Indomitable

by Slendy

Bonus Chp. - Woes

The sky awoke in the void above, dotting the sky with fireflies millions of miles away. My arms rested behind my head as I continued to look up at the endless abyss, that fateful question of 'Are we alone?' didn't surface, instead, I thought of the one truth that made my heart tick faster, 'Out there, beyond this universe, there are millions of billions of other worlds, all with a view similar to this'. Out there, worlds of fiction came to life like Equestria, and I wondered, who else knew this truth? Did they stare up as I do sometimes? If so, hi, a pleasure to be sharing the same alluding concept person of another dimension.

The forest dense, and diverse. The canopy was all aglow by the crackle and snap of the fire beside me, Yui's practice at cooking so far hasn't been too bad, a little lengthy but teaching her was fun, she's a natural to learning new skills that cater to her job, and so far I haven't died of food poisoning. Meanwhile, I allowed the ambient sounds of insects to fill my ears while a light rustle of the leaves danced in the corners of my eyes. I needed this.

So much has happened in the space of two days, the discovery of the temple, how another monster was pulled into this world. I knew people could be accidentally pulled along by these rifts, but for entire structures? This must be a result of whatever's caused the manifestations, whichever rift is at the core of it all, that one needed to be closed.

But what was it that waited for me at the end? A powerful monster? An Elder Dragon or God forgive, a Black Dragon? Would it all work out or would I fail? What about my friends and sister? Will I stay and them too or vice versa? Would I stay or go? Yui, what of her? I made a promise but will the ruby -- the world -- allow that? Could I maintain that promise, or will she too slip from my fingers?

"You've been staring intensely up at the stars for twenty minutes now, you're gonna set fire to the sky?" Yui's amused expression became the centerpiece among the stars, and I lifted a small smile, but she waved a wooden spoon before my nose. "Don't act like I haven't noticed your brooding, what do you take me for, an amateur?"

"If I did I doubt our relationship would be as it is," I replied simply, seeing her face freeze, then allow a half-lidded smile. "Sorry, just... alot to think about."

"Oh, believe me!" She huffed, flopping down with her head against mine though her body faced the opposite way. "I'll be home tomorrow... hurray..." She and I chuckled

"Try not to overdo the excitement," She shoved me for that. Enough about my problems for now. "Tell me, since you haven't, what am I expecting when I see your family?"

I heard her purse her lips, hoof rising to tap to her chin. "Well my Mom, Violet Rose is like... 'Super Mom', she and my Dad were both apart of the Night Guard, which mind you, wasn't as big as it is now until Princess Luna's return -- Not the point. My Mom... well, it's really hard for anyone to hate her, she's got this... way with everyone, be it Bat, Pony, Dragon, Griffon, she understands you as though she's known you her whole life, and if you ever did cross her, haha, you're funeral!" Yui chuckled, noting that my claw poked at her forehead

"Reminds me of another sharp Bat I know," Unable to see it, I did feel her aura sway and hear her shuffle around. "She sounds like the kind of pony that if my Mom ever met her, the two would be immediate best friends."

"You serious? Sounds like a nightmare," Yui grimaced as I felt a cold shiver run down me, and she looked to suffer the same fate. "Shall I move on?"

"Yep." Out answers were just as sharp as that chill. With a clear throat, Yui ran a hoof through her mane

"My Grandad, Grey F Rose," The way her voice let the words rolls, and the swelling of pride in her voice, this was the pony that turned Yui into who she was. "If there was someone I'd respect over Princess Luna, it was him, he was, and will always be, the greatest pony I know," Her voice told me she was smiling with big eyes. "He's alot like you. Kind, fierce in the face of danger, always the optimist, he'd say when the going gets tough, or things seem their bleakest, 'You're afraid, aren't you? Good, let that push you to try and try again, if you fall, then crawl, but don't ever tell me it ain't possible'."

"I like this guy, sounds like alot of fun." I snorted a laugh, and Yui giggled too

"You know it, he gave me that rainbow stone before I ran away, and the last thing he told me was this, 'I...'," I heard Yui's voice snag on the word, but she pushed through. "'I know you're upset, you want things to be as they were, don't you? But life isn't always going to remain in limbo, if you can't find happiness with what you got then go out there, delve into the darkest corners of this world, explore to the ends of the earth, because out there, with no direction is when you'll find it because you make it yourself from nowhere'." She chuckled hoarsely. "He... never made sense back then, but with my life as a Treasure Hunter I get it."

Yui then sighed heavily, and the tone shifted again.

"My Dad, Caleb Fox -- And yes, it's an odd name for a pony, 'Zen'," I lowered my paw at her smug reply. "Yeah, so he was the Captain of the Night Guard, retired after something to do with this 'Shadow Realm' or something, he never liked bragging. Veeeery modest for a Bat-Pony and for good reason, he's seen too many like him fall into some gloomy retirements after leaving the Guard, but he never stopped helping others, and... my Mom was the reason he's still, you know, my Dad and all."

"Understandable," I nodded, then she sighed, hoof subconsciously moving between her's and my head. "Yui?"

