Crystal Haze

3
"In the Backdraft..."

How the stresses of the world are so easily forgotten when one is at rest. Far away, in a warm, dark place... Cloudfire finally felt at peace. His surroundings, quiet and happy, held their silence. He was without pain, longing, or fear. Relaxation cradled him while safety dulled him. Derpy, the family, his job... none of that mattered right now. Only this.

In the distance, he heard a noise... a faint thumping, like a heartbeat. It quickly grew closer... louder... faster... then stopped. A familiar voice cut through his bliss, evaporating it entirely by the second word:

"Dad says you're napping!"

Derpy was speaking to him. He knew that right away. His time spent sleeping seemed almost instantaneous, though he did feel a tad more rested. He wanted more, though... but it seemed like he wasn't going to get it. He struggled to open his eyes, even though he was already pretty much awake:

"Yeah... how did passing out the invitations go?"

"Really well!"

"Excellent... I'll be right down."

Derpy looked awkwardly at the floor for a moment. Predicting a pattern he wasn't in the mood for, Cloudfire prepared to ask her what the problem was... when she finally spoke up:

"Dad says to ask if you feel like going... why wouldn't you feel like going?"

The Earth Pony took in a deep breath:

"Derpy, I didn't sleep well last night... but I'll be fine."

"Okee!" The Pegasus smiled at him. "Dad also says to get your saddlebags!"

Before he could even answer, she ran quickly downstairs. Cloudfire heard a familiar succession of hoof beats followed by a bang -- he knew that sound, and could picture her nearly tumbling towards the end. Left in silence, he stretched... feeling a bit less stiff. He then grabbed his saddlebags in the corner and headed downstairs, where he found two smiling ponies waiting by the door.

They waste no time...

"Ah, Cloudfire," said Daddy Hooves, holding up a blanket and basket with his magic. "Help me carry a few things and we'll be on out way!"

"No problem," answered the Earth Pony, opening up his saddle bags for loading.

He took one look at the items being levitated towards him -- it was more than he was expecting, but he smiled all the same.

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The three ponies went out slowly trotting their way to Sweet Apple Acres in the afternoon sun. Derpy and Daddy Hooves chatted in the front of the group while Cloudfire lagged in the back. Though he was still quite tired and kept his head down the whole way, the Earth Pony was mostly unphased the bright light of the day. He was also enjoying a work-free day in the fresh air. He easily carried the saddle bags and picnic basket -- his bags stuffed with a couple of thick blankets and plastic plates. Daddy Hooves had offered him help, but he declined... in fact, he insisted on taking everything himself:

"I'm fine, and if it does get heavy... I'll let you know," he said.

"Alright, Cloudfire."

With the basket in his mouth, carrying all that stuff by himself was an excuse to not talk to anypony. In fact, he didn't pay much attention to either of them the whole way out. His mind was far away. Not on anything in particular... he was just plain tired and not in the mood. He wanted to be back in bed, but he wouldn't have told anypony that. It would ruin the day. Besides, he'd hardly seen Daddy Hooves out in the daylight before, and the older Unicorn sparkled in a way Cloudfire could not have predicted. Cloudfire had never seen him so happy, so up-beat, in all the time he'd known him. He actually... kind of resembled an older, extroverted version of the Earth Pony on a good day. Today was not a good day.

When they finally got to the Acres, Daddy Hooves was the first to notice Apple Jack and Big Mac working off in the fields by the barn:

"Wait here, you two," he said to his daughter and future son-in-law. "There's something I need to discuss with them alone."

The older Unicorn then slowly cantered over to the farm ponies by himself, looking back at the two fiancées and waving before exchanging pleasantries with the Apples at work. Cloudfire wasn't too interested in the particulars of what they were talking about, looking to Derpy as her dad waved. She smiled and waved back. He did the same. The Earth Pony remembered enough of an earlier conversation with Daddy Hooves to playfully tease his fiancée (which he did only so she wouldn't ask him why he was being so quiet):

"If he's talking about what I think he's talking about... you're going to be quite happy Derpy."

Innocently, she looked up at her sleepy companion:

"What'd ya mean?"

He smiled big:

"You'll see."

Keeping up the appearances of not being exhausted certainly was exhausting.

