Sweet Pink Sunset

by Annon56

Training and Awareness

A few hours have already passed into training, Doctor Whooves scribbled some notes and calculations on a piece of paper, "Right, the rubber material should be a good stabilizer," he mumbled to himself as he jotted down more notes. "Okay, three... two... one... get ready!" He pulled a lever to a catapult that launched three dark purple rubber spheres in the air.

'Right before they start to fall, that s going to determine the range... If this works then it should surge through all of them, come on Forest, focus... focus,' Forest thought to himself while gather magical energy to his horn; it glowed a colour of yellow as he took aim at the spheres that were just about to start landing from afar.

"Chain lightning!" A flash of yellow lightning shot out of his horn and impacted against the middle sphere sending streams of electricity surging through all of them.

"Hold it, Forest, keep it together!" The Doctor asserted in excitement.

Forest maintained the glow around his horn, he kept the flow of electricity connected on the spheres which kept them from falling due to the magical energy, but it was not long until he began to struggle; sparks began flying out uncontrollably from his horn and becoming more unstable, the buzzing of the electrical flow began to change, loud then silent, constantly which then soon came to a halt as it eneded with a pop that caused Forest to jump back a bit. The spheres began falling to the ground after the electricity that surrounded them moments ago quickly vanished.

"Six point three seconds in total, with the start of the spell of course," Whooves complied as he showed Forest the reading on a stopwatch.

"So thats around five seconds of holding em' together... rubber is such a hassle to deal with." Forest added.

"Well you covered a good distance to say the least."

"Yeah, at least it's improving... thanks Doc, I'll just go on ahead and keep practising," Forest assured to Whooves who replied with a nod and then trotted his way to Arrow and Boa.

They were training on speed and endurance, Boa used her boulder raiser technique to pop boulders out of the ground; they flew up pretty high, whereas Arrow would fly around the boulders quickly reshaping them and slowly bring them back down to the ground to fit safely and perfectly back in their craters.

"You have been continuously adding more power each time you have raised a boulder, that is quite impressive." Arrow complimented Boa's efforts.

"Thanks but you've been speeding off and reshaping them before they even land, your not even tired yet are you?" Boa complied.

"Training has become more of a daily routine to us by now."

"I'll agree to that."

"So everything s okay with you two over here?" Whooves said as he walked up to them, they nodded to him in confirmation, "right, just checking up, keep up the good work." He then walked past them to check on Twilight and Jokey.

'I wonder how Jokey's doing...' Boa thought as she look over to his direction, he was standing next to Twilight at a good distance from Arrow and herself, he then a stance and launched a relatively large fireball at one of the floating targets; the target burst into many flaming pieces upon impact, and soon afterwards the pieces recollected themselves, bit by bit, the target was rebuilding itself. Each target in the training field was put together with a bit of magic so that material would not be wasted, and so, led to an unlimited use of target practice.

'Good to know he's being serious,' Boa thought as she nodded affirmatively to herself and looked away, bringing herself back to her own training.

"Oh yeah, and that Twilight, is why I'm hot." Jokey said while giving her a side grin.

Twilight giggled and slightly shook her head, "all right hot shot, try to launch two now."

"Two? Hah! not a problem," Jokey repositioned himself to the offensive stance he was in before, his horn surrounded itself with an aura of fire, "get your cameras ready folks, Jokey's gonna set the stage a blaze," he remarked to himself while lowering his eyebrows and