Year 6, Week 5, Wednesday
The two stared at each other across the yard. The tension in the air was thick enough Flare swore he could feel it. At his hooves, Breaker pressed close, nervously glancing from his mother to this strange human on the porch.
“Been a while, Dad,” Nimbus said calmly.
“Four years since you ran off to that Conversion thing. See you actually went through with it,” he replied tersely. “So, why the hell do you think I’d want to see you around here again?”
Flare nearly spoke up, but the look on Nimbus’ face stopped him. It wasn’t angry, or sad, or really anything. She just... stared.
“Look, Evan,” Abe said as he locked the car, “I know how pissed you were with Jenny’s leaving, but you at least owe your own daughter the chance to talk to you.”
Evan spat off the porch. “Don’t really know or care what you got to say. Just say what ya came here to say and get lost. You may sound like her, but you ain’t my Jennifer.”
Nimbus took a breath, her wings fluttering slightly as her emotions started leaking out. “Dad... I came here to try to set things right between us. And to tell you something else.” She motioned for Flare and Breaker to stand next to her. Shepherding Breaker forward, Flare leaned against her gently in support. She pressed back as she took another deep breath. “Dad, this is my husband, Flare... and this is my son, Breaker. Your grandson.”
Evan blinked, staring at Flare first, then Breaker. “You mean you... with that?”
Nimbus snorted, stamping a hoof. “At least have some goddamned civility. Flare’s my husband and I love him.”
“After you ran away? Turned into one of those ponies? Rutted with one of them like an animal? I didn’t raise my daughter to act like that,” Evan said with rising anger in his voice. “Tell me exactly why I should even give you the time of day?”
“Alright, that’s enough!” Abe shouted as he stepped in between the arguers. “This has gone on long enough. Evan, regardless of how you feel about ponies, Jennifer is your daughter, and you should at least hear her out.”
Evan snorted, but turned to walk back inside. “Fine, you can come in. Speak your piece.”
The five of them were seated in the living room, the ponies on the couch, Evan in the recliner, and Abe on the spare chair.
“Alright.” Evan leaned back. “You got your chance, so talk.”
Nimbus took a breath, feeling Flare’s comforting presence next to her. “I admit Dad, the entire flight here I was thinking about all the times we fought, and the last one we had before I went for Conversion. I had a whole book’s worth of questions I wanted to ask you too.”
Evan just sat there, his expression locked into a scowl.
“But you know, now that I’m here, I realized I don’t have anything more to say to you.” She leaned against Flare. “I mean, going to the Conversion Bureau was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I can walk again, Dad. And more than that, I can fly!” She resettled her wings to emphasize the point. “There’s nothing holding me back. I’ve got a great stallion who I love, who gifted me with a beautiful son,” she ruffled Breaker’s mane, deciding to ignore the little scowl he gave her. She sighed and looked back at him. “If you don’t want to talk again after this, that’s fine. But if you change your mind, just let me know. If I have to, I’ll fly here myself.”
The room was silent for a long few minutes. No one made a move to break the silence, the focus of the room centered on Evan. With a sigh, he heaved himself out of the chair, rubbing his face with a hand.
“Is that all?” He gestured with the other hand toward the door. “Then I want you out of my house.”
“Evan!” Abe said hotly, rising to his feet as well. “That’s uncalled for-”
“It’s alright Abe,” Nimbus interrupted quietly as she carefully climbed off the couch. Turning to help Breaker down, she turned to her father, her expression unreadable. “It was nice seeing you, Dad.” She led Breaker out the door without another word.
“But Mom, I thought you said you wanted to make up with Grandpa...” Breaker asked, his voice fading as he trotted out the front door. Nimbus’ response went unheard. Abe stood there for a second, before shaking his head and walking out the door after them.
Flare, after climbing down from the couch, stopped at the doorway and turned back, lowering his head in a small bow. “It was nice meeting you. Your daughter is a beautiful mare, and I’m lucky to have met her at all, let alone been blessed by a son with her. I hope that we can meet again under better circumstances.” He turned and followed the others to the car, not looking back.
Inside the house, Evan stood there, not moving. Once he heard Abe’s car start up, he walked down the hall to a nondescript bedroom, a simple bed and dresser obscured by boxes. Stopping over one of the boxes, he opened it and reached in, lifting out a photo frame. The image inside was of a young woman, dressed in an Army combat uniform, a broad smile on her face. A few tears splashed against it as Evan wept, though whether it was from his losing his daughter the first or second time, he couldn’t tell.
The graveyard was quiet, only a few people visiting loved ones. However, something new was present, that turned the heads of the curious. Three ponies and a human walked through the silent stones, their destination a few rows ahead.
“Are you sure you want to walk out on him like that, Nimbus?” Flare asked cautiously. The whole ride over Nimbus had been silent, just staring out the window.
“Like I said Flare, I’ve got nothing left to say to him. I’m going to remember the good times, and if he wants to, I’d be fine with welcoming him back into my life. But I’m not going to shed any more tears over it.” Nimbus smiled and nuzzled Breaker. “I am who I am, and as much as it scares me, I can even face forgetting what it was like to be human. After all, I’ll be facing it together with you, and with Breaker.” She leaned against Flare and draped a wing over his back.
Flare smiled. “That’s a promise, dear.” He leaned against her and nibbled her ear.
Breaker gagged. “Mooooom, Daaaaad! We’re outside! Those people are lookin’ at us!”
Abe laughed, Flare and Nimbus joining in after a tender nuzzle. Breaker just rolled his eyes and kept on trotting forward, turning around when he didn’t hear his parent’s hoofsteps anymore. He saw they’d stopped in front of one of the hundreds of stones, and Nimbus was starting to tear up a little. Galloping as quick as his legs would allow, he pressed himself against her legs and nuzzled her. “What’s wrong, Mom?” He looked at the face of the stone, but couldn’t tell what it said. “What does it say?”
Nimbus knelt down next to him and nuzzled him. “Well, this is where your grandma is buried, Breaker. Her name was Carol. I didn’t get to know her too well, but my Dad used to tell me stories of how pretty and nice she was.”
The little colt tilted his head. “Why’s she buried, Mom?”
Nimbus sniffed, wiping at her eye with a hoof. Flare crouched down on Breaker’s other side. “Well son, when ponies, and I guess people, get old, Celestia and Luna call them back to the Eternal Herd, to roam in the Summerlands.”
Breaker squinted, staring at the stone. “I’d like to meet her.”
Flare smiled sadly and bumped shoulders with him. “Well, you’ve got a lot of growing to do first. Plenty of life ahead of you.”
Breaker looked between his parents, even more confused than ever. Finally writing it off to adult stuff, he turned back to the gravestone. “It was nice to meet you, Grandma Carol, even if you can’t talk to me from being buried in the ground. Maybe when Uncle Aegis teaches me more earth stuff, I can!”
Nimbus laughed despite herself, wiping at her eyes one final time. “Who knows, maybe you will son, maybe you will.”