//------------------------------//
// Chapter 21: Redemption 
// Story: Fallout Equestria: Fly Away 
// by Freeflyingwolf 
//------------------------------//

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away
By Freeflyingwolf
Chapter 21: Redemption
 “I guess darkness serves a purpose: to show us that there is redemption through chaos. I believe in that. I think that's the basis of Greek mythology.”  Brendan Fraser 

Fruitlessly she knocked on the door. Headshot knew that it wasn’t futile, she was sure she had seen Sunshy run into this particular door. Hell, he’d closed the door so fast that she banged her head on it! So…why wasn’t he answering?
Scared for his state of being, she pressed her ear against the door. She heard the sound of hair cutting. Why was he cutting his hair? She tried to press her ear harder against it, but it didn’t make anything clearer. There were virtually no sounds but that hair cutting and his breathing. At least he wasn’t hurting himself.
“Sunny? Will you open the door please? It’s just me here, no one else. I promise.” Shooty kept her ear on the door, anxious to find out what he would do. Just to be sure, she lifted her head away and saw that the corridor was still empty.
The pegasus mare heard things being moved about. A bit later, the door opened. She inhaled a gasp and put a hoof over her mouth. Sunshy had cut his mane and tail down to choppy, poorly-cut splotches of red on his sun-yellow coat. His eyes no longer held tears. They appeared empty, hollow. He was practically dead on his feet.
Shooty’s visage slowly turned from shock to angry in a matter of moments. Someone had to pay for turning him into this! Shooty shoved Sunshy back into the closet and closed it behind him. Her anger only grew at the fact that he gave no resistance.
Anger told her that she had to find the one who started all this abuse to Sunshy. Her wings unfurled and began beating hard. She changed the way of her flight pattern to keep her speed angled forward and not up.
Doors, zebras, and hallways melted away as she sped by, retracing her fight. However, when she was forced to land and pant, she found she had no idea where she was. All the white walls and doors looked the same.
“The building had a spell woven into every brick, every door, every floor…” A zebra roughly her size walked over to her. From her voice, it could be guessed this was a female. “It was made to be like…a puzzle box. No matter how you run and run, unless you have a guide who knows what they’re doing, you will be lost. Unless you want to get out with all your heart, you will get nowhere.”
“Why is that?” Shooty questioned.
“To make sure our Caesar is safe. You have noticed his scars, yes? All done while he was outside this building.” The zebra answered.
“Can you take me to your leader?”
“Do you mean him harm?” Her tone turned deathly scary.
“No, I just want to see him.”
“Alright, this way.”
As calmly as she could, Shooty followed the mare in the Legion armor. Like before, this trip took the two around and around in what felt like circles. Of course, she eventually walked up to a door down a hallway and knocked the special knock. 
“Come in.”
The zebra pushed the door open and allowed Shooty inside. Her rage was reaching boiling point. She was sorry she had to lie to the zebra mare willing to help, but this was personal. Apparently, the mare didn’t quite trust her, as she walked into the room after her.
Caesar XIII was curled up on his pile of pillows in the middle of the first room. To see who was there, he lifted his scarred head. The zebra’s eyes were red and puffy, tears still falling from them. He sniffled and lied his head back down, staring sadly at something in his hooves.
All of Shooty’s rage boiled and dissipated into steam. Damn it, why did the object of her anger have to go and be all sad? Oh…clutched in his hooves was Sunshy’s golden band, glinting a bit of red from the zebra leader’s artificial eye. He lifted his head just enough to nod at the Legion mare. She hesitated before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.
“Go ahead.” His artificial voice stated.
Headshot was confused at his statement. She walked forward and stared down at him. Caesar XII kept his head down and held the band close to his chest. An image of Sunshy as he was now entered her mind. She could feel the rage building up again. She didn’t understand everything, but it made little difference. Headshot lifted a hoof and brought it down upon the zebra’s shoulder. 
She jumped back and waved her hoof in the air, saying, “Owowowowowowowowowhowhowwww. Is your skeleton made of metal or something?!”
“Most of it. Mini balefire bombs fuck you up real bad.” Caesar XIII said blandly.
“A mini <B>what</b>?”
“Balefire bomb. You know, what killed everyone in the war. A small one of those was launched at me. Bit of overkill, if you ask me, seeing as how those can kill a rampaging herd of rhinos.”
