Kindred Spirits
“Hey Twilight?” Dash called from the castle’s main room. There was a hesitant confusion to her voice that worried Twilight.
“I’m in the kitchen,” She called back. Looking up from her morning coffee and newspaper, she waited for Dash to walk in. She would have risen to meet any other pony half way, but Dash usually reached her before she could even stand.
A moment later and she could hear hoof steps nearing, but Dash still wasn’t in the room. “You okay, Dash?”
“Yeah, just hoping you could help me and Dad out,” Dash said, walking into the room with a book tucked under her wing, and several scrolls in a sable bag. It was a strangely academic look that made Twilight want to snicker.
Moving her paper aside, Twilight motioned for Dash to set her book down. “I’d be happy to help, what’s up?”
Dash laid the book on the table, then dropped the saddlebag onto the floor. “Dad and I were working on making a family tree, but we can’t find anything on my grandmother.” Rummaging through the saddlebag, she pulled out a scroll, then unfurled for Twilight to see.
It was a beautifully drawn family tree, going back dozens of generations in some lines, but there was one that ended up painfully short: Rainbow’s maternal line ended in just three generations.
“Air Heart!?” Twilight read the name aloud. “Your grandmother was Sky-Fire Air Heart?” The red-maned pegasus had been the icon of the Wonderbolts in her grandmother’s time.
Dash laughed. “She was a tough old bird, but she had a heart of gold. You would have liked her.”
Looking closer, Twilight studied the names and dates better. Air Heart had died only a few years before Twilight met Dash, many years after her daughter Fire Fly had passed. Two generations of headliner Wonderbolts: no wonder Dash was determined to become a bolt. “So you don’t know who her parents were?”
Dash shrugged with frustration. Reaching into the bag, she pulled out another scroll. “We don’t even know where she was born,” she said, hoofing the scroll over. “The oldest document we have, is her and Grandpa’s marriage certificate.”
Sure enough, it was a marriage certificate from Cloudsdale. “Do you have any stories about her, like where they met?” Twilight asked, pointing to the two signatures.
A smile crept over Dash. “Yeh, Gramps was a weather pony that worked the sky over Granny Heart’s farm.”
Twilight’s ears perked up. “Where was the farm?”
Dash’s expression wilted a bit. “We’re not sure, I was hoping you could get his work records and figure that out. She moved to Cloudsdale right after they met. Grampa died before I was born, and she never liked talking about her past. Maybe Mom knew, but...” Dash just shrugged, not finishing the sentence.
Twilight moved to put a wing around her friend. “I think I can help.” Releasing Dash from the hug, she pulled out paper and quill to make a few notes.
- - -
Twilight looked over the fruits of her research. It had taken quite a bit, but she had scoured every record in Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and half a dozen towns from here to the frozen north. Air Heart had lived most her life off the records, but her husband had been a public worker from the moment he got his mark.
“So, your grandfather worked the same town for five years before he married your grandmother,” Twilight said, showing Dash copies of various tax forms. “Air Heart had to be living near there.” Unrolling a map, Twilight pointed to a little town on the northern plain. “It’s just going to take a little wing-work to figure out which one.”
“Wow.” Dash pulled the map closer, and examined the locations Twilight had pointed to. “That's in the middle of nowhere.”
“Only way to get there is to fly,” Twilight said, throwing on her saddlebag, and stepping towards the window. “Ready for a road trip?”
Dash grinned. “Lead the way.”
A day of flight was ended with cloud camping. An odd experience for Twilight, but something Dash seemed familiar with. The morning sun woke them both to the beautiful sight of sunrise over Equestria's great, wild plains.
“How much further?” Dash asked through a yawn as she stretched out her wings.
“We made good time yesterday. We should be there by lunch.” Digging through her bags, Twilight pulled out two granola bars. Hoofing one over to Dash, she made quick work of her own.
Their cold breakfast eaten, the two left their cloud tent behind.
“I can’t believe Grandma Heart grew up out in the boonies. She was such a city mare.”
