The Running-Pt 4: A Line in the Sand
September 3rd
--------------------------
“URRRRRRRRRRP!!! Ah yeah, that really hit the spot,” Rainbow Dash sighed contentedly as she leaned back in her seat, pushing her plate across the table and barely suppressing the belch that drew the eyes of nearly half the Barnstormer’s customers.
“Heh, ‘scuse me,” she muttered and reached for her glass, full of premium Cloudsdale rainwater, something she hadn’t savored for a good while. In fact, it had been ages since she’d had a cooked meal like this, having settled for the pre-made Weather Patrol boxed lunches they were issued every morning before Weather Duty as well as the occasional baked pastry from Pinkie Pie.
She gulped the water deeply, relishing the clean, crisp flavor that washed down the remains of her breakfast. She’d split time between lookout at Fluttershy’s place for those two creepos she’d spotted in town nearly a week ago, and her Weather Duties and Wonderbolt training, and she felt she’d earned this. So if she belched a little louder than usual…it was only in appreciation for the great meal, right?
Ok, so you said that Scoots could help me with getting information from Volare?
…mhm, I did.
Well, my stomach is full…so what’s up? Oh, and before you tell me…
…yes?
Is it crazy to have these sorta conversations with you-er, myself? Me?
…why’re you asking me? I’m merely a reflection of your conscience and nothing more, Dashie.
Oh…right…so, anyway, the plan?
…well, since you made that promise to Twilight about giving Volare his space till she gets back, instead of spying on him from a distance like you’ve been doing, why not have Scoots do it for you?
Huh, how?
…easy, Dashie; she’s your number one fan. She’ll do just about anything for you, right? Just have her ask the questions you wanna ask him, and I’ll bet she’ll do it.
I dunno, that sounds kinda…manipulative, don’t you think?
…maybe, but that’s probably the fastest way for you to get information AND keep your promise, though. Besides, being you, I can tell that your flying back and forth between Fluttershy’s and Weather Patrol is getting more than a little annoying. And it’d only be till Twilight gets back, then you can go back to asking Volare yourself.
Oh…fine, maybe I’ll try that out inste-
“Heya Rainbow Dash,” a grey pony with a blonde mane and wobbly yellow eyes named Derpy Hooves spoke up from the booth adjacent to hers, jarring her from yet another inner discussion. “Been forever since I’ve seen ya here. How ya been?”
“Been pretty good, Derps,” Dash quipped and grinned. “Same as when ya saw me two days ago at Weather Patrol. You?”
“Ah, right, I forgot,” Derpy blushed. “I’ve been pretty good myself, but hey, I was just wondering something…”
“Yep?” Dash began to take another drink.
“I haven’t really seen ya training for it like last year, so I was wonderin’…are ya gonna be in The Running of the Leaves again?”
Dash literally did a spit take, blasting the opposite booth seat with water and face-hoofing in realization. “Ah, horseapples!”
She’d been so caught up in looking after Volare that she’d almost forgotten!
…you mean spying on Volare?
Oh, whatever!
“Well, that was kinda gross. Sooo…you’re not gonna compete this year, Dash?” Derpy asked as she idly tapped her hooves together. “Cuz if ya are, I dunno how you’ll find the time, what with Weather Duty and…say, what have you been up to the last week or so after Patrol?” Derpy eyed the Weather Captain…or at least Dash thought she was eyeing her.
“Oh, um, nothin’ too special,” Dash waved a hoof dismissively. Just playing secret agent pony… She quickly weighed her options: information via spying on Volare or humiliation by being beaten in the race again by Twilight or AJ or worse…Volare himself...information or humiliation. Heh, easy choice! “But thanks for reminding me, Derps.”
“Huh, about what?” Derpy cocked her head in slight confusion...or she might have simply been refocusing her eyes, Dash really couldn’t tell.
“About the race, silly-filly,” Dash stood up and stretched her wings. “I totally forgot about training for it till you spoke up.”
“Aha, you’re welcome?”
“Yep,” she grinned and leaned on her Weather Patrol partner’s shoulder. “Think you could do me a favor, Derpy ol’ pal?”
“Heh, sure, Rainbow Dash,” she smiled in return. “What’s up?”
“Well, I’m gonna need somepony to cover for me in the Squad for the next week till The Running of the Leaves is over; that way I can focus on my training. Think you can handle it?”
“I think so, yeah,” Derpy squinted an eye in thought. “If I remember right, it’s a pretty light storm load this coming week anyway; don’t wanna get the ground all muddy and sloppy for the race, ya know? Soooo…yep, I think we can handle a week without ya.”
“Sounds good,” Dash clapped her on the back. “And I’ll tell ya what: since you’re being such a good sport about this, I’ll even take your mail route up in Fillydelphia off your hooves for a few days as thanks. Deal?” She stuck out her hoof, which Derpy shook without a second thought.
“Deal! Thanks Dash! Good luck in the race!”
“No, thank you, Derpy,” the rainbow Pegasus grinned her thanks and made her way towards the door.
…oh no, that sounds a little too manipulative.
Oh, shut up!
…just saying.
I know, but I’m taking her mail route after the race, so it’s no biggie, ok?
…Ooookay, Dashie. You’re the boss.
“Darn right I am!”
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy called out from behind her.
“Eh?”
“Who ya talkin’ to?”
“Er, uh, that cloud! Bye Derps!” She shot off from the front porch of The Barnstormer, leaving a rather confused Derpy in her wake.
“I didn’t know clouds could listen…hmph, learn something everyday I guess,” the blonde pony shrugged and turned her attention to the breakfast that had just arrived at her table: buttered blueberry muffins! Her favorite! Sorry you crazy clouds, but you’ll have to listen to me later!
………………..
20 minutes later
“Ok, so what ya’ll are sayin’ is ya wanna break from lookout?” Big Macintosh asked as he leaned on his plow, wiping away the sheen of sweat from working in the afternoon sun.
“It’s just until after the Running of the Leaves, Big Mac,” Dash explained. “I just totally forgot about having to get into shape for the race, and I need some time to get focused.”
“Who’re ya tryin’ ta beat this time?” the red farmpony raised an eyebrow.
“Well, everypony, duh,” Dash crossed her forelegs defiantly, but Big Mac simply cocked an eye at her until she caved. “Ok, fine…I don’t want Twilight to beat me again this year.”
“Sure that’s it?”
“Well…” I swear, he must have picked this crap up from AJ or something! “There might be one other pony…”
“Oh, surely not Volare,” Big Mac said with a touch of sarcasm. “Or are ya finally feelin’ a little guilty that he’s workin’ his tail off while ya lounge around on your cloud and play spy games?”
“I swear Big Mac!” Dash bristled and took to the air, getting awfully close to the much larger stallion.
“Eeeyup?” he snorted softly, standing his ground. “Got somethin’ ta say? Or was that little story ya cooked up about them two cloaked ponies followin’ me an’ Volare tha other day just an excuse ta stay close to’im…for whatever reason might be ticklin' your fancy?”
“Oh come on, dude! I swear I saw those guys!” Dash pleaded, landing and calming down, if only to appeal to his nature. “Besides, you know I made that promise to Twilight and to Volare that I’d give him his space…things just happened in between then and now, that’s all.”
“Well, whatever ya call it, the bottom line is ya’ll have been kept from your race trainin’ and now ya wanna get back ta that, right?” Big Mac still had half the south field to plow and less daylight to do it with, so he quickly got the conversation back on track.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Dash made an attempt to avoid his gaze; his accusation that she’d made up those two ponies really stung. Was her behavior that outta whack that she seemed to be lying about everything?
“So ya want me to take up watch against, well, whatever might show up from tha Everfree Forest?”
“If you could, yeah…that way I can train…”
And if it’ll get her away from Volare, so much tha better…
“Alright, Ah think Ah can handle it.”
“What, really? Just like that?” Rainbow Dash chanced a smile, which he returned.
“Eeeyup; maybe them things ya saw gave up an' left.”
“No catch?”
“Nnnope.”
“Ah, thanks Big Mac,” she gave him a quick hug that made him blush just the slightest bit deeper red. “You’re the best, dude. I’ll figure out a way to make it up to ya, promise!”
