Blue Angel

by V-Pony

Inseptium Nova-Pt 1: Red Barons and Herrings

September 12th
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“Volare? Volare, where are you?” the small orange Pegasus called out into the night-shrouded valley. She stood alone at the top of a craggy rock face, feeling the lightest of breezes ripple along her mane from out of the darkness. Her legs ached as if she’d run a mile, and her breath came in quick little gasps. Scootaloo looked back over her shoulder fearfully, eyes dilated, though she wasn’t completely sure why. All she knew was that something was back there, and she needed to get away from it; she wanted her brother.

I’m here Scoots…I’m here the comforting voice replied from somewhere across the vale, lending her the strength she needed to climb down the slope and into the unknown.

“Where? I can’t see you, bro,” Scootaloo called out again, feeling her way down the hill until her hooves reached the hard valley floor. She trotted forward two steps and bumped into a cold, vertical surface nose first. It didn’t make sense and it stretched left and right as far as she could feel with her hooves. She began to panic a little bit and whimpered slightly. “V-Volare?”

Up…look up, Scoots, the friendly voice instructed. She complied but couldn’t see anything.

“Where?” she reached forward and up in the murk until she felt a warm, friendly hoof that contrasted with the coolness of the vertical face grasp her own and pull her skywards, finally lifting her over the edge and up into a hug that seemed as soft as a Pegasus’ wing. Following the gentle pull, she climbed up onto something warm and welcoming before curling up within the feathers and giving a contented sigh of relief.

Found ya, Scoots she heard Volare’s voice near her ear, and felt a cheek nuzzle her own before the feathers wrapped her in their cozy, secure embrace.

“No, I found you, big bro,” she snuggled deeper into the hug and settled down, unafraid of whatever baddies might be hiding out there in the dark. “And I’m glad…”

…………………

Volare awoke to the sensation of the early autumn breeze rustling the tattered remains of his mane. He blinked drowsily and yawned, beginning to stretch before remembering that he’d have to careful, and not just because of his injuries. He looked to the right for the source of the breeze to see the window hanging open a crack; Shae must have left sometime ago, probably to go hunting, he surmised. By the angle of the sun slanting through the window, it looked to be nearly noon.

The Pegasus craned his neck downwards and smiled affectionately at the little tuft of fuchsia that poked out of the wing he’d wrapped over his torso. He felt tiny exhalations against the fur on his chest, and heard the occasional, almost imperceptible little whinnies that emanated from that ball of blue feathers as its occupant slept rather fitfully, though much more soundly than she had last night, when he’d helped her climb up onto the bed with him.

He chuckled quietly at the memory before lightly brushing his left hoof over that fuchsia tuft. “Heh, you said you wanted to sleep in here so I wouldn’t be lonely...but I’m starting to think there might be another motive involved.” He paused and frowned in thought at that. He wondered just how much the trauma of yesterday had truly affected the tough little filly. True, though he could see that she was recovering from it fairly well, all he could do was thank his lucky stars that she was young; that she’d have alot of life ahead of her to experience plenty of good things to take the place of yesterday.

Hopefully, in time, this would all just become nothing more than a bad dream. For himself, however, it would serve as another grim reminder that he could take nothing for granted here; that as brightly colored and welcoming as it might seem, this world had the same rules of life and death as Earth, and that they should be held in just as high of a regard…that lives like Scootaloo’s should be treasured and protected just strongly.

“Mmmph-mmm…” Scootaloo mumbled something in her sleep, prompting Volare to give her a gentle squeeze with his wing.

“That’s my promise to ya, Scoots,” he whispered softly. “Whatever it takes…even if I’ve gotta become a frickin’ cyborg or something to function (and at the rate I'm going, that's not outside the realm of possibility), I’m gonna be the best big brother you deserve.”

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South of Ponyville…

“Ok Rainbow Dash, just remember to make sure ya don’t miss any homes on the route, cuz they all count on me to deliver their mail. And without their mail, there’s no telling what could happen!” Derpy Hooves declared as Rainbow Dash tightened her saddlebags in preparation for the long flight Northeast to Fillydelphia.

“Right, right, gotcha,” the rainbow Pegasus nodded impatiently, ready to get this show on the road, but not because she was excited to be delivering the mail. Celestia forbid if I ever got excited over that, she thought. No, she was in a hurry to leave so she could get as far away from a certain lavender Unicorn as fast as she possibly could. She needed to cool her hooves for a few days away from her long-time friend; she could feel it in her gut. She just hoped that Twilight felt as crappy about what had happened yesterday as she did. “Twilight, you jerk,” Dash muttered with a kick of her hoof. She hoped somepony else told her the truth, cuz it certainly wasn’t gonna be her; she wasn’t entirely sure what she’d do if she re-met the Unicorn so soon after their tiff, but it probably wouldn’t be anything pleasant!

“Say what, Rainbow Dash?” Derpy cocked her head.

“Nothing, Derps; nothing,” the mare shook her head and glanced back to the northeast before sighing. “You totally sure you can keep an eye on my place while I’m gone?” she asked warily, to which the blonde Pegasus gave a lop-sided salute.

“Oh yeah, abso-posi-lutely,” she quipped with a nod. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t get blown an inch from this spot,” she pointed definitively at the cloud porch. “And I promise it’ll be in one piece when ya get back, just like ya said.”

“Heh, thanks Derps,” Dash gave her weather teammate a quick, one-hoofed hug before looking towards Ponyville, specifically the hospital. For a moment, she contemplated going there and speaking to Volare before she left, if anything to head off whatever Twilight might say to him…but surely he and Scootaloo heard everything… She hung her head for a moment before the breeze whistled through her flight feathers, lifting her spirits somewhat.

No moping, Dashie. That ain’t your style, she thought as she flexed her wings in the wind. Whatever happens…well, it happens. You’ll deal with it cuz you always have. I guess what really matters is Volare ends up happy…whether it be with Twilight or…nah. Dash, you fly solo, remember; and in his condition, he’d obviously only be a distraction. Besides, Volare already said it won’t work; though whether that’s just something he told me cuz he wants to be with Twilight kinda remains to be seen…maybe he’ll come around, but if he doesn’t, then oh well, buck it! It’s also not your style to let crap like this slow you down! She returned Derpy’s salute and gave her a bit of a forced smile. “See ya in a few days, Derps!”

“Later, Rainbow Dash!” her fellow Pegasus grinned and waved as the fastest flier in Equestria shot off of the side of her house, did one last fly-around of the tower, and took off for Fillydelphia. Within minutes, she was nothing more than a cyan speck that blended into the skyline and disappeared to the north of the rising sun.

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Knock-knock-knock!

Volare and Scootaloo looked up from their debate over what exactly the hospital food was made out of. Volare was leaning towards over-ripe asparagus while Scootaloo had theorized it was green-colored dirt; it sure tasted like it, in any case! “This stinks,” the filly had grimaced after trying to choke down spoonful of the stuff. “They trick you into coming here with their nice, warm beds, and then once they’ve gotcha here, they try to poison your lunch!” Volare did his best to suppress a chuckle at her adorable pouting face as she pushed the food away before the knocks on the door resounded.

“Come in!” Volare called before the door swung silently open, revealing Princess Luna in all her glory. Scootaloo uttered a small squeak before her brother patted her head reassuringly; the Princess of the Night meant nopony any harm.

“Good morning, Volare, Scootaloo,” the Alicorn mare smiled warmly as she stepped inside. “I trust you slept well?”

“As well as it gets, all things considered, Princess,” Volare laughed dryly but halted mid-way as he caught sight of the blue-maned, white Unicorn stallion that trotted in after Luna. From Twilight’s description, there was no mistaking who that was, and he had no intention of making a bad impression! “Officer on deck!” he sat up with a grimace and threw Captain Shining Armor a salute, nearly thunking himself in the head with his encased forehoof in the process.

“At ease,” the Captain nodded and patted the air with a hoof. The pilot smiled gratefully and settled back down, leaving Scootaloo rather confused as to what just happened. “So you must be Volare; Twiley’s told me a whole lot about you.”

“Same here,” the Pegasus replied as Shining Armor approached the bed, his widening eyes roving over the various injuries and bandages that criss-crossed Volare’s body, the most prominent of which were the leg cast and the heavily-packed medical pad over his left eye.

“Wow, I heard you got hurt pretty badly in that scrum out there, but I never imagined it was that bad,” he said solemnly and shook his head. Volare could see it in Shining Armor’s eyes that he was doing his best not to stare at his injuries. It really made the Pegasus wonder just how much action the Captain had actually seen, because he was acting almost like a green soldier in regards to his injuries instead of how a more detached senior officer would. In fact, besides the Wedding Incident, Twilight hadn’t mentioned any other conflict Shining Armor might have been involved in, at home or abroad. But, the Unicorn did outrank him, and Volare still respected the ranking system, so he did his best to ease the Captain’s concerns without unintentionally embarrassing him.

“Yeah, well you should see the other guy,” he chuckled, causing the uncicorn officer’s frown to crack into a grin.

“Both of’em!” Scootaloo added with a fierce grin of her own. “We sure showed them!”

“So there were two of them, I take it?” Shining Armor asked as he levitated a clipboard from his brass-buckled saddlebag along with a quill. “That’s actually what we came to speak with you two about…if you feel well enough, that is.”

“Yeah, I do,” Scootaloo nodded and looked back at Volare. “How ‘bout you, big bro?” the blue Pegasus looked from her to Luna and Shining Armor, who both wore slightly confused expressions before he nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Volare replied and settled back down onto the bed, wincing at the aches in his body as he did so. “Where should we start?”

“From the beginning of the race is as good as any,” Luna said, taking a seat across from them to politely observe her Captain make his report.

----------------------

Twilight Sparkle yawned and stretched her neck as she sat up from her reading desk. Despite Princess Luna’s order to get some rest, after Twilight had explained the spell situation to the others and apologized for her outburst, the very fact that she had become so unhinged and violent towards one of her best friends…it quite frankly frightened her. She wondered if it had anything to do with the strange feelings she’d been having in regards to Volare, the very same ones she’d asked Celestia about and she’d told her she needed to figure out for herself. She no longer believed them to simply be maternal…she couldn’t believe that a maternal instinct could cause her to physically attack a friend like that. She’d put them aside for a time, but they’d only resurfaced with a vengeance, and she had to know what it was before somepony else got hurt again!

And so, unable to get her mind off the subject, the lavender Unicorn had searched her personal library deep into the night and had finally found the book she’d been looking for…the very same book she’d used to educate Dash about other colts with as well as to teach Volare the basics of Pegasus anatomy. “Guess I need a refresher myself,” she thought and skimmed the pages before reaching a section she’d never thought she’d really ever have to seriously reference...and it wasn’t the History of Pony Hooves, either! In all honesty, she thought she got more than enough interaction on the subject with her Friendship Reports… Searching the text, she quickly found the reference she was looking for and located the book on the far right side of the third shelf of her collection: “Pony Social Behavior.”

She’d torn through it deep into the night, eventually piecing together enough information to make her literally sit back in shock as she finally realized what those feelings had been, even after the conversation that she had had with Dash about why they couldn’t happen. The fact that she’d basically become what she thought she’d been against this entire time…the hypocritical shame she felt at the realization was crushing, and she’d been so mentally beaten by that time that all she could do was lay her head in her forehooves and softly cry until she fell asleep.

