//------------------------------// // Moving Forward - Club Life // Story: Legacy // by NFire //------------------------------// “Are you sure you don’t wish for anything else to drink?” The pony behind the bar was solicitous, though not overbearing. “Nope, I’m good. This orange juice hits the spot.” Wyatt lifted the chilled mug, taking another swallow of the freshly squeezed liquid. It went down cold, delightful and with just the right amount of tang to it. The bartender nodded and went along his way. The museum had been a hit, bigger than the Princesses expected, with ponies and griffons coming from miles away to see it on opening night. The tall human shook his head, griffons, who would have ever thought he’d see those? Calliopes’ suggested tour had been a big draw as well, ponies from the club telling their friends and having them join in. Almost like a concert without the music. It had been, to their delight, informative as well as humorous at times. The AI had pulled out her best and enthralled them with tales of the past and histories of all the artworks and technology. As the evening wore on, more showed up to tour the new building and it was getting crowded. So Fleur had suggested a little clubbing, as the nightlife was just beginning in Canterlot. Wyatt hadn’t been so sure. For all his skills and training, he couldn’t dance worth a lick. That had been a huge source of amusement to his troopers and the ladies he dated. Ah, well, can’t do everything right, he thought. Thinking of times past, formal balls that were mandatory and how fast he got shooed out the door after stepping on some general’s wifes’ toe. Probably better, didn’t like half those people anyway. To forestall any problems in the future..well..the past now, he’d hung around the bar and chatted with anyone willing. He thought back to those moments, made some good friends, ones I kept in touch with until that day when it all went down on Earth. He looked upwards towards the ceiling, lifting his mug slightly. Here’s to you, my friends, all the good men and women that I knew and depended upon. Miss you a lot. He’d immediately made his excuses when they’d entered the club. Preferring to sit and enjoy a drink or two while his new friends had fun. It was easier than trying to mingle. He stood out, it couldn’t be helped, his height and looks. Though ponies were tall enough not to make that much of a difference, it was still obvious. Sitting at the polished counter, it was much better. He could relax and enjoy the music..what was that anyway? It was actually kind of a nice beat, really gets you moving. Some pony with what looked like sunglasses on was waving to the crowd from behind the booth up on the stage. He and Sky had been invited for brunch at Fleur’s place for tomorrow, though he’d rather be up in the Empire continuing with the search, helping Crusader and Athena. Seems the Club wanted to sit and chat with them both about the goings on in the Empire. Why not? Something to do. Turning his head, he noticed the two avatars standing unobtrusively in the shadows. “You don’t even need to ask, they will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” Calliope had seen him looking their way through the optics in the headset. Replying quietly, he nodded, “I know.” He had an inkling about the search. Something was weird about the debris fields they’d mapped. An installation, not his own defense node, was blown apart in that area. Looked to be as big as a spacedock. It was hard to tell with time and erosion taking away the details. There was so very little left, details were scant and rare. But there was enough to put a pattern in. Though for the life of the two Bolos, they weren’t exactly sure what it had been. Wyatt went with his gut, always. It’d saved him many times in the past. He knew, without knowing, it was a dock for transshipment to the fleets which would have taken colonists and machines away from the end. The Melconians would have hit the big targets first, anything capable of launching a retaliatory strike or ships. The spacedocks were immense, covered square miles for the movement of millions of tons of materials and thousands of personnel at any given time. Athena had mentioned she and her sister Bolo were awaiting shipment when the suicide fleet hit. Tapping fingers on the wooden counter, the thoughts came fast and furious. Thinking of kinetic strikes, the massed tonnage of Bolos, spread of debris and the amount of it. He was sure, couldn’t prove any of it, but he was sure it was a space dock. Not necessarily the one, but a dock all the same. There had been one nearby the Rocky Mountain Defense Node he’d been trapped in, the one Athena said she and her sister Bolo were at. They’d been close. Earth had been a mighty hub of the Concordiat, receiving and shipping out to the farthest reaches of the galactic arm. From so little left, it had to be long and long ago. No. No, he was sure it was a transshipment dock. Something that big would leave traces, no matter how long. He resolved to mention it to the Bolos as soon as he had a moment away to converse quietly with them. He preferred it to the commset, allowing them to have a conversation uninterrupted. He glanced towards the dance floor, or what he assumed it was. Seeing Sky and the others doing their version of dancing and apparently having a good time. He saw the Crystal mare smile, waving at him which he returned before turning back to his thoughts. It’s got to be something big. So if it is, what would the blast radius be when it was wiped? He sketched a diagram into the counter top using condensation from his mug. The outline of an area of effect came into being as he tried to figure out radius. Stopping for a frustrated moment, he tapped the commset