Oblivion opened his eyes and he could see Blue Blood and Soarin waiting for them as he summoned Sasa to his side. The feline looked happily to the other two stallions and she padded up to them to greet them. Oblivion joined her and each of them hoof bumped in greeting.
“How are you doing Soarin?” She asked.
“I’m doing better. Blue has been asking for my help in the castle to get me away from the Wonderbolts so it has been easier lately to handle being around them when I know he’s got my back.” Soarin said to her and he smiled as he spoke to her.
“Well done Blue Blood.” She praised and nuzzled the Prince.
Blue scuffed a hoof on the ground and looked at the pair of them. “It won’t work forever. I’m still going through the records and contracts looking for an out that does not involve ruining his chances for outside employment. So far I have come up empty.”
“Give it time,” Oblivion commented as the group of them moved out of the menagerie. “How have you been doing otherwise?”
“Its…I’m not sure how to describe it,” Soarin admitted. “It’s been odd lately though. It’s as if everypony is on edge or something like that. But for the most part, it’s the same as usual. Perform, train, perform, train, rinse repeat.”
They reached Joes minutes later and all of them filed inside and took their usual space. Sasa sat down beside the table and her aqua eyes fell on the Black Unicorn.
“How is he holding up Chosen?”
“It has not gotten worse but it has not improved since last we saw him either.” He replied as he looked at the Pegasus.
Joe greeted each of them by name and vanished into the back of the shop as he gathered their orders. Soarin sat across from the Black Unicorn and Blue took up the place in the center. Sasa purred loudly from her place as Joe brought out their drinks.
“Here ya go boys,” Joe said to them as he set the coffee in front of each of them.
The brown Unicorn walked away from them and Oblivion sipped his coffee as the group settled into their places.
“How is the search for a loophole going Blue?” Sasa asked.
Blue shook his head and his feature fell slightly. “It’s been a process. I have to wade through the document requests and wait for them to release them to me. So far I have gotten ahold of his contract and am cross-referencing it with others that I have. It’s a…very long process. But I will find a way.”
Soarin looked apologetic and he leaned his head into his hooves for several seconds. “I help when I can and answer any questions he has but I don’t think I’m much help, to be honest.”
“You are. I misunderstood several things and you explained to them to me so you have been quite helpful. Otherwise, I would have been chasing my tail several times. Oblivion can support you from the spirit level and I will tend to the paperwork side of it.” Blue assured him.
Soarin looked at the table before he gave a small smile and nodded at the Prince. “Thank you again.”
Blue waved a hoof at the Pegasus as Joe brought out their food and set it in front of each of them. The Unicorn left them to their conversation and retreated behind the counter and his kitchen. Oblivions magic picked up one of his donuts and it twirled in his magic for several seconds as he thought over ways to get around the issues they were finding with Soarin’s status. He looked at the Pegasus for a second as an idea came to him.
“I have a question.” He voiced suddenly and both stallions looked back at him as he leaned back into the booth. “Is there a clause or a section of the contract that says what his status is?”
Blue and Soarin looked at each other and then back to the Black Unicorn. “What do you mean?” Soarin asked in reply.
Oblivion set his donut down and considered how to explain what he was thinking. “I have a group of guards that are assigned to me for any contracts that I take. They are at my disposal at any time that I have need of them. Is there anything in your contract that says where you are placed at all times?”
Blue looked uncertain for several seconds before his eyes widened as he understood what the Witcher was talking about. “Oh, you clever Unicorn you.”
Soarin looked at both of them for several seconds before he looked at Oblivion. “I have heard of them through the grapevine.”
“How?” Blue asked as he looked at Soarin. “They are two very separate groups and the branches don’t really talk to each other in terms of teams.”
“I heard about it when Spitfire and the others mentioned it. They were pretty angry about it.”
“Why? It has nothing to do with them.” Oblivion replied.
“That’s the thing,” Soarin said as he drank his coffee. “The Wonderbolts are considered the front line of the military and instead of the Wonderbolts being brought in a group of random guards were given the position,” Soarin explained.
“Oh. So the upper-tier Wonderbolts got their feathers ruffled about being ignored?” Blue added as he bit into his food.
“Exactly,” Soarin replied.
Oblivion managed not to roll his eyes as a small sigh escaped him. “There was not really any forethought about it. I did not choose them personally, I believe each of them volunteered.”
“That might be true but it still sent an ugly wave through the upper level of the Wonderbolts,” Soarin commented as he chewed the last of one of his donuts. “We were cut out of the loop and the group you now command was made without consulting us.”
Oblivion looked up at the ceiling as Sasa chuckled and rubbed her forehead against Soarin’s foreleg. Blue chuckled and he looked at Soarin as a smile went over his mouth.
