> Doing the Right Thing
>  by Harp's'ong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Doing the Right Thing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Cliff felt the huff of warm breath flush through his ear. “So much for digging, huh?” A shiver ran down the clay red hide of the stallion.
The pegasus’ gasped as his partner nipped his ear, he was pinned against a door inside an old shed. The dig site not more than twenty trots away. A slate earth pony with quartz colored mane named Shale pressed against him. He felt a hoof rub its way down his barrel, the pegasus’ wings slowed to stiffness.
Cliff Hanger groaned. It was hot in this sun swept dirt heap. The badlands outside of Dodge Junction gave grief all around, but the sweat coming from the normally cool pegasus’ brow came from a different source. A muzzle pressed into his own, he opened his lips to meet the tongue there. It was finally going to happen. He and Shale had been talking about doing this for weeks. They both wanted each other from the beginning, but this was their first chance…
Clop-clop-clop.
With more strength than he thought he could muster, the young stallion threw the other off him. Shale collapsed over a wheelbarrow, raising a din of clattering metal that bounced around the tin shed and hurt both ponies’ ears. He froze, willing his wings down, terrified of whatever pony knocked on the door. For a moment both of them only heard their terrified panting.
From the other side Sandy asked, “Cliff, you in there? Shale wandered off again. Looks like it’s just you and me for now.”
Shale hissed, “Celestia send that dumb mule to the moon.”
“Shale!” the pegasus whispered.
“No! I’m hard enough to break open a coconut right now and she just had to ruin it for both of us.”
Cliff blushed. He cleared his throat, his wings had finally began to settle down, along with another part of him. He slid the door open wide enough to stick his head through and with his blush still there said, “Sounds like typical Shale. I’m sure he was planning on digging into something eventually.” He stalled long enough to force his wings to their side withoutsnapping off feathers and opened the door completely. He slipped outside and quickly closed it behind him without letting Sandy see anything.
Her coat reflected her name, and her murky ocean eyes studied Cliff in a way that made him feel like his wings were still shooting into the air. She flipped her coral colored mane to get her forelocks out of her eyes and said, “I think I might have uncovered something, though. I don’t care if Shale was the one who pointed this place out as a good site, if we uncover a fossil I won’t allow him credit for it.”
The pegasus cleared his throat. “Suppose that’s only fair.”

Shale happened to mysteriously return a few moments later, complaining of how his neck hurt. When Sandy wasn’t looking he leaned over and said, “Next time I’ll make sure you’re there to keep me from bending over backwards to get myself off.” This forced the pegasus to swallow a rather large knot that made Shale laugh and Sandy chalk the behavior of colts as, “Something not even Celestia can know.”
The three were archeologist by trade, it was how they met. When Cliff Hanger’s parents recognized his talent they introduced him to Sandy. They did what they did with his older sister, and tried from an early age to push him into a relationship that would insure for them a profitable marriage. Through Sandy, Cliff met Shale, who helped him discover another talent of his. A complete and utter adoration of stallions.
Cliff Hanger had yet to inform Stratus and Star Hanger of the wonderful news.
Aside from a few fairly common fossils already known in the area, they didn’t strike anything “big”. By the time the sun began to set, they returned to Dodge Junction. When they reached their hotel the clerk behind the counter said, “Cliff Hanger?”
The trio stopped on their way to the stairs and the pegasus asked, “Yes?”
“You got a letter from home, came in right after you left.” Cliff Hanger raised an eyebrow, but trotted to the corner and retrieved the letter from the clerk. He opened it on the counter and read, aware of both his friends’ gazes and his father’s familiar script:

 “Dear son
Splendid news has finally struck home. We have waited long, but it has finally happened! Cumulo finally proposed to your lovely sister. We’ve already made arrangements for the wedding and would ask you to return home immediately so you may take part in the ceremony. Though this is a wonderful surprise, it is not a surprising one and we already have all the wedding arrangements prepared. They will have their vows made two weeks from when you receive this, assuming the mail is reliable and the weather clear.
Yours
Stratus and Star Hanger”

Cliff read the note again, then a third time to make sure he read everything correctly. A creeping dread began to edge its way through him. Splendid news? This was wretched news. His sister hated Cumulo, the beefy, pretentious pegasus was picked out for his sister like Sandy was for Cliff.
A hoof rested on his shoulder. “Now I know you’re not a slow reader,” Cliff turned his head and looked at Shale, “What happened?”
It slipped out. “Nimbus is getting married.”
From the stairs the two stallions heard, “Why that’s splendid news!”
Shale knew better. He nudged Cliff from the counter and said, “Let’s take a walk.”
They stepped into the chill night air, letting the hotel door shut behind them and stepping off onto the moonlit road. Cliff hung his head and tried to catch his breath. Shale asked, “You going to be okay?”
“Who cares about me? Nimbus is—”
Shale stopped him and forced the pegasus to look him friend in the eyes. “Right now, I’m worried about this great stallion who by the look of it is about to go off his rocker.”
