The Sunrise
Even though she had been expecting a certain level of wealth and grandeur for the mansion of a Viceroy, Trixie still couldn’t help but admire the many pieces of fine art that dotted the halls of House Starlight as she levitated her suitcase up to her appointed guestroom. After unpacking her own things and making sure that her friends were similarly settled, she decided to treat herself to a self-guided tour of the estate’s collection. She was in the middle of gawking at a particularly well-crafted jeweled diadem from the Crystal Empire when a frantically galloping Twilight Sparkle rounded a corner too quickly and crashed into the other unicorn.
“Ow,” groaned Trixie, rubbing her head as she picked herself up off the floor. “Will you please watch where you’re going, Sparkle?”
“Sorry,” said Twilight in a rapidly apologetic tone. “It’s just that I was in a really big hurry. I set a spell on the house’s telegraph machine to make my bracelet start glowing if it gets a signal, and it just started so I panicked even though they probably just want to do another test on the beacon to make sure it’s ready and I’m really sorry for bumping into you like that…”
“It’s fine…I think,” said Trixie as she tried to digest the blurred sentence. “So you’re going to go test the teleportation beacon, right?”
“Yes,” said Twilight as she started down the hallway again at a much safer pace.
“Mind if I tag along?” asked Trixie.
“Um…I don’t see why not, but it’s not really going to be very interesting. Just a quick jump there, make sure that the foci are still anchored and properly calibrated, that Raindrops and Lyra got there safely, and then jump right back here.”
“True, but if I go with you, then we can make an entrance!” shouted Trixie as she threw up her hooves. “Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”
* * *
“Wait, so you two know each other?” asked Lyra.
“Unfortunately…” groaned Raindrops.
“Oh, hey, you brought another hot friend,” said the guard as he turned his smile on Lyra. “The name’s Bootheel, beautiful. What’s yours?”
“I’m Lyra, and hate to burst your bubble, killer, but I’m into mares.”
“What a coincidence! So am I! We have so much in common!” said Bootheel happily. “We should get to know each other later, see what else we both love to do, if you know what I mean. Should bring your marefriend along, too, make it a real party.”
“This is your best guard?” asked Raindrops incredulously, and Captain Lightning shrugged.
“Seeing as how he’s one of the few who didn’t get sent here for screwing up their job, then yeah, I’d have to say he is.”
“Um…so what did he do to get sent here, then?” asked Lyra.
“Meh, not much, just hit on a dutchess,” said Bootheel with a grin.
“That’s all?”
“And her daughter,” he added a bit more sheepishly. “And her granddaughter…”
“Wow…” said Raindrops flatly. “Again, this is your best?”
“Welcome to the Griffon Kingdoms,” said Lightning. “He might be a horn dog, but he’s also a good guard dog. He’ll make sure that you’re safe while you’re here, or else I’ll have him gelded. Is that understood, Sergeant?”
“Understood, sir,” said Bootheel with a crisp salute. “Just leave these delicate flowers to my soft, gentle yet firm hooves, and I promise you won’t need to—” He was interrupted by a soft pop, followed by a blast of smoke and fireworks that filled the small room.
“ATTENTION DENIZENS OF THE GRIFFON KINGDOMS!” shouted Trixie at the top of her lungs. “THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE HAS ARRIVED!”
“Sorry, Captain,” said Twilight as she waved illusionary smoke away from her face. “She insisted on coming along.”
“That’s quite alright, Miss Sparkle,” said Lightning with a sigh. “Sadly I’ve become far more…accustomed to lax discipline during my time here. Status report?”
“Telegraph communications are functioning properly, teleportation foci are still—”
“I’ll tell you what our status is,” said Bootheel with a feral grin. “We’ve just been elevated from Hotti-con two to four, code luscious blue.”
“Actually, an elevation of threat level would make the number go lower, for instance from two to one, and I’m not sure that that’s a real—”
“YOU!” shrieked Trixie.
“Hey there, sweet flank. How bout teleporting us into my bunk, then we can make some real smoke and fireworks.”
“Um…that’s actually not why we’re here. We’re supposed to be making sure that the beacon is properly—”
“TAKE US BACK, SPARKLE!” shouted Trixie, desperately grabbing Twilight’s shoulders and shaking her.
“Huh? But, wha, Trixie?!” stuttered Twilight. “I still need to finish my report to Captain Lightning.”
“I MEAN NOW, SPARKLE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!”
“Is everything functional for the mission, Miss Sparkle?” asked Lightning.
“Yes, sir, as far as I can tell, but I’d still like to take some measurements and—”
“I’ve got something you can measure,” said Bootheel as he waggled his eyebrows.
“WHY ARE WE STILL HERE?!”
“Don’t worry about it, Miss Sparkle,” said Lightning. “You’re dismissed.”
