Sometimes You Just Have to Punch a Pony in the Face
SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO PUNCH A PONY IN THE FACE
By the Princesses do I bucking love a strong cup of coffee.
I’ve certainly been going through enough of it these last couple days, despite Kicky’s suggestions that I cut down a bit. She’s got a point, all that caffeine isn’t helping the rapidly developing case of insomnia I’ve been battling. Still, whatever it takes to get me through the day.
“What’s that, your third cup today? You’re gonna finish the whole pot on your own at the rate you’re going,” says Blossomforth from her desk. Guess I’m busted. “Hey, did you want to go over the schedule and figure out how many shifts you’ll be gone for while you’re in Canterlot?”
“Sorry, you wanted some?” Least I can do is share with my partner in crime,
She shrugs. “Nah. Feeling a bit queasy this morning, don’t think that’d help. Anyway, we only have the shifts blocked out for the next two weeks. It sounds like Rainbow Dash is going to be headed into Canterlot again sometime in the near future anyway for Element of Harmony stuff. I swear, she’s out of the office more days than she’s in.”
“We should ask the department if they’ll pay us for all the work of hers, am I right?” Not my most elegant attempt to change the subject, and Blossom knows me too well to let me get away with it.
“Kicky made it sound like you needed to go to Canterlot sometime in the next week or so. She said it was important.”
“Not that important. I’ve got a month, and it’s just a couple hours by train. I’m not in a rush, and I’ve got better things to do.” Yeah, because I’ve been so busy these last few days. Like last night when I found myself preoccupied with dusting the same pieces of furniture three times in a row. But speaking of things I need to do one chore stands out, and unlike the interrogation waiting for me in Canterlot it’s not something I’m willing to put off. I gather up the papers I’ll need and walk them over to Blossom’s desk, who looks up from what she’s writing. “By the way, I pulled the travel receipts. You know, the one from the conference I was at when you...”
Wordlessly, she takes the papers from me and studies them carefully. My smile gets a bit more forced as she pulls out an old calendar and starts cross-referencing dates. I would have prefered if she’d just taken my word on this, but no dice. The facts are on my side, though, and she eventually comes to the same conclusion. “Huh. I guess you weren’t lying. That really wasn’t you.” She sighs, closes her eyes, and presses a hoof into her forehead just between them. Despite her best efforts, a single tear manages to slip out. She wipes it away and sniffles before opening her eyes again. “I feel like such an idiot.”
I drape a wing over her shoulder and nuzzle her cheek. “Hey, don’t be like that. It wasn’t your fault.”
She nods and returns my smile, though it takes some effort. “I know. In some ways it’s actually better this way, really. This way it’s some dumb bug I’m upset with instead of my best friend.”
I have to look away so she doesn’t notice the little twitch in my cheek. I did promise Kicky I wouldn’t tell anypony, after all. I should be angry at her for putting me in this position, but I’m just not for whatever reason. All the more reason to delay the Canterlot trip; Aunt Wind will just want to dwell on that, and probably everything else dealing with changelings. That’s the official reason I’m being ordered there, right? “I just hate seeing you upset at all. Do you want to talk about it? I’m here for you if you do.”
“Nah, I hashed it out pretty well with Bon Bon and Lyra the other night. Thanks for the offer, though,” she replies. Moment over, she starts to shift her attention back towards the work on her desk.
“I guess that’s good.” Am I trying to convince her or myself? After everything that’s happened these last couple weeks, I should be relieved that I’m not getting bounced around from friend to friend as a shoulder to cry on. But for some reason, the idea that all of them are happy and well adjusted, at least for the short term, makes me more anxious than anything. All that coffee has left my wings a bit twitchy, and all of a sudden sitting behind a desk is just about the least appealing prospect in the world. I grab a piece of paper off my desk and give a quick once-over to the plans for the rest of the week. “Hey, I’m going to bump this afternoon’s shower into an overnight thing.”
Blossom looks up at me. “Any particular reason? Thunderlane’s already out getting it set up.”
“Figure that’ll give it more time to sink into the ground before the sun gets to it. Don’t want to overstress the reservoir.” Sure, that sounds vaguely plausible.
Obviously Blossom reaches a similar conclusion, and shrugs. “I think water levels are probably in good shape, but I don’t see any reason not to reschedule if you want to call an audible.”
“Great, I better go let Thunderlane know,” I say as I head for the door. Stepping outside, it feels good to stretch them out and take off again.
------------------------
Thunderlane doesn’t fight me or argue against my last-second change, just heads off to take care of other things. Errand completed, I consider heading straight back to the office, but the feeling of wind beneath my wings convinces me otherwise. There are plenty of other weather team ponies who I can drop in on for a surprise check-up. Dash is pretty lax in the discipline department as long as the work gets done, and while I guess there’s something to be said for that sort of attitude a little bit of paranoia can go a long way. But I don’t manage to bust anypony slacking off too badly, and right when I’m about to resign myself to going back to the paperwork waiting for me at the office a few errant notes of music reach my ears and stop me right there in midair. Down below, Lyra’s sitting on a park bench in that bizarre pose of hers, strumming her harp and pausing every few moments to make little tweaks to the scroll of music she’s making notes on.
I guess a few more minutes of procrastination wouldn’t hurt.
“Morning, Heartstrings,” I say as I touch down a respectful distance away. “New piece? Sounds like it’s really coming along.”
She looks up and smiles, letting the last couple chords fade away unresolved. “Hey, Cloudy. Yeah, brand new song. I have a performance coming up in Canterlot a few weeks from now, and I’m going to need to put in a lot of time to get ready. My parents will be there and Bon Bon said she’d come see me play too.”
That gets my attention. Bon Bon wouldn’t leave her store for a road trip unless it was a special occasion. “Finally talked her into coming to watch you in your element, huh? What did you have to promise her for that?”
Lyra shrugs. “That’s the weird thing, she just volunteered to come with me out of the blue. I actually tried to talk her out of it; I’m going to be incredibly busy and she’ll probably end up stuck talking to Mom and Dad most of the time. Hope they have enough conversation material to last the weekend. Still, it’s sweet of her to offer.”
“Sounds like things are good these days,” I prompt. When that doesn’t get me anything more than a nod before Lyra tries to slip back into the zone and go on practicing, I continue. “By the way, I haven’t really had the chance to thank you properly. You and Bonnie really stepped up for Blossom last week, and I wanted to be sure you knew how much I appreciate that.”
“She wasn’t mad at you. It was just a lot for her to take in, and I don’t think keeping it bottled up for that long did her any favors. Besides, you had your hooves full with all the Azalea stuff.”
“Yeah, I guess. Still, I’m sure you were a better pony for her to talk to about the changeling stuff anyway since... you know...” Lyra’s music slows down and she frowns at me “...the Sweetie Drops stuff.”
Both of us wince as Lyra’s magic slips and her harp strikes a discordant note, but she recovers like a real champ. “Oh, I suppose.” Crap, why did I go and bring that up?
