Blue Angel

by V-Pony

The Hurricane-Pt 3: Meanwhile...

Notes: Ponyville Reference Map:
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad221/9moviefan/PonyvilleMap.png

“Ahh, feels good to get outta that old Library every once in a while, eh Twilight,” Spike announced as he strode down the path into Ponyville. “Twilight?” He turned to see his Unicorn friend plodding along slowly behind him; and as short as his little legs were, there was no excuse for her lagging this far behind. Something had to be on her mind because she kept looking back at the tree.
“Twilight, you ok?”

“Huh,” her assistant’s question snapped her out of her thoughts; she’d been thinking back over what Volare had told her of Earth and the humans. She had started out wanting to know so much…but now…did she really want to continue?
“Yeah, I’m good,” she shook her head and trotted quickly to catch up with Spike before hovering him up and onto her back. “Just thinking about what window to replace the broken one with, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh, we know which one to get because we’ve replaced that window twice,” Spike said, not quite convinced that was truly what was on her mind. "Once because of bad weather, and the other time because Rainbow Dash tried a Sonic Rainboom too close to town and it blew the window out,” Spike ticked off on his claws as they entered the town proper. “And now a third time because of the Blue Blunder back there. Heh, next time it breaks I say we board the sucker up”-

“He’s not a blunder!” Twilight cut in rather loudly, drawing the stares of multiple ponies out enjoying the afternoon in town. “Um, heh-heh…” she laughed weakly before trotting quickly towards the small hardware store in town, Mustang Hardware.
“For your information Spike, he’s got quite the brilliant mind. You should see the theories he and I have come up with since he’s been here.”

“Are you sure he’s not just going along with them because you have him trapped in your bedroom,” the dragon’s deadpan statement drew a few stares of its own. “What, you wanna hear the whole story? It’s hilarious-MMMPH!” A mortified Twilight magically clamped his jaws shut just in time as they entered the store.

“Spike, will you please not make me out to be some sort of lonely psycho?!” The Unicorn hissed angrily, not noticing the cloaked figure near her dissolve back into the throng of mildly-curious ponies.
“It’s nothing everypony; Spike ate too many apples and now he’s cranky and tired, that’s all.” She released his mouth experimentally as the hardware store manager Mr. Ferrum Smithshoe waved a hoof at her. The dragon wisely kept his mouth shut for the moment.

“Heya Twilight, long time, no see,” he gave her a bright smile. He’d been working the store for over 20 years, and seemed to be a world-wise, elderly Unicorn…though he preferred the term “upper-middle-aged.” His little store serviced all of Ponyville, providing services and products ranging from lumber, tools, nails, and even smithing horseshoes, an occupation handed down through generations and reflected in the family name. Likewise, located squarely on his flank was a cutie mark in the shape of a horseshoe being struck with a hammer.

“Afternoon, Mr. Smithshoe,” Twilight smiled sweetly to the dapple-grey stallion. “You’re looking grand today; how’s business treating you?”

“Aww Twilight, you always know how to make an old stallion feel like a colt again. And please, call me Ferrum,” he grinned, showcasing the missing tooth on the right side of his mouth which he claimed he’d lost in a fight with a Timberwolf years ago, but many ponies figured he’d simply knocked out in a household accident. Even so, he liked to brag about it every now and again with a grin that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. If there was anything like a town grandfather figure, Ferrum fit the bill nicely; as he’d “seen it all and done it all and knew everypony in between.”
“Business has been steady, thanks for asking. But enough about me, what brings you here? Didn’t break another window did ya?”

“…”
Spike nodded quietly behind her.

“That bad, eh? Well, come on, I know the one ya need,” he headed off along the glass aisle, trotting to the correct section without hesitation. He hovered a large pane of bluish glass from the shelf and grinned. “This the one, right?”

“Mhm, that’s correct.”