Sure enough, once Daddy Hooves came back there was a certain look of... satisfaction about the way walked. With the distance, it was hard to see his face for sure, but both ponies could tell he was either good mood or genuinely excited. Cloudfire would've guessed right.

Daddy Hooves walked up to his daughter with a triumphant smile on his face:

"Derpy, I want you to answer me very directly... okay?"

"Yeah!"

"I mean it... no horse pucky this time. I'm going to ask you a yes or no question."

"Okee!"

Satisfied with the one word answers he was getting from his daughter, Daddy Hooves took a breath:

"Do you want to have your wedding here? The Apples will allow it."

The gray Pegasus paused... then looked at the ground, playing with her hooves. She rocked on her feet, not answering her father.

Daddy Hooves was about to repeat the question when he was surprised by what was said next:

"Come on Derpy," Snapped Cloudfire, finally losing his patience. "Your dad and I have been pretty understanding when it comes to you not wanting to make any decisions about this. We had wedding planners at the house today and we are running out of time. We are both very tired of this. You're not just holding up me and your dad, you're holding up your friends. Just tell him what you want already!"

Derpy looked up at her fiancée as though she could start to cry. There was a hint of anger in his tone that warranted a passing glance from Dad. The surprisingly angry look in his normally mellow blue eyes justified it, yet what he said hadn't exactly been out of line. Unfortunately the Unicorn was at a loss.

"Well, Derpy?" Daddy Hooves sighed. "Just say yes or no."

She answered softly:

"Yeah..."

Cloudfire couldn't hear her, replying curtly:

"What was that?"

"Yeah..." She said, again, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. "I'd like that."

"Thank you!" The Earth Pony exclaimed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Was it really that hard to make a decision?"

"Hey, be nice to my daughter," snapped the older Unicorn. "This is the first time I've ever seen you like this, Cloudfire... it's disturbing."

The Earth Pony immediately flushed red, the anger leaving his face:

"Sorry! I'm just... frustrated with all this. Very, very frustrated."

Daddy Hooves forced a smile, patting his daughter on the back:

"Understandably so, I guess." Father and daughter started off, leaving the Earth Pony to follow. "We can have the wedding here, but we'll worry about that later. Right now let's have some fun and find that spot I've been talking about."

* * *

Lead Daddy Hooves, the two went behind the farm house and into the forest. Instantly it went from sunny to dark and lush. Cloudfire kept his distance behind them, keeping his eyes forward, looking for the end of the trees. After about a hundred or so feet of woods they came to a huge clearing, stretching for miles:

"It's at the edge of this meadow!" Exclaimed Daddy Hooves, sounding like something of a tour guide. "Just a bit over a mile this way... it's technically on Sweet Apple Acres property, but just barely. They won't be planting any apple trees there, the surrounding woods are too thick. Me and the Mrs. loved this place for that reason."

Derpy giggled, looking around the meadow by her father. Cloudfire smirked in the back, still totting all the baggage:

"Sounds neat," he muttered through the basket.

Daddy and Derpy continued talking while Cloudfire lagged, looking around at the meadow. It was sparsely populated by trees and brush... very open and green. If he were a Pegasus, he'd love to land here before going back to Ponyville... there was nothing around for miles, except maybe a few animals and the distant farm house. It would be a great place to transition. He sighed.

If only...

It was a thought he hadn't had for a long time. He hadn't missed it, but now... he'd prefer to be alone, even with those thoughts.

* * *

Just like Daddy Hooves had said, it was a good mile before they finally got to their destination... which is nothing for even the most out of shape of ponies. Their guide stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Earth Pony:

"Here we are!"

Cloudfire's eyes shifted around the site, taking it all in. The Unicorn chose to say nothing after that, allowing the eyes of the two ponies to see for themselves what made this particular spot so special:

Isolated perfectly on a mound out of the way of rainfall beside the bottom of a steep ravine, the campsite had many features flowing into one and other -- a canopy of thickly entangled branches serving to not only shield it from the suns rays, but also block out the wind. Aiding with this were the cliffs to the immediate east, complete with a small cave at their base. Externally the site had a cozy vibe to it -- it was open and lush, much like the meadow, but there were no scattered shrubs. Instead the grass grew the tallest and thickest in a knoll near the center beside the mound, forming a patch roughly the size of an adult pony curled up.

