The Hurricane-Pt 7: You Need Professional Help
August 28th
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Come on, bro! Don’t give up! a voice called from the dark recesses of Volare’s mind, beckoning him away from his dreamless slumber and into memories long past…
“Hmph easy for you to say,” the young man picked himself up from where he’d stumbled running up the steep hill. Above him, illuminated by the warm red-orange glow of the setting sun that bathed the slope stood a girl a few years younger than himself. Her elbows and knees were bruised and scraped from climbing the hill, but she stood at the pinnacle, fists on her hips and breathing hard with a fierce grin on her face.
“You don’t have a half-busted knee!”
Excuses~! she cried in a sing-song voice. You hopped up just fine after that home plate crash, so you’re either just letting your little sis win again…or--she gasped dramatically--you really ARE turning into an old man before your time!
“Gimme a break, Aggie,” he cried, using his sister Agatha’s pet name.
Nope!
“Argh, fine,” Volare set his jaw and forced himself up the hill despite the ache in his knee. After a few moments, he reached the top, grabbed Agatha, and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, spinning around for a moment before falling to the ground in a heap, laughing till the pain in his sides surpassed that of his knee and he fell onto his back in the cool grass. His sister soon flopped down next to him and snuggled up against him. Volare bumped her shoulder with his head and she responded in turn with a light punch to his ribs.
Guess you’re not as old and broken as I thought, big bro.
“Heh, I’m only 17, Aggie,” the young man chuckled.
Oh fine; guess I should “respect my elders” then.
“Yeah, that’s-hey wait a sec,” Volare frowned as his sister snickered. He gave her an elbow which she returned before they settled down again.
Hey bro?
“Hmm?”
I didn’t mean it.
“Mean what?”
Saying you’re getting old and broken…sorry.
“Aww, it’s ok, sis,” the young man said with a smile. “I know you’re only messing with me; heh, kinda motivates me in a way.”
Oh?
“Yeah…think of how embarrassing it’d be if my younger sis started beating me for real!”
Hey, I’ve beaten you a couple times, she rolled over slightly and gave him a irritated look. Admit it!
“Not discounting your successes, Aggie,” he mused. “Just saying that in a weird way, you pushed me to better myself…and I thank you for that.”
Oh, I get it now…hey bro?
“Yeah?”
Do I get on your nerves?
“Heh, all the time,” he laughed. “I debated on calling you Aggravation for a while, actually.”
You’d get a knuckle sandwich if you did!
“Heh, precisely why I didn’t,” he replied. “But hey, what else are little sisters for sometimes?”
I guess…hey bro?
“Yep?”
Thanks for being my pal and sticking up for me, even if I do irritate you.
“It’s no problem, sis,” he gave her upper arm a gentle squeeze. “Thanks for being my pal, too.”
Mhm! she smiled and looked up at the stars winking into existence in the dark blue sky above them. Hey, one more thing and I swear I’ll shut up.
“What’s up, Aggie,” he asked, though the mild annoyance in his voice was mainly an act; he never really tired of having these little talks with his only sibling as he knew he was getting closer and closer to leaving the nest so to speak…and so he treasured these moments.
Promise me that after you leave home, no matter what you do, you do your best, ok?
“Aggie, I”- but she cut him off as she rolled over completely and gave him a serious look.
Cuz you know I won’t be there to pester you to do better. So promise me you won’t give up, ok?
“Heh, I promise, Aggie,” he hugged her firmly. “I promise…"
……………………………..
“Lieutenant Volare!” a voice barked. The Junior Officer in question blinked and the peaceful hilltop scene before him was gone, replaced by a cold grey office with an equally graying Navy Commander standing on the other side of a dark desk. The floor tilted slightly, revealing them to be on a ship, an aircraft carrier to be exact. By the glare in his eye and the throbbing vein in his temple, he was obviously irritated with him…Oh now I remember why…
“Just what in the hell were you doing out there today?!”
“Sir,” the pilot finally found his voice. “I was trying to prove myself and serve my country well, sir!”
“That’s brave and all, but until you buy the damn jets yourself, you DO NOT fly like that EVER again,” the Commander sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose to calm down. “You’ve gotta learn when to back off and call it a day; you’re not bullet-proof, son.”
“I know sir,” the pilot nodded. “But if I hadn’t acted”-
“Look, I know where you’re coming from,” the Commander shook his head and tapped on the desk. “I used to be a hotshot like you, but when you get half the ass shot off your bird because you were trying to play hero…well, it changes the way you think. I appreciate your intervention out there today, but you were real damn lucky; there’s no two ways about it.”
“I couldn’t run sir, or they’d have followed me right here,” Volare explained calmly. “And they shot down my wingman, so”-
“But no pilot in his right mind takes on three enemy fighters at once, Lieutenant,” the Commander said gruffly. “You gotta think before you throw yourself into that kind of a shitstorm!”
“But there was no time to think, sir”-
“That’s enough; I’ve heard enough,” the Commander said with a dismissive wave of his hand, though deep down he knew the pilot was right. “The point is, if you keep flying like that, we’ll be burying what’s left of you off the side of this ship, and that’s something none of us wants.”
“I just didn’t want to show weakness, sir.”
The Commander’s head snapped up from looking at his paperwork at what he was sure had been a smart-assed statement. But his glare faded as he saw the sincere expression on Volare’s face. “Damn, son…you got a death wish?”
“No sir, but I did make a promise to someone that I wouldn’t give up on something if I could help it.”
“I see,” the Commander shook his head slightly. This kid was a real pain in the neck…but at least he was a well-intentioned pain in the neck. “I’m not gonna ask who it was”-
“It was my little sister, sir.”
