Broken Families (Rewritten)
"That should be the last of them." Leonard said as he loaded the last ball in the back of his Kia Soul.
From the side of the driveway, Cherry Blossom, an eastern unicorn with a pink coat, red mane, blue eyes, and a cherry blossom for her cutie mark, watched as her husband, Leonard Silva, and his brother, Matthew Silva, had loaded up the catapult and target balls in the car. Leonard and Cherry Blossom had met over a year ago when she emigrated from Equestria to find a new life. Months later they had started dating, and the day after Leonard had become a Nephilum was the day they had finally married. Most of Leonard's family had approved of their marriage, but the same could not be said about Cherry Blossom's family. Regardless of what her family thought of her choice, she was perfectly happy with her new life, and she loved her husband dearly. "I got the catapult all loaded up and ready to go, brother." Matthew said.
Leonard nodded in response. "Right. Just one last thing before we leave for target practice." He said.
Turning around, Leonard walked up to the side of the driveway to near where Cherry Blossom was, as the unicorn mare stood up on her hind hooves, so that her husband could hold her fore hooves. "Do you know when you'll be back, Leonard?" Cherry Blossom asked.
"We plan on going to get something to eat after target practice, Cherry." Leonard answered. "So we should be back in a couple of hours."
Lighting up her horn, Cherry Blossom nudged Leonard in closer to give him a kiss, which he returned in kind. "Just be careful out there, Leonard." Cherry said after they parted. "I don't want you to get ambushed again."
Leonard cupped Cherry's cheek. "I can take care of myself Cherry. Don't you worry." Leonard said, as he kissed her forehead. "Besides, I got my brother with me. He's former Navy you know."
Cherry Blossom chuckled. "Even so." She said.
Leonard let go of Cherry's legs, letting her going back to standing on all fours. Afterwards, Leonard walked back to his car, and entered the driver's seat. Starting it up, Leonard gave a wave at Cherry Blossom as he backed out of the driveway, with his brother, Matthew, who was sitting the passenger seat, following suit. Cherry waved her hoof at them as they drove off. Letting out a sigh, Cherry Blossom turned around as she made her way to the backyard through the house. "Well, those flowers aren't gonna water themselves." She said, as she trotted through the house.
Upon reaching the backyard, Cherry Blossom lit up her horn to levitate the gardening hose, along with the fertilizer as well as turning the faucet. Cherry Blossom had been working on this flower garden for months, and with human technology, she found that they would grow faster, and healthier than with traditional methods back at home. Most of the flowers were from Equestria, while others were from Earth. The ones from Equestria all had medicinal properties, which she was growing for making potions and medicines, while the ones from Earth were purely for aesthetic purposes. Of course, she also experimented mixing up Equestrian flowers with Earth flowers, to see which were compatible with which when making medicines and potions.
As Cherry Blossom was tending to her garden, she heard a banging sound coming from the neighbor's backyard. No doubt it was Cecilia throwing her ball at the fence, though Cherry Blossom noticed that it sounded like Cecilia was using more force than usual. Curious, Cherry Blossom put down the gardening hose and fertilizer, and made her way to the west fence. Using her magic to place a box at the foot of the fence, Cherry Blossom stepped up on the box, and stood upon it with her hind hooves to look over the fence. As she suspected, Cecilia Patrick, her neighbors' 14 year-old daughter, was throwing her ball at the fence with a stern look on her face. "You're not supposed to talk to me you know." Cecilia said as she threw the ball again, not even bothering to look at Cherry Blossom.
"And you're not supposed to talk to me either." Cherry Blossom replied.
Cecilia responded with a huff. While Cherry Blossom was still getting used to reading human expressions, she could tell by the sound of Cecilia's voice that something was bothering her. "Is something bothering you, Cecilia?" Cherry Blossom asked.
"Tch. Am I that obvious?" Cecilia asked as she threw the ball again.
"Well, you're clearly throwing the ball at the fence with more force than you usually do." Cherry Blossom said. "And you just spoke with some venom in your voice."
Cecilia didn't respond, and just continued throwing the ball at the fence. However, a moment later, she stopped, and closed her eyes. "My Mom and Dad are getting a divorce." Cecilia finally said.
Cherry Blossom's eyes widened in shock. She knew that Cecilia parents were constantly getting into arguments, but she never thought it would get to this point. "I'm... I'm so sorry to hear that Cecilia." She said solemnly.
"Tch. Don't be." Cecilia replied. "They've been fighting each other for months, ever since the announcement of the Transhuman Potion."
Cherry Blossom raised an eyebrow at Cecilia's remark. "Why though?" She asked. “Why have they been fighting each other since then?
Letting out a sigh, Cecilia threw the ball again, but this time with not as much force as she was throwing it earlier. "My dad wants to join the Mars Initiative, while my mom wants to become a Transhuman." She answered as she threw the ball again. "They also want me to take one of their sides."
Cherry Blossom's eyes widened for a moment before turning into a frown. "They’re making you choose?” She asked.
"Yes." Cecilia answered. "Originally, we were all going to join the Mars Initiative." She added as she threw the ball again. “But when the Transhuman Potion was announced, my Mom had a change of heart, and now she wants us to stay on Earth. But my dad doesn’t want to stay in the middle of what he thinks is the Apocalypse.”
Cherry Blossom blinked in response. She could hardly believe what she had just heard from Cecilia. While Cherry Blossom and Cecilia’s father were hardly on good terms with each other, his wife had at least been willing to be friends with her. Cherry could tell that despite that, the couple loved each other dearly. And now, their marriage was about to split, all because of the Transhuman Potion. The very potion that saved the life of her husband, Leonard. "I'm... Sorry to hear that. I can't imagine how hard this must be for you." Cherry Blossom said.
Cecilia threw the ball one last time, and didn't bother trying to catch it, instead just letting it bounce past her. "Its harder than I thought it was going to be I'll say that much." She replied as she put her hands in her pockets.
"Cecilia?! Are you in the backyard?!" Cecilia's mother, Margaret Patrick, called out from the house.
"I guess that's my queue to leave." Cherry Blossom said. "It was nice talking to you again, Cecilia."
"Same here Cherry. You're a good friend. No matter what my dad says." Cecilia replied.
"Cecilia?! Are you talking to that screwheaded horse again?" Cecilia's father, Lucas Patrick, called out.
"No dad! I was just talking to myself!" Cecilia answered as she walked towards her house.
Cherry Blossom let out a snort as she stepped down from the box. 'Screwheaded Horse'? Like she hadn't of heard that before. While Cherry Blossom hoped that Cecilia would be able to convince her parents to compromise, from what she told her, that didn't look possible at the moment. Regardless, Cherry Blossom hoped that things would turn out okay for Cecilia in spite of the hardships that she was going through right now.