“…Why would they do that?”
“Because I’m a terrible person and I’m a fucking idiot. So just beat me up over your big brother’s broken heart. People will cheer for you for it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Makes two of us. I’m just trying to make this place better, but everyone hates me. They hate me so much that they’ll launch a mini balefire bomb at me. Guess that’s what happens when you take away their coliseum fights.”
“You’re…trying to make this place better?”
“That’s what I just said. I’m tweaking things little by little, so subtle that no one noticed. Until another coliseum fight cost the life of a colthood friend, of course. Then I had it condemned and torn down and no one was happy about that. What’s funny is that in their anger, they destroyed the coliseum they were trying to protect.”
“Then…why would…why did Sunshy react like that?” Shooty felt her brain beginning to hurt at the confusion.
Caesar the thirteenth shrugged as the door was opened. Legate Brute walked inside and bit Shooty by the tail. Without a word and ignoring her futile struggle, the large zebra walked out of the room, kicking it shut behind him.
~*~
Sunshy regained enough sense to open the door and peek outside. No one around—oh crap! Sunny ducked back into the closet after seeing a zebra in the red armor. He opened it a sliver and peeked, finding the zebra standing vigilant and glanced around with a determined expression. Sunshy closed the door again and took the time to stare at his surroundings, trying to find a way out of here undetected.
Undetected?
The yellow pony dug around in his misc box until he came upon an invisibility cloak. He quickly put it on over his saddle boxes and slipped the clasp over his head. Once the hood was up, the pegasus pressed the invisibility gem on the clasp. Sunshy then looked at himself in the mirror, only to find just a slight shimmer in the air.
Satisfied, the pony cracked open the door again. Finding no one was there, it was deemed safe enough for him to open it fully. The pony closed the door behind him and crouched close to the floor and stuck to the walls. Invisible or not, he would have to be careful with others actively searching for him.

Slinking around was hard on his knees!
Why did no one warn him of this? Probably because  no one thought that he’d be creeping around for a good fucking hour and keep ending up on the same floor!
Why wasn’t this apartment building normal?!?!?!
A sound of hooves coming forward startled the pony. He darted his head around in an attempt to find his way out. A-ha! An open door!
Lifting his hooves to stand on his tippie-hooves, the pony snuck into the open door, being careful not to budge the door. Sunshy quickly snuck to a corner and crouched down, trying to take up as little space as he could. Why was Royal Lace there eating ice cream?
Another figure walked into the room and kicked the door shut. She turned to the large zebra twice her size and smiled. Lacey offered her ice cream to Legate Brute, but he shook his head. So she scarfed it down in three bites.
“Very ladylike.” Brute replied sarcastically. When did he get a collar with his glyph mark? Whoa, was he the element?!
“Oh shut it, I’m allowed to pack on a few pounds.” Lacey replied with her mouth full.
“You are a little skinny.”
“That’s not…what I mean.”
Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck. Sunshy knew he was not supposed to be here! Private conversation! Why was the door closed?! Oh Goddesses, save him!
“Then why are you gorging yourself?” Brute asked as thought it wasn’t obvious. Maybe it wasn’t to a non-medical professional.
Lacey took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “I’m pregnant.”
“Are you sure it’s mine?”
Sunshy and Lacey’s fur bristled in indignation at that statement. What kind of buck asks that first?!
“How dare you insult my character?! Yes, I am quite sure it is yours because I have not slept with anyone since or at the same general time.” Lacey quickly asserted.
“And you’re quite sure you’re pregnant?” Brute inquired casually.
“Positive. I got my blood tested by Doctor Rose and he confirmed it. He said I’m two weeks pregnant.”
“I suppose not even a doctor can confirm—“ Brute shut his trap at the glare Lacey gave him. She calmed down and regained her air of dignity.
“Now, before you get all upset, I have conditions. One, I have no intention of marrying you. You stated from the beginning that you were not willing to accept me as a wife for the sterile children. Two, I want you to visit our child every few weeks.”
“Won’t you have a husband by then? Seems like something your family would do to hide your shame.” Brute interrupted calmly. He almost cowered at her cold glare.