“Knew it,” he winked and headed back to the front counter. “Well, at the very least, I’m glad you’re keeping me in the window business, as bad as that might sound, heh-heh. Have to start givin’ ya a frequent customer discount in that department,” he had a good chuckle at her expense and sat the pane next to the counter.
“Ah, so what happened to it this time,” the Unicorn squinted at Spike. “Was it you, young feller?”

“Don’t look at me,” Spike waved his claws. “It was actually-” he caught the stern glance from Twilight, telling him to pick and choose his words carefully.
“Um, I think I’ll let Twilight tell this one.”

“Oh? Well, it couldn’t have been a tree this time, right? No storms lately for that,” Ferrum mused. “And Rainbow hasn’t done any Sonic Rainbooms lately…hrmph, I’m stumped. What happened?”

“Well, did you happen to see that blue and yellow Pegasus I was walking in town with yesterday,” Twilight asked.

“The one with the wacky-looking mane? Yep, I saw him,” he nodded. “Friend of yours? If so, some friend he is going around and busting out windows; they ain’t cheap, ya know!”

“Yes I know…and no, it’s nothing like that,” she quickly corrected him. “You see, he’s…well…he’s kinda new to the whole flying thing.”

“He looked pretty grown to me,” Ferrum objected. “He just never used his wings before or something?”

“You could say that,” she replied after a moment’s hesitation.

“Weird fella. So what happened? Oh it’ll be 80 bits for the window, by the way,” he popped open the register and scooped the money into it that Twilight dropped from her saddlebags.

“Well, he tried to match up against Rainbow Dash and he”-

“Um, did he know that he challenged the fastest Pegasus this side of Canterlot?” Ferrum cocked a bushy eyebrow and leaned against the counter.

“Yes, but it’s not like that…ugh, it’s complicated,” she hung her head. “Let’s just say she and him got into a little competition and he ended up crashing through my window.”

“Talk about bad luck.”

“You have no idea…his wing got torn off in the crash.”

“Oh…goddess,” Ferrum cursed softly, mumbling a few words under his breath. “Did he make it?”

“Yes, he’s recovering right now at my place; I reattached his wing myself and now we’re just waiting for him to get better.”

“Impressive; the surgery not the crash, mind you,” he gave her a nudge. “So, what you’re saying is…you’ve got a fella in your room that was foolish enough to challenge Rainbow Dash to a race, who crashed through your window and lost a wing, and now you’ve got him at your home...alone,” the grey Unicorn cracked a grin. "I'd say you've got yourself a right fine fish in a barrel there, but as bad luck as he is, ya might wanna throw that one back!"

“Mr. Smithshoe!!” Twilight chided him, but he only laughed softly.

“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it, Twilight! You tell him ol’ Ferrum down at the hardware store wishes he gets well soon,” he gave her a soft smile that crinkled his eyes and opened the door for her. “Let me know if you need help installing the window; I may not be as young as I used to be, but I can at least offer ya moral support.”

“Yeah, and bark at us while we install the thing,” Spike groaned. “You young folks don’t know nothin’ about good, hard, honest work,” he mimicked Ferrum but only got a rough pat on the head from him.

“Hey, what else are old folks for,” he shrugged and laughed. “Good luck!”

“Thanks for the help, Ferrum…oh, I almost forgot,” Twilight stopped halfway out the door. “Do you have any mirrors?”

“Awww man, I’m sooooo bored,” Rainbow Dash moaned into the low-hanging cloud she was laying on. She had just finished up her weather duties for the day which merely consisted of moving the loose clouds out that formed over Ponyville, giving the townsfolk below a nice sunny day, just as planned. She had amused herself with bunching the clouds up to the west of town and kicking them to pieces, but had quickly tired of that.
She had then started to practice her Wonderbolts tryout maneuvers but quit halfway through. She knew them by heart and quite frankly, they’d become boring and repetitive, just like her daily routine. In fact, the only real excitement she’d gotten lately had been from the new guy, Volare. She’d enjoyed having someone just as reckless as her to compete with, although it had gotten him hurt and she’d nearly embarrassed herself by crying on him.
Hopefully he hadn’t noticed…
And now she had to wait for two whole weeks before she could even talk to him again!

