> A Paladin's Strength
>  by Blaze Riaz
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: New Town, New Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        	The Night sky was as beautiful as ever. A clear dark blue sky that twinkled with stars high above around the magnificent moon a pleasant blue light. Just over a lake near the mountain Canterlot sat upon, two stallion Pegasi fell out of the sky . One in a suit, with the right side of his collar covered in blood, the other in cerulean blue armor, a large gash in his left shoulder blood seeping out. The stallion in the armor opened his eyes, looking at the bright full moon.
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Vigilant shot up in his bed, shaking and breathing heavily. The nightmare, no more than a retelling of past events, plagued his sleep. Placing his hooves on his face, he breathed slowly, bringing his heart rate back to normal. Sliding his hooves off of his face, he looked around his room, still foreign to him. It was a decent size, his bed laid next to a window which showed it was still dark. On the opposite wall, an empty bookshelf sat next to a desk filled with paperwork regarding the move to his current home. Vigilant only yesterday night moved into a cloud house just over Ponyville, not really wanting any attention on his move. Vigilant sighed and rolled out of bed, landing on the soft cloud floor where he stretched his wings and back, popping a few vertebra. He trotted into the bathroom that was adjacent to his bedroom. He splashed cold water on his face, letting the chilling water wake him up more and bring some sanity back to his mind. He grabbed a towel, drying himself, and looked in the mirror. He was a white stallion with a blonde mane and tail that both had a blue streak within the strands of yellow. He had a scar over his left eye which was a grayed out green, though his right eye was a royal cerulean. Before leaving the bathroom he brushed his short mane from its bed head look and brushed his teeth

He left his room and headed down a flight of stairs to the living room. Deciding to have a small breakfast, he headed to the kitchen. He turned right and entered the kitchen/dining room, only having a fridge, a stove, a small amount of counter space for prep work and a small pantry. Vigilant walked up to his fridge and opened it. “Empty…that’s right, I just got here…” he mused to himself as he closed the fridge. He opened the pantry to find that it had some food, but not much, though he quickly found a half empty bag of bagels. “Guess some bagels are going to have to do.” He sighed and grabbed two bagels, eating one almost instantly. He took a bite of the other as he walked to the front door that had a coat hanger holding an old brown Stetson hat that had two feathers on its right side. Beside it was an old set of flight goggles that he grabbed, placing it on his forehead. “A quick flight around town should clear my head.” he mumbled to himself. He scarfed down the rest of his second bagel before lowering his goggles as he exited his cloud home.

The small porch just outside his front door was big enough to hold two ponies, if needed. Vigilant took a deep breath of air in the cold winter morning and he loved it so. The grey clouds in the sky lightened up a bit as the sun must have started to rise. There was snow falling, it was the middle of winter and the weather Pegasi must have planned a snow day. Vigilant hopped off his cloud home which was above some open planes near some other houses on the ground. He extended his wings just before he hit the ground, flying low at a fast speed before he rose up above the roofs of the homes and shops that passed underneath him. He circled around a couple of times, examining the town to the best of his ability. There was the tallest building, which is where he met the mayor to buy his home, it must have been town hall. Not too far from there was a large tree which looked like it was made as a house of sorts. Down a large street, that he guessed to be the main street, was a house that looked to be made of gingerbread. On a small hill a school house and a small playground stood. On the western border of the town was a fairly large apple orchard with a barn near the eastern side of the whole orchard. Flying just over the Everfree Forest he noticed a cottage. As he flew on, he noticed a cloud house larger and more extravagant than his own. “Huh, must be an important pony…or a rich one.”  On his second loop around town he noticed that Main Street had a bunch of stalls unoccupied due to either the snow or the early morning. “I could practice.”  He thought to himself as he aligned his flight path. He dived down at an alarming rate, leveling off mere inches from the ground. Trees, bushes and stalls were all in his path as he flew at high a speed down Main Street. He dodged and weaved over, around and through all the obstacles. As he reached the end of his improvised obstacle course, he performed an aileron roll through the last stall, nicking the top sign with his rear legs. “*Tsk…Almost made it through perfectly.” He thought as he glanced back at the stall. When he looked back, he saw an orange blur in his path. He quickly dodged to the left, missing the blur, but hitting a pile of snow he did not see, flipping head over heel as he crashed into another pile of snow several yards ahead.

“Mister….”

Vigilant was still dazed when he popped his head out of the snow, his goggles still covered in snow.

“Mister, are you alright?!” yelled a filly’s voice as Vigilant lifted his goggles onto his forehead, shaking it back and forth to stop the dizziness he was feeling. He felt a poke on his side. Looking down to his side, he saw a small orange Pegasus filly with a purple mane, tail, and eyes. “What you were doing was SO COOL..…well, beside the crash, but other than that it was so cool, even when you dodged hitting me.” She said as she was using her hooves to emphasize what she was saying. 

“Oh, you saw that?” said Vigilant as he got up shaking the snow of his body and wings. 

“Yeah! I’ve never even seen Rainbow Dash do stuff like that. She is still the most awesome flier, but it was still awesome to see you dodge and weave through those things so easily!” she said with great excitement.

“Hehe…well, that was something I was trained to do.” Said Vigilant as he scratched the back of his head. 

“Trained? OH! Are you a Wonderbolt?!” she yelled with quite a bit more excitement than before. Vigilant was taken back for a second. He never thought somepony would think he was a Wonderbolt, even though what he did was not common, it didn’t merit him as one of the greatest fliers in all of Equestria. “Um…no, I am…well, actually, I was a soldier. They trained Pegasi to have high agility for chases and air combat.” He said with some pride.

“Oh…” she said, a bit disappointed. “Well, I’m sorry for being in your path earlier.” She said before dashing away down an alleyway.

He stopped for a moment, “Huh…that was odd.” before taking off into the sky back towards his house.

After taking stock of what he had in his new house and what was still packed. Vigilant grabbed a decent sized bag of bits, placed it around his neck for safe keeping, and then placed a saddle pack on his back. Just before he left, he returned his goggles to where they were earlier this morning and grabbed his old hat.

He landed in the middle of the Main Street where some of the stands were now open, cleared of the fresh snow and replaced with products they were selling. “So they still do business even if it’s snowing.” He thought to himself as he trotted down the street. He stopped by some stalls, grabbing a few vegetables and fruits.

“Howdy, Mister!” said a country voice.

Vigilant looked around for its source, noticing a light orange mare that was wearing a Stetson herself, waving at him. He trotted over to her stand after seeing the apples on display.

“Howdy there, stranger. Ah noticed you buying some fruits and vegetables, and I betcha that you don’t have any apples.” the mare drawled. She then gestured over to her stand of apples and apple related foods. Vigilant was a bit surprised at how many apples there were. They were mostly plain old apples, but there were several apple related desserts.

“Wow, ma’am, I am amazed by this stand. You have several items for sale beside just apples. Did you make all these delicious looking foods?” Vigilant asked as he eyed a still warm apple pie.

“Shucks, that is mighty kind of yah tah say about my stand here, but no, Granny Smith made most of ‘em. She went on about warm food sellin’ on this here cold day.” the mare said as she scratched the back of her head. “Say, you're new here, aintcha?” 

“Uh...yeah, I moved in last night. That’s why I’m out here to buy some food. Heh.” He shyly admitted. 

“Well, then, welcome to Ponyville. Ah bet yall will like it here. By the way, name’s AppleJack.” she said as he extended her hoof towards him. 

“Um...thanks...uh...Vigilant...Vigilant Paladin” he replied as he shook AppleJack’s hoof. 

“Since, yall are new here, why dontcha take a half dozen apples as a welcome gift.” AppleJack said as she placed a gift  into his pack.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Vigilant protested.

“Ah know, just bein’ neighborly.” she said with a smile, patting him on the back.

“Well, thanks, then. You don’t usually meet many ponies that nice to outsiders.” he returned a smile to Applejack. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Miss AppleJack.” He tipped his hat before trotting away.

“Nice tah meetcha, too, Vigilant, and yah can just call meh AppleJack.” She yelled as she waved goodbye to him. 

With the encounter with AppleJack over, Vigilant continued on his shopping spree through the market stalls, even stopping at a store called Sofas and Quills. “Weird...it only sells sofas and quills. Thought he might of had more...oh well…” he pondered as he left the store. With everything he needed, or what he thought was enough for now, Vigilant flew back to his small cloud home. Shortly after being home, movers brought in the couch he bought from Sofas and Quills. His house now becoming more like a real home, Vigilant sighed. “Wish it wasn’t just me...why did it happen…” 

After a short nap, he woke up feeling  hungry. He trotted to his kitchen and looked in the fridge. He stared at what he had and sighed again. “Not much in the mood to make dinner...there was that weird looking building...I would bet they have something I could eat.” he mused to himself as he trotted back to the door. He took off for the building he remembered from this morning flight wearing his hat again. When he landed he noticed none of the lights were on. “Is it closed? Or is it not what i thought it might be?” he asked aloud trotting up to the door. He noticed a sign labeled Sugar Cube Corner. he knocked on the door to see if anypony was there. As he knocked, the door creaked open into a fairly dark room. Something didn’t feel right to him as he slowly trotted into the room. “Hello? Anypony here?” he asked aloud.  Suddenly the lights flickered on.

“SURPRISE!” yelled a building full of ponies as they jumped out from where they were hiding causing confetti to go everywhere. Vigilant lept into the air crashing his head onto the roof and quickly falling back down with a loud thud.

“You ok there, partner?” said a familiar voice as he got back to his hooves, shaking his head from the impact with the roof. He looked up to see AppleJack and four other mares close to him with various looks on their faces. One of them who looked like she was trying to hold back laughter was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail with magenta eyes. Another had a huge grin, but not one from laughter. She had a pink coat with a cotton candy looking mane and tail that was a darker shade of pink as her sky blue eyes shone behind her wide smile. 

“Uh...yeah, I’m fine, was just...well, surprised.” Vigilant said with a slight blush of embarrassment.

“Bahahaha” the rainbow maned mare laughed. “That was priceless.” she chuckled in between laughs. 

“Rainbow! Be nice to this young stallion, he is new here. You would react the same way if somepony surprised you like that.” said the white unicorn with elegance in her words. The unicorn looked beautiful to Vigilant, her violet mane and tail fell in beautiful curls. 

“Yeah, but it’s still funny to see others react to being surprised.” Rainbow chuckled. 

Suddenly, the pink pony got really close to Vigilant, to the point where he could only see her blue eyes. “Were you really surprised? Do you live in a cloud house like Rainbow, oh wait, do you like cakes? OoOo, no, maybe you like cupcakes, or even Pies? Oh yeah, I’m Pinkie Pie, and I thought of this party as a welcome to Ponyville party, cuz AJ told me you were new, and I thought since you're new you don’t know anypony, and if you don’t know anypony then you must be sad, and you shouldn’t be sad, you should make lots of friends!” Pinkie spat out in one breath really fast. It took Vigilant a second to register what she had blurted out to him.

“Um...Pinkie, was it? I… uh… was… yeah, I was surprised...uh...and yeah, I am new. And you threw this party for me?” he said, backing up a bit from the pink ball of energy. Pinkie started to bounce around Vigilant. “Yes, silly, I threw this party for you. I love to throw parties, and you gave a great reason to throw one right now. Now, come on everypony, its time to party!” she shouted and disappeared, leaving behind a pink silhouette of herself. 

“Wait, what?” he said as he stared at the silhouette while it disappeared. 

“Yeah, you’ll get used to Pinkie. Best way is to not try and understand her.” said the rainbow maned pegasus as she wrapped a hoof over his shoulder. He looked at her and saw a glint in her eyes that he had seen before. “By the way, the name is Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria and soon to be WonderBolt.” she said as she did a flip in the air and landed on the ground with her chest puffed out. 

“WonderBolt, huh? Well, good luck with that, my name is Vigilant Paladin, nice to meet you.” he said while extending his hoof out, immediately eliciting a bump. 

“It’s been a while since another pegasus moved to Ponyville. You know what, I challange you to a race!” 

Vigilant laughed and looked at her. “Sorry Rainbow, maybe some other time, but I am still trying settle into this new town.” Rainbow got up and stood next to him chuckling a bit. 

“Yeah, I figured as much, but I will keep challenging you till you race me!” she said with a bit of defiance in her voice. 

“Somehow, I have no doubt.” chuckled Vigilant. 

“Oh, I totally forgot, you need to meet the rest of the gang.” she trotted over to her friends who been watching the spectacle unfold in front of them.  “You met AJ already…” AppleJack tilted her hat and so did Vigilant. “...but, there is Rarity…” she pointed to the white unicorn. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Paladin.” she said while giving him a friendly smile. 

“The pleasure is all mine, ma’am” he said, tilting his hat to her. 

“And this here is Fluttershy…” The mare she pointed at a yellow pegasus which she had her head low and was hiding her face behind her mane which was a light pink. 

“It is nice to meet you, Miss Fluttershy.” he said while lowering his head in understanding she was nervous. 

“Yeah sorry about Fluttershy she is just really shy around new ponies.” said Rainbow as she scratched the back of her head.

“No problem, Miss Dash.” 

“Pfff, just call me Rainbow.” she said as she started to drag him to meet other ponies that were at the party. 

The party lasted long into the night. Vigilant spent a good portion talking to the first five mares he met, hearing about some of their adventures with Princess Twilight Sparkle before she became a Princess. He told a little of his past and his service in the Royal Army, though not much. With the party winding down everypony headed home, some drunk, others just tired from the partying they just did, Vigilant finally left the mares’ company. He was trotting down a road that lead home, but he didn’t want to fly just yet, he was tired himself after the long day he just had. As he passed an alleyway, he heard sounds of somepony attacking another. His instincts told him to investigate so he trotted down the alley shortly after he started to hear voices.

“You filthy leach…” he heard a voice shout with a thud of somepony being hit.

“We’ll teach you a lesson to steal from us…” said another with another thud.

