The Incredibly Loyal Heart Of A Winning Pony

by Hallowed

Chapter Two: Trustworthiness

As I flew in for a landing near the center of town, I sighed in relief. A long day of breaking up clouds was finally done. Thankfully, once the rest of the weather team had cleared out their sections, they helped us finish up the town proper, and we were finally done as the sun was setting.

Blossomforth landed next to me, and gratefully sighed, "Thank Celestia that's over with." She looked as ragged as I felt. "If I had to fly any longer, my wings would have fallen off."

My tired wings fluttered weakly at the thought, but my stomach let out a loud grumbling sound that derailed that train of thought. "I think I'm going home to get cleaned up a little, and get a bite to eat. You want to come with?"

Unexpectedly, Blossom perked up and said, "Hey, I almost forgot! Thunderlane told me earlier he heard Pinkie was throwing a welcome surprise party at the library for that student of Celestia's that's visiting from Canterlot! I think they've probably already started, I saw Twilight heading that way with Fluttershy in tow a while ago. Wanna go to that?”

Huh. Pinkie usually puts on a good party, especially when it's a welcome party. But I had to ask, "At the library, though?"

Blossom nodded and said "Yeah, she's apparently a super big book-reader, so the Princess arranged that she’d be staying there while she’s in town. Anyway, you gonna go?"

I nodded and said, "I think I'm going to go home and shower first, though. Been a long long day and I don't want to smell like it."

Blossom narrowed her eyes at me then and said, "You aren't still going to try and convince Princess Celestia's own student to... you know," she finished lamely, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

I smiled knowingly, amused that she still couldn't bring herself to say simple words like... "Bang? Maybe. Maybe not. Does that bother you, Blossom?"

Blossom renewed her glare at me. "Yes, Cloud Kicker! I mean, she's the student of the Princess! You can't just seduce her like she's anyone else! Think of the scandal there could be and how it could make Ponyville look!"

I shook my head. "Blossom, I keep telling you that there is nothing scandalous about two ponies having fun. For all you know, she might be into it, but I'll never know if I don't ask. Besides," as I winked conspiratorially, "I'll be discreet."

And with that, I trotted in the direction of home, calling over my shoulder "See you there!" before Blossom said something snide about me being discreet. Blossomforth’s my best friend, but sometimes she's almost as easy to predict as Rainbow Dash.

***

After a wash and dry, making sure I looked okay, I trotted over to the Golden Oaks Library, and long before I got there, I heard the sounds of ponies having fun. Music to my ears!

I opened the door and headed in, and saw far more of Ponyville's population in the library than probably ever before. Libraries aren't really designed for large groups, but there's just enough space to move around comfortably and without rubbing flanks on other ponies as you walk. Which I don’t MIND as much, but other ponies might.

I only made it a few steps in before a particularly personable pink party pony popped up parallel to me. "Hiya Cloud Kicker! I was worried you weren't going to make it!"

I smiled at Pinkie, "Not at all! Getting the skies clear just took a bit longer than we'd expected, since Rainbow's in the hospital."

Pinkie's smile immediately drooped as she said in a sad voice, "I heard about that! It's so sad that Rainbow hurt herself so bad and will miss the celebration! I tried to bring her a big platter of sweet treats, but the nurses wouldn't let me give them to her!"

I chuckled and patted her on the back, "Don't worry, Pinkie. Once she's out of the hospital, then you can shower her with candy and treats." Of course, this perked Pinkie right up and she bounced away giggling to herself. Y'know, I'd swear Pinkie had the hots for the boss. Though, who can guess with Pinkie Pie?

I spent some time socializing with ponies in the crowd, chatting and having fun, but later on, I looked over the crowd and didn't see the purple unicorn of the day. But, I did see a certain earth pony that I knew pretty well, so I wandered over to her. "Evening, Applejack! Your crops coming in okay?" Word of advice: when talking to a farmer, a good way to open the conversation is asking how their crops are doing (as long as you know the answer is good). Since the weather team handles the rainfall, it's easy for us to see that Sweet Apple Acres would be having a windfall harvest.

The apple farmer turned to face me with a wide smile on her face as she said, "Howdy, Cloud Kicker! Yep, the apple harvest is lookin' mighty big this year, maybe even be the biggest Ah've ever seen! Ah heard you were responsible for corralling the weather ponies today since Rainbow's hurt, and making sure our trees got enough water."

