Eclipse, the Daredevil Pony

by EpicMuttonChops

2: Baltimare

Forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but Spitfire told me she'd try to be available to help me improve my teamwork whenever I wanted to. Think I might take her up on it. Even if she's busy, there's still a bunch of other Wonderbolts to help me, right?

Anyway, after the Academy, I spent a few months back in Ponyville, helping ponies around town. Mostly at the train station, where I overheard three ponies talking about a retired stunt stallion in Baltimare. Stunts? That sounded more like what I did than what the Wonderbolts did. Figured I'd give that a try, and by Celestia's mane, I'm glad I did.

Well, the first thing I did was do some research on this retired stunt pony. I made up a little list, see, of anything I thought might help me. For example, I knew Mayor Mare had been to Baltimare at least once, and I thought maybe Princess Twilight Sparkle could help too. After all, ever since the Golden Oaks Library had been destroyed, Ponyville still needed a library, and Princess Twilight needed a new home.

I don't know how it happened, but there's now a crystalline castle on the edge of Ponyville, and I hear the library itself is larger than the Golden Oaks used to be.

After my shift ended at the train station the next day, I trotted on over to the Mayor's house. I looked up and saw other pegasi moving dark grey clouds over town. I got to Mayor Mare's house and knocked. A moment later, she opened the door. "Eclipse! Gotten yourself into trouble again?" she asked.

"None that I know of," I replied with a grin. I guess that's another story for this little journal, huh? "Actually," I continued, "I was wondering if you would tell me a bit about Baltimare."

"Baltimare? Of course, come in. There's some tea in the sitting room." She side-stepped to let me through, then stayed for a moment as she waved to a couple ponies that trotted past. Meanwhile, I found the sitting room. Wasn't difficult, really; it was the first room ya get to after entering.Mayor Mare entered the sitting room a moment later and poured herself a cup of tea. Seating herself across the table from me, she spoke again. "What would you like to know about Baltimare?"

I explained that I'd overheard some ponies at the train station talking about a retired stunt pony there, and I wanted to learn about the city, popular landmarks, anything that might help once I got there. She told me a lot about the city, and even gave me a map! Well, it was a map of the entire coast, including Manehattan and Phillydelphia, but Baltimare was there as well.

The rain was hitting the windows as we spoke. I remembered I wanted to speak to Princess Twilight before night fell. "Thanks for all your information, Mayor. I think it'll really help."

"I'm glad I could assist you, Eclipse," she replied.

We approached the door, cracking it open so the rain didn't come inside. As I was about to leave, I thought of something I had meant to ask her from years ago. I stood there, in the open doorway, and asked her, "Mayor, why did you agree to Mare-Do-Well?"

Her reaction was one I'd rather not have seen, but I knew it was coming.

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I galloped over to Princess Twilight's castle, which took longer than flying, but being a pegasus, I knew flying in the rain was one of the dumbest risks I could take. I was soaked by the rain, my mane falling to either side of my neck, rather than radiating out from my neck like it usually does. My goggles sat upon my forehead; I only wear them while performing.

I shook the water out of my mane as I approached the door and knocked. My hoof had barely touched it a second time when a bright pink pony threw open the door. Pinkie Pie! Despite being completely soaked, a smile cracked my lips. Such is the power of the Super Duper Party Pony, after all.

"Hi, Eclipse," she said as she hopped up and down. "Good to see you again. Whatcha doin' here?"

"Hello, Pinkie. I'm here to see Princess Twilight," I said, walking inside. "And it's nice to see you, too."

And she turned around and screamed, "TWIIIILIIIIIIIIGHT!!!" as she hopped down the hall, to what I assumed was the main hall. She disappeared around a corner, but I followed the path until I saw the purple princess appear.

"Hello there," she said. "How can I help you?"

"Princess Twilight," I began, "Recently I've heard about a retired stunt pony, currently residing in Baltimare. I was wondering if one of your books might mention somepony like that."

She turned, gesturing for me to follow. "I've read every one of my books, but I don't recall anypony matching that description." I nodded my acknowledgement, but she continued. "But that doesn't mean they're not in there. Not exactly my area of interest, you see."

We turned into the main hall, which is indeed where Pinkie had gone, and I heard a crunching sound, which could only mean that Spike was around. I knew he was just a baby dragon, but I'm afraid of dragons, and cautious around even the smallest ones. Princess Twilight cantered up to where he sat, reading a comic book.

I didn't care to see which one.

"Spike,"

"Just a second, Twilight." He must've been on the last page, 'cause it took him no more than 8 seconds to finish. "Done," he said, closing the cover and jumping to the floor. "I can't wait for the next issue."

"Spike, this is Eclipse," she said, motioning toward me.

"Hi!"

"He's wondering if we have any information on a retired stunt pony in Baltimare."