Twilight laughed. “I guess she was like Rarity. Saw the city lights and fell in love with them.”
Rainbow echoed Twilight’s laugh. “You know, now that you mention it, Rarity does remind me a bit of Grandma Heart. If Rarity was a tomcolt anyway.”
As the ground passed below them, the grass began to give way to trees, and the first town they'd seen since the day before appeared on the horizon.
“That’ll be Pinto Point,” Twilight said, pointing to the water tower in the distance. “Your grandfather was assigned here, but their weather team takes care of everything for miles around.”
“Sounds like a rough gig. At least they don’t have Everfree weather rolling in on them.” Banking away from Twilight, she made straight for the town square.
Twilight landed just as Dash disappeared into the town hall. She paused for a moment to look around. It was a good sized town, bustling with ponies going about their everyday business. While there was no rail to this town, a river gave them access to the not-so-distant ocean. Even from here, she could see river barges loaded with lumber.
Turning her attention back to the town hall, Twilight stepped inside. She found Dash chatting with an earth pony, that looked every bit as old as Granny Smith. The two were laughing about something like they were old friends. “You know each other?” Twilight asked.
The ancient stallion laughed again. “No, but I’d recognize Thunder Clap’s grand filly even in the dark.” Stepping forward, he gave Twilight a simple bow. “I’m mayor Purple Hull. It’s nice to meet you.”
Rainbow grinned, and pointed to the stallion. “He knew my grandpa.”
Twilight nodded in return to Purple Hull. “You did?”
“I barely had my mark when Clap moved out, but he was like an uncle to me. What brings you two out here?”
“Well, we think Thunder Clap may have met my grandmother out here, and we were trying to learn more about her.”
The mayor scratched at his chin in thought for a moment. “Pretty little thing, red mane, would pull the teeth out of a windigo just because somepony said she couldn’t do it?”
Twilight snorted. “Well, now I know where you get it from.”
Taking Twilight’s jib as confirmation, Hull continued. “She wasn’t from Pinto Point. Be honest, she struck me as a little awkward, like she wasn’t used to being around many ponies. Back in the day, there were a few farms that kept to themselves. Half-wild ponies that came into town only when they needed. She could have been one of theirs.”
“Aww... nuts,” Dash whined.
“Are those families still around?” Twilight asked. “Do you know if they kept records?”
Hull shrugged. “Some are, some aren't.” Motioning for them to follow, he lead them into his office, where a wall map hung. “Every house that still gets mail, is marked on this map, study it all you need. Inbreeding was a pretty big risk for them, so they keep family records. That’s also why the ones that are still around are pretty friendly to strangers now-a-days. So I wouldn’t be worried about old stereotypes. You’ll find them a friendly lot, if not a little strange.”
Twilight and Dash studied the map for a moment, making note of the dozen little communities in the surrounding area. “Any of these farms have pegasi living on them?” Dash asked.
“That’s a good point.” Twilight scratched her chin. “Most these are going to be earth pony families.”
Purple Hull hummed a moment as he joined them at the map. “The Squash family had a few pegasus. The Mustards did too, but those colts left for the city a few years ago, ain't been back since,” he said, pointing to one spot on the map, then another.
“Well, that’s a start,” Dash said, turning to leave. “Thanks for the help.”
- - -
Back in the air, it only took Dash and Twilight a half-hour’s flight to find the Squash farm. It was a rustic place, with barns and little houses scattered all across the flat farmland. Picking out the largest of the houses, they landed just short of the porch.
“Stars and fire, look at that!” a voice yelled.
Twilight looked into the shadow of the porch to find two stallions staring at them as if they had just burst out of Tartarus. Before Twilight could say anything, one of the pegasus bowed as deep as he could to her.
“Bow you idiot, that’s princess Celestia,” he said to the still standing earth pony.
The other pony jolted, then fell into a bow. “No, she’s purple, that’s princess Luna.”
Dash laughed, speaking up before Twilight could gather her words. “You’re both wrong, this is Princess Twilight.”
