings again, Lambert looked to the kitchen as if something had caught his attention. “Some...” Derpy sighed. Sitting beside her daughter, she pulled Dinky into a light hug. “Why don’t you go finish your homework.” Reaching into her saddlebag, Derpy hoofed over a folder and book to Dinky. Dinky sighed, then took the folder and book in her teeth before dutifully marching over to my dining table to study. Once Dinky had settled in, Derpy joined Lambert and me in the living room. “Any big plans tonight?” she asked me. Sitting next to Derpy, I motioned for Lambert to join us. “Nothing formal. I’m going to meet him at that little sandwich place. Then I think he wants to try and take me flying. But we’ll have to see about that.” Derpy brightened, and a subtle squee-like sound escaped her. “Oh, flying. He must really like you.” “Yeah... I think so too.” This time Derpy gave me a worried look. “You don’t like him, as a coltfriend?” I had to sigh at the question. “I’m not sure. I think he’s nice, and funny, and attractive. But, I just don’t know if we really have anything in common.” “Well,” Derpy gave me one of her bright smiles. “That’s why you go on dates. Now shoo.” Her wings waved at me, prompting me to stand instead of getting a face full of wing. “You go have a good evening. I’m going to help Lambert here straighten out his wings.” Lambert gave me a nervous look, but when Derpy gave him her best motherly smile, his reservations seemed to fade. “You going to be okay?” I asked. It was rhetorical of course; we’d talked about this already. “You can go up to your room if you need.” “You’ll be home before bedtime?” he asked. Scruffing his head, I stood back up. “Just like last time.” Leaving Derpy in charge of my home for the evening, I headed across town to the sandwich café. I was running a little early, so I stopped by Rose’s shop to chat. She was pretty busy, so I didn’t get to talk much, but I did make her promise to come to my Sunday get-together. Things were pretty slow at Barley and Rye’s when I got there. To be honest, I’d never been there for dinner before. It struck me as more of a lunch place, and I guess it did everyone else too. Sitting on a bench outside, I watched ponies mill about as I waited. There was a pub across the street gathering quite a bit more business than the sandwich place. I’d gone in there once, they had a good beer selection and some greasy bar food I could actually pretend was from back home. Damn, a beer sounded good. The flutter and thump of a landing pegasus announced my date’s arrival. “Hi. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting,” he said. “Na, just got here.” Standing up, I let him lead me inside. - - - An hour later, and I was in the unique position of sitting on a cloud. “That was really nice of Starlight to cast the cloudwalking spell for you.” A slightly strangled sound escaped my throat. “You okay?” Thunder asked. “You’re going to have to give me a minute. I didn’t think that was actually going to happen.” Thunderlane walked to the very edge of the little cloud and looked down. “You want to see your house?” “Yea... I kinda do.” I crawled across the cold, springy cloud till I could ease up against Thunder’s hooves. There was real and imagined safety in his touch. I took a breath, then peered over the precipice. “It’s over there,” Thunder said as soon as I’d gotten close enough to peer over the edge. I followed where his wing was pointing, and found my house not that far below. “I thought we were higher,” I said. I could just make out Lambert and Dinky playing in the back yard. We couldn't have been more than four or five stories high. “I can push the cloud higher, if you want,” Thunder offered. “No, no. This is good.” I scooted a little closer to Thunder, his warmth a sharp contrast to the cool cloud. Thunderlane tucked his legs beneath him as he laid down beside me. “How’s Lambert doing?” he asked, laying a wing over me. “Good, I think. Derpy got on to him about not preening, though. Guess I need to learn about that.” Thunder laughed. “Mom still gets on to me about not preening right.” He was silent for a moment, then grinned as he stared off into the distance for a moment. “When I was little, I’d come home all scruffy, and she used to pin me down and groom me. I hated it then, but I kinda miss it now.” I snickered to myself. Mom used to nag me about brushing my hair. It had been long back then. After the accident, I just couldn’t muster the effort to take care of it anymore. Grandma almost cried when I cut it all off. I reached back and twirled my hair, noticing how long it had gotten. “Mary... Mary?” Thunder nudged me with his nose. “Hmm, what!?” I said, shaken from my wool gathering. “You okay?” “Yeah. I was just thinking about my grandparents.” Silence hung for a moment, then Thunderlane’s wing hugged me a bit tighter. “You really miss them.” “I just wish... I wish I could just see them one last time. I never got to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. I hate that I can’t at least let Granny and Pa know I’m okay.” Thunder rested his muzzle on my shoulder. “I can’t even imagine. I know you can’t go home, but have you asked if they could at least send a letter through?” I started to answer, but paused. I hadn’t asked about that. “What would I even say? Hey, sorry for the scare. I can’t come see you, but I’m stuck in candyland’s version of Greek mythology. Here’s some pictures of your grand-foals. “They’d