//------------------------------// // Love is in bloom- Part 1 // Story: PONY // by Deathsia //------------------------------// LOVE IS IN BLOOM PART ONE Ericka woke up bright and early, walked out of Twilight's home, took a deep inhale through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth. “Spring time. My favorite time of the year.” The dark blue Pegasus remarked with a content sigh as she looked about the town from the front of Twilight's house. Birds were flying about, colts and fillies were playing in the streets, and the mare even caught sight of a stallion who was flirting with a few mares. “Wait a second...” Ericka remarked aloud realizing just who that stallion was. “Hey! Knock it off, you pervert!” Ericka exclaimed from a far as she flew up to Richard whom just stared at her. “What's wrong Cloudkicker, jealous that I’m not flirting with you?” Richard jeered with a grin. However in the next moment Ericka had grabbed one of Richard's hind legs with both of her hooves and began to twist it. “If I was jealous you'd know it!” Ericka exclaimed with a crimson red blush as the unicorn tapped the ground in front of him repetitively. “I give, I give! I'm sorry! I can't walk on three legs you know!” Richard exclaimed in a pained tone and a few moments later Ericka released him and glared at him. “Geez, and I thought you would only do that elsewhere.” Richard replied watching his words carefully now as he rubbed his right hind leg now while sitting on the ground. “What in tarnation is goin on over here?” Applejack asked as she walked up to the two. “I was just teaching, um...” Ericka began to say only to trail off as she did not know the fake name Richard was using. “Stiffhorn.” Richard pipped up at this point. “Stiffhorn? Really?! Ugh, you're such a pervert!” Ericka thought to herself with an eye rolling gesture. “Stiffhorn, I was just teaching Stiffhorn here, not to be such a pervert to other mares.” Ericka remarked aloud. “So y'all know one another?” Applejack asked curiously. “Well, yeah sorta. I met him a few short days after I got into town, but I’m terrible with names.” Ericka replied sheepishly and gave the red unicorn a subtle kick with her hind hoof to give him the cue to speak up. “Uh, yeah. I've known Cloudkicker for awhile though we haven't spoken much since we stopped dating-OW!” Richard said with a grin only to get a swift hoof to the backside and looked up to see the dark blue Pegasus whom had a look on her face at the moment that made Richard glad looks couldn't kill or he would dead on the spot. “Well that's a pity, ah know not all couples work out and all, but it's nice to know you two stayed friends and all.” Applejack replied with a smile. “Yeah, we stayed friends alright.” Ericka replied doing her best to smile despite the fact that she wanted to pummel the shit out of Richard about now for that line of bullcrap. “Be it far from meh to lecture ya on hoof rasslin as meh and mah big brother get into quite a few matches ourselves bein brother and sister and all, but ah reckon doin it in the middle of town isn't the best place to be provin who's stronger.” Applejack replied as she tipped her hat to the two of them and walked away. “Used to date? Seriously?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pound your skull in right now!” Ericka exclaimed as she raised a hoof up in a threatening manner to the stallion. “Hey, I had to think of a good reason as to why you would be twisting my leg like that and that was the best I could come up with! I just helped you cover your flank, be grateful.” Richard replied with a glare of his own as he stood to all four hooves and walked away. Ericka simply gritted her teeth and growled under her breath as the stallion walked away. “When I get back to my human body I’m gonna beat the snot out of you for this!” Ericka thought to herself in a pissed off tone. “What's got your tail in a knot?” Pinkie Pie asked as she walked up to Ericka and took note of her current mood. “That blasted pervert Stiffhorn, that's what!” Ericka exclaimed and gave a agitated snort from her nose before walked past the pink mare. “Oh him? Heh, I met him when he first came into town.” Pinkie Pie remarked which caused Ericka to halt herself in her tracks. “Wait, you met him already?” Ericka asked stunned. “Yep!” Pinkie Pie replied with a chipper smile. FLASHBACK “Where were you Ericka? I waited for thirty whole minutes before I headed back to base.” Richard said in a curious tone. “I got held up. How the hell did you manage to get a detailed report on their reproductive behavior anyways?” Ericka asked curiously with an expression to match it. “Oh, about that, well, um, lets just say it was a first hand experience.” Richard replied in a nervous tone before he abruptly walked away from her as Professor Josh walked up to her. “First hand