//------------------------------// // Let The Feathers Fly // Story: The Young Prince // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// Dusk and Dazzle were having a picnic in the fields just outside of Ponyville. "What a perfect day." Dazzle sighed contentedly as she leaned against Dusk. "Yep." Dusk agreed with his marefriend. "Absolutely nothing could ruin a day like this." Suddenly, there was the sound of rushing wind, a powerful impact, and a mare's shriek. "You really shouldn't have said that." Dazzle said sardonically. "Whoops." Dusk cringed. "Should we go and check it out?" "Curiosity dictates we should." Dazzle nodded. The two raced towards the source of all the commotion, finding a ravaged flower field, an angry Honeysuckle, and an indignant Thunder and Rainbow. They were joined by Crab and Purple. "Look at this mess!" Honeysuckle roared. "You two have really done it this time!" "It was an accident!" Thunder shot back. "We said we were sorry, geez!" Rainbow added. "That's what you always say!" Honeysuckle grumbled. "You do your little flying manoeuvres, wreck my flowers, say you're sorry... then a few weeks later, you do it all over again!" "Is it our fault that this is the best place for flight practice in all of Ponyville?" Thunder asked. "We gotta be at our best, if we ever wanna be the greatest fliers in Equestria someday!" Rainbow smiled. "Is that all you care about?" Honeysuckle asked hotly. "Being flyers? I suppose you think ponies' gardens are beneath you!" "Well, they technically are." Thunder pointed out. "Besides, they're just a bunch a' dumb plants." Rainbow added. "You can just grow more." "That ain't the point." Honeysuckle retorted. "A lotta love an' care went into growing those plants, y'know."." "Honeysuckle's right." Crab agreed. "Y'all oughta be more considerate." "Thanks, Crabby." Honeysuckle kissed Crab on the cheek. Dusk rolled his eyes. Cab and Honeysuckle had started dating a few weeks back, and had become almost unbearably mushy about it. "We said we were sorry!" Thunder groaned. "What'd you want us to do, apologise to the plants?" "Maybe make friends with them?" Rainbow asked mockingly. "No thanks." Honeysuckle glared. "Real friends look out for each other. You two have wrecked this field more times then I can remember, and you never care." "If you ask me, you care too much about these dumb plants!" Thunder retorted. "Yeah!" Rainbow snorted. "They're just flowers!" "Dumb... plants?" Honeysuckle seethed. "Just... flowers?! That's rich, coming from a pair of pegasi who waste their lives up in the clouds!" "Say what?" Thunder gasped. "Well, I've had enough." Honeysuckle growled. "I'm not letting you fly around here anymore." "You can't stop us." Thunder glared. "You don't own the sky!" "Maybe." Honeysuckle nodded. "But I'll do whatever it takes to keep you two from flying around here again." "That's just wrong!" Rainbow growled. "Dusk, Dazz, back us up on this!" "Sorry guys, but I'm not choosing sides on this." Dusk declared. "You're all my friends." "I have to agree with Dusk on that." Dazzle nodded. "We're strictly neutral." "Nice." Rainbow snorted. "Some friends." "Ah'm with you, Hon." Crab smiled. "All the way." "I knew I could count on you." Honeysuckle nuzzled him. "Then I'm with Thunder and Rainbow!" Purple declared. "Why?" Dusk asked. "'Cause nopony's on their side." Purple shrugged. "It's only fair, and besides, it was an accident!" "Thanks, Purple." Thunder smiled. "Nice to know somepony still has some sense." Rainbow said, while glaring at the others. "Come on, guys." Dusk tried to talk some reason to his friends. "You're blowing this all out of proportion." "Sorry, Dusk, but this is between me and the disaster twins here." Honeysuckle declared. "So be a good little neutral and stay out of it." Thunder sneered. "Let's go, bro." Rainbow smirked. "You too, Purple." "Thanks fer the support, Dusk." Crab glared at him. "Really 'preciate it." Crab and Honeysuckle walked away, leaving Dusk and Dazzle alone. "Oh, this won't go well." Dusk sighed. "You just might be right about that, dear." Dazzle noted. "Shall we get back to our picnic?" "I suppose." Dusk nodded. "But to be honest, I don't feel so hungry any more." "In truth, neither do I." Dazzle nodded sadly. And so it began. At first, the disagreement extended to cold glares and silent ignorance whenever the three pegasi passed each in the streets, or at school. But then it got worse. Thunder and Rainbow began pulling cruel pranks on Honeysuckle and her flowers, such as unleashing a swarm of aphids. Honeysuckle (backed by Crab) retaliated in kind, boobytrapping the surrounding area so the pair would get caught in vines or nets as