“Ah,” he’d read the pilot’s file and knew of who he spoke…poor girl. “Alright then. You wanna prove yourself, Lieutenant?”
“As much as I can, sir.”
“Then I think I might have an assignment for you…well, for determined guys like yourself anyway,” he reached into the stack of papers on the desk and pulled out a slim manilla folder. “You up for a challenge?”
“Yes sir!”
…………………………………..
The room was dark as he returned to that all-familiar room…like a robot stuck on autopilot, he helplessly watched through his own eyes as he approached the dark desk again Please no, not this again!…felt himself pick up the up the bulging DEBRIEFING file…watched as his hand released it to fall to the desk with a thunk…but something different happened then. There, off in the distance, a soft purple light flashed, just for an instant. Whatever it was changed his mind, and he then marched back to the desk and dumped the contents out.
Oh god…
Molten metal and brimstone flowed from the mouth of the envelope, setting the desk on fire and filling the room with smoke and causing him to choke and sputter as the black fumes enveloped him. The heat in his hand was unbearable and he dropped the package to the desk again. But as he heard it hit the burning wood, the desk and the floor around it shattered, dropping him through the floor and into the excruciatingly bright daylight of a cloudless sky.
The smoke around him quickly blew apart in the wind and he found himself strapped back in the cockpit of his jet…and it was falling…fast. The altimeter was screeching its warning in the voice of a banshee, warning him of the impending doom quickly approaching. He instinctively grabbed the stick but yanked his hand away from it almost immediately in a flash of steam and the smell of cooking meat. He looked down at his hand to see the palm covered in blisters.
The flight stick had burned him…
His eyes flicked up out of the cockpit to see a small town on the ground spinning up to greet him…the town of Ponyville! He was going to crash into Ponyville! No, it’d kill everypony there in the explosion!!!
He glanced back at the flight stick, red hot; daring him to grab it. He looked back out at the town…Dammit!
Volare grasped the flight stick with both hands, screaming as the hot metal bit into his flesh and scorched him to the bone in an instant. But he couldn’t stop! He yanked back on the stick with all his strength, willing the nose of the plane away from the town below as the stench of his hands burning away assaulted his nose. He…had…to…save…them…….no! His hands finally burned away to ash, leaving him with nothing to grip the stick with but the blackened stumps that used to be his wrists.
He just barely managed to tightly shut his eyes and send a silent apology to everypony in town as his jet struck the market square and buried itself up to the wings before it detonated in a ball of fire…
--------------------------------------------
Volare’s eyes snapped open and he screamed loudly at the pain in his hand and the fear in his heart which was beating so fast he felt it would burst through his chest! His vision flicked to his right to see his hand-no his hoof!-was lying in a hot pool of light created by the rising sun shining through the window of Twilight’s bedroom.
Oh God… he pulled his hoof from the light to see that it wasn’t burned in the slightest, much to his relief. What the hell kind of dream was that!?
He turned at the sound of hooves thundering on the floor boards as Twilight burst into the room, her violet eyes wide with worry and her mane in a tangle that suggested she’d literally just woken up.
“Volare, are you ok?!” She hurried to the bedside and grasped a hoof in hers as he quickly blinked the relieved tears from his eyes. “What happened?”
“Urgh…about the worst dream I’ve had in years,” he managed to groan as he flopped back on the pillow, avoiding putting his head in the sunlight for the moment.
“Care to talk about it,” Twilight asked gently, noticing the stress in his face.
“Actually…yeah, I kinda do,” Volare replied after a moment’s hesitation, much to Twilight’s relief. “But first,” he sat up and stretched before getting out of bed. “Where’s your shower?”
“Huh?-oh!” Twilight sputtered at his sudden request; in fact she’d been about to suggest that fairly soon, because as polite as she’d been recently, she wasn’t sure she could take the smell that had been following him around for too much longer. “It’s at the end of the hall,” she nodded at the narrow door at the end of the hallway that curved along the tree’s interior.
“You got hot water I hope?”
“Mhm, absolutely,” Twilight nodded before Volare turned to her with an overly dramatic expression. “Um, Volare-?”
“Y-you’re my hero,” the Pegasus said with false sentiment before slowly heading off towards the bathroom. As he went, Twilight took note that although his steps were slow, he was no longer limping in stiffness, giving her hope that his recovery was going somewhat well.
“Oh, wait a sec Volare,” Twilight trotted after him before he made it in the door.
“Hm, what’s up?”
“Lemme take that,” she undid the sling around his wing and floated it away from his body. The wing fell limply towards his hooves, making the Pegasus wince. “Ah, sorry! I just wanted it out of the way so you could get completely clean, and”-
“Nah, it’s fine,” Volare forced a one-eyed grin, shrugging his right shoulder to keep the wing from dragging on the ground as he walked into the somewhat cramped bathroom. “You meant well. I’ll just, um…yeah, hold it under the water. Yeah, this’ll work; thanks Twilight!”
“Y-you’re welcome,” the Unicorn replied as she couldn’t help but study the dried blood crusted all over the sling…and then her thoughts roved to the bedsheets in her bedroom. “Um, I’ll be right back inna sec,” she called over her shoulder as she heard Volare turn the water on.
“YAH, this water gets hot quick!” the Pegasus shouted, jumping out of the hot stream before adjusting a pulley jutting from the wall with the two pull cords appropriately labeled HOT and COLD. They were grasped and pulled with his teeth, just like with the toilet FLUSH cord, which actually got Volare thinking a bit.
“Hey Twilight!” he called over the roar of the shower.