“Man, what am I gonna do for two weeks without Volare to pick on,” she flopped over and looked up into a sky the same cyan shade as herself. Normally, she’d just let her mind wander into that great blue space, but for some reason, her mind seemed tethered today.
…feeling a little guilty perhaps?
Ugh, you again?
…can’t escape your conscience, Dashie.
What do you want?
…the question is: what do YOU want?
Why can’t my conscience just be up front about anything?
…aww Dashie, then where would the fun be in that?
Am I truly losing my mind here; playing mind games with myself?! She asked as she grabbed two hoof-fulls of cloud and stuffed them into her ears.
…I’d assume you are if you think clouds stuffed in the OUTSIDE of your ears will block out a voice on the INSIDE of your head.
“Oh fine, fine…so what is it do you think I want,” she asked out loud to the sky. “Cuz right now, I have no idea…”

“Hey Dashie,” a voice chirped from below the cloud. Dash poked her head down through the cloud to see Pinkie Pie standing there and waving her hoof with a grin. “Who’re you talking to up there?”

“Oh, just a little self-debate,” the Pegasus replied as she floated through the bottom of the cloud towards the ground. This might just be the savior from boredom I need!

“You talk to yourself,” Pinkie tilted her head to one side. “You loco in the coco or something?”

…hmm, maybe you’re nuts after all
Oh shut it!
“Nah, just bored out of my wits. How about you?”

“Meh, same,” Pinkie blew air through her lips in an exaggerated sigh. “Got through with work early at Sugarcube Corner. You?”

“Same.”

“Since when do you work at the Corner,” the pink mare gave her a quizzical look. “Is that you I hear up in the attic at night?”

“Um, Pinkie…” Dash looked at her friend with concern before the pink pony burst out into giggles.

“Nah, I know you don’t work there; you can’t cook for beans! Or simply cook beans for that matter,” she giggled and snorted, making Rainbow Dash roll her magenta eyes. “In any case, I’ll figure out what’s walking around up there at night one of these days. Anyways, you said you’re bored?”

“Yeah, ‘out of my mind’ bored,” she groaned and tossed her hooves in the air.
I swear if you say anything.
…my proverbial lips are sealed.
Thank you very much.

“Me too,” Pinkie sat down for a moment before jumping back up as if the ground had burned her flank. “I got an idea!”

“Oh, what is it,” Dash’s wings flared excitedly. If there was anypony that could liven the situation up, it was her random pink friend.

“When’s the last time we pranked anypony,” Pinkie’s blue eyes glinted.

“Hrmm…good question…and besides Fluttershy, who haven’t we pranked yet?”

“How about Volare-bear,” but Pinkie’s grin faded quickly as Dash shook her mane.

“Nah, we can’t do that; poor guy’s been through too much as it is, plus I promised Twilight I’d give him some space for a few weeks,” the Pegasus frowned sadly.

“Ah, I see,” Pinkie patted Dash on the back, noting how upset just talking about him made her. But this was a different type of upset than what she was used to seeing from Rainbow Dash; most of the time she was upset about losing a race or not making the Wonderbolts. But this time…she looked genuinely sorrowful.
“Dashie, you wanna tell me what’s really going on between you and Volare?”

“Whatcha mean,” Dash took a step away, immediately defensive.

“What I mean is…you may not show it too much, but I know you’re a caring pony. And you seem more upset than one usually would about something like this,” Pinkie picked her words carefully, knowing she’d touched some sort of nerve with Dash. The pink mare may have been a goofball, but she was fairly in tune with her friends’ emotions as well. “You sound almost like it was your fault or something.”

“But it’s all my fault!” Dash said quickly, before her ears drooped and her vision dropped to the dirt. “I mean…”

“But you kept his crash from becoming a splattered-to-goo-doozy of a crash!” Pinkie exclaimed, but it did nothing to bring a hint of a smile to Dash’s lips. She changed tactic. “Dashie, look…yeah, you messed up, but you didn’t run away. You stuck by him until help showed up. And then, um…what happened after that; I kinda left for the night,” she grinned sheepishly.

