Settling Down
Chapter 10: Settling Down
The remainder of the week oversaw a general improvement in the overall mood of Ponyville. The sorely needed storm had brought back some of the greenery that had been missed, thanks to the drought. The farmers were all grateful that they hadn't needed to write off their crops. The magistrate and his seeing-eye dog had come and gone, taking the offenders from Cloudsdale with him, as well as the two members of the Royal Guard. In his examination of the situation, the magistrate had found no proof that Rainbow Dash had committed any crime, thus freeing her from the threat of imprisonment and a criminal record. He also found Fine Print and the two Guards from Cloudsdale guilty of their abuse of power and had transferred them to Canterlot to be held for the duration of their sentences. He also promised to look into Cloudsdale's belligerent response to the whole affair. The subsequent celebration was just as much in jubilation for Rainbow Dash as it was a consolation for Twilight.
Having seen for themselves how utterly draconian the Weather Bureau could be about enforcing their monopoly on Equestria's weather, it also seemed that the whole maelstrom surrounding Rainbow's near arrest had redeemed her in the eyes of almost everypony in Ponyville, which was a relief to Rainbow, now that her inbox was no longer flooded with letters blaming her for the whole drought.
In spite of this, Rainbow was still nervous. She had been more or less left out of the loop while she recovered from her Wing Exhaustion. Emerging from her home to find out she had nearly been arrested while unconscious had been an unpleasant experience for her.
For a time, Ponyville descended back into a comfortable quietness as its inhabitants went about their usual business. Their confidence had been restored somewhat by the large storm Rainbow and her team had brought in. But there were still no signs that the drought would be coming to an end as, if at all possible, Cloudsdale had grown even more uncooperative towards any attempts to determine if the Weather Factory would be producing rainclouds in the near future. But for now, in Ponyville at least, it seemed as though things were as they should be.
"I'm back," announced Twilight in a cheerful tone as she trotted through the door of the library, her saddlebags loaded down with her bulk purchase of quills from Quills and Sofas.
"Welcome back Twilight," said Spike pausing in his efforts to slide a book onto a shelf while standing perched on a ladder to acknowledge her entrance before going back to work.
As Twilight breathed in, she found a heavenly aroma weaving in among the scents of parchment and bindings that suffused her home. A heady scent of carefully combined herbs and spices wound its way out of the kitchen, where the enthusiastic clatter of pans indicated that their long-term houseguest was busily preparing dinner.
Pausing to set down her burden, Twilight trotted into the kitchen, following the incredible edible perfume that emanated from it. The stove was off to one side of the door. Perched over the pot set on the burner was a dark brown earth pony with a cutie mark of crossed swords emblazoned on his flank.
"Welcome home Twilight," said the stallion, his tone earnest, his ears twitching, though he didn't turn away from his work.
Twilight blushed slightly, reveling in the warm feeling the settled into her stomach at hearing him utter those words. "What are you working on Arky?"
Arkenstone sniffed at the contents of the pot, then added a dark powder, probably some spice that Twilight couldn't identify on sight, to it before stirring it. "This is a dish I picked up during my time traveling through Pachydermia. It's one of many variations of what is typically referred to as curry."
"Curry?" Not being a hub of trade or travel, in spite of its proximity to Canterlot, Ponyville did not have any restaurants that offered foreign cuisine. Access to the ingredients needed to prepare dishes from other nations was difficult for the small town to obtain, and such ingredients only came at tremendous cost. Even in Canterlot, Twilight had never had the opportunity to try anything but Equestrian fare, given that the nobles tended to look down on anything that wasn't prepared to their exacting standards and preferences. Princess Celestia maintained a small cadre of chefs, along with the necessary foodstuffs, to prepare such dishes for diplomatic dinners with foreign dignitaries. But given her disinterest for anything but her studies, Twilight had never attended any of those dinners.
She had to admit though, the smell was positively divine. "Where did you get the ingredients for this?" she asked, "It can't have been easy, or cheap."
"I levied a boon from the Princess," replied Arkenstone as casually as though he had instead said he had asked to borrow a cup of sugar from her, "She helped me make some arrangements to obtain the spices and some other things from a select group of traders at a bargain price."
"You used a Royal Boon to get a cut-rate deal from a bunch of traders?" Twilight asked incredulously. Royal Boons were notoriously difficult to obtain. A boon gave the asker carte blanche to request the Princess's authority to support virtually any request within reason. Arkenstone's choice seemed ridiculously mundane.
"Just with the Equestrians handling the merchandise on our side of the border," replied Arkenstone casually as he stirred the mixture again, "Even a Royal Boon won't give me any extra credence with the traders along the routes of Saddle Arabia. Fortunately, I have some acquaintances who owe me favors along the routes, so I'm able to get the net cost reduced so that the ponies doing the business on Equestria's side don't lose any profit over me."
Twilight blinked. "That's...considerate," she observed. It seemed that Arkenstone had hardly needed a Royal Boon to obtain that. Part of her wondered if Celestia had insisted on giving him one because she was desperate to do something nice for him. "So...there are a lot of ponies that owe you favors?"
"Not all of them ponies," corrected Arkenstone, tipping a cutting board loaded down with chopped vegetables into the pot, "The inhabitants of Saddle Arabia are houyhnhnms. That said, yes, a lot of ponies (and other creatures as well) owe me a turn, sometimes two or more, some good and some ill."
"You mean there are some people that want revenge on you?" Twilight asked.
