To Love a Hybrid: How It Started

Thunderbolt rose from the couch, shaking the blanket off of him. A quick, sharp-eyed glance at the grandfather’s clock on the far wall revealed it to be fifteen past five. The sun wouldn’t rise for another forty-five minutes, and with the sky still covered with clouds after a small peek outside, the room was plunged into darkness.

His shift at the palace wouldn’t begin for a good hour and a quarter, and being able to teleport there instantly, he was in no rush whatsoever. Shaking the remnants of sleep out of his mind, he headed for the kitchen to brew himself some coffee. While it was being percolated, he fetched the newspapers from the front porch and deposited it on the kitchen table.

Digging in his fridge, he grabbed two eggs to make scrambled eggs, along with a juicy apple to accompany them. Once his breakfast and coffee were ready, he sat at the table and opened the newspapers, eating slowly as he took his time reading it.

There wasn’t anything much interesting, he realized. Aside from Prince Blueblood for opening another debate at Princess Celestia’s court and losing it again, and the Weather Factory going through technical difficulties that they estimated would take up to three days to take care of, nothing caught his interest in today’s news.

Finishing both his cup of coffee and his breakfast, he proceeded to pack his lunch and then take a quick shower upstairs. After that, he combed his mane and tail and brushed his fur to look acceptable for work. You couldn’t expect a guard to arrive on duty uncleaned, after all.

With only having twenty minutes left before his shift began, and needing at least ten to get dressed up in his uniform and prepared in the castle’s barracks, he stepped out of the washroom. Deciding to check on the lamia before leaving, he cracked the door open.

Emerald was sleeping peacefully, a small, content smile splayed on her lips. Her long, black mane had apparently ended up covering most of her face sometime during the night. Her soft breathing was even more relaxed that the first night, which was a good sign of her recovery. Her tail was coiled up beside the bed, with its tip lying on top of the coil, and just when Thunder was about to head back downstairs, he saw it wag at whatever she was dreaming about, but luckily he managed to suppress his chuckles at how adorable that was, then slapped himself mentally.

Don’t start again, brain! he scolded himself, but as he turned back to look at her one last time before exiting the room, he allowed himself to unwind a bit. Oh, who am I kidding? She IS kinda adorable when she sleeps.

Back in the kitchen, he grabbed a piece of paper and a quill from atop the fridge and wrote a small note, which he left on the table for the lamia to read when she’d wake up. Putting everything down once he was done, he then channelled magic in his horn, and with a flash of light, teleported out of the house and headed to work.

* * *

It was nearing ten o’clock when the slumbering hybrid finally dared to open her eyes. Yawning loudly, she slowly moved to a sitting position on the bed. Amid her stirring, something slid off the side of the bed and hit the floor with a small thud, and as Emerald Gleam leaned over to see what it was, she noticed it was the book she had borrowed from the bookcase. Apparently she had fallen asleep reading it.

Getting out of bed, she trailed around it to pick up the fallen manuscript and put it back to its place on the top shelf of the bookcase. Even though there weren’t many books, probably thirty at most, it was still a lot for her.

Even though she had learned how to read, she barely had anything to read on hoof when she was living with that zebra shaman. All in all, her reading ability had gotten quite rusty over time, considering she hadn’t laid eyes on a single piece of literature in years, but she still managed and slowly regained the hang of it.

Now feeling more awake, yet not fully, she made her way down to the kitchen, and upon entering the room, she was fast to spot the small piece of paper lying on the table. As she peered down at it, she noticed that the text on it was short. Grabbing it in her hooves, she scanned its contents:

Feel free to grab whatever

you want if you’re hungry. I’ll be

on duty until dinner time. Until

then, make yourself at home.

Thunderbolt

Emerald slowly deposited the note back on the table. A single, stray tear found its way down her left cheek, and she subconsciously raised a hoof to wipe it away. For reasons she couldn’t fathom, the note, as short as it was, created a sensation of warmth and comfort. But what had struck her most was the last line on the paper.

“Make yourssself at home…” she whispered to herself.