Applejack then looked a little sheepish as she continued, "Ah know we don’t always see eye-to-eye," there’s an understatement, she gives me the evil eye any time she sees me talking to her brother Big Mac for more than a moment, “but Ah just want to say that the Apple family appreciates yer taking charge and making sure the job got done." She punctuated her appreciation with a tip of her hat. It’s a shame she doesn’t like my loose attitude about banging, she really is very attractive, in a far different way than, say, Rarity.

I smiled gratefully and replied, "I'll be sure to let everyone on the team know it. It's always a team effort." which got a nod of understanding from the farm pony. I looked around and continued, "Have you seen Twilight Sparkle anywhere? Strange to have a welcome party without the pony being welcomed around."

Applejack nodded and said "Yeah, poor girl accidentally drank a cup full of hot sauce, and is probably feelin' awful sick. Last Ah saw her she was headin' for the back of the library." Ouch. That'd ruin anyone's day, all right. Applejack continued, "But even before, she seemed as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of a rocking chairs. She said somethin' to her baby dragon Spike when they came in, but I couldn't make out what. Anyway, she seems like she's stressed out big time over something."

I nodded and thanked her, and slipped through the crowd to the back on the library. From what I'd heard, the last librarian had a bedroom back there, so odds were she was back there. I took a look around, and nobody seemed to be paying attention to me, so I slipped through the door.

My eyes had to adjust to the darkened room, but after a moment, I spotted her up on the bed on the second floor in the back of the room. I took a step forward and opened my mouth to call up to Twilight, but I stopped short. Twilight had her pillow doubled over her head and obviously was trying to sleep, but with the raucous crowd behind me, that obviously wasn't happening. I decided that there would be a better time to try and get to know the cute Canterlot unicorn than when she was trying to sleep.

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me saying, "Hang on, I'll ask her!" Uh-oh. That was Spike talking, which means the "her"... oh horseapples. Time for a hiding spot! I looked around wildly, saw a closet and flew in, landing in an awkward heap with my wings complaining at the further stress, just as the door opened and Spike walked through with a lampshade on his head. Whew, that was too close. I could see them, but hopefully they couldn't see me in the dark closet. Last thing I needed is to have to explain to an angry unicorn mare why I was in her bedroom. I learned from the first time that happened to me that objects thrown with telekinesis hurt.

Spike called up to Twilight, "Hey Twilight! Pinkie Pie's starting 'pin the tail on the pony'! Wanna play?"

Twilight snapped back at him, "No! All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?!" Hey now, crazy is a pretty strong word. Well, maybe not for Pinkie.

Spike replied, "It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun!" He paused a moment, then continued in a hurt tone, "You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!" and walked back to the party as Twilight mimicked his last words in a mocking tone, then fell back on the bed.

Seemingly to herself, Twilight said "Ugh, here I thought I'd have time to learn about the Elements of Harmony but, silly me, all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it!" She then turned to the window and continued, obviously reciting something from memory, "Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night. I hope the Princess was right... I hope it really is just an old pony tale..." but by then, the meaning of her words caught up to me and I stopped cold. Oh Tartarus.

One of the things that's very important about being a Kicker is our history, which I knew very well. A few weeks ago, as the town was starting to get ready for the Summer Sun Celebration, I''d noticed that if the old stories had their years straight, this would be exactly one thousand years since Nightmare Moon was banished by Princess Celestia. But the words "Thousandth year", "escape", and "bring about everlasting night" meant that Twilight Sparkle thought that Nightmare Moon was going to escape. Tonight.

My first instinct was to dismiss it as "an old pony tale" like she said, but Twilight Sparkle seemed like she believed it was going to happen. And I don't know what made me think this, but I believed her, and I trusted her. Twilight seemed like she had tried to convince her mentor that the story might be true, and maybe Celestia didn't believe her. But if it was true, this could be the start of a new Lunar Rebellion right here and right now.

So, I made myself a promise right then and there. While I've had my problems with following through on my commitments in the past, this will put us all in danger, from Ponyville to Canterlot to Manehattan and all of Equestria. So if it is true, it's my duty as a Kicker to do what I can to help.

And this time, I'm not running away.

Author's Note:

I struggled for a long while on the start of this chapter, because I knew I wanted CK to arrive late at the Pinkie Party to set up the chain of events, but in the canon episode, CK is one of the ponies that shouts "Surprise!" at Twilight. (Yes, really. Check the center background when everypony says Surprise. That there is a Cloud Kicker) I actually struggled for a long while trying to figure out how to wrangle that detail, until I remembered that this is an AU fic, and changes like that are okay. Then I felt a little silly for not realizing that sooner.

Also, spellcheck HATES Applejack. Writing in Applejack's accent isn't widely done, but I like the way it looks. But as a result, spellcheck HATES Applejack.

So this was another short chapter, but the third chapter is finished, and it's about twice as long as the previous chapters have been. Once the pre-readers have a chance to look at it, it'll get posted. But we're starting to get into the adventure, and things start happening!

Thanks go out to my excellent pre-reading friends 621Chopsuey, Cillerenda, Devas, and Kamunari. They're all amazingly cool froods who know where their towel is.

Next time: Cloud Kicker's behavior leaves Twilight Sparkle speechless!

Comments

[D48]

I am really liking how you are setting things up here because it feels perfectly in character for Cloud to latch onto Twilight with this setup given her personality and history. As such, I am very much looking forwards to seeing the story proper kick off next chapter and all the fun that will entail, although I was slightly disappointed that Cloud did not get to speak with Twilight here.

Also:

Next time: Cloud Kicker's behavior leaves Twilight Sparkle speechless!

[punzil504]

Re: author's notes...

In the original episode, Rainbow Dash cleared the skies in ten seconds. In this story, it sounds like it took all day. Also, since Cloud Kicker met Twilight already, she's attempting to take steps to ensure that her second impression gets better results than the first. Why be one of the background ponies yelling "surprise" when you can be fashionably late and make an entrance?

[Gavel Coaster]

Do I detect a little common ground here? It would seem Twilight would have more to agree with Cloud Kicker than the others in the beginning, despite the obvious personality differences between them. True, Cloud Kicker as the Element of Loyalty would probably be a bit of a stretch, but then again, most of the good plots are (Cloud Kicker: "Ain't that the truth!") Bow chika bow wow!

Well, great work! Keep it up! Can't wait for the next update!

[comicfan616]

From what I'd heard, the last librarian had a bedroom back there...

"From what you've heard?" Knowing you, I wouldn't be surprised to hear you've had firsthoof experience back there.

[Web of Hope]

can't wait

[DreadedCandiru2]

3773890
Well, if this isn't to your taste, there's always Trinary's Rainbowverse. The guiding principle to that is while the Elements haven't changed Bearers, RD is Celestia's student instead of Twilight.....

[Hallowed]

3796912

To be fair, I'm not sure if Ponyville's prior librarian was ever described in the show or in the Winningverse, so it's entirely possible that the librarian was old, or happily married, or not into mares, or otherwise uninterested in fooling around with Cloud Kicker in some way.

3796715

I have a theory on why Rainbow Dash is so fast at clearing clouds: She's kind of fast.

My personal headcanon is that while Rainbow Dash cleared that section of the sky in ten seconds flat, there had to have been more work before or after those ten seconds. Otherwise, why have a team if one pony can handle it in ten seconds? So without Rainbow and Raindrops, the rest of the team kind of scrambles to catch up.

3796722
Thank you! I wished I'd thought of that line about nice plots, it's a really good line!

3796640
Thank you! I do like getting to the points of the story where it's not just a recap of the canon events, but Cloud Kicker's presence instead of Rainbow's takes the story off of the rails. That said, just because we're missing Rainbow Dash can't change some things like Mayor Mare's speech, so we go back to that railing every now and then. But the differences will keep coming, I promise!

[D48]

3801225 That is good to hear, I was just hoping for a bit of conversation and cuddling in this chapter with Cloud promising to help Twilight however she can which could have fit in nicely with the way you had Cloud slip into Twilight's room during the party.

[AnonponyDASHIE]

I can hardly wait to see Cloud Kicker's "test" of loyalty.

The nightmare will come at her with her greatest dreams needing her only to put aside her friends to achieve them. What will CK see? Will the nightmare appear as a young Eepy asking for Kicky's hoof in marriage? Will she offer a harem of never-ending sexual partners? Glory for the entire Kicker Clan?

[Dorath]

particularly personable pink party pony popped up parallel

All fear the 7-word alliteration chain combo! The caged demonwolf would be proud.