• Published 17th Dec 2011
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In Duty's Name - Cloudhammer



A Royal Guard pegasus gets more than he bargained for on his last deployment

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10 - Old Friends and New Horizons

Chapter 10 – Old Friends and New Horizons

Cloudhammer watched the night sky as the stars continued their silent, implacable dance with the moon. He found himself thinking back to that last night with his son, and again relived the heated words they had exchanged before Star Dancer slammed the door shut and left for Cloudsdale. He hadn’t seen or spoken to his son since, but Morning Sun had written him often, and occasionally spoke of important things he had been up to. They’d be sitting down to dinner, and she’d say, “Oh, Star Dancer made a few friends at work today.” or “Oh, I got a letter from Star, he’s been promoted to shift supervisor for this year’s winter.” Cloudhammer’s reply would always be a non-committal grunt or a nod, and Morning Sun would leave it at that.

Looking back on it, he could tell that it was bothering her, but his stubborn pride wouldn’t let him back down. He had been willing to compromise, after all! It’s not like he was demanding the colt go for lifetime service like he had, but the basic four year course would have done wonders for his discipline. Then he could go off wherever he wanted, do whatever he wanted, and be a better stallion for it. But Star Dancer had inherited the same stubbornness, and that had ended up with his son gone from his life. He had initially been angrily alright with it, but as time went on he’d begun to realize that he had honestly missed the colt. Continuing to gaze silently at the pale orb hanging in the sky, he heard a soft noise behind him, a shifting of dirt underhoof as one of the mares got to their hooves. Finally breaking his eyes away from the sky, he saw it wasn’t just one, as Rarity and Twilight slowly walked out of the hollow, shivering slightly as the cold air bit at their bodies. Turning his stare back to the sky, Cloudhammer let them come closer before he spoke, “So, what are you going to ask me about this time Twilight?”

“How do you know I want to ask you anything?” Twilight asked, giving away the fact that she obviously did have questions.

“It’s been written all over your face since the Lupus attack.” Cloudhammer turned around to face the pair. “Ask then, but there may be questions that I won’t answer, and I’d ask that you respect that.”

Twilight nodded, and opened her mouth to speak, but Rarity spoke first. “Star Dancer’s your son, isn’t he? And if I’m not mistaken, you two haven’t been in the best of relations with each other for some time, right?” Cloudhammer’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Rarity, who gestured disarmingly with a hoof. “I’ve not spoken of it to anypony else, don’t worry about that.”

Twilight, who’s face had gone from irritation at Rarity’s interruption to a dawning of realization as several little facts suddenly rearranged themselves to make much more sense, kept her mouth shut as she waited for Cloudhammer’s response.

Cloudhammer’s mind spun in circles, trying to recall if he’d somehow said something to give it away. Finally, he sighed, and his eyes softened slightly. “What gave it away?”

Rarity smiled. “A number of things, though I admit it took me some time to put all the pieces together. I realized from Celestia’s letter that you’re married. Then when we were treating your wounds after those Lupus attacked, you kept mentioning a Star Dancer. But the letter said your wife’s name is Morning Sun. What finally made me realize it was when you spoke of your family’s tradition of having the first son serve in the Guard. You hid it well, but I noticed a slight tone of resentment as you talked about it. That made me see that if Star Dancer was your son, then what the likely cause of your resentment was that you and he had some sort of altercation, most likely about him joining the Guard. Am I on the right track thus far?” Rarity couldn’t help but look proud as Cloudhammer’s expression confirmed everything.

Looking back up to the moon, Cloudhammer sighed again as the memory came surging back to the front of his mind. “Star Dancer had just reached his 17th summer. I was so proud, my son would join the Guard, the tradition would continue. We had butted heads before over it, he had shown a talent for weather sculpting, and had even received an official request from the forepony at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory to come work for him. I’m not sure how he found out about Star’s talent, maybe some sky art presentation or another. But when I brought it up that evening, everything just seemed to explode. He tried to explain his reasons for not wanting to join, but I didn’t want to hear them. I explained my reasons again, and even offered a compromise where Star just go into the four year basic training. That only made things worse, and he started shouting at me, I got angry and called him a coward, told him that if he wanted to spit on the family’s history, then I’d rather not have him as a son at all.” Cloudhammer’s eyes threatened to betray him, but with some effort he whipped his rebellious emotions back into line and continued. “And that was it; he stormed out on the spot and left for Cloudsdale. I’ve not seen or spoken to him once in the 3 summers since, even though Morning kept in touch with him through letters. I’m starting to think that I may have lost him as my son.” As Cloudhammer finished speaking, he suddenly felt very tired, as if he’d flown a marathon from Manehatten to Fillydelphia and back without stopping.