"It's inevitable in my line of work," Arkenstone pointed out, "In stymieing the plans of Equestria's enemies, I end up making plenty of my own. That's the way of the world."
"Oh Arky..." whispered Twilight. She decided she didn't like the way this conversation was going. For the time being, she decided to leave it be and went back out into the main room of the library. Having just finished shelving all the loose books, Spike had switched to sweeping the floor, his diligence making Twilight smile as she watched the little dragon go about his chores. Gently, she used her magic to pry the broom from his grip.
"I can take it from here Spike," she said, "Why don't you go out and enjoy yourself for a little while. I think we have another hour or so until dinner is ready."
"About forty-five minutes," called Arkenstone from the kitchen.
Twilight and Spike paused, exchanging an amused look with each other. Reaching over, Twilight ran her hoof along the top of Spike's head. "Go on," she said, "But no treats. I don't want you spoiling your dinner."
"Got it," called Spike as he headed out the door. Twilight blinked as she watched him go. The bumps on his back were now clearly visible. Also...Is he getting taller?
Shaking her head to clear it, Twilight got back to the process of sweeping the floor.
"This is boring," grumbled Scootaloo after a moment.
"You've barely been at it for two minutes," said Dawn, not budging an inch or even moving his eyes in the direction of the irritated pegasus filly. He and Scootaloo were standing side by side as he put the filly through her most difficult lesson of all, standing still.
Dawn was an odd sight, standing with his wings partly outstretched. The bandages had been removed earlier that week. However, the feathers on his wings had yet to grow back, giving them a ragged, uneven appearance. The lack of feathers, which were the primary conduits of pegasus magic, meant that he was unable to manipulate the air enough to allow him to fly yet.
The colt had taken his predicament with impressive grace, hardly batting an eyelid at the fact that it would be nearly a month before he could be up in the air again. He had even resumed Scootaloo's lessons, doing his best to help refine her flight skills, even though he couldn't be up in the air with her. However, his inability to use his magic meant that he was unable to provide any assurance of safety, which compelled him to avoid allowing Scootaloo to take any serious risks with her training, which only served to make the orange filly frustrated when she felt that his lessons weren't helping her very much.
Scootaloo let out a low puff of air, blowing a tuft of her magenta mane out of her eyes as she tried her best to stand still. Asking Dawn about further training options, seeing as he was temporarily grounded, to improve her control over her pegasus magic, had resulted in Dawn suggesting meditation. However, standing stock still wasn't Scootaloo's strength. Every time she tried, her body came up with an itch or one of her muscles would twitch, distracting her from the all-important process of clearing her mind.
Ever patient, Dawn had tried a variety of suggestions to help Scootaloo along. However, her biggest complaint remained that meditation was just plain dull. There was nothing to it but just standing still and doing nothing grated on her nerves. It seemed impossible.
The two of them had sequestered themselves in the park, the other members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders having prior commitments that prevented them from joining the pair. It was certainly the best time to try and teach Scootaloo, given that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would have made it impossible for her to focus.
"Dawn, I don't think this is working?" complained the filly, fluttering her wings in frustration.
Dawn decided to abort the practice while he tried to think of a solution to their problem. "I'm not certain I can be of much help," he admitted, "This is the way I was taught to meditate. It worked well enough for me, so I never really found out about any alternative methods."
"Hey," suggested Scootaloo, "Why don't we ask Red River or Storm Front, they might know something that could help."
"That's a good idea," answered Dawn. He turned to look in the direction of the market. "Let's ask Red River first. At the very least, we'll know where he'll be."
"Meditation," mused Red River, who was packing up his stall, "That's a tricky one. The method you use, Dawn, was originally conceived by earth ponies. Since it revolves around stillness and emptiness, it's normally a poor match for pegasi."
Tilting his head, Dawn looked at the azure stallion in confusion. "How so? I have little difficulty with it, and I have to admit that it has helped me a great deal."
"I suppose it does," said Red River, "But you're pretty different from most pegasi. You're okay with staying still and clearing your mind. But that's a pretty rare trait. For most pegasi, movement of some kind is practically a necessity. So you have to look for a form of meditation in action."
"Meditation in action..." mused Dawn.
"That's right," said Red River, "It's usually some form of repetitive action to put the body into a controlled state, so that through those actions, you become aware of it. At the same time, the repetitive nature of the action means that you are free to empty your mind without needing to focus on what you are doing at the moment. There are all kinds of things you can try.
"For example, the monks at the temple I was raised in meditated by copying prayers, or sutras as they were called. The content that they were copying was irrelevant because the important thing was the act of writing in and of itself, which allowed them to empty their minds through the repetition of a familiar action."
"I see..." mused Dawn. Scootaloo gave him an uncertain look as he mulled over the options. "A repetitive action, one that has its basis in a sequence of movements repeated over and over..." His voice trailed off as he came to a conclusion.
Red River grinned, apparently anticipating the ebony colt's thoughts. "You were going to teach her those anyway, weren't you? You might as well kill two birds with one stone."
"I agree," admitted Dawn, "Although I hope you never use that metaphor around my mother; that would make her furious."
Having dealt with Fluttershy's rage firsthoof, Red River nodded fervently.
Scootaloo looked back and forth between the two. "Okay," she snapped, "What the hay are you two talking about?"
"Your training of course," replied Dawn as if that was obvious, "Come. We should get you started as soon as possible."
"Started on what?" demanded Scootaloo indignantly as she was lead away.
