Poison Whiskey

by The Bricklayer


Part 8: The Logical Song

“When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,
Joyfully, playfully watching me.
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible,
Logical, responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,
Clinical, intellectual, cynical.”
The Logical Song: Supertramp: Breakfast in America: 1979

The White Horse Inn and Tavern: Ponyville:

Windy smiled as she pushed open the curtains to her hotel room and let the sunlight in. She unfolded her light blue wings and let them bask in Celestia’s glorious sun light. The warmth washed over them and she felt her sleepy muscles began to regain their strength. Windy arched her back and stretched her muscles, not unlike that of how a cat would do so after a long nap. Behind her, she could hear the soft snores of her partner and looked back at her only to smile. There she was, clutching at a pillow and snoozing contently.

“She always is a late sleeper, guess it has something to do with her being part lion,” Windy smiled. Gilda let out a soft purr as she clutched the pillow tighter and rolled onto her side, before mumbling Windy’s name. Windy gave Gilda a soft kiss on the cheek and brushed aside her bangs before giving her a quick nuzzle.

“Sleep well Gilda, sleep well.” She whispered. Honestly, even if to herself, she did think that their relationship wasn’t the healthiest. Was she just using her as an apology to her daughter in some screwed up fashion, or was she trying to gain herself a better relationship than she had with her husband? Windy, as she thought about what her relationship with Gilda actually meant, hummed an old tune under her breath as she trotted to the kitchen and began to turn on the stove in preparation to boil an egg.

“My world was shattered I was torn apart
Like someone took a knife and drove it deep in my heart
You walked out that door I swore that I didn't care
But I lost everything darling then and there

Too strong to tell you I was sorry
Too proud to tell you I was wrong
I know that I was blind…” Windy whispered under her breath, and she meant every word of it. If she could have, she would have gone back in time and stayed to protect her daughter. She might have even been able to get Rainbow Blaze arrested instead of him abusing her daughter all throughout her childhood and making both of their lives a living Tartarus.

“I was a coward…” Windy thought to herself as a tear trailed down her cheek. “There, I finally admit it. I should have stayed, instead of turning and running. Dashie… I’m so sorry. Celestia dammit, where did I go wrong? Children are supposed to be better than their parents, and I certainly achieved that… But at what cost?”

Right then and there, Windy broke down sobbing, tears falling to the hardwood floor like raindrops. She covered her eyes with her hooves in shame. Windy’s entire body and framework shook and trembled as she continued to cry. Then, two huge and muscled brown arms reached out and grabbed Windy and pulled her into a tight hug whispering words of comfort.

“Shh… Shh, it’s okay Wind. It’s okay.” Gilda whispered, surprising even herself. Gilda, she’d at first woken to not feel her lover by her side, but when she heard Windy’s sobbing, she forgot all about that. As confused as she was about their relationship, she did know one thing. Windy was her partner, and she had to always be there for her, for better or for worst.

“My fault… My fault…” Windy whispered as she sobbed into Gilda’s shoulder. The younger of the two growled.

“Now listen here, it’s not your fault, none of it is! You’re blaming yourself, you’re acting like you’re the bad guy here!” Gilda snapped, slapping Windy across the face in hopes of knocking some sense back into her.

“But it is my fault, I am the bad guy here in this situation! I walked out on Rainbow, let her get abused by that damn husband of mine! I could have stayed and protected her!” Windy shouted. She hadn’t had any tears left in her, the well had run dry.

“You were afraid, nopony can blame you for that!” Gilda exclaimed.

“Yes, I was afraid,” Windy yelled. “But I could have stopped him, dealt with him before everything went to Tartarus! My parents gave me fair warning what he was like, and I didn’t listen to them one jot!”

Gilda only pulled Windy in tighter, clutching the smaller of the two to her feathered breast and wrapping her wings around her.

“Can’t wish the past away, much as you’d like to. You have to face the future now, no regrets,” Gilda stated, surprising herself once again. She didn’t know she had that amount of insightfulness in her. “You can start by protecting your daughter in that trial. Then, go from there. After this whole mess is over, you can start mending your relationship with your daughter... My Leannán.”

Windy gasped in pure, unrestrained shock. She knew Gilda had been trying to learn old Mareish, as a gesture of affection towards her marefriend in knowledge of her heritage, but she didn’t know she was that good. Windy, right then and there, grabbed Gilda in a soul-searing kiss and pulled away just as fast leaving the griffon breathless.

“Thank… Thank you.” Windy breathed out, Gilda’s face flushing red. Her beak was wide open in shock, not expecting something like that from the normally restrained and reserved pegasus. Usually, she was the one to instigate things, not her marefriend. Gilda let out a seductive purr and gave Windy a long, lingering kiss as if to say “You’re welcome.”

The two’s lips stayed attached for quite a long while and probably would have been that way unless that hadn’t been interrupted by a female’s cough. The two pulled away and saw Luna looking at them with a stern look on her face.

