//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - A Chance Encounter 
// Story: Adventures in the Weather Patrol 
// by Blade Star 
//------------------------------//

I was out on an ordinary patrol on the northern side of Ponyville. It had been a pretty quiet day with hardly a cloud to be seen in the clear blue summer sky. In fact it had been quiet the last couple of weeks. Dash was actually having a hard time assigning us anything other than ordinary patrols. In other words, you had half a dozen ponies with nothing better to do than lazily fly back and forth over town and up and down the valley. There were no rogue weather patterns, no bits of ground fog, no stray rainclouds, no nothing. Heck, at this point, I wanted to find myself in one the whacky adventures that Twilight and her friends occasionally got involved in.

     But it remained quiet. I tugged at my flying scarf with a free hoof. Even this high up, it was getting a little warm. I was careful not to knock off the RFC badge that held it tight. Perhaps a burst of ‘archie’ would spice up my day? Allowing my thoughts to drift for a moment, I thought back to that time. The slightly worn badge had to be around a hundred years old now, and on Earth, flying had changed a great deal.

     I’d actually read up a bit about one of the few members of my family to have ever gained much fame a few years ago. I never met my Great-Great-Uncle Algernon (MC, DFC and bar); he died in the early sixties, not long after my mum was born. As I said before, he was in the Flying Corps, as the air force was called when it was still part of the army. He flew Camels from early 1917, all the way through to the armistice with the Germans, by that time he’d risen to the rank of captain. He did quite well too, with a total of thirty two kills to his credit.

     Back then, aircraft were in their infancy. There was no radio or radar, no missiles, no oxygen masks, and no parachutes (believe it or not, they did exist, but weren’t issued because the army thought they’d encourage cowardice). Men took to the air in flimsy wood and canvas machines that were liable to break apart or catch fire at any given moment. It was dangerous, and few pilots on the front lines lasted more than a few weeks. But there was also a romantic side to it, a sense of freedom and adventure. I feel the same when I’m flying. After all, we can only communicate by gestures and shouting, there’s no such thing as radar, you have to navigate by landmarks, and weather work has its own perils.

     I shook my head. No, my job isn’t quite that dangerous. There’s nopony out there looking to shoot me out of the sky, nor I them. Flying in Equestria is far more peaceful, at least out here where there’s so little traffic. Still, I do feel a bit of a connection at times with my distant relative.

     Looking up, I saw that the prevailing wind had caused me to drift a little off my old course. Leaning a little to the right and angling my wings, I gently turned back to the right direction. In another few minutes I’d be heading back in for the afternoon. And once again I’d have to write up a report explaining how utterly uneventful my patrol was. Not a Hun…er, sorry…not a stray cloud for miles.

     The only thing to keep me occupied all this time was looking down at what was going on below me. The sky might have been quiet, but it was quite busy down on the ground. Today was market day in Ponyville. It’s certainly an interesting perspective to see things from up here, sometimes, on quiet patrols like this one, I get quite deep in thought, about life, the universe, and well, everything.

     Just as I reached the point where I planned to turn back and dive back for home, I spotted somepony trotting through the market square. Being such a small town, I recognise pretty much everypony I see, at least by appearance if not by name. And you’d have had to have your head buried under a rock not to recognise this pony.

     Her name was Starlight Glimmer. She’s Twilight’s new pupil and is learning from the princess all there is to learn about friendship. She was a pinkish unicorn, with a dark purple and green coloured mane. Even if I hadn’t recognised her, I’d have known it was Starlight simply by the way the crowd parted. Creating some weird ass equality cult and then keeping ponies imprisoned there without their cutie marks tends to get you that kind of treatment. Bones says she’s alright, if a little crazy like Twilight. Personally though, as someone who can’t use magic to protect themselves from her spells, I give her a wide berth. She’s been in town a few weeks now, but she’s having trouble settling in. Aside from Twilight, and perhaps Bones, she doesn’t have that many friends. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fairly sure she’s okay now, but ponies in a small town take a while to forget your past mistakes.