“If you want to talk about it...”
“I don’t,” she says, with an air of finality. But then she smiles up at me. “It’s not how I would have wanted to have the truth about that summer come out, but what’s done is done. Besides, I’m a big filly. You don’t have to listen to me whinge and feel sorry for myself if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t mind, if you think it would help,” I offer, draping a wing over her shoulder.
She accepts the wing hug, but then shakes her head. “It wouldn’t, but thank you anyway. Now I really do have to practice, so if there isn’t anything else...”
Sensing that I’ve been politely dismissed, I wave goodbye and start back towards the office. Halfway there, I get a better idea, and turn down a little side street. Something Lyra just said is sticking in my mind, and now’s the perfect time to follow up on my suspicions. I pull up short in front of a little artisanal candy shop, the display in the front window decked out with a hoof-painted cherry with a happy smile plastered onto it, advertising a two for one special on chocolates filled with sweet drops of cherry liqueur for the more adult pony looking to indulge their sweet tooth. It’s a bit early and the sign on the door is still flipped to ‘CLOSED,’ but knowing Bon Bon she’s already here getting ready for the day. I try the knob, and sure enough it’s unlocked.
I step inside and let the door close behind me. “We’re not open!” calls Bon Bon’s voice from the kitchen in the back, a bit shrill.
“I would think that a mare who works around candy all day would have some of that sweetness rub off on them, but I guess not,” I call right back. There’s a bit of clattering from the kitchen and Bon Bon’s head sticks out from the door frame. The white chef’s hat she’s wearing over her mane is stained brown with dark chocolate.
“Oh, hi Cloud. I didn’t realize it was you. Did you need something?”
“I’ll take a couple of those chocolate-dipped strawberries if they’re ready, then I really need to get back to work.” With a curt nod, she disappears back into the kitchen, which is perfect since I don’t want her to see the sly smile I’m sporting. “Just talked to Lyra a minute ago, she said you’re going to Canterlot with her for her next performance? I thought you hated closing up the shop.”
“Yeah, I usually do,” she calls back from the kitchen, “thought it would be a nice change of pace.”
“Uh huh. So no ulterior motive whatsoever?”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know...” I trail off for a moment until Bon Bon reappears, watching me with a suspicious glare. “It’s just that she mentioned that you’ll be spending an awful lot of time with her parents, so it made me wonder if maybe Lyra wasn’t the real reason you wanted to go. At least not directly.” She’s still watching me with poorly disguised apprehension. “Like maybe there was something you wanted to talk to them privately about. Maybe to ask permission for something? Like, oh, I don’t know, permission to marry their daughter? How’m I doing?”
Bon Bon stares at me blankly for a long moment, then bites her bottom lip. “Do you think they’ll say yes?”
“I knew it!”
“Shhhhh! Not so loud!” She stomps over to me and grabs the scruff of my neck before dragging me back into the kitchen. Pots and double-boilers are all cooking away full of assorted delicious concoctions, but for the moment Bon Bon’s forgotten all about them. “You promised you wouldn’t say anything, Cloudy.”
I smile as wide as I can manage. “Did you give any more thought to my sock puppet suggestion?”
“Cloudy, I’m dead serious here. Tell me you didn’t say anything to Lyra.”
“Of course not, geeze. Give me a little credit. I just swung by to tease.” She goes back to her last minute preparation of the day’s wares as another question occurs to me. “So I guess that means you two sorted everything out. How’d you finally get Lyra to come around on the whole foals thing?”
Bon Bon goes very quiet for a long time, lost in her own little world. I think I just screwed up. Finally she speaks up again, with a false start to clear the lump out of her throat. “I didn’t. She had a pretty good point; I’m busy enough already with things as they are. I can’t have a foal and then burden her with all the responsibility of raising it. And it’s a deal breaker for her... well, I’d be a pretty stupid mare if I threw away something this good. If I can’t have it all, then so be it.”
It’s my turn to sit there for a moment in silent contemplation. I know how much foals mean to her, how much it must hurt her to give up on them. Even if I didn’t, the way her eyes are just a bit too wide and her forehoof is scratching at the tile floor would tell me everything anyway. “Do you... is it something you want to talk about?”
Bon Bon looks up at me with her best skeptical, appraising glance. “With you? No.”
“What? Why not?”
“Look, no offense,” she says, turning her back on me to box up the strawberries I asked her for. They suddenly seem a good deal less appetizing. “Grownup life decisions aren’t really your strongest suit. If I’m ever looking to spice stuff up in the bedroom, I’ll give you a call.” She tries to pass me the box, but I don’t move to take it. “What? Too blunt?”
“No. Maybe a little. Look, I thought maybe I could help. I just don’t like to see other ponies hurting, you know?”
“Guess you haven’t been near any reflective surfaces lately, then,” she mutters. What’s that supposed to mean? “Listen, it’s a sore subject, okay? Here, the strawberries are on the house. Although you owe me one.”
I take them because, hey, angry or not Bon Bon makes a damn good chocolate-dipped strawberry. “Bonnie, I’m... you know? I think you’d have been an amazing Mom.”
The anger dissipates, just for a second, then comes surging back in full force. But it passes again just as quickly. “I need to get back to work. Don’t you have a job you’re supposed to be at too?” She turns back to the neglected creations on the stovetop. “Thank you, though. Really. I wish I’d ever have the chance to find out for sure, but we play the hoof we’re dealt.”
My hoof reaches out, hovering unsure and uncomfortable just over her back. “Are you sure you don’t—”
“Exactly what part of ‘leave’ do you not understand?”
I think maybe I just ripped off a bandage I shouldn’t have. Hanging my head, all I can do is take my treat and go. I was just trying to help her. And Lyra. And Blossomforth. By the Princesses, am I the only pony in this entire bucking town who doesn’t need a helping hoof?
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Just trying to help. Just trying to be a good friend. That’s so wrong? Feels wrong. Why? Shouldn’t, but does. Why? why does everything feel so awful these days? Maybe... maybe the problem isn’t other ponies. The problem is—
And then somepony knocks on the door, and I have something new to focus on.
“You’re closer,” says Kicky from over on the couch. So I rouse myself and walk over to open it. When I do, I see two familiar faces looking back at me.
“Azalea, Twilight, hi. I didn’t know you were coming by.” Azalea steps inside and gives me a friendly hug in greeting, but Twilight seems content to just glare at me. Great, did I piss off somepony else without even realizing it?
“Hi Cloudy. We were just hoping to talk to you and Kicky if you have a moment. Is she home?” asks Azalea.
“Yeah, come on in,” I say, stepping back to allow them inside and leading them towards the living room. Did Azalea tell Twilight about her past? Is that why she seems so upset? I almost verbalize the question before I think better of it.
Kicky looking up from her newspaper and smiling saves me from making a big mistake. “I like where this is going,” she says with a playful grin.