Vigilant came up to three groups of ponies huddled around another he could not see. “Hey, what’s going on here?!” he shouted, gaining the attention of the three ponies.

“None of you business, get lost!” a dark grey earth pony shouted as he kicked the unknown figure.

“It becomes my business when somepony is beating up another.” He growled as the three ponies walked away from their prey to circle him. 

“What are you, this leach’s accomplice? You sent her to steal from us, huh?” threatened a lime green Pegasus.

“No, I just don’t think it’s right for others to beat up others.” Vigilant replied coolly as he dropped into a defensive stance.

“Should of left when you had the chance!” bellowed a large crimson red earth pony as he grabbed Vigilant lifting him up to his back legs only. 

Before the other earth pony could attack, Vigilant leaned forward, kicking with his hind legs to cause himself and the red pony to flip. He landed hard on top of the earth pony knocking the wind out of him. Getting up quickly, he parried the grey stallion’s punch, slamming him to the ground and dazing him. He looked at the green stallion who looked scared and takes off, flying away.  The two earth ponies got up and staggered out of the ally. “*Pfff, cowards.” Vigilant looked over to where the three were previously standing. To his horror, there was a small filly lying in the snow, bloody and bruised. When he trotted up to her, he was even more surprised to see that it was the orange filly he saw this morning. “What?!” before he even rationalized why she was there, he picked her up and took off into the night sky.  

> Chapter 2: A Decision is Made, A Race to Finish
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The world around was pitch black, not even sound could be heard. The last thing she remembered was somepony coming up behind those who were beating her and the pain that she felt. Her consciousness was slowly returning as she expected to feel freezing and in a very uncomfortable place. Yet, she was in a nice, warm, very comfortable bed and hardly felt any pain.

Scootaloo opened her eyes to see a baby blue cloud ceiling. After realizing she was in a cloud house her eyes snapped open. “I can’t be in Rainbow’s House! She can’t know!” She looked around the room she was in, noticing that it was far smaller than Rainbow’s room and was very empty. “Am I in Rainbow’s house?” She started to panic as she tried to get up but pain shot through her body reminding her that she was still injured by those three stallions. Laying back down, she started to get scared, wondering if one of them was a Pegasus, but another thought entered her mind. The only pony in Ponyville to live in a Cloud home was Rainbow. But this wasn’t Rainbow’s house, she had been in it several times and knew almost every nook and cranny of that house. As her mind wondered at where she was and who took her, she heard a muffled bang of pans and a scream below her. She started to panic even more as she tried to fight through the pain but ultimately failed to even sit up.

Several minutes passed without a sound, her eyes glued to the door, waiting to see who held her captive. The door slowly opened revealing the white stallion she saw doing cool tricks the other morning. He was holding a bowl on his back with outstretched wings and a tray in his mouth with another bowl. He was also wearing a hat that looked similar to AppleJack’s and a dark brown jacket. Noticing that the filly was awake and there was fear in her eyes. “Oh, horsefeathers! She might think I foalnapped her!” His eyes shrank and he quickly trotted to the side of the bed. He placed the tray on the nightstand that was next to the bed.

“Oh, good, you're awake!” he gushed with a bit of anxiety, rubbing the back of his head. “I...uh..I should introduce myself...er… so… um… My name is Vigilant….uh, Vigilant Paladin.” He said calmly, though still a bit rushed. He extended his hoof to her but all she did was stare at his hoof.

“You must still be confused. Um… well, the other night after my welcome party by Pinkie Pie, I heard shouting down an alley while I was heading home. There I found three stallions attacking you and well… er… I intervened… I found you pretty beaten up. Not enough that it warranted a hospital visit. I’ve seen enough medical stuff to know you were okay.” he said as he dipped a rag into the bowl that was filled with warm water. He tried to wipe some dried blood off the filly’s face but she flinched when he got close. “Guess you still don’t trust me… don’t blame you, I am a stranger. You know, I never got your name. Would you kindly tell me your name?” Vigilant asked with the friendliest smile he could manage.

She looked at him, studying him, wary of his intentions because she knew what some ponies would do to a helpless filly. Yet, through her fear she somehow felt like she could trust this stallion. As his smile started to disappear she answered in a raspy voice “… Sc… Scootaloo… ” this instantly perked up the stallion. “Well it’s nice to finally meet you, Miss Scootaloo. Now you were out for a full day and I bet you are starving after all that time.” he chuckled as he reached behind him and placed a bowl of soup on the bed. “You should eat to regain your strength.” Vigilant got up and trotted to the door, however, before he turned back to her before leaving with a serious look on his face. “After you're done eating we have something to discuss.”

After a mediocre bowl of soup, Scootaloo was very nervous at what Vigilant wanted to discuss. What could he have heard from those stallions when he intervened? Now that she was sitting up after eating the soup, she looked around the room. It was a very empty room, there was a desk with papers neatly stacked on it, a mostly empty bookshelf sat next to it with maybe ten books and a few Knick Knacks. There was an open cardboard box in the corner of the room filled with golden armor that she couldn’t see. The door opened and Vigilant entered the room without his hat this time and looked at Scootaloo with a different demeanor. Placing the chair to his desk next to the bed, he looked at the young filly with a concerned look on his face. “So, Scootaloo, mind telling me what happened in that alley?”   

“I… uh… you see… I… uh, I was walking home and… um… yeah, I was walking home!” the little filly finally stuttered out. Vigilant just looked at her.

“You were walking home? Down an ally? At around midnight, all alone?” he asked with a sense of doubt in the filly’s answer.

Scootaloo was panicking again, her lie was falling short with this stallion “Uh… yeah, I was um…walking home from the store to get milk… er… those guys just up and attacked me!” She shouted at the end of her statement. Vigilant raised one of his eyebrows at her increase in volume. 

“So, what you’re telling me is that three adult stallions just attacked you for no real reason?” he asked.

“Uh….yeah?” the filly answered nervously.

There was silence for a long time before Vigilant spoke up again. “You know that lying to me about this won’t help you.” he sighed. “When I entered the scene they were shouting you stole from them. Well, tried to steal from them. Is this true?” he leaned closer to Scootaloo as he finished.

She started to hyperventilate and her eyes were darting from side to side. “He knows….he knows I tried to steal from them….what do I do….he is going to tell everypony…” As her mind raced with fear, Vigilant placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Look, Scootaloo, I haven’t decided what to do with you. I don’t know your side of the story, so I need you to tell me everything so I can help you. Please let me help you.” he spoke softly to her, calming the filly’s nerves. “Now, I’ll ask again, did you try to steal from those stallions?”

The young Pegasus looked down at the sheets. She was caught and there was no way around this or any lie that could get her out of this. “ … Yes…” she answered in defeat.

“Why?” Vigilant asked with more concern, though Scootaloo didn’t answer.

Time went by in silence. Scootaloo looking at her hooves in her lap while Vigilant stared at the young filly. After ten minutes he sighed “If you don't answer me, I’ll just have to guess.”  

He thought back to his first and only impression of her. She seemed very much like Rainbow Dash, which he could guess she idolized from his encounter with her the other day, and she seemed to be a happy filly then. The only reason he could of think of broke his heart..

“Scootaloo… are you living alone?” he asked, not sure how she would react, and she flinched. “Hit the nail on the head…”

“You were only trying to get money to eat, weren't you?” he questioned, as this was the only thing that made sense to him. As his mind started to wrap around her living alone at her age he noticed she started to sob.

“Scoota-” he was interrupted by her jumping from the bed and hugging him while crying into his chest.

“Yes, I tried to steal from them… *sniff*… I… I… live alone… I ran away from them… they were so… cruel to me… no one wanted me….” she choked out between sobs, holding tight onto Vigilant’s chest.  Vigilant was shocked by this revelation. Were her parents this cruel to her that she would rather struggle alone than live with them?

“What did your parents do to make you decide to run away?” he asked while he tried to sooth her.

“...”

He looked down at her as she silently cried, whatever happened to her, it must of really scared her.

“Scootaloo, can you tell me who your…” she suddenly pushed away from him and hid under the covers.

“Scootaloo?” he looked at the lump in his bed. This was not the reaction he was expecting. “Scootaloo, if your parents were…” suddenly she throws the blanket off.

“I DON’T HAVE ANY PARENTS! I’M AN ORPHAN!” she shouted with tears and rage in her eyes. Realizing that she shouted at the only pony to try and help, she looked down at her hooves while the tears still seeped out of her eyes. “Why did I just shout that out to him?"  

Vigilant placed his hooves on her shoulder. “Look, Scootaloo, I know what you must be feeling.” she snapped her head back up looking at him with a teary death glare.

“How would you know?!” she barked as she slapped his hooves off.

“I’m an orphan, too, Scootaloo. I lost my parents when I was still a colt not much younger than you.” he responded while looking down at her. Scootaloo looked at him in shock.

“You… you lost your parents?” she asked.

“Yeah, I don’t really know much of what happened, but what I was told was they got struck by lightning and fell… no one could catch up to them… Anyways, I know what it was like being an orphan. Could you tell me why you ran away from the orphanage?” he returned a sad smile. 

“They… they weren’t very nice to the foals there, and I… nopony wanted me… I was always passed by…” she was looking down at her hooves again. 

Vigilant looked at her, she reminded him of somepony he knew. “Guess they missed out, then.” he quipped as he chuckled. Scootaloo looked back up at him with a puzzled look.

“What are you laughing at?” she asked with annoyance in her voice. 

“Nothing really, you just remind me of my sister.” he responded looking at her with a happy smile. “But now that I know the situation, I need to figure out what to do with you.” Vigilant said as he scratched his chin. 

“Wha… what do you mean?”  she asked nervously as she fiddled with the sheets.

“Well, I can’t just send you back to the ground to live on your own, nor would sending you back to an orphanage help. You would probably run away again. That leaves me with two possible choices here.” He mumbled the last statement as he got up from the chair and trotted over to his desk.

“What choices are those?” Scootaloo asked, still nervous about what he might do. 

“First, I could try and find someone to take care of you from now on… let’s see maybe that Rainbow Dash that you seem to idolize…”

“No!...Uh, I mean no, she can’t know I’m an orphan.” she interrupted Vigilant. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, if not her then who?” he asked.

“I...I...I don’t know…” she responded looking down at her hooves.

“Well, my other option is I could take care of you.” he said  looking at her. She raised her head and looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. 

“You would take care of me? Why would do that? You don’t need to care about me…” she questioned, still confused as to why he would help a random filly. 

“Why? You need help and somepony to take care of you. I guess I’m the only one who knows that you’re an orphan and that you have been living alone for Celestia knows how long.” He answered. Scootaloo still looked confused as she didn’t know what to think of the situation she suddenly found herself in. “Why don’t you decide what should happen to you? it is your life, after all is said and done.” She looked at him again, more surprised than before. 

“You’re...you’re letting me decide what happens to me?” She asked in disbelief. 

“Yeah. You’ve had your most of your life decided for you so far, so here is an opportunity to make a choice yourself.” he responded with a smile. “So what will it be?” 

She sat and thought for a long time. She couldn’t let Rainbow know, she didn’t know how she would feel about her if she knew. There was no pony else to go to beside Rainbow or Vigilant. But she really didn’t know Vigilant. He is almost a complete stranger. But… he did save her from those three stallions and the freezing weather when he could have done nothing and walked away. He is also the only pony who knows that she is an orphan and that she’s been living on the streets. Could she trust him? 

“How can I even trust you?” she asked looking at him suspiciously causing Vigilant to laugh.

“That is up to you to trust me or not. I would hope that you feel you can at least trust me  a little, but it’s also why I’m letting you decide.” he answered as he trotted up to her again. 

“You would take care of me?” she asked again, still very unsure if she was making the right choice.

Vigilant looked at her and chuckled again “Yes I would, if you wanted me to. I can guess you wouldn’t want to let everypony know just yet that you were an orphan, like Rainbow Dash, but there would have to be a few who would have to know. I would rather not be painted as a foalnapper or a pedofiler.” he responded to her question. 

“I don’t know.” she looked down again, still trying to figure out what to do.

“Then let me help you. Is there anypony else you trust, besides Rainbow Dash, with this secret of yours?” he asked.

“Not really.” she mumbled her response.

“Okay, then why not Rainbow? You idolize her, don’t you? And from what I heard from Rainbow at the party, she does care about you.” he responded. If she didn’t want him to take care of her why not her Idol? 

“Rainbow doesn't need a foal to take care of… especially me… She probably wouldn’t like me anymore if she knew.” she answered in defeat, crying a bit more as she thought about it. 

“Do you not trust me?” he asked tilting his head while trying to get her to look at him.

“I… I… I really don’t know… You saved me when anypony else would of just kept walking…I think I trust you…” she answered as she looked up to a smiling Vigilant.

“Does that help you decide what you should do?” he asked looking at her in the eyes. 

“Would you take me in?” she asked looking at the kindness in his eyes.

“Yeah, I would. But I have one condition.” he said raising one hoof into the air.

“Yeah, and what would that be?” she asked tilting her head.

“You will have to tell Rainbow Dash everything soon.” he said as he saw the shock in her face.

“But...but…”

“No buts, she is your idol and she really does care about you. I won’t make you tell her right away, but you will have to eventually.” he said with a serious look on his face.

“O...Okay…” she had admitted defeat.

“So, you want me to take care of you from now on?” he asked making sure that is what she wanted.

“Ye...yes please…” she responded shyly.

“Alright then, now, I think I should go to your orphanage and go through all the paperwork of adopting you and becoming your legal guardian so I won’t get in trouble. I should also tell Princess Twilight about this, she seems to be the authority of sorts here.” he said as he trotted to the desk once more.

“Wait what?!” she shouted as she jumped out of the bed and instantly regretted that decision as pain filled her body. “Wh...wh...why tell Twilight?” she stuttered out as she shook off the pain.

“Why not tell her? Shouldn’t she know about your situation?” he responded without looking back at her as he looked around on his desk for something.

