//------------------------------//
// Chapter 38. New Friends 
// Story: Dust on the Wind 
// by Sparky Brony 
//------------------------------//

This mare is heading her happy ass back north. I want the chill of winter, I'm glad for it. I'm over Colorado, I decided to sight see on my way back home, and to my left are the Rocky Mountains. I just came from Pike Peak. I briefly landed on the top of that mountain. Now I'm just tooling over the city of Denver. 

A pegasus buzzes me, then the wake from the flight puts me into a flat spin. I end up folding my wings and letting gravity take me for a moment, then flare them to get back on track. I look at the pegasus, she's got a trail behind her like I leave, or like Rainbow Dash's rainbow trail. I angle to follow the pegasus, and she accelerates. So, I speed up too. I start to close when she really pours on the speed, I hear the distant crack of a sonic boom, then I generate one myself as I speed up. Damn, she's got a turn of speed on her. Finally after several minutes and we are well into Nebraska when I finally get a good look at her other than the yellow trail with dark streaks. She's yellow, and her mane is streaked yellow and black. She looks back and sees me, I see her eyes widen, then she apparently gives up, she's heading for the ground. I smile as the other pegasus finally decides to land. I look around, and check the gps on my phone, holy crap, I followed her a bit over two hundred miles. Damn. But I'm still angry. 

My wings are spread in aggression, "What the hell? Don't you watch where you are going? You put me into a spin!"

She shrugs, though she's panting a bit, "You were a Wonderbolt, you should know how to recover."

I shake my head, did I just hear that? "Yeah, I was able to recover, but that doesn't remove the fact that you weren't watching where you were going. What the hell is wrong with you?"

She shrugs her wings, "What's wrong with you? You are okay, you weren't harmed. What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" I scream. I feel blood vessels ready to pop. This little pony is a danger to those around her. Then my ears fall, my eyes widen.

"Holy shit." I say softly.

Her ears perk forward, "What?"

I start to laugh, I like being able to laugh, but this is almost too much, that's twice in one day I'm laughing so hard I can't keep on my hooves. I'm laying on the ground, slamming a hoof into the ground repeatedly, laughing so hard I can barely breathe. 

She doesn't wait very patiently, she's tapping a hoof. I finally am able to regain my hooves. I get a look at this pegasus, she's maybe fifteen years of age. She's probably the same age as Sparkler. This is rich.

"You are just like I was."

Her head cocks to the side.

I smile at her, "Did you watch Wonderbolt Academy?"

She nods slowly, "That was me, reckless, seat of the pants, everything was about speed. I dreamed for years to become a Wonderbolt. And my reckless attitude was what destroyed my first chance."

"You got in, didn't you?"

I nod, "I got in for two reasons, first, I got a second chance. After Rainbow Dash became Captain of the Wonderbolts, she immediately came to me, and got me back in. But I would never have made it if I hadn't learned from my mistakes. I believe in pushing myself, I still want to be the best. But you haven't had that lesson yet. And it's something you need to learn."

She rolls her eyes, "I'm a better flyer. I'll smoke you wherever you want to go." She lowers her head and spreads her wings.  I just look at her.

"C'mon, you think your better, show me."

I sigh, "Back in Equestria, before I went to the Academy, I would be showing you exactly what kind of flyer I am."
I stop and look at her, shaking my head, "I am not that pony anymore. I've learned, I've grown, and you need the lessons I've gone through. I'm not going to race you."

"Because you know you'll lose."

I give her a look, "Seriously?"

She sighs, "Fine, no racing. I'm Ginger Crisp."

I chuckle at the name. "So, Ginger, you a speedster?"

I get a confused look back, "Speedster?"

"Yes, a speedster, a pegasus who is naturally faster than most other pegasi, and everything about a speedster is flight. Do you find yourself perched high, or simply hovering because you hate being still? One other pony you should know of, Rainbow Dash, is the ultimate speedster."

She nods slowly.

"Do you find you can outpace most other pegasi, most of the time without trying?"

She again nods.

