A Pony Displaced: Homeward

by NoLongerSober

Chapter 95 - A Leg to Stand On

Three days after the arrival of Sandstorm, Barrier and the others found themselves waiting in front of the train station alongside the desert pegasus. Her eyes were firmly locked on a clock that read that it was four minutes to noon.

“They should have been here five minutes ago,” Sandy muttered before she felt Gem place a heavily dressed foreleg on her shoulder.

“Relax, it’s not that big a deal,” Gem said with a smile that was obscured by her hood. “Once that’s done, we can get everypony into their hotel rooms, kicking back and enjoying pizzas.”

A loud whistling drew the attention of the pair. Looking down the tracks, they could see a red train pulling into the station.

“Well, speak of Tirek and he shall appear,” Gem said before she led the collection of ponies into the building. It took only a few minutes before the passengers started to disembark.

At first, there was no sign of the coming squads until Verdant exclaimed, “Over there!” and pointed towards the far end of the train, where they spotted a unicorn with a tricolored mane stepping on to the platform.

The mare’s coat was a light gray, a stark contrast to her mane and tail. Her mane was an assortment of red, orange and yellow while her flowing tail was green, blue and purple. Upon her flank was a twelve-pointed white and black star surrounded by six smaller stars with six points each.

“Hey, Prism! Over here!” Sandstorm shouted, grabbing the mare’s attention as she flew ahead of Barrier’s household.

“Glad to see you, Sandstorm,” Prism said before her horn glowed with rosy pink light as she plucked several bags from the train. “And you too, Squad Nine-Eight-Two.”

“It’s wonderful to see you in good health, Prismatic Radiance.” Swift offered a bow to the rainbow-maned unicorn before holding a hoof out to her.

“And to you as well.” Prism offered a warm smile as she grasped Swift’s foreleg and gently shook it. “I wish I could say we all escaped the empire as well as your team did.”

Before anypony could offer a retort, an annoyed shout came from within the train car. “Dammit, Father! I’m fine! I’m not made of glass!”

From the train car an athletic pegasus mare emerged into the air. Her coat matched the sky while her short and messy mane and tail were the color of clouds in a somewhat heavy spring storm. One thing that quickly caught the eye of several ponies in the crowd was how her left foreleg ended in a stub just below her knee.

“I meant no offense, my dear,” a gruff stallion’s voice said as he emerged from the train, revealing a second pegasus, this one with a pale bluish gray coat, a two-tone gray mane and unshorn fetlocks, revealing dark hooves. “I just don’t want to see you getting any more hurt after all you went through.”

“I believe she can handle herself here, Captain,” Barrier spoke up as he strolled over to the pegasus, drawing a smile from him as he stepped onto the platform. “This place is rather peaceful all things considered.”

“Ah, Barrier, you old dog,” he chuckled as the charcoal unicorn came up to his side. “It’s good to see the old dragon slayer once more. Or would you prefer the slayer of Sombra?” he cheerfully said, not seeing the wince from Barrier.

“I’d prefer just being referred to by my name, Javelin,” Barrier spoke with a hint of weariness and irritation in his tone. “Saying my experience with the dragon was unpleasant would be a great understatement and I don’t like that I had to mercy kill someone I considered a friend after they committed atrocities.”

“Ah, my apologies.” Lightning Javelin took an awkward step back from Barrier. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think… Ah, Fleetfeather. How have you been?”

“There have been ups and downs since my release from the empire,” the cyclopian mare replied before she slung a wing over Barrier’s back as Daring trotted up to their sides. “Wind Whistler’s been doing rather well, I’ve found new love in two wonderful ponies, and I’m starting to see the rest of our housemates as a sort of family.”

“That’s good to hear,” Javelin nodded and gave a warm smile. “After what we went through with the war and the empire, there’s nothing more valuable than family.” Just as he finished, Storm Cloud landed by his side, where she was quickly pulled into a tight hug.

“Dad…” Storm grumbled just before a chubby, pink-coated, violet maned bespectacled mare disembarked the train alongside a pegasus with short, messy brown hair.

“I wish one of my parents were here to do that,” the violet maned mare said as a chilly breeze blew through the station. “Or even Captain Longshot, hardass she is.”

“Sorry, Pen.” Storm Cloud pulled out from her father’s grasp and flew up beside her and patted her back with her foreleg.

“I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” Pen ‘N Paper sniffled as she pushed her glasses up.

“Remember, we’re sisters in arms and we’ll always be there for you,” the two-toned brown pegasus said with a high, squeaky voice that reminded Barrier of the pink devil.

