Limits of the Horizon

by Beware The Carpenter

7 - Custard

Sky Fire trotted behind Tungsten down the train alley; waiting for him to pick a seat. So far he had passed several cubicles with empty seats and doable fillies, but he wanted to spend some time with his little bro and he didn’t want to leave him alone with Sky Blaze; she had that look in her eye again. Tungsten double checked through the window of one cubicle and then dashed in, already withdrawing a deck of cards on his way in and plopping down next to a colt Sky Fire vaguely recognized from the Daring Do trading card club; Star Streak or something like that. Sky Fire shrugged and followed Tungsten in, aside from Star Streak the cubicle was empty so - why hello.

A snow-white pegasus filly with a black mane and tail sitting behind the door, across from Star Streak with her muzzle buried in a book. Tungsten was busy, so rather than disturb him, Sky Fire strode in, ignored the cargo racks on the roof, set his bags down very gently on the seat by the window, as though they contained some fragile and mysterious treasure and then sat down next to them and, coincidentally, the snow-white filly who rated seven-point-five on the richter scale. Sky Blaze reluctantly took the last seat in the cubicle, next to Tungsten and across from Sky Fire’s bags. The filly buried her nose deeper into her book, trying to ignore the intrusions; suggesting a difficulty rating of at least six.

Sky Fire checked the cover of the book, and the filly’s cutie-mark; an explorer trekking through snowcapped mountains, and a magnifying glass juxtaposed over a map. He saw a pattern, and several possible plans, but he didn’t make his move until Tungsten gave a small ‘eek’ when he saw one of Star Streak’s rarer cards. The filly simply rolled her eyes and tried to focus harder on the book she was reading. So she liked adventure, but not Daring Do, interesting.

“You don’t like Daring Do?” asked Sky Fire, not giving his opinion one way or the other.

The filly snorted, “I like useful things, not children’s fantasies that have no bearing whatsoever on real life.”

“Oh?”

The filly snapped her book shut for a moment, presenting him the title, “I want to know what would really work if you were lost in the wilderness; not theoretical ways of disarming booby traps in a temple that no one would ever actually build, or fight monsters that don’t exist.”

“If you’re looking for actual survival techniques, you’re hurting yourself with this book, I can tell from the cover it’s a fake.”

The filly looked annoyed, but curious, “…How?”

“If she’s an actual explorer going cross country through snow, where are her snow shoes?”

The filly stared at him for a moment, then back down to the cover of her book, then slowly back up at him again, and then dropped her book quietly; “Hi,” she said, trying to pretend nothing had happened; “I’m Spy Path, do you do a lot of reading on wilderness survival too?”

“Sky Fire; I've never read a book on wilderness survival in my life. I’ve lived it!”

“What do you mean?”

“My parents both worked in the royal air force, training the crews of long-range zeppelins to survive in the harshest environments in the world in case their airships went down, along with elite combat training in case of hostile natives or wildlife.” Sky Blaze would call him out if he stretched the truth where he wasn’t supposed to, but this really was the official story as to what dad used to do for the government.

“When my sister and I were turned three they started teaching us self-defense for two hours a day, six days a week, starting when we were just three years old, and eight or nine times a year they took us out on ‘vacations’ to teach us wilderness survival. When we were seven; they left me and my sister at the northern edge of Whitetail Wood the day before Hearths Warming Eve with our wings tied to our backs, a sandwich each and a compass to share, and told us that if we weren’t in Ponyville by Hearth’s Warming morning, we wouldn’t get our presents.”

Spy’s mouth tightened, “Are your parent’s like… sadistic psychopaths?”

“Are you kidding? They’re awesome! They never gave us more then we could manage; but when my dad was a kid, he lived on the street where some awful stuff happened, or almost happened, to him and his little sister. He wanted to be certain that we knew how to take care of ourselves.”

“But… they left you alone in Whitetail Wood in the middle of winter; you could have been killed!”

“They didn’t really leave us, but we thought they had. We were scared at the time but after a few minutes we made some snow-shoes and started walking, foraging as we went, recognizing signs of danger to avoid, building a shelter, all like they taught us. Got to Ponyville with twelve hours to spare and found out mom and dad had been following us the whole time, watching to make sure we didn’t actually get hurt.”

Sky Fire watched Spy's resistance drop to five as her gaze began melting from pity, to envy, “That’s… amazing.”

“It was nothing compared to some of the challenges they gave us when we got older; deserts where sweat poured off your skin like rivers, jungles where the mosquitoes ate you alive, snow plains where you could feel the saliva freeze in your mouth.” Spy gave a slight shiver, licking her lips and Sky Fire inched closer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tungsten had stopped playing with the cards and was watching him quietly with a jaunty grin. Sky Fire passed him a sly wink and continued the lesson.