Cloudfire knew from the two long, supine logs positioned horizontally on either side of the patch that was where the fire burned... the grass was always the greenest where the fire lie. The logs looked old but sturdy -- they were made for sitting and he welcomed that idea.

While Cloudfire sat and vegged, Derpy looked around at the campsite in awe. Above her the canopy did its job -- the light of the early afternoon sun was dim and broken into shadowy fragments where it hit the ground. There were no sudden gusts of wind, but rather a gentle breeze filtered through the air. Laying down in the grass, she looked up into the clear blue sky and smiled. The minute difference made it feel it very out of the way and special compared to the places they'd been walking. Like it was made for a couple ponies who just wanted a little space and privacy.

Derpy got up, curiously looking over towards the cave. Its mouth was nearly as high as Cloudfire was tall, wide as he was broad.

She approached it, bellowing "Hello!" into it's opening. She noticed a faint echo as her father approached. "What's in there?" She asked her Dad, while Cloudfire stretched in the background.

"That goes pretty deep," he replied. "Probably over 200 hundred feet. If you go deep enough, you're liable to run into run into snakes or bats. It's too narrow for anything much larger."

"Can I go exploring in there with Cloudfire?"

Daddy Hooves glanced back at his daughter's fiancée, half asleep on his log, and chuckled:

"You're certainly welcome to adventure with anyone, Derpy. I'll come if you like... but we don't have a flash light and you're probably just going to run into something icky. This cave's here if your tent breaks and it rains, just don't go in too deep and you'll be fine. Me and your mom had to use it once when it started raining hard unexpectedly on our first trip. It was a lot of fun."

Derpy stepped away from the cave and smiled:

"Okee-dokie!"

The older Unicorn casually wandered over to Cloudfire, who was resting with his head in his hooves like he had a migraine:

"Maybe catch a few winks before we eat?"

"I'm fine."

"Well, then... shall I show you the rest?"

"Fine."

The Earth Pony got up and began to follow the two other ponies, continuing to keep his head down but listening all the same. Daddy Hooves was... concerned by his behavior, but just chalked it up to nerves and tiredness. He didn't let his concern be known to either of them, and instead he continued on with the tour, again with the flair of a paid guide:

"There's a pond by the end of the ravine. If you're going to swim in it, be careful... it goes well over your head, Cloudfire."

"Got it," said the Earth Pony.

Daddy Hooves went on:

"We can go over to the top of the cliff... but take care, it's a good 35 feet down."

He waited for the Earth Pony's response, but noticed he just stood there not looking too terribly engaged by anything going on around him. He waited, and waited, and waited... until he finally asked directly:

"Shall we go up?"

"Okay," was Cloudfire's flat and immediate reply.

They ascended the cliffs by a trail opposite end of the ravine where they entered. It wasn't exactly a steep climb, but the trail was narrow and a made a few sharp curves. It took maybe 30 seconds for them to get to the top, and once they did... Cloudfire was pulled out of his daze by what he saw only to be rendered speechless. Looking over the ravine, so close to the edge... he felt like he was in the air. The sun sparkling against the water below was memorizing.

"It's beautiful." Derpy said, looking out into the foliage.

"It is," replied Daddy Hooves, looking over at Cloudfire. "Thought you might like it."

"Oh, I do," he said, laying down by the edge and looking out. "It's wonderful."

The Unicorn stretched:

"Let's get a good view, then go back down... we can have some lunch then enjoy a leisurely trek to the bus stop."

Derpy looked disappointed when he said that:

"I don't want to go yet," she said.

"We'll be here in a matter of days, Derpy." Said Cloudfire, getting up and stretching. "I promise you, we're gonna ha-" He shook his head. "We're going to make some- ... We're gunna--"

Daddy Hooves, not a pony to play around about such things, got immediately concerned:

"Are you alright?"

Cloudfire smiled:

"Oh, I'm feeling a bit... okay, I guess. How're you dad? I'm fine. Wonderful."

The Earth Pony's legs began to buckle as he fell down to his side, closing his eyes... he didn't remember a thing after that.