The Guards
Chapter 9: The Guards
The air in Ponyville hummed with tension. By this point, everypony was aware that an incident had occurred at Rainbow Dash's house the previous day. While many of the details weren't known, a few important ones were. First, Mayor Mare had ordered the arrest of representatives of Cloudsdale. Second, that Cloudsdale would not respond amicably to such an affront. And finally, that a confrontation seemed imminent.
The small building that served as the headquarters for the Ponyville Guard was virtually indistinguishable from most of the other houses and buildings to be found in the small town. Only the slate-shingled roof and the steel bars across a pair of its windows on the back side of the building really set it apart. Its interior space was taken up by the small reception area, a locker room where guards stored their armor when off-duty and a few other rooms. One of them was a general purpose room used for the clerical necessities that came with Guard actions, writing reports, filling out paperwork and the like. The Guard Captain had a small corner of the room, designated by a tiny desk that served as his workspace when he wasn't in the field. By far, the largest room was the equipment closet, which held most of the tools needed for disaster response efforts, shovels, picks, wood axes and other similar implements. Only a tiny portion of that closet was given over to an armory of sorts, carrying a scant few weapons. The only remaining rooms in the building were a pair of small cells along the back wall. Normally, these cells usually held the occasional drunkard who required an evening of Guard hospitality to sober up (though they'd recently seen a bit more use lately). However, today the cells were occupied by a different set of guests.
The Guard station itself was dead silent, as there was not another pony to be found within the building. Expecting a swift response from Cloudsdale, Mayor Mare had called in every available guard, regardless of what their shift was originally. Now, fifteen ponies, five unicorns, five pegasi, and five earth ponies, stood arrayed in formation in front of the Guard station, waiting quietly. Mayor Mare herself stood in front of them. All eyes looked in the direction of the hovering cloud city, a white blob in the distance. It seemed silly to think that such a distant place could be causing them so much trouble.
Passing ponies paused to take in the scene, trying to figure out what was going to happen. However, most quickly disengaged and went about their business, no one wanting to get caught up in a potential fight. Off to one side of the grim group of ponies, Twilight Sparkle danced in place, her anxious eyes alternating between the indistinct form of Cloudsdale and the direction of the train station where, hopefully, the Royal Guards from Canterlot would soon be arriving.
"Do you think they'll make it?" asked Mayor Mare, not taking her eyes away from the pegasus city.
"I don't know," replied Twilight earnestly, "Even if they don't make it here before the Cloudsdale Guard, as long as we don't actually start fighting, they'll still be able to help."
"I hope so," agreed the mayor, finally prying her eyes away and directing a glance back at the armored ponies behind her. To their credit, they stood firm at attention, not giving any sign of anxiety or fear. "If it does come to a fight, we are sorely outmatched."
Twilight nodded slightly and directed a glance at the corner of the Guard station, where a single earth pony stallion waited patiently. Red River leaned casually against the side of the building, his relaxed posture belying the speed with which he could act should things turn sour. Glancing up, Twilight also spied Storm Front circling overhead, an ordinary weather pegasus on the lookout for rogue clouds, but actually holding his position in case violence broke out.
As she turned her head back forward, Mayor Mare's eyes narrowed and she reached for the pair of binoculars that were hung around her neck. Squinting her eyes, she looked through them and let out a dismayed gasp. "They're coming! I think we have about twenty minutes everypony."
Twilight shivered. This was worse than her most pessimistic estimates. The train wasn't due for another half an hour. She wondered if they could forestall conflict for a full ten minutes.
Before long, binoculars were no longer needed to see the approaching pegasi. They were visible in the distance, looking like a flock of birds flying in a straight formation. They were still too far away for anypony to get a full count of their numbers.
Ponies were beginning to gather around the spot, the approaching the Cloudsdale Guards not going unnoticed by the general population. As she watched, Twilight noted that the approaching guards were in no hurry. That suits us just fine, she thought, take all the time you want.
Finally, they arrived. Swooping down on the Ponyville Guard station, Twilight counted at least forty armored ponies in the Cloudsdale Guard formation. She suppressed the urge to shiver. That was more than twice the number of Ponyville's entire Guard contingent. And to make matters worse, this wasn't even half of the ponies Cloudsdale could muster if they were of a mind to.
Instead of descending to land, the formation of Cloudsdale Guards broke and scattered, flying in concentric, alternating circles in the sky above, completely isolating the airspace above the Ponyville station. Twilight noted, with a degree of relief, that their wingblades were still tucked away, showing that these ponies weren't looking for a fight just yet. But how long until that changes?
The wide circling flight pattern of the armored pegasi gave the observers the impression of carrion birds swooping and circling, looking for fresh meat down bellow. It was an intimidating show to be sure, but one that continued to eat up precious time. Twilight and the Mayor knew better than to try and disrupt them, as every minute they wasted on threat displays, however effective, was another minute that Ponyville had for their trump card to arrive.
Finally, another pegasus, this one looking much more official than the collection of Guards, arrived. He was dressed in an olive-green suit, similar to his colleague in the Ponyville station. However, his suit gave the impression of a military uniform, rather than something a pony might wear to the office. His dark green coat was offset by a mane and tail of orange. His cutie mark, tellingly, was a sledge hammer.
At least we can count on him to be blunt with us, thought Twilight wryly. As the new arrival stooped down for a landing, the circling Guards above broke off their flight pattern, crisscrossing one another with perfect precision as they landed in a close formation behind their leader. Twilight had to suppress the urge to whistle. That kind of close flying was almost Wonderbolts grade. Seeing the Cloudsdale Guards come to rest before the Ponyville delegation gave Twilight an opportunity to assess their equipment. Like the two Guards that had accompanied Fine Print the previous day, all of these Guards sported polished gray steel with light blue highlights. More importantly, just like the two from yesterday, these Guards were outfitted with wingblades as well. Twilight gulped nervously as she watched the confrontation unfold.
