Cloud came into my workroom and laughed.
"Don't do that," I grumbled from my desk. My head rested on its cool, wooden surface, my mane splayed onto the keyboard. "Have sympathy. I've been brought low."
"Oh?" she said, and managed to get most of the amusement out of her voice. "Why's that, honey?" She walked over to me and leaned against the desk.
"Because I am stuck," I said with a sigh. I pushed up from my slump, and after getting my mane out of my face, shut my laptop. "Stuck, stuck, stuck."
"Is this about that cloud server thing you're working on with Erishy?" Cloud asked.
I shook my head. "No, no, that's fine. We're almost done with the programming. It's about the- well. Y'know."
Cloud rolled her eyes. "Oh, Blossom. Don't tell me you're still obsessing over your 'real pony fic?'" she teased.
"Well. I am," I grumbled. I pushed back from the desk and rubbed at my face. "It needs an ending, Cloud, and I just- I can't…" I blew a raspberry, and slid out of my chair. With a sufficiently dramatic sigh, I flopped down onto my thinking couch. "I can't come up with anything. Zip. Zilch. Total blank. Nada."
Cloud clucked her tongue and plopped down next to me. Specifically, my head. "Could this be because there really wasn't an ending?" she said. "I know you did start that thing without an ending in mind."
"I had an ending!" I protested. "It just… it didn't fit with reality."
Cloud laughed. "That's what stories do, hon," she said. "Or did you not learn that in journalism school?"
"No, no…" I said, rubbing at my face. "Learned that, but usually… usually there's something of an ending there. But this? It just kind of…"
"Petered out?" Cloud supplied.
I sighed. "Yeah." I turned my head so I could look at my workroom.
One part hardware store, one part body shop, and a little nook where I could do writing at an old desk Twilight gave me. Never in my life, would I have seen myself ending up here: the lead research and development technician of Kinder Industries. This could only have happened after I woke up merged. And I had no idea how to get here. Not without writing a long, winding narrative that, really, would only be interesting to me, Erishy, and our friends. Like the prose version of a vacation slideshow- nopony needed that.
"I hate when life isn't story shaped," I declared, facing Cloud again. "It really harshes my ability to recount our adventures."
"Ah yes, our adventures," Cloud mused. She affected a showmare's pose. "Gasp! As we went sightseeing in San Francisco! Wonder! As we flew back to Atlanta, coach! Chill! At the many, many hours we spent reconciling our two identities into one."
I made a face. "Ugh, don't remind me," I said. "I still have nightmares about being stuck in a governmental office, filling out impossible amounts of paperwork."
"I know," Cloud joked. "Because you sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night screaming, 'Not another form!'" She grinned.
I blushed. "They just seem so real…" I said, rubbing the back of my head.
I shuffled a bit on the couch so I could lay my head in Cloud's lap. "So, my options are to recount everything we did from San Francisco onward, which would be an enormous hassle and doesn't guarantee it's a solid story anyway, or... make something up that might really confuse our friends."
Cloud smiled and shrugged, carding a hoof through my mane. "That sounds about right to me," she said. "And I'd rather you didn't confuse our friends. Especially since Night's dropping by for dinner and game night this Saturday."
"Kay," I said. I made a mental note to make pasta earlier.
"And she's bringing Banana."
I cocked my head. "She is?" I said, curious.
"Because I'm pretty sure they're gonna tell us they're engaged," Cloud finished, smiling broadly.
I sat up and turned around so I could face Cloud straight on. "Get out. Really?"
"Yup!" she said.
"Aw, yes!" I cheered. "I totally called it. Especially after they met up post-split. It was like all their human baggage was gone."
"Technically, all their human baggage was gone," Cloud pointed out.
"Details, details," I said, with a wave of my hoof. I paused. "That reminds me- have you heard from Rhea lately?"
Cloud shook her head. "Not since she said she was doing that travel job in Canada," she said.
"I'll reach out," I said, rubbing my chin with a hoof. "Or have Night do it. They're still really close, right?"
Cloud smirked at me. "Yes. You're the one who told me they were keeping up with one another, dear," she said.
"Right, right. Ugh. Been in the shop too long," I said, with a crooked smile.
"Then maybe you should come out of the shop," she said. "And just be done with your story. Axe it."
My eyes widened in horror, and I reeled back. "Cloud! I can't cancel it. It's a story!" I hissed.
"One that you haven't published anything for in three years," she countered.
I opened my mouth, then closed it. My ears lay back against my head. "Point."
