Chapter 7: Past and Future Incidents
“Okay. Breakfast, check.” Twilight went over the little list. ”Renew my cloud-walking spell, check. Renew Lyra’s cloud-walking spell --”
“GYAAAAaaaaaah!!!!”
Twilight frowned and turned her head. “You realise that doesn’t work when you’re standing right next to me.”
“A girl can try, can’t she?” Lyra flashed that broad grin of hers as Twilight gave that point a reluctant check. Lyra had been okay to hang out with, though, and her knowledge on music magic had proven quite extensive. She wasn’t sure what to make of her interest in animation spells, though. Didn’t every unicorn learn that in kindergarten?
“Rainbow Dash performing her Weather Patrol duties --”
Rainbow came flying in at neck-break speed. The list nearly made a beeline through the window from the wind.
“Whew. Sorry I’m late, stray cumulonimbus over Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Check. Letters from Shining Armour…” Twilight looked at the correspondence her brother had sent. The mood suddenly became a lot heavier. Curiosity mixed with dread and inevitability to form something that would make any nose curl.
Lyra put her front hooves to her hips. “So, any reason not to read these things now?”
“Well, where are Scootaloo and Doldrum Whimper? Just so we can round everyone up quickly once the lessons start again.” Twilight looked out at the lower level of the camp, scanning it for any muscular colts or vaguely Scootaloo-shaped blurs.
“Huh… they’re probably up on the higher levels.” Rainbow Dash looked upward through the door.
“I don’t see them.” Twilight browsed the skies above them through the window. ”Not at the cloudwrestling or the bad apple fields.”
Lyra put a hoof to her chin to ponder. “Hmm, let’s think. Scootaloo only learned to fly yesterday, so that narrows it down. Dash, what did you do when you first learned to fly?”
Rainbow Dash went back to the table with the letters and shrugged. “The same thing every pegasus pony does right after learning to fly. I--”
Rainbow Dash’s face turned from Columbia to a paler shade of blue. Her eyes shrunk in terror and stared blankly ahead. Lyra apparently realised the same thing, as she stared ahead with the same terrified expression. It would have looked appropriate on the inventor of dynamite, right after realising what this fantastic invention did when lit up.
“Are you two okay?” Twilight looked at them obliviously.
“Sure.” Rainbow Dash snapped out of it. ”Just take a letter first, if you don’t mind.”
With a roll of her eyes and a twinkle of magic, Twilight took down the words her friend dictated.
Dear Mayor Mare,
According to schedule, disaster-proofing Ponyville was supposed to be done by the end of summer. I suggest speeding it up right now. Ponyville needs to be disaster-proof before the end of Flight Camp.
“Huh? Why?” Twilight asked.
This is not a joke, this is not a drill. Scootaloo has learned to fly. Please hurry.
“Come on, you’re overreacting.”
“Am I, Twilight, am I?”
“Yo, Red, Green!” Blue Moon called out to an aptly coloured young stallion and mare, both around 13-ish. ”Look who I found wandering around!”
“Ah, if it isn’t Doldrum Whimper, the Bogsdown Bullhead.” The light green filly came flying over. ”Haven’t seen you around this high. I’m Green Water and that there is Red Tide. Who’s your friend?”
Whimper cringed a little at the attention, and the nickname.
“I’m Scootaloo, and neither of us has gone up this high before. I only learned to fly yesterday, and Whimper didn’t want to leave me behind.”
Whimper turned his face to Scootaloo at that half-lie.
“Uh huh.” Green Water leaned in to the colt. ”And I don’t suppose your breathing problem was any reason to stay on the lower levels?”
“Umm… sort of, yes.” Whimper looked away. One tends to want solid ground under oneself when one’s breath is a finite resource and ‘catching your breath’ has a five-minute casting time and a fifteen-minute cooldown.
“Fear not, Whimper, lots of pegasi have Eagle’s Grasp. Hay, Red there’s got it, hasn’t stopped him yet.” Blue Moon nodded towards his red compatriot.
To that, said Red gave his best impression of a phoenix losing its last few feathers, complete with fake coughs, hanging tongue and hooves raised to the heavens.
Green Water scowled. “Drama queen. So how’d you get so good at wrestling, huh? Fall into a cauldron of magic potion or grow up fighting Timberwolves?”
“Umm… no, I just trained my muscles. Mostly routines out of magazines and helping out on a farm or two. I just do what I like, the fighting was just lucky.” The colt shyly kicked the air as he admitted it. Again, Scootaloo could have sworn it was Fluttershy talking, his whole body language was nearly identical. She didn't have the heart to point that out again, though, she was pretty sure all of staff was saying the exact same thing behind his back.