experience? Wait a second...!” Ericka said aloud as her eyes flashed wide in shock and was about to exclaim “You slept with one of them?!” only for Professor Josh to stand in front of her now which caused her to halt her outburst before it began. END FLASHBACK “Did he, well, you know, make a move on you?” Ericka asked curiously trying to watch her words carefully. “Make a move?” Pinkie Pie asked in a confused tone to which Ericka made a facehoofing and groaned loudly. “Ugh, did he try to have sex with you?” Ericka asked strait out this time. Upon hearing this question, the pink mare's face went beat red and she pulled what Ericka would see as a Fluttershy stunt as she suddenly hid behind her mane. “Maybe...” Pinkie Pie replied in a meek tone. “I don't mean to get into your personal life Pinkie, but I have to ask, did he succeed?” Ericka asked in the most thoughtful tone she could muster. An awkward silence ensued now which made Ericka even more concerned. “Maybe...” Pinkie Pie replied after a few more moments of silence. “I'm going to pound his skull into the ground.” Ericka remarked aloud as she walked past Pinkie Pie whom bit onto her tail. “Wait! I consented, he didn't do anything meanie pants to me!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in the same meek tone. “That's not the point Pinkie.” Ericka replied as she continued to walk forward dragging the pink mare along now. “He doesn't care who he does it with, nor does he care if knocks a mare up or not. Hell, I don't even know if he realizes he can!” Ericka thought to herself in a pissed off tone. “Don't hurt my coltfriend please!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in a hushed tone which caused the dark blue Pegasus to halt in her tracks and stare at her in disbelief. “You two are dating?!” Ericka asked incredulously. “Y-Yeah, we have been for the past year or so.” Pinkie Pie replied once again in a meek tone. “What has he told you about himself?” Ericka asked curiously. “A bunch of stuff. Like how he can came a far off land, that he works part time in another town and that's why he can't be with me all the time. And a bunch of other stuff too.” The pink mare replied after she let go of Ericka's tail. “All lies...” Ericka thought to herself and sighed aloud. “Alright, I won't pound his skull into the ground, but I am going to have a talk with him.” Ericka replied in a much calmer tone. “You know him?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously. “Yeah, sort of. We've spoken a few times and know each other fairly well.” Ericka lied. She knew him a whole lot better than that, but he covered her flank so she figured she may as well return the favor. ------------------------------------------ “Geez! Can you ever talk to me without inflicting some kind of psychical harm?!” Richard exclaimed in a pissed off tone as he rubbed his shoulder which had just be hit hard by the dark blue Pegasus. “You're dating Pinkie Pie and you slept with her? Why the fuck didn't you tell me this?!” Ericka exclaimed in an outraged tone. “You don't see me asking you what you do with your personal life in this world do you?” Richard countered to which Ericka resisted the urge to sock him again. “She doesn't even know the real you! How can you call that dating if you are telling her nothing but lies?!” Ericka exclaimed in a pissed off tone. “What's it to you anyways? I know your pals with her but you know we won't be here forever!” Richard retorted getting rather pissed off himself. “Do you even give a flying fuck about her?” Ericka asked as her wings tensed up and she ground her hooves into the ground. “I...” Richard began to say only to trail off. “Well, do you?!” Ericka exclaimed as she continued to grind her hooves into the ground. “I don't know!” Richard exclaimed as Ericka rose a hoof to him. “You've been dating her for a freaking year now! How can you not know?!” Ericka replied still glaring at him. “It's not that simple! I mean yeah, she's a nice mare and all and I guess I do kind of like her, but it's just not that simple. We're not really ponies Ericka, we're fakes in a world full of the real thing. How can we let ourselves become attached to one of them and not wonder when the last time we are going to see them will be?” Richard asked as he looked at her. “You can't lie to her forever Richard. She needs to know the truth at some point. I don't know if you really care about her or if you just see her a fuck toy or what, but if you really do care about her, then tell her about the real you. Not some fake made up you, the real you.” Ericka replied in a calm yet serious tone. “But that would jeopardize the mission.” Richard replied and stared at her for a few moments and realized by how she was behaving at this point what she had actually done. “You've already told one of them, haven't you?” Richard asked in