Roads of Life

by PonyWrites

Chapter 16 - Camping and trust (again)

“Isn’t this great?” Reg said to his daughter as she trailed close behind on the hiking trail.

In truth, Scootaloo enjoyed the outdoors. It was early Spring and the trees and flowers were in bloom. Birds and animals sang and even a pair of foxes darted past them on their hike. But Scootaloo was with her father. The things unsaid filled the distance between them like a wedge in a log. But perhaps it was time to clear the air. That’s what her girlfriends would do. They were... so much better than Scootaloo. The bigger person (except that time both of them fought, but that worked out in the end). It inspired her to do the same.

“Yeah, fantastic,” she replied, the sarcasm in her voice was capable of cutting glass. Her father must have heard and acted like he didn’t notice. For all her outdoorsiness the idea of spending two days with her father worried her. There was a rather large, though surmountable object in the way of their relationship right now. Twenty minutes of walking later they found a previous campsite, with the lake in full view. It must have been ages since they were here last. In another ten they set up the tent and had a fire going. Night would be swiftly on them, even though they left right after school.

Reg fished out a pack of hotdogs from his pack, and “s’more fixin’s” as Bloom would say. They roasted in silence for a time.

“Scoots… I…” her dad sighed, “You know that feeling when you spend all day planning what you’re going to say and then… it’s still not enough time?”

“Yeah.” Scootaloo grumbled. She knew what he was talking about, but after years of fearing the worst she was skeptical it was what she wanted to hear.

“Well… I’m so… so sorry.” His voice broke as he held back tears. “I know you can’t possibly forgive me. But I’m sorry.” He took a ragged breath and continued, “I can’t pretend to understand what it’s like to be gay,” Scootaloo’s eyes perked up, most parents were fearful of even saying that word. “But I know the last thing you need is for me to make your life worse. And I want you to know that so long as you're happy, I’ll be fine.” Actually, that was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Scootaloo turned and smiled softly, noting how his tears glimmered in the fire light. “You’re right. I can’t forgive you. But I’d be a terrible person… and daughter… if I didn’t give you the chance.”

Reg wiped his eyes and collected himself. “Forgiveness isn’t instant.” He seemed to think a while. “This is just a crazy idea, but what if I had dinner with you and your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriends. I have two.”

“Well, Solomon had seven hundred, so I guess I can get used to that as well.”

“That sounds nice.” The quietness crept in, except for a coyote or wolf howling. “Except they might want to kill you.”

“Death comes for us all, I suppose.” her father chortled. Well, he still had his morbid sense of humor.

“I mean, I’ll try to keep them from slicing your throat, but I’ve given them plenty of reasons to hate you.” Scootaloo laughed.

“To be fair, there was a time when I couldn’t stand the sight of my mother. My girlfriend at the time heard all about it. And then we had the most awkward dinner ever. She was about to rip my mother’s throat out. With her teeth.”

There was a pause in the conversation as they laughed and fell quiet. “I don’t remember much of grandma. What was she like?”

“Of course she died before you could probably remember much. She was a stubborn old bat, and she let everyone know it. She hated my marriage to your mother, and I understand why now. At the same time she could be funny, I get my sense of humor from her, and sweet. She made great cookies. She loved you. And I’m sure she’s proud of you. She was pretty big on the whole, be who you want thing.”

An owl hooted. “I would have like to have known her.”

“Sometimes… you just can’t change things no matter how much you want them.”

“Yeah.”

They ate quickly, both itching to get to dessert. They roasted marshmallows slowly, getting them warm and golden. The gooey warmness comforted them both, invoking childhood memories. The sight of her father with marshmallow stuck to his mustache made Scootaloo laugh. Then her father started laughing and pointed out the same, save for the facial hair. Soon after they went to bed. It had been a while since Scootaloo had gone camping, nearly a year, and she wondered how she would sleep with the howling wolves and chattering bugs. The answer was surprisingly well.

This had to be a dream. There was no way tree’s so bent out of shape and jagged could exist like this in reality. Scootaloo recognized it as the campsite, but more uncanny. Like a Van Gogh painting. In fact, this whole place seemed like a painting. She could see the brush-strokes. She saw a fox-painting sitting on the edge of the woods, seemingly beckoning her.

Hi.The thought was not her own.

“Who are you?”

“Just a fox. I have a reputation for being a trickster and a loner. Neither is true.” The fox yawned widely. “Well, at least the loner part.”

“Where am I?”

“Full of questions aren’t we? You’re in a dream.”