     Leaving the unstable unicorn to herself, I banked away and made for the other side of town. I’d make one circuit and then head home. Leaning back, I let myself gain a bit more altitude at the cost of some speed. I flapped my wings a couple of times to keep my speed up. Before long, the houses began to taper off in favour of open fields, woodlands and the odd dirt path. Normally, you don’t see many ponies out here. Today though, things were a little different, as I spotted a solitary pony travelling along one of the roads I used for navigation in the direction of town. Unlike Starlight, I didn’t recognise this pony. Apparently there was somepony new coming to town. I felt pity for her, knowing that Pinkie Pie would be on her in milliseconds.

     She was a unicorn, around Twilight’s age I’d say, so a little older than me. She had a light blue coat with a silvery coloured mane that was somewhat curled. I couldn’t make out her cutie mark from up here as it was obscured, but I could see that she was hauling a decent sized wagon behind her. I side slipped a little to drop my altitude and get a better look. A closer inspection showed that it was actually a caravan. Was she a traveller then? Did they have tinkers in Equestria? Even stranger was her outfit. She seemed to have on one of those stereotypical wizards hat, a sort of light purple coloured thing, covered with yellow and purple stars, she also wore a cloak with a similar design. A travelling magician maybe?

     Since I still had nothing to do, and since the mare looked a little lonely all on her own down there, I decided to drop down and say hello. Side slipping again, I quickly dropped my altitude, in a few moments I was skimming along the treetops with just enough speed to glide. As I came onto the road, I pulled myself up into a hover and landed just in front of the unicorn. She looked up at my sudden appearance and whinnied in surprise.

     “Hi there. I’m Lizzie.” I said with a smile. “You on your way to Ponyville?” After taking a moment to recover herself, the mare nodded.

     “Er, yes,” she said, in a somewhat haughty voice. “Trixie is coming to Ponyville as part of her Grand Apology Tour around Equestria. Perhaps you’ve seen Trixie’s last performance in Manehatten?”

     I fought back the urge to laugh at her speaking in the third person. She was going to fit right in in Ponyville. Believe it or not, I’d actually seen this behaviour before. Every Christmas, we’d hear from my cousin down in Milton Keynes. Every letter was written in the third person and made a very strange read. This ‘Trixie’ though seemed to actually speak about herself in the third person.

     “No, I can’t say that I have,” I replied honestly. “What is it that you do exactly?” Trixie tossed her head back in a coquettish manner similar to Rarity when she gets offended.

     “The Great and Powerful Trixie,” she replied, rolling her r’s. “Is one of the finest magicians and illusionists in all of Equestria! And she has come to Ponyville as part of her tour.”

     It seemed a bit odd to me. All ponies, myself included, were magical to one extent or another. Unicorns though could actually use their magic to affect the world. What was the point then of a magician? Heck, what was the point of sleight of hoof when unicorns could simply teleport an object, or levitate it, or turn it into something else with their magic? If she were a pegasi or an earth pony, it would make more sense, but a unicorn magician seemed strange. Rather foolishly, I put this question to Trixie.

     “While Trixie does possess excellent magical powers, she is also quite able to perform wondrous acts of magic without them!” she snapped. “Besides, what would a pegasus like you know of such things?”

     Wow, racist much? This Trixie certainly seemed to have quite the ego. But I did have an ace up my sleeve. Back on Earth, I leant a few coin tricks from my grandad. They were quite easy to adapt to wings. Taking a bit out of my saddlebag, I held it up to show Trixie.

     “I think you’ll find that I know plenty about magic,” I replied.

     Covering the coin with my feathers, I performed a simple French drop, making the coin seemingly disappear. Trixie though, was unimpressed.

     “A Prench drop is hardly that extraordinary,” she commented with some disdain. “Trixie could make an entire banking establishment disappear if she wished.” Sure you could. I continued to trot alongside her. I tried to steer the conversation in a more friendly direction.

     “Well, you should do quite well in Ponyville,” I offered. “We don’t get many travelling shows through here. I’m sure you’ll be able to draw quite a crowd.”

     “Of course,” Trixie replied confidently. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s shows are always popular, even out here in this Celestia forsaken town.” There was just no pleasing this mare, was there?

