Order-naries: Storm-chased

by CTVulpin

1. Late to the Party

Two mirrors stood on opposite sides of an otherwise empty room near the heart of Princess Twilight’s castle in Ponyville. One mirror had a purple frame shaped like an elongated horseshoe and was further encased by a machine of eclectic construction. The other had a more modest-looking frame of Zap Apple wood wrapped in gold and copper wires and dozens of gems in a range of sizes and colors. As different as the mirrors appeared, they had a similar purpose in common: each was actually a portal to another universe. Twilight kept them together in this room so they would be out of sight of the general populous so ponies would not wander into strange and potentially dangerous realities unprepared.

On this particular day, a note had been stuck to the glass of the second mirror, at about the height of a pony reared back on its hind legs. The note remained put as the gems on the frame began to glow and the glass rippled, at least until an ash-grey unicorn stallion with a red and orange, flame-styled mane and wearing a necklace made of gemstones strung together with gold and copper wire in arcane patterns began to emerge through the mirror, walking on his hind legs. The note stuck to his face as he came through, startling him into losing his balance and rolling to the side.

“Skvetch,” the stallion swore, pawing at his face until the note transferred to his hoof.

Four more ponies emerged from the mirror one at a time, each landing on all fours with much more decorum than the first. They were a golden-yellow unicorn pegasus mare with a short brown mane, a unicorn stallion of matching colors, a brown earth pony mare with a messy mud-brown mane, and finally a turquoise pegasus mare with russet mane and a curiously dog-like tail. They all looked bemusedly at the grey unicorn as he got to his hooves and glared at the note.

“What do you have there, Ash?” asked Gold Heart, the yellow pegasus.

“Somebody’s idea of a prank,” Ashen Blaze replied. “Some dragon’s, I should say, judging by the signature. ‘Hey Order-naries,’” he read, “‘If you’re reading this, then everypony’s probably in Canterlot already. Better shake a leg if you don’t want to miss the Friendship Festival.’ Signed, Spike.”

The brown pony, Gale, rolled her eyes. “I knew it,” she said, “I knew we were running late. Great job, Ash.”

Ash shook the note off his hoof and snorted. “I’m sorry,” he said, “It’s not like I planned to find that lousy Nipponese Grudge-ghost in my shower this morning!” he said.

“Yeah,” said Soul Mage, the yellow unicorn, “and you can’t leave those things uncontained. How late could we be, anyway?”

“It took us forty-five minutes just to wrangle the thing into a closet,” Gale said. “And that’s not counting having to then drive to Samantha’s house and pick her up and then get back to my place and open the portal.”

Gold Heart cleared her throat and gestured pointedly to the door with a wing. “Perhaps we could be walking while having this discussion?” she said. Gale coughed into a hoof and nodded with an embarrassed look, and Soul took the lead as the group filed out of the room and headed for the castle’s entryway.

“Say,” the turquoise pegasus, who was known as Samantha Smith on the other side of the mirror portal, spoke up, “I almost forgot to ask this, but, do I get a pony code-name like the four of you?”

“I didn’t know you wanted one, Sam,” Ash said, giving her a sideways look.

“Well, that’s the thing here, isn’t it?” Sam asked. “When you step into this world and change from human to magical talking horse, you take a new name to go with the change, right?”

“Not… exactly,” Soul said. “The ‘codename’ bit came from when we dropped into another magical pony world earlier in the Tau’rin Chain and the locals couldn’t seem to wrap their minds around names like ‘Ray,’ ‘Rachelle,’ and ‘Carmilla.’ Come to think of it, ‘Ashen Blaze’ wasn’t an easy sell either, but the Meis of Stubbornness there decided to tough it out.” Ash snorted and rolled his eyes, but a small smile gave lie to his apparent irritation. “Then when we wound up here,” Soul continued, “we used the pony names again to try and sidestep any awkwardness. By the time we figured out that wasn’t necessary, though, the names had stuck.”

