Chapter 4 - The Weathermare
Tia Sunbeam was very, very wet. Soaking wet, actually. From mane to tail, she'd just been drenched by a misdirected cloud which still hung over her head all puffy and innocent. She brought up her hooves and pushed her now soaking mane away from her eyes to half glare up at the wild-maned pegasus who was sitting on the cloud and smiling sheepishly. "A little more warning might be nice next time." Tia huffed out, and called magic into her horn - it glowed a golden yellow, just as it always had before as she began to pull the moisture out of her mane and deposit it in little splashes along the ground.
The pegasus simply grinned at her, and swung over the edge of the cloud.. giving it a mighty kick that sent the thing sailing up into the sky at a remarkable turn of speed. "Ha! Yeah, you're right. Sorry 'bout that, we're still adjusting to the new weather team." she remarked, fluttering her wings before settling down on the ground. Tia couldn't help but wonder who in the world had styled that mane - it looked nothing quite like Tia had seen in a long time. "Hey, you're new in town, ain't ya?" She continued onwards, the pegasus' eyebrows waggling expressively. "Welcome t' Ponyville! I'm Cloud Chaser, Ponyville weather team captain!" She puffed out her chest, looking as a proud as a strutting rooster.
Bon Bon piped in then, saving Tia from having to comment on that particular turn of events. "Oh! They made you captain, Chaser? Congratulations! How'd your sister take it?" She said with a wicked grin on her face, and Tia wondered what she was missing here. Local drama. her mind filled in immediately, and then she thought back at it, Yes, and I'm going to have to pay attention to that sort of thing now - seeing as how I'm now a local. she chuckled softly, as she finally got the last of the water out of her mane and sighed expressively at the state of it after that wetting.
Cloud Chaser saved Tia from having to think too much more though, as she clapped her hooves together joyfully. "Oh she was completely cheesed off! I haven't seen her that ticked since Dash missed that big storm a couple years back." She did a little dance in place, a huge smile on her face even as Tia raised an eyebrow at her. Chaser giggled at that sight. "Ah, she'll get over it. She's not really well suited for the job, she lets little things get under her hooves too easily."
Tia nodded cautiously at that. Well, I suppose it would make sense. One does not wish to have somepony in charge of a weather team if they can't take a few mistakes. She thought, and tilted her head at her..."Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Cloud Chaser. Even if our introduction was a bit..." She paused, flicking a last bit of moisture off of her coat. "Ehm. Wet." Her mouth twisted into a wry smile, and much to her surprise, Chaser was giggling again - and so were Cheerilee and Bon Bon. "What?" Tia demanded, once again in that tone of voice that reminded her of an angry foal.
Chaser managed to sputter out words in between her giggles - since Cheerilee and Bon Bon were both helplessly laughing. "You looked sooooo uncomfortable saying that word! Come on! You're among fully grown mares here." She grinned broadly. "Some of whom are fillyfoolers, and are probably checking out yer plot right now, eh Bon Bon?" She leered, her eyebrows waggling comically... Clearly joking with me... isn't she? Tia thought...
Bon Bon's voice burst out of her laughter. "Oh stop that, Chaser! She hardly needs to be subjected to your dirty brand of humor." But there was a pretty little red blush on her cheeks that Tia caught before Bon Bon hid them by turning her head away. "Besides, Lyra's my very special somepony, and you know that! Buck, the whole town knows that!" She huffed out, crossing her forehooves over her chest in mock anger.
Chaser just smirked at Bon Bon. "Uh huh. Anyway, I better get back up there before some newbie accidentally causes a tornado. Again." her wings flared and flapper herself up into the air. "You're pretty cute, Tia. I think you and I will get along juuuust fine." She purred, running a wing tip softly up Tia's neck before giggling again and rocketing up into the air at a remarkable speed.
Tia's mind took a minute to process all of that, even as Bon Bon and Cheerilee gave off long suffering sighs. What was that all about? Did she just hit on me? a mental pause, the equivalent of an engine throwing a cylinder Did I like it? came the next astonished thought, each one crashing into one another like a train in a slow motion wreck, I mean, I haven't had feelings like that in... But she's a mare! But I like stallions! Or do I like both? Or is this just an effect of the magic? Or have I gone insane? Or- Then she blushed as she realized her thoughts were about to start running in little circles, as bright red as a cherry and buried her face in her hooves. "Oh, applesauce, I'm so confused." She whispered intensely, and gave off a strangled sort of laugh.