I smile, "You are a speedster. Though to find out some of your abilities, you'd have to have some magical testing done, and unfortunately, the only place I know to get that testing done is back in Equestria."

She sighs, "I don't know if I'm going to go back. I like it here, and I really like my job."

Huh? "What job?"

She indicates the satchel she's carrying, "We are the New Pony Express. Guaranteed Nationwide delivery, you want cross country in half the day? We are your pegasi."

I let out a soft whistle, "Damn, what an awesome idea. Did you know pegasi are managing the weather in Denver?"

She shakes her head, "I was just getting a package for delivery to South Carolina. Then back to New York before supper."

"Damn, you are a speedster. Not many pegasi can make that trip that fast."

She shrugs her wings, then turns and flares her wings, "Speaking of, I've got a delivery to make."

"Hold on one second."

She huffs, but she folds her wings.

"You are based out of New York, you said."

She huffs again, "Yes."

"Who's in charge there?"

She looks abashed, "Well, there's only me, right now. But I hope to find more pegasi that can do long distance flight like me. We can really clean up where email isn't sufficient for sending things. A pegasus that can exceed the speed of sound, and cross the country faster than an airplane. There are places that are willing to pay a pretty penny for things to be delivered that fast."

I don't doubt it. "Let me know where to meet you, and I'll want to talk to you where you aren't so busy."

She shrugs her wings, but finally gives me her address and phone number. She then takes off, and in moments the report of a sonic boom comes to my ears. Damn. What a fast pegasus. I take the stylus and tap on my phone a few times, my new Bluetooth hums and then the other side is picked up.

"Yeah, Irony. You wouldn't believe what just happened."

***

I land at the farm, I haven't been here in months, not since I was brought back after being retrieved down in Columbia. Since then I've been mainly at home. With a little time at the shop. I'm recovered, so I'm going to see what's going on. The first to see me is Cloud Kicker. She gallops up and hugs me.

"Oh Dust, it's so wonderful to see you back."

I smile, "I'm glad to be back."

Time for business, "How are things going with a certain human?"

She smiles evilly, "After Sparkler was injured by the mercenaries, the President pushed through an act of Congress, cancelling all contracts with the Spectrum Group. They are under some scrutiny from various agencies because of the evidence we provided. Their legitimate income stream is down to nearly nothing."

I smile, "And the man himself?"

Her ears fall, "He's in the wind, the FBI wants a word with him."

I chuckle, "They better get in line behind us, especially Irony, but I want a crack at him too. The trouble is, we won't leave much for the FBI to question, and I think they dislike questioning corpses."

She laughs, "Let me show you what we've been doing." I follow the lilac mare. This farm is ten sections, as in ten square miles, so it's pretty massive. We wing our way a couple of miles north, and as we land I end up just looking around.

"Houses?"

She smiles, "Yes, Dust, houses. We are building our own town. All ponies, with a few humans joining in. We've got dozens of herds forming, they want their own homes. Someplace to call their own."

The trees of the section have been knocked down, and a town has grown, well maintained gravel paths snake all over. Houses are everywhere. Over a hundred of them, and even in the winter cold, construction is going on at a furious pace. I see ponies with cutie marks all related to building running all over. Pony size hard hats abound. We get to a new section going up, Cloud Kicker and I are given hard hats for walking around. I'm amazed, pegasi are holding framing while earth ponies are nailing things down, unicorns are framing as well. The hum of magic is everywhere. 

Cloud Kicker nudges me, "If you'll notice, the houses are typical Equestrian design, they are modular."

I give her an inquisitive look, "Modular?"

"To accommodate growing families, just unhook them from utilities, and a few earth ponies can hook up and drag them to join them with other houses, making big herd housing. Add in the housing already being built for some of our larger herds, we have a town in the making. We haven't decided on a name for it. But we are also building with clouds."

Huh? I look over at a nearby hill, what I thought was just general cloud cover isn't. I take off, heading for it. Amazing. I land on the cloud, I look around. Cloud houses are being built, and combined into one large cloud. A huffing Cloud Kicker lands next to me, "Yes, we've thought of naming it the Rim of the Sky. I kind of like the name. But just look at it. We are making homes on Earth. Thousands of ponies are planning on staying, and now nearly half the mares are pregnant, we'll be doubling our population soon."