Sam tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. “Still,” she said, “it doesn’t seem right not to have a pony name…”

“No one’s stopping you,” Ash pointed out. “Just, try to pick one out before we get to Canterlot, all right?”

“No problem,” Sam said with confidence. A few seconds later, however, she got a sheepish look and asked, “Any suggestions?”

“Wolfy,” Soul Mage said quickly. Everypony gave him a flat look. “How about Lady Lupine?”

“No,” Samantha said.

Soul’s eyes started to glint with mischief. “Wolfette,” he suggested, grinning.

“No,” Sam said, sharply.

“Lupony.”

“Soul,” Sam said, clearly irritated.

Undaunted, Soul pressed on with, “Occasional Doggo.”

“Ray M’Dale,” Samantha snapped, baring a set of oddly sharp teeth, “so help me, if you don’t make a serious suggestion or shut up, I will bite you and we’ll find out if lycanthropy is transmittable in this universe!”

Soul’s cheeky grin didn’t waver, although he did draw a hoof across his mouth in a zipping motion.

When the group reached the front doors, they found another note taped to the door and a pouch of money on a small table nearby. Heart grabbed the note and read it: “Dear Order-naries and friends, I’ve ordered the skies over Canterlot remain clear because of all the fireworks and aerial shows we have planned for the festival. That means you’ll have to take the train, so I’ve left you bits for tickets. Hopefully it’s enough, but if not, feel free to leverage our connection to cover the shortfall. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.”

“We are bringing that note with us,” Ash said as he grabbed the money pouch in his magic. “Having a princess’s permission to name-drop her in writing will make for a short argument, if it comes to that.” He opened the pouch and looked inside. “Not that that’s likely,” he said.

“Hey,” Gale said, picking up something that had been under the pouch, “this looks like a train schedule. Let’s see…” She scanned down the list quickly, and then looked around for a clock. Finding one, she did some quick calculations, and then headed for the door at a brisk trot. “Move your flanks, ponies,” she said. “Next train to Canterlot leaves in twenty minutes!”

---

Fifteen minutes later, the five ponies arrived at the train platform to find a six-car train waiting there. Ash, the twins, and Sam started toward the ticket window, but something caught Gale’s attention and drew her toward the engine. As she neared the engine, she realized what was bugging her: the train was silent. There was no bell ringing to alert would-be passengers of the looming departure time, no low rumble of pressurized steam in the boiler, and none of the other small, persistent sounds of an idling steam-powered locomotive. The presence of two earth ponies, one grey with a brown mane and dressed in a train conductor’s uniform and other dusty green and wearing an outfit befitting an engineer, putting their heads together over one of the drive-pistons, all but confirmed Gale’s suspicion that the train was broken.

Holding in a sigh, Gale stepped right up next to the two ponies and examined the piston herself. “What seems to be the problem here, gentle-colts?” she asked.

“Ah,” the conductor said, quickly masking his surprise at Gale’s intrusion, “our apologies ma’am, but I’m afraid there’s going to be a bit of a delay in departing.”

“I figured that much,” Gale deadpanned. She leaned her head even closer to the engine and started poking about with a hoof. “That’s why I asked what the problem was. Leaky seal in the piston? Lost a bolt somewhere? Wait…” she grasped the drive-shaft linking the piston to the wheels and managed to jiggle it a little without much effort. “Oh yeah,” she said. “That’s just itching to come completely off at the worst time. If you’ve got some basic tools and spare nuts and bolts, I can fix it up and get us on our way no more than ten minutes behind schedule.”

“I’m sorry,” the conductor said, “but, who are you? We can’t just let any pony fiddle with our engine, Miss.”

Sam had wandered over in time to catch the question, and she provided the answer before Gale could respond for herself. “She’s Gale, of the Order-naries,” the pegasus said, “and a master mechanic to boot. Note the cutie mark.” She pointed to the wrench on Gale’s flank.

The conductor and engineer both looked at Gale’s cutie mark, and then at each other. “That certainly does give her claim some merit, Iron Horse,” the Engineer said.

