//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: A New Start // Story: Sapphire Scales: Sisters' Tales // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// The sun was shining brightly as Twilight and Saphira soared through the sky, flanked on either side by pegasus guards. Saphira raised her nose slightly into the oncoming headwind to take a deep breath. She had caught whiffs of the wind coming in from Ponyville from time to time in the past, but now the scent was full-bodied and easily distinguishable: apples and flowers, predominantly, though now that they were coming up on the town from above, she could also make out hints of livestock, wood smoke, and freshly-baked pastry. "The guards are hardly necessary, I could go faster if it was just you and me! They're just slowing us down!" Saphira grumbled, keeping her thoughts private between her and Twilight. The princess wanted to make sure we got here safely. If anything were to happen to us en-route, the school would be held accountable! Just bear with it. Twilight's hoof patted the top of her head. I hear Ponyville has its own weather team! Maybe we can introduce you when we go to check in, you could see if you can find somepony to go flying with! Saphira rolled her eyes, momentarily considering giving Twilight a toss, just to shake her up. "Don't patronize me. It's not like they could compare to flying with the Wonderbolts!" Well, at least it'll give you something to do while I gather evidence of Nightmare Moon's return at the library! Saphira twisted her neck around just enough to catch sight of Twilight. "You're still on that? Didn't the princess tell you not to worry about it?" Twilight gave Saphira a frustrated glare, but it ricocheted harmlessly off of the fact that Saphira didn't care. I HAVE to worry about it! The fate of Equestria could be at stake! Saphira sighed, turning back to face straight ahead again. "Whatever you say, Twilight. But don't expect me to do your work for you so you can go study early! The festival prep is YOUR responsibility, not mine!" A twinge of disappointment trickled through their connection, making Saphira turn angrily back around. "You WERE expecting me to do everything for you!" I- I was NOT! Twilight folded her front hooves and pointed her nose upwards in a haughty look. "You totally were!" I WAS NOT! "If you make me do all of this for you, I'm definitely telling the princess!" Going straight to Mom was the nuclear option in these arguments, but the Princess was only one step down from that. Saphira sometimes wondered which of the two Twilight was more worried about disappointing. "Okay, OKAY! I'LL DO IT!" Twilight shouted out loud, drawing the attention of both guards. She instantly seemed to realize her mistake, chuckling nervously and rubbing at the back of her head. Great! They're gonna think I'm crazy! "They were probably trained by Shining Armor, they already know that." Twilight's hoof slapped harmlessly at the back of her head. Oh, would you just cut it out?" Saphira simply chuckled. Truthfully, she would have kept up the teasing if she had a good follow-up, but Ponyville was finally coming into sight, which meant their attention would soon need to be focused on the task ahead. It was... quaint, compared to Canterlot. Most of the buildings were whitewashed with thatched roofing, which Saphira took note of. She was going to need to be careful, or the whole town could be up in flames before she knew it. From her bird's-eye view, she could see a central meeting hall, a windmill, and a small marketplace that stood out slightly from the rest of the town. Together, they swooped down towards Ponyville, coming to a landing on one of the wider main roads. Things weren't necessarily busy, per se, but there were a number of earth ponies around. In a matter of seconds, Saphira's presence had been noticed, and the reactions were... honestly, more subdued than she had expected. Most ponies seemed to find some excuse to run into the nearest building, others simply froze in place and stared at her with eyes the size of dinner plates. A select few had managed to keep their nerve, trying their best to go about their business while keeping her in the corner of their eye. Twilight clambered down from Saphira's back, nodding politely to the two guards. "Thank you, sirs!" The two guards puffed up with satisfaction at a job well-done before taking off again in the direction of Canterlot. "I don't suppose you have any intention of following Princess Celestia's most IMPORTANT instruction?" Saphira asked, raising an eyebrow. "'Make some friends?'" "Please, the fate of Equestria does NOT rely on me making friends!" Twilight declared, completely missing the point. "Ah, Miss Sparkle and Miss Saphira!" a gray-haired mare with a tan coat ran up to them, clearly in a hurry. Once she'd reached them, she was panting for breath and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. Once she'd taken a second to adjust her collar and her glasses, she drew back up