Azalea just chuckles in response, although if Twilight turns any redder she might actually explode. Wouldn’t be the first time, from what I hear. “Not a social call, Kicky. At least not like that.”
Twilight furrows her brow and looks back and forth between the two of us. “So one of you goes by Cloudy and the other one’s Kicky? How’d you guys decide to start doing that?”
I grin unseen behind her. The truth is a little bit too boring, so why not spice it up a bit? “Well, it turns out Kicky has this one spot where if you put a hoof on her inner thigh her back leg starts to—”
“Please stop explaining now.”
“Twilight, tell them about your date with Algae Bloom the other night,” prompts Azalea. That knocks the grin right off of my face. At least I know it had a happy ending for Azalea, but the last thing I need right now is to hear about Algae pulling some stunt. Still, if it’s important to the two of them...
I take a seat next to Kicky and settle in, with Twilight looking awfully uncomfortable on the other side of the room. With another nudge from Azalea, she finally finds her voice. “I don’t know what Azalea’s told you already, but the other day the two of us had kind of a...” she trails off until Azalea slides a comforting hoof over her shoulder, a comfort Twilight’s more than grateful for. “...I was such an idiot.”
“We both were,” says Azalea.
“There was a fight. Things were said. Mistakes were made.”
“Hey, we’ve all been there,” says Kicky, echoing my own thoughts.
“It’s just, you know, me and changelings are never a good combination.” Twilight’s wrapped up enough in her own memories that she doesn’t notice Azalea tense up. “Still, even with everything that I did, and that she did, and all the other timeline stuff that me-but-not-me did, I was kinda mixed up for a while.”
“Uh...” I’m no longer entirely sure what this conversation is actually about. “What does any of this have to do with Algae Bloom, exactly?”
“Oh, right,” says Twilight, shaking her head and moving on to her point, “she asked me out, and I decided to give her a chance. We went to a bar and she bought me a drink, even though I hadn’t asked her for it. I wasn’t in a drinking mood, really, but she kept insisting I try something and pushing me to drink more, and she tried to buy me another one even after I told her no. Look, maybe I’m just being dumb about this, but she just made me really uncomfortable.”
I sigh. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”
“I kinda... uh... I sort of ended up throwing the drink in her face and threatening to kill her,” says Twilight. Wow, I would have paid to see that. “The idea of her pushing that on somepony else has been bugging me ever since. I don’t want to get her in trouble or anything...”
“So I was wondering if you could let your regulars know that she’s out there. It would mean a lot to me,” says Azalea, bringing it home for her clearly uncomfortable fillyfriend.
Kicky and I exchange a look, neither one of us particularly surprised to hear that Algae would try something like that. Still, I’ll give her one thing: trying a stunt like that on an Element Bearer is a bold, if completely retarded, decision. “Yeah, we’ll take care of it. In fact I think we’ll have a very frank discussion with Ms. Bloom about respect and consent. Besides, if Twilight wanted a drunken rebound fling I have dibs,” I say. Heh, Twilight obviously remembers that night a while back when she quite literally popped into my kitchen for a booty call.
Azalea knows me well enough to just laugh it off. Obviously I’m kidding. Unless the two of them are up for it, in which case I meant every word. “Thanks Cloudy,” says Azalea, before bumping my hoof and leaning in for a hug.
Whoa, Twilight does not like that. At all. She leaps up from her spot on the couch and starts glaring daggers at me until I back off, nostrils flaring until I release Azalea. She looks like she’s biting back some sort of retort, and it takes her a few tries to find her voice. “Would you mind if I went and grabbed a glass of water from your kitchen?” she eventually asks.
With a shrug, Kicky gestures towards the door. “Go ahead, Twilight. It’s just through there.” Twilight hesitates for a second, then stalks away. Kicky slides off the couch as she leaves. “I better see if she’s okay.”
“Probably a good idea,” I say as she walks away. Then I turn my attention to Azalea, who’s frowning. “So, you told her about what you used to be? I can see how that would lead to a bit of a dust-up between you two.”
“Uh... not exactly,” she admits, squirming about in her seat.
“What, seriously?”
“Look, we just had that whole big blow up, but things between us are finally good again. I don’t want to screw that up.”
I sigh. “So all that stuff about not hiding and being afraid anymore was just talk? The longer you wait the worse it’ll be when she finds out.”
“Maybe she doesn’t have to find out?” Her hopeful smile wilts under my unyielding gaze. “Look, I promise I’ll tell her eventually. The time isn’t right just yet.”
“And why is that, exactly?”
She squirms again, refusing to meet my eyes. “I kind of told her we used to be an item. It just slipped out while we were talking about Algae and old relationships. I... uh... I did leave a couple of points out, though.”
“Yeah, I figured,” I mutter. I’m trying to think of what to say next when I hear a glass shatter in the kitchen. “Everything alright in there?”
“We’re fine,” Twilight calls back, “your double here just doesn’t have any self-control.”
“I know, isn’t she great?” I ask before I turn back to regard Azalea. “Fine, I’ll play along for now. But you’re setting yourself up for a disaster.” She doesn’t have a chance to dispute the point before Twilight returns, which obviously puts the kibosh on that particular topic of conversation. Still, whatever Kicky said to her in there seems to have lifted her spirits a bit, or at least she doesn’t look like she’s about to tear my throat out anymore. She gives Azalea a warm smile, gets a genuine one in return, and they walk out together just as they start talking about lunch plans.
“They’re good together, don’t you think?” asks Kicky as she watches them leave.
“I hope so. We’ll have to see whether they hold together when the other shoe drops, but I’d give better than even odds that they’ll make it.”
“I hope so,” she replies. Then she clears her throat. “So I was thinking that since I don’t really have too much going on this afternoon I could run down to the train station and pick up a ticket to Canterlot for you. Maybe for tomorrow?”
“What are you talking about? We just promised Twilight we’d talk to Algae Bloom.”
Kicky shrugs. “She’ll still be a scumbag when you get back. Besides, maybe it would be better for me to handle that myself. You really need to get in to see Aunt Wind. The reserves don’t joke around with ponies who don’t show up when they’re ordered to.” She gives me a sad smile. “Please, Cloud? For me?”
Yikes. She’s really laying on the weapons-grade guilt trip with that one. “Fine.” She brightens up. “After I deal with the Algae Bloom thing.”
She sighs, but clearly realizes it’s the best outcome she’s going to get. “Why don’t you just leave that to me? You know she has a way of getting under your skin, and you’ve been kind of off these last couple of days.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think I’m being remarkably calm about everything.”
“There’s a world of difference between ‘calm’ and ‘completely numb.’”
I’m so calm, I’m not even going to dignify that accusation with a response, I just stick out my tongue and blow a raspberry at Kicky’s stern glare. “Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it.”
---------------------------
“Hello, Algae.”