“Heh, just don’t mention it, Dash,” the red stallion nodded. “Now, Ah’ve got some plowin’ ta do, and Ah believe ya’ll have got some gettin’ inta shape ta do.”
“Right!” Rainbow Dash shot off to the north.
“Hey Rainbow Dash! Ain’t your house that way?” Big Mac nodded towards the southern end of Ponyville, away from Fluttershy’s.
“Oh, right!” Dash quickly about-faced. “Force of habit or something…see ya!” She jetted off to her cloud mansion, which was looking a little worse for the wear as she hadn’t been there to keep up with it for the past week; a few windows had fallen in, and the cumulus roof seemed to have been blown askew by the breeze.
“Heh-heh, better clean the place up first.” As she got to it, she made a vow to keep away from Fluttershy’s completely, hoping that Scootaloo and Volare would be safe without her help, though she was still curious as to what the hay he did for Scoots that day in town… Meh, she’d figure it out later. At least here at home, she had no excuses for not being in shape and focused come race day. And she had NO intention of coming in second place this year; to Volare, AJ, Twilight, or any other pony!
----------------------------
Meanwhile, in Canterlot…
“And that’s all I know about humans, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak,” Twilight said as she finished her recounting of her notes on Volare and Earth, though she hadn’t yet gone into the theories he’d helped her with.
“Or straight from the human’s mouth,” Cadance chuckled.
“Quite,” Princess Luna nodded and frowned. “Well, I can see why my sister would be cautious about letting humans come here to Equestria. But set the propensity for violence and disease aside, and though they may still be dangerous, well…am I not also dangerous?” The Moon Goddess sat up a little straighter. “But as you said, Twilight Sparkle, being dangerous does not make me evil, nor you, or you,” she continued, nodding at Twilight and Cadance in turn.
“Indeed, or Princess Celestia for that matter,” Cadance added. “But if she understands that, then why the seemingly unbudging bias against them? Twilight, did she seem at all in the mood to give a single human a chance, especially one so cruelly tossed on our shores by fate as Volare?”
“Well, I,” Twilight began. “She just seemed so…against the thought of one even being here that I dropped the subject with her entirely, so we never spoke on the possibility of what she’d do if one was already here. But I just keep having this bad feeling about would happen if she found out…especially if that’s what she wants to talk with Shining Armor about,” she groaned and held her head in her hooves as thunked it down on the table. “Urgh, why’d I have to tell you two everything about him!?”
“You had no idea this might happen. Besides, Twilight, look on the positive side,” Cadance rubbed her sister-in-law’s back. “It only seemed like Celestia wanted to speak to him because of your comments about him being former military, and it would therefore make sense that she’d want to speak with the Captain of the Guard. If anypony would know about who was in her ranks, it would be your brother.”
“Very true, Twilight,” Luna smiled encouragingly as the purple Unicorn looked up from the table. “Besides, why’re we acting as if your brother told her everything if that’s all that piqued her interest? If he didn’t tell her about his origins, there’s nothing to immediately worry about and when you’re ready, I’ll accompany you when you decide the time is right to tell her the truth about Volare.”
“You’re right…maybe he didn’t tell her everything,” Twilight nodded and sat back up, wiping her nose. “We’ve gotta keep a positive outlook on this, for Volare’s sake at the very least.” She was interrupted by the opening of the front door as Shining Armor trotted inside. Moment of truth…again…
“Welcome back, honey,” Cadance nuzzled her husband who looked rather shocked to see Princess Luna at their table sipping tea and eating sandwiches.
“Good afternoon, Captain,” Luna called cheerfully. “Care for some sustenance?”
“No, no, I’m…ok,” he hesitated before sitting down and staring at the tabletop for nearly a full minute of silence before Twilight finally broke it and asked the question on the three mares’ minds.
“Sooo, BBBFF…” Cadance and Luna remained silent as the two siblings conversed with an air of suffocating tension.
“Yes, Twiley?” the Captain looked up at his sister who was wearing an all-too-artificial smile.
“How’d the meeting with Celestia go?”
“Oh, it went,” he replied cryptically with a sigh.
“What all did you talk about?” Twilight asked, feeling a bead of nervous sweat begin to trickle down her left temple.
“Mainly security issues; same ol’ same ol’…”
“What sorta security issues?”
“This and that, nothing you’d really be interested in, trust m-”
“I may not be Applejack, but nopony has to be to see that you’re making a really crappy attempt at lying, Shining Armor,” Twilight cut him off gruffly as she placed a hoof on his foreleg. “We know you talked to Celestia about my friend Volare…now what all did you talk about pertaining to him?”
“Everything you told me about him, I told her.”
“O-oh really?” Twilight stuttered, her heart skipping a beat. “Including his origins?”
“That he was a human? Yeah, I did…why?” The Captain of the Guard looked up as he felt his sister’s grip on his leg tighten. “T-Twiley, is something wrong? Why’s your eye twitching like that…and your ear? …Twiley?”
…………….
5 Minutes Later…
CRASH! “ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?! ARRRRGH!!!” KABOOM!
“Oh sweet Sun Goddess, I didn’t know!!!” Shining Armor moaned into his hooves as one purple Unicorn’s screams of rage punctuated the crashing of objects being telekinetically hurled against the walls emanating from the adjacent room. Princess Cadance sat next to her husband while their sister proceeded to take her frustrations out on the poor dining room, calling her brother every name imaginable, ranging from synonyms for “imbecile” straight on up to the genus name for dung beetles. And the worst part of it all for Twilight was that she knew it wasn’t totally his fault…just….RAAGGH!!! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!
“It’s ok, it’s ok,” Cadance patted the wailing Captain and shooshed him gently. “You didn’t know she has a bias against humans, Shining Armor. It’s not your fault.”
“I know, but still…I still told her everything!” He looked up with tear-streaked eyes. “Twiley, I swear I didn’t know!”
“SHUT UP, BBBFF!!” a knotted spoon shot through the doorway straight at his head before Princess Luna caught it with her magic and swiftly untied it, laying it on the table as she tried to keep calm despite the chaos that raged in the house around her; she was honestly a bit surprised nopony outside had asked what the matter was…yet. Though outwardly she seemed to be simply chewing the corner of a sandwich crust, inwardly, her mind was racing through every possible scenario they might have to go through now in order to save Twilight’s friend from whatever fate Celestia might decree.
“Shining Armor, listen to me,” Cadance gently shook her husband. “What was Celestia’s reaction to what you told her? Was she even angry at all?”
The Captain looked up into his wife’s eyes, so full of concern she was trying to bravely mask, and he realized just how pathetic he must have looked. He was the stallion of the house and here was his wife weathering the storm while he moaned like a foal into the table. He quickly got a hold of himself and cleared his throat. “I-I dunno really, she just seemed kinda detached about all of it. She just said it was a matter of security so I told her what I thought she needed to know…holy hay, I’m so sorry!” He plunked his head down on Cadance’ shoulder in embarrassment.
“Well, surely Tia had some sort of reaction,” Luna spoke up as she eyed the scorched barstool that skidded through the doorway. She gently alighted it and sat it down in the corner before continuing. “My sister has a wicked poker face when she needs to, but it’s far from perfect. She didn’t just sit there and say nothing, did she?”
“Well, um, she did tell me to tell Twilight that she’d have to work overtime in order to free up another time slot so she can speak with her again,” Shining Armor recalled.
“And I can guess whom about,” Cadance muttered.
“Yes, and she said she wants Twilight to take some time to rest and relax from her studies so she’ll have a clear mind for when she summons her to meet again,” the Captain replied as Twilight came stomping into the room, somehow having overheard his statement over the cacophony she was causing. Shining Armor had seen his sister angry in their youth, but this was practically terrifying. Her eyes were tinged red, and small flames licked up from her mane and tail at each step, giving her a positively demonic visage that set even Princess Luna on edge.
“Buck that noise!” the Librarian growled. “I say we go and talk to Princess Celestia right this instant before she writes up the banishment papers!”
“No, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna rose from her seat, the shadow the Moon Goddess cast seeming to devour the light around her body until she seemed as nothing but a bright-eyed shade of darkness standing between Twilight and her siblings. She didn’t want to hurt the Unicorn who’d been instrumental in not only rescuing her from that 1000 year prison but in bringing her back from social obscurity…but so help her, she wasn’t about to let her harm the Captain of the Guard and his wife, even in righteous anger!