“Yeah, what’s up,” Twilight called back, groaning at the sight of the blood and filth-stained bed sheets. She was be willing to bet the crud had soaked all the way down to the mattress; a quick levitation of the mattress pad proved her right. So gross…can’t believe this poor guy has been laying in this mess for days…
“Oh, I was just wondering,” Volare explained as he got the water temperature just right and hopped under the soothing torrent, closing his eyes as the water washed the filth and blood from his coat. “I noticed that the temperature setting of this shower was adjusted with pull cords designed for pony mouths. But you’re a Unicorn; why would you need pull-cords when you can just use your magic to adjust it?”
“Oh, that’s because this Library was built to accommodate all types of ponies,” Twilight replied, bundling the sheets up and setting them on the floor for a moment. “Remember, this building used to be a totally public Library before I moved in.”
“Ah, that makes some sense,” Volare said as he scrubbed the blood from his mane. “Plus I’ll bet it makes flushing the toilet a little easier for Spike, huh?”
“Hey, I heard that!” the young dragon called from downstairs, causing the two ponies to chuckle. After a moment, Volare returned to cleaning up and Twilight went back to scrutinizing the filthy bedsheets.
“So, Volare,” the Unicorn said as she investigated the mattress, making sure that wasn’t dirty too.
“Yeah?”
“You wanna talk about that dream you had that made you scream like a foal,” she asked with a hint of a grin.
“Grr, I knew you’d bring that up,” the Pegasus said with mock irritation. “Well, it does have to do with my sister, whom I did say I’d tell you more about eventually, so…here goes.” He then explained the dream as best as he could, even including the part about crashing his plane in the middle of Ponyville, which made him wake up so violently in the first place.
“Whoa…that sounds pretty deep, Volare,” Twilight replied once he’d finished. “I’m sorry your sis is stuck on Earth; she seems like a pretty nice girl.”
“Yeah…no kidding,” Volare muttered with a wince, more in inner pain than the ache in his side as he carefully washed his limp wing.
“So was that fight against the three other jets one of the missions you didn’t wanna talk about,” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Why’d you keep quiet on something like that?”
“…because I didn’t want you to think I was some sort of vicious murderer, Twilight.”
“But you were merely doing your job; I can’t fault you for that, even if it did end in you taking other humans’ lives. I mean, from the sound of it, you prevented an even greater loss,” she trailed off, thinking about how the fight must have gone, but having never seen a dogfight before, she was left guessing at how one had beaten three. “Do you think you could show me one of these days?”
“Huh, how?”
“Well, I can use a spell to view what your mind views, kinda like what Vinyl did with your music yesterday. Just think it, and I’ll see it like I was right there with you.”
“Wow…you Unicorns are something else,” he replied in awe.
“Heh, just using what we know, that’s all,” Twilight said modestly before giving up on the bedsheets. At least the mattress had been spared… “So you’ll show me one of these days?”
“…sure,” Volare replied a bit reluctantly. He’d left important details out when he’d recited what had happened on the mission in the dream…classified details he’d kept to himself ever since…could I trust Twilight enough to tell her? Hell, not like anything would come of it…the law can’t reach me here I guess…still...
“Whoa, do I smell smoke!?” the Pegasus suddenly cried, peeking his head out through the shower curtain to indeed see smoke and more than a few flames billowing from Twilight’s bedroom. Without thinking, the soaking wet pony charged from the bathroom and into the bedroom, beating away the smoke with his good wing.
“Argh Twilight, *cough* what the hell?!”
“Ah, I’m sorry Volare,” Twilight cried, turning away from the floating ball of fire in the corner of the room. “Those bedsheets were kinda a lost cause and I figured this was for the best.”
“So you *cough-cough* set them on fire inside the Library?!” The Pegasus asked in shock.
“I’ve got the fire contained,” the Unicorn explained, denoting the violet spell that encased the flaming bedsheets.
“Yeah, well what about *cough* argh-the smoke?!” Volare trotted to the window and threw it open, doing his best to sweep the fumes from the room with his wing.
“Heh, sorry Volare,” Twilight grinned sheepishly as the last of the sheets burned to ashes which she then tossed out the window and into the small flowerbed below. She then stopped and couldn’t help but stare for a moment at the tall blue Pegasus standing in her room, his fur glistening wet, his mane clean and bright yellow, his face a look of mild annoyance as he shook the smoke from his wing and turned to the bookish Unicorn.
“Um, Twilight…you ok?”
“Huh…yeah, just fine,” she shook her mane and looked away for a moment to compose herself. “Just um, admiring your mane, that’s all.”
“My mane,” Volare asked and checked his reflection in the opened window. “Looks like I stuck my hand, er hoof, in an electrical socket,” he chuckled at the spiked monstrosity perched on his head and turned back to Twilight before he noticed that Spike was leaning against the doorway with a smug little grin on his face, having caught Twilight staring at the dripping wet stallion in her bedroom. “Oh, morning Spike. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothin’ much,” the baby dragon cocked his head slightly. “Just trying to remember a little song, that’s all.”
“What song is that, Spike,” Twilight inquired.
“Oh, I think you know it…goes something like this,” the dragon said cheekily. “Twilight and Volare are trottin’ in a tree~. K-I-S-S-I-N-hey, you know what; you guys are already in a tree, and-ARGH-ow-ouch-agh-ugh!!” the dragon cried as the door glowed purple and slammed in his face, sending him bouncing down the stairs. Twilight turned to Volare, her face a boiled lobster red.
“I-I uh…” she stammered quietly. She was so embarrassed!
“Hey, Twilight,” Volare nudged the Unicorn gently.