Rarity and Twilight were silent for a moment, then the fashionista took a step forward, paused a moment and then struck Cloudhammer on the side of the head with her hoof. Cloudhammer jerked to the side, more from shock than the force of the actual blow. He slowly turned his head back to face them, anger flaring hot and bright in his eyes as he got to his hooves. “Miss Rarity, I suggest you back off, right now.”

She shook her head angrily, her horn remaining unlit as she stood her ground. “I most certainly will not! I cannot simply believe that you would just give up on your own son so easily! Even with what you said about not wanting him as a son, it’s obvious to me you still love him. So when you sit there in front of me, whining and complaining; I wonder what happened to the Guard who selflessly stood against three Lupus Minors for strangers, who despite his obvious age continues to serve in the Guard despite all logic to the contrary! Because the pony that I see here now is not deserving of that title!” And with a final harrumph, her horn lit, the bluish field enveloping his head. With a slight twist she undid the straps and removed the helmet, tossing it to the ground in front of him. Snorting, she turned and trotted back to the hollow, lifting her blanket and settling back under it.

Cloudhammer and Twilight both stood there, staring incredulously at Rarity’s form. Twilight turned her eyes back to see Cloudhammer bend over and take up the helmet in his hooves, wiping a dirt clod from the blade crest as he did so. Turning it over in his hooves, he looked at it for a long minute, as if trying to divine the answer to his questions from the helmet’s vacant stare. Finally, he turned the helmet around and settled it back onto his head, his coat shimmering slightly as it shifted back to stark white.

“Twilight, I think I would like some time alone, if you don’t mind.” Cloudhammer was turning away already, walking back to his original position and sitting down, turning his head skyward as he did so.

“Oh… ok. Well, I’ll see you in the morning then. And I apologize if what Rarity said offended you.” Twilight turned and started to make her way to her own pad when Cloudhammer’s voice stopped her.

“In all honesty, its better that it did.”

Twilight thought about it for a moment, but shrugged, her exhaustion getting the better of her and guiding her the rest of the way to her bed. Settling herself down under the blanket, her eyes gratefully closed… only to open what felt like a moment later to the light of the sun shining into their hollow. Raising a hoof to block the offensive light, she could see that her friends were all still asleep, except for Pinkie, whose whereabouts Twilight debated until she turned her head slightly, spotting the pink earth pony sitting motionless on the little hill outside. She blinked a few times; wondering if that was really Pinkie as she couldn’t recall the last time that the earth pony had stayed still.

Her moment of reflection was silenced as Cloudhammer trotted past her, making her twitch suddenly as she hadn’t even seen or heard him in the hollow with them.

“Something the matter, Twilight?” Cloudhammer asked as he walked up the hill and tapped Pinkie on the shoulder, getting a cloud of dust all over him in the process as she spun in place and practically flew into the hollow, deftly moving over and around the others and beginning to pack her things.

“How did… I didn’t… When did you… Nevermind.” Twilight concluded grumpily, the unicorn not normally one for early mornings.

Applejack was the next one to rise, yawning once before flipping her Stetson off her face and onto the top of her head with a practiced flick. “Mornin Twi, Ah didn’t expect to see ya’ll up ahead of me.”

“Don’t remind me.” Twilight answered blearily as she rubbed the last of her exhaustion from her eyes, looking as everypony else began to stir. Sighing at the lack of chance to return to sleep, she began to fold her blanket and pad, while Rainbow Dash trotted out to join Cloudhammer, stretching her wings with a yawn.

“So how’s the sky this morning?” Rainbow yawned again, causing everypony else to yawn too, even Cloudhammer, though he at least was able to disguise it as a deep breath.