Cheerilee sighed and threw a look at Bon Bon. "I'll take care of her, dearie. You need to get back to your shop." she said pointedly, and Tia was in no mind to be noticing the subtle byplay going on there... and probably would have been confused by it even if she had noticed it.
Bon Bon just nodded and hopped off the chair - trotting around the table, she gave Tia an encouraging little squeeze around the shoulder and a gentle smile. "It's good to see you relaxing a little, Tia. I'll see you later tonight." She squeezed once again and then headed off down the street, humming one of Lyra's tunes as she went. Tia idly wondered what she'd meant by that...
Cheerilee sighed gustily and tugged Tia to her hooves. "Come on, Tia. Let's go get you a nice cup of tea. I think we need to have a talk." She said firmly - so firmly that Tia didn't think twice about getting back up on her hooves. Tia looked up at Cheerilee, and saw her smiling faintly. "I won't make you say anything you don't want to, but I think you need to talk to somepony."
Tia turned that particular statement over in her mind a few times, trying to find a flaw in the logic - and could not. It was true. In more than a week she had barely talked to anypony, had written no letters, and had barely even processed what her new life was going to be like. Clearly, she'd gotten a bit unhinged between the Ritual and Luna's absurd 'judgment'. It was a perfectly logical thing to need somepony to... work out some of what she had rattling around in her head.
Besides. Tea sounded nice, all of a sudden. "Okay." said Tia, her magic grabbing the remains of her sandwich.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cloud Chaser put on an extra burst of speed as she left the ground behind her - although unlike most of her race, she had no problem getting down and dirty in the mud. She liked the ground - there was always so much more to do down there! Still, a pegasus never felt completely at home unless she was in the air - and Cloud Chaser was no exception. Of course, she was not at home with the kind of stunt she'd just pulled. Very much not her style, but...
Cloud Chaser's wings took her high up to a thick bank of clouds that she'd been working on packing together. She needed them extra dense if she wanted to get the maximum strength out of them. She had to have permanent sky home now, and since Dash had taken her own place with her when she'd gone to Canterlot, that meant building a new one from scratch. Not that she minded - fiddling with the clouds was amongst her favorite things to do. It was just a long process, especially if she wanted something that could hold up to the disasters that routinely plagued Ponyville.
Right now, sitting atop that dense cloud platform was an a familiar looking pegasus with a flaming red and orange mane that would have made her stand out... even if she wasn't the legendary Captain of the Wonderbolts. Chaser landed lightly next to her, wondering what was in the sheaf of papers the Captain was reading. She didn't get to indulge that curiosity though, as Spitfire spoke up quietly. "So, how'd it go?"
Chaser planted her flank on the ground and took in a deep breath. "She's nervous as all hell, Ma'am. Almost as skittish as Fluttershy was, though I think most of that is just her being unnerved." She frowned softly. "Ma'am, I'm not comfortable with this. Not in the littlest bit. Who the buck is this mare that you care so much about how she's doing in Ponyville? I thought she was just a replacement librarian." Cloud Chaser ventured, hoping she might get a straight answer out of Spitfire for once...
Which of course, didn't happen. "Classified, Recruit." Spitfire said lazily, tucking the sheaf of papers into her saddlebags. "I want you to keep an eye on her. Do what you can to help her get stabilized." She turned that full, steely gaze on Cloud Chaser, and not for the first time she felt more than a little intimidated. "I know you're uncomfortable with this, and so am I. You're a good kid and a good flier and you don't deserve to get wrapped up in this mess, but you're the only branch I've got to lean on right now. " Spitfire pulled out a pair of aviator glasses and slipped them on. "You be safe down there, things are going to start getting rough soon. I'll be back in a month or so to see how you're doing."