Red River watched them go, his smile widening. "She's good for him," he remarked, "In teaching her, he instructs himself."
With a yawn, Spike stretched his arms up towards the sky as he ambled along the pathway of the park. Not having any time to go shopping and not a whole lot of time to hang out, Spike figured that a brisk walk through the park would be the perfect thing to kill time until dinner was ready. He didn't mind getting out of the library, he could stand going without the smell of Arkenstone's cooking for a few minutes. It wasn't that the stallion's cooking smelled bad. In fact, it smelled too good. Spike could certainly do without forty-five minutes of waiting smelling that heavenly scent and knowing he still had more time to go until he could actually eat that food. His stomach gave out a loud gargle, prompting him to look down. He was hungry, but he didn't mind waiting for dinner for once.
Stretching again, Spike felt his shoulders pop, along with a slight grating feeling as the bones of his new, but still undeveloped, wings flexed. The pain was gone now, but it had been replaced by a strange sensation that Spike couldn't really put into words. He guessed that it was probably the result of growing a whole new set of limbs that he never had before.
I can't wait to fly, he thought eagerly, Maybe Rainbow Dash could teach me. That'd be cool. Or maybe Dawn. He taught Scootaloo after all, so he must be pretty good at it.
Speaking of Discord, Spike's eyes caught sight of two familiar foals. There were Dawn and Scootaloo, standing in the grass not too far away, facing each other. Dawn stood silently, his eyes closed, his wings partially extended. To Spike's surprise, Scootaloo was doing the same, but with her eyes opened and fixed on the colt in front of her. It was clear that she was trying to emulate Dawn's stance.
"This first time, don't try to follow. Just watch." Spike nearly jumped at the sudden sound of Dawn's voice breaking through the silence. Then, as he and Scootaloo watched, Dawn began to go through a series of movements, a crossover step, thrusting one wing out. Then the same step in the opposite direction, thrusting out the opposite wing as the other retracted in a single smooth motion. Continuing on from there, Dawn went through the basic movements of the First Form.
Scootaloo's eyes were glued to the colt as she tried to burn each movement into her memory. She had seen Dawn practice before, but not like this. Usually, he seemed to flow smoothly from one move to another, making the entire kata seem like a single motion from beginning to end. But now, he deliberately stopped himself at the completion of each step. The reason was clear, to make sure that the filly saw each individual action that made up the sequence of techniques that made up the form.
When Dawn finished, he retracted his wings back to their partially open position, resuming the stance he had taken at the very beginning of his practice.
"Wow," breathed Scootaloo, "So I get to try that." She was practically shivering with excitement.
Dawn's eyes opened and he relaxed his stance. "Not yet," he said.
"Aw," groaned the filly, "Why not?"
In response, Dawn spun sideways, taking a crossover step as he did so and thrust his wing out. The leading feather, one of his few remaining primaries, lanced out like a blade, terminating its advance directly underneath Scootaloo's chin. She immediately went rigid with surprise.
"You can't execute the form unless you know the individual techniques that go into it," explained Dawn, slowly withdrawing his feather. There had been no intent behind the move, but it certainly got Scootaloo's attention. "You cannot build something unless you first have the components that make it up. The first step to this will be to learn the basic techniques of the Gale King Style."
A wide grin broke across Scootaloo's face. "I finally get to start learning your martial arts style! This. Is. So. AWESOME!!!" She bounced into the air, shrieking in gleeful excitement.
"I can teach," observed Dawn, his soft, yet resonant voice bringing her down instantly, "But whether or not you can learn is up to you."
Embarrassed at her outburst, Scootaloo blushed fiercely and sank down, contrite. Dawn sighed and shook his head, before giving her a small smile. "I appreciate your enthusiasm though," he remarked.
Spike snorted, trying hard to keep from bursting out laughing. His noise elicited a surprised squawk from Scootaloo, her wings reacting on instinct and shooting her up into the air, where she hung briefly before falling and catching herself. When she landed, she whirled about to glare at the young dragon. "Spike! When did you get here?"
"Shortly before we began," said Dawn, cocking his head slightly to the side, "You didn't notice?"
"Um well..." looking abashed and folding her ears back, Scootaloo rubbed her leg self-consciously, "Not really. I mean, I was kinda distracted."
"Have you been practicing the sensing exercise?" asked Dawn.
"Yeah," answered Scootaloo, her tone indignant, "I just forgot to keep it going."
"Keep practicing," said Dawn, a tone of amusement in his voice, "But for now, we should proceed with..." he paused, his eyes focusing on something in the near distance.
"Um Dawn?" Now it was Scootaloo's turn to cock her head. "What is it?"
"Hmm." Spike turned his head to follow Dawn's gaze. When he saw what the colt was looking, his mood dimmed considerably. "Uh oh."
"What? What are you guys looking at?" demanded Scootaloo, before she realized that she could do the same and looked over at what Dawn and Spike saw. "Hey! Is that Dinky?"
Without bothering to answer, Dawn bolted into a full gallop. With a sharp cry of protestation, Scootaloo burst after him, with Spike huffing and puffing as he struggled (and failed) to keep up.
Ahead of them was a very unpleasant sight indeed. The light purple form of Dinky was curled up on the ground as three older ponies, all of them colts older than Dawn and Scootaloo, formed a cordon around her. From the way she covered her head and the way tears streamed from her eyes, it was clear that Dinky was not enjoying their attention.