Her embarrassment was further compounded when she woke and found that someone, likely Spike, had tossed a blanket over her shoulders to ward off the early autumn chill that seeped in through the slightly open window in her bedroom. Moaning softly as she stretched her legs, Twilight trotted to the window and opened it fully, stepping out onto the balcony and taking in the sight of mid-day Ponyville. She breathed in the scent of the new season that The Running had brought with it, and sighed as she looked in the direction of Ponyville Medical.

After a moment’s hesitation, she gave a determined nod and trotted back inside, closing the book and placing it back in its place; she knew it was likely wishful thinking, but she nonetheless really hoped that Spike hadn’t seen what she’d been reading. The dragon was still asleep despite the rather late hour, but she had no intention of waking him and having him ask where she was going. She quietly slipped out of the Library and shut the door before heading to the Hospital, intent on avoiding any other pony’s distractions as much as possible. Volare deserved an explanation as to what exactly had happened, both in Canterlot and in the Hospital lobby yesterday…or rather, she needed to get it off her chest. She was just so bucking scared of how he’d react…Celestia give me strength…

-----------------------

“Repeat that last bit, if you please, Scootaloo,” Princess Luna leaned forward at the Pegasus’ description of what happened when Volare lunged forward and struck the female Cryhena in the face. Even though the pilot chided the filly on embellishing the story a little (including how she swore he’d set the Cryhenas on fire), something about the filly’s description, however exaggerated it might be as children are often wont to do, caught her attention. “What did you say happened to Volare’s eyes?”

“Oh, his eyes got really bright blue before he just…he moved so fast that creep didn’t have time to react,” Scootaloo replied, glancing back at her brother, who’s uncovered eye was it’s usual color. “Why?”

“Nothing, just…” the Night Princess looked to Shining Armor, who’d paused in his report to hear what she had to say. “It’s just that the only times a pony’s eyes change color like that is in the midst of a large magical discharge, often-times caused by instances of extreme distress.”

“Huh?” the orange Pegasus cocked her head in confusion, causing both Shining Armor and Volare to chuckle.

“She means that something like that usually only happens with magic users like Unicorns and Alicorns when they’re upset or in trouble,” the Captain explained. “Thing is, though you two were definitely in trouble out there, Volare’s neither of those creatures.”

“Yes, but his body was created via magical means, so there may be something in that. And you and I both know that Pegasi and Earth Ponies are also capable of their own versions of magical discharge; Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom, for instance,” Luna mused. She also knew that when a pony’s loved ones were in danger, it could often inspire them to acts greater than they’d normally be capable of… In truth, she couldn’t recall encountering something like this before, and didn’t want to offer an explanation that wasn’t much more than an educated guess if she could help it. Perhaps her sister would know more…
“But for now, I’d rather not speculate. Suffice to say that something significant happened out there within yourself, Volare.”

“Should I be worried?” the pilot asked with a rising hint of concern in his voice. “I mean, I’m not a danger to others, am I?”

“At this point, I’m not entirely sure,” the Night Princess shook her head. “You haven’t had any dreams out of the ordinary, have you?”

“Um, a few weeks ago, I did keep having this one nightmare over and over, but recently, I haven’t had anything besides dreams of flying and…just general peace. Why?”

“Just making sure; strange dreams can often indicate more serious internal problems, but good ones like that can mean things are going well within your self. But for now, if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it too terribly; we don’t want anypony else jumping to wild conclusions,” she grimaced slightly at the memories of the past few days.

“Indeed,” Shining Armor agreed and quickly skimmed back through his paperwork. “Ok, I think that’s all we’re going to need-oh, did you say those Cryhenas actually talked and identified themselves?”

“Yeah, they did-Ray and Jill, I think,” Volare nodded. “Though they seemed angry at each other for doing so, like they were trying to keep their identities a secret or something.”

“Strange, very strange,” Luna muttered. “Iron Will mentioned something about that as well, that he’d encountered beasts like those before in the past but that those particular Cryhenas didn’t seem entirely natural. He couldn’t recall ever hearing one speak, but he said it was something about the way they smelled more than anything that tipped him off.”

“They just stank to me,” the blue Pegasus shrugged with a groan. “Wait, you said Iron Will told you that? Did you really stay at Fluttershy’s last night?”

“O-oh, yes, yes I did,” Luna smiled, taken off guard by the sudden change in topic. Shining Armor raised an eyebrow; he could have sworn that Twilight had said that Fluttershy was terrified of Princess Luna.

“How’d that turn out?”

“Fairly marvelously, surprisingly” the Princess chuckled. “Fluttershy was quite the friendly hostess, and she kept me company outside her cottage, swapping stories and laughs until the early morning as I monitored the moon. Knock on wood, but I believe we reconciled any past difficulties me might have had.” Volare couldn’t help but smile along with her, happy that the still-socially awkward Luna had managed to make a new friend on her own, and out of Fluttershy no less!

“Um…I’ve been staying with Fluttershy for the past few weeks…did Angel Bunny give you any trouble?” Volare asked with a bit of a wince.

“Oh no, the little dear entirely lived up to his name last night,” the Moon Goddes smiled. “He even made me dinner! He must be the sweetest little rabbit I’ve ever met.”

WTF?! That settles it...Angel Bunny is definitely a pimp, Volare thought.
“How’d Iron Will take it?” the Pegasus asked, causing Luna to grin rather sheepishly.

“Oh him….um…let’s just say that recent events have caused him to take a bit of a dislike to me,” the Princess replied hesitantly.

“Oh, how bad could it be?” Volare waved a hoof.

“He rather avoided me like the Cutie Pox last night,” the Princess replied, her ears drooping in disappointment.

“Whoa, what happened to cause that? That guy’s not afraid of anything, well except Angel Bunny…I think,” the pilot chuckled.

“Well, when a certain Princess has to resort to the Royal Canterlot Voice, even the toughest creatures quake in their hooves,” Shining Armor laughed, caught up in the mirth of the moment before catching the short glare that Luna shot him. But it was too little, too late.

“Whoa, when did that happen?” Volare asked, looking at the Princess with a bit of nervousness. “Did it have anything to do with that shaking I felt last night?”

“…yes, it did,” Luna finally conceded with a frown.

“What happened?”

“I…don’t think I’m the best pony to tell you, Volare,” the Princess admitted, glancing at Scootaloo hesitantly; she just didn’t feel it was proper for a child like her to know what happened just yet. “Though I witnessed it, I don’t know you as well as your friends, and I don’t want to speculate and make the situation worse with hearsay information.” At Volare’s drooping features, Shining Armor spoke up again.

“But, the good news is, I’m pretty sure Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack are coming to visit you anytime now,” the Captain looked up at the clock, which indicated 2 in the afternoon. He also noticed the questioning expression on Volare’s face at his lack of mention of Twilight and Dash.

“What about the Crusaders?” Scootaloo sat up hopefully, causing the three adults to chuckle.

“I’ll bet they’ll be here too,” Shining Armor replied, patting her on the head. “In fact, part of the reason they’re coming here is to pick you up and take you to Pinkie’s place, cuz the hospital staff say you’re stable and ready to check out.”

“But what about Volare?” the orange Pegasus looked back at her brother with worry. “I don’t wanna leave him alone here.” Her statement tugged at Volare’s heart, and he pulled her into a soft wing-hug.

“I’ll be ok, Scoots,” he said with a reassuring nuzzle. “But you’ve got class to go to, kid, and that’s more important than killing time here with me. Besides, I’m sure you can visit, right?” he glanced up at the Captain and the Princess.

“Of course, I can’t see why not,” Luna replied with a nod. “But your older brother is right; your schooling comes first,” she winked at Volare, showing that she accepted their rather impromptu, but no-less-touching, sibling relationship. She’d have to locate the correct paperwork in Canterlot, but she was positive that Celestia wouldn’t have a problem of approving of Volare’s surrogacy. Besides, she had to admit that the sight of them together just seemed…very fitting. At the very least, she knew that nopony, not even her or her sister, could take away what they’d been through and bonded over; meeting them halfway like this only seemed the right thing to do.

“Aww, shit,” Scootaloo grumbled, nearly making Volare choke on the remains of his overly-ripe asparagus/green dirt hospital food. Did she seriously just say that?! The Captain and the Princess exchanged confused glances again before Volare headed them off.

“Uh-heh-heh, Scoots?” he spoke, gaining her attention.

“Yeah, bro?”

“Where’d you hear that word at, squirt?” He knew the answer…

“Oh, you said it out there in the woods when you were mad,” Scootaloo replied matter-of-factly. “So I figured, if you said it, it’s ok for me to say it too, right? What’s ‘shit’ mean, anyway?” Volare couldn’t help but double face-hoof despite the cast on his right leg. He felt like sinking into the bed and disappearing; he’d corrupted the little kid’s mind...he was sooo going to hell for that! Oh god…what ELSE did she remember from out there?! But he quickly gathered himself and tried not to roll off the bed and hide.

“Oh, um…it means…it’s a strong word for excrement,” Volare explained, causing Scootaloo’s head to tilt, Luna’s eyebrow to shoot up, and Shining Armor’s jaw to drop, reactions not lost on the pilot, who quickly added: “But I said that word in anger, and even then, it probably wasn’t the best thing to say at the time. So I don’t want you repeating that word anymore, ok?”

“Aww, ok,” the filly nodded. “So I guess that also means I shouldn’t say ‘mother fu-’”

“OOOOOOOOKAY!” Volare clapped his hooves together with an overly bright smile. “I’m betting we’re holding up the Princess and the Captain, so I say it’s time we say good bye and let them get on back to Canterlot, eh?”

“Y-yes, very good,” Shining Armor nodded a bit shakily, still a bit shocked about what Scootaloo had just said. Oh well, I guess it could be worse… Luna kept her composure a bit more, though, and gave Volare the gentlest hug she could muster, minding his injuries as she did so.

“I wish you the best in your recovery, Volare. Don’t worry about your hospital bill; I’ve paid it in advance myself,” she explained to the surprised pilot.

“But Princess, I…why?” He still just couldn’t grasp the generosity of these ponies!

“Volare, surely you know better than to…look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak?” she said with a chuckle. “In all seriousness, consider it a reward for your bravery out there today. Your and Scootaloo’s report and insight into this situation will surely benefit all ponykind that journey through the Whitetail Wood from now on.” As she and her Captain turned to leave, Volare called Shining Armor back to his bed for a moment.

“Excuse me, Captain?”

“Yes, Volare?” he nodded to let Luna know he’d be along shortly.

“How’s Twilight in all this?” the pilot asked with concern. “I noticed you didn’t mention her coming here later today…”

“Ah yeah, well,” the Captain fumbled for the right words. In truth, he felt a bit disgusted at his little sister for her behavior, but surely she had an explanation for it! “Let’s just say the entire trip for her was…stressful but somewhat successful and leave it at that for now. She’ll be able to explain more when she does come to visit you…which, knowing her, shouldn’t be too terribly long from now.”

“Shining Armor, sir,” Volare spoke frankly, leaning up a bit as he did. “Did Luna’s using her Royal Voice have anything to do with her?” The white Unicorn avoided his one-eyed gaze for a moment, still a bit put-off by his injuries. But when he didn’t lay back down and relax, the Captain finally relented somewhat.

“Yes, yes it did…please don’t ask me to say anymore, Volare,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper so Scootaloo wouldn’t hear. “I’ve said and speculated enough as it is. Twilight is one of your closest friends, and she will be the one to fill you in further; not me.” His answer didn’t do much to satisfy Volare’s curiosity, but in respect for the Captain, he finally laid back down and closed his eye.