"Greetings, I am Mayor Mare of Ponyville," said the mayor in her most businesslike tone, "It isn't often we get so many visitors from Cloudsdale. May I ask your business in our fair town?"
The stallion let out an indignant snort. "My name is Sky Runner. I am chief of the Enforcement Division of the Cloudsdale Weather Bureau." He stomped the ground, agitation apparent in his every movement and word. "Let's not beat around the bush Miss Mayor. The fact of the matter is that you have three of my subordinates imprisoned by your Guard. I will have them released immediately. Furthermore..." he reached into his suit and produced a folded sheet of paper, unfolding it, he announced the contents to everyone present. "We will also be taking the manager of the Ponyville Weather Team, Rainbow Dash, into custody for the charges of creating illegal weather. Also, the township of Ponyville has been determined to be complicit in this illegal behavior and will be charged a fine of twenty-thousand bits."
Twilight gasped sharply. That was an insane amount of money. But Sky Runner wasn't finished. "In addition, for the illegal detention off Fine Print and two members of the Cloudsdale Guard, the township of Ponyville shall be fined an additional ten-thousand bits...for each." Sky Runner lowered the paper and directed his piercing gaze back towards Mayor Mare.
Biting her lip, Twilight turned her attention back to the mayor, who to her credit hadn't so much as flinched before Sky Runner's tirade. Instead, she used a hoof to calmly adjust her distinguished gray mane before clearing her throat. Then, she turned her attention back to Sky Runner. "I refuse," she said simply.
Mayor Mare's tone had been calm and relaxed, but the meaning of her words set Sky Runner rocking back on his hooves, his eyes wide. Twilight suspected that he had been anticipating some clever exchange of words, or even an attempt to negotiate to lower the fines or bargain for Rainbow's continued freedom. Further movement drew Twilight's attention to the ponies of the Cloudsdale Guard arrayed behind him. She saw several of them exchanging uneasy glances, many of them clearly uncomfortable with where the situation was going. She saw perhaps two faces that displayed the outrage that was now oozing its way out of their leader.
"You seem to misunderstand your position," said Sky Runner, after a taking a moment to collect himself, "You cannot reject this. These orders are absolute."
"Then perhaps you are from the wrong century," sniped the Mayor, "Because I certainly can. This is not Pre-Classical Unicornia. You are not some noble hoofing down decrees to powerless serfs. You are a representative of a government agency and bound to the very laws you are currently trying to enforce, erroneously I might add, just as your subordinate was. He broke the law by abusing his power outside his lawful jurisdiction.
"As far as I am concerned, none of my citizens have committed any crimes for our town to be complicit with. I do not recognize any breach of the law and therefore do not recognize your claims as valid. Whether or not I am mistaken on that point will be for the magistrate to decide. I might add that he will be arriving in Ponyville shortly to sort this matter out. I will be happy to invite you to participate in the proceedings. But until then, I will not acquiesce to any of your demands." With a determined "hmph," Mayor Mare tossed her head, raising her nose in the air, looking pointedly away from Sky Runner, who looked furious.
From the rage apparent on the stallion's face, Twilight was afraid that Sky Runner would order his Guards to attack then and there. However, he didn't, yet. To her surprise, she saw that he was struggling fiercely to get his temper back under control. It's pretty obvious he's spoiling for a fight. So what's he hesitating for? she wondered.
Sky Runner still seemed to be grasping to find the words to express what he wanted, so Twilight took her time examining him. It seemed as though, even though he had come ready to fight, that he was trying very hard to find some way to avoid actual bloodshed. She wondered why and thought over the consequences that getting into a pitched battle with the Ponyville Guard would have for Cloudsdale.
Even if Cloudsdale had been a hundred-percent in the right, using force of arms to enforce that, rather than defaulting to a magistrate of the Canterlot Judiciary would bring severe censure down on Cloudsdale. The matter would be even worse, should the magistrate determine that they were actually in the wrong. Either turn of affairs meant turning Canterlot's eyes on Cloudsdale, and not in a good way either.
It was clear that this was a situation that Sky Runner wasn't prepared for. He had clearly expected his show of force to cow the mayor into bowing to his demands and agreeing to whatever he wanted. She recalled Rainbow Dash's story about another town that had violated the weather law. She suspected that the Weather Bureau had responded in a manner similar to what Sky Runner was doing now and that other town had backed down. Sky Runner's show of force had been meant to be a bluff to intimidate Mayor Mare and Ponyville into doing what he wanted. But now, she was calling his bluff.
And apparently, Sky Runner couldn't afford to back down. If the magistrate found Fine Print guilty of abuse of power in his attempt to arrest Rainbow Dash, it would undoubtedly come out that Sky Runner had made an effort to force Ponyville to release the offender, in front of numerous witnesses. Twilight shivered, damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Either way, Sky Runner was caught in a bad situation, one he couldn't talk his way out of easily.
But would he actually order the Guards to attack? she asked silently, casting her eyes in the direction of the train station, looking desperately for any sign of the Royal Guards Shining had promised her. She couldn't see any indicator that they had arrived yet. Turning, she looked over at Red River, who hadn't budged an inch and watched the whole affair with a look of casual interest. She felt slightly reassured, although not entirely, given the talk she'd had earlier with him that day.
"So you'll help?" Twilight asked hopefully as she stood in front of the Apple Family's stall.
After setting out a basket of galas, Red River nodded. "Of course I will. This kind of situation was why Storm Front and I were sent to Ponyville in the first place, even though Dawn has nothing to do with it. Storm Front and I will be close by in case anything happens."
"Close by?"
Again, Red River nodded. "Yes. We are still incognito after all. While we were dispatched by Shining Armor, we are not of the Royal Guard. Also, we need to maintain our cover as much as possible for future situations."
"Oh." Twilight wilted as she thought about what they were up against. "Do you think that you and Storm Front can handle this?"
