Let Byhooves be Byhooves

by Outlaw Quadrant

6 - Pre-Flight Check

Flying landed in front of the Library Treehouse donning an olive rubbery suit. Other than the head portion, it covered his body with such tightness that the occasional wisps of evening air cooled off the boiling sweat dripping from his forehead. He tugged on a strand wrapped around his waist, ensuring that the attached small pouch hadn’t shifted during flight.

Good deal. Now, I just hope Spike isn’t here right now or I’m totally cooked!

He tapped on the wood three times and waited a few seconds for an answer.

Is anypony home? This better not be another surprise Pinkie party.

As his foreleg reached for the door, it swung just wide enough for a unicorn’s head to pop through the crack.

“Oh, hi,” said Twilight, scratching her bangs. “I wasn’t expecting you this early.”

“Yeah, I’m here for something but, um—” His face muscles tensed up —“is Spike’s here by any chance?”

“Spike? No, he’s away at the moment but I can tell him you were looking for him when he—”

Waving his hooves, “No, no! No need to do that! I was just asking. Besides, that’s not why I’m here.”

“Oh?”

The stallion bit his lip. “I… need to find a certain book. Um, you think I can find one here?”

Twilight cusped her mouth, muffling her giggles. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I mean, this is only a library, Fly.”

“Oh, that’s right,” the pink-cheek stallion responded.

She swung the door wide open. “Well, come on in! It might be a bit messy in here.”

Flying stepped inside the towering and hollow tree. Endless books filled every open space, even the flat surface by the windows. His mouth hung open at how every tome faced the right direction and in some logical order that even he could figure it out with a few glances. What had him lost was the librarian’s definition of ‘messy’; maybe there were specks of dust hidden at a random corner or a few tomes out of place.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Twilight asked, closing the entrance. “I can lend you a hoof.”

Flying tugged on his suit. “Yeah, um, little dude was asking me yesterday about tips on talking to girls so I thought a book would help me put a list together?”

Twilight nodded, “Oh, okay then! You can start over there and look for books on dating and I’ll go look by these stairs for romance books.”

The stallion exhaled relief.

“Hold on a minute.” She began rubbing her chin, “Why would you need a book for this? Couldn’t you just tell him your experiences, Fly?”

Blood rushed to his head. “Experiences? Um, I kinda, well—”

“Never mind,” the unicorn replied, smiling. “I completely understand. Besides, I can’t wait to see if you can pull this off. Spike can be pretty gullible, you know.”

In a flash, his color returned to its usual pale gray. “Really? That totally awesome to hear!” His head swiveled all over the room, “So, where did he run off to, anyways?”

Twilight glanced at a nearby clock, its dials indicating eight o’clock. With a blink of the eye, the ornate hands suddenly moved back to a quarter past seven. Within her magical control was a feather duster that she used to swipe at the timekeeper, removing a pesky cobweb from the gold-tinted edge.

“Don’t forget to wash down the little round windows, Spike,” she remarked as she jogged toward one of the many bookshelves. “We haven’t washed those in quite a while.”

“But it’s been only two weeks since I scrubbed,” he whined as he stepped off a ladder with a damp squeegee in his possession.

The unicorn huffed. “A week too long, Spike. What if somepony comes in wanting to check out a book and notices how dirty they are?”

“We’ve had zero ponies come in here since we last cleaned,” Spike deadpanned while using his apron as a washcloth for his hands.

Suddenly, somepony pounded at the door.

“Until now,” Twilight chirped. “Can you get that, Spike?”

He marched to the entrance, grumbling that she was closer to the door. After turning the knob, Twilight looked his direction as she swept the top of a few encyclopedias.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Spike spoke. “What brings you here at this hour?”

The pegasus fluttered into the room, “I’m just looking around.”

The assistant tapped his chin, “Ah. Let me guess. Those two again, huh?”

“What are you two talking about?” the unicorn asked, levitating some heavy books to reach the dust underneath them. “What exactly are you searching for, Fluttershy?”

“Just Leo and Angel,” she answered, lifting a stallion head statue sitting on a round table.

In an instant, Twilight’s magic fizzled out, the heavy tomes landing onto the shelf with a dull thump. “Leo?” she stammered. “Missing?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, only to find Twilight shaking her like a saltshaker.

“What do you mean he’s missing?” The librarian pranced in place. “No, no, no! This can’t be happening! How in Equestria could you lose a turtle, Fluttershy?”

She raised her limp hoof, “But he’s not really missing. Leo’s just playing hide-and-seek with Angel, that’s all.”