Cliff pulled his head away and kept walking. “I’m scared, okay? I mean, they forced Cumulo on my sister because he’s filthy rich. That and because I think they just liked how well their names worked together, and I mean, how sick is that? Nimbus hates him. She’s told our parents she hates him. She’s told him. She’s told his parents and she’s still marrying him. When they start pushing things between me and Sandy…”
“Stop it, Cliff,” Shale said. He nuzzled the pegasus’ cheek and said, “I don’t care what those awful parents of yours think. I told you, I’d elope to the other end of the Everfree Forest with you if I had to.”
Cliff Hanger blushed. He nickered and the other pony hooked his neck around his and rubbed their cheeks together. When Shale felt he calmed down the pegasus he said, “Now what are you going to do?”
“I’ll go back home and make sure I’m there for her. Unlike me, she doesn’t have anypony for her. That wedding’s going to be rough enough even with me there.” His sister, like him, wasn’t interested in the opposite sex.
Shale licked his cheek. “You know I’ll be waiting here for you when you get back.”
Cliff nodded. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. If my sister needs me—”
“It doesn’t matter, I’ll be here.”

The Hanger Estate was far and away to the north, in Windsor. His parents came from one of the wealthiest pegasi families there. Cumulo came from another, which was the ultimate reason they picked Nimbus to join their families.
From a rise overlooking the valley below, Cliff admired the grey towers joining the cloud city to the ground and the dawn light playing upon each. Light danced off cloud in shades of rose and orange, making the city resemble a blazing flower attached to a petrified stem. The smile that remained on his lips lasted only a few moments before he remembered why he returned home.
The Hanger Manor resided at the heart of the cloud city. It and several other large mansions circled a plaza made of polished and glazed tiles, each smaller than hoof, that from high above displayed the image of a revolving sun and moon, with Princess Cadence interposed between them, wings outstretched, horn and eyes aglow. No pony knew exactly what the Princess really did, but when Windsor was first founded she donated the plaza from her kingdom, and her magic sustained it in the air. It was large enough for the Wonderbolts to hold races on. They had.
A small stream cut through the plaza in an “S”, snaking under the moon, over the Princess, and under the sun again. At day it shone like liquid gold, at night liquid silver. The water flowed perpetually, it spilled over the side only to the return the other side of the plaza, kept in its cycle by Princess Cadence’s magnificent spell.
Cliff took a moment to admire the wondrous display before he landed on the plaza. He turned to his home, one of the larger manors. The manor was a light violet, permanently dyed by pegasus knowhow to force the cloud to reflect the color when in the light. From the balcony jutting from the façade Cliff spotted his sister. He waved to her and saw Nimbus start upon recognizing him. She quickly leapt from the balcony and glided through the air to him.
The rose colored, lilac maned pegasus landed and immediately wrapped her brother in her embrace. “Thank goodness you’re here.”
“I left as soon as I got word,” he said. Dodge Junction was a week away. “You okay?”
“Stupid question,” she said. Cliff could feel her trembling. “The rehearsal’s today. They’re moving right along, they don’t even care if you’re there or not.”
“I’d just be standing there anyways.”
“They want you to be one Cumulo’s groom-colts,” his sister said before she finally pulled away. She tried to avoid looking Cliff in the eye, but he saw her tears anyways.
Cliff pulled her snout to his and they rubbed noses. He said, “You know, I’d rather be your bridesmaid.”
Nimbus snickered and wiped one of her eyes free of tears. “You’d look great in a dress.”
“I know, I’d steal the show,” Cliff said plainly. He got his sister to smile. “And for what it’s worth, I can forgive you for the snot you rubbed on my nose.”
She stuck her tongue at him. “You deserved it for being late.”

The rehearsal was a small enough affair that the twenty ponies involved could do it inside the anteroom of the Hanger Manor. The room was lit by a large crystal oculus, that painted the polished cloud floor in panorama sky blues and violets, the color of both his father and mother, respectively. Nimbus stood at the bottom step of the stairway, Cumulo facing her with his line of six groom-colts. A Celestial Priest stood above them, a unicorn sustaining a spell to stay above the clouds. Nimbus was flanked by five mares she hardly knew, handpicked by their parents. Cumulo’s parents watched from the side, standing next to a stallion with a sky blue coat and a nighttime violet mare, Cliff’s parents.
Cumulo was in the midst of saying his vows, his speech flowing off his tongue eloquently. The stallion made most others appear puny. They said there was some earth pony blood in there that caused the extra size and weight. Mere rumors, but it was undeniable that as far as pegasi go, Cumulo was large enough to put up a fight with earth pony shires. His coat was storm cloud grey, his mane the same shock of color as a blue lightning bolt.
“—I will eclipse the sun for you when you wish to doze longer in the morning, and when you wish to take a midnight glide and I will yank the moon closer for the both of us. And like both astral bodies and the stars, like the chasing comets of heavenly cars, my love will rein eternal, chasing you like the sun does the moon. So do I pledge my life to you, so do I love you, so I will share myself with you.”
