//------------------------------// // Clearing The Air // Story: A Different Kind of Treasure // by Mechawrecker //------------------------------// Following the impromptu kiss, both ponies reacted in very distinct ways. Skyfall, wanting answers as to why she had kissed him, sought Cloud out every chance he could, even waiting outside her door all day after she had left for the supermarket. Cloudchaser, however, tried avoiding him at all cost. On the day he waited outside her apartment, she flew up and smashed open one of her windows to get inside without meeting him, much to her sister’s chagrin. Flitter sighed as she finished a lengthy conversation with the repair pony after receiving an even lengthier maintenance bill. This game of cat and mouse had already cost them over two hundred bits in damages and needed to end now. Taping their newest bill to the fridge, she made her way to her sister's door before knocking and called, “Cloud? Can we talk for a second? It’s important!” A noncommittal grunt sounded from inside, which Flitter took for approval. The inside of Cloudchaser’s room, normally an assorted mess of organized chaos, now resembled a disaster site. Her sword and armor dangled haphazardly from a hanging rack as wrinkled clothes and empty wrappers littered the ground. Flitter scrunched her muzzle and made her way through the landfill until a disheveled Cloud emerged from the unkempt bed. Growing even more concerned, she put a hoof on her sister's messy mane and said, “Cloud, we really need to talk.” Cloud grudgingly peered up before pulling the covers over her head with a muffled, “Go away, Flitter.” Rolling her eyes, Flitter yanked the covers off and asked, “Seriously, what is going on? You’ve been like this for four days. It’s time to fess up.” Ignoring the rude hoof gesture Cloud made at her, she pressed, “Does this have anything to do with why you’re avoiding Sky?” At the mention of his name, Cloud’s wings stiffened and unwillingly extended out. Cursing her body’s betrayal, she forced the traitorous apendeges back to her sides, but the damage was already done. “I knew it!” Flitter exclaimed. "You’ve been jumpy around him for days. Not to mention you literally smashed one of our windows just to avoid talking to him outside our door.” Now adopting a more sentimental look, she stroked her distraught sister’s mane and whispered, “Did you two get into another fight or something?” Cloud sighed in exasperation. She knew there was no getting Flitter off her back when she went into ‘Mom Mode’. Taking a deep breath, she carefully formulated her next words and mumbled, “I introduced Sky to Griffy at the market.” Flitter’s eyebrows raised, but she still couldn't see why that would cause this kind of reaction. "Why did that make you so depressed?” Cloud described what had happened that day. She explained everything from the way Griffy had struggled with customers to the cruel, destructive things Sky had said in order to provoke him into action. Everything except the kiss they had shared in the medical tent. “Well,” Flitter started, still wrapping her head around what she had heard, “I can’t say I approve of the things he said, but I understand that all creatures are different, and that kindness and encouragement won’t be able to help everypony.” She clapped her hooves together, “Besides, from the way that you described Griffy after his apology, everything worked out great for everyone! So why are you so sad?” Cloudchaser steeled her nerves and prepared to confess the truth, but an urgent  knock at the door interrupted their conversation. “Oh! That’s probably Sky,” Flitter exclaimed. “He said he would come around this time.” Cloud choked on the water she had been drinking and spluttered, “Wait, what!? You invited him in here?” “Yes, I did,” Flitter shot back. “You two need to resolve whatever problems you have with each other right now. I thought we all agreed to be friends before we went to get the diadem.” Blushing at the memory of the group hug, Cloud retorted, “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he can just come in here and--” She cut herself off when Sky’s signature brown coat and blue mane appeared in her doorway. His golden eyes pierced her as she shrunk away from his gaze. After staring at her for a couple seconds, he turned to Flitter and asked, “Can Cloud and I have a chance to talk… alone?” Flitter nodded in understanding and made her way to the front, closing the door behind her. As she left, Sky turned back to Cloudchaser and stated, “So… you’ve been avoiding me.” Cloud tried to scoff, but only managed to muster up a strangled cough. “Me? Avoiding you? No… if anything, you’re the one stalking me,” she smiled, but Sky didn’t return the friendly provocation. “Listen,” he started, stepping forward and sitting on her bed, “I know why you’re acting like this. I just want you to know that I feel the same way, okay?” Cloud’s breath caught in her throat. Did he really know how she felt? Even she didn’t know how she felt. “O-oh yeah? And how do you feel?” “I feel… unclear,” he muttered, rubbing his front leg with a hoof. “I feel like there’s so much left unsaid between us, so I want to clear things up with you right now.” He averted his gaze while biting his lip and murmered, “I know you didn’t really mean what you did. It was just a sudden spur of the moment that didn’t actually have any weight behind it… right?” Cloudchaser's eyes widened at his declaration. A million different thoughts whirled through her mind, but the dominant one emerged victorious as she stuttered, “Y-Yeah, it meant nothing. I’m glad we’re on the same page here.” Sky smiled in relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I was afraid I had gotten it totally wrong, and you were going to hit me again.” A small part of her conscious did want to reach out and smack him, but instead she just nodded and said, “Nah, man, we’re cool. Let’s not get hung up over something like this, okay?” The two reached forward and gave each other a hug, relishing in the warmth and comfort they felt. The massive buildup of stress and anxiety seemed to melt away at their embrace, leaving nothing but a pleasant feeling of content in its place. Standing up, Sky motioned to the front door. “Oh yeah, speaking of ‘getting hung’, Griffy told me he’s laying out a new rack of fresh hams later today. You wanna get an early