“Forgive me, sir,” the Pegasus muttered. “I’m just worried, that’s all.”

As we all are…
“It’s fine. Now then, get well soon Volare. And if you’re ever interested,” his cheerful change in tone caused the Pegasus to glance up at him. “I’m sure we could use a pony with your courage in the Royal Guard somewhere.”

“I’ll consider it, sir,” Volare smiled gratefully before throwing him another small salute. “Have a safe journey back…oh, and say hello to Cadance for me!”

“Heh, will do,” Shining Armor nodded and headed out the door, leaving Volare and Scootaloo alone with the ticking clock and their cold and getting colder “food”. The blue Pegasus kept mulling over this new information in his mind, worried about what happened with Twilight to cause Luna to react that way…and what about Rainbow Dash?!

“You bored, Volare?” Scootaloo asked after approximately half a minute, drawing a light laugh from her brother. Apparently, she was no longer fazed by meeting the Princess of the Night in person anymore.

“Yeah, kinda,” he conceded, looking about the room for something to occupy themselves with. He chuckled inwardly as he thought back to the episode where Dash had hurt her wing and was cooped up in a hospital bed like this. She’d read a Daring Do book to pass the time, but from what he could see, there weren’t any books to be found in the room. He frowned for a moment before a thought hit him. He didn’t have any books, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tell her a story from his memory. “Hey Scoots, you like stories?”

“Yeah, sure do!” she bounced slightly on his chest with a grin. “Oooh, tell me a story about Earth!”

“Heh, you’re interested in that old place, eh?”

“Well, duh, it’s where my big brother is from,” she hoofed him lightly. “Why wouldn’t I be interested?”

“Ok, ok,” he laughed and searched his mind for a good one before settling on a story he knew fairly well. “Alright, this is a story that’s pretty important to me, but I gotta warn you; it’s a military story that involves a lot of folks losing their lives.”

“Dude, I’ll be fine,” Scootaloo hoofed him again. “I mean, it’s not as bad as what we went through, right?” she asked with a hint of uncertainty.

“Nah, not like what we went through,” he ruffled her mane. “I’ll keep the bad stuff to a minimum. Besides, it’s the guy the story is about that’s more important than the violence.”

“Who’s the story about?” She asked rather impatiently; the suspense was really getting to her!

“One of the greatest human flying aces of all time: Manfred von Richtofen, the Red Baron!”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen

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30 minutes later…

“Wow,” Scootaloo breathed as Volare finished speaking. She sat silent for a moment, thinking back through what she’d just heard before looking up at him, her eyes large and intense. “Was that a true story? I mean, the planes and everything?”

“Every word,” the blue Pegasus nodded; he’d managed to sneak in a brief description of the planes used during World War I into the story to better allow the filly to understand the details. “The Red Baron was very real, and was a very good pilot for his time. He didn’t use brute force to solve fight his battles, but instead, he used his head and better tactics than his enemies to beat them.”

“Hey, kinda like what you told me about Pinion and his gang when we first me, huh?”

“Exactly!” Volare smiled. “He flew smart and used his plane’s advantages of superior maneuverability to outfly his faster opponents. Heh, he even used a really cool tactic of diving out of the sun when he fought so his enemies couldn’t see him.”

“But then…why’d the Baron do something so weird when he died?” Scootaloo frowned, referencing how the ace pilot had flown rather foolishly during the air combat that resulted in his death. “I mean, he wasn’t dumb…so what happened?”

“That’s actually a really good question, Scoots,” Volare added his own frown to hers. “Some folks think that he was really stressed out and not thinking clearly, some think he might have had a head injury that made him act out of character, and others even think he let the possibility of extra glory in combat get the better of his common sense through target fixation. Either way, you’re right in saying that something went wrong that day.”

The two Pegasi sat in silence for a few more moments before Scootaloo spoke up again. “Hey, you said a couple of times that you used to fly in the military, right?” she looked up at him expectantly. “I guess you meant on Earth, huh?”

“Yep, that’s right, Scootaloo,” he nodded.

“Did you ever do anything like the Red Baron did?” she asked with a hint of excitement in her voice. She didn’t catch the hint of a frown that creased his brow under the heavy bandage. “Like, did you ever fly like him?”

“Ah, well, that’s kinda a tough question to answer,” Volare replied. He couldn’t even begin to think of how he’d explain how his jet differed from the Baron’s old Tri-plane and how tactics therefore differed immensely. “Pilots like me were taught some of the same moves he did, but…combat now is a lot faster than it was way back nearly 100 years ago.”

“Whoa, that story was almost 100 years old?” Scootaloo asked in wonder, her mouth hanging slightly open.

“Mhm, it’s so famous that it’s been recorded and passed down again and again ever since,” he replied.

“Wow…but so…did you ever do that sorta stuff? Like, did you ever fly outta the sun at someone and get him?” she asked as she spread her wings and circled the bed top for a moment before leaping up and landing on Volare’s chest with a joyful growl.

“Hmmm…maybe once or twice,” he replied a bit cryptically.

“Did you ever have a derp moment like he did?” Her question was innocent, but it changed the tone of the conversation almost immediately. “I mean…is that how you…how you crashed? Sorry,” she apologized. As young as she was, she sensed the change as well. But to her surprise, Volare merely patted her on the hoof and sighed slightly.

“Yeah, I kinda did, to be honest,” he admitted with a bit of a sheepish grin.

“What happened?”

“Well, um,” he tried to think and remember exactly what did happen that day. “I remember chasing something that kept flying around me, but I never got a good look at it. And when it pulled off this crazy move in midair, I tried to follow it…and my plane couldn’t take it.”

“And that’s when Dash swooped in and saved you, huh?” Scootaloo surmised. “But wait, what the hay was she doing on Earth?”

“I think Twilight mentioned something about Dash helping her do research on the planet, humans in particular. I think it was because it would be easier for Dash to watch the humans than it would be for Twilight, plus if she got into trouble she could get outta there faster than anypony.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Scootaloo nodded. “That’s just kinda crazy that Rainbow Dash was there at just the right time to save you,” she mused.

“Heh, well, from what I’ve seen, she kinda seems to have a knack for that sorta thing,” Volare chuckled, though Scootaloo had brought up a good point. How the heck had Dash been there at just the right moment like that? She was good…but that was just a little too eerie for his liking. He made a mental note to ask her about it again as soon as he could.

“Knock, knock!” a voice called from the doorway, causing the two Pegasi to turn and see a violet-maned white Unicorn poking her head into the room. “I hope you two are decent!”

“As decent as two bed-ridden Pegasi could be, Rarity,” Volare called back. With a light chuckle, the fashionista trotted into the room, got sight of Volare’s injuries, and gasped audibly, causing Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie to rush into the room and bump into her, sending them all sprawling across the floor in a heap.

“Wow, and you say we can’t help but trip over our own hooves,” Swetie Belle tittered as she scampered into the room, followed close behind by Applebloom. The Crusaders ran past the older ponies and leaped onto the bed, landing on Volare and causing the Pegasus to let out an audible oof and force a bit of a pained smile.

“Heya guys!” Scootaloo cried joyfully, refraining from hopping when she saw Volare’s expression. “Maybe we better get off the bed; you’re kinda standing on Volare’s legs.”

“Oh gosh, sorry pardner,” Applebloom smiled sheepishly and hopped down, as did the other two Crusaders. “C’mon, they wanna talk to Volare real fast.” They quickly ran out the door to respectfully give the others a chance to talk with the Pegasus. By this time, the adults had regained their hooves with much jostling and a little grumbling.

“Why’d ya’ll gasp like that, Rare?” Applejack inquired with a bit of an annoyed grunt. “It ain’t like Volare’s dyin’ er nothin’ anymore…again, eh-heh.”

“Yeah, funny how we all keep meeting this way, AJ,” Volare chuckled.

“How’re you feeling today, Volare?” Fluttershy asked as approached and examined him quickly. “You seem to be healing very well.”

“Trust me, I feel loads better than I did when I came in here,” the pilot assured her. “I’m not even on any pain killers that I can tell,” he held up his IV-less foreleg. “The worst of it is my right hoof, honestly, and as long a I don’t bump it, it’s not to bad.”

“Mhm, Dr. Stable did a good job setting everything straight,” the yellow mare smiled. She turned back to Rarity, who still stood a short distance away, her mouth still slightly agape in mild horror. “Rarity, what’s wrong?”

“He looks ok to me, Rarity,” Pinkie trotted forward and looked at the Pegasus. “Well, except for the bandages and blood stains and broken limbs, but other than that”-

“Don’t tell me you don’t see it?!” the Unicorn gestured wildly in disbelief, causing even Volare to give himself a quick once-over again.

“Uh, see what, Rarity?” the blue Pegasus queried again before she approached and reached out a shaking hoof that hesitantly alighted on the back of his head.

“Your unique mane is a disaster,” she moaned. At a declaration of a fashion crime, rather than one of impending doom, the others in the room broke into relieved fits of laughter. “What, I’m serious!” Rarity insisted. “I mean, yes, I’m very glad that he’s whole and un-… ‘amputated’, was it?”

“Eh-heh, you heard that, eh?” Volare blushed. “I think I over-reacted a bit.” Rarity smiled, though a blush had begun to spread across her cheeks as she spoke again.

“Yes, well, Applejack said something in here looked like a peeled banana and in all honesty, the only thing that jumped to the forefront of my mind when she said that was”-

Oh…My…GOD!!! Volare’s mind screamed, thankfully drowning out whatever it was that Rarity was thinking of. The most mortified blush he’d experienced since coming here flared across his face as his hearing faded back into existence.

“-and then Sweetie said something about cereal…oh well, in any case, I’m glad they didn’t amputate anything, especially that,” the Unicorn finished speaking, much to everypony’s relief, for none of them in that room was without a reddened face…even Pinkie Pie! Applejack’s might have been as well, but her face was hidden too deeply under her hat for him to tell.

“Y-yeah…um…great-good thing they didn’t” Volare managed to mutter before clearing his throat and thoughts as best as he could. “Ahem, anyway…in regards to my mane, I think we had a little bet going about whose would come outta that race looking better, eh?”

“Ah yes, I remember now,” Rarity nodded before wincing at the sight of his tattered hair again.

“I think you came out smelling like a considerably sweeter rose than I did, Rarity,” the pilot grinned sheepishly, desperate to leave the prior conversation piece as far behind as possible.

“Aww, you’re too kind, darling,” Rarity smiled before examining his mane again. “Hmm…well, the good news is I think I may be able to do something with it. I my opinion, it won’t be quite as unique as it once once, but…hrm, we’ll see what we can do.”

“Thanks, Rarity,” Volare nodded before noticing that the two friends he’d known the longest were still missing. “Hey, where are Twilight and Rainbow Dash?” At his words, the mares shifted uneasily from hoof to hoof, neither of them wanting to be the first to speak…they all remembered Twilight’s emotional apology and explanation of the recent events in Canterlot last night. Finally, Applejack gave a soft snort and spoke up, albeit from under the brim of her hat.

“Sugarcube…Ah dunno if’n ya’ll know or not, but…somethin’ happened here in tha hospital last night and…well…uh-”

“Luna said it had to do with Twilight causing her to use her Royal Voice,” Volare preempted her. “Is she ok?”

