Home Alone
I squirmed around in my bed, unable to fall back asleep. Mr. Snugglebears was snoring beside me and I heard Magenta silently 'who' to my right. I looked at my birdie alarm clock, but it was too dark to see the hour. That was probably the only thing I didn't like about it – the needles weren't fluoro-something, and that made them not glow in the dark.
Puffy the rainbow cloud swirled in his jar, as if trying to grab my attention. I smiled at him. “What is it Puffy? You want to help me see the hour?” I asked in a hushed voice, as to not wake everybody else up. My friend nodded and I smiled again. I could always count on Puffy, he was in charge of the clock after all!
I stuck out my tongue as I tried to slip out of bed without a sound. My rainbows and clouds cover was warm and upon leaving it, I shuddered at how cold my room was – it would soon be Autumn, and the pegasi in Cloudsdale were already lowering cloud temperatures to prepare for snow production. Daddy told me that his factory would branch out to snowflake manufacturing too. Although I never knew there were any trees with branches in the Rainbow Factory.
As I picked up Puffy's jar, my friend shone brighter, revealing the birdie clock's indicators. It was barely six in the morning! I silently groaned. Mommy and daddy would be up at eight, and then they would leave to granny's at nine. That's like...umm, three? Yeah, three hours from now!
I was really looking forward to this weekend! Mommy and daddy told me that they would have to visit granny and they couldn't take us, because she needed to be taken care of. Me and Wing Dancer would be all alone, for two whole days! We could play together, eat ice cream all day long and, and watch cartoons! I would finally get to spend some time with my big brother, and there would be no excuse for him not to play with me!
But, that needed to wait. There were still two hours and fifty five- no, wait, fifty four minutes to go!
“This is going to be the best weekend ever Puffy!” I whispered to the rainbow, hugging its jar and slipping back into bed. Maybe counting sheep would let me sleep better?
* * *
Counting sheep didn't work out. Turns out I didn't know enough numbers to go to sleep. What was after one thousand anyway? Did ponies really need that many numbers? How would a pony take care of that many fluffy sheeps? They would probably eat up all the grass in Equestria, and there would be nothing left for the other woodland creatures. That would be horrible! No squirrels, deers, cute little bunny rabbits, and, and...
I jumped as a flock of birds started singing right into my ear. It was my alarm clock! It was eight in the morning! I did it, it's morning!
As fast as I could I ran out of my room, ignoring Mr. Snugglebear's complaints and the surprised sound Magenta made. I ran into mommy and daddy's room, forcing the slowly opening doors all the way in.
“Mommy, mommy! Good morning!” I chirped, tackling my mommy's foreleg and snuggling into her soft fur. She bent down and kissed me on the head, stroking my head with her other leg.
“Well well, somepony's full of energy first thing in the morning,” laughed mommy, pointing at daddy who was still fighting with his covers. “Darling, it's time to wake up. Breakfast, packing and we have to go.”
“I knoooow,” complained daddy, uncovering his face. His mane was all over the place and he looked like he didn't have a good night's sleep. “If you'd actually let me sleep at night, I might have not been so-”
Daddy had to stop talking and focus on me now, as I already dashed under the covers and crawled over to his stomach. I popped my head from under the covers straight into his smiling muzzle.
“It's morning! Wakey wakey!” I sing-sang, hugging daddy's neck.
“No, its nooot,” growled daddy, turning to the side and trapping me in his forelegs. He did that on purpose, I was sure of it!
No matter how hard I struggled, daddy was too strong for me. He finally learned how to prevent me from going for his ears, and I was both angry at him and proud. He wasn't as old as he said, because old people, like granny, don't learn new things. Like, granny couldn't understand how a TV remote worked. She always had to stand up, walk to the screen and fiddle with some dials before she'd rest and watch the channel she wanted.
“Darling, stop strangling our daughter and come to the kitchen. We're having sandwiches,” called out mommy.
This was the moment I was waiting for, and daddy knew it. He would have to release me and go to mommy. She didn't like to wait too long, especially when a schedule was involved. So now, he would have to let go of me and face the punishment for restraining me. I smiled at him and he smiled back, snorting.
“Oh, I know what's in that little head of yours, Aeria,” giggled daddy, kissing me on the head. “But it ain't gonna happen!” In one swift motion, he wrapped me up in a sheet and jumped off the bed. Not fair! He cheated!
