//------------------------------// // Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 5 // Story: Ponyville's Tiny Librarian // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian - Chapter 11 Cadence's Vacation - Part 5 - Dash and Aerial Exercise “I admit, while work on the farm was invigorating and Applejack’s family was very welcoming, meeting with Rarity was much more memorable,” Cadence said as she flew lazily towards Rainbow Dash’s house, a tinier-than-usual unicorn perched next to her left ear. “Making such an intricate model of Ponyville and then creating those wonderful sets of armor for Spike and Applejack, she’s clearly very passionate about her work. I’m quite envious of her drive. To be honest, all your friends seem to be masters at their jobs.” “They sure are, but why do you envy Rarity?” Twilight asked, speaking into her friend’s ear. “You’ve worked on likely hundreds of different jobs and mastered many different skills and spells, like when you restored all the damage to the tiny Ponyville.” Cadence’s ear twitched, and she carefully reached up with a hoof to scratch at an itch as Twilight moved out of the way and sat next to the large horn. “Twilight,” she murmured. “I may be adept at hundreds of different fields of work, but the only things I’ve mastered are illusions and spells related to emotions. Besides, I was never passionate about anything I’ve done. I just did them to pass the time and be useful to society.” Well, there was one work I loved to do… She dipped her head and breathed out a melancholic sigh, forcing Twilight to hold her horn in order not to fall off. But that was in the past, and it’ll never come back. “Awww…” Twilight returned to her spot behind her friend’s ear, fiddling with her hooves. “So foalsitting me… was that also just to pass time?” Cadence bit her bottom lip at her choice of words. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her friend’s feelings. Spending time with Twilight was… the most excitement and fun I’ve had in centuries. She is like a daughter to me… does that count as being passionate about foalsitting? What should I tell her? Cadence thought as she desperately searched for the right words to answer. After a moment of thinking, she took a deep breath and spoke, "No, Twilight. That job was anything but ordinary. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I wasn't happy for a long time because of all the death and loss I had seen, but meeting you has changed that. You opened my heart again, you tiny unicorn, and I will never forget that feeling." Twilight cheered up in an instant as she grabbed tip of Cadence’s ear in a tight hug, pressing her cheek against it. “Thank you!” “You’re welcome,” Cadence responded, ignoring the return of the itching on her ear. “Still, it’s a pity that Pinkie Pie wasn’t at Sugarcube Corner. It may sound surprising, but I really missed her random and energetic personality.” She smiled warmly as she thought back. “The welcome party for Luna, the cake-eating competition, all her puns during our adventures, and even when she used me to shoot down all those Diamond Dogs. I was really looking forward to bonding with her.” Twilight pouted, her ears drooping. She released her friend's ear and stroked it gently, which only caused it to flick at her. “I’m sorry, but look on the bright side. Pinkie and Steelie now have the vacations they so much deserve. I’m sure they’re having a great time.” “Are you sure it’s safe for us to camp here?” Steel Blade asked, raising an eyebrow as Pinkie set up a tent near the entrance of the cave where they had encountered the Diamond Dogs. “Of course it is! We're near a safe zone, no random encounters here,” Pinkie said before rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Unless we follow the rules where sleeping near an enemy patrol area has a certain chance for us to be ambushed if we use the rest option.” “Pinkie, this isn’t exactly an Ogres and Oubliettes campaign,” Steel Blade stated, frowning. Pinkie looked up at the pegasus guard, who was covered in bruises and sweat from climbing during a harsh training montage, before turning her attention towards another party member. “Thanks for coming with us, Vinyl Scratch! And thanks for providing the background music and training montage soundtrack for Steelie.” The unicorn fixed her purple glasses and smiled at her. “No sweat! Whenever you need an epic soundtrack, DJ-pon3 is the pony for the job.” Steel Blade looked at the oversized speaker and frowned. “Still, did I really have to carry that thing all the way up here just to have musical accompaniment?” Vinyl smirked and waved her foreleg dismissively. “Nah, I have smaller and more mobile equipment that could provide the music.” Steel Blade’s eye twitched. “Then what is it and why I was carrying this giant thing all the way here?” “Oh that, it’s nothing special,” Vinyl said calmly before beaming with excitement as she pressed a big red button. “It is just my ‘Soundwave Blaster!’” Before Steel Blade could respond, a loud noise pushed him into the