Nimbus didn't say much the rest of the night and I didn't press her. Obviously, her encounter with the stallion had shaken her normally cool demeanor to the core. When we returned to our bunks, she did nothing but glare at the wall and huff occasionally. I wanted to help her. Despite how much she confused and irritated me, I had actually come to care about her but I knew that she wasn't going to tell me anything, regardless of how much I needled her.

However, her silence was beginning to worry me. I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes and I knew a hot-tempered pegasus like her was undoubtedly planning revenge for the humiliation she had suffered today.

“You okay,” I asked for what must have been the fifty-thousandth time.

“Fine,” she deadpanned.

I flinched. This wasn't good. Her face was expressionless and her eyes were flat without the usual spark of humor tainted with mischief. She wasn't with me, only responding on reflex. One of the things I was known for, aside from being able to keep a logical mind in the midst of a crisis, was my ability to read a pony.

It was obvious that she had known the stallion. They had a history together. I could discern that much from what little I had seen of their interaction and what I knew of Nimbus. When she was confronted with an aggressive pony of either sex, her first reaction was to toy with them. Then, she would outright reject them by finding another pony, almost at random, and cuddling with them. If that didn't work, she would become aggressive herself, invading the other pony's personal space while speaking in low tones, much like she had with Ty. If that failed, she would resort to what she called “love taps” which were anything but. I had seen ponies bruised and bloodied by her tactics.

Her reaction to this mysterious stallion was to immediately try to escape. No flirting, no random cuddling, no aggressive space invasion, just escape. When that had failed, she had turned violent, not love taps, just downright violent. She had tried to kill him and would have succeeded if he had not rolled away. But that left me to wonder.

What would have happened if Tor, Ty, and I hadn't been there to help? Would Nimbus be cooling her hooves in a jail cell or on a slab?

I sighed and got up from my desk. Trying to study, now of all times, was an exercise in futility. Nimbus and her role in the events of the day had me far too distracted to concentrate on the words and numbers in my textbooks.

I stretched, popping my legs and back, and climbed up onto my bunk. “You want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Nim, this has me really worried. I've never seen you like this before. I wanna help you.”

“Don't need your help.”

“I think you do. What would have happened if we hadn't gotten there when we did?”

“I would have kicked his flank, that's what.”

“Yeah, and you'd have been arrested and kicked out of school or he would have kicked your flank and you would be in the infirmary or dead. Tell me who he was.”

“Nopony.”

“Nopony horseapples,” I retorted. “Who was he? Do you owe him money?”

“No.”

“Then what? He couldn't just be some random stallion...” I gasped as all of the pieces clicked into place. Of course, why hadn't I realized it sooner? It fit perfectly with what I knew of Nimbus Gust. “He was a lover, wasn't he?”

“Buck off.”

“See, that right there. That confirms it. He was a lover. You left him and he wants back in.”

“Shaddup.”

“Nim, tell me his name. I can let one of the Instructors know and they won't let him onto campus. We can protect you.”

“Don't need protection.”

“Horseapples, you don't need protection. I saw what went on over there today. If we hadn't gotten there when we did...Celestia, I don't even want to think about it.”

She left her bed, crossed the room to the door, and flipped off the lights before climbing back into bed.

“You can hide from me all you want, Nimbus Gust, but I'm always going to be right here, ready to help you.”

Only silence responded to my words. She was ignoring me. That was fine, I could take being ignored but I wouldn't leave her alone until we got to the bottom of this. The art of tenacity was something we Kickers learned at an early age.

“Why?”

The sigh from across the room was so faint that I wasn't sure I had hear her. “What was that?”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me? Why should you even care? I'm nopony but a drunken whorse who can't keep her tail down.”

“Now, that's not true!” I sounded a little harsher than I had intended. “There's lots of good qualities about you. You're smart and you work hard when you put your mind to it. You accept everypony for who they are, whether or not you agree with them. Everypony loves you and your personality. Why else would they be willing to put up with your horseapples? Besides, I'm your friend and I want to help you.”