Cliff watched his sister glare at the mighty pegasus, her lips contorting and wrestling before they finally pried their way open. “And I you.” Her parents only made her say that, they knew forcing more out of her would be impossible.
The unicorn nodded. “Then do you, Cumulo Harbinger take Nimbus Hanger to be your wife?”
He eyed his prize and said, “I do.”
“And do you Nimbus Hanger—”
“I can’t say no.”
Cliff winced. The priest cleared his throat. “Then I now announce you as lawfully wedded husband and wife.” He backed away up the stairs a step and Cumulo leaned forward. He whispered, “Care to practice the next part a bit?”
“Enough son,” Cumulo’s father interrupted. “You two will have plenty of time to consummate your vows later.”
Cliff was the only one who noticed his sister gag. The procession ended, and after the idle chatter died the Hangers bid farewell to their guest. When the door closed and they remained the only ones in the room Stratus turned to his daughter and said, “It would be wise, if during the ceremony, you do not interrupt Father Rosary and allow him to finish before you say, ‘I do.’”
Nimbus had remained rooted to her spot on the stairs. She threw her father a glower that would make storm fronts break. “If wedding him to our family is so important, why don’t you marry him father? I’m sure you’d enjoy—what was it Highcloud said to his son? Oh, right. Perhaps you’d enjoy ‘consummating your vows’ with that beast.”
Star gasped. “Young lady! Blabber such… such atrocious language in this house no more. I don’t know what disgusts me more, your disrespect or the thought of two stallions consummating vows.”
Nimbus continued to glare.
Cliff stood off to the side, between the dueling trio, thinking of Shale while his gut twisted in on itself.
Nimbus whinnied. “The only thing that scum wants from me is a hole to plug.”
Stratus pursed his lips. “And the only thing we want is his foals.”
“Celestia send both of you to the darkest side of the moon!” she screamed before racing up the stairs and out of the room.
Stratus sighed when the door slammed shut. He said, “She will understand, someday.” Cliff watched his parents, listened to them say that and felt something akin to hatred rise in his chest. Stratus faced his son, “And how are things at Dodge?”
Cliff had to bite his tongue and reign in his emotions before he could finally say, “Fine, we’ve made a few minor discoveries, but nothing newsworthy yet. But we will, we’re certain of it.”
Star smiled. “With your genius son, how could they not? Especially with such a dependable unicorn like Sandy there for you.”
“Excuse me,” Cliff said, before he stayed any longer and blurted something hateful, “I’m going check in on Nimbus.”
Cliff beat a hasty retreat up the stairs. He dodged around the family butler, and entered the west wing of the manor. Three doors down a long hallway he found his sister’s door and slipped inside. He gingerly shut the door behind him before he faced his sister. She lied curled up on her bed, back to Cliff. A large two-door window on the other side poured light over her huddled form. A few stray mites of dust floated over her, whimsically, before they settled in her mane.
Nimbus knew Cliff stood in the doorway. She said, “What’s it like to live outside of this valley?”
Cliff blinked. “Uh… hmm, free, I guess. Or more free, the shadows mom and dad’s clouds cast are really long.”
“At least you aren’t trapped inside them.”
Cliff flinched. He turned his head away and said, “Right… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. At least one of us gets the chance to sort of be themselves.”
“You know if I could I’d trade you places.”
“What good would that do? Do you think you’d be any happier?”
Despite himself, Cliff smiled a little. “Well, I think it’d be a little easier for me to be attracted to Cumulo, at least.”
This got his sister to sit up on her haunches. She faced Cliff and said, “Never knew he was your type.”
“He’s not, but you know what they say about big stallions…”
Nimbus’ eyes narrowed on him. “You are a hopeless pervert.”
The pegasus grinned.
His sister could not escape reality as easily, though. She sighed. “Just the same, he only has eyes for my flank.”
Cliff went to her bedside and asked, “Can’t you go out and get help? I mean, I haven’t seen any guards keeping you locked here.”
“You think anyone would really be able to help me stop this? They’ve controlled almost everything I’ve done, and I can’t get away from that…”
He mounted the bed and leaned over to nuzzle his sister’s cheek. “Come on… we can run away. Me and Shale have been talking about eloping for a while now, we can take you with us, get lost in some city and never be seen again. Trottingham, Manehatten—shoot Stalliongrad! Take your pick and we’ll go, they’ll never find us.”
His sister pulled away. “I can’t. I… while you were gone Cliff, I met a mare.”
Cliff gawked a moment. He nickered. “That’s fantastic—” he froze, no it wasn’t fantastic news. It just made the whole tangled mess worse. “Does she know about you marrying…?”
Nimbus shook her head and sobbed once. “I haven’t seen her since that lummox proposed. Mom and dad know about her, though. They told me if I went through with this, they could be convinced to turn a blind eye if she visited every once and a while, but that if I didn’t, they’d arrange to have her leave Windsor forever.”