a serious tone. “Yeah, I have. And you know what? She doesn't care. She accepts me for who I am.” Ericka replied in the same serious tone that Richard now spoke in. “Have you lost your mind?! Do you realize just what would happen if they chose to expose you?! The mission would be compromised and our base along with everyone in it would be put in danger!” Richard exclaimed semi-panicked. “Pinkie would never do that and I trust her!” Ericka exclaimed to which Richard went wide-eyed. “You told her everything?” Richard asked stunned by this new set of information. “More or less.” Ericka replied simply. “You've taken this friendship thing way too far Ericka. Nothing and I mean nothing is worth jeopardizing the mission.” Richard remarked aloud in stern tone. “Fuck the mission! I couldn't give a flying shit what Stillborn or the others think! They don't know shit about this world or the ponies in it!  I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life! I have friends here, real friends! Do you know what I had to do in order to convince them I knew what I was talking about?!  I had to use a fucking jet diagram and lie my fucking ass off in order to convince them that Pegasus are somehow just like jet planes! Because if I told them the truth, then our mission as you call it, would have been over already!” Ericka exclaimed as she huffed and puffed at Richard. “Ericka...” Richard remarked in shock unable to say much more. “Now you can go to Stillborn and the others if you want, tell them I fired off my mouth to Pinkie Pie, but ask yourself this; Will I ever see Pinkie Pie again? Is she really worth losing over this? Do I want to spend as much time with her as possible before I have to leave her? Ask yourself these questions Richard and think hard. I just hope for Pinkie Pie's sake that you make the right choice. Because she really does care about you a lot.” Ericka finished, turned around, and walked away. “Ericka, wait!” Richard called out which caused the dark blue Pegasus to halt in her tracks and turn to face him. “What is it?” Ericka asked simply. “Does Pinkie...does she really care about me as much as you say?” Richard asked curiously. “Well yeah, she was literally holding me back by the tail in order to keep me from pounding the living snot out of you for sleeping with her.” Ericka replied and allowed a smirk to wash over her face as she said this. ------------------------------------------- Several hours had past now and storm clouds were barreling in now as had been scheduled but that didn't stop the dark blue Pegasus from forgetting about this and running as fast as she could towards Twilight's house as rain poured on her. “My mane, my mane, my mane!” Ericka exclaimed frantically as she ran past Twilight whom giggled upon hearing this. “Okay, Rarity the second.” Twilight jeered with a smirk to which Ericka flung her mane at her which soaked the purple unicorn. “I guess I deserved that.” The purple unicorn said with a smirk before her horn glowed and dried herself off with her magic. “They really outdid themselves this time.” Twilight remarked just before she closed the door. “I guess so.” Ericka replied as she sat down and used her hooves to straiten out her mane the best she could. “Here, it's far easier to do with magic.” Twilight remarked aloud as she used her magic to levitate a comb and began to brush the dark blue Pegasus's pink mane. “Thanks Twilight, it really does make me wonder how Applejack puts her mane in that braid every day with her bare hooves since she's an earth pony.” Ericka replied as the purple unicorn continued to brush down her mane. “It can be quite the challenge from what I’ve read.” Twilight remarked aloud. “Challenge? It's practically impossible!” Ericka exclaimed at which point the two mares burst out laughing. “Speaking of challenges, I heard Pinkie Pie is dating a stallion you dated before. Must make you a bit jealous knowing your ex is with another mare.” Twilight said as she combed her mane. “Me jealous? Of him? Ha!” Ericka exclaimed without thinking. “Uh-oh. A not so nice break-up?” Twilight remarked in a concerned tone. Upon hearing this Ericka gave an annoyed sigh. “Damn you Richard...” Ericka thought to herself dismally. “Not really bad, but things just weren't working out.” Ericka replied. “It's nice to hear that your memory is finally coming back.” Twilight replied as she continued combing her hair. “What? Oh yeah, well I've been remembering a whole lot of stuff as of late. A lot of it is still foggy though.” Ericka replied and bit her lip unknown to the unicorn. “Well, with luck you'll have all your memories back and you can tell me where you came from.” Twilight replied as she continued to comb the dark blue Pegasus's mane. “Yeah, that part is still very foggy.” Ericka replied and sighed. “Don't worry, it'll come back soon. I'm