Chapter 20: Pulling into the Station
Dear Soarin,
It has certainly been an eventful few months, and with spring nearly here, everypony is preparing for the Winter Wrap up which, if you don't know already, is done traditionally Earth Pony style, because it was founded a few hundred years ago by earth ponies and it's a nod to the origins I suppose, unlike Canterlot, which is done with magic.
My celestial daughter, Strong Heart (I told you about her) stayed the winter with me to teach Ponyville about Buffalo culture, which had seen a rise in attendance for classes due to her exoticism, and relation to me. Along with the potions and herbology class that Zecora and I have been sharing, since during winter there isn't much to do landside, its been a busy season.
Some of my friends, the Mane 6, attended to winter festivities in Canterlot this year and seemed to really enjoy the play they put on about Equestria's origin story, which i admit has always been one of my favorites in history class as a colt, and is always fun to see on stage.
I wonder if Windegos are still around?
Meanwhile, this winter has been especially brutal, so I have been making more runs with carafes and packages of tea to ponies in need, particularly our elderly. In fact, it was on the eve of Hearths Warming, that I became stranded at Sweet Apple Acres and Mac and I, my first friend, stayed cozy by the fire while Granny told me about Zap Apple jam, and how her jam founded Ponyville...though considering that was a couple of hundred years ago, leaves me confused, since no pony can live so long, she doesn't seem senile or else I would put it down to relaxing wits, a conundrum I have decided to ignore.
She's a real peach though! I love talking to the old folk and listening to their stories.
I also wanted to thank you for sending me that book on the history of tea in Cloudsdale, it was a fascinating read, and I look forward to applying some of the things I learned from it when I reopen the shop.
Speaking of which, my employee and good friend Derpy Hooves has recently acquired a scholarship to attend Cloudsdale University to work on her Master's Degree in Cartography, with a minor in Muffin Making. I'm so proud of her! She leaves soon after wrap up. Fruit Salad, a cousin of Cherry Drop, just moved into town and she was looking for work. I offered her a position until she finished saving up for her own Fruit Salad café, she's eager to also learn how I incorporate fruit into tea as well.
I hope that you're doing well. I've been keeping track of Wonderbolt performances and I loved your triple synchronized sky swirl with lightning fireworks, the pictures I'm sure haven't done it justice! Though Rainbow Dash took enough of them that a play by play was relatively assured.
Keep well Soarin,
Dusk.
Soarin sighed as he folded the letter and put it carefully in the cedar box that he had been keeping all his letters from Dusk and put it back into his saddle bag along with his folded up uniform, a bag of money, a few papers, and a magically preserved slice of apple pie for the road.
It had taken way longer then he was comfortable with to finally start on his journey.
He hefted his saddle bag onto his back with a jig of his haunch and nodded to himself as he left his apartment in Cloudsdale.
The second requirement he had needed to be filled to become leader of the Wonderbolts, spending time landside in a civilian village doing volunteer work, had hit a snag. While he was originally supposed to head out after his appearance at the Galloping Gala, his replacement, Swish Feather, had broken a wing and a hoof during a practice run. Soarin was unable to go, since every other pony was busy attending to their own routines and duties, so he'd needed to remain until the spring.
Thankfully, the Winter Wrap up had just finished so he had finally been given leave, now that Rapid Feather, Swish Feather's Twin sister had returned from Saddle Arabia and her maternity leave.
It wasn't a moment too soon.
Dusk's letters lately had made greater and greater mention of this mysterious Mac. Some stallion that Dusk claimed was a close friend of his, and the way he talked about him, left no doubt in Soarin's mind that he had competition. Soarin snorted a plume of clouds as his eyes trained on the distant horizon, then turned downward below him and The Departure Gates, situated on the edge of Cloudsdale 12 minutes later.
If some no good earth pony thought he could woo his stallion from under his wing, he had another thing coming!
Soon the ticket master was waving a hoof for his pass, and he handed it over as she examined it.
"Hmmm…Gate 2b, please wait until the departure bell and keep your hooves and wings inside your flight zone at all times."
Soarin took his spot, waiting for the gate to open and the signaling bell to sound.
Then a thought came to him. What if this Mac stallion was somehow better then him?
He ground his teeth at the thought. He was a great flyer and one of the most skilled Wonderbolts in all of Equestria, but the whole point going landside was to prove that he had what it takes to be in touch with other ponies as a leader. His reputation was still well and good, but it wasn't much use to him where he was going…besides, Dusk wasn't impressed by his fame, it was part of why he was so drawn to Dusk in the first place.
The bell signaled and he leaped from the edge and into a tunnel of cloud, keeping his wings tucked until he burst out and into the lower skies, the area that was generally referred to when it was below usual cloud level, but not high enough to support a pegusi city or even a town really. It was also the area that saw the most weather marshaling activity.