“But… but… but she doesn’t need to know...she could tell everypony and...and I would be made fun of at school… Rainbow wouldn’t like me… and… and… ” she stuttered out as she trotted next to him.

“You need to calm down a bit, you know that? Also I would need to tell your teacher that I’m your guardian. This is so a few know already and so others won’t get the wrong idea. I will ask Princess Twilight and your teacher not to tell anypony okay?” he answered as he turned to look at the filly who was panicking. 

“But… but… but…”

“Now, Scootaloo, trust me on this. I know what I’m doing and it won’t be that bad. Only two other adults will know, and I will make them promise not to tell anypony else, okay?” he said placing his hooves on her shoulders.

“Pinkie Promise?” she asked, as she looked at him.

“Pinkie what?” he questioned, tilting his head at the same time.

“It’s a promise you can’t break...you got to say "I cross my heart, hope to fly , stick a cupcake in my eye’” she said as she gestured what to do for the promise

“Um...okay...I cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” he said as he copied the gestures.

“Good” she said with a smile..

“Okay. now, I need to get you a bed… well, I’ll make you a bed, so I can sleep in my bed this time.” he said as he trotted out the room with Scootaloo following close behind. “I also should get you a desk and bookshelf so you have a place to do homework when school starts and so you have a place to put stuff.” he spoke out loud as he descended the stairs.

“Could we get my scooter and other stuff while we're down there?” she asked as they approached the front door. 

“You have some personal stuff?” He asked looking at her a bit surprised. 

“Yeah, I got my scooter on my birthday and a couple of WonderBolt posters.” she said as she drew circles with her front hoof.

“I don’t see why we can’t get them. Do you know where they are?” he asked as he grabbed his flight goggles and placed them around his neck.

“Yeah! They are in the alley where I sleep…” she said with excitement that died almost instantly at how she used to live. 

“Well, now it will be just an alleyway and you won’t have to sleep out in the cold weather anymore.” He said with a smile as he placed his hat on his head, shortly after he placed saddle bag on, then he opened the door. 

“Uh...um…” Scootaloo looked outside to the open sky.

“What is it Scootaloo?” Vigilant asked from the front porch. 

Scootaloo shifted nervously as she stared out the door. “I...I...I can’t fly…” she mumbled as she looked down to the floor.

Vigilant stared at her for a moment, he didn't know she was a late bloomer to flying. Maybe it was because she lived in an orphanage and on the streets is why she didn't know how to fly...but Rainbow seems to have taken her under her wing from what she told him at the party. “Maybe Rainbow Dash can’t find time to help her….” “With that as the case I could carry you up and down till you learn to fly.” he said with a smile.

“What if I never learn to fly?” she asked sadly.

“I bet you’ll learn how to fly soon. I’ll teach you.” He said as he trotted up to her. Scootaloo snapped her head up to him.

“You don’t have to, Rainbow Dash is teaching me.” she said with a happiness in her voice again. 

“I can still help. You can ask me anytime that she’s busy.” he said as he ruffled up her mane. He knelt down so she could climb onto his back, which she did. He stepped out, closing the door as he did so, and took off to the skies above.

“So, Scootaloo, where was the orphanage that you ran away from?” Vigilant asked as he circled Ponyville. 

“It’s the one in Manehatten…” she whispered.

Vigilant turned to fly to Manehatten, it only took him twenty minutes to reach the outskirts. Following the vague directions. When he reached the orphanage, Scootaloo hid her face in Vigilant’s mane when he landed. “Is this it?” he asked looking back as best he could at the scared filly. She nodded and he walked up to the orphanage, there was a sign that read “The Happy Filly Orphanarium” He somehow doubted that. The building looked to be in bad shape, and barely livable for foals. 

The door creaked loudly as they entered. Paint was peeling off the wall while the foulest scent he had ever smelled assaulted him. "This place is worst than the orphanage that I grew up in.” Vigilant thought as he walked up to an empty reception desk. He rang a very rusty bell that was out of tune. Suddenly a mare popped up from behind the desk. The middle-aged mare seemed to be half-drunk. Her white mane was messy with strands going every which way, her cream coat was matted with knots and stained with something that Vigilant didn’t want to know.

“Huh...what? What do you want?” questioned the unsteady mare as she leaned forward over the desk. Her breath reeked of alcohol which made Vigilant lean back. 

“Uh...this is an orphanage right?” he asked trying to make sure he wasn’t in the wrong place.”

“Huh… oh, right…yeah, this here is THE HAPPY FILLY ORPHANARIUM… are you here to adopt or abandon?” she asked as she sat down on a chair.

Vigilant stared at the mare for a second. “How could this orphanage still exist?” he thought. “Um...I am here to adopt a foal.” he spoke after regaining some of the sanity. 

“Oh, good… don’t need anymore leaches here…  Follow me an-” 

“Sorry, ma’am, but I actually found a runaway and I decided to adopt her.” he said as he turned to show Scootaloo. “Her name is Scootaloo.” 

“Scootaloo?...Scootaloo…..Oh yeah, that flightless bird, I remember her. So she didn’t die?” she said as she turned around to a filing cabinet.

“Ma’am, I respectfully ask you to not call her by any names that aren’t hers. Her name is Scootaloo and I would appreciate it if you call her that.” he said as his blind eye twitched involuntarily in reaction to her blatant disrespect. 

“Yeah, yeah...here is her file. I need you to sign here… here, and initial here.” she muttered as she pointed out where to sign. With everything signed the mare looked it over and smiled. “Good, now the bag of dead weight is yours.” she beamed as she turned back to the file cabinet. She returned and handed him a copy and waved Vigilant off. 

“...” 

“Vigilant… you okay?” Scootaloo asked, she could feel Vigilant trembling.

“Ye… yeah… I just need to make a quick stop here before we head back to Ponyville.” he said as he took off. Shortly after he landed in front of a Police station. “Scoots, mind hopping off for a second? I need to go into the station.” he said. She hopped off and stood at the bottom of the steps and waited. Shortly after he exited the building looking more relieved and happier than before. 

“Why’d you stop here?” she inquired as she hopped back onto his back. 

“Had to tell the authority of how bad that caretaker was. Those orphans need someone to really take care of them. There shouldn’t be homeless children because of somepony like her.” he sneered. “With that done, are you ready to head home?” he asked as he looked back at her. 

“Yes.” she responded with a smile. 

“Good” he chimed as he took off into the air.

When they returned Scootaloo hopped off Vigilant and hugged him. “Thank you for taking me in.” she whispered.

“No problem, Scoots.” he said, returning the hug in the process. “Now that we’re back, where is the stuff that you wanted to get?” he asked. Scootaloo looked around, determining where they were. Figuring it out, she trotted down the road to the Main Street where many ponies were going about their business. 

“This way, it’s near Sugarcube Corner.” she responded as she galloped down the street. Vigilant chased after her. Before they made it to the alley Scootaloo was heading for, Rainbow Dash landed in front of them.

“Hey, squirt, sup, Vigilant. What are you two up to?” Rainbow asked as she rubbed Scootaloo’s mane.

“Uh...we...er…” Scootaloo muttered out

“She was showing me around town. Never really got a tour of the place. We just finished and we were heading to Sugarcube Corner to get some sweets.”  answered Vigilant for Scootaloo.

“Cool, that’s nice of ya, squirt. Hey, before you get your sweets, you up for a race now?” Rainbow insisted.

“You're not going to give up, are you?” Vigilant questioned as he rolled his eyes.

“Nope”

“Huh...guess I gotta, or else you will never leave me alone” he muttered in defeat.

“Sweet, this going to be so awesome! Wait here, I gotta finish my weather patrol, and then we’ll race, okay?” she said, taking off before Vigilant could answer.

“Uh…”

“You’ll get use to that.” said a female voice from behind him. Vigilant looked back to see none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle. 

“Oh, Princess, I did not see you there.” he said with a bow.

“Please, just call me Twilight, and there is no need to bow.” she requested with a blush.

“Of course, why are you here, if I may ask?” Vigilant questioned. 

“I heard from my friends that there was a new pony in town and I wanted to introduce myself to you. As you already know, I’m Twilight Sparkle.” she giggled out as she extended her hoof which Vigilant shook. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Twilight. Actually, I have something I need to discuss with you… but it would be better in private… and after Rainbows and I have our race.” He grumbled as he remembered he had to race Rainbow. 

*Giggle* “Of course. You can meet me at the library when the race is over.” Twilight said as she chuckled at what was gathering behind Vigilant. He looked back to see almost all of Ponyville crowd the street like they were waiting for a parade. They had put up a banner near them that said “Start/Finish”.

“Uh… what is this?” he asked looking around confused. 

“Word gets around fast. I bet Pinkie overheard you accept Rainbow’s challenge and told all of Ponyville.” Twilight chuckled. Before he could ask anything else, Rainbow landed next to them just as she did before.

“Hey, Twilight, you here to see me beat this guy.” Rainbow bragged.

“You know there is a chance I could win.” Vigilant grumbled in annoyance.

“Keep telling yourself that. Hey, Twi, mind giving the signal for us to go.” Rainbow asked as she pumped herself up. Vigilant shook his head and stretched himself.

“Um...sure, I can do that.” Twilight said. She lightly took off only to land a few yards in front of the Start/Finish line. 

“Rainbow, mind telling me the track?” Vigilant asked as the set themselves at the starting line.

“Oh, right, first off: we start here, we race straight to Sweet Apple Acres, after you reach the barn you turn to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest following the path to Fluttershy’s cottage, then you turn right behind it and head back here to the main street to finish.Got all that?” she said looking at Vigilant with confidence. 

“Yeah, short track, but yeah, I got it.” he said trotting over to where Scootaloo was standing looking on with eagerness. “Hey, Scoots mind holding onto my hat and keeping an eye on my jacket?” he asked her as he placed his hat on her head and took off his jacket, placing it next to her. 

“Yeah, I can watch your stuff.” she said with excitement. He trotted over next to Rainbow as the crowd roared that the race was about to start. 

“Hello, Everypony, this is your eye in the sky Pinkie Pie with my good friend Spike. And we’re here to keep you up to date with the race,” Pinkie announced in an air balloon.

“That’s right, Pinkie, and what a race this will be. Rainbow, Ponyville’s fastest flier, up against a new Pegasus stallion named Vigilant Paladin, who moved here not two days ago.” Spike announced.

“Yes, Siree, this will be a short race from here to the barn at Sweet Apple Acres to Fluttershy’s cottage and back here again. OoOoO, I can’t wait to see this, it’s going to be so cool.” Pinkie yelled over the megaphone. 

Vigilant placed his flight goggles over his eyes and stood straight up as Rainbow got into a low stance. “You're going to start like that?” Rainbow inquired as she looked up at him.

“Yup.” 

As Twilight announced the basic rules a pony trots up next to Scootaloo looking at the spectacle. 

“Hey, what’s happening here?” said the mare.

“It’s a race between Rainbow and Vigilant. It’s so awesome! You don’t normally see Rainbow race another Pegasus.” Scootaloo yelled to the pony

“Vigilant? Could it be?” mumbled the pony.

Scootaloo looked up to the pony next to her.

“Say, miss, who are you?” she asked

“Me? Oh, I’m just a tourist.” she said 

“Without further adieu… Ready!” Twilight yelled as she raised a checkered flag Pinkie gave her. Rainbow lowered her stance

“That is Vigilant!” the mare whispered as she started at the stallion.

“Get Set!”

“Don’t go easy on me!” Rainbow taunted.

“Don’t bet on it.” Smirked Vigilant 

“GO!” yelled Twilight as she dropped the checkered flag

Rainbow instantly took off into the sky with a rainbow trail flowing behind her, but Vigilant instead took off low to the ground weaving through obstacles as he went.

“And they are off! Rainbow took an early lead as she flies above the houses, while Vigilant weaves through the trees and buildings.” Spike announced 

“Why would he do that? He is a Pegasus, shouldn’t he be in the sky!” Pinkie ranted. 

“Well, Pinkie, each Pegasus has their own style of flying. While most do fly higher in races like this, some have other techniques.” Spike informed Pinkie and everypony who didn’t know.

“OoOoOo, They both just passed by Sweet Apple Acres and are now heading to Fluttershy’s cottage. Isn’t it nice that AppleJack and Fluttershy live close to each other? They could always help each other out and have sleep overs and….” Spike interrupted Pinkie by placing his hand on her mouth.

Yes Pinkie, that is nice, but lets get back to the race. Rainbow is still keeping a large lead but it looks like Vigilant is starting to catch up to her. From what Rainbow has told me the turn from Fluttershy’s cottage is a sharp one, you need to slow down in order to make the turn without spinning out. Wait, what’s this? Vigilant is….flying circles around Rainbow? He is doing a corkscrew around her as they both reach the last turn.”

As Rainbow and Vigilant reach the turn Rainbow slows down substantially while Vigilant converts the corkscrew he was doing into a half loop coming out of the turn much faster than Rainbow.

“Oh my Celestia! Vigilant just did an amazing trick to tackle the turn coming out of it at full speed!” Spike yelled in disbelief.

“How could Vigilant tackle a turn? Wouldn’t that hurt or would it feel like nothing since a turn is just that, A turn.” Pinkie questioned as the race reached the final stretch. 

“Uh… Anyways, everypony, we’re coming up to the final stretch of the race and Rainbow is still trying to catch up to Vigilant who just entered the main street! Wait Rainbow has almost caught up…!” Spike yelled as he leaned over the edge of the balloon.

Just as Vigilant crossed the finish line he folded his wings and landed his hooves onto the ground sliding across the finish line just a few milli seconds before Rainbow. As he slid he flared his wings to add air resistance to slow his momentum. Rainbow circled back and landed next to a panting Vigilant, the crowd cheers at the top of their lungs.

“*Huff*… You… you beat me…*Huff*... how… how did I… I lose…” Rainbow gasped as she looked to where Vigilant was standing tall. 