“Y-yes?” she replied to the floorboards.
“Nothing much…just admiring your mane,” he said teasingly to break the tension, causing Twilight to realize that her mane was still tangled up in bedcurls.
“Haha, very funny,” she muttered and levitated a towel out of the bathroom, tossing it over his eyes with a wet slap. “Dry yourself off before you slip and fall and then I’m stuck nursing you back to health again."
“Yes ma’am,” Volare gave her a blind salute from under the towel and complied, tossing the towel back to her once he was done and leaning against the bed. “Aahhh...” he sighed.
“Feeling better?”
“Much,” he smiled and nodded, trotting slowly to the window and breathing in the morning air. “So, Twilight. As far as my dream was concerned, what did you think about the part where I burned my…” he trailed off as he looked down towards the ground.
“Where you burned your hands off,” Twilight shuddered at the grim though. “What I thought about it…Volare? Volare?!” She cried as she noticed the blank look on the Pegasus’ face.
“Twilight…I…I…oh god, what…” Volare mumbled as his eyes locked onto the dirt below him. Everything else besides the ground swam in his vision, and it felt like the floor beneath his hooves was tilting forward, trying to dump him over the windowsill…and in truth, it seemed like an inviting prospect; to fall, and fall, and fall…and then-
“Volare!” the Unicorn grabbed him as his front hooves slipped off the windowsill and he began to topple over the edge. She hauled back and tossed him roughly onto the floor where he lay there, breathing quickly with a glassy-eyed stare. “Volare, what’s wrong?” Thinking quickly she grabbed the wet towel and wrung the water off it into his face, causing him to sputter to his senses.
“Huh-wha-what the hell?!” his silver-blue eyes flicked wildly around the room before settling and focusing on the worried purple Unicorn standing over him. “What happened?”
“You…it was like you tried to fall out the window,” Twilight said with moisture clouding her vision. “You scared me half to death! What were you thinking?!”
“I-I dunno,” Volare replied shakily, staggering to his hooves and shaking his mane every few seconds and flicking his ears, as if being bothered by a fly. “It was like the ground was telling me to…to throw myself out the window…jeez, this is really bad, Twilight.”
“You’re telling me,” she sighed and laid her temple on his neck.
“No, I mean, I know what the problem is.”
“What is it,” she looked up.
“What I just felt…I’ve felt it before-all since yesterday,” he pressed a hoof into his eyes. “I felt it going down the stairs and again in the front yard when I was watching some Pegasi flying around town. That sickening feeling of almost wanting to fall so the dizziness will stop. It’s vertigo.”
“Oh great,” Twilight groaned, having heard the term from Pegasi before. And it was absolutely not what a creature with wings would ever want to feel. This was actually starting to sound suspiciously familiar. “This doesn’t help matters with your wing, huh?”
“That’s a negative, ghost-rider,” Volare muttered and opened his eyes. He carefully leaned over the edge of the window and looked down again, only to be struck with that same sensation. He quickly pulled himself back in, breathing hard and wiping off the sweat that beaded on his brow. Gimme a frickin’ break, man…
“What do we do, Volare?” Twilight asked with concern. “I’ve gotta head out of town in a few hours and I don’t want to leave thinking you’ll be falling out of windows or something,” she fussed as she wrapped his limp wing back up against his body with a clean sling.
“Ouch, oh please gimme a little credit, Twilight,” he chuckled grimly. “I’m not that clumsy!” He was interrupted by a loud knock on the front door of the Library. He looked to Twilight questioningly. “Who’d be up this early?”
“Got me,” Twilight shrugged as she opened the door and began to head downstairs before Volare cleared his throat loudly.
“Ahem, Twilight,” he gave her a small smile. “Might wanna do something with your mane before you greet company at the door.”
“Oh, you,” she tossed a ball of paper from her desk at him as she grabbed a mane brush from the bathroom. “I swear you spent one morning with Rarity and you’re already a fashion critic.”
“Nah, just gotta uphold my title of weirdest hairdo in front of company, that’s all,” Volare laughed and headed for the front door, stepping over a groaning Spike on the way down the stairs. “You ok, dude?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve had worse,” Spike murmured into the floor and gave him a thumbs up.
“Well, stop kissing the floorboards, we have company,” Volare replied and pulled open the door. “Well, good mor-agh,” he jumped back a bit in surprise as he had to look up into the face of the huge red pony at the door. He was carrying a straw basket in his mouth that looked ridiculously tiny in comparison to the rest of him. Thrown around his neck was a heavy-looking plow-yoke that he seemed to carry without any problem at all. Volare wisely took a few steps backwards as the large stallion stepped inside, the floorboards creaking under his huge hooves as he did so. It wasn’t until Volare spotted the large green apple slice on his flank that he recognized the pony as Big Macintosh, the (much) bigger brother of Applejack.
With a movement belying a creature of his size, he gingerly sat the basket on the end table by the front door, being careful to set it level before turning to Volare and giving him a friendly nod and smile. “Howdy,” he said in a deep but laidback tone.
“H-howdy,” Volare returned the greeting as the huge pony stepped forward. As tall as the blue Pegasus was, this guy had him by a whole extra foot of height, and looked to weigh nearly twice as much! He knew Big Mac was large from the show, but to see the big guy in person…well that was just another experience entirely!
“Is Twilight in,” Big Mac regarded him curiously as he looked past him into the Library to see Spike sprawled out by the stairs. “Ya’ll party a little too hard last night or somethin’?”
“Wha-oh,” Volare chuckled at the baby dragon. “Nah, Twilight kinda shut the door on him and knocked him down the stairs. He’ll be ok.”
