***Soarin***
I'm sitting in the living room, 60" television in front of me. I'm waiting for the sign, I'm switching between CNN, Fox News, and the networks. I know it's happening soon. Dust told me that something is happening. And, like clockwork, at 10:30AM, I get a breaking news alert, I happen to be on Fox news at that point. It reports of an explosion in Des Moines Iowa. I silently grin. A few ponies that have been trotting in and out most of the morning stop and watch. While I watch the continuous news reports. Within an hour cell phone camera footage is being shown. A sonic rainboom.
A unicorn pony comes up and sits next to me.
"Rainbow Dash is alive?"
I look at him and grin.
I get a grin back, "What are we going to do about it?"
"We have a choice."
"Really?"
"I'm pretty sure a certain princess is going to be visiting your dreams in the next night or two."
"Holy shit, Luna?"
I nod.
"What's going to happen?"
"There is another group of ponies. They are looking for a way to get home."
"You mean we can go back to Equestria?"
My ears fall flat. "No guarantees. What we are doing right here, we don't have the mane six here. So we are trying to make the best of things. But we have no pony here who has made any real progress. We need Twilight, we need all of them. And we don't have them. They do."
"Do you want to go to them?"
I look down. "I want to visit. And if they do find a way to get to Equestria, I want to go. But at the very least, I'm going to visit them."
He nods at me. "I agree." He levers himself off the sofa. "I'll tell the others."
As the sun touches the western horizon, we are on our way. A dozen vehicles full to the brim with ponies and some of their human families, myself included, are on our way east.
***
My phone rings. "This is Soarin."
"Soarin, this is Moon Shadow." I can hear a racing engine in the background. Her tone of voice makes my heart drop.
"Dust?"
I hear a muffled sob. "Yes. She's been shot."
Oh shit. "What happened?"
"We retrieved two ponies, and found a third that was apparently the wife of a scientist there. She refused to come with us. But as we were leaving, we were ambushed by the guards, Dust got two of them but she was shot in the chest in the process."
"She wasn't fast enough with her magic?"
"She didn't use it."
"What?" What the hell?
"She launched herself forward and physically took care of them, with Trixie's help."
"With her lightning, she could have taken them out all by herself."
A long pause. "I know."
"Damnit!" I shout, startling the unicorn driving the car.
"We are heading to Seattle, Irony is running fast. We'll be there soon. We know a veterinarian."
"A vet?" I scream into the phone. "How the fuck is a vet going to take care of my sister?"
Moon Shadow's voice becomes really small. "He's very good, and he's getting help. He saved Irony's life."
I feel my anger deflate like a balloon. "He saved Irony?"
"Mh-hmm."
I sigh. "If he saved Irony's life, maybe he can help with Dust."
"She means as much to me as she does to you, Soarin. Are you guys going? To the other farm that is?"
"We are about seven hours away right now."
"That's all the way in Iowa."
"We left at sundown. We've been driving all night."
"Good. I will update you once I know what's going on."
"Sounds good."
I end the call. I sit back in the seat. I look at the eight ponies sitting in the car with me. Everything just looks wrong. I press the button for the moonroof to open. "I need to fly." I hop through the moonroof and spread my wings. And I'm in the air. A quick look around says that I'm not the only pegasus who's feeling the effects of being cooped up in a car for too damned long. I find nearly a dozen pegasi, nearly a third of the pegasi that have made it to the farm, all flying in formation.
"Dust got shot."
That gets a reaction from every pony. I have to fend off dozens of questions, I just want to fly.
***
The sun has been up for a couple of hours when we make it to Muscatine. I'm still in the air. I look over at the other pegasi. "Hold on, I'll scout around first." I then dive for our lead car, landing on the roof I call in through the moonroof. "Find a place convenient to pull over. We need to check things over before we all barge in."
I flutter down the road, and I find the turnoff described to me. A quick glide down the road brings me to a gate. I land in front of it, not knowing what to do next.
"Greetings pardner, how did you find out about this place." There is no mistaking that voice, and that accent. Oh my God, she has gotten her hat! I almost squee.
I clear my throat. "I'm Soarin, and Lighting Dust and I have been finding ponies as best as we can. We have some ponies here to visit."