     “I can think of one pony you might want to talk with,” I suggested. “Twilight Sparkle is our local magical expert. I’m sure that…” I paused when I realised that Trixie had stopped in the road.

     Her face had suddenly turned a remarkable shade of bright red, and without warning she began one very angry, hate fuelled rant, hurling at Twilight seemingly all the insulting names she could bring to mind, and leaving me in no doubt that she absolutely despised the Princess of Friendship and anypony associated with her. It was surprising to say the least. I mean, okay Twilight can be a bit of a know it all at times, but I’ve never seen somepony react so negatively to just mentioning her name. A moment later, Trixie recovered herself.

     “Trixie apologises,” she said awkwardly. “In the past, Twilight Sparkle has always been something of a rival to Trixie, and our last meeting ended with Trixie fleeing Ponyville.”

     So she’d been in town before? I racked my brains in an effort to remember, but I couldn’t recall any Trixie in recent memory. It must have been before we came to Equestria.

     I tried to think of some of the stories Bones had told me about from time to time; some of the ‘episodes’ that took place on the show before we got here. The name ‘Trixie’ did seem vaguely familiar now. I did my best to offer some reassurance.

     “Well, I should think you’ll be alright in Ponyville,” I said reassuringly. “I mean, one of our newest residents, Starlight Glimmer, nearly completely destroyed Equestria through time travel. I mean, what did you even do anyway?”

     Before Trixie could answer, another, more familiar voice, jumped in on the conversation.

     “She used a soul sucking amulet to augment her own powers, placed a giant magical bubble over the town, exiled Twilight, and made everypony else work as her slaves while she went slowly crazy,” said Bones sardonically as he stood opposite us on the road, a cart of apples behind him. He then turned to my unicorn companion.

     “Hey there, Trix,” he said, touching the brim of his hat. “Long time no see.”





     Silence prevailed for a few moments as cowpony and showmare stood across from each other. After a moment, Trixie spoke up.

     “Does Trixie know you?” she asked, still speaking in the third person. Bones smiled and cocked his head to one side.

     “No,” he replied, unhitching himself from his cart and slowly walking towards her. “But Ah know you. Shoot, where Ah come from, you’re famous. Beatrix Lulamoon; stage magician, illusionist, and spell caster extraordinaire. What brings y’all back to Ponyville?”

     “Trixie is on her apology tour throughout Equestria,” Trixie explained. Bones frowned and raised an eyebrow.

     “So ya haven’t come back here hell bent on revenge against say, Twilight Sparkle?” he asked. Trixie ground her teeth at that.

     “No, I have not!” she snapped, switching to the first person. “Trixie is here to perform her act and nothing more! Now kindly let Trixie pass. She has no time to talk with country bumpkins!” Bones frowned before stepping to one side.

    “Well then, welcome to Ponyville, Ms. Lulamoon.”

    With an angry snort, Trixie set off again, trotting past the both of us and leaving me alone with my older brother. He wasn’t usually like that. Heck, I’d never really seen him act like that before. Okay, he can be a bit of an ass, but he’s usually kind and friendly to ponies. He seemed to really have something against Trixie though.

     “What the heck was that about?” I asked crossly. Bones turned back to me, having watched the showmare go.

     “Ah wouldn’t trust that mare as far as Ah could throw her,” he said. “Every time she’s come to Ponyville there’s been trouble. And Ah seriously doubt that she’s just here to put on a show.”

     “Why?” I asked curiously, now recalling fully the whole incident involving the Alicorn Amulet. “From what you told me, the last time she left, she was really apologetic to everypony.” Bones sneered.

     “That doesn’t change what she did,” he replied. “The mare’s crazy, with an ego to match.”

     “Bones, she’s a travelling magician!” I exclaimed. “She’s living out of a caravan going from town to town to make a few bits. She’s not exactly Discord.” Bones frowned again.

     “Ah still don’t like the idea of havin’ her in town.” He shook his head. “Ah’m gonna go talk to Mayor Mare and then see if Ah can give Twilight a heads up.”

