Hollow Hope

"There we are." Ramooh pushed open the door, revealing the dimly-lit street outside the motel. Shuffling figures lurked in the alley across from it, but they seemed idle and disinterested--or perhaps simply unaware.

"I suggest you find a room and sleep. It may not feel like it, but it has already been hours since the illusion set in." Ramooh made his way up a flight of stairs.

"How? I don't have a key to--"

He was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Cloudy leaned down, grabbed another rock, and hurled it through the window of the manager's office, breaking the other half of it; she reached over the shards, unlocked the window, and lifted it, hopping through. A moment later, she hopped back out with a pair of keys, and pointed to one of the second-floor rooms.

"I'm...well, I'm not sorry that I hit you," Cloudy said as she rolled over. She had immediately claimed the bed, and Sunny was sitting on the loveseat across from it. "But I am sorry for...for, y'know..." She scowled, and groaned, and shoved her face into a pillow. "What am I try'na say?" she growled.

"Well, don't ask me. I'm as confused as you are!"

"Are you?"

"Yep. When I realized you were my daughter, I was--well, I have to admit, I was expecting a right hook."

"Heh."

"But I was also proud."

"...Really?" Cloudy asked, sitting up.

"Really." Sunny hopped off the sofa, and sat next to Cloudy. "You're a strong young mare who doesn't lose her head, even when the end of the world happens. If I hadn't--" He swallowed, and took a deep breath. "Your mother--she did a good job," he said, and he left it at that.

"Thanks. I think." Cloudy sighed. "But now I'm even more confused."

"How so?" Sunny asked--and he nearly jumped out of his fur when she leaned against him, and wrapped a hoof around his shoulders.

"Before I found out about--y'know--I thought you were a real nice guy. You gave a damn about me. And even though you aren't much of a tough guy--"

"Hey!" Sunny laughed softly, and patted her shoulder. She laughed, too.

"...you really pulled it together when things went bad," she said, with an uncharacteristically gentle smile. "You were strong where it counts. And, y'know, you still are."

He squeezed her gently. She sighed, and pressed into him for a moment.

"...well! We should get some sleep. I'll take the couch," Sunny said, letting go of Cloudy.

"What? That tiny thing? It won't even fit me!" she shouted.

"But there's only one bed," Sunny muttered lamely.

"We'll share it. Sheesh."

Sunny was wide awake.

He had very pointedly laid down facing away from Cloudy, but there was still only half a foot of space separating them, and not even a blanket.

Her side of the bed was warmer, and he could tell even from six inches away.

What he wanted to do was--well, several things: he wanted to jump out of bed and curl up on the couch; he wanted to roll over and wrap his hooves around Cloudy; he wanted to--

His train of thought derailed, messily, as he felt Cloudy shift around behind him. A few moments later, his train of thought burst into flames as she wrapped her hooves around his barrel, and then it exploded when he felt her breath on his neck. It was the complete and total manifestation of the absolute nightmare scenario--Cloudy not only did not mind having him in her bed, she seemed to want him there...

Did he even know what was going through her head? Maybe she was simply cold. Maybe she wanted entirely platonic snuggling. Certainly a hormonal young mare would be reasonable enough to know that he was multiple decades her senior, that it would be completely inappropriate to--

Her hoof was sliding down his barrel, along his belly. She was moving slowly, but she was moving, and in exactly the wrong direction. Sunny had to do something--he couldn't just let her. Could he? It would be wrong, on every level. He would have to stop her. But what if she was simply dreaming--what if he woke her up, and had to explain that he was trying to stop her from--

He shook his head gently, and placed his hoof on hers. No, he had to at least try to make this right--he guided her hoof back up along his body, and held it at his chest--she can cuddle, as much as she likes in fact, but that place was off-limits. Cloudy stirred in her 'sleep'; it almost sounded like she grumbled something, but Sunny didn't hear it.

He laid there, breathing slowly, as he carefully tried to disengage from her. She was still fast asleep, of course, but he didn't particularly want to wake her up, and he kind of needed to do some thinking.

After prying her hooves free--the filly had a shockingly strong grip--he slipped silently off the bed. The motion felt familiar; he had often slipped away from Gilda in the early hours of the morning, when he had business to attend to.

It had made it easy to sneak off with his secretary.

He cursed under his breath, and stepped up to the window, peering through the blinds. Unfortunately, there were no monsters there to take his mind off of things. He turned back toward Cloudy, and watched as her chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm.

She was a beautiful young mare. He hadn't really paid attention to this, up to now, but after last night, after she--he shook his head, and cleared his thoughts. After last night, he couldn't ignore her anymore. He wanted to run--to get her out of his head, by putting the entire town between them. How could he continue protecting her, when he saw her like--

"Sunny?"

She yawned, propping herself up on one foreleg, letting the other drape across herself. It was entirely accidental, Sunny was sure of this.

"Oh, there you are. Ya scared me." She smiled at him.

"Sorry. I just--I had to think."

"Yeah?" She smirked at him, and rolled over, tossing her mane. Now he wasn't so sure it was an accident.

"I was trying," he muttered, "to work out where my wife is."

"Oh." Cloudy frowned slightly. "Guess we'd better go find Torque, too."

"You said you were crossing the bridge, right?"

"Yeah! She was still there when we got to the sign. Do you think she's still there?"

"Worth a try. We can look for Petunia on the way there. I haven't the foggiest where she'd be, anyway..."