Chapter 25 - Aftermath of the Exam
When you all re-entered the lobby, Spitfire took you aside as she barked an order at Rainbow Dash “Dash! Make sure she’s alright, check for any injuries or burns.”
Rainbow Dash did a salute “Yes, ma’am!” And went to work on checking on Scootaloo very thoroughly for any injuries, cuts, or burns. “Scootaloo, I really gotta tell ya, you had me scared there for a second. You too, Anon. I mean, holy cow! That whole thing just came crashing down! That totally wasn’t supposed to happen, right?” Rainbow Dash said as she carefully inspected her.
Spitfire firmly slid her hooves along your coat as she carefully inspected you for injuries. You did your best not to blush from the attention she was giving you, especially since she was being slow and thorough, even along your rump. “No, that wasn’t supposed to happen at all! I told her! I told her six ways to Cloudsdale that it was going to come out shoddy! Two foals! Two foals in the line of danger and I couldn’t even get out of my seat to do anything about it! Ngh…” Spitfire tensed for a moment “All this under my watch and I let it get this bad. I swear I was trying to get up, but I just couldn’t.” You could feel in her voice that she was upset about the whole thing.
She was right about that as far as Discord is concerned. And that hesitation in her voice, she clearly cared about the well being of you and Scootaloo. You actually felt pretty bad about it considering you were mostly in the know about what really happened. “Hey, it’s alright. Me and Scoots got out ok, so that's all that matters. Besides, that last bit must have looked really cool! The audience thought so anyway, at least.” You say in a cheery way as you let Spitfire inspect your hooves.
“Yeah, it was… Pretty cool.” Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, then started to gush as she looked into Scootaloo’s eyes “Like that part where you caught Anon at the last second! That was super rad, it’s really rare to see ponies with reflexes like that!”
Scootaloo was enamored that Rainbow Dash found anything she did impressive. Though by her slight awkwardness, it was easy to tell that she was remembering that it was mostly anticipation of your failure rather than reflex, but she went with Rainbow’s words anyway. “Y-You think so? I-I mean, heh…” She gave an arrogant little smirk as her pride set in her mind “it’s why I was running the course in the first place, right? Because I’m that good, right?” Scootaloo wagged her tail as she awaited her goddess' answer.
Rainbow Dash gave her a gentle pat as she giggled with pride “Heck yeah! And you don’t have a single injury on you!” Rainbow Dash removes her helmet, and gently pats her head “You’re the raddest filly there is, Scootaloo. Considering what just happened, you and Anon more than passed. Ain’t that right, Captain Spitfire?” She looks to her for approval, and only saw a half-hearted acceptance as she continued to inspect you.
“Dash…” Spitfire sighed, then gave a small smile “Ok, fine, I admit that this is really beyond the beyonds in terms of performance. But stay serious, alright? Hmmm…” She then notices the small burn marks on the frogs of your hooves, and a few you hadn’t noticed on your forelegs as well. “Nothing major. Amazing, considering how bad this could have been. But there’s still the head…” Spitfire removes your helmet and tosses it aside as she checks for burns or wounds. Remarkably, or perhaps not as remarkably when it comes to you, you lacked any burns or visible injuries. After her examination, Spitfire sighs and falls back on her butt as she wipes her brow. “He’s alright, thank Celestia. How’s the squirt, Dash?”
“A-ok over here. Then again, I didn’t have any doubt.” Rainbow Dash says as she gives a hoof bump to Scootaloo.
“Good…” Spitfire gets up, and gently wipes at her shirt as she makes a serious face. “Everything seems to be in order then. Might as well get this stupid little show over with. I’m gonna go out there, make a couple of announcements, then you bring them back out, we award them, and we put this all behind us and never EVER make this kind of mistake again.” Spitfire was truly aggravated, even when she put on her sunglasses, she was still visibly irked. “Ugh, I shouldn’t have accepted that donation, even if it really helped. Wasn’t worth nearly losing two foals. I can’t even complain, it really is my fault…” She muttered to herself.
Poor Spitfire, she was really being hard on herself. Even as you reach your hoof out to say something, you couldn’t actually think of anything to say to help cheer her up as she left. So you turn to Rainbow Dash, and ask her. “Is she gonna be ok?”
“Captain Spitfire? Yeah, she will. She’s really tough, you know? I can tell you this though, this kind of exam ain’t ever happening again on her watch. Thinking about it now, I can agree with her. Don’t get me wrong, you two were awesome! But… ngh…” Rainbow Dash began to hesitate again, her ears drooping as a horrible thought entered her mind.
“Rainbow Dash, did you think we were going to get hurt?” Scootaloo asked as she noticed Rainbow’s disheartened state. She then gave her an adorably huge smile “Come on! It’s us! We had it in the bag the whole time!”
