An Azure Future: Moving On

by Krass McWriter

Yosemite pt. 2

“Huh.” There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, “So, uh, I assume that this, uh, ‘crush’ didn’t develop overnight. Why now?”

The colt started sobbing, “I’ve just had enough! My mom died giving birth to me, my dad didn’t survive the PER attack and then I had to move halfway away the country to live with my Uncle who’s never there!” Jet broke down into full on sobbing.

John considered several options over the next few moments. He laid down and wrapped a wing around him. “Look, I don’t have the answers you are looking for. My own dad wasn't very there for me either and half of the times he was I wished he wasn't. So I do understand what you’re going through.”*

“T-thanks...” He sniffled, wiping his eyes.

John looked at the sun, trying to gauge how long it had been since he left. “We should probably head back now. You okay?” He asked, looking at the foal.

“Yeah, I’m okay now...” Jet Blaze hovered into the air. John launched into the air himself, leading the colt back to the bus. They touched down and went inside the bus where the rest of the group was waiting.

“What took you so long?” Sweet Roll asked, they had been gone for a majority of their allotted time and they were starting to wonder if John had gotten them both lost shortly after finding him. Jet Blaze looked at John expectantly, hope and fear mixing in his eyes as the moment as truth came.

“Eh, the kid and I just had a little talk. Nothing to worry about.” John shrugged. Jet gave John a thankful look before returning to his seat.  The bus sputtered to life and they set off on a short trip down to the their last trailhead.

The left path would take them to Yosemite Falls, the right, to Mirror Lake. The plan was head to Mirror Lake, double back, head to the falls and then back to the camp. The path to mirror lake was a short one, only about a mile, so Shale Quarry reserved from making any statements until arrival. It was also quite a bit more open, and the trees were younger on the shoreline of the river. There was a river that the path moved along with some fifty meters off of it.

Then they saw the lake. It was a modest lake in it’s size, but the clear pristine blueness reflecting the mountaintops before it was simply breathtaking. There was no doubt in John’s mind that Mirror Lake was both deserving of its name and yet did not quite do it the justice it deserved.

“Alright class!” Shale clopped her hooves together, “Mirror Lake is a seasonal lake for the spring and early summer, formed by runoff from the mountains. It formed from the remnants of a glacier that used to occupy most of yosemite, but is actually slowly disappearing due to the sediment deposits in the runoff. Now, we can't actually jump in this water as it’s protected now. But there is a section just a bit further up that it is allowed in the shallows.” She directed the group to a much smaller and not as placid part of the Lake, where there seemed to be another group already playing on its far end.

John however decided to skirt the rules and soar over the restricted parts of the lake a very low altitude. His reflection in the lake was still alien to him. It still took an extra second or two for it to click that the pony in the mirror was indeed him. He was however, overall glad he converted. Sure there were times he missed meat, video games, driving himself and over things but those didn’t quite compare to flight and being with his son. He cast a gaze towards the foals as he banked right. They were splashing about, playing, laughing and having a generally good time.

“Alright everypony!” Shale clopped her hooves together, “It’s time for us to head out, we got one last stop!”

“Awww.” Sugar and Sweetie moped in unison.

“But we just started a game of Guards and Timber Wolves!” Blazing Star complained.

“And we were getting to the good part!” Azure added.

“Yeh, we were ‘bout ta win!” Morning Rose jeered.

“Were not!” Blazing brilliantly retorted.

“Children!” Shale Quarry stomped her hoof down and the bickering ceased. “I know we are having fun here, but I promise you, this last stop is supposed to be the best one! But we won’t be able to stay long if you don’t simmer down so we can leave.” The foals stopped what they were doing and meandered into a group. “Okay then, let’s go!” She cheered as she turned and lead the way.

“Yosemite is best known for its numerous and scenic waterfalls. Yosemite Falls is the highest measured waterfall in North America and the sixth largest it the world, dropping almost half a mile. It’s initial plunge alone is in the top twenty.” Shale yawned, the day was getting long in the hours. “It should be just past this grove...” John had been able to hear the roaring water for almost the last entire mile, but sure enough, as he stepped just beyond that treeline, he was confronted a waterfall of epic proportions, the setting sun catching the mist just so as a rainbow danced about in the twilight. John felt his very essence pause at the glory before him, so enchanted he didn’t dare move, lest he break the illusion.