Red River tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It depends. There are a lot of factors in play. However, I am fairly confident that the two of us can handle a fair number of enemies ourselves."
"How many?"
"I honestly can't say," replied Red River solemnly, "We've had to fight against large numbers of opponents, large enough to be counted by the score, both together and singly. I don't have a proper estimate of the maximum, but I think we can account for a substantial number of enemies if it comes to that. However," he met Twilight's gaze, his expression dark, "If you want them alive, that's another matter..."
"What do you mean?" asked Twilight, the bottom dropping out of her stomach.
"Killing ponies is simple," explained the azure stallion, "There are numerous ways to do it. However, disabling a pony without killing her is another matter entirely. It requires a great deal of precision, skill and careful action. It is a much more complex process because there are plenty of ways to kill a pony by accident, even as you're trying to take her alive.
"In a pitched battle against greater numbers, efficiency, taking out your opponents as quickly as possible with the minimum effort necessary so as to reserve your strength for your remaining foes, is key. Trying to take those enemies alive reduces that efficiency by a dangerous degree and also occupies your attention by taking your focus away from the battle as a whole.
"If Storm Front and I end up fighting against a large number of enemies, we won't have the luxury of making the effort to take them alive. I'm afraid if things come to that, you may have to accept that some ponies might die today."
Twilight snapped back to reality as Sky Runner finally found his tongue. "You arrogant ground pounder! You think you can defy us and act so high and mighty. Your attitude is a perfect example of what's wrong with this nation?"
"Excuse me?" asked Mayor Mare, giving him only the barest sign that he had her attention.
"You earth ponies grow fat off the food grown with the weather we create. You take it for granted that, every day, your skies are going to be perfectly in line with your pathetic little schedules. You deal with us, pretending that you are actually our equals. You've forgotten your place in the order of things. You dirt clods need to be reminded of where you belong."
Sky Runner's eyes blazed with fervor as the tirade spilled forth from his lips. However, looking past him, Twilight noted that the vast majority of his troops seemed uneasy, many of them apparently not liking what they were hearing. From the looks of things, tribalists have taken control of the weather factory and the Weather Bureauu. But they don't seem to have completely overrun Cloudsdale itself.
Mayor Mare didn't give the impression that she had been phased in the slightest by Sky Runner's words. "We know our place in the world just fine," she retorted, "It seems that you are the ones who've forgotten your place in the world. At the very least, your sense of self-importance has inflated to an unbearable degree."
The stallion's jaw dropped. For a moment he stood stock-still apparently aghast at the insult Mayor Mare had given him. Twilight took a nervous step back. Part of her seemed to instinctively sense that this was the moment of no return. Mayor Mare had made her position and, by proxy, Ponyville's as well, clear. They would not budge on the matter, whether it was to release the prisoners, hoof Rainbow over, or pay the ridiculous fine that Sky Runner had tried to levy. Now it was up to Sky Runner to make the decision of how he was going to respond to this.
He's going to fight, thought Twilight despairingly, There's no way he's going to back down.
And indeed, she was proven right, for Sky Runner's mouth had set into a grim line. "It seems you earth ponies need a reminder of how you should treat your betters." He raised a hoof. A metallic rattle sounded behind him as the forty pegasi of the Cloudsdale Guard slid their wingblades into place. The motion was not in perfect unison and many clearly hesitated, not liking the thought of what they were about to be ordered to do.
A brief flicker of motion caught Twilight's eye. Looking over, she saw Red River, no longer leaning against the side of the building, standing ready, one hoof already reaching for the handle of his spear. Up above, she noted that Storm Front had stopped circling to hover, his forelegs outstretched and ready to deploy the formidable weapon he referred to as a meteor hammer.
"Subdue the enemy by any means necessary," declared Sky Runner, "Release our comrades. Then we shall go and collect the offender, Rainbow Dash."
The lowering of Sky Runner's hoof was the signal. The forty armed and armored pegasi began to march forward. This was only the prelude, as soon they would burst into furious motion and hurl themselves on the Ponyville Guard.
"CEASE THIS AT ONCE!!!" The boom of the magically amplified voice rattled windows and shook all those present down to their bones. Wincing from the incredible noise, Twilight turned to look around in the direction of the train station. Her worried expression immediately dissolved into one of relief as she saw the familiar golden armor of a pair of Royal Guards.
The one on the right was a pegasus. As was typical with the pegasi of the Royal Guard, the enchantments on his armor had turned the natural color of his coat to a pure white, while his mane became a dark blue. The other was a unicorn, whose coat and mane were gray and silver respectively. A sigh escaped Twilight as she watched the two of them approach. They made it.
The glow around the unicorn's horn faded and the two of them walked closer. The pegasus, clearly the more highly ranked member of the pair surveyed the tableau before him, his eyes sliding coldly over Cloudsdale and Ponyville ponies alike. "Now then, is there anypony who is willing to explain this farcical situation?"
Mayor Mare had managed to quickly mask her relief at the Guards arrival and regained her composure. Now she directed a calm and tranquil look at Sky Runner, who had every look of a pony watching helplessly as everything around him went slowly, but surely, wrong. He had clearly not expected the new arrivals and was fishing desperately for the words that he could use to explain his situation. Only it was no use. Any attempt to justify what he had just ordered his Guards to do would only be met with the question of why he hadn't brought complaints to the magistrate, rather than take matters into his own hooves. Sky Runner's eyes shifted back and forth between the newly arrived Royal Guards and Mayor Mare, who was doing her best not to smile smugly at his discomfort.
Finally, it seemed that the Royal Guard pegasus had had enough of Sky Runner's attempts to find some word, any word of explanation. Turning his eyes back to Mayor Mare, he gave her an encouraging tilt of his head. Mayor Mare responded with a nod and a cough before launching into her explanation.