"Come on! What's the matter?" probed the apparent leader of the group, a pale brown-coated earth pony whose coat color streamed into his mane and tail, mixing with streaks of white, "You upset? Why don't you call your mommy?"
"Yeah, that'd be funny," added the second of the three colts, a moss green pegasus, flapping his wings, rustling a dark forest green mane, "Except, she's too stupid to figure anything out." He raised the pitch of his voice in a mocking imitation of Ditzy. "Oh no! Where's my little muffin? Maybe she's in the bakery!"
"She'd probably look for you in the oven," added the third, who loomed over Dinky, his slate gray coat blocking everything else from view, "While she's at it, she should do everypony else a favor and shut the door."
"I saw her you know," added the earth pony, grinning maliciously, "She was standing at the edge of Whitetail Woods, walking around the trees with her eyes closed. She's such a derp!"
"Don't call my mommy that!" shrieked Dinky, shooting to her feet.
"Aw look," taunted the earth pony, turning to his compatriots, "She doesn't like it when we talk bad about Derpy."
"Stop calling her that!" yelled Dinky. Her horn flared. Dinky was too young to really use magic. However, a unicorn in anger, even a young one, is still capable of much more than they normally would. A spark of yellow aura smacked into the earth pony colt's snout, whipping his head back.
For a moment, nopony moved. It took a few seconds for the brown colt to recover from the blow. When he looked back, his mocking smile dissolved into a snarl of anger. "You're gonna pay for that you little brat," he hissed, advancing on her, "When I get through with you, you're gonna be paste."
Before he could do anything though, an ebony blur streaked across his vision, interposing itself between him and Dinky, who ducked reflexively. Dawn Lightwing stood protectively over the little filly, his legs spaced out in a light crouch, while his draconic gaze fixed the other colt in place.
"What the?" exclaimed the brown colt, while his compatriots reared back, "Who the hay are you?"
Dawn said nothing. Instead, he stared impassively at the colt, his gaze occasionally flicking to the other two colts, who had backed away cautiously. The earth pony backed away against the intensity of Dawn's gaze, looking like he wanted to say something, but not finding the courage to do so.
It was the green pegasus who spoke first. "I remember now. You're that colt with the freaky eyes, the one that Miss Fluttershy adopted."
"Oh that's right!" exclaimed the gray pegasus, "Aren't you the one who gave that Diamond Tiara brat a verbal beat down?"
The brown earth pony was nodding. "I remember too now. Way to go kid."
Dawn blinked in surprise. This was not the response he had been expecting.
"You're pretty cool," continued the brown colt, "My name's Milky Swirl. Why don't we hang out?"
"Totally," agreed the green pegasus, "Let's ditch the derp and have some fun."
"I would rather not," said Dawn, "Dinky's mother is a friend of mine and I don't appreciate you insulting her."
This seemed to catch the older colts off-guard. "Seriously," scoffed Milky Swirl, "You're friends with Derpy?"
"I am," answered Dawn, "And I respect her. The same cannot be said for how I feel about you."
"Are you kidding?" demanded the green pegasus, "Come on! We're giving you the chance to hang with the cool crowd here."
"If being cool means being a pony who enjoys hurting a helpless filly, then I want nothing to do with it," said Dawn, "I suggest you leave now."
"Not a chance pal," said Milky, beginning to move towards Dawn, "We still need to teach the derp's brat a lesson. Either get out of the way or we're gonna break your face."
Dawn said nothing, but remained where he was, showing that he had no intention of backing down in the face of the older colts.
"Suit yourself," said Milky Swirl with a shrug. The three of them began to advance on Dawn and Dinky.
Scootaloo had caught up by now. She watched in horror, wondering what Dawn would do. His wings were still too damaged for him to use his pegasus magic through them. How would he be able to defend himself?
The answer came as Dawn lifted a hoof and thrust it forward, generating a gust of air that sent Milky Swirl tumbling. The two pegasus colts tried to close in. But Dawn spun about and bucked with his back legs, sending a burst of air that knocked the gray one back, slamming him into a nearby tree, where he sank to the ground with a groan. The moss green colt froze in place as Dawn's eyes fixed on him and backed away nervously, not wanting to meet with the same consequences that his friends had.
With a moan Milky Swirl rose shakily to his feet, his frightened eyes watching Dawn in fear. The gray colt was still in something of a daze. But even when his senses returned, he didn't budge from his spot.
"Let's stop this here," said Dawn, "In my present condition, I'm not certain I can hold back well enough to avoid severely injuring somepony if this goes on." His eyes fixed on Milky Swirl.
Milky Swirl flinched away from Dawn's gaze. Getting up, he hesitated, before fleeing. His cronies quickly followed suit, leaving Dawn alone with Dinky, Scootaloo, and Spike. Turning his attention downwards, Dawn lowered his head and gently nudged Dinky with his nose.
"Are you alright?" asked the colt.
"No," whispered Dinky, "It hurts."
"What hurts?" asked Spike, a slight edge of panic in his voice. If Dinky was injured, they needed to take care of it.
"It hurts inside," said Dinky, "Why do they keep saying things like that about mommy? Why do they like hurting other ponies like that? What did mommy do to them?"
"Nothing." The answer did not come from Dawn. Nor did it come from Scootaloo or Spike. Everypony looked up in surprise to see a beige stallion standing just a few feet away, as though he had been there the entire time.