“Yeah, Ah think so…thing is, it involved Rainbow Dash too an’…we promised Twilight not ta talk about it with ya before she did…” The normally forthright farm pony was being uncharacteristically hesitant, and the more she sought for the right words, the more worried Volare became. But at the same time, he respected his friends’ promise to their own, even older friend than him.

“Applejack, I know I don’t have the right to ask you to tell me what happened, especially if Twilight made you promise not to talk about it,” the blue Pegasus began. “But please just tell me this…are Dash and Twilight ok or not?” For a moment, the horrid mental image of Dash being shouted to pieces by Luna crossed his mind.

“They’re not hurt, Volare,” Fluttershy spoke up. “At least, not physically...I think….eep!”

“Fluttershy, shoosh!” Pinkie chided her friend before turning to Volare with a reassuring smile. “Volare-bear…just listen to Twilight when she comes to talk with you…she’ll explain everything, so don’t worry, ok?” The pilot nodded obediently.

“As far as Rainbow Dash is concerned, if it will ease your mind any until Twilight arrives…she’s away in Fillydelphia for a few days tending to Derpy Hooves’ mail route there,” Rarity explained. “So she’s in good health as well, so please just relax, darling.”

“Right…thanks guys,” Volare snorted definitively. “Um…not that I’m gonna worry too much, but does anypony know about what time Twilight’s gonna visit?”

“Hey guys, Twilight’s coming up the hall!” Scootaloo ran into the room and reported.

“Whoops, that’s our cue to scadoo, sugarcubes!” Applejack announced and gave Volare a nod and a touch on the brim of her hat. “We’ll see ya soon, Volare!”

“See ya, Volare-bear!” Pinkie sang as she hopped out the door.

“Good luck with your recovery, Volare,” Fluttershy patted him on his good hoof. “And don’t worry about Shae; she’s safe back at my cottage.”

“Heh, thanks,” Volare smiled as Rarity approached him again.

“Volare…I just feel like we haven’t had much time together ever since you got here, but I promise you, I’ll deliver my gift to you as soon as I can,” she smiled gently. “And the moment you get back in the air, I just know you’ll positively look smashing in it!”

“Looking forward to it, Rarity,” the pilot chuckled lightly and nodded as the white Unicorn and yellow Pegasus left the room, leaving just him and Scootaloo. The small orange filly carefully jumped back on the bed and gave him a quick hug.

“I’ll visit you every day after school, big bro!” she promised, her bright purple eyes wide and hopeful.

“Heh, after you do your homework,” he booped her on the nose, making her shrug her small hooves and snort sheepishly.

“Meh, fine,” she grumbled before giving him another hug. “And I’m gonna help Rarity with her gift for you…Sweetie Belle told us what it is, and me and the other Crusaders have got some cool ideas for it!”

“What is this gift, anyway?” Volare asked curiously, but Scootaloo simply shook her head.

“It’s a surprise, duh!” She hoofed him lightly and jumped off the bed. “See ya-whoa, heya Twilight!” the filly giggled and took off down the hall, following the quickly fading sound of the group’s hooves. All was silent for a god half-minute before the sound of hooves returned, albeit these belonged to a single pony, a lavender Unicorn in fact. Those hoofsteps almost hesitantly approached the door before the midnight-blue tip of her mane poke around the door, followed by her horn and finally her solemn face.

“Twilight, that you?” Volare’s voice called from the bed in a bit of a strained tone that tugged at her heartstrings. She knew he was hurt, but just how badly, she wasn’t sure. It was almost strange, hearing his voice after it being almost a constant for four days and then totally absent for two weeks. It took her an awkward moment to realize she was still silently standing in the doorway before finding her own voice.

“Mhm, it’s me,” she replied as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. She turned back and approached the bed slowly. “How’re you feeling?”

“Been better, that’s for sure,” he chuckled and turned over to face his friend. But as he turned, and she finally got a good luck at just how grievous his injuries were, she recoiled a step in shock, frozen in place and unable to not stare with eyes even wider than her brother’s had been. “Twilight…are you ok?” At his words, her hoof flew to her mouth to stifle a cry of heartache. She shook her head softly as she approached the bed.

“No…no I’m not ok…and neither are you, Volare,” she hitched in a breath. Deep down, somehow, she knew this wasn’t Rainbow Dash’s doing-it wasn’t just the claw and bite marks that said so either…no, this was her fault…she’d left and he’d nearly died. Even if it weren’t true, she felt so terribly guilty right now that she didn’t care. She reached the side of his bed, trembling in a mixture of fear, anxiety, and…that same emotion she’d stayed up half the night studying. With shaking hooves, she grasped his good hoof and brought it up to her cheek, closing her eyes nuzzling it comfortingly for a moment before Volare sniffled himself. “I was so worried about you, Volare…when I got the letter from Spike I…I didn’t know what to think and I just”-

“Hey come on, Twilight,” he forced a laugh; he didn’t expect her to be this upset. “I’m alive, right? I’ll be fine…so please calm down before I start with the waterworks myself, ok?” He gently stroked the side of her face with his hoof until she stopped shaking and opened her eyes and looked into his, blinking away the threatening moisture as she did so. “Come on…I know you can smile, right?”

“Mhm,” she mumbled, sniffing once and giving him the tiniest of smiles. “Sorry, I just…sorry…”

“Nothing to be sorry for, Twilight,” the Pegasus gave his emotional friend’s hoof a gentle squeeze with his own. “I’m ok, Scootaloo’s ok, and that’s all that matters.” They stood there for a few more awkward moments, Volare waiting for her to speak and Twilight trying to decide what to say. Luckily, he made the decision for her. “Sooo…hopefully the trip to Canterlot was a little less ridiculous than what went on down here, heh-heh.” That finally got a little laugh out of her and it relieved him greatly.

“Well, to tell the truth,” the Unicorn wiped her nose and shook her head. “It might have been even crazier.”

“Finally, I get to be told a story for once,” Volare chuckled. “Or at least I hope so.”

“Well, settle back, cuz this might take a while,” the Unicorn returned the laugh and magically pulled a short bench over to the side of the bed and sat down to tell her tale.

-----------------------------
2 Hours Later…

This time, it was Volare’s turn to say “whoa” as Twilight finished her recounting of the events in Canterlot. It was just like their time spent at her home weeks ago, albeit compressed and less…historical in nature. And as much as she would have liked to have told him, now wasn't the time to discuss the findings on their planet either. One step at a time, Twilight...

“Yeah, wild huh?” the Librarian concluded, still in a bit of disbelief herself. “Who knew Celestia knew about humans all this time, huh?”

“No kidding…” the pilot replied, still trying to wrap his head around all the information he’d just been given, in quite a bit of detail too. “So I guess after all was said and done, it’s ok for me to stay here in Equestria?”

“Absolutely,” she nodded. “Although I still feel really crappy about not being able to find the spell for your wing.” She hung her head in disappointment. True, she hadn’t told him why they couldn’t find it (he had enough on his plate as it was) but just the fact that he was counting on her and she failed him…it irked her to say the least.

“Hey, it’s no biggie,” Volare assured her, though he had to admit that was the kindest bald-faced lie he’d ever told anyone…at the very least, he now knew why Twilight couldn’t heal his current injuries like she had his burns. Yeah, he’d take a broken leg over going full cupcakes. But, he didn’t want to bring back emotionally worn-out and upset Twilight, so he put on the bravest face he could muster instead. “Besides, even if you had found it, like Princess Luna said, something like that could seriously hurt the…bond between my mind and body?”

“Right,” Twilight nodded. “Because your body was created magically, there needs to basically be a ‘cool-down’ time between that creation and when more magic can be safely used. In naturally-born beings, this is a fairly short time, but in creatures whose bodies were formed from magic itself, it’s apparently very dangerous to the mind-body link. I mean, look what happened with Princess Luna after she was healed of the curse of Nightmare Moon.”

“Yeah…man, I really hope nopony was in that tower,” Volare grimaced at the thought of being evaporated…he wondered if it would hurt and if so, how badly…eesh, best to think about something else…

“I just wish I’d known about the consequences afterwards,” Twilight said apologetically. “If I’d known that every time I used a spell on you, it stretched that bond closer to the breaking point…what if it had broken?” He could see her raw emotions starting to peek through again, and the pilot quickly preempted her again.

“But you didn’t, so don’t blame yourself, ok? You did what you did to help me, and that’s all that matters.” Thanks for that little lesson, Scoots. “Well, that and how long I’d have to wait until the spell could be used on me. How would I know, anyways?”

“Did Princess Luna talk to you about your dreams?” Twilight asked with a slight wince. She wondered if he told her about the nightmare she’d stumbled into; the Unicorn still shuddered at the vivid images of blood, death, and terror within his mind…and that got her right back to thinking about just more pain this poor guy had experienced in his life beyond what she saw right in front of her.

“Yeah, and I said I’d had some nightmares a while back, but lately, things have been pretty peaceful.” At his answer, the Librarian breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Oh, that’s actually very good,” she smiled. “I’ll have to talk to Luna more about it, but that’s supposed to be a sign of the bond strengthening and becoming more stable and able to withstand further magic. Grr, now I’m really irritated I didn’t find that spell; we could be using it right now!” she smacked the bed with a hoof in frustration.

“Hey, no need to jump to conclusions on it just yet,” Volare patted her hoof in a calming fashion. “This is my mind we’re talking about here, and I’d rather not have it match my body too much, heh-heh.” But his light-hearted statement caused Twilight’s features to droop slightly…it was almost as if she could feel the next question rising in his throat before he even said it. “Speaking of which, Luna mentioned something about jumping to conclusions and what-not…and then she said she used the Royal Voice downstairs in something that involved you. What happened, Twilight?”

The Unicorn looked up to meet his single, blue-eyed gaze. It wasn’t angry, as she’d feared…but it was definitely full of concern. That might change here in just a minute… “I…it has to do with what happened out there in the woods, Volare. And with the conclusions I jumped to in regards to it.”

“What conclusions?” Volare asked curiously.

“I…dammit, I blamed Dash for what happened to you out there,” her sudden admission took Volare completely by surprise, and all he could really do was stare at her in disbelief as she herself stared at the floor in shame.

“But…why?”

“I dunno…I was just stressed and…her track record with being around you when you got hurt really badly was…just bad and,” she spoke haltingly, obviously growing more and more upset as she did so. Volare still wasn’t mad, though he was disappointed. Still, his main concerns still lay in the “why” field, rather than the “what the hell is wrong with you, Twilight” field.
“And then we got into this argument that got out of hoof and…and then I threw her against the wall with my magic. Volare,” she finally looked up at him with tears welling in her eyes. “I dunno what I would have done if Luna hadn’t stopped me; I’d never raised my hoof against Dash like that before but…I’ve never been so blinded by emotions like that either. And then…I-I dunno if she said this because I scared her or if she really meant it or not…but before she flew, she accused me of making moves on you while you were stuck at my place…and having feelings for you, and that I’d chosen you over mine and Dash’s friendship.”

“But…what…huh,” was all Volare managed to mutter before coming to his senses; he was more confused than angry about what she'd just said. “But that’s not true, right? Surely she just said that because you freaked her out, Twilight. We didn’t do anything outside of just talk about Earth. Did she know that?”

“I don’t think so, no,” Twilight moaned softly.