wall, suddenly thankful that they were not near the avalanche area. “It was meant for large parties, but Pinkie came up with a few cool ideas how to weaponize it, something about keeping monsters from ruining her parties. We also had a lot of fun coming up with a cool name.” She looked at the sky, a wistful smile on her lips. “Loud-noise directional-vibration speaker and Timberwolf Repellant was way too long, Bass Cannon was better, but after some brainstorming, we decided that Soundwave Blaster was the coolest one.” She lowered her head and gently patted the device. “I just finished upgrading this baby and wanted to test it out, but my roommate complained that it’s too loud and blablabla like that, can you believe it?” The guard shook his head, hardly hearing anything with bumping sound in his ears. “Could you repeat that?!” “I said, I wanted to test my SOUNDWAVE BLASTER prototype without Octy complaining, and then Pinkie showed up and asked me to provide music for some crazy adventure, and boom, here I am!" Pinkie nodded. “Yup! She not only provides music, but is also a party member, bard class. She can confuse our enemies and use sound-based attacks. Isn’t that awesome?!” Steel Blade put his hoof on his head. “How did I get myself into this mess?” “How could you forget already, silly? You felt useless compared to a pony you really, really like and her friends as they—with me included—became national heroines. Not wanting to stay in the background and be overshadowed, you asked me to help you, and so we set out for an epic adventure filled with random encounters, character development, and treasure hunting so you can keep up with a mare who can beat you in everything while not even reaching up to your knee.” “Hey, I like her, but I think you’re exaggerating a little on just how much.” The stallion guard rolled his eyes. “And I was being rhetorical.” “And I gave you a rhetorical answer,” Pinkie responded with a large smile. Chuckling. Steel Blade facehooved and murmured, “Sweet Celestia, I traded Overwatch for this.” “I am sure they’re becoming the best of friends!” Twilight added cheerfully before she furrowed her brow.  “Wait a moment. She used you for magical rapid-fire?” Cadence sighed again. “I hope I can go on another adventure with Pinkie one day. After millennium of traveling all over Equestria, not much can surprise me anymore. I may not know your friend too well, but I get the feeling that she would do something unexpected every so often.” “That’s Pinkie Pie for you,” Twilight responded, distracted by the soft wind of their flight passing through her mane and tail. “Cadence!” The alicorn halted abruptly as Twilight was launched from her ear by her sudden startled reaction. She bit her lip, quickly catching the little mare with her magic and giving her a sheepish smile. Both mares turned toward the source of the familiar voice, quickly recognizing the approaching pegasus. “Hello Rainbow Dash! Such a coincidence to meet you here,” Cadence responded as she waved at the pegasus, her wings flapping slowly. “We were on the way to your house.” “We?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew closer, catching sight of the tiny pony still surrounded by a blue aura. “Twilight?” “That’s me!” “You look… smaller than usual…” Dash said as she moved her hoof beside the levitated Twilight. Usually if she stepped on the tiny mare, her hoof wouldn’t cover her entire body, but now it could with ease. Cadence chuckled. “After Rarity introduced us to her tiny model of Ponyville, Twilight tricked me into shrinking her to the smallest size possible at her current level of power.” Twilight turned to the alicorn and rubbed her neck. “S-sorry!” Dash crossed her forelegs and said, “Model of Ponyville… I hadn’t thought of that. Neat.” A smug grin appeared on her face. “So, are you going to stay this small from now on? That’s going to be hard to get used to.” Twilight shook her head. “Not for long!” The pegasus tilted her head to the side in confusion while Cadence rolled her eyes and said, “With me around, she has been changing her size for days. I’m surprised how quickly her reserves are replenishing considering how much magic she spends fueling the shrinking spell.” Twilight puffed her chest pridefully. “I have been enduring power surges for years and pushing my limits almost every day. If anything, it shouldn’t be a surprise I regenerate magic so quickly.” She tapped her hooves together and added thoughtfully, “Plus, my magic recovers faster at night thanks to Luna’s blessing.” “Luna’s blessing, how could I forget?” Cadence added with a facehoof as she thought, No wonder she succeeds where I fail. Unicorn or not, she has an additional regeneration source. I doubt Auntie Luna’s blessing would work on me though. “Cool,” Dash said before looking at Cadence. “Not to mention you have an all-powerful flank-kicking alicorn on your side. There’s nothing you cannot do together.” The trio of mares laughed before Dash crossed her forelegs again and looked at the tiny pony. “So, why did you want to meet