"Well, yee haw. I'm so glad to see you. We've already had some new visitors before ya. You will never believe who showed up."
I look at her expectantly, after a moment she smiles. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders, all four of them!"
That earns a big smile from me. We are coming together.
"So, where are the ponies?"
"Hold on a second." I tap my phone and send off a text. "They will be coming."
She leads me through the gate and down the gravel road to the farmhouse. As we walk slowly, the cars start showing up. Finally I'm in the living room with the mane six. I have to contain myself, I've got Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all here. Along with Shining Armor and Big Macintosh. I can hear the Cutie Mark Crusaders bouncing around. But I really need to talk to the mane six.
"So, have you found a way back to Equestria?"
Several sets of ears fall in front of me. Twilight speaks up, "No, we've been trying to figure out if there is a portal like the movie."
"You are talking Equestria Girls, isn't that just a money grab from Hasbro?"
Twilight looks thoughtfu. "I don't really know. I was apparently the source for the show."
What? "How is that possible?"
She spends the next few minutes telling me about her talking to Lauren Faust when she was a little girl, how she poked holes in the memory spell that Discord was rolling her over with.
"So, it was you! Dust was right."
Eight confused looks directed at me.
"Seattle, the explosion."
Twilight, Shining, Rarity, and Pinkie all look sheepish and grin a bit. Then nod.
"The sirens going off?"
Rainbow Dash puffs out her chest. I roll my eyes.
"And the explosion in gang territory in Seattle?"
Twilight raises a hoof. "They had Pinkie and Rarity. We had to save them."
I smile. Then my phone goes off. I answer.
"Hi Soarin, it's Moon."
I trot into the kitchen so I can have privacy.
"So, how is my sister?"
"She will be fine, she was shot through a lung, it's all stitched up, and she lost a lot of blood, but she'll be weak for a few days, but she should be fine."
"You'll never guess where I am."
"Hmmm, Muscatine Iowa, with the Mane six?"
I chuckle into the phone. "Eeyup. So, when are you heading here?"
"When Dust is ready to go."
"Okay, I'll talk to you again later."
***Lighting Dust***
Pain, I don't like pain. I slowly slide my eyes open. Everything is indistinct. I'm able to groan.
"Honey, it's okay." That's Moon Shadow's voice.
"Water," I'm finally able to croak out.
In moments a straw is placed at my lips, I suck it greedily. After a bit, I'm able to actually talk.
"What happened?"
Irony shifts in her chair. "You got shot."
"Oh." I feel tears starting to form. "I wasn't fast enough."
Irony comes over and cradles my prone body.
I cry into her shoulder. "I hesitated."
"I know you did, sweetie."
"You could have died because of me."
"Well, I seriously doubt that," Trixie chimes in. "The Great and Powerful Trixie took care of the rest. Since Moon Shadow was busy with our friends."
I sob into Irony's shoulder. "I'm tired of crying."
"When you need to cry, Dust, I'll be here for you."
I pull away, I know I've got tears down my cheeks. "You don't understand, Irony. I've always hated crying. And this change has really unnerved me."
"I know, Dust. I know. And this change has unnerved many ponies. You are dealing as best as you can."
"I should have stopped them," I sob.
I get pulled into a powerful hug. I'm trying to control my emotions. I let my crying taper off. It's time to be serious. When I'm finally let go, I look at Moon Shadow. "When can I get out of here?"
We are interrupted by the door opening, two humans enter.
"Hello there, Lightning Dust, I'm Doctor Ray Stevens, this is the man who operated on you, Dr. Huddleston."
Dr. Huddleston comes closer. "It was a very close call for you, Miss Dust. You were very gravely injured."
"I heard, in the lung."
"Yes. But I've been talking with my college friend here." He gestures to Dr. Ray. "He did some work on Irony here. And from what I've been told, you ponies have an amazing healing factor. My younger sister is a brony, or would she be called a pegasister? Oh well. And apparently that is a normal thing. Your Rainbow Dash only spent a few days with a cast after breaking her wing. So, let me take a look here." He moves closer to me, he starts inspecting my wounds. He mutters to himself and brings Dr. Ray over. All the rest of the ponies move back as I am the center of attention. Though this isn't the type of center of attention that I'm used to. Bandages are removed, stitches are inspected, I'm poked and prodded. All in all, an intensely uncomfortable experience.