“Haven’t been flying yet.” He replied, turning away to snort a small wad of dust from his nose. “I’m honestly surprised to see that Pinkie is still so full of energy this morning. If only the recruits I’ve had to train could have that kind of energy.”

Rainbow laughed, “Yea, but then you’d have a whole group of Pinkies running around all the time.”

Cloudhammer pondered that for a moment, before shaking his head in resignation. “You do have a point.” He felt himself pushed to the side as Pinkie stood up next to him, despite him having seen her not a second earlier packing her bags. “Besides, I don’t think Guard training procedures could handle a class of ponies with your… talents, Pinkie.”

Giggling as she bounced off, Pinkie looked over her shoulder, “oh, I’m sure it’d be a super-duper fun time Cloudhammer!”

Cloudhammer put a hoof to his head as he again wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into. Meanwhile, the others finished packing up, and soon everypony was ready to head out. Tightening the straps on his armor, Cloudhammer shook himself to make sure the armor wouldn’t chafe and started following the rail line.

The sun hung at the peak of the sky, beating down unmercifully on the group as they continued along the rail. Zecora seemed the most at ease in the heat, keeping pace with Cloudhammer even though the pegasus was starting to sweat under his armor. Rarity had pulled out some garment or another and had draped it over and around herself, and was perfectly fine, even though the garment itself was black.

Twilight, her coat starting to become matted with sweat, caught up with her. “How in the world are you not sweating in that thing, Rarity?”

Flipping a loose end back over her shoulder, Rarity smiled. “Simple my dear, the fabric absorbs the heat, but because it’s so thin and loose, I stay cool underneath. Well, cooler than I would be otherwise.” She looked in her bag for a moment, and then frowned. “I wish I’d thought ahead more, I’d have designed one for you and the other girls too, but the fabric I have left wouldn’t work for much…” her voice trailed off as she looked the assorted fabric over, then her face lit up, “ooh! Ideeea!” Her horn lit as she levitated some fabric, needle and thread out, and after a few moments, held what appeared to be a hat, or perhaps a head cover, which she settled onto Twilight’s head. After a few adjustments, she smiled. “There you go dear, that should help with the heat some.”

Twilight smiled as the cover at least helped a little with keeping the sun out of her eyes. “Thank you Rarity, this works nicely.”

The fashionista held back her twitch as once again, Twilight displayed her lack of fashion sense. Sure, the head cover worked, but it also looked good on her. The green of the fabric complimented her coat nicely, and if only she’d had more time and fabric to work with, she was sure that an outfit similar to her own could be arranged…

Twilight shook her head and sighed as Rarity’s eyes glazed over in thought, obviously trying to come up with a design for some outfit or another. Looking back at the others, she could see that they were doing better than she was in the oppressive heat. Applejack had her hat, Rainbow and Fluttershy could fly to get a cooling breeze, and Pinkie Pie just seemed immune to the weather, her hair still as poofy and bouncy as ever. Spike of course loved the heat, his scales not having any glands to even sweat with, something she currently envied as she watched her assistance scamper about. Looking ahead, she took a little satisfaction from the fact that Cloudhammer at least was sweating too, though he didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest. Zecora wasn’t sweating at all either, likely due to the fact that she must have grown up in the savannah. She frowned as she realized that she had no way of knowing that, and in fact knew very little about the zebra’s past. She thought back to the few times they had spoken and realized that while the zebra had been curious about what it was like to be Celestia’s student and what Canterlot was like, she was very adept at redirecting questions about herself. Twilight thought back to the way she’d been acting when they’d spent the night in Canterlot, and decided that while she wanted to know what was bothering her friend, odds were she’d find out more once they entered zebra territory. If it turned out that it was a sensitive subject like it had been with Cloudhammer, she didn’t want to upset her.

That thought made her start thinking about Cloudhammer’s behavior over the past few days. Immediately after the Lupus attack, he had begun to loosen up considerably, almost treating them as friends. But then when they had prepared to leave, his previous cold exterior had returned. Then he had accepted Rainbow’s offer of a race, and had started loosening up again! She rolled all these facts around like gemstones in the palm of her mind, trying to find some pattern to explain his behavior. After half an hour of trying, she finally had to give up and throw in the towel. Maybe this was a stallion thing, and the fact that the only other male in their group was Spike probably wasn’t helping at all. Her thoughts continued to rage around her head like a tornado until she felt somepony grab her tail. Looking up, she saw that Cloudhammer and Zecora had stopped on top of a hill, and were talking briefly before he turned around.