“Um…okay, then…” said Twilight as her horn started to glow. “See you later, then. And good luck, you two!”
“LESS TALKY MORE FLASHY!”
“Thanks,” said Lyra and Raindrops as the two unicorns disappeared in a purple flash.
“Well,” said Lightning flatly. “Now that we’re done with…whatever that was, I think I’ll look into the rest of the preparations while you both get some rest. Bootheel, if you’d please show the Dames to the guest suites.”
“Roger, Captain,” said Bootheel, saluting with one hoof while holding the door open with another. “Come right this way, ladies, and I’ll escort you to your chambers.”
“Great…” groaned Raindrops as her and Lyra started down the hall, with Bootheel falling into place behind them.
“Um…” said Lyra. “What are you doing?”
“Just admiring the view,” said Bootheel happily. “Your marefriend has a pretty well-toned flank, but you probably already knew that.”
“I am not her marefriend,” said Raindrops as she turned and glared at the soldier.
“And shouldn’t you be in front?” asked Lyra. “So you can, you know, lead us?”
“Oh,” said Bootheel as he trotted in front of them. “Good point. Sides, don’t want to hog all the view for myself, right? Wanna let the mares know what’s on the menu, too, am I right?”
“Think he’ll take a hint if I break one of his legs?” grumbled Raindrops as they followed the guard, who was doing his best to make his hips sway seductively.
“I’d suggest going for the neck instead, but I doubt that’d do anything to his brain functions,” muttered Lyra.
After a few minutes Bootheel came to a stop in front of a door, pulling it open and bowing with a flourish. “My Dames,” he said with what he imagined to be a regal accent. “Your chambers await.”
“Yay,” said Raindrops flatly as she and Lyra trotted in, only to slam the door shut behind them before Bootheel could follow them in.
“Ow…” said Bootheel as he rubbed his sore muzzle.
“You can stand guard out there, stud,” said Lyra cheerily as she turned the lock.
“Um…Lyra?” said Raindrops as she looked around the small room, which was nearly bare save for a small dresser, a lone bed, and their bags, which had been dumped unceremoniously in a pile in the corner. “How are we going to do this? There’s only one bed…”
“Nah, this is fine, plenty of room,” said Lyra. “Long as you don’t try hogging all the covers we should be good, but I warn you, I’m a cuddler.”
“Are you sure that I can’t come in?” asked Bootheel hopefully from behind the door. “I mean, how am I supposed to watch you two from out here?”
“Use your imagination,” suggested Lyra.
* * *
Raindrops awoke to the gentle sound of Lyra snoring next to her and momentarily panicked. Remembering where she was calmed her down at first, but the realization of what her mission entailed filled her with another kind of anxiety altogether. Even worse, her muscles and wings still felt stiff from the previous day of near inactivity. She carefully dragged herself out of bed while doing her best not to wake her still slumbering friend, and found herself drawn towards the door, her body aching for her usual morning routine, but she paused just before opening it at the sound of Bootheel's obnoxiously loud snorts from the hallway outside.
"Great..." Raindrops muttered to herself as she backed away from the door and the stallion behind it, unwilling to deal with his lechery so early in the morning. Instead, she turned towards the window, where the first hints of faint morning light were just starting to illuminate the dour grey skies. As quietly as she could, she lifted the window open and jumped outside, hovering at the embassy's third story only long enough to quickly close the panel behind her.
She lingered for a moment, enjoying the briskly chill morning air lightly scented with snow and stone before flying up into the clouds hovering just ahead, hoping that nopony had seen her or would notice her gone before her return. She emerged a few minutes later underneath an ocean of stars, the burgeoning light of the rising dawn below hidden by a vast sea of wispy grey that stretched as far as her eyes could see. She circled the near-featureless face of the mountain until she found a relatively wide, flat patch of stone on the eastern slope.
Raindrops landed on the small, naturally formed platform, thoroughly checking it for potentially dangerous loose stones and protrusions she could potentially hurt herself by tripping over. Satisfied with her location, she began putting herself through the paces of her usual exercise regimen, but between the limited space and thinner air she decided to switch from laps to stretches earlier than usual, and had almost finished warming up when she noticed that she wasn't alone on the mountaintop.
"Well, well," said a red coated pegasus as he gracefully alighted upon the rock. "This is a pleasant surprise, is it not?" Raindrops just stared at him for a few seconds before she realized that one of her hind legs was currently over her shoulder, and the resulting panicked shuffle ended with her in a heap on her back and her face burning bright red.
"Um..." said Raindrops quickly as she tried to regain her composure and dignity. “I'm, uh, yeah, sorry, is this your rock? I mean, I was just, uh, looking for a place for my morning exercises, but if you need me to leave I'd be more than happy to..."