“Then let’s leave with her. If she loves you, really loves you, then she will understand and go—”
Nimbus shoved him away. She snapped, “Don’t you think I haven’t thought about all this! Those kinds of daydreams are the only thing keeping me going. Yet I can’t do anything about it. I can’t, and you know why? She can’t afford to leave the city. She has a twin, a brother who needs her. I can’t ask both of them to uproot their lives for me. Especially…” a shiver slithered up her back, tears sprung to her eyes, “especially if she doesn’t… we’ve wrote plenty of letters, but we’ve only actually spent a few days alone together, you see… and she may not feel the same way I do. She may not want to leave for me…”
Her knees buckled and she buried her head into her sheets, weeping in earnest. Cliff rushed onto the bed and wrapped her into his embrace. He whispered into her ear, “Sh-sh-sh-sh… I will figure this out…” he stroked her mane and she buried her head into his right shoulder.
“Do they—” a sob wracked her body, “Do they hate me that much?”
“No… they just think what they’re doing is right,” Cliff said, his voice dryer than he ever remembered.

Cliff closed the door behind him and slumped against it. On the other side his sister slept, none of her fears assuaged, all of her wounds still jagged and raw, but at least for now her brother managed to coax her into sleeping through the pain.
He bit his lip when he thought back on their conversation. If he was honest with himself, he would never want to be in his sister’s situation. His knees wobbled, he squeezed his eyes shut when his breath hitched. He struggled with the pain of it, seeing the whole display unfold, his arranged wedding, with Shale somewhere off to the side, being promised nothing more than some concubine he would always sneak out the backdoor, while he had to turn away to some mare he never felt a thing for.
His teeth trembled, holding back the worst scream of his life.

Cliff Hanger, when he could, tried to coax out the name of the mare his sister fell in love with, but he never could. She refused, some deep-seeded fear stopping her from letting him help. He wanted to talk with the mare, open up with her about how things were, and see, if by some slim hope, they could make arrangements for her and her brother to travel. He felt that if he could just convince them… at least convince her then perhaps there’d be an out for them all to chase…
Cliff eventually gave his search up, and by that time the wedding arrived. The ceremony took place in the plaza, with enough attendants to leave the tile square packed. It was more painful than the rehearsal when during that wondrous, beautiful ceremony and reception the only words to come from his sister were a broken pair of phrases: “And I you,” and “I do.”
By the end of the ceremony, married or not, Cliff Hanger planned to drag his sister out of Windsor and leave the city and his parents behind forever. The idea of which set his stomach doing gleeful pops of nausea, made the coat he wore seem a little tight around his barrel. But he knew it was now or never. They either escaped from their parents or always lived in their shadow.
When the clock in Cliff’s room struck midnight he slipped out of his bedroom. Aside from a hefty purse he already hid by the door, he didn’t plan on taking anything else with him but his sister. Cliff made his way to the west wing of the manor, into the hallway when he heard a mare shout something. Cliff froze, then swallowed the knot in his throat and tore into his sister’s room.
Inside Cumulo stood beside the room’s open window, Nimbus had her back against the headboard, eyes wide with terror.
Cliff knew what the pegasus was doing and shouted, “Don’t touch her!”
Cumulo leveled him with a look of disdain. “If it’s not tonight, it will be tomorrow night when she moves into my parents’ manor with me.”
Cliff barely heard his sister whisper, “I always kept those windows locked… always… always…” Her chest rose and fell like a hummingbird’s.
Cumulo chuckled, “I suppose somepony must have decided to air out your room the other day and forgot to slide the bolts back into place.”
And it suddenly occurred to Cliff that despite her shout; their father had not come charging into the room. Not even the butler made to check and see if things were okay.
Cliff’s wings sprung up, pinions raised like knifepoints. He flared his nostrils and snapped, “Touch her and I’ll murder you.”
Cumulo laughed. “You little thing? Have you seen me? I am an alicorn among pegasi. Try to stop this and… well… because of your parents I can’t reciprocate your threat, but they’d understand if I was only, ahem, ‘defending’ myself from their deranged son when he stepped in on me and fair Nimbus trying to passionately consummate our vows.”
“You’re a monster…” Nimbus whispered. She remained frozen to the headboard.
Cumulo shook his head. “No, I am a husband asserting his right.” He stepped to her bedside—
And Cliff shot through the air at him. He cleared the bed in an instant and was upon him. Or so he thought. Cumulo’s wing flew open, for a moment all Cliff saw was a surge of stormcloud that wrapped around him and twisted. He felt the floor slam into his side. Magic hardened cloud hurt a lot more than he thought it could. A heavy hoof slammed into his withers, forcing the air out of Cliff’s lungs. He coughed, felt a pair of teeth snap over his black mane and wrench his neck into the air. A foreleg wrapped over his neck and squeezed off air, the hoof on his withers consequently pressed into him more. He heard the pony whisper in his ear, “I am going to enjoy this.”