Without another word, Spitfire flared out her wings - and suddenly took off in a blast of heat and light that Chaser had to jump back from. Her speed was nothing short of insane, but what else was to be expected of her? Chaser sighed and smacked her head into the dense cloud platform. How did she get tied up in this again? Oh yes, you wanted to be a Wonderbolt. And then Spitfire started talking to you about loyalty and honor and you folded like Fluttershy under a wet paper towel. Her thoughts wickedly reminded her, and that only produced another groan.
She hadn't been lying. Tia was a cutie, with a hot bod and a sweet voice - that was more than enough to make Chaser entertain a few less-than-noble thoughts about her. It still felt wrong to her to have forced her to react to something like that under orders. Even if dumping the entire contents of that cloud on her head had been pretty hilarious. She sighed miserably for a moment, smacking her head into the cloud bank. You're bucked, Chaser. Just admit it to yourself. You are bucked-bucked-bucked.
Still. Maybe Chaser could salvage at least something out of this. Maybe... Okay, it was obvious even to me that filly needs to lighten up a little. And who better to help her do so than the Number-Two party pony of Ponyville? Well, maybe she was Number-One now. Pinkie had gone off to Canterlot and bigger and better horizons therein. Somepony had to step in and make sure this poor girl didn't end up all depressed and alone!
Chaser pulled herself off the cloud bank with a big grin. There was going to be a party tonight she'd been told about, to welcome Tia into her new home. Yeah... I bet I know just the thing to give her a proper Ponyville welcome! She rubbed her hooves together in excitement, giggling madly. I'm so lucky she's already into mares. That's just going to make it more fun!
Chaser laughed and did a little loop-the-loop on her cloud and rushed off towards a big cloud field in the sky - she was going to need to work hard to get her tasks for the day done! Then she'd need to go visit Pokey, and see if he couldn't help her slip into something more comfortable for tonight's party. Oh yeah! I can help out a cute filly, have a little fun, AND stay in the boss's good graces! Nothin can go wrong!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tia took a long pull from the fragrant china cup as Cheerilee looked on with a slight smile on her face. It was delicious, possibly the best pot of Trottingham black tea she'd had in a long, long time. "There. My mother always said that tea was the universal solution to any problem." Cheerilee said with a soft chuckle, and Tia felt a broad and warm smile cross her face. Have to agree with that one. She thought amusedly, as her eyes ranged around the interior of the little house's living room.
It was a bit on the small side, but it had been packed with character and color. Framed pictures of cheerilee done up in crayon, quill and paint adorned the walls - all of them from previous students. Two massive book shelves were packed with educational materials... and a copy of every single one of the Daring Do books. Tia's eyes ranged over an overstuffed work desk which looked all too familiar to her, piled high with student paperwork that needed to be graded. Tia and Cheerilee both sat on a massive stuffed couch that Tia could not begin to comprehend how it had been gotten inside - given that the whole thing looked too big to have fit through the front door.
Cheerilee had poured herself a cup of the tea and sipped at it gently, her eyes carefully watching Tia from above the rim. Tia wondered about that look, and coughed softly. "Cheerilee, I..." Tia said softly, hiding in her teacup a little bit while she tried to think of what else she could say. "I am uncertain as to how to thank you for what you did for me at the cafe." She finished lamely, sighing a little. She was falling right back into her uncertainty, now that the foals were gone. Back on unsteady, shaky ground with no stable hoofing in sight.
Cheerilee smiled softly, and set her teacup down on the table. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you felt like you could open up with me a little bit. " She said with infinite gentleness. "You're acting as skittish as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs." She chuckled gently, inviting Tia to join her in the little joke. "And I've been very worried about some of the rest of your behavior." She paused, and bit her lip. "May I be perfectly frank with you, Miss Tia? I do not wish to come across as presumptuous but..." Tia nodded, waving her hoof for Cheerilee to go on.