Repeating that line caused a few more tears to trail down her face. She raised the tip of her snake tail in front of her at eye level and grabbed it with her hooves, hugging it for self-comfort. She had only met Thunder three days ago, and in that period of time, he had shown her as much kindness, if not more, than that shaman had in sixteen years.

She had trouble comprehending what was going on in her mind. All that had happened, along with all the accumulated emotions mingling together was too overwhelming for her, and were it not for her stomach suddenly growling and directing her attention away from her inner chaos, she might have fainted from all this weight on her shoulders.

Why do I feel like my mind is going to blow up? she asked herself as she searched the fridge and grabbed the first thing that caught her green eyes. Seating herself at the table with an apple and an orange, she attempted to make sense of what she was feeling, but came up with no decent conclusions.

Ugh, what’s wrong with me? she screamed mentally as she took a bite of the juicy red fruit, but little to no good it did to steer her away from her internal conflict. As she ate, her eyes dropped back on the note on the table. Possessed by a sudden and unexplainable urge, she grabbed it and reread it once more.

For reasons she couldn’t put her hoof on yet, her whole being felt warmer just by reading that simple note. After a few minutes of staring at it, she let out a long sigh and returned to finishing her fruits, subconsciously hugging the piece of paper tight against her chest with one hoof.

* * *

“Pick up the pace, slackers!” the authoritarian voice of Commander Gale yelled across the castle’s training grounds as he patrolled around the field, watching every stallion closely as he passed them by. “And no complaining, or else you’ll have to deal with me afterwards.” He eyed a pegasus a few feet away to his left as he said that, making the victim under his severe gaze to gulp nervously.

Yep, he’s having a bad day again, Thunder thought as he went on with his pushups, then situps, his best friend doing the same a small distance away from him. It wasn’t that he hated training sessions; on the contrary, he loved it. However, he didn’t like the commander being rougher on them because his day had been a living Tartarus. It wasn’t the first time that Cyclone was in a bad mood, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last either.

“Ugh, I hate this guy,” he mumbled under his breath, and nearly fell flat on his back in the middle of a situp at hearing the commander’s voice not too far behind him.

“What was that, Sergeant?” Gale asked, and his toned hinted that either he had heard his comment, or he misheard, and the beige unicorn dearly hoped that it was the latter.

“Nothing, Commander!” he answered back, hoping he’d buy his lie, and to his relief, he did, but not without receiving a venomous glare from his superior.

“It’d better be,” Gale warned before heading for the western side of the field reserved for sparring, where a dozen stallions were currently splitted in teams of two and exchanging blows, the sound of swords, spears and lances clashing against each other ringing all over the field.

Still wonder how that bastard got that position in the first place, Thunderbolt mulled as he switched to doing pushups. At least he’s not captain, so there’s that for consolation.

The sky above the group was covered in clouds, but rain wasn’t scheduled until midnight. It was still quite warm outside despite the sun being hidden behind the grey, puffy-looking barrier, so all things considered, the training session could have been much worse. It could have been better if not for the commander getting on everypony’s nerves, though they kept their comments to themselves, knowing full well that it’d only get them in trouble otherwise.

Thirty more minutes before Gale called for lunch. “I want to see you all at your respective post at one, and not a second later. Is that clear?” he advised as the group passed him by as everyone headed for the barracks to remove their armors for the break, those duelling putting back their borrowed weapons back in the armory adjacent to the quarters.

After storing his uniform in his locker and grabbing his lunch box, Thunder saluted his coworkers and headed for the castle’s garden, seating himself on a bench next to a patch of growing blue roses.

Withdrawing two egg salad sandwiches, a bottle of apple juice and a strawberry yogurt from his box and putting them next to him on the bench, he then obeyed his stomach’s order to feed it and began eating his meal. Halfway through his first sandwich, the unicorn heard the sounds of flapping wings coming his way, only to notice they belonged to White Wind as he made his way to his spot and took a seat on the other end of the bench, dropping his own lunch box he was carrying with his teeth on his lap.

“Hey!” the pegasus greeted as he unpacked his meal, which was composed of a bowl of noodles, grape juice and oatmeal biscuits. “Heat, please?” he asked his friend as he extended the bowl to him, and the unicorn complied, heating the pastas with a simple spell.