The two stallions looked up with a curious eye, but kept their heads low. “I read something about a new princess...” The pegasus said.
“You... don’t have to bow… really...” Twilight said, motioning for them to rise.
As they rose, the old door beside them creaked. They thought it was the door creaking anyway; the sound may have been the old Pegasus’ joints. The old mare stared at them for a moment, first studying Twilight, then Dash. A little smile played across her muzzle as she gave a little bow, proving that it was the door that creaked, and not her.
“Boys, go inside and make us a pitcher of tea and warm some biscuits. Wash your faces first, too.”
“Yes Mam,” the two chimed, before disappearing inside.
As soon as the two were gone, the mare turned back to Dash and Twilight. “I’m North Star,” she said, a bit of sternness fading from her. “We don’t see many new faces around here. Please, sit and tell me what’s brought you to us.” Pulling up a couple of chairs, she cleaned a bit of dust from them with her wing.
Twilight and Dash traded glances before shrugging and accepting the offer. “I think my grandmother was from around here,” Dash said taking a seat.
North Star squinted at her for a moment, then shook her head. “You ain’t any of ours. What was her name?”
“Air Heart, cutie mark was a heart with wings,” Dash answered.
“Hmm...” Star mused for a moment, before turning to yell through the door. “One of you boys bring me the photo album.”
Twilight’s ears perked up as she leaned forward. “You think she was part of your family?”
“No,” Star said, taking the wind out of both Twilight and Dash. “I think she was one of the Mustard girls, but I may have a picture of her. I think her and my father dated, before he met my mother.”
The door creaked again, as the pegasus stallion stepped out onto the porch, with a large book on his back. “Here's the album,” he said, stepping to where Star could easily take it.
“Thank you Summer Storm,” Star said, taking the book from him.
Storm gave them both a quick smile before going back inside. Twilight couldn’t help but notice that he was quite a bit more brushed than he was just a few minutes ago.
The album cracked as Star opened it, revealing page after page of carefully kept photos. Dash and Twilight both scooted closer to watch as Star hunted for the one of Heart.
“Here we go.” Carefully removing an old tin-type photograph, Star hoofed it over to Dash. “That her?”
“Wow!” Dash held the photo up to look at it as close as she could. The photo showed a mare and a stallion poised by a market stall. “She’s like, my age here. Is that your dad beside her?”
“Sure is. Red was a navigator for the barges, before he settled out here.”
“What’s she selling?” Twilight asked, looking over Dash’s shoulder.
“Let me see...” Star took the picture from Dash to look it over. “Strange, those are persimmons.”
Twilight tilted her head. “What’s so strange about persimmons?”
Star sat the picture down, then leaned back in her chair. “Well, nopony goes out to the old persimmons farm. It’s haunted! Has been since before I was born. The ponies from Canterlot even came out and put up warning signs and spells a few years ago.”
“That persimmon farm!?” Twilight said, the color draining from her.
“What happened?” Dash asked, feeling lost.
Twilight lowered her head a moment before answering. “About a hundred and fifty years ago, there was a fire, killed the whole family. They suffered... a lot...”
“Grandma Heart wouldn’t have been scared off by ghosts, maybe she was living there anyway.”
Both Star and Twilight shook their heads. “They ain't that kind of ghosts,” Star said. “More likely she was just slipping in when the sun was bright, and picking fruit to sell.”
“You’re probably right,” Twilight said, nodding in agreement. “Is the Mustard farm far from there?”
“Not for a pegasus,” Star said, just as the two stallions returned with iced tea, hot biscuits, and an assortment of fresh vegetables. Tucking the photo back in the album, Star sat the book aside. “But before you go, please stay and have lunch with us. We don’t get to hear the news from Canterlot much.”
- - -
An hour later, and the two were flying towards the Mustard farm with full stomachs. There had been an awkward silence between them since saying farewell to the Squash family.
“So,” Twilight finally broke the silence. “You gave Summer Storm your address?”