“Oh, heh, we stayed up reading some Daring Do because his wing hurt too much to sleep,” Dash finally smiled slightly. “I think I’ll make him a fan of her yet.”

“See, now why do you feel guilty? You saved him and then stayed up all night to comfort him,” Pinkie smiled brightly and thumped her lightly on the chest. “Now that’s the loyal Rainbow Dash I know, not this mopey-wopey pony you were just a second ago. So, tell me why you said it’s all your fault.”

“Pinkie, I,” Dash started to protest, but the Earth Pony gave her the big blue sad eyes…and her resolve faded. “Oh…fine…but Pinkie,” Dash looked and beckoned her friend closer. She complied a little too much, and Dash was soon speaking into her poofy pink mane. “Blech! Can you keep a secret; like the biggest secret I’ve ever told you?”

“You can count on me,” she replied with a salute that nearly tweaked Dash on the nose. “Oops, sorry.”

“Heh, it’s ok,” Dash smiled a bit cautiously. “I trust you, Pinkie…now look, this is what’s got me bothered…”

Pinkie sat there for a long moment after Dash finished telling her everything, from being the cause of his plane crash, to finding the cutie mark patch in his jacket. She looked shocked, something Rainbow Dash never even considered to be possible. She waved a blue hoof in front of the pink mare’s face after she didn’t respond.
“Um, Pinkie…?”

“Wow, that is a jumbo secret,” Pinkie breathed and looked back up Dash. “I’ll keep this safe for you…” Dash let out a sigh of relief; although Twilight and Spike also knew what had happened, it still felt that much better to tell somepony what had happened.
“…but,” Pinkie’s statement interrupted Dash’s relief.

“Hrm, what’s wrong Pinkie?”

“It’s just,” she looked conflicted, and her blue eyes kept flicking from Dash to the ground, and left and right. “This is one of those secrets that really shouldn’t stay a secret for long.”

“Yeah, that’s why I had to tell you, Pinkie,” Dash assured her. “I’ve told Twilight too; heck she was there when it all went down.”

“But Dashie…the longer you keep this from Volare,” she hesitated again before continuing. “I got a bad feeling it’s only gonna get worse when he finds out.”

“Is your Pinkie Sense going off about this,” the Pegasus asked in worry, but the Earth Pony shook her head.

“No, at least not yet,” she looked up at Dash, trying to force a smile, but for once, she just couldn’t. “This really worries me, Dashie.”

“Pinkie…should I have not told you,” Dash asked, not worried that Pinkie would spill the beans, but that she’d strained her relationship with her fellow prankster…why couldn’t they just go do that to put this behind them!?
…maybe you should tell him, Dash.
Shut up, no, I won’t tell him; he'll hate me, dammit!!
…but if even Pinkie, the unofficial greatest keeper of Ponyville’s secrets is uncomfy with keeping this one-
No! No, no, no, no, it’ll be fine! You’ll see, so stop thinking about it, ok?!
…fine.
Good!

“It…it’ll be tougher than any secret I can remember keeping,” Pinkie finally replied, tipping her head up and giving Dash a small smile. “But I’ll do it for ya. Just remember what I said, Dashie.”

“Yeah, yeah, got it,” the Pegasus gave her friend a quick one-hoofed hug. “Thanks, Pinkie. You’re the best.”

“Aww shucks,” the pink mare giggled and brightened substantially. “So, if we can’t prank Volare…who haven’t we gotten in a long time?”

“Hmm,” Dash pondered, pushing the thoughts of the dark blue Pegasus aside for now. Her face lit up in nearly-evil glee a moment later. “How about…Rarity?”

“Oooh, good one,” Pinkie chortled. “Race ya to the Boutique?” Her tail waggled in excitement.

“Lookin’ to lose, I see,” Dash grinned, but her expression turned to bemusement as Pinkie sniggered again. “What?”

