//------------------------------// // And if something happens... // Story: Love Fears Loss // by SoloBrony //------------------------------// "Oh, hey – I've been meaning to ask, what got you interested in the 'bolts in the first place?" Laverna was bouncing alongside me, chomping on a fresh ice-cream cone I'd gotten her. The sun had just gone down, and I'd decided to grab some snacks before we headed back to the pub to meet Spitfire. "Uhh... well, can you not tell anypony else?" Huh? "Sure...?" "Actually, it was my brother, Chaser. He was obsessed with you guys." "Was?" Laverna's expression stiffened a bit. She silently bit into her ice cream. ... Oh. So it's like that. Change of subject! "Hey, we're almost there." "Are we just going back to the pub where we met?" "Yeah!" "So... how's that a surprise?" I snickered at her, and she stuck her tongue out at me. "Well, somepony wants to meet you." "Huh? Oh... okay? I guess? Wait... is it a Wonderbolt?!" She started hopping up and down in excitement. I just snickered and took a bit of my own ice cream, deliberately not looking at her while she struggled to get my attention. "Is it? Is it?!" Wow, she's excited. It's like she's forgotten that I'm a Wonderbolt! "Not just any Wonderbolt – it's Captain Spitfire!" I heard a happy little squeal come from her, and snuck a glance at her. She was spronking along, now, too eager to trot. D'aww! "So, what, did you tell her what an amazing flier I am?!" "Well, yeah. I also told her how big of a fan you were, and she decided to meet you before we left the city." A little omission, but, it's no big deal, right? "Do you think she'll want to see that trick?! It's not a problem if I show her, right?" "Should be fine! I did tell her you knew it." "Awesome! It's the only really big trick I've got nailed down." Well, your version of it is actually toned down a lot from Dash's... but it's still really impressive! "I'm sure she'll want to see everything you can do." "Oh! Is this some kinda audition?!" "Hey, now, nothing like that. You know the procedure for joining the team, right?" "Ah, yeah. The academy and all." "Besides, you're still too young!" She stuck her tongue out at me and blew a raspberry, and then took another bite out of her ice cream. We went the rest of the way in silence, her hopping up and down, me just striding along, careful not to go too fast for her. Okay. Here we go! We stepped into the pub to see an odd sight. Spitfire was sitting at the table closest to the door, chatting with two other ponies. One was a black-coated stallion with a dark-yellow mane, who looked to be the local constable, judging by his uniform and little star. The other was just an elderly brown stallion with grey hair, balding, and spectacles. All three of them looked up at us and smiled when we entered, though Spitfire was the first to speak. Huh. Who are these ponies? "Glad to see you finally made it, Soarin. It's been an hour and a half!" Oh, dang, I must have seriously lost track of time. "Sorry, I—" "What is this?" I glanced to my side to see that Laverna had gone completely rigid. Her eyes were glued to the ponies around the table. It was the bespectacled stallion who responded, with a soft, welcoming voice. "Laverna, Spitfire was just telling us about you. Why don't you come join us?" Huh. He seems nice enough— "You're... you run some kind of local foal's thing, don't you? You're trying to put me in the system!" I glanced between Laverna and the elderly stallion, who seemed confused. The constable leaned forward, and spoke in a deep, smooth voice, gesturing to the other stallion. "Dr. Al here is just trying to help you, Laverna. We want you to have a good home—" "Like Tartarus!" I snapped my sight over to Laverna. I'd heard her swear a bit, here and again, but I was shocked to hear the raw anger in her voice. What's going on here?! "Laverna, are you—" "You sold me out! I can't believe it!" She looked at me with pure venom. All I could do was look back, hopelessly confused. "Huh?" Seeing my expression, her face softened somewhat, but the constable's voice cut in. "Listen, you need a home. We can't let you keep roaming the streets—" The constable had gotten up and walked a few steps closer. I knew it was a mistake the moment I realized he had done it, but I hadn't noticed until I saw Laverna's head snap to his direction. I scarcely had time to lift a hoof to signal that he should back off before I saw his face splattered with ice cream – and I turned back around to see Laverna rushing off into the darkness. No, no, not good! This wasn't supposed to happen! I followed her on pure instinct, the constable right beside me once we got out of the pub. "Laverna, wait!" "I'm not going back!" She rounded the city corners, and I took to the sky to follow her. I could have easily caught her, but I was only interested in keeping her in sight. In all of the confusion, I had totally lost track of the constable. "Going back where? What are you talking about?!" She rounded the corner to her little alleyway. I set down at the alleyway entrance, and watched her grab a small bag out of her little box. I decided not to get any closer, for fear of spooking her. "Listen, Laverna – Spitfire just wanted to help you, she's not—" "Don't! I don't want to hear it!" Her saddlebags now on her back, Laverna took a couple of steps towards me, her face twisted into a snarl, but her eyes watering. Sometimes, you see something that you know you're always going to remember; her expression was one of them, for me. "I don't care what you think! Don't care what she thinks! I'm not going back!" I just stood there, feeling helpless for a few seconds. "Okay...? Laverna, like... I don't want to make you go anywhere." She stood there for a few seconds, staring at me. Her expression softened a little, and her voice came out watery. "... Really?" I suddenly caught a glimpse of the constable at the other side of the alleyway. For a second, the glint of his eyes in the darkness almost made me think he was some kind of predator, and I felt an instinctual rush. I immediately threw a hoof forward, yelling at him to stop. Laverna whirled around, just as he was pounced to grab her. The two struggled, and I ran towards them, wrapping my hooves around the constable. I pulled him back just as I heard him let out a pained yell, and saw blood stream between them as Laverna leapt back, away from us. I desperately searched for the source, fearing that she had been injured. I locked eyes with her, and my blood went cold; her teal eyes had taken on a deep blue hue, and at the center of her pupils were white, glowing specks, shining in the darkness at me. They illuminated two giant, downward-pointing tusks coming out of her mouth like fangs. She hissed at me, and disappeared around the corner, leaving me too shocked to move. It was only the grunting and heavy breathing of the constable that got my attention. He let out a small, pained cry as I set him down, and then I saw the source of the blood; Laverna had sunk those new fangs of hers into his barrel, leaving two nasty punctures, though it didn't look too serious. "Rgh, what did she do to me?!" "She bit you. I think." The constable looked down at the injury, and then looked up at me. "Kid's got one heck of a maw on her, then! Good grief!" "You're, uh... you're taking that pretty well." The constable grunted, pulling himself up into a sitting position. "Had worse. Besides, I feel pretty—ngh!—stupid. I should have stopped like you—hey, buddy, you okay?" With the adrenaline fading away, the sight of so much blood, combined with everything that had just happened, was catching up with me. I sat down, leaning against the opposite alley wall from the constable to get stability, as it felt like the world was spinning under my hooves. It took me a few moments to think of the right response. "... No."