“Dad, move!” Azure shoved against John, snapping John out of it.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” John apologized, moving forward allowing everyone else to come into the clearing. The group all gawked at the sight.

The area wasn't very crowded, something John found surprising. Outside of the waterfall, there was a visitors info building and a few tree’s scattered the area. There were signs pointing to trails leading to the second tier of the waterfall and a warning that the path to the top of the fall is recommended for experienced He heard a faint snapping of a dry twig of in the woods and his ears flicked instinctively towards it. Nothing. Probably just a squirrel. John figured.

He turned his attention back to waterfall. Venturing closely to the rocky riverbed, he experimentally dipped a hoof in the cool shallows. John could dully feel the cold wetness of the river through his hoof, but also got a gauge for just how swift the current was. It’d be some real trouble to fall in here.

 Looking up from the water, his heart sank as he saw Lace, Rose and Sunburst hopping across rocks in the middle of the river. Before he could react, Sweet Roll had already grabbed the three foals with her magic “It’s dangerous to be climbing on slippery rock,” She scolded, yet keeping her composure, “Especially over rapids.”

“Yes Mrs. Sweet Roll...” They answered in unison, their ears folded flat against their skulls as they grew aware of their egregious errors.

“Now would you three be little dearies and try not to kill yourselves again anytime soon.” She continued.

They nodded, disjointedly this time.

“Well, run along now and try to stay out of trouble.” Sweet ushered. The three fillies set off to play elsewhere, and Sweet approached John. “Foals,” She exasperated, “More than a hoofful of trouble.”

“Yeah,” John agreed. “But its worth it.”

Sweet seemed to consider the reply, rolling it about in her head before agreeing. “Yes, I guess so. Though you really ought to see what the twins get up to.”

“Heh, luckily Azure doesn’t give me much trouble.” John nodded, looking past her to see his son flying about.

“Oh, yes, he’s quite precocious.” She agreed. “If you excuse me, Sugar and Sweetie are out of my direct line of sight.” She looked around nervously.

“Of course.” She turned and left to search for her foals.
 
John resumed watching the waterfall, while he felt like he could stay there and watch the waterfall forever the setting sun had a different plan. “Alright!” Shale clopped her hooves together, “Lets hurry on back, before it gets dark.” She urged, and the weary foals headed back out onto the trail.

After walking a distance back down the trail, a low snarl announced the presence of four sullen, starved coyotes emerging from the tree line. Time seemed to slow, as the pack made it’s way toward the group. Something deep inside John snapped. Something at the very core of his being flared as he thought to himself I am about to do something very, VERY, stupid.

John bellowed for everypony to run, but it didn’t feel like he was the one talking. He then tackled the coyote closest to him into a tree. John got off of it as quickly as he could, but it snapped at him, catching his foreleg and drawing blood. John galloped, wincing with pain from the effort and his wound. The sound of paws heavily padding against the pine covered floor were right behind him.

John had but two objectives, lead the pack away from the children and survive. The coyotes were catching up to John, slowed down by his injury. It wasn’t long before one was running alongside John. John grew rapidly desperate, thoughts of what Azure would do if he died here flew by  his mind. It didn’t help that this had happened after a long arduous day of hiking and flying. The coyote on his left jumped on John, sending them both tumbling.

The coyote managed to get on top and bit at John’s neck and face, though he managed to just barely raise his hooves in defense. The coyote pawed at his crossed forelegs, raking him in the eye. John spread his wings and used them to surge forward, out from under the coyote. The pine needles below him giving him a severe friction burn and embedding into his coat. John flipped around, and tried to take off. One of the coyote’s, not content to let their prey escape, leapt. Luckily for John, it only snagged his tail, ripping out a few strands causing him to yelp in pain.

John flapped as hard as he could, brushing against one of the higher branches. Once free of the forest, he assessed his situation. He couldn’t see the trail, and judging from the size of the waterfall, he had put on at least two or three miles. He was bleeding good bit, nothing arterial thankfully, but there was a constant rapid dripping. He looked around for signs of civilization. The setting sun had darkened the sky just enough for him to see the lights of where the ranger and visitor station were.

John headed towards the lights with a sense of urgency. He was feeling light headed which he remembered as one of the early symptoms of severe blood loss. His wings burned with every movement and felt as though they were filling with lead. He managed to make it to the ranger station, collapsing from the air onto the welcome mat as he blacked out from blood loss and exertion.