"A retired stunt pony, huh? Let's see..." He paced around the room for a minute, looking at book titles. Oh yeah!" Suddenly, his tail perked up and he ran across the room and grabbed a book, rather large for him, and brought it to the table. "This is a collection of stories about ponies from all across Equestria. I think you're talking about Fast Lane."

"Fast Lane?" I asked.

The little dragon turned a bunch of pages until he found what he was looking for. "Says here he was a great performer, and pioneered many tricks that are still well-known." He created his own tricks? Interesting. "Oh," he said, his smile failing him.

"Oh?" Princess Twilight echoed.

"'His career ended abruptly when he was practicing a new stunt for a show, and he crashed into the ground,'" he read. He looked up from the book and directly at us. "Hard."

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"Turquoise coat, copper mane. Turquoise coat, copper mane," I kept repeating to myself on the train ride over. Again, I know I'm a pegasus, but I have very logical reasons to when I choose not to fly. One, as I mentioned earlier, is when it's raining. Another is when I have to go long distances while trying to remember something. And I'd consider this a pretty important thing to remember.

The train was now passing through the base of Canterlot Mountain. There was no light that shone here, except for that which illuminated the tunnel entrances, which is why the Princesses appointed a group of unicorns from Canterlot to put up lanterns and keep them lit. From my time working at the train station, I remembered that there was a track extending along the Unicorn Range, obviously one that goes through Ponyville, one track that heads over to Manehattan, and the one I'm on splits off and goes to Fillydelphia and Baltimare.

By the time we had reached the split, Princess Luna had raised the moon, and began to make her art with the stars. I hadn't been able to get a window seat, so I couldn't get a good view of the spectacle. Soon, we had reached Baltimare, and the announcement awoke and sleeping ponies. I rented a room at a hotel and slept until morning.

I had another dream that I was flying with Rainbow Dash. We were flying around, comparing maneuvers and just having fun. We were joined by Commander Spitfire and Wind Rider, the (dishonorably discharged) retired Wonderbolt. I couldn't believe I was flying with the best pegasi in Equestria!

Soon, though, I started flying more erratically, outside the formations we were in. It didn't take long for me to notice this, and it didn't take long for me to notice that the others seemed to be disappointed, whispering to each other. I remembered what Spitfire had told me at the Academy.

The next morning, after a good breakfast and questioning some of the local ponies, I finally got a lead! Apparently, Fast Lane frequented a cider bar just a few blocks away. A quick scan showed a turquoise coat and copper mane a back corner, alone with a mug.

"Are you Fast Lane?" I asked as I approached him.

"I haven't gone by that name in a long time," he said, putting down his mug. He wasn't as old as I imagined; his skin was dry and tight, just starting to show wrinkles. "Whaddya want?"

"Recently, I was kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy. I learned that my style of flying is more like what you used to do."

Fast Lane let out a laugh. "Kid," he said "there ain't anypony in Equestria that flies like me."

My ears perked up and I leaned forward. "That's actually why I was looking for you. I want you to teach me."

He put his mug of cider down and rubbed his right shoulder. I remember thinking that must have been from the crash. Then he finished his drink, got up and walked toward the door. I didn't notice until now, but he held his right wing half-extended, ad some of the feathers seemed permanently out of place. How serious were his injuries?!

He stopped at the door and turned to look at me. "You comin' or what?" I hopped down from the chair and followed him into the street.

He walked through the streets, and I flew slightly above. Man, it felt so good to stretch my wings again after the trip over here. We were heading east, toward the Celestial Sea, and Horseshoe Bay. I could already smell the salt in the air and feel the moist air through the feathers as I flapped my wings.

Fast Lane's cottage was similar to, but a bit larger than Fluttershy's cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Around back, he had planted a small vegetable garden, and he had an awesome view of the Celestial Sea. I stood at the shore with my wings extended (probably longer than I should have), letting the swift salty breeze blow through them.

"Oi!" Fast Lane's shout snapped me out of my trance, and I hurried back over to where he waited at the door. As he led me inside, he told me we would start training the next morning, and I spent the rest of the afternoon admiring the medals and trophies he had won from his glory days.

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He had woken me up just as Celestia raised the sun. He led me outside and explained (shortly) what he wanted to see from me. "Show me whatcha got," he said.

"First up, takeoffs." He wanted to see vertical, running, explosive, and a few non-conventional takeoffs. We were in the back yard. I stood in the middle of the yard, ready to go. "Vertical!" I spread my wings, bent my knees, and flapped down as hard as I could. I reached about eight or nine feet high before I flapped again. "Stop!" I dropped to the ground and Fast Lane approached. ""That was good form, but you didn't get high enough." He pointed a hoof at his house. "You'll need to strengthen your secondary deltoids. I want you to get as high as my roof." He turned to me. "Same height requirement for the running and explosive takeoffs."