Another two mares stepped off of the train. One was an earth pony with a light violet coat and a grape purple mane. The second was a creamy yellow unicorn with a puffy white mane and tail. To the surprise of Swift, the violet mare, Vin Rouge, seemed to be doing what she could to keep her distance from Storm Cloud, unlike Spicy Omelet, who seemed to be looking at her like an overprotective mother hen.

“Is… is there something wrong between—” As Swift’s eyes darted between Rouge and Storm, the brown pegasus, Fixer Upper, bolted to the unicorn’s side and pressed very close to her ear.

“Rouge confessed that she loves Storm last week, but Storm said she’s not interested in her that way, so things are pretty awkward between them right now,” Fixer whispered into the unicorn’s ear. “I wish I knew how to fix things up between them, but this isn’t a birdhouse or shelf or something… I just don’t know what to do besides just being there.”

“Hey, you’re blocking the way!” A gruff mare’s voice made the hairs on the back of Swiftsword’s neck stand up as her attention instantly shifted to the train entrance.

Floating above the group of Storm, Omelet, and Pen was a unicorn mare with a sickly green coat and a vibrant purple mane with a pale streak traveling down its center. Her horn was glowing with a nearly black aura that covered her hooves before she floated down by Prism. Her cutie mark was a black cauldron with a trio of purple bubbles rising up from it.

Swift gritted her teeth at the mare she saw as a bitter rival, a mare of a low standing that had managed to best her more times than she had cared to admit. She was the product of a noblemare having an affair with a gardener that she then tossed away to a far off orphanage. Despite this, she still managed to defeat a mare of noble standing with extensive formal training.

“Toil ‘N Trouble…” Swiftsword growled before a second unicorn appeared between Swift and Toil. This one had a silvery blue coat and a short, curly golden mane.

“Ladies, could you please not start a fight?” the silver mare asked as Toil shot a glare towards her rival.

The green and violet unicorn sighed before putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Fine, but I’m doing this for you, Hocus.”

“Ten bits says it’s gonna fall over.” A smooth mare’s voice spoke up, drawing Swift’s attention back towards the train’s entrance, where an earth pony with a short and rough reddish brown mane emerged onto the platform. Upon her flank was the image of a fan of red and black backed cards.

“Not a chance,” a second earth pony followed shortly behind, this one with a light violet coat and well-brushed, dark purple mane adorned with a scarlet band. Her flank was adorned with the image of a black-petaled tulip, but what drew the eye to her more than anything was the large stack of boxes taller than she was stacked upon her back. “I need my weight training after all that time in the hospital.”

“Five bits say she’ll make it to the hotel without spilling, Sharpy.” Following closely behind the earth pony was a bright yellow pegasus with a white muzzle. Her mane was jagged, looking like a wild campfire with its red and orange colors. Her cutie mark was five red peppers surrounded by a roaring fire.

“Card Sharp, Night Tulip, Hotstreak, fall in!” the silvery mare with the wand and star-adorned top hat on her flank called out. “I’d like to get us settled in as soon as possible.”

“You may want to lighten up, Hocus Pocus,” Barrier said as her squadmates quickly fell in beside her. “You're all civilians now and it may be best to try and put your time in the guard behind you.”

“Maybe,” Javelin said before his eyes fell upon Sandstorm. “So, are you all about ready to head to the hotel?”

“Sure thing,” Sandstorm cheerfully said before she hopped over to Hocus Pocus and slung a foreleg over her shoulder. “After that, we’ll be able to get some pizzas.”

“Y’know, it’d probably be a good idea to have somepony get the pizzas now while you go check in.” Daring quickly interjected before looking over her shoulder to the shamrock stallion behind her. “Verdant, how about you go get them along with cauldron butt over there? She looks like she might like checking out that potion shop on Happy Glow near Jungle Karma Pizza.”

“Cauldron butt?!” Toil asked somewhat incredulously at Daring’s remark before sighing. “Still, it’s been a while since I’ve studied up on potions and I could stand to stretch my legs. Come along, Verdant.”

“Sure thing,” the white muzzled stallion said before he started guiding the lime-colored unicorn out of the station.

“Think they’re gonna rut?” Swift’s ears perked as she heard Sandstorm whisper into Hocus’s ear. The silver mare winced and shuddered at the askance.

“No. Not in the slightest,” she quickly replied before she led Sandstorm to the entrance. “Now let's get out of this cold. Hopefully the hotel’s decent.”

***

In one of the hotel rooms, Storm Cloud lightly bounced on one of the two beds in the room as the rest of her squadmates, her father, Barrier and his housemates tried to fit themselves in.

“Hmm… I like it,” Storm said as she had one more light bounce. “Not cloud levels of soft, but not floor levels of hard. Just right.”

“So, how’ve you been holding up, Storm?” Hatty asked as he and Gem took spots in front of her bed.