Green turned her head towards the somewhat lanky red teen. “See, Red? Not everyone gives up as easily as you do.”
“I prefer to think of it as superior foresight, Green. We can’t all share your groundless, boundless optimism.” Red Tide bound up to his hooves.
“Pay no heed to my quarrelling compatriots,” Blue Moon explained with an accent that was just a little thinner than Apple Bloom’s, ”they tend to get a little bit edgy with each other when our other friends aren’t around.”
“Lemme guess. Gold and Silver?” Scootaloo facehoofed as she said it.
“Golden Heart and Silver Soul, yes, both unicorns. You know’em?” Blue Moon raised an eyebrow.
“Lucky guess.” Scootaloo suppressed a grunt.
Granted, she wasn’t in any position to comment on the matter, but Equestrian parents really had a way of bucking their kids right up a tree when picking out names. Why couldn’t they just go with normal horse names, like ‘Ed’? She was named after a musical instrument herself, actually, she’d tried to play it once. The ropes tangled around her hooves, the bag nearly blew up in her face and the wheels chafed her belly. That was the day she’d realised that not every pony was named after their supposed talent, as playing the scootaloo definitely wasn’t hers.
Whimper turned his attention back to Blue and Green. “Umm… you said something about ‘wiping out’?”
“Ah yes, since you’ve never flown this high before, I thought you might enjoy a little initiation in one of the finest arts a pegasus pony can master. One of our unique abilities and a fundamental stepping stone to mastering your innate magic.” Blue Moon unfurled his wings dramatically and raised a hoof to the sky where other creatures would a fist.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Blue here’s got a penchant for the dramatic himself.” Green patted her friend’s mane.
“Wait, we’re going to practise magic?” Scootaloo looked left, then right, with no potion ingredients in sight. This part of camp was pretty much abandoned, with hardly any clouds up high and zero equipment save the safety clouds and the platforms they were on. ”What exactly do you do here?”
Right on cue, a deafening sound came from below the clouds. Grey mass started clumping together as the winds kicked up and formed a funnel.
“Scootaloo, Doldrum Whimper, here… we make tornadoes.”
Somewhere in the clouds, a unicorn shivered and posted her letter.
Scootaloo’s brain tried to digest this new bit of information, but found it hard to chew. “Wait, we can make tornadoes?” The twister before them picked up speed and power.
“Yup. Comes with the wings.” Blue Moon wriggled his to illustrate..
Scootaloo’s brain kept on chewing, but it wouldn’t sink in. “We can make tornadoes?”
Green Water raised an eyebrow. “Blank flanks. They always get a little over-excited when they realise what they can do.”
Whimper shivered and looked at the tornado in front of them. “So who’s making that tornado? Shouldn’t there be a grownup keeping an eye on things?”
Red Tide pointed to the tornado. “That is the grownup in the tornado. I think you might know her. She’s from Ponyville, like you. Pretty awesome, too, the only one who puts up with the three of us and the constant concussion hazards.”
Awesome? Ponyville? Concussion-proof? To Scootaloo, that led immediately to the thought that the Ponyville Weather Patrol captain would be doing this, but she was sure she’d seen Rainbow Dash retreat to the book corner earlier for some reason.
The twister started shouting “Woowoowoohoo!” before a grey shape was launched out of it and the whole thing lost its consistency. The shape had blonde hair, hit the clouds and skidded to a halt right in front of the foals. It also had eyes that focused on two separate things.
“Derpy, you know Whimper and Scootaloo, right?” Red Tide motioned to the two smaller foals.
Derpy cheerfully got to her hooves and gave them a big smile. “Yup. You’re looking at the fastest filly from Ponyville and the strongest colt from Bogsdown. At least, I think Whimper’s the strongest in his town. You haven’t run into anyone stronger yet, have you?”
“I try not to run into anyone at all, actually.” The colt gave her a bashful smile.
“Hey! Me too! Doesn’t always work, though. Anyway, welcome to the hurricane section, where pegasi go to fly freely on winds of glory, or go into free fall and get a little gory, I forget which one.”
“Let me just get this straight. We can make tornadoes?” Scootaloo looked to Whimper. ”I mean, can he do it slowly?”
“Of course!” Derpy waved away her concerns with a hoof, ”Why wouldn’t he? We make winds by magic, same way you make a trail, only a little more intense. You could do it just waving your tail back and forth if you’re good enough. It’s a body skill, you see, all pegasus magic works with stuff that’s just outside your body. Once you get a decent wind going, the tornado forms on its own, and it carries you, mostly. It doesn’t take that much flapping, really.”
“Trust me, I’m slower than these guys and I can blow down anything.” Red Tide patted himself on the chest.
“Yeah, you are quite the blowhard,” Green Water joked.