“Yes…my family is horrible that way. To think, after years upon years of shooing away suitors only after my family’s money and high status, I’ll have to marry one of them. Such is the—“
“Horrible life of a nobility?” Brute questioned with a small glare of his own. Royal Lace had the decency to blush. A Legate that knew war surely had a terrible life.
“Sorry…It’s just, well…No one has ever really cared like you do. Well, except for Sunshy of course, but he cares about everyone. Such a sweetheart, that one. How goes your search for him?” Lacey questioned with a true tone of worry. Sunshy suddenly felt guilty.
“Not too great. The other soldiers are searching now, but I had to go and get that sister of his bound in chains. Can’t have her flying off after trying to attack our leader.” Brute dug at the floor and nickered with an air of insult.
“How did you even know?”
“A mare warned me of a suspicious yellow pegasus in with the Caesar. She feared for his life, so naturally I had to go.”
“Oh look at how distracted we got. I want you to visit as our child grows up, so he or she will have a zebra father figure in his or her life. You can tell the baby you’re the father or not, it doesn’t matter to me. I just…I want someone there to help the poor dear. You know how children are, absolutely terrible and always picking on each other for no good reasons. I just know being half zebra half pony will not fare well for their life.” Lacey’s ears turned down, as though she knew first-hoof just the sort of teasing other children subject each other to.
“Exactly why I try to avoid sleeping with ponies. Never ends well.” Brute grumbled…Then he sighed and bent his head down to nuzzle Royal Lace’s face affectionately. Sunshy really wanted to leave now. “I could almost curse you for having the beauty of Venus.”
“You certainly know how to make a girl’s mood swing.” She grumbled with a slightly grumpy smile.
“Or that’s the pregnancy.” Brute replied with a grin.
“So, do you agree to my terms or not?” Lacey questioned as she pulled back again.
“You insult my character, now. This child will not grow up fatherless, I assure you. Even if I do gain a wife and other children, I shall certainly not neglect one of my own blood.” Legate Brute assured her. She then began pouting and scowling.
“I don’t like the idea of you having sex with other mares.”
“Well, I’m certainly not a virgin and don’t plan to be celibate at any time. I need children of my own, all my previous ones are…” Brute stopped short and moved back. His expression was one of a buried sadness.
“You’ve had kids before?” Lucy questioned with a mix of anger and worry.
“They’re with the gods now, died in a pointless war that ended two hundred years ago. They were sent to their deaths by terrible leaders.”
“Oh…I’m so sorry…” Lacey put her hoof on his shoulder.
“It’s fine…I shed my tears long ago. Thank you for the sympathy, but if you’re done, I need to get back to finding that pegasus.”
“Speaking of him…would you mind if…if he was our child’s godfather?” Lacey asked with a hint of shyness, as though she didn’t know how he would react. Sunshy felt his heart melt. She really thought that highly of him? To be a godfather...
“A very good choice, and if he teaches the child healing abilities, then I won’t be forced to recruit them into the army.” Brute smiled at her.
“You would have to?” The unicorn appeared appalled at such an idea.
“Against my will or better judgment.” The zebra giant nodded solemnly.
“I see…I suppose you have to find him before he can teach our child to be a doctor.” Lacey tried to lighten the mood and poked a hoof at Brute’s shoulder playfully.
“I can take a hint.” The Legate replied with a nip on Lacey’s ear.
This was his chance! Sunshy waited in anticipation as the giant legate opened the door. As he walked out of the room, the invisible pony followed close behind. The pony kept close to the Legate, hoping that he would visit his sister.
In a way, he sort of did. They passed by a room where Shooty was tied up with chains. She struggled against them and tried to raise her wing in a futile effort. There were zebras guarding her. As soon as they saw the Legate, one of them walked over to the door, nodded to him and then closed it. Sunshy frowned, as he now had no way of getting to her.
Either way, this zebra knew his way around, so he was Sunshy’s only hope. The pegasus walked alongside him, not bothering to stay quiet. The cloak had an automated muffling spell as well as invisibility. Just to be sure, the pony stared down at his legs that weren’t covered. At least those were invisible regardless of that fact.
A little while later, they came upon another door on the same floor. Sunshy mentally cursed. He was going to Caesar the thirteenth’s room. Just…stay outside. Oh gods, another pair of hooves from behind! He’d be trapped in that room, there was nowhere to hide without someone brushing up against him.
