//------------------------------// // Happy Ending (Shut up, Kicker) // Story: Oncoming Storm: Surface Tension // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// Thankfully I didn’t have to wait too long to get some proper medical care. Apparently we’d wound up halfway across town thanks to our little tunnel adventure. The paramedics did a pretty good job of patching me up, at least well enough to get me to the hospital. I was lying in a stretcher, enjoying the wonderful absence of pain that accompanied hospital-grade narcotics when the back doors opened up. Rainbow clambered in, looking down at me with a slightly nervous smile. “Hey. How you holding up?” “A lot better.” I grinned at her. “They gave me some awesome painkillers. Hope they're still working when I get stitched up.” I paused in thought for a moment, then amended, “Or stapled. I heard they use staples sometimes. Faster than stitches, but ... yeah.” I glanced down at the bloody remnants of Rainbow’s skirt, which the EMTs had taken off when they’d put proper bandages on me. “Uh ... sorry about your...” Rainbow scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. “I can go buy a new skirt anywhere. It’s a lot harder to buy a new Cloud.” She took a seat on my left side. “You are gonna be okay, right?” “Yeah. Can’t be completely sure until the docs look at me, but the paramedics said it should just be a matter of cleaning and closing everything up then giving me some time to heal. Plus it looks like I might get to be roomies with Blossom.” I twinged a little bit at that, since my rubber-legs collapse had brought her down headfirst onto the ground. Still, Blossom had been coherent enough to complain about her headache ever since we got out of the tunnels, and the EMTs told me that was a good sign. “Oh. Good.” Rainbow shifted in her seat. “I mean, she’ll probably feel better with a friend there.” She cleared her throat. “So, uh, Sunset and the others are gonna be here soon. Not sure if your mom got all the bugs, so we’re gonna do the whole rainbow laser thing just to make sure. Your Dad said he’d ... uh ... cover us. Oh, and from the pics I sent her, Sunset said those things were probably from Equestria. Something called changelings.” “Oh, gotcha.” I certainly wasn’t going to complain about them making sure the bu—changelings were all dealt with. One run-in with them was enough for me. “Any idea how long you’ll be in for?” Rainbow asked. I shrugged with one shoulder. “Can’t say for sure until the docs look me over, but they'll probably just stitch me up, maybe give me a little extra blood, then hold me overnight just to make sure there’s no nasty surprises.” “Oh. I guess that’s not so bad.” She tried to smile, but after a second it slipped off her face and her gaze fell to the floor, her feet scuffing along it. “Sorry ... don't ... I don't really know what to even say here. I mean, I'm used to being in the middle of all this stuff, but seeing you get caught up in it and hurt...” “Hey.” I tried to sit up a bit so I could look her in the eyes. “It’s alright. I'm—well I can’t really say I’m okay while I’m sitting in the back of an ambulance, but it’s nothing they can’t fix. Gimme a week or two to heal up, and I’ll be right back out on the soccer field with you.” “Good, you’re one of my best players.” She hesitated a moment, then slowly reached out to put one her hands over my good one. “So ... uh ... I heard there's a new Alien Robot Ninjas versus Psychic Vampire Pirates movie coming out. I know the last one was pretty cool, so I was thinking ... you know, if you wanna...” I gently took her hand and squeezed it. “Sounds good.” Not that I could call those movies good in any sense of the word, but they usually entertained us. “So are we going there with anyone else, or is it kinda…?” “Uh...” She hesitated and coughed. “You mean like a date-ish kinda thing?” “Yeah.” I could feel my cheeks warming up. “Something like that.” “Well...” Her cheeks were going pink too. “Yeah. You aren't getting rid of me that easy.” I chuckled wearily. “Oh, I'm stuck with you now?” “Darn straight.” She carefully poked me in the side. “You owe me a new skirt.” “Why?” I angled my head to get a better view. Without the skirt all she had on was her bike shorts, which were both tight and ... well, short. Not to mention they’d picked up a few tears during our little excursion. “I like your current look.” Rainbow scoffed softly and shook her head. “You would.” “Well duh.” I chuckled and poked her in the belly. “Like you said back in the tunnels, I’m your girlfriend. Which means that not only am I allowed to look and like it, but it’d actually be kinda weird if I didn’t like looking at you.” “I guess, yeah.” She smirked at me. “Well if you want to do more looking—or anything else—you'll have to get better soon.” I pouted. “So you're not gonna come visit me?” Rainbow grinned and leaned forward a bit. “Depends.” I used my good arm to help sit a bit more. “On?” “Well I'm not a big fan of hospitals. I'd need some sort of...” She move in so close I could barely see anything but her face. “Incentive.” I grinned and pursed my lips. “Well, I could go for that...” Rainbow reached over and grabbed my hair, pulling my head up to hers. I got about a third of the way through a yelp when she meshed her lips with mine; it was awkward, and a little painful given all of my injuries … and yet… It was awesome. I kissed her back, cradling her cheek in my hand. Sure it was weird and … weird, but after the hell we’d just walked out of, it felt good. Great, even. Even the first time in the locker room, I’d never felt this ... alive. Just when things were really heating up, someone pointedly cleared their throat. Then I saw Mom standing at ambulance door, looking at us both with a single raised eyebrow. Rainbow leapt back from me with a startled yelp, her face bearing a distinct resemblance to a tomato. “Uh, hey Mrs. Kicker! I was just ... uh ... helping Cloud with a ... there was a thing in her...” “I think I know exactly what you two were doing,” Mom shot back dryly. She looked back and forth between the two of us, let out a grunt, then turned back to Rainbow. “You saw what I did to those creatures in the tunnel, yes?” Rainbow’s face quickly shifted from red to white. “Y-yeah...” Mom nodded sharply. “Then you know what I do when someone hurts my daughter.” She slammed the ambulance doors shut. Rainbow swallowed and sank down next to me. “Uh, Cloud? Your Mom’s kinda scary. Awesome, but scary.” I smirked and poked her in the side. “You know, they say if you wanna know what your girlfriend will be like in twenty years, look at her mom...” Rainbow chuckled weakly. “Well, at least I won’t get bored with you.” I poked her again, grinning. “You better not.” “Bah.” Rainbow glanced down at her phone. “So, uh, Sunset says she’ll be here in five minutes. Guess that means we can—” My lips interrupted her before she could finish that sentence.