//------------------------------// // 3 - Embrace the Sky // Story: Prince of Errors // by David Silver //------------------------------// For a start, he just flew. Having wings that worked was too tempting, and he soared and turned and twirled through the brisk morning air, savoring it. Being a given kind of pony was always so... nice. Pegasi could fly. Unicorns had their magic. Even earth ponies had their perks, more subtle but always there. When he was in his grey default form, he had none of it. He was a grey smear in the vague shape of a pony. A shape darted past him, just barely missing him. He whipped his head to follow it and saw a rainbow-tailed mare joining other weather pegasi. They started talking animatedly, but he couldn't hear what they were saying across the distance. Well, he had come to help with that, he decided. "May as well get to it." He lifted towards them, flapping his able and willing wings. Pegasus wings were not nearly large enough to lift a pony from the ground. That was part of the magic. He could feel that magic, a soft warmth that buoyed his body along. The flapping was part of it, but sort of... like how a classic wizard had to wave their hands and waggle their wand. "Hey!" he called out to them. Rainbow turned to him instantly, spinning in the air without effort. "Soarin! I thought you were busy today." The illusion had taken root. He was seen and accepted as Soarin. "Glad to have you aboard. Today's gonna be rough." The not-quite Soarin flinched. How had he not recognized Soarin of all the ponies to become? "Well, no problem," he assured with a voice that was not his own. "Just point me in a direction." "Always good to have you around." She nudged him lightly before pointing off to the horizon. "We got a big group of nasties drifting in from the Everfree. The catch: We want some of that water, just without it storming all over Ponyville." He bobbed his head. "Got it. So, uh, just keep them away from the town, right?" "Duh." She rolled her eyes. "And don't get caught up in them. Wild weather can be the worst." She pointed far down below. "We'll try to get them to roll over the pond and refill that. Once the word's given, we bust them all. You up for it?" "Got it." He saluted as best he could and took off towards the clouds. He understood why flying had felt especially nice that morning. He was a trained stunt pony! His body knew how to fly precisely and in tight formations with ease. He cracked a little smile. He was usually just a random nopony background character. Soarin... He'd have to try and enjoy it while it lasted. With a bank of his body, he swerved towards the angry black clouds. He brushed against it with his wings, nudging them. He didn't know exactly how to do what he was doing, but when he relaxed, the memories of his borrowed body seemed more than capable of filling in the holes. He was shepherding the cloud, forcing it to divert in the direction of the pond they wanted to fill. He could feel the water in the cloud splashing against his athletic body, running smoothly free of his feathers, but clinging tenaciously to his less-than-waterproofed pelt. "Just like that," called out Rainbow, directing her own massive cloud. "Follow our lead and let's do this!" A chorus of cries echoed up as the rest of the weather team dove enthusiastically at the project. Time passed in a flurry of effort and work. It often did when he was called to a job. He saw Rainbow dart past and threw a hoof onto her shoulder. "Hey, everything cool?" She bobbed her head. "Almost topped off, then we get to bustin'. You know how it is." She shrugged and darted away. Part of him was sad. When the job was done, there was a good chance he'd return to being grey and ignored. Heck, she didn't even notice Soarin should definitely not have a horn. There was nothing for it. He got back to work, diligently trying to keep his cloud on track, drenching the ground beneath it without even being asked to in its rude wild way. "Eee!" cried a pony, a form vanishing into the dark mass. "Help!" "I gotcha!" Rainbow dived in after them, and so did not-quite Soarin. He was running on auto pilot, and diving towards a pony in trouble came naturally. He only realized what was happening a split second later. He was in the dark mass. Flashes of lightning offered brief snatches of light. The rain battered down and around him, attacking from all angles. The wind was furious, whipping around him wildly. His wings shook, his magic wavered, struggling to keep him flying straight. He was terrified. It was not just a cloud, but a wild cloud, one perfectly willing to kill a pony if given a chance, and he was heading deeper inside of it. A splash of color caught his eye. It was the mare that had gotten swept in, visible for an instant before she was pulled away into the swirling and angry cloud mass. He banked towards her. "I'm comin!" he shouted, as much to encourage himself as her. He was Soarin, he knew how to fly. He could do it! Or so he kept telling himself. He wasn't wearing his Wonderbolt uniform. He wasn't even wearing his goggles. He had to squint through the pouring rain that battered him and his eyes stung where the rain irritated them despite the effort. "I'm coming!" he called, hoping it was true. He heard a muffled cheer, almost lost to the sound and fury of the storm he was in. Had someone else rescued the pony? Probably Rainbow Dash. It wasn't his job, the replacement pony, to make heroic saves. Well, alright, he just had to get out of the