Chapter Twenty-Eight - Head in the Clouds
“Then he just said ‘OUT’ and pointed at the door,” Cotton grumbled, “and Steadclaw bolted.”
“Well, can you blame him? Daddy’s little girl is taking a big step,” Allegrezza giggled, poking Cotton in the ribs. “One that he obviously doesn’t want her to take yet.”
“Oh, shove it, Allie,” Cotton said with a forced laugh, shrugging off the intruding hoof. She settled herself back on the park grass and let out a deep sigh. “I know Daddy wants me to wait, but…” She put her head down before rolling onto her back, then hugged herself with her forelegs and squeezed her eyes shut. “Steadclaw just feels so… right. So perfect.”
Allegrezza arched an eyebrow. “Maybe a little too perfect? Some of my friends have run into colts like that.”
Cotton smiled and shook her head, her eyes still closed. “Nope. Just the right amount of perfect.”
“Well, I’m not one to judge,” Allegrezza responded, fluttering her eyelashes. “I’m just impressed you found someone like that so early. And a griffon at that. Seems like everything just fell right into place for you.”
“I know, right?” Cotton let out a deep sigh. “All signs point to a perfect pair. I’m telling you, Allie, he’s the one. I don’t give a flying feather what my dad thinks.”
“Oh, you’re such a rebel,” Allegrezza giggled, tousling Cotton’s mane. As Cotton batted her hooves away again, she let out a small sigh. “Just be careful, Cotton, okay? I’m not gonna tell you not to go for it, but I’ve seen some pretty solid-looking relationships go south. And it sounds like you two haven’t even been together that long.”
Cotton snorted at her. “Y’know, you’re starting to sound like Dad.”
“Hey, that’s a powerful accusation!” Allegrezza said with a mock pout, making Cotton roll her eyes. Smiling again, she said, “I’m just lookin’ out for you, cuz. If things really are as good as you make them sound, though, you’ll probably be fine. Just keep him away from your dad for another day or two.”
Nodding, Cotton said, “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I’ll go pick him up tomorrow.”
“Smart move.” She glanced around the park to ensure their privacy. Colts and fillies of all ages played tag, picnicked, and napped under the willow trees, but nobody paid them much attention. Allegrezza took in a deep, cleansing breath. “Y’know, I keep forgetting about these awesome spots on this side of the city. I need to come around more often while school’s out. I’ll be up to my withers in assignments when the semester starts up again.”
“You totally should,” Cotton agreed. “And bring Largo and Nocturne. You’re the only cousins that actually live close by.”
“No guarantees, but I’ll do what I can. Largo’s on his turntable most of the time, and Nocturne’s been sleeping all day since summer started.”
Cotton cocked a brow before rolling back up to a sitting position. “Why? He been up all night?”
Allegrezza nodded. “Yep. Writing his own stuff. He’s always preferred being a night owl.”
Deadpanning, Cotton responded, “Oh, right. Duh.”
“Eh, music’s in everypony’s veins in our family, what can I say? And hey, what about Novamac?” Allegrezza asked.
Cotton shrugged. “Pfft, he barely counts. He’s always too wrapped up in ‘guard mode’ to actually act like a cousin,” she replied. “If you don’t count the five seconds before my dance, the last time we actually acted casual around each other was at the Ponyville reunion four years ago. Heck, he and Nightshade barely have time for each other.”
Allegrezza shrugged. “Fair point. Still, don’t forget he is there. You think I’m trying to look out for you? He’ll take a spear to the heart for you. Literally.”
Cotton frowned a little, then nodded. “…You’re right. I really shouldn’t take him for granted. It’s just hard to remember he’s family when I always see him so serious around the castle.”
“I can understand that,” Allegrezza said.
“He’d go all out for any of us, though, wouldn’t he? Probably even Steadclaw,” Cotton giggled, before letting out another sigh. “Then again, Nova probably wouldn’t need to jump in the line of fire for me. Steadclaw’d beat him to it.”
“Damn straight I would.” Cotton and Allegrezza both jumped as they whipped their heads around to find Steadclaw standing about a pony length behind them, smirking.
“Steady!” Cotton cried, hopping up off her haunches to give him a kiss. Then she promptly smacked him with her wing. “Don’t scare us like that!”