“I guess it does, Coal Hob,” the conductor replied. Coal Hob climbed up into the engine and emerged a minute later with a toolbox in his mouth. “All right, Gale,” Iron Horse said, nodding at her, “let’s see what you’ve got.”

Gale gave a nod of gratitude to Sam, and, as Coal Hob set the toolbox down on the ground, turned her full attention to her task.

---

A little over eight minutes later, Gale joined the rest of the group in the first train car and flopped on her back onto a seat with a satisfied grunt. “Well, it’s not perfect,” she declared, “but I can guarantee this train won’t be falling apart on us today.”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Do my ears deceive me,” he said, “or did you just admit to stopping short of perfection in a repair job?”

Gale lifted her head and gave Ash a glare. “I don’t have the tools – or the time – to try and fix the problem any better than I did,” she said. “And what I did is more than good enough for the train to get to Canterlot and then to a yard for a full repair.”

“I’m just a little surprised we didn’t have to stop you from dismantling the engine to fix a faulty spring or something,” Ash said.

Gale sat upright. “I have not tranced out that bad in years, Ash,” she snapped, “and you know it!”

Gold Heart let out a long, frustrated growl that grabbed everypony’s attention. “Need I remind you all of the theme of the festival we’re heading toward?” she asked through gritted teeth as she stepped between Ash and Gale’s seats.

“Friendship?” Soul offered cautiously.

“Exactly,” Heart said. “So, although we’re all a little grumpy at running late, it’s time we stopped biting each other’s heads off! Lest we give all the ponies a bad first impression of our friendship.” She leveled a hard look at Ash, Gale, Soul, and Sam in turn, causing each to rethink making a comment in their defense.

“You’re right, Heart,” Gale said at length. “We all know Soul has a sharp wit that won’t quit, and Ash and I only take digs at each other to keep our egos in check, but strangers won’t understand that. And since I’ve been the crankiest of us all, I’ll be the first to apologize. Sorry, Ash, for blaming you for something out of your control.”

“I’m sorry for going a little too far a minute ago,” Ash responded. “You did a great job fixing the train so fast.”

“Sam,” Soul said, “I’m sorry I pushed your wolf button too many time in a row.”

“Hmph,” Sam said with a superior air. “I don’t think I have an apology to offer. I was just reacting to your tease, after all.”

“You threatened to bite me,” Soul countered.

“You pushed my buttons!”

“I just apologized for that.”

“Oi!” Heart shouted, glancing between her brother and turquoise friend.

Soul and Sam shared a look and said, at the same time, “Truce,” then shared a smile. Gold Heart sighed.

---

The train chugged its way up the mountain toward Canterlot at a quick but steady pace. Most of the Order-naries had settled in for the ride, meditating or watching the scenery rush by, but Sam was resisting the urge to bite through the pencil gripped in her mouth as she glared at the pad of paper resting in front of her. She lowered her head to bring pencil to paper and started to write, but the lead snapped, and she spat the pencil out in frustration. “You guys are certain this how ponies write things?” she asked.

“Earth ponies and pegasi at least,” Soul said, getting out of his seat slowly. “And young unicorns that haven’t mastered levitation spells yet,” he added as he reached Sam’s seat and looked at her paper. “Nice scribbles,” he said.

“I was trying to jot down ideas for my pony code-name,” Sam grumbled. “But… seriously, with my mouth?”

“Never underestimate the dexterity of Equestria ponies,” Gale said.

Sam’s eyes traced the path her pencil had taken when she’d spat it away and spotted it under the seat across the aisle from hers. “Feh,” she said, “some journalist I’ll be if I can’t take notes on this festival.”

Ash looked up from his meditation. “You were planning an article on the Friendship Festival?” he asked, confused. “Where would you publish it? Even the Unseen Happenings doesn’t concern itself with news that happens outside our own universe.”

