Cloud Cutter wore an expressionless stare that evening as he and Rose trotted out of town, through the snow, and toward the lone house. He kept his eyes straight ahead, trying his best to keep his head clear. Darryl had told him to think with his mind and not his emotions, so he was trying not to allow any of his numerous concerns show through. If not for the bead of sweat rolling down his face in the falling snow, a random onlooker might think he was successful. Rose knew he was anxious, but she knew she did not need to pester him about what he was supposed to do. Darryl had been clear and direct. Any extra words from her would have been a disservice to the young stallion.

He followed her faithfully, half a step behind her so that his head was even with her shoulders as he trotted on her left. She led the way up the stairs and opened the door. Cutter followed her, shutting the door behind himself.

Rose wasted not a moment, "I'm home!" She yelled from the front door. Cutter said nothing. Rose received a call from the kitchen, "I'm almost done with dinner."

Rose happily trotted through the foyer, down the hallway a touch, and into the kitchen. She raised her nose and sniffed the air appreciatively, "Mmm! Is that spaghetti?" She paused again and sniffed some more, "What is that other smell? I've smelled it before, but can't place it. Some kind of meat?"

Vaiawa nodded from her position in front of the stove, "Yep! I rolled beef meatballs," she held up her right forehoof, "The smallest hole is perfect for it..."

"That's what she said!" The jeer came from the living room.

Rose recognized the voice as belonging to Artex. She rolled her eyes and asked, "Has he been drinking any?"

Vaiawa nodded, "A fair bit. He had trouble sleeping last night and you know he sleeps better if he's tipsy." She peered into the sauce pan, "The sauce should be ready in about ten minutes. I decided to add two extra cloves of diced garlic this time. That along with the 'Texas Toast' Artex made, should mean an extra few minutes of brushing tonight before bed."

Rose nodded and trotted to the icebox. She pulled out a bottle of New Humansville Apple Rum and headed into the living room. Cutter followed behind her, not saying a word. Rose plopped down onto the floor and uncorked the bottle with her teeth then took a long pull. Lowering the bottle, she set it on the floor and let out a hearty belch.

Cutter slowly made his way into the living room and laid down on the floor close to the back door. Razor Wit was lying next to Artex in his overstuffed chair while Oriana laid on the couch with Mason and Visceral Slaughter right next to each other on the other end of the couch. The fireplace was hosting a merry fire piled with four hefty logs. The atmosphere was comfortable for all except the young Pegasus stallion.

Razor looked to have been drinking with Artex, as her cheeks were obviously flushed. She placed her left forehoof on the man's leg and giggled, "I know what you should do about a job!" She joyfully exclaimed, "You should make sofas!"

The statement caused all in attendance to stare at her in confusion. She elaborated, "Yeah! You could call yourself the Sofa King! Your storefront could say that everything inside was 'Sofa King good!'"

Silence reigned for a few moments before Artex burst out laughing. He laughed and laughed and laughed. He laughed so hard he curled up and rolled off the chair, and ended up rolling on the floor laughing hysterically. He clutched his stomach and cried out, "I... can't... breathe! Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

The only other individual in the room who apparently got the joke was Rose. She chuckled merrily, but spared everybody else the theatrics. Cutter was nonplussed by the statement. Mason and Visceral Slaughter both looked confused while Oriana merely rolled her eyes, "Good grief!" She exclaimed. "I am not certain I want to know what made it so funny."

Artex finally managed to get his laughter under control, "You... you probably don't, Ori." He wiped the tears from his eyes, "Whew! Man, now I need to pee." He shakily rose to his feet and headed toward the closest bathroom, which was connected to the living room. As he stumbled away, Razor levitated the bottle Artex had been nursing and took a swig.

Visceral Slaughter spoke up, "I hope you aren't picking up any bad habits, Razor."

Razor shot her mother a smirk and took another gulp, gargling it before she swallowed, "Naw, I'm fine. Just loosening up before bed."