In a reflex, Scootaloo checked Green and Red’s flanks. Green Water had a sea-green wave to contrast her light green fur, while Red had what looked like a red pearl with two smaller ones sprouting from it. She couldn’t guess what those meant, though. “Bu-but, I thought you made twisters by speeding up and using your wing power.”
Derpy patted Scootaloo on the head. “No, silly. Wing power doesn’t make the tornado go faster or harder. It just means you’re flying stable in the tornado once it picks up, which lets you put more power into it to make it even bigger without getting flung away. Speed only means control, not power, and even without speed, you can get control if you’re strong enough. We only tell that wing power story to little blank flanks so they don’t try to get an easy demolition cutie mark with a town twister.”
Derpy realised her mistake only after Scoot’s face had frozen into a wide smile and her eyes had widened in sheer glee. It had happened sometime around the words ‘demolition cutie mark’.
“Umm… if anypony asks....”
“I read about it in one of Twilight’s books.” Scootaloo replied casually.
“Good girl. So, how about you give it a try?”
Scootaloo hopped over to what she presumed was the right spot.
“Okay, so how do I do this? Just fly around in circles really fast?”
“Well, it does take some concentration, but we’ll talk you through it. And for a first time, it’s easier if you do it in pairs, actually,” Derpy replied.
Silence fell. Everyone turned their head to Whimper.
Green nodded towards Scootaloo. “Well, go on. You’ll learn faster if you try it together.”
Whimper gulped and took his position right across from the filly.
“Okay now, safety rules for when you’re out of Flight Camp: never do a tornado without properly announcing it, never do it where you can cause property damage, and always make sure you have a safe exit path. Do you agree with these rules?” Derpy announced in her best attempt at sounding official. She only ever said this once per foal, and mostly relied on her innate charm to make sure that was enough. So far, she’d never had any real complaints on the matter, which was a big deal as far as she was concerned.
“We agree,” the foals sounded in unison.
“Good. Now, what you want to do is fly slowly, relax, and concentrate on the wind going past your tail. You should feel something like a little ball trailing behind it and rubbing the hairs. Try to feel it out, it’ll be like rubbing magnets together.”
Scootaloo and Doldrum Whimper started going in circles. The filly kept her pace slow, focusing on the air going around her tail. Completing one circle, she noticed the clouds were moving just a tad. Okay, that was a good first step. She could feel her innate magic starting to take over, gently pushing her forward so she didn’t need to flap as hard. The energies she used to get wind always moved in a circle or spiral shape, no matter what she tried, which explained why pegasi didn’t just use winds to propel themselves. She could probably make a straight gust of wind if she got the circular motion right, and if she stabilised with her wings she could push something backwards, but a steady stream to propel her would always send her spiralling her out of control.
Which meant Whimper couldn’t use that trick on the Gantelope, either.
“Okay, stop, you two.” Red Tide was shaking his head at the sight.
The foals looked at their seniors.
Green Water flew over to them. “Scootaloo, you’re doing fine, but Whimper, you don’t seem to be getting it. You haven’t taken any medication that might mess with your magic, have you?”
“Nothing today, no.”
Derpy rubbed her chin pensively. “Maybe you should try not relaxing. Think of something scary, or something you’re proud of. Pump yourself up a bit, see if that helps?”
“Pump myself up?” Whimper looked to Scootaloo.
“I think she means try and get excited, get your heart pumping faster.” Scootaloo took a few deep and quick breaths.
Whimper followed her lead and let off a fake grunt before nodding. The two foals took off and went at it again, both creating a mild breeze now.
“Okay, good!” Derpy called out. ”Now picture a weight forming at your tail, make it heavier as you drag it along and go a little faster.”
They both got it, bigger winds kicking up. The winds were actually going faster than they were at this point, which made the foals acutely aware of the fact that the invisible energies they were wielding always returned to the same central point behind them. More importantly, the energies swirled in a self-righting circle, like a gyroscope.
“Yeah, nice! Now speed up some more. Let the wind carry you a little, but keep up.” Blue Moon kept his eye on the two as they went.
Scootaloo was in her own little world then. It almost felt like asking the elements to play, and apparently ‘air’ was a fun-loving element. Steadily she sped up and noticed her surroundings blurring around her. The forces around her were becoming stronger, more commanding, which meant she had to be more commanding herself. Her organs tensed up under the onslaught, connective tissue turned stronger and rigid under the pressures. Her little body seemed to be adjusting to the new experience. She realised then why it was that Rainbow Dash, not to mention Derpy, could take so much punishment and not get injured. This was basic pegasus training, it was part of what made their race tough as nails. And she was finally doing it.
Derpy took a deep breath before shouting at the top of her lungs. “Now let her rip!”