"And food?"

She laughs, "Food is the least of our concerns, we've converted a good portion of the farm to grow food. And with earth pony help, we will have bountiful baskets. Add in what we can purchase, and what ponies are doing to help when it comes to growing. Earth's food shortages can go away rather quickly."

"I wonder." I look down as I trot down the cloud streets, I'm focused internally. I walk for a long time in silence.

Eventually my silence gets to Cloud Kicker, "You wonder what, Dust?"

I stop and turn to her, "What if this was Discord's plan all along?"

Confusion from the lavender pegasus.

"Think about it, Cloud Kicker, just think about it. He always had plans within plans. What if his plans here are twofold, bringing the ponies to this world bereft of magic, bring our Equestrian magic here, and to bring out humanity's magic. And also, to help the humans in a back handed manner, we control the elements around us, we have to, we are driven to. We have to grow food, we are driven to control the weather. Something that humanity has been at the mercy of for millennia. What if this?" I gesture to our new community, "All of this, is part of his plan? He couldn't be killed, he's a spirit, but he was banished, but he's not dead."

She looks thoughtful, "I don't know Dust, he did a lot of bad things, he hurt a lot of ponies. He was savage."

I laugh, "Cloud Kicker, if something is handed to you, do you value it?"

"Usually."

"Yeah, usually. But what if you have to fight for it, and some die in the fight for it. Don't you hold it dear? Isn't it worth more, because blood has been spilled for it? I'm the last pony to give Discord credit for anything, but every episode with him showed that he had plans within plans, like Twilight's Kingdom, he gave the Mane Six the clues to open their keys, he even gave them the true answer in the Return of Harmony, as to where the elements were."

"Yeah, but he never expected the elements to work after he affected them."

"But if he truly didn't want to be defeated, if he wasn't the contrast to harmony, if he was truly malevolent, wouldn't he have put the elements where they couldn't be found, or even if found, could never be retrieved? He wanted to test the mettle of the Mane six. He wanted to see if they were worthy of beating him. The more I see, the more I believe, he was never truly evil."

Cloud Kicker sits down for a moment, "I hear what you are saying, and I agree with some of it. But I don't think I could ever forgive him for what he did to Equestria, for what he did to us."

I sigh, "I don't know if I can forgive him either, but it's certainly food for thought."

***

"Mayor Mare, I'm so happy to see you." I poke my head into the office. She's sitting, working on the computer, a pony friendly keyboard in front of her. She smiles at me.

"Oh, good. Lightning Dust. We need your input on a lot of decisions."

I hold up a hoof, "You don't need my input, Mayor, you are doing fine yourself."

"Oh, but I do. We don't have to access your personal bank accounts anymore, and in fact, we've paid you back for the loans for buying food and materials until we were self sufficient. But…"

Once again, I hold up a hoof to forestall her, "You are in charge, I've got my company to run, I don't want to be in charge here."

She stops, a blank look in her eyes, she finally recovers, "But you've spent so much money, this land belongs to you."

"While the title is in my company's name, that isn't the issue, I did that for the ponies."

She shakes her head, "Lightning Dust, you own the land, you paid to have the barracks built, all six of them. You have so much invested, we can't just take control, it wouldn't be fair to you."

I shake my head, "Mayor, I really don't care."

"But I do, and I'm not the only one who is quite aware of how much you have done for us."

I sigh, "Fine. If you really are aware of my investment, buy me out."

"Come again?"

I name a figure, "That is how much money that was spent to get this farm up and going, I'm not worried about the so called loans for food and supplies, but since you've paid me back for them, they are water under the bridge. But if you are so stressed about me owning the place, make this pony owned, by all of you. Buy me out, and then you won't feel the need to ask me for input on every little thing."

"Oh, no. We can't do that."

"Yes, you can. Mindy's let me know what kind of income the farm is getting now."

"Oh, it's not a lack of money, I would have a riot of ponies if I did."

I shake my head, "What?"