“They also gave us themes to the training to make things more… interesting. So let’s say you and I were out hiding in the snow from bandits; we'd not only needed to eat and stay warm but also remain hidden. Your coat would be perfect, but we’d have to find a way to camouflage your mane.” Sky Fire carefully wrapped his wing around Spy’s mane, so far so good. “Or we might have our wings tied to our backs, pretending that they were broken,” he contracted his wing tightly, compressing Spy Path’s wings to her sides. “Or maybe they’d say one of us was wounded, and the other needed to carry them on their backs.” Spy Path shifted uneasily, and Sky Fire released her, before his wing grew offensive. “So, what about you? You do all this reading, but how much camping have you actually done?” he already knew the answer; one look at her soft, slightly pudgy, fur told him she was an indoors pony.

Spy’s face fell and so did her resistance, as the arrogance that had clothed her just a minute ago was coming stripped away, “… Not since I was a kid; my mom and I live in Manehatten and for the last few years I’ve needed to spend all my holidays helping in her store.”

No mention of her father. Sky Fire guessed he was probably the one that used to take her camping, she probably missed both. Richter eight-point-four, resistance two-point-five, “So with a name like Spy Path, and a cutie mark for exploration, you don’t ever actually do it?” Spy shook her head, blushing, “Well we’ll have to remedy that. You’re obviously not at your mom’s shop this week and I’m planning to take an overnight camping trip to Whitetail Mountain, overlooking Ponyville. I’d be honored if you were to join me."

“It’s not your honor he wants.” Sky Blaze said dryly from across the cubicle. Sky Fire shot her piercing glance but was annoyed to see that she was staring out the window, carelessly letting his piercing glance go to waste. “My brother won’t rape you; but his only reason for talking to you is he thinks you might sleep with him.”

The mood deflated as Spy Path pulled away, but she didn’t go too far or go back to her book just yet, meaning not everything was lost. Sky Fire guessed Spy Path had been around the block with at least a few colts before; he could tell she wanted him, but still had the usual reservations about going camping with a total stranger. “I could introduce you to the dragon that lives on Whitetail Mountain.”

Spy Path paused, “…You know him? Seriously?”

“Spike? Sure, he and I have known each other since I was a baby; like a giant, scaly, fire breathing older brother that might outlive Celestia.”

Spy Path shot a glance to Sky Blaze like she was expecting her to deny it, when she didn’t, she gave a quick swallow. “Is he… safe?”

“Safe? No; he’s a dragon, I've seen him rip a manticore's jugular to pieces with his bare teeth; but he wouldn't hurt a fly if he didn't have to."

“What's he like?”

“Well… usually now all he does now is just eat and sleep, but back when I was a kid he was a different dragon, totally awesome, though with a bit of a knack for getting himself into trouble. I remember this one time he came camping with my family out in the forest when he and I went looking for edible roots; he found an abandoned mine he wanted to explore, and we ended up walking into the middle of a diamond dog casino.”

Spy Path laughed, “OK, now you’re pulling my tail.”

“If I were pulling your tail, you’d know it. I swear; this actually happened; tell her Tungsten."

“He is telling the truth,” Interrupted Sky Blaze before Tungsten could get a word in, “But it wasn’t that interesting really, at least compared to some of the other situations Sky Fire’s been in; like that time he tried to organize a four-way with The Mcpie Triplets.”

Sparks of hatred flew through Sky Fire’s mind as knives of dread, dipped in humiliation, stabbed him in the back; “Don't you dare!”

“Oh come on, it's a great story. He ended up-”

“Don't finish that sentence!”

Star Streak, who’d long since stopped actually looking at trading cards, now dropped them in one movement of confused horror, “Wait a second; aren’t the Mcpie triplets… your cousins?”

“Pinkie Pie’s not really our mom’s sister,” explained Sky Blaze, “They’re just really good friends, so we’re not actually connected to the triplets in any way, despite Sky Fire’s best efforts.”

“PLEASE, stop talking!”

Spy Path giggled, even though she wasn’t sure what she was laughing at, “I’ve never heard of these girls before, who are they?”

“Three hyperactive pink party ponies named Pinkie Zip, Pinkie Zest and Pinkie Zing; or as Sky Fire sometimes refers to them, the three headed demon of mania. Pinkie Zip’s cutie mark is chopped up ribbons, Pinkie Zest’s is chopped up streamers and Pinkie Zing’s is for confetti, and don’t you DARE trying telling them that they’re the same thing. They go everywhere together, do everything together, speak in unison, and agree on absolutely everything except what to name their pet cat.”

“What?”

“It’s the only thing they’ve ever disagreed on, but they’ve argued about it ever since they got the poor thing. They keep coming up with these ridiculous contests to see who gets to name it, but always come out in a three way tie and so the fighting continues.”

“Why can’t they just name the cat after what it does like everyone else?”

