Fleximare and the Deranged Doctor

by Green Akers

Wednesday, 11:50 AM: The Skies Above Ponyville

"Blossomforth!!!"

"Uh oh..." Blossomforth gulped as Rainbow Dash's voice echoed across the sky. She had heard that tone of voice from Rainbow before, and given the number of clouds in front of her that were not yet arranged properly in the sky, she had a feeling she knew what the problem was.

"What's taking you so long?" Rainbow raged as she flew over to Blossomforth. "Those clouds were supposed to be in place forty-five minutes ago, and yet you've still got over half of them to go! My pet turtle could have put those in place faster than you!"

"I'm really sorry, Rainbow," Blossomforth replied. "I'm going as fast as I can, but..." She held up one of her front hooves, which was badly bruised and had swollen to twice its usual size. "This thing's making it really hard to push clouds around."

"That's what slowing you down?" Rainbow frowned at Blossomforth's sore hoof. "That's barely a scratch! I've had paper cuts worse than that!" She swatted the hoof away, causing Blossomforth's eyes to bulge out from the pain. "Now hurry up and get those clouds arranged, or I'll stick you on lightning rod duty with Ditzy Doo!"

"Yes, ma'am." Blossomforth bowed her head deferentially until Rainbow's back was turned, and then stuck her tongue out at the cranky pegasus. "Jerk."

As Rainbow Dash flew away, Raindrops swooped in. "I see Dashie's in her usual pleasant mood today, huh?" she said.

"Uh-huh." Blossomforth grabbed another cloud from her pile and began dragging it slowly to its proper place in the sky, wincing at the pain in her hoof.

"Here, let me help you with that." Raindrops began pushing the cloud from the other side. "Gosh, Blossom, that hoof looks awful. What happened?"

Blossomforth sighed. "Just a good run of bad luck, I guess."

"I'll say. Last week it was your wing, and the week before that you could barely walk on your back hooves." Raindrops helped Blossomforth ease the cloud into position. "Hey, a few of us are going into town for lunch today. Do you want to come?" She nudged Blossomforth with her knee and smiled. "Thunderlane will be there."

"I can't." Blossomforth replied apologetically. "Rainbow will pluck me like a chicken if I don't get these clouds in place soon."

"Aw, that's too bad. Maybe tomorrow then?"

"Maybe. Thanks for the offer." Blossomforth sighed as Raindrops flew away, then turned and flew back to her cloud pile. "Could this day get away worse?" she muttered.

"Pssst!" One of Blossomforth's clouds suddenly hissed as her, and a hoof emerged and gestured for her to come closer.

"Oh, great. Just what I needed," Blossomforth said as she flew over to the inviting cloud.

"Greetings, Miss Forth." A purple stallion with a close-crop haircut and dark shades popped his head out of the cloud. "I trust you're doing well."

"Yeah, just peachy." Blossomforth cocked her head to the side and stared at the stallion quizzically. "How are you staying in that cloud? Aren't you an earth pony?"

"That information is classified." The stallion stuck his head back into the cloud and pulled out an envelope marked 'TOP SECRET.' "I have here the instructions for your next mission."

"Already?" Blossomforth held up her swollen hoof. "But I haven't recovered from the last mission!"

"I'm afraid this is urgent. The letter will explain everything."

Blossomforth sighed and pulled out the letter.

---

Fleximare,

Four days ago, a young unicorn named Peppermint mysteriously vanished while vacationing in the Griffon Empire. Our sources have just learned that Miss Mint was abducted by Dr. Audubon, a rogue scientist booted from the academic community for his beliefs regarding griffon supremacy. We do not know what the good doctor plans to do with his captive, but given his background, we must assume the worst.

We believe that Dr. Audubon operates a secret base within the wastelands of the northern Griffon Empire. Your mission is to infiltrate this hideout, rescue Miss Mint, and thwart whatever evil plans the doctor may be concocting.

We're counting on you, Fleximare. A pony's life may be hanging in the balance.

P.S. This letter is wired to self-destruct after being removed from its envelope.

---

"Yikes!" Blossomforth shrieked as she read the last line, and started looking around frantically for a place to dump the envelope. "Why do you always do this to me?" she hissed at the stallion.

"Don't worry. The explosives in there aren't armed this time," the stallion assured Blossomforth. "The envelope also has a map showing the location of Dr. Audubon's hideout in the northern griffon wastelands, and tickets for the five o'clock train to Baltimare. There'll be a boat waiting for you to take you to the Griffon Empire."

"Gee, you guys though of everything," Blossomforth muttered.

"That reminds me." The stallion reached back into the cloud and pulled out a pink eye mask. "You mentioned you had to use your old mask as a bandage for your hoof, so we made you a replacement." He gave the mask to Blossomforth, then glanced around quickly and sunk back into the cloud. "Remember, I was never here," he said. "Good luck, Miss Forth."

Blossomforth sighed as she looked down at the mask. "Sore hoof or not," she said, "I guess Fleximare flies again tonight."

Comments

[punzil504]

Don't worry chief, I'm always on duty.

(Completely unrelated image)
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