“I knew that, why is there a talking fox in my dream?”
“Now we’re getting to the important stuff! But I don’t know. I was told to show you something.”

“By who?”
“Scootaloo darling, there’s always another secret.”

“Hey, that line sounds familiar.” Scootaloo recalled a character in a recent book with the same catchphrase.

I’m borrowing words from your mind. Everyone knows foxes can’t talk.

Scootaloo blinked. “Ok, fine, what do you need to show me by this… Person anyway?”

The “thing” was actually another person, who Scootaloo was certain she saw before. Even knew him closely at one point, but she couldn’t remember how. He had a patchy beard and shaggy hair. He wore simple clothes, khakis and a t-shirt. Around his neck was a crucifix. He was crying on a bench.

Sweetie Belle or even Apple Bloom were better at this ‘comforting’ thing but Scootaloo knew she had to do something. She sat down on the bench next to him and gently, with trepidation, placed a hand on his shoulder. The man kept weeping but he slowly regained his composure.

“So, why were you crying?”

He wiped his nose. Scootaloo cringed a little. “I have a son. He told me yesterday he was… was…”

“A velociraptor?”

The man was so stuck by the ridiculous comment he recoiled and laughed. “Haha, no, nothing like that, he’s a normal human. Well, except he’s gay. I love him but I don’t know what to do. Isn’t it wrong? Isn’t he putting his life in danger?”

“Life is nothing but danger. I think that’s kinda the point. Realistically he has a higher chance of getting AIDS, sure. If that’s what you’re worried about.” The man nodded. “But isn’t that an insult to his own intelligence? He knows how to avoid it, and believe it or not there aren’t that many people that actually want to infect others. There’s also that fancy new pill.”

“OK, fine, he’ll be safe. But what if he starts using drugs and hanging with the wrong crowd?”

“Straight kids do that all the time. If you just love him and let him be who he is, he won’t do that. If he does, well, there’s the phrase ‘tough love’ for a reason.”

“I… think I get it. I’m going to give Mark a hug and tell him it will be OK.”

“Did you just say--” The man was gone.

At the risk of sounding too heavy handed, try to think about what your father is going through with you. He’s been told all his life one thing, and now he has to unlearn it.

Scootaloo woke up with a jolt and a cold sweat. She gently unzipped the tent and took a walk for some fresh air. She didn’t go far, but did see glowing green eyes at the edge of the forest. The eyes of a fox.

Scootaloo, like so many things, didn’t realize how much she actually liked fishing and camping with her dad until she went without it for nearly a year, and then suddenly went on a trip. Normally she’d hate to be awake before noon, but the sunrise painted the sky in purplish-pink hues that reminded her of her first girlfriend. The air was pleasant and the forest was calm. She needed to do this more often, and supposed Apple Bloom or even her sister would be an avid angler. Maybe she could convince her whole harem to go. But then she thought they wouldn’t get any fishing done, but maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.

Three Catfish and two hours later they called it good. They could catch more later, but the fish probably lost interest. If that was how it even worked. They grilled the fillets over the fire and ate. Her father broke the long and comfortable silence. “I know this is a personal question, but I’m your dad and I can at least ask. You look… like a boy. Are you one of those… transexuals.” Scootaloo noted how hard the word was for him. It was just how he was raised, so she cut him some slack. After all, she couldn’t call herself gay without her voice shaking a little until two months after she was dragged to that meeting. Her father was doing great all things considered.

“Honestly? I can’t even give you an answer. I kinda like being called a boy, but nothing feels wrong about my body like is usually the case. I’ve been reading up on it to try and figure it out myself.” Her father contemplated her answer.

“I was always told God never made mistakes, so perhaps if you were, it was for his own purpose.”

“I’m surprised at how well you’re taking this.”

“You’re more important than ideology. I have to at least try.” Scootaloo could see the tiny beads of moisture at the corners of his eyes.

“Thank you. I…” Well, she did try to tell the truth if at all possible. “I love you.” She knew this would happen. Her father started bawling like a baby. Not that she would ever admit it, but she did too, and they hugged it out for a time, weeping into each other’s shoulders.

Back at civilization she told her harem about what happened. Even the crying. She cried in front of them enough times she might as well be open about it.

“That’s great that you’ve patched up with your father,” Sweetie said, “And I’d love to have dinner with him.”

“I’ll leave my daggers at home.” Apple Bloom joked. Not that she needed a pocket knife. She was usually the champion of their wrestling matches. In as many senses of the word as you could guess.