open, “Crusader?” “Yes, Sergeant?” “Give me the tonnage on a Melconian Class Three Kinetic Strike Package.” “Class Three’s were designated for planetary bombardment, equivalent to our own Hellbores but of solid material instead of directed nuclear force. A combination of manufactured materials created a concussive force on impact equal to a nuclear weapon without the attending fallout and complications. Blast calculation is approximately fifteen megatons in a single release, not like Hellbores which can range up to twenty megatons per second.” “Thank you.” “My pleasure.” Wyatt tapped the comm off, sitting and thinking he’d gotten it right. What he had a gut feeling about was coming into view, the pieces falling into place. Debris fields notwithstanding, he was sure whatever would be worth finding was in the edge of that glacier they were due to survey. The reason being was the debris and how it was scattered, most of the force seemed to be directed to the north. It wasn’t a direct hit, but a glancing blow which could have spread a lot of materials that way. A gentle touch brought him out of his thoughts, turning to see Sky smiling prettily at him. “So serious looking. What’s wrong?” “Not a thing, Sky, just pondering about what might be in that glacier to the north.” He motioned to the bartender to refill his mug. Sky slipped up on a seat by him, seeing the drawings on the counter, “Would it be important?” “I think so. We may find more than just bits and pieces there.” He continued making a sketch with his fingertip in the rapidly drying water. “A quill and ink would be better you know.” He stopped, “Huh? Oh. Yeah, but this was convenient.” Wiping it away with a cotton-like cloth he nabbed from the ‘tender, “Just thinking. Tend to use whatever is handy.” He gave a half-smile, making sure the bar top was clean. A hoof lay gently on his hand, “You should come join us, we’re having so much fun.” She pointed to the dance floor where Fleur and the others were rocking out. He grinned that roguish smile, “I would, but the casualty list would be very long.” Sky laughed out loud, knowing his penchant for over-exaggerating, but somehow feeling he wasn’t on this point. Still, it was quite funny. She nodded, still smiling, always when around him and slid off her seat. “I’ll catch you in a few then, the music is great and I feel like dancing!” She trotted off with a wink and joined the others on the floor. “She cares for you a great deal, Wyatt.” Calliope’s voice was soft in his ear. Never judging, but honest. He nodded to himself, sub-vocalizing so his own voice wouldn’t carry, “I know. I don’t.. I’ve told her why it’s not a good idea, but she’s still around. I think it’s a bit more than rescuer’s syndrome.” That happened when those who were rescued tended to fixate on their rescuers. He chuckled, “Besides, they say opposites attract.” “True, you couldn’t be more opposite.” “Hey! I’m not that..” He thought for a second, “You’re right, got me there.” He shrugged, taking the newly refilled mug up in one hand, sipping slowly before answering, “She knows what’s going to happen. Too late to turn back now.” “I think she does, but is giving her feelings to you anyway. That is as honest as it gets, Wyatt.” “Crusader and Athena will be there, just in case.” “I am glad for that.” He sat and watched the others dancing, having a few more mugs of juice which still seemed a treasure to him even after the past few weeks. A world of wonders, and it did make one wonder some times. ----- “So what’s he like?” Tropical’s voice managed to squeak into Sky’s ear between all the music. “Wyatt?” The burnished gold mare nodded, “Yes!” “He..uh..” She almost yelped as Tropical and Fleur dragged her off the floor, pulling her to a table on the opposite side of the crowd so it wouldn’t be too noticeable they were grilling her. Sky looked at them both, top models, brilliantly done up for clubbing, manes with gem dust in them that glittered like stars, a few pieces of jewelry that accented everything just right. She felt so overwhelmed sometimes, hanging out with them tonight. Fleur leaned forward like some high school filly wanting all the details of her best friends latest crush, she and Tropical had wide smiles on, “Spill it, mare.” The gorgeous face was pressed close to her own, making Sky lean back a little. “But..” Sky was at a loss, there was nothing to say, really, “But..you know. You’ve talked with him. He..” A gleaming hoof was held up by Tropical,making Sky stutter to a halt, “Huh?” “Come on, what’s he like? Is he funny? Warm? What? We want to know!” Tropical leaned on one foreleg, elbow on the table, her hoof pressed against a cheek, “We just want to know. He’s so..so different!” Anypony else saying that might have meant it was a bad thing, but the look on Tropicals’ golden face told another story. “I..” Sky suddenly got shy, her cheeks burning under Fleurs’ warm look. Seeing her new friend turn a beet red beneath her Crystal shine, the model mare gave another reassuring smile. “Ohhhhh...so you DO have something!” The slim mare nudged Sky with a hoof, making sure she knew this was all friendly, nothing more. But couldn’t hide the sly glance she was giving Sky, which made the poor artist even more nervous. “No! Nono. Nothing..nothing bad or anything... I..I just..” her voice trailed off to a mumble, covered by the music as both Tropical and Fleur leaned in closer. Tropical perked one ear, “What was that?” “Nothing..I..just...” And off into mumble-land she went again. Her cheeks a cherry red and burning bright in the glare of lights from overhead. Her eyes looking at the table, the floor, anywhere else but at Tropic and Fleur. “One more time.” Fleur and Tropic leaned in closer, sandwiching the Crystal pony