“Alright, we’ll take a break here, drink some water and eat some of our food, then we’ll continue the rest of the way to Appleloosa.” He sat down on the hill, reaching around and pulling a small bag out from under his armor. Pulling it apart, he picked up what looked like a small, flat cake and began gnawing on it idly.

Pinkie Pie, instantly curious, trotted up to him and sniffed at it. “What is that? Is it some kind of cake? Ooh, can I try it?”

Cloudhammer put it back on the package, looked at it for a moment, then reached down and with a grunt of effort and a flick of the wrist, broke off a piece, picking up the rest of it again he nodded to Pinkie, who eagerly snatched up the piece and bit down.

She got a cross-eyed look on her face and spit it out onto her hoof. “It’s too hard, I can’t bite down into it. What kind of pony makes a cake that you can’t bite into?”

Cloudhammer chuckled as he gnawed on his for a few more seconds before putting it back on its wrapper. “That’s because you don’t bite down on it like regular, you gnaw on it. The polite term the Guard has for them are trailcakes. Our earth pony staff makes them out of all the basic nutrients a Guard needs while on deployment, and then they bake them so hard that you can’t eat it all at once, which helps if you find yourself on an extended mission and don’t have time for normal food.”

Applejack tilted her head in confusion. “Now wait just a pony-pickin minute, I thought you Guardponies only took unicorns and pegasi, Ah didn’t think ya’ll had a use fer earth ponies.”

Cloudhammer almost looked taken aback. “Of course we employ earth ponies, without them our logistics would collapse almost overnight. Not to mention who’d make our armor?”

“Wait, so earth ponies forge your armor? I’d always assumed that unicorns forged it, since it makes enchanting it easier.” Twilight’s horn lit as she cast out her sensing spell at the armor. She could feel the enchantment for the color change laying on it, but where she’d thought the enchantment and armor blended together she realized that a very slight layer existed between the two. Peering closer, she could feel a very small amount of… jerking back as she suddenly recognized exactly who’s magic it was that helped bind the enchantment to the armor, she pointed a hoof at Cloudhammer. “Why is Princess Celestia’s magic worked into your armor?”

The others all gasped in surprise and turned to look at Cloudhammer for an explanation. Cloudhammer looked down at the armor with pride as he explained, “When a pony first moves from Recruit to Private, an earth pony forges his first set of armor and it’s enchanted by a team of unicorns from our ranks. He receives a new set of armor when he reaches Second or First Lieutenant, with the same enchantment applied. However, should a Guard be promoted to Captain or General, it’s tradition that the Forgemaster himself forges the new set of armor, and that Celestia puts the enchantment on it. It’s been that way for the past seven hundred years or so.”

For a while, nopony spoke, before Rainbow Dash just shook her head and trotted up to the top of the hill. Looking out over the impressive view, her eyes narrowed as she spotted a dense cluster of buildings in the distance. “Hey guys, I think I see Appleloosa!”

Everypony snapped themselves back to reality and joined Rainbow in looking towards the town below them, the mares remembering the last time they’d visited and wondering what had changed in the time since they’d left.

After letting everypony have a few minutes to enjoy the view, Cloudhammer cleared his throat. “Alright then, let’s not waste time; I’d like to get there before sundown if possible.” He began to make his way down the hill, soon followed by the others.

As the weary travelers finally came within earshot of the town, they suddenly heard the pounding of hoofbeats as a yellow earth pony with a cowpony hat perched firmly on his head rounded the corner and galloped towards them. Skidding to a stop in front of the group, an ear to ear smile on his muzzle, the stallion looked at Applejack. “Cousin Applejack! It’s so nice to see you back here in wonderful AAAAAAAAPPLELOOSA!” After rearing back as he shouted the name of the town, he looked confusedly at the group who had clapped their hooves over their ears, except for Spike, Zecora and Cloudhammer. “So uh, what brings ya’ll out here this time? And in such… unusual company.”