“You unicorns are so useful, you know that?” White commented as he grabbed a fork from the bottom of his box and took a first mouthful of noodles.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m your friend or just a mere tool,” Thunder retorted.

“I’d say both.” The unicorn then stared him dead in the eyes. “What? It’s true! This,” the pegasus tapped his friend’s horn for emphasis, “replaces every other conventional means.”

Thunder just rolled his eyes. He knew full well that the pegasus was trying to tease him, but so used to his jokes and antics, which had become oldschool, he simply didn’t bother with them anymore.

“So,” Thunderbolt began in an attempt to change the subject to something more interesting, “noticed Gale’s usual grumpy attitude being worse today?”

“I think everypony did, dude. Dunno which bug stung him. Bet that he’s having problems with that gal of his.”

“Celestia knows he’ll want your head if he hears you say things like that.”

“Fun to know I’d make a decoration worthy of his tastes.”

Thunder slapped his face with the sole of a hoof in discouragement while his friend smirked at his now unsettled expression.

“How low can you go…?” the beige coated stallion asked mostly to himself, though it was loud enough for White to hear, causing his smirk to widen tenfold.

“Dunno. But perhaps we could find out,” he singsonged.

“NO!” Thunder shouted as he removed his hoof from his face and stared at the sky, now disgusted at the dirty turn the conversation was taking. “No, no, nope! Just… no!”

“Hey now, I’m kidding, dude,” White Wind said, at which the unicorn huffed indignantly. “Okay, maybe I should slack off with this kind of humor, but it’s just so easy to make you react with it.”

Thunder still didn’t say anything, and the pegasus didn’t add anymore, choosing to return to his meal. The wingless stallion soon did the same, and they ate in a relatively awkward silence, which remained even a good while after they were done.

“How is she holding up?” White queried, putting an end to the quietness he had created.

“I’d rather we do not talk about this here during work.”

“It’s not like there was anyone else here,” the pegasus pointed. “No one else even cares about this garden save for Princess Celestia and the gardeners taking care of it, and our shifts are long over when they arrive.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“So…?” White pressed him. “And still sorry for the last time, by the way,” he added.

“Don’t worry, she got over it. And she’s getting a bit better every day.”

“She’s surely having a fast recovery,” the winged pony commented. “You’ve got talent for that kind of things.”

“I guess taking care of both a sister and a mother that were both very sick while I wasn’t even affected for a week paid off,” Thunder shrugged. “But yeah, I’ll agree with you, it’s progressing rather fast, which is an excellent thing.”

“I agree.”

“Also, though don’t mention it to her the next time you visit, but she kind of feels intimidated by your imposing build.”

“Ah man, really?” The unicorn gave a small nod. “Never meant to make the poor one feel uneasy. Should I had known she was already uncomfortable in the first place, I would have let go of jokes and all.” Then an idea struck him. “If I forget, remind me to bring her a little something next time I come over.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Thunder retorted. “As I said, she got over it. But I’m not gonna stop you if you want to apologize that way.”

“It won’t be something big, but it’ll be a great ‘I’m sorry’ gift.”

“You speak as if you already know what you’re going to bring her,” Thunderbolt said, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

“Yep, and I’m not spoiling anything,” White warned.

“Wasn’t planning to pry,” Thunder defended.

“Then it’s settled!” the pegasus concluded, then turned to check the time on the castle’s clock tower, which read ten to one. “Damn, lunch time’s nearly over. Better head back now if we wanna avoid having Mister Grumpy Pants on our tails.”

Thunder looked at the clock himself before agreeing with his friend. They headed back to the barracks and put their armor back on before going their separate ways, White Wind leaving to patrol the area around the royal archives with two other colleagues while the unicorn left for the training grounds to supervise the training of the newbies. Usually it was a fun task, but what ruined the fun was that he was going to be stuck with Cyclone Gale and his bad mood for the next four hours.

Emerald, I hope you’re having a better day than I am, he thought as he unwillingly made his way to his designated post for the afternoon.

* * *

“Ow…” yelped the snakepony as she rose from the floor, rubbing her muzzle to soothe the sting of pain coursing through it.