“Then she must have said that because she got caught up in the moment. Trust me, she’s said a few things to me when she’s pissed that she wouldn't say otherwise, so don’t sweat it, ok?” But to his surprise, Twilight recoiled from his touch…that wasn’t why she was upset…not because something wasn’t true…but the exact opposite. And the fact that she knew better simply made it all the worse. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Volare…I’m so sorry…I knew better and I just…I failed…I’m nothing but a damn hypocrite…” was all she managed to say before her voice cracked. She silently rose to her hooves and began walking slowly towards the door, barely avoiding tripping over the short bench through the sheen of shameful, guilty tears that filled her eyes.

“Twilight, wait; I don't understand,” Volare sat up, but she didn’t stop. “Twilight Sparkle, please come back!” But the only other motion she managed besides her slow trot was one long, slow, guilty look over her left shoulder before she reached the door and grasped the doorknob with her magic. “Twilight, don’t make me try to get out of this bed!” he warned loudly. “Cuz if I do, I’m probably gonna fall on my face. And then you’re gonna have to use your magic on me to hold me up and keep me from breathing through the floor.”

She finally halted at his words. Despite her shame, she felt the smallest hint of a chuckle begin to creep towards her mouth that the mental image he was creating.

“And apparently, if you use your magic on me, I might lose my mind so-urgh,” he sat up fully, supporting himself with his good hoof. “So unless you want me to go cuckoo for cocoa puffs, please come back here and tell me what’s wrong.”

The Unicorn didn’t look back as she directed her reply towards the door. “Cuckoo for what?”

“Cocoa Puffs.”

“What the hay are those?”

“Cereal.” Twilight turned and regarded him incredulously.

“How can you talk about cereal at a time like this?” she asked as a tear trailed its way down her face.

“Cuz I don’t like seeing you sad and feeling like you failed,” he gave her a sincere and reassuring smile. “Now please…come back here and tell me what’s on your mind; I’m not mad at you.”

“Promise?” Twilight asked, the tiniest sensation of hope rising within her as she prepared to do something she never would have dreamed of doing before yesterday.

“Promise.”

“Ok,” the Unicorn mare gave a small nod and a tiny sigh as she felt the cold sensation of the tear slip off her chin and fall to the floor. Yet another moment of truth… All of a sudden, she teleported in a white flash of light and reappeared by the side of the bed. Before the Pegasus could utter a word, she reared up on the short bench, grabbed him by the shoulders, closed her eyes, and pressed her lips against the stallion’s own. It didn’t last long, it was awkward, it was fumbling…but it was soft and genuine. And it absolutely stunned Volare to the point of complete and utter silence as his mind simply exploded and refused to work for very nearly ten full seconds past the point when Twilight’s lips broke away from his own.

He felt his chin drop down against his chest as he lost all feeling in his good hoof, collapsing from the shock and nearly tumbling off the bed before the madly blushing Unicorn grabbed him and held him up with a spell before she even realized what she was doing. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” she stammered and laid him back down on the bed. Whether she was apologizing for the spell or for what she’d just done, Volare didn’t know. Look on the bright side, Twilight…my mind broke BEFORE you used that spell, so now we’ll never know if Luna was right…hahahaha… He was vaguely aware of Twilight holding his good hoof in her own as she continued to stare intently at the bedspread next to him, occasionally stealing glances at his reaction from under the edge of her indigo forelock. Correction: NOW he was feeling the effects of the most-mortified blush he’d worn since he’d gotten there.

“Volare…Volare?”

Volare can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave your name and number... his muddled mind managed to think before he finally snapped back to his senses and looked down at his embarrassed friend. At his sudden movement, she retreated slightly, unsure if he was going to hit her or what…
“Twilight…I…please tell me that’s part of your explanation.”

“Are you mad?” she asked innocently. “I knew it, you’re mad…I shouldn’t have done that-I-I’ll just get the buck out of here and never”- But she stopped as Volare held his hoof over her babbling mouth for a moment.

“I promised you I wouldn’t be, Twilight…as freaked out as I am, I’m not mad,” he shut his good eye tightly. The thing he’d pledged to do-not get involved-he’d just taken another step towards somepony finding out that he’d known them all long before meeting them…and my god, he’d just been kissed by a pony! An admittedly attractive one, but-no Volare! Just no…dammit! He mentally slapped himself before speaking again. She was chiding herself for jumping to conclusions, and he intended to be just as self-vigilant. “I would, however, like an explanation, cuz unless I missed my guess, it seems like this was a long time coming.” It’s always the quiet ones…stop it, this is your friend! Let her explain, you idiot!

“G-good deduction,” the Unicorn admitted. “Ever since I told Rainbow Dash to give you space on the grounds that having feelings for you was dangerous for your health because of her reckless behavior around you, I’ve been second-guessing myself. I told her it was wrong, and I tried to rationalize it as some weird form of maternal instinct or something,” she hung her head as she spoke. “We then sat up for days on end writing down theories and discussing things that no other stallion I’ve ever met would do with me. Most of them just blow me off as a bookish egghead, but you…even though you were kinda stuck there, you still spent that time with me and didn’t blow me off like all the rest. You respected my desires and made me feel special.” She knew she was rambling now, but the floodgates were opened, and it wasn’t going to stop until she’d run dry. The longer she spoke, the more ashamed she became, and the lower her face sank towards the bed.

“I-I thought I understood friendship pretty well because of all the reports I send to Celestia, but these feelings I tried to rationalize…the more I tried to make sense of them that way, the less sense they started to make. I even asked Celestia about them, but she told me it was something all ponies go through in life, and that I’d have to figure them out for myself. I was going to but then I got the letter from Spike and…I didn’t know what came over me when I just attacked Rainbow Dash like that, but I was determined to keep her away from you because I didn’t want you hurt anymore.”

By this time, she was practically speaking into the bedspread and had been reduced to a barely audible, pitiable little lavender Unicorn. Volare had the presence of mind to reach his hoof under her chin and lift her face up till she was looking at him. Even if he tried, the Pegasus wasn't sure if he could have been angry with her for what she'd done; he was just about positive that being mad at her in this state wouldn't end well for anypony anyway. Besides, he thought he was beginning to understand now, and he nodded for her to continue. She wiped the tears from her eyes but new ones took their place before she’d even begun to speak again.

“And then she accused me of having feelings for you, even after we discussed that you’d said it wasn’t right for you to return them, even if we did have them. She told me to disprove it, and I…I couldn’t. I couldn’t because I’d be lying, Volare,” she held her face in her hooves. “I knew I was being a hypocrite because I’d told her to stay away from you because I suspected she had those feelings for you…but then, like I said, we spent that time together and…I-I...”

She paused to take a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. “And the more I thought about it, the more I feared that was it true; that the very thing that had been stressing me out so badly was what I’d condemned as wrong. Last night, even though Luna told me to get some rest, every time I closed my eyes, all I thought about was how I’d possibly been lying to myself this whole time. I stayed up late, found a bunch of books on the subject, and read for half the night before my fears were confirmed: I was right…the feelings I was trying to deny and re-label as something else entirely…they were real. And they’d caused me to become jealous…they’d caused me to shame myself in front of my friends, Princess Luna, and my brother. And they caused me to hurt one of my best friends…all because I’m a hypocrite. I then tried to sleep, but all I could think of was how I’d screwed up and how badly you were lying there hurt because of me.”

“Because of you?” Volare cocked his head.

“Yes…because I wasn’t here to help.”

“Twilight, you weren’t here because you were trying to find the spell to heal me.”

“Yes, but…I just feel that subconsciously, I was lying to myself and looking for answers from Celestia on what I was feeling…besides, why did I want you healed in the first place?”

“Because you wanted to help me,” Volare patted her hoof. “Because you’re my friend.”

“Are you sure that was it, though?” Twilight looked up and stared intently into his eye. “Cuz I’m starting to think it was more than that…that I was doing what I did to earn your affections, despite what I’d told Dash…what I’d agreed to her with. And because I wasn’t there, you got hurt during the race…so it’s my fault.” At this point, the Unicorn wasn’t sure what made sense anymore…she just knew she felt so damn guilt and ashamed that she was looking for anything to blame herself for. But again, to her surprise, Volare didn’t strike her in anger or for being the hypocrite she knew herself to be. Instead, he grasped her hoof in his own and held it until she came closer to her senses.

“Twilight…you know that’s crazy, right?” He finally said with a smile that lifted her spirits slightly. “I know you make more sense than that…that something like that was so far out of your control that the odds of it being your fault are probably a billion to one.”

“I know, but”-

“No buts, Twilight,” he squeezed her hoof. “You’re a damn good friend who’s simply found out she’s not immune to being human…er, pony. You know what I mean,” he chuckled lightly, as did she. “You felt emotions you weren’t familiar with, and when you found out, you freaked out. Probably a little more than anypony else would, no offense, but you were upset because you thought you’d done wrong by everypony.”

“Still, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner...I guess I was also just scared of what you'd say...”

“Yet again, that’s not your fault; you were out of town and unable to because you didn’t understand them. And when you came into town again…well, from what I heard, you weren’t in the most rational of moods to begin with,” he nodded sagely.

“But well…now what I have told you-again, I’m sorry I kissed you like that,” she blushed heavily again as she recalled the extremely recent memory. “What do you feel about…well, that?”

“That, huh?” Volare mused out loud. It hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought…but still, he’d promised himself…

“Yeah, like…again?” Twilight asked hopefully, her blush growing ever heavier until she saw his brow furrow. “Ah, sorry, sorry, sorry,” she hid under her forelock.

“Twilight…it’s ok,” the pilot picked the next words more carefully than he could imagine doing for any other situation he’d experienced recently. “I honestly feel kinda flattered you’d feel that way for me…but, there are three problems I see with this. One: the only reason you like me is because I’ve done things for you that no other stallion ever has. It made you feel special, but there’s a term for that on Earth: infatuation or puppy love.”

“Yeah, I know…that’s what I found in my book of Pony Social Behavior,” Twilight said sheepishly.

“Wait, you really had a book on that and you never read it?” Volare chuckled.

“Well, I never thought I’d need it because I thought I already knew all there was to know about friendship for the most part…except it was all pretty much mare-to-mare friendship and not between me and a stallion,” though she facehoofed, the sight of her using self-deprecating humor eased Volare’s worries somewhat. “Anyway, that’s the term I found that made me realize what I’d been feeling…I guess I just hoped so badly that they were something more than it wore on me.”

“Well, at least we know it wasn’t some crazy brain parasite turning you into some sorta rage-zombie, right?”

“…huh?”

“Urgh, never mind…” Note to self: pop-culture references on Earth continue to not apply here…recommend different jokes. “My first point is, now we know what’s really going on. But that brings me to my second point: unfortunately I’m gonna have to respectfully decline, Twilight.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that…guess I really am not your type, huh?” she laughed dryly.

“That’s got nothing to do with it, Twilight,” Volare shook his head softly. “It’s just that what I told Dash weeks ago still rings true now. It’s still just too strange for me. Put yourself in my position: if you came from a planet where inter-species relationship was not only taboo but illegal in most places…yeah, now you see where my reservations come from. I know this sounds cliche' as all hell, but I swear up and down it’s got nothing to do with you, Dash, or anypony else. This whole thing rests squarely on me.”

“Then how come you kissed Dash the night you lost your wing?” Twilight asked warily.

“Oh, heh, um…let’s just chalk that one up to me thinking ‘oh what the hell, I’m gonna die anyway, so what’s the harm?'" He explained sheepishly.