“They earned their place at his command. They earned the placement when they needed to be trained by him and according to what I heard the training would have been enough to bury a group of them. I’m not sure the Wonderbolts would have been able to withstand it.”
Soarin looked offended for a second before he shrugged and leaned back in his seat. Oblivion nodded in agreement with the Prices assessment and he sipped his coffee before he spoke.
“I trained them out of necessity. Originally they were there to simply tend to camp and do small tasks that I needed. The situation changed and they were molded into what they are now.” Oblivion explained.
Soarin shrugged and looked at them. “I know. But that does not change that the upper Wonderbolts were pretty pissed about them.”
“What was the point of your question, Oblivion? We got sidetracked.” Blue asked suddenly. “If I recall you were wondering about where he is stationed?” Blue said with a mischievous look in his eyes.
“I am wondering if we can have a Wonderbolt assigned to my group. It would assuage any issues with them as well as allow me to call on him as well.” Oblivion pointed out.
Soarin stared at him and Sasa purred as he finished speaking. “Very clever Chosen.” She praised and nudged his leg.
“While the monsters have not made an appearance since the last one was removed. I should still be able to call on him if I find evidence of one and that will pull you away from them. I have complete control of my team and can call on them whenever I choose. Your leaders would have to agree that I have command of you if the need arises.” Oblivion informed him.
Soarin stared at him as he spoke and he nodded quietly. “That would actually work really well I think. It would go a long way to silence the upper echelons and appease any anger. So you can call on them no matter the situation and the Princesses are okay with that?”
“They created the group that I command. It was chosen without my knowledge that I would have full command of them at any time.”
“How is that possible? The only way I can think of is if you were given a rank and file in the military and was able to use that to command them.” Soarin looked at him as Oblivion nodded. “You actually have a rank?”
“I was given the title of Captain and everything that comes with it, it is equal to Shining Armor.” Oblivion supplied.
Soarin’s eyes went wide as he stared at the Unicorn. “Did you ask for it?”
“No. I was not aware of it until later. It was given to me after I met Shining Armor and he and Luna agreed with the title and I was informed of it later.”
“Wow. I can think of a few Wonderbolts who would be furious with that. Normally one has to be in the military for quite a while to get that high in the chain of command. And all you had to do was beat a monster?”
“I beat Luna in combat first.”
Soarin stared and his mouth slowly opened and then closed as he processed what he had been told. “How in the hell did you beat her?”
“She asked me to spar with her and I ran her ragged in combat.”
“Oh. Okay, that makes sense.”
“I will speak with Luna and Celestia about it and I will let you know when I have any news for you.”
“I appreciate it,” Soarin said to him.
His hooves collided with the post that he was moving into place and Mac chuckled as the black Unicorn turned to look at the offending post.
“It still not in place?” Mac asked as he sat down.
“It’s off-center and it refuses to stay in place. I have braced it several times and it still falls.” Oblivion explained. “They need to be in place or the fence ends up out of place, correct?”
“Eeyup,” Mac replied and got to his hooves to help. “Not usin’ magic on it?”
“I am trying not to. If I cannot accomplish it with hooves alone then I will fall back on magic but not until then. Plus AJ asked me to avoid magic if possible so I am doing as I was asked.”
“Ah get it.”
Mac gripped the wire that was sitting off to the side and he waited as Oblivion moved the post into place and he strung the wire in place. Sasa stood up from her place on the ground and held out the hammer as his claws reached out and took it from her. His claws held tightly as he hammered the nails in place and Mac pulled the wire tight and he locked it in place. Both stallions backed up and oblivion snorted as the post tilted.
“Gods below.” Oblivion cursed.
“How many times ya put it together?”
“I prefer not to mention it,” Oblivion replied. “To hells with it.”
His horn lit up and the azure flame covered the post and the ones with it. He levitated each post and the wire pulled tightly as he placed each on into its post hole and drove them into the soil. Mac watched as the fence was made in seconds and he watched the Unicorn as the flames faded.
“Done.” He said with finality in his voice.
“Ah see that. Ah, won’t mention to AJ how ya used magic for all of it.”
Oblivion clenched his jaw and he looked sideways at the red pony. “At this point, I do not care if she finds out.”
Mac barked a loud laugh as he clapped the Unicorn on the shoulder. Sasa chuckled through their connection and she leaned against his hip for several seconds as his horn flashed and a scroll dropped into his magic. His magic unraveled it and he scanned the contents and his brow furrowed in response.
“Is AJ missing still?”
“Yeah. Said something about sending money soon but nothing about when she would be coming back.” Mac replied with a sniffle.
“Got it. Twilight says they found her but are having issues with her. I’ll see what I can do.”
His horn flared as he called out to the World Spirit to locate the exact location of the other Element bearers and his horn flashed with his azure magic as he teleported himself.