Dash shrugged. “He asked if he could write me, and he was pretty cool.”
“And his wings were almost as big as Celestia’s.”
A smirk spread across Dash’s muzzle “Yeah, that too.” The smirk vanished, as something below them grabbed her attention. “Oh, hey! We’re over that persimmon farm.” Looking around a moment, she pointed towards a barn. “I thought you said everything burned down.”
“The house was on the other side of the property. That barn isn’t even inside the hazard zone.”
Dash hummed a moment, looking the old barn over. There was something about it nagging at her. “I want to check it out.”
“Sure,” Twilight said, turning towards the barn.
As they neared, Twilight began to share Dash’s interest in the place. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but something was off.
“This place is locked up tighter than a barrel,” Dash said, trying to open up a window, after finding the doors bared.
“I got this,” Twilight said. Taking the huge doors in her magic, she unraveled the chains, and threw aside the bolts. Wood cracked and groaned as she used brute force to overcome what she couldn’t unlock.
“What is that!” Dash said, as the doors finally yielded to Twilight. Inside the barn was a machine, twisted from some accident, and rotten from age.
“I... don’t know,” Twilight said, stepping inside the barn to get a better look. The twisted hulk of metal was covered in dust, but there was very little rust. One part, broken off and laid beside the rest of the machine, had writing in it. The letters as tall as her, but dirt and cobwebs obscured them.
“There’s a little room inside it. I’m going to look,” Dash said for the other side of the machine.
Using her magic, Twilight begin to clean the letters off. “Be careful.”
“I found a book. I thinks it’s a journal,” Dash said, stepping back out of the machine with the book under her wing. Surprisingly, Twilight didn’t answer her. Walking around the mangled machine, she found Twilight lost in thought and staring at something written on the metal.
“What’s it mean?”
“I have no idea.”
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- HapHazred · 5.4k words · 555 19 · 6.9k views
- Oroboro · 3.9k words · 912 17 · 8.5k views
- HapHazred · 2.9k words · 792 19 · 11k views
- Arroz · 3.1k words · 1,305 44 · 16k views
- Drax · 2.6k words · 1,043 14 · 11k views
- iisaw · 2.4k words · 1,185 22 · 11k views
- BlazzingInferno · 12k words · 860 11 · 8.2k views
- bookplayer · 1.6k words · 809 44 · 8.8k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.259 seconds
Total duration
1,124 users online
2,105,278 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Cheeky bugger! That was Amelia Air Heart! So the Bermuda triangle is a portal to equestria eh?
jesshaines.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Mah-Brain-Went-Asplodey.jpg
Sorry to say but it looks like you two won't be finding out much more about your ancestor Dash. Except maybe "She came screaming out of the sky one stormy night in this dang metal contraption no right minded pepegsus should ever find themself in and was lucky the only thing she suffered after the crash was an addled brain pan. Poor filly kept going on about 'huemahins', what ever that means. Never could get any of her past outa her, think the poor dear lost it on landing."
Interesting little story, makes me wonder who else that disappeared wound up as a pony.
Who's deceded from Hoffa?
That ending was perfect! I thought I predicted it at first, but you led me astray only to tell me my first instinct was right. Congratulations on fooling me. You also made me want to write about rural ponies at some point.
OH come on. I want to see what Rainbows reaction is when Twilight gets into the Canterlot archives. for " THE REST of THE STORY "
Air Heart's name and personality reminds me of Amelia Earheart. Was that purposeful?
Unfortunately, i never learned much about her. It's still surprising, none the less.
6332450
NR160202
6332289
Hoffa in Equestria, why has no one done that yet?
She had a co-pilot, Fred Noonan, with her when she disappeared. What happened to him?
6332601
Running a Google search on NR160202 was what made it click for me.
As for the lack of Hoffa in Equrestia stories I think it might be that while he's the joke of missing people cases only the most die hard of history nuts know more than "this guy vanished, presumably by the Mafia" about him.
Heck, I don't know that much about him past that and I'm the sort of guy who enjoys looking up odd facts about things. Jimmy just hasn't been one of them. Yet.