From the bathroom Artex balled up laughing again. The entire room was treated to the sound of him flailing his arms and legs against the walls and door as he rolled around on the floor a second time. He opened the door, still lying on the floor, "Hey! What's the difference between lust, love, and showing off?" He did not wait for an answer before he loudly proclaimed, "Spitting, swallowing, and GARGLING! Ahahahahahahahaha!" He was left gasping for breath as he continued laughing.

Razor Wit, Rose, and Oriana turned beet red at the insinuation, while Mason and Visceral Slaughter merely looked confused. Cutter did not understand the joke, but he decided not to say anything. Mason looked to his daughter, "What was that about?"

Razor blushed even harder, "Erm... Human... cultural... thing. He's being crude right now."

Mason shot her an amused look and prodded, "Does this have anything to do with 'switching lanes'?"

Every mare in the room suddenly blushed. Razor stammered out her reply, "Well it's... not... TOTALLY unrelated."

Rose piped up, "Yeah, except it involves the other end of the mare!"

Silence encompassed the room again, briefly, before Visceral Slaughter's eyes widened. Her cheeks darkened to nearly blood red, "Oh my!" She uttered breathlessly, "That... oh dear... that's uh... VERY... oh how do I say this... very um... personal, isn't it?"

Razor continued blushing underneath her fur, "Humans are much more open about things like that, remember? Artex tends to only make jokes of that nature around those he is comfortable with. Take it as a compliment."

Mason hummed thoughtfully, "It does give you some interesting ideas though..."

"DAD!" Razor screeched.

Visceral Slaughter, feeling mischievous, grinned broadly at her daughter, "I think you may need to wash the sheets a few times after we leave."

Razor's eyes bulged, "Nope! Nope, nope, nope, nope, NOPE!" She levitated the bottle up to her mouth and gulped six times in quick succession.

Cutter sighed but continued to say nothing. He felt as though he was invading a warm family time. He did not feel welcomed or wanted so he stayed where he lay and said nothing.

Razor suddenly perked up and looked around, "Rosey, where's my brother? I thought he was coming with you."

Rose motioned with her head, "He's laying down by the back door, waiting for somebody to acknowledge him."

Razor, realizing her brother was there, called out to him, "Cutter, come on out."

"I'm not hiding, you know." Cloud Cutter said briskly, "I'm being unobtrusive."

"What you're being is un-social..." Razor began.

Mason turned his head and looked over the back of the couch. The two stallions locked eyes for a moment before Mason looked back to the room, "Is it a little warm in here or is it just me?"

Cutter caught onto the hint. His initial reaction was to say nothing and have his father come to him, but Darryl's words about confronting a problem rang in his ears. He stifled a heavy sigh and spoke up, "It is." He stood up quickly, "I'm going to stand outside for a few minutes, might help me cool off." He trotted toward the front door.

Mason got up off the couch and followed him, "That sounds like a good idea. We won't be long." He called over his shoulder to the rest of the room.

Cutter was already standing on the front porch when Mason closed the door behind himself. He stood next to his son, but neither spoke for several moments. Neither one wanted to be the one to break the silence and dig into the issue between them. Cutter decided to take the lead, "Why didn't you say goodbye when I left home?" He asked bluntly.

Mason's answer was a moment in coming, "A lot happened those three days. We all had a lot to deal with...," Mason sighed, "But that's not an answer is it... the truth is that... I forgot. It wasn't to be cruel or a show of disappointment, though I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in what you did... I honestly forgot, Cutter. That morning was a whirlwind of activity with Artex getting his teeth kicked in and the memory of the court case from the day before still on our minds."

"And yet again my importance, or lack thereof, is waved in my face." Cutter spoke calmly, staring straight out across the yard at the falling snow, "The only thing worth mentioning about me is that my foolishness almost killed Artex and embarrassed the family."

Mason sighed again and raised his head, looking at the cloudy night, "Cutter... we never did any of this to be cruel. I don't know how many times you want me to say it..."