His eyes opened to find a small home in front of him and he saw the girls as they smiled at him as he summoned Sasa. The feline purred at the sight of the other Bearers and she trotted up to nuzzle Twilight. He walked over to join them and he looked around to find that Applejack was not with them.
“Did I misunderstand something in your letter about your finding her?” He questioned.
“No, we did find her,” Twilight assured him. “We were supposed to meet with her this morning and she would explain why she was not going back to Ponyville. But when we checked this morning she had vanished.”
“Again?”
“Yep.” The purple mare replied and she looked from him to the others and then her eyes fell on him once more.
“Gods.” He shook his head and began to look around them.
“Can you find her?” Fluttershy asked, her voice quiet.
He nodded and he reached out to the World Spirit and he asked it to guide his eyes as he searched for the missing mare. He found her and the World Spirit receded and he spun to lead them. They fell on his heels as he broke into a lope and his hooves carried him easily in the direction of the mare’s spirit. A minute passed and he could see her easily and Sasa broke away from them and moved to reach the mare first. A train station loomed ahead of him and he slowed as Sasa neared the mare.
“She looks terrified to see us.” Sasa related to him.
“What?”
“There she goes.” Sasa called back to him as the mare jumped for the ground.
He watched as she jumped into a stagecoach and it took off into the desert. His horn lit as he readied himself to summon it back to them. He paused as he realized that there were four more ponies’ attached to that coach and he was not sure about teleporting more than one pony.
“We need a coach,” Twilight shouted as they reached the train depot.
His horn lit once more and he made a basic coach for them. They jumped into it and rainbow and Fluttershy took to the traces and he jumped into the wagon with them as it took off in pursuit. He scanned the grounds in front of them and he looked at Fluttershy as she gasped and he looked ahead to find a rabbit in the way. His magic gripped the animal and he levitated it above them as they raced under it and he set it back down in place.
“Why in the God's name are we chasing her?” He asked twilight as they mare looked at him.
“Well, she refuses to come back and won’t tell us why. We asked her and she said she’d tell us and now she’s running away again.” Twilight explained.
He looked ahead and a growl escaped him as his horn lit and he levitated the stagecoach. His ears flicked as the stallions whinnied in surprise and they pulled up next to it. They stopped and he jumped out of the wagon as his magic faded and he glared as the mare made to jump and run once more.
“Do you really think I will be unable to catch you if you try to run again?” He deadpanned to her and she paused as she moved to jump and looked at him. “That’s what I thought. Now, what is going on?”
“It’s none o’ yer business.” She growled at him.
Oblivions horn lit and he picked her up off the coach and he moved her to the ground in front of them. “Since I am technically a family member that makes it my business.” He snorted back to her.
She stared and her eyes looked away from him and to the ground. She moved to get away from him and he reached out to grip her as his claws closed on the strap of her saddlebags. He planted his hooves and the strap ripped and was thrown off of her body and the contents were strewn across the ground. Oblivion dropped the strap and he scanned the ribbons that had been strewn across the ground as the mares all came up and surrounded the pair of them. He had needed to have the ribbon system explained to him by Mac and now he looked at them and a sigh pulled from him.
“Is this why you’re refusing to come back?” He said and his hoof pointed to the ribbons.
She nodded and he shook his head and his expression softened slightly as he reached forward to pull her head up to look at them. Twilight looked at him for several seconds before she looked at the ashamed mare.
“Am I missing something?” She asked the stallion.
“None of those are blue.” He informed her and the purple Unicorn looked at the ribbons and understanding went through her eyes.
“He’s right. Ah didn’t win.” AJ said, her face miserable as she spoke.
“I thought you were going to send back the money?” Rainbow asked her as she hovered.
“I was going to. That’s why Ah was workin’ for Miss Cherry Jubilee. Ah was gonna earn the money and send it home.” She explained.
Twilight gave a small laugh and she stepped over the ribbons and hugged the mare. “They don’t matter. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t win.” She said as she let go of the surprised mare.
“Do you truly think that it matters to everypony if you won any money or not? Is that all that matters?” Oblivion asked her.
Applejack shook her head after a delay of several seconds. “Ah guess yer right. It doesn’t matter. Ah’m worried about facin’ all the ponies back home.”
“It will be fine. They will be happy to see you home safe and it doesn’t matter that the ribbons aren’t blue ones. We are your friends and we don’t care if you win or lose.” Twilight said to her and the others joined her as they surrounded the mare.
Oblivion sighed and he looked at the stallions as they stared at him, their expressions uncertain and the black Unicorn shrugged and they looked at each other and chuckled.
“That was what she was scared of?” Sasa asked as she sat down next to him.
“Apparently.”