“For how long, Fluttershy?” Spike interjected.

“Only for about… maybe two hours?” the yellow mare responded nonchalantly.

“Two hours?” Twilight shrieked, yanking on her own hair. “Fluttershy, why didn’t you tell me this earlier? We need to form a search party, now!”

Spike handed her a paper bag. “Geez! Relax, Twilight! Fly said Leo’s a pretty good hide and seeker. Took us thirty minutes last night.”

“And he even got Angel to play along today,” added Fluttershy as she floated about the cavernous room. “Hmmm. My instincts told me they were in here just now but I guess not. Maybe I should try the schoolhouse next.”

Twilight pointed at the door, “Spike? Take Owlowiscious and help out Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy clasped together her hooves, “Oh, please! I can do this on my own! I’m sure that—”

“No,” the bookworm sternly answered. “We can’t waste any more time with these silly games! Now, go! Hurry!”

Hanging her head, Fluttershy drifted through the exit. From upstairs, the pet owl joined up with Spike and headed in the same direction.

“Way to ruin her fun, Twilight,” Spike retorted as he stood at the doorway.

She softened her stance, “I’m not trying to, Spike. We just can’t take any unnecessary risks with Fly’s turtle. You understand, right?”

The dragon shrugged. “Whatever.”

As the door clicked shut, the unicorn checked the current time. An eye blink later, she was back in the present, confirmed by a stallion’s subtle but deliberate cough.

“You okay?” Flying asked, leaning in toward her.

“Um—” She went back a wobbly step—“Yeah. I, um, Spike is… he’s running an errand with Fluttershy?”

His head tilted slightly. “Hmmm. Ah! I bet they’re searching for Leo, aren’t they?”

Twilight’s lips quivered, her thoughts turned into incomprehensible mush. Twilight waited for an erupting volcano of emotions to engulf her in searing heat.

“Don’t worry about it,” he reassured, waving his foreleg. “I saw this coming a mile away. They’ll find him.” Flying snorted a chuckle. “Eventually.”

Twilight patted her beating chest. “Whew. All right, then. If you’re not worried, I won’t be either. So, how about we start searching for a good book?”

They split off to opposite sides of the room, with the stallion scanning each spine for a title that screamed a key word such as ‘talking to mares’ or ‘casual conversation’. Meanwhile, Twilight found herself opening every other book and speed-reading through a few pages; it mattered not if she had already delved into the text in the past. The unicorn always found new meaning in the paragraphs but on this night, she shut the covers with a frown. For all the material on Equestrian history, magic and adventure within this Library, she couldn’t find this pony’s topic. Making it worse was the perpetual silence, understandable given their task involved intense concentration. Still, she wanted to start some type of dialogue between them, so she began with a joke.

If only what she had weren’t so high-brow.

“—and you carry the one,” she finished. “Get it?” she chortled.

Flying blinked a few times. “Um, I guess that one went over my head,” he replied, opening a beige tome.

“I’m sorry,” she lamented, rubbing the floor. “I suppose jokes aren’t my strong suit.”

“That’s okay. My fault, anyways. I bet a smarter pony would’ve gotten it.”

“But I thought you were smart.”

“Compared to Rainbow, I was,” he neighed with a wry smile. The moment he realized his lips spoke that name, Flying gently placed the book he held back onto the shelf. “Yeah, I sure was the egghead back then.”

Twilight fidgeted in place; she had the perfect open to pry more into this whole Flying and Rainbow dilemma! That would’ve been wrong, however, so she was helpless to do anything other than keep her ears open and hope the stallion volunteered information.

The stallion’s snout twitched, his sights set at the staircase. “Mind if I go to the porch for a second, Twi? I need some fresh air.”

“Oh sure! Go ahead.”

Once he left her presence, she resumed going through each shelf but lacking the gusto to open every single book within her magical control. She’d rather check on him upstairs in case he was wallowing in self-pity or staring off into the skies waiting for his former friend to arrive.

To her surprise, he zipped down the staircase a minute after he left, bearing a small smile.

“Huh? Back so soon?” Twilight inquired.

Rubbing his mane, “Yep. Just what I needed. Let’s keep going.”

He returned to his section but as his eyes focused on more spines, Twilight called out to him.

“What’s up?” he beckoned, shifting to the left.

“I’m just curious,” she stated, skimming through a thick burgundy book. “Any particular reason why you joined EWA instead of working for a local weather team?”