"Yeterday, this stallion's subordinate..." she pointed an accusing hoof at Sky Runner, "...attempted to force his way into the home of one of my citizens and arrest her for what Cloudsdale had deemed an illegal act. A concerned citizen informed me of this while another stopped Mister Fine Print (who happens to be occupying a cell in the station behind me) from carrying this out. Having looked into the situation, I have found no proof whatsoever that Miss Rainbow Dash committed any violation of the law and thus found Fine Print's actions both an abuse of authority and a violation of his jurisdiction as a representative of Cloudsdale and had the Ponyville Guard take him into custody. As you can see..." she swept a hoof out dramatically to indicate the arrayed pegasi of the Cloudsdale Guard, "...This gentlestallion was then dispatched with Cloudsdale along with no less than forty of their Guard to attempt to force us into giving into their ludicrous demands, which included releasing our prisoners without a determination from the magistrate, giving Rainbow Dash up for arrest and paying an absurd fine for our nonexistent wrongdoings." As she finished, Mayor Mare leveled a very angry glare at Sky Runner. "And as you saw just a few moments ago, he had every intention of using violent force to carry this out."
The pegasus turned his eyes on Sky Runner, his expression set in a scathing glare. "Return to Cloudsdale at once. You are a disgrace." Saying nothing more, he turned his attention back to Mayor Mare and moved to start speaking with her.
For a moment, Sky Runner just stood there, his expression stunned. In a few moments, everything he had been planning had gone horribly wrong. Worse still, to be told off by a fellow pegasus, a Royal Guard at that, was humiliating beyond compare. His entire body trembled as he tried to restrain himself from attacking on his own. However, his knowledge that the pegasus in golden armor was a Royal Guard stopped him. Attacking a Royal Guard was paramount to challenging the authority of Celestia herself.
Sky Runner's muscles tensed. Even though he had not come with armor or wingblades, he had not come unarmed either. Reaching beneath his suit, he drew out a large combat knife. It would be the work of a few seconds. The Royal Guards' attention was currently on Mayor Mare. He could be on them in an instant...just slip the blade between plates of armor and it would be over. Once the Royal Guards were out of the way, he could continue as he saw fit with opposition from Ponyville.
Just eliminate the witnesses and this will all be over. Of course, that meant expanding the scope of his targets. But that was acceptable. After all, most of the watching ponies were earth ponies or unicorns. And the few pegasi in the crowd had forfeited any mercy by siding with those ground pounders. It'll be easy, just cut them down and do what you came here to do. Show those servants of the Sun Witch what it means to defy the natural order of things.
Twilight's eyes caught the motion as Sky Runner drew his knife. Her eyes widened. Quickly, she opened her mouth to let out a cry of warning for the Royal Guards, whose backs were turned, having no reason to expect such a despicable deed. Sky Runner tensed and took a step forward...
...And froze, his body not able to make another move as he instinctually stiffened at the terrifying feeling of the edge of a blade pressed against his neck. The impression was fleeting, barely lasting an instant, and yet so powerful that it completely halted the angry stallion his steps. Not wanting to risk losing his head by moving it, Sky Runner looked over with his eyes, tracing the source of the feeling that had stopped his attack.
There he was, a lone brown earth pony stallion, standing quietly off to the side. At some point, he had stepped out of the watching crowd and closed in. But Sky Runner hadn't even noticed. Where did he come from? When did he get this close? In his right fetlock, he cradled what appeared to be an ordinary twig. Measuring the distance with his eyes, Sky Runner was confused. There was easily a full meter of distance between the tip of the twig and his own neck. Sky Runner was standing well outside the reach of the strange earth pony and yet...and yet...the feeling of the sword against his neck had been all too real.
The earth pony stallion sniffed slightly and retracted the twig. "Do not sully yourself further by doing something foolish. It would be best if you were on your way."
Shuddering, Sky Runner took a step back, not taking his eyes off the mysterious stallion. It struck him as absurd. Here he was, trembling in terror before an earth pony. Earth ponies were weak. They couldn't fly or use magic. The only power they had was that which allowed them to make plants grow. Their sole use was tending the land and providing food for their betters. At least unicorns, with their powerful magic, were regarded as rivals by the pegasi to a certain degree. It had always been a conflict between unicorn magic and pegasus mastery of the elements. Earth ponies were beneath both. That is what he had been taught. But here he was, subdued by a single earth pony, whom hadn't actually seemed to do anything.
The whole thing was simply too strange for Sky Runner to deal with. Turning about, he began barking out orders. "Form up! Return to base on the double!" The pegasi of the Cloudsdale Guard obeyed with matchless precision, taking to the skies and turning to fly straight for home. Sky Runner was a beat behind them, pausing to take one last look at the unnerving stallion that had dispelled every ounce of his desire to fight.
As he flew, Sky Runner felt something wet beading on his neck where he had felt the blade earlier. Reaching up, he ran his hoof over it and held it up to his eyes, which widened at the sight. His hoof was smeared with a tiny quantity of red.
Twilight found herself gaping at the sight of a familiar stallion stopping Sky Runner. She had just turned, about to shout her warning, when she realized that Sky Runner had stopped. Turning back, her jaw dropped when she saw Arkenstone standing there, a long twig held in one fetlock, leveling it at the angry pegasus. She saw Arkenstone speak, but didn't catch the words. Whatever it was that he said took the fight completely out of Sky Runner, who turned and ordered his ponies to return to Cloudsdale, the lot of them practically fleeing with their ears tucked back and tails between their legs.
Arkenstone's head turned, his ears and muzzle orienting on her. The stallion gave her an encouraging smile and put a hoof to his lips before lowering the twig to the ground. Turning around, he walked off gently, apparently satisfied with his role in things. He slipped cleanly into the watching crowd without attracting so much as a passing glance.
With a sigh of relief, Twilight headed over to join Mayor Mare, who had just dismissed the Ponyville Guard while she spoke with the two visitors from the Royal Guard. As she approached, the two stallions turned and regarded her.
"Dame Twilight Sparkle," greeted the pegasus, giving her a bow of his head, "I am Lieutenant Wind Treader of the Royal Guard."