Dawn's reaction was instantaneous. Even without his wings to aid him, he still moved with blinding speed, interposing himself between the strange stallion and Dinky, wings outstretched and ready to attack, even though they were more or less useless. The reaction had been so thoroughly ingrained into his very being that he wasn't even able to stop to contemplate its futility. When did he get so close?
Dawn's awareness had flooded the area round him. During the brief confrontation earlier, he had been aware of the exact position of each of the three colts he had been fighting without needing to so much as glance at them. Though he couldn't wield his pegasus magic with his wings in their current state, they still retained their sensitivity to the flow of the air around him. And yet, this stallion had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Dawn hadn't sensed him at all.
No, he realized, I did sense him. However, he didn't even register as an object to me, so I subconsciously ignored him. I completely overlooked him. His wings dropped, fear and surprise being replaced with stunned awe as he looked at the earth pony before him. How far has he come that he was able to enter my space without me even realizing it?
"Hey Arkenstone," said Spike after he recovered from the shock, "What are you doing here?"
Arkenstone turned his ears in the direction of the little dragon. "Well, dinner is ready and you hadn't come back yet, so I came to find you."
"Oh," said Spike, glancing at the sky and realizing that it was past the time he was supposed to be back at the library, "Horseapples, Twilight is gonna be mad."
Arkenstone gave Spike an encouraging smile. "I wouldn't worry. You had good reason to delay," he said, turning his face back in the direction of Dawn and Dinky.
"What did you mean?" asked Dinky, "When you said 'nothing?'"
"I meant that your mother did nothing to those colts," answered Arkenstone simply, "She did nothing to warrant their scorn and hurtful words. Ponies sometimes act that way because they subconsciously feel that they themselves lack worth. And so, to alleviate that hidden feeling of worthlessness, they try to drag others down to a place beneath them, even if that place is within the realm of their own minds."
"How do you stop it?" asked Dinky.
"You can't," said Arkenstone, "Ultimately, the only thing you can do is move on and leave them where they are. The only way they will ever stop is if they come to the answer of their own feelings of worthlessness. Fighting them is a waste of time and energy. There are better ways to put that energy to use."
Dawn blinked, only able to stare at the blind stallion before him. He thought he almost heard a tone of reprimand in Arkenstone’s voice, but couldn’t be quite sure.
Arkenstone turned away and began walking in the direction of the library. "Come Spike. We need to get back before dinner gets cold."
Spike gave one last confused look back to Dawn and Scootaloo before trotting off after the stallion. Dinky, still laying on the ground, sniffled and whimpered. Arkenstone's words had been above the reach of her young mind and offered little in the way of comfort.
Lowering himself onto his belly, Dawn rested on the grass next to Dinky, who leaned up against him. Gently, the ebony colt lifted his wing and draped it over the filly, who quieted under the comforting gesture.
From her place behind them, an expression of anger flashed across Scootaloo's face as she looked at the other two foals. A spark of pain ignited in her stomach. She was jealous. He's never done that for me, she thought. Even on that worst of nights, when she had thought she had lost her home and family forever, Dawn had never gone so far as to put his wing around her.
A second later, she realized exactly what she was thinking. With a quiet snort, she shook her head to try and rid herself of those thoughts. Dawn was just giving comfort to a younger foal, much like an older sibling would. It was crazy of her to be jealous of Dinky for something like that, especially when she was hurting so much now. However, a treacherous voice in the back of her mind whispered to her. He never did that for you, even when you were hurting worse.
Again, she shook her head vigorously, trying to expunge the unwanted thoughts. Dawn hadn't been as emotionally open back then. He hadn't felt her suffering the way he felt Dinky's now because he had still been numb at that point. If Dawn back then had been the way he was now, he would have done it without a second thought. But even though her rational mind explained the situation perfectly, the pain lingered, a tiny stabbing sensation in Scootaloo's heart. It was a pain that only began to abate when she paused to wonder exactly why she was jealous.
Scootaloo's attention returned to the present as Dawn spoke. "Can you walk?" he asked.
Dinky made a soft sound of affirmation and got to her hooves, Dawn following suit. The colt cast an apologetic glance over his shoulder at Scootaloo. "We will have to delay your lesson until tomorrow. We need to get Dinky home." He paused to glance at the sky. "It seems a little late to continue anyway."
A look at the sinking sun confirmed that for Scootaloo. She was expected at home soon as well. Melon Cream would have dinner ready soon, if she didn't already and would be expecting her daughter back any moment now. They both had homework to do as well. "Yeah," she said after a moment, "Lets go."
Storm Front hovered in the empty sky, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Dangling from his hooves was the weapon normally concealed up the sleeve of his shirt. The meteor hammer hung limply at the moment, dropping straight down from where the storm-cloud-colored pegasus held it. Then, slowly at first, he began to swing the weapon’s cord, working the weight through a simple, exaggerated circle off to one side of him. With each passing second, the movement gained speed and momentum, until the weight and the cord, held taut by centrifugal force, were little more than an indistinct blur, almost invisible in the fading light of the evening.
With a sharp motion, Storm suddenly launched the weight straight out ahead of him, the weapon lancing out like a striking snake, all the way to the end of its tether. He retracted it just as quickly, but did so by wrapping the weapon’s cord around his barrel, sending the weapon swinging around. It wrapped across his withers, between his wings and even twined around his neck before he switched the swing’s directions, using the muscles in his neck to send the weight lancing out in a shorter strike.