Finally he moves away. "If I didn't operate on you, I would say you've had several days to recover." He pulls his stethoscope off of his shoulders and places the pad on my barrel. "Big breath."
I comply with all of his requests. Finally he looks at Dr. Ray with a big smile.
"You will be back to your old self in a day or two. I could discharge you right now and not have anything to worry about."
"What about infections?"
He smiles. "This is a hospital that usually has humans, and even then, I doubt there are any equine diseases that would affect you. You are outside the normal realm when it comes to such things. So, my guess is that you would be mostly impervious to anything you could get in a hospital." He taps me on the shoulder with a fist. "All in all, amazing, Miss Dust."
He walks towards the door, then stops, he looks back at me. "Miss Dust, I saw the fact you have wings in surgery. But if you wouldn't mind."
I smile as I lean forward, I extend my wings fully and ruffle the feathers, he smiles at the sight and exits the room. Dr. Ray comes up. "Well, you heard him, you are going to be okay Dust." He looks at Irony and the other ponies. "So, when are we leaving?"
"We?"
He nods. "Irony wants me to join you guys on the trip to Iowa."
I look at Irony, she smiles at her friend. "Dr. Ray is a dear friend. We shouldn't have left him behind when we went to Montana. But he's the resident specialist when it comes to pony anatomy. You might need his help."
"We need to just buy a couple of school busses at this point," I grouse.
"Mindy texted me early this morning, she had the same idea. The ponies that the government held just showed up. And many of them had dreams about Princess Luna, they want to go to Iowa. She wanted your approval to get a bus."
I roll my eyes. "And what did you tell her?"
"Ask Soarin, of course."
"So, we are buying a bus?"
"Eeyup, three of them to be precise. Don't worry, Mindy said we can haggle with them for a good deal."
I don't doubt it. Bargaining is a way of life for us. It's hinted at in the show, but from some of my memories, that is definitely the case. I sigh, well. It was nice having a bank account with money in it.
"When can you get me out of here Doctor?"
"Well, you were kinda hush hush when we brought you in, so discharging should be easy. We get up, and walk out."
I look at the IV in my foreleg. "Well, I guess we'll have to call a…"
I'm interrupted by a knock on the door and a nurse sticks her head in. I've been in the hospital before, I've never had anything be so efficient like that. In less than ten minutes I've got a bottle of pain killers, a small bandage on my foreleg, and I'm walking out the door. Ignoring the crazy looks from the humans who've never seen ponies before, I hop into the car.
"Montana first?"
Irony nods as she hits the gas. Our first stop though is a hotel, where we pick up Lightning Flash and the two ponies that were stuck as lab animals. They are much more lucid now. The car is getting a bit crowded with seven ponies plus Dr. Ray. Most of the ponies pile in the back, all that are in front is Irony, myself, and Dr. Ray. Though I spend most of the trip lying on his lap. I'll admit, a humans fingers have some really nice uses, his hands work wonders around my ears and head. I fall asleep in his lap for the majority of the drive.
***
I'm woken by the bouncing of the car down the gravel road. I've had it smoothed out, but it's still gravel. I poke my head up, most of a day after the surgery, Dr. Ray checks my wounds. And looks surprised.
"You heal up quickly, Dust. I can take the stitches out."
"Less than twenty four hours after surgery?" Irony asks incredulously.
He nods. "We'll get it done at the house." I poke my head up, just a few minutes driving and we'll be there.
As Irony shuts down the engine, I pull the handle to open the door. I'm assaulted by Mindy. I end up on my back, wings splayed, and she's talking way too fast for me to understand. Though with the painkillers in my system, the whole world is moving a bit fast for my taste. It's time to stop with them. I need my head clear.
Irony helps me up and we end up in the farmhouse. I end up on the counter in the kitchen. Mindy giggles, I can hear her, as Dr. Ray takes five minutes and snips all my stitches.