“That would be the wrong thing to do. I think Tia had a good reason for wanting you to relax.” Almost as if she expected her to react this way…well, she’s certainly known her longer than I have.
To her relief, her small display of power worked, and Twilight halted her advance as she seemed to shrink into herself a bit, though she stomped her hoof in frustration. “How the hay am I supposed to relax?! I might have just gotten Volare banished, though it’s not like I didn’t have any help!” She shot her brother a venomous look.
“Twilight, you know it’s not your brother’s fault,” Cadance interjected. “He didn’t know how Celestia felt about humans; he was only following the request of his superior, just as he was trained to do. Luna is right; we should take some time to think this out instead of taking it out on your brother and then barging in there in your current state.”
“I like that idea, especially the first part,” Shining Armor nodded hastily.
“But I”-
“Before you make another attempt to explain how losing your head like this will help your friend,” Luna hadn’t moved from her spot, though the light in the room around her had begun to return, as had the color to her eyes. “Please explain to me what exactly you’d do; yell at one of the most powerful creatures in Equestria? As fond as she is of you, I doubt that would end on even the slightest positive note, for you or for Volare.”
“But I-just-URGH!” The purple Unicorn threw her mane back and stalked back into the dining room, soon redoubling her tirade against the objects that would make the most satisfying noises when tossed.
“Twilight Sparkle, you should really try calming down,” Luna called out, but Cadance preempted her with a fierce shake of her head.
“Luna, you were away for 1000 years and missed Twilight growing up. She sometimes needs an outlet for her anger; trust me, I foalsat for this filly,” she chuckled despite the destruction mere feet away from her. “If you tell her to simply calm down, it won’t end well.”
“What do you suggest we do; hold her down till she quits?” Luna asked bemusedly.
“Yeah, good luck with that one,” Cadance sighed and called out to the raging Unicorn. “Twilight, if you want, there’s some old china in the upper cupboard that I don’t really care much for if you”-
CRASH!
Luna shook her head at the absurdity of it all: the most powerful of the Elements of Harmony still had a childish rage-streak, the Captain of the Guard had been reduced to a half-blubbering mess held together only by the sheer will of his wife, and her own sister Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, was apparently an extremely prejudiced xenophobe, even against the friend of her most-faithful student. Luna wasn’t exactly prepared to take charge just yet, still feeling somewhat of an alien in her own country…but she supposed now was as good a time as any!
“We just need to let cooler heads prevail for now,” she explained as clearly and as authoritatively as she could. “Besides, we don’t really know for sure if Tia is planning on banishing Volare, despite all the evidence that might support it. For now, we bide our time till Celestia summons Twilight. We are all royalty here, by blood or by marriage, and we will handle this situation with the dignity and poise becoming of such ponies!”
She was answered with further crashing and the explosion of numerous porcelain objects in the other room.
“We will do our…best to keep our composure!”
“Cadance,” Shining Armor murmured into her shoulder. “Was that grandma’s china exploding in there?”
CRASH-KACHINKLE!!
“No, I think that was...”
“Ahhh…sorry, gran-gran,” Shining Armor choked back a sob.
“We shall…oh Tartarus,” Luna threw her hooves up in the air in capitulation and plopped down on the couch, cramming a sandwich into her mouth. “This doesn’t bode too terribly well at all!”
----------------------
Over at Fluttershy’s…
“Well, *gasp* this has been interesting,” Volare chuckled and leaned against Shae’s tree, pulling in deep breaths of blessed oxygen as Scootaloo bounced about like a orange, enthusiastic ball of pure energy unmatched but for the equally springy pink pony next to her.
“Aww come on, Volare!” Scootaloo pleaded and tugged at his left hoof. “Just one more try; this is fun!”
“Yeah, come on, Volare-bear!” Pinkie Pie echoed, pulling on his other hoof in a mirror image of the younger Pegasus.
“Fun for you, Scoots,” Volare protested weakly as he allowed them to haul him to his hooves. “And Pinkie, why do you want me to go again?”
“Easy: it’s fun as all hay watching you trying to catch Scootaloo on her scooter,” Pinkie replied with an infectious grin that despite Volare’s exhaustion caused him to smile as well. He shot Fluttershy and Iron Will a helpless look, but his only reply was an equally helpless shrug from the butter-yellow Pegasus and a loud snore from the minotaur, who’d been hard at work breaking up more firewood for the winter all afternoon. He looked up at Shae perched in the tree above him, but only got a fierce look of indifference.
“Guys, help me out here,” he begged playfully, though he knew it was almost no use; he was up and Scootaloo was running back to her scooter again, grin plastered all over her face as she hopped on and “gunned” it, buzzing her wings like a little racecar driver at the starting line.
“Come on, dude! One more!”
The blue Pegasus shook his head and chuckled. This kid was impossibly determined…Dash, you may have some serious competition sooner rather than later. “Alright Scoots, we’ll go one more time!”
“Awesome!” Pinkie giggled and raised a hoof. “On your mark!”
He pawed the ground with a hoof, snorting softly as he gathered his remaining energy, which wasn’t saying much considering they’d been at this nearly all day!
But, despite his “gimme a break” act, in truth, he was actually rather enjoying the change of pace from running laps and wing strength exercises.
“Get set!”
That was it…that was the key he thought as he took in a few deep breaths and tensed his legs, ready to chase Scootaloo again.
It wasn’t a chore anymore…it was fun…wonder if this was Fluttershy’s plan too…
“Go!” Pinkie dropped her hoof and Scootaloo shot off across the yard and onto the road back to Ponyville. Volare sprang after her and quickly sped up to a gallop, forcing his burning legs to keep going. He pounded his hooves against the dirt road as Scootaloo buzzed along, the gap between them holding steady at about 20 feet for nearly a minute before Volare began to flag, feeling like he was pulling fire into his lungs rather than the cool evening air.
“Heh, you’re gonna beat me again, Scoots!” Volare called out between huffs, causing the faster filly to look back over her shoulder and shoot him an encouraging smile.
“Come on dude, don’t let me beat ya!” Scootaloo replied in a familiar fashion that nearly stopped Volare in his tracks.
Did she really just-
“Seriously try to catch me this time!”
The pilot shook his head and refocused, setting his jaw and returning her grin with a determined one of his own. “Alright Scoots, you asked for it!” He poured more effort into his stride, slamming each hoof down like a piston as he propelled himself after his younger companion. Slowly but surely, he began to close the gap!
20 feet…15…12…10…5!
He even flapped his good wing in order to increase his speed, bringing him nearly within hoofs’ reach of touching Scootaloo’s fluttering tail, their pre-determined signal that he’d caught her, as tackling her off the scooter probably wasn’t the safest idea despite her helmet.
But just as he reached out in mid-stride, straining every last fiber of his being to finally catch her…she seemed to sense his presence and smirked, suddenly changing directions and shooting off to the left, leaving Volare grasping at air and tumbling face-first into the dust of the road. Dammit, she did it again! He lay there groaning and heaving deep gulps of air, his energy all but spent until he heard Scootaloo roll up next to him.
“Dude, it’s more than just speed. Ya gotta be quick on your hooves too,” he could tell she was shaking her head by her shadow, and it he felt slightly mortified to be given pursuit lessons by a filly less than half his age…lessons and rules he was more than well-acquainted with, even though he was limited to the 2 dimension of the ground rather than the 3 dimensions of an aerial dogfight. Still, he was impressed that a filly as young as her grasped the value of agility over pure speed and power.
“I know, I know,” he sat up and sighed, giving her a crooked, dirt-filled smile that caused her to crack up and flop down next to him in the soft grass that lined the roadside. She pulled off her helmet, allowing her purple mane to flip up into its distinctive little ducktail style before she leaned against him, breathing hard herself.
“Still, that was a lot better than your other tries; almost caught me there.”
“Yeah, well if I wasn’t recovering from losing so much blood from my accident, I probably would’ve caught ya,” Volare gave her a gentle shove, which she returned two-fold.
“Yeah, keep talkin’,” she giggled. “Heh, just wait till we’re both up in the air, then we can really work on our moves!”