As soon as the door was open, Sunshy bolted inside and repeated his earlier idea of finding a corner and crouching down to take up as little space as he could. It made him feel like a frightened rat, but it worked before.
Then why was Ze—Caesar—staring right at him?
Those brown eyes tore away from Sunshy’s invisible form to gaze up to his Legate, who bowed down in respect.
“I apologize, my Lord, but we are so far unsuccessful in finding him.” The Legate’s tone had changed drastically from when he talked with Lacey. It was so casual, now it was a voice of reverence.
“It’s okay, Brute. Thank you for doing so much.” Caesar XIII smiled warmly at his…friend? His face was slightly pink from the glow of a pink orb. A memory orb? Why did he have that?
“But of course, my Lord.”
“No, really, thank you for everything. You saved my life. If not for you, I’d be a pile of ash or a puddle of radioactive goo. I didn’t get to thank you before they took me into surgery.” Caesar tried to stand, even through the pain. Legate Brute quickly got up and put a hoof on his leader’s shoulder and gently set him back down. “Still have to wait a year until I get full mobility again. Sucks.”
“Don’t worry about it, sir. I was only doing what any good soldier would.”
“You swapped your loyalties to me almost instantly. Why is that?” He seemed to be a little suspicious.
“I’m the element of deceit, not treachery, my Lord.”
“Exactly why my trust is slightly strained, regardless of what you have done.”
“I don’t blame you. I follow you for the sole reason that you are capable of doing what failed ancestors before you could not do. They thought peace could be won with peaceful actions is a wonderful idea, but cannot be put to action. Only actions can bring the peace those of us strive for.” Brute replied.
“I feel like ‘fighting for peace’ is equivalent to ‘fucking for virginity’, but here I am. Blown all to hell and half metal, but doing something worthwhile for my people.” Zen chuckled as he looked at his hooves. He was probably metal inside…
“Exactly why I will follow you to hell and back, my Lord.” Brute smiled back.
“Glad to hear. Dismissed, soldier.” Zen saluted the larger zebra before he turned.
Sunshy stood and made to follow, but he was shocked into freezing by a sudden cough from the leader. It shocked him into running back to his corner and hiding again. The zebra continued to cough almost violently into his hooves. He dug around his pillows until pulling out an inhaler and using it for the intended purpose. From the way his coughing subsided and the lack of pupil dilation, Sunshy inferred that it was truly medical and not some recreational drug.
Then he nosed his PipBuck until a recording started playing. The voices were of his father and him…back before the voice implant. It was comforting to hear Zen’s voice without that robot edge.
“Tall Soft Heart is your fiancé, I guess.”
“Yes.”
“You know this pony and zebra marriage is illegal, right?”
“Yes.”
“And yet you proposed.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you love a pony in the first place?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
There was a pause.
“He is different from anyone else I have met. His caring and generosity is unmatched. He makes me want to do better. I feel as though we were…destined, I suppose. It feels right. Like we can survive anything together. He is simply too special to be in this era. He belongs in the time before war. All I want is to see him happy because his happiness will be mine.”
“Very touching.”
“It’s still true, you know.” Caesar’s current slightly robotic voice said softly. 
Sunshy jerked in shock and stared up to his eyes. The brown eyes were staring straight at him. He smiled lightly. Then he looked down and rolled the memory orb around under a hoof.
“My family has this strange trait…we can see through other invisibility cloaks. I guess that’s why we don’t have some ward to disturb the cloaks. So, yes, I can see you.”
Disbelief coursed through Sunshy. He remained as he was. Hiding and invisible.
“I was hit with a mini balefire bomb after ordering the coliseum to be torn down. Brute took the brunt of it and saved me. I’m already mostly made of metal, but I’d be toast without him.” Caesar paused, as though he was waiting for Sunshy to reply. “I’m starting a war. A full-out war with the Separatists at my side and the Remnants against me. Silly, huh? I’m weaning my people to the idea of accepting ponies again. This world is too harsh, too horrible. I’m changing it.”
Wow…Sunshy felt his ears fold back. He was doing all that?