probably think it was just some cruel joke.” Thunderland stared at me rather blankly. “Sorry.” I reached out and touched his chin. A little pull, and I guided him to rest his head on me again. “It’s... I don’t know. If something happens, and I can go back, how do I explain all this?” My hand found Thunder’s hoof. “I like you, I really do, but...” Thunder held the silence for a moment, then moved. I looked up to see what he was doing, only to find gold eyes staring into me with more compassion than I could have imagined. “It’s okay to want to go back,” he said. “I can’t image what it would be like, to be so far from home.” “I couldn’t even explain Lambert to them.” I shifted a little and rested my head against Thunder’s chest. “If I start a family here, it means giving up on the one back home. I could never go back.” The sound of his heart filled my ear. I closed my eyes, and let the rhythm soothe me. After a moment, Thunders wing squeezed me in a hug. “What do you think they’d tell you to do?” “Don’t worry ‘bout us,” I said, imitating my grandmother. “We got Thomas and Kimberly to watch after us, you go do what you need to.” I took a deep breath. Thunder had a particular smell to him I’d liked from the beginning: some blend of musk and ozone. “Which is true,” I continued. “My aunt and uncle can take care of them better than I could.” A comfortable silence fell over us again. My mind swirled around the idea of going home again. Did I even really want to? It was hard, but I eventually had to admit that I really didn’t. Not permanently anyway. I had too many friends here. I had a pretty little house and a job that I loved. Besides, what girl would want to give up talking unicorns? I did want to say goodbye, though. “I think I’ll write a letter. I’ll have to be vague, but I can at least let them know I’m okay. Maybe Twilight can get it delivered. If not, I’ll feel better for writing it anyway.” I could feel Thunder smile. “Good,” he said, giving me another squeeze with his wing. We sat there on the cloud for a while, cuddling and watching the world below us. Thunder’s muzzle was resting beside me on the cloud. I turned in the warm blanket of his wing, then kissed him. He was a little surprised at first, but pressed into it before I could pull back. My hand found his mane and from there things descended into a full-blown makeout session. It was a reckless kissing and grabbing that I hadn’t abandoned myself to in years. For a moment I felt like a teen again, and hormones and loneliness were pushing me the same direction they had those many years ago. Gasping for breath, I pulled back from Thunder. “I need to slow down,” I said, mostly trying to convince myself. “Okay.” Thunder nodded as he composed himself. Sliding out from Thunder’s warm embrace, I sat with my legs crossed. “So tell me how you do this,” I said, laying Thunder’s wing across my lap. Thunder’s face brightened. “Sure!” He fanned his feathers a bit before using his nose to point to a messy-looking feather. “Firm but careful, is the trick,” he said. “See if you can make it look like the others.” Sitting on a cloud, my pegasus boyfriend showed me how to preen feathers till dusk prompted us to watch the sunset. Once the chill of night had coxed the first shiver out of me, Thunder stood. “I’m sure Lambert’s wondering where you are.” Flaring out his wings, he knelt just a little. “Yeah, I should get home.” I stood up only as long as it took me to sit on Thunder’s back. “Ready?” Thunder asked. “As I’ll ever be.” Two quick steps, and we were freefalling. I gasped for breath, almost screaming but instead clutching to my boyfriend as tight as I could. Thunder’s wings grasped the air a moment later. The scream I’d been holding back escaped as a squeal as Thunder began the glide towards my house. Once our flight had leveled out I relaxed a bit. I loosened my grip on Thunder’s neck and let myself enjoy the short flight to the ground. I think after a few more flights, I could have a lot of fun flying with Thunder. Especially if Lambert was flying with us. Speaking of which, I still hadn't seen him fly. “Hey, you think maybe Lambert could join you and Rumble for flight practice one day?” Thunder landed in my yard with a feather-light touchdown. “Sure! I’d be happy to fly with him,” he said, looking back at me with a smile. “Thanks. I’d like to meet your brother, anyway.” Thunder nodded as he followed me towards the house. “Maybe the four of us could do something one day. We could go to Canterlot. The Royal Guard museum has a new exhibit on the Wonderbolts.” “That would be interesting.” I hadn’t left Ponyville since tumbling into the place, and it occurred to me that a bit of travel sounded nice. At my front door we lingered a bit, delaying the goodbye. “Any second date traditions?” he asked. “No. But there’s one for the third date.” “Oh?” Thunder’s ears focused on me with curiosity. “What’s that?” I grinned. “I’m going to keep that a surprise. You’re free next Friday night?” Thunder nodded. “Yep. Off Saturday too.” “Perfect. Though, If you want to take me on an unofficial lunch date, I usually eat around noon. Feel free to come by my work.” We kissed again, but it was a quick parting kiss. “I’ll look forward to it.” Once Thunderlane had vanished into the night, I opened the door to my home. My grin doubled when the laughter of Dinky and Lambert greeted me as I kicked off my shoes. “How’d your date go?” Derpy asked. “It was really nice.”