Steadclaw chuckled, “I’m gonna have to get used to that.”
“The name or the wing-smacks?” Allegrezza asked with a raised brow.
“Both.” He approached her and held out a claw. “You’re one of the many cousins, right?”
“That I am,” Allegrezza replied, returning the shake. “Nice to finally meet you. Name’s Allegrezza, Largo’s older sister. I know you’ve met him.”
Steadclaw nodded. “Yep. Quite the DJ.”
“And he’s told me you’re quite the singer,” Allegrezza said with a wink.
His face flushing as he stole a glance at Cotton and rubbed the back of his neck, Steadclaw asked, “Oh Grover, my name’s being passed through the family now?”
Allegrezza smirked. “Eyyup. If you’re as good as Largo says, you should join me for a duet sometime.”
Steadclaw looked away. “Well, I dunno abou—”
“YES! You totally should!” Cotton cried with a grin.
“That settles that,” Allegrezza said with a firm nod. “I hope you’re good with more than just love songs.”
Steadclaw’s eyes widened. “He’s said that much?”
Smirking again, Allegrezza answered, “Yep. You better be ready to stick around, ‘cause if you’ve got the music in you, we’re gonna be talking about you allllllllll the time.” She ruffled his crest feathers and let out a good-natured laugh before turning around. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds to yourselves.”
“Woah woah woah!” Steadclaw cried, simultaneously brushing his feathers back into place. “Don’t leave on my account! I didn’t mean to break up any… uh… cousin-ly bonding time.”
Allegrezza laughed again. “Don’t worry about it. We were just talking about you anyway,” she said with another wink. “See you soon, Cotton!” she called as she trotted across the park, leaving the couple with relative privacy.
“See ya, Allie!” Cotton called back with a wave. Then she leaned up and gave Steadclaw a quick peck on the cheek. “How’d you find me?”
“A little bird told me,” he replied with a smirk. When Cotton nudged him, he added, “I went to the castle. Knocked on the front door and hoped to Grover your dad wouldn’t answer. Turned out to be Novamac. He told me you were here.”
“Geez, lucky much?” Cotton said.
Steadclaw shrugged, then kissed Cotton on the cheek himself. “Worth the risk.”
Cotton smiled before she nuzzled herself into his chest. As the two of them settled down on the grass, Steadclaw laid an arm over her withers. She put her head down on her forelegs, and Steadclaw rested his own head on top of hers, then gently caressed the ragged, scarred edge of her wing. She closed her eyes, releasing what passersby may have thought was a purr.
No. I’m the lucky one.
Ж
It was like dancing. Dancing in the sky.
It was Cotton’s idea. Steadclaw asked to see another one of her air drops, so they flew to her practice zone, way out past the edge of the city. On the way, she decided to try flying up and over a few clouds like an obstacle course, instead of dodging or going through them on a whim. Steadclaw watched, entranced by the performance. It reminded him of what his grandmother had told him about Rainbow Dash.
He eventually tried it himself, flying underneath the clouds Cotton went over, and vice versa. The two fell into a pattern, as natural as a sunrise. It’s like the DNA strands that Mrs. Beaker taught us about, Steadclaw thought to himself, before shaking his head. Wait, why am I wasting time thinking about school?
It’s just like the DNA stuff that Mrs. Beaker taught us, Cotton thought, before shaking her head. Wait, why am I thinking about school?
When they reached Cotton’s practice area, they were unsurprised to find that nobody else was around. Steadclaw, however, became just a little unnerved when a wide grin split Cotton’s face.
“C’mon, I wanna see you do one,” she said, prodding his shoulder.
“What?!” Steadclaw cried. “You’re pulling my leg. You’ve actually trained to do this! There’s no way I could do it right off the bat!”
Cotton shrugged. “Actually, you probably could. Not as awesome as me, of course, but the concept isn’t that difficult.”
Steadclaw tilted his head, looking at her sideways. “Wow. Now you even sound like Rainbow Dash.”
Crossing her forelegs with a smug smirk, Cotton responded, “I do, don’t I? Guess I’ve been taking her journal entries to heart a little too much.”
“Journal entries?”
