Talons of the Storm

by Storm Talon

Chapter 14: The Sleepover

Having Pinkie Pie and Discord in the same room was tiring, to say the least. Fluttershy just hoped Discord cleaned up after both of them. Fluttershy decided to take Talon to his room, setting his unconscious body down among the pillows in his basket.

Fluttershy heard more knocking as she came down the stairs, followed by Discord shouting “I'll get it!” And a girly shriek of surprise. Fluttershy hurried down the stairs, intent on keeping Discord from doing too much to the poor mare who had come calling.

As she entered the living room, she saw Discord and Pinkie struggling to hold back chuckles, titters, guffaw, chortles, and other assorted sounds of amusement. She then saw the unfortunate stallion currently rolled up in the welcome mat as he inched his way into the room.

“Oh my, was that you, Emerald?”

“I-I uh...” Emerald turned an odd shade of maroon as he lay on the floor. “Yeah.”

Pinkie failed to contain her laughter at that moment, followed quickly by Discord. Fluttershy unrolled Emerald cut and he stood up as they rolled on the floor, roaring in laughter.

Emerald coughed gently into his fetlock, turning to face Fluttershy. “Thank you Fluttershy. myself and Day Break were informed that we needed to increase security for Talon.”

“Where is... oh.” Fluttershy stopped as she realized that there was laughter coming from outside as well.

“Heehee... sorry, that, heh, I just...” Day Break wiped a tear from her eye as she leaned on the doorway. “Heheh, we really do need to talk, just heehee give me a minute...” She took a deep breath, straightening her posture as she did so.

“Alright, so apparently, Princess Twilight has put the guards stationed here on alert. Something to do with a jailbreak and a prisoner who might try to go after Talon, so we're supposed to tighten security here.”

“I think,” Discord began, floating in midair as his arms stretched to pull all of the ponies in close, “That this calls for a sleepover, wouldn't you say, Fluttershy?”

“Why-” Fluttershy was interrupted by the sound of Discord's tail snapping, leaving the five of them laying in sleeping bags arranged in a semicircle, Talon's basket propped against the corner nearby. Everypony was wearing comfortable-looking pajamas. Emerald frowned at his pajamas, which consisted of a hamster-eared onesie, complete with face paint. He looked over to Day Break, who shrugged and sipped on the cocoa that had appeared in her hooves.

“Why, you ask, Fluttershy? Does it get much safer than with me, you, Pinkie, and some of Celestia's finest guards staying nearby?”

Fluttershy hid behind her mane as she smiled softly. “Thanks, Discord.”

“Yeah, thanks Discord! This'll be so much fun! I haven’t had a sleepover in ages!” Pinkie sat on top of her sleeping bag, bobbing back and forth in excitement.

---

“In retrospect, agreeing to a game of truth or dare was a bad idea,” Emerald thought as he licked the cactus. “Especially with Discord.”

“Awwight,” He began, his tongue still stinging as the cactus disappeared with a flash. “I chooth Day Bweak.”

Day Break chuckled at him, glancing to where Angel fluttered nearby on his new wings next to where Fluttershy was sitting in a tub filled with strawberries. Discord had enable the dares to get out of hoof quickly, and it turned out that Fluttershy was very good at asking questions nopony wanted to answer. He wasn't even sure how Angel had gotten involved. “Okay, truth.”

“Weawwy?”

Day snickered.“Yeah, why not? Anything you can ask'll probably be safer than a dare.”

“Hmmm...” Emerald tapped his chin with a hoof in thought. “Tew uth youw motht embawwathing thtory.”

Day took a few moments to compose herself and figure out what Emerald had said. “My most embarrassing story, huh? Are you sure?” Emerald nodded, his confident look marred by his swollen tongue. “Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you.”

---

“And that's how my first coltfriend got kicked out of the guard. I'm kinda surprised he didn't get banished or something, actually. Anyway, I joined up later, but it took them so long to clean up the mess that it still came up when I applied.” Day Break was too entertained by the reactions of her companions to be more than slightly embarrassed.