“Don’t get a swollen head. It’s not all for you, you know. I really started when Equestria was purged. We can’t purge our land like they did, but we can make it better. Somehow, we can.” Zen rolled the orb under his hoof. “This orb contains the memory of my father when I was born. His glyph mark was the power of farsight. He could see the future at random times. If he tried to force it, it would be fuzzy. Anyway, this one is him seeing my future…”
Zen chuckled a little. “It’s just as I am now. Battered to fuck, lost my leg, lost my eye, and branded with Caesar’s mark. Only in that picture, I’m standing above a battlefield awash in blood. I guess he got the wrong idea of what that meant. Three days before I ran away, my dad looked straight at me and said, “Son, you’re going to be Caesar after me.”” Zen’s voice imitated his father’s rather well, “He said it with such finality, such…gravity that it scared me. He could see the future since that was his gift…so I knew it was right. I ran away anyway, thought I was clever and could escape fate. And here I am.”
Sunshy gathered enough courage to pull his hood down. A bit of fumbling later, he had the cloak folded inside his saddle box. Then he turned and saw Zen was gone. Curious and scared, Sunshy quietly crawled over to the doorway. The zebra was lying on a bed on the right, with the orb sitting on the desk to the left. Sunshy sat down at the doorway, but Zen didn’t seem to care.
“Whinny! My leg’s acting up again.” He shouted suddenly, looking over to the left.
Sunshy followed his head and saw another doorway leading into a workroom. After a groan, a unicorn pony walked inside the room and over to the zebra. She was a dirty gray—not sure if it was all grease and grime and she was white underneath—most of which was hidden under her overalls. Her mane and tail were blonde and her hair was held up in a red bandana. Her ears were pierced with little earrings, most of them just dots of metal. Her eyes were a rather pretty blue.
“What’s wrong this time?” She questioned.
“It hurts around the hoof that’s not there.” Zen complained.
“That’s not something I can help with!” Whinny replied.
“Phantom limb syndrome is common for those who lose a limb.” Sunshy offered.
“Yeah, listen to this…hey, that’s my wing!” Whinny pointed to the artificial wing on Sunshy’s left side.
“Huh?” Sunshy stood up and took a step back, afraid he did something wrong.
“I just wanted to let you know your wing went to good use. This pegasus here is a doctor!” Zen told her with a smile.
“Really?! That’s great! We do practically the same thing. Or, well, I do things you’re not able to, I guess. So when medicine fails, they come to me!” Whinny proclaimed proudly.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Sunshy questioned shyly. He had no more hair to hide behind.
“Whinny Rockbell at your service. Best auto-mail mechanic in the world! Earth ponies may be known for building things, but something as delicate as auto mail requires the precision of a unicorn!” She smiled proudly at him. Curious, Sunshy tilted his head and saw her cutie mark, a simple wrench.
“Careful, that cutie mark is more for her wicked throwing leg. If you piss her off, she’ll give you a concussion with a wrench to the head.” Zen warned.
“It was your fault. Anyway, I have to go tell grandma that a doctor is using my wing! She said that was two wasted years, but this’ll make her eat her words!” Whinny then galloped out of the room and out the door.
“Too bad she’s not a buck…” Zen sighed with a sad frown.
“Why’s that?” Sunshy questioned with confusion.
“You hate my fucking guts, Sunshy. I know what a breakup is, even if I’ve never had an engagement band thrown at my face before…Good thing my heart’s half-metal, or you might’ve heard it breaking on your way out.” The zebra turned away and curled into a half-ball.
“Zen…” Sunshy tried to argue. Those words had cut into his heart. Probably as much as his words had hurt Zen…
“Don’t call me that.”
“You are Zen. You always will be, to me.”
“Go. Just go, please. Stop making this harder than it already is.”
“If you wanted me to go, then why did you even acknowledge I was there?”
“Because love is irrational!” Zen turned and shouted straight at Sunshy. “But you know what’s rational? War. That’s all I feel now, a war inside me. Half of me still wants you, but the other half is too fucked up over the way you treated me. You know, I didn’t expect a warm reception by any stretch of the imagination, but you had no right to blow up at me like you did. Did you think this was easy for me? Assassinating my own father, two brothers and a sister? Yeah, it’s a real picnic being attacked around every corner, unable to trust anyone around you, going through more surgeries than an old stallion with cancer. Wanna know something funny?