Scootaloo went at full speed, and concentrated all her power in generating the wind now. She dove and rose as the winds started getting a mind of their own. Turbulence began wracking her body, forcing her to tense up even more. She hadn’t even realised it yet, but the air around had turned grey with the matter that was being sucked up. She was actually making a bona fide tornado.
“Totally doing it, you two!” Green Water encouraged the cute couple. It wasn’t the first time she’d yelled that particular phrase, but usually the targets weren’t quite so young. They weren’t making twisters, either. At least, most of the time. Some boys just do silly things to impress the fillies.
Scootaloo gritted her teeth. She tried to get the wind under control again, but it was no good. The outward pressure against her flank was overpowering. The tornado had gotten so strong she couldn’t even control her own flight path.
“Can’t… hold it…” She barely managed to gasp before being flung out of the vortex.
She was in free fall, and she suddenly realised why they'd started with landing practice on day one. It also dawned on her she’d botched that particular lesson repeatedly and was still slightly behind on that part of her curriculum. She was going too fast. She couldn’t control her flight after spending that much energy, even flapping her wings didn’t slow her down much. All she could really do was try and break her fall as one safety cloud rushed to meet her like a baseball glove.
She plunged into it, back first, using her front hooves to smash into the cottony material and soften the blow like she’d seen Rainbow Dash do, sending the cloud off to spend up the momentum she gave it.
Just like that, the cloud spent up its momentum. She was still. No concussion, no whiplash, she felt pretty good, actually. A little shaky, but she was safe. What’s more, she found she’d made the exact same impression on the cloud as the legendary filly before her. It was a perfect fit of posture, position, like she’d been imprinted on it herself. For some odd reason it felt like déjà vu. At least this time smashing into something didn’t yield something sticky, like tree sap.
But what a ride that was. Every fibre of her being had been pressurised, her adrenalin had been soaring, and she’d gone faster than she’d ever thought possible, driven forward by a summoned wind the likes of which could level a civilisation itself. She had the power of untold destruction right at her wingtips. It was scary, it was terrifying. It was something no rational pony should ever want to even think of trying.
“Let’s do that again.” Her lack of cutie mark didn’t even bother her at this point, at least she was having fun.
That thought made her freeze. Whimper was still in the same tornado. And she’d gone at top speed. Was he going to be alright?
Apparently, she’d find out quite soon, since he was being flung right at her while she was thinking it. She saw the dark blue mass shouting in panic as it was swiftly catapulted towards her. She barely had time to ponder what damage his taut form would do crashing into her before the actual crash occurred.
Scootaloo forced her eyes shut as she heard the loud cotton pop and the cloud she was on got driven further back. Slowly, she opened one eye, then the other. His face was inches from hers, and Whimper’s legs were spread, leaving his body well clear of hers. Apparently he could do a Peregrine Dive without diving.
“Are you okay?” Scootaloo beat him to the punch.
“Umm, yes, actually. It really doesn’t take that much effort, turns out. I’m not even out of breath, I think I can go again.”
“And that is why the game is called ‘wiping out’.” Blue Moon gestured to the two foals plastered against the clouds, before extending a hoof to get Whimper off. ”Nice job, you two.”
“Wow.” Green Water came flying in with the rest. ”You can land on your hooves even when you go vertical? Are you sure you’re not part feline, little guy?”
Whimper pulled himself off the cloud as Derpy planted a flag in it. He didn’t seem to resent being called ‘little guy’, even though the filly wasn’t his senior by that much. It made him sound cute, which was a lot better than what he was used to.
“Well, I might be. My uncle says that in my family, we’re all tigers in the sack and we tend to marry tigers in the sack. Does that count for anything?”
The colts suppressed a grin, the mare and green filly suppressed a giggle.
“I’m sure it’ll count for something when you’re a little older.” Green barely contained her laughter.
“Tigers in the sack, huh? You and I should check that sometime.” Scootaloo popped out of the cloud.
To that, Derpy raised an eyebrow. Thankfully, she was flying behind them so they didn’t notice.
“I don’t think we can. They don’t do sack races here on Flight Camp, do they?”
The older foals turned their back and headed back to the hurricane section before they burst out into tears of laughter.
Scootaloo turned back to check the flag Derpy had placed. Upon closer inspection, it had “Scootaloo + Doldrum Whimper, 10” written on it. She nearly thought it had something to with her and Whimper supposedly being a couple, but passing by the next cloud, she noted a flag with the words “Derpy Hooves Ditzy Doo Permanent Damage, 12” written on it. “What’s with the flags?”
“The flags are just for decoration, silly, they don’t really mean anything.” Derpy put on her goggles and the other foals got lined up for another go. ”And on a completely unrelated note, I need to get ready to break my old distance record.”