“I…*pant*… I really don’t… know… I… I thought… you would beat me… at the… end… You’ve…*pant*… got some… serious… speed…” Vigilant gasped in response as he patted Rainbows back. 

“You… you used the corkscrew turn… how… how did you do that?” Rainbow asked.

“Just figured it out at Flight Academy.” Vigilant responded “Great race Rainbow, haven’t raced since I was at Nationals.” 

“Wait, you went to nationals?!” Rainbow asked looking at him in surprise. Before he could respond, however, Scootaloo, along with everypony else, came galloping up to the two. 

“Wow! That was totally awesome! How did you beat Rainbow?” Scootaloo yelled through the crowd. Vigilant and Rainbow looked at Scootaloo, Rainbow showed a bit of disappointment that she lost in front of her #1 fan.

“I knew a maneuver Rainbow hasn’t yet mastered. If she didn’t slow down as early as she did I bet she would of beat me.” he said nudging Rainbow. “I still believe she is the fastest flier, the last time I used that trick I won by a wide margin.” 

“Awesome! You two are like the best fliers in all of Equestria!” Scootaloo  yelled in excitement.

“Now that’s something I could argue about.” said a voice behind the crowd. the crowd looked around and then moved aside for a yellow mare wearing a light brown jacket with flight goggles on her head at the crest of a striped mane and tail with two shades of orange. Rainbow’s mouth dropped to the ground while Vigilant’s eyes shrank to pin needles.

“Hey Vigil, nice to see you again.” she said

“Spit?”
> Chapter 3: Reuniting with an Old Friend, Reminiscing Over the Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A/N: Quick note, This is post edit, basically my editor finished looking at it. This is mostly for those who read this before its edit. Don't worry its the same only fixed small mistakes and grammar problems.


With the class over, all the ponies flew off the school grounds and head to other activities or towards their homes. Vigilant headed over to the basic track field to practice for the Nationals. 


Several hours passed before Vigilant was done with his practice session. He pulled his old goggles down to his neck and trotted over to the water fountain. 

“Hey...uh, Vigilant…” said a young mare from behind Vigilant. 


“Huh?” he mumbled out as he turned to face the mare.


“With Nationals around the corner, I...uh...well, I got my dad to help me get these for you.” the mare pulled a new pair of flight goggles from under her wing. They were a new design, instead of the normal round eye holes, they were square and the outer edge was also glass, giving the wearer a greater field of view. Around the eye holes was some sort of fabric that cushioned the holding so it was more comfortable for the wearer. The leather strap had the engraving of “VP” on the back.


“You got me new goggles?” Vigilant asked as he looked at them.


“Yeah, that old pair looks like they are about to fall apart.” said the mare as she pointed at the old goggles. 


“Heh, yeah, I do need a new pair, but these look expensive.” he said with a concerned look on his face. 


“Don’t worry about that. Take it as a gift for helping me.” the young mare said with a smile.


“Wow, Thanks a lot, I don’t know what to say.” he exclaimed as he hugged the mare with his wings. The mare gasped for a moment, but ultimately returned the hug. After breaking the hug Vigilant put on the goggles with a huge smile.


“Wow! These are awesome! Thanks again. See you tomorrow!” he said with excitement before taking off into the sky…


______________________________________________________________________________


“Spit?” Vigilant gasped at the sight of his old friend, he hadn’t seen her since he graduated from Flight Academy and joined the military.


“Who else would I be?” She said as she trotted up to Vigilant, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. “Now my turn for a question.” she snickered leaning closer to Vigilant. “Why. didn’t. you. tell. me. you. were. on. leave?!” she barked at Vigilant, smacking his shoulder with each word. 


“I… uh… well, I actually live here now, Spit.” Vigilant responded as he rubbed his now sore shoulder.


“Wait, you retired? Why didn’t you tell me?” she gasped as she leaned closer to his face with a stern look.


“I...I have only been here for less than three days.” he answered, stepping back from Spitfire. 


“Fine, but why did you retire? You seemed like you were enjoying being a soldier.” she asked as she tilted her head in confusion. 


“I… I’ll tell you later…” he answered looking down. 


“Okay… but hey, that was an amazing race! I’m not surprised he beat you, Rainbow, he used that trick at Nationals to win.” she said as she looked at Rainbow. 


“Oh… uh, yeah…” Rainbow said dejected. 


Vigilant wrapped his hoof around Rainbow’s shoulder. “Look, Rainbow Dash, I did that at Nationals to the lead pony to win and it was a longer track. If you were there, I bet you would of won.” he said with a smile on his face again. 


“If Vigil says you would of beat him, you know you're a good flier.” Spitfire giggles out as she looks at the two racers. 


“Why does it matter what he says, he’s not a Wonderbolt like you.” Rainbow said confused. 


“Well, he was captain of the track team and taught every member some nice tricks to help them in races. He even helped me with my flying skills.” Spitfire said with a blush. 


“You’re exaggerating, I only gave some pointers.” Vigilant remarked as he scratched the back of his head.


“Some pointers? You turned a decent track team into national contenders with your two years as captain!” Spitfire exclaimed as she shook Vigilant by the shoulders. 


“Okay… okay… stop shaking me!” he yelled.


Spitfire stopped shaking him and laughed a bit. “It’s been too long, Vigil! We need to catch up!” she said with excitement.     


Vigilant shook his head to stop the dizziness Spitfire caused him. “Yeah, sure, I was going to treat Scootaloo at SugarCube Corner for showing me around town. Hey, Rainbow Dash, care to join us, I bet Spit is your idol.” He smirked as he pulled the goggles off his face and down around his neck. 


“Oh! Sure!” Rainbow said as she rushed up next to Spitfire. 


Spitfire suddenly had a concerned look. “Vigil, what happened to you eye?” she asked as Vigilant grabbed his hat and placed it back on his head.


“Oh, right, that. You remember the battle of Fort Nimbus?” he asked as he put back on his jacket. 


“Yeah, Oh, wait, I remember reading that a Sergeant took charge when the ranks fell apart, was that you?” Spitfire questioned as she trotted with Vigilant, Rainbow, Scootaloo, and most of the crowd over to SugarCube Corner.


“Yeah, it was. Did the newspaper really mention me?” he looked at Spitfire.


“Well, duh, you lead all those troops to defend a helpless situation until the Griffin King came in to finally help stop those crazy griffins!” she asserted as they entered the shop. 


“Wait, wait, wait, what are you two talking about?” Rainbow interrupted as the group found a booth to sit in. 


“You don’t know? It was in the papers for about a week.” Spitfire asked.


“I… uh… you see…” Rainbow stuttered out.


“You don’t read the paper, do you Rainbow Dash?” Vigilant asked as Mr. Cake trotted up to the group.


“N… no…” Rainbow replied dejected. 


“Hello, everypony, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner, what can I getcha?” Mr. Cake asked as he pulled out a pen and notepad. 


“I’d like a Sunday Supreme!” Scootaloo asked for in excitement. Vigilant chuckled a bit to her desired desert. 


“I’ll take a strawberry milkshake.” Spitfire asked. 


“I’m good, Thanks.” Rainbow replied shaking her hoof in the air dismissively.


“I would like the chocolate milkshake, may I have some whip cream on top?” Vigilant asked. 


“Of course, is that all?” Mr. Cake asked.


Vigilant looked at everypony who nodded at him. “Yes, thank you.”


With the order taken Mr. Cake trotted to the back. 


“So, how many evil griffins were there?” Rainbow asked looking at Vigilant.


“I honestly don’t know, but King Greybeak guessed it was around three hundred, maybe less. The fort had only fifty two troops, ten of which were spineless officers. I was leading a small squad of twelve so I had a bit of leadership when the ranks fell.” Vigilant answered.


“Wow, so forty two troops fought against, like, three hundred griffins! Aren't griffins really hard to fight?” Scootaloo asked as Mr. Cake returned with their order. 


“Yeah, griffins are hard to fight. They have strength that can rival the Earth Ponies. We lasted, from my guess, about five hours in that siege.”  Vigilant answered as he noticed many of the ponies in the building were looking at them with interest. “Guess everypony wants to hear what happened.” 


“If you are the war hero we all think you are, yeah, they do want to hear about it.” said Twilight as she made her way through the crowd to stand next to the booth accompanied by the four mares he meet before.


“Huh, guess I could recount that day.” Vigilant said.


______________________________________________________________________________

It was like any other patrol I went on over there. It was long, boring and uneventful. I took four of my squad with me on this particular patrol.


Hey, Sarge!” yelled Sunlit Blitz as he trotted up next to me.


“What is it Blitz?” I asked as I still looked around.


“Why are we out here on this patrol? Didn’t we do it last time?” he questioned.


“Wish I could answer you.” I replied as I looked at the young red unicorn with a black mane and tail.


“I heard that the fort commander hates you, Sarge!” yelled Iron Hooves from the rear of our formation. Iron is a light grey Earth pony with dark brown mane and tail, and he has been with me since I was promoted to Sergeant. He is one of the strongest ponies I have ever met. Lifted a gate by himself once, it usually takes four ponies.


“Yeah? And where did you hear that?” I yelled back.


“From Captain Steel, you and Colonel Ironside seem to have disagreements!” he replied. Colonel Ironside was a mediocre leader, and a corrupt one at that. He played favorites and usually did nothing. I fought him almost daily on how he ran the fort and the patrols. On the other hoof, Captain Steel was a great leader, he would always listen to my suggestions and he always cared about the troops. Unfortunately, he was stationed at Fort Sediment and we all were stuck with old Ironside.


“Why do you fight with the Colonel, Sarge?” asked Storm Chaser. Chaser was a blue Pegasus with an orange and yellow mane and tail. He was a rookie at the time, fresh from training and new under my command. I could see he was very nervous when he trotted up next to me.


“Why? Because he is a complete moron! He doesn’t know how to lead and he plays favorites. He would promote a pony he likes and expect them to do his job for him.” I laughed out loud.


“Sarge! There is movement to the east! Isn’t this forest supposed to be empty?!” Shield yelled to me. Shield was a yellow Earth Pony with lime green mane and tail. The squadron stopped in its tracks as we looked to the east for more signs of movement.


“Is this when they attack you and your squad?!” Rainbow interrupted


“Yes and no, let me tell my story.”


We form into a semi-circle and scan for any movement or sound. We heard a snap behind us, but didn’t see anything when we looked for it. As I turned, a dark griffin came out of nowhere slashing a blade at Shield. Lucky for Shield, he dodged it and rolled back. I turned and smacked the griffin in the head before retreated back with my squad. As we regrouped, a large number of griffins with various types of weapons flew out of the trees and landed in front of us.


“Blitz, I need you to teleport back to the fort! Warn everypony, I think the griffins are attacking us!” I barked my order to Blitz who nodded and teleported away. “Chaser, I need you to pick up Shield and fly back to the fort! Me and Hooves will be right behind you covering you.” I whispered to Chaser.


“But Sir, I don’t know if I can outrun griffins while carrying Shield.” he replied back.


“Leave the griffins to me and Hooves now go!” I barked as the griffins started to approach us. With a bit of hesitation, Chaser took off  and grabbed Shield before heading back to Fort Nimbus. A few griffins took off but I followed suit with Hooves on my back with a halberd at the ready.


Chaser was struggling with the extra weight when Hooves and I caught up to them. Unfortunately, so did the griffins that were chasing us. One flew to Chaser and Shield but I swerved towards him allowing Hooves to swing at him. This went on till we got close to the fort, by then the griffins retreated back. The shield bubble was up when we arrived and the gate was down. A section opened up and we flew in landing near the gate. Chaser looked exhausted. “You did good out there, Chaser. Get some water and rest up, we may be in for a battle soon.” I said as I patted him on the back.


“Thanks…*Huff*…  Sarge…” he gasped out. I trotted to the officer’s building to find out what the strategy was, if any. Before I entered Blitz trotted up next to me.


“Hey Sarge, You won’t like what’s happening in there.” he said as I opened the door. There were ten officers as I said before, nine of them were in the situation room. Three were spread about crying or in the fetal position, the rest were arguing. I did not see Colonel Ironside, so I went to his office. He was not there, I looked in places you would normally find him when he was cowering, but I couldn’t find him. I reentered the situation room trying to see if I missed him somehow.


“Has anypony seen Colonel Ironside?” I yelled loud enough to overpower the argument.


“What?! Get back outside, soldier! This is for Officers only and we need to discuss what our situation is!” He barked at me. The stallion was one of the officers I did not know nor cared to know. He was just as spineless as all the others.


“Sir, I was looking for the CO, we need our orders.” I said even though I wanted to smack him in the snout.


“CO?” Scootaloo asked with a mouthful of her Sunday.


“It means Commanding Officer.” Vigilant answered.


“Well he ran before the shield went up! Now get out! Or I will get you court-martialed for insubordination,” he barked to me again. I left and stood at the door biting my tongue, I could not understand how he would be like that.


“Whoa, I heard the officers were dishonorably discharged from the army after the battle. I didn’t know they were that incompetent.” Spitfire remarked.


“Yeah, like I said before, Ironside played favorites.”


“Sarge? What happened?” Blitz asked as we trotted to the ramparts.


“Ironside ran!” I barked out in frustration. As we trotted to the ramparts, many of the troops were scared and unsure what to do. The so-called leaders were nowhere to be found and arguing over whatever they were arguing about.


“What!? Ironside Ran!? But he is the CO, he is supposed to lead us in this defense.” Blitz yelled as we made it to the ramparts. Over the walls I could see dozens upon dozens of griffins surrounding the fort. In the back I could see makeshift catapults that they were setting up. Looking back to the inner part of the fort I saw many more crying and running around with no order. If nopony took charge and lead these scared soldiers, we all would die and the town that was nearby would be destroyed.


“Why did they attack the fort and not the town? Wouldn’t that be easier?” Scootaloo asked.


“My guess is that they wanted to take the town out without any problems. If the fort and its garrison were still around we would have defended the town when we learned of the situation.”