What Kicky doesn’t know won’t hurt her, so I may have forgotten to let her know I was coming here to take care of the favor for Twilight and Azalea all by myself. I can control myself. I’m not going to get mad. I’m not mad at anypony. I’m not mad that Azalea’s keeping secrets from Twilight. I’m not mad that Kicky slept with Blossom back when she was a changeling. I’m not mad that Aunt Wind demands a command performance just because I’ve had a rough couple of weeks. I’m not mad about any of it, no matter what anypony else thinks. So I’m in fine shape to confront Algae Bloom about this, here on her own home turf where the whole incident went down. This particular bar’s in a bit of a seedier part of Ponyville, to the extent any part of Ponyville is the least bit seedy at all. It’s no Sun’s Flank, but it’s cheap.
“What do you want, Cloud?” she asks before turning back to scanning the bar. “Come to pick up a few pointers? I was just about to buy that filly over there a drink, and I really don’t need you horning in on my turf.”
“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. I had a very interesting conversation with Twilight Sparkle earlier.”
Algae scoffs at the name. “Whatever. That mare’s nuts, not to mention a huge bitch.”
“Really?” I ask, eyebrow raised. “Twilight Sparkle? Personal student of Princess Celestia? Saved all of Equestria like a half-dozen times now? That Twilight Sparkle is a ‘huge bitch?’”
She shrugs and tries to flag the bartender down, but this place isn’t exactly known for the great service. “You don’t have to take my word for it. I bought her a drink and she turned around, started ranting at me about bacteria or something, and ended up throwing it in my face. I was just trying to get her to loosen up before I took her back to my place.”
“The way she tells it, she said she wasn’t interested.”
“What of it? I bet if I’d managed to get a couple into her that no would have turned into a yes. Don’t have to tell you that there are plenty of tricks to get a reluctant mare to spread her legs by the end of the night. I promise I’m worth the hangover.”
I have to roll my eyes at that. “When somepony tells you no, it means you leave them alone. Not keep pestering them to do something they don’t want to. That’s like the most basic rule there is.”
“Rules schmules. There’s nothing wrong with a little persistance. For example...” she trails off and looks out over the mostly empty tables, and finally locks on to a somewhat homely and drunk-looking stallion in a booth near the back of the room. “Take that stallion for example, doesn’t he look like he might be fun? I’ll show you what I mean. You can even take notes if you like.” She motions for two mugs of cider and takes them on the long walk across the room, a little sway of her hips enough to get him to look her way. She locks eyes with his, blinking a little unsteadily as Algae draws closer. “Well, hey there cutie. You look like you could use another round.”
“Are you... you a waitress?” he asks. From the slur in his speech he must be a lot further along than I originally thought. I grab a seat at another nearby table to keep an eye on this as Algae Bloom slides in beside him, pushing his back closer to the wall. His horn lights up and shaky magic takes one of the mugs from her.
“Not a waitress, no. My name’s Algae Bloom, what’s yours?”
It takes a few extra seconds for him to register the question, which he covers by taking a long gulp from the mug. “Bevelled Edge.” I frown. That name’s familiar for some reason, but I can’t place it.
“Well, Edge,” continues Algae Bloom, “you look like you have an awful lot on your mind. Anything you feel like getting...” she leans in and plants a gentle but firm hoof onto his shoulder, slowly dragging it lower, “...off your chest?”
“It’s... s’not fair, you know? She was supposed to make dinner tonight, but she gets home from work and it’s all ‘I had a long day, I’m too tired, you make something,’ like I haven’t had a long day too. So she takes that stupid nagging tone that I hate and... and I don’t really know what happened after that. I think I’m gonna have to sleep on the couch tonight.”
“Well, that’s hardly fair,” continues Algae, “this is your fillyfriend?”
He shakes his head. “My wife, Spring Breeze.” Now I know where I know the name from; he’s married to one of the mares on the weather squad. Quiet thing, doesn’t talk much. It’s hard to imagine her getting into a screaming match with anypony.
“Sounds like she doesn’t treat you with the respect you deserve.” Algae leans further into him, breathing a little heavily. “Isn’t that what you deserve?”
“I... I guess,” Bevelled Edge appears to just have noticed that there’s a strange mare pressed against his body. I’ll give Algae one thing; she doesn’t have the worst body in the world. Obviously Bevel’s rapidly coming to the same conclusion. “Uh. Miss Bloom? I, uh, I’m flattered but also, y’know, married. I’m not sure we should really oooooooooooooooh.” Before he can finish his objection, Algae’s lips wrap over the tip of his horn and the complaint fades into a moan.
Algae opens her mouth with a loud pop, and she lets out a bubbly little giggle. “I’m sorry, were you saying something?”
“I just don’t think this is really the best yipe!” The hoof on his chest has drifted lower, disappearing under the table. I think I have a pretty good idea where it went and what it’s doing now, though.
“Why not? Doesn’t this feel good?” She leans in to get muzzle to muzzle, a ruddy blush starting to peek through the stallion’s yellow coat. “Why don’t we get out of here?”
And that’s my breaking point, standing up quickly enough to knock over the chair I’d been sitting in. “Algae, you need to quit this. Let him go.”
“I told you. A couple drinks and anypony’s putty in my hooves,” says Algae without looking away.
“Really? Bevelled Edge was it? You really want to throw your marriage away on a drunken fling like this?” He blinks a few times as the reality of his situation penetrates the drunken haze and he pushes Algae away from him.
“I need to go,” he says. Algae Bloom makes no move to get up, leaving him trapped against the wall. “Please get up and let me out.”
“Are you positive? Let me buy you another drink and I bet I can change your mind.”
“Algae, if you aren’t out of that seat in the next three seconds I’ll drag you out of it by your mane,” I say. I mean it, too, and she can tell. Slowly but surely, she gets up from the booth. No sooner has she does so than Bevelled Edge slides his way out past her and stumbles for the door. “What the buck was that?”
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Well it would have been a fun evening for both of us, but somepony decided to stick her nose into other ponies’ business where it doesn’t belong.”
“Are you seriously trying to make me think I’m the bad pony in this situation?” My voice is starting to rise, and other conversations across the bar go quiet so they can watch the erupting show. “He was smashed! Not to mention married.”
“What do I care? He was totally getting into it. Like I told you before, a little persistence can pay off big time.”
I just stare at her. There’s no regret or shame on her face, just mild annoyance. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”
“Because I buy attractive ponies drinks and flirt with them? I thought you of all ponies would get it.”
“I am nothing like you, Algae Bloom!” I seem to be raising my voice just a little. Not because I’m angry, though. Totally not angry at all. “Fine, yes, I like a good romp between the sheets more than a lot of ponies, but unlike you I’m not treating them like slime and ruining their lives in the process. Do you even have any idea how messed up you even are? What the hell even happened to you that screwed you up this badly?”
To my surprise, she doesn’t have a snappy retort to that, she just goes quiet for a minute. “Like you’d even care. Buck off, Cloud.”