to her full height and offered her hoof to Twilight. "The princess sent word ahead to let us know you were on your way!" That explains why there wasn't a panic when I arrived... Saphira thought to herself. Canterlot had gotten used to her presence over the years, and she took a small amount of pride in the fact that she had become something of a sought-after sight for tourists, but both she and Twilight had considered the possibility that another town like Ponyville might not be so... desensitized to the presence of a dragon. "Ah, wonderful!" Twilight took the offered hoof and gave it a single firm shake. "Then you must know we're here to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration!" With a glow of her horn, the checklist Celestia had given her floated out of her saddlebag and into the air. As she did, Saphira caught the mayor giving her an anxious look out of the corner of her eye. The moment they made eye contact, the earth pony instantly looked away again, clearly nervous about having been spotted. Saphira wasn't certain what she was so worried about, she wasn't even making any effort to put on a frightening expression. "First on the list is the catering services! According to my information, they're supposed to be provided by... Sweet Apple Acres?" "Yes!" The mayor seemed to brighten up at the mention. "Ponyville's very own orchard, producing some of the finest apples and apple products in all of Equestria!" "I see..." Twilight mused, giving Saphira a glance. Saphira's nose had wrinkled somewhat, and they both knew why. "Is there any place I could get something a bit more... hearty? Something more appropriate to a carnivore's appetite?" Saphira asked, leaning down to get closer to eye level. "It was a long flight from Canterlot and I find myself famished." A pallor fell over the mare's face as she obviously tried to restrain herself from retreating. Saphira had to admire her ability to keep her nerve under pressure, no matter how misplaced her worry may have been. Strengths of a lifetime politician, I suppose... "Y-Yes! The princess mentioned your- ah- diet. Ponyville has an animal care center that tends to all kinds of animals, but the rations of-" she swallowed nervously, "-meat... were delivered to in independent caretaker at the edge of town. Y-you should find her cottage if you just continue a short distance past the orchard!" "Thank you." Saphira did her best to smile while showing as few of her teeth as possible before turning back to Twilight. "Shall we each grab a bite to eat and reconvene at the next station?" Twilight eyed her checklist. "Well, the next item after catering is supposed to be weather management... You can probably handle that on your own, right?" Saphira raised an eyebrow. "I thought I told you I'm not going to do your work for you-" "I'm just dividing the work to who can do it best!" Twilight countered. "Come on, we can meet at the town hall and check the decorations together! Things will go twice as fast." Saphira sighed. She would have argued, but logic was on Twilight's side, which always made her irritatingly adamant. "Fine. But so help me, if you ditch me to go to the library early..." Twilight grinned and drew a quick X over her chest. "I'll be at the town hall, cross my heart! See ya!" With a grin hiding just the slightest hint of mania, Twilight took off in the direction of the orchard. Twilight had taken the princess's checklist with her, but luckily Saphira didn't need any help with knowing where to go to check on the weather: up. With one last polite nod to the mayor, Saphira took to the skies, once again enjoying a bird's eye view of the small town. Why Celestia had chosen this place, she had no idea. Apparently Ponyville had some significance as an exporter of artisan zap apple products, but that was about all that she could think of that gave the town much renown at all. The Summer Sun Celebration was obviously going to require absolutely clear skies, lest a stray cloud ruin the view of Celestia's sunrise for everyone... but the sky here was absolutely riddled with clouds. Tufts of cumulus had been scattered around, just left wherever had been convenient after the last rainshower once they were spent. It was messy, completely careless and without a scrap of organization. I guess small-town ponies might enjoy some randomness in their cloud cover... it COULD be a conscious choice, she mused. But not for the celebration. This isn't acceptable today. She arched her head from side to side, then executed a quick roll and flip to make sure she got a glimpse of the whole area above the town. Aside from a small multicolored blur in the distance, there were hardly any pegasi around, let alone anyone who seemed to be trying to clear the skies. Saphira considered her options. First choice: she could try to track down the pony who was supposed to be doing the work and give them a... friendly reminder. While she enjoyed the thought of getting to scare the horseapples out of the slacker, the fear