Lero paced the floor of his home, occasionally casting a gaze to the blonde maned mare sitting on his couch, her ears flat against her skull. Rubbing the back of his neck, the human shook his head. An odd thump made the human pause mid stride, then another made him look up. Cloud Kicker rubbed the spot her hoof had struck, and bit her lip.
“Sweet Celestia… I’m… I’m sorry Lero…”
Lero began pacing again, and waved of the apology.
“We’re both at fault here Cloud.”
Cloud Kicker shook her head, and looking down, whimpered.
“Damn it. I’ve got bucking rules for this….”
“Cloud… it’s okay…”
The mare jumped up, and walked up to the human, her gaze locked with his, her eyes hard.
“How, Lero? How is this okay?”
Lero patted her neck, and with a growl, Cloud Kicker leaped back.
“Don’t bucking touch me.”
Lero slowly lowered his hand. Teeth bared, Cloud Kicker snarled again, “Don’t look at like that, damn you… those bucking eyes are what got us into this…”
Hand now at his side, Lero walked forward. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Cloud Kicker took a step back.
“Don’t…. get back!”
But Lero persisted. Slowly he walked forward, his expression unreadable. Cloud backed up, shaking her head.
“Get back, damn you!”
With a thump, Cloud reached the houses wall. Lero knelt down, and slowly wrapped his arms around her neck.
“I’m sorry Cloud.”
Cloud Kicker slumped fully, her wings and ears fully drooped in misery. Clenching her eyes, she choked out a sob.
“You bucking idiot…”
Pressing her face against Lero’s shoulder, Cloud Kicker sobbed, all the years of training and discipline as a guard lost in the face of what she had done.
………………………………………………………..
Cloud Kicker closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. Across the room, Lero sat, his face in his hands. Slowly, Rainbow Dash laid her pen down, and covered her head in her hooves.
“Why?”
Lero could only sit and burn with shame. He couldn’t look at his herd mate. Cloud sat, and slowly opened her eyes.
“Rainbow… I’m ready to accept whatever punishment you deem fit.”
The polychromatic mare let out a bitter laugh, and thumped a hoof on the desk.
“Cloud… I’m not your sergeant, and this isn’t the barracks. I’m your friend, even in this…” Idly, Rainbow flapped a hoof in the air, “… fiasco.”
“Dash… I’m sorry.”
Lero finally stood up, and folding his arms behind his back, took a stand next to Cloud.
“We both are Dash.”
Snorting, Rainbow lifted her head, and rolled her eyes.
“Ah, can the water works you two. This… what you two did is messed up, but… I love you both too much to hold a grudge.”
Smiling, Lero walked around the desk, and hugged the Pegasus. Snorting, Rainbow nudged him off with a wing.
“Don’t think you ain’t in the dog house, big guy. We’ll deal with Lyra and Twilight together…”
Dash frowned, and looked at Cloud.
“After you go and tell them what you and Lero did. Whether they forgive you is between you and them, just like whether the forgive Lero is between him and them. Understood?”
Cloud Kicker could only nod.
…………………………………………………….
Twilight slumped back on her haunches, her eyes wide. Slowly, tears began to gather.
“No… you’re… you’re lying…”
“Twi…”
The lavender took her tail in her forehooves, furiously shaking her head.
“No… no, you’re our friend… and Lero… he wouldn’t…”
Cloud nodded, and lowered her head.
“I’m… I’m so sorry duchess… I didn’t…. I didn’t mean for it to happen…”
Cloud looked up again, and winced. Clutching her tail to her chest, Twilight began to rock back and forth, shaking her head. Cloud half raised her hoof, then lowered, dread growing in her chest. The unicorn stopped, and in a dead monotone, she said, “I’m afraid miss Kicker, you’ll have to leave.”
“Duchess…”
Twilight leaped to her hooves, and stamped one on the wooden floor of the tree, and growled, “No! No more Duchess! Cloud Kicker, you are no friend of mine, and are no longer welcome in my home. I may not be able to stop you from coming to the library, but from today onward, there will be no more words between us.”