“Birthday gift,” Cotton replied. “Long story. Anyway, here—just follow my lead. If you get freaked out, just flare out your wings to slow your descent. You’re gonna do that at some point anyway. Lemme just give you some distance,” she said as she flew off.
“Well… o-okay,” Steadclaw stammered. “Good Grover, this girl is gonna kill me,” he mumbled under his breath.
When she reached about a hundred feet away, Cotton turned around and called to him, “It starts off as a dead drop! On three!”
Steadclaw’s shoulders slumped as he just stared at her and nodded.
“One! Two!” Even from this distance, Steadclaw could make out a grin as Cotton paused for dramatic effect. “… Three!” she shouted, clamping her wings to her sides as she tilted herself forward ninety degrees and splayed out her limbs. “Wooooooooooooooo!”
Reluctantly, but immediately, following Cotton’s lead, Steadclaw brought his own wings inward as he tilted himself forward. The wind rushed past his eyes, which widened like dinner plates as he watched the ground approach him with frightening velocity. He glanced over at Cotton, who was still screaming like a madmare as she fell, enjoying every moment of it.
He took in what breath he could before thinking aloud, “I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die…”
Ж
As they casually flew side by side back in the direction of Canterlot, Cotton said, “That was pretty good for your first try. Not much impact on the landing, but it’s good you made it down without getting hurt. Were you scared? I couldn’t see you going down.”
Steadclaw tilted his head a few times. “Well, I, uh… Good Grover, I was terrified.”
Cotton laughed. “Well, you sure didn’t look it when you landed! Guess relief took over by then, huh?”
“Definitely.” He smiled. “But I hafta tell ya, watching yours from above was awesome. It looked like you made a crater with all the dirt that rushed out on impact! Actually, how did you not? I saw the ground crack!”
“The ground is much more dense out here. That’s why Nightshade chose this area for us to practice. Even after tons of impact points, there’s no major damage to the environment. If anything, it actually helps open up the ground for more water absorption when it rains,” Cotton explained. As they flew over another area of cracked ground, she flew down and waved for Steadclaw to follow. When they got closer, she pointed to a line of sprouting grass with a smile. “See?”
“Well, look at that. You’re helping create life,” Steadclaw chuckled as he crossed his arms.
Cotton nodded. “And I will likely continue to do so. C’mon.” She headed back up to the clouds, and Steadclaw flew after her.
As the two of them casually glided through the air, Steadclaw grinned. “Hey,” he called to Cotton, maneuvering over and under a few consecutive clouds as she had done before. “Care for another dance?”
Watching him bob and weave, Cotton giggled. “Sure, I’m game.” She added under her breath, “For a dance…” Looking for the right cue, she waited until Steadclaw went over another cloud before ducking underneath it to complement his movements.
They alternated looking at each other and ahead of them, making sure to time themselves so they didn’t collide. After a few minutes of ducking and weaving, with a few spins thrown in, Steadclaw eventually came up to meet Cotton in the middle, grabbing hold of her hoof as they rose straight up.
“Oh, wanna be literal now, huh?” Cotton giggled again, as she looked ahead and saw Canterlot still a fair distance away. Lifting her hoof up in Steadclaw’s grasp, she twirled once underneath and said, “I can do that.”
Grinning, Steadclaw extended his arm. He then gripped Cotton’s hoof and twirled her into his chest, pinning her wings as he gave a powerful flap to keep them both midair. Cotton gave an instinctive gasp before he released her, then she quickly opened her wings again. After a glance below her to make sure she had plenty of height, she looked back at Steadclaw to find him holding in a snicker.
Looking behind him, Cotton smirked as she tackled him, pinning his own wings to his back and his arms to his sides. After a second of freefall, they both landed softly on a sizeable cumulus, Cotton lying on Steadclaw’s chest with her hooves wrapped around him.
After he let out a breath, Steadclaw chuckled, “Grover, for a second I thought you were forcing me into another air drop. You’re crazy, you know that?”
“You started it,” Cotton replied, playfully sticking her tongue out at him as she let go of his wings and arms. Resting her hooves on his shoulders, she added, “Besides, you knew what you signed up for.”