“Oh, it’s not a regular race,” Pinkie laughed at Dash’s puzzlement. “You gotta hop there on one hoof, and I’m the one-hoof-hopping race champ in Ponyville!”

“Well, that’s…random to say the least,” Dash chuckled, trying to balance on her back left hoof before nearly falling on her face. “But I’m game!”

“Ok! On your mark…get set…GO!” The two ponies took off hopping across town, crossing the market square and nearly smashing through a pane of blue tinted glass being hovered along by a purple Unicorn.

“What in Celestia was that,” Twilight’s head spun around, trying to see just what the heck had gone hopping past her and left nothing but a dust cloud in its wake.

“Looked like Pinkie and Dash running a…hopping race?” Spike scratched his spines and shrugged, shifting the small decorative mirror in his claws as he did so; the thing was framed in silver and was heavy! “Those two are nuts sometimes.”

“Heh, well at least they don’t seem to be too affected by the incident last night,” Twilight replied. Hopefully Volare is doing ok…oh what if he tried to use the bathroom and hurt himself going up the stairs?!

“Hey, Equestria to Twilight,” Spike snapped a claw in front of her muzzle. “You still there or should I try dialing again?”

“Ha ha, nah, I’m ok,” she replied and began trotting on her way towards the Library again, window pane in tow.

“You sure? You’ve just seemed really distracted ever since you quizzed Volare for like 6 hours today,” Spike mused. “Did humans end up not being as fascinating as you thought?”

“No, nothing like that, Spike,” she turned back to him. “But you were right; they are an extremely violent, if hardy species…I just figured if I got some input from someone at ground level I’d get a different opinion on the situation.”

“How bad is it?”

“A lot worse than we ever thought; I’ll have to compile my interview into a study on their planet sooner or later,” Twilight sighed. “And it’s not going to be going into the Comedy section of the Library either." More like the Tragedy section…

“You find out anything specific about Volare?” Spike asked as they hit the dirt path leading to the Tree.

“I almost did.”

“Almost,” Spike inquired with a suspicious squint.

“Yeah, he skimmed the duties of his job, but…he was reluctant to go into detail about what he’d done,” she frowned. “He even stated that the details weren’t classified here, but he still refused to talk about them…”

“Like he was afraid to remember them or something,” Spike offered.

“Yeah, exactly,” Twilight nodded. But he’d crashed twice in 48 hours, lost his body, and even faced dismemberment almost in stride…what in Celestia’s name could possibly spook a guy like that?

A rapid knock sounded on the wagon door, rousing the blue Unicorn inside from her slumber. “Who interrupts the Great and Powerful Trixie’s afternoon nap so rudely?!” She asked the door spitefully. “Speak quickly!”

“Oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” a stallion’s voice replied from the other side of the door. “I have a report on my findings of the day.” It was the voice of Ray, her cohort.

“Make it quick,” Trixie unlocked the door and opened it, allowing the pony inside. He shut the door behind him and tossed the grey cloak from his head, revealing his wild green mane and equally wild green eyes which quite nearly had a glint of madness in them. He was constantly grinning and he wore a broken watch on his left wrist, which only added to the façade of…“offness.”

“Oh my dear G&PT,” Ray kneeled bowed quickly, using the nickname that simultaneously amused and irritated Trixie. “I have news of the flight-challenged Pegasus from yesterday.”

“Oh?” Trixie turned most of her attention to him. Ray may give off the air of a nut too obsessed with his job, but that attention to detail and his unwavering hoof-kissing behavior were useful perks to her; unlike his sister who seemed to only be interested in mouthing off.
“Do tell, Ray. Here, sit down,” she motioned to the couch.

“Ah, thank you, Mistress,” he grinned wider than usual and plopped down on the silken couch, wriggling his tail into the cushions in a way that began to erode any respect that Trixie may have been fostering for him.

“Ahem, you were saying?”

“O-oh, yes, yes! I was just in the marketplace today when I overheard Twilight Sparkle and her pet dragon Spike talking about keeping that blue Pegasus trapped in her bedroom.”