“LISTEN UP!” I shouted, everypony nearby looked at me. “I understand you all are scared! Now is not the time to be scared! They have attacked Equestria and after they finish us off they will hit Hoofington! We are the FIRST line of defense and crying will not help the innocent ponies! Get off your flanks and prepare to defend this fort with your life! We sent for help already, all we have to do is last long enough for them to reach us!” I yelled to all of those willing to listen to me. I guess my speech did the trick as everypony now seemed motivated. The bubble shield was now being attacked by fire balls from the catapults. This would destroy it after a while, so we needed to think of another strategy.


“Unicorns, form up!” I yelled out after realizing the shield that beginning to crack. All of the unicorns formed up below me Blitz was still next to me. “Good, now the shield doesn’t look like it will last much longer.” I stated, many of them looked scared now. “Do not worry, I have a plan that should help us. I need most of you to be up here on the ramparts and prepare to use magic attacks. Those who are up here are to only use their magic to attack any griffin that attempts to fly over the fort walls.” Many unicorns seemed relieved now. This was a strategy that would help more than trying to keep up a shield.

“So not many unicorns could keep a large shield up?” Twilight asked.


“I didn’t believe so, at the time many of the troops were fresh and Fort Nimbus was their first base.”


“Sarge, where do you want me?” Asked Blitz as I started to head back to ground level.


“You stay up here and lead all other unicorns in this defense. I trust your skill in projectile magic.” I said as I hopped off the ramparts.


“YES, SIR!”


I rushed over to Iron Hooves who was in the armory checking on what we had.


“Hooves, what's it look like in there?” I asked him as I looked around myself.


“Not good, Sarge, many of the spears are dull and I have no idea where the shields are.” He yelled as he tossed me a spear. It was dull and the point was nonexistent.


“Do you know where the one who was suppose to keep inventory?” I asked as I tossed the spear away.


“No idea, you shou…”


“I’m right here, sir, and the shields are in here.” Said a small green earth pony who was carrying several shields. “I was getting the shields for everypony. I was also getting the grinder set up.” He trotted over to Hooves. He took the shields and dashed out.            	


“Good, get these spears and any other weapon sharpened, we will need them.” I ordered as I trotted out.


“Yes, Sir!”


As I exited the armory the shield broke and fell apart. I saw many magic projectiles fly into the air as griffins attempted to fly over the wall. We were lucky we had so many unicorns there. I dash back up to the ramparts and stop next to Blitz again.


“Looks like it worked, Sarge! The griffins stopped trying to fly over!” He said with a smile. I looked over the wall and saw they were bringing up a battering ram. I should have guessed they planned for something like that to happen.


“Great, they are more prepared than I hoped.” I mumbled as I looked at Shield and Hooves passing shields and spears to everypony they came across. I jumped down and looked at the gate that was already being battered. I saw that the gate had a small section that could form a shield wall, it was an old strategy, but effective if used correctly. “Every Earth Pony here, now!” I ordered. They formed in front of me. “Now these griffins are ready for almost anything, as you can hear, they are battering the gate. It should hold for a bit of time but not forever. Now when the gate is about to be beached we will form a shield wall.”


“You sure that will hold them back?” Hooves asked me.


“It has to, but I will have Pegasi use the spears to kill the griffins from above. Both parts of the plan will be dangerous, while the griffins are strong, I believe you earth ponies are stronger, especially you, Hooves. Now the Pegasi will fly over the wall and attack with the spears, while it will help, it can be dangerous. The griffins can grab the spears bringing them down to them. Do you all believe you can hold back these griffins?!” I asked


“YEA!” they shouted. I was happy they didn’t give up and were now ready to defend this place. I told the Pegasi what they would do. A few were scared of the plan but accepted what had to be done. Several hours passed by as they tried to break through the gate. I ordered the unicorns to attack the griffins when given the chance. It was risky, they had bows and crossbows and they could attack us in return. When I heard the gate start to break I ordered the Earth Ponies to get ready for the shield wall. As the griffins started to breach the gate, the Earth ponies formed the shield wall. When they broke through, they hit the wall and pushed it back for a second, but it held. Some griffins tried to fly over the shield wall but were stabbed by the Pegasi who where flying just above the wall.


“HOLD! WE MUST HOLD!” shouted Shield as they pushed back the griffins. There was shouting from both sides of the wall. The griffins tried to poke at us with their spears but only scratched us. With what felt like hours, I saw Shield get his shoulder stabbed, he held for a moment but fell. I rushed over stabbing that griffin in the heart and picked up the shield that Shield dropped. As I was about to plug up the hole, a griffin swiped at me with a sword. It hit my helm and slid down to my left eye.


“So that’s how you got that scar.” Spitfire said.


I smacked him with the shield, knocking him back, before plugging the hole myself. When more griffins attempted to push me back, which almost knocked me off my hooves, four Pegasi flew over to me. Two landed and pushed me helping me hold the griffins back, the other two protected the exposed two pushing me. “HOLD ON!” I shouted. I saw Hooves starting to waver when I heard an explosion. Suddenly all the griffins stopped pushing and looked back. More explosions sounded as giant rocks landed in the mob of griffins. This scared the griffins as they retreated out of the fort and away. When I climbed back up the ramparts I looked up to see an airship over the forest near the Griffin Kingdom. It was a griffin airship, as griffins flew out and chased the griffins that attacked us.


“What?” I was confused. Even though they had no sign that they were part of the Griffin Kingdom’s army, I thought they were. As we saw the griffins… well, bad griffins, fled, the ponies all around me started to cheer. Blitz tackled me and wrapped a hoof over my shoulder.


“WE DID IT!” he shouted as he took his helmet off and cheered some more. “VIGILANT!” he shouted. After that all the troops started to chant my name. I look over to the inner part of the fort seeing everypony shouting my name, all happy to be alive. I walk over to the edge of the ramparts.


“WE DID IT!” I cheered myself.


______________________________________________________________________________


“Well, the rest is history. King Greybeak personally apologized to me about what happened and Princess Celestia when she arrived. He told us that those were a radical group of griffins that hated ponies with a passion. He also agreed to stay at the fort with his army until reinforcements arrived. That didn’t take long as Ironside returned with a full division accompanied by Princess Celestia herself. After I explained what happened and how Ironside fled before the attack while the other COs did nothing in the defense, she discharged them all. She also gave me the Celestial Medal of Honor for my leadership during the defense of the fort and Hoofington, promoting me to Caption and gave me command of a company.” Vigilant finished his tale as well as his milkshake.


The crowd that formed around the booth expressed their astonishment when he finished.


“Wow that sounded like it was a challenging situation. I’m surprised that Princess Celestia allowed such a corrupt leader in her army.” Twilight said.


“The military is a large organization, not even she can keep corruption out of it.” Vigilant remarked.


“How did you ever think of all those strategies to hold long enough for King Greybeak to arrive?” Rarity asked in wonder.


“When I was still at basic training, I paid attention to what they taught us about strategy. I knew that the griffins would attempt to fly over to attack us, that is why I ordered to shoot them down when they tried. The shield wall was an old strategy that Earth Ponies figured out to hold back others with brute strength. It worked most of the time when used.” Vigilant answered.


“That there was some mighty fine thinkin’ there Vigilant. No wonder the Princess promoted ya, ya sure deserved it.” AppleJack remarked.


“If the COs were not incompetent they would have thought of the same things I did.” Vigilant said nonchalantly.


“You’re kidding me?! I doubt many leaders would have thought of strategies that would help everypony last long enough for help to arrive! You need to stop being so modest all the time, Vigil!” Spitfire said as she punched his shoulder from across the table.


“Okay, okay, fine, just stop hitting me, Spit.” Vigilant smiled. He got out of his seat and trotted over to the register to pay for the treat. Pinkie was behind it and looked at Vigilant with wonder.


“Wowee, Vigi! Why didn’t you tell me you were a war hero?! I need to throw you a war hero party now and invite even more ponies and…” Vigilant placed his hoof over Pinkie’s mouth.


“Pinkie Pie, you never asked much about my military past. And while your parties are great, you don’t have throw a party over that. I’ve had more than enough parties for that. Now how much do I owe for the treats?” Vigilant asked as he lowered his hoof.


“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, for the war hero, it’s on the house. You also won the race!” Pinkie said with a grin.


“I insist, Pinkie Pie, I don’t deserve special treatment over this.” protested Vigilant.


“It’s alright, Vigilant. See it as your reward for winning the race against Rainbow Dash.” Mr. Cake interjected before Pinkie could say anymore.


“If you insist, Mr. Cake.” Vigilant relented. With that sorted out he returned to his friends and crowed of ponies. “Now that you all heard the story, I would like to catch up with my friend in private.” Vigilant said looking at the crowed. The all went “AW!” and left the group alone. Rarity and AppleJack waved goodbye to them and left as well. “Oh, and Twilight, I’ll talk to you some other time, is that alright?” he asked before she could leave.


“Of course, if you need to find me I will more than likely be at the Library.” she answered with a wave before leaving herself.


“What is that all about?” Spitfire asked


“It’s something I wanted to clear up.” Vigilant said


“Uh huh.”


“Do you guys want to head to my place for more privacy?” Vigilant asked as he got up once more.


“Sure, where do you live?” Spitfire asked as she got up herself. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo followed suit.


“Not far, I got a cloud house on the northern edge of town. The only other one I’ve seen.” he answered as they left the building. He looked down at Scootaloo and asked “Who do you want to take you up?”


The young filly looked up at him then looked at Rainbow. “Um...Rainbow, would you take me up to Vigilant’s home?” she asked shyly.


“Sure, squirt.” Rainbow replied as she kneeled down for Scootaloo.


“Don’t know how to fly yet? Don’t worry, I bet Rainbow and Vigilant are both willing to help you out.” Spitfire said with a wink. With everypony ready the small group of Pegasi took off into the sky.
> Chapter 4: The Pain of the Past, Regaining the Strength 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	 The canopy was thick, not allowing in much light through the vegetation. Vigilant, Chaser, and Hooves were scouting around the surrounding area for any signs of the Red Claws.

“Hey, Captain, any reason for you coming along with us?” Chaser Inquired.

“I may be Captain now, Chaser, but I will always be out here with you guys, not sitting on my flank doing nothing. Are you wishing I wasn’t here?” Vigilant asked with a smirk as he slowed his pace to stride next to Chaser.

“What?! No, I was, uh, I was only wondering and…”

“Ha ha ha, I am only messing with you, Chaser, no need to be so uptight. I haven’t been Captain for long, and I’m still the same as I was before the battle.” Vigilant interrupted, he lightly nudged Chaser.

“Come on, Sergeant, you were with us a week before the battle of Nimbus. Does ‘Captain Paladin’ seem any different to you, or are you still green?” Hooves jokingly asked Chaser.

“No, Captain Paladin is still the same, I’m  just used to officers sending grunts like me out while they sit back doing nothing.” Chaser hesitantly answered. The branches above them shook as they passed.

“Ha! Now that is the difference between Ironside, his officers and myself. I will lead my ponies, and I will lead them in the best possible path I can take them!” Vigilant beamed with pride. Chaser took point as they came to a clearing in the forest. “Let’s take a short break here.”

The three stallions stopped near the opposite edge of the clearing they entered and rested. Chaser took his helmet off and placed it next to his spear while Hooves and Vigilant just sat down.

“Say, Chaser, who were you writing to after the battle?” Hooves questioned as he pulled out a canteen.

“Oh, uh, it was… um…” Chaser stammered as he fiddled with his hooves.

“Spit it out, Chaser, there is nothing to be embarrassed about.” Vigilant encouraged.

“Well… I was writing to my marefriend.” Chaser finally answered with a huge blush.

“So the rookie does have a marefriend!” Teased Hooves as he started to laugh, choking on some water he was drinking a moment ago.    

“Oh, shut it, Lieutenant. That is great for you, Chaser, nothing wrong with keeping in touch with her. Hope she wasn’t too worried about the battle we were all in.” Vigilant said. “You know, you’re lucky, Chaser, I never got the chance to admit my feelings for a mare I liked.” He sighed.

“You have a special somepony, Captain?” Chaser asked in disbelief.

“Wait, wait, wait, you have a special somepony and you never told me? You sure it’s a mare, Cap?” Hooves chuckled out as he rolled onto his back.

“YES, I’m sure! And is it really that hard to believe I can have a mare I like?” Vigilant asked in mocking pain as he placed his hooves over his heart and made a face as if in pain.

“Sorry, Captain, just never took you as a stallion that was looking for love, but it’s…” Chaser was interrupted with an arrow through his neck…   

______________________________________________________________________________

Vigilant woke up in a very uncomfortable position on the coach he was laying on. After spending time with Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Spitfire, Rainbow left for home while Vigilant insisted that Spitfire stay at his place. She had no place to really go, so Vigilant kindly gave up his bed to Spitfire while he slept on the coach, again. He also explained to Spitfire and Rainbow that he was watching over Scootaloo while her parents went on their second honeymoon.

“Hey, soldier boy, you plan on sleeping all morning?”  Spitfire asked from the kitchen.

“I don’t have anywhere to go or  anything to do today, so I might just lay here all day.” Vigilant replied turning over to stare at the ceiling. Spitfire trotted over to the coach and tilted it enough to make Vigilant roll onto the floor.

“Oh, no you don’t! You may have retired from the military but you will not become lazy!” Spitfire teased.

“I had three busy days after moving here, Spit, let me be lazy for one day!” Grumbled Vigilant. He rolled over to get back onto his hooves.

“If you plan to be lazy all day I won’t let you have any of the pancakes I made.” Spitfire sternly remarked as she trotted to the kitchen.

“Wait, you made pancakes?” Vigilant questioned in disbelief.

“Hey, I might have sucked at cooking when I was younger, but I took lessons from my mom!” Declared Spitfire. When Vigilant entered the kitchen his nose was assaulted with the sweet aroma of pancakes and even scrambled eggs, all topped off with the smell of warm maple syrup.