“I don’t know, it’s just a normal gray and white cat but,” Sky Blaze held one hoof to her forehead, and breathed deeply, “Pinkie Zip wants to name the cat Bob, Pinkie Zest wants to name it George and Pinkie Zing wants to name the cat Larry.”

The expression on Spy’s face started to laugh, then just got confused;“…What do those names even mean?”

“I don’t think they mean anything, the triplets just made them up.”

Spy snickered, leaning forwards, “So what’s the deal between them and Sky Fire?”

Sky Blaze struggled not to laugh and succeeded, barely, “Well, last year, our family was visiting theirs, and Sky Fire decided that if he could ‘get it on’ with triple jointed triplets, he’d have bragging rights for the rest of his life. He started trying to talk them up and thought he’d succeeded when they invited him to ‘play a game’ with them involving mattresses, bathtubs, and custard. Sky Fire very eagerly accepted, only to discover that they had something completely different in mind to what he did.”

“Stop it Sky Blaze!” yelled Sky Fire desperately.

“Come on Fire; I thought you liked playing with girls who thought outside the box.”

“Those girls, are, CRAZY!”

“And the moral of the story is?”

“Never trust girls who say they know a neat game you can play with mattresses and custard!”

Spy Path smiled at him sweetly, “I'll keep that in mind.”

Star Streak leaned forwards excitedly, “So, what actually happened?”

The doorway into the hallway burst open, giving emergency passage to a red pegasus who slammed the door behind him and began galloping down the hall, covering his mortified face with one wing as the cubicle behind him lit up with rancorous laughter as his sister took great delight in recounting the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He needed a distraction, anything to prevent himself from remembering that awful, awful day and given his limited choice of destinations, he headed to the café cart, finding it almost empty except for one of the best type of distraction there was.

Earth pony filly, pale tan coat, long blond mane that looked like it had come straight from the spa, terrific overall figure with a comfy looking back and a gait that showed if she had a colt-friend, he wasn’t taking care of business eight-point-eight. Sky Fire checked her flank and then her cutie mark finding it a double octave; a musician then, what instrument? Sky Fire checked her flank more closely, muscular hind legs implied she spent a lot of time standing upright, and those callused grove across her hoof - of course, she was a cellist!

The filly gave a sigh, a very specific kind of sigh suggesting disappointment. The way she moved told Sky Fire she didn’t think too highly of herself, so maybe her parent(s) were the type for whom nothing was ever good enough, or maybe her end-of-year report card had left a lot to be desired, or both. Either way she could be a lot of fun, the real question then; who was he?

A dormant poet soul who would give anything to learn to play the cello; who would be enamored by her music and hang upon her every word. He could ask her to teach him, and after a few bungled attempts ask her to stand behind him, put her arms on his arms, put her hooves on his hooves and together they could make such beautiful music; as he learned rapidly inspired by her beauty as her talent unlocked his dormant potential. Two, maybe three dates and-

No wait.

As Sky Fire pretended to study the menu, the filly that had begun walking away from the buffet, froze and then slowly turned back. She waited a moment in uncertainty, and then put back several of the bowls of grains and salads she’d filled her tray with originally, until her tray was almost empty, and then went to the dessert bar. She made several nervous glances around the cart, as if her parents might spring out from under the table, and then began filling her tray with brownies, cheesecake, and honey sticks before daring to assemble a heaping bowl of ice cream that she drowned in chocolate sauce. She had more sugar than she could possibly eat, but still didn’t look satisfied; she reached for a spoon, stopped, then dug the tip of her hoof into her ice-cream and flicked some onto her pristine fur coat, and then rubbed the rest into her mane. Finally satisfied, she turned purposefully and moved on, her frazzled mane now showing several strands of black, meaning she had just dyed it, because she wanted to be a different person at Youtherd than she was at home.

Sky Fire grinned as he finally understood; this girl wasn’t looking to be made to feel like she was good enough for the system; she was looking to buck the system all together. She didn’t want to help someone else fit into it; she was looking to rebel, but didn’t know how. Sky Fire turned in an instant from student, to teacher; and from a shy and quiet poet, to a rough and mysterious rouge, as unpredictable as the Everfree forest and with all the passion of a raging manticore.

Sky Fire finished his inspection of the menu and began strutting towards her; she turned to face him and smiled, flashing brilliant blue eyes. Two or three dates? This girl would be hitting a sugar rush in a few hours; all that vent up frustration would be looking to escape and he’d be there to catch. He just needed to pick the lock to the baggage carriage, like any good rogue would, to get them some privacy and - CU-ss-ta-r-d!

The filly… put a bowl… of custard on her dessert tray.

The filly might have spoken to him on his way past, or she might not, Sky Fire wasn’t sure. He pushed past her, keeping as much distance as possible, and kept walking into the next train cart, as a cold sweat broke down his spine.