Nimbus screamed. “Stop it! Take me just leave him—”
“Shut up before I handle you the same,” he snarled. Cliff felt himself be pulled up by the neck, that hoof on his back dragging down it and shearing skin from his hide. He cried out, tried to but only gurgled. The larger stallion threw him into the nearby wall. Cliff’s nose slammed into it, stars burst in his eyes. His head spun while blood returned to his brain. He was wheezing, gasping for air. And somewhere in the back of his head he knew he needed to turn around and face Cumulo before—
He felt the back of a hoof connect with his right shoulder. This time Cliff did cry out. A long, ragged whinny as he felt his shoulder smashed, bone fracture from where Cumulo twisted around and bucked him. Had it been in the spine, Cliff would have been paralyzed, closer still to the head, and he may be dead.
The pain that bloomed there took over. The room spun and he fell over, gibberish continued to spill from his mouth. He writhed on the ground, tears spilling from his eyes, it became a struggle not to vomit. Cumulo stood over him, through his tears he thought he saw the pegasus’ wings stiff in the air.
“Hot damn if this hasn’t gotten me excited!” He knelt beside Cliff and whispered, “Rumor has it that you’re a colt-cuddler yourself. You know, when I finish with your sister, maybe I’ll see what it’s like to take another stallion. Bet it’s pretty empowering…”
Cliff whimpered.
“I’ll get help. I’ll get the guard to come here and arrest your sorry flank for the next hundred years!” Nimbus snapped. Cumulo spun around, and this time Cliff did catch sight of what bobbed between his legs.
He laughed. “Do it! By the time you and your precious city guard get back, just think of all the torture I could cause to your brother. And who would the guard believe? Me and your parents, or the two of you?”
Cliff didn’t see his sister freeze, didn’t see how realization of what must happen now because Cliff huddled in the corner of her room, broken and helpless.
Cumulo chuckled, “Then you understand.” He heard the bed creak as the large stallion stepped onto it. “Present yourself to me. Make this easy on yourself and perhaps I won’t toy with your brother after this.”
This wasn’t right. Cliff was the brother; he was supposed to be defending her, protecting her, saving her from parents who ignored their children’s screams. He rolled over, screaming as weight pressed into his broken shoulder. His head throbbed now, he felt bile rise in his throat. He gagged and swallowed his own vomit, he heard the springs shift, his sister whimper.
He needed to stop this now, do anything to get off the ground—his wings! His wings weren’t broken. He could still pull himself into the air…
Cliff Hanger did. His breathing so ragged and heavy it hurt. Cumulo had just mounted his sister. Cliff Hanger screamed, “Monster!” and fell on his back, causing both ponies two collapse. His sister squeaked and scrambled out from under the larger pegasus, who rolled over Cliff, eliciting another groan when weight was pressed into his shoulder. The larger pegasus sprung to his hooves, Cliff heard Cumulo bellow thunder, “TAKE ONE MORE STEP AND I KILL HIM!”
He felt a hoof slam into his ribs. Another hit his stomach, then another smacked his barrel. He endured a flurry of blows, grunting with each one until one poorly placed kick hit him in the throat and cut off his breath for the remainder of the beat down. Just when he thought he was about to suffocate, Cumulo stopped and a small part of his windpipe managed to open again. His whole body was numbed with pain. He tried to fire some kind of message from his brain to make something move, but only his tail twitched to raise a flag of surrender.
Cumulo spat on him. He pointed at Nimbus and said, “You, at the headboard like you were, or I keep going.”
Cliff didn’t think he could even blink anymore. He felt Cumulo grab his mane by the teeth again and position it so he could see his sister’s flank pressed in the air. Her whole body shook, her knees almost buckled when Cumulo mounted her. For a moment, Cliff saw every detail from the moonlight that now spilled through the window. Cumulo’s cold grey legs next to his sister’s delicate rose ones. His ebon cock pressed against her gentle petals. With a grunt and shove, Cumulo deflowered her.
Nimbus screamed.
The rest Cliff remembered as darkness.

Cliff remembered little of the next month. He spent his time recovering in his bed. Occasionally a guard would come in, and with his parents beside his bed, fill him in on how they had yet to find the mugger who nearly beat him to death outside their manor doorstep. He never saw his sister, she had already moved to Cumulo’s estate on the other side of the plaza.
By his second month of recovery he could move around the house. One day Sandy visited him. She told them about her and Shale’s success, or lack thereof since he left. Told him of how Shale missed him and traveled with her to Windsor, but that the pegasi would only allow her to travel to the manor, no matter how much Shale or her insisted he too was a friend.
Then a week after her visiting came to an end, towards the third month of her recovery Stratus opened the door and said, “Congratulations are in order!”
He sat up and asked, “What is it? What happened?”
Stratus said, “No-no-no son, I can’t be the one to tell you. Come, let me help you out of bed, this news is something your sister should tell you.”