Maybe he could join the weather patrol? Did a town as small as Poneyville even have one…wait, he remembered now, the rainboom pony was from there, he remembered Dusk mentioning her in his letters and the weather patrol she ran…perhaps he could…no!
He slapped his muzzle in aggravation as he came into a leisurely downward landing, he was not supposed to be doing anything wing related, unless in case of emergency or requested by the mayor of the town or the leader of the weather patrol. He was supposed to do as landsider's do, all part in bridging the gap, so he had to find something that only Landsider ponies could do. Something that was sure to impress Dusk. Something better than some scrawny farmer pony.
He caught sight of a wind mill the distance and perked up
There it was, Ponyville! He remembered it from his last visit when dealing with the dragon; they had certainly done a good job in fixing everything up. He regretted not being able to see Dusk than, but he had been dealing with his duties at the time and Dusk had been out of town.
He was to report to Mayor Mare (and there is a set your foal up for a job from birth if he ever heard one). She would be providing him with a list of things he was to do for the year he was to be in Ponyville.
The Mayor was a little surprised at his entrance, which was understandable, since he came through her office window in a stunning somersault, with a little pose at the end…and a gust of wind that knocked her papers flying everywhere.
She managed to gather herself and readjusted her mane as the mayor huffed.
"If it wasn't for Fluttershy I would think that all pegusi were grand entrance makers," she grumbled, thinking of a certain rainbow haired mare, "well, take a seat young stallion, we've got a fair bit to go over before I let you loose on my fair town."
Soarin deflated a little and took a seat, in what proved to be a long meeting.
Ooo ooo ooo
Soarin trotted out of town hall with a relieved sigh, a thick list of things he was to try rolled up and currently clutched his teeth.
According to the mayor, the wind mill he had seen earlier was currently empty as the previous occupant was currently in Trottingham attending university. Which left a space for him to stay for the foreseeable future instead of bunking down at the Ponyville Inn or The Prancing Butterfly.
Once he had settled into his new home for a while, opening windows, un-sheeting furniture, and otherwise making it livable, he pulled out his list and set it on the coffee table, a large cup of haymilk at his side as he reviewed it.
For his tenure, he was to report to the various Earth and Unicorn Ponies that was listed and do everything that they asked him to do for the space of 1 week each.
Afterwards, he was to write a report to Spitfire about the things he had done and learned within that time. At the end of his stay, he was to return to Cloudsdale for a final review, and then a decision would be reached, conclusively, if he was to be made captain of the Wonderbolts.
The mayor though had told him to feel free to do anything that caught his fancy when not attending to his mission and was encouraged to have fun.
He gulped as he saw the long list of names and addresses. He had a feeling it would be a long while before he had any of that.
He sighed, as he tacked the list to the wall in the den and slumped down on the couch and sipped his drink.
Now that he had reviewed personal business, there was the more unofficial business he needed to attend to.
He rested his hooves together in thought.
He had purposely left out the news in his letters that he was coming to Ponyville so he could surprise his friend/potential special somepony. He had hoped that he could use some of the time he was here to properly try to woo the other pony, and he had been reasonably confident that he could do it, especially in an environment that Dusk would be comfortable in and thus be more receptive to his advances.
But then there was this Mac character.
A character that Dusk may find more compatible because they were both Landsiders, even if Mac was an Earth Pony and Dusk was a Unicorn. Not that there wasn't anything wrong with that, mixed race couples were fairly common, but some ponies tended to be drawn to other ponies that they could be anywhere 24/7 at any given time. There were very few pegusi/landsider relationships that lead to actual marriage.
What he needed to do was prove that he can be just as good a landsider as he was a flier.
His eyes strayed to the list and a light bulb went off in his head.
"That's it!" he declared to the dust bunnies, "I'll use the list to learn how to be the best landside pony I can be and find something to outshine my competition! And with so many names, I'm sure to find something that is bound to work!"
Now he just needed to attend to the little matter of informing Dusk that he was in town, spend his one day of freedom before he was to start tomorrow to bolster him through the trials ahead, then an early sleep to start nice and early for his first task, which he could feel in his gut that he was going to succeed!
Ooo ooo ooo
"I think I need to get my gut checked," Soarin muttered to himself the next morning, out of ear shot of other ponies.
"…and you must really put your hooves into it!" his handler for the week finished his lecture as he checked the straps that attached another pony to the front of a train.
Husky Tracks was a unicorn pony of a rather hefty, though all muscled, girth with a charcoal and steam white colored mane and a tannish pelt with a red train as a cutie mark. He was head of the Ponyville train station, and the first name that was on the list.
He was currently standing last behind two rows of two ponies, all of them varying shades of greens browns and tans. They had introduced themselves as the Tracks siblings: Buck, Gritty, Whistle who was the oldest and the leader for the train pullers, and the youngest, Iron.