Without another word, Twilight turned, and without a second glance, stomped up the steps. Heart breaking, Cloud Kicker stood, and walked out.
………………………………………………..
Lyra pressed her muzzle against Bon-Bon’s neck, her eyes scrunched tight. Across her friends table, Cloud sat, her eyes downcast, biting her bottom lip. Rubbing a hoof against Lyra’s withers, Bon-bon glared at Cloud Kicker, her voice trembling with emotion.
“How? How could you do this, huh?”
“I’m… I’m so sorry Lyra…”
“Sorry…” slowly, the teal unicorn lifted her head, eyes still closed, though tears still leaked down her cheeks.
“Your… sorry…” Lyra’s eye flashed open, an unearthly white light issuing forth. Yelling in fright, Bon fell off the couch, and Cloud found herself pinned to the wall. Standing, Lyra walked forward, her eyes and horn now glowing the same golden color. As she spoke, the floor rumbled, and windows, plates, and glasses shattered.
“You’re sorry! He was ours Cloud! We are his mares, and you took his gift to us for yourself! Why?”
“It…. It was a mistake!”
Lyra drew Cloud back, then slammed her back into the wall, and screeched, “No! How you strung Derpy and Blossomforth along was a mistake! What you did to my herd mate Dash was a mistake! What you did to Fluttershy was a mistake! This is flat out betrayal Cloud!”
"What do you want me to say damn it?"
Lyra scowled, and in an instant the light from her eyes and horn faded. With a yelp, Cloud Kicker flopped down onto her hindquarters as the aura around her faded.
“Don't bother. You're not even worth the effort”
Cloud sniffed, and stamped a hoof on the ground.
“Damn, I never meant for this to happen…” Cloud Kicker hung her head, and sobbed.
Snorting, Lyra turned, and walked to the door. Opening it, she looked over her shoulder. And without another word, Lyra looked forward, and left.
Author's Note
This one kind of hit close to home for me. I've never been through this, but... I've had buddies of mine get torn up over this. So... before you do something you'll regret, stop, and decide whats important to you. Depending on how people respond, I may do a Lero chapter, or go back and work on this one.
Scootaloo whistled cheerfully to herself as she walked through the door of her home. Sliding the saddlebags from her sides, she said “Anyone here?”
A voice sounded from the living room “In here squirt.”
Walking into the room, Scootaloo right brow quirked. Rainbow Dash lay in a similar fashion to that of the fillies other surrogate Lero, and from time to time for some odd reason, Lyra. Hind legs hanging slightly down, though the way they were jointed made it impossible for them to touch the ground, wings hung limply against the back of their couch. One hoof holding an ice pac, which the mare pressed with a groan to her forehead, Dash didn’t open her eyes as the filly sat next to her.
“Sheesh, who died?”
Open one eye blearily, Rainbow Dash gave Scootaloo an exhausted glare, and grunted “You, if you don’t watch it twerp. Don’t test me kid, I’ve had a long day…”
“Ah geez you too? Twilight and Lyra are acting weird too. Twilights got that frizz on her mane when her screws are loosening, and Lyra almost bit my head off!”
Nickering in annoyance, Dash closed her eye again.
“So where’s Tweedle Dee?”
Brow furrowing in confusion, Dash rumbled “Tweedle… Oh, Lero!”
Sighing, Dash pulled the ice pack away, and putting a foreleg around Scootaloo, drew her close.
“Look Scoots… Lero… well, me and him won’t be around much for a bit…”
“Cause he fucked Cloud?”
Dash scowled, her wing jerking up slightly to smack the filly on the back of the head, who yelped and glared at her parent. Glaring back, Dash said “Me and Lero are fine with swearing, but your lucky Lyra’s not here, she hits harder then I do. And Twilight…”
Eyes widening, Dash’s brain temporarily shut down.
“Wait… what?”
Scootaloo’s scowl softened as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Alula told me.”
Right eye twitching, Rainbow Dash hissed “And she knows this how?”