“Oh trust me, you’ll probably blow me away just as bad in the air as on the ground, Scoots,” he mussed her mane. “Then again…maybe you’ll always have to worry about me just lettin’ ya win, and it’ll bother ya all the time, always in the back of your mind thinking: “man, did I really beat him that time, or is he just being nice to me again?””
“Yeah right!” she hoofed him in the shoulder and they calmed down, simply enjoying the early evening air that cooled their burning lungs. After a while, Scootaloo hopped back up and tapped the dozing Volare on the head. “Dude, did you really fall asleep?”
“Oh-huh-yeah, yeah, guess I did,” the older Pegasus grinned sheepishly.
“Getting’ old already, huh?” Scootaloo teased, causing Volare to leap to his hooves and nearly keel over again from sheer exhaustion.
“No-whoa, I mean, just worn out from chasing the fastest scooter-er in Ponyville…is that even a word?”
“Scooter-er….can’t say I’ve ever heard it before,” the filly cocked her head. “But if it involves me being the best at something…meh, I’ll take it.”
“Heh, sounds good to me,” Volare stretched and sighed, not relishing the long walk back to Fluttershy’s. “You ready to head back home, Scoots?”
For a moment, the filly hesitated, as if his phrase had awoken something hardly touched within her consciousness. But it was only for a moment, and she quickly returned to her enthusiastic self. “Yeah, we’d better get back, otherwise, Fluttershy’ll think I beat you so bad that you dried up and blew away in the wind, old-timer, heehee!”
“Wha-old-timer!?” Volare sputtered and made to chase Scootaloo again, but his left foreleg nearly buckled under him, it was so worn out. “Ow…well, gimme a few hours to defend myself from that little jab, ok?”
“Heh, sure, gramps. Let’s get back to Fluttershy’s,” Scootaloo popped her helmet back on and hopped on her scooter, going substantially slower to accommodate her slower friend…totally not cuz she was tired too…no way. But soon, she began to wobble on her scooter. Volare spotted this, and quickly lifted her onto his back, folding her scooter away and tucking it under his trussed-up wing.
“Come on, Scoots. I gotcha,” he smiled and trotted along, estimating they’d probably reach Fluttershy’s in about 15 minutes at this pace. It wasn’t destined to be a terrible 15 minutes though, as the two Pegasi were treated to the sights and sounds of the early Equestrian evening. Crickets chirped in the grass, fireflies darted across their path, and frogs croaked somewhere off to their right from the creek that ran from Fluttershy’s cottage to the Ponyville Stream. Above it all, Luna’s bright moon had begun to rise from the horizon, and it would soon completely clear the ground and be floating high above their heads, lighting the way back home.
“Hey Volare,” Scootaloo mumbled sleepily into his ear.
“Yeah, Scoots?”
“Nnnmm…do old-timers like you like prune juice or apple juice more…mmmzzz.”
“Why you cheeky little…” Volare chuckled and nuzzled her before continuing on his way. “If ya weren’t already asleep, I’d leave ya here to find your own way home.” He muttered playfully, though inwardly, he shook his head at the thought. Leave Scoots here all alone in the dark…nah, never. You wouldn’t do it to her…so don’t even think that way about Scoots, not even in play.
Did he feel responsible for her outside of their training time…possibly yes. Did he think that was wrong to feel that way…no, absolutely not, at least he hoped not..
It was with thoughts of past and present bouncing around in his head that he arrived back at Fluttershy’s cottage, where Pinkie Pie was ready to greet them, accompanied by the delicious scent of dinner he feared he was going to be too tired to each much of.
“Whew, you two look like a couple of soufflés about ready to collapse!”
“Um, Pinkie…I don’t think soufflés are supposed to collapse,” Volare pointed out, to which the pink pony shrugged.
“Eh, I was never good at makin’ em anyway; cupcakes and cookies are more of my forte,” she smiled. “But in either case, you both looked pretty tired.”
“You can say that again, Pinkie,” Volare grunted as the pink-maned mare helped lift Scootaloo from his back and took the scooter as well, laying it against the wall of the cottage. “Heh, she’s pretty quick, I’ll give her that.”
“Did ya catch her yet?” she asked with a hopeful smile.
“Nah, not quite yet,” his reply caused her mane to droop slightly. “Came close, but then I literally ended up eating dirt when she changed direction.”
“Eeew, in my experience, I’ve never really eaten dirt that tasted too great, even with hot sauce,” Pinkie said to Volare’s befuddlement. “So I can at least relate, if that makes ya feel any better,” she patted him on the head.
“Yeah, guess it helps a little,” he replied, swearing he could still feel some road grit stuck somewhere behind his back teeth.
“Well, trust me, Fluttershy’s got something a lot better than road dirt cooking in there, so cheer up, Volare-bear!” Still carrying Scootaloo, Pinkie began to hop away.
“Whoa, wait a sec, Pinkie,” she stopped and turned at her name. “Where ya taking’ Scoots?” he asked, a small bit of alarm unintentionally creeping into his voice. Whoa Volare, calm down; it’s just Pinkie!
“Oh, silly stallion, it’s Monday tomorrow, and she’s got school,” she chided him gently. “She’s staying with me in town for now, so take care of her scooter till tomorrow! I’ll bring her by after school so you two can get back to it! See ya!” And with that, she hopped off into the evening, leaving Volare with more questions than answers. And that included why she was staying with Pinkie instead of her folks’…in fact, he’d never even thought of Scootaloo’s parents until now. Were they ok with Scootaloo staying with other ponies like this? They were never mentioned in the show…who were, they? What were they like? Where did they live? Come to think of it, Scootaloo had never even mentioned a word about them…but why-?
“Volare, the food’s getting cold!” Fluttershy called from inside the cottage, making the pilot feel like a little kid being called to dinner by his mother or something.
“Coming, Momma Flutters!” Volare called back jokingly, grabbing Scootaloo’s scooter and hauling it inside. Aaaand the appearance is complete he thought to himself as he sat the scooter down inside and greeted Iron Will and Fluttershy with a tired smile before shutting the door against the growing night.
………………..
Two pairs of green eyes watched from the long field grass as Pinkie hopped away along the darkening road, carrying her softly snoring charge. “Ray, come on, we won’t have a better opportunity than this! Let’s grab the brat before she gets away!” Jill hissed as she took a few steps towards the hopping pink pony before her brother collared her.
“Are you crazy sis! The Boss hasn’t told us to do anything of that sort yet; just observe! Besides, don’t you know who that is carrying her?” Ray whispered with a slight shudder.
“Yeah, that’s Pinka-what’s-her-name. What of it?”
“Pinkamena Diane Pie,” Ray corrected her. “She’s an Element Holder, and from what I could gather, she’s one of the most dangerous of all of them! Didn’t you read the documents on her? And let's not even get into the rumors...”
“Oh hell…please refresh my memory on what could possibly be so bad about a pink pony that smells like cotton candy,” Jill rolled her eyes.
“Four words: Hammer Space…and Party Cannon,” Ray gulped and pulled her away from the road and back towards the Everfree.
“Hammer and Party what?” Jill asked in bewilderment, though her brother responded with a shake of his head.
“Come on, I’ll explain it on the way back to Trixie’s. The important thing is that we now know where both Volare and the kid are staying. At the very least, it’ll make planning the next step a little easier if we know their patterns.”
“But she’s right there!” Jill hissed once more before Ray pulled her close.
“Jill, for the last time, you do not want to tangle with that one unless you have half an army backing you! Those Element Holders are bad news! Now come on!”
“Argh, fine,” the mare replied with another roll of her eyes as she followed her brother towards the forest. “At least we won’t have to deal with that Rainbow one now that she’s leaving to train for that race-whatchamacallit.”
“The Running of the Leaves,” Ray corrected her again. “And yes, that is quite the fortunate turn of events cuz I seriously doubt that big farm stallion can watch all of the edge of the Everfree by himself.”
“See, told ya it was a good idea to eavesdrop today,” Jill sniggered as they entered the forest.
“Yes, for once today, you were right," he humored her, if only to get her mind off of ambushing Pinkie Pie in the middle of the night. "Come on, I wonder what Trixie has planned for us next…”
…………………..
“The Great and Poweful Trixie demands to know where you two have been!”