"And, whenever it comes up you get grumpy."
"Point again."
"And, thanks to a million legal factors, it's pretty much fanfiction, so you're not even getting paid."
"Point, the third," I agreed. I rubbed at my face. "But I can't just… axe it. It may not be my best story, but the least I can do is gracefully close the curtain."
Cloud shrugged. "I don't know what else to tell you, love. Besides that it's pretty clear you've moved on."
I snorted. "No kidding. Every time I re-read it, I go- yeesh, I've come a long way in three years." I grinned at her and leaned forward to run a hoof through her mane. "And so have we."
She kissed the inside of my fetlock in return. "Yeah, we have," she murmured pleasantly.
"And I want to share that," I said, with a sigh.
Cloud scooted across the distance and pulled me against her. I rested my head along her chest, listening to her heart.
"I want to share that we made it back to Ponyville okay," I said. "That- that we moved in together, and we have a nice house with a nice yard, and Phouka gets to run around in it whenever she wants."
Cloud laughed and stroked my mane.
"I want to share that moment when the Elements of Harmony kicked Discord into the next Stone Age-"
She groaned.
"So Night, Rhea, Banana, and Lilah all separated and were the healthier for it," I continued. "I want to share that our parents accepted us. I want to share how Equestria opened up what amounted to an airline terminal for interdimensional travel in nearly every country and major city on Earth. I wanna share being a part of ushering in a new technological age in Equestria! I want-" I slumped and shook my head. "I just want to get on with my life."
Cloud flipped my bangs out of my face and kissed my forehead. "That's the first sensible thing you've said this whole discussion."
I harrumphed. "I hate it when I'm sensible."
I slid down so my head was in Cloud's lap again. From this position, I could see the light catch the silver ring with a blue stone that dangled from the necklace she wore. I reached up tenderly and touched it.
"You know, I'm so glad you said yes," I said, softly.
"Of course I said yes, silly," she said, smiling at me. "I love you."
"I love you, back," I replied.
She leaned down and kissed me, warm, and soft, and familiar. Cloud kisses were the best in my book. Especially this Cloud, who was all mine. All it took to make her a one-mare gal was a magical event that dramatically changed aspects of her personality.
When we parted I smiled. "But the waterfalls helped, right?"
Cloud laughed and carded her hoof through my mane. "Yes, Blossom, the waterfalls did help," she assured me.
"Awesome," I said. "I sweated that for months. I was so glad we went on that flight trip." I made a face. "You know, RJ thought I was being ridiculous. About wanting the right moment and all."
"RJ confessed her feelings for Erishy before they were nearly crushed by a falling barn," Cloud pointed out. "She's not exactly the romantic type."
"Well, she's romantic enough to ensure that Erishy and I don't have overlapping weddings," I pointed out. "So she can't be totally thick."
"Mmmm, she's not the one I'm interested in, either," Cloud murmured and nuzzled me. "And since we're off the subject..." She rubbed a hoof pleasantly on my chest. "Does this mean your story's over? No more angsting?"
I sighed, and gave myself completely to her ministrations. "Yeah. Yeah, it's done," I admitted. "I'll put in something about… I dunno. I'll say that we're okay, but the story ended when I saw Banana off. Freeze frame on characters, Animal House text beneath- finish on some kind of ending."
"Good," she said, kissing my cheek. "Because I'd like to get started with you." She started kissing down my neck.
"Oh?" I replied, leaning into the contact.
"Mmmhmm," she said. She trailed kisses from my neck to my wing. It quivered in anticipation.
"Well then," I said. I caught her as she kissed my wing joint and turned her head so we could look one another in the eye. "Let's get started on our happy ending."
"I like the way you think, gadget girl," Cloud said, and kissed me again. My Cloud, my tender kissing, bamf marefrien- fiancée. Yeesh. I still had trouble remembering that.
She released me and hopped off the couch. "See you upstairs?" she purred.
"Aw, you don't wanna do it here?" I asked with a crooked smile.
"I don't bang where there's heavy tools. Call it ingrained shop habit," she said. She turned toward the door, swishing her tail at me.
I laughed. "Okay, that's a story. Who lost fingers and when?" I asked, and rolled off the couch.
"You'll have to get it out of me, Blossom Jane," she teased, with a little wiggle of her rump. She flapped her wings and zipped up the stairs to the bedroom.
"Cloud Tempest," I said, wings flared as I prepared to fly after her. "It would be my pleasure."