Siblings.

Hunter evacuated the comforts of his home to escape the ever so rising problem, to take a stroll through Ponyville to clear his mind of any unsavory thoughts and come back with a more sound consciousness. But his attempts to purge his mind of those negative ideals only forced them to come fluttering back in mountain sized flocks, invading every corner of his mind.

He eventually began to seek refuge from the population of the town and venture into the park. His efforts, however, were thwarted since today was Saturday, and Hearts and Hooves Day was fast approaching, all hallmarks of a swarming sea of couples expressing their undying love for each other. Just the sight of a joyous couple was enough to send him into a near murderous rage. His fury was rising to unprecedented levels, eventually forcing him to relegate himself to a more secluded and “creepy” part of the park. It was here that he finally let loose.

“GOOD FUCKING GOD!!!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, punching a tree hard enough that the leaves fell. “Just fucking great!” He said at a much lower tone than prior, but still loud enough for others in the immediate vicinity to hear.

Hunter continued his unadulterated assault on the tree, shouting and growling incoherent and unclear sentences. Expressing his unhinged fury in the most uncalled and uncouth manner one could witness. He didn't stop assaulting the tree even when blood began to slip through his gloves and painted the tree and grass around him.

However, his righteous indignation was halted soon as the authoritative hand was placed on his shoulder. “So, you're the source of all this ruckus.” The commanding and looking female voice said.

Hunter took a glance behind him and was surprised to see a police officer was the source of his assault ending shortly. “Is there a problem officer?” He asked, giving her his full attention.

The officer cleared her throat and straightened her aviator sunglasses. “Just here on a noise complaint.” She explained, eyeing the tree behind the colt, raising her eyebrow causing Hunter to turn to it and immediately pale as he saw the hole he had forged. “You wouldn't mind explaining this to me, would you?” It was phrased as a question, but the underlying tone snaking its way into her voice let it be known that she wasn't going to take silence for an answer.

The Pegasus sighed, scratching the back of his head. “I would say, but it's pretty long and brevity isn't one of my strong suits, I don't want to take up all your time.” He confessed.

The officer shook her head. “Just got off duty, got all the time in the world.” She said, pointing to the police car not too far from where they were stationed. “If it really is a long story, I'm more than willing to give you a ride.” She offered.

Hunter nodded. “Sure, if it isn't too much trouble.” He agreed.

With a nod, the mare led the Pegsasus to her vehicle and drove off.

(10 minutes later)

“...And that's why I was beating that tree to death.” Hunter finally concluded the tail of his morning, ending it by crossing his arms over his chest.

The officer, whose name was Straight Shot, sighed, removing her glasses from her face. “You weren't kidding when you said brevity isn't your strong point.” She jokes, laughing briefly. “But on a serious note, I can see that your problem with your brother and his girlfriend boils down to one thing: lack of communication.” She stated.

Hunter was adequately perplexed. “Lack of communication?” He repeated, asking for elaboration without explicitly saying so.

Straight nodded. “To explain my point better, I want to tell you about my own family relationship problems: mainly, my younger brother Bean Bar.” She started. “To make a long story short, my younger sister, Jade Note, got a boyfriend and they bullied Bean relentlessly. The only difference between his situation and your situation is that instead of occasionally slipping under your covers at night, Jade and her boyfriend straight up invaded Bean’s room.” She said. “I'm talking about full on fucking in his room, covering his sheets and shit in cum without lifting a finger to clean it up. The thing is, they did it because they knew it was pissing him off.” She said.

Her tale captivated Hunter’s attention. “And what happened?” He inquired.

She laughed, albeit briefly and solemnly. “He started sleeping everywhere but his own room, eventually couldn't take it anymore and pulled a disappearing act that’d make Hoofdini jealous.” She explained, a heavy regret in her voice. “As a police officer of 4 decades, I’ve seen many cases where people just up and leave their entire life behind. And while finding these people may be hard, there are clues they may have sprinkled throughout their life leading to their disappearance. But not Bean…” She trailed off, wiping a stray tear streaming down her face. “When we found out, we tried everything in the book but there was absolutely nothing we could use as a lead. He deleted all of his social media accounts, bought a new phone and made a new number-one no one knew about-and just up and left without a trace.” She barely held back a silent sob. “The thing is, he left in broad daylight, it was the last day of school and he was going to the graduation party at his high school. No one had the time to attend as he wasn't liked so he used that opportunity to skip town, and probably the country too.” She said.

