The Last Cutie Mark Crusader

by Jatheus

35 - Games, Part 2 of 11

Cloud Blazer awoke in the night, a cold sweat on his brow. The stallion’s heart was racing, and something that seemed imperative was on the edge of his mind. As much as he tried to work his thoughts into understanding, in the fogginess of only just having awakened, it all faded away within a matter of moments. Left with only the pain of his healing injuries, he lay there in the darkness and considered trying to return to sleep. The only sound was Big McIntosh's heavy breathing nearby; Thunderfly was a quiet sleeper. Whatever had troubled Cloud Blazer's slumber didn't seem to be affecting his roommates.

Suddenly realizing he was thirsty, Cloud Blazer committed to the arduous task of standing. He did this slowly, a process to which he had become all-too accustomed. His leg, still in a cast, felt heavy, and it was the most painful of his remaining wounds. His ribs and shoulders also hurt frequently, but the leg was the worst one. He crept quietly to the door, the boards in the floor creaking and squeaking beneath him. Leaving the room, he walked down the hallway and started descending the stairs. The sounds of the farmhouse had been a comforting consistency lately. He was by no means as familiar with them as the Apples, but he'd certainly spent enough time here to know where somepony was just by the sound of the floor. Achieving the bottom of the steps, Cloud Blazer crept toward the kitchen and the promise of quenching his thirst.

"Can't sleep?" Applejack's voice came out of the darkness.

Cloud Blazer's heart leapt into his throat, and an icy shiver of terror ran up his spine and into the back of his head. It took him a moment to recover enough to speak.

"Don't do that!" he whispered harshly into the shadows.

"Heh, sorry about that.”

Now that he was looking, he could see her sitting on the sofa near the door. She'd been so still and the room so dark that he hadn't noticed her before she’d spoken.

"I just needed some water; what are you doing up so early?" he asked.

Without a word, she rose from her seat and trudged into the kitchen. Rather than using the light, she pulled out one of their firefly lanterns and set it on the table. The dim illumination it provided was more than enough considering how adjusted their eyes were to the darkness. She then took a glass and worked the pump on the sink until water started coming out. She had done it just enough so that the glass was filled but no water wasted; clearly this was an operation with which she was as familiar as walking to have attained such precision. Placing the glass on the kitchen table, she quietly pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. Cloud Blazer pulled out a chair and delicately worked into a sitting position.

As he took a drink of water, Applejack finally replied, "I'm not really up early; I'm up late."

"Is everything okay?" he made a gesture at her large belly.

"Heh, yeah. I'm sure this one will be," she began; weariness was in her voice. She shrugged, ”I guess I just thought it would be easier to be mayor. I was so focused on saving Sweet Apple Acres, I hadn't thought much about after that. And wouldn't you know it, that Diamond Tiara wormed her way onto the city council. Anyway, I got back after midnight and sat down there to take my shoes off, so to speak. I guess I dozed off for a bit."

Cloud Blazer frowned in the dim light of the lantern. Diamond Tiara making trouble was never a pleasant circumstance. A twinge of pain shot up his leg, causing him to wince.

“That leg still hurts pretty bad, huh?"

"Yeah," he snorted as he made a futile attempt to scratch it; the itch was beneath the cast.

"Makes me feel like I don't have much cause to be upset," Applejack said. "Shoot, the things you and your friends have gone through make my troubles look like they ain't nothin' at all."

"For the moment, maybe," he answered, a grim feeling washing over him. “Eventually, it seems like it's life or death for all of us."

"I reckon that's so, but you can't let that stop you."

He looked up at her; Applejack's green eyes were fixated on the lantern.

"Long as you're walkin' you can keep on workin', as Granny Smith used to say."

Cloud Blazer couldn't help but smile at that, but it also made him a little sad. The illness that finally took her had done so somewhat suddenly. Still, nearly everypony in town knew it was her time. That knowledge did little to comfort any.

"So, what's keepin' you up at three in the mornin'?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged at her, taking a drink of water. "I was having a dream, but I can't remember what it was."

Applejack smiled at him, but he could see weariness behind it. The cares she carried had only grown much larger since Granny Smith passed, and now that she was mayor, Cloud Blazer could only imagine the burden she dealt with day to day. A funny look came across her face.

"You weren't dreamin' about my little sister, now were ya?"

He almost instinctively panicked, feeling embarrassed at that question, "No! I mean, I don't think so. I can't remember," he stumbled for the right words.

"Simmer down now, I was just gettin’ your goat," she smiled again.

He knew she was wondering the same thing that others seemed to frequently hint or ask about, so he decided to just go ahead and dispel any growing thoughts.

"We're just friends. Apple Bloom is great, but I guess I think of her more like family." He thought a moment before adding, "And that goes for both of us. Just friends."

Her eyes dug into his for a minute that began to make him feel uncomfortable before she asked, "Are you sure?"

Cloud Blazer let himself consider the possibility for a moment. A future of he and Apple Bloom becoming mates seemed a foreign idea that his mind didn’t like. Not that it was unpleasant, it simply felt out of place. Ultimately, he found it unlikely that Apple Bloom would have had any feelings of that nature for him, especially if nopony had discovered it by now. He always thought that if she'd felt that way about him, she'd have said something. She was straightforward like that. Confident in this knowledge, he nodded slowly.

"Just as well, I suppose," Applejack said, but her tone was hard to read. "I know one thing; neither one of you could do better."

If anypony else had said that, Cloud Blazer would have to decide what they meant by it. Coming from Applejack, he knew it to be a high compliment.

He wasn't sure how to respond, but finally managed to say, "Thanks," before hurriedly taking another drink of water.

"Well, I'd best be off to bed," she stood.

"Do you know what you're going to do about Diamond Tiara?"

She stopped, turned to him and grinned, "Well, I'm still walkin'."

He nodded at her, smiling as she continued off into the darkness of the house. He heard the floor groaning under her weight as she climbed the stairs and made it to her room. Left alone with his thoughts, Cloud Blazer tried uselessly to remember the dream that had awakened him. It had been completely unlike the vivid dreams that he had shared with Pixyglitter before. It was more like the seemingly random streams of subconscious that normal ponies have. The only thing he could remember from it was the sensation of falling.

He shivered and finished the glass of water. The quiet of the night made sleep beckon once again, and Cloud Blazer made his way as quietly as possible back up the stairs and to his bed. He lay there for a while, trying to sleep without success. Eventually his focus fell upon on the steady rhythm of Big McIntosh's breathing until slumber finally found him.

Author's Note:

I really had missed being able to write Cloud Blazer beyond him being in the hospital with those "oh he still hurts really bad" asides to remind us all that he was still alive. It was a wonderful moment for me to get him out of there.

Comments

[OmalleyCaboose5]

"You weren't dreamin' about my little sister, now were ya?"

Her plus the rest of my harem
It was a full house tonight

[Jatheus]

8747421

Somehow, the harem jokes just never get old. Keep 'em coming!