The three mares frowned at their first impressions.
Rainbow Dash leaned back from the letter. “So they thought it was a prank at first, huh?”
Lyra nodded slowly. “Yeah, well, Kludde can make new bodies from time to time, and it relies on terror. It’s pretty easy to fake.”
“Those injuries sound severe.” Twilight gulped at the thought of getting claw marks at the neck with lungs on fire. At least Whimper got better, obviously. She wasn’t sure what to make of the reports of friction burns, though. The Baron of the Marshes didn’t have that ability as far she, or her brother, knew.
Rainbow nudged Twilight to read the big one: the final report on the attack. ”Well, keep going.”
Twilight took a deep breath and started reading aloud.
To Captain Shining Armour,
Doldrum Whimper has been diagnosed and properly treated. His injuries, while they appeared most grievous, haven’t caused any permanent damage. The colt has all the appearance and physical strength of a workhorse, but I’ve been assured that is only because he trains himself, not any pressure from his family. He gets bullied a lot, apparently, and he seems prefer mild work over playing with his classmates, though the doctors tell me his build isn’t so unusual as to provide any health concerns. At any rate, he does not have a reputation for exaggerating or lying, nor of being a thrill-seeker.
That said, getting his testimony has proven somewhat problematic. His friend and family tell me that he’s always had a nervous disposition, and this experience has left him quite shaken. Nevertheless, based on what I’ve gleaned from Peachy Pie, Whimper himself and the findings of my scouts, I’ve constructed the most probable account of the events tonight.
Peachy Pie and Doldrum Whimper were going home late in the evening after helping out on the nearby cherry farm, owned by one Blossom Blizzard, Whimper’s aunt. The colt headed out on the west road, the filly headed south, as they normally do. The filly noted a mist coming on as the sun was setting, as well as strange rattling noises. She tells me that she did what she always did when a little scared, which is, and I quote, “Giggle at the ghosties”. Apparently this is something of a tradition in the Pie family, one that’s carried over symbolically in the form of a necklace, which she was wearing at the time. Presumably, it is this heirloom and its traditional value that drew the creature in.
The mist thickened around her, she never even saw the creature before it struck. She did manage to scream before her lungs started burning, which drew the attention of Doldrum Whimper. He came in flying at his top speed and found Peachy on the ground, quivering and without her necklace. He spotted a shadow in the mist and ran after it. His account of the facts is somewhat foggy from this point on.
The boy, you see, has a condition known as Eagle’s Grasp, and a severe form of it at that. Any movement faster than a light trot sets off an immune response and causes his lungs to burn and a rash to appear on his back. He was already out of breath by the time he got there, and as he himself put it, "All of a sudden, the burning got unbearable and this weight pressed down on his back". He collapsed almost instantly, though he did try to resist and managed to remain conscious. According to Peachy Pie, the creature starting goading his attempt to stop it, no doubt hoping to scare the boy. She did not hear what exactly was said. She was in shock and actually covered her eyes during some parts of the attack. What the colt remembers is that with the spell on him, burning his lungs and pressuring his muscles, the thing decided to pick him up and grab him by the throat.
He claims he saw his life passing before his eyes, and that he blacked out right at that point. This is where their testimonies differ somewhat: according to the filly, Kludde raised his sword at him.
“Wait, that thing has a sword?” Dash asked in shock.
“It’s more of a machete, really.” Twilight tried to keep her composure, but she couldn’t hide some hint of sympathy for the boy. She’d read her fair share of horror novels and thrillers, but this was a different matter altogether.
Peachy closed her eyes as the creature struck Whimper, but she did hear a violent crashing sound. The next thing she heard was Whimper shouting “Give it back!”, punctuated by three dull blows, and one cracking noise. After that, she heard what she interpreted as a roar and something sliding over the dirt road, she presumes Whimper being driven back. She heard vague murmurs between the two, and in a reflex she looked up. This is where it gets confusing. She swears she saw Kludde’s hands glowing, which means he was casting his spell again. The boy managed to lunge forward in spite of this, and in fact made a clean landing on the thing’s face, sending it crashing to the ground again.
The filly didn’t dare look as the struggle continued. Her descriptions of the sounds were quite vivid, but suffice to say her report suggested a struggle for dear life. The only truly relevant sound she picked up was a loud snap, like an old tree collapsing under its own weight and its bark ripping away. She didn’t see how it happened, she can only recall the sound. She then heard soft steps towards her, and something hard nudged her.
Twilight froze.
“What? What is it?”.
Next thing she knew, Whimper was standing in front of her, with the upside-down head of Kludde held like a basket in his mouth. He had, and she was quite adamant I quote her on this, "a ragged expression on his face, but a look in his eyes like a proud puppy fetching a stick".