“Cheater!” I called out, struggling to get out of the warm blanket. It took me only a moment, but that was enough for dad to reach the door and close it behind him. I lunged at the door and pulled the handle, but it didn't budge. “Daaad, let go of the door!” I shouted in a high pitched voice.
I heard some laughing from the other side, followed by a slap and some mumbling. When I felt the doors let go, I opened them and jumped out, wings flared. I saw dad from the corner of my eye – he was sitting at the table, rubbing his face with a hoof.
Using my wings to propel myself, I jumped high and landed on his head, finally diving in for my prey. As suspected, he didn't suspect a thing! I relentlessly assaulted his ear, all the while fidgeting around to not get caught in his hooves.
“Aeria, darling, leave daddy alone. This is no time for playing, we have to hurry,” said mommy, not even looking up from her plate.
I groaned and jumped down, watching daddy for any signs of retaliation. He simply patted me on the head and dug into his sandwich. Boring.
* * *
The hour went by with me being bored and anxious at the same time. I observed as mommy packed some stuff into a suitcase and daddy checked some papers. I didn't know why they were actually going without us, and neither mom nor dad wanted to tell me. These kinds of situations happened once in a while, but usually we would get a foalsitter to watch over us.
I hated foalsitters. The mares that came to watch over us were no fun at all and wanted to be left alone. All of them always liked Wing Dancer, because all he did was sit in his room and listen to music or do whatever. I tried being active and friendly! But they'd have none of that, oh no!
No board games, no playing hide and seek (except for when they were looking for me when it was bed time), not even watching television! Just 'stay in your room and be a good filly'. I tried that, but it was too boring! I mean, now that I had more friends, like Puffy or Magenta, maybe it would be slightly less boring, but I hated when other ponies didn't seem to like me. What was there not to like about me? I'm friendly, smart and can find all sorts of fun things to do! I can even fly better than ever before! Ever since Magenta moved into my room, we've been training flying. She was way better than me, being an owl and all, but I was good too!
I could now glide without a problem, and free-flight was good as long as I didn't fly too high. I was still too afraid after the last time I fell from high up and twisted my left wing. At least I learned that I hated hospitals as much as I did foalsitters.
“Wing Dancer! Come out, we're leaving!” called out mommy.
I snapped back to reality. It was finally time! I mean, I wasn't that happy that mommy and daddy were leaving. Sure, they left us emergency phone numbers, food and such. But not being able to snuggle up to mommy, play around with daddy or sleep between them on scary nights wasn't something I liked to think about.
“Alright my little darlings,” started mommy, looking at both me and Wing Dancer. My big brother had a serious, if not a bit bored face. He always looked like that. “All the emergency numbers are on the refrigerator. Inside you have enough food, so please be rational about it and don't eat it all in one go. There are even some sweets, but be sure to eat them after dinner. And brush your teeth afterwards,” said mommy, staring at me for some reason. What? I liked sweets. And I did wash my teeth in the evening. There was no point in doing it more than twice a day!
“Wing Dancer, you're in charge now. You're old enough and I trust that you'll take good care of your sister and yourself,” said daddy, looking away from the luggage he had been carrying to the door. “This is your big day son. First time home alone. Try to not demolish it too much,” chuckled daddy, giving the bored Wing Dancer a one hoof hug. “And you, my little princess. Do you promise to be nice and listen to what your big brother says?”
“Yep!” I squeaked, fluttering with my wings. “I'll be a good filly and you'll be proud of me!”
Mommy and daddy smiled at us and gave us their last hugs. We waved at them as they went outside to an air carriage that stood in front of the house. Mommy was saying something when the vehicle lifted off, but I couldn't make out what.
“Okay mommy!” I shouted back. That was probably the best thing to say anyway.
* * *
Before I knew it, Wing Dancer was holed up in his room again; and it was locked. How the hay did he get there so fast? It was like, one moment he's by my side, and the other the lock on his door clicks and he's gone.
“Wing Danceeer,” I called out, banging on his door. “Come out, I want to play!”
“Go away, I'm busy,” I heard a muffled response. The meanie!
Wing Dancer was always like this. Almost always gloomy, sitting in his room, coming out only for food and drink, or when mommy or daddy would call him. Every now and then mommy would come into his room and tell him to clean, which he didn't do anyway. Daddy didn't bother trying to knock on his door – he preferred to play with me, since I always brought games and riddles and held them up to his face long enough that he couldn't watch TV anymore or mommy guilt him into playing with me. One time I managed to make my brother play with me, but it was a rather special occasion, because it was my birthday and I cried and demanded for him to play a game with me. It was funny, because each time one of us would get close to winning, I'd pretend to sneeze and knock all the pieces of the game off the table. We started over and over again until mommy realized what was going on and made sure I didn't cheat anymore. I won the game of course!