The unicorn followed suit. "I am Sergeant Torch."
"Your brother sends his regards," added Wind Treader with a smile, looking much more relaxed now that the crisis was over with. "We will be stationed in Ponyville until the magistrate can arrive and issue a ruling. But we will be sending notification back to Princess Celestia of Cloudsdale's misconduct."
Twilight nodded. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I think you saved everypony a great deal of trouble today." She cast an uneasy look towards the space that had been occupied by the invading force of pegasi.
"I'm glad that we can be of service," said Wind Treader, "Now then, we are just in the process of finalizing arrangements with your mayor."
"Of course," said Twilight, "I'll help however I can."
"That was quite impressive."
Arkenstone came to a stop. Though ponies all around them were going about their business, the crowd having finally dispersed following the end of the confrontation, none of them had noticed the beige stallion, nor his contribution to the confrontation's resolution...none save two.
His ears swiveling towards the voice, Arkenstone turned towards the pony who had addressed him. Red River grinned as he approached. "It's been awhile."
"Indeed," agreed Arkenstone, "I see Shining Armor followed my advice."
Red River looked down at one hoof sheepishly. A light thud sounded out as Storm Front touched down next to him. In unison, the two stallions bowed respectfully.
"We've heard you'll be staying in town for a while," said Red River.
"Yes," agreed Arkenstone, "At the very least, it'll allow me to keep an eye on you two, so to speak. I heard you nearly killed the colt you were sent here to help."
The two mercenary stallions shuddered slightly at the reproachful tone in Arkenstone's voice. "Sorry," replied Storm Front, "But it was necessary at the time."
"Since I have an idea of where that notion came from, I can't really blame you for that," said Arkenstone, "Shining and I have decided to trust your judgment on the matter."
"Thanks," said Red River.
"We will have to talk later," said Arkenstone, before turning to continue on his way.
"Watch out for the pink mare," Red River shouted after him, "She's a doozy."
The beige stallion gave them a relaxed nod as he continued on his way.
"I'm sorry I'm late everypony!" exclaimed Flitter as she rushed through the door, "There was a line at Sugarcube Corner and I had to wait for the donuts to finish baking." She grinned as she set the box down on the table. "On the plus-side, they're nice and warm."
"Sweet!" squealed Cloud Chaser, setting aside a small stack of forms, "We were just about to wrap up anyway."
"Huh?" Flitter cast her gaze around at the assembled Weather Team volunteers, who were in the process of organizing various files and forms.
Ponyville's Weather Team office was too small to warrant a building of its own. Instead, it occupied a small suite of rooms in Town Hall. Given Rainbow Dash's hooves-on approach to weather management, it saw sparse use at best, the notoriously active mare doing her best to spend as little time in the office as possible. The suite consisted of a small conference room where assignments were (supposed to be) hooved out, a file-room, containing archived reports of previous storms, as well as all the necessary paperwork for future ones, a bathroom (which did not double as a helium production plant, thank you very much), and Rainbow's own manager office, containing a desk that she tried her hardest to avoid using.
There were, of course, the obligatory cloud requisition forms to be sent to (and subsequently be ignored by) Cloudsdale, along with various other forms concerning the recent storm and its consequences. There were cost estimate forms reporting the assessment of damages caused by the storm to Ponyville, the correlating forms that matched the estimates with the rough projections of possible damage that had been rushed out immediately prior, the forms explaining the reasons for the discrepancy between the projections and the final estimates, the forms evaluating the Weather Team's level of responsibility for the damages caused, a report on the overall ground-level saturation caused by the rains, as well as pre, during, and post-storm recordings of humidity, barometric pressure, windspeed velocity and other sundry datasets. Long and short of it was that the wild storm had left the Ponyville Weather Team with a mass of paperwork to sort out, as one might expect when it came to recording the use of wild weather as an emergency response for the drought.
Some of this information was likely to be critical in the upcoming trial by the magistrate as he judged whether or not Cloudsdale's claims against Ponyville were valid. Because of that, it was important to get the paperwork over with quickly. Unfortunately, with the Weather Manager currently out of action, the pony normally responsible for said paperwork was unable to fill it out. Fortunately, Raindrops, as acting head of the Weather Team during Rainbow's recovery, opted to do the job herself, wisely putting out a call for volunteers to help as she came to realize the workload that awaited her that afternoon. Fortunately, Cloud Chaser, Flitter, and Storm Front had answered the call. Once they'd met and sorted out the duties, it had been decided that Flitter would be the one to go and collect snacks while they worked.
Given the workload that had been waiting for them in the morning, Flitter had hardly expected much in the way of progress over the hour and a half that it had taken her to get the promised donuts from Sugarcube Corner. And yet, she'd returned to find that all the forms had been filled out and the office was now in the process of being tidied up.
"How did you finish so fast?" she asked, stunned.
"Storm here practically flew through those papers," said Raindrops, grinning as she indicated the dark-gray pegasus distractedly filling out what appeared to be the final form as he quietly watched the conversation in front of him.
To Flitter's surprise, Storm Front didn't grasp the pen with his mouth, but instead held it pinched between two of his outer primaries, the feathers twitching with precise movements as he quickly wrote down whatever information the form asked of him. After signing the document, Storm Front set down the pen and, with a flick of his wing, brushed his feathers over the form, sending the paper sliding across the table to the stack Raindrops was organizing.
"I've never seen a pony that wasn't a unicorn write so fast," said Cloud Chaser gleefully as she reached eagerly for a donut. Biting in, Flitter's sister hummed happily as the pastry's sweetness spread across her tongue.
"Basically, we're all wrapped up," said Raindrops as she joined Cloud Chaser in sampling Pinkie's baked goods, "So now we can enjoy snack-time without any problems."
Storm Front flicked his wing, apparently trying to work some kinks out his muscles. "I haven't done that in a long time."