“If this smell is any indication about your cooking then you must have gotten better.” Vigilant said in amazement.

“Keep up that attitude and you won’t get any pancakes.” Threatened Spitfire while she was flipping the latest pancake.

“I’ll be good, I’ll be good.” Vigilant relented as he took a seat at the table. “How are the Wonderbolts since you took over? I haven’t been able to take the time to catch a show, that and when I did have time there were no shows.” He asked.

“I think they are the best they can be. I kinda do what you did with the track team. I get strict when training, which didn’t make them like me at first.” Answered Spitfire as she brought a large stack of pancakes to the table. “But when they took the time to know me they were a lot more friendly.”

“That’s good, Soarin is there to right? He still giving you issues like he did at the academy?” Inquired Vigilant.  He took a small stack of pancakes and started to eat. “Wow, these are actually good!”

“Did you expect any different? And yes, Soarin is there, and he sorta is an issue. He is constantly asking me out.” Grumbled Spitfire, remembering what Soarin does after every show.

“You don’t take him up on his offer?” Vigilant asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, there is somepony else I like.” Spitfire answered with a blush.

“Oh?”

“Say, you said you’re taking care of Scootaloo for her parents’ right.” Spitfire asked.

“Yeah, and?”

“Well, I still don’t understand why you decided to do that when you’re still settling in.” Spitfire questioned.

“You know me, they asked everypony else and nopony could. I couldn’t just ruin their chance to go on a second honeymoon.” Answered Vigilant. As soon as he finished his plate Scootaloo popped up at the doorway to the living room.

“Do I smell pancakes?” She sleepily asked.

“Yeah, I made pancakes, you want some?” Spitfire answered.

“Yeah!”

“You know, Vigil, you seem like you're not telling the truth. What really is happening?” Spitfire pressed.

“I have told you what really is happening.”  Vigilant reassured.

“What are you two talking about?” Scootaloo questioned.

“I don’t believe the story you both gave to me about why he decided to take care of you.” Spitfire replied looking stern at Vigilant.

“What?! But, but, but it’s the truth! My… uh…” Scootaloo stammered out.

“That isn’t helping your case.” Spitfire pressed on.

“Not good at keeping the secret, huh?” Vigilant coughed to Scootaloo.

“So what is really happening, then?” Inquired Spitfire as she leaned close to Vigilant.

“Looks like we lost this one Scootaloo.” Vigilant relented .

With the cat out of the bag, Vigilant took the time to explain what happened to Scootaloo and her decision to stay with him. 

“Fine, I’ll accept that you adopted Scootaloo, but I still don’t understand why you retired from the military.” Spitfire pressed on for more answers.

“Yeah, why did you retire? You not old or anything.” Scootaloo asked curiously.

“I failed at my job, does that answer your question?” Growled Vigilant.

“No, how did you fail your job?” Spitfire pressed more aggressively.

“…”

“Tell me, Vigilant, this isn’t like you.” Spitfire begged.

“I LOST MY FAMILY, ALRIGHT!” Raged Vigilant. Scootaloo fell out of her seat and Spitfire backed away in fear. Vigilant noticed the fear in their eyes and realized his outburst scared them. “I… I got to go…” With that said he flew out the door, leaving the two scared mares alone.

“I… I… Is he like that… o… often?” Asked Scootaloo. She got up from the ground and trotted over to a shocked Spitfire. “Spitfire?”

“I…” She was lost for words.

“Spitfire? Are you okay?” Quivered Scootaloo

“I… I’ve never seen him like this…” Spitfire fell onto her haunches trying to comprehend what Vigilant had said.  I LOST MY FAMILY! echoed in her head.  “What happened?”

“Spitfire?” Cried Scootaloo.

“Scootaloo!”  Spitfire grabbed Scootaloo and hugged her, trying to sooth the scared filly.

“Will Vigilant be ok?” The young Pegasus asked.

“I… I believe so. Let’s go find him, what do you say?” Inquired Spitfire. Scootaloo looked up at her and shook her head before she agreed to search for Vigilant.

The two Pegasi left the cloud house, circling around Ponyville. After several minutes in the sky, they land and both decided to look for the stallion on the ground. Splitting up they looked high and low, asking everypony they passed if they have seen him. After about two hours of searching, Spitfire took to the skies once more, circling around Ponyville a second time, she still could not find the elusive stallion anywhere, and then it hit her. She flew back to Vigilant’s home in the sky, upon arrival she flew to the roof and found the white Pegasus sitting there. His head was hanging low so Spitfire could not see his face. When she landed on the roof the stallion barely flinched. “Figures you would remember…”

“Well, I am one of your closest friends. I’m sorry for pushing you.” Apologized Spitfire.

“…”

“Can you tell me what happened to Rose?” questioned Spitfire “You don’t have to tell me, but, she was a friend of mine… I just… I would like to know what happened to her.”

“…”

Spitfire trotted up to the depressed Vigilant and hugged him, wrapping her wing around him. She felt him silently sob in her embrace.

“I’m so sorry that she is gone, Vigilant…”

“Have you heard about the fire that happened a week ago in Baltimare?” Asked Vigilant

“Yeah, several buildings were burnt down due to some crazy pony… wait don’t tell me!” Gasped Spitfire.

“When I heard about the fire, I was prepared to help any way I could. Then I heard it was where I bought the house for Rose and myself,” sobbed Vigilant. “When I reached the house… it, too, was on fire.  I had no idea of Rose and Snow were in there or not…”

“Snow?”

“Snow Flurry was my niece…” cried Vigilant, a tear rolled down his muzzle and onto Spitfire’s wing.

“I… I’m sorry…”

“I burst into my burning house in search of them. I found them in Rose’s closet. I lead them out and was about to go down the stairs when the floor gave out from under us…” as he got closer to what happened, Vigilant’s voice started to crack.

“Shh, shh it’s ok, you don’t have to go on.” Soothed Spitfire.

“Wh… when I regained my senses… Rose was on top of Snow with a heavy support beam on top of her… I was about to… the roof caved in on them…” cried Vigilant. He turned around and hugged Spitfire, crying into her shoulder. Now she understood why he said he failed his job. His cutie mark is a shield with wings wrapping around it. He got it by protecting herself and Soarin from some bullies that had a grudge.

“Shh, shh…” soothed Spitfire even though she felt like crying. Her closest friend is in pain and his sister, her friend as well, lost her life because some crazy pony wanted to cause some chaos.

“I… I… I lost everything Spit…” cried Vigilant.

“No, you have not!” Asserted Spitfire. She pushed him back by his shoulders to look at him in the face. “I’m sorry Rose and Snow passed on, but you are still here, and you are still alive! Rose would not want you to fall apart even without her. You lost a lot, more than I can even imagine, but you did not lose everything! I’m still here for you! All of the friends that you have made in your lifetime are still here and now you have a filly to take care of! Mourn for their lost but be the strong Vigilant you have always have been!” Encouraged Spitfire. Vigilant stared at his friend, lost for words, because he at one time encouraged her, but now she was pushing the fallen warrior back onto his hooves.


“…”

He lost his parents when he was a young colt. He suffered through being an orphan with his even younger sister. He defended his sister from the cruel caretakers and refused to leave her. He trained his wings extra hard so he could be a Wonderbolt. He pushed a track team to their limits and made them into national contenders. He protected his friends from vengeful bullies earning his late cutie mark. He joined the military and became a great leader, defending many more ponies that needed it. Now he took in a young filly who struggles on her own… he was still protecting others even after the loss of his only family… he still needed to be strong… to be the Paladin he knows he is.

“Your right.” Confirmed Vigilant. Getting up, he looked out over Ponyville. “Rose would be angry with me with the way I have been acting over the past week. Thank you, Spitfire.” He turned back to Spitfire, smiling at her, and gave her a hug. “You are the best friend anypony could ask for.”

“You’re… you’re welcome… uh, anytime…” stammered Spitfire.

“Let’s go find Scootaloo, I bet she is worried about what happened to me. I really appreciate your help, Spit.” He winked at the mare and took off into the sky. They landed near Sugarcube Corner when they found Scootaloo with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. He explained to Scootaloo what happened in private and treated the CMC to some milk shakes.

Coming out of Quills and Sofas were two stallions in suits.

“And don’t forget, if you don’t pay there may be and ‘accident’ capiche?” Said one of the stallions.

“They never understand at first, makes the job much more fun. So what’s the next place we ‘Protect’ asked the other stallion.

“Boss said start with this one, we gotta head back to Manehatten now, come on.” Answered the stallion in the blue suit.

	 “… Oh, so they made it this far? Well, what I gave them is powerful. I wonder if the hero will be successful. Only one way to find out…it reads he has a 67% chance of success. What dropped the rate? Hmm, interesting indeed…”   
> Chapter 5: The Confrontation, The Marshal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The Cloudsdale Flight Academy is a prestigious school for Pegasi. Many graduates from this school turn into Wonderbolts or other great fliers of their generation. One such Pegasus flew off from the locker room heading toward the dorms. While flying over the expert track, he noticed a yellow flank with a fiery tail of two shades of orange stuck in a cloud. The white stallion flew down to the cloud to investigate.

“I might be mistaken, but you’re supposed to fly around the cloud.” the stallion teased. A squeak sounded from the cloud as the exposed legs twitched.

“I… uh…” replied the mare as she struggled to free herself.

He raised an eyebrow, “wasn’t expecting that,” muttered the stallion to himself. “Did I scare you? Sorry, I was only heading off to the dorms when I noticed you stuck here. Need help, by any chance?”  He asked.

“N… no, I’ll be fine on my own.” Stuttered the mare. After a few more seconds of struggling the mare’s legs dropped down in defeat. “Actually… could you help me?”

The stallion chuckled while he hovered to the side of the cloud. With a swift kick to the side, it dissipated, freeing the trapped mare. The mare fell to the ground with a soft thud and “Omph!” The stallion glided down to meet her.

“Let me guess, you were trying to fly through this course and misjudged the turn to crash right into the cloud?” The stallion chuckled as he held his hoof out to help the mare up. All she did was stare at him before swatting his hoof away and getting up on her own.

“Doesn’t matter what I was trying to do, I failed to even get on the track team.” Sulked the mare.

“You tried to join the track team?”

“What, you’re going to make fun of me for not making it, too!?” 

“Why would I do that?”

“Who are you anyways, what were you doing here this late?” Questioned the mare.

“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Vigilant Paladin, Captain of the track team,” answered Vigilant. The mare’s eyes shrank. 

“You’re Vigilant? The Vigilant, the second year captain who outflew his seniors last year?” Inquired the mare.

“Uh, yeah? Who are you, are you a freshman?”

“I’m… um… I’m Spitfire...” Spitfire whispered from under her blushing cheeks while she pawed the ground with a hoof.

“I wasn’t able to go to the tryouts so I don’t know how you failed, mind sharing?” inquired Vigilant. Spitfire looked to the ground, she was debating in her head if she wanted to tell him what happened at her tryout.

“I…. I messed up on a sharp turn on the basic track…” She shyly answered blushing as she looked down, her hair falling down in front of her face. 

Vigilant looked back to the basic track, thinking of where that would be. “Were you nervous?” He finally asked.

“Ye… yes…”

“Hmm...mind showing me what you can do then?” He asked, trotting over to the track.

“What?! But I already had my shot and messed up, and I am still nervous to even show you. I’ve heard how you outflew the last captain, I would look terrible out there compared to you.” protested Spitfire.

“So, my reputation precedes me? Come on, show me what you got.”

With hesitation, Spitfire followed the captain to the starting line of the basic track. Vigilant popped his neck and placed his flight goggles over his face.

“Wait? Are you going to fly against me?” Questioned Spitfire.

“Not really, I find it better to assess a ponies flying ability while I fly with them. Now ready or not…”

Without warning he took off down the track. After taking the time to realize what happened Spitfire followed suit… 

______________________________________________________________________________ 


Several days have passed since last Spitfire was in Ponyville, where she met up with her old friend Vigilant. Winter Wrap-Up was coming soon and everywhere in Equestria, ponies were preparing for the occasion. Vigilant was sitting on a bench in the park reading a book as the foals were having a snowball fight. The white stallion’s ear twitched to the tell-tale sign of wing beats, his first instinct on who it might be was Rainbow Dash, coming to bug him to teach her to be a better flier. To his surprise the voice he heard was a certain Captain of the greatest fliers of Equestria.

“So the old war hero is sitting in the park watching over the foals and reading a book.” teased Spitfire. 

“Yes, I am, these foals need to have an eye on them at all times, while I read one of my favorite books.” Replied Vigilant sarcastically.    

Spitfire looked over at the playing foals and back at Vigilant and chuckled. “Why are you out here reading? Shouldn’t you be helping everypony prepare for Winter Wrap-Up?” Inquired the mare.

“No, not really, they actually have most of the preparations completed and there is no need for me to interfere. They have done this long before I showed up.” Answered Vigilant. After several minutes of awkward silence, Vigilant placed a bookmark before returning the book into his saddlebag as it leaned against one of the bench’s legs. “Now, I have a question for you.” 

Spitfire jumped a little to the sudden voice of her friend. “Oh… uh, sure, ask away.” She stuttered out.

“Shouldn’t you be helping with the preparations for Cloudsdale and Canterlot?” asked Vigilant as he cocked an eyebrow. 

“You know that Cloudsdale only waits for the sun to warm up the skies and Canterlot just needs us to clear them, everything else is done by magic.” Spitfire answered with a fake annoyance in her tone.

“Alright then, what brings you here to this humble town? Are you here just to see me?” Teased the white stallion as he got up.

“N… n… n… no, I was… You know we haven’t seen each other since you graduated and joined the military.” Stuttered Spitfire with a huge blush that appeared through her yellow coat.

“You don’t have to be so embarrassed about hanging out with me.” Chuckled Vigilant. Both Pegasi began to trot out of the park. As they were leaving, they saw Applebloom and Scootaloo running from Sweetie Belle who was holding a large snowball with her telekinesis.