“Guess that makes sense…” Twilight eyed him for a moment. “Just…I figured I’d point out that where you kissed her, right under the ear…that’s considered an erogenous zone for ponies…so forgive me if I thought you were trying to elicit that sort of response,” she blushed again, as did Volare.

“Jeez…yeah, definitely didn’t mean to do anything like that…anyways, back on my second point, if I get involved with somepony and I find a way to go back to Earth…then what?”

“Wait, you’re not considering going back are you?” Twilight asked in alarm.

“I dunno…I mean, I would like to go back temporarily, if only to tie up loose ends. But then that brings me to my third and final point: my biggest concern right now isn’t romance, its getting the heck back up in the air one way or another so I can go back and tie up loose ends,” he flopped his hooves to his sides in emphasis, accidentally banging his injured one on the bed rail. “…ow.”

“Ah, I see,” Twilight nodded. As disappointed as she was in his decision…it also put her mind at ease for the time being. She didn’t have to worry about “coulda, shoulda, woulda” and be afraid about his reactions to her admission. She also didn’t have to worry about him possibly having feelings for Dash; he wouldn’t make such a point if he did, right? And it even seemed like Dash never had feelings for him to begin with...she really was just teasing him...ugh, now she really felt stupid. However, their conversation did clear her mind of doubt and refocused it on what was important. He was right: he needed to get back in the air as soon as possible. And with his mind apparently in good enough shape to take magic again…all they needed was the right spell!

“Oh, did Dash have anything else to say about me when she blew up at you?” Volare asked. “And don’t worry, I’m not gonna be mad at what you tell me; I know how she is about shooting her mouth off.”

“Um, actually yeah…she said that she was kinda tired of having to save your flank and that if you ended up with me that I’d coddle you so much you’d never be free and be allowed to do what you wanna do,” she winced at Dash’s words, but was rather flummoxed when Volare chuckled loudly.

“Oh, heh-heh, is that so, Dashie?” he laughed again and shook his head. “Doesn’t she remember what happened the last time she said something like that?”

“Yeah, you went and got your wing torn off trying to prove her wrong,” Twilight hoofed him in the shoulder. “Big dummy.”

“Haha, yeah,” he rolled his eyes. “But are those her main grounds for accusing you of having feelings for me…even though you kinda do,” he nudged her in the ribs, only to be smacked by a magically levitated pillow. He spat feathers as he continued. “Pfft, yeah, anyway…she thinks we did a buncha stuff while I was cooped up, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Twilight nodded, surprised that he was acting so light-hearted about this. What was he planning…

“Even though we didn’t…and her other main grounds are based on your cooping me up and not letting me be free due to being overprotective, right?” He smirked.

“That’s right.” Yeah, he was planning something, alright…

“And I take it we can’t just convince her via talking it out like this, right?”

“Right, especially not if she finds out what I did,” Twilight winced before Volare nudged her again.

“Hey, what happened here doesn’t leave this room,” he squeezed her hoof again. “Promise.”

“Thanks,” she smiled before continuing. “As I was saying, actions tend to speak louder than words for her; did you know we actually had to all dress up as a superhero called The Mare Do Well just to prove that she was being full of herself and letting success go to her head?” She laughed at the sometimes ridiculous nature of the hard-headed Pegasus before frowning slightly at Volare. “But now I’m concerned; what’re you planning?”

“Oh, nothing specific yet,” he chuckled slyly. “But come hell or high water, I’m not gonna be the wedge that drives you two apart; I’m gonna help fix this anyway I can!”

“I admire your bravery, but for now, you need to focus on getting well,” she levitated the blankets over him and fluffed his pillow before gesturing for him to lay down.

"Well, in that case, may I make a suggestion?" The Unicorn eyed him warily, again not quite sure what to expect.

"Yes?"

"Could Cadance possibly use her spell on you guys to fix your friendship?" Although his question was sincere, it was now Twilight's turn to burst into laughter. "What?"

"Hahaha-oh, just...Cadance's spell doesn't work quite like that," she caught her breath after a few more moments. "Her spell is a love spell, not a friendship spell. And although I think I made it fairly obvious, I'm not exactly into mares." The implications of his innocent suggestion hit him like a ton of bricks, and he felt a fresh wave of heat creep into his cheeks. Somewhere, TwiDash fans are cheering like maniacs right now, I just know it, Volare thought.

"Is Dash?" the off-handed question escaped his mouth before he could stop himself. Twilight gave him a strange look before replying, though what she said surprised him.

"Um...I don't know, actually; I've never seen her with another stallion around, so who could say? Maybe it's something we can ask her about?" the studious Unicorn asked sincerely.

"Uh-heh, ahem...nevermind then," Volare chuckled, totally mortified at the thought of them asking which way the fiery-tempered rainbow Pegasus' barn door swung...yeah, that's just destined to go well... "You can um...just go now...I'll be hiding under here," he yanked the sheets over his muzzle, but was still unable to drown out Twilight's mirthful laughter that continued for nearly another minute before she calmed down and spoke again.

"Oh, I meant to ask…since I was very wrong for accusing Dash of causing these injuries-not to mention I dunno how she’d caused claw marks to begin with-care to enlighten me on what did happen out there before I go?”

“Oh, this old thing?” Volare replied off-handedly as he waved his broke leg. “And this, and this, and this?” he gestured to the bandages before Twilight swatted him with her tail.

“Yes, those you nutty pony,” the Librarian chuckled, more in relief that he was handling the situation a lot better than she thought he would…and a whole heck of a lot better than she had, that was for sure!

“Heh, long story short, Scootaloo and I got lost in the woods, these two crazy talking Cryhenas attacked us, and me and Scoots kicked their asses for a while until Rainbow Dash, Shae, and Iron Will showed up and chased them off. Oh, and Scoots is now my little sister.”

“Wait, hang on a sec, what?” Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Dash saved you guys?!”

“Yep.”

“Who’s Shae?”

“An osprey I helped Fluttershy with. She’s kinda wild, but you might like her.”

“Ookay, and how’d you and Scootaloo become siblings?”

“Luna’s figuring out the paperwork with Shining Armor and Celestia, but basically, I saw she needed somepony to look out for her, she reminded me a lot of my own sister back home, soooo…yeah, we agreed to be brother and sister. Oh, also, I’m part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders now.”

“Ok, now I’m kinda afraid to ask, but it's pretty obvious I have some catching up to do,” the Unicorn chuckled and gave him a gentle hug. “However, you need your rest more than anything, so we'll catch up some more tomorrow when I come visit, ok?”

“Sounds good Twilight,” he smiled as she released him and headed for the door. “Hey, you sure you’re gonna be ok?”

“Yeah, I’m a lot better now, thanks,” she replied with a curt nod. “Feels good to get that sorta weight off your chest, ya know?”

Actually I do…

“You sure you’re not mad at me?” Twilight asked one last time as she reached the door.

“Not in the slightest…like I said, a little weirded out, but not mad. Hey, Twilight; one more thing.”

“Hrm?”

“Thanks for being my friend...and don't take this the wrong way, but...the fact that you'd put my safety before your friendship with Dash...it wasn't right, and it was pretty misguided...but that's probably the most noble thing anyone's ever done for me.” Despite what she’d promised, Twilight felt her heart flutter slightly at his words. “You may be crazy sometimes, but it’s a good crazy.”

And fluttering is gone…kinda.
“Heh, get some rest, Volare.”

“Aye aye, Captain’s sis,” he saluted as she opened and shut the door before he settled down into the blankets, his mind processing everything that had just happened. With Twilight unable to get that spell, he surmised that Scootaloo would probably be flying before he could again...and on top of that, Twilight kissing him...jeez. Could this day get any crazier?

Famous last words...

Within what couldn’t have been a span of more than 10 minutes, he heard the door re-open and stealthy hooves approach him. “Volare…you awake?” The Pegasus flicked his eye open and nearly tumbled out of the bed for the umpteenth time that day as two golden eyes set within a mint-green face filled his vision.

“Ah, Lyra?!” he blinked his eye to clear it. Yep, it was her alright…and she was sitting on the bed at an uncomfortably close distance and wearing the most peculiar of smiles. He hadn’t forgotten her offer of a “private session.” Can’t I get a break from this crap here?! Come on, twice in one day!? “Yeah, guess I’m awake now…what’s up?” he managed to keep his composure as he spoke.

“Oh nothin’ much. Just wanted to drop in an see how you’re doing…wow you got pretty messed up out there,” her eyes roved over his injuries. “Jeez, did you lose your eye too?”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he groaned and sat up. “And no, it’s just this big damn bandage hanging over it. In fact, wanna help me untie this thing; I’m kinda getting a little tired of having no depth perception.”

“Sure thing,” she nodded, and within moments, she’d untied the bandage, exposing the line of stitches that ran along his features, but allowing his left eye to open and bring Lyra into greater focus.

“Ah, you have no idea how much better than feels,” he sighed before his stomach growled so loudly that it made Lyra jump.

“Dang, that was pretty bad,” she chuckled. “Don’t they feed you here?”

“Nah, but they try to poison ya,” he nodded towards the cold plate of green mush. “I tried, but I seriously can’t eat…whatever that is.”

“Asparagus,” Lyra said matter-of-factly.

“I knew it! Wait, how’d you know that?”

“Oh, I come here all the time, believe it or not,” she raised up her forehoof and indicated the faded stitch lines that criss-crossed near her elbows and then pointed to the ones that ran across her knees. “Bon-Bon says I’ve got a knack for busting by elbows and knees every time I trip, heh-heh.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Volare chuckled. He had to admit, as…strange as Lyra was, for a Unicorn, she was pretty down-to-earth to talk with.

“Sooo, yeah, I feel your pain there with the hospital food, buddy,” she gave a mock-sigh of sadness. “It’s too bad you’re stuck here when a certain green Unicorn knows where to find some good eats at this hour. A little place called the Gilden Griffon.”

“Oh, ha-ha, trust me, if I could walk, I’d follow you through the gates of hell for some food right now,” the pilot laughed as his stomach growled in agreement. Suddenly, Lyra’s face brightened and she gave him a grin that was practically Cheshire in nature.

“Who says ya have to walk?” Without an explanation, she ran out of the room.

“Well, that was weird…hope she doesn’t expect me to fly there just cuz I’m a Pegasus,” he shrugged his crippled wing with a snort.

“Nope!” Lyra called out as she re-entered the room, pushing a wheelchair with her magic. “We’ll just roll ya on down there.”

Lyra’s gonna make me sit like a…you gotta be kidding me.
“Um, can we do that? I mean, the hospital staff won’t get miffed, will they?”

“Nah, they know me. Like I said: I come here all the time. Here, lemme help ya,” she pushed the chair up against the bed and levitated him down into it. “Comfy?”

“Yeah, this actually isn’t too bad,” he replied. The chair had convenient notches for his wings to slip through in the back, keeping him from sitting/leaning back on and stressing them.

“Cozy?”

“Yeah, guess you could say that,” he chuckled lightly. Ok what was she up to?

“…Familiar?” At that single word, Volare’s head very nearly pulled an Exorcist as he looked back at the Unicorn with wide, questioning eyes that were merely treated to the sight of Lyra smiling back down at him. “Heh, it’s ok…I kinda figured it out a while ago and I'll totally explain how. But for now, let’s go grab some chow and get ya reacquainted with a certain DJ who's been bugging the holy hay outta me to see ya ever since she got back in town!” Without any further explanation, Lyra wheeled him out of the room, down the elevator, and out the front door into the late afternoon so quickly that Volare could have sworn he was getting kid-napped….foal-napped….whatever!
Oh well, apparently it comes with free food…

………………..