“Yeah… I-I guess you did.” With the excitement over and Rainbow Dash taking in Spitfire’s own lament, she realized things really could have gone badly for the both of you. This realization made her more fearful than prideful now, thus causing her to silently join in on Spitfire’s notion of never doing something as ridiculous as this again. “Totally d-did. B-but I knew that…” Rainbow Dash takes a breath, and goes to a hanging saddle bag, your saddle bag to be exact. She takes it, and passes it over to you “There you go, Anon. The horn is inside, safe and sound.”
“Thanks” You say as you put the bag down and sift for your horn. “So uh, where’s Babs?”
“She probably went to join up with the others.” Scootaloo guessed as she looked at you with a great big grin “Anon, you gotta teach me how to break metal pipes like that. I didn’t even know heads could get that strong! What’s your secret?”
You winced at that. Even if she was genuinely curious, it still only reminded you that your head is only that good after going through a whole bunch of painful smacks. “Er, I guess you could try smashing your head on the ground fifty times a day, that’d probably work. D-did wonders for me.”
Scootaloo’s grin slowly died down to a weak frown “O-oh, erm… I-I think I’ll pass on that.”
Rainbow Dash still felt rather down over Spitfire’s melancholy. But she was also trying to convince herself that it’s alright, especially since you and Scootaloo seemed pretty fine. “Well, I’m proud of the both of you. You both did great out there. I mean, heck, the only other time I see a crowd get riled up that much is whenever I pull off a Sonic Rainboom. So yeah, kudos all around. And… Y’know?” Dash started to feel her dreariness drain away as pride wells up inside her “You both deserve the best eats money can buy! I don’t know exactly where the best eats are, but hayburgers on me should be good enough, right? I’m talking as much as you can eat here, my treat, don’t even worry about how much I’ll be paying.”
“Yeah! That sounds awesome, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cheered
Free burgers? Fuck yes! “Yeah, that is pretty awesome! Thanks RainBOWHQDDS” amidst your own happiness to devour delicious horse food, Twilight suddenly poofs into the room in a panic as she looks around frantically, catching you completely off guard.
“Are they ok?! Are they hurt?! Please tell me Anon doesn’t have to go to the hospital again! He has to be ok! All that fire, and the platform falling…” Twilight looks towards Rainbow Dash and rushes towards her, shaking her violently with her own hooves “TELL ME THEY’RE OK!”
“T-T-T-TW-TWI-T-T” Rainbow Dash couldn’t even get any words out as she shook in Twilight’s grip.
Twilight let her go and dropped her onto the ground as she let out a sharp gasp of agony “I was too late! Discord! DIIISCCCOORD!” Twilight fell onto the ground and began to sob as she pounded her hoof on the floor “Princess Celestia was wrong! Nothing is alright! It’s my fault! If only i just disintegrated my seat, I would have been able to save them. They didn’t deserve this, to succumb to those kinds of injuries…”
You and Scootaloo just looked at each other as if Twilight was off her fucking rocker.
“Uh, Twilight? What are you talking about?” Scootaloo hazards a question to the volatile alicorn.
Twilight looks over to Scootaloo and drags herself to her, whining and sobbing “You! And Anon! I saw it… I saw it all! Nopony that young could have survived that!”
Oh god, Discord must be in heaven right now, because Twilight was such a wreck that she couldn’t even notice what was right in front of her. “Twilight… We’re not dead. We’re not even hurt. Come on, it’s kind of embarrassing to see you like this.” Like really, to you? This was just sad.
“W-what?” Twilight looks up to see the both of you just fine. Scootaloo takes advantage of her silence to give her a smile and a wave her hoof to cement the fact she’s ok.
“Twilight, sheesh!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she stood up, brushing herself off “They’re ok. Wow! Didn’t you see us walk ‘em in? I get it, it was really scary stuff, but they're ok, see? And they killed that course! Come on, you should be all like ‘Wow! You two are so awesome! Like, super awesome! And your trainer? The best!’ “
Twilight took a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes as she gave a rather nasty stare towards Rainbow Dash that caught everyone off guard. “Rainbow Dash! This is serious! I’m happy that they’re ok, but you can’t just let it be! And don’t think I don’t know who set this up! For social status, really?! I have never EVER seen such disregard for a pony’s life as I have seen today. It came crashing down, Dash. IN FLAMES, DASH!” Twilight barked
Rainbow Dash obviously had no counter argument for that. She even seemed to had forgotten who had set things up, that’s what it seemed like anyway. Really, all Rainbow wanted to do was celebrate both yours and Scootaloo’s victory while trying to forget how it actually happened. Deep in her heart, she was just as terrified as Twilight was. “I-I mean… Erm. mnnn…” Rainbow Dash’s ears folded as she looked away in defeat “Ok… You’re right. That’s pretty bad.”