"It's amazing Dust, you look as though you've been healing for a week."
"Ponies heal fast, especially pegasi," Mindy chirps. Dr. Ray looks at her.
"What?"
"Pegasi go through a lot more than most ponies. Their bodies naturally have to heal faster. It's a component of their magic. Earth ponies are resilient, they are strong, and I'm not just talking muscles." She smirks at Irony. "They also live longer than any pony race. Pegasi have natural healing abilities, but they don't live as long as earth ponies. And then you have unicorns. We have magic, we can do amazing things, but our lifespan is about half that of an earth pony's."
Dr. Ray looks at me. "Don't look at me, I didn't know," I say defensively. He shrugs and continues working on me. He's finished in minutes.
I roll off the table and land on the floor, I look at my wings. "I need to preen."
"Seriously Dustie? I have news, I told you outside."
I sigh. "Tell me while I'm working." I extend a wing and get started. My wings are seriously in need of work.
She gives me an exaggerated sigh. "Soarin didn't take his main computer, the one he's got all the trackers sending information to. And he showed me how to use it."
I stop and glare at her. "Are you serious? Another pony rescue?"
She nods. I look at Irony, she moves forward. "You can't save them all. Though we need another team."
I nod at her. "We do need another team, before we leave, we will recruit from the Royal guards that have shown up."
I get back to work as Mindy tells me what's going on. Now we get to head to Arizona. Yay.
After she winds down, I ask her, "Can it wait until tomorrow? Can we leave then?"
She looks down, her ears splaying to the sides, she slowly nods. I look over at Irony. "Can I get a ride to my house?"
***
I wake up to something I wasn't expecting. A human male in my bed. Dr Ray is in with the pile of ponies. I look around. I see a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey on the foot of the bed, Irony, Moon Shadow, Trixie and Flash are all in bed with me. I know I had a few drinks after getting home. But what the fuck happened?
I slide out of bed and trip over an empty Skyy bottle, that's my liquor of choice. I remember pouring a drink with that last night. I shake my head. I totter over to the master bathroom, I empty my bladder, then the remaining contents of my stomach join the urine in the toilet. I look in the mirror. I'm a fright. I stop everything and turn and get into the shower. Letting the hot water play across my body, I hear the door to the shower open, and I feel hands on me.
"Oh, Irony. What happened last night?" I say, my eyes still closed, enjoying the warm water.
"Irony is still sleeping." I open my eyes to see Dr. Ray kneeling down next to me. I squawk and back away from him.
"What the fuck is going on?"
"You are saying you…don't remember last night?"
I shake my head frantically. I get a soft smile in return. "You were amazing, Dust."
I have never been more happy for rubber on my shoes. Otherwise I'd be slipping all over the place. I'm on my rear hooves, my wings and forehooves spread to each side, up against a wall.
"Oh fuck no!"
He smiles at me, then he nods. I shake my head profusely. "How much did I drink last night?"
"Plenty."
I shake my head again. "No, that's impossible, I'm a fillyfooler. I don't do guys."
"Ya did last night, Flash and I. It was one hell of a night."
If I had anything left in my bladder, it would be emptying itself right now in the shower.
"Come on, Ray. Stop messing with our friend."
I turn and look at the new voice, Moon Shadow is closing the shower door with her magic.
"What?"
"Dr. Ray was a perfect gentleman with you, Dust. When you said you were into mares. Well, mostly."
I look at him and at her. His smile has turned into an absolute shit eating grin.
"Mostly?"
"Let's just say the only part of him that didn't receive any action from you was…" And she points at his crotch. She then pushes him a little bit with her hoof. "But that part was taken care of by other ponies, am I right?" Getting a nod from him.
I bury my head in my hooves. "What did I do?"
"What didn't you do, Dust? If I didn't know better, I would say you were in heat last night," Moon Shadow says, though I will admit, the water cascading down her sides is quite alluring. I finally return to all fours. And shoot a glare at Dr. Ray.
"Remind me to never mix oxycontin and alcohol."
He smiles as he picks up the shampoo. "You want any help?"
I nod, and so does Moon Shadow. No more sexy times ensue in the shower.