“Wing Dancer!” I shouted again, bucking the doors. “You're supposed to take care of me! I'm telling mom you didn't watch over me and I got sick all over their bed!”
Ha! That got him moving. I heard a few clicks and Dancer's head poked out of his room. His blue eyes were filled with contempt, or something like that that wasn't very nice. His bolt-like silver mane hung over his face and he had to blow it out of his muzzle to see me better.
“Alright, Aeria,” he said through grit teeth. “Just give me a few minutes and I'll play with you.”
“You promise? Because I'm really gonna make a mess in there if you lie,” I said, squinting at my older brother. We rarely argued like this, but it was mostly always the same. I was cute and he wasn't, so mommy and daddy always believed me. I never abused my super power for evil purposes, though. I sometimes even took the blame for Wing Dancer, because I knew mom and dad would not be mad at me as long as they would on my brother. But this time, it was a good cause – I wanted to play with Wing Dancer, now that we were alone in the house and we could do whatever we wanted! Even eat chocolate before dinner, or maybe even during dinner!
“Yes yes, I promise!” huffed my brother, looking back into his room. I tried to peek inside too, but Dancer pushed me back. “Now, let me have some privacy, okay? Just a few minutes. I promise!” he said and quickly locked himself away again.
Okay, I'd trust him, this time. It's not like he had a choice or anything. He had a great responsibility on his head now: me!
* * *
There was nothing fun to watch and Magenta was busy with nibbling at her own feathers. Snugglebears was sleeping, as always, and Puffy...well, Puffy wasn't doing anything, but I wanted to finally play with my brother! It was like, what, five minutes now?! What was he doing in that room anyway?
Before I managed to knock on his door again, I heard clicking and Wing Dancer slipped out of his room. He looked considerably more happy than before, which was good – that meant that he had the right attitude to play now!
“Okay. So, uh, I'm here,” said Wing Dancer in his bored voice. “What do you want to do?”
“Fun! Play a game of Rabbits and Wolves! Jump around the house! Practice flying! Comb Mr. Snugglebear's hair! Chase Magenta all over the house! Eat ice cream!” I squealed, jumping around my brother. He seemed kind of taken aback and tried to calm me down with a hoof, but I simply jumped over it with the help of my wings. “Tag! You're it!” I suddenly said, tapping his hoof and zipping into the living room.
“Uh...ohkaaay,” intoned Wing Dancer. Geez, somepony could think that he was going to have a math's test or something, instead of playing with his adorable little sister.
I peaked from under the living room sofa to see if he was moving. Yes! He was coming into the room!
“Ready or not, here I come,” said Dancer, looking around. He stared at the TV for a while before coming to the sofa. Did he find me?! “Where are you, Aeria?” asked my brother. I heard the mattress above my head squeak. I remained silent and didn't move, as to not give away my position.
Before I knew it, the TV turned on and the channels started changing. That meanie! He wasn't playing at all!
“Heey!” I growled, crawling from under the sofa. “You're not playing!”
Dancer looked down from his spot. “Umm, I am. Found you. I win, or something,” he said, gluing his eyes back to the screen.
“No!” I squealed, wriggling out from under the furniture piece and confronting my brother. “This is not hide and seek! This is a game of tag! You have to tag me so I can chase you too!”
“Uh-huh,” murmured Dancer, shifting his head to the left. He wasn't listening at all! He was still watching TV!
I flared my wings and snorted loudly. “Wing Dancer!”
“Whaaat?” asked my brother, briefly looking at me.
I finally got his attention by coming up to the TV and sitting right in front of it. No matter how much he moved around or groaned, he couldn't see what was going on. I had my back to the screen, but judging by the sounds of it, there was some action going on with explosions and stuff.
“Aeria, move aside, will ya? I'm trying to watch here!” complained Wing Dancer, finally sparing me more than a fleeing glance.
“Hmpf!” I fumed. “You'd rather sit there and watch TV all day long rather than play with your sister? Fine! Be that way!” I stormed out of the room, stomping my hooves loudly. Dancer didn't even notice. The meanie!