“Yeah, so says you, loverboy,” Spike groaned as he sat up. “Up there putting the moves on my surrogate mom…jeez.”
Volare looked back at Big Mac as the large pony snorted and narrowed his green eyes. Uh-oh…
“Ah’ve never seen ya’ll round here before; who’re ya’ll ta go a courtin’ Ms. Sparkle, huh?” the large pony took a step towards Volare, who gave him the friendliest smile he could muster. “Hey, Ah asked ya’ll a question!”
“Hey Spike, buddy,” the Pegasus called over his shoulder. “How’s about you help out your old pal here, eh?”
“Nope,” Spike grinned toothily and sat on the stairs, enjoying the little show by the front door.
Volare turned back to Big Macintosh and gulped. “Um, I swear this isn’t what it looks like and what Spike said was”-
“A lot more’n Ah’d trust from some spike-headed Pegasus botherin’ Ms. Twilight at the crack of dawn,” Big Mac pawed the floor with a massive hoof. “Now ya’ll had best explain yourself afore Ah buck ya halfway ta town in one go!”
“Well, I-you see,” Volare stuttered as the red pony loomed over him. Some first impression this was turning out to be!
“Big Macintosh!” Twilight called cheerfully from the stairs, her mane back to its usual shape. But her cheerfulness disappeared once she realized what the stallion was about to do to Volare. “Hey, what’s going on; knock it off!”
“This here fella is tryin’ ta court ya against yer will,” Big Macintosh growled. “Ah’m just takin’ out tha trash so ya’ll don’t have ta dirty yer purdy little hooves, Ms. Twilight!”
“No, this is my friend!” the Unicorn cried, causing the red pony to look up in confusion. “And who said he was…courting me?” She followed Big Mac and Volare’s gazes to the purple and green baby dragon sitting on the stairs, whose toothy grin faded in an instant as Twilight advanced on him.
“What did you say to Big Mac, huh?”
“O-oh, nothing much, Twilight,” Spike tried to laugh it off, but the Unicorn was having none of it. She magically grabbed him by the tail and held him upside down. “Ok, ok, I said he was putting some moves on you! That’s all, sheesh!”
“He was not putting the moves on me, Spike,” Twilight growled in such a tone as to make even Big Mac and Volare back up a step or two. They both glanced at each other, and as fellow stallions instinctively knew that they were better to stay out of this one.
“B-but I saw you making eyes at him after he got out of the shower!” Spike cried in protest as Twilight shook him back and forth.
“What?! I was not making eyes at him,” Twilight shouted, red creeping across her cheeks. “A-and even if I did, that’s no reason for you to tell that to Big Mac just so he’ll take it out on him for you!” She plunked the dragon back down on the stairs and sighed. “Spike, I’m disappointed in you.”
“But Twilight, I”-
“Give him a break, Twilight,” Volare interrupted, surprising everypony in the room. “Although the way he went about it was kinda underhanded, he still had your best interests in mind,” the Pegasus gave the baby dragon a hard stare followed by a small wink that told him he had his back; that he saw it was a misunderstanding.
“But Big Mac could have really hurt you,” Twilight tried to argue, but Volare held up a hoof.
“But he didn’t, so there’s no reason to get on Spike’s case too badly. I’m just fine, if a bit freaked out,” he then turned to the red pony and held out his hoof. “So I take it you’re Big Macintosh, eh?”
“Eeeyup,” the stallion smiled and shook his hoof heartily. “And you are…?”
“Ah sorry, Volare.” At the mention of his name, Big Mac’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“Ya’ll ain’t jokin’, right?”
“Um, nope, that’s my name.”
“Ah, consarnit,” Big Mac threw a hoof over his eyes and groaned. “Applejacks’s gonna kill me if’n she finds out Ah threatened ta buck ya halfway ta town!” He caught Volare’s curious look and sighed. “AJ is my sis. She sent me here with some eggs she said she owed to Twilight and her new friend Volare, who just went through a pretty rough surgery. Horsefeathers, Ah shoulda put two an’ two together when Ah saw your wing all bundled up! Can ya please not tell AJ Ah said them things?”
“Heh, of course, Big Mac,” Volare thumped the stallion’s plow yoke. “So you say Applejack mentioned me?”
“Mhm, she mentioned ya, and by tha looks of it, Ah’d say your surgery involved your wing,” he spoke somewhat slowly, but far from dumbly as he gave the bandaged wing in question a gentle poke with his nose. “What exactly happened, might Ah ask?”
“Well, it’s not the shortest story in the world, but I’m pretty sure we can discuss it over breakfast,” Volare replied. “Twilight, you any good at cooking eggs?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure I won’t burn the kitchen down, but I’ll try my hoof at it,” the Unicorn half-squinted at Spike. “Unless a certain baby dragon wants to get back on my good side by helping me with breakfast.” Spike took the hint and hurriedly threw on an apron before grabbing the basket of eggs and following Twilight into the kitchen as Big Mac and Volare seated themselves at the breakfast table benches.
“Heh, sorry Ah kinda jumped ta conclusions like that on ya, Volare,” Big Mac scratched his mane a bit as he spoke. “Ah’m just a little over-protective of AJ’s friends sometimes.”
“Heheh, I know the feeling,” the Pegasus responded with a tap on the table, remembering the times he’d pulled his own little sister out of a jam or two. “It’s tough being a big brother sometimes.”
“Amen ta that,” the red pony nodded in agreement.