The brothers and one sister made no bones that they weren't exactly confident in their father's plan to have him spend the week helping them haul trains from Ponyville to Wherever.
"Now, train wrangling is serious business," he told Soarin as he marched town the hauler's line, "We usually don't hire lightweights when it comes to how we do things traditionally, and we usually tend to keep things with in the family, but Mayor was an old filly chum of mine from our school days and asked me to lend a hoof in taking on some highflyin' city pony, that being you, and showing him the ropes, and the Track Family are ponies that always see other ponies to their destination, whether it be traveling or fulfilling a duty. So just listen here to my eldest, and you'll survive."
With that, he swatted said son on the rump and they were off with a train whistle and a hearty neigh.
Ooo ooo ooo
"Soarin!" Dusk called out, waving his hoof in front of his muzzle to clear the train steam from the locomotive that had just pulled in, the last train of Soarin's shift on is first day.
Dusk had been delighted to see his winged friend when he had strolled through his tea shop and had run up to the stallion, throwing his front legs around his neck, nearly knocking them both over, much to the amusement of his customers.
The news that his friend was staying for an entire year thrilled him. He had missed Soarin a lot more than he had thought he would, and Dusk had promised to visit his high flying friend at the end of his first day with a big picnic.
The victorious pegasus that he had been expecting though, was currently draped over the back of one of the Tracks siblings.
"Soarin!" he called in concern as he leaped down next to the train pullers and began patting the unconscious winged pony on the cheek.
"To give the little fella credit, he lasted longer than we thought he would," Iron Tracks stated as he was unhitched by the station hooves, and followed the concerned Dusk out of the station, politely offering to carry the stallion for him.
The two talked amicably for the walk and soon the pegasus was settled in bed with a blanket pulled up to his eyes muttering deliriously,
"The wheels on the tracks go round and round…"
"He'll be alright," Iron assured him, "just a little track daze, it happens sometimes. He'll snap out of it in time for pulling tomorrow."
The two ponies soon parted and Dusk stored away the food in the fridge and left a note for Soarin on the table, telling him what happened and that there was food in the fridge for when he got hungry with a promise to meet him again after work.
Ooo ooo ooo
By Track Pulling, Day 4…
Dusk sighed as he settled Soarin on the couch with an ice pack and the latest Count Trotula book (the stallion certainly loved his horror books).
"Soarin, I'm worried about you. It's your forth day and you've been dragged home more times than a bag of groceries, maybe you should ask the station master if there is something else you can do."
"No," Soarin shook his head firmly, then winced and returned the ice pack to his throbbing noggin.
"I was assigned to pull trains, and I will! I'm not a quitter…oww…my head…"
Dusk shook his head and tucked a blanket around Soarin giving an eye roll at his stubborn pout.
Who would have thought the stallion even knew how to pout?
"You know, there is nothing wrong with accepting that you can't do something."
Soarin grimaced, "but I've always been able to accomplish anything I do."
"Have you tried battling an Ursa Major?" Dusk asked.
Soarin snorted, "of course not! That would be suicidal!"
"Alright, and what if you tried to anyway? Do you believe that you would accomplish it?"
"Well…" his voice trailed off and he thoughtfully sank back into the pillow that Dusk had fluffed and put under his head, "but this is my first duty in Ponyville, what would ponies think if I fail?"
"Oh, and you're going to let somepony dictate how you live? How you think about yourself?"
Soarin shifted uncomfortably.
"Look," Dusk sighed finally, getting to his hooves and getting ready to leave, "I don't know if it means anything to you or not, but I won't care if your unable to do something. All one can ask for is for you try your best. I would rather have you failing at something then you hurting yourself, potentially more then you are already. You know, you've really worried me, seeing you barely conscious at the end of each shift."
With a nod, Dusk left, leaving Soarin to think, which he did long into the night.
Ooo ooo ooo
Dear Captain Spitfire,
My first week has been a hectic one.
The ponies landside have been gracious and friendly, and my first handler of my first week exemplifies those qualities.
Regretfully, I was unable to finish my tenure with him for the remainder 3 days pulling trains. I hope you're not disappointed in my first attempt. I put everything that I had into it, but no matter how hard I tried I was unable to keep up with the other pullers without seriously injuring myself.
A good friend of mine has helped me realize an important lesson in that, while its good to strive to achieve everything you start out doing, one must accept that a pony cannot do everything and by trying to do so, you might end up not only harming yourself in the long run, but you worry those who care about you.
My Handler agreed with me, and in fact told me that he had actually been planning on shifting me to something more manageable after seeing me struggle so hard my first 4 days, but because of pushing myself so hard over the past four days, he relieved me to recover. He wrote a report, which should be with this letter as well.
Once I am recovered, I will be starting with my new handler and this time, if it's something that is beyond my capabilities, I won't push to the point of breaking.
Your favorite high-flying minion,
Soarin