At the word of his sister, Cliff almost leapt out of bed. He hobbled downstairs into the anteroom where he expected to see his sister’s smiling face. Instead she stood next to Cumulo, their mother beside the two and chatting with the stallion. Nimbus looked across the room and met Cliff’s gaze, and he felt any enthusiasm in him drained in an instant. His father helped him downstairs.
Cumulo and Star faced the two newcomers. Stratus nudged his son and said, “Well, go on, ask!”
Cliff stared into his sister’s hollow face. The words would not slip out; he did not want to force his sister to say it.
She didn’t wait on him. “I’m pregnant, Cliff.”
“The unicorn we had check today said it’s been eight weeks on the dot,” Cumulo said.
“Isn’t that fantastic news, son?”
“Horribly fantastic,” Cliff croaked.

Against his will, he and Shale became pen pals. He had no choice, aside from his slow, painful recovery; he couldn’t leave his sister now. She visited the manner every few weeks with Cumulo at her side, these the only occasions where Cliff saw his sister. Each visit her eyes seemed a little more sunken, her mane a little more disheveled, and her stomach, of course, a little more swollen.
It was such a painful thing for Cliff to watch, every time it reminded him of that horrid night and his terrible failing. He almost ran away, anywhere would be more preferable to the view of his wretched sister, but he couldn’t leave. Not if it meant abandoning her with no one who would understand her. Not if it meant leaving her with her rapist and her rapist’s thorough supporters.
Cliff couldn’t comprehend how either parent could listen to their children scream and just let it happen. It was so unbelievable he couldn’t even confront mother or father about it. Besides, he knew their response would be. “Are you sure that isn’t some fanciful delusion from when you blacked out? And even if that is the case, Nimbus knows we love her, if she came forward telling us what happened why we would take thorough and corrective action.”
The pegasus simply watched as tragedy swelled and took form in something vibrant, real, and more lasting than any scar. And that broke his heart more so, for that foal would be trapped in the same life. He remembered when confessing as much to Shale the earth pony replied a week later with a letter that said:

 “Dearest Cliff
You can’t dwell on that foal, I know that is a harsh thing for me to say, but she isn’t your responsibility. When she is born, it will be up to your sister to muster the courage to protect her child from the monster she sleep’s beside. You can only hurt yourself if you try to help take care of their child. It’s not easy to face that, I know, but no one there will really let you make a difference. You know, if I were there I’d buck every one of them in the teeth. But, then again, best if I’m not.
I miss you, Cliff. The dirt here isn’t worth spit, even the biggest find, the most amazing discovery we uncover, couldn’t compare to your smile right now. Focus on getting better, take care of your sister best you can, but as soon as you can, run from that place before they trap you in the same fate. When you get back here, we will both run far away. This whole affair has settled that for me.
Counting Every Heart Beat ’til Yours Returns
Shale.”

Words like that preserved Cliff until eleven months had passed, and on what must have been close to when Cumulo proposed, Nimbus’ water broke. The foal was born in Cumulo’s home, early in the afternoon. When the doctors made sure the foal was healthy, they allowed the family to see her. The foal was an orange coated pegasus with pink-violet mane. Her eyes matched, and when Cliff met the large, open gaze of them he felt his heart sink.
He never thought such wonder and innocence could exist.
They all took their turns ogling the new family member, until she began crying. At which point a nurse shooed them out of the room and the foal given back to her mother so that she could name her.
Their party shuffled onto a deck at the back of the manor, an eager buzz about the new family member already building. Cliff stood by the door, unable to join in the conversation, so no pony noticed when he felt a hoof tap his flank. He turned and saw the nurse. She said, “Cliff?”
“Hmm?”
“Your sister wants you to see her.”
Cliff nodded and quickly followed the nurse back inside. The two wound their way upstairs to the third floor and entered a large, master bedroom. At the back of the room sat a massive bed, low to the ground, with its crimson sheets almost touching the floor. His sister blended into the fabric, except for a bright orange spot she clutched to her chest.
She told the nurse without looking up. “You may leave us.”
The door closed, Cliff felt the familiar lump swell in his throat. They were alone for the first time since before the wedding.
Cliff stepped to her bedside and his sister licked her foal’s face. She asked, “Remember my comic book collection?”
The brother said, “I remember the constant wars you had with mother and father to keep it.”
“I still do, its tucked away in a hidden compartment, right beneath my bed there’s a little slot in the floor that can be opened up. I’d like for her to get the chance to read them…” She chuckled. “There was one superhero, she wasn’t big and strong, or invincible or superfast, but she was clever, and braver than any other superhero I ever found in that comic stack. You know what her name was?”
Cliff shook his head.
“Scootaloo,” she whispered and kissed her daughter’s forehead. The baby cooed before it yawned and settled back into his mother’s arms.
He chuckled. “Mother and father are going to hate that name.”
“Good,” she said. “They can change it when I’m gone if they want.”
Cliff’s face became a little pale, “What do you mean by that?”
Her voice had taken a tone like frozen iron. “Cumulo will celebrate tonight by visiting his favorite mistress. While he’s gone, I’m going to leave Windsor forever.”