Cloudhammer took a step forward. “Captain Cloudhammer, of the Equestrian Royal Pegasus Guard. We’re just traveling through on business to the throne, and felt that since your town is the only one out this far, to perhaps request lodging for the night.”

Applejack stepped up beside Cloudhammer. “If it ain’t too much trouble that is Braeburn, we got some bits between us to pay fer some rooms.” She fell silent as Braeburn’s expression twisted into one of shock.

“Applejack, Ah’m surprised at you! Ah’d never charge one of my own kin and her friends, especially given what ya’ll did the last time, sortin out that mess with the buffalo like ya did. C’mon, ah’m sure we can find room to put you and yer compadres up fer the night at my place, no problem at all.” Turning, he began to trot down the main dirt road that cut through town, the group looking at each other before following him.

Cloudhammer’s head looked for all the world like it was on a swivel, he unconsciously inspected every building they passed, his eyes lingering on each pony who he thought was looking at them funny.

Braeburn noticed it too, and with a shooing motion, chased off one of the onlookers. “Powerful sorry bout all the starin, it’s just we don’t usually get one of you Guardponies out this far west. So, ya said you was on business for the throne? What kind of business, if’n you don’t mind mah askin?”

Cloudhammer looked at Braeburn. “A pair of Guard pegasi and unicorns did arrive here a few days ago, correct?”

Braeburn’s eyes lit up. “Oh yea, that’s right! Shoot, I dun forgot about those guys. Let’s see, I think they bunked up in the rooms overtop of the Salt Block. That’s the local waterin hole for those of ya who weren’t here last time. Ya’ll wanna go see them Ah reckon?”

Cloudhammer only nodded, his trademark scowl starting to form as he trotted purposefully in the direction of the large tavern with a salt shaker on it. Braeburn shied away, sidling closer to Applejack. “Twas it somethin I said?”

Applejack snorted, “Nah, more’n likely some Guard ponies are about to find themselves in a whole heap a hot water for not being out doin their jobs. In any case, how’ve ya been cousin? Feel awful for not being able to come see ya sooner, things back in Ponyville seem to keep happenin one after tha other.”

Braeburn smiled. “Shucks, ain’t no problem at all cuz, tell ya the truth it’s been a mite busy out here too. Though we’re all grateful to ya’ll fer helping with tha buffalo, I tell you what, they sure can shake apples outta trees better than any pony could, that’s fer sure.” Looking concerned, he looked over towards the Salt Block, “now Ah hope your shiny friend isn’t gonna cause too much a fuss, folks aren’t gonna like it.”

Applejack started to reply, but a faint bellow could be heard from inside the tavern, and a few seconds later two pegasi and two unicorns fell out the door into the dust, followed by Cloudhammer, his wings up and his eyes burning with anger.

“NOW, I EXPECT YOU TWO SORRY EXCUSES FOR PEGASI TO GIVE ME FIFTY LAPS AROUND THE TOWN FOR DERELICTION OF DUTY! ON THE DOUBLE, MOVE MOVE MOVE!” Cloudhammer watched as the two pegasi flailed about until they got their hooves under them and sped into the air. Turning his gaze to the two unicorns, both of whom looked like they were about to wet themselves like newborn foals, he shouted, “AND AS FOR YOU TWO, I WANT THE TWO OF YOU TO GO OVER EVERY BUILDING IN TOWN AND CLEAN OFF ANY DUST YOU FIND. IF I CAN’T EAT OFF ANY FLAT SURFACE BY SUNRISE TOMORROW, I’LL PUT BOTH OF YOU ON REPORT TO CAPTAIN FLARE! DO YOU GET ME!”

The two unicorns sprang to their hooves and snapped simultaneous salutes, before trying to sprint in the other’s direction, crashing back to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Struggling to untangle themselves, they once again got back to their feet and tore off in different directions. Watching them for a moment, and checking the sky to make sure the two pegasi were doing their laps, he trotted back over to the group, all of whom were staring at him jaws agape.

He looked at them curiously, “What? Do I have something in my teeth?” Pinkie and Spike couldn’t help themselves and started laughing, and soon everypony who’d witnessed the chewing out was laughing. Cloudhammer snorted, then inclined his head toward Braeburn. “Now that that’s settled, I believe you were showing us to your home.”

Wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, Braeburn smiled, “Sure thing, though remind me never to get in a fight with you on tha opposite team, that was downright terrifying.” He started to lead the group once again through town towards his house, a two-story building in the simple style commonly found further out from the main cities of Equestria.

“Oh, that was nothing, just a little warm-up to clear my throat; you should’ve seen the captains who trained me, now there was a group of pegasi who could put the fear of Celestia into you with just a look, Captain Stormhoof especially.”

Twilight was intrigued at the mention of the name, having heard it several times during her studies in Canterlot. “You mean to tell me that you were trained by the Captain Stormhoof, the guard who actually fought and defeated two griffon Hunters at once in the Scythion Grand Arena?” she asked skeptically

Cloudhammer looked back at her with a slight smile on his face. “Of course, the family tradition has always been that the father trains the son.”

Twilight’s jaw hung open, working soundlessly for a second as she stopped walking. Cloudhammer simply kept going as the others paused next to her. Rainbow’s face was frozen into as much a look of shock as Twilights.

Rarity looked back and forth between her two friends in confusion. “I don’t get it, what is a ‘Hunter’ and just why are they so scary?”

Rainbow found her voice first, “Hunters are the biggest, meanest griffons in Scythion. They work exclusively for the griffon king and are occasionally rented out as mercenaries for any dirty work that needs doing. I’d never heard of anypony even fighting one and winning, let alone two.”

Zecora tilted her head, curiosity written on her face as she watched Cloudhammer’s receding form. “Truly Cloudhammer has many surprises in store, I wonder if time will continue to reveal more.”

The others all nodded agreement, before following Cloudhammer and Braeburn to his home.

The sun’s light shone in through the windows on the first floor, directly into Cloudhammer’s face. He scrunched his eyes closed for a moment before rubbing his hoof across his face. Stretching a bit as he got to his hooves, he looked down as his leg didn’t protest the movement at all. Gripping the edge of the bandage in his teeth, he pulled it loose, then unwrapped his leg to reveal that the cuts were nearly healed. He decided to ask Rarity about removing the stitches, and looked around the living room. It had been decided last night that the mares would get the bedroom and guest room, while Cloudhammer, Braeburn and Spike would sleep in the living room. Braeburn had insisted on giving Cloudhammer the couch, but he had refused, instead settling down on the rug, while Spike had taken the chair. Looking over at the couch, he could see that Braeburn was still asleep, though a few twitches and a grumble told him he’d likely be up soon. Deciding to stretch his wings some, he quietly opened the door and walked onto the porch.

Closing the door behind him, he could see a few of the townsponies making their way along the dirt roads to their jobs. Looking skyward, he could feel the warmth of the sun soaking through his skin and feathers, the sky a perfect shade of blue without a cloud in sight. Finally he couldn’t stand the feeling and flapped his wings, leaping into the air and gliding lazily over the town. Passing close to a few buildings, he could see that they had been scrubbed recently, not a trace of dirt showing. A few ponies who happened to be looking up waved cheerfully to him and he inclined his head, before spotting four gold armored forms standing rigidly at attention near the town’s entrance. Swooping in with a sharp snap of his wings to slow his descent, he landed directly in front of the pegasi and unicorns who to their credit didn’t flinch, their eyes continuing to stare unblinkingly forward. Pacing back and forth, his stern eyes carefully examined their armor and coats for any imperfection, imagined or otherwise. Finding them to be in good order, he stopped and turned to face them.

“Excellent work, I’m surprised to see that the slackers from yesterday actually had Guards in them. Private Forest, Second Lieutenant Coral, keep this up and you might actually prove you deserve to wear that plate.” The two pegasi’s chests expanded slightly at the praise, and Cloudhammer turned his gaze to the two unicorns. He sifted through his memory, trying to recall the names of the two Flare had sent out here, before giving up with a mental snort of frustration. “Names and ranks you two.”

“SIR! SECOND LIEUTENANT CHARGER SIR!” The one on the left barked out.

“SIR! PRIVATE SOLARIS SIR!” the one on the right shouted.

Cloudhammer peered closer at the two, his eyes tracing their armor for a moment before nodding. “Very well, excellent work on the town, I shall pass on word of this to Captain Flare. Carry on you lot, and don’t disappoint me again.”