"I don't want you to say it at all." Cutter said in a stoic tone, "What I want you to say is that you miss me..." Mason cut him off.

"We DO miss you! And we love you!" Mason lowered his eyes and looked out at the snowy lawn, "I don't need to be proud of you to love you. I don't need to sing your praises all the time..." Cutter spoke over his father.

"You sing Razor's praises often enough." His interruption was sharp, "Nopony ever misses a chance to talk about how amazing she is, or how much she's accomplished. What about Due Process? She became a member of the E.U.P. Guard before Slaughter. She was one of the very first to do it. Nopony talks about her, or me, or anypony else like they do Razor. When she's the topic, everything else just stops existing. Nothing else matters. The rest of us are all overshadowed by her accomplishments. It's like we don't even matter."

Mason was surprised that Cutter had not been shouting. He kept his tone conversational and calm. The older stallion had to admit his son had a point, but there were more pieces to the puzzle he seemed to be missing, "You're right," he admitted, "We do talk about her a lot. How often is she around though? How often is she out there," he gestured with his forehoof, "Somewhere in the world? How often do we see her? We have you and your sisters almost all the time, or we used to. We talk about Razor Wit to keep her in our thoughts. We don't get to see her very often." He lowered his voice, "And now we won't get to see you, her, or Duey very often." He looked at Cutter, "You've been the topic of conversation plenty of times these past few weeks, and it hasn't always been negative either. Yes, we talk about what you did, but who you are is what we miss. We miss your stalwart attitude just as much as we miss Duey spouting off about the random things she used to memorize from the Civil and E.U.P. Guard training manuals. We miss all of you, son. And..." he trailed off and took a breath, "And I'm sorry we forgot to say goodbye. I guess... we were so hard on you because you acted so out of character that day. I spanked you publicly because I was afraid I had been too soft on you. I didn't want you to continue on the road it looked like you were trotting down already. I'd rather punish you publicly than have you become something you're not."

Cutter clenched his jaw, "And my character, everything you had seen watching me grow up, just vanished in one afternoon? I was suddenly different because my mistake was bigger? I had suddenly lost every ounce of my personality, every one of my morals? Even though I got the doctors and stayed behind to submit to arrest because I already knew what I did was wrong?" He squared his shoulders and held his head high, "Own your mistakes..." he whispered. "I still remember when you first taught me that. I had a reminder of it tonight too." He took a deep, slow breath before he continued, "I attacked Artex without cause and without provocation. I used a martial combat technique to do harm to an innocent being. I did those things and I've already learned something else too: everypony ignores all the good you do and only focuses on the mistakes... I'm glad I did it, but only so I could learn that. I regret injuring Artex, but I'm learning a lot here in New Humansville. Attacking Artex was stupid and cruel, but seeing as he survived, I'd do it again if it let me learn the things I've learned here. I know at least one mistake I won't be making ever again, but I'm learning a lot here..." he took his turn to look at the snowy clouds, "I own my mistakes because of what I learn from them. I will keep making mistakes, father, but my character has not suffered. I'm stronger now... I needed this, I think." He lapsed into silence for more than a full minute before continuing. His voice was quiet, nearly a whisper, "I love you... but I don't need you anymore. With what I'm learning here, I can be my own stallion. Talk about me or don't, I'm still here. I think this is where I belong."

Sad, proud tears glistened in Mason's eyes. He reached out and pulled his son in for a firm hug, "I love you, Cutter. I'm so sorry I neglected to say it before."

Cutter hugged his father back, though he was nowhere nearly as emotional, "I love you too, Dad."

They broke the hug a few moments later. Cutter shifted his wings from the cold, "This time when you leave, don't forget to say goodbye."

Mason smiled half way, "That's a two-way street, son." He said with a chuckle.

Cutter let off a small chuckle as well, "I suppose it is."

Author's Notes:

Another chapter done. Let me know if you spot any typos.

Could somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong? Used to be that every time I posted a chapter, people would comment like crazy, but these last few have garnered less than half a dozen each. Has the story become dull?