Wait, what? My glare softens, and I lower my voice a bit. “Wait, Algae... did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?”
“Why, so you have something to throw back in my face later on?” Something Scootaloo mentioned earlier comes back to me, about how they didn’t feed off of Algae Bloom because she never gave off any love. Or received any.
“Algae, listen. We don’t have to turn this into a big screaming match. How about we grab a couple glasses of water, a table in the corner, and just chat mare to mare. No accusations, and no judgement. How’s that sound?”
“I...” she looks down and away from me, “...I don’t know if anypony’s ever offered that to me before. No catch?”
I grin. This is the first time I’ve been able to look at Algae Bloom without a feeling of revulsion running up my spine. “No catch. We can talk about whatever’s on your mind.”
Five minutes later, the chatter of the bar’s other patrons has come back in full force. It makes for a pleasant enough backdrop for a private conversation. Algae Bloom’s still having trouble meeting my eyes, preferring to watch her reflection in the glass that’s half full of water and clutched in her hooves. I just wait, and finally she speaks. “Did you know that I used to have a pet corgi when I was younger?”
“I didn’t,” I answer, “they’re good dogs.”
“Yeah.” She goes quiet again. “His name was Buster, and he was just the sweetest little guy. For a long time it was just the three of us against the world.”
“Sorry, the three of you?”
“Buster, me, and Mom,” she explains. “Dad wasn’t really in the picture very often and when he was... well, like I said, just the three of us against the world. But that changed when Windy Sails came into the picture. Mom fell for him pretty hard, I guess this was when I was eight or nine. By my tenth birthday he was officially my step-father.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, not exactly sure where she’s going with this, but I figure my best bet is just to let her do all the talking. “You guys got along?”
“More or less. He liked sailing, knew all kinds of things about the ocean. I actually got this when we were studying fish one afternoon,” she says, gesturing to her cutie mark. “He was really proud of me when I got it. Said it meant I was all grown up, and could start doing everything a grown mare could. I... at the time I thought that was a good thing.”
“It wasn’t?”
Algae goes quiet again, and for a few minutes I start to worry that she’s clammed up for good. “It was around then that he started asking me about stuff. About what sort of colts and mares I liked, if I’d ever kissed one before, if I ever thought about them and wanting to touch them. If I ever... touched myself.”
Oh no. Oh no, no, no please don’t let the picture I’m forming in my head be real. Sitting there across the table from me, Algae Bloom looks nothing like the arrogant, selfish mare I know her as. “Did he ever...”
“Yes,” she says, lifeless eyes lost in her memory. "The first time was when I was twelve. He said he’d show me how to do it right. After that it was basically whenever he wanted.”
“Algae, listen to me. It wasn’t your fault. Nopony deserves that. By the Princesses, wasn’t there somepony you could have told?” My own glass of water forgotten, I circle the table to get close enough to lay a wing over her back and she smiles up at me.
“There was a teacher I almost told, Miss Marigold. But the night before I could, Windy came up to me and... I don’t know what tipped him off, but he had Buster’s collar and it was ripped apart. And he said Buster was gone and it was because I didn’t train him to behave like a good dog but I did, he was a great dog, and he told me that animals that don’t behave are punished and have to be put down. So I never told anypony, and the day I turned sixteen I left home and I never even looked back.”
“I’m so sorry, Algae. I’m so, so sorry,” I say, hugging her tight. She’s trembling in my forelegs, her face hidden under the hooves pressed up to her head.
“Cloud, there’s one thing I still don’t understand, though.”
“What’s that?”
Abruptly, she stops trembling, but then the shaking starts to come back. But she’s not crying, at least I don’t think so. Is she... laughing? “I just don’t understand how you could actually be thick enough to believe any of that bullshit.” Her snickering continues to grow as my mind completely refuses to process what she just said.
“You... I don’t understand. You made that all up? Why would you make that up?”
“To mess with your head, obviously,” she replies with a nasty grin. “My Dad’s an accountant in Baltimare, not some kind of creepy molester. I can’t believe you fell for that. I was sure the dead puppy thing was so over the top you’d never buy it, but you did! Because of course I’d have to have some dark and terrible tragedy in my past to have turned out like this, right? You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Then you wouldn’t have to face the fact that I choose to act this way because I enjoy it, you arrogant, judgemental cunt.”
Something’s welling up in me. No, on second thought it’s already been there for a while, I just didn’t recognize it. “I was just trying to help you.”
“Because I obviously need it, right? I need you to hand down all those answers you have for everypony else’s life down from on high, oh magnanimous patron saint of whores. You’ve got it all figured out, with your rules and codes that you cling to because you think it makes you better than a pony like me. Well guess what? They don’t. But I guess meddling in other ponies’ lives is easier than cleaning up your own mess.”
“Just shut the buck up, Algae.” I’m starting to see red, both my wings tensing up with weeks of accumulated anger that finally has no place else to go.
“I think the saddest thing is that you think you’re the one who’s got me figured out, when actually it’s the other way around. You think I picked bad parents for my story by accident? Not a chance. There’s just one detail I’m unclear on; was it Mommy or Daddy who never loved you?”
I don’t actually remember throwing the punch, which is kind of unfair when you really think about it. Just one second I’m staring at Algae Bloom feeling more furious than I ever have before in my life, and the next I’m pinned under a bouncer on the floor, a trickle of blood dribbling from her muzzle. The massive stallion wastes no time calling in backup and hauling me to the door before unceremoniously flinging me out onto the street. I spin around to get right back into the fight, but I’m a bit wobbly from the landing and the two stallions waiting in the door for me to make my move look like they’re in no mood to be gentle. I scream into the night sky and throw another punch, this time at the lamp post of a streetlight.
Not the wisest thing I’ve ever done. Now I’m still furious but my hoof also hurts.
Taking off into the air, I streak towards home. It’s late, but I don’t care right now. Too pissed off. The whole door frame rattles as I throw open the door and head for Kicky’s room. “Get out here! Now!”
A very confused Kicky appears a moment later. “Cloudy? Is something wrong? What happened to your hoof?”
“Went to talk to Algae Bloom.”
“Without me? We agreed we were going to do that together,” she says.
“Doesn’t really matter now. Ended up punching her.”
“What?”
“I said that doesn’t matter!” I say, stamping a hoof for emphasis. “You slept with her. You bucking slept with her, nearly broke her heart, and let me take the blame.”
“I slept with... we’re not talking about Algae Bloom any more, right? I’m a little lost.”
“Blossomforth! We’re talking about Blossomforth,” I shout into her face. “Ever since you showed up it’s been secrets on top of secrets and a lot of ponies are getting hurt because of it. You need to come clean to her, and if you don’t then I will.”
Kicky sucks in a sharp breath through her teeth. “I really don’t think she’d take it very well. Maybe in a couple weeks? I can break it to her a bit more gently.”