“SIR YES SIR! SIR THANK YOU SIR FOR THE CHANCE TO PROVE OURSELVES SIR!” The quartet shouted in perfect synchrony.

Nodding his approval once again, Cloudhammer spread his wings and took off towards the center of town. Once he was out of sight, the four guards relaxed slightly, Forest turning to the others.

“I think my heart stopped a little there. I wonder why in the world the Princess would have the Old Pony himself out this far west?”

Charger nodded. Even if the pegasus captain technically didn’t hold rank over him, everypony in the Unicorn Guard knew Cloudhammer on sight, and that his friendship with Captain Flare meant any unicorn shirking duty around him would bring Flare down on them in a heartbeat. “I don’t know, but it’s got to be something big, what with the Bearers of the Elements here too.”

“Wait, you mean those mares were…” Coral asked incredulously. He mentally kicked himself for having eyed the flanks on that orange earth pony and in a moment of terror wondered if Cloudhammer had noticed it.

“Yes, and I’d make sure to keep your eyes in your head and your wings at your side when you see them next.” Forest admonished dryly, causing Coral to thank Celestia the armor hid blushes. He bit back a retort as the four settled back into the boring monotony of guarding a town in the literal middle of nowhere.

Cloudhammer knocked on the front door, only having to wait a moment before Braeburn opened it, a smile on his face despite the slightly bleary look in his eyes.

“Morning partner, what all had you out and about this fine morning?” Yawning despite himself, Braeburn pushed the door open wider and moving out of the way.

“Just wanted to do an inspection. This town you have here is very nice, if a little disorganized.” Entering the house as Braeburn moved aside, Cloudhammer could see Twilight on the couch, writing on a scroll. He could hear the sounds of industry in the kitchen, and the smell of haycakes wafted out, causing his nose to twitch and stomach to growl despite himself.

Twilight, looking up from her scroll, laughed at the captain’s discomfort. “Spike and Pinkie are making breakfast; Applejack’s lending a hoof so they don’t end up making nothing but sweets. Fluttershy’s awake, and Rarity’s making last minute adjustments to her hair I think. Rainbow of course is still…” the unicorn trailed off as the pegasus in question came fluttering down the stairs, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

“I’m up already… sheesh, you early bird ponies really ought to try sleeping in for once, it’s fantastic.” Rainbow muttered as she blindly drifted into the wall, shook her head to get her bearings, and then floated into the kitchen. Everypony in the room managed to hold their laughter back until she left, but burst out laughing the second she entered the kitchen. Even Cloudhammer barked out a short laugh, much to the surprise and even greater amusement of everypony else.

As the laughter subsided, Rarity came briskly trotting down the stairs, followed by Fluttershy. “What in the world was so funny this early in the morning?” the white unicorn asked as she took an appreciative sniff of the smell coming from the kitchen. “Why, that smells delicious! Oh, and Braeburn my dear, I cannot thank you enough for the use of your own bed, if I were to spend another night on that pad I shudder to think what it would have done to my back.”

“Well, don’t get used to it Rarity, we’re leaving as soon as we get some food and refill our supplies.” Cloudhammer replied as he trotted to the kitchen for a peek to see if the others were done. The scale of the mess in the room made his jaw drop slightly before he snapped it shut and turned around. “By the way, where is Zecora?”

Twilight looked up from her scroll again. “I guess she must still be upstairs in the room. When I left she was still asleep, so maybe she’s not ready yet?”

Fluttershy smiled, “Well, I’ll go see if she’s up.” Trotting up the stairs to the second floor hallway, she saw the two doors to the master and guest bedrooms. She trotted to the guest bedroom door, which was still closed and knocked softly. “Zecora? Are you awake yet?” She didn’t hear anything from the other side, so after a moment’s thought she opened the door slightly. Still not hearing anything, she pushed the door open further to see Zecora sitting by the window, looking up at the morning sky. “Ah, you’re awake. Good, we’ll be leaving soon; the others are preparing breakfast now, would you like to have some? I could bring some up if you’re not ready yet… that is, if it’s alright with you.” Something was off about the zebra, even she could tell that, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it.