So it went, Storm working through various strikes and swings with the weight, using the wraps to control both distance and direction, working the complex weapon with his entire body, sometimes launching a strike from his foreleg, at other times, kicking out with his hind leg to send the weight rocketing away at an angle that would be unexpected by an opponent in a battle. At times, he even used his wings to direct the weight’s motion, their joints serving to add additional limbs with which to manipulate the meteor hammer’s cord.
Partway through his practice, Storm Front became aware of the feeling of eyes upon him. Wrapping the entirety of the cord around his body so that he held the weapon in one hoof, stretched taut over his shoulder, Storm paused his practice and turned to see who his observer was.
A grayish-blue pegasus with a flowing green mane hovered a short distance away, her eyes wide with wonder as she stared at Storm Front. It was clear that Flitter had found his practice engrossing. When she realized that she’d been caught, her cheeks blushed and she smiled at him nervously.
Letting go of the weight, Storm let the entire weapon unwrap from around his body. A swift, carefully practiced motion sent drew the weapon back into his sleeve with incredible speed, where he kept it stored in the normal course of things. “Can I help you?” he asked as he drifted over towards her.
Flitter blinked in surprise at his question, as though she hadn’t expected him to speak at all. “I’m sorry I interrupted you,” she said shyly, “I just thought that was amazing to watch. Um...” She looked away bashfully. “I was wondering if I could talk to you some more.”
Storm blinked. “I suppose,” he said. It wasn’t really in his nature to talk a lot. Unlike his more outgoing friend, Storm always felt it more appropriate to hold his tongue unless his words were really needed. He’d never been much for casual conversation, even keeping his banter with Red River short and to the point.
The two pegasi slowly drifted towards the ground, the sky, unfortunately, not having any convenient clouds for them to settle on at the moment. They instead landed in the front yard belonging to Storm’s modest home, which he’d gotten back when he’d first arrived at Ponyville. Unlike Red River, who’d conveniently found lodging with his employers at Sweet Apple Acres, Storm Front had been forced to go house-hunting for his own abode. With the lack of clouds of any kind coming out of Cloudsdale, a ground-house had been necessary. Fortunately, with Twilight Sparkle’s help, Storm had been able to obtain a small, but pleasant one for a reasonable price.
It was a simple, one-story affair, built in the typical Ponyville style, white walls with a decorative thatched roof, underneath which was concealed the less-flammable slate roof that allowed Ponyville’s houses to give off that comfortable, humble-village ambience without being a massive fire hazard. The inside was comfortably furnished, everything needed for a single stallion. Finally, the front porch sported a pair of comfortable seats that looked out over the yard, as well as the street and a good portion of the town beyond. It was into these seats that Storm and Flitter settled.
“What exactly did you want to talk about?” he asked.
“Um...well...I didn’t mean to intrude but, I wanted to ask you some more about what you said the other day.” Flitter’s voice was soft.
“About what?”
“Um...when you said you were a civil servant...why did you come here?”
Storm Front blinked for a moment. “Do you know anything about Guoxia?”
“A little,” said Flitter, “I know that it was founded by unicorns and those dragons...”
“Lungs is the actual term. They hate being called dragons.”
“Lungs! Right!” Flitter stiffened a little when Storm corrected her. Though there’d been no rebuke in his tone, it still made her nervous to be corrected like that. “A-anyway! I heard that it’s supposed to be very beautiful over there.”
“It is,” agreed Storm, staring off into the middle distance, “After all, to the Lungs, Guoxia was a garden, to be kept as beautiful and pristine as possible. They instructed the first unicorn settlers in how to live in harmony with the land and seasons without earth ponies or pegasi to aid them.”
“So...if it’s so lovely...why did you leave?” asked Flitter.
“Because beauty alone does not a home make,” replied Storm calmly, “You wanted to know about that method of writing I used, correct?”
Flitter nodded.
“Guoxia started as and ultimately remains a unicorn nation. The Imperial Royal Family is composed entirely of unicorns. The nobility are all unicorns. Until recently, all government posts were held by unicorns. It has been that way for over a thousand years. Also, unlike Equestria, where the earth ponies grow food and the pegasi control the weather, making them integral to the nation’s prosperity, Guoxia has always had the Lungs, who have carried out those roles since time immemorial. This meant that the other two tribes had no real leverage over the unicorns in order to institute changes.”
Flitter’s mind began putting the pieces together. “So...government posts are all held by unicorns. But you said...”
Storm Front nodded. “Not long after I was born, a new emperor ascended the throne. He began instituting more progressive measures to help better the lives of the earth pony and pegasi citizens. Part of it was pragmatism. Guoxia was trying to open relations with other countries, including Equestria, which was proving difficult since Princess Celestia did not approve of the way earth ponies and pegasi were kept as second-class citizens. But, for the most part, he had an overriding sense of justice that would not suffer him to allow the status-quo to continue unchallenged. So he instituted a great many changes, opened many paths to us, including positions in the government ministries.
“However, his decisions never met with complete approval. Several important ministers opposed the Emperor’s decisions, including some in the Ministry of Rites, which oversaw the admission process for new civil servants. Even though they’d been ordered to permit earth ponies and pegasi to take the exams, they found ways to close unwanted ponies out.”
“How?” asked Flitter, completely engrossed by the story.
“A time-limit. The exam has always been timed. However, the time allotted was based off of unicorn writing speeds, since unicorn hornwriting is considerably faster than mouthwriting. Non-unicorns simply couldn’t keep up and would ultimately fail.”
“That’s horrible,” gasped Flitter.