“No. Tonight. We’re telling her the truth tonight and I’m not taking no for an answer.” I turn to leave again, pausing in the doorway. “Let me put it this way. I’m flying straight to Blossom’s place right now and telling her the truth. You want to tag along and come clean, you’re welcome to.” And with that I walk out the door and take off once again, Kicky calling after me to stop and talk to her about this. But I’m done talking.
When I reach Blossom’s house, I manage to get in a few good pounds on the front door before I’m tackled for the second time tonight, this time by Kicky. Too little, too late though, and the door is opened, although by a stallion rather than the mare I was expecting.
“Oh, hi Davenport,” I say as casually as I can manage with Kicky trying to drag me away. “Kicky here has something to tell Blossom.”
Though he’s befuddled, Davenport recovers his wits and manners reasonably quickly. “Is it important? We’re kind of in the middle of dinner. We weren’t exactly expecting company.”
“Not important, we’ll just be going then,” says Kicky.
Like that’s going to work. “It actually is important. Mind if we come in?”
“Honey? Who’s at the door? Oh!” says Blossom, appearing behind her coltfriend in a rather flattering red evening gown. “Is something wrong?”
“Kicky was the changeling,” I blurt out before anypony else can get in a word edgewise. “Who pretended to be me the night you thought that we... you know. When we went home together.”
A long and uncomfortable silence descends over the four of us other there on Blossom’s front yard. Slowly but surely, Blossomforth turns to Kicky. “Is it true?”
Kicky twists up her face and groans. But she can’t wriggle out of it now. “Yeah, it is. I’m really sorry, Blossom, I—”
“And this is how you decide I needed to find out?” she interrupts, “just swing by, wreck my date, and drop that on me?”
Uh oh. “It was my idea, I only found out a couple days ago when Kicky got back from Canterlot and admitted it to me.”
“So let me see if I’m understanding this right,” says Blossom, something tight catching in her throat. “You’ve been a pony for months now. I understand that you wouldn’t have told me before you transformed, but what about after? Have I ever judged you for what you used to be? Ever treated you like you were less than my very best friend?”
“I... no, Blossom, you’ve been great, but—”
“How did I taste?”
Davenport gently lays a hoof on her shoulder, but her focus is locked on Kicky. “Blossom, don’t.”
“I asked you a question, Kicky. How. Did. I. Taste? Were my feelings for Cloud strong enough for you? Did they make a good snack?”
“...Yeah,” says Kicky when it becomes clear that Blossom expects an answer. “They were very strong.”
“And you were hanging around town for all the time afterwards too, right? So how did I taste to you then? How did I taste when I woke up alone that morning? Or when I thought Cloud had decided to pretend that nothing had happened between us?” Tears are starting to run down her cheeks now. All that red hot anger that’s kept me barrelling ahead without thinking is starting to cool. The void it leaves feels awfully hollow.
“You were pretty sad, as I recall,” says Kicky.
“You recall wrong. I wasn’t sad. I was devastated. Do you have any idea how many nights I spent laying awake in bed trying to figure out what was wrong with me? Playing that night over and over in my head trying to figure out if I made some sort of mistake? Never knowing if I’d said something I shouldn’t have and too scared to ask Cloud, because I was afraid she’d just end up confirming that something about me wasn’t good enough for her? Cloud didn’t know, but you did! You knew!” She jabs an angry hoof into Kicky’s chest, knocking her onto her plot in the process. “All you would have had to do was take me aside some time during those first couple days and explain. I would have forgiven you! Heck, it would have been a huge relief to know for sure, but did you do that? Or did you wait until this all got dredged up again for me because you’re a bucking coward?”
“Um... better late than never?” suggest Kicky, wincing even as she says it. It’s the wrong thing, and Blossom takes two angry steps forward, lifts a foreleg and slaps her clean across the face. The sound of the blow goes echoing out into the night.
“Get off my lawn,” she growls. “Get out of my sight. In fact, I never want to see you again.”
“Come on, Blossom, please don’t say that. I...” Kicky’s head droops, ears flat. “...I need my best friend.”
“Sorry. I already have one of those,” says Blossom. A sob escapes her lips, and she turns and dashes back into the house with as much dignity as she can salvage, shutting the door behind her with a dreadful finality. Kicky stares at it like Blossom might change her mind and come back, but the door stays closed.
Slowly, Kicky turns to look at me, her eyes dim and hollow. She slowly trots away, pausing for a moment to stare me down before silently walking past. I... think I may have just made a huge mistake, but I’m not the one paying the price. And the worst part of it all is that, deep inside, that anger and stress over everything that’s happened lately is back again, slowly but surely creeping into my mind and poisoning my judgement.
I think I need to talk to Aunt Wind.
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This just gets better and better. I love the way the slow drop into full mental breakdown is nothing but a bunch of perfectly justifiable bad decisions, trying to bury her own problems by helping others with theirs...
And the Algae conversation was priceless. True heartless bitch, that one.
5233660
I'm really liking Algae more and more as I write her. Well, maybe it's more accurate to say that I enjoy hating her and pushing her to new lows with each appearance. She's also the perfect pony to call Cloud out on her bullshit from time to time, because they clearly despise one another and she doesn't have all that much going for her in the way of tact.
Still, before the end of the story I suspect she's going to push somepony too far and pay the price for it.
Wow. Cloudy needs to.. Well.. Go... Hmmm...Actually, I don't really know. But she needs help.
And well done, the chapter's great. And while its not fun to be on the inside of a characters mental breakdown, it's well written.
"I think I need to talk to Aunt Wind."
Yah, I was pretty broken up too, and I was only reading as your mental issues messed you up Cloud.
15/10 Both looking forward, and dreading the next chapter.
I dunno, Blossom, your best friend's trying her hardest to be Worst Friend right now.
Okay, I laughed, and then felt really guilty for laughing, then laughed at how you got me to laugh at something so horrible, then feel even worse as I questioned the life decisions I'd made until that point.
I imagine, at this point, Cloudy laughed, glanced down, then her eyes darted back up, flickering over the two, watching, obvserving, looking for any tell they might even possibly consider it.
Ooh! Ooh! Tragic backstory time! You're going to make us feel sympathy for a pony I feel nothing but utter revulsion for! Let's see if you can!
Yeah, I kinda guessed. You ever read the biography Billy Connolly's wife? It's a fantastic read on the results of a brilliant man's psyche after childhood molestation from a father - or in this case stepfather.
Not pleasant subject matter, no, but fascinating all the same.
Still not sympathetic in the slightest, but at least a mental image is forming as to why this mare behaves the way that she-
Oh. Oh, you expletive. You wonderful bleeping author. That was exceedingly clever. I think you've actually created the single least sympathetic character I've ever read in a way that doesn't make her seem like an unrealistic, corny, cartoonish villain. Like, she's disgusting, but I'm not actually questioning how realistic this level of awful it is.
You played me like a fiddle.