Standing up at her usual height, she glanced at the grandfather’s clock, which now read four thirty, which meant she had dozed off for at least two full hours apparently. It also meant that Thunderbolt would come back from work in about half an hour.

She had been spending a relatively good day so far. After breakfast, she had fetched a few books from her host’s room and had brought them down with her in the living room, and had laid down on the couch to read. However, halfway through the second book, she had begun getting bored to the point that she fell asleep with the book still open in her hooves. It also appeared she had wanted to flip over during her nap, causing her to fall off the couch and her face to meet the carpeted floor.

She took back her seat on the sofa and sighed in boredom. Without Thunder around the place, she felt as lonely as she did before he took her in. Without him to talk to, she found herself with barely anything left to do. The only thing there was to keep her occupied was a few books to read, and even though she liked reading, doing this nonstop all day and every day eventually got boring. She didn’t want to sound like a hypocrite, but she couldn’t deny that she wished the unicorn had stayed home.

Somehow, this train of thoughts unnerved her a bit. She had never felt like this when she was living with that zebra shaman in her youth. She would often leave her place to do… actually, the lamia never bothered to ask, but she knew that waiting for her to come back hadn’t been that painful. Why was it different with Thunderbolt then, when it was pretty much the same scenario? Try as she might, she couldn’t answer her question, and not being able to make sense of what she felt annoyed her.

Well aware that she wouldn’t be getting anywhere like this, she decided to let it go for now, letting herself fall on her back on the couch and staring aimlessly at the ceiling. How much she wished she could socialize with someone else, but with ponies freaking out in horror at the sight of her, it sadly was something that would never happen.

Eventually, the clock struck five, and about ten minutes later, the entrance door opened as the unicorn entered. Acting on impulse, she stood from the couch and threw herself in his arms and buried her face in his neck, catching him off-guard, but he soon warmed up and dropped his empty lunch box to return the hug.

It took Emerald Gleam a minute to realize what she was doing, and she forced herself out of the embrace, much to the stallion’s confusion.

“Sssorry!” she apologized frantically as she backed away two metres.

“Sorry for what?”

“For, well…” There returned that unexplainable, burning heat in her cheeks, making them feel like they’d melt.

“If it’s about the hug, I didn’t mind,” he reassured her, laying a hoof on her shoulder. “To be honest, I guess I kinda needed it.”

Huh? Emerald blurted mentally as she looked into his eyes with confusion, the blush on her face that would probably remain there for a while still as intense.

“I pretty much had a very rough day at work,” he continued, seemingly having read her mind. “Commander’s been in a bad mood all day, so everypony got a taste of it.”

“I… sssee…” the lamia said, not sure how else to respond to that.

“Besides, it seems like you needed that hug too.”

“W-what makess you sssay that?” she asked. At this rate, she was sure her cheeks would soon catch fire.

“Dunno,” he shrugged. “Maybe the fact that you jumped at me right as I got in?” he half offered, half teased, and the hybrid had to tear her gaze away from his because now she was sure her face was on fire. So she settled to fix the carpet, clopping her hooves together nervously.

What she didn’t expect was for him to grab her into another hug, this one more delicate than the one she had given him, her face buried in his neck again. She had long stopped wondering what was going in on, so she opted to let it play out.

“Sorry about the teasing,” he said.

“It’ss fine,” she whispered through the fur of his collar.

As the unicorn looked at her, try as he might, he couldn’t deny how cute the lamia looked right now, especially when she was blushing. Her soft coat brushing against his felt soothing. Subconsciously, he took a small sniff of her black mane, finding it smelled a bit like silk, which matched what her hair felt to the touch.

Realizing he was still holding her in his embrace, he pulled away and raised her chin with a hoof to make eye contact, then gave her a genuine smile, which she returned a few seconds later.

“So, how was your day?” Thunderbolt asked, changing the subject to something more casual.

“It’ss been… good,” she answered, though the lack of energy in her answer was clearly apparent.

“That didn’t sound very convincing,” Thunder pointed out matter-of-factly.

“Well…” as much as she wanted to be honest, she didn’t want to sound like she was being ungrateful and hypocrite.