Around her, Pinkie and Discord were both laughing hysterically, while Emerald and Fluttershy were holding a sudden contest to see who could blush the hardest. “When you... and then he... oh, what I would give to see the look on Celestia's face when she went for breakfast!” Discord choked out before literally dissolving into giggles.

Fluttershy cleared her throat, hiding as much of her face as she could behind her mane. “I, um, I'm glad Talon wasn't awake for that.”

Day chuckled to herself. “Yeah, can you imagine how much trouble I'd get in if he told the other foals about that?”

Emerald laughed as his blush died down somewhat, his tongue mostly back to normal. “Yeah, I'd pay money to see your face if-”

They all turned with horror to the sudden sound of a sneeze to see a small hole burned into the side of Talon's basket, which Talon was now sticking his head out of. “Sorry!”

Fluttershy stared, eyes wide. “Talon, how much of that did you hear?”

“What?” Talon sniffled and blinked groggily. “I wake when sneeze.”

The look of absolute panic on Day's face turned to relief. “Oh, thank Celestia!” she exclaimed as she keeled over.

Fluttershy did her best to explain to Talon why Emerald was laughing so hard while his partner had fainted. Eventually she got him to go back to sleep with a promise of a new basket. “Maybe we should get to bed as well,” she said, looking around the group as Day slowly came back to consciousness.

---

“So, you brought him in?”

Captain Burst nodded. “Yes, Princess Twilight. I'm just glad he didn't try anything sooner. We've seen him around town, and his disguise is so transparent it's embarrassing; we just didn't know what to look out for.”

“Yes, it's fortunate that he didn't. Where are you holding him?”

“We have him in custody at the Ponyville jail. We thought that we'd let you question him first, see if a Princess can get him to open up more easily than a guard.”

“Alright,” Twilight stated as her horn lit up, and suddenly they were at the jailhouse. “Let's get this over with.”

Show stood rapidly before bowing. “Princess thank goodness you're here! Can you tell me what's going on? The guards are acting as if I murdered somepony, but they won't tell me anything.”

Twilight jabbed a hoof toward the cell. “Drop it, Show Stealer, you're not fooling anypony. We know you escaped from Canterlot jail.”

A confused look passed over his expression. “Show Stealer? No, I'm Show Stopper. Show Stealer was my brother, but I haven't seen him for- did you say jail?”

The captain nodded as Show's face shifted from confused, to surprised, to... happy?

“He's alive?”

---

Show Stopper sat forlornly on one of the chairs around Twilight's main table. After Twilight verified that he wasn't lying, he was been quickly released from custody, but had gone with Twilight at her request to answer some questions.

Twilight sat across from him, staring into her tea as Shield Burst sat silently to one side. “We're sorry again for all the trouble, Show Stopper.”

“It's not a big deal, Princess. Me and my brother always did look alike. When that accident happened all those years ago, I thought he had died. Something must have happened to him, though. Those things you said he did, I just... He was never that cruel. Especially that poor colt, I mean...”

He trailed off as a tear slid down his face before he felt a hoof on his shoulder. “We're doing everything we can to help him.” Twilight looked aside and bit her lip. “If you could tell us anything about that accident, it might help us figure something out.”

He took a few deep breaths before nodding slightly. “Okay, well, we were near the east side of Griffony, traveling with a troupe of performers, when we were stopped by these dragons...”

---

“So, let me get this straight.” Twilight looked up from the parchment she had been taking notes on. “The griffon guards just... left?”

“Yeah. After that we just scattered. I was lucky to make it out. I've only ever seen one of the troupe members again, but apparently most of them made it out. I hadn't heard anything about Stealer making it out, so I just assumed...” Show Stopper hung his head. “I mean, we always knew the gypsies in the troupe were pretty slippery, and the griffons could get away on their own. Me and Stealer, though, were just jugglers back then. If I'd known, maybe...”

“Hey.” He turned his eyes upward to see Twilight smiling gently at him. “Don't beat yourself up about it. There wasn't any way you could have known.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Stopper sniffed as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “Look at me, what would my crew think?”

“I'm sure that they would be glad you're getting this off of your chest.”

“Yeah, probably. Say, speaking of my crew, do you know that pink mare I've been seeing around town? I wanted to see if she could teach my acrobats some new tricks.”