she'd inspired just by LANDING in the town had given her more than her fill of weird looks for the day... which left her with the second option. If you want something done right... she thought to herself as she drew a deep breath. With a grin, she flew up to one of the clouds and reared back, then put on a show while you do it! In a plume of blue flames and a hiss of steam, Saphira vaporized the cloud completely. With a small pause to swallow and make sure she hadn't overtaxed her throat showing off, she glided over to the next of the clouds. This time, she used a bit less flame, but the cloud dissolved equally quickly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see ponies below stopping what they were doing to watch her. She snickered as she realized that she was probably the most exciting thing that this little farming town would ever see. She flew in a tight loop before moving on to the next cloud, thinking about what kind of flourish she could give the next cloud's demise. She was so preoccupied deciding on how to show off next, she didn't see the blue blur moving towards her at mach speed. "BACK OFF!" The angry cry was the only thing she heard before something struck her just under the chin. Her vision exploded into stars as she was knocked completely off-balance. She wasn't able to regain her bearings before the second blow, this one coming down as a kick just between the joints of her wings, causing the muscles to cramp and knocking her into a free-fall. With the initial shock wearing off, Saphira immediately realized that she was on the road to becoming the victim of a grave misunderstanding. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time that something like this had happened. "CUT IT OUT, I'M FRIENDLY!" she cried out mentally. She wriggled her body in the air, trying to work out the kink that the kick had driven into the muscles across her back. More than anything, her body wanted to give her wings a stretch, but she was already falling too fast to do that without too much wind resistance. In the back of her mind, she was counting off how long she had before she hit the ground. She moved one of her wing tips, using the resistance to roll until her back was facing the ground, letting her wrap her wings around her body, pulling those muscles across her back tight enough to finally relieve the cramp. With a groan, she flung her wings out from her body at full length. The skin-covered membranes threatened to painfully tear as she caught the full force of the wind to support her weight and cancel her fall. She could practically feel her claws brush through the thatching on one of the roofs as she pulled back up into the sky, only barely avoiding crashing as she ascended back into the sky. Her head was skill spinning slightly as she flew back up, finding herself climbing back up to the same height as a blue-coated pegasus with a multicolored mane. She seemed to be regarding Saphira with suspicion at first, but as she drew closer the mare's eyes widened. "Oh... my... gosh." Saphira craned her neck from side to side, trying to work out the kinks that the uppercut had left her with. Being able to "grumble" when speaking with telepathy was an art form, and one Saphira had mastered years ago. "I believe an APOLOGY is in order..." "You're... Saphira Sparkle..." the stranger whispered in what Saphira really only noted was NOT an apology. "Yes, and you are?" "You're... the dragon who flies with the Wonderbolts!" The pony rushed up to her with blinding speed, eyes wide and filled with glee. "Holy cow, I'm a HUUUGE fan!" "Is that supposed to make me forget the fact you just tried to KNOCK ME OUT OF THE SKY?" Saphira roared, snapping at the pony and coming up just inches short of biting her nose off. "You could've killed me!" "Oh- OH." The pony finally seemed to realize her mistake. "Oh my gosh, I'm SO sorry! I thought you were attacking the town! Ponyville's on the path for the dragon migration, so we try to stay ready for anything, and- and-" she stammered as she seemed to run out of words before finally just settling on bowing her head. "I'm SO SORRY! It was a genuine mistake, I PROMISE!" Saphira's lips parted, giving a full view of her many, MANY sharp teeth. "If I was attacking the town, don't you think I'd aim a little LOWER than torching the clouds the lackadaisical weather ponies around here forgot to clear out? Use your HEAD you little-" just as she felt her temper was about to run away with her, Saphira bit her metaphorical tongue. This pony had made a mistake, but it WAS a genuinely well-intentioned one, and no one had actually gotten hurt in the end. Furthermore, she was CLEARLY a Wonderbolts fan, and Spitfire would never forgive her if she found out she'd bitten a fan's head off, literally OR verbally. She took a deep breath, steadying herself and letting the anger dissipate. "Just... think a little next time." She took a moment to rub at the bruised spot between her wings with the tip of her tail. With that, she began to