//------------------------------// // A New Day // Story: If You Hear Me, Let Me Know // by SolidFire //------------------------------// A New Day Steel tentatively walked towards his father's broken body. He was scared, but he needed to make sure his father was alright. A pony's body wasn't supposed to bend that way, and their blood and bones belonged beneath their skin. "Daddy? Daddy, are you OKAY?" Jade didn't respond. "Daddy? Daddy, wake up. Wake up Daddy, wake up!" Steel began to push Jade's body. Tears slowly started to stream down his face. "WAKE UP DADDY! DADDY, WAKE UP!" Steel looked up, and through the tears in his eyes he saw an orange mare with a purple mane and tail flying away from the scene. Steel jerked himself awake. He looked around his room. As rage filled his heart he got out of bed and walked to the mannequin in the corner of the room. He dragged it to the center and gave it a solid buck. The mannequin tumbled across the room and landed on its side in the corner it started in. He was given the mannequin as a stress relief tool, as suggested by his therapist. It proved a valuable tool for releasing his anger. But a single buck wasn't enough. He sprinted towards it and slammed his right forehoof down on the mannequin's head, snapping it off. He stood over it, panting. The noise woke Spitfire, and she made her way to his room. "Steel? Everything alright?" Hearing her voice made Steel's anger flare again, but he quickly gained control of himself. "It's fine Spitfire. Thanks." Spitfire tilted her head. She could tell he was lying, but knew it was best not to press him into talking. Ever since he had been brought into their household he had an issue with his temper. He had never felt like a part of the family, and he never made an attempt to make himself a part of it. He had even refused to change his last name. He was the son of Jade Crestfall, and he held on to that fact as if his life depended on it. Spitfire sat next to Steel. "I can't make you tell me anything but I just want you to know that Rainbow and I are always going to be here for you. We're your family," Spitfire said softly. Steel laughed bitterly. "My family is dead. I don't have one anymore." His words cut Spitfire deeply. She had done everything she could to bring him into their family, but he refused to have any part of it. She knew that he felt that way, but she just wished he was more grateful. Sadly, there was nothing she could do. She couldn't punish him for missing his parents. She couldn't force him to see her as family. She opted to sigh. "I'm sorry you feel that way Steel." At a loss for words, Spitfire left Steel's room and headed back to bed. She heard the dull crack of his hooves striking the mannequin again. A single tear slid down her cheek. She crawled into bed next to her wife, who continued to sleep soundly. Spitfire wrapped her forelegs around the sleeping mare and quickly fell back into a deep sleep. Lightning's eyes slowly creeped open. He looked around his room and... something was missing. Rather, somepony was missing. The clattering of pans from down the stairs informed him that his fiancee was making breakfast. It was around that point in his train of thought that his nose began to work again. As it did, the smell of Scootaloo's cooking assaulted his nose with a near orgasmic aroma. In a semi-conscious state of pure nasal ecstasy, he rolled out of bed and made his way downstairs. Scootaloo heard the sound of hoofsteps coming from the stairwell. She looked up with an excited smile to greet her fiance. What she saw made her fall over, howling in laughter. Lightning stepped into the kitchen with his eyes half closed, his nose raised to the sky as if it were leading him to his destination, and the dumbest smile Scootaloo had ever seen had formed on his lips. "I now know what heaven smells like." Lightning looked high. Scootaloo laughed. "Wait until you taste it," Scootaloo said before she planted a deep, sensual kiss on his muzzle. "You certainly earned this." Lightning was brought out of his stupor that the smell of Scootaloo's cooking had left him in, only to be lost in arousal from the last kiss she gave him. A loud rumble from his stomach snapped him back to reality for the first time that day. "Maybe we should eat some breakfast... but then I think I could use a shower." Lightning winked at Scootaloo as they sat down at the table together. "I should get cleaned up as well. I'm still a little sweaty from last night." "But Scootaloo, there's only one shower! Whatever shall we do?" Lightning asked in mock worry, grinning. "I guess we'll just have to share. Think you can shower with a mare and not get uncomfortable?" Scootaloo responded while passing Lightning a plate of food. Lightning took the plate and pressed his lips to Scootaloo's. "I think I'll be getting VERY comfortable in that shower with you." Lightning and Scootaloo stepped out of the shower, each wearing a satisfied smile. "So Lightning, does this mean our 'wedding' last night does actually count?" Scootaloo asked. "It works for me. But you know my parents are