Flying paused in mid-air. “I guess because I felt,” He shrugged, “lost.”

“Lost? I don’t quite follow you.”

Flying peeked at his flank, covered in full by rubber. “I always thought that when some pony got their cutie mark, that was it. You know what your talent is and it tells you to what you’re supposed to do with your life. Not for me, Twi. It only made me more… confused.”

“Confused?” Twilight returned the red book onto the shelf but stopped short of levitating another one. “Why?”

“Long story short. I kinda stumbled onto my talent.”

“How?”

The stallion turned and faced the unicorn, his forelag tapping his muzzle. “Hmm. You see, it was a few months after Weather Camp. I was travelling with my folks across Equestria to visit some relatives when I saw this burst of light shining through the clouds. I wanted to know what it was so I started going higher for a better look. Before I realized it, I climbed much higher than I should’ve. My folks couldn’t reach me. The air was too thin for them but I was handling it okay. Once I went over the last cloud, I caught a glimpse of, um, it was… I think, um—”

“Did you forget what you saw, Fly?”

Flying shook his head. “The sun was in my eyes and whatever shone was all but gone. I wanna say —a wave of multiple colors. No, more like an explosion of colors.”

Twilight cusped her mouth. Oh my gosh! Could that have been the Sonic Rainboom? Maybe I should… no. I should let Rainbow tell him, that is if they ever talk to each other again.

“Anyways, my folks pointed out my mark once I got down. I was pretty stoked at first but once I understood what it really meant, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I mean, there’s not that many reasons to fly so high in the sky in the first place. At least, not when you’re on a plain old weather team like I was.”

“So you decided to join EWA?”

Nodding, “You got it, Twi.”

“Do you still feel lost, Fly?”

“Sometimes,” he answered, gazing at the floorboards.

Frowning, “Fly, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Mellow out, Twi!” he responded, smiling. “No need to say sorry. It’s good to get that off my mind. Besides, there was a time when I couldn’t even look at my cutie mark. I thought it was such a useless talent. At least it’s coming in handy with this internship. Even if working for EWA doesn’t pan out, I’m sure I’ll find a use for it doing something else. After all, finding your talent isn’t the end of the adventure, it’s just the beginning, isn’t it?”

Twilight giggled. “You’re so right. I wished you had met the Cutie Mark Crusaders yesterday and told them that.”

“The who now?”

“Never mind. I’ll explain some other time. In the meantime, how’s your search going over there? Anything good?”

He pulled out a hardcover and waved it around, “You would think a good book on dating tips would be here but they’re all out of style. Seriously, some of this stuff is older than my grandpa! How about you, Twi?”

“Nothing so far, I’m afraid. Everything I see is on friendships, not romance.”

Above his head, a book hanged halfway off the shelf caught the pegasus’ attention. Before he pushed it back, Flying scanned the title.

Hold on. I Can’t Believe Intraspecies Relationships is Possible! A Dating Guide! He grabbed it to examine the pages. Wow. This whole thing’s kinda worn as though… I wonder if little dude has read this already. Shoot! I bet he did! Can I really rewrite this so he doesn’t know where I got my tips from?

“Oh, did you find something, Fly?”

“It’ll have to do.” He slid the book into his pouch. “I’ll drop it off at the Inn on my way out.”

Twilight checked the clock. “Hmm. We still have a few minutes before Rainbow’s supposed to arrive. Can I ask you something else, if you don’t mind?”

“Go ahead,” he said, landing on the floor.

“How exactly does that suit work? I read that it somehow uses magic but how is that possible?”

“Sure does!” He took out an amber pendant from his bag. “EWA employs specialized unicorns that can infuse a spell onto this crystal.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Really? That makes total sense! So, what type of spell?”

“One that bumps up our body heat and gives us more air to breathe.” Pointing at a notch at the suit’s front, “Once we’re climbing, you just place the crystal here to activate it. Oh, and there’s another bonus. With the spell, I can talk to Rainbow from a distance and vice-versa.”

The unicorn grinned, “Oh, wow! EWA really goes all out, don’t they?”

Flying shrugged. “Eh, I suppose but tonight’s job is nothing special. Just gotta reach the Jet Stream and unclog the jam.”

“If it sounds that easy, then why do we need EWA?”

“Too many accidents in the past,” he responded plainly.

Drips of sweat trickled down her forehead. “Umm, accidents?”

Flying stifled a snicker. “Mellow out, Twi! Nothing too serious but even with the spell, flying so high is really tough for a pegasus so EWA has strict qualifications on who can do this type of work regularly. Thanks to my talent, I can handle the thin air and cold air better than most other ponies.”