jump on that?” Cloud’s eyes lit up as she flew out of bed. “Hay yeah, dude! Just let me get ready first, then let’s go!” The two meat-hungry ponies burst out the door of her apartment and bolted by Flitter who was standing just outside. As they raced each other to the marketplace, Flitter giggled at their antics and watched as Cloud grabbed one of Sky's hooves. Readjusting their crooked doormat, she hummed, “Looks like those two are back to normal. I’m glad we can all still be friends.” Sky and Cloud flew as fast as they could towards the marketplace. Colors and shapes whizzed past them until the familiar sight of a tiny orange griffon came into view. Pounding on the brakes, the two pegasi crash-landed on the hard pavement mere inches away from Griffy’s front claws. “I… I won…” Sky panted, heaving great lungfuls of air to replenish his body with energy. “Like hay you did…” Cloud groaned back, clutching a stitch in her side. “I got here at least half a second before you did.”  The two turned to the startled young griffon and demanded, “Who got here first, Griffy?” The tiny griffon gave a little squeak before stumbling, “Um… well… I didn’t get a very good look… b-but I think it was…” The windswept ponies stared intensely at him, causing a sweat sheen to form on his beak. Not wanting to disappoint either of them, he finished, “It was a tie!” Rolling their eyes at the appeasing answer, Cloud barked, “You know I beat you fair and square. Don’t lie about racing, man. Street rule number one.” Sky’s muzzle warped into a flank-eating grin. “Oh yeah? What are you going to do, kiss me again?” Cloud went scarlet before clamping a hoof over his mouth. “I thought we agreed to put that behind us you lying colt of a-” she cut herself off at the expression on the young fledgling's face. Griffy’s beak fell open as he pointed between them. “Wait, you kissed Mr. Skyfall?” Then, clasping his wings in front of him, he shouted, “You two are special someponies!” Sky and Cloud glanced at each other in horror before jumping apart and waving their hooves.  “No! No!” Cloud yelled, trying to convince Griffy of her innocence, “We’re not special someponies!” “Y-yeah!” Sky supplied, indicating his lack of a ring. “We just kissed in the medical tent. It wasn’t anything serious!” Griffy’s eyes widened further. “So you two did kiss! I knew I heard something after I left that day, but I thought it might have been a groan of pain after she hit you.” Seeing this was getting them nowhere, Sky and Cloud grabbed Griffy by his tail and dragged him into the back of his food stand. There, they spent the next half-an-hour making absolutely sure he knew there was nothing going on between them. “Oh… I see now. So you two just came here to try the new hams I have for today, right?” They both smiled as the tiny griffon reached into a cooler and pulled out a massive ham almost half his own body size. “Well, here it is! Just give me a few minutes to cook this, and I’ll have it ready in no time!” After the most agonizing twenty minutes of their lives, Griffy finally returned with two plates of delicious smoked ham. “Here you go, specialty ham fresh off the grill!” “Thanks, kid,” Sky grinned, reaching into his bit pouch, “how much do I owe you?” Griffy waved away the money. “No charge for the two ponies that helped me realize my true potential as a world-class chef! Plus, my dad always said to never charge friends and family since they’d be worth more later than their money is now.” Cloud chuckled and patted him on the head. "Look at you, Mr. Business Griffon. You’re already sounding more confident in yourself. Just make sure not to let that confidence go to your head, alright?” After finishing the best meal of their lives, Sky and Cloud waved goodbye to Griffy and headed back home. The dying sunset casted beautiful rays of light across the sky as they trotted along the path, full to bursting with good food and better spirits. Chatting merrily, Sky wiped his muzzle as a particularly hilarious joke caused him to snort with laughter. When his senses returned, the pupils in his eyes dilated at the marvelous spectacle standing mere feet away from him. The dying sunbeams reflected off Cloud's deep purple coat, making her glimmer with a hidden magic he had never truly appreciated. Her large, athletic frame accentuated the copious amounts of muscle in her forelegs and haunches, causing his face to warm up in a way that had nothing to do with the sun’s light. Not wanting to get caught creeping on her body, Sky shifted his gaze to her face where her spiky, multicolored mane caught the wind perfectly. As he admired the beauty that had been cruelly hidden behind the tomboyish mare’s crude personality, Cloud turned to look at him with a mischievous smirk. “Hey, dude, haven’t you stared long enough? You’re going to burn a hole through me at this rate.” Sky blushed scarlet as she called out his gauking. “Sorry, it’s just…” he carefully formulated his next words so as not to receive another one of her patented barrel busters, “I noticed you brushed your coat and styled your mane. I never really took you for the type of mare that worried about that stuff.” Cloud smiled as he recognized the extra effort she had taken to look her best. Flaunting herself, she smirked, “I can be as classy and girly as any mare. I just choose not to because it’s a huge pain in the flank.” He let out a snort of disbelief and quipped, “Yeah, and Princess Celestia doesn't like eating cake.” Realizing his mistake, he had just enough time to tense his barrel before Cloud’s hoof sent him tumbling to the ground. “Ow! Can you please stop doing that!? You’re actually going to break my ribs one of these days.” Sticking her tongue out, she retorted, “Maybe that will make you think twice before insulting a beautiful mare’s style.” “Yeah, it’s just a shame there aren’t any here.” Sky’s hooves flew to his muzzle to take back the words, but it was too late. Scrambling up, he frantically beat his wings as Cloud’s voice shouted right behind him. “I’m gonna tear you a new flank for that one! Don’t bother worrying about health insurance, because the only thing you’re going to be covered by is a coffin lid!” As the two flew into the air, a tiny orange griffon watched them from his food stall. Sighing into his claw, Griffy whispered, “Wow... I hope I can find someone that will make me as happy as they are.”