going to want something more traditional," Lightning said. Scootaloo frowned. "Define traditional." Lightning gave Scootaloo a condescending stare. Scootaloo swallowed. "I'm gonna have to wear a dress, aren't I?" "I'll be stuck in a tux. Don't worry, you won't be alone." "Clothes are NOT my thing," Scootaloo said with a groan. "I don't enjoy it any more than you do, Scoot. At least you'll have some freedom in a dress. Suits are so limiting." Scootaloo groaned again. "Fine, I'll wear a bucking dress. But you owe me for this." "How about we move in before the wedding day? Will that make up for it?" Scootaloo pondered the thought. "I thought you wanted to wait to move in until we were married," she said, a challenging grin on her face. Lightning kissed her. "As far as I'm concerned, we ARE married. This is for my family, not for us." Scootaloo smiled. "Then moving in sounds like a fitting plan." "So, shall we get started? I've got an empty schedule today, so if we start now we could probably be done by nightfall. We could even merge our houses since they're both made of clouds." "As much as I'd love to, I promised I'd help Applebloom at the farm today. You know how she is." Lightning chuckled. "Yup. Despite her career with you guys she still helps around the farm whenever she's off. What's she doing now?" "Well, Applebuck Season is in two weeks and they need to get a new barn up to fit the excess of crops that they're gonna have. Which reminds me," Scootaloo explained, lifting her necklace off of her. Lightning frowned. "Why are you taking it off?" asked Lightning. It was Scootaloo's turn to give him a condescending glance. "I don't want anything to happen to it while I'm helping Applebloom build a new barn, do I?" Lightning laughed and kissed her. "Good point. You gonna need my help today?" "Nah, the rest of the band is going to help out as well." "Ahh. You guys always did look after each other. Well, in that case, if you need me today I'll be practicing at the Sky Track." "Great, I'll meet you for dinner?" "Dinner? Oh, right. We woke up at noon." "Yes we did. Does eight sound good?" she asked. "Sounds like a plan." Lightning kissed Scootaloo again as they made their way for the door. The two ponies dove off the front porch and flew in opposite directions. Scootaloo decided to visit her parents before heading over. It was around one, so she knew they'd both be home from work. Scootaloo pushed open the door to her parents’ home. Spitfire and Rainbow looked up, clearly not expecting a visitor. They smiled when they saw their daughter. "Hey there, Scoot. What brings you out here?" Spitfire asked. "Yeah, aren't most young brides enjoying their husbands about this time in a marriage?" Rainbow asked with a wink. Scootaloo blushed. "I'm on my way to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applebloom with that new barn she's building and thought I'd stop by on the way. And believe me ma, I enjoyed Lightning plenty last-" "I don't want to hear about that Scoot," Spitfire said with a facehoof. Rainbow grinned. "Atta filly Scoot! Is sex fun or what?" Rainbow asked. "Oh my..." Spitfire mumbled. Scootaloo laughed. "As much as I'd love to talk about my activities from this morning with my parents, there's something I came here to talk to you about," replied Scootaloo. "Morning? What, did you two-" "We got home late. Anyway, as I was trying to say-" "How late?" "Rainbow, that's enough." "But I'm-" "Ma, focus. The reason I came here." "Oh fine," Rainbow huffed and sat back on her haunches. Spitfire rolled her eyes and thanked whatever powers she could that she didn't have to talk about her daughter having sex. "Alright, now that we're focused, I came to talk to you guys about the 'wedding' from the show last night." "That was the most awesome wedding ever, Scoot. Made for a short engagement, but still." "It was pretty cool, but here's the thing. Although that works for me and Lightning as a wedding, his parents want to do something more... traditional. So, we're still going to have a real wedding in a few months." "So, you're not technically married then?" Spitfire asked. "Not technically, but we feel the wedding from last night works and thus are going to treat it as the real wedding. We'll wait to take care of the legal part after the more 'normal' wedding for Lightning's family." "Ahh. Makes sense. So, which one of us is going to walk you down the aisle?" Rainbow asked. "I was hoping you would, Ma. You've always been more of the father figure, so it makes sense." Rainbow let that decision stroke her ego. "I knew she'd choose me, Spitty." Rainbow winked at her wife. Spitfire kicked Rainbow in the shin. "Umm, I'm gonna go before this turns into a battle. I'll see you guys later!" Scootaloo turned for the door. "See you later Scoota-OW! Oh, Rainbow. You're gonna get it now!" "You gotta catch me first Spitty!" Scootaloo laughed to herself as the sounds of her parents chasing each other around the house rang through the wall to the front porch. She spread her wings and dove off the front porch. She had to help her friend build a barn.