"Lightning Dust, you need to understand something, you and your herd saved a good number of these ponies, either directly by going and retrieving them from horrible circumstances, or you got them to come here, where they've been safe, secure, and are becoming prosperous. If I were to buy you out, they would think we wanted you gone. We don’t."

I cross my forehooves and huff, "Well, I don't want to be bothered by every little decision. I've got a company I'm trying to run, I've got a herd I'm lead mare for. I don't need the extra responsibilities."

She looks thoughtful for a minute, then the former Mayor of Ponyville smiles, "I've got it."

"Okay. Mind letting me know what you've got?"

She smiles brighter, "You are now the CEO. You own the farm, and the land, but the City Council that's sprung up and I will be the ones handling day to day decisions for the town. You don't have to make decisions, but we would appreciate if you came to the occasional council meeting. We've got a few of those with law degrees among the ponies, we can draw up incorporation documents, make it all legal. And you won't be bothered by us wondering what to do anymore."

***

Back at the house, and the sun has just gone down, though I'm waiting. Irony's around, so is the rest of my herd, but I'm waiting for a knock at the front door. Finally my patience is rewarded by a knock on the door. I jump over the couch and land lightly, opening the door.

"Hi there, Ginger Crisp."

The yellow pegasus just stops, "You set me up, you called for a delivery."

I smile, "Yes, I did. And I had my wife call, so you wouldn't recognize my voice."

She cocks her head to the side and her ears fall, "Why?"

"Would you come in?"

She looks outside like she wants to fly, then she makes a decision. She slowly trots into the house, "I'm still charging you, I came from Nevada to pick up your delivery to New York."

"There is no delivery, but I will pay you for your valuable time. In more ways than one." I gesture to the sofa and she makes herself comfortable. Moon Shadow levitates a glass of hot chocolate to the pegasus, who takes one sniff then sips gratefully.

"So, I'm guessing that you brought me here for a reason?"

Ding ding ding ding, give the mare a prize. I smile at her.

"How would you like some backing, and a few other pegasi to share the work load. Add to that, advertizing, and in general a more steady life and income stream?"

"So, you are wanting to take my business from me?" Her wings start to spread.

I fold my ears back, "Oh no. Ginger, not at all. Partnership would be a far more accurate term."

"I'm not leaving New York, I love it there, and some of the humans like having a pony around. They leave my apartment alone, and I've sealed off the door there, the only way in is by flying."

I smile, just like a pegasus. "You won't have to. But you are always welcome here. We are actually building a cloud city here."

That gets her to perk up, "I was from Cloudsdale. I would love to live in a cloud city again." She stops and shakes her head. "No. While I really do appreciate your offer, I must refuse. I don't think I want to be beholden to anypony. I'm my own boss. I don't take orders very well."

My ears fall, you can't be a success at everything. I offer a hoof, and she shakes it. Then finishes off the hot chocolate. She gathers up the envelope of cash I get for her. I'm true to my word, and she departs.

Irony comes in, "I heard most of your conversation with her, love. What are you going to do?"

I smile, "Well, she doesn't want to join us, so instead of being partners, we'll be competitors."

She looks at me quizzically, "Huh?"

My smile broadens, "I know a few pretty fast pegasi, let's see how many want to restart the pony express, and really make some money."

She shakes her head, "You are one hell of a businessmare."

I toss her a kiss as I take to my wings and head upstairs, "You know it."

***

How many ponies did that bastard banish? How many are out there? How many are hunkered down, wondering what the hell is going on? I need to find them. I've got pegasi of my retrieval teams all over. The more enclaves of ponies we find, the better. We've found two in the state of Montana. Numbering about a hundred ponies. In the mountains where they decided they would be safe. Cloud Kicker was able to convince them to join us. 

I'm over Minnesota right now. I'm keeping my eyes peeled. There have to be more ponies out there. I'm going to find them. I have to find them. Then a disturbing smell hits my nose. I feel my muzzle crinkle in response. It smells burnt, and sour. I look around, the prevailing wind is to the west, so it's behind me. I bank hard and follow the smell. After a few minutes I see where my destination is. I come in for a landing. I don't like what I'm seeing. My stylus comes out and I dial the phone.