Well, as Charles Stross says - sorry for all the name dropping, they're very heavy and I'm having trouble holding them all up on my own - a mistake this large can't consist of one mistake. It's a lot of mistakes building up and falling over in a big, heaped up pile.
If Kicky had come clean earlier. If Kicky had thought to do it on her own, rather than putting it off so much. If Blossomforth had thought to confront Cloud before all of... this
Well, a fantastic chapter, as always.
5233906
I shall deeply enjoy seeing that...
Oh, good! A new chapter! I, uh...I sort of fell in love with this story shortly after I read the Time Loop trilogy. Glad to see a new update, and I eagerly await the next one!
Oh, and by the way? You've made Cloud Kicker one of my favorite ponies.
You know, as easy as it is to recognize that this was the last way such a revelation should be handled, I can't really dredge up all that much sympathy for Kicky. She kind of had it coming. (I can dredge up plenty of sympathy for Blossomforth, as exposing such a traumatic bit of history with no preparation, outside her front door while making a scene no less, wasn't overly kind.)
Oddly enough, Cloud reminds me a lot of Fluttershy at this point... She has been taken advantage of in so many ways through the course of these events and keeps trying to be okay with it, but all that she's repressing is building up inside of her. Her snapping might not have been quite as epic as Fluttershy's moments of unkindness, but it was impressive nonetheless.
The two ponies (at least now they are) closest to her came into her life using her in rather heinous ways... And honestly, they continue to use her. Their intentions may be completely different now, motivated by previously unknown fears, guilt and regrets, but they also have a lifetime of experience as manipulators and know Cloud way too well. It's understandable that, focused on their own lives which have been suddenly thrust into a turmoil of new emotions, that they would grasp onto whatever stability Cloud had to offer, whether it was good for her or not. What was especially sad about this chapter was that all of her friends seemed to know or suspect what a mess she was, but they also all seemed resigned to it. That part was very "Lesson Zero", as she desperately searched for a friendship problem to solve and everyone rejected her, not hearing the cry for help with their own concerns. Kicky, at least, pushed for her to go see her aunt but even that was kind of a cop-out... It was the course of action that would get Cloud some much needed help, but also keep all of the secrets they had heaped onto her safe as well. An intervention of her friends, on the other hand, couldn't happen without exposing them and clearing the air.
So a very interesting, meaty chapter... I'm looking forward to seeing where things go from here.
Oh, and on a tangent, Twilight Sparkle comes across as an absolute psychopath from this view... Massive emotional shifts, casually mentioning that she threatened to murder a pony that angered her, muttering seeming nonsense... Quite the catch Azalea has there.
Two different people talking, split paragraphs.
Yup, mental breakdown. Not fun.
5234914
I'm pretty sure everyone will delight in watching her get the everloving shit kicked out of her.
5233906
Yeah, I am going to deeply enjoy seeing Algae suffer her comeuppance. Her subverting the whole "I'm only nasty because of my tragic backstory" thing was a stroke of evil genius.
I did like Cloud's breakdown. She's very good at denial, until all her problems are staring her in the face.
5235333
Bon Bon, especially, behaved in a pretty disgusting way. She knows Cloud is hurting, she even mutters it to herself, but does nothing, and actually gets angry at Cloud when she tries to distract herself.
Lyra wasn't a great example of friendship either; the two seem oddly...disconnected from Cloud.
It's as if her whole group of friends is disintegrating around her, and everyone involved with Cloud has decided that they don't really need to deal with her.
Also; Eakin, this chapter felt like a punch in the gut followed by falling down a set of stairs;
it was excellent.
Things really aren't good for Cloudy right now... she's the one who really needs someone to talk to, before she makes any more mistakes and makes things worse for her friends... hopefully Aunt Wind will be able to help with that...
Also, Algae Bloom, could she be any more of a bitch?
5235792
5234683
That whole trope is so overdone, and tends to be a bit cheap in my eyes. I enjoyed turning it on its head here.
5235333
5235799
I think that a big part of the problem was that in her quest to find somepony else with a problem that could distract her from hers, she was picking at some old and sensitive wounds. The only pony she really had any reason to talk about their own baggage with was Blossom, and it isn't like she was actually offering to be open and honest with her. She pretty much brings up Lyra's stint in rehab out of the blue, and tried to force Bon Bon to talk about a very personal relationship choice that's obviously a compromise she's not totally happy with. Plus Bonnie's always been a bit more on the blunt side. Besides, like she said, what the hell would she have to say to her that could possibly be constructive? She thinks she's helping by falling back on the 'you would have been a great Mom' thing, not realizing that particular comment also carries the subtext of but I guess now you never will be.
As for whether their little group is sort of drifting apart, I think Cloud's started to realize, at least subconsciously, that she's on the verge of being left behind. Bon Bon and Lyra are talking marriage, Kicky's off to claim her spot in the Guard, and even Blossomforth's traded in her fun, flirty little crush for something a bit more serious and down to Earth. Not to mention that I think the idea that she really is more like Algae Bloom than she'd care to admit has sort of wormed its way into her head a bit. Making herself into an emotional punching bag isn't just a distraction from her own problems but also a way to keep surrogate family together for as long as possible. Which has obviously started to backfire horribly.
Bottom line: Cloudy doesn't hate changelings, really. She hates change.
I predicted that Algae was bullshitting. But the title pretty much gave it away...
5235955
Have to agree on that. Part of why I liked the subversion so much was that I would've been a bit put out if you'd actually played it straight.
And yeah, Cloud is not a fan of change. It's why she's got that commitment-phobia, and why Blossom spent so long in the Friend Zone. She's built up her comfortable bubble of an easy job and plenty of casual no-consequence banging, and the idea of stepping outside of that scares the heck out of her. Really, I think a lot of her rules are as much about insulating herself from any possible changes to her lifestyle as they are about any sort of ethics. As long as her sex life has no negative effect on herself or others, there's no reason for her to change things.
Being scared by her friends moving on definitely fits too. If you'll forgive me for being self-referential, I remember touching on that aspect of her life in Infuriating Co-worker and how her friendship with Blossomforth started at a time when Rainbow was tied up with the Elements, Lyra had officially hooked up with BonBon, and Derpy was increasingly tied up with being a single mother. Her friends were all moving on, and instead of trying to move on with them she just found a new, younger friend.
5235955
That's brilliant, sad, realistic, cynical and insightful.
Are you turning into Estee?
Man, good thing for Twilight and Azalea, because aside from the two of them nothing goes well for more or less anyone else in the chapter. Maybe the seedy bar patrons that got to see a free fight? I dunno.
5235333 At this point, after everything she went through in the time loop and time jumping, she may well be a psychopath. Technically speaking, this is very nearly the same pony that would go on to develop into Queen Twilight if not for breaking out of the loop.
Sweet Mother of Luna, this is damn good!
although it deviates in many ways from the Winningverse, you manage to keep things true to both this one, and the w orld that Changar created. Overall, I am extremely pleased with this story, and I am finding myself craving more.