“I lied. I am doing this because of you. I wanted to make some bit of this world better for you and only you. I wanted you to be able to come back and stay, without fear. Stupid me for thinking you’d see past my obvious flaws. Stupid me for thinking you had forgiven my stupidity. Stupid me for thinking so highly of you. Stupid me for thinking you’d be just a little bit grateful. And you know what’s worse? You’re still the best person I’ve ever met. Says a whole lot about the world as a whole.”
Sunshy kept quiet as Zen ranted at him. Zen was letting his feelings out, just like he had earlier. Zen had taken it, so now he would. He wouldn’t even argue until he was done, as it was just fair.
“You know what’s actually worse than that? You could have just talked to me, told me that you were upset about all that. Instead of blowing it all up right in my face out of petty rage, we could have worked this out a long time ago. But here we are…Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a war to plan.”
Zen forced himself to stand, despite the pain. He then limped over to his desk and sat down at the chair. He was silent as he went over the papers on his desk. The sounds of them shuffling around as well as the scribbling of a pencil were the only sounds. Sunshy was sitting at the empty doorway between the office/bedroom and the main room. Zen lasted only a minute before sighing. 
“I told you to leave.” The zebra told him. He limped over and nudged him with a hoof. The pony stood still as a statue. “I’m serious, Sunshy.” Zen was starting to get angry. 
“GET OUT!” He shouted loudly at him. The zebra then shoved his head against the pony’s chest. Despite his inferior strength, Sunshy managed to not be shoved out of his position. “Why are you being so damn stubborn?!”
“Because love is irrational!” Sunshy shouted right back at him. This surprised the zebra enough to get him to back away. He sat down and waited for the pony to continue. Sunshy fought back his tears as he explained himself.
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I…I’m sorry, Zen. I’m so sorry. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. I’m only book smart, and there isn’t a guide on how to deal with your fiancé turning into a warlord cyborg bent on civil war.” As serious as it was, Zen cracked a smile, “I just…I panicked. You changed too much in too little time. I could barely recognize you and it scared me. I thought you’d given into their ideas…I thought you hated me, and only wanted me back to deal with this damn water dragon I haven’t even met yet. You certainly acted like it…”
“That was…poor planning on my part. Like…remember when I called you racist and that you probably couldn’t tell the difference between me and any other zebra?” Zen smiled awkwardly. Sunshy sniffled and wiped away the forming tears.
“…You are the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.” He said before hitting the zebra on the head. Zen only chuckled.
“Part of my charm?” He offered weakly.
“You scared me half to death, made me think that I was going to be a slave again, and broke my heart all in one fell swoop because it’s ‘part of your charm’???” Sunshy stood up to assert his height over the zebra as he glared.
“…The one thing they didn’t implant was an intelligence chip. I’m guessing this whole fiasco would have all been avoided if Whinny did, right?” Zen had his ears lowered and smiled with guilt.
“You…you insufferable moron! I should break up with you just for your stupidity!” Sunshy shoved the zebra down with all his might and surprisingly managed to do just that.
“Argh! When did you get this strong?! Oh noes, I’m done for!” Zen laughed as he wrapped his legs around Sunshy’s neck and quickly pinned him down. 
As the zebra pinned him down, he began nipping on his ear. Laughing as well, the pony tried to get up or out from under the stronger equine. Eventually, he managed to squirm his way out and only jumped up onto the bed. Moments later, he was back under the shockingly strong zebra with surprising swiftness for one who had a bum fake leg. Just as the zebra was pulling at Sunshy’s ear in his mouth, Zen opened his eyes and saw some almost black eyes staring at him blandly. The ear was released immediately.
“Hi.” Zen stated with his slightly robotic voice corrupting his tone.
“Hello, my Lord.” Legate Brute stated with a bland tone. That small smile was not missed, though. The grin grew despite himself into a little chuckle. “Having fun?”
“Yes. No. You’re here. Why?”
“I was coming over to tell you we have yet to find him, but I see you already know. Should we deal with his sister now or later?”
“What? What are you going to do to Shooty?!” Sunshy tried to get up, but strength was not his forte.
“She did attack—“
“Let her go. She only wanted to fight for her brother’s honor or something. Full pardon, go go go, get out.” Caesar XIII waved a hoof at the large zebra.
“Of course. I’ll tell her that her big brother is in safe hooves.” Legate Brute smiled knowingly before walking out.
“Oh, if only.” Zen lamented as he stood up and shifted so he lied down next to Sunshy.