Though I'd be more interested in looking for boats and plains that have gone missing, or maybe that (in)famous Lost Roman Legion. I think we had a legioner in Equrestia story but not the whole legion.
Earheart was a good choice though, the name "Air Heart" really should have given it away but it's such a good pony name I didn't even think about it.
6332623
Fred Noonan, he was a very distinguished sailor in WW1, before he took up flying. Be pretty easy to pass himself off as a retired barge hand. Maybe just go by Red. marry one of the local farm girls. No more war, no more adventure, just foals and simple living.
Now that Twilight has seen the broken airplane, maybe she will reverse engineer it and make a second branch of Equestria's air force.
6332601
6332289
I read a fic where Hoffa was Blueblood. It explains why he is so hated.
And awesome fic btw. :)
6332450 The machine is also the model plane used by Amelia Airheart..
so yeah?
Wow, Very interesting. I looked up that serial number and wow. I wonder if Twilight will do anything about that machine they found. Would love to see more of this story, but it's enjoyable. Would love to see if they did find Dash's relative or not. Thanks for the good read.
That was pretty sweet. I liked it - though I don't like having to either Google or read comments for proper closure on a story. Maybe have a small piece at the end with some Earhart searchers wondering about Amelia or somesuch.
Other than that very minor nitpick, I really liked this. A lot.
EDIT: I can't spell 'Earhart' to save my life.
I didn't see it coming until the end. Good job.
A brilliant mystery with a very inventive solution, but it feels like it cut off in the middle and I too hate when a story is not self-contained. Upvoted, but no favorite.
Oh..Airheart.
Hah, neat.
6333912 I read your comment and then all of a sudden it hit me. Followed up immediately by my hand, my face is still glowing red.
Oh! Now I get it! I love it when stories make me think about stuff.
God damn it. I was so intent on seeing the wrong twist coming, I didn't see the obvious one. You cheeky bastard.
I approve of the ending, but I have to admit I'm not actually too fond of the rest of the story; it just wasn't interesting enough otherwise.
6333912 Oh.
OH.
OHHHHHHHHHH
The idea is very cool, but unfortunately, and I USUALLY pride myself on picking up on these things, I didn't get it until I scanned the comments. I don't know enough about Amelia Earheart's disappearance to understand the numbers. What I think would really fix the problem is, describe the machine more. Say it has propellers and broken wings. All I got was a machine and a number, and that completely lost me. Really good concept, just could be much better with a smidge more clarity. =)
6332306
Aye, the story feels incomplete simply because it doesnt give the characters themselves an actual ending. Also... it doesn't much make sense for me. At least, not in a way that makes all the details relevant.
Why the ghost story? Why mention the farm burning down? If the only reason is because that's an Airheart tie in I'm not familiar with then... eh. I do understand the ultimate ending here, but again, without Twilight and Dash discovering it as well it felt meta.
In my opinion, I think this story became/hinted at more than the author up there had set out to accomplish. Feels like it anyway.
It says its complete, are you really thinking of ending it here? that cliff hanger has me wondering
6334636
I may write a few chapters where Dash reads through the journal she found. But really, the interesting part of the idea is that Dash's grandmother was Amelia Earhart. It's just another HiE if I tell it from Earhart's PoV.
It just clicked for me when the wreck was mentioned. Air Heart, Earhart. Didnt even need to read the comments.
6334124
I've got to agree. The story is hinged entirely on the twist, and the lead up was too short to make the story substantial enough. I liked the idea, it was most certainly interesting, but it needs something to solidify it.
6334547 6335009 6334124
I concur, It certainly is well written, and delivers plenty of narrative and feels...
But it stops short of the character's payoff...
Dash has yet to accomplish her goal, and the story is technically about Dash seeking her missing roots.
From her perspective she hasn't addressed it at all before the story ends.
It feels more like a plot bunny, prequel or trailer than a full fledged standalone.