Ah, how much I love when I get to see a situation from adifferent point of view.
I have been reading Twilight's part on the voice she has on The Count Of Monte Cristo animatics XD
This chapter was as wreck. Not in quality, but in content.
Yes, yes you do. Funny enough, I think you need another punch in the face.
Oh Cloud, trying to help others, not realizing she herself is in need of help.
You capture the inner struggle perfectly, didn't realize they needed help till everything around them was crushed and broken...past the point of no return...poetically sad.
I do say that scene with Bloom was a M Night Twist...did not see that coming.
I actually got angry when Algae Bloom started her tragic past story. Sure, everyone deserves a chance, yadda yadda, but a reformed Algae Bloom would be like trying to reform Tirek. The chapter title says it all.
That said, the fact that it was a lie just left a hollow feeling. Algae Bloom really is a despicable creature, to think she'd casually lie about being molested as a child and then laugh about it.
This chapter got 2real4me.
... yeah, Algae deserved it. Sheesh.
...Gimme the next few chapters all at once in like two days?
i'm sorry, how is Cloudy putting that Algae bitch in her place, and stripping away more of the lies a bad thing? i mean yes, she could have waited till after her friends date, but the fact that Cloudy's room mate has fucked up her life on multiple occasions, and refuses to come clean about 90% of it, warrants drastic action.
5241955
I think you're harder on Kicky than I would be. What is it that she's done to 'fuck up her life on multiple occasions,' at least post-pontification? Decided to join up with the Guard? Pulled her flank out of that changeling hive? Wouldn't rat out the other ex-changelings? She didn't even rule out coming clean to Blossom, just wanted to do it on her own terms.
As for Algae, well, I think the punch was probably warranted. Flipping out and letting her anger override her self control was not a good thing, though.
Nope. You definitely need one as well.
5239332 I live with my aunt and uncle. I've done so since I was five. The reason? When I was two my father apparently molested my twelve-year-old half-sister. My mom then tried to take both of us out of state, but she wasn't my sister's biological mom, so she was taken by CPS, and I was almost taken upon the plane landing, my aunt's being there the only reason I wasn't. My aunt adopted me at five when our doctor told her to, because my mom was too mentally challenged to take care of herself, let alone me. So trust me when I say that the only time I've ever felt like punching a girl was when I overheard her laughing with her friends over how she got her father to buy her an expensive car because she could get her mom to divorce him just by saying he'd touched her. It sickened me. To have my family destroyed because of it was bad because it was bad, but to have a family torn apart because of someone lying about it? I hate my generation at times.
And here's rock bottom.
Eakin once again showing us really well that post traumatic stress is both extremely serious and insidious.
My insides were in knots this whole chapter watching Cloudy unwittingly causing disaster after disaster. The fallout of Kicky and Blossom in particular isn't going to be pretty. Not to mention the other Twilight/Azalea bombshell waiting patiently in the wings.
5235955
I think 'bad because backstory' is almost a dead trope at this point. I mean, there's Project Horizons out there using it well(but that's because the whole point is the main character is a putz for accepting that), but other than that I mostly see it subverted these days.
Nasty evil characters should have a reason for being nasty evil characters, but you shouldn't try to make them sympathetic. If your nasty evil character is sympathetic, YOU DONE FUCKED UP.
5236024 This!
The chapter name is genius, and the chapter was brilliant. Algae will be getting her comeuppance, i hope.
5274546
That is the plan, yes. Not for a while, though.
I'm not sure I get the actual reason she wanted to reschedule. Is it somehow giving her an excuse not to go to Canterlot?
aaaaand whoosh.
5278713
She's looking for a distraction anywhere she can find one. Sitting around and thinking might lead to self-reflection and challenge her assertion that everything is A-OK in Cloudland. Can't have that.
Woah, I knew we'd get some perspectives in this story but I didn't expect a new one on Algae.
................ -_-
Or maybe not.
5306712
she keeps in contact with the ambassador!?
Why
______________
Wow, way to totally buck up everything in your life Cloud. I really, really, really hope that things get patched up between Cloud, Kicky, and Blossom. You're not allowed to build up a great friendship and get me emotionally invested in your chatacters only to have the fic rip out my heart like that
.
You do a really good job on making emotionally moving chapters. And characters that a person can get emotionally invested in. But I really hope things get fixed between those three. Oh, and do we ever get any more SootaLing?
Aw crap, I was so excited to jump into a new story after reading the Time Loop Trilogy that I didn't realize this one wasn't finished yet.
Now I wait.
Fantastic work so far! I really enjoyed the trilogy, and seeing a "behind the scenes" perspective of it has been really cool. Waaay too many opportunities for dramatic irony.
I guess now I'll have to read Queen Sparkle. ...Maybe.
Can't wait for the next chapter.
I dont blame Cloudy at all for punching that bitch. I kinda -- no i did want to punch her! That's just fucking cruel, messing with her feelings like that!
*sigh* I finally got around to reading ask the way through, but still disappointed that the story is marked as incomplete and it's been months since the last update. Just mark it as a hiatus and I'll be happy!
EAKIN. I LOVE YOU BUT YOU'RE KILLING ME MATE.
UPDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE
5570191
Well, for several reasons.
1) If you're reading a story. Which is grammatically correct, "Was that what i think it was ... i think i'm going to be sick." Or "Was that what i think it was ... i think i'm going to be sick." Or "Was that what I think it was ... I think I'm going to be sick."
2) As you said it's an onomatopoeia of a strong I, or a heavily accented I. If being used to replace that / in place of the letter I. It'd be used grammatically as you would I. Thus http://libraryonline.com/?pID=48.
But in english. I is always capitalized. At least in proper english, ever since the 1300. And is the only time a pronoun is capped (other than in titles of books).
And
3) ah lowercased is pronounced differently, and is already a word. It quite litterally means, used to express a range of emotions including surprise, pleasure, sympathy, and realization. Thus capping it. Shows that it's refering to the Alt of "I", rather than the word "ah".
Thus by following proper grammatical usage of the word I (at least how it's properly used in English) you designate it as the replacement letter, rather than the exclamation / onomatopoeia that exist for a pre-existing word in the english language (as linked above). That and it's just Proper. I is I if refering to oneself / personal pronoun, thus if Ah = I, the Ah needs to be used exactly as the word / letter it's replacing. Including such words as:
Ah've [I have]
Ah'll [I will]
Ah'd [I should / I would / I had].
I hope that has cleared things up for you,and taught you a useful English lesson.
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Just be glad you aren't waiting on the next chapter of FiO: The Movie. I've left those guys hanging for way, way longer.
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finny you should mention FiO. I was hungry for more eakin-y good ness and saw you'd written a few optimal verse stories and that led me to read the original story. I am currently on chaper 1.
So maybe I'll be waiting on that too in a week or so.