“You’re kidding me.” Lyra gasped.
At which point, Peachy fetched out her necklace from the hollow helmet that makes up the Baron’s head and said something along the lines of “Thanks, Whimper. You’re the best.” Again, sir, she insisted her exact words were put on the record.
With that, the two returned towards Blossom Blizzard’s farm, who promptly rushed them both to the hospital. Once there, the boy's injuries had become apparent and his adrenalin rush had subsided, leaving him in shock. The boy dropped the head in the confusion when his aunt picked him up, my scouts have returned it now. Based on their report, I estimate the actual struggle between Whimper and Kludde went as follows.
The creature grabbed the boy by the neck. The claw marks we’ve found confirm this. It then swung its sword at him. Based on the dislocated shoulder, the odd twists in the internal branches, as well as the fact that we found the sword planted in a nearby tree, we’ve concluded that Whimper placed a hoof on the thing’s elbow, pressed down to break its balance, then flew forward and curled his forearm such that Kludde’s grasping hand was wrenched clear, leaving its elbow pointing upwards. The colt then twisted in the air, forcing the creature’s entire body to make a turn in the opposite direction the sword was swinging in. This sudden movement disarmed the demon and sent it to the ground, and that in a split second.
The colt landed behind Kludde. Presumably, the breath-stealing spell had been broken at this point. From what we’ve been able to tell from the remains, Whimper placed two kicks on the back of its head, buckling the material that made up its shell near the neck joints. The third kick came in just as Kludde was turning its head, which meant that it landed on one of its tusks. The tusk snapped off, and the impact no doubt made Kludde’s head turn quite violently, putting more pressure on the neck plates. Kludde then drove Whimper back with a backhanded blow and got back on its feet, readying its spell. Based on the damage done, I’d say the force the boy used to administer those kicks was excessive, by any standard.
I’m not entirely sure what to make of what happened next. Peachy Pie swears that the spell was being cast, but the boy still managed to lunge forward and land on Kludde’s face. The only way that’s possible is if he managed to dodge it, since the creature would have sustained the spell and fought him off otherwise. The struggle then continued on the ground, and by my reckoning he got some leverage on the thing’s horns, and with what must have been a tremendous burst of adrenalin he twisted the head clean off.
I'm pleased to report the debate on the nature of Kludde is no longer academic. Kludde consists of a spirit fire of enough density to mimic jelly, and it resides in dead plant material forming plates, which are held together by what my scouts tell me is a pyrolytic oil. The plates that make up this armour are coarse, and have a texture that releases small, irritating particles into the skin when touched. This accounts for the friction burns. The boy made full body contact with it, he wouldn’t have noticed anything until after the fight. We weren’t aware of this simply because nopony has ever fought the thing unarmoured, not even the Ashen Blizzard. At any rate, Kludde manipulates this hollow shell with internal branches that serve as bones, but the actual spirit matter needs to remain contained in order to maintain its consistency. This would explain why Kludde prefers to flee when injured, yet doesn’t have a set pattern of attacks. It doesn’t need time to heal, it merely patches itself up. Punching a hole in the plates causes the matter to lose consistency and the body to lose strength. Tearing off his head meant the spirit matter could no longer hold itself together at all, which caused the thing’s strength to evaporate.
My scouts have recovered the hollow body and the sword, as well as a small, weakly pulsating mass of deadwood radiating energies that are identical to the traces we found on the armour. There doesn’t seem to be any intelligence to it at this point, which leads me to believe that losing a body means Kludde can no longer manifest itself properly in our midst. We will be bringing this mass to Tartarus, naturally, but I doubt it will make much difference.
Doldrum Whimper vanquished a monster, that’s the only conclusion I can reach. As for confirming its identity, we have recovered from the hollow remains a tiara belonging to the royal family, a golden laurel from the Best Young Flyer’s Competition, as well as a signed silver arrowhead embedded in the thing’s hips (incidentally, nice shot, sir). We even recovered the fire-proof remains of the book “Sigils and other Mystical Signs”, the bait for the Royal Guard’s last attempted ambush four months ago. Most of the metal possessions found in Kludde’s remains are in good condition, we should be able to return them to their owners in short order.
There is no doubt in my mind that the creature that fell tonight is the real Kludde. I have had Doldrum Whimper tested for every conceivable explanation for his actions, and found nothing. He has no genetic proclivity towards extreme strength, no ancestral spirits watching over him, he doesn’t have any of the tell-tale signs of a reincarnation, and he shows no residual energy suggesting possession. There is no indication whatsoever that he did not do this on the merits of his own abilities. He saw his friend was in danger, and in a reflex he determined that getting back that necklace was the only way to make things right. The boy has a warrior’s heart, that’s the only reasonable explanation I can think of.