"Where did you learn to write like that?" asked Flitter, her voice soft. It was hard for her to articulate her feelings about the new hire. In spite of his extremely unassuming nature, she found Storm Front fascinating to watch, especially the way he seemed to naturally fade away in everypony's awareness unless he wanted to be noticed, which was rare. Lately, being around him made her a little nervous, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.
She half expected Storm to not even hear her as he reached for a donut of his own, given how her nervousness had stolen the volume from her voice.
“It was a skill I developed back when I was training to be a civil servant in Guoxia," he answered.
“Guoxia?” Raindrops looked up at the stallion. “You mean that big country way east of Saddle Arabia? That’s where you’re from?”
“Correct,” agreed Storm Front.
“Color me impressed,” said the jasmine mare, “You don’t have any trace of an accent.”
“Well, I’ve been living in Equestria for a while,” replied Storm, “I haven’t spoken in Guoxian for years. I’m fairly certain that anypony from my homeland who heard me speak would probably say I have a horrid Equestrian accent now.”
It wasn’t his words that gave everypony pause so much as he’d said so many of them at once. Storm Front was short and to-the-point, rarely speaking more than he actually had to.
“How’d you end up coming over to Equestria?” asked Cloud Chaser.
“That’s a long story,” replied Storm, “Maybe another time.”
Now there was the Storm Front the Weather Team was more familiar with.
Storm cast a glance at the clock before standing up. “It’s getting close to time. Rainbow Dash should be waking up soon. I need to get some groceries for dinner.”
"Good luck with that," said Cloud Chaser, "Rainbow hates being nursemaided."
Storm gave an indifferent shrug as he made his way to the door.
After he left, the others turned back to their donuts.
"So, a civil servant huh?" mused Raindrops after a moment, "He didn't strike me as the bureaucratic type."
"Are you sure?" asked Cloud Chaser, "He was tearing through those forms like he'd filled out his own birth certificate in triplicate."
"Wonder how the hay he ended up on this side of the world," mused Raindrops airily.
"Maybe someday we'll find out," replied Cloud Chaser with a shrug, "If getting him to talk wasn't as hard as trying to get Pinkie Pie to stop talking."
Unnoticed by the two bantering mares, Flitter quietly nibbled on her own fare as she quietly eyed the space Storm Front had recently vacated.
Rainbow Dash yawned mightily as she sat up in bed. That alone was a good sign, the achey stiffness in her muscles having resided enough to allow the sky-blue mare to move under her own power. Lifting her forelegs, Rainbow eyed them dubiously. They were a little shaky still and she wasn't overly confident in their ability to hold up her own weight, much less allow her to walk.
Looking over to the window, she wondered how much time had passed since she had fallen asleep thanks to Storm Front's tea. Knowing the way Wing Exhaustion works, I'm guessing that I slept through the night and the better part of today. With a low grumble, Rainbow decided that she had had enough lying around. Certainly, her pegasus magic wasn't good for anything beyond walking on the clouds, but she hoped that she could at least move about her house under her own power.
Pushing the covers off of her body, Rainbow rolled out of bed and tried her hooves on the floor, which sank and compacted ever so slightly under her weight, just like good cloud should. Getting her legs under her, Rainbow pushed away from the bed and stood up for the first time in two days.
Her legs wobbled and trembled, but held. Rainbow relaxed, feeling that she actually could manage standing. Walking would come in a moment. First, she began stretching her back letting out relieved sighs as her spine popped. She also tried stretching her legs, but the process of leaning forward to stretch the hind legs nearly caused her forelegs to give way and make her plant her face into the floor. So Rainbow opted out of that.
The next part was the most difficult yet, taking those first halting steps and trying to walk. While they were unsteady, Rainbow was at least relieved that she could indeed move around her room. It was at that moment that she became conscious of her other needs. Only the instability in Rainbow's gait kept her from outright bolting to the bathroom.
Immediate needs seen to, Rainbow also saw to the rest of her "morning" routine, brushing her teeth and combing her mane enough to get rid of that dratted bed-head. While she was no Rarity, Rainbow Dash knew better than to rush out of the house with her mane tangled and disheveled. Finished in the bathroom, Rainbow decided to head to the living room and the kitchen to see about some food, as her stomach was starting to remind her that she hadn't had anything since that bowl of broth yesterday.
Coming down the hall, Rainbow ground to a halt as she surveyed the greatest obstacle yet...stairs. Her balance was still shaky enough that the rainbow-maned pegasus wasn't entirely confident in her ability to descend without inadvertently taking the express route. And while cloud constructs were naturally padded, so she didn't have to worry about injuring herself, taking a tumble down the stairs would still be unpleasant and, even worse, uncool.
While she was stopped, pondering about whether or not she should make the descent, Rainbow heard the door to her house open and shut, followed by the sound of bags being dropped on the floor before hoofsteps approached the bottom of the stairs. Storm Front appeared, his storm-cloud colored head peering up at her. "You're up," he said simply.
"That's right," agreed Rainbow. Not wanting to give the impression that she was afraid of the stairs or anything like that, Rainbow quickly made her first attempt to step down. However, in her haste, she didn't set her first foreleg right and overbalanced, her body threatening to pitch over and roll down.
Storm Front was up the stairs like a shot, stretching one hoof around in front of her shoulders to halt her fall. Storm Front gently held her steady while Rainbow tried to regain her balance, now standing with her front legs on the first step down. Assured that she wouldn't topple if he withdrew his leg, Storm Front pulled back and then sidled up alongside her. "Use your wing," he said simply.
A slight blush of embarrassment spread across Rainbow's face, both at her embarrassing almost-fall and Storm Front's suggestion. She did as she was bid though, stretching out her wing and resting it on his back. Sure enough, as she took her next cautious step down the stairs, the wing and Storm Front's solidity helped keep her steady so that the stallion didn't need to catch her a second time.