Storm Front nodded. “It was a cruel trick. They used the imposed time-limit to keep non-unicorns from passing the exam and then construed it as proof that they were not fit for government service.
“However, at the time, I still wanted to take the exam. I’d learned about what civil servants did when I was just a colt. I’d loved the idea of someday going to work for my country and working to make the lives of my fellow ponies better. However, my teacher explained why I had no chance of passing the exams. So she and I came up with a means of writing that would allow me to compete with unicorns.”
“So that’s how you learned it,” said Flitter.
Storm Front nodded. “Once I’d perfected the method, I took the exams. They weren’t very difficult in terms of content, especially after all the preparation I’d done. I not only passed, but placed third amongst all the examinees, the first non-unicorn to pass the exams since their inception.”
“That’s amazing!” exclaimed Flitter, “I bet your teacher was so proud of you.”
“She was.” Storm smiled wistfully. “Unfortunately, her years had caught up to her and she passed away. She lived long enough for me to share the news that I’d passed, but not long enough to find out about my placement.”
“So you were living out your dream,” observed Flitter, “But now you’re here. Why did you give all that up? Why did you leave your country?”
A grimace passed across Storm’s face. “That was...” He frowned pensively. “That’s...something I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about yet.”
“Oh!” squeaked Flitter, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to bring up something so uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine,” said Storm, “I know you didn’t mean to.”
“Um...” Flitter looked away from the stallion, “If you wanted to stop there, that’s fine. Would you maybe be alright to talk about it some other time.”
“May I ask why you’re so interested?” inquired Storm.
“It’s just...” Flitter turned her head away, her cheeks burning crimson, “I wanted to know more about you.” Her voice was barely a squeak.
For a moment, the stallion was silent. Then, “I suppose we could...it might even be helpful to me. I’ve never really talked to anypony about it except Red.”
“Why?”
“Because he was there.” That was all Storm had to say about the matter.
Flitter, her nerves getting the better of her, quickly departed, but not before thanking Storm for talking to her. The stallion watched her leave, then settled back and waited as the night closed in.
Ditzy Doo wrapped her arms around Dawn in a tight hug. "Thank you so much for looking after my little muffin," she said before ushering her daughter inside and closing the door. Dawn had given the wall-eyed pegasus an abridged explanation of what had happened in the park, not mentioning the actual fight. Ditzy was pleased to see that her daughter hadn't been physically harmed. As he turned away from the door, Dawn noted that Ditzy had made considerable progress in her practice at sensing things through the wind.
Scootaloo stood a short distance away. She was making a passable effort at imitating Dawn's normal expression of stoic neutrality. But it was a long way from perfect. "Are you upset about something?" he asked.
Flinching away from his gaze, Scootaloo opened her mouth to deny it, but closed it when she realized how hollow that felt. "Yeah."
"May I ask why?"
Scootaloo still couldn't bear to meet his eyes. "It's not a good reason. I really don't have a right to be."
"It isn't a question of right I think," said Dawn, stepping closer, "You will feel what you feel. I'm understanding that more now."
Scootaloo turned to look at him, her eyes meeting his. Dawn's ears were back, his expression nervous. "Whatever the reason is," he said softly, "I'm sorry." Then he leaned in and nuzzled her cheek softly, his own muzzle touching as lightly as a feather. Then he turned about and walked away, making his way back home.
For a moment, Scootaloo simply stood there in stunned silence, her hoof going up to feel her cheek. Then her face turned bright red and she bolted back towards her own home.
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A nice little dose of D'aawww to wrap things up there.
Great work as usual!
Um, when did he come into it?
Damn unicorn superiorists.
Looks like that love square has gone from Arkenstone>Twilight<>Storm Front> Rainbow Dash
to
Arkenstone <maybe> Twilight with a new triangle of Flitter>Storm Front>Rainbow Dash
And I still think Applejak>Red River.
that thing at the end there was fucking adorable, gave me the warm fuzzies all over
Love triangle between Dawn, Scootaloo and Dinky... interesting
Okay since when was Discord in this story?
I saw the note you left about the bullies, and I think It'd be nice if there were some bullies who weren't as generic as random ponies being dicks.
I'd like to see Dawn react to pressure he can't relieve using his tried and true method of beating their asses or yelling logic at them. An antagonist who is smarter, wittier, and better off than Dawn, and who has no interest in violence. Somepony who isn't a bad pony themselves, just a pony who doesn't like Dawn for the type of person he is. It's been pretty black and white in the good guy/bad guy situation, and the bad guys have always been clearly wrong in some way or another.
This whole time he's been able to come out on top of all his confrontations because he's always right. Having him make a few poor choices would be a great character builder. Making him doubt himself or his old teacher would also be a great path to take.
The story is still awesome, but I've noticed you're shifting the story away from Dawn and adding secondary arcs that are quite entertaining and fun to read, but still secondary to the main character, who I like the most :)
3092719 I believe it's meant like "speak of the devil", seeing as we never learned of any actual "demons" in the FIM series. Kind of like how "what the hay" translates to "what the hell/fuck", or something like that.
3092746 That is actually quite an interesting idea. I've never seen anyone here use that expression before.
3092719
A play off the phrase "Speaking of the devil."
Well it's interesting to see the prejudice of Storm's country, something is telling me we're going to see more of Guoxia in the future (whether they go there or not, I don't know)...
The magistrate siding with Ponyville is a relief... but something tells me there is a lot more wickedness in Cloudsdale
Arky and Dawn should have a convo
Dawn and Scootaloo, sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g...