“You got bored, right?” he guessed, giving the pile of books on the small table next to the couch a quick glance.

Crap... “I’m sssorry! It’ss jussst-”

“Emerald,” he said sternly, cutting what she was about to say in a second. He then raised his hoof to eye level, the lamia watching the stallion intently, confused and wondering what he was doing.

And then, without warning, he bonked her lightly on the forehead, causing her to blink from the little shock. As much as she wanted to ask what it was for, it was caught in her throat when her green eyes settled on his sapphire ones.

“Stop apologizing so much,” he told her, his tone having softened greatly, and she nodded.

“But I didn’t want to sssound like I was criticizing your home,” she defended.

“Once again, stop worrying,” he said before going to sit on the couch, motioning for her to follow, to which she complied, taking a seat next to him. Once she was sat, he grabbed her in a shoulder hug.

“Look, you can be honest with me. I wouldn’t have taken it badly whatsoever. I know there’s not much to do here, so that’s why I was thinking that you could suggest things I could get you to keep you occupied while I’m gone.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes I do. It is my home as much as it is now yours, so feel free to ask me what you’d like. I won’t mind.” Then he saw the tears that were starting to leak out of her eyes, filling him with concern. “Are you al-”

His question was interrupted by the lamia throwing herself again in his arms, crying her heart’s contents once more, and he wrapped both of his forelegs around her torso in comfort without hesitation. Thinking on it, he could guess her state was caused by something he had just said, and he knew exactly which part was responsible.

Poor girl… he thought as he rested his head atop hers as she sobbed and choked occasionally from the heavy crying. The unicorn began rocking her slowly back and forth, brushing her silky mane soothingly with a hoof. He didn’t know how many more times he’d have to do this, but he didn’t care. He was more than happy to be the shoulder the hybrid had always wanted to cry on.

It took Emerald Gleam as long as the previous time to calm down. She tried to apologize for her outburst once more, but the stallion lightly bumped her nose and cut whatever it was she wanted to say, not wanting to have any of it.

“If you need to cry, then cry,” he said. “Better let it all come out now than keeping it inside you any longer.”

“I-I know. It’ss jussst…” Whatever she wanted to say was cut short by her shyness.

“It’s just what?” Thunder queried.

“I, um…” Fool! her consciousness sermonized. Why don’t you just say it?

“Emerald…” The mare felt a hoof under her chin pushing her head upwards so that her face met the unicorn’s, which bore the biggest concerned look she had never seen. “Please stop hurting yourself anymore. I don’t know how long you’ve spent on your own in the wild, but I know it was a period of sadness and desperation for you. For your sake, please let it all out, on me if you have to, but don’t keep those thrashing emotions inside of you any longer.”

The dam couldn’t break, as it was now empty, but she tightened her grip around the stallion and dropped her head, her forehead resting on his shoulder.

“I am pathetic…” she lamented, and Thunderbolt said nothing for a while, waiting for her to be calmer before he spoke.

“That may be true,” he admitted, her ears drooping at his words, “but that’s why I’m here to change that, or rather we, since White Wind is in this too. No matter how long it’ll take, we’ll get you fixed, I promise.”

She didn’t budge for a moment, but soon enough, she loosened her grip, but kept her face pressed against his shoulder for a bit longer. When she lifted it up, she didn’t meet his eyes right away.

“You’re the kindessst living being I’ve ever encountered in my life,” she brought herself to say.

“What about that zebra shaman who raised you?” Thunder asked.

“She barely showed me any sssign of affection toward me,” the lamia harrumphed as she turned her head away. “She pretty much taught me the bassicss in life and that’ss all.”

“Sorry for bringing that up,” the stallion apologized, feeling bad for angering her even if it wasn’t directed at him. Speaking about her first caretaker was like walking in dangerous territory; it was best to avoid that topic.

A short silence settled in, giving Emerald time to calm down. It stretched on for a little while until the hybrid steadied her emotions, and only then did she allowed herself to continue.

“Thank you,” she said softly, finally pulling away and directing her green irises into his own blue. “Really, I mean it.”

“No problem,” the unicorn smiled.