“What in the…why,” Trixie’s eyes widened. Could Twilight have possibly bedded a stallion of her own, albeit in the kinkiest way possible? Hmm, the purple Unicorn didn’t strike her as one to be into those sorts of things…Interesting…

“I think they mentioned something about him crashing through a window and getting hurt.”

“Oh…”
Nevermind then…
“Then he’s either more helpless than ever now or she’s merely helping him recover…heh, I’ll bet it’s the latter. That little egghead has probably never even been with real stallion before..."

“Um, why does that matter,” Ray asked, a bit perturbed at her obsession with Twilight Sparkle’s behavior. “Do you and Twilight have a history or something?”

“What? No, nothing like that,” Trixie growled again, although she was thankful that he’d obviously not heard about the Ursa incident. “We…had an encounter in the past, and it ended badly, and let’s leave it at that.”

“Ooohh I see,” Ray nudged Trixie roughly. “One of those things, eh?” He waggled his eyebrows, chasing away the last bit of respect Trixie held for him at the moment. “What?”

“…Get the hell out! Out, out, out!!” She hustled the green-maned Unicorn out the door and stepped on something metallic in the process. “Oh Ray,” she cooed as she picked it up with her magic.

“Y-yes Mistress,” Ray turned, hopeful she was only joking before something smacked him in the muzzle and fell to the ground.

“Take your idiotic broken time piece and get back to work! And don’t come back until you know for sure why that blue Pegasus is in there! And why don’t you get his name as well, idiot!” She sneered.

The wagon door slammed shut, leaving Ray alone in the glade.
“Sheesh, what a weirdo,” he muttered as he picked up his watch and trotted back towards Ponyville where he had a room reserved at the local inn. “Wonder how my sis is doing…”

“Hit me again!” Jill slurred as she slammed the shot glass back down on the bar surface of the Gilded Griffon, liquor drops barely missing Lyra as they spattered every which way. The green-maned and cloaked Unicorn before her had already downed half a dozen hard cider shots and was begging for more. Normally, Lyra would have cut her off, but it had been the best business they’d had all day…and she knew Bon-Bon would be furious if she did…so…

“Coming right up,” Lyra smiled and refilled the glass, hovering the liquor bottle back under the bar and well out of the reach of the Unicorn who was barely holding herself up on the barstool.

“Ya know,” Jill mumbled as she held up the drink with her horn, nearly dropping it as she did so. Her vision swam before her. “For a couple of Green Freaks, you ain’t so bad-HIC!” She tossed the liquor back and swallowed before looking down into the empty glass again.
“Hey, you two,” she waved a hoof drunkenly. “Hit me…hit…me…again?”

She promptly fell off the barstool and passed out on the floor. Lyra sighed and shook her head, hovering the proper amount of bits from Jill’s saddlebags and depositing them in the register before helping Jill to her hooves.
“Come on you,” she huffed as she helped the Unicorn to the door with a combination of muscle and magic. “You got a ride coming?”
She sat Jill against the outside of the café, praying to Celestia that she didn’t puke on the sidewalk.

But the Unicorn only murmured something about “her brother” and a “hotel room.”
Quite frankly, Lyra didn’t want to know. She looked up in exasperation and spotted a similar Unicorn to Jill trotting back into town. He immediately recognized his sister propped up against the café and galloped on over.

“Oh gimme a break, sis,” Ray moaned as he hefted her onto his back. “Ugh, you gotta lose some weight.” He then looked at Lyra who was standing there with a rather helpless smile on her face.
“Thanks for well, taking care of her.”

“No problem,” Lyra nodded.

“Well um…guess I’ll get her to bed,” Ray grinned sheepishly. “Say, what was your name?”

“Lyra. Yours?”

“Ray, and this is Jill," he paused awkwardly. " Well, uh…see ya,” he waved a hoof and carried his sister off towards the hotel in the waning daylight. You know, I dunno why Trixie calls her a Green Freak; she’s not so bad…