sure of it.” Twilight replied with a smile as she set the comb down and sat next to her. POUND,POUND,POUND! The loud pounding at the door caught both mare's attention and Twilight stood up, walked over to the door, and opened with her magic to see a soaking wet Fluttershy huffing and puffing. “Fluttershy, what in Equestria are you-” “It's Rainbow Dash! I think she's in trouble!” The yellow Pegasus exclaimed cutting off the unicorn before she could finish her sentence. ------------------------------------------ “Why didn't she just move her cloud home? Can't Pegasus' do that?” Ericka asked in a panicked tone as the three ran through town towards the cyan blue Pegasus's house as the rain and wind pelted them. “Normally yes, but Rainbow Dash can be stubborn at times and knowing her she would probably refuse to move it thinking her home could take it.” Twilight replied as the two neared the spot where the cyan blue Pegasus's home was except a torrent of clouds, rain, and lightning stood in it's place. “Oh this is very bad! You don't think she's still up there do you?” Twilight asked in a worried tone as three looked up. “Oh dear, I hope not!” Fluttershy chimed in. “That formation of clouds...” Ericka remarked aloud as she recalled it. FLASHBACK “Of course I figured out it was a prank, what do you think I am? A foal?” Rainbow Dash replied in a hurt tone with a sniffle. “Then I don't understand, why are you like this?” Ericka asked confused yet still concerned. “When I was a filly, way before I entered flight school, I was terrified of clouds. See, when a year or two after I was born, there was this huge storm that the Pegasus ponies bright in. Well, it got out of control. Me, my mom, and dad had to flee from our cloud home. Our cloud home was destroyed before my very eyes as they carried me away. The formation of clouds, the lightning, it was just like your prank. It took me eight years to get over that fear.” The cyan blue Pegasus explained at which point Ericka felt like dirt. END FLASHBACK “I don't think she left her house.” Ericka said in a serious tone as she spread her wings preparing to take off. “Cloudkicker, you aren't possibly be thinking of going in that are you? You haven't even finished your flying lessons with Rainbow Dash yet!” Twilight exclaimed in a panicked tone as Ericka went into her take off pose. “I'm not going to just sit back and hope she got out in time! Fluttershy feels the same way and that's why she came to us for help!” Ericka replied rearing her hind end up. “Okay, but just don't do anything stupid and think before you take off okay?” Twilight replied in a worried tone. “I always do...” Ericka replied not looking away from the skies now and took off from the ground in a steep climb. “Oh, m-my!” Fluttershy exclaimed in a shaky tone as Ericka disappeared into the storm. ------------------------------------ Ericka struggled against the wind and rain as she flew through the storm trying desperately to find any sign of the cyan blue Pegasus's home. “Ahh!” Ericka shrieked out in horror as she lost control and began to flail at the mercy of the storm but recovered and resumed searching for Rainbow Dash's house. “Dashie! Rainbow Dash! Can you hear me?!” Ericka called out as she continued to struggle against the storm. “Eep!” Ericka exclaimed as a streak of lighting jetted past her and would have struck her dead on if she hadn't banked to her left moments before. “I'm going to get myself killed before I can find her at this rate!” Ericka thought to herself however at the very moment this thought caused another to shoot through her mind. “What will happen to my human body if I die while I’m in this body? I'll just pop back into my human body won't I?” Ericka thought to herself in a scared tone. The truth was, she didn't know. Josh never told her what would happen if her pony body was killed. This very thought nearly froze the dark blue Pegasus in fear. “I can't go back now! Come on Ericka! If you can fight a freaking alien invasion on your home planet then a stupid storm is nothing compared to that!” Ericka exclaimed aloud to re-enforce her courage and continued to fight against the storm. Fortunately for Ericka, the cyan blue Pegasus’s home came into view a few minutes later though it looked far worse for ware and it was more than obvious the storm had been tearing it apart. Ericka struggled to get to the landing part of her cloud home and struggled even more so to not be blown clear off it as she moved one leg at a time towards Rainbow Dash's door which surprisingly, was still intact. “Dashie, are you in here?!” Ericka called out at the top of her lungs in hopes of being heard over the storm as she stepped inside. Though she was no longer being bombarded by the rain and wind in here, the entire structure seemed to toss and tilt at random which made it very hard to keep her balance as she walked through the house. “Rainbow Dash! Can you hear me?!” Ericka called out once again. Maybe she had actually left before the storm got bad?  