“But what about your foal? What about Scootaloo?”
She finally looked at him. “Would you be willing to raise a child you were raped into having? If I stay here trying to take care of this thing the worst I can do is hate it forever and make its life miserable. The best I can do is just kill myself and make things easier on everyone—”
“Don’t you dare say that!” Cliff snapped. His whole body was trembling, his wings sprung up at some point, their fight or flight instinct kicking in. And he felt the need to run, he couldn’t bear listening to this.
“Then you agree that I should just leave,” she said curtly.
“What about her, though?”
“Stratus and Star will do a fine job of raising her I bet, if they don’t just leave her with Cumulo,” she said.
Cliff shook his head. “That’s not right—”
“No what’s not right is I’ve endured this constant reminder to my own rape, to the very fact and idea that for that one moment when he was tearing me open I didn’t want anything but to die because my own parents hated what I was enough to ignore my screams!”
Scootaloo began crying.
Nimbus cursed and said, “If you love me at all, you will respect my wishes. The only thing I ask is that you don’t tell anyone and deliver the letter I have waiting over there on the desk by the door to the mare it’s addressed to. It explains everything and offers an apology, it’s sealed. Don’t unseal it.” She busied herself with rocking the foal.
Cliff watched for a moment. Then he said, “So this is it.”
“Goodbye Cliff,” the façade cracked a moment and she sobbed, “Maybe someday I’ll see you again.”
“I hope so, Nimbus, I hope so.” Cliff took the letter on his way out.
He delivered it to the mare it was addressed to, and finally learned of the pegasus his sister fell in love with. He stayed long enough to help comfort her while she cried, and then returned to the manor. He wrote a short letter which he dropped off at the postal office. It was addressed to Shale, a simple:

 “Everything has changed. I’ll return as soon as possible.”

The next morning Cliff was woken by his mother and her desperate pleas for help. He halfheartedly searched the city high and low while city guard were set to looking for Nimbus. They never found her, and by the end of the night Stratus and Star sat in their study, Cliff watching the two discuss the foal’s future.
When they settled on taking care of her he blurted out, “Why not let me take of her?”
Both ponies humored him with a dubious look. Stratus said, “The same reason we can’t let Cumulo take care of her. Any foal needs a good father figure and mother figure to raise them.”
Cliff bit back, “And you’re that?” Instead he cleared his throat and said, “I don’t think it’s right for you two to raise her.”
Stratus stood and demanded, “And why is that?”
“Why do you think it is? You let Cumulo almost kill me, and then force me to watch my sister be raped by that monster.”
Star Hanger gasped and covered her mouth with a hoof. “Such atrocious—”
Stratus nodded, though. “He needed to consummate his vows before she ran away. We insured he’d have the chance.”
He never thought he’d hear his father say such a thing. His mouth hung open, he said very quietly, “So you admit to doing that?”
“Yes.”
“Did you even lover her… do you even love me?”
Star Hanger rose right beside her husband. “Of course we love the both of you, but we are not going to allow you to ruin and waste your precious lives. Our love is greater and better than any parent who allows their child to run over them, ours insures you live the best possible life you can.”
“Celestia send the two of you to the moon!” Cliff snapped. He stormed up to his father, shorter than him by half a hoof’s span. He met him nose to nose, though, and said, “The best for us? She would have rather killed herself than stay here. Are you going to explain that to your foal? How do you intend telling her about her mother?”
“As long as she doesn’t return, she’s dead to us,” he said.
Cliff whinnied and stamped his hooves. “I can’t stand the sight of either of you! I don’t know what’s right for that foal, but neither of you are.”
“Your opinion is fair enough, but we won’t relinquish custody until a proper father appears with a proper mother,” Stratus said.
Cliff saw the look in their eyes, knew what they meant. His jaw hung open, he tried to work words, tried to find that fire of hatred so suddenly blown out. He could not. He ran. Out the manner and into the air. He flew as fast and far as he could from the two.

A week later, a weary pegasus arrived in Dodge Junction. It was late at night. He stood at the edge of town, where a newly erected cabin faced him, its plain wooden face unassuming, the low burning lantern inside welcoming. Cliff Hanger stepped to the door and knocked, he knew by the address of all the letters he received in the past few months who would be on the other side.
The door to Shale’s recently built home opened. The earth pony stuck his head out, stunned to see the pegasus before him.
Cliff surged forward and wrapped his forelegs around his neck and pressed his muzzle into the earth pony’s. Shale gasped, but relaxed into the embrace, his tongue met Cliff’s and told the pegasus how the earth pony ate a helping of cherry cobbler not too long ago. He became enamored with that taste as he pushed Shale back inside. He broke away long enough to close the door behind him. When he faced Shale again he found the other stallion panting.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Cliff pressed a gentle hoof to his muzzle. “Not tonight. Right now, all I want, all I need, is you.”
