Autumn

by canonkiller

Starry Nights and Clear Skies

"Hey, wait up!"

Three days had passed since Discord's impromptu party, and he had been seen lurking around schemeing something else - probably trying to prank somepony important - while the rest of the ponies recovered. The current exchange was taking place in the airspace of the dome, out of earshot of any Pegasi and the ponies below.

Obsidian stopped flying, turning and waiting for the Griffon to catch up. He REALLY didn't want to talk to him today.

"Geez, what's your hurry?"

"Going outside. Is that a problem?"

Tigerjay grunted. "I thought maybe you were preparing for another night with Sunrise."

"I've told you, it wasn't like that!" Despite everything Obsidian had said, the Griffon wasn't believeing him. The fact that Sunrise had been sleeping off her hangover since the party hadn't helped, and Obsidian had already decided she'd be too intoxicated to remember seeing him at all.

"Well, until she tells me, I'm not believeing you!"

Obsidian grabbed the Griffon by the shoulders and stared at him. "I. Did. NOTHING. Do I make myself clear!?"

"Get off!" With a short shake, Tigerjay got free of the floating draconequus's grasp and backed up out of reach. "Clear as crystal. I just don't believe you."

"Do I have to settle this using force?"

"Ha! Like you could EVER beat me."

"Care to take your chance?" Obsidian floated backwards, putting his fists in front of him and glaring. "Come on, let's get this over with."

As the Griffon backpaced to get a flying start, Obsidian contemplated how hard the male would have to be hit in order to deter him. Griffons were a stubborn species, and prone to impulsive desicions that their stubbornness would not allow them to change later...

He moved to the side, not bothering to watch the feathery blur tumble through the air behind him.

...of course, there was always the fact that, like all flying creatures, a simple stroke into the thin bones of the wing could be more than needed, due to the fact that their thick skulls took the brunt of thousands of hits without breaking and were therefore only possible for mild disorientation. Remembering a pressure point from the book - I told myself never to think of that book again. EVER! - he caught the Griffon on his next pass and kicked down hard between his wing and his shoulder.

The fact that his dragon's claw had a much weaker impact must have been the only thing keeping him from breaking Tigerjay's ribs, because a bruise spread immediatley as he curled up, whimpering in pain.

"Uh... unfair..."

"That was perfectly fair!"

"Not... really..."

"Oh, I could have done much worse than that. I am really beginning to think you aren't going to back off. I have dirty tricks too, you know. That was not one of them. In fact, if I wasn't holding you up, you'd be a little multicolored splat somewhere on the ground. Do you want that to be arranged?"

Tigerjay glared daggers at his captor - and through show of strength, superior - but looked away when the grip on his tail loosened. "No..." He muttered. "You win."

"I can't hear you~"

"YOU WIN!" Tigerjay screeched, balling his talons into fists. As he regained control over his wings, he kicked out with a back paw before darting away.

Obsidian let go of the Griffon's tail and flew backwards, barely avoiding the kick hitting home between his legs. After yelling a few Griffon insults after the retreating competetor, Obsidian went back to his original course.

He wanted to go check on Sunrise, to see if she was awake. He had a question for her.

Sunrise tried to steady her feet. Not only was she exhausted, she couldn't seem to get her limbs to move right, and her vision was either fuzzy or she was shaking harder than she thought. Mumbling to herself, she commanded her body to walk forward, and it responded by pitching forward. She expected a long fall, ending in a face-full of wood; instead, she stopped about halfway down in some kind of fur.

"Easy, there." Two strong paws pushed her back upright, and she found herself looking into Obsidian's worried eyes. "You okay?"

"Fine." She gritted her teeth against a sudden wave of nausea, feeling herself falling sideways before she was caught again.

"Jeez, your eyes are all funky. Look, I'm taking you back to your room, and you can sleep this off, okay?"

"No!" She shook her head way too fast, stumbling sideways.

"I get it, I get it, don't hurt yourself." He tried in vain to align her eyes, waving his talons in front of her face. "So what were you planning on doing?"

"My job." She stated, her eyes still rolling despite Obsidian's help. "Imma gonna climb up the walls and fix the roof. Can I go now?"

"Nope, not letting you. You'd kill yourself." He looked down, partially thinking about just locking her in her room and sitting against the door, partially thinking how cute she looked when her eyes derped. "You can barely stand. How do you expect to climb?"

"Imma not staying here." She tried to get around him, but even if he had tried to block her, it wouldn't have changed the outcome. She was staying put, at least until Obsidian figured out how to solve this problem.

There was a silence that was bordering on awkward before Obsidian decided. "I'll carry you outside, but you're not going out of my sight. Is that clear?"

She didn't reply for a good ten seconds. "THAT'S GREAT!" She suddenly shouted, before quickly passing out.

Obsidian sighed and shook his head slowly. Gently picking her up by the extra scales on her neck, he flew down from the treehouse, heading out to find some Unicorn with even the mildest detoxification spell.

Night had fallen, and now that Sunrise had regained control over her motor skills, Obsidian took her outside for a walk. There had been a silvery Alicorn out for a few minutes - putting the last touches on the stars, if the rumors were true - but she had vanished inside as the two approached.

Now, they had taken a break on the opposite side of the town, looking out across the mostly untouched wilderness up to Canterlot, whose glittering lights were visble even from the current distance.

Sunrise shivered, pressing up against Obsidian's side. He settled a wing on her back slowly, testing to see if she was okay with the small action. She closed her eyes and sighed as his warmth enveloped her cold scales.

"It's so pretty out..." She muttered. "Cold, but pretty."

"I agree." More than just the sky...

"You sound like you're holding something back."

"I... I am..."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you. You'd probably take it the wrong way, and then it'd be awkward..."

"No, I swear. I won't tell anyone, and I'll keep it between us."

Obsidian sighed. There was no getting out of this now...

"Well... I... I... um, sorta..." He swallowed the rapidly forming lump in his throat. "I kinda..." He trailed off into mumbling.

"What?"

"I kinda like you." He was barely at hearing level, and anywhere else he wouldn't have been loud enough. But in the still, cold, silent air, he was audible.

There was a silence that Obsidian percieved as awkward. "I know... it's weird, I shouldn't have said it. You can go back in, if you want..."

"Go back in? Why would I do that?"

"I thought..."

She laughed, pressing in closer to his flank. "I like you too. You're better than any of the ponies, and to be honest, Tigerjay lacks in the relationship area. He's a friend at best." She smiled, looking up at him through her massive pink eyes. She scooted up so she was beside his shoulders. "But I really like you."

She streched her neck out and kissed Obsidian on the cheek. Nothing too fancy, but enough to make his wings pop up. As he blushed profusely and tried to force them closed, Sunrise leaned up against him, laughing harder than she had in weeks.

Comments

ah the old wing boner...never gets old