***
I sigh as we get into the car. Mindy is with us, and two other unicorns. They are going to drive the busses back from us picking them up. I look at my go to team, Irony, Moon Shadow, Lightning Flash and Trixie. Again the car is full of ponies. We end up in Rapid City. After a little getting lost, we find our way into a lot, I see three busses lined up side by side. Not school busses, but tour busses. I smile. They look perfect. We all hop out of the car. Mindy magic's up her phone and dials.
"Mr. Melzer? We are here to pick up the busses."
She nods a few times, then hangs up the phone and looks at me. "He'll be here in a moment."
I look seriously at Mindy. "Does this guy realize that we are ponies?"
Her ears splay back and her grin turns evil. "Nope." I smile. This is going to be fun, I shoo all the ponies into the busses, and we wait for the seller. My only instructions are to act like there is nothing unusual. Damnit, if I can't have fun with this transformation, I might as well not have transformed.
After a few minutes I hear a car come up. I wait for the engine to shut off, and the door to open. I wink at Mindy, getting a quiet squee in response. I push the lever for the door to open.
"Yes, I think they will do nicely, Good job, Mindy," I say, focused on my partner in crime as we walk towards the car.
"Exactly, Dust. I knew we needed them, so we should buy them. We have some ponies to get around."
We both stop and look forward. Two humans are standing there in shock. I jerk back and put a hoof over my heart, Mindy mirrors my action.
I take a couple of deep breaths, then I turn to her. "I didn't know we would have to be buying from…" I look at the humans then at her, and stage whisper, "humans."
I can see her suppressing a giggle, but she looks sufficiently surprised. "I'm sorry Dust. I didn't know. They didn't tell me they were humans."
"Wouldn't that be pertinent information?"
"You didn't say anything about you being…whatever you are." The shorter, rounder man says gruffly.
I look at him and scowl. "Mindy, he can't even tell what ponies are by looking at them." I extend my wings. "And much less can't tell a pegasus by look. I was here to pay cash. But I won't be swindled by humans." I shrug out of my saddle bags and toss them on the ground.
I'm gratified by him stepping back, I think he feels insulted. But, the words pay cash always resonate. He glances down at the saddle bags I just tossed on the ground, one side has opened, and stacks of hundred dollar bills are clearly visible, he licks his lips greedily.
I give Mindy an obvious hard look, then turn and look at the humans. "Well, I guess I can make do." I spread my wings and hover so my head is at the same height as theirs, I extend a hoof, "I'm Lightning Dust, this is one of my associates, Mindy."
He shakes my hoof, then looks at Mindy. He then looks at his hand, as though he's surprised he just shook it with a pegasus pony.
"I'm here to see if I can buy a bus or three,” I tell him.
"That is, if the price is right." Mindy chirps.
I can see him mentally shifting gears. "I'm looking for twenty five per bus."
I land heavily, my wings are spread aggressively. "Twenty five? These busses are ten years old, or older."
"But they have been maintained very well."
"I'll be the judge of that. You have the keys?"
A key ring is tossed at me, and Mindy catches it in her magic. She trots to the first bus. I watch intently as the diesel engine is fired up, I trot around the bus, eyeing every minor dent, every scratch in the paint. This human is going to see that I can haggle. I spend the next ten minutes telling him everything wrong with it.
I finally wind down. "Fifteen thousand each."
He has the nerve to look shocked. "I would be losing money at that price."
I scoff. "As if, dude. You didn't pay more than ten each to get them."
His cheeks redden. "I'll go down to twenty-two each. Anything less and you are taking food from my children's mouths."
The man is easily in his fifties "Your kids in college, if you even have any. Sixteen-two."
We go back and forth, and finally shake on eighteen thousand five hundred each. He pulls out a manila folder with the titles. I hand over stacks of cash. I'll admit, having stacks of hundred dollar bills feels nice. A few minutes with a pen, and three unicorns are heading back north with the newly purchased vehicles. I look over at the human. "You are a good negotiator."
He growls a bit. "You drive a hard bargain, miss Dust."
I smirk at him. "Of course I do." This gets a bark of a laugh. I chuckle as I hop in the car with Irony, and we take off south.