Shale nodded and nuzzled his cheek. He nibbled on Cliff’s ear a moment before his tongue dipped inside and slid up to the tuft. Cliff groaned and felt his wings becoming stiff. Shale provoked him further by nipping down his neck. He stopped at the base and pulled back. He said, “Let’s go back to my bedroom.”
The two retreated across the den to room over. In it waited a plain twin-sized bed with green sheets. The only other piece of furniture was the low burning lamp hanging by the room’s window.
The two fell onto the bed together. Shale nickered and took the lead. He rolled Cliff onto his back and nipped down his barrel. Cliff groaned when Shale without reservations nuzzled his cheek against his lover’s semi-erect shaft. He licked along the base, his smooth broad tongue working its way over the pony cock. Cliff shifted on his back to make his wings more comfortable. Shale had moved down to his nuts. He licked over one of the hefty orbs, lifting it up onto his tongue before the soft skin fell back into place. Eventually he did the same to the other, and allowed the testicle to roll back to his lips where he suckled on it.
Cliff moaned.
Encouraged, Shale whinnied and licked back up his now stiff shaft. He kissed the hood before he wrapped his lips around it. Cliff brushed the other stallion’s mane. His breath came in thick, fast pants. He wouldn’t last long at all, not when Shale kept tonguing his slit. But the earth pony stopped dining on his pre and worked his head all the way down the shaft. Shale began to bob his head, working Cliff to orgasm faster than either pony expected.
Cliff cried out. He felt Shale gently sucking on his head while ribbons of his seed spilled across the other pony’s tongue. His cock throbbed in the other’s pony’s mouth, and it almost seemed Shale would need to pull off before the flow finally stopped. The earth pony swallowed and released his shaft.
Shale kissed his way back up to Cliff’s lips. When their tongues met the taste of his cum almost masked the taste of cobbler. The pegasus felt a shaft press against him, and he knew what would come next.
And there was only one answer to why he lied here, wrapped desperately in his lover’s embrace, hooking his legs around his waist as he began to push forward. The head popped in and Cliff broke away to cry out. He whimpered when Shale kissed up his neck and whispered, “It’s all alright now. I’m here, Cliff, I’m going to make you feel good. I promise.”
The earth pony took it slow for his sake. He didn’t want it any other of way, he needed this night to last as long as it could. If the moon would just stay in the air forever he would be content. Wrapped in this perpetual embrace. His anus now wrapped around half of his partner’s cock.
Cliff gasped for breath. He didn’t know how much fuller he could feel. Stars burst in his eyes. His head kept spinning. Yet the pain was fading, being replaced by something that matched the pulse he could feel in his partner’s cock. His own lust returning, raging while Shale pulled out to the head and spread him again. He groaned, but pulled the earth pony closer to him with his forelegs. Hugging him close as that cock speared him further.
The other pony whispered in his ear, “You doing okay?”
Cliff shook his head desperately. “No… I need… more…”
Shale chuckled, the words slipping over his head. He didn’t understand, couldn’t understand. Cliff had no choice but to take it. He knew he would end up resenting her over time. But if baring his own life from true happiness, if never being here again, kept another mare from his parents and the same ending—
The end of Shale’s cock slipped into him once his medial ring passed Cliff’s tailhole. Both ponies moaned and Cliff pulled his lover into another passionate kiss. Their tongues trading blows over and over before Shale slipped out to the head, and plowed back into his partner. Cliff’s breath hitch, a jet of pre shot from his cock over his barrel.
Shale nipped his ear. His heady breath filled it. “Sweet Celestia… you’re tight.”
Cliff tried to chuckle, but was interrupted when Shale pistoned into him again. He settled for rubbing his cheek into the earth pony neck, licking it and squeezing Shale’s hips with his legs when the other pony tried to pull out.
Shale began to rut his lover, his prick pressing into Cliff’s prostate, each stroke causing the pressure there to build. His eyes squeezed shut when Shale bit his neck, his hips now smacking the other stallion’s in steady rhythms. Cliff began to clench down on the cock as it pulled out, his body wanting that shaft to remain connected to him. But Shale dragged it all the way out to the head, then plowed it back in. Each finished stroke made Cliff’s cock slap against the other stallion’s belly. His pre now on both their coats.
Their passion only lasted a few more strokes before with a whinny Shale slammed himself into the other pony and came. Cliff forced his muzzle into Shale’s and they kissed again, their tongues riding the waves of Shale’s orgasm as his cock ejaculated and his seed spilled inside his lover.
He collapsed on top of Cliff. The pegasus nickered and licked his partner’s cheek while he lay there panting. Shale responded, licking his ear again before he whispered, “I’ll always love you, Cliff.”
The pegasus felt something run through his body. For a moment he fought back the sudden urge to scream, like he did after comforting his sister almost a year ago. He couldn’t keep tears from springing to his eyes. He couldn’t keep his whole exhausted body from quivering with something more ageless and terrible than fatigue.
He hugged Shale as tightly as he could ever hug anything. “And I’ll always love you Shale.”
In the morning he would propose to Sandy.