The teacher sucked in a breath and began to speak again. "You are showing all the signs of a recovering abuse victim, Tia. It's not my place to be asking you, I know... Goodness, you barely even know me! But I cannot sit here and simply do nothing while you slowly and completely emotionally break down." Tia looked at her in astonishment, her jaw dropping a little. Cheerilee held up a hoof. "Please, Tia. I have studied long and hard, and I know the signs. You were a hairs breadth away from completely losing it after Chaser got flirty with you. Allow me to guess - you had no idea how to process that kind of behavior from a complete stranger, and it started your thoughts running in these ever tightening little circles?" Tia nodded numbly, wondering how Cheerilee could possibly know that she was doing precisely that. Cheerilee smiled gently and continued talking. "It was all over your face and in your body language... you are very bad at hiding your emotions, dear."
Tia blushed for what felt like the eightieth time that day, and drained her cup of the tea. She lifted the empty vessel in question, and Cheerilee nodded at the pot - which Tia lifted gently with her golden magic and poured herself a second cup with a few drops of lemon juice. "I do not..." Tia began, before taking a deep breath, "It is more complex than that." Cheerilee nodded, but remained silent. Damnit. I was hoping... but no, that's not how this works, is it? Tia thought in frustration. It was a common enough tactic. Present a student with a problem, explain what you think, and then let them work it out themselves. Classic teaching doctrine - classic because it was extremely effective, especially with scholars like Tia.
So Tia sighed and sipped her tea for another moment before speaking. How on earth could she phrase this to somepony completely outside the know? Perhaps it was best to keep things simple. "I... I had a daughter, you see. A long time ago." Tia began, keeping her voice pitched low. "She was beautiful, everything I could have hoped for... but circumstances forced me to give her away. I could not raise her, not as she deserved to be raised." She looked down into that teacup, and resolved to be as honest as she could. "I placed her with a family I knew would care for her as if she was their own and... I went about my life." She paused for a moment, looking up. "You have heard I am... was... a teacher, yes?" Cheerilee nodded slowly at her, her face gentle - but impassive.
Tia spoke again, keeping her tone pitched low. "Teaching, and all of my other duties consumed my life, just as they had before I had her. I became a shut in, consumed by my scholarly pursuits and grandiose plans for my future." Tia gently set the teacup down, tapping her hooves together nervously. "I... things happened. I ended up being one of my daughter's teachers when she came under the care of Celestia." She looked away from Cheerilee, unable to take that gentle gaze any longer as long-forgotten pain welled up inside of her. "She did not know who I was, but I knew her. It was..." There it was again, that wetness on her cheeks slowly streaming down from her traitorous eyes.
Tia sniffled softly, proud of how calm she managed to keep her voice. "She knows now, and I cannot help but think of what a fool I was to give her up." Her voice caught for a moment on a sob, her hooves wrapping around herself. "Just another mistake I've made in a life full of nothing but mistakes. I could not save my sister, I could not care for my children, and I can't even live with normal ponies..." Her voice and mind were running away with her now, as Tia's logical mind panicked - not knowing what she might accidentally reveal to this mare... but there was no stopping the torrent now. Her voice was breaking up with every word. "I'm a failure as a mother, as a teacher, as a pony....all I have accomplished, all I have built means nothing..."
And it was at that word that strong, dark red hooves pulled her from where she sat and embraced her firmly. This time though, Tia did not shy away. The tears came flooding out of her eyes like a dam bursting, and she latched onto the mare like she was clutching onto a life raft. She sobbed heavily, over and over again, feeling broken and alone. Silently, she wondered if she would ever be able to put the Celestia she had once been back together again....
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ditzy Doo dropped her mailbags off with the distribution office and was out the door in a flash - It was almost the afternoon, and she had so much work to do for tonight! Luckily her bosses hadn't had a problem with her delivering her own invitations while she did her morning rounds. She did a dorky little corkscrew spiral in midair as she flew, practically bubbling up with joy. Tonight was going to be great! There was gonna be a party and there was gonna be cake and music too! And Dinky would get to hang out with some other foals too, and that was the very best of thing of all!
Speaking of music, I'd better check up on her! Ditzy thought, and pirouetted in midair to dive down to the ground - this time remembering to flare her wings before she could crash in spectacular fashion again. This time, she landed with a perfect little skip upon the newly-minted stone road, and trotted up to the door way. She lifted her hoof and knocked firmly, humming a happy tune to herself as she did so. I can't wait to see what they've come up with this time! She thought happily, wondering if maybe this time she'd finally work up the courage to ask for an autograph.
