//------------------------------// // Chapter 101 - Adjusting // Story: A Pony Displaced: Homeward // by NoLongerSober //------------------------------// The faint light of morning twilight was drowned out by a thick fog that had blanketed Vanhoover as Storm Cloud was cautiously trotting through the park. Her ears stood at attention as her hooves clacked and klanked against the concrete path she trotted along. The sky blue pegasus felt as if an attack could come at any moment. Her feeling was proven right as she heard wingbeats rapidly approaching from behind. Storm Cloud was barely able to jump to the side as her flying attacker whizzed past and skidded over a nearby snow pile, sending up a flurry of white powder that made visibility even worse. “Right, it’s on.” Storm Cloud gritted her teeth and flared her wings. She carefully took a step forward when another attacker launched themselves out of the snowbank. Rather than dodging out of the way, Storm rose to her hindlegs, grabbed the attacker’s forelegs and spun to toss them back where they came from. To her surprise, the attacker held their grip and a bright purple light illuminated their head. The attacking unicorn fired a magical volley that Storm was barely able to avoid taking to the face, feeling the heat as it passed her head. Seeing that spinning wasn’t working, she gave a powerful flap of her wings to take the two of them into the air before somersaulting and slamming the unicorn into a snowbank. Before she could push herself back to her hooves, a flash of blue appeared at her side and she saw another unicorn with two swords in her aura about to slam into her sides. Storm rolled to her left to avoid the strike, seeing the sword wielding unicorn halt her attack before it could strike her fallen ally. The pegasus flared her wings and rushed towards the sword wielder when she heard a whistling in the wind. Swiftly falling to her belly, she saw an arrow cutting through the fog just above her head and landing in the snow from where the two unicorns rose to their hooves. Crap, crap, crap! Storm Cloud fought down the urge to swear as the two unicorns charged towards her and tried to strike her with a flurry of hoof and sword strikes. Despite her efforts to dodge their blows, their attacks forced her to back up towards a nearby tree as they drew closer. Storm Cloud tried to look for a break in their attacks where she could roll to the side, when she heard a creak from above. She didn’t even have a chance to look up before she felt the weight of someone landing on her back. The determined pegasus had planned to repeat her flip attack on the unicorn as she began to rise up, but her attacker wrapped their hindlegs tightly around her neck while their forelegs latched onto her flared wings. Before she could even blink, the one unicorn had her crossed blades pressed against her throat while the second unicorn’s horn flared with violet light. To make matters worse, she could hear the flap of wings coming from behind. Her speedy attacker had returned, but was approaching much more slowly, knowing Storm Cloud was trapped. “Urgh…” Storm Cloud grumbled, knowing there was no way she could win against the four. “Uncle.” “You honestly did better than I expected,” the sword wielder said as they pulled their wooden swords away and put them back in their scabbards. “As did you too, Punch.” “Thanks, Swift,” Fruity Punch replied as the legs binding Storm Cloud were released and their owner rolled off her back. “I think Barrier’s training’s really been doing wonders.” “And you're still a crack shot, Verdant,” Storm said as she turned to see the bow wielding stallion behind her, standing beside Hotstreak. “Surprised you’re not out of practice.” “I’ve been doing stuff like this almost daily before work,” Verdant replied as he held out a foreleg to the pegasus that she quickly shook. “I’ve actually grown pretty attached to archery, outside of guard work.” “And your reaction time’s even better than before the empire,” Hotstreak said before lightly jabbing Storm in the shoulder. “Heh. More like the hospital food and pizza’s made you put on a few pounds.” Storm chuckled as Hotstreak gave her shoulder a harder jab before joining in the laughs. “Either way, thanks for helping me practice. This’s really helping me get used to the new leg.” “Think nothing of it. I relish the chance for combat practice,” Swift said before she turned to Punch. “Now, let’s head off. We’ve got an early shift.” “No sweat,” Punch said before she and Swift started down the paved pathway that led out of the park. “Bye, everypony! See you later!” “And I think I’m gonna fly a few laps around town,” Hotstreak said as she flared her wings and took to the sky. “Got a few pizzas to burn off. Later, you two!” “Bye, Hotstreak! Be careful with the fog!” Verdant said as he collapsed his bow and stowed it away in his saddlebags. “So, wanna get some breakfast? I hear that Al makes some great scrambled eggs and orange juice,” Storm Cloud asked as she flapped her wings to take to the air while Verdant stepped onto the path.  “Maybe, but I promised Erica I’d swing by the community center to help her time laps in the pool,” Verdant replied as he pulled his foam-tipped arrow from the snowbank. “That’ll have to come first.” “Say, can I come with you? I’ve been thinking about taking up swimming. Never really got a chance to learn it, living up in the clouds for so long.” she asked as she flew only a few feet above the emerald earth pony. “Besides, I’ve been meaning to see what this griffin girlfriend of yours is like.” “I guess, but no challenging her to a fight,” Verdant replied as he stepped onto the street outside the park. “She’s not really a fan of fighting and she’s training hard to be in the Equestria games.” “No problem. Besides, you, Swift and Hotstreak give me enough of a workout already.” A chuckle accompanied her flying in a small loop above Verdant. After a few minutes of travel, the pair reached the community center where they spotted a pair of zebra mares loudly arguing. “I know you stole my damn danish, Bubble Butt! Just admit it already!” A green eyed zebra with a smooth and straight two-toned mane yelled in the face of a blue eyed mare with a wavy tail. “More like you can’t count and forgot you ate the damn thing already!” the second zebra shouted back before the pair growled at each other, looking ready to tear one another apart. “Good morning, Maua, Ziwa,” Verdant said as approached the door. The two zebras sighed before turning to face the earth pony. “Morning, Verdant,” the two said in synchronization before turning their attention back to one another. “Ziwa, I’ll be able to time you once Erica’s done,” Verdant said as he placed a hoof on the door handle and Storm landed beside him. “And Maua, you left your danish at Pretty Petals in the fridge. It still has that label you put on it.” A rosy tinge erupted on the smooth maned zebra and her eyes shrank to the size of gnats as a smirk appeared on the wavy-maned zebra’s muzzle. “Um… Sorry, Sis. I’ll be going,” Maua bashfully said before turning about and walking away, not seeing Ziwa sticking her tongue out at her. “Right, time to head in”, Verdant said as he pushed the door open for the mares. “After you.” The two mares started to head in, Ziwa leading the way as Storm Cloud stayed by Verdant’s side. “By the way, if you take swimming lessons here, Erica’s gonna be your teacher,” Verdant said as Ziwa took a turn towards the pool area. “Not a problem. I’m more concerned about foals pissing in the pool or something.” Storm Cloud’s response drew a chuckle from Verdant. When the two reached the pool area, Storm Cloud’s eyes fell upon the reddish-brown griffin as she stood upon her hindlegs. Her forelegs and talons were outstretched above her head and her wings spread far to the sides. However, what drew the pegasus’ attention more was a part of her that was uncovered by her tail. “Wow, I didn’t think a griffin could have such a great butt.” A snicker from Ziwa drew Storm’s attention away from Erica as Verdant also looked like he was holding back laughter. “You just said that out loud, Storm Cloud.” Verdant’s remark made Storm’s sky blue face quickly turn crimson as Erica stopped her stretching to look upon the blushing pegasus. “Oh… Um… Eh heh…” The embarrassed mare rubbed the back of her head with her wing. “Good thing I don’t know how to swim. Makes drowning myself a lot easier.” *** As Swift and Punch arrived at The Four D’s, she saw Toil ‘N Trouble putting on a hair net and approaching Drumstick in the kitchen. “I hope you’re ready to show us what you’re made of, Miss Toil. I expect the best from those that work as my chefs.” The plump pegasus said as the unicorn tossed a chef uniform into the air and teleported into it in a flash. “Yes, ma’am. Though it’ll probably be a while until I’m ready to handle meat and fish dishes,” Toil replied before giving Drumstick a salute out of reflex. “I’m sure that Dolly, Clean Cut and I will be able to help you get the ropes,” Drumstick replied before turning to the register. “Speaking of; Dolly, I suggest you and our newest employee begin prep work. We’ll be opening in about an hour for breakfast.” “You’ve got it, Boss,” the brown coated earth pony said before she and Toil headed towards the back of the kitchen. “Swift, Punch,” Drumstick said as her eyes fell upon the noblemare and her companion. “Perfect timing. Silver Platter’s roommate said she’s sick with the feather flu, so we’re a bit short hooved at the moment.” “Not a problem, Ma’am. We'll be ready momentarily,” Swift responded before she and Punch made their way to the bathroom to change. With her horn flaring brightly, Swift tossed her uniform from her saddlebags into the air and vanished in a flash. When she reappeared an instant later, her left foreleg was sticking out of the neck hole, her head and right foreleg were jammed up against each other in the torso, her skirt was stuck halfway up her hindlegs and her bowtie was now on the base of her tail before she fell upon the smooth and freshly polished floor. “Dammit all!” Swift struggled to pull herself from her uniform before Punch magically lifted her up with a sigh, pulling the shirt off Swift’s head. “I know teleporting’s cool, but just dress like a normal mare,” Punch said as she pulled her own shirt over her head while the noblemare embarrassedly tried to straighten herself out. “Sorry, Punch,” Swift replied as she tried to smooth out any wrinkles in her shirt before pulling her bowtie from her tail. “I was hoping to try something with my improving teleportation skills.” “I get that, but let’s save that for when we’re not on Mrs. Drumstick’s bit,” Punch replied as she pulled her skirt up. “Now come on, we’ve got tables to polish.” The pink unicorn added as she tied her bowtie around her neck. “Right, coming,” Swift added before she pulled up her skirt, fastened her bowtie and followed Punch out the bathroom. *** A gentle night fell upon Vanhoover as Barrier snuggled into bed between Daring Do and Fleetfeather, enjoying their warmth and the gentle feeling of their feathers brushing against his sides. All in all, the day had gone rather well for not only him, but everyone in the manor. The day went smoothly, dinner was splendid and the Winter Wrap-Up was scheduled for later that week. However, during his rest, Barrier would receive a request from Princess Luna. A request that would require Barrier and his privates to put their skills to the test. This request would soon become what the princess would dub ‘Operation: Burning Morning’.