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“Well, those turned out pretty good, Twilight,” Volare patted his stomach contentedly. He was actually a little surprised that the ponies around her partook of protein like eggs, but it was all good to him. Over the meal, they’d explained the entire situation to Big Macintosh, who’d listened intently; the red pony only interrupting two or three times to clarify a detail or two, including the parts about why Volare was going to need a place to stay soon when Twilight left town later that day.
As they concluded the tale with Volare’s strange dream and behavior upstairs, Big Mac had leaned back on the breakfast table bench, idly chewing a stalk of hay in the corner of his mouth as he ruminated on this new development while Volare complimented Twilight on her cooking…for the most part.
“And you even managed to keep the kitchen in one piece too-ow,” the Pegasus shook his hoof as Twilight swatted it with a floating wooden spoon.
“You were saying,” the Unicorn grinned a bit daringly.
“Ah believe Ah may speak for this feller in sayin’ ya’ll did a might fine job o’ cookin’ them eggs, Ms. Sparkle,” Big Mac grinned.
“Well, aren’t you the country gentleman, Big Macintosh,” Twilight smiled.
“Eeeyup.”
“Hey, I helped too,” Spike drummed his claws on the table.
“Of course you did, Spike,” the Unicorn patted his head spines. In truth if it weren’t for him, she truly might have scorched the eggs or the walls, so she truly was thankful, though still a bit too irritated with him to show it outright.
“Either way, those were good,” Volare declared. “So, do you have any further questions about the situation regarding…well, regarding me, Big Mac?”
“Hrm, Ah’m just thinking…so ya’ll were tha one Ah saw doin’ stunts over tha orchard with Rainbow Dash tha night AJ said ya’ll got hurt, right?”
“Ixnay on the untstay,” Volare hissed out of the corner of his mouth, but it was too late.
“Stunts?” Twilight inquired with a frown. “Is that how you got hurt, Volare?”
“Well, it was nothing really,” he tried to dismiss it with a wave of a hoof. “Just a little friendly competition with Dashie, and…what?”
“…that’s it, I’m killing Rainbow the next time I see her,” the Unicorn deadpanned, making Big Mac guffaw for a moment before he realized how serious she appeared to be.
“Come on Twilight, just cuz we were doing stunts doesn’t make it that big a deal,” Volare protested, not taking any chances with the volatile Unicorn.
“Tell that to mah cows,” Big Mac spoke up. “When ya’ll were tearin’ tha sky up over their barn, one of ya’ll nearly took the weathervane off tha roof; really shook’em up somethin’ fierce,” the red pony frowned for a minute before his face softened. “Then again, it has been some time since we had sour cream, so Ah guess Ah should thank ya.”
“Heh, you’re welcome?”
“Eeyup. So, even after all them stunts, ya’ll are sayin’ ya can’t fly after tha surgery?”
“Well, it’s only been two days, Big Mac,” Volare said a bit defensively.
“But even so, ya’ll should be able ta at least lift your wing by now.”
“If things went as planned,” the Pegasus argued back.
“Ya’ll sayin’ ya doubt Twilight’s magic in this,” Big Mac cocked an eyebrow.
“Well, no…I mean, maybe a little,” Volare sighed before Twilight patted him on the shoulder.
“It’s ok, Volare. Big Mac, it’s true; even I’m not sure of exactly what spell I used on him, or more correctly, the specifics of said spell. In all honesty, I’m not even sure how he’s still sitting here breathing, considering all the ways I could have blown him up, or set him on fire, or turned his bones to jelly...” she mused.
“Gee, that’s comforting,” Volare muttered.
“Hrm,” Big Mac hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “So lemme ask ya this: even if tha spell did work as planned, would ya be able ta fly?”
“Huh, what kind of a question is that,” Volare asked a bit too snippily.
“It’s exactly what Ah mean; from what ya’ll told me of your dream and how ya feel, Ah got a strong feelin’ it’s not just a physical problem ya’ll are facin’,” the farm pony explained. “What Ah’m getting at is: if your wing worked just fine right now, would ya’ll be able ta show me some o’ them stunts ya’ll pulled tha other night?”
“I...” Volare trailed off, looking down at the table top. His mind swam as he thought over the crashes, the dreams, the feelings of wanting to literally leap from the bedroom window…
You’re not bulletproof, son!
Yeah…no kidding…
“Urgh, sorry…just thinking about what’s happened made me revisit those eggs a bit,” he wiped his mouth with the back of his hoof. “And not in a good way, heheh.”
“Ah see,” Big Mac nodded, his suspicions somewhat confirmed. “Got your confidence shaken pretty bad, I reckon.” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement, and try as he might, Volare couldn’t argue against it. It was true…maybe it had been the fool-hardy behavior of one who liked to dance close to the flames but only because he’d never been burned before…but ever since he’d had his wing torn off, he’d felt his confidence eroding. And nearly leaping out the bedroom window in a fit of vertigo-induced madness was the final straw. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves and hung his head in acceptance that his confidence in himself was ebbing away.
“Wounds’ll heal up in time,” the red Earth Pony stated with a philosophical tone that belied his country-bred appearance, causing the blue Pegasus to look up curiously. “But it’s always the emotional ones that are tha hardest to fix.”
“Yeah, well I’m starting to think it’s more than that,” Volare’s brow furrowed in worry.
“Even so, tha mind and tha body have gotta be workin’ together for things ta get done.” He then told him a short story about how he’d been out bucking an apple harvest. He’d fallen behind in his work and was hurrying to catch up when he bucked an apple tree so hard that it fell on him, hurting him fairly badly.
“You sure you didn’t get hurt cuz you lost that bet to AJ and she made you wear one of Grannysmith’s girdles down Stirrup Street,” Spike asked with a cheeky grin, causing the stallion to pause in chewing his hay stalk for a moment.