As Twilight entered her home, her mind was already working on a solution to the problems before her, not just between Dash and herself, but in regards to Volare’s condition. She’d have to make absolutely sure via Luna, but she might be able to use a little healing magic at a time to at least get him back on his hooves quicker than normal. And if that didn't work...A new thought then popped into her head: one last final way to find that healing spell for his wing. It was risky, but she’d done it before, albeit to her friends and not to herself.

She settled down upstairs at her desk and concentrated on it: the memory spell she’d used to save her friends from Discord. And now there was a chance she could use it to save Volare as well…

-----------------------------------

Notes: Woohoo, new story arc! It’s even got that new story arc smell! *inhales*
Volare: You’ve really gotta stop writing this at 3 in the morning…

*Inseptium Nova = New Beginning (in Latin)

**Red Herring: A red herring is a clue which is intentionally or unintentionally misleading or distracting from the actual issue.

I wonder what Volare’s reaction to Lyra revealing she knows he’s a human now will be!
And I hope that Dash and Twilight can get their situation solved with Volare’s help!

...also....300k words...dayum @.@

Comments

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
FINALLY NEW CHAPTER IS UP! ME HAPPY NOW!

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

Damn you V-pony, damn you.

Was the chapter planned like this or is this all fan-service? You know, what with all of us crying out for shipping, love, Luna, and those other random stuff?

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

1128459 But since Twilight likes him (but nopony knows), and if, and only if Luna likes him, why would Celestia banish Luna to the moon... Unless Celly wanted Volare to herself?

[Trigger Happy]

Aw come on! Food is Volare's no.1 priority other than safety from Lyra! I mean he knew(well....not exactly knew) Lyra is foalnapping him!

[Cynical]

Someone get that author a coffee,
MORE CHAPTERS, MORE

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

1128559 Does he care? This wizard needs food, badly.

1128459 I can see that, but remember. Opposites attract? And Volare is as much of a speedster daredevil as he is a physics whiz.

1128567 I'd just find out who the hell did it, and personally pummel the life out of them (while they're bound up by Twilight), before sending them to Celestia (still barely alive)

1128570 Don't rush him. Forcing someone to do something they don't want to do/aren't ready to do/can't do will screw up the story. I know from experience. I push myself too hard sometimes.

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

1128604 How is 2 notifications scary?

Why would you want ponies sent to the moon? Need some company?

[Anubis Nox]

Damn you V-pony making me not go to sleep to read this, I have work and school tomorrow so it is gonna be a long day/night.

Volare: Serves you right
Me: Says you switching mares.
Author: You Volare, are a w
Volare: Don't finish it
Author: h-o
Volare: I'm warning you
Author: r
Volare: Last chance.
Author: e
Me: Ooooo you dead bitch.
Volare: RAAAAAAAAAA
Me: Your not scary without wings....
Volare: (Dives Author and starts punching (hoofing?) him.
Me: (Starts singing) What about me, it isn't fair. I've had enough and I want my share. Can't you se-
Volare: (Dives me)
Me: Now it's on

[djthomp]

Nice, wasn't expecting the next chapter quite so soon. Looking forward to Dash and Twi's reconciliation. Somewhat annoyed at Twi still, but I suspect mostly that is from being a closet Dash/Volare shipper.

[V-Oblivion]

Planes, ponies and physics...

A MOST READ!!

[Vengir]

This is the longest story I've seen so far on this site and it's not even finished!

[OneAmongOthers]

Hah! So much for starting off with a smaller word count eh V-pony? I remember you saying like 3-4k chapters but BAM! 14k to start I can see where this is going.

Also when Scootaloo went Aww shit! I almost fell out of my chair laughing Then the next part of her almost saying mother f-- and Volare's response

I like how you tied up Twilight's freakout. Very nicely done. Although for Rainbow Dash to get her to admit her faults I feel they will have to do something A LOT more drastic (and probably humiliating) to get her to break down and apologize due to her innate character and refusal to admit weakness.

[Pia]

AMAZING!
I loved this chapter.
So much awesome, I can't handle it!
I eagerly await the next!

[OneAmongOthers]

"Aww, shit"
Hah! I can TOTALLY picture her saying that! Damm.. we need a sound clip for that! good show.. good show.

Also I am so amazed your story has never been featured on EQD Instead of the rubbish I tend to see there. I guess it doesn't matter really you get enough praise here and it seems your story got featured! way to go!

[Astarea]

I hate that moment when I'm enjoying the story and it suddenly breaks. It's so... cliffhangery...

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

Featured... Again.

Apparantly, V-Pony plans to make this longer than Fo:E (he's halfway there!). I fully support this (and him), and can help with any sorts of editing or pre-reading problems you may have. I am also free to ask too many questions, half of which confuse the crap out of everyone.

[BadLuck_Derpy]

16:50 - I'm really considering doing some overtime at work
17:03 - I received an e-mail saying something about a FanFic named 'Blue Angel' has updated
17:03:12 - A quite large number of papers slowly float down to the floor and reveal my empty desk while my co-workers can hear a loud "UPDAAAAAAaaaaateeeee!" fading away due to the rapidly growing distance

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

I got praised for my ovewhelming number of questions! yay?

1129004 You Scootaloo.
BEST FANFIC EVER!!!
... Behind Fo:E, Background Pony, MLD.

[Assasin_Asha]

Hey!!
NO FAIR!!
You used my suggestion about Twi entering her own mind using some kind of memory spell, courtesy of Celestia, to find the healing spell. Of course, you said that was not the case and it wasn't. Then. But now this is almost the same and... wait! Why am I even complaining?
Oh well, it's not like I actually gave you that idea.
Keep up the good work!

[Beyond the Horizon]

A tale most epic! I wonder what new secrets this arc will hold, and what the best way to crack them open are And yay! More Vinyl next chapter!

[clonezero]

Cyborg eeh? Well then, pick your poison! yes yes there are others but these 3 was what came to mind at that instant XD
================================
Seriously great work with the sibling bonding between Volare and Scotaloo. Its just the sweetest thing! Yet therein lies the problem of Volare slowly but surely corrupting the sweet innocent little filly ... I feel like linking videos so sue me XP
================================
Glad the insinuating meaning of a peeled banana + dude wasn't lost.
================================
“Yeah…man, I really hope nopony was in that tower,” Volare grimaced at the thought of being evaporated…he wondered if it would hurt and if so, how badly…eesh, best to think about something else…

Masochistic Fruedian slip or has Volare been frequently visited by pain and suffering that he expects its at every turn and in any form already?
================================

And lastly, BOMBS BEING DROPPED EVERYWHERE!!!!

[Ponynator]

This by far the best HiE FImfiction I've ever read, and the word count....

When you excuse me, I have to read 15k words now....

[q97randomguy]

1129180
Brohoof! That's exactly what I said, granted it was before Celestia got involved, it was when she couldn't remember where she saw it and I was like MEMORY SPELL! S2E2 style.

[Tyrannosaurus_Tux]

:::Response generator off-line: We are experiencing technical difficulties and are unable to produce product at this time:::

:::Initiate Manual Response:::

It would've been glorious if Dash had just walked in when Twilight smooched Volare.

I can see her walk in, get spotted, then after a few seconds she backs out of the room, all the while dead quiet and with a shocked expression.

[D48]

Not bad, but it seemed to me like Volare went a little too easy on Twilight for what she did to Rainbow. I know he was trying not to break her, but even so he seemed to disregard the fact that she assaulted Rainbow for saving his life which felt very wrong to me.

Beyond that everything was good, and I am really looking forwards to some more lighthearted shenanigans with Lyra and Vinyl next chapter because it is time for a bit of a change of pace even if Volare is going to have to explain why he needs to be careful about describing human weapons.

[the Joyless1]

hellyeah!!! love your story bro
MOARRR!!!!

[Pilate]

1129746
Nah, it was a measured response. Real adults aren't binary, and they don't have flat acceptance/rejection reactions to things as complicated and confusing as love. Put yourself in his shoes (or hooves, I guess), still super conflicted about species changes, is lying-by-omission about knowing all of them, and is already a "down-to-earth" sort of person to begin with. Knowing that Twilight can be crazy, and knowing that he'd rather maintain the friendship make his tempered reaction very believable. The story also notes that he's not exactly thrilled with how events went down, but he's not the type to dwell, either, or the million and 1 things that have already happened would have crushed his soul. He's one tough cookie, that Volare.

This begs the question, though, about his eventual admission to Dash, and possibly the 6, regarding the patch he had on his jacket. Tempers will flair (flare?! PUNS!) for sure.

[Assasin_Asha]

You know, as an afterthought after rereading:
I wonder if/when will Volare tell Lyra that the attackers called themselves Ray and Jill. Because, as we all know, Ray actually told her their names back in "The Hurricane-Pt3: Meanwhile". Now my guess is she will be somewhere along the lines of '"That does ring some bells". Or not. Come to think of it... wonder how many ponies have such... ... ... suspiciously human names... hmmm... Nah, probably just overthinking... still how could I keep missing that this whole time...

Oh, and that first bit with the dream? So great, because that's what actually happened then. I mean the conversation, being lifted up. All dream for her, though it wasn't one. <=== why is this icon called rainbowkiss? I just don't get it. I mean it's wub wub face ;)

And if I may suggest, consider rereading the chapter and fixing some mistakes, such as words out of place, some missing letters, stuff like that. I might actually try and make a list... Though that means yet another reread... Oh well, have eyes, will read!

Edit:
Did Volare said aloud what was in parentheses?

[D48]

1130098 I was talking about the attack, not the kiss. There was basically no reaction to that either internally or externally which seemed wrong for something so major. Really the only explanation I can come up with is that he did not really process it because he was still distracted by the kiss, although if that is the case we will see more on that shortly.

[Starscape]

YES!!THANK CELESTIA!

[Pilate]

1130163
Ah, yes, I agree. I rolled his mental state into everything. That said, even Dash seems to have cooled off, I don't think (or rather, I hope) it will plague them for too long. Things get heated, people (ponies) act dumb, everyone says sorry, Twilight necessarily more sorry than Dash; Twi's already recognized she was acting stupidly. And really, what kind of reaction should Voalre have, anyway? If two people I considered friends got into a physical conformation because of me, I wouldn't be angry, I'd want to repair the damage and make sure everyone was still cool.

[Triv_]

Wonder if anything interesting will happen to dash while she's away
also woot more vinyl!

[myhe01]

NEED MOAR CHAPTERS!!!