"Nonsense," said the stallion with a chuckle as he walked a little bit closer before sitting down near the edge of the cliff. "This vista hardly belongs to me, I assure you. I merely came up here hoping to see a second beautiful sight this morning." He gestured at the bright rays of the sun just beginning to rise above the ocean of grey clouds, and Raindrops found herself gazing at the scene as much for the spectacle as to avoid making eye contact with the stranger. "I did not think I'd have the luck to see a third," he added, and suddenly her face felt like it was glowing even brighter than the sunrise.
"Um..." stammer Raindrops eloquently. “Thanks...”
"You are most welcome, my lady," said the stallion, his eyes never leaving the horizon even though Raindrops felt his gazed heavy upon her. They sat in silence for a few minutes as they watched the sun slowly rise above the clouds, turning the dank grey into a silvery mist with its light, but she couldn't help but steal glances of him out of the corner of her eye. His coast was a bright red, with a short, well-groomed orange mane that danced in the mountain breeze. Even though she was only willing to risk the briefest of looks at his flank, she was able to see that his tail was long and sleek, while his cutie make was some swirling pattern of orange and yellow sparks that was too abstract for her to guess the meaning of, especially in her current state of mind.
"So..." said Raindrops after what seemed like an eternity, her wingtips shuffling in nervous agitation. “What brings you to the Griffon Kingdoms?"
"The same thing that brings any pony here," said the stallion, finally turning to look at her with the full force of his smile, and Raindrops couldn't fought to keep her fluttering wings and heart both under control.
"Totally sending things to the Sun?" blurted Raindrops before realizing what was passing through her lips, and she had the momentary urge to jump off the mountain before the stallion chuckled warmly.
"I was going to say 'duty,' but I suppose that the expression fits, in a way. And how about yourself? I must admit that I am quite curious as to what a lady with such stature is doing alone on a mountain at the top of the world...besides her daily calisthenics, of course."
"Um..." muttered Raindrops yet again as she desperately tried to buck her brain into working. “Same reason as you, I guess. I mean, yeah, duty, mostly... though I'm really not sure I can do what they need me to do, or even what they need me to do, because oh Luna I'm rambling..."
"No need to worry," he said with another flash of a smile. "Your words have a certain quality, an air of honestly that permeates your speech, and I believe that I understand the meaning behind them quite clearly. And besides, I should not expect you to be composed after I so rudely interrupted your morning routine. In fact, it has been even more rude of me to continue to detain your from your activities, and for that I apologize," he said as he rose to his hooves and spread his wings, and Raindrops fought violently to keep the thought of how his well-preened feathers caught the light just enough that they seemed to sparkle from dominating her mind. "Good morning, my lady. I shall leave you to your quite solitude." He made as if to take off, and the warm fog clouding Raindrop's mind was replaced with panic.
"Wait!" she shouted abruptly as he was about to leap off into the sunrise.
"Yes, my lady?"
"Um...uh...what's your name?" asked Raindrops, blushing lightly.
"Kindling Wind," he said with a warm smile. "Though, if we ever have the fortune of meeting again, I would be honored if you called me ‘Kindle.’”
"Cool," said Raindrops simply. "I mean, good morning to you, too, Kindle." He shot her one last dazzling smile before jumping into the air, catching the cool morning breeze beneath his wings and diving into the silvery mists. Raindrop’s eyes lingered on the cloudbank, waiting until she was sure Kindle was well out of earshot before falling onto her back and giggling loudly.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosohmygosh…”
* * *
The morning had begun in earnest by the time Raindrops glided back to the Equestrian embassy. She banked low over the landing strip just as the chariot had the day before before touching down near the front gate. She spotted an earth pony guard who was keeping watch and, in an act testament to her good mood, waved at him.
“Good morning,” she said cheerily, only to realize that the guard was, in fact, fast asleep and leaning on his spear to keep him upright. Raindrops’ smile turned into a frown as she glared at the shirking pony with mild displeasure. She then walked up to him until her mouth was right besides his ear and shouted as loudly as she could. “Good morning!”
“Wah?!” the guard spasmed as he abruptly woke up, took one look at the angry pegagus and started to panic. “We’re under attack!” he yelled as he galloped towards the main building while leaving his spear behind, its tip firmly planted in the ground.
“Luna, this place is annoying,” sighed Raindrops as loud shouts began ringing inside the embassy, and a few moments later, Captain Lightning emerged from the building along with four guards who were only wearing half their uniforms. The captain had a look of grim determination as he charged forwards, a sword firmly gripped in his teeth, only to slow to a trot and stare at Raindrops in surprised confusion when he saw her standing there alone.
“What in Luna’s name do you think you’re doing?!” asked Lighting after spitting out his sword.
“Hey, look I was just trying to stay ‘good morning’, and then the guard just kinda…ran off,” explained Raindrops.
“No, I mean how did you get out here in the first place?! Didn’t any of the guards even try to stop you?”