Everything I've heard about Guoxia so far matches up with what I know about the history of China. The rigged civil service exams, the privileged and prejudiced upper classes, and an emperor who wants to make changes but is blocked and subverted from all sides sound like several of the dynasties there. Also, if I remember correctly, the Lung is the Chinese version of the dragon. Curse you and thank you, WHAP.
Houyhnhnms? Then who are the Yahoos?
I Approve of this Scootaloo shipping
3093556 Its not shipping it's Friend-Shipping
3093556 i second that
3092535 maybe it's their verison of the phrase " speak of the devil"
Love this Chapter! Set-up Chapters often catch me the most. The action is awesome but, these kinds are my favorite!
Another great chapter
Dawn was so cute!!!! 
Flitter Storm Front Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!
Discord is in this story?
I think that's suppose to be heard
....i am a bad panda........the bullie´s comment "i bet she´ll look in the oven" made me laugh WAY too hard
3104398
I believe this is an Equestrianization of "speak of the devil".
3094323 Yeah I think so too, I mean I was really confused for a while. However when it crossed my mind that it could be a ponified phrase that one seemed to fit.
I think you mean Dawn.
3600019 Nope, I meant Discord. As others have already pointed out, it's an Equestrian permutation of the phrase, "Speak of the devil."
What the hay are those?
_____________________________
Are we ever going to see the martial artist of the other two forms taught to the CMC / Mane 6? [other than Scoots getting Gale King?]
3901749 To find out what houyhnhnms are, read Gulliver's Travels. As for your other questions...you'll find out.
3902636
I didn't know you drew inspiration from the name from else where. But that's cool. As for the rest T_T ... I hope all the CMC learn the three pillars. That'd be awesome. None the less, I look forward to reading it happen.
I read Next chapter: Twilight gets pregnant.
had to reread that... 
Knowing his calligraphy based experience and his chinese based fighting stlye, i expected him to be using a pan guan bi or "judge brush" a kind of metal brush used for stabbing enemies in vital areas.
chinatown-shop.com/images/p3/11046g.jpg
3932033 This is why I shouldn't read the comments >.>
Ever heard of this?
3932033 I did the same thing
Well, Equestria isn't exactly perfect now, is it? We cannot always have the main or dominant setting be the perfect one, just like we can't have the main or dominant character(s) always be the good people. I Honestly don't know where you've read all those "perfect Asian settings" stories, because I sure haven't encountered very many.
Besides, in real life, no place on Earth is a complete "enlightened paradise." If there's no poverty or hunger or war, then there's ignorance, arrogance, racism, etc....strange, now that I think about it, the roles that you mentioned have been reversed: EQUESTRIA is being shown as the perfect nation with the perfect leader with the perfect government in this case.
almost sounds like ADHD
ADHD is a chronic condition marked by persistent inattention, hyperactivity, and sometimes impulsivity.
6911079 That's ADHD in a nutshell, I would know, since I have it.
7037774 oh my god yes you are right i have ADHD and sometimes while reading or watching youtube or doing anything while sitting just makes me have to adjust my Arse every few minutes or so
6911079 Or in my case, just ADD. I don't get hyperactive per se, but I have my "can't stay still" moments. I once took this college class where it was supposed to teach us how to concentrate better for math and taking tests and all the teacher did was teach us meditative techniques and my brain kept zoning out hard! That class was a flop and misleading anyway. The teacher should have taught more than one method that can apply to more than one learning style, but she just did nothing but meditation which can only work for some people.
7880302
Honestly it depends on the type of meditation, and if the teacher is one of those idiots who think "empty your mind" means that you should strive to not think on anything (rather than simply not placing importance on anythought, and letting thoughts and emotions go rather than being attached to them.). And that's the only type of meditation there is
.
I mean there are numerous types of meditation (and as a person who had ADD (Hypoactive rather than Hyperactive) guided imagery, and visualization was really helpful. But in the end it falls down to the individual, and what works best for them. But everyone can meditate, it's just a matter of finding the right style.
3094016
That's still shipping.
Gesundheit.
I ship
, Celestia ships it 
, and if we ask Cadance, she would ship it 
, Shining Armor would... probably ship it, but he would most likely also do his big brotherly duty and threaten Arkenstone with castration or something 
Probably what it felt like for the two of them when he asked
No no Twilight, he levied a boon from the princess so that he could cook a wonderful meal, for, you.
The best student is the one that ends up teaching their teacher
8665468
The thing about such things is - they're all in the eyes of the beholder. Always have been, always will be. No matter how trumped-up it ends up being, to her it was a simple favour, and to him it was a simple help. To everyone, she may be Princess Celestia; to Twilight, she'll always be her teacher. Shining Armour may be revered as Prince (... Consort ;P), but he'll always be her older brother.
It's all in the eye of the beholder.
8998727
It is always true that, by teaching others, you learn about both the subject and yourself - in forcing yourself to think about how you'll pass your knowledge on, you take in alternate views, different perspectives; you change the way you think about things you considered perfectly understood, uncover new meanings. If done right, it's always an enlightening process, and I think a significant part of the reason for many masters of their craft taking on students of their own.
"Mastery", after all, means to know everything heretofore known; it's not the end of your path, but merely its beginning: having mastered everything that's currently known, you're in the perfect position to further your knowledge by diving into uncharted territory. Taking studens and learning through them is a great way to go about it.