“But it’ss not jussst for thiss,” she clarified, absentmindedly grabbing one of his forehooves with one of her own. “I’m talking about everything you’ve done for me thesse passst four dayss. I know I ssstill got a way to go before I have fully recovered my health, but I’ll be forever grateful for it.”

“Don’t mention it,” Thunder replied. “I couldn’t have left you to your miserable fate back there, and between taking you in and handing you over to my boss, the choice was pretty simple, even if I’m putting myself in trouble if he does find out, which I don’t intend to let happen.”

“You… what…?” she babbled, her pupils having expanded to maybe twice their original size. She never thought he had went that far just to save her from her predicament, and that statement left her speechless until both of their stomach screamed at them to feed them.

“Dinner?” the beige coated unicorn offered sheepishly.

“That’d be great, actually,” the snakepony answered, and they both stood up from the couch and went for the kitchen.

“But,” the lamia continued as they neared their destination, “to think that you’re risssking your job to help me, I… I jussst don’t know what to sssay.”

“Don’t think about it. I did what felt right and my duty to help someone in need. So, do sautéed vegetables sound good to you?”

“Whatever you cook iss fine, Thunderbolt,” she said with a faint smile.

They then got to work, the stallion accepting his companion’s offer to help out. In fact, ‘insisted’ was a better word for it, but he wasn’t about to refuse her that. Besides, showing her how to cook different meals would be a good thing for her in the long run.

Twenty minutes later, they were seated at the table with their plate filled with fried mushrooms, onions and red and green bell peppers in front of them. They didn’t wait to be asked before digging in, and soon enough were stuffed. They then went to wash the few dishes and utensils that had been used to prepare the meal, and as they worked through the small chore, a thought came to Thunder’s mind.

“You know, I should probably introduce you to my sister someday.”

The lamia tensed up a bit at the idea of someone else knowing about her presence here. “I-iss it really a good idea?” she asked him, clearly unsure about this.

“Sure, she might be shocked like I and White Wing were at first, but I’m sure you two would get along just fine. She’s not one to judge others in any way whatsoever.”

“Really?” she queried, regarding him intently as her doubt slowly gave way to hope.

“Yeah. When we were young, the ponies in the city we grew in were not all friendly,” he explained. “There were a few, but the majority only cared for themselves. I didn’t have any trouble on my side, but it was a different case with my sister.

“She’s always been very dedicated in her studies, but apparently she was the only one to have that much enthusiasm for that, so other kids began picking on and teasing her about it. She was often left out in most of the activities and sometimes was in tears when she got back home.” He paused for a while, reminiscing on the many times he and his parents had to comfort the baby of the family.

“And?” the lamia pressed, figuring there was more to the story and eager to hear it.

“And she graduated eventually, while most of the bullies had to start their year over. Our parents taught us to never let go of our hopes and dreams, and we both took these words with pride. And so she now teaches at a school in a town not too far from here, and I enrolled in the Royal Guards.”

“I sssee,” Emerald acknowledged. “But what’ss the link between that and me being a lamia?” she asked, reminding him of her special condition.

“In other words, my sister’s been picked on because she was acting differently than the majority, so she knows how difficult it can become to be different from the others. Technically, you’re going through something similar than she’s lived. You’re just kinda having it much rougher than she did.”

“I get it now,” the hybrid said, finally understanding where the stallion was going with his little anecdote. It was also now that she noticed that she was still rubbing the same plate with the towel for who knew how long and that Thunder had drained the water in the sink sometime during the conversation, and she blushed lightly as she put it in its place with the others and hung the towel on the stove’s handle, the unicorn managing to resist the urge to chuckle at the scene.

“Ssso, do you really think your sssissster will like me?” the lamia asked Thunderbolt as they returned in the living room and seated themselves on the sofa.

“I’m sure she will, but we can find out if you want. Summer’s a month away, as are her vacation, since schools are closed during Summer. I’ll write her a letter and ask her if she’d like to come visit for a week. It’s also been a long while since I last saw her, so it’d be a good opportunity to catch up with her.”

Emerald smiled faintly at the offer, nodding her head in consent. “That would be great, actually.” She was still nervous at the prospect of meeting somepony new, and that nervousness was tied with her excitement about having a possible new friend.