Working slowly and carefully, the pair made their way down the stairs and into Rainbow's living room, where she spied the bags she had heard being set down earlier. Storm Front had evidently been grocery shopping as the bags bulged with a variety of vegetables and other ingredients. The sight of food made Rainbow's stomach growl. Realizing that Storm Front was standing next to her and her wing was still over his back, Rainbow couldn't help but grin and chuckle sheepishly as he raised an eyebrow at the noise.
"It seems I came back at the perfect time," he observed, the tiniest hint of a smile pulling at his lips.
A few minutes later saw Rainbow resting on her couch, munching at an apple to take the edge off her hunger, while Storm Front worked in the kitchen, preparing what turned out to be dinner as Rainbow finally figured out what time of day it was. However, the apple ended up doing little good as the smell of Storm Front's cooking emanating from the kitchen roused her appetite even further. In Rainbow's state, it seemed almost criminal to make food smell this good.
When Storm Front emerged, he carried a pair of platters, which supported bowls on his wings, laying them out on the table, one for Rainbow and one for himself. Dinner turned out to be a delicious vegetable soup, supplemented with potatoes to make it extra filling. Rainbow gobbled down no less than three bowls with zeal. Leaning back with a satisfied sigh, she lounged on the couch ad Storm Front carried the dishes away.
When he returned, Rainbow had found one of her Daring Do novels and was contentedly plugging away at it. However, as Storm Front settled down nearby, she lifted her head from the book. "Um...Storm Front...?"
"Yes?"
Rainbow shied away from his gaze for a moment. "Thanks...for everything. You've done such a great job taking care of me. I know I haven't exactly been the most grateful pony in the world."
"It's alright," replied the stallion, "You are a strong and independent pony. It's only natural for you to be uncomfortable accepting help from others."
Rainbow gave him a wry grin at that. "I guess. But I was there when Applejack learned the hard way that you can't always do everything yourself, so I should know better."
"Pride is a difficult thing to master," remarked Storm Front, "Particularly when you have every right to be proud of something."
"I thought you were gonna say something about pride being bad or about arrogance or...something," muttered Rainbow Dash. She'd occasionally gotten preachy lectures from Twilight and Applejack (seriously, like she's one to talk) about the dangers of pride.
"There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your accomplishments," said Storm Front, "It gives you the confidence to move forward to even greater ones. However, if you allow it to make you dwell solely on what you have done, you will never truly be able to move on to what you will do."
Rainbow blinked, not certain how to interpret his words, but she thought she got the general gist of it. Any further inquiries were stifled by a yawn that forced its way out of her mouth. Her full belly and her comfortable couch were combining to lull her into a doze.
"I think it's time for bed," observed Storm Front, getting up.
Once again, he had Rainbow rest a wing over his back to give her added stability as he helped the tired mare up the stairs and into her room. After helping Rainbow get into bed, he turned out the light and left, leaving Rainbow alone with her thoughts. And Rainbow had plenty of thinking to do.
While there was still a slight seed of distrust in her heart, Rainbow found it overshadowed by the familiar warmth she'd felt around Storm Front, as though his presence filled a hole in her life that had been missing ever since she'd parted ways with her family to live in Ponyville. Rainbow was no stranger to crushes, but she was aware that her feelings for Storm weren't romantic. After all, her heart was pretty fixated on a different stallion at the moment, though they hadn’t gotten a chance to talk since the Royal Wedding. It was more like having a brother than anything else; granted, one who went and did something stupid behind her back, but someone who could be trusted overall. In a way, it reminded her of all those times her own father had taken care of her when she'd been sick as a filly.
That warm sense of trust lulled Rainbow into a peaceful sleep as she waited for her strength to return.
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oh god that confrontation was wonderful
Wrong move. Sky Runner should have been arrested, with all the witnesses watching as he pulled out his knife.
Hmm, is Arkenstone a student of the Earth Pillar?
Lol different plans huh? Shipping, Shipping everywhere!
Can't wait 4 next chapter! You're doin' great, bro!
Wait... what? So... not the Cult Solar in charge then? Sky Runner... related to Flash Spark, perhaps?
Oh look, Arkenstone's back in Ponyville, which means...
BUCKING CALLED IT!!! (AGAIN)
Unlucky Storm Front,
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/32967776.jpg
I think I know who she's got her eye on, and you can't really compete with this.
derpicdn.net/img/2013/8/13/398993/full.jpeg
And look, she's got a way to get his attention!!
derpicdn.net/img/2013/7/1/361511/full.jpeg
3087114 I don't think so. I believe he has the fighting skill equivalent to the Earth Pillar.
Hahahaahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha! Look out Arkenstone! Pinkie's gonna getcha!
I smell a ship coming on!
derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTIvMTEvMDgvMDZfMTBfNTFfMzBfMTQ1OTMyX19VTk9QVF9fIl1d/145932__safe_rainbow%2Bdash_pinkie%2Bpie_shipping_meme_image%2Bmacro_queen%2Bchrysalis_caption_pinkiedash.jpg
3087114
That would be interesting... him being one of the masters... master of The Still Way
Also, love triangle between Storm, Flitter and Rainbow... smell conflict
Scootaloo jealous? Is it going to be related to Dawn or Rainbow?
Sky Runner referring to Celestia as the Sun Witch... something foul is in the air, and it's not just the Cult Solar... wonder if there are other cults out there that worship different things?
Arkenstone pokes pegasus asshole with stick, draws blood like it's a sword. Getting serious vibes that remind me of that samurai who ended up using only a wooden sword to make things more fair for his opponent.
Sun Witch? Is there another cult but in reverse of the Solar one?
Y'know, I actually checked. The word "Dawn" only appears once in this chapter.
How come a Sergeant outranks a Lieutenant?
It appears for me that scootaloo will be jealous because she'll realise that rumble is interested in swetee bell, and not her anymore, am i right?
3087825
Somehow... I don't think so... there is a moving aroma of ScootDawn in the air...