between them as they tried desperately to hear what she had to say. “I..well.. I..kissed him.” Her words came out so faint they almost didn’t catch it, taking them a moment before it hit what she’d said. Tropic put a hoof in front of her muzzle, “No!” Fleur was sitting agape, her jaw open with nothing to say. They thought it might have been something simple that the artist might have done, wanting to just josh around with her. They never expected this. Slapping a hoof lightly on the table, Fleur leaned forward, “Oh..now you’ve got to tell us!” Tropic was nodding, still amazed at the revelation. Seeing the timid little artist looking to the side as if she’d done something terrible, her eyes were glancing down at the floor. Fleur realized she was being pushy, leaning back and apologizing, “I’m so sorry, Sky. I didn’t mean to sound rude. I honestly didn’t. But.. Sergeant Carpenter?” Her voice sounded astonished, not that there was anything wrong with the soldier, she just hadn’t expected this. “It’s okay.” Sky was still looking at her lap, her fore hooves twisting against each other on the table. Tropic, however, was on the ball, asking in a gentle tone, “What was it like?” This caught Sky’s attention. “It..was warm..and..and..amazing.” She smiled, her soft eyes almost staring into space as she remembered, “He said I tasted like strawberries, but I hadn’t worn anything like that. It..was so wonderful.” Sky smiled to herself, the memory as clear as when it happened. “You really like him don’t you?” Tropic’s voice was warm, leavening it with a tender look at the Crystal mare. She nodded, “I do. Not because he’s different, underneath all the tough he’s got a heart as big as the world. He’d do anything to help anypony. He saved us. Not just that but we were in real trouble, nopony says as much that we were surrounded, they were going to get us. He came walking through that smoke like..like something out of a book.” She leaned on the table, her voice stronger, “Later on he stood there, stood! Like it was nothing when a wave of those..those things came down the road. He had a smile on his face sharing candy with Rainbow Dash, and you could tell, honestly and truly, even Rainbow was nervous. But Wyatt was standing there like it was nothing at all.” “Brave doesn’t begin to describe him, it doesn’t. He..he’s like nopony ever was. Pushing Fluttershy down and protecting her when something came out of the sky at him, he was fast and the look on his face said that nothing was going to get past him and get us.” Sky had become animated, talking once more about things ponies had listened to but in her heart she knew they didn’t truly believe. “If you could have seen it. Been there like we were. You’d see that he’s not what he shows everypony.” Sky could remember, all of it, Her mind was like a camera, seeing snapshots of the things she mentioned rolling before her inner eye one at a time. The jokes, the easy way which he related to everypony. They were all there, waiting to be put down on canvas. Ever since, and even before, she received her Cutie Mark, she’d been able to remember things without a flaw, it was only more clear, easier to put onto a canvas and show life in action. “Oh, you have got it bad, Sky.” Tropic was eyeing her, making the artist blush once more. “No..I..just like him is all.” Fleur sat back, leaning into the padded rest on the wall behind her, “Sky, you stick to him like glue. You blush like a lanterns’ light. You more than like him.” Her look was warm as always with friends, her eyes gleaming in the club lights as Tropic nodded along with her words. The golden mare lay a hoof gently on Skys’ shoulder, “You really do. You’ve given him your heart haven’t you?” Sky twisted her hooves in front of her again, looking at the table while nodding every so slightly, “It just happened. He..told me everything would be all right, and I believed him like I never believed anypony else in my life.” She heard a sigh and looked up, seeing both mares leaning on the table, hooves propping heads up, pressing into their cheeks. Starry-eyed wonder like a schoolpony in love as both of them breathed the words, “That’s so sweet!” They both listened as if hypnotized as Sky told them everything, sighing and looking dreamy as they thought of one day finding somepony like that. ----- Wyatt peered over the crowd, seeing Sky talking with Fleur and Tropic. “Wonder what’s going on over there?” Calliope watched for long moments. Contrary to popular belief, AI’s could, would and did read lips very well. The simplest thing in the world for them to extrapolate words from how the mouth moves. Her processing ramped up as she read the dialogue internally. Deep inside her cores, she smiled to herself, seeing the translation come across and leaning back into a comfortable virtual couch. The holographic screen showing her the bits and pieces of words coming through, then arranging them into coherent sentences and paragraphs. She was not in the least jealous, reading what was being said, but instead felt herself warm to the polite pony who seemed to be very much in love with Wyatt. But, of course, Wyatt being Wyatt, he didn’t quite grasp everything. She would never tell him, let it be happy moments from now until...then. “It would be improper to eavesdrop, but I could find out....” Calliope let a chuckle come over the link. Wyatt waved a hand slightly, barely a motion, “Oh no, no that wouldn’t be right. None of my business, just rhetorical.” He went back to figuring out what to order next from the menu. Calliope replayed the picture of Sky talking animatedly and the two other mares hanging on to every word. She would have to tell Sky, when appropriate, a few stories of her own. I think she’d like that. To be continued.....