“We went out for a walk,” Ray replied before his sister could shoot back with something less than polite; they still needed Trixie’s employment for immediate pay and cover.
“Where, might I ask,” the magician Unicorn was busy simultaneously brushing her mane and straightening the bend in the end of her pointy hat, all the while draped over her easy chair like some great cat with hooves.
“Around Fluttershy’s cottage, madam.”
“Why were you wandering around that wannabe veterinarian’s shack, of all places?”
“Finding that Volare you’re sooo interested in,” Jill imitated Trixie’s accent.
“Why you little”- Trixie whirled to face her petulant employee when Ray yet again stepped between them.
“And we did find him, Trixie. We’ve confirmed without a doubt that he’s staying at Fluttershy’s home until Twilight returns.”
“Oh really?” Trixie practically purred. “Well, I say we pay him a little visit before my purple opponent shows herself in town again-oh and do refer to me as Great and Powerful, if you please; thank you.”
“Um, there’s a small problem with that…Great and Powerful Trixie,” he practically gagged. “You see, living there with her is a crazy attack bird and a minotaur.”
“Ray, there’s no bloody minotaur living there!” Jill screeched, slapping him upside the head and making his ears ring.
“Ignore her, madam, I swear there’s one there,” Ray insisted. “For your own safety, I wouldn’t recommend confronting him while he’s there. I’d personally wait for a more opportune time.”
“Ray,” Trixie spoke after a moment of contemplation. “The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you for this information. You may sleep in my wagon tonight.”
“And what about me huh? I’m the one what suggested we go spying over there today and we wouldn’t have found this stuff out without that happening!” Jill snapped.
“Hrm, yes…you…can sleep outside where your yelling is less…bothersome.” The door glowed blue and flung open. “Goodnight, Jill.”
“Sorry sis,” Ray said helplessly as his sister stalked out the door and sat down next to the wagon, crossing her hooves against the slight chill of the air. Well…this sucked! She looked up at a slight commotion inside before Ray emerged from the wagon and sat down next to her, conjuring a fluffy-looking blanket out of thin air and laying it over his sister.
“I got your back, sis,” he smiled and shut the door, sitting down next to her before nodding off. Jill sat there for a moment, holding the blanket in her hooves before leaning over and giving her brother a nuzzle of thanks.
“Ray, you really get on my nerves sometimes,” she muttered. But you’re always looking out for me anyway…meh, thanks I guess…
-----------------------
September 6th
Over the past three days, the routine had been relatively unchanged for Volare and Scootaloo. The younger Pegasus would get dropped off at class for the morning by Pinkie Pie, who would then go and visit with Volare and Fluttershy. During this time, Pinkie would concoct a myriad of crazy exercises for Volare to attempt, including, but not limited to high and long jump, push-ups with Pinkie on his back, tug-of-war with Iron Will (which was as painful as it sounded), wing-lifts with the help of Fluttershy’s animals as before, and the introduction to Volare of the sport of hoofball, which was almost identical to soccer. The only difference was that he now had four legs to coordinate around the yellow and blue ball instead of two, which leant an extreme advantage to Pinkie Pie who’d been playing this sport since she left the rock farm as a filly.
The game quickly became a favorite of Volare’s as well, though in the beginning it often devolved into him simply chasing Pinkie as she literally ran and skipped circles around him, all the while juggling the ball between her hooves and occasionally off of Volare’s head and flanks. Well, now he knew how it felt to play the pony version of the Harlem Globetrotters!
The pink mare seemed to burst with boundless energy, and she often had to give Volare a rest, though the duration he required between the breathers he needed continued to grow until he could kick the ball back and forth with Pinkie for nearly half an hour before running out of gas. But he got a welcome relief whenever Scootaloo arrived from class and brought fresh legs to the competition as she and Volare teamed up against Pinkie in order to finally steal the ball from her and play some keep-away of their own over her head and through her legs till the pink mare was practically tied in knots trying to keep up, leaving Scootaloo and Volare rolling on the ground and gasping for air between bouts of giggles.
The game also served its purpose well of increasing Volare’s leg strength and stamina in preparation not only for The Running of the Leaves, but for when he could fly again, which had been Fluttershy’s plan from the beginning, along with his chasing Scootaloo on her scooter (the rider of which was also increasing her wing strength prior to flying through her repeated chase games with him.) She could also see his confidence returning in bundles now as he would occasionally flap his good wing and leap completely over Pinkie in pursuit of the ball, though he never actually took to the air.
Hopefully this keeps up and Twilight returns soon with a spell to fix his wing Fluttershy thought as she watched the pilot-turned-Pegasus romp with Pinkie and Scootaloo. She barely managed to dodge the hoofball as it rocketed past her and struck the sleeping Iron Will in the chest, startling him so badly that he collapsed the lawn chair he’d been sprawled in.
“Alright, who’s the pony this belongs to?” the minotaur growled playfully as he picked the hoofball up and gave them an overly fierce glare. Scootaloo and Pinkie immediately pointed at Volare who was promptly pelted with the ball before he could protest, leaving him stunned and wall-eyed on the grass.
“N-nice shot, Willy,” he mumbled as Scootaloo tackled him and proceeded to tickle him back to his senses, the two quickly becoming a rolling ball of fur, feathers, and laughter. Pinkie Pie, stifling her giggles as best she could, made her way over and sat down next to Fluttershy, who was softly shaking her head in disbelief.
“Whatcha shakin’ your head for, Fluttershy? Ya got a rattle in your gourd?”
“Oh, no, nothing like that, Pinkie, heehee,” Fluttershy blushed. “It’s just that, well…Scootaloo…”
“Ah, I see,” Pinkie nodded knowingly and looked on as the smaller filly was lifted up onto Volare’s back as he proceeded to kick the hoofball up into the air for her to catch and bounce off his head. “Been a long time since I’ve seen her this happy outside the Cutie Mark Crusaders too…”
“Indeed,” the yellow mare nodded.
“Does he know yet?” Pinkie asked quietly.
“About Scootaloo…no, I haven’t told him, have you?”
“Not a peep yet,” Pinkie shook her puffy-maned head. “Think we should?”
“I’m sure it’ll come up sooner or later...and if and when it does, we'll do what we can to help,” Fluttershy replied with a small sigh. As much as she wanted Twilight to hurry back and fix Volare’s wing…she inwardly hoped that his return to the air wouldn’t mean the end to the smiles on this child’s face.
Her thoughts and her gaze turned northward to Canterlot, where she hoped the search was going well for her scholarly friend.
----------------------
Back in Canterlot, where the situation was becoming distinctly pear-shaped…
Twilight Sparkle wasn’t a stranger to walking on eggshells in regards to certain touchy issues she’d encountered in life, but this situation had upped the ante from eggshells to having to perform the most graceful tapdance of all time on top of fine china and glassware. For the first time in her life, the scholarly Unicorn had no means of working towards the solution of a problem herself but at the same time being forced to not search for a means in fear of upsetting the precariously balanced situation that might end in Volare being tipped off into the void. For fear of angering Celestia any further than she likely already had, for Volare’s sake, she was forcing herself to stay away from her steadfast companions: books, specifically those of the Canterlot Library.
For the past few days, Twilight had done everything she could to distract herself from the inevitable invitation that would surely come from Celestia, bidding her to meet with her in the evening in order to tell her what judgment she’d meted out for Volare. From helping to fix the room she’d wrecked in her frustration, to visiting the old Magic Kindergarten School she’d attended (a task she would have gagged at had she had much of a choice), Twilight had done everything she could possibly think of without actually entering the Library or, heaven forbid, the castle itself where Celestia was surely busy with her own royal duties.
And that was another thing: never would Twilight have ever thought that she’d not only not want to talk with her mentor, but practically dread it! But here she was, doing her best to relax, but not too much in case the summons caught her off-guard. She’d need to be in prime mental condition when the time came, in case she had…had to what? Fight for Volare’s fate? What’s gotten into you, Twilight Sparkle?!
She was working herself up into an absolute tizzy, and pretty soon, she was positively, without a doubt convinced that Celestia was going to banish Volare from Equestria. What would he do? Where would he go in his injured state? It’d be a death sentence!
Oh why couldn’t this damned letter just hurry the hay up and get here!?