There was a rustle of covers as she rolled over. Through the moonlight coming through the window, I could see the shocked expression on her face. “What?”

“I...am...your...friend,” I said slowly, over-enunciating each word. “And I will always be here, right here, ready to help you whenever you need me. Even if you don't realize you need me.”

Her mouth worked, soundlessly flapping in shock, and a single tear leaked from her eye to trickle down her muzzle. I had broken through her armor to the soft core of the mare within.

I smiled at her. “Good night.”

x----x

With the new week came more lectures and exercises. After our little heart-to-heart, I had resumed my studying while Nimbus lounged about. Neither of us really had the motivation nor the money to head back to The Moondancer and I could tell she was still wary of the stallion so we really just did nothing.

The only exciting thing occurred when my brother and Typhoon dropped by to visit. Somehow or another and much to my displeasure, the boys had managed to get their hooves on a case of hard cider and had sneaked it onto campus in their saddlebags. For reasons only Celestia knows, they came straight to our dorm, knowing full well what would happen if they were caught or if I wasn't in the mood to entertain them.

With company by and drinks distributed, Nimbus was nearly back to herself. She was laughing, joking, and flirting with the boys as if she hadn't a care in the world. However, every now and again, I would catch her glancing, nervously, at the door or peering out the window when she thought nopony was watching.

I noticed how she particularly enjoyed Tor's affections. She would flirt and play with him before suddenly switching over to Ty, cuddling and nuzzling him. Eventually, Typhoon decided to play along and would cover her with a protective wing whenever she clung to his side. This harmless teasing would drive Tor to bribe her back with another cider.

Typhoon, despite his rather stoic nature, seemed to be enjoying Nim's attentions as well but I noticed he seemed slightly distracted. Every time I looked his way, I would catch him staring at me. He, in turn, would blush and suddenly find the floor, or the wall, or the ceiling very interesting.

Apparently, Typhoon Season had a crush on me. Wasn't I little miss popularity?

The party had lasted well through the day and into the night with all of us becoming more influenced then we should have. Eventually, well-sauced, I had passed out but not before Nimbus and Tor, who were cuddled up on her bed. My last memory of the night was of something warm pressing against my back as Typhoon fell asleep next to me.

When I woke up, both of the boys were long gone.

I stayed with Nimbus as we moved among the buildings of West Hoof. We didn't have any classes together but I would meet her outside of the buildings her classes were held in and escort her to the next one. While she tried to pass it off like she had worked her way through the events of the weekend, she was still uneasy, constantly looking over her shoulder and watching for any stalkers. Any time she would see a white-coated stallion of any sort, she would instantly move closer to me. When I checked, however, it would turn out to be a false alarm.

That was the case, until I felt her move beside me again.

I let out an exasperated sigh. It was a bit ridiculous for a brash and bold mare like Nimbus Gust to suddenly become a timid filly. I finally looked to where her gaze was locked.

There he was, standing bold as new-polished bronze and watching us. I had no idea how he managed to sneak onto campus. I acted immediately, moving around her to cover her from the other side.

“Let's go this way,” I whispered to her, nudging her in a random direction. She complied without fussing and followed me. I herded her up a walkway with no idea where I was going. Behind us, we could hear him following. We turned randomly, trying to find a way back towards the campus common where other cadets would be and where he wouldn't dare attack us.

I heard the bell, signaling the beginning of lectures. My ears folded back against my head. We were screwed. Playing cat and mouse with this pervert was getting us nowhere. I stopped and turned, moving to stand between him and Nimbus. I widened my stance and spread my wings defensively.

“Buck off! We're not afraid of you!”

He grinned. “You can't protect her.”

Nimbus let out a low whine and began to tremble.

“Leave her alone! Leave us alone! Get out of here!” I stomped my hoof, threateningly.

His grinned widened.

He wasn't going to leave and was certain he had the upper hoof. I lowered my stance and spoke from the side of my mouth. “Nimbus, Run!”

“I'm not leaving you.”