slowly glide her way towards the next cloud. "I guess it's not THAT bad compared to the time Spitfire had the same mix-up in Canterlot..." "No... WAY! You know Spitfire? Like, personally?" The mare seemed to have instantly and conveniently forgotten all about being remorseful. "What's she like? How fast is she? Can you help me get a chance to show her my skills?" Saphira gathered up her flames into a sparkling blue fireball, which she tossed lazily through the cloud. She relished in the satisfaction of watching it burn up from the center outwards. "She's a stick in the mud on the training field and a pugnacious speedster off of it, faster than me and that's all I've ever cared about, and NO, I'm not a recruiter." "Hm... faster than YOU, huh?" The multicolored mare floated out in front of her, flying backwards to avoid causing them to crash. "So... wanna race?" Saphira narrowed her eyes. "You know, I might actually have said yes, except I have to make sure the skies are clear because the weather team decided not to show up today and SOMEPONY decided to kick me and give me the mother of all cramps a couple minutes ago!" "Oh... uh... hold on." In a blur of motion, the blue pegasus took off at an all-out sprint, racing across the afternoon sky and pulverizing the clouds with what looked like almost no effort. In a matter of seconds, she had completely cleared away all signs of the scattered weather leftovers. "Sorry about that! I was going to clear those out as soon as I was finished with practicing my tricks for today! I'd never leave Ponyville hanging!" She extended a friendly hoof. "The name's Rainbow Dash, pleased to meetcha! Now that that's taken care of, I can show you the spot I go to ice down most days, it should help with that soreness!" Saphira blinked. Even for a gifted pegasus like Spitfire, clearing out all of those clouds was akin to flying sprints up and down the stadium field, and this "Rainbow Dash" had just completed it in what couldn't have been more than ten seconds flat. Suddenly, the impact behind her blows made a LOT more sense, this pony was fast with a capital "FAST." "As much as I'd like to, I'm here with my sister-" she caught a glimmer of excitement in Rainbow Dash's eye. "My UNICORN sister... to make sure all the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration are finished. If we've got time later tonight, I'd love to, but for now I've got to fly out to meet some animal caretaker on the edge of town so I can get the meat for my meals while I'm here." "Wait, do you mean FLUTTERSHY?" Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof against her chin. "Well, she's not home, she's handling the music, if I remember right. She's got a whole flock of songbirds rehearsing in the park! Also..." she looked Saphira up and down with a critical eye. "She's practically scared of her own shadow. I'm pretty sure she'd have a heart attack if you just dropped in on her!" Saphira groaned, making a mental note to give whoever sent her food shipment from Canterlot a good roasting when she got back home. What was the point of sending meat over here if they sent it to a pony she'd never be able to get it from? "Don't worry, I can go talk to her for ya, we go WAY back!" Rainbow waved off her dissatisfaction with a smile. "For now, why don't I show you around? Ponyville's MY turf, and I bet with my help, you can get through that to-do list at least twenty percent faster! It's the least I owe ya after kicking your butt." Saphira glanced back down at the little town, suddenly realizing that without Twilight or any of the royal guards, the earlier mix-up was likely going to happen again if she tried walking around on her own. "You didn't kick my butt, you SUCKER-PUNCHED me." She cast a sideways glare at Rainbow, causing her to flinch back slightly and give a nervous chuckle. "But I guess having a guide wouldn't hurt." Rainbow pumped her hoof with glee. "YES! Okay, so first place you GOTTA go when you come to Ponyville is Sugarcube Corner! Come on, this way!" As Saphira followed her enthusiastic new acquaintance, she couldn't help but wonder how Twilight was doing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Arn'cha gonna stay for brunch?" the little bow-wearing filly asked, her eyes wide and tender with the potential for heart-wrenching disappointment. Deep inside, Twilight asked herself if she really had so little soul as to mercilessly inflict that pain in the pursuit of efficiency. Well, Saphira wasn't here to call her heartless, so... "Sorry, but we have an awful lot to... do..." she was almost cut off by the massive chorus of disappointed groans as she realized that she seemed to be disappointing the ENTIRE CLAN of ponies who had come out to meet her. "...fine." Twilight sighed as she internally grieved for the time she was sacrificing on the altar of social convention. Still... it was just brunch, right? She'd just grab a quick bite and go to meet Saphira at the town hall. She'd taste test one, maybe two items, max.