“Well, she sort off… guessed, or at least that’s what she said. When she got home, she looked all depressed. Apparently a few of their clan is in town for a visit, and one of her aunts said she looked like she had gotten plugged by her best friends stallion. When Alula saw the blush, she knew.”
Rainbow groaned, and flopped her head back against the couch, rubbing her temple.
“Damn it all! That loud mouth found out?”
Scootaloo frowned, and jabbed Dash gently in the side.
“Hey! Leave her alone, Dash. She’s gotten a lot better since her mom… umm…”
Scootaloo looked down, gently rubbing her right hoof against her left leg and muttered “Well… she’s just not like that anymore. She said Cloud was really upset though.”
Dash leaned forward to got onto all fours, and began to pace in a similar fashion to her mate. Laying out across the couch, Scootaloo asked “So, why won’t I see you guys for a bit?”
Rainbow sighed, and sat on her haunches.
“Squirt... You gotta understand. Lero… he did a bad thing.”
At this Scootaloo’s eyes widened.
“But Lero never does anything bad!”
Shaking her head, Dash rose and with a slight smile, sat next to the couch, and nuzzled the top of the filly’s head.
“True. My bad, its more like…. He and Cloud….”
Scootaloo tilted her head, ears flattening against her skull.
“Dash… I thought what you guys did was a good thing…”
“It is…”
“Then why is it bad for him and Cloud?”
“Because Scoots, she’s not part of our herd…”
“Well… just make her one then…”
At this, Rainbow jaw dropped, then with a snort and her jaw closed once more, the mare rolled her eyes.
“That’s… not gonna happen kiddo…”
“Why not?”
“Well, for one you need a physical attracti…” Dash paused, then cleared her throat, considering her next words.
“She’s just not that kind of pony, Scoots.”
“So…. Why do you have to leave?”
“Cause Lyra and Twi… their both pretty at Lero right now.”
Scootaloo shrugged her wings.
“You seem okay with it…”
“I’m…. disappointed in him, Scoots. Lyra and Twilight just need to be away from him for a few days while they cool down.”
“And again, your going because…?”
“So he won’t be alone. You understand, don’t you Scoots?”
“I guess….”
…………………………………………………………………..
Cloud paused outside her fathers room, one hoof raised. Usually, when in their clouds, pegasi simply went through doors and walls, the two being more a matter of preference then anything. But one the ground, form demanded on knocked before entering a room. If only….
“Come in Cloud.”
Cloud Kicker jumped slightly, then ears flattening too her skull, she pushed open the door. Tornado kicker smiled as he walked up to her, and snugged her with a wing. Cloud jumped again, and looked at her father. Kicker’s were notorious for hugging, or more precisely lack there off, and this was no less true for Cloud's parents. Smiling gently, Tornado said “Wanna talk about it?”
Cloud sighed, then nodded. Sitting down on the floor at the end of Tornado’s bed. Cloud relayed the last few days to Tornado. Through it, the stallion remained silent, then when Cloud finally stopped, he chuckled.
“Finally caught up with you huh?”
Cloud face hoofed. Her father was one of the greatest critics of her… proclivities, so his response was no surprise. Smile fading, Tornado snugged her and nuzzled the top of her head.
“Oh Cloud… I love you, but… I feel bad for you, but I feel worse for those mares.”
Looking up, Tornado regarded the ceiling.
“I know how this sort of thing feels.”
Cloud gasped.
“You mean…”
Tornado sighed.
“Cloud… please don’t be mad at her. Back then, she and the rest of the clan… it was hard. Because we were happy with just us, we never took anyone else in. I was regarded as weak, and your mother selfish. It was never anything overt… just ignoring us when we spoke, serving us last at meals, that sort of thing. She…. Was part of a herd for a bit.”
“Does that mean…”
Tornado shook his head, and gave a half smile.
“You and Alula are both blood, don’t doubt that for a moment.”
Cloud sniffed, and buried her face into her fathers neck.
“Damn it…”
“Its okay… Daddies here…”
Author's Note
Comments and critiques welcome^^