they flew by. Dusk was distraught. His friends were treating each other so badly, and he was powerless to stop them. Any attempt he made to defuse the situation was met with failure. "I don't know what to do, Dazz." He admitted. "Don't give up." Dazzle consoled him, lightly stroking his mane. "I'm sure you'll think of something. You always do, you smart, handsome prince, you." "Thanks, Dazz." Dusk smiled. "You're the greatest marefriend ever." "Tell me something I don't know." Dazzle joked. As the weekend neared, a huge storm was scheduled by the weather team. The citizens of Ponyville were warned to stay indoors that afternoon. Thunder and Rainbow saw the storm as a challenge, planning to sneak out and fly through the treacherous winds. They flew into the center of the storm, wings flapping at full strength. Meanwhile, Dusk was helping Honeysuckle cover up her new, young plants, to protect them from being washed away. He had an ulterior motive for offering his assistance; He wanted to try and Honeysuckle down again, without success. "If you could all just get together and talk-" He started to say. "They'd be the same thick-headed jerks they always are." Honeysuckle finished. "They had their chance. I'm never speaking to those two again." As the wind picked up, they heard the sound of two ponies yelling, then the unmistakeable noise of a tree cracking. Racing out to the source, they found Thunder and Rainbow, badly hurt. "They're hurt!" Dusk gasped. "Serves 'em right." Honeysuckle sniffed. "That's what they get for such reckless flying." Dusk grabbed Thunder, and started carrying him to the cottage. "You get Rainbow." He instructed. "Once we're indoors, maybe you can check if your parents have any of that natural medicine stuff lying around." "Excuse me?" Honeysuckle snorted. "You want me to help these jerks? No way!" "Are you actually suggesting that some petty grudge is more important then two ponies' lives?" Dusk said in disbelief. Honeysuckle looked at Dusk, then at Thunder and Rainbow. The harsh look on her face faded. "No." She admitted. "Let's get them inside." The pair pulled Thunder and Rainbow into the Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy and Forrest were tending to Honeysuckle's sisters' dinner when they the twins being pulled in. "Oh, my!" Fluttershy gasped. "What happened?" Forrest asked. "They were out in the storm." Dusk explained. "We think they hit a tree." "Let me take a look at them." Fluttershy offered. Fluttershy was no doctor, but she had a lifetime of experience tending to her animal charges. She examined the two pegasi, while her other daughters watched. "That looks bad." Birch noted. "Really bad." Holly added. "Really, really bad." Meadowlark agreed. "Actually, it's pretty minor." Fluttershy diagnosed. "They'll be a little sore when they wake up, and have really bad headaches, but they should be just fine." Thunder and Rainbow started to come to. "Uhhh." Thunder groaned. "What happened?" "You both flew smack into a tree, that's what happened." Dusk declared. "Oh, right." Rainbow rubbed her head. "Then how'd we get here." "We brought you here." Honeysuckle admitted. "You did?!" Thunder gasped. "But I thought you were mad at us!" "I was." Honeysuckle nodded. "I was almost ready to leave you out here, until Dusk talked some sense into me. You guys are my friends, and I shouldn't have been so hard on you." "It was our bad, too." Rainbow admitted. "We shouldn't have dissed your flowers like that." "Yeah, we're sorry, Hon." Thunder apologised. "Let's just call it 'water under the bridge', okay?" Honeysuckle smiled. "Deal?" "Deal." The twins chorused. "That's all well and good." Forrest smiled. "But I'm afraid we're going to have to tell your parents about how you tried to fly during a storm." "Awww!" The twins groaned in unison. The next day, the rest of Dusk's friends were shocked at how the three pegasi had mended fences so quickly. "How'd you make up so fast?" Purple asked. "With a little help from a storm... and Dusk." Honeysuckle chuckled. "So much fer 'stayin neutral', huh, pardner?" Crab smirked. "That's what I love about you, Dusk." Dazzle beamed. "You always find a way." "Well, it wasn't really me." Dusk said modestly. "If it weren't for that storm, these three would still be at each other's throats." "But it's not like anypony intended for the weather to do that, right?" Thunder smiled. "So we may as well thank you." "Yeah, thanks." Rainbow nodded. "You're welcome." Dusk grinned. "I'd do anything for you guys." Dusk spoke the truth. His friends were important to him, just like his family. He was just glad everything was back to normal. The storm had passed, in more then one sense.