     He then trotted back over to his apple cart, hitched himself back up and went on his way. His behaviour surprised me. Usually, like I said, he was friendly with most ponies. And the two beings in this world he held a real grudge against had wronged him in some way. With Trixie though, he’d never met her outside of that show, and he’d instantly made up his mind about her. And the trouble with Bones is that he can be very set in his ways and firm in his opinions when he wants to be.

     Still, I saw no reason why I should take that view. Yes, Trixie had done some stupid stuff. But one was an accident that really wasn’t her fault, and the other was more due to the effects of a freaky magical necklace. Yes she was very egotistical and somewhat arrogant, with a personality to match, but she was hardly a threat to Equestria.

      And the sad thing was Bones probably wasn’t the only pony who was going to take a dim view of Trixie rolling into town. Small towns don’t forget little things like being encased in magic bubbles and made to work as slaves. Still, at least the poor mare was trying to make amends. For that she deserved to have somepony in her corner. I was pretty much done with my patrol as it was, so I cantered after her, following her wheel tracks in the road.





    I caught up with Trixie a little ways before she reached Ponyville proper. She was hauling her wagon up an incline towards one of the bridges than crosses the river. Since she appeared to be struggling with the heavy load, I decided to help out.

     I might not be as strong as an earth pony, but I can still pull my weight. My strongest muscles are of course my wings, and they can provide quite a bit of force when needed. So I jumped up into a hover and pressed myself against the back of Trixie’s wagon, then I started flapping my wings as hard as I could; that generated a sizeable force that took some of the load off of Trixie. When we got to the top of the hill, I backed off and fluttered over to the front. Trixie was still worn out, but smiled at me when I came up to her.

     “Thank you for that,” she said. “Even with magic that wagon is still a lot of weight for one pony to pull.” At last, she seemed to be coming around.

     “Your welcome, Trixie,” I replied. “You looked like you needed some help.” Trixie paused for a few moments to catch her breath.

     “Well, at least the road is level from now on,” she said. “I just need to find somewhere to set up for my show.” I thought for a moment and decided to help out again.

     “I know a couple of places you could try,” I offered. “I’m guessing you need a pretty open space?” The showmare nodded.

     “I need somewhere to set up the stage and all my props,” Trixie explained. “And somewhere to park my wagon.”

     I had a couple of ideas. Since I spent so much time flying around Ponyville, I knew the town and the area like the back of my hoof. There was one good place that jumped out at me. It was not too far from Fluttershy’s cottage, but it was close enough to the town to be convenient. It was a small meadow, with a brook running through the nearby wood.

     “Follow me, Trixie,” I said. “I think I know just the place.”

     I led Trixie somewhat around town. It’s hard enough manoeuvring a large wagon through the at times narrow streets, but I also didn’t want to risk her getting a negative reception with nowhere to get away to. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the worst she’ll get from Ponyville’s residents is the occasional glare and the odd muttered remark, but it’s still not nice. And with any luck, this apology tour of hers would change all that.

    Following the familiar path, we soon found ourselves where we wanted to be. Trixie moved her wagon into place, unhitched herself and locked on the brakes. She then set about unpacking. I offered to help out, but she said she could manage, and that I’d already helped out enough. So I headed off, I was halfway home already.

     When I got back to the cottage, I found it mostly empty, except for Angel and the other animals that live indoors. The rabbit, of course, wanted feeding. But unlike Fluttershy, I don’t cave in as easily. In the end, I told him that if he didn’t stop badgering me, he’d be getting a carrot, but not in the way he wanted. That made him back off.

     I set myself up at my small desk and began jotting down my report for the day. I left my meeting with Trixie out of it, of course. Rainbow would be reading this, and I doubted that she’d react any better to the news of Trixie’s return than Bones did; she is a bit of a hothead after all. Plus, it had nothing to do with the weather anyway.

     Fluttershy came back not long afterwards, having been out with Discord (as friends she reassured me, blushing all the time). She fed Angel his dinner, and then the two of us set about cooking for ourselves. Fluttershy is actually quite talented when it comes to cooking.

     We chatted about our day as we ate. Again, I kept Trixie out of the conversation. I was sure that by this time tomorrow, it would be all over town anyway. The subject of magic did come up though. Fluttershy was telling me how the map was now working again. In the event she had to go somewhere on a friendship problem, I’d need to look after the cottage and all the animals.