And yet, there is one oddity still: Whimper is refusing credit for his actions. He claims he blacked out, nothing more. Despite walking back to his aunt's farm, he claims he passed out when Kludde grabbed him by the neck. He says he just woke up at the hospital, and my asking him what happened is the first lucid memory he has. And if you’ll pardon my candour, I don’t blame him. He most likely suppressed the trauma, or somehow feels this sort of thing doesn’t happen to colts like him. His doctors tell me the adrenalin rush he had must have been extreme, considering the aftermath on his body. His injuries, both the ones he suffered during the fight and the ones that appeared after, apparently didn't even register until after he was in the hospital. From the looks of it, he genuinely lost consciousness, possibly to dull the pain.
At any rate, the boy doesn't seem to be accepting any of this, and insists that he had nothing to do with it. His parents tell me he’s grown something of an inferiority complex, partly due to his condition. Honestly, I am out of my league on that matter, sir. I would suggest bringing this before Princess Luna, she knows these things better than anyone.
You now have all the facts concerning this attack. The Baron of the Marshes has been brought down. The Royal Guard need not mobilise for this threat any longer.
Squad Commander Obsidian Storm
The mares blinked a few times, then picked up their jaws.
Lyra whistled, impressed. “Wow. He tore the head off that thing? That kid doesn’t mess around.”
Twilight nodded, still flabbergasted herself. “I don’t understand why he’d refuse the medal, though. He’s clearly got every right to be proud of what he did.”
“I guess he’s just too used to feeling like a victim or a runt to feel like he can be anything else. He’ll feel better once his flying picks up, I’m sure.”
Rainbow Dash looked up with a sigh. “Yeah, we can fix this." Shining’s letter was next, but she already knew what it would say.
“Just get him flying right, and then I’ll talk to him. He’ll be fine.” Twilight rubbed Rainbow’s back, to stop her wings from shaking.
Rainbow nodded, despite her better judgment. Her friends didn’t know. They didn't even notice.
Dash mentally kicked herself for not seeing it sooner. She could have seen it. She should have seen it.
Her friends were clueless, though.
They had no idea of what they were dealing with.
Nopony ever did.
Whimper held his head low. The six of them had done three regular twisters to warm up, followed by four shed-shredders, three Dustbowl Doozies and something called the “Auntie Em Special”, which was apparently a technique that could cleanly lift a house into the air and drop it with startling accuracy. It was also the one that was used on Hurricane Day to lift the water, so the two foals were both pretty pleased with themselves that they could actually do it now. Scootaloo wasn’t sure if ‘Auntie Em’ had been the one to invent that one or the one to get a house dropped on her, but she was afraid to ask.
It was a fun ride, all in all, and Whimper had kept up quite long. But still, he’d reached his limit. Even if making twisters didn’t take that much breath, it did take some. And he still ran out before anyone else. His back felt chilly to the touch when Scootaloo touched it, and a vague wheeze was starting to form already.
Red Tide looked down at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to sit down, I guess. No biggie.” He smiled sadly at the admission.
Red could relate. He was actually behind two years compared to his peers because of the same problem. Things did get better when he got his cutie mark, though, and nopony ever messed with the Red Tide when they learned about his cutie mark.
Scootaloo pouted in sympathy. It just wasn’t the same to be doing something fun without him.
Derpy unfurled a wing and draped it over the boy. “You guys keep going, I’ll keep an eye on him. No need to let a bit of pacing get in the way of our fun, is there?”
“None at all.” Blue Moon agreed. ”Come on, Scootaloo. We’ll try the barn-breaker this time.”
The filly looked at her friend as he lied down, legs folded. The grey mare followed suit right next to him.
Whimper smiled at her. “Well, go on, don’t let me hold you up.”
Scootaloo sighed and took her position. Those words had a very awkward ring to them now. If she wanted him to keep going, he’d end up in the infirmary. Now he was actually accepting his problem and acting accordingly, and it still meant they couldn’t have fun together.
She quickly got over it, though. He was fine. She could do other fun stuff with him later, Rainbow Dash would surely come up with a solution for their next lesson, and besides that, he had Derpy to keep him company. So she braced herself, listened to the specifics of the barn-breaker (apparently it was more of a wall of wind than a proper shed-shredder) and went at it again. Her own cutie mark was just an afterthought for the moment. If her talent involved flying, she’d have to get some flying practice done.
And if her talent was demolition, there was no better way to catch up on lost time.
Derpy kept her eye on the kids until they got the wind going. Once the roar got loud enough to block out any conversation, she leaned in to talk to the colt. “Nice to see Scootaloo back to normal. She looked really down the other day.”