“Well, I dunno about that. I knew I was signing up for the scary dad, not the crazy girlfriend,” he teased, poking her nose with a talon. Then he lifted his head and kissed her on the muzzle. “But I think I can handle it.”
Cotton kissed Steadclaw back before settling her head under his chin and closing her eyes. “You’re just as crazy as me, y’know.”
“Yeah, I know, and you love me for it,” Steadclaw responded with a smirk, gently putting a claw underneath her wing.
At those words, Cotton’s eyes opened in revelation. Then she smiled softly. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I do.”
“Hmm?” Steadclaw asked, running his talons through her mane.
Cotton lifted herself so she could look him square in the eyes for a moment before she leaned into a deep kiss. After they parted, she nuzzled her cheek against his.
“I love you, Steadclaw.”
C-A/N from Crystal Moose:
Steadclaw: "Would it be inappropriate for me to shout 'Huzzah!'?"
Okay, yes. This chapter ended with some heavy implications. For good reason. And the Moose’s little note there doesn’t help (as I’ve said previously, since he’s the original author, I indulge his requests when he makes them, like that co-author’s note). But please, please, please do me a favor, and do not write that four-word comment that I’m sure some of you are thinking (or any iteration of it). 
Welp, it already happened once, so I guess I'll have to accept the fact that a bunch of you have your minds as far into the gutter as I do. 
Just... put it in spoilers, please. *grumble*
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
1,044 users online
1,687,904 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
By four letter word do you mean MATE?
8399653
Four-word comment, but the final word would be an -ed form of another four-letter word with that general meaning, yes...
If you're serious, I envy your innocence.
Hey I love this story but RL comes first, If you can't keep money coming in you won't have net to provide us the story with the realitive ease that you have, and it money gets even shorter then you won't have a home and none of us want that so take care of yourself many of us may curse the time it takes for updates but we would rather you be in a position to make them instead of just trying to survive.
"And then they banged"
whoopsie, spotted a double!
8399691
8399749
You didn't notice they weren't exactly the same?
Nope, that was intentional.
8399691
Duuuuuuuuuude.... c'mon.
*Sigh* You all have your heads in the gutter.
8399685
Thanks a lot for understanding. I want to get more material out as much as everyone wants to read it, but yeah, horse words don't put food on the table. And I'd rather not set up a Patreon when there are other options available that I just need to find. It's actually finding them that's the rough part.
8399691
Not yet.
8399757
Ooooooooooooh
Wow, I had to stare at it again on a bigger screen to catch that
8399844
S'all good. Mobile reading can do that.
8399810
To quote Cotton:
“Actually… yyyyyyyes…”
8399757
Eeyup.
8399849
i.giphy.com/media/FoUHKTJhoQU6I/giphy.webp
THEY LOVE HATH BEEN DOUBLED
8399857
Link ain't workin'.
8399691
One hyppogrigh with a side order of Char grill chicken this way comes
8399681
And then they polkaed.
8399869
crud...well it was just an "oooh myyyy" George Takei thing
8399944
Ha. Figures.
8399932
Dammit, Tats, I friggin' love you. No homo.
8399681
I own/run a Fantasy/RP chatroom. the character I own it with is a Winged Wolf Sorcerer named HEWOLF. so I did a little RP when I posted that. *WolfGrin*
8399976
Glad that made you happy.
derpicdn.net/img/2017/8/21/1516334/large.gif
Good luck for your real life issue, I hope that gets solved soon, not necessarily for your story, but to give a bit serenity.
Stupid rea life getting in the way of ponies.
Cotton, Cotton, Cotton ... I have a feeling you will come home to a very angry looking father, standing next to 4 Princesses (one of them with a big knowing smirk on her face). And some of them are going out for some grilled chicken.
Afterwards, they grabbed coffee?
8400454
Why would anyone be in an udder? The gutter is nice and cozy
8400454 8402600
You guys are weird.
8402924
normal is boring!
Somewhere in haven Rainbow Dash is smiling.
8399691
https://media.giphy.com/media/cAfaWIcWr7qus/giphy.gif
Like that, you mean, right?
8557499
....maybe
Why do I feel heavy implications that Steadclaw ISN'TT The One?
Merry Chrismass and a Happy New Year. Hope your situation has improved.
8399691
I was thinking "and then they ******".