me? And what’s up with that size-changing business?” With the help of a brief teleport, Twilight freed herself from Cadence’s levitation and appeared on Dash’s muzzle, now finding so much more space to sit on. “Two reasons. First, I wanted my new friends to bond with my former foalsitter and friend from Canterlot, and second, I was thinking I could practice controlling my strength and magic at bigger sizes.” Dash nodded. “Sounds cool,” she said as she flew next to Cadence and placed a foreleg around her neck, ignoring the fact that Twilight was forced to anchor herself tightly on Dash’s nose to prevent herself from being thrown off. “You saved our flanks from the dragon and got buried under a rain of boulders for your friend’s safety. You’re totally okay in my book.” She let go of Cadence and gasped, placing her forehooves on her cheeks. “That’s it. I can teach you all I know about flying!” She beat her chest with a hoof and smiled proudly. “I mastered lots of cool stunts and we can have so much fun.” Rainbow Dash looked at the little mare and added, “And you can both train your pegasus magic as well as self control if you increase your size.” She pointed at an approaching griffon, who was flying towards them at full speed. “Also, on a side note, I talked with Gilda, and she wants to practice fighting with both of you. It’s the perfect opportunity.” “‘Sup guys—” Gilda stopped as she came closer, narrowing her eyes at Dash’s muzzle and the pony sitting on it, who was now standing on her back hooves and waving at her. The griffon immediately pulled her head back and covered her beak with both of her talons. “Don’t you even think about sneaking into my stomach again at that size. I won’t let my guard down this time.” Twilight giggled. “You won’t need to worry about that for now, but well… could I ask you to get somepony for me really quickly?” Gilda shot her a deadpan look. “Remind me, how did I end up in your talons... again?” Overwatch asked in annoyance as she tried to look anywhere but down at the ground hundreds of meters away. “You’re a special delivery ordered by your boss,” Gilda said. Overwatch let out a deep sigh. “Celestia, I should have asked for more respect when I was younger,” she grumbled, crossing her forelegs. “Maybe then I wouldn’t end up being treated like baggage after being one of the best marksmares in the Guard.” “I couldn’t care less if you were the princess herself. You did pretty good against the Ursa Minor and the dragon and you got my respect, but don’t expect chariot service from me. I’m a griffon, not a taxi,” Gilda said with a snort. Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Besides. With Steelie gone, Twilight was worried you might be a little bored, unless you would prefer the company of books instead.” The guard tapped her chin thoughtfully. I spent a dangerously high amount of magic during our battle against the dragon, and with Steelie gone, I lost my main source of magic… I need to consider my choices carefully. Overwatch cleared her throat with a cough and asked, “So, what’s Twilight up to this time? Usually she’s pushing herself too hard or biting off more than she can chew, but ever since Cadence’s arrival, she’s done the exact opposite.” “Dash said she was taking Cadence and Twilight to a canyon named Ghastly something…” Gilda said as she scratched her chin with her talons. “Watch it, you almost dropped me… again!” After pressing both of her hind legs against both sides of Overwatch’s belly, the griffon continued, “Twilight is practicing how to not blow up stuff up at her full size, and Dash is giving Cadence some flying lessons. In return, the alicorn was gonna share some of the fighting skills she learned from Shining.” She chuckled. “Anyway, as a sniper or whatever you called yourself, you can contribute as well.” “Hmn…” Overwatch closed her eyes and thought, Wasting my low reserves just to show off my abilities wouldn’t be wise… but on the other hoof, with Twilight at her full size, if I can get some positive emotions from her, I should be fine, and just having Cadence in the general vicinity would be a great boon too. The guard huffed and muttered under her breath, “Lucky Fluttershy, hogging all the nice, juicy emotions from Cadence when I need them most.” “Speak up. You’re mumbling,” Gilda said. “N-nothing. I‘m looking forward to some time in the field. The fight against the dragon proved that I’m a bit rusty.” Suddenly her ears perked up as a grin spread across her face. “Wait a moment, you said that Dash was giving Cadence flying lessons?” “Nice to see your memory isn’t filled with holes after all.” “I’m not that old yet,” Overwatch said with a pout. “If I remember correctly, Rainbow Dash is trying to become a Wonderbolt, right?” “Bingo! Keep it up and you may just get a cookie,” the griffon said before a loud burst of laughter reached her ears. She looked down at her passenger and asked, “What’s so funny?” Placing a hoof on her mouth, Overwatch took a moment to restrain her laughter and said, “Sorry, it’s just funny that Dash