"For the running start, I want to know how fast you can get in a short distance. Takeoff will occur at the shoreline." He stood up to his knees in the water. "Start at the house and get closer each time. Keep getting closer until you cannot get fast enough to clear me." I readied myself at the house, about thirty feet away. "Go!" I ran as fast as I could, keeping my wings against my body. As I got closer, I opened my wings and flapped myself above Fast Lane with ease. We continued this exercise, decreasing the distance by a few feet each time. I was able to get about 12 feet away before my toe scraped against his mane. "You'll need to do weighted running to get your hind legs stronger. That will also help with lateral takeoffs later on."

We practiced the rest of the day, with breaks for meals. I practiced late into the afternoon, and when Princess Luna raised the moon, I went back inside. Fast Lane had gone in a few hours earlier. I saw him laying down on the sofa, with a bottle of cider on the table next to him. He was snoring.

I went upstairs to bed.

This was the routine for the next two months; wake up, do flight exercises, breaks for meals, go to bed. I confronted him a few times about his drinking, but he always brushed it off. I ended up hiding any cider I found while he was away. That's when he started getting hostile toward me. I doubt he knew for sure that I was keeping it from him, but I was the only other pony around.

One day he went into town for some errands. He returned when I was having lunch and began shouting at me. He hadn't had any cider the last few days, I'd made sure of that. In the fight that followed, I learned that something somepony in town said implied he was an alcoholic, and that's what spurred this rage. We fought until I was able to get outside and fly. He kept shouting as he threw things at me; rocks, sticks, his vegetables. As I kept dodging his attacks, he realized he wasn't going to hit me.

He tried flying after me. I knew he was out of his mind now, since he hadn't flown since the accident, and he never told me what happened, or when it happened, so I didn't even know how long it's been. His aching shoulder kept him grounded at first, but he was able to get off the ground a few feet a couple of times before landing hard on his hooves. The last time, he was able to get high enough to grasp the roof, but he slipped and crashed into the ground.

I winced when I heard the crunch.

He was writhing and groaning in pain, and his other wing looked almost as deformed as his right wing. "Fast Lane, get on my back. I'm taking you to the city," I said as I floated down to him. He was in so much pain, he couldn't bring himself to refuse. I flew into the city instead of running, because every step would only exacerbate the pain he was in.

Now, in the last two months, I've spent most of my time training; I hadn't yet had time to explore Baltimare! Fast Lane had to tell me where the hospital was.

What happened after that must not have been as important as the rest of the story, because I don't really remember anything between getting him to the hospital and when he was finally awake enough to talk normally. I'd fallen asleep when he woke me.

"Eclipse, you there?" It was a little more than a whisper, but it was enough to rouse me. They had positioned him on his belly, with his wings propped up in slings.

I shook my head, forcing my eyes to open. "I'm here, Fast Lane."

"You've probably figured it out already, but I've been drinking for a long time. Since the accident." I didn't know exactly where he was going with this, but I kept quiet, seeing where it would lead. "It started as a way to keep my mind off what happened. I drank to dull the pain. As the pain started to go away, I drank to try and forget the memory of it. Eventually, I began feeling terrible, and I tried to stop drinking so much." He shook his head. "It didn't work. I still drank myself to sleep most nights. Usually, I wouldn't do anything but drink cider all day. That day you came to me in the cider bar was one of those days."

Hoo boy, he's getting emotional. He never gets emotional, Well, other than the stern, angry kind of emotion, anyway.

He turned his head toward me, as much as he could. "I was rehearsing a new routine I liked to call The Baltimare Blowout. I'd been waiting to reveal it until I performed in Baltimare again. Then I crashed, and you know the rest." I could see he was visibly getting tired again. He was silent for another minute, then told me, "Go home and practice. Tend to my garden. I'll be okay on my own until I get better."

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It was six days until he returned home. I was leaping over the house when I hear my name being called. I looked to the road, and I saw Fast Lane trotting towards me, noticeably cheerier than before. He was wearing saddlebags on his back, and both his wings were wrapped in bandages.

"Eclipse, do you remember what I told you about The Baltimare Blowout?" he asked after we hugged each other. Oh, thank Celestia he turned out okay.

"You didn't say much, actually," I replied.

"Good, good." He started to go inside. "Come inside when you're done trying to be Pinkie Pie."

That remark caught me off guard. He was right, of course. The prime party pony could jump just as high as I was, only I was doing it with the help of my wings. I probably stood there looking like a fool as I pondered this.

Oh yeah, go inside.

He stood at the kitchen table, with pages strewn about in front of him. I looked over his shoulder, trying to see what was on them. Other than crudely-drawn pictures, I had no idea. "What is all this?"

"This," he said, "is The Baltimare Blowout."

Author's Note:

you're all gonna have to wait to find out what the Baltimare Blowout actually is, sorry