     Other than that though, it was a quiet evening. But I figured that tomorrow would be quite interesting.





     The next day, I had the morning off, and I was planning to relax and enjoy myself. As much as I love flying, it is a bit of a strain on my muscles and feathers. So, every now and again, I treat myself and go for a treatment at the day spa in town. Rarity recommended it to me, although personally, I think she spends far too much time there. I’ve been a few times myself though, whenever I have the bits to spare. On occasion I’ve gone with Fluttershy and sometimes with Mum, and on one occasion, I even went with Dad after he threw his back out, though he swore me to secrecy afterwards.

     Today though, I’d be going on my own. I just needed a quick soak, a good massage, and see my wings tended to. It might not be a full day experience, but it was plenty relaxing for me.

     Fluttershy was busy today running her own sort of spa. Harry, the bear that often drops by the cottage, had some trouble with his back, so she was going to have a go at helping him out. Twilight had told me about the last time she did that, the then unicorn had turned to and thought that she was fighting with the huge bear. Personally, I never really went in for those deep massages.

     Heading into town, I soon found my way into the day spa. It was surprisingly busy in there for a weekday. In particular, I saw that the steam room had a line that went around the corner of the corridor. Again, I’ve never really liked that sought of thing. I was just here for a good wash and to relax my muscles.

      Sitting myself down in the waiting room, I grabbed up a copy of the Foal Free Press and waited for my ticket number to come up on the counter. As I was reading, I heard the front door go, and out of habit I looked up. To my surprise, I saw that it was Trixie; the unicorn I’d met yesterday. After going up to the front desk, she trotted over to me and settled down to read herself.

     “Hey there, Trixie,” I greeted. “Come to relax after that long journey?” The showmare nodded.

      “A magician needs to be limber and well rested before a show,” she replied. “And it is always nice to treat myself like this.” I smiled.

      “Yeah, I know what you mean. A month of dull patrols doesn’t exactly do wonders for your muscles either.”

     Just then, Aloe (or Lotus, to be honest, I never learnt which one is which) called my name, saying that it was time for my appointment. I set down my magazine and got up to leave.

      “Well, that’s me. I’ll see you around, Trixie.”

       Following Aloe (or Lotus), I soon found myself enjoying a relaxing soak in a tub. I considered following some of Rarity’s advice and springing for a mud bath, but all I needed was a relaxing soak and I didn’t fancy paying the ten bits. Besides, the warm water was just as refreshing for me. With the string of hot days we’ve had, and that fact that I’ve been flying so much, I needed to clear out my pores. It also gave me a chance to preen myself.

     Pegasi you see, are quite like birds, and our wings need to be preened and taken care of from time to time. You just use your teeth to gently nip at stray feathers and pull them back into line. It’s also quite a good idea to check for any parasites that might have been picked up, which is another advantage of having a soak. It looks a little odd, but it’s necessary, like cleaning your teeth. If feathers aren’t kept in good condition, they can start to fall out. In a worst case scenario, that can actually mean that a pegasus loses their ability to fly, even with their magic.

     After twenty minutes soaking, and my hooves getting a washer woman effect, I climbed out of the tub. Grabbing a bathrobe and towel to dry myself off, I again followed Lotus (or Aloe). I’d now get a massage to relax my muscles, particularly my poor wings. The day spa has a special treatment for wing massage and I was looking forward to it.

      Aloe led me through a couple of the other treatment rooms, and as we trotted along, I spotted a familiar face, albeit covered by cucumbers and a facial mask. Trixie was reclining in a chair while one of the attendants was giving her a hooficure.

     “Hey, Trixie,” I said with a wave, forgetting that she couldn’t see anything. Trixie waved back in reply, having recognised my voice.

     “Hi, Lizzie,” she replied as I walked on, following Aloe (or Lotus).

      We now went through one of the corridors that led off to a few of the other treatment rooms. And to my surprise, I spotted another, and somewhat infamous face. It was Starlight Glimmer. She was heading in the opposite direction to me. I could easily understand her coming here, being somewhat reviled by a whole town while working on complex friendship studies can be a little taxing on the body, as well as the soul. I waved to her as we both passed.