* * *
I was half-way to mom and dad's bedroom when I noticed something in the hallway. Wing Dancer's room. He was outside, and that meant the door was unlocked. And my brother was too busy getting excited over some bulky stallions having a pie shootout with some robbers. That meant I could poke around and see what he's really been doing! Maybe I could even find a thing we could do together!
I approached the doors and stopped, staring at them. They looked the same as mine, but his didn't have a rainbow in the middle with a white board and the name “Aeria” written on it. There were also no flower and bird stickers. Just plain old doors.
I was inside Dancer's room a few times before, but not like this. He was very protective of his stuff and always watched me when I hung around. More often than not it would be mom or dad telling him to watch over me for a few moments because they were cleaning some mess or didn't have the energy to play with me anymore. It was boring, because all I did was sit in the corner or irritate Dancer by poking his belly to the point he would start chasing me around the room for a few moments. He usually stopped when he noticed I was having fun with that.
But now, at this moment, I would enter the unknown. Where no filly has ever been before. Well, technically, there were a few fillies in there already. Dancer sometimes brought some Pegasus filly friends over. They weren't nice and seemed kind of dumb, and mommy always kept an ear glued to Wing Dancer's room whenever he had company like that. She told me that she was worried that the dumb mares would do something stupid to my brother and she didn't want that. I didn't want that too, so me and mommy took turns to spy on Dancer. It was fun.
I shook my head hard to get rid of distracting thoughts. Wing Dancer was still in the living room, watching his movie. It was now or never. Time to enter the cave of the lion. Without a sound, the doors opened with a touch of my hooves.
The room looked pretty much like it always did. A bed near the window, the sun illuminating a whole wall of posters with some modern and loud musicians. Most of them had spiky manes and looked like they were dipped in an unformed rainbow. My eyes hurt while looking at the many flashy colors and stupid names. Manetalica? System of a Dorm? What in the hoof was that?
What caught my attention was his desk. Wing Dancer never let me touch it, saying that he had very important stuff there. Even mommy was off limits to the desk. There didn't seem to be a lock there, so maybe I could take a peak? Should I? I looked back, my ear twitching to the sound of yet another fake explosion. Yup. It had to be done. For ponykind, me, Aeria, has to brave the cave of the beast and find the lost treasures of the forgotten ancient desk!
I hummed one of my favorite adventure songs from Dinky and Winky and stealthily approached the desk. There were imaginary guards near the desk, thousands of them! How would I slip past them? I somehow had to draw away their attention. Aha! The trash bin! It was full of tissues. If I tripped that, they would all run to see what happened, leaving the treasury for me to scavenge!
I looked around and decided to open Dancer's backpack. He had to have at least a pen or something to write with so I could...there! A pencil. Here goes nothing!
With expert skill, I threw the item at the bin, knocking it over. Yes! The guards moved away to see what was going on. They would probably have to pick up all the tissues that were lying around, and them being so tiny it would give me just enough time to see what's inside the drawer!
I silently rolled over to the desk and stood on my back legs. The first drawer. Socks, lots of socks. Meh. The second one. Some bread crumbs and papers – aha! Very important documents that could stop my arch enemy, Dr. Bearsnuggles!
“Winter Blossom, I don't know how to say this, but for a very long time I have been in-” I read to myself, but not too loud, so the guards wouldn't notice. These weren't important documents. This was some sort of love letter signed by 'Silent Admirer'. Why would Dancer keep these kinds of things here?
Whatever. I threw the crumpled paper back in and focused on the last and third drawer. It slid open easily and revealed a stack of magazines. Playpony. So Wing Dancer did know how to play! That silly head! He didn't have to practice for my sake! I'd teach him everything I knew about playing myself!
“But maybe,” I hummed to myself, picking up one of the magazines, a mare smiling at me from the cover. “Maybe, I could learn the ways that Wing Dancer likes to play? Yeah! Then we could totally have fun together! Let's see here...”
* * *
“Ew, ew, ew, ew!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, running out of Dancer's room and roaming the house, my wings fluttering by my sides. What is with Wing Dancer! And those horrible ponies! Who reads a magazine like that?! Was it because of those stupid fillies that my brother brought over? Did they give that horrible trash to him?! Mommy was right, fillies were stupid and tried to wrong my brother! And he was just too nice to refuse these gifts.
“Aeria! What's going on?! Are you-?” said Wing Dancer, jumping out of the living room. His dazed gaze first swept over me, then around the corridor, then finally to his room. The room with the open doors. “Sweet sun, have you been to my room?!” he screamed, dashing to his bedroom and closing the door. He flew out a moment later, his face all red. “Aeria!”
