//------------------------------//
// Beings 
// Story: Detour 
// by Jetset0099 
//------------------------------//

       The two stallions sat at the table with their tails between their legs as an angry Applejack reamed them out. 
"Now ah told you Mac! Don't start nothin'! An' what do ya do?! Ya go against me an' start fightin' in the street like a common hoodlum!"
The farmer had his head down, unsure of what to say. His sister continued. 
"Now we're better than that, Macintosh. We Apples don't do that kind o' stuff."
He raised his head to apologize. 
"Ah know, but ah just got tired of them givin' me a hard time when all ahm tryin' ta do is make an honest livin'. Ahm sorry, Applejack. It won't happen again."

"Ya know it won't. Now get some rest for tomorra. We're finishin' the rest of the orchard."
With that being said, Jake snapped his head up in realization. 
"Uh...I know this is going to sound bad, but I just remembered that I have my final Wonderbolts practice tomorrow."
Applejack looked confused. 
"Tomorrow's the last one? When exactly is the show?"

"Saturday."

She raised her hoof up to stop him. 
"Whoa whoa, ya mean ta tell me that we have three days ta finish the harvest?"

"Well...yeah. I mean, you have four if you count tomorrow, but since I won't be here, we won't be as productive."
He turned to Mac. 
"Hey, I know! Why don't you just use the truck on your own? I've shown you how to drive the Ferrari, and it's basically the same concept, except a lot less power."
The farmer looked skeptical, but after thinking it over, nodded in compliance. 
"Eeyup. Ah think that would work out. Jes know that the day after yer practice, we're workin' double time ta finish up the harvest before the air show."
Jake stood up and saluted. 
"Got it! Now, I'm going to go into town really quick to find Rainbow Dash. I need to talk to her about the practice."
He walked over to the front door, and stopped just before he opened it. 
"Oh yeah. Where does she live, anyways?"
The two siblings looked at each other and laughed. Applejack spoke up after she calmed down. 
"Up in a cloud house that only pegasi can get to. Good luck, buddy!"
The pilot sighed and stepped out into the evening air. He started up the truck and pulled out of the farm. As he was driving down the dirt road, he started to scan the skies, looking for anything that resembled a house made of clouds.
"Damn. This is going to be impossible."
The Dodge stopped on the side of the street in the middle of town near a closed shop. He figured it'd be fine to leave it there while he searched around. 
Jake began walking down the main road towards the town square. In the distance, he could see the large treehouse that Twilight lived in, and opted to ask her for directions. 
He walked across the square and up to her doorstep, knocking twice. After a minute or so, Spike opened the door, prompting Jake to look down due to the dramatic height difference. 
"Sup, Spike. Is Twilight home?"

"Yeah. She's right here. Come on in."
He opened the door wider to let the pilot pass. Upon entering, he found piles of books scattered about on the floor. In the middle of it all sat the studious unicorn, engrossed in her reading. Upon seeing Jake, she raised her head and waved. 
"Oh! Hey there Jake."
She walked over to him, stumbling on some strewn about literature mid-step. 
"Sorry for this mess. I've been so busy lately with this new study that I haven't had time to clean."

"No worries. I've never been much of a neat freak, so I know EXACTLY what it's like."
She smiled and ushered him over to the table. He looked at her work, which was scrolls upon scrolls of hoof-written notes and ideas. In the middle of it all sat a blue bound book entitled: Beings of Guidance. Jake looked at the page she was on, and started asking questions. 
"So this is talking about angels and stuff, right?"
She nodded once and flipped the pages. 
"Your close. They aren't angels thought. We have classified them as Beings. It's something that I've been curious about for a while now. And up until now, I haven't had any time to study it."
She shut the book and arranged the papers in a neater looking stack. 
"So, what brings you he-"
She was cut off by the sound of a large thud at the door, followed by a dazed Rainbow Dash slowly opening it up to reveal herself. 
"Hey Twilight. Ugh, my head."
She rubbed the point of impact in pain. The lavender unicorn waved her in, and magically shut the door behind her. 
"Rainbow Dash, are you alright? This is the fourth time you've come crashing through my door this WEEK. Surly you must be getting used to it by now?"
The pegasus shook off the pain and sat down on a couch. 
"Yeah yeah Twilght, whatever you say. Oh, hey there Jake."
The pilot waved back, still unsure if Dash's meeting with the front door was something to worry about. Twilight turned back to him and sat down as well. 
"Sorry about that, Jake. Now, what was it you wanted?"

"Actually, it just bashed its way in."
He pointed to Rainbow Dash, who was trying to un-frizz her mane from the crash. She stopped upon seeing his outstretched hoof, and pointed to herself. 
"Who, me? Why?"

"I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow's practice. You do realize that this time you'll have to actually perform one."

"Yeah, I know. I've been working on it since day one. I can definitely do a Sonic Rainboom on command."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure that you're ready."

"Ha! You should know that I'll be ready. Question is, are you?"
Jake nodded. 

"Yup. The C-130 is ready to go, and I've worked out all the kinks."
He sat down as well, and picked up a piece of paper that had fallen off the table earlier. He held it up to examine it. 
"Hey Twilight, what is this?"
She took it from him, and read it over.  
"Part of my current study. It's a list of different Beings that have been known to appear for guidance in different situations. For instance, if one is trying to find love, and they deserve it, they might experience an encounter with a Being that takes the form of an average looking pony. That disguised pony would help them out in a certain way so their pony in need succeeds at what he wants. For love, the Being is called Arrowheart. 
Jake chuckled. 
"Kinda like Cupid."
Twilight looked at him with a confused look.  
"Who?"

"Oh, it was made up character that flew around shooting arrows in to people's butts. When they'd get hit, they'd fall in love with the first person they saw."

"Ah. Well that's not really how Arrowheart works."

"Yeah, I figured that."
Twilight read down the scroll a little bit before giving another example.
"Another one is when a pony is in a lot of trouble financially or struggling to survive. He is the Being of honesty and a working attitude. His name is Blueslate."
The cogs in Jake's brain began turning as he tried to remember something Mac had told him a while ago, but soon lost his train of thought as Rainbow Dash hovered over and plopped down in between them. 
"This stuff is boring. Why don't we do some night flying, Jake?"
The pilot shook his head. 
"Uh, no not tonight. I'm pretty sore from a fight earlier. These idiots tried stealing some of our apples we were selling in the square. When they found out we didn't have any more, they were going to attack. Macintosh stopped them though. Heh, I really didn't do much except play the role of punching bag."
Rainbow laughed when she saw the bruise on his front leg, and a cut on his snout. 
"You got your flank kicked, didn't you?"

"...eeyup."
Twilight giggled and set the paper down.
"I think the farm life is getting to you, Jake."

"That it is, Twilight. That it is."
He stood up and made his way to the door. 
"Ok Dash, I'll see you bright and early out by the plane as usual."

"You bet. I can't wait for the show Saturday. It's gonna be so awesome!"
The captain nodded in agreement. 
"It's going to be one hell of a show, that much I can guarantee."
He opened the door, letting the cool air drift in. The sun had fully set, leaving a calm night sky sprinkled with stars to loom overhead. 
"See you guys later."
They waved goodbye as he shut the door behind him. 
Jake started back to the truck, having to walk across the square once more. When he approached the truck, he reached for the door handle, and stopped as something caught his eye. He backed up to examine the right side of the pickup. It was scratched from the door all the way back to the tail light with one long, white mark. 
"Oh come on!"