3088043, I know, but I'm talking about that kind of situation where a person who stop being interested in another, makes the second one jealous because the lack of atetion; imagine that the dog of your sister always follow you and greet you when you arrive, then suddenly, your cousin visits and the dog start doing the same thing to him, it's not that you like the dog, but it feels different, or like your normal routine has been broken, and some people will try to get the dog follow them again;I hope I made myself understood.
So close... Oh well. I wonder what the plans are...
So Arkenstone is basically the pony version of Miyamoto Musashi...SOOO AWESOME
While RD may not be into Storm, I suspect that Flitter might have taken an interest in him. Or perhaps you intend to pair him with Rarity, unless you want the whole "love-triangle" thing going on with her and Twilight.
When you where going over the forms being ignored by Cloudsdale, why did you italicize "by" instead of Ignored?
3089580
Cults can be centered around race as well. guess we'll have to find out
You know, this would be the perfect moment for Discord to intervene. If he hears that one of the Elements of Harmony is being harassed, not to mention was under an attempted ponynapping, he could to a thing or two in Cloudsdale, or at least see who's the real culprit.
That charge alone should prompt BOTH Celestia and Luna to intervene. If anyone messes with one of the Bearers of the Elements, he/she puts in jeopardy the safety of the entire bucking nation, doi.
That's why Lightning Dust was expelled from the academy, she nearly killed 5 of the 6 Bearers of the Elements.
And since this happens after Discord's second defeat, all of the Bearers are technically Knights, and as such are members of the Equestrian Royal Armed Forces, so again, if anyone lifts a hoof against them, it would be the same crime if they attacked any of the Royal Guard.
So if Cloudsdale targets Ponyville, they're targeting the Knights of Harmony, the Elements of Harmony, and are placing Equestria in jeopardy.
Class, can you say "high treason"?
Great work on the chapter as always, Keep up the good work.
3088083 Sorry V, but I have to agree with TheMyth on this one. It takes a shollow person to make an issue out of something like that, and I don't see Scoot as being that shallow, especially seeing as she told him she wasn't interested in him that way in the first place.
I could see it if it were a pony like SP or DT, but I'd like to think that Scootaloo is better then them .
3087305
How is Arkenstone going to know which mare is the pink one?
3091349 Easy! Pinkie Pie sticks out like a sore hoof! After all... SHE'S PINKIE PIE FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!
Its the Arkenstone the Zatoichi!!!
Man...People are falling in love all over the place...what tis this fanfic coming too!?
I'll tell ya what it's coming to and that is a very intricate and complex story...and those are the kind of stories I love! 
3089858 *Thinks about racist pegsi trapped in cotton candy clouds without wings*
>Ecocat<
i'm trying to figure out who it is Dash has a crush on. Somepony from the royal wedding... Surely not the groom.
Weather Factory
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Yesterday
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as
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To be honest, I saw it for what it was, but only BARELY It was a Very well done red herring with just a small handful of subtle(till the end of this chapter anyways) clues to the contrary.
I'm just a little Too into romance to not catch a few of those signs myself.
And that confrontation was brilliant. I love your Mayor mare, A very fitting take on her dealing with a genuine crisis. And the ever expected flawless Dramatic timing of the arrival of the guard Lol.
4875533 How do you not know who Rainbow has a crush on? I'll give you a hint... Royal Equestrian Airforce...
Horizontal rule is necessary on fimfiction as it's the only way to signify a page break. Since one whole chapter is posted in the browser window, it's not read the same way as a traditional book.
Also, there's really no need to indent either; though it looks more traditional.
1: THANK YOU for making Mayor Mare cool! She needs more awesome and more love.
2: As cool as all your OCs are, good job on not making all of them automatic boyfriends of members of the Mane 6. That would get ridiculous.
5086706
Same errors
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7852142
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/51991/flash-fog
and
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/150325/fifty-things-that-ponyville-citizens-are-not-allowed-to-do
Are fics that have great Mayor Mare's in them (the first one she's pretty cool and useful when she pops up. The later is a funny little Mayor Mare fic ^_^.).
Your shipping choices seem pretty clear. It's kind of refreshing, actually, not having to guess who'll be paired in the end.
3087041
I think only Twilight saw him, plus he had forty armed soldiers with him. I imagine that with the people who have taken over Cloudsdale would target their families if they tried deserting, rebelling, or anything of the sort. So, the best the could've done is repel them, given that they were trying to prevent violence.
I think Sky Runner is the only one who was running away, the other forty were probably relieve they wouldn't have to commit murder or GBH.
I was surprised when I saw that Sky Runner was a legit tribalist. I expected him to let slip that his family, and that of his subordinates, were being used as leverage by way of threat. It would explain why so many would be willing, while still being hesitant, to do something they know is wrong both morally and legally. After all, how many people would choose what's right over the well being of their loved ones?
And what do think would happen if that "Sun Witch" (and probably her sister the "Moon Witch") were to turn her wrath upon you, do not mistake her kindness, mercy and restraint as weakness.
The story Rites of Ascension is a very good example of Celestia's restraint being misinterpreted, that story's version of Celestia can literally glass miles around her if she lost control for even a second when angry.
She has a title?
Is that the beginning of a ship is see
You had to bring up that Twitter post by faust didn't you?
9032920
What twitter post?
8665431
Twilight and the Mane 6 were Knighted after their defeat of Discord. Well technically it was a big part of fanon (since we know they were given a big ceremony, and a stained glass window showing their success, but nothing afterwards). This takes that speculation, and calls them Dames.
Meanwhile at least two ships are suddenly being unloaded and detained as their cargo is being relabeled. 😂
chapter 9 achey stiffness in her muscles having resided enough to allow the sky-blue mare to move
After all this time and reading these stories ????? times I spot these two typos 1 [achy ] 2 [ receded ] I checked the comments for the chapter and looks like no-one else did either.
Apparently this is the last chapter I've read back when I first read this in 2013.
I'm not sure why I stopped here, it was getting good.