“It’s very bad! I’m going to go over to Mrs. Rich’s box right this instant and give her a piece of my mind! She didn’t even have the course go through a quality inspection! I cannot and WILL not let this slide!” Twilight was angry indeed, and on a warpath. But what made you alert was the fact that she was going to go after Mrs. Rich.
Ok, morally speaking, she probably deserved what was coming to her. But you also understood the situation she was in and how important it was when it came to her social class. Sure, it was all petty in the end, but she was also your future mother-in-law, and so you felt some need to protect her. You could imagine a princess berating her in front of a bunch of rich shitheads not only sinking her life, but Filthy’s as well. And that you DEFINITELY couldn’t allow. Mr. Rich was a total bro, and not one you’d let down if you could help it.
You took a deep breath, and just let it out. “Twilight. No, I can’t let you do that.”
“What?” Twilight looked at you, confused “Anon, she put your’s and Scootaloo’s life in danger with this. I can’t just let that go.”
“I knew the risks. Scootaloo may not have, but she’s alright, and that’s all that matters. It’s over, Twilight, and everypony came out ok. If somepony has to talk to Mrs. Rich, it’s gonna be me. I’m calm, I understand the situation, and I know her much better than you do. Please, let me handle this, Twilight.” You had to remain calm for this, because it was obvious she wasn’t in the right state of mind.
“Anon, just because Scootaloo is alright doesn’t mean this is anything close to ok. Mrs. Rich needs to understand the gravity of the situation. Because something tells me she doesn’t quite get it, especially if she was willing to overlook safety protocol just to look good in front of a bunch of rich ponies.” Twilight argued.
“And I get that. And I understand you’re upset, but I know her much better than you do and I can keep things calm while I tell her what’s what. I can only imagine how things are going for her after all that, it can’t look too good on her. Twilight, I’m gonna ask you again, please let me handle it.” You plead with her.
“I can’t, Anon. As the Princess of Friendship, it’s my duty to set things right in matters like these. Please try to understand, this is nothing against you, and it isn’t that harsh either. I just want to talk to her, not throw her in a dungeon.” Twilight started to calm down, and tried to tone down her resolve when she noticed you starting to become rather argumentative against her.
Fucking dammit! You weren’t going to let her have her way. Time to up the ante! “I do not care about your title, Twilight. This involved me, I know her, I know how to talk to her, and her investment on this whole thing is more than you realize. Stand down, please, I won’t ask again.”
Twilight was being more wary now. She knew that was a passive threat and knew you might even go through with something if she pushes you. So, she tries a different tactic, if only because she felt that her knowledge of friendship was better than what you have. “Well, Anon, how about this then? This whole thing also involves Scootaloo, so she should have a say too.” Twilight then looks to Scootaloo, who she herself suddenly became nervous “Scootaloo, who do you think should handle this?”
Scootaloo looks to you, then to Twilight, then to you, then to Twilight, and finally back to you as she points at you with a shaky hoof. “I think Anon should be the one. I… kinda know how things are when some other pony butts in when he tries to do something like this, it doesn’t go too well. I think you should give him a chance.”
“See, Anon? That’s ex… wait.” Twilight, who was sure Scootaloo was going to pick her, double takes when she realizes Scootaloo chose you. Hot damn, way to go, Scoots! “What?! Scootaloo, really? A-are you sure?”
Scootaloo nods and walks over to you, pointing at you with her hoof more confidently as she spoke. “Yeah, why not? If he’s that sure, and he knows her that well, then he sounds like the pony for the job, right? I know you’re the Princess of Friendship and all. But erm, Anon has like… erm… this way with really angry mares to make them not so angry.”
“A-ahh..ahm…” Twilight looks towards Rainbow Dash, who immediately throws her hooves in the air to dismiss this whole thing.
“Yo, don’t look at me, Twilight. I get why you’re upset, I get why you wanna handle it, and you can trust me when I say I wanna kick her butt for almost getting Anon and Scootaloo roasted. But you did ask Scootaloo and she does have a point. Anon’s got this weird thing with really angry mares. I mean look at Starlight and Tempest. If that ain’t proof, then I dunno what is. “ Holy shit, even Rainbow Dash was backing you up. That’s… That actually feels amazing.
Twilight goes silent. She was so frustrated, but she also knew that pushing it further after being outnumbered would sour her friendships with the three of you. In fact, her hesitating at this point struck you as odd, especially with her mention of Celestia being wrong. You also remember Luna mentioning to you that Celestia had a vision about today. And then there was Discord’s word about Celestia. She was mad at him? That had to be it, because if she was mad at the situation, she’d be here right now. Maybe she was angry that she couldn’t help, as it sounded like she didn’t expect things to go down so crazily. But after things turned out to be ok, she stopped pursuing it.