John awoke with a start. He was in a nurse’s office, and Ranger West was sitting before him. “You gave us a scare there Mr. Norris, luckily you got here just before the nurse went home and she was able to patch you up just fine.” He spoke, in his low rumbling voice. “Though she said you’d best take it easy for a day or two.”

“My son- the foals-!” John started before being cut off.

“Perfectly fine.” John calmed down a bit at the answer. “Well, you seem well enough. You can head back to your group when you're ready.” John examined himself, sure enough he felt fine, a bit shaken but okay for the most part. “Oh, and good stuff saving those  foals. You’re alright in my book.” He added as John left.

John took his bearing and heading towards the camp. He managed to approach the camp largely unnoticed. “Hey, has anyone seen my son?” He called out to them. The resulting commotion  overwhelmed John as everyone seemed to speak at once..

“Oh my goodness are you alright?”

“Did you have to kill the wolves?”

“They weren’t wolves they were coyotes!”

“Are you OK?”

“That was so AWESOME! Thewayyoutackledthewolfand-”

“Everypony!” Shale called the rowdy group to order, clopping her forehooves together. “John, thank you. I’m sure you’re very tired, and your son is in your tent with his friend.” She motioned.

“Thank you.” He nodded as he moved towards the tent. Sure enough, inside was Azure and Wind Rapids who had his wing draped over Azure. They two had fallen asleep, and Wind Rapids was gently snoring. “Hey there kiddo.” John nudged Azure, waking him up.

“Dad?” Azure asked wearily, then perked up upon realizing it was infact his father, “Dad!” he stood up and hugged his father.

Pain spiked, I guess I’m still all bruised up. “Hey there little man, that;s a bit tender.” John noogied Azure as he let go.

“Sorry!” He apologized, backing off. “Dad... your flank.”

“What about it?” He asked, as he turned to see if he could discern what had transpired. There on his flank was a silver shield. His cutie mark. “Huh.” was all he could manage, dumbfounded. It was at this time Azure’s friend stirred.

“Oh hey mister Norris.” He welcomed groggily, “Huh, you got your cutie mark.” He looked around, and decided that his presence was now intrusive. “Well, I ought to uh, go, uh, my thing is stuffing and I should go check it.” He excused himself.

“Heh, your friend's weird.” John yawned,  “Well I’m pretty tired...” he accentuated by flopping onto his sleeping bag and passing out.

John woke up in pain. It hurt to, well, be. I guess there was some sort of anesthetic spell involved... John poked his head out of tent, everypony seemed to be gone. His whole body ached, but his stomach ached more. Looking down, he saw a note, half covered in pine bristles and held down by a rock. He unzipped the tent and picked up the note, much to his chagrin, it was in Equestrian but he was able to glean that they’d be back around ten. Judging from the sun, he figured it was about nine to nine thirty.

He decided the it would be best to just lay down and wait for somepony to come by. A task that proved more difficult than he assumed. His bones thrummed with pain but he managed to lay on his side.

Time passed by slowly, and John found he couldn’t rest. His mind turned to his cutie mark, Hmmm, protection talent huh? Neat. I guess I oughta choose a name now... He let his mind drift through possibilities. Wind Guardian? Nah, too many pegasi use Wind and Breeze... Shining Armor? Nah, too silly. Aegis? Nah. Crowd Control? I’m not trying to join the Guard... Hurricane Shield? Hmmm, guard... Brown Sentinel? Silver Sentinel? Iron Stallion? Now I’m on super hero... BATSTALLION AND THE COLT WONDER! John burst out giggling at the last one. Huh, this is harder than I thought... Barricade? Warden? hmmm, Silver Warden sounds good... But I can do better methinks. John returned to letting his mind drift until he was interrupted by the tent being unzipped the rest of the way.

“Hey dad, feeling better?” Azure asked, beaming.

“Quite the opposite,” He groaned, rolling over. “Where’d you lot go?”

“Oh,” Azure’s mood dimmed, “Well, you wouldn't wake up and we thought it’d be good for you to rest anyways. We went to the gallery. It was alright, just photo’s of where we’ve been.” There was a moment of silence before Azure added, “Oh, we’re packing up now. It seems the tunnel view has been closed temporarily so we’ll only be stopping by the Sequoia’s.”