“We need to talk. Get your daughter, she needs to hear this as well.” Luna said simply and Windy swallowed nervously, having one of those bad feelings…


And so, a summons was sent out via Luna’s personal courier to Fluttershy’s cottage, where once Rainbow learned Princess Luna wanted to speak to both her and her mother she flew off like a rocket. Fluttershy figured it best, given Rainbow’s hot temper and what she figured Luna wanted to speak to Rainbow about it would be best to follow. After all, given what had unfolded last night it would probably be the best course of action in her mind...

Last Night:

“Wait, your mother is…” Fluttershy whispered out, scarcely able to believe her own ears.

“Yeah, can’t believe she’s trying to make up for all the crap she pulled years ago by doing this.” Rainbow growled out. It was notable her wife didn’t even bother to correct her on her language.  “She’s got quite the nerve, I’ll give her that,”

“And what about her side of things?” Fluttershy questioned. “Have you considered she’s actually remorseful, instead of just saving face?”

For a moment, just a moment, Rainbow looked to be pondering the answer but she growled again.

“If she genuinely gave a damn about me, she would have shown it long ago!” Rainbow snapped and punched a wall in frustration, thanking Celestia that Scootaloo was already in bed so she couldn’t hear the argument unfolding. Fluttershy laid a hoof on her shoulder.

“Just… Think about it, promise me that okay?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Yeah, I’ll try but I can’t make any promises on ending up caring for my mother any at the end of all this,” Rainbow muttered to herself as she headed upstairs towards Scootaloo’s bedroom. With a creak, she opened the door and sighed in relief. Scootaloo was snoozing peacefully for once. The rise and fall of her frail chest as she clutched her Spitfire plush brought a sense of relief to Rainbow. No nightmares, at least for tonight. Then Rainbow let out a small tear at what Scootaloo whispered in her sleep.

“It’s… It’s nice to have a family…” Scootaloo mumbled and Rainbow shut the door as quietly as she could and whispered “Goodnight kid.”

Now:

As Rainbow flapped her wings, she thought back to her wife’s words and looked to see Fluttershy right behind her. They’d left Pinkie in charge of keeping an eye on Scootaloo for the time being.

“Just… Think about it, promise me that okay?”

With a soft thud as their hooves touched cobblestone, the twosome landed right outside the front door step of the White Horse Inn. The Inn itself was true to its name, was painted pure stucco white with wooden beams all around and a small wooden sign of a horse above the doorway. Rainbow and Fluttershy both noted the presence of two fully armored Royal Guards, flanking either side of the front door each with a lance in their hoof.

Nervously sharing a look, the two made their way up to Windy and Gilda’s room, also guarded by two Guards, this time of the Night Guard variety. Once they entered, they found Windy and Gilda seated at one side of a table, and Luna on the other. Luna picked up two chairs in a dark blue aura of magic and pulled them up next to the table. Without even needing to be told, both Rainbow and Fluttershy sat down in them.

“So, what’s this about?” Rainbow asked, even though she had a sinking feeling she knew what it was about. Windy sighed sadly.

“I’ve been pulled from the case and assigned to another, Luna’s orders,” Windy said, trying to look at anywhere but her daughter.

“...Excuse me?” Rainbow asked, her eyebrow twitching. While she still hated her mom, she knew she was the best chance had at getting her daughter back in her custody. She then let out a furious snarl of: “What the flying feather is that supposed to mean?”

“Everything you think it means, Rainbow Dash,” Luna stated in a cold and detached tone, even if inwardly she wanted to give the younger mare a hug and tell her everything would be alright. “If Windy were allowed to continue with this case, questions would be raised. There would be ponies asking if the defendant was biased, which I’m afraid is completely true. Plus, there is the possible outcome of criminals Windy helped put away walking free. Once questions are asked, they can’t be stopped and unless you want your mother’s reputation completely ruined I can’t allow her on this case any longer. I’m sorry,”

Luna’s voice had turned sympathetic at the end of this, as she dropped her detached, businesslike “Princess of the Night” tone.

“She’s right, Dashie.” Windy put in. “As much as I want to help you, I can’t. At least not in this way.”

“But… But…” Rainbow stammered out before glaring venomously at Luna as she slammed a hoof on the table. Fluttershy tried rubbing her back in a calming manner, but it was futile. Rainbow exploded. “What’s wrong with you? Chances are now that those two plotholes are going to get some slimebag lawyer that’ll weasel their way out of this! They’ll… They’ll get custody of her… My daughter!”

Her voice choked at the end and Fluttershy pulled her into a wing hug. Luna sighed and said, “I wish there was some other way, Rainbow.”

“No, you don’t get to talk,” Rainbow growled out, her voice rising in fury once again. “Not now, not after this!”

“But-”

“Go…” Rainbow muttered in a low tone. “Just go.”

With that, Rainbow got up off her seat and walked off, head hung low and her hopes of ever seeing her daughter again completely cut to ribbons. Meanwhile, Luna thought: “What have I done?”