“Better than when you kicked me in the wing,” she said through gritted teeth as she glared daggers at the purple pegasus. Just as he nervously swallowed, her grimace morphed into a grin that was accompanied by a chuckle. “I’m just messing with yah, I’m not bitter over that.

“Honestly, all things considered, it could be a lot worse.” Storm’s voice became quieter as she looked down at her stump. “I mean, yeah, losing a limb sucks, but I’m a lot more intact than a lot of the vets back at the hospital.”

“Y’know, it’s kinda surprising to see you’re all speaking pretty modernly,” Gem said from her spot by Hatty. “When Princess Luna visited Ponyville for Nightmare Night, her speech was still pretty old fashioned.”

“Eh, it’s probably because we get out more or talk to doctors and other patients,” Storm replied as she laid back on the bed. “I’d take any chance I could to get outta that hospital though. It just smelt way too… clean, y’know? I’d do stuff like fly around by the park, or visit some shops. You check out this place there called Donut Joe’s? It’s one of the few places without nobles with their noses so high, they’d drown if it’d rained.”

“Ah-hem,” Swift cleared her throat to draw the pegasus mare’s attention, only for Prismatic Radiance to come up to her side.

“Honestly, I agree with her assessment. Most of the nobles I had encountered were rather dreadful,” the rainbow maned unicorn said as she turned her gaze out the window to the city below. “Still, it was nice to hear how one rather rude prince had cake shoved into his face at the gala and some nobles were upset by a mare’s birthday party crashing one of their events.”

“Sadly, my assessment isn’t too dissimilar, Duchess,” Swift replied as she followed her gaze. “Not too many nobles I saw at the gala exemplified what I would find noble behavior. Still, at least there are a few… Do you… plan to return to Canterlot someday?”

“Frankly, I don’t know what I want in general.” Prism sighed as she looked out the window, where she saw some foals gleefully playing in the snow while their parents watched with smiles on their faces. “I was under my parents’ hooves for most of my life, constantly studying and practicing magic until I would exhaust myself, never granted a moment’s reprieve to play or to read a book not related to my studies. It was only when they tried to arrange a fiancee and a career for me that I decided to put my hoof down and say no… Admittedly, blasting down the wall that separated the dining room from the kitchen was a bit extreme, but I made my displeasure known.”

“I… Had no idea you felt that way, Prism,” Swift said as she looked away and uncomfortably adjusted her mane. “I knew other noble ponies tended to have stricter childhoods than commoners, but I had no idea that yours were that controlling.”

A sad chuckle emanated from Prism’s throat as she turned to look at Swift. “Did you know that when I first ate in the mess hall was the first time I’d tried things like apples and potatoes? That was truly a life changing experience. A mere apple slice and a spoonful of mashed potatoes let me feel free as the wind, Swiftsword.”

A gentle series of knocks came from the door, drawing everypony’s attention.

“Pizza delivery!” Verdant’s voice came from behind the doorway before the handle glowed in a rose light, allowing the shamrock stallion into the room, a stack of seven boxes on his back. “Also, I brought a guest you may want to speak to.”

As Verdant made his way through the bunch of ponies towards a table, a light blue mare with a short, jagged violet mane and green glasses followed in behind and went up to the bed Storm Cloud was on.

“Hello, Miss Storm Cloud, I was hoping I would see you,” the bespectacled mare said before she pulled the white saddlebags off her back and onto the floor. “I’m Dr. High Gear.”

“Ah, so you’re the one that’s gonna be setting me up with that fake leg,” Storm said as High Gear reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a tape tailors would use for measuring. “What’s with the tape? Do you really need to be that precise to give me a wooden peg or something?”

High Gear let out a chuckle before she picked up the tape with her hooves. “Oh, I’m doing a lot more than just giving you a wooden peg. Could you please hold out your right foreleg?”

With her eyebrow raised and muzzle slightly scrunched in confusion, Storm cloud did so.

“What I’m gonna do is give you something much better than some old fashioned wooden peg,” Gear answered as she wrapped the tape around Storm’s leg. “This new leg will be made of specially insulated, high impact materials, be waterproof so you can safely wash or swim in the ocean, and even have a bit of articulation so you’ll be able to move the hoof around more naturally.”

“Will… will it match my coat?” Storm scratched the back of her head with her wing as Gear measured from her knee to the tip of her hoof. ‘I’m not crazy about having a fake leg that really makes me stand out in a crowd.”

“It will once Color Splash is done with it,” the scientist mare replied before pulling back the tape, reaching into her bags once more and pulling out a notepad and pen. “Right. I should be able to have this made in a few days and then we can have the surgery to put it on. After that, you’ll probably need some time in physical therapy in order to adjust to the new leg. Possibly a few weeks.”