“This is her normal?” The colt raised an eyebrow. Granted, they were both away from their usual surroundings, so neither of them really knew what the other was like. Still, Whimper couldn’t complain about the filly.
The comment drew a light chuckle from the mare. “You know, Rainbow Dash said she had an idea to help you. I’m not sure what, but she was pretty confident about it, and stubborn. I guess she likes you.”
His dull mood lightened at that. “Maybe. Everypony keeps telling me I remind them of someone called Fluttershy?”
Derpy nodded knowingly. “It’s true, you do talk like her a little, and you act kinda like her. Plus, Fluttershy is kinda famous, so it’s easy to see any resemblance if you know her. It’s a good thing, though, trust me.”
“Uhuh. Fluttershy’s the blonde one, right? I mean, the other Element of Harmony as strong as Rainbow Dash?”
Derpy pondered that for a bit. Here she had a boy who got bullied a lot and who had some physical prowess to be proud of. Presumably, said prowess had come from quite a bit of pain, something Derpy could attest to. Her ‘deadly plot of steel’, as some referred to her flanks, had come after some gruelling and unorthodox training methods, for reasons she didn’t usually share. She wasn’t aware of how the boy trained, but she could take a wild guess or two. She’d seen him fight, too, he was very impressive for a neophyte.
"Umm... yeah, she's the strong one, alright." The mare tried to keep his male pride intact.
"But is she the blonde one?" Whimper looked up at her, trying to spot any lies.
Derpy considered her choice of words. A kid like that, a bullhead boy, was being compared to the shyest, gentlest, most peace-loving pegasus in Ponyville. Luckily, he still thought he was being compared to Applejack, apparently. And she could keep that illusion alive without lying, if she weighed her words right. “Yup, the blonde one's the strong one. Fluttershy even stared down a dragon once, I heard. She’s a hero, like you.”
To that, the boy gulped. Another one? “W-what do you mean, a hero?”
“Well, you kept catching your friend, didn’t you?” She gestured to the twister as the foals scattered once more. “You need to be pretty brave to dive after a falling pony, and pretty fast to catch them, and pretty careful to do it without them getting hurt.”
“Oh, right. Well, it’s a reflex, mostly.” He tried to make it sound less impressive than it was.
“That’s a good reflex, then. Not a lot of flyers can let go and just fall out of control like that, even less at your age. I’m surprised that hasn’t gotten you a cutie mark yet, come to think of it.”
Whimper looked down and thought for a moment, before looking back at the twister forming. “Actually, do you know how those other foals got theirs?”
“Sure do. Green and Blue got theirs on the same day, actually. Green Water’s talent is making the best of something bad. She got it making some drinks from old fruit no one wanted.”
“Err… isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not if you’re careful, apparently. Fermentation’s pretty basic, you just need to know what you’re doing. See, she and Blue Moon helped set up a little celebration for their school. Blue’s talent is making things stand out. They got their cutie marks when they saw how much everyone enjoyed what they’d done. As for Red…”
Whimper raised an eyebrow. Derpy weighed her words, as this tale was a little odd compared to most cutie mark stories.
“Red Tide got his cutie mark in detention, or so I heard. Someone threw a paper airplane at him class. A couple of minutes later, he pummeled the guy with his own little swarm. Red Tide’s talent is critical mass, or muscle memory, something like that. He’s not good at making new stuff, but if you show him something simple once, he can get a whole bunch of it really quickly. He can pretty much bury anypony in a snowball fight, that’s what his classmates told me.”
“So he got his cutie mark making paper airplanes?” Whimper was incredulous.
“No, of course not. He got it feeling smug about himself after making the paper airplanes. You don’t get your cutie marks from just doing stuff. You get them from enjoying your talent and being proud of it. I guess you haven’t really done anything big enough to enjoy it, have you?” She leaned in with a knowing look.
The colt shuddered. I’ve done something big alright, but that wasn’t fun at all. And if that’s what it takes, I’ll be a blank flank forever.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not feeling embarrassed about hanging out with fillies and mares, are ya?” Derpy hit that particular nail right on the head.
“Well, most of the colts I know are either jerks or interested in things I’m not, so fillies and mares are fine by me.” He gave Derpy a friendly smile.
“That’s the spirit. And don’t worry, if you can keep that up for a couple more years, all the colts will be green with envy.”
“I guess that’s true” Whimper he got up, taking a few deep breaths and noting the lack of tea kettle whistle coming from his lungs. He’d caught his breath again.
“I know it’s true.”
“No, I mean I guess it must be true. Every grownup I talk to says the same thing. Not sure why, though.”
Derpy’s left eye twitched at that, which was saying a lot.
Kids these days...