“…that was a different time.”
“Heh, whatever you say” Spike rolled his eyes and chuckled quietly at the image of the massive red pony stumbling down the road, squeezed into the old girdle and AJ following right behind him, laughing her orange flank off.
“Ah needed particular care in both the physical and the mental department, cuz applebucking’s part of mah job description and what good would Ah be if Ah was fearful of another tree fallin’ on me if Ah bucked it,” Big Mac nodded after a moment’s consideration. “Cuz that’s what Ah was; scared of mah own talent. It’s a pretty strange feelin, that…being afraid of yourself.”
“What’s your point, Big Mac,” Volare interrupted, getting a bit impatient at how long the farm pony took to calmly get to the point.
“Mah point is ya’ll are gonna need some serious help,” Big Mac replied. “Not only will the pony Ah have in mind help ya’ll recover like they helped me, but they’ll give ya a place ta stay, seein’ as how ya’ll have kinda exhausted all your options.”
“Which pony is that,” Twilight asked, breaking her own small silence.
“Oh, ya’ll know’em,” the stallion replied with a quick wink. “They’re kinda professional at this sorta thing…Volare, ya’ll need ta go see The Hurricane.”
-----------------------------------------
“Did you see what that crazy Pegasus nearly did to himself, Jill,” Ray asked his sister as the trotted through the early morning sunlight that filtered down through the edges of the Everfree.
“Yeah, just about tossed himself out the window,” the mare Unicorn replied with a small chuckle. “He’d have made an interesting splatter on the ground if he did.”
“You scare me sometimes, sis,” Ray shook his head slightly. “Besides, that wouldn’t exactly do less than piss the boss off…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Jill waved a hoof. “Not like we could have done much if he did jump, though.”
“Meh, let’s just say it was lucky both ways and call it a day.”
“Sounds good to me,” the mare kicked a pine cone into the bushes as the trotted along. “So, why’re we headed into the forest at just past the crack of dawn again,” she yawned dramatically.
“To report Volare’s movements to the “Great and Powerful Dunderhead”,” Ray chortled.
“Oh…joy,” Jill rolled her eyes. “I swear, if it weren’t for the extra pay we’re swindling from her, I’d have shown her some real magic a long time ago,” she shot a green beam from her horn and burned a butterfly flitting across the path to cinders.
“I know, I know,” Ray patted his moody sister’s back as they approached Trixie’s wagon. “But until that time comes, we stick to the plan, got it?”
“Bleh,” Jill stuck out her tongue for a moment before knocking on the door. When nopony inside answered, she levitated a rock up the door and pounded on it so hard it chipped the door’s red paint.
“Who in Equestria has the nerve to awaken the Great and Powerful Trixie from her beauty sleep?!” a voice from inside squawked.
“It’s us, Ray and Jill, come to report to you, Mistress,” Ray announced.
“Just what is so important that you couldn’t wait until morning to disturb Trixie,” the voice called back hoarsely.
“Um, it is morning,” Jill replied, doing her best to hide a laugh.
“Wha, argh!” the blue magician pony stuck her head out the window only to be struck in the eyes by the light of the rising sun. “Oooh, fine…make it quick; the Great and Powerful Trixie was up late because some pony out there in Ponyville kept blasting some sort of crazy music over the field all damn night,” she groaned. The two unicorn siblings quickly explained the situation with Volare, how they thought he actually was from Earth by his public statements and music, and about how he’d nearly hurled himself from the window earlier in the morning.
“So what are you saying,” Trixie yawned. “That’s he’s losing his mind or something?”
“Eh, more or less,” Ray nodded. “We think we shouldn’t hesitate for too terribly long before we talk to him personally.”
“And you may also be interested to know that Twilight Sparkle is leaving town for a few weeks, and Volare is currently en-route to his temporary abode while she’s gone,” Jill added.
“Ah, this truly does give us the perfect chance to…persuade this Volare to see things my way,” Trixie grinned in a less-than-wholesome fashion. “Where did they say they were headed again?”
“Well, we didn’t really stick around long enough to hear for certain,” Ray explained as he studied the pine needles littering the ground, pretending to respectfully avoid her gaze but laughing his flank off on the inside. “But they did seem to be headed this way.”
“Yep,” Jill added with a slight snicker at the shocked look spreading across Trixie’s sleep-deprived face.
“…HIDE THE WAGON, YOU FOALS!!!”
-------------------------------
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and slung him over his shoulder - her (talking about his sister)
“Huh-oh!” Twilight sputtered at his sudden request - the Huh-oh should probably be a bit more separated (maybe an ellipsis?) as it looks like "Uh-oh" sort of.
I’ve felt it before since yesterday - huh? what? maybe "I've felt it before, just yesterday" or something like that?
his huge hooves creaking floorboards as he did so - the floorboards creaking under his huge hooves.
if still a irritated enough with him to not show it outright - "though still too irritated to show it outright" or something similar
And him nearly leaping out the bedroom window - remove him.
Mah point is ya’ll are gonna - I think this should just be "ya'll gonna", but it works both ways
Volare to see things may way - my way
Good chapter
. Except for the amount of errors 
580811 heh thanks
And sorry for the errors; I finished it at like 3 am
Ge musta
It's Fluttershy.
Get out of the way oc ponies and trixie, I'm just here for the shipteases.
581445 That's why eventually one of them's not going to be a tease anymore, and we're gonna be all
and then Volare will wake up from his dream
. And then one will actually happen 2 chapters later
. lol
581824
This is obviously "reality".
