Chapter 2.5:
Family
The chair you’ve been in since the afternoon makes your legs feel numb. It’s impossible to sleep. Not while Cloudburst is like this. It’s about 3:30 in the morning. The fireplace is still crackling with a soothing tune. The quiet grunts and other noises come from your sleeping relative hardly soothe you. She hasn’t awoken yet, but it’s only a matter of time until she does.
Can’t blame her for having nightmares.
Blazer. That name is more acidic than your blood. You hadn’t known him very well, but you know his face. Those orange eyes that pierce through darkness. That greasy hair that was always swept backwards, a cheap imitation of Wonderbolt Leader Spitfire’s hair. He wasn’t all that harsh, in fact, he was actually quite nice. In the one or two talks you had with him, he was quite the gentlecolt. But then again, a lot can change in ten months.
Just look at you.
Those dark bruises on your cousin’s face are like a symbiote, corrupting your morality. The only time you ever had these sorts of feelings was when you’d engage in a battle as a guard, or whenever you would see Chrysalis’s face. Though you’d like for these feelings to remain a mystery to you, you already know what they are.
You want to kill Blazer.
He hurt the only family, and the one last connection to the outside world you have left. Even besides that, he hurt an innocent mare, for doing what she thought was right. He hurt her for nothing. She trusted him- you trusted him to look after her, and he hurt her. Physically and mentally. She could never date again. You know Cloudburst. She’s always had a bit of a tendency to go a bit too far with her emotions. This likeness could also be found within a certain alabaster unicorn at the clothes store.
Something about white fur must have that effect.
You let out a dry chuckle at your thought. But your soft smile fades as you return to your train of thought.
She’s overreacted. Every mare has. But she takes it a tad too far. She’ll say things like ‘I’ll never date again,’ or ‘All colts are just like that. Can’t trust a single one of them.’ The worst part is, however, she sticks to it. After a boyfriend she once had for a few weeks dumped her for some other mare, she went an entire year without dating again. An entire year. And now… She’s been seeing Blazer for three years. They loved each other. You were sure they’d get married. Have children. Grow old together. When they were going out, it certainly didn’t seem too far from the truth. They were happy. Cloudburst was happy. And so, you were happy. She finally found ‘the one.’
And now look where you are. Sitting in your chair at three in the morning watching the fire dance before you as you contemplate your current position in life. Look at where Cloudburst is. Sitting up on your couch rubbing her eye whispering your name.
…Wait, what?
“Cloudburst…?” you whisper.
“Have you gone to sleep?” she tiredly asks you. A sigh escapes your lips as you tell her the truth. “Why?”
“I can’t. Not while you’re like this,” you say a little louder. She lets a comforting smile creep across her face.
“Hey…” she whispers, shuffling closer to you. She extends an arm out to you and touches your shoulder. “I’ll… I’ll be just fine now. I just… Needed a shoulder to cry on for a while, that’s all.”
“Why don’t I believe you?” you say, looking her straight in her bloodshot blue eyes.
“Because you’re the most stubborn colt I’ve ever had the pleasure to know,” she says, lifting herself off the couch. Kneeling before you, she wraps her arms around your back. You return the embrace, basking in the warmth of your cousin’s touch. Heh… She still smells of her house. Oatmeal cookies and apple juice. She’s always had that smell about her, even though she couldn’t bake to save her life. “You should go to bed,” she whispers into your shoulder.
“You take the bed. I’m staying here.”
“I won’t take your bed from you.”
“Take the bed or the couch. I’ll be right here, Cloudy,” you say with a wide smile. It’s… It’s been eight years since you called her that. You remember fun times with your cousin playing on the playground or in your mother’s yard. The laughs you shared. The good times you had. The jokes you cracked. The teasing, the smiling, the comfort, the love. She’s always been there… She’s always been by your side…
And she’s the only family you have left.
“…I love you, Cloudburst…” you say, your embrace tightening around her back.
“I love you too.”