“Do you remember the Hearth's Warming Eve party you threw for the track team?” Asked Spitfire.  

“How could I forget, Soarin stuffed himself with all the pies while Surprise ate too much sugar and was bouncing off the walls.” Laughed Vigilant. As the two Pegasi walked past ‘Sofa and Quills’ they both heard a loud crashing noise and the scream of Davenport. Acting quickly, they both entered the store to see most of the sofas destroyed, Davenport was in the far corner, cowering under two stallions.    

“You should have known that if you didn’t pay us this would happen.” said the small black stallion that was wearing a dark blue suit and fedora.

“I… I… I just d… don’t have the money… give… give me more time.” Stuttered Davenport 

“Hey! What’s going on here!?” Shouted Vigilant. The two stallions looked over their shoulders at the two Pegasi.

“What do we have here?” Asked the black stallion as he turned and trotted up to them.

“I asked you a question,” barked Vigilant

“Whoa, there, tough guy, we were only here to make sure this poor stallion wasn’t hurt,”  claimed the black stallion.

“That’s not what we heard when we came in,” remarked Spitfire as she stared him down.

“Venny, I don’t think they’ll buy it,” grunted a rather large green stallion that was wearing a grey suit.

“Not if you say that, Sev!” shouted Venny

“You’re threatening him for protection money?” Vigilant inquired.
“Now we can’t let you leave… huh Sev mind taking care of them?

“Heh, this will be fun!” chuckled the large stallion.

The large green stallion trotted up to Spitfire, grinning and laughing all the while. Sev looked menacingly down at Spitfire, he brought back one of his hooves and swung it down at the fiery mare. However, instead of hitting the mare, Sev’s hoof impacted the wood floor leaving a hole. 

“Wha?!” 

Before Sev had time to realize he missed, Vigilant plowed right into him. Just before they impacted the opposite wall , Vigilant quickly placed all of his hooves onto Sev’s chest and jumped off him. Sev impacted the wall leaving a huge crater, with a roar he pulled himself out and charged at Vigilant, rage in his eyes. Before the two stallions collided Vigilant dodged to the side, Sev slide to a halt plowing through one of the broken sofas. Taking the initiative this time Vigilant took off towards Sev, dodging a punch as he came up close. Vigilant grabbed Sev’s extended hoof, throwing the large stallion over his shoulder. The green stallion rolled off his back and prepared to swing at Vigilant again when Spitfire flew by and punched him in the face. Dazed for a second, Sev swung his forehooves around wildly, unfortunately for Spitfire one swing struck her across her as she attempted to strike him again. Vigilant dashed forward, sliding under Sev, and took his legs out from under him, causing his face to slam into the floor. Vigilant stared at the large green stallion for a few seconds. No movements other than his slow breath and Vigilant turned his attention to Spitfire who was slowly getting back to her hooves. 

“Spit! You ok?” questioned Vigilant as he galloped up to her side.

“Ye… yeah I’m fine, just dazed a bit.”  stuttered Spitfire. Vigilant helped her up and trotted over the unconscious stallion. 

“Hey, Hero! You may want to come outside!” shouted Venny. Spitfire and Vigilant looked at each other for a second before they exited the building. As they exited they noticed five different  Pegasus ponies in suits standing around the entrance to the building. Behind them and on top of a stall stood Venny as he held Scootaloo in one hoof and a knife with the other.

“Scootaloo!” shouted Spitfire as she stared daggers at Venny. 

“Eheh, Looks like this filly was the right one to get.” chuckled the black stallion and his fellow suited stallions. “Now, if you want this little filly ba…” just before Venny could finish his threat, Vigilant flapped his powerful wings dashing at incredible speed up to the stallion grabbing Scootaloo and dashing back next to Spitfire. “...ck and… WHAT!?” shouted the befuddled stallion. Spitfire and all of the suited stallions stared at Vigilant in disbelief. 

“How?” questioned Spitfire her mouth ajar . Vigilant stood there glaring at the stallions in front of him with Scootaloo in one of his hoofs, Spitfire still could not believe what just transpired before her very eyes. Vigilant flew up to Venny at speeds even she never seen and got Scootaloo before Venny even knew what happened. 

“Spitfire, we don’t have time to talk about what just happened. I need you to take Scootaloo and fly off to Twilight’s tree house.” asserted the white stallion as he gave her Scootaloo and placed his hat on top of her head. Hr took off straight up into the sky before she could object, following his request Spitfire took off as well.

“WHAT ARE YOU MORONS STANDING THERE FOR!? GET THE STALLION BEFORE HE GETS AWAY!” shouted Venny as he jumped up and down in frustration. With their leader shouting at them, the stallions shot up after Vigilant.

With the five suited stallions after him, Vigilant speed up, gaining altitude quickly. High in the sky Vigilant did a one-eighty turn and with one powerful flap of his wings dashed back towards the five Pegasi, crashing into one on his quick descent. 

“Why are you here in Ponyville!?” shouted Vigilant as he and a red Pegasus with black mane free fell.

“AHHHH! I DON'T KNOW!” shouted the terrified stallion as he looked down at the fast approaching ground. 

“Who is your leader!?” questioned Vigilant as he calculated how much time he had left.

“V… V… V… VENNY!” 

“No, who leads your mafia!?”

“DIAMOND DOG!”

Before they reached the the ground Vigilant unfurled his wings, pulling himself and the scared stallion up from the free fall. Vigilant let go of the stallion, who fell into a large pile of snow. The remaining four stallions caught up as they pulled out of their dive. Speeding down the streets of Ponyville, Vigilant weaved dodged and swerved past all sorts of obstacles and turn down another streets. One such turn went down an alleyway that lead to a dead end. Upon reaching the dead end the skilled flier did a U-turn, flying back down the way he came, crashing into one of the stallions. He kicked and punched him before they broke apart, the suited stallion hitting the wall opposite of the alleyway while Vigilant took off down the street once again with the remaining three in hot pursuit. Going down one street, Vigilant picked up his speed as he flew straight to a small gap between two houses, just as he reached the gap, he furled up his wings and drifted through it, unfurling as he cleared the exit. One of the suited stallion pulled up and flew away from the buildings, the other two were not so fortunate. The other two stallions clipped the roof and landing hard onto the snow covered ground. Out flown and reduced in numbers the last stallion fled the scene with the other two slowly getting up and following suit. 

Sighing in relief and seeing he was no longer being chased Vigilant head over to Twilight’s tree house. When he came up to the house he saw both Twilight and a very worried looking Spitfire waiting outside. Upon landing Spitfire trotted up to Vigilant, slapping hard across the face, leaving a mark. Shocked, Vigilant looked up at Spitfire, confused to see tears in her eyes. 

“Why did you take them all on, on your own?!” shouted Spitfire as Vigilant just looked at Spitfire with a puzzled look on his face. “You could of been seriously hurt!” cried out Spitfire as she looked down, Vigilants hat covering up her face.

“I was only trying to protect you and Scootaloo.” defended Vigilant as he looked at Twilight who was slightly confused on Spitfire’s behavior. 

“I… I… I don’t want to lose you…” whimpered Spitfire with slight sobs. Vigilant just stared at the crying mare unsure of how to comfort her. After a few seconds of silence other than Spitfire’s occasional sob, Vigilant chuckled as he grabbed his hat. Spitfire looked up at him as he place his hat back on his own head.

“You should know better than anypony else that nopony would be able to outfly me when I’m serious,” chuckled Vigilant as he trotted over to Twilight. “Twilight, I think Ponyville is under siege of the Bitalian Mafia, the one from Manehatten.”

“The mafia? Are you sure?” Twilight inquired as she was shocked by this development.

“Yes, I had my dealing with them before when I was stationed near Manehatten and they tried to use a hostage to get some ransom money.” answered Vigilant, he looked over in the general direction of where the city would be.

“Why would they try to take over Ponyville, we’re only a small village unlike Manehatten.” questioned Twilight, though more out loud than to anypony.

“I honestly don’t know, they were trying to get protection money from Davenport, that reminds me we should go check up on him after this.” answered Vigilant as he looked over to where ‘Sofas and Qills’ would be. “By any chance does Ponyville have a police force? The time I’ve been here, I have yet to meet or see anypony resembling one.” he inquired.

“Well, actually we don’t have a Police force or any part of the army that could be stationed here, we never needed them before.” Twilight answered as she tapped her chin for a minute. “Say, it looks like Ponyville needs a Marshal now, would you like to take the job?” she asked with a huge grin on her face.

Both Vigilant and Spitfire looked at Twilight with shock. “Marshal of Ponyville?” Vigilant thought out loud as he looked up into the sky. “Sure, I don’t have a job and it’s close to being a Soldier” he answered looking at Twilight with a determined look.

“Then it’s settled! From this day on you, Vigilant Paladin, shall be the Marshal of Ponyville. I just need to inform the Mayor and get you a place to work.” Twilight gleefully said as she trotted back into her home, with Vigilant and Spitfire following suit. 

“Spit, how was Scootaloo doing?’ asked Vigilant as they entered the house. But before Spitfire could answer, Scootaloo jumped up onto Vigilant when she noticed him, the other CMC sitting on the coach.

“Vigilant!” cried Scootaloo as she buried her face into the back of his neck. “I… I… I was so scared… then… then you were chased by them!” 

Shocked that Scootaloo was crying on his neck Vigilant took a second to regain his senses before he turned his head and patted Scootaloo’s head. “I know you were, but I promise you that I won’t let anything happen to you.” affirmed Vigilant. 

Scootaloo slid off Vigilant’s back and sat on her haunches as she rubbed her eyes. Vigilant chuckled as he took off his hat and placed it on top of Scootaloo’s head as she looked up at him. “I am now the Marshal so I definitely won't let anypony harm you.” smiled Vigilant, Scootaloo smiled back at him as she climbed on top of his back. “Sorry girls, but I think Scootaloo needs some time to recover from this ordeal.” he said to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom who both nodded.

“O’ course mister, we understand. Just take care o’ our friend.” said Applebloom as she and Sweetie Belle got off the coach 

“Yeah, take care Scootaloo.” the two fillies ran out of the door and back into the snowy wonderland.

“Alright, I should head home and take care of this filly. Twilight, I’ll talk to you tomorrow about the job, and Spit, you can come along. I’m sure you need some time to recover to.” Smiled Vigilant as he got back on his hooves.

“Right, have a good rest of the evening Vigilant. And I am very thankful you were able to save Scootaloo. And have a good evening Spitfire” Twilight waved as she entered another room where she shouted for Spike.

“Want to come along Spit?” asked Vigilant as he looked at her from the door.

“S… sure” Spitfire stuttered as she looked away with a blush.

> Chapter 6: Learning the Secret, The First Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 	*Knock*

Vigilant stirred a bit in his uncomfortable position on top of his own desk, his forehooves sprawled over the edge.

*Knock* *Knock*

With the silence disturbed, Vigilant stared at the door across the room, wishing that his sleep wasn’t interrupted, uncomfortable as it was. Grumbling, Vigilant cracked his neck and rotated his shoulder, feeling several satisfying pops through his motion to rid the aches from falling asleep on top of his desk.

*Knock* *Knock* “Sir, are you there?” questioned a mare’s voice that he didn’t recognize.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here… uh… enter.” Answered the dreary stallion

After a short pause, the door creaked open to reveal a cream colored unicorn mare with a blue mane and tail, she wore her formal uniform, a royal blue jacket with the rank of corporal over a white collared shirt, and atop her head sat the standard beret. 

“Sorry for the interruption, sir,” she said as she gave him a salute and stood at attention.

“At ease. It’s alright, I needed the wake up call.” Vigilant responded, returning the salute.  Still unsure of why this mare was here at his office, Vigilant got out of his chair and trotted up to mare. 

“So, what is it that you need, corporal?” He asked, standing in front of her with a raised eyebrow. 

“I was transferred under your command, sir.” She replied, snapping to attention once more, her eyes looking straight ahead.

“Um… at ease, there is no need to be so… well, formal with me. Now, you were transferred to my command? I don’t remember accepting any request.” He looked away as he scratched his chin.

“I… uh… ah, yes! Here are my transfer papers.” The mare pulled out some neatly collated paperwork from her jacket and handed it to the stallion.

He looked over the paperwork, trying to see if he signed it. To his surprise he saw that the one who accepted this transfer was Celestia herself. “Heh, guess that explains how you got here.” Vigilant chuckled  as he tossed the paperwork on top of his desk. “So, you are going to be my company’s Medic?” 

“Yes, Sir!” She saluted, though she had a hard time holding the position, shaking slightly as she looked at the stallion in front of her.

“Ok, first, you don’t need to be so uptight, I ‘m just trying to get to know you.” He laughed as he trotted to his door. “Care to accompany me to the mess hall?”

“Uh… sure…” 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

After the events that transpired with the Bitalian Mafia, Vigilant became the Marshal of Ponyville. As the weeks passed, Vigilant first took the time to find a place that could be used as his office. With the help of the Mayor and Twilight, they found an old building that was converted to a small station with holding cells inside. As well as getting set up as the Marshal, Vigilant spent a lot of time with Scootaloo trying to comfort her after her ordeal with Venny.

Still weary, Scootaloo recovered and returned to being her happy self, playing with her friends and trying to learn how to fly, and of course, try and discover her cutie mark. With Winter Wrap-up over and spring started, Spitfire spent less time with Vigilant due to getting ready for the season as a Wonderbolt. After getting the Marshal Office set up, Vigilant spent his time learning more about the denizens of Ponyville. He would talk to them as they passed by and helped those who needed it, even the odd requests. It wasn’t long until school started back up and all the fillies and colts had to return to the classroom. 

The school bell rang, signaling the end of class, and all the fillies and colts cheered as they dashed out of the building, heading off to enjoy the rest of their day. Scootaloo, however, was much more excited than all the others. She dashed out faster than the rest, waving good-bye to her friends as she left the school grounds. She took off down the street on her scooter, wings buzzing, eager to get to where she was going. As she weaved and dodged ponies and other obstacles, she found who she was looking for. Next to Sugarcube Corner stood a cyan mare with a rainbow mane and tail chatting with a white stallion. 