Felt the same about an old fic where alicorn Twilight chats with Discord about resurrecting her long dead friends.
It cuts off after sending the offer to the spirit world, and we don't even know if they received it.
Don't get me wrong, this is GOOD... it just feels like it ended without the characters resolving their plots conflict.
You clever son of a bitch... 9/10 would read again!
6334811
I actually agree with this - the POV of Rainbow Dash and Twilight reading an old journal, trying to figure out what happened on Air Heart's side, and generally having an adventure with it? Awesome.
Doing it from Air Heart's perspective? Not so much.
OOoooo. Adventure! Mysteries!
Honest salt of the earth auxillary characters that talk like real people do and are actually engaging!
*smacks tracking button*
6334811
He didn't necessarily suggest telling anything from Earheart's perspective, but rather continue the story from where it's currently left off to its logical destination.
Ie, Twilight and Dash hunting down the truth. How far the story goes beyond that is another matter.
I must say, great story! I'm hoping to become a pilot one day and seeing a plane like the Lockheed Electra just urges me to try to find one
6332450 yes, this was meant to be like that
If you read the comics, they actually have planes in Equestria. Well, they're pedal operated, duh, but still flying winged thingies close enough to tell that the "machine" was obviously supposed to be something flyable.
6335182 It's not too hard to think this one's mangled beyond recognition, though, that number being the only thing making it clear to us.
6335202 Well, I can't really imagine the wing being still readable while the rest of the plane just desintegrated, but sure whatever. xD
6335204 I'm not saying disintegrated - I'm just saying "no longer recognizable as a flying contraption".
Also who says the wing's entirely intact? It just has to be readable, which can still be done if it's bent way outta shape.
Just saying, for all they know it's some weird huge-ass farming machine - as unlikely as *that* sounds.
Good one, really good one
Here, have a cookie shot
media4.popsugar-assets.com/files/2014/03/24/034/n/1922195/3231d86f5659c965_thumb_temp_image28297281395704069/i/Milk-Cookie-Shots-Recipe.jpg
Very nice. Would love to see more, but that was a great ending spot.
6335299 WHERE DO I GET THAT?!
Air-Heart? NR16020? What does that… oh, so there are different portals to equestria then?
Cool story, totally digging the idea, just wish it was a little longer, maybe a couple chapters would of done nicely but I did enjoy the way it ended and the mystery. But it definitely earned its "like" that's for sure. Would love to see more, especially those couple extra chapters of dash going through the journal and having it elude to her grandmothers...un-equestrian origins, without going full on HiE...maybe, lol. Since only us as readers actually came to the conclusion/realization about dashs grandmother I think it could definitely use those extra chapters. In the story Twi and Dash are still left empty hooved about any info on the grandmother or if she has anything to do with that "strange machine" ;) at all and it kinda didn't end for them. But I did have a question about something I noticed. Since the farm burned down and ponies from canterlot came out and checked the farm and put up spells and such...does anypony higher up ALSO possibly know about the mysterious Air Heart and the mystery machine, and learned of its secrets?? Duh duh duhhhhhhh!!!!!
Running a google search on NR16020 explained everything. Nice going. I liked this.
6335348 Here's a recipe.
6332450 It is Amelia Earhart
Amelia Airheart was Rainbow Dash's Grandma!
I now want a sequel!!! 
The only way anyone will find out what the numbers mean is if Twilight recognizes some of the plane's parts as designed for hands and similar appendages and asks Sunset Shimmer if there was such an object on Earth. Cue the Rainbooms freaking out that they know the end Amelia Airheart. Then human Rainbow freaks out because, by some universal shenanigans, she is also techinically related to Airheart.
6335027
Indeed. More thought to fledge this story out would have helped. That's why I was wary to read a story with the adventure tag that was a oneshot. I'm not saying it can't be done because I've seen it done, but adventure needs to be drawn out enough to FEEL like an adventure and end with the reader feeling like they've been on an adventure.
This is one of those stories that ends with a, "Oh, that's pretty cool." And that's it.