“Pardon my tone, but I want to be alone.” The zebra’s voice was thick, and her shoulders twitched slightly.

Now Fluttershy knew for sure that something was wrong. “I… Is there something you want to talk to about Zecora?” She jumped involuntarily as the zebra turned her head, revealing that her eyes were red and puffy, and twin trails of tears wound their way down her face.

“Forgive me for being like this. I must look such a mess.” The zebra’s chest hiked as she held in another sob. Fluttershy was instantly across the room, putting a hoof on Zecora’s shoulder. Looking at the pegasus’ cyan eyes, Zecora broke and embraced her, letting the tears flow as she cried. Patting her gently on the shoulder, Fluttershy made a few shushing noises until the zebra pushed back, wiping her eyes to clear the last few tears away.

Fluttershy used a corner of Zecora’s blanket to wipe her coat dry, and then made sure the door was firmly closed. Turning around, she walked back to Zecora and sat down on the floor next to her. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Zecora took a hoofkerchief from her bag and blew her nose, her eyes already looking better. Giving Fluttershy a long look, she finally nodded and began to speak a little haltingly. “The reasons I had to leave my homeland, my people did not understand. For one who has left their tribe to return, they are met with reactions most stern.” The zebra started to say more, but found herself being embraced by Fluttershy, who shushed her with a gentle smile on her face.

“I know it’ll be hard, but we’re your friends, and we won’t let anything happen to you. So don’t you worry about a thing.” Fluttershy said matter-of-factly, her normally frightened demeanor replaced with the attitude she used for the occasional depressed animal she had to treat, like a bird with a broken wing.

Zecora was no bird, but the attitude worked all the same, the zebra feeling much better knowing somepony was on her side. Sure the residents of Ponyville treated her well enough, but there was still a tension that existed between them. Zecora knew it was because she was not a pony like the rest of them, but she’d come to terms with it since she at least knew they’d accept her. The prospect of returning to her homeland after leaving in the manner she had terrified her, but she knew that Fluttershy was right. The yellow pegasus and her friends, despite their rocky introductions, had always treated her just like anypony else; and she was proud to have met them, even before she learned of their exploits in fighting not only Nightmare Moon but Discord too.

“Thank you for your words my dear, though I ask for now that they stay between our ears.” Zecora smiled softly and hugged the pegasus again.

“Of course, but you really should tell the others, they’ll understand.” Fluttershy got to her hooves and trotted to the door, opening it and closing it behind her.

Zecora watched the door for a moment, then wiped her eyes one more time and began to prepare her bags.

Fluttershy came back down the stairs, Twilight looking up from her scroll as she wrote one final line and slid it into her saddlebag securely. “Everything alright Fluttershy?”

The pegasus looked over and nodded. “Oh, yes, everything is alright… Um, I’m going to go see if there’s any breakfast ready, okay?” She continued into the kitchen without even waiting for Twilight’s answer.

“I wonder what’s gotten into her?” Twilight mused, as Zecora came down the stairs, heading into the kitchen too. Sighing as once again she was denied the answer she wanted, Twilight got off the couch and joined the others in the kitchen for breakfast.

Once breakfast was done and cleaned up, everypony walked to the entrance to town, Braeburn coming along to give them a proper sendoff. Curiously, one of the pegasus guards seemed to act even stiffer when the group approached, earning a curious glance from Cloudhammer as they passed, which if anything stiffened the poor guard even more. After saying their goodbyes, the group turned away from the rising sun and continued towards the distant horizon.

The rest of the day passed without incident, which was a relief and a blessing to the group given their past few days. Rainbow was the first to spot the slow increase in the growth of vegetation, and the gradual leveling of the land from dust and rocks into rolling hills. If one thing could be found to be an irritant, the heat only seemed to rise until everypony present except Spike was sweating, making them all thankful they’d replenished their water in Appleloosa.

Finally, they climbed up a rock-strewn hill and collectively gasped. Transformed into a field of shimmering amber and gold by the setting sun was a vast plain of grass, dotted sporadically with trees as far as any of them could see. Even Rainbow was awed by the sight before her, the pegasus landing softly beside her friends to share the moment. Zecora took a half step forward, and in a voice that simultaneously hung heavy with regret, yet sang with joy, spoke, “Welcome to my home.”