Still, after a few moments there was no answer - so she knocked again, this time much more firmly. After a few more minutes of Silence, Ditzy blew her cheeks out and glared at the door. Oh no you don't Mr. Door. You're not going to beat me! And so it was with a mighty swing of her hoof - she gave that door the loudest knocking she could possibly give it. Fortunately, this knocking did not knock down the door. Ditzy had done that once, and she'd been very sorry indeed. Also fortunately, a half-voiced cry came from somewhere inside the building - and Ditzy was now quite sure she was going to get an answer!
Sure enough, the door swung open a moment later and a pair of bright red eyes stared at her for a moment, before the face they belonged to settled into a weary smile, a white hoof coming up to run through a very mussed up mane. "Oh jeeze, Is it already Friday?" Vinyl Scratch asked, looking a little sheepish. "I was uh... Sorry about the wait, Derps. Come on in." She waved her hoof at the pegasus and trundled back over into her kitchen. Ditzy followed with a wry sort of chuckle as she hoofed the door shut behind her. "Hang on, hang on, Imma need some coffee... Sorry I didn't hear ya the first time, I was mixing with Tavi and we were um..." Vinyl was blushing a terribly bright red, and it took a minute for Ditzy to make the connection.
When she finally did, Ditzy's hooves flew up to her mouth and she blushed too, if decidedly less so than Vinyl. "Ohmygosh, Scratchy! I am so sorry!" Ditzy's wings wilted down her sides and she lowered her head. "I didn't mean to interrupt nothin." She muttered, kicking her hoof into the floor and slowly backing up towards the door. "I'll leave you two alone, I jus' wanted to-"
Vinyl waved her hoof. "Don't worry none, Derps. It's aiight. I shoulda remembered today was the party." She grinned and floated up a really, really big cup of coffee - drinking it down in one single gulp, in spite of the piping hot steam coming off of it. A moment later she shook out her face with a wubbing sound and smacked her cheeks with her hooves. "Whoof! That's the stuff! Siddown, Derps. Have a cuppa. I'm going to go dunk my head in some water so we can go over the party plans." She grinned and trotted over into the living room - and from what Ditzy could hear, up the stairs.
Ditzy just sighed and fixed herself up a much smaller cup of the caffeinated stuff, hopping up into the chair just in time to see a dark maned earth pony slip in through the living room door... wearing what looked like a much ruffled and rumpled school-filly outfit with a pink bowtie. Her mane was much less out of place than Vinyl's had been, but Ditzy didn't have to imagine too hard to wonder what she might have interrupted. Octavia smiled at her though as she fixed herself a cup of the coffee. "You really oughtn't to worry so much, Ditzy. We're both quite excited to be performing this evening - Vinyl's got a new piano tune she's been aching to play for a crowd." She gently patted Ditzy's shoulder, restoring the pegasus' mood somewhat. "Besides, It's good for us to be reminded when we have responsibilities as opposed to .... well." She winked. "You know."
Ditzy felt a soft smile cross her face. Yeah, she did know... even if it had been a long time since she'd 'known' that feeling personally. Still. At least neither of the duo seemed mad at her. So she set herself to the coffee in front of her with a much more enthusiastic sip. Tonight's gonna be the best party Ponyville's ever seen! She thought brightly, a thought made even better by the prospect of putting a smile on Tia's face.
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Further romantic potential development?
Intriguing...
oooo niiiiice. ... Wait... that story Celestia said... didn't Shining said the same thing in Code's Apprentice? Soooo Twilight is truly Celestia's daughter? Or what...? Oh mi gosh, I'm getting so unsure here. orz
Hm... so the possible circle of friends Tia is going to have is:
-Ditzy
-Lyra
-BonBon
-Cheerilee
-Cloud Chaser
I think that sums it. Hm... curious on who will be getting which though...
Tia underestimates herself by a great deal...
She gave Several Thousand Years of her life to the care and protection of pony kind.
did she do it for Power? Glory? Greed? Lust?
no ... she did it for Love
day after day
year after year
for untold millenia
until there was nothing left of her except for her duty to protect her little ponies ...
what we see now is a broken mare trying desperately to build something for herself that every other pony in Equestria has ... a life ...