Twilight obviously couldn’t let it down. And so, you call her on it. “Celestia told you not to interfere, didn’t she?” If that was it, then for once, Celestia was respecting your space. She doesn’t deserve kudos or anything, but it’s a start in the right direction.
Twilight freezes from those words “H-how did you know?”
“Just a guess that I now know is true. Twilight, everypony can see that you’re highly upset.” One last time, you’d be civil and calm about this, and if that didn’t work, it’d be horn time. “But if Celestia had to say something, then I would think that would mean to just drop it.” Of course, you’d still lay on some guilt just to make sure she backs out “I mean, that's what you'd say to me if I was in your situation, right? Because that is what always happens, isn't it?”
Twilight had no more words to say on the matter. Finally, she had been defeated. Really, if it wasn’t for RD and Scoots, she probably still would have relented. Twilight took the time to look at you and Scootaloo one last time as she did her best to calm herself, your words circling her mind as she did. Finally, she truly backed off. “You’re right. I was letting my worry, fear, and doubt get the better of me. I was so worried about you two that I felt it was my duty to fix what may have not been in my place to fix. So much so that I didn’t care about your feelings on the matter. For that, I apologize. Anon, if you can really handle it, then I won’t bother you more about it. In fact, I’ll consider this a friendship lesson that I not only have to learn, but perhaps have the ability to pass on to my future students.” Twilight takes one more breath and gives a weak but sincere smile “Really, in the end, I’m just glad you both are ok.”
“It’s no problem, really!” Scootaloo said, returning her smile with one of her own “It could have gone bad, yeah. But me and Anon are a team! We always got each other's back! So of course we got out of this, no problem.”
“Yeah, Twilight.” If she was finally backing off, then there was no more reason for hostility. “You just gotta keep a cool head. It’ll be fine, promise, I got it handled.”
“I trust you, and I know you do. Heh…” Twilight let out a weak chuckle as her horn started to glow “I-I guess I’ll go back to my seat then for the whole award thing. I-I am proud of you, Anon, you really have come far. And if Fluttershy was here… Oh wait.” Twilight cringed “Maybe it’s good that she wasn’t.”
Everyone cringed at that as you replied to her words “Y-yeah… Probably...”
Like seriously, that would probably be the first known death in Equestria caused by a heart attack.
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‘Eat’ is also a noun?
they're
9094844
Eats is an old slang word
Ooo it is a very good thing flutters was not here to see all that shenanigans, heads would roll lol. I wonder how discord is dealing with the royal sisters.
I just thought of something, anon does not realise that when he thinks Tia would only care that scoots was in danger. It is actually wrong cause despite the checkered and tense relationship between the two, he still is a citizen of equestria and is counted among her "little ponies" she cares about. Think it would be something Celestia would lecture him about.
Unnecessary space after quote before "I mean"
This makes it sound like RD and Scoots were unnecessary in convincing her, which I'm guessing wasn't supposed to be how it is? Just thought I'd point it out.
Also, love how Twilight tries to turn Scoots against Anon in trying to convince him to let her talk to Spoiled, but she just denies her all together. Honestly got up and cheered a yes, because it shows Scoots has more faith in Anon than Twilight now when it comes to these things, and that's despite Twilight being a princess. Best part is, it feels right for her to do so because of her own past experiences.
On that note, its great that Celestia is letting Anon get more space and handle on these situations, and is even motivating others to do so.... Still pissed that she threatened the families' peace in the previous book, however. If and when she receives retribution for that threat, it will be a wonderful day.
I imagine DT, who adores the princesses, won't be to happy about that comment.
I never really thought about that. Chrysalis, Spoiled, Diamond, Starlight, likely a few more I forgot.
9095475
I'm working on it. If i can't find a good in story reason for retribution, then i'll leave it be. I try to make this story feel as natural as possible.
I feel like if anon just mentions the fact that the gear discord gave them protected them from being killed, that would have saved a lot of grief for a lot of people
9096267
I agree with ya, if it doesn't feel natural, its best to let it die....
But goddamn if you find a way, I'd actually read with popcorn in hand.
9094844
S's can follow S's in the possessive (at least for the singular), officially, despite what your writing teacher may have taught you.
9816454
HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER
(i figured as much on that one, but i also second guess myself)
Spoiled milk is the true villain.
DON’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Maybe something ELSE is going to happen, like everypony already knows this wasn’t part of the plan. PLEASE, DON’T TAKE THIS FROM ME!