Hunter, although not having experienced the same pain she had however long this event happened, could still grasp an understanding of the feeling she was exhibiting. “How did your family cope?” He questioned.

She takes a deep breath before responding. “We all grieved, even my sister, as even if she was doing it to deliberately piss Bean off, she never thought it'd be the cause of him leading. Of course, I theorized that it wasn't just that that caused his leaving.” She explained. “That didn't stop me from beating her everyday though.” That sentence caused Hunter’s eyes to open wide as she balls her fist. “I knew that she wasn't solely at fault, I was too for not putting my foot down harder, even if I don't think that would've done much, but at the time I was going through a lot of bullshit and needed an outlet to release all that anger.” She sighed. “Although, we did eventually find him, even if it was by pure coincidence because one of his classmates was dicking around with their phone dialing random numbers. It was a miracle that they dialed Bean’s and a bigger miracle that their phone automatically saves the number.” She quickly added, putting her sunglasses back on.

The Pegasus nodded, remaining silent for a good minute or two, giving the officer some time to let her feelings simmer down. “So, how does this come down to a lack of communication?” He questioned.

She shrugged, turning off the ignition on the car and opening the door. “I'll explain over a cup of coffee and something sweet to eat.” She offered.

Nodding as the prospect of being treated to a meal and being given some advice on how to handle his current conundrum, Hunter exited the police car along with Straight and entered the cafe they stopped by.

Once the two were led to their seats and adequately served, conversation bloomed once more. “Wow, I’ve seen this cafe a lot but never knew they had all these kinds of baked goods.” He examined the foreign Japaneighse lemon cake in front of him.

Straight nodded. “While the selection of goods aren't as plentiful as SugarCube Corner, they more than make up for it in a variety of national and foreign goods they have.” She explained. “Everything from the farthest north to recreating ancient Europonian cultures, if you want to try some exotic coffee, tea, or baked goods, then this is the place to be.” She added.

The teen nodded, taking a sip from the tea he had ordered, immediately becoming intrigued by it. “I’ll have to show Mother Calypso this, she’ll love it.” He commented.

The officer cocked an eyebrow before shaking her head. “But back to business.” She said, garnering the Pegasus’s undivided focus. “One thing that I need to clear up is that when communicating with your brother and his partner, you can't be vague or too angry when doing it, otherwise they’ll be less inclined to comply with your demands.” She started. “You have to be concise, to the point, and one thing you have to remember is that not every relationship is going to be perfect and compromises will be made, from the families, friends, and of course the partners themselves.” She said.

“Compromise?” He repeated again, requesting elaboration.

“Well for example: the friends of the partners will have to learn that their friend has a significant other which they will spend a lot of time with. And on the flip side, the partners have to understand that their loved ones can't spend every breathing moment with them since they do have friends and family.” She began. “Communication is vital when discussing spending time, especially at the beginning stages of a relationship so that the friends will be assured that they won't be left behind just because their friend wants to have sexy fun times, and on the partner can be assured that they can spend time with their friends without their partner being too clingy or obsessive.” She explained.

Taking a sip of his tea once more, Hunter mulled over what she said for a moment. “So, what do I do about my brother and his girlfriend?” He inquired.

Straight shrugged. “Well, first you want to ease them into the conversation, I thought come in screaming like a banshee, they’ll feel more inclined to respond in that manner, and when you have people tearing each other's throats out, the likelihood of a peaceful, or even favorable, compromise being reached is practically impossible.” She informed. “I don't know the exact state of your family, but just take things slow and easy and it should start to turn around for you.” She advised.

Hunter contemplated on the advice she had just given him before nodding, subsequently thanking her for helping him. After the cafe, the two companions decided to spend some time together until Straight had to drop Hunter off at his home.