[Assasin_Asha]

Okay, done... it's a big one and I have something to say about it:
1. I probably didn't find all mistakes.
2. I probably found mistakes that do not exist (a.k.a. I don't know English good enough... not my native language... and I'm too lazy to learn properly...)
3. Gonna use this much volume when addresing mistakes when applicable.
4. Gonna use asterisk * to mark each mistake.
5. For the sake of space preservation there will be no empty lines between mistakes.
6. Correct me wherever I'm wrong.
That being said:

* "Yeah, well you should see the other guy,” he chuckled, causing the uncicorn officer’s frown to crack into a grin. - Typo, actually used underline so it's visible (cuz it wasn't )
* and sighed as she looked in the direction of Ponyvile Medical. - lack of 'L' here, typo again,
* Scootaloo replied, glancing back at her brother, who’s uncovered eye was it’s usual color. - Shouldn't it be whose?
* It’s just that the only times a pony’s eyes change color... - So is it one time or numerous times? I got the impression she only said about one occurence possible.
* we don’t anypony else jumping to wild conclusions, - Need or want? Or something else?
* "Oh no, the little dear entirely lived up to his name last night,” the Moon Goddes smiled. - Typo,
* “Oh him….um…let’s just say - Too many dots?
* so I say it’s time we say good bye and let them get on back to Canterlot, eh?” - Probably not mistake, but just asking anyway,
* ponykind that journey through the Whitetail Wood from now on. - Is it Wood or Woods? Always thought it's the latter,
* Did Luna’s using her Royal Voice have anything to do with her? - Might be a quirk of language I'm not familiar with, but I would say "Luna's usage of" or "Luna using"
* He didn’t use brute force to solve fight his battles - So solve or fight? Cause both seem odd here to me,
* “Hey, kinda like what you told me about Pinion and his gang when we first me, huh?” - Typos be gone!
* He flew smart and used his plane’s advantages of superior maneuverability to outfly his faster opponents. - Superior maneuverability is one advantage not many,
* Fluttershy asked as approached and examined him quickly. - Missing 'she', perhaps?
* “I’m not even on any pain killers that I can tell,” - More of a question than statement: Is this correct? I've been always taught that it's "painkillers",
* "and as long a I don’t bump it, it’s not to bad.” - Typo, duble even... And I actually noticed the "a" after posting this.
* “-and then Sweetie said something about cereal…" - How in the world could she hear that?? They were all out of the room well before these words were spoken!!
* I my opinion, it won’t be quite as unique as it once once, but…hrm, we’ll see what we can do.” - Two in one, Yay! Typo and double or rather overwritten word.
* As far as Rainbow Dash in concerned - Typos...
* I just know you’ll positively smashing in it!” - Look smashing, be smashing (someone, something) be smashed?
* All was silent for a god half-minute - Self-explanatory (tired of writing "Typo"... oh wait...),
* Those hoofsteps almost hesitantly approached the door before the midnight-blue tip of her mane poke around the door, followed by her horn and finally her solemn face. - Wrong tense here? I think it should be poked,
* she knew this wasn’t Rainbow Dash’s doing-it wasn’t just the claw and bite marks that said so either…no, this was her fault… - Shouldn't that be finished with dash instead of ellipsis?
* Besides, even if you had/ found it, - Excess slash, anypony?
* Despite her shame, she felt the smallest hint of a chuckle begin to creep towards her mouth that the mental image he was creating. - I believe you meant "at",
* finding out that he’d known them all long before... - Shouldn't it be all along? Dunno really... help anypony?
* We then sat up for days on end writing down theories and discussing things that no other stallion I’ve ever met would do with me. - Discussing things no stallion would ever do with her? Dear Celestia! What kind of abominations were the topics? Or I don't understand a language quirk?
* and that I’d have to figure them out for myself. - "for herself" or "by herself" or just plain "herself"? Well obviously she would gain something from figuring it out but I don't think it was supposed to be that way. Unless it's yet another quirk...
* And the more I thought about it, the more I feared that was it true; - "that it was true", perhaps?
* that I was doing what I did to earn your affections, - Multiple affections? By Celestia, Twilight! One is not enough?,
* she just knew she felt so damn guilt and ashamed - "guilty", unless you change "ashamed" to "shame" and "damn" to "much",
* Probably a little more than anypony else would, no offense, but you were upset because you thought you’d done wrong by everypony.” - Either I don't get something or something is wrong here...
* I guess I just hoped so badly that they were something more than it wore on me.” - Erm... should it be "that"? Might be wrong here though,
* Note to self: pop-culture references on Earth continue to not apply here…recommend different jokes. - "recommended" would be better, I think. Unless he want's to recommend them to someone else than himself.
* Volare replied off-handedly as he waved his broke leg. - "broken", perhaps?
* Luna’s figuring out the paperwork with Shining Armor and Celestia - I will assume that she told him that offscreen...
* “Ok, now I’m kinda afraid to ask, but it's pretty obvious I have some catching up to do. - Probably correct, but I always thought that the phrase "I’m kinda afraid to ask, but" is followed by question itself... Was I always wrong?
* A little place called the Gilden Griffon. - "Gilded"
* In fact, wanna help me untie this thing; - Shouldnt' it be a question mark there? Don't hit me, I don't know!

Okay, that's pretty much it. Keep in mind what I wrote at the beggining and add in the fact that it's half past 1 AM here...
Oh and those mistakes with Twi speaking could very well be caused by her emotions.
Now some thoughts about certain lines as a relaxation:

"his mind simply exploded and refused to work for very nearly 10 full seconds" - I see what you did there.

"The implications of his innocent suggestion hit him like a ton of bricks, and he felt a fresh wave of heat creep into his cheeks" - Yeah, I was also hit by implication, however somewhat different... How come he knows about Cadance's spell? Twi told him offscreen? The reason why it's not in mistakes is cause I don't feel like reading half of the story to look for a hint about that. Call me lazy, whatever...

"she pushed the chair up against the bed and levitated him down into it." - Oh crap... Pleasant dreams Volare! Then again, after what happened already and what will happen (and it will, I'm sure)...

Nuts, I can't believe I wrote this much...
Keep up the good work!

[MasterDreamy]

Gentleman, this is epic

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

My personal study on 20% cooler, copy-pasted from Deviantart:

20% cooler doesn't actually work. Technically, 20% cooler would mean that the tea would have to be decreased to 80% of its original temperature. Because the temperature scale goes by Kelvins, 90 C tea would be 273+90=363 K. 80% of 363 is roughly 288 K. Converting that back into Celcius means 288-273, which means that to get 90 C tea to be 20% cooler, it would have to be decreased from 90 C to a mere 15 C. That's less than room temperature.

Me love math and science, V-Pony.

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

"The implications of his innocent suggestion hit him like a ton of bricks, and he felt a fresh wave of heat creep into his cheeks" - Yeah, I was also hit by implication, however somewhat different... How come he knows about Cadance's spell? Twi told him offscreen? The reason why it's not in mistakes is cause I don't feel like reading half of the story to look for a hint about that. Call me lazy, whatever...

1131471 Volare is a brony, as proven in the first chapter, but is just too shy/doesn't want to tell about it because he doesn't want to blow Twilight's mind more.

[V-Pony]

1131980 Actually, Twilight informed him of the events of The Royal Wedding when he was stuck at her place after his wing injury. That included how Chrysalis was defeated, so he'd therefore know of Cadance's spell
He DOES know of many events from the show, but he was brought to Equestria on March 24th (the day of the airing of Hurricane Fluttershy), so all events after that are totally new pieces of information to him. (The Wedding, the MMMMystery, Ponyville Confidential, and Hurricane Fluttershy)

[RainbowsAreMagic]

I get the feeling that we're gonna have a triangle by the time this is through. Rainbow Dash x Volare x Twilight. Twilight is infatuated with Volare, and Volare obviously does care for her, although he struggles to suppress that feeling. On the other hand, Volare was suspiciously determined to impress Rainbow Dash, who in turn is also showing signs of emotional attachment. Both ships are in evidence. However, Twilight claims she isn't interested in Rainbow Dash, so the TwiDash ship is definitely not present; this precludes a three-way relationship, leaving only the triangle possibility.

On the other hand, Fluttershy has also seemed to take some degree of interest in Volare; it could be that the greater portion of the story up to this point is misleading our expectations, and that the ship will actually be Volare x Fluttershy.

[Shpoople96]

Hope he shows vinyl some good songs!

[Dracmatais]

This might seem inane compared to other's more in depth comments but Shae is officially my favorite OC in this story.

Edit: I just spent the last two days catching up with this story from beginning to end. and it is AWESOME! That is all.

[Super_Big_Mac]

Without any further explanation, Lyra wheeled him out of the room, down the elevator, and out the front door into the late afternoon so quickly that Volare could have sworn he was getting kid-napped….foal-napped….whatever!
Oh well, apparently it comes with free food…

Instantly made me scourge YouTube till I found this:

Edit: It doesn't start playing directly where I want it to, so... click on the words for the direct link. Or, don't. Either way, it doesn't really matter.

[RedvsBlue327]

(Twilight-Volare kiss scene)
"Quickly! To the Rule 34 creation chamber!" *Batman or Spiderman Music*
*Static*
(Twilight-Volare kiss scene)
"Did I accidently grab the cheap porno tapes instead again? I mean come on... all it's missing is a weaker plot, one of them being a doctor, and a much less intresting background story." Nononoo, this is more like a generic anime.
*Static*
(Twilight-Volare kiss scene)
"There's the romantic relationship part you wanted people that have been demanding it! Now can we continue with the story yet?"

(Lyra's sudden entrance scene)
Yes, yes. Twilight is the generic anime, Lyra is the cheap porno. Have I disturbed you yet?

Lyra: "I come here all the time believe it or not." ... This is too easy, and slightly frightning on how easy you made this beforehand...

[munomana]

I wish I could enjoy this masterpiece as much as I should have, but sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time hoping to Celestia that it didn't turn into Volare x Twilight because I'm hoping for a Volare x absolutely no one or Volare x RD

EDIT: re-read chapter. Initial response:

[Assasin_Asha]

1131980
Oh, I know. But I thought nopony told him in Equestria. However:

1132003
Aaaand thank you! That's exactly the answer I was expecting!
And I should have remembered that... Oh well, it was rather late.

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

1134575 Well, something.

1133620 No one asked for Twilight eating Volare's lips kissing him.

1134244
1132471
It's actually very complex. Volare is basically a combination of Luna, Twilight, and RD. RD is the daredevil speedster in him, Twilight is the genius physics guy he is, and Luna is his dark and depressing past. And he still want's to get home.

[HeyClassy]

'We call that puppy love.'

Huh, I never knew what that meant...
mlkshk.com/r/2HUV

[Anubis Nox]

Forgot to tell you about a spelling mistake, Only helping :P

“Wow, and you say we can’t help but trip over our own hooves,” Swetie Belle tittered as she scampered into the room, followed close behind by Applebloom.

Should be Sweetie Belle not Swetie.

Volare: That's what she said.
Author: Yeh that she is you.
Volare: FUUUUUUUU-
Me: Owned (High fives Author.)

Also another mistake:
I my opinion, it won’t be quite as unique as it once once, but…hrm, we’ll see what we can do.”

Should be In not I.

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

1135322 He could go for any one of the two. Not Luna yet, because she hasn't shown any feelings for him. Fluttershy is just being a parent to him and taking care of him, and Volare has yet to heal his wing and heal from getting his ass handed to him by Rainbow. ATM, Twilight is the best choice, but like V-pony said, Volare still needs to:
A. Show Vinyl more music.
B. "Ass-I-Dentally" tell the ponies about bronies.
C. Return to Earth to help Twilight with her research and to get his old stuff back.

He doesn't have time for a relationship.

Me: I think that Volare should have Twilight!
You: I think that Volare deserves Rainbow Dash
Author: I think that both of you should go shut up!
Volare: I think that both of you should stop using me as a way of fulfilling your fantasies!
Everyone except Volare: o-o

[Man Of War]

Yay, new chapter!! This one had me laughing so hard at all the awkward parts between Twi and Volare. And Lyra being... well her usual great self. I can't wait to read the next chapter, especially since it will involve Vinyl!