"He... never talked to me about my talents... always said, 'wasting your time on a life that may end in futility is no life at all', so what? I'm expected to follow in his shadow for it? Buck that!" Wow, first time I heard her... well, Pony-Swear I guess, probably trying to avoid that censor Zorah was struck with, odd, guess thoughts don't count toward it? "I never listened so... he stopped caring, sure, he was still my Dad but... but I..."

"Hey, you can stop if you want?" I rubbed her hoof in my paw, but she tightened her hold, sighing through grit teeth

"My Brother... Vega Rose, FYI, I took up my Dad's last name," Keeping that nugget of information. "Yeah so... he was..." She sniffed. "...the greatest big brother I could ask for..." Oh no, I don't like where this is starting...

"He was smart, confident, brave, and about all else... he was there for me when others picked on me for my lack of second wing, he'd give them a stare that would turn even that Acidic Glavenus to stone! I swear, he was scary sometimes, but he always cared for me," Her heart beating was indicative of that, she still cares, but the rage, it was starting to burn. "Then he went to training to join the Night Guard, that was an annoying time, but he left me one thing, a backbone, who knew it'd come back to bite him on the flank."

Yui trembled with spite. "He came back... with this stupid, smug persona, like the brother I knew just got thrown away for this... stupid, obsessive imposter," She held my paw tighter. "I swear, it was like some colt in awe over a hero or knight in shining armor, going on about how great the Guard is and such, good for him, then... then he... started suggesting I join, make use of my talented eye as a scout or something... heh... a scout, are you kidding me?"

I refused to open my mouth, finally, Yui was venting, and I swore the fire was being outshined in terms of heat. "I refused, saying I wanted to follow in our Grandad's hoofsteps, he... he got so angry, if not for Mom I'm sure we'd have thrown hooves, but, he kept weighing it down on me, saying I'm 'Just wasting my life', or that I'm, 'Going to end up miserable', but the straw, that final straw... 'Do you want to end up like Grandad, risking your life for some pointless glory?'... he... of all ponies said that to me," Yui's voice was low for a moment

"That was the first time I ever struck another pony, and I hit him really hard, broke his nose," ... "I lost it, I wanted to tear out every fiber of his hypocritical, smug attitude and smash it across his face like a hot iron," I sat up, my eyes finally drawn from the stars as my chest tightened

Tears were streaming down her face, but her hoof covered the right for her, teeth knitted together as she hiccuped. Pulling her up I wrapped my arms around her tightly without a word, again, no reason was needed. My life was so far from hers, but that didn't mean I didn't feel it too, the resentment to kindness, the feeling you lost a part of your life, Rika... she changed me, and for Yui it was her Grandad, so to hear any line of malice thrown to them is a crime worse than any.

Allowing her this moment, I decided to lighten the mood. "You okay?" She pulled away to nod, wiping her cheeks with a small smile

"I'm a mess again." That earned her a flick on the forehead. "Ow!"

"No, you're not," She opened her mouth but I held out my thumb and index as she paled. "Want to add anything?"

"Only that I'm the sexiest mare you could have by your side?" She was quick to retort, wiggling her eyebrows as I flattened my stare, but my cheeks were starting to turn pink. "Aw, so cute~"

"The soup's starting to burn," Glass shattered, and Yui panic-dived to the fire, spoon in-wing. "Hmph, I am not cute." My mutter went over her ears, but she finally looked to be better. Great, here's hoping her brother isn't waiting in... um... "Yui, dumb question, what's your home called?"

"Blackrock Hollow," Oh my God that sounds like an awesome place to live. "There's only Blackrock aaaaand, Hollow Shades? Yeah, that place; Only two settlements comprised of nearly all Bat-Ponies."

"Cool, also, food smells good, you've improved from what I can smell." This visibly made her face scrunch up as it would when she's in 'Treasure Hunter Mode'. And after that last comment I'm surprised she's not flustered herself -- Lightbulb, I am not apologizing for this. Ahem, "You know," I kept my voice low as I slithered up behind her to observe her work, not a bad soup given the bare essentials we could forage for. "I still have yet to keep my word from the temple."

"Huh?" Her face went ajar, turning away from the pod as I kept my face very close to hers, a small smile plastering my face. I gave it a moment to sink in as she let out an audible squeak, her face rising from the neck up in a shade of scarlet, both eyes now visible with a timid shake. "I-I-I, um, ah, um, y-you -- mmfgh." Too easy, as always. Her eyes kept themselves to mine, soon growing heavy as her hooves pulled me closer to deepen the electrified kiss as I closed my eyes too

We could keep this going for five minutes, the soup wasn't going to burn anyway.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

I wasn't expecting this to be so long but I really couldn't stop; The backstory and emotions, and of course these two together for fluffy moments. I hope you enjoyed, thank you for all the support, seeya in the next chapter later this week!

Comments

[Pharaoh]

What's up with lucario in equestria stories being featured lately?

[Slendy]

10357569
I know, right? Rather peculiar...

Joking aside, I honestly didn't realize that Fire and Steel fic got updated, now I have something to read today

[tsaukpaetra]

Interesting, wonder how well the indoctrinated will nudge into understanding...