“Ewewewewewew,” I continued squeaking, running around the corridor and bouncing off walls. I just couldn't unsee those gross images! They were like plastered to the insides of my head! Those fillies, if I ever got them in my hooves, I'd-!
“Aeria!” hollered my brother, intercepting me and holding me tightly in his forehooves. It wasn't a nice feeling, he was holding me too hard, and one of my wings folded the wrong way. It hurt!
“Did you go into my room and look through my...desk?” he asked with an angry face. His grip on my body tightened.
“Dancer, it hurts, let go!” I yelped, squirming in his embrace.
“Did you?!” he repeated, pinning me down even harder.
It really hurt. My wing felt very strained and I could tell something was moving in the direction it wasn't supposed to! The pain was so big I started crying and sobbing, trying not to move and make matters worse. Did I make Wing Dancer really mad like this? Was he going to hit me now?! Wh-why? Why would he want to hurt me? N-No!
I closed my eyes and let warm tears go down my face. I was waiting for a hit, but it didn't happen. The weight that was crushing and bending my sides went away and I gasped for air. Instinctively I rolled up into a ball and began crying even harder. Why did my brother do this to me? What would happen now? Would he hate me for this? Would he stop being my brother now?!
“A-Aeria, now, please, stop crying, I-I...Aeria!” repeated my brother with a note of panic. Through tears I saw he was dancing on the spot, his head darting around as if he was expecting somepony to show up. All the while he kept shushing me.
“Shh, Aeria, shh, please, it's o-okay, I-I-I'm not mad, just please, stop crying,” begged Wing Dancer, his hooves around me but not touching me.
I closed my eyes hard this time and tried to stop crying. But I couldn't. I would make Dancer disappointed again because I couldn't stop crying! Would he hurt me again for that? Would he throw me out of the house?!
I felt hooves touch me and I yelped silently, trying to compress myself even more. Here comes the pain. Wing Dancer would punish me for trespassing his room and seeing what I wasn't supposed to, what even mommy didn't see.
There wasn't any hurting. I felt a weight get close to me, but it was warm and didn't crush me. I heard Wing Dancer speak to me in a whisper, straight to my ear. “Aeria, sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to react like this. I just...I'm sorry. Please, stop crying. Did I hurt you? Does it hurt anywhere?”
Through the tears and with a sore throat, I couldn't utter even a single word, so I just shook my head slightly.
“I'm sorry, I really am. Will you forgive me? Please, I didn't mean to do this, I-I didn't-”
He stopped talking and went silent. He just lay next to me, stroking my head gently. I finally started to calm down. His warmth wasn't something I had the chance to feel that often. It wasn't mommy or daddy in the slightest – he smelled different, like some really cheap deodorant in a clothes shop. His fur was less fluffy, a bit harder, but it didn't scrape my skin. His breath smelled of toothpaste. When did he brush his teeth?
“W-Wing Dancer?” I whispered, choking back a sob and opening an eye. Above my head my brother lay his and looked at me. He had a frazzled look on his face and didn't meet my eye. “A-Are you mad at me? I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't mean to come into your room. I-I was just b-b-b-”
“It's alright, Aeria,” hushed me Wing Dancer. He didn't know how to stroke my mane right, but I decided this wasn't the place or time to complain about that. Come to think of it, it was quite nice. A bit rough, but nice. “I'm not mad, I promise. Just don't...uh. I, um...” He paused, opening and closing his mouth as if he wanted to say something. After a while he finally made up his mind. “You know how mommy and daddy sometimes do things and don't tell us what they do them for? Like, now with granny?”
“Yes,” I replied silently, turning towards Dancer. He looked me in the eyes, finally. He seemed to be kind of embarrassed and was struggling for words.
“Well, uh, I sometimes have those kind of things too. That's why I close myself in my room and do...stuff. Nevermind what stuff,” he said, waving his hoof as if he could shoo away the words he just spoke. “The point is, this is a secret. You know? Mommy and daddy can't know what is in the drawer. Can you keep a secret Aeria? I promise to not be mad if you do.”
“Why wouldn't you tell something to mommy and daddy?” I asked suspiciously, instantly bashing myself in my thoughts for not thinking what I was saying. This was no time to be smug.
“Because, uh, its top secret. You know. I mean, uhh,” stuttered Wing Dancer.