She had to admit after a while, that the stress of the unknown of what was about to take place was very quickly overtaking her fear of what exactly that letter might say. At least when it finally arrived she could stop worrying herself into sleeplessness about it!
Finally, on the evening of the third day after Shining Armor’s meeting with Celestia, the dreaded letter with the Sun-shaped seal on it arrived at Cadance’ doorstep. She quickly took the letter from the mail-pony and brought it inside, where Twilight practically snatched it out of her hooves with her magic and breathlessly tore open the envelope. Her eyes scanned the letter before she looked up and spoke.
“Celestia wants to meet me in the Library immediately to speak further on Earth and humans…one human and his fate in her lands in particular. And she wants me to come alone…”
The letter fluttered from Twilight’s magical grasp to the floor and, in stark contrast to just a few days ago, the Unicorn began to hyperventilate in a panic, something Cadance hadn’t seen her do since she foalsat for her; a panic that grew as the dread of receiving that letter that had kept her focused finally evaporated, leaving her a nervous wreck. Thinking quickly, Cadance led her over to the couch and sat her down, holding her hooves tightly and casting a soothing spell over her that quickly calmed her down, just as it had years ago. She rocked her back and forth, humming softly for nearly 20 minutes until she was sure that she was back to normal.
“Twilight’s it’s going to be ok. Remember, this is Celestia, not some crazypony tyrant. Come on, I’ll go get Luna and Shining Armor, and we’ll all go speak to Celestia about this. You don't have to go it alone this time.”
Without waiting for an argument, Cadance hoofed Twlight her saddlebag of notes and led her out of the house and through the empty evening streets to the guardhouse where Shining Armor was stationed that evening. If the worried look on his sister's face didn't clue him in to what was happening, then Cadance' summary of the letter surely did. “I’ll get Luna. Wait right here.” Within minutes, he returned with the Princess in tow, having quickly explained the situation on the way back.
“I had a feeling that summons might come soon,” Luna muttered as she gave the young Unicorn a warm embrace. “Now Twilight, we’re all here to support you in this matter, but you yourself must handle this with dignity and grace in order to give your friend the best chance possible. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do,” Twilight nodded after a moment of hesitation. “But she wants to discuss Volare’s fate, Luna…she’s probably already decided.”
“Oh…” the Moon Goddess’ heart sank at the news, but quickly hardened in her resolve to protect the subjects of her land, even from one of their own rulers.
“Well, we’re with you all the way, regardless of the outcome,” Cadance gave her sister in law a little hug and looked to her husband. “We’re ready.”
“It’s set then,” Shining Armor leaned inside and told his guards he was off to speak with Celestia before turning in for the night, and wished them a pleasant evening before handing the nightwatch keys over to his lieutenant and shutting the guardhouse door behind him. He heaved a sigh and set his sights on the Canterlot Library at the end of the street. He couldn’t believe he was going to do this…but blood's thicker than water. Sorry Celestia, but I've been Twiley's brother longer than I have your captain...
“Well, let’s go,” he spoke plainly and began to lead their little brigade towards the massive old building. To Twilight, besides the pit of doubt she felt forming in her belly, it was like a semi-lucid dream. True, she could turn back if she wanted, but she knew that to do so would damn her friend…no, she allowed Cadance and Luna to flank her and lead her onwards.
To her surprise, the closer they got to their destination, the less reluctantly Twilight’s hoofsteps became, and by the time they reached the short flight of wide, flat steps that lead up to the front door of the Library, she had pushed her way past her brother and was reaching for the door handle before Luna’s voice stopped her.
“Twilight, remember…for the sake of your friend. Keep calm, and do this with dignity.”
“Luna, I understand what you mean, and I’m more than a little scared…but I’m not about to let Celestia treat my friend this way!” Without a second thought, Twilight focused her magic on the door handle before anypony could stop her. The hay with dignity, this was the fate of her friend they were talking about!!
Within the Library itself, sitting inside the little book fort that her student had constructed around herself three nights previous, Celestia sat and scribbled on a multitude of scrolls at once, all illuminated by a myriad of candles that filled the book fort with a warm glow but did little else to ward off the shadows of the otherwise darkened Library. Though she’d promised Twilight that she’d work overtime in order to free up the evening, she’d gotten caught up in these last half dozen province reports that she was quickly speed-reading through in order to give her full and undivided attention to-
BAM!
Princess Celestia jumped slightly as she heard the Library door thrown open. Quickly following suit were the pounding of hooves on the granite floor and the labored breathing of a pony sprinting towards the book fort. Celestia rose to her hooves and looked out over the wall of books in time to see Twilight Sparkle skid to a stop just inside the circle of light projected by the candles, breathing hard and with a look close to fury on her face.
“Why, Twilight! What’s the matter?”
“You know damn well what the matter is,” Twilight said fiercely as the sound of additional hoofsteps neared them from the front hall. “I know that you know my friend Volare, and that you know where he came from, and what he was, even though it all began with my idea to study Earth with that spell, therefore it’s my fault, not his! And since I know you hate what he was, I know that you intend to send him away as fast as you can so that you don’t have to deal with him before he becomes a “security issue.” Isn’t that right, Princess?”
Celestia was taken completely aback at her student’s behavior, but that emotion was surpassed by the surprise she felt as the additional hoofstep owners came into view. “Shining Armor, you told your sister about what we spoke about?”
“Yes, I did, ma’am,” the Captain of the Guard nodded once. “And I for one don’t particularly like being manipulated into giving out the information required to banish somepony, especially a friend of my family. He has no choice of what he was; what matters is what he’s trying to be, and that’s simply finding his place in Equestria like anypony else would!” He stepped aside to allow his wife Cadance to speak.
“Auntie Celestia, please listen to them. You have no right to banish Volare just because of what he used to be. He’s better than what you think him to be, I swear upon it!”
“Cadance…Captain, I,” Celestia began but halted again and groaned softly as she saw the final hoofstep owner trot into view. “Oh no, you too, Luna?”
“Absolutely me too, Tia,” the Moon Goddess stepped forward until she was within a body’s length of her sister. “Just because something has the potential to be dangerous doesn’t mean that gives you the right to judge it as though it has already committed a crime. I may have been gone for 1000 years, but as far as I can tell, the laws of being fairly judged by one’s actions, not one’s propensity for them as a species instead of a separate individual, still hold firm here in Equestria.”
“Luna, I don’t think you understand,” Celestia began, but her sister cut her off again.
“No Tia, I understand perfectly. Volare’s presence here is entirely not his fault.” Despite being smaller than her sister, Luna nevertheless seemed to grow in size until she was staring her sister directly in the eye. “I myself would like to speak with him in order to better understand him and help him find a way to live here. But for you to want to punish him for whatever prior prejudice you may hold against his kind, simply for being one of them, is an absolute injustice in my eyes. Tia, I love you, sister. But if that is truly your intention this night, to abuse your power as ruler of this land as you see fit…then there may well be trouble ahoof!”
Luna took a step back in order to give her sister a chance to answer to these charges brought against her. To her, the Princess of the Sun seemed as a ruler under siege, both literally within her little book fort and figuratively, as the four most powerful magic-users in all of Equestria stood before her as a united front, neither intending to allow Celestia to banish Volare without a damn good reason. But to her surprise, and in fact to the surprise of everypony present, instead of meeting these charges with a hasty explanation or a plea to calm down, Celestia did the most unimaginable thing possible at that moment.
“Hmm…hmm-hmm-heh-heh-hahahahaHAHAHA” her soft, restrained chuckles grew into tinkling laughter, which further grew into loud guffaws of mirth. Twilight was aghast at the sight of Princess Celestia leaning on the book wall in laughter, wiping away the tears that squeezed out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!”
The purple Unicorn and her companions backed up another step, ready for any sort of trick Celestia might have up her sleeve….if only she’d stop laughing-why was she laughing so much? Just what the hay was going on here!?
--------------------------------
Author’s notes:
*Line in the sand: a point beyond which, once the decision to go beyond it is made, the decision and its resulting consequences are permanently decided and irreversible
Captain: brace for impact! Shitstorm-iceberg ahead!
(yeah, I just made that up, cuz that’s pretty much what we’re about to smack into here…or are we?)
Volare: dude, you’d better break this tension quick, or so help me, I’ll kill ya myself!