“Will Rainbow be okay?”

“Knowing her, she’s gotten much faster and stronger since Camp. Besides, she’s with me and I know we’ve had our problems in the past but that doesn’t matter. I’ll watch over her and make sure nothing happens to her, no matter what.”

Twilight beamed, hearing something more than just window dressing to calm down her nerves. “I’m really glad to hear that, Fly. I’m sure that—”

The Library’s door creaked inwards. From the crack emerged Rainbow’s head fully covered by latex save for openings for her eyes and mouth. She motioned her head outwards before walking back outside.

Flying tousled his mane, “Guess I better jet, huh?”

She had so many things to say, all forbidden by the pact she made with her friends last night. “Good luck,” she finally answered. A pregnant pause later, “With the job, I mean!”

After an aviator salute, he headed for the exit. As he touched the door handle, he stopped and turned his head back to the librarian. “Hey, Twi?”

“Yeah, Fly?”

His eyes wandered between her and the floor. “Thanks, to you and all the girls for hearing me out on stuff.”

“No problem. You’re our friend, Fly.” The unicorn winked, “That’s what we’re here for.”

The stallion returned the wink and then shut the door behind him.

Twilight remained in the middle of the room for a few seconds, hearing a brief but muffled conversation past the door followed by the sound of two pegasi taking off into parts unknown. Then, all she had for company was the ticking clock and her thoughts while she levitated the nearby duster for some more evening cleaning.

Guess it’s up to those two now. I sure hope everything turns out all right. Just think good thoughts, Twilight. They’ll patch things up! Friendship is Magic!

A minute into her chore, a long creak had her turn toward the entrance. She guessed it was the pegasi duo coming inside but instead, the dragon assistant had returned along with the other element bearers.

“What’s going on here?” the unicorn barked, putting away the duster. She then rubbed her eyes. “I know I said a search party but are all of you looking for Angel and Leo now?”

“And Winona,” Applejack snarled, adding a stomp. “The second I find her, that dog’s gonna git it!”

Twilight’s head tilted, “Huh? You’re telling me Winona’s part of this hide and seek game too?”

“Gummy too! Gummy too!” Pinkie Pie bounced around the group. “His first time too! This is so much fun!”

“It’s anything but fun,” Rarity whined, wiping her brow with a handkerchief. “How could Opalescence do this without telling me? What if something’s happened to her? She could be hurt or lost or maybe even… catnapped!” She threw herself onto Fluttershy and began sobbing.

Suddenly, a hooting Owlowiscious flapped into the treehouse and past the group.

Spike pounded his hands together, “Aha! He’s finally found them!”

The bookworm’s eyes followed the owl ascending toward the second floor. “Wait a minute. You meant they’re all in here? But how?”

She chased her pet up the stairs, followed by everyone else to the second floor and out into the dim-light porch. By the railing was a picnic cloth spread across the surface with small lumps protruding through the quilt. Grabbing it with his claws, the owl raised the sheet for the big reveal: a turtle, dog, cat, rabbit and a lizard.

“Winona!” Applejack stared down her dog with beady pupils. “Do you know how much work I gotta catch up on because you ran off and I looked for ya all around town? Bad dog! You’re sleeping outside tonight, you hear?”

The dog cowered in guilt.

Meanwhile, Pinkie held up her small alligator with a gleeful smile. “I found you! I found you! Do you want to try again?”

Gummy’s stoic expression broke with a quick eye blink.

Besides the party pony, Rarity patted off her joyous tears. “Opal! You… you—” Her face turned red, “You naughty feline! I was all worried about you and you know that stress causes wrinkles!”

Opal turned away, holding up her chin while delivering a curt meow.

“Don’t you dare give me that tone! Hey! Look at me when I’m addressing you!”

“You’re being too harsh on her,” Fluttershy replied, grinning at the rabbit and turtle team. “They were just having a little fun, isn’t that right you two?”

Angel high-fived Leo.

Twilight groaned. “All right, all right. Everything turned out okay but I still want to know how they ended up here with me knowing. I mean, even Fly was here at the Treehouse for a few minutes and—”

That’s when her memory retrieved the moment the grey stallion ventured upstairs for ‘some fresh air’.

“He must’ve—” Twilight giggled to herself. “Just as sneaky as his turtle, I see.”

“What so funny, Twilight?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, nothing! Just remembering a joke Fly told me earlier.”