Like Bilbo Baggins and the One Ring. Equestria used Tia up until there was nothing left but an empty shell.
Oh god, so many mares, and only one Tia. Well, it's three sunbeams out of the clouds, would make sense, I guess.
Tsk tsk, Celestia. You will give in to the fillyfoolin'.
WHAT... I Read the first chapter today at work on my phone (Im too scared to visit this site on my work computer) and thought it was amazing. then i come on my computer after work to favorite and get updates via email and i see theres EVEN MORE CHAPTERS!!!!! will read tonight. i really hope that the story is equal parts tia and twilight... loving the bad ass twilight stories you write.
2687851 I ah..... You did actually READ the first story fully, right? Twilight, Cadence, AND the changeling queen are all sisters and Celestia's daughters. With Twilight being the youngest and Cadence being in the middle
2688730
*facepalm* I forgot that. I read the first story, and reading 'The Twilight Fall' makes me forget a lot of the finer details, and that Shining's story is kind of... so outlandish that it stuck in my head.
Thank you for the reminder though!
Why do I have the feeling something is going to crash Tia's party?
I kinda agree with 2688017. Celestia made many mistakes, but at the same time ponykind flourished under her rule. Thing is, when your lifespan is infinite then your capacity to screw up is also infinite. Hopefully she'll realize her mistakes for what they are and then move past them.
You know, I was thinking, if Twilight moves further towards Dissonance, and her friends move in the same direction due to the bond they share, will they still be able to use the Elements of Harmony? I almost wonder if Tia and her friends will end up being new Element bearers. The end of the first story made it clear that the government has been infiltrated by agents of Chaos, so those Elements will probably be needed before all is said and done.
You are very good at keeping up your usual madness.
Hmm... so it seems Celestia might end up unveiling herself by accident. But at least Cheerlie can be trusted to keep secrets. But the more interesting part is all the flirting that is going on, and what Cloud Chaser's orders are. I am looking forward to seeing Tia fall into the fun and just let herself go. To keep herself so closely tied to the Code of Harmony is going to get her in trouble. I assume. I could be terribly wrong. Either way, I know this will be a fantastic story.
2689047 I think they're the Elements of Dissonance now. Obedience, Victory, Passion and all that stuff.
2689732
Well now I can't remember, did the artifacts themselves change after Twilight ascended to an alicorn? I can't remember if it mentioned if they did or not...
2689741 The artifacts changed a little while before Celestia's and Twilight's confrontation, I think. There was definitely a bit where the Elements float out of the box, go through a transformation, and then somepony says "There they are. The Elements of Dissonance" or something to that effect.
2689749
Ah, you're right. Thanks for the reminder. Curious how the Element's powers have changed then.
2689762
I don't know if the powers changed or if they are a Completely Different set of elements.
(I am leaning towards a different set of elements but i don't have proof)
2689863
One has to wonder, since Balance is making a come back, will we see a set of Elements for both Dissonance and Harmony at the same time. It doesn't help that, official cannon wise, we know next to nothing about the Elements and how they work.
2689889 It sure would be interesting if the writer had plans to cover that particular subject, now wouldn't it?
Not that I'd know anything about that, of course.
2689914
You're right, that WOULD be interesting!
Now how could we go about gleaning such info from said author....?
2689920
I don't know ... Tia carried a burden that no one else could have carried And did it for longer than a mortal mind could imagine.
Whatever Gods there are in the pony universe owe Tia a vacation.
A Very Long Vacation.
She has only just started to heal. If too much pressure is put on a broken leg too soon it will break again and never heal properly.
The same is true for people / ponies...
2689974
Reading the story! What a concept!
2690002
You, sir, have blown my mind!
wonderful, keep up the good work.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that your Octavia and Vinyl in this fiction are the same ones from your Way to the Top series. I know for a fact you've mentioned that they are sisters... me likey!
I love this story. I do have a question though, is "Cloud Chaser" related to or modeled after "Cloud Kicker" from the Winning Pony Universe?
now where have I heard that before? OH right just before a big disaster
FOOL! YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!