would give Cadence flying lessons of all ponies.” “And what’s wrong with sharpening an alicorn’s flying abilities? They have those large wings after all, so they should at least make use of them.” “Oh, nothing’s wrong with that. It’s just that Dash is trying to teach flying skills to a retired Wonderbolt.” Gilda’s ears perked up as she stopped in mid-air and looked down. “What are you talking about?” Overwatch’s expression snorted with a smug expression. “I’m sure Cadence already told you that she took a ton of different jobs over the centuries while disguised?” Noticing a firm nod and growing curiosity, she added, “It just so happens that five centuries ago, she joined the ‘Bolts’ under the persona of a pegasus named Braveheart.” The griffon pressed her beak against the guard’s muzzle. “Are you serious?” “Of course I am. Officially, she died in action while saving two of her wingmates from being devoured by an enraged mutated chimera during a mission in the badlands.” Both griffon and the guard laughed again before Gilda said, “I can’t wait to see Dash’s face when she hears this.” “Hey, Twilight!” Overwatch waved her hoof at the no-longer-tiny mare as she was set down on an upper part of the canyon. Twilight would have gladly returned the gesture if not for the fact that she stood upon a hind leg, balancing a round stone half the size of a pony’s head on her right rear hoof. Two similar stones were also balanced on the unicorn’s forehooves, and one last rock was balanced on her muzzle, forcing the battle-mage to look up motionlessly. Twilight’s horn was lit in a very dim aura as several more small stones levitated in a circle above her head. With a smirk, Gilda approached and moved a primary feather towards the unicorn's muzzle. “Y… you, w-wouldn’t… dare,” Twilight said slowly, doing her best to not drop the stone from her muzzle as she looked at the griffon out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, I would,” Gilda responded as she began to tickle Twilight with her wing, causing the unicorn to sweat and tremble a little, barely keeping the balanced objects from falling. “S-stop it... “ “Make me,” Gilda challenged. The levitating stones suddenly changed direction. Two of them left their orbit, swinging down towards the griffon’s legs and taking them out from under her with a swift push. The others followed after, and before Gilda could get more than a yelp out, she was pinned to the ground with stones on her wings and beak. Overwatch approached the griffon, shaking her head with a long sigh. “Alright, Twilight, let’s stop bullying the poor peasants.” “‘Sup guys!” Dash called as she landed in front of the group, quickly bursting into laughter at Gilda’s expense. Twilight dropped the rest of the stones and got back to her hooves as she rubbed the strained parts of her body, freeing Gilda from her trap. “Now, with Overwatch here, we can perform some more difficult exercises. Hitting a target with a long range attack requires a lot of precision, and I would really like to practice that.” She looked at Dash and tilted her head to the side. “Where’s Cadence?” “I’m… here…” the alicorn responded, breathing heavily with her horn glowing as she flew out from inside the canyon, barely reaching the top even with the help of her rapidly flapping wings. With a loud thump, she landed on the ground, cracking the stone beneath her hooves from the impact. Her legs bent under the pressure and trembled. Overwatch raised an eyebrow and approached the sweating alicorn, her attention turning to the several large stones attached to Cadence’s legs, back, and wings. She raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. “Did you really strap a ton of rock to Cadence and make her fly? Seriously? She’s gotta be at least three times her weight here.” “A-actually…” Cadence started as she reasserted herself, “I feel at least five times heavier.” Rainbow Dash puffed her chest and spread her wings presentably. “It’s important to keep one’s wings in good shape. Many pegasi can pull chariots with cargo several times their weight, and Twilight lifts stuff fifty times her size on a daily basis.” Twilight blinked. “Did you actually guess that amount? My current record actually is fifty times my own weight, though I do have help from my protection spell and I can’t really take a step while lifting it.” “I can already say that pulling a weight is way easier than having the same weight tied to one’s wings,” Cadence remarked as she wiped the sweat from her forehead for the umpteenth time today. “Are you trying to cast a spell, Cadence?” Overwatch asked as she pointed at the still glowing horn. The alicorn blinked. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she responded before gritting her teeth as the aura around her horn increased in size. Everypony stared in shock when several boulders levitated from inside the canyon and dropped to the ground. Even Twilight at her normal size could feel the earth tremble under her hooves from the impact. Overwatch looked at Dash once again and said, “You tied weights to Cadence’s legs, back, and wings, and told her to levitate around ten tons of rocks while flying?” Noticing a nod, she asked, “Is there anything else you did to increase the difficulty? I am all ears.” Dash rubbed her foreleg. “Well… I kind of asked her to fly by a huge number of spike-covered vines, face a strong wind while passing a tunnel, and evade being eaten by Quarray Eels.” The alicorn frowned, and, after a closer look, the group could see bruises and cut-marks all over her body. Cadence said, “Trying to avoid those giant monsters while feeling one and a half tons pulling me down, I was lucky that those monsters didn’t find the stones attached to me tasty, or else I would have needed to teleport from the inside of their stomachs.” She sighed before adding in a depressed tone. “I pity anyone who you will force to fly by this canyon.” Gilda and the guard looked at each other and smirked. The griffon approached Dash and placed foreleg around her neck. “I see you’re giving our alicorn friend the exercise of a lifetime.” Dash nodded. “I’m just trying to make her more awesome. If she will keep following my training regime, then in a few years she may even become Wonderbolt material.” Gilda barely contained her laughter before adding, “Wonderbolt material, you say.” Cadence noticed a smug look on the guard and griffon’s faces, and took a step back, already feeling where this was going. She looked at Overwatch and growled, “This was meant to stay between us, how could you?” “Oh come on, Cady, surely you don’t want to have any harmless secrets kept from your friends,” Overwatch said innocently. “Secrets?” Dash said as Twilight approached and exposed her ears. “Oh yes. You see, Dash… Cadence already was a Wonderbolt.” Dash’s pupils shrunk. “Y-you're kidding right.” She laughed awkwardly. “G-good one.” “It wasn’t a joke,” Overwatch added, causing the alicorn to glare daggers at her. “Cadence was a Wonderbolt five centuries ago. Officially she died while protecting her wingmates.” “Died, how?” Twilight asked curiously. “Cadence more than once told me that she often faked her death, but what reason would she have?” Overwatch pointed at the alicorn who was approaching with firm steps, stone cracking under her hooves. “It’s hard to explain why you’re alive when you've been attacked and poisoned by a Chimera. Only alicorns and the most tough earth ponies can survive that, and Cadence was disguised as a pegasus.” The alicorn bent her hooves and was about to jump at Overwatch, ready to slam her with the help of the stones still tied to her body. The frustration, after all she was put through, was waiting to be unloaded in a sweet bodyslam of vengeance, when suddenly Dash got in the way and stared with stars in her eyes. "Y-you. Were. A. Wonderbolt?!" cried Dash, her eyes growing bigger and bigger as she got closer to Cadence's face. "Um, yes?" the alicorn answered nervously, taking a step back. "Eeee!" squared Dash, pressing her cheeks together. "I can't believe I'm friends with one of the Wonderbolts! This is so cool! You have to teach me your tricks! Your history! All the cool adventures you went on! Maybe you can even recommend me to Spitfire and... and..." Dash, blushing, put her hooves between her legs. "I have to pee really badly, this is just too much excitement for me to handle!" With that said, they watched her zoom out into the woods, leaving them stunned in a slightly awkward silence. Gilda chuckled before elbowing the alicorn. "Looks like you’ve got yourself a fangirl." Cadence looked at the ground and sighed. “I was a Wonderbolt five hundred years ago. I don’t remember too many stunts, and I’m nowhere near as good a flier as I was before.” Gilda turned to the side and looked at Cadence from the corner of her eye as she rubbed her chest. “You thought that flying with increased weight through a dangerous canyon was a tiresome training regime, just wait for what Dash will have in store for you when she finds out how rusty you’ve become.” “B-but… you won’t tell her,” Cadence asked with pleading eyes. “Oh, I will. If you ponies are my team now, then I prefer you to be in the best shape possible,” Gilda responded before flying towards the forest where she saw Dash flying to moment ago. “What did I do to deserve this?” Cadence asked plaintively as her ears and wings drooped, receiving a look of pity from Twilight, who placed a forehoof on the alicorn’s shoulder. Overwatch’s quiet laughter stopped the moment she felt a very specific emotion coming from Cadence: fear. That’s odd. I hadn’t felt this emotion ever since the dragon incident… What can possibly trouble her now? “Hey Overwatch,” Twilight said, waking up the guard from her thoughts. “Since I am at my full size, and this canyon and area is spacious enough to keep my anxiety in check, can you teach me the art of sniping?” Overwatch looked between Cadence and Twilight as she thought. Getting magic reserves from Twilight takes priority. I will ask Cadence what’s wrong another time. She shot her boss a smile and said, “Sure.”