It was morning. The apartment was quiet and empty, but a dripping coffee pot sat upside down in the sink. There was a napkin on the counter, under a new thermos, with scribbles Sky Stinger was just barely able to read:
left you some coffee
see you after the play =]
He unscrewed the cap and breathed deep. Bitter - her morning scent.
Arriving at the amphitheater, when he tried to take the first sip of ink-black coffee, he found that it was still scalding hot, so he let it sit with the cap open for a while just to be drinkable. While he waited, listening to the flutter of wings and banners, the clamour of set construction, the din of last-minute musters and recitals, and the bark of names that included one suspiciously similar to his own, he watched the movements of the city.
Beyond the arches and pillars, beyond the fields of cirroturf and the sailing apartment blocks, a black vertical towered from the mountains to the moon and turned with ancient speed. It was the shape of an anvil, and lashed with flossy lightning about its middle.
Just before Halflight found him, he whispered into the wind, "Make 'em proud."
It was afternoon. The wind was picking up, blasting the trees and houses and leeching wisps from the foundations towards the storm.
Vapor Trail flew through a few last clouds in her sector to dissipate them before she heard the reminder, "All units return," in her earpiece. "That means you, Vapor."
Shaking off the cold cloudwater, she responded, "Acknowledged," and began to head back. Her wings were a little stiff from the exertion and the cold, and she could feel a shiver coming on, so she glided back most of the way, glad for the break.
When she arrived at headquarters and got in formation in front of the sergeant, he only stared at her for a few seconds before he moved on. That was his way of criticizing them - in this case for returning late.
"Stormwatch tells me its path towards the city is slowing," Sergeant Aero Ace said. "And its volume is stable, trending down. Textbook choke and divert. Good work, everypony."
There were a few cheers, muted by fatigue from a good day's work - and the look on Aero's face that said there was more.
"... On the other hoof, second shift is down one. We need someone-"
There were groans. Vapor Trail joined in, despite herself.
"-to work a double with Dawntrail's team." Aero checked the crowd with a pained smile, and mumbled, "I'm not happy about this, for what that's worth."
Vapor Trail could feel the awkward moment in the room, and could guess what everypony was thinking - maybe because she was thinking it too. Nopony say anything. Make him pick. But that was unfair to the Sergeant, and some of her teammates had foals, special ponies, families waiting for them at home. He might pick somepony who'd really be missed.
She glanced back at the distant amphitheater, clouded with airships and motes of activity. She was tired, but everypony was tired. It would mean she'd miss the play, but he would be working too, anyway. And they needed the money.
Reluctantly, she raised her hoof.
It was evening. The sky was darkening. Down on stage, the three tribes were arguing in a cave. It wasn't an argument Sky Stinger could recall word-for-word - the insults were different each year, for one - but he knew the story.
So did the audience, certainly, but as blue lights shone down on Hurricane, Platinum, and Puddinghead, indicating they had turned to ice, all eyes were transfixed. Hundreds of ponies watched on the edge of their cushions. He just didn't see the one he was looking for.
The middle of the third act was always a good time to sneak off, so he snaked along the rigging loft, wound his way around the stage walls, and waited for a pyrotechnic effect to cover him as he flew the final gap in open air. Then he was at the amphitheater walls, and could just float down to the underside and find his ledge.
When he found it, there was a familiar blue pony laying there, taking up the whole spot.
He asked, "Rainbow Dash?"
The pony lifted her head, parting multicolour hair to reveal unfocused eyes. "Yeh?"
"... You're in my spot."
She looked down at the ledge to analyze the situation, then sat up, groaning and rubbing her eyes. "Eh, 's room?"
He sat down next to her and broke out a smoke. "Happy Hearth's Warming."
"Oh yeah, it is!" she slurred with stinking breath. Noticing his pack, she pointed. "Gimme."
He just looked at her.
"Come on, dude - as a gift!"
Sighing, he gave her a smoke, too. She drew deep, and seemed to relax immensely as she exhaled. "Ha-ah. 's a good night, dude."
"That it is," Sky Stinger replied, just as a warbling rumble came across the air, from the direction of the storm. He added, "Not for the weather teams, though."
"Oh, yeah!" She snorted with laughter. "Screw those guys. 's boring. Kick this cloud, kick that cloud. No point. Nothing's gonna happen." She dismissed the storm with a wave. "Boring."
Something clicked, and he turned to the mare. "Hold on, you were with them?"
Rainbow Dash nodded her whole body, and struggled to contain more laughter. "He-he-heh. Yeah, was with 'em." She examined the rising spearmint smoke. "Forget 'em."
Sky Stinger looked back at the storm.
It was night - she guessed. The storm dominated the twisting sky. It had resumed its path towards the city, and by the reckoning of Stormwatch, its volume was trending up, not down.
Vapor Trail's whole body shook, and she was soaked through her flight suit. If she could only get a break, settle down for a moment, she would be alright, but with every minute came a new order over the air. Wrangle some clouds here, scatter some clouds there, meet up with Dawntrail's team for a combined maneuver. And with less light came more danger, more risk of collisions, more constant, isolated work.
Her teeth chattered as she cleared more clouds and was sprayed with more snow, water, and mist. A thunder crack surprised her with its ferocity, and she realized she was much closer to the storm than she should have been.
She turned around, looking for skymarks, but found none. Only a central black pillar flashing white-blue - and getting closer.
It was evening.
He arrived backstage, sweating from the flight back from his apartment.
Halflight was looking for him, impatient and angry, but he saw Sky Stinger's face and understood something was going on.
"I have to go," Sky Stinger said.
Halflight glanced at the crack in the curtains, out to the stage and, further, the audience. "We're nearing the conclusion," he reminded Sky Stinger. "Lots of set work. I need you here."
What he said was what his boss would say, but Sky Stinger noticed something about how he said it. His old friend was making it a challenge. Giving him a chance to justify himself.
He looked him in the eyes, and explained, "I'm worried about Vapor Trail. She's in the-"
Halflight dismissed him with a wave. "Go."
Sky Stinger nodded, and flew off, making for the storm.