     I smiled to myself as I saw her go into the same room that I’d just stepped out of. She might find something of a friend in Trixie, assuming of course, that she can overlook her massive ego. They were both unicorns, and fairly talented ones at that, and more crucially, they were both presumably quite lonely, given their similar situations. It would be nice for Starlight to have a friend outside of her teacher too. I know that Twilight means well, but it’s hard to accept friendship as a concept when everypony else is seemingly against you.

     Starlight and Trixie though, were soon out of my mind. As I said before, the day spa has a special treatment for wings which I planned on having, to do it though, they need one of their few male employees.

     Bulk Biceps, is a bit of an odd case. I’m fairly certain all the steroids have screwed up his brain, never mind what they did to other areas. Still, he’s a nice enough guy, albeit a bit simple. He works a few part time jobs to make ends meet, and he is very good at deep tissue massages. He certainly did a good job with me. Okay, at first it did sting as all the knots were worked out, but I was soon feeling much better. By the time I was done, my wings had their full range of motion back, the aches were all gone, and I felt relaxed all round.

     Well worth the daylight robbery they call their fee.





    A few days later, and Ponyville was a hive of activity. Two big events were happening. Firstly, Trixie was putting on her show, where she would apparently be performing a trick involving a live manticore. The other was that Princess Celestia was visiting to see Twilight and check up on Starlight’s process, and generally determine whether or not the mare was still a danger to society.

     The latter was a fairly private affair, but Trixie’s show, despite her reputation, had drawn a huge crowd. I’d managed to get a ticket for myself somewhere near the stage. Unfortunately, Fluttershy had to stay home to look after Hummingway, the hummingbird, who had developed a nasty case of pneumonia. RD too was busy today, and even the prospect of seeing Trixie jump into a manticore’s mouth wasn’t enough to convince her to come. Still, as I said, attendance was pretty good considering Trixie’s reputation. With any luck, putting on a good show as part of this apology tour would go a long way to changing ponies views of her.

     As she came on stage however, it was apparent that something was up. She seemed a bit down, and a far cry from the show off I’d met a couple days before. Still, as they say in that business, ‘the show must go on’. Ponies were all eager to see the famous Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive. The trick was one of Hoofdini’s and apparently died with him, but Trixie claimed to have cracked it.

     It was quite a spectacle. Trixie would be shot out of a cannon, fly into the mouth of the manticore, and then somehow get out before the creature swallowed her whole. It certainly seemed a dangerous thing to do, even if she had supposedly cracked it.

     Still, as far as I can tell, the trick came off perfectly. Trixie did indeed get shot from a cannon and went into the manticore’s mouth which promptly closed. There was a brief flash from inside the beast’s mouth, and a few seconds later, Trixie appeared on the stage, looking a little worse for wear (and a bit slobbery), but otherwise unharmed.

     Then, much to my delight, she brought out onto the stage her, and I quote, ‘great and powerful assistant’. It was Starlight! The two had indeed become good friends, although I later learned that the situation was far rockier than it appeared to me, with Twilight being more than a little concerned about their friendship.

     But all in all, the show went very well. From eavesdropping on the crowd around me, I could hear opinions of both Trixie and Starlight changing. Even Bones, who was also there at the show, reluctantly began to change his tune in regards to Trixie. He was also quite impressed with Starlight. Much to the annoyance of everypony around him though, he pointed out that Starlight must have used a teleportation spell to get Trixie out of the manticore before it ate her.

     All in all, the show had gone very well, and Trixie would no doubt be able to put on a second show the next night to and equally packed crowd. I was quite glad to see that the two mares had each found a friend too. I may not have had a massive hand in it, but I like to think that I helped set events in motion, in a small way.

     With the end of the show, there was just one problem. Tonight was also the night that Twilight and Starlight were supposed to have dinner with Celestia at Twilight’s castle, and introduce Starlight’s friends. I had to stifle a giggle as all three of them went galloping hell for leather back there. Apparently, Twilight had left Celestia alone with just Vinyl Scratch, Cranky, and Derpy for company.