Twilight looked at him incredulously. “Pink? You mean Pinkie Pie?”

“Maybe? She's all pink with this really poofy mane and tail.”

“That's definitely Pinkie Pie, ” Twilight confirmed with a smile. “She's Ponyville's party planner.”

“I'd still like to know if she could teach my crew any tricks. Some of what she does is pretty great.”

---

Emerald was woken by a steady set of knocks on the front door. Grumbling, he stumbled toward the door. Yawning, he opened it to find Rarity standing just outside with her saddlebags.

“Oh! You're certainly not Fluttershy.”

Emerald looked over himself before turning back to her. The pajamas were gone, but so was his armor. “Uh... yep. Definitely not. Sorry, we were all up pretty late.” As if to punctuate his statement, he yawned once more, covering it with a hoof.

“Oh, well, I was just going to ask Fluttershy if she wanted to join me and the girls at the spa, but if she has guests I'd hate to intrude.”

“Oh, well, we're not exactly... guests. Well, Discord is, I didn't even know he could sleep...” Emerald trailed off, noticing the scrutinizing look on Rarity's face.

“Emerald Cut? Is that you? I'm sorry I didn't recognize you , but I've simply never seen you without your armor. Or in Fluttershy's house, for that matter.”

Emerald rubbed his mane with his hoof, hoping it might make it slightly less unruly. “Oh, well, we were told to tighten security around Talon and sort of... got invited to a sleepover by Discord. Forcibly.”

“Well, you, Discord and Day Break would be more than welcome to come along.” She paused, looking over his mane. “You look like you could use a good spa day, to be honest.”

“Okay, well, I'll see if any of the others are awake. Come in, I guess?”

---

The others had woken up and were starting to eat breakfast by the time Emerald led Rarity inside. Talon was halfway through a bowl of berries and yogurt as the others enjoyed heaps of haycakes, Discord wielding a spatula and wearing a batter-covered apron.

“Ah, my favorite diva dress designer! What brings you here? Haycakes?” Discord's smile widened as a plates animated themselves and ran on spindly legs to where Rarity and Emerald had seated themselves around the table. Chasing after them was the pitcher of syrup, roaring with what sounded like a gargle as it caught one of the plates and ate it, only to spit it out a moment later with perfectly drizzled syrup. Emerald shrugged and grabbed a fork in his telekinesis.

Rarity held up a hoof. “Thank you, Discord, but I already had breakfast, and a figure like mine doesn't come without a little sacrifice. Perhaps later?” She turned to Fluttershy, tossing her mane back with a hoof. “Me and the girls were going to have a spa day, and we were wondering if you might like to join us, darling. Your guests would be welcome to come along, of course.”

Fluttershy swallowed her current mouthful of haycakes. “I'd love to, Rarity. Would you all like to come along?”

Discord turned around as he tossed the remaining haycakes out the window, resulting in a muffled explosion. “How could I refuse with company this entertaining?”

---

As the motley group approached the spa, Emerald sighed and turned to look at Day Break trotting next to him. “You know Day, I don't know how you talked me into this.”

“Oh come on,” Day Break replied, rolling her eyes. “You know you'd have to come along anyway. We're Talon's personal guards now, remember?”

“Yeah, but how exactly did you all manage to convince me to let Miss Rarity order a treatment for me?” He looked over to where the mare in question was eagerly pointing out several options to a giggling Aloe. He sighed as he stepped inside. “Might as well get this over with.”

“Oh, and he'll definitely need one of those, he'll feel like a new stallion afterword.” Rarity turned to look at him with a broad smile as he approached. “There you are darling. I just know you'll love this.”

Aloe couldn't keep the grin off her face. “Oh, it's been too long since we had somepony order this. Crystal ponies don't come to Ponyville all that often.”

Emerald cringed. “What exactly did she sign me up for?”

Aloe just giggled more as she led him into another room. “Oh, you'll see, silly. I think you'll enjoy it, really. ”

Author's Note:

Torturing Emerald Cut for fun and profit.

Also, if you saw the plot twist coming, please form an orderly line for your internet cookies.