“Oh, okay.” John reluctantly stood on his hooves. The pain had receded slightly, but he wasn’t going to be flying today. “Well, I’ll get the bags, you grab the tent.” He bent down and grabbed each bag and tossed it out, grimacing slightly. He stepped out of tent, sure enough the camp was in commotion, about half the tents were in various stages of being packed. Azure set about breaking down the tent and John ferried the bags over to the bus, packing them in.

Eventually, the camp had been removed, a trash sweep had been conducted and now everypony stood in front of the bus. Shale did a quick headcount, “Alright before we get on the bus, we should all thank Mister Norris for risking his life to save us. Unless its something different now...?” John shook his head slightly. “Well, then, a big thank you for Mister Norris!” She cheered, stomping her hooves in applause. The foals joined in her applause, and some whooped. “Alright, now as you heard, the trip to Tunnel View has been cancelled, so everypony on the bus and we’ll head to our last destination!” She ushered everyone on board.  

The ride was long and bumpy, at least it felt so to John. They unloaded and John noted that trees here were even larger and farther apart than before. The path was short, just under a mile to the largest trees. “Sequoia trees are the largest and longest lived life form on earth. Reaching well over three hundred feet tall and three thousand years old! They have spurs from which new trees can be born in their trunks, so the actually naturally grow in straight line.” Shale Quarry informed one they had reached the grove.

The grove itself was fairly impressive, the trees stretched into the sky seemingly forever and one could not make out the top without standing a fair distance away. John longed to take to the air and explore the trees more thoroughly, but the short walk there had nearly killed him and he dreaded the return. Instead, he just examined the impressive trees. Some of them had been around since before humans had found them and now they had out survived them for the most part.

Though John was happy to get back home when they decided to return to the bus, he wished he had more time to recuperate. He managed to pull through, though he had ended up panting and sweating bullets near the end. Shale Quarry did one last head count, and they loaded up on the bus one last time.

The bus ride was filled with dull chatter about the various sights they had seen and what they were going to do with their mondays and tuesdays off. Finally, the bus stopped. “Alright everypony! Don’t forget your stuff!” Shale yawned. The trip had taken its toll on everyone, and all were desperate to get home. Everypony unloaded themselves and their gear and began setting off.

As John threw a bag in the bed of his truck, a voice spoke up behind him, “That was mighty brave of you.” John turned to see Stonebreaker there, giving him a look that made John feel quite uncomfortable. The stallion had hardly spoke the whole trip, instead maintaining order with well practiced glares.

“Uh, no problem. I just did what I had to.” John deflected.

The stallion stepped closer to John, who looked at Azure for assistance. Azure just shrugged, having no idea what was occurring either. The stallion was now violating John’s personal space quite fiercely. “No sir, that was above and beyond.”

“Uhh, look you’re really in my person-” John was cut off as Stonebreaker pressed his lips to John’s. John froze up and Stonebreaker broke the kiss, trotting off without another word. A few long moments dragged by before John gained control of himself once more. “Azure.”

Uhhh, yeah dad?” The colt replied.

“What the fuck just happened.”

“I have no idea, but I do know that I’m tired” Azure yawned. “Lets go home.”

The door opened and a weary John collapsed on the floor, still very sore, as Azure flopped on the couch. They had opted to leave the camping materials in the car for now. “Hey dad.” Azure asked, staring absently at the ceiling as he sunk deeper into the couch.

John grunted an affirmation in response.

“Ya gonna change your name?” He rolled to face John, who was laid out on the floor.

John thought about it, there was a name that he had come up with near the end that he was fond of. “Yeah.”

“Did ya have one in mind?” Azure pressed.

“Yeah.” John moaned.

“what was it?”

“Call me Silver Shield.” Silver Shield rolled onto his back, “Hey Al, feed me.”

“Right away sir.” The AI responded, as it started Delicious_Sandwhich.exe and warmed up Foodcanon Loaction:livingroom. "Please ready your bodies."

Brought to you despite the best efforts of job searching and college.

There is a Dr Horrible reference in here. Find it.

* and then he shoved him off a cliff for being a prick and attracted to his son

Guards and Timber Wolves, its like Cops and robbers if the robbers were also a fucking mechaziod from power rangers.

So I was thinking about AAF, and realized, It is very lacking in the gay. Like a lot. So I fixed it.

I'm really worried about this chapter. I feel like I may have tried too much or something.