“We need help. Go and get somepony, anypony. I'll hold him off.”

I don't know who moved first. I heard Nimbus begin to slowly retreat, torn between my orders and helping me with her stalker. He charged forward and I moved to intercept. He was much larger than me but I had been trained to take down larger opponents. I lowered my head, intending to duck under him.

A moment before impact, he shifted, turning his head and presenting his shoulder. I slammed into the dense bone and saw stars. I was lifted onto his back and practically rode him as he charged towards a brick wall. He stopped suddenly and my momentum carried me off of his back and into the building.

My ears rang and my vision darkened at the edges but I struggled to my hooves. A heavy hoof pressed against my throat and pushed me back to the ground. The pressure increased until I couldn't breathe. Struggling against his weight, I kicked my hooves and managed to wrap a foreleg around the hoof he had against my throat but I couldn't get the leverage to push it away.

As the darkness closed in, a single thought broke through.

Was this what it was like to die?

x----x

My head was throbbing and my ears were ringing as I came to. My eyes swept the area, searching for any sign of the stallion or Nim. I pushed myself up and shook my head. That was a mistake. The whole world swung crazily and my stomach churned.

My hearing slowly returned and I heard the sounds of scuffling. I turned and saw that the stallion had Nimbus pinned to the ground. Already, I could see bruises and cuts marring her face and head. She struggled for all she was worth but I could see she was weakening under the abuse. It took her longer to react and compensate for his movements and blows. Her eyes were unfocused and her movements were sluggish. He forced her to turn her head and used a large hoof to pin it to the ground He raised and angled his other forehoof, preparing to deliver a lethal blow to her throat.

I was a mare possessed. I broke into a charge, beating my wings to help me build speed. This had to be timed perfectly. If I did this too early, I would miss my mark and not have the same effects that I wanted. If I was too late, I would hit Nimbus. I shut by brain off and trusted my instincts to do the right thing.

At the last moment, I planted a forehoof and pivoted. This killed most of my momentum but I still had enough. I cocked my hind legs and bucked with everything I had.

He was taken by surprise and was catapulted off of her but landed with grace and skill, rolling back to his hooves and turning to face me.

“Stupid nag,” he spat. “You shouldn't have gotten involved. You shouldn't have gotten back up. I was going to spare you but you got in the way. Now, I'll have to kill you, too.”

I was stunned by what I had seen. My memory recalled a lecture from my first year. We were given a demonstration of tactics used by Mercenary ponies in assassinations. These ponies often favored unarmed combat because there would be less evidence to worry about. Their strikes were swift and precise, allowing them to easily eliminate a target before the target, or the target's security, had a chance to react.

I had no idea what was going on but one thing was for certain. This was no lover's quarrel. I was dealing with a trained killer-for-hire. No matter, I was a Kicker. Our combat training began as soon as we could walk and not a day went by which didn't find me in the gym, sparring with one clanspony or another. I changed tactics. He was bigger than me and, from what I had seen of his style, relied on his size and strength to overpower his foes.

That worked just fine for me. The bigger they were, the harder they fell.

With a powerful downthrust, I launched myself into the air, pointed my hind legs, folded my wings, and plummeted back down. This was a tactic I had used before and it would end one of three ways. I was a breath from striking when he dropped down and rolled to his right. I spread my legs and allowed the dense bone and powerful muscle to absorb the force of my impact. Before he was on his hooves, I landed a dozen painful jabs into his ribs. They were not of the brute force he was capable of and usually experienced but they weren't designed to be. My pointed hooves concentrated the force of the blow to a single small point, which must have felt like a beating with a hammer to him.

He bucked and struck me in the chest, knocking the breath from my lungs. This was a tactic Tor liked to use and I had long ago learned to compensate. As my back hit the ground, I curled up and, at the right moment, flexed my wings, launching myself back to my hooves.

If this sudden change in fighting style surprised him, he didn't show it. I made to charge like I had before but I kept feinting, moving erratically to make it impossible for him to predict which direction I was coming from. Finally, I did something he didn't expect.