Stats
Page generated in 0.041 seconds
Total duration
1,036 users online
1,427,130 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
......I feel the presence of Trollestia. There are shenanigans afoot
.
888556 Lol
CHECK FOR TYPOS!!!
Also,Trollestia~
I think that the proper term is shitburg. Update soon I want to see what the hell will happen.
Of course, we don't get to hear Celestia's judgment until next week.
A couple of corrections:
I know, but I’m taking mail route after the race, --> her mail route
“She just seemed so…against the thought of one even being here that I dropped the subject with her entire, --> entirely
another well written glorious chapter from our glorious author V-pony
And thus the Trololo song began to play...
You mad?
So I am assuming Twilight got not only her family but ROYALTY worked up about something?
For such a logical pony Twilight sure is a little thick sometimes when it comes to behaviour.
I don't know what to make of this chapter.
Shit when down, but we haven't seen the reactions yet.
At least we know that Ray & Jill care for each other. Maybe there is hope for them
.
Well, Ray and Jill had damn good briefing. Or at least one of them did... Hammerspace and Party cannon? Yea, that is definitely amusing.
Trollestia maybe but I also detect
movies-wallpapers.net/Movies/Cliffhanger/Cliffhanger-01.jpg
I wish tia got really pissed because of what they said, if Twi seemed a bit crazy over somepony who wasn't entirely at fault, imagine what Celestia would do when her faithful student goes on a nerd rage
(yes I think twi's a nerd and she raged if you dont like it oh well...)
by the way great story still loved the smashing china bit, although it would have been funnier if she was angry at Iron Will and he was terrifyed (bookworm-y nerd-i-corn scaring a minotaur in a house with fine china) oh and could ya please put AJ in the actual Volare conflict please...
Da fuq
Another awesome chapter! And as others have said, it would appear that Trollestia has made an appearance.
Their reactions will be priceless. Especially considering it looks like they think Celestia has lost her marbles. Anyway, really looking forward to the next chapter. 
Et tu, Luna?
3.bp.blogspot.com/-MyX9gMu48P0/TpgtlyOsPlI/AAAAAAAABOw/QehaQeUGvVo/s1600/69052%252520-%252520artist%25253AMr-1%252520cloud%252520flying%252520rainbow_dash.jpg
Others suspect Trollestia.
I suspect... Insanity.
The "incoming shit-storm" in the Author Notes kinda tipped me off.
An error...
“Ok, fine…I don’t (want) Twilight to beat me again this year.”
Another great chapter. And the pear-shaped situation made me lol so hard.
I think Celestia is just laughing because she wasn't thinking anything along the lines of banishing Volare. Silly Twilight, always assuming the worst of Celestia. But you never know.
img.ponibooru.org/_images/704a65b5c8298201d5bf89dfa0d01005/130303%20-%20animated%20big_macintosh%20brace_yourselves%20macro%20reaction_image%20shitstorm.gif
Waaaiit, Cloudsdale premium rainwater? Don't they get the water for their rainclouds from lakes at certain towns? Doesn't that mean Rainbow in some loopy way drink straight from a lake?
Huh...
+-----+
Calling it now! Celestia's sending Volare back to Earth/Hell!
887424 Hrm, perhaps something like that...or she knows more about humans than she's letting on (but why's not letting on, be it keeping secrets for personal reasons or in the name of protecting others like Twilight, Luna, etc. remains to be seen...yet)
888556 Heh, not exactly
888708 Thanks, I went back through it and fixed a few things!
888788 LOL that works
And I'm already working on it!
888941 Heh, might be this week if I can get time to write (I work every day this week)
888942 LOL I'm far from glorious, but thanks for the compliment
889007
I think you'll be as surprised as Twilight and the rest
889019 Not all royalty. I'm just referencing that everypony in that room is royalty to some degree: Luna, Cadance, and Celestia are princesses, Shining Armor is a Prince by marriage, and I believe that make Twilight a minor princess as well (or a duchess) because her brother is a prince.
As for her being a little thick-headed...well, she's scared for her friend's safety, and she feels he's in danger because of her own actions, therefore, she's not thinking completely clearly. However, ya gotta give her props for showing some guts here.
889033 Oh trust me, reactions are in the next chapter
And yes, Ray cares very much for his sister (and she cares for him, albeit in a kinda grudging way). In fact, that caring nature plays a rather significant reason in why they're doing what they're doing as well as who this "Boss" character is.
889067 Thanks for the support! I'm not looking to redefine the HiE genre by any means, but I was getting a little tired of the old-hat Gary Stu human coming to Equestria. I'm just trying to present Volare's situation/experiences as realistically as I can. If that means he has to go through hell to get to where he wants to be in life...well, isn't it sometimes the journey to the destination that defines someone (in regards to what they're willing to go through to get there)?
889442 Yeah, indeed. Ray's more of the plan-ahead kinda pony, while Jill is more of the "shoot first (so to speak) ask questions later" sorta pony in regards to this line of work. Good thing Ray read the owner's manual
889500 LOL pretty much
889517 Well, considering how strongly Twilight feels for her friends' well-being, I'd expect her to do whatever it took to protect them if she got the opportunity. And I agree with ya-she is a nerd and she did nerd-rage a little bit
LOL poor Iron Will in that case
As for AJ...hrm, her time is coming, dontcha worry
889571 Idk
889766 Has she really lost her marbles?
Celestia: I'm not crazy; I'm just ahead of the curve
890175 Ya know, I nearly made Celestia say that, but then I thought: how the hell would she know about Shakespeare? Would have been epic, though
890284 Na, Tia ain't crazy...or at least, too crazy
890377 Thanks-fixed it!
Yeah, poor Shining Armor's gran-gran's china
As for Twilight expecting the worst...well, she does have the tendency to over-react in regards to Celestia. (Lesson Zero)
890570 Yes
890955 Heh, well, I have the theory that somewhere in the Weather Factory, the lake water is broken down magically into its basic molecules and reformed into rainwater (or it might be science, I dunno)
As for Celestia sending him back...well, that wont go well considering he doesn't have a human body anymore
891316
No shenanigans then? awww......I was looking forward to this all being a huge set up by Trollestia. It would be the Gala ticket incident all over again
.
891316 Hmm what I mean't by that was she did manage to get Luna worked up in it. You would think Luna would have been a little more level headed and reasonable.
I guess you could give her props for having guts, but I would scold her more for not thinking through what she was about to do and instead act illogically.
891316 I notice how you replyed to me twice. Yay, extra attention! :D *Edit Add: Oh wait, I made two comments...
*
And who said anything about restoring him to human form?
Heh, actually I was thinking Celestia may know how to change him back. I do remember what you said when this story first came out, but I thought maybe Celestia would be able to and know the spell for doing so.
I mean, she moves a giant ball of burning gas daily, and she's apparently known enough about humans to fear them. (As she should.
)
And really, the sun is bigger than Earth by abit. And, while it is possible that their sun is smaller, it can't be by much. Otherwise it becomes a red... something. (I can't remember the sciency name)
childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/assets/sun_earth.gif
891316
do eet anyway
891341 Well...maybe a little
891347 Aha, I see what you mean. However, I did mention that Luna's loyalty lay with her subjects first and fore-most, and that she'd protect thm, even from their own co-ruler (plus she was the one trying to keep Twilight calm the whole time. It almost worked...and then I think once she saw that the situation was possibly about to get out of control, her "Royal Canterlot voice" personality kinda kicked in order to show that even though she's the little sister in this, she wouldn't let that stop her from protecting Twilight Sparkle, the one she owed the most to in regards to her simply being there)
891424 Maybe she does, and maybe she doesn't...hell, she might have actually known it at some time, but one can forget alot of the little things over the course of a 1000+ year life
And your space logic is sound in regards to Earth and our solar system, however...whoever said anything about them following the same rules as us?
And the term is red dwarf
891459 LOL mebbe
891316 Not yes but Eeyup
Also "Boss" is Discord, or perhaps Ahuizotl or whatever his name was...?
891538 Heh, indeed
(and it's definitely not Trixie) 
Annnnnd....nope, not even close
Keep trying, though
891779
THERE IS NO MEBBE
images.wikia.com/starwars/images/e/e0/Yoda_SWSB.jpg
Now that I think about it, I can't wait for the Trixie/Volare confrontation. It is going to be hilarious
.Trixie is going to be like teach me human magic and Volare is going to be like ok, then Trixie is going to be like "What is this?"