“That reminds me”, Gem said as she stood up and looked around at the various ponies of Squad 964. “Have you thought of getting yourselves a place to stay?”

“Not really, but then again, Canterlot tends to brush all of us the wrong way,” the plump pink pony with the purple ponytail near the table with the pizzas, Pen ‘N Paper, replied. “Are you proposing we stay in Vanhoover?”

“It’s something to consider,” Barrier said before turning to Lightning Javelin. “I know of a stigmatized property large enough. It’s unfurnished, but it’s naturally lower priced than most houses and is near a local vineyard.”

“Hmm… That does sound somewhat appealing,” Vin Rouge replied as Verdant handed her a slice of pizza. “Naturally, we’ll all need to discuss this.”

“Of course,” Barrier nodded as Swift’s magic grabbed several slices of pizza and handed them out amongst the visiting ponies. “Vanhoover’s a nice enough city and I find my time here to be pleasant. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your pizza.”

“It looks good, but I dunno.” Storm Cloud gave her slice a quick sniff before closing her eyes and taking a sizable bit. Once the flavors hit her tongue, her eyes shot open, looking practically starry.

“I’ve tasted the food of Elysium… and it is glorious…” She whispered before she tried to cram the rest of the slice into her mouth.

***

In an adjacent room of the hotel, five of the mares of Squad 973 were chatting amongst each other on the prospect of staying in Vanhoover.

“I’ve only been here for a few days, but this place has all sorts of great things in it,” Sandstorm said as she hovered near the ceiling alongside Hotstreak, giving the three on the ground a little more room. “It’s got all sorts of places for food, entertainment, medical supplies, and we already have friends here. I figure this place would feel a lot better than Canterlot.”

“I’m not so sure,” Hocus Pocus said as she squeezed a pillow against her chest. “I’m not sure I’d want to live in a different city than Prism…”

“I’m sure that Barrier’s squad’s making the same kind of pitch to her,” Card Sharp said as with a flick of her hoof, she seemed to make a fan of cards appear from nowhere. “Good odds say she’d say something similar about this place.”

“Another issue would be finding jobs,” Night Tulip said as she paced around the room, a hoof rested upon her chin. “I don’t just want to live off our back payments forever. It just doesn’t seem right.”

“I figure that won’t be too big of a problem,” Sandstorm replied, floating down to look the purple mare in her orange eyes. “Gem works at her cousin’s orchard while Hatty’s got a job as a party magician, Forge’s a smith, Verdant works in a flower shop and Swift works at a restaurant. I figure we could all get stuff we’d be comfortable with.”

Hotstreak hummed and brought a hoof to her chin as a knock came from the door.

“Hey girls! I got the pizza!” Toil ‘N Trouble’s voice said from behind the door. In an instant, Hotstreak zipped down to the ground and opened the door, the breeze from her movements jostling the bedsheets.

“Great to hear, Toil. How was the trip through town?” Sandstorm asked as she and Hotstreak fluttered over to one of the beds, the former’s hooves eagerly shuffling about as her eyes were locked on the six pizza boxes in Toil’s aura.

“Save for the cold, pretty good,” Toil replied as she placed the stack on a table. “The potion shop looked nice and I met Verdant’s girlfriend. Turns out, to my surprise, she’s a griffin.”

“Really?” Card Sharp said with her brow raised, giving Toil a look that screamed ‘Are you stupid?’. “His letters said her name was Erica, and you’re surprised.”

“Yeah, I know, I realized how dumb it sounded when I said that outloud, but I thought she was named after the flower genus. Still, she seems nice,” Toil replied as her magic opened one of the pizza boxes. “Hocus, could you give me a hoof passing these out?”

“Sure thing.” In a flash of violet light, Hocus Pocus was at Toil’s side. As she grabbed three slices of the pizza and floated two over to Hotstreak and Card Sharp before leaning closely to Toil’s ear.

“Did you tell Erica you’re—” she started to whisper.

“Yeah, I did,” Toil quietly answered back as she grabbed her own slice and tossed two over to Tulip and Sandstorm. “I figure with what Verdant said about her, she can keep our secret.”

Author's Note:

Alticron: This was quite the reunion, wasn't it, folks? Hope you enjoyed seeing these guys back from the contest of cadets. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while. (Heck, I think I even wrote that chapter before this one)

And since Lightning Javelin is a new pony, we get a pic of him here.

Hope you get prepped for surgery next time.

In the meantime, have a happy holidays from everyone here.

Comments

[Chaos Phantasm]

A nice chapter with lots of neat interactions. Apples and potatoes, not what I'd call a palatable meal combination. Potatoes are Starched Apples!