“I’ll have you know,” Sam said, “I’ve been stockpiling every story about Equestria I’ve been able to squeeze out of the four of you. All for my own amusement, I swear,” she added when Ash and Gale both gave her scathing looks. “From what little I’ve seen of this world so far, I already understand why you don’t want all of Taryn knowing how to get here and turning it into a tourist destination or something.”

“I also appreciate not having tons of people queued up in my backyard to use the portal,” Gale said pointedly.

“Oh!” Soul said suddenly, “Sam! I just came up with a name idea.”

“Really,” Sam said, suspicious.

“This one’s a serious suggestion,” Soul said, waving a hoof. “But, uh, it might sound silly at first blush. Keep in mind, we know of ponies who, in all earnestness, go by things like ‘Ditzy Doo’ and ‘Fancy Pants.’”

“Not to mention our good conductor on this train,” Gale added, “Iron Horse.”

Soul did a double-take. “Yes, thank you, Gale,” he said after a moment.

Sam propped her head up on a hoof and gestured at Soul with a wing. “Go on, then,” she said.

“Looping Lines,” Soul declared. “‘Loopy’ for short, if you can stand that.”

The turquoise pegasus mulled the idea over for a short while. “Fair,” she said, “but you just couldn’t resist slipping a wolf pun in, could you, Soul?”

Soul Mage cocked his head in confusion. “I what?”

“Loopy sounds just like Lupé, which in turn is not too far from ‘lupine,’ and thus wolf,” Sam said.

Soul pointed a hoof at Sam. “You made that connection, not me,” he said. “And it’s one too many steps removed to be a proper pun anyway.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say,” she said. “Still, it is better than anything I’ve come up with. Call me Looping Lines.”

The door at the back of the car slid open and Iron Horse walked in with a troubled look on his face. “Excuse me, folks,” he said, “but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to stop at Canterlot today.”

“Whyever not?” Ash asked as everypony looked at the conductor with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“Well…” Iron said nervously. “I just got word through… our semaphore that there’s trouble brewing in the city and it might be best to just run straight on through without stopping at the station.”

“What sort of trouble?” Ash pressed, while Heart and Soul went to the windows to try and see if they could see anything.

“Remind me, brother,” Heart said, “but didn’t Twilight’s note say something about keeping the skies clear over Canterlot?”

“It did, dear sister,” Soul replied, grimly.

“Details, please, oh cagey pair,” Gale said.

The twins looked at the rest of the group and pointed out the window in unison. “Angry dark clouds,” Soul said. “The kind of weather that never portends good for the ol’ city.”

“Zeppelins too,” Heart added. “Dark and armored, and probably armed to boot.”

Ash, Gale, and the newly-dubbed Looping Lines crowded to the windows to see for themselves. “Yep,” Ash said, “that’s not a pony party atmosphere at all.” He turned to Iron Horse and said, “Conductor, we are definitely getting off at Canterlot.”

“You want to go into that?” Iron Horse asked, incredulous, “On purpose?! Who are you ponies?”

“I’m pretty sure I told you earlier,” Loopy answered. “You’re looking at the Order-naries: Ashen Blaze, Gold Heart, Soul Mage, and Gale. Had a hoof in saving Equestria on at least a couple of occasions, I believe.”

The conductor looked at each member of the group with confusion for a few seconds, but then his eyes went wide and his ears stiffened. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “Right, you were all involved in defeating the Changelings at Chr- er, the second invasion!”

“We played a small part during the first one too,” Ash said dully, “but whatever. You know us now, right? We’re the kind of pony that runs into danger, not from it.”

Iron Horse nodded, a look of sudden determination in his eyes. “Right,” he said, “I’ll go tell Coal Hob to stop at Canterlot Station.”

Comments

[ConsciousHaze196]

“Zeppelins too,” Heart added.

It's good that they weren't caught unaware by that, considering how often ponies get surprise attacks in the episodes.

[CTVulpin]

8503493
The Order-naries are an observant bunch by nature, and that's been honed by years of mercenary work.