And Celestia is not trolling, she just finds it funny how everypony reacted.
888556
But her shenanigans are cheeky and harmless... :P Hehe, shenanigans...
891779 I think it's Rarity!
Also, something tells me that Celestia hadn't been planning on exiling Volare in the first place.
I couldn't agree with Volare more. The tension it's killing me. I was really getting into the story for the potential of what could happen that I nearly punched the cat a couple times. And instead of relieving suspense you've stacked on more. Gah why must you hook me into your story so! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Soarin_dayum.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Spitfire_dayum.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Sweetie_Belle.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Scootaloo.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Applebloom.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Twilight_Sparkle.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Fluttershy.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Applejack.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Pinkie_Pie.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rarity.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rainbow_Dash.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Derpy_Hooves.png
892610 LOL that's a new one
892827 Yes, that little meeting will be....interesting
And...*gasp* have you been reading the script?!
892828 Thanks!
And they very well might
893207 Celest-anigans
893762 LOL trust me, it ain't Rarity
Very perceptive guess though (in regards to Celestia)
894425 Please don't punch the cat on my account
And don't worry...there's gonna be significantly less tension by the end of next chapter
895381Maybe
.
So what if I am? What are going to do about it?
Oh my bloody hell
can't wait to see how this turns out 
I nearly died at Twi's rage fit
that was brilliant!
8953 uhh, hmm.
Let's see... Who would be interested in new arrivals to Ponyville, new pegasi with significant flight skill, injured ponies, and/or ponies with emotional connections to the Mane Six?
Who would use secretive means to gather information?
Queen Chrysalis.
897303
...I've got my eye on you...
897696
Glad I could give ya a giggle 
897909 Heh-heh, nice guess...but nope
898478 Thanks. I was trying to explore a side of her that must exist but I'd never seen in writing before
And yeah...she must have a vendetta against fishies
898558 Nightmare Moon!
898734 That's Luna, you silly
895381 Thank the lord. Don't worry I won't punch the cat I was sorta flailing and he was in the vicinity of me.
Also go for gold son! I foresee more awesomeness coming from this fic dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Vinyl_Scratch.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Cloudchaser_dealwithit.png
899607 Volare!
899693 Whew, that's a relief
And I shall!
900754 Now that would be interesting...
And caught up!
Looking forward to seeing what set Celestia off all manic with laughter.
900882 Yes make it awesome. Not that it isn't already. I look forward to a next chapter. Even if it comes out at like two in the morning I will still read it before I sleep dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Soarin_dayum.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Spitfire_dayum.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Cloudchaser_dealwithit.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra_dealwithit.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Vinyl_Scratch.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Rainbow_dealwithit.png
cdn.head-fi.org/d/d1/d12de5ff_dis-gon-b-gud.gif
T̸ͧ͐̆͆͒̐̋͝҉̬̣͚͔̻̺͓̬h̜̣̝̪̥̲̬ͬ̇͂̈́̒ͬ͡iͯͣ͏̣͎̮̺̗̮s̸̡̺̞̟͕̜̩ͮ̇̑͋͒̄́ͯ͞ ̱̟̱̲͈ͫ̌̆̔͂ͬf̛͚͙͓̗͉͈̣̮̑̐ͬͭ̒ͩȉ̥̝̉ͬͫ̽͜c͔̰͚ͤͦ̍ͤ̎̚͡ ͉̩̀̀͋̂̆̋i̬̺̳̤̓̽ͤ̀̎̾͑̃̀s̸̢̽͒̑͌ͅ ̆̒ͧͥ̄ͨ҉̞̦̹̰͞m̰͎͓̟̜ͮ̔ͥ͋̋͛ͦo͉̳͖̰̻͚͍̐́̆́͜͡s̢̲̝̦͓̦͒̂̀͗̒ͥ͊t̡̤͈̮̓̈́̔͋͘ ̶͔̩ͫ̈ͭͫ͑̈͡i̷̩͇̬ͯ̀̓̍̋̎ͭ͠n̷̻̪̭̭͕̐ͥ͒̽͒̋ͬͨ͞t̃͒̉̽͡͏͔̭̟̻e̢̺̼͉͚͒̍̋̔͌͆͡rͯͤͮ̆̇̀̈̉҉̶̷̲̖̲̜e̘̤̝̻̞ͪͫ̆̍ͫ̉ͫ̓̇ś̴͍̬̺̪̳̫́̈́̍͡t̷̻̹̘̫̘̫͚̓ͫͭͯ̎i̸̜͎̩̹̜̗͇͗̆͒̉ͯͭ̚̚n̶ͦ̈ͧͦͬ̂̏́҉͖͙̼͕̜̮g̡͚̯͗̎͋̌̅͞ ̷̦̀̀͡ȁ̧͉̺̬̹͎̊̊n̪̟͇̔d̮̤͋̆ͦ̓̐ͩ͢͠ ̧̪̰̺͓̣̪̣͊ͯ͒͌͒́a̭̠͌͐̚̕͢m͚̦̘̝͍̎̾̅̈́͂ͧ̓̇͛u̧̖̜̫͖͖̼̪ͧ͋̒̀́͝s̴̫̠͓̮̼̫ͨ͐ͦ̉̈͛͊́i͓͇̝̬ͮ̓n̛͚̖̫̈́ͬͯ͒̃g̣͚̰͉̘̗̒̄͆̀͘
̛͉̪̯͔͓̃̆͆͐̃̕͘Ḭ͓͉̩̤̳̄̿͋̓͒ͨ̀͡ ̸̠̱̬̳ͪ̆͜"̺͍̓́̚̚͘p̢̢̣̠̞͖̝̽̀a̖̟͐͘t̳̭̹̣͉͔̻̼̍ͯ́i̟̳͇̬̗̹̼̊̃͗͗̋́͘͝e͈̤̺̯̣̘̐̍͐̍ͪͥ̇̀͘n̖̉̒ͭt̡̥̻̣͙̰̻͙͇̱̉̃͡l̫̫͚̹̻ͮ̍̆͛y̯̲̫͖ͮ̊̇ͥ͛ͯ̈́̉ͩ́̕͘"̶͉̟͉͍͆͛̑̌ ̨̲͈̜ͫ̑ͣͭ̇͠͡ą͇̦͇͉͙̾ͮ̔̀w̵̝̩̱͔̦͇̼ͭ̈̒͌̐ͯͯ͋å̭͇̣͈̒̈̑͡i̘̤̎̆̈́ͩ͆́̀͢t̨̠̯̤̻͆̀̀ͪ̑̃ ̰͈̯̗̳͙̦̅̆ͪ̒̉͋ͤ͘͟t̹̘̊̾ḧ̸̭̫̘̼͓͖͈̜͐̑͠eͭ̈́̐̓̓҉̴̙̝̹̭̠̜̣̱ ̥̝̲̙̲̈́̈́̎̌̀ͨ̚n͔͉̺͙ͥ̂̓͊̔͌̾̒e̸̢͔̹̭̘̺̯̻͐ͨ͛ͩ͐x̴̢͈̭́ͮͬ͗t͈̦͍̓̎̊͆͛̈́͜ ͈̫̗̿́̐͋c͉̼̲͕̼͚͖͂ͤ̍̋h̦̜͕̺͓̾ͧ̇̀͘a̹͇͎̠̝̝͎̓̎̍ͪ́p̨͕̤͓͉̥ͭ̆ͮͯ͒ͤ̏ͤͅt̖̳̘̬̳̎ͭͩ̊̈́͜e̐̉͌͛̃͛ͧ̃̽͏̨̞̪̝̳̬̺̱̗͍r̜̺̪͎̞̩̜ͨ̎̆͐̀ͅ
890175 is that PewdiePie: chairmode refernce?
905023 i broke your scramble thing by simply highlighting it in the blue left-mouse-hold-thingy
the joker
900882 what's a Hammer Space never heard of it?
Party cannon I've definitely heard of
The only thing missing during Twilight's rage was a "cans.wav"
I guess that means if they meet, Celestia will ask Volare if he likes bananas