cloud. He tried to turn, but it was becoming hard to tell what direction was what. He found the ground. There was no doubting that. The softened earth suddenly greeted him with an unwelcome embrace, and everything went dark. He felt something tugging his tail. He was pulled from his head-first burial into the air and he gasped loudly. "Hey, nice try, Soarin." Rainbow patted his back and started brushing away all the dirt with her wings. "It's all taken care of now." Soarin looked around, blinking. The angry clouds had been banished. The job was over. "O-oh, good!" "HQ said to give you this." She held a jingling bag between two feathers as if they were fingers. "Kinda odd. It's not payday, but they said it was hazard pay or something." She rolled her eyes. "Like I wasn't in the same danger." She put a hoof at her chest. "Then again, they know I can handle it." She was smirking so very confidently. "Still, thanks for trying, and I won't tell the other Wonderbolts, promise." "Thanks." He reached up with his mouth, taking the bag. Rainbow suddenly blushed, yanking her wing away. "Hey, cool it buddy. You need to get closer to a mare before you go for preening privileges." She snorted softly. "Anyway, it was fun flying with you today. Take it easy." She was gone in a streak of rainbows. He stood up, the color leeching from his body. The ability to fly was gently snuffed. He was an alicorn of errors once more, with no power. He looked to the bag of bits he held. It was, perhaps, a kindness of his curse. They tended to at least pay him for his work, despite whatever normal pay schedule was in place. He'd only get the day's worth of pay, but it was a lot better than nothing. He looked left and right. There was a crater where he had smashed into the ground, but other than that, nothing looked damaged. It was time to move on. He had some bits, so he could catch a train and get out of there before-- "Hey!" Pinkie appeared before him, popping up out of nowhere. "How'd it go?!" He scrambled backwards in surprise. "Oh! Hey Pinkie." "Hiya Princie," she replied with a grin. "How'd it go? They looked happy. Are you happy?" "Super happy," he said without conviction. "I made a real impression on things." "Great!" She bounced in place. "Now, for the next one." "Next one?" She bobbed her head. "Of course. There's so much to do. So, next one! And this one'll be fun, promise." He tilted his head at her, unsure of how true it would be. He did enjoy flying while he could though... "Does it involve wild weather storms?" "Nah." She waved the idea away. "Just two adorable little foals. This time you get to be me! I was supposed to watch over the twins but, oops, I double-booked myself and both are Pinkie Promise level commitments so you can do me a huuuuge favor and--" Even as she was describing it, he felt the tingling rush of color sweep over him, no, her. He was becoming a mare, rounding out in all the ways Pinkie was round. Soon there were two Pinkies looking at each other. The original was far more critical, examining herself closely. "Not bad... But you'll have to act the part too, don't forget. The twins need lots of love and care and I can count on you, right?" The new Pinkie sagged a little. "The Cake twins right?" "I knew you'd be ready for this." She threw a leg over her twin and hugged her tight. "You're the best! Now, whatever you do, don't go towards the center of town." She pointed with her free hoof. "That's where I'll be, and if somepony sees us both, well, you already showed me what happens. Glad to know I can't ruin it when you're me. That'd be kinda crazy." She tilted her head left and right in a rapid one-two. "Maybe it's because I already knew what you were and what you were doing?" Not-Pinkie suddenly smiled. Maybe she had Pinkie powers. That would be something! Maybe this would be fun, even if it involved foalsitting. "Are they past their power surges?" "Oh, yeah, that only lasts a little while." She sat down to bring up her forehooves close together. "Thank Celestia, that was rough." She raised a brow sharply. "And you owe me an explanation later on how you know about that, and their names. You're not telling me the whole story, and I wanna hear it!" The pink prince of errors nodded towards her. "You got it. When do I need to be there?" "About ten minutes ago," she admitted, smiling awkwardly. "Hurry," she hissed before pronking away. He bounced up to his hooves and started trotting, but it felt odd. Oh yeah. He stiffened his legs and jumped forward. As he hit the ground, it felt like he was riding a pogo stick and bounced right back up again. He was pronking! It was a joyful little motion that gobbled up distance easily, allowing him to cross towards Sugarcube Corner rapidly. As it came into view, he got an idea. How did Pinkie slip from place to place? She made it look so easy. He stopped right in front of a barrel and sidestepped behind it, imagining the inside of Sugarcube Corner as he did so. He emerged behind the counter, the smell of baked goods filling his nose. "Pinkie, there you are," came the maternal voice of Missus Cake. "We were wondering if you had forgotten all about us. The twins are upstairs, in their room." She pointed upwards. "We'll be out until a little after sunset. You're ready?" He nodded his head, smiling at Missus Cake. She was round and a little older than many ponies, but that just made her a little special, in his eyes. She was a mom, and he would do his best for her. "Don't you worry, Pinkie is on the case!"