“Because you're trying to be nice to stupid and bad mares? And you can't give back their presents so you hide them away in the desk? And you don't want mommy and daddy to know because then the parents of those stupid fillies would be sad?” I asked. All this was finally starting to make sense. I knew all along!
“What? Uh, yea! Whatever you said!” brightened up Wing Dancer, putting on a wide grin, his eyes shifting from left to right. Who was he expecting to see? “So, Aeria, can I trust you with this secret? You know, it will be our little secret. Just you and me. Nopony else?”
“You mean, I can be your kind-of-sidekick?” I suggested. “So we can together keep watch over the secret desk so mommy and daddy don't find out? Just like Batmare?” I jumped up excitedly. It all made sense now. Wing Dancer was a good pony after all! Just like Batmare! Everypony thought she was a grump and meanie, while in reality she had to pretend to be that way to save the day and do noble stuff as Batmare! Because she didn't want to make her parents sad and worried about her!
“Uh, yeah, yea, of course! Like Batmare,” said Wing Dancer, standing up and widening his toothy grin. “You can be my, uh, Hummingbird! Just like in the show. But with one exception. Only I can touch the desk and, uhh, do stuff with the things inside it. Because you know.”
“Yeah, because you're Batcolt!” I squeed, running around my brother. My wing still ached, but it didn't matter. We made up, and now we would have fun playing together, being super-heroes and all!
“And you can't enter my room,” added my brother.
“What? No!” I protested, looking at Wing Dancer who backed away slightly, his eyes shifting left and right again.
“O-Okay, okay! You can come into my room, but only after you knock and, uh, give me time to prepare! You know, because, uh, Batcolt stuff,” he said, flailing his hooves around and striking a pose. It wasn't even close to Batmare, but whatever.
“Okay!” I agreed and lunged at my brother's neck. He gave out a sigh and hugged me back, but not too hard.
* * *
Ever since I became Hummingbird and Dancer revealed himself as Batcolt, things became a lot more fun and we didn't even fight! My brother agreed to play a game with me after dinner, and he actually did! I tried tipping over the game pieces again, but Dancer warned me that if I did that he would have to find another, more trustworthy sidekick. No! I was the best sidekick he could ever hope to have! I was his sister for pony's sake!
After that we watched some TV, me sitting on his lap despite his initial protests. He had to learn how to properly stroke my mane before I let him watch his movie, and I had to lightly nudge him every now and then to keep him going.
It was dark outside when we had supper and ate a candy bar each. We decided it would be better that way, because we would have to wash our teeth anyway. We even had some fun with it, because I splashed some water onto Dancer's coat by accident. We had a water fight for some time before it was finally time to go to bed.
Dancer sloppily put the covers over my head, causing me to giggle.
“No silly, that's not how you do it!” I said, kicking back the covers and laughing at his long sigh.
“Does somepony have to tickle a filly?” he said and began jabbing me in random places.
“S-Stop! That's not-not even f-funny!” I protested, trying to defend myself. He was good at this! “O-Okay! Okay! I'll show you!”
Dancer stopped and smiled at me as I calmed down. It took a few tries and some more tickling before he got the hang of it, but before my birdie clock sung eight in the afternoon, I was already tucked in.
“Phew. Alright, good night Aeria,” said my brother, turning to leave.
“Dancer! Wait,” I mumbled, shifting under the comfortable bed sheets. My brother stopped and looked at me with raised brows. “I'm really sorry for what happened today. But you know what? I'd do it again. Because now you're a very good brother,” I giggled. “I love you big brother.”
“I...I love you too Aeria,” whispered out Wing Dancer. He had a silly facial expression now – I couldn't tell if he was surprised or touched. He stood there for a few more seconds before budging in my direction. Taking a few steps towards me took him ages, and when he was finally over my bed, he froze, looking at me.
“Hmm?” I cocked my head sideways, trying to guess why he was just standing there and-
Without a word he bent over and kissed me on the forehead. Now I wasn't expecting that. Before he straightened himself, I grabbed his muzzle and planted a kiss on his nose in return. We both stared at each other for another few awkward moments.
“Goodnight,” we said in unison. I snorted and he smiled, driving a hoof through his mane.
As he left my room and turned off the lights, I could still feel the kiss he planted on my head. I think that was the very first genuine sign of him liking me that I got since I was born. Not a forced photo kiss, or a Mom-dad-look-I-like-Aeria kiss. It really came from him, I could tell that. He really liked me. I was his sister. I was his Hummingbird.
And he most definitely was my brother. My big brother, Batcolt forever.