Scootaloo’s eyes drifted the the lone boy in the treehouse, sitting patiently and probably contemplating his navel or something. “Oh shit,” She mumbled. “I never told him about Rumble.”

“It’s OK, I can stay behind,” Rumble said, breaking out of his revier. That's always what he did, taking a step back for his friends. He never wanted to cause any waves. His girlfriend, on the other hand, was a rolling tsunami.

“What, No!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “You’re as much a part of this as us! You have to go.” The farmer glared fire into Scootaloo’s very soul.

“What if he thinks I’m still straight but trying not to be,” she rushed to defend herself.

“Just explain to him how sexuality can be fluid. Hell you’ve probably researched this more than us. I just know what I like, and that’s… well it’s quite a lot of things.” Apple Bloom said. Scootaloo balked at the idea she did actual research, but realized that it was true. She read a lot about it because she needed to know just what the hell was going on. She found a few answers but there were still so many questions.

“Yeah. I know. I promised to be completely honest with everyone. Besides, Rumble’s already met him. It can’t be too terrible. I hope.” Scootaloo swallowed.

“You’ll be fine.” Sweetie said, “Promise. We’ll be right there for you.”

“Thanks guys. Oh, how was the drag show?”

“It made me feel confused, so I guess I kinda know how you feel.” Rumble said.

Scootaloo chuckled. Suddenly a burden found it’s way to her mind. “Can I talk to Rumble alone?”

“Why don’t y’all take a walk?” Apple Bloom suggested.

“I like this idea. Don’t have too much fun while we’re gone.”

“I ain’t really in the mood for… delicacy. No offense Sweetie.” The girl merely shrugged.

They climbed out of the treehouse and started walking, with no destination in mind. “I’m sorry,” she said after a few paces.

“What for?” Rumble asked. Scootaloo blinked.

“You know what.”

“No, I’m just saying there’s a long list of things I’d like to hear that for.” Scootaloo felt his words like a punch in the gut.

“Great, now you’re making me feel worse.” She sighed and continued. “Let’s start at the beginning. I’m sorry I strung you along last year when I used you for a cover. I kind of found you attractive and thought I could go with it, and convince everybody and myself I was straight. But now I see you really are cute, and a great guy, and that liking you doesn’t make me any less of a dyke.”

Rumble chuckled. “Well, I forgive you, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. Thanks for the complement.”

“Let’s see, what happened next. Oh yeah, then I went on my holy crusade and beat up any boy or girl that looked at us like they were going to say something about us. So I’m sorry I didn’t trust you and ended up giving you a bruise the size of a pumpkin.”

“That one did hurt. More than just the bruise. That was like six months into our relationship. You should have been able to trust me.”

“I was… in a much worse place. I made some stupid choices.”

“That excuse might work with the rest of the girls, and I partly believe it. But I can’t fully trust you yet. You might just fly off the damn handle and beat me to a pulp.”

Scootaloo stopped walking. “You’re right. Of course. But I’d say the meds help enough you shouldn’t worry.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to give you the chance.”

“And of course, I’m sorry that I was going to leave you out of the dinner because I didn’t think dad could handle it. That’s an insult to his intelligence and the... whatever we have.”

“I’d call it a tenuous bond. I can’t even pretend to know what it’s like to be gay and have your parents against you. But I know it’s tough. I mean, look at you.”

“I was worried that if he knew I was dating you again he would think I was lying about being gay. So… yeah. I want him to know what I am, but I was going to leave you out of it. And that was silly of me.”

“Again, with the whole trust thing. If he does do that I’ll be the first to defend you. And then the other girls, and then you’ll probably be able to get a word in after that. We’re here for you. Trust us.”

“OK.” Then something odd happened. Rumble pinned her to the tree just behind her and sneered with his fist raised. She turned her cheek and closed her eyes. This was as much as she deserved, if not more so. Then she felt her chin being grabbed and something soft on her lips. She opened her eyes and realized Rumble was kissing her. It wasn’t new, just surprising, considering the circumstances.

He pulled back almost as quickly as he initiated. “I told you to trust me. And despite what you may think, you’re not a bad person. So yeah. I’m still here.”

Scootaloo sighed in relief. “Thank you,” And then kissed him again.

They made their way back to the treehouse only to find their girlfriends asleep in each other’s arms. “Those two take more naps than a cat.” Scootaloo whispered. Rumble and she looked at one another knowingly. They both silently slid down next to the stronger of the bonds they had. Scootaloo and Sweetie, Rumble and Bloom. And they took a nap. Because it was Sunday, and they had homework to do.