“No strenuous activity in your state.” Sunshy smiled as he put his head atop Zen’s neck.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t do anything…” Zen suggested lewdly. For this, he got a hard bite on his scarred ear. “Oowwwwwww. I’m abused enough, Sunny.” He whined shamelessly.
“Thank you, Zen…for…forgiving me.” Sunshy muttered with a kiss on the top of the zebra’s head.
“I would have no matter what, Sunshy. I’m sorry I yelled, too…broken heart isn’t easy to deal with.” Zen moved his head up to watch as he stroked the pony’s cropped short hair. “Is this how you dealt?”
“Yeah…don’t know what possessed me to do this…” Sunshy sighed sadly at the loss of his hair. Twenty years of grooming and careful cutting gone.
“I like it. You look more like a buck and you can’t hide your face any more.” Zen nuzzled the pony lovingly.
The two cuddled silently for a while. It was simply nice to be together again. No longer hurting, no war, no misunderstanding, it was just them in their own world. 
“So…do you want your engagement band back?”
“Please, my leg feels weird without it on.”
Zen tried to get up, but Sunshy pushed him back down. Then the pegasus fluttered over to the desk and followed Zen’s instructions. He pulled open a drawer at the top and found the box the band came in. He opened the box and slipped the engagement band onto his right hoof. Sunshy then went back to Zen and lied down on the bed with him, snuggling up close.
“So I was thinking, to avoid this situation of blowing up at each other out of nowhere, we just let out everything that’s bothering us about the other every month or so. That way we don’t slowly fester and grow to hate each other.” Zen offered.
“I already sort of did that, so it’s your turn.” Sunshy stated.
“Alright…I’m not going to be nice.”
“That’s the point.”
“Okay, you’re too quiet during sex. I’d like to know how I’m doing.”
“That’s not…I…okay.” Sunshy’s face turned orange with a slight blush.
“You also eat messy somehow. It’s like, the only thing not delicate you do. I’m serious, even I was going to question your buckhood until I saw how messy you eat. If you did eat like a lady, I’d have to call you one just on principle.”
“Great to know.” Sunshy grumbled.
“And your burps are super loud and stinky, like really. No amount of brushing your teeth could fix that.”
“Big accusations for someone who eats nothing but beans and farts like there’s no tomorrow! Not even silent, you just rip one and giggle your damn ass off.”
“Farts are funny.”
“If you’re disgusting.”
“You mean like how you pick your nose?”
“You do too!”
“You spend too much time brushing your coat and hair!”
“You spend too little! You’re not black and white; you’re gray, brown and black!”
“I am gay!”
“G-R-A-Y, gee arr, ay, why, not gay. I know you’re gay, that’s a little more than obvious. You scowl like something just spit in your face every time I do the littlest effeminate thing.”
“Well, you do a lot of effeminate things. It’s a wonder I don’t have permanent scowl lines!”
“Name one thing effeminate I do.”
“You actually kept your hair that fucking long.”
“To be like Fluttershy!”
“Who is a mare.”
“Masturbator!” Sunshy shoved his face against Zen’s face.
“Tree-hugger!” Zen pushed right back at the pony.
“Carnivore!”
“Unassertive weakling!”
“Unintelligent!”
“Tease!”
“Too rough!”
“I am? Oh jeeze, see this is why I told you to be more vocal. Just tell me next time, okay?” Zen moved his head back and folded his ears down, appearing genuinely apologetic.
“Damn it, I was on a roll.” Sunshy began laughing.
The laughter became infectious. Zen started chuckling until he was full-out laughing and hugging Sunshy. The two clutched at each other as they lost themselves to laughter. Their relief was a heavy weight lifted. They were forgiven and together.
The laughter died down. They continued to hug, lying on their sides on the bed. The two pressed their foreheads together. They didn’t need sex. Just the comfort of each other.
“Sunshy?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The two shared a kiss. That was all they needed. Their brows touched and their eyes closed. Without even knowing it, all their emotional turmoil overcame them and drifted them off into a dreamless sleep.
Level up! You are now level 21!
Sneak increased to 25!
Perk added! Silent Eavesdropper: You’re so good at keeping quiet that you can eavesdrop on anyone, even if you don’t mean to! This perk gives you +10 to your sneak skill when people around you are conversing. Who knows, you might be able to overhear covert plans one day!