“Um…I actually didn’t see any when I left this morning…”
“Well...you should have...” said Lightning, losing the wind from his sails.
“Yeah, not really the most crack squad you’ve got here, is it?” asked Raindrops as she prodded the wooden pole with a hoof.
“Welcome to the Griffon Kingdoms,” said Bootheeel as he and Lyra emerged from the embassy. “Population: Two amazingly attractive mares, one dashingly handsome sergeant, and a bunch of ponies who barely know their heads from their tails. Gotta love it.”
“Dang it, those lazy...” Lightning muttered angrily to himself.
“Oh, and griffons. Lots of griffons.”
“If you'd excuse me ladies,” grumbled Lighting. “I have a few punishments to dole out that will add about as much military discipline to this outfit as a diamond dog poker game…”
“So…what did he mean by that?” asked Lyra as the Captain stomped away, already shouting at the group of half-dressed guards.
“Meh, doesn’t involve me, mares, or me and mares, so who cares?” said Bootheel with a shrug.
“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you letting her get out of her room unguarded in the first place!” bellowed Lightning as he turned back towards Bootheel. “Dames, I’m going to have to borrow the sergeant to use as an example.”
“But, Captain,” protested Bootheel weakly. “If I’m with you, then who will watch—”
“They’re back in friendly territory with a whole security force between them and the solartics,” retorted Lightning. “Worst case scenario, the warm bodies will make enough noise and slow them down until we get there. In the meantime, Dames, the Ambassador has requested your presence in the dressing rooms. Second floor, north wing; just follow the smell of hairspray and hot air and you should find him.”
“Well, I guess I’ll catch you ladies later,” said Bootheel. “Maybe tonight we can spend some quality time getting to know each other more—”
“Get to galloping, Sergeant!” barked Lightning, and Bootheel took off after him with one last eyebrow waggle farewell.
“So, where were you, anyways?” asked Lyra curiously, and Raindrops tried her best to suddenly find a random cloud just over her friend’s shoulder very interesting.
“Oh, nothing, just, you know, things,” she said.
“Yeah right, something happened,” said Lyra teasingly. “Let me guess: you met a handsome stallion who swept you off your hooves, and as you watched the sunrise together on a desolate mountaintop, you could almost feel the dawning of a new love in his eye—?”
“What?” gasped Raindrops as she waved a hoof unconvincingly. “No, pfft, that’s, that’s just ridiculous.” Lyra stared at her in blank shock.
“By. Luna’s. Horn. You’re blushing!” gasped Lyra in surprise. “I was just foaling around! Did that really happen? Come on, filly, dish!”
“Well, um…kinda…” said Raindrops, trying to hide her quickly growing blush by staring at the ground and pawing at a rock. “It was like something out of a romance novel. I mean, he even talked like he was in a book…”
“Oh, wow,” said Lyra with a whistle. “Sometimes I forget how into those things you are.”
“What? I…No!” insisted Raindrops frantically.
“Relax,” said Lyra calmingly. “Your guilty little pleasure helped me with Bonbon last Hearts and Hooves Day, remember?”
“Gah,” grunted Raindrops as she turned and started stomping towards the embassy. “Can we just go find the Ambassador?”
“Whatever you say, loverfoal,” said Lyra teasingly.
“I am going to buck you so hard in your sleep tonight,” grumbled Raindrops
“Don’t let Bootheel hear you, might give him ideas.”
“GAH!!!”
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Oh, dear Raindrops is going to get heart broken when she finds out who Kindle is. It's a shame she deserves somepony special.
Bootheel was hilarious as ever.
I know he's a fictional character and all, but boy I wanna kick Bootheel's ass. He's just at that edge of being too insufferable to read about but still being funny. Kindle's faux-introduction (since he didn't reveal his true character) was really neat and sets him up in a really interesting way. The villains are a lot harder to pin down when they can act so charismatic at the right times.
Again, Bootheel is clearly the real star of the show here, much as Ladd Russo is clearly the actual star of Baccano!. Well, him or Isaac and Miria.
Not Firo, is my point.
It's always fun to see this side of Raindrops, even if this is going to end in pain.
And to further that, they are tied to warring factions. Wow, I'd call it star-crossed but Kindle might take offense to referencing the night.
4353123 Reminds me a little of Romeo and Juliet.
I forgot how much I enjoyed Bootheel's idiocies.
And lovestruck Raindrops feels cute to be honest.
I wonder how bad Kindle will be:
Kindle thinks about Corona and himself as good. This is delusional, but oh well. If he is only a little delusional, he might simply obstruct, with no intention of hurting anypony, but if he is sufficiently delusional, he might attempt to deliberately injure, or maybe even murder.
4350759 Agreed. He needs to bleed.
His coast was a bright red
while his cutie make was some swirling
I shall leave you to your quite solitude
1. Coat.
2. Mark.
3. Quiet.
honesty
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