What if she risked her life for nothing more than a gut feeling that was wrong? A faint whimpering however proved her gut was right on the mark and staggering across the rolling floor she made her way to the cyan Pegasus's bedroom. Rainbow Dash was huddled in a corner looking positively horrified as tears streaked down her cheeks.  “Dashie, thank goodness you're okay!” Ericka exclaimed as she rushed over to the cyan blue Pegasus's side. “It's come back for me...” Rainbow Dash muttered which could barely be heard over the storm outside. “What's come back for you? Listen, we need to get you out of here!” Ericka exclaimed as she attempted to lift the Pegasus up only for her to recoil and stay in her spot. “I-I can't leave or it'll get me...” Rainbow Dash replied seemingly not looking at her now but rather the floor. It was now clear to Ericka that she wasn't about to budge and she was frozen in fear. “On your hooves solider!” Ericka exclaimed in a fierce tone which managed to snap the cyan blue Pegasus gaze in her direction. “Wh-What?” Rainbow Dash asked in a shaky tone. “I said, ON YOUR HOOVES SOLDIER!” Ericka roared at the top of her lungs which startled the cyan  Pegasus into allowing her to help her up to all four hooves. “Now, follow me!” Ericka exclaimed in the same fierce tone to which Rainbow Dash obeyed. As they neared the door however, the cyan blue Pegasus froze once again. “I-I can't!” Ericka turned to face her and realized she was going to have to get her to move somehow. “Come on! We need to get out of this house! If we stay in here we're as good as toast!” Ericka exclaimed urgently but the cyan blue Pegasus refused to move. “It'll get me, I can't!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed fearfully. “Are you a Pegasus or not? Because what I see before me is a cowering, pathetic, little foal! Now, move those hooves!” Ericka roared which managed to startled the cyan blue Pegasus into moving again. Once outside the wind and rain once again pelted the dark blue Pegasus but she didn't care. She had a friend to save. “Follow my lead and don't fall behind!” Ericka exclaimed at the top of her lungs and took off from the cloud to which Rainbow Dash followed. Ericka once again struggled against the wind and rain though this time she made sure to check to make sure Rainbow Dash was keeping up with her. “I- I can't do this! It's going to get me!” Rainbow Dash shrieked as lightning streaked past the two nearly hitting them. “Oh no you don't! No pony gets left behind on my watch! Now get those puny little chicken feathers you call wings into gear and keep up!” Ericka roared as she looked behind herself hoping this was enough to encourage the cyan blue Pegasus to continue following her. ---------------------------------------- “She's been up there for nearly a half hour, is she going to be okay Twilight?” Fluttershy asked in a worried tone as the two continued to look up at the storm as it raged on. “Of course she is.” Twilight reassured the yellow Pegasus but to be honest, she wasn't sure herself. “What if she...doesn't come back? What if we find her laying in the dirt somewhere and she's not breathing? What if-mmph, mmmph!” Fluttershy began to say only for the purple unicorn to literally shove her hoof in the yellow Pegasus's mouth. “You're not helping!” Twilight exclaimed annoyed as she glared at the yellow Pegasus. However a moment later, Fluttershy ripped Twilight's hoof from her mouth and pointed towards the sky. “There she is! And Rainbow Dash is with her!” Fluttershy exclaimed joyfully. Twilight yanked her gaze in the direction of Fluttershy's hoof and sure enough, Ericka was flying out of the clouds followed by Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy and Twilight ran to the spot where the two landed at and Fluttershy hugged Rainbow Dash tightly. “Oh Rainbow Dash, are you okay?! Are you hurt?!” Fluttershy asked in a urgent tone. “I'm fine Fluttershy, but if Cloudkicker hadn't found me and made me move my flank, I probably wouldn't be.” Rainbow Dash replied as she smiled at Ericka who simply smiled back at her. “Cloudkicker, that was rash and stupid! I told you not to do something stupid and think things through!” Twilight exclaimed in a lecturing tone at first but her expression lightened as she hugged the dark blue Pegasus tightly. “But I’m glad you didn't listen to me!” Twilight exclaimed joyfully. CRACKLE-THOOM! “Gahh!” Rainbow Dash shrieked froze up and fell onto her back. “Lets get out of this storm before it scares Dashie to death.” Ericka remarked in a worried tone as she helped the cyan blue Pegasus to her hooves and the four ran back to Twilight's house to dry off.