"Mindy, I need you here as soon as possible." I say. And in seconds, a soft pop announces the arrival of a pregnant unicorn. She looks around.

"There is something wrong here, Dustie." She looks at me, "Irony, Moon Shadow, Cloud, and Blossomforth are on their way."

We trot through the snow for a few minutes, well, Mindy trots. I hover around, keeping my eyes peeled. There is over a foot of snow on the ground. And the snow has drifted, but I see an odd looking mound, I brush the snow off of it.

"Oh Dear Celestia!" I turn and vomit. Mindy pops over to me. Her magic cleans off the body, I can see a hard set to her face. In seconds, her horn glows, and the entire area heats up, and the snow is clearing. In less than a minute, the snow is gone. Uncovering the carnage. She's looking at the bodies. Dozens of ponies, all dead. "How long ago was this?"

She looks crestfallen, she looks at me, "Can't be more than a few days, Dust. There was a big snow storm last night. This snow was all fresh." She trots around, her ears perk up. 

"You hear that?" She asks me. I trot forward, my ears rotating, the sound comes again. It sounds like earth equine. I trot over to the barn, being set among the trees, I didn't know what it was at first. I pull open the door. I know this smell. Horse, and it's pretty strong. I hear something moving.

"I think we've got a feral horse here." I trot inside, and in one of the stalls is exactly what I thought I heard. I open the door and grab the lead. Drawing the horse outside.

"Oh, no." I whisper, "Mindy!" I then howl. "We've got a pony here!" A stallion. His cutie mark is vivid on his flank, it's a pegasi's wing, and more than that, his coat hasn't completely changed, it has more than a hit of turquoise to it. I look at Mindy as she gallops to me.

"Sweet Celestia, another pony, but he's not as bad off as you were." She looks up, "Right on time. Moon Shadow may be able to help him." The chariot comes into view and lands. The rest of my team hops off and gallops over to us.

"Moon Shadow, take a look." The dark gray unicorn trots up, lighting her horn.

"He's pretty far gone, but I think I can retrieve him." Without another word she touches her horn to the pony's forehead. Everything goes quiet. Both ponies are stock still. I look over at Irony.

"It took a really long time for them to get you. I hope she can do it on her own." She moves close to Moon Shadow, I lean in as well. I listen closely, their breathing has become synchronized.

I continue inspecting this farm. I bring Mindy close, "These ponies were killed by small arms, mostly." I indicate a body, "But I think this is the same sort of mercenaries that attacked our farm."

Mindy directs a sour look at me, "They could try again, but that would be a mistake. Something that is not well known, the National Guard has a brand new station less than ten miles from our home. And they have what they call a rapid response force at the station. They are even patrolling the area, making sure they can't sneak up on us."

I nod, "Because Sparkler was injured."

"She is still his daughter. But I'm the one who had to field a very angry Presidential phone call after that raid."

I grumble, "How bad was it?"

She smiles at me, "I had to hold the phone away from my ear for a full minute for him to wind down and let me get a word in edgewise. And the federal agents who came to get the captured mercenaries were not very kind in loading them into prison busses. From what I've been told, they are being quietly tried by military tribunal, and sentenced to very long stays at very substandard federal housing. We won't need to worry about them anymore."

I sigh in relief, "And word of what they went through is spreading, so they likely won't bother us."

She looks around, "But we aren't all the ponies. The sooner we end that asshole, the better."

I look at her, "Has anypony been able to find out his name?"

She shakes her head, "They are a privately held corporation, they don't have to divulge all that information. And we've looked for a long time. No luck at all."

I turn to Irony and Moon Shadow and trot over too them. Something is happening. 

I watch the pony, his cutie mark stays bright, but ripples of color go up and down his body. And as I watch, a bright white light comes from him, causing me to put a hoof up to protect my eyes. When the light finally fades, a bright turquoise pegasus is standing in front of me, Moon Shadow brings her horn away and lets it quiet. His eyes open. He looks around, then his eyes roll back, and he collapses to the ground. 