“RAINBOW DASH!!” Shouted the excited filly. Rainbow jump and stiffened up her muscles when she heard her name, but relaxed when she noticed the orange filly heading over to her.

“Oh, hey there, squirt.” Rainbow rubbed Scootaloo’s mane as she came up. “What brings you here?”

“You promised to teach me how to fly today.” Responded the filly as she hopped up and down, leaving her scooter behind herself.

“Today?!” Yelled Rainbow as she reeled back and her pupils shrank to pin pricks.

“Yes, today! Did you forget?” Scootaloo tilted her head to the side as she looked up at Rainbow Dash.

“No-No-No!” Stuttered the mare. “So… uh… are you ready to learn to fly!?” 

“YEAH!” Shouted the filly as she hopped into the air, flapping her wings.

“You’re going to teach her how to fly?” Asked the stallion.

“Oh hey, Vigilant! Yeah, she’s going to teach me!” Gleamed Scootaloo with a huge smile plastered her face.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, so… uh…  sorry, but we are going to head to the meadows next to Sweet Apple Acres.” responded Rainbow.

“Mind if I join you?” Inquired the stallion.

“Um… sure, I guess, you ok with that, Scoots?” 

“Uh… yeah.” Responded Scootaloo.

The trio headed to the open meadow Rainbow mentioned, Vigilant decided to watch from the distance under a tree. After hours of failed attempts to take off the ground, Scootaloo started to get frustrated and tired. Rainbow didn’t fair much better, she was teaching Scootaloo the same techniques that she was taught, but nothing seemed to work for Scootaloo. After seeing them both frustrated, Vigilant got up and trotted over to them.

“Looks like you’re having a hard time.” Sympathized Vigilant as he saw the dejected look on the filly’s face. “Say, mind if I try and teach you, Scootaloo?”

“I guess… I don’t know how you can help me if Rainbow Dash can’t.” Answered the saddened filly. 

“You ok with that, Rainbow?” 

“S-sure.” She responded with the same amount of dejection in her voice.

“Ok, if you want you can go rest over under the tree I was at.” 

Rainbow nodded and head over to the tree he was under moments ago. “Ok, now, first off, you won’t like what I’m about say, but I will explain as I go on.” Scootaloo just looked at him strangely. “I am going to need you to forget everything Rainbow has taught you so far.” Shock was plastered all over Scootaloo’s face for a second before she glared at him.

“Why?” growled Scootaloo.

Vigilant chuckled a bit before answering. “Not surprising you reacted that way. Ok, let me explain. The way Rainbow Dash was teaching you is the traditional way to learn how to fly. I, however, do not fly in the traditional way.” Responded Vigilant as he looked up into the late afternoon sky. “Now, you know that we Pegasi have magic. It’s how we fly, and where our ability to walk on clouds and manipulate the weather comes from.” Scootaloo’s face changed from a glare to pure confusion as she nodded. “Good, but I bet you don’t know our magic goes a little further than that. You see, I fly with the wind.”

“Don’t Pegasi already fly with the wind?” Questioned Scootaloo, unsure of what he meant.

“Yes and no, you see. Normally, Pegasi fly with the wind where it direction is flowing. I however, have learned to control the wind. It’s how I am able to do some tricks that many other Pegasi can’t. I change how the winds flow around me and it makes the tricks possible for me. I don’t know if I’m the first to learn this ability, it might even be a skill we Pegasi have lost. Now, I’ve asked you to forget what Rainbow taught you, because the traditional way of flying interferes with the flow of magic that allows you to control the wind.” Explained Vigilant “Why that is, I honestly have no clue.”

“How do you know it interferes?” Questioned Scootaloo, her mind still trying to wrap around the idea.

“Well, I tried to teach others how to control the wind, but nopony has ever been able to truly do it. They already knew how to fly, so for one reason or another they just can’t do it.” answered Vigilant.

“... Can you teach me how to fly with the wind?” Questioned Scootaloo, feeling guilty that Rainbow wasn’t the one teaching her.

With a smile, Vigilant began his teachings. “Of course, now first clear your mind of everything and listen to what I have to say…”

Rainbow wondered what Vigilant could teach her that she hasn’t already. It frustrated her that she couldn’t teach Scootaloo how to fly or even just get off the ground. It made her feel like she was failing her as her honorary sister. Why is she having difficulty learning? It isn’t that difficult to learn to get yourself off the ground, yet Scootaloo doesn’t get it. Why? And what in the hay is he teaching her? Looking over at them, Rainbow saw Scootaloo standing there with her wings spread out horizontally and her eyes closed. Before she could get up and question Vigilant somepony landed next to her. 

“So, you guys are teaching her how to fly?” 

“S- S- Spitfire?! What are you doing here?!” Shouted Rainbow.

“What? When I find some free time I can’t come by?” Questioned the fiery mare.  

“I didn’t say that, I just… uh… wasn’t expecting you to be here.”

“I see, well, I came to see Vigilant and see how Scootaloo is doing, I haven’t had anytime to come by after what happened.” Spitfire looked over at the two Pegasi in the middle of the meadow.

“Oh… er, I tried to teach Scootaloo to fly… Now Vigilant is trying.” Respond Rainbow dejectedly as she stared at the ground. 

“Hey, don’t feel too bad, I doubt it was your way of teaching her that was wrong. You know how some foals have a hard time learning to fly. Took me ages to learn, and my dad was a great flier, too.” Spitfire remarked as she trotted up to Rainbow and patted her back, trying to comfort her.

“Say, do you know what he is teaching Scoots?”

“Hmm… It looks like he is teaching her how to control the wind.” 

“Control the wind? We Pegasi already do that when we fly.”

“Well, sort of, you see, he changes the wind around him as he flies even at a slower speed. You know how almost any Pegasi can make a tornado?”

“Yeah, we spin in a circle fast enough and that causes the wind to rotate. Wouldn’t that be controlling the wind?” Asked Rainbow as she scratched her chin.

“That’s more like manipulating it. From what Vigil has told me, he changes the way the wind flows around himself and around his wings. You know how some tricks require a certain motion in your wings to be accomplished?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, he makes the wind flow around his wings, making it so he does the maneuver faster with less effort.”

“I still don’t get it.” Rainbow shook her head, trying to shake the confusion away.

“Ha,ha,ha, not surprising, I don’t even completely understand how he does it.” Remarked Spitfire as she giggled at Rainbow’s confusion. She looked back over at Scootaloo who was still standing there like she was in a meditation state.

“... Now what do you feel?” Asked Vigilant.

“... I don’t feel anything.” Sighed Scootaloo, getting frustrated again.

“Focus, this takes focus. Feel the breeze flow around you and through the feathers of your wings. Think of nothing else but the feeling of the wind.” Reiterated Vigilant.

Scootaloo again tried to focus on the wind, scrunching up her face. “Relax” was all she heard when she felt the breeze. She felt the wind blow through her mane and tail, making them flap around ever so slightly. She also felt the weird sensation through her feathers, as if the wind danced and played around them. There came a huge smile on her face as he opened her eyes and looked up at Vigilant.

“I DID IT!” She squealed, giving a huge toothy smile to Vigilant. Vigilant returned the smile and patted her head.

“Good job, now, before I can teach you anymore, I need you to practice doing this to until it is second nature to you.”  The smile vanished quickly and Scootaloo now looked upset once more. “Hey, don’t be sad, you know this was going to take time. I need you to be able to feel the wind as if it is a part of you without even thinking before I can go any further. If you can do that, then maybe the next time I teach you you’ll be able to take off the ground.” encouraged the stallion. Reluctantly, the filly nodded and looked over to Rainbow.

“Spitfire!” Shouted the excited filly as she galloped to the Wonderbolt, hopping up and giving her a hug. 

“Hey, Scoots, been too long.” Laughed Spitfire, returning the hug. 

“Yeah, I’m so glad to see you!” Cheered Scootaloo, giggling all the while.

“What brings you here, Spit?” Inquired Vigilant as he gave her a hoof bump. 

“Just came to check up on my favorite filly, I haven’t seen her since the incident.” Answered Spitfire as she rubbed Scootaloo’s mane. 

“That all? Thought you just came down here to annoy me some more.” Vigilant teased before Spitfire punching him in the shoulder.

“You know you like it when I visit.” Teased Spitfire. The four Pegasi laughed for a moment before Spitfire perked up a bit. “Oh, right! I also came to see if you and Scootaloo wanted to watch our first show of the season.”Asked Spitfire with a slight blush as she played in the dirt.

Vigilant looked at his blushing friend,  Why is she acting like that?  “Well, that depends on the day it’s on and what time the show is.” Answered Vigilant.

“Oh, Yeah! Duh! I should have said when it was. It’s tomorrow at two.” Spitfire’s blush reddened.

“In that case, I don’t see why not. Scootaloo doesn’t have school tomorrow.” Vigilant looked over at the excited filly, who was smiling wider than ever before. He then noticed a slight frown on Rainbow’s face as she stood on the other side of Spitfire. “Mind if we take Rainbow, too? She is a big fan of yours and the Wonderbolts.” Spitfire eye’s widened as her pupils shrank before she looked over at the equally shocked Rainbow Dash. Her gaze fell to the ground before she looked back to Vigilant with a forced smile.

“Sure, I don’t see why not. Alright, I… uh… I gotta head back now, meet me in front of the the Cloudsdale Stadium, I’ll get you guys VIP passes. Don’t be late!” With that said, she took off into the air.

“You didn’t have to invite me with you guys.” Said Rainbow.

Vigilant was still looking in the direction Spitfire flew off before answering. “I couldn’t let the biggest fan miss out on a chance to see the first Wonderbolts show. I could see you wanted to ask but was too shy to.” 

“I-I wasn’t too shy!” Shouted Rainbow behind a heavy blush.

“Ha, ha, ha, no need to be so embarrassed Rainbow, come on, let me treat you and Scootaloo to some lunch.” Chuckled Vigilant as he trotted back towards the town with Scootaloo gleefully following close behind. After their lunch, Rainbow needed to head off to weather patrol. Scootaloo was eager to get to flying and insisted on practicing feeling the wind. 

The next day couldn’t come sooner for Scootaloo; she had never been to a Wonderbolt show nor had she ever been to Cloudsdale. She excitedly woke up Vigilant early in the morning, trying to get to the cloud city as soon as possible. Reluctantly, Vigilant got up and fed the over-excited filly as she ran around the house shouting she was going to see the Wonderbolts. This made him laugh, she was reminding him so much of his niece. After a delicious breakfast, Vigilant, with Scootaloo, got Rainbow Dash and headed to Cloudsdale.

Arriving early and needing to waste about two hours, the trio explored the city. Rainbow and Vigilant reminisced about their foalhood in the cloud city. Scootaloo could hardly contain her excitement as they visited a few of the tourist spots. After their exploration, they made it to the Cloudsdale Stadium. There was a huge crowd around the entrance, all wanting to get in to see the first Wonderbolt show.

“Wonder how Spitfire will give us the VIP passes from out here.” Remarked Rainbow as she looked at the crowd. They were pushing and shoving to the get to the ticket counter before it sold out.

Vigilant looked around, noticing a blind spot to the crowd and front entrance. Trotting over, Vigilant chuckled to himself. “I wonder indeed.” As if being summoned like some divine intervention, Spitfire flew over the stadium and landed next to them.

“Guess you can read my mind.” Chuckled Spitfire as she trotted up to Vigilant. “Here, enjoy the show.” She gave him the passes and took off back into the stadium.

“Huh, something seems off with Spit.” Vigilant said as handed the mares their passes. Rainbow chuckled a bit before trotting off to the entrance. The VIP room they were given was amazing. It was almost like a small apartment. There was a small kitchen area with a fruit bowl on top of the counter. Next to the open wall that allowed them to watch the show was a couch large enough to hold at least a half-dozen ponies.

“WOW!” Shouted Scootaloo as once again she ran across the room.

“This is amazing, I’ve never been in a VIP room.” Rainbow awed as she trotted up to the couch and hopped up onto the middle of it.

“It is amazing, I’ve never seen a place like this, either. A normal pony doesn’t usually get something like this.” Vigilant said, trotting to the couch as well, sitting on the far right end. 

Shortly after their arrival to their room, the announcer spoke up.

“LADIES AND GENTLECOLTS, I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE NEW WONDERBOLT SEASON HAS BEGUN!”

With that said, the Wonderbolts flew out into the stadium. The crowd cheered, some shouting names while others whistled. Vigilant easily found Spitfire out of the dozen Wonderbolts, he also noticed a few others he knew.

The show was going smoothly, Spitfire was preparing for the finale. She flew high into the air with two other Wonderbolts. The other two broke off in opposite directions while Spitfire flew even higher, suddenly, she stopped high above the stadium. She tilted herself downwards and folded her wings in an arch, diving at high speed. As she reached the stadium, a suited Pegasus flew from the stands and flew straight at her. Before Spitfire noticed and could react, the Pegasus headbutted her, knocking himself and Spitfire out. The suited Pegasus flipped out of control and landed somewhere in the stands while Spitfire spiraled down through the open floor of the stadium at an alarming rate. Before any of the Wonderbolts could react or any of the crowd could gasp at the situation, Vigilant took off after her, his hat flying off in the VIP room. Many of the Wonderbolts finally reacted as Vigilant dove after her, however, due to delayed reactions, they couldn’t catch up to an already freefalling Spitfire in time.

Vigilant quickly approached Spitfire, grabbing her in midair. As he attempted to slow down their rate of descent, his wings strained. Seeing the ground quickly approaching, Vigilant angled his descent to be closer to a glade, he also flipped himself over, holding Spitfire above him. As he approached the ground he folded his wings around Spitfire and braced for impact. Just before he hit the ground he thought of one thing,  I hope Spit will be alright.