I went up.

Using my wings to hold me aloft, I kicked at him in the same manner as the fore leg jabs but with a little more force behind them He managed to block most of the blows, most of them, but a few landed. One smashed his muzzle, one fractured an eye socket, and one struck him square on the sinus cavity.

Celestia, how I love being a pegasus.

I twisted my body and rolled in the air, coming down on his back. My fore legs wrapped around his neck and my hind legs went around his flank.

“Surprise, Boo boo,” I snarled.

He took off, intending to dislodge me as he had before, but I was ready this time. At the last possible moment, I backflipped off of him and planted both of my hind hooves square into his plot, launching him, yet again, into the wall.

The impact made a sickening crunch and, as he slid down, leaving a wet trail of blood behind him, I could see some of the brick had been broken. I really hoped they wouldn't charge me for repairs.

Suddenly, I remembered why I had been fighting in the first place.

Nimbus was shaking uncontrollably as I pulled her into a sitting position and held her against me. I was worried, with the blows she had received, that there might be some brain damage. Slowly, she seemed to relax as she turned her head and began to cry into my chest. I wrapped her in my wings to allow her some privacy. Blood and tears began to soak into my coat.

“It's okay. It's okay. You're going to be fine,” I soothed her. “I've got you. I've got you. We're going to get help.”

She screamed in impotent rage and began to kick the ground, forcing me to adjust my grip on her.

“No, no, don't do that. You're okay. You're going to be fine. He's not going to bother you anymore.”

“I swear I heard something.” My brother rounded a corner and came across us. “Windy?”

“Tor, thank Celestia, get help!”

Tentatively, he approached. “What happened?”

“Didn't you bucking hear me? That stallion came back and he hurt Nim. Get help!”

“Did you kill him,” Tor asked, turning his attention to the crumpled body.

“Bucking go now,” I shrieked.

My command finally cut through his dense skull and he turned, galloping off while screaming for help.

I tightened my hold on Nimbus as he disappeared. She was still weeping but her cries had quieted some. Gently, I began to rock her as I spoke. “He's gone. He's gone. He won't bother you ever again.”

I don't know how long we sat there until I began to hear approaching hoofbeats. Instructor Line rounded the corner and approached, flanked by two Guardsponies with Tor bringing up the rear. Her eyes roamed the entire scene before locking onto me.

“What happened?”

I pointed a hoof at the stallion and began to babble. “He was stalking us and attacked us and tried to strangle me and tried to kill Nim and I think I killed him because he hasn't moved and-” My words were cut off as Line peeled back one of my wings and saw Nimbus, who watched her with saucer-sized eyes as she trembled in my embrace.

“Cadet Tornado Kicker, escort these two to the infirmary and inform Doctor Gauze that we have had an assassination attempt. Tell her that I will be with her shortly to interview Cadets Kicker and Gust about what transpired here.”

Tor saluted smartly. “Aye, ma'am.”

Line left us for the body, taking the Guardsponies with her. I helped Nimbus onto his back and he supported me with a wing beneath my belly as we slowly made our way out of the alley and into the sun. Around us, word had already begun to spread about the battle and, like all rumors, most of the information was false. One cadet claimed that I had gotten into a fight with Nimbus over Klutzy Doo. Another claimed that Nimbus had tried, unsuccessfully, to bully me into giving her my urine so she could pass a drug test. A third asserted that it was I who bullied her but refused to speculate on the cause behind the bullying.

I shut them all out and limped with a single-determination. I could understand their speculation. We were both covered in grime and blood and unable to walk under our own power.

I looked behind me just once and saw four more guardsponies enter the walkway where the stallion's body lay. Two were bearing a stretcher and went in while two others took sentry posts at the entrance, working to keep the morbidly curious away from the investigation.

Author's Note

Alright Bronies and Pegasisters. I've made some minor changes to this chapter at the behest of Chengar Qordath, who was helpful enough to give some suggestions on how it could be fixed. Amazing that he would do this for a random contest entry, eh?