"We had better take him home." In seconds he's suspended in Moon Shadow's magic, and they enter the chariot. I take to the air, staying with my herd. 

***

As I'm flying, I'm thinking. This pony wasn't as bad off as I was, but he nearly lost himself. He looked physically fine, but something really shocked him to the core. What could have hurt him so badly? What could have had him lose the desire to live? That's when I started to lose my color, I really wanted death, I wanted to not feel anymore. I retreated into myself, it really wasn't the loss of my flight. It was the feeling that things would never change, that I would have to endure what I was going through without ever getting relief. That evil man, Saul. Irony nearly split him in half with her mace and he deserved it. Though in my darker moments, I wish I had been able to end the man myself. I haven't been able to be intimate with the ones I love because of that man. And that just burns me up as I think about it. I look at the unconscious pony laying in the chariot.

"Don't worry. We are going to find out what happened to you, and fix it." I say quietly as we start to descend into Montana.

***

The stallion stays asleep for nine hours, I try to make myself busy, but I can't. I end up napping for most of the afternoon. I don't know what the herd thinks, me sleeping curled up at the foot of the bed with this strange pony in it. But I have to find out what happened. I'm finally woken by him shifting in his sleep. I shoot off a quick text, and soon the rest of my herd joins me in the bedroom.

I sit and watch as his eyes flutter open, "Water." He croaks.

Moon Shadow is ready with a cup, which is drunk greedily. After the second cup, he's finally able to talk. 

"Where am I?"

"Montana."

"What happened?"

I chuckle, "Actually, we were hoping you could answer that question."

He looks down, "I don't remember much. But it was three days ago, I do remember that much."

I nod, moving closer, "I heard gunfire, just loud pops all over the place, it was so fast. So much of it. I panicked, I ran into the barn and hid in one of the stalls. I ended up underneath the hay until all the noise stopped."

Tears shine brightly in his eyes. "After everything went quiet, I walked back to the house. It was on fire, I tripped over one of my best friends, Moon Dancer. She looked like she was asleep, until I saw the back of her head." He sobs, "It was gone. They all were dead." Tears roll steadily down his face, "I couldn't take it. I didn't know what to do. All of my friends, everypony that was with me through the transformation, and the few we were able to find. Those who found our little farm, they were murdered. I couldn't take it. I withdrew into myself."

He looks at Moon Shadow, "Thank you for bringing me out. I had a pretty hard life as a human. My family was very abusive, and I ran away at fourteen. Turning into a pony was actually a godsend. I could fly, I could get away from all the crap in my life. I felt free in the air. Moon Dancer was my rock, back when she was Allan and I was Mikaela. He was always there for me. Even when my dad came for me, he stood up to him."

I smile at the stallion, "Sweetie, we are going to make sure you are protected. We have a whole community here."

He smiles thankfully, "Oh Thank you, Lightning Dust."

Damn they all know me from the show, that's funny. I smile as I trot from the room.

I am sitting down in the kitchen, eating a tuna salad sandwich, Irony comes over and puts a hand on my withers, "Dust, you like him don't you?"

I look at her quizzically, "What do you mean?"

She chuckles, "Because throughout you talking to him, you had the wing-boner from hell."

I shake my head, "That's impossible. I'm a filly fooler, I don't do guys."

"Look at your wings, love." I look back, and I feel my wings, they are so tight they hurt, how did I not notice that before. What the hell?

"That's impossible." I say again, "I'm having trouble thinking about sex with you, sex wasn't on my mind at all when talking to him."

She kisses me on the cheek, I grab her cheeks and direct the kiss where it belongs, we intertwine tongues for a long moment, she pulls back, "Your mind might not be thinking that direction, but some part of you was. I can smell you from here."

What? I shift my hind legs, holy shit. I look down, face burning. "I'm sorry, Irony."

Again, I'm kissed. "You haven't done anything to be ashamed of, love. We really need to think about adding a stallion or two to our herd. I was thinking of Dr. Ray. I'd still like us to court him into the herd, but if you like this stallion, go for it.

I chuckle, "Fat chance of that."