The fun shall be continued
Four-eh-vur
Yes, this chapter is cirtainly much better than the last one
The Hurricane eh? Sounds like Iron Will but in pony form
Anyways, good chapter
581108
And it sounds like Ray and Jill have something nasty planned for Trixie for when the time comes. 
Anyway, nice chapter as always. Can't wait to read the next! 
Yep, It's Fluttershy.
581445 Mebbe...
581824 Yeah, this ain't no Kriss Angel Mindfreak dreamin' horse-s**t here, man!
This is real!!!
582064 Heh, well, her suspicions will certainly be confirmed...she won't be so much mad as excited and freaking Bon Bon out
582163 Funnny you should mention Iron Will...
582183 Thanks for the compliments! And believe me...it's not their plan...
581986 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2YbCeaqI04
582736
heeheehee
582736
Whoops, I forgot that you had already said it isn't their plan, sorry. 
583090 Then again, maybe they do have their own personal agenda..
Also kinda begs the question why they don't have cutie marks...
583096
The plot thickens.
Hummmm, really.
wooo! failing sanity! he can join th' club!
The Hurricane...is that a nickname given by all of Ponyville or is it just known to Big Mac & The Main 6?
Excellent chapter though- always makes my day better to come onto FIMfiction and see a new update to this amazing story
580811 Yay, finally fixed all the errors and spiced up the grammar a bit
583115 A friend of mine suggested a descriptor for Blue Angel: "This story has more twists than an orgy of pretzels."
I ROFL'd
583551 Pinkamina welcome you, Volare
Volare: Oh gawd
583566 It's a nickname by which those that know him/her call them by (which explains Bigmac's wink to Twilight)
And I'm glad I could "brighten up your day"~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNrXMOSkBas
And one last thing...Volare died before he saw the episode that aired March 24th...that is all
584004
Nice!
579091
Casting humanity in a negative light does tend to be a recurring theme, but for the most part it's a true theme. When you think about it, there are a lot of good reasons to hate humanity. However, I do see your point. Many of those stories overdo the theme, and so all of them get a bad name. HiE is similar in that regard, as there are some really good stories with that premise, but there are enough bad ones to keep readers away from the group as a whole.
Thanks again to all who have been reading!
Expect the next update sometime this week (I only work two days this coming week so LOTS of time to write!)
Again, feel free to offer suggestions for the story at any time
585347 Good, Good! Shun the outside world my little author!
This is just a sugestion but when Volare explains about his combat experince in the Navy maby he should explain his first mission when he did see the person he was supposed to kill then starts to break down a little bit. Just a sugestion thats all.
585573 LOL nah, I'm enjoying my summer vacation this year!!
586729 Hrm, I would....but that's now how his first combat mission transpired at all
Good suggestion, though!
ARGH!!!!!! THERE ARE OTHER WORDS IN THE DICTIONARY BESIDES HEH!!!!!! USE THEM
Where the frap is Fluttershy during all of this?
Might be a little late to be commenting on this story, with it being ten weeks old now. But...the exchange with Big Macintosh seems very strange to me. He hardly seems the type to go threatening to hurt people for courting someone. Let alone Twilight, who seems really low on the list of people who would need protecting. Plus, of all the ways you could choose to phrase the idea of making a romantic advance "courting" is about as polite, formal and harmless as you can get. And I'm not sure exactly how one courts someone "against one's will." Or for that matter, where he got the idea that Twilight wasn't receptive. He's in her house answering her door. Obviously she's not rejecting his advances too hard. His question about "who are you to court her" is also odd, since Big Mac is basically a farm pony, and Twilight is a Canterlot unicorn, related to psuedo-royalty, and the Princess's protege. Who is Big Macintosh to question her love life, let alone to go threatening her house guests?
Big Mag generally seems pretty level-headed and laid back to me. Not the type to go looking for trouble. And nothing was said to justify it even if he was. Finally...the gender ratio in Ponyville doesn't support the idea at all. If mares outnumber stallions ten to one because the stallions generally leave to become royal guards...then a stallion being interested in a mare should generally be seen as a positive thing.
Nothing about Big Mac's reaction makes sense at all.
that was good oh and i have every song ur followers posted as suggestions so yeah
images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120903125230/runescape/images/5/57/Air_Guitar_Emote.gif
skill... anyways if it werent for OCs volare wouldnt exist so stop ur bitchin everypony
The Hurricane.
I wander who that could be?
I like when volare beats up the author in the light blue print!
UHHHHH im not reading this fast enough...
tim to use the magics
(straining sounds)
Oh wait i have wings.
can i please?!? introduce jill and ray to phil my resident pistol-grip 12 gauge shotgun?
after reading the first part of this chapter, the dream with aggie, i was wondering, is his real name volare or is that his call-sign as a pilot?
When I read "Hurricane", my mental voice says it like the WizarDriver. Have fun finding the sounds and enjoying all the others.
1710892 how about a magic missile?
581348 ge musta
2229337
Magic Missiles?
Why of all times Am I reminded of Arfhen House 2........
Magic Missiles is bad Idea methinks......
i like it when Volare comes into the authors note
1710892 only if I miss with my M249
I love some of these moments with Spike.
I think he's at his best when he is being snarky AND helpful 
The Hurricane? Heading to the Evergreen forest? Hmmmm... Name referencing Hurricane Fluttershy, and flutters being the only pony, zecoras not a pony, who lives in or near the Evergreen. Me thinks its Fluttershy!
That's what she said!!!!!
Spike did you really think you would get away with that?
Good story but wouldve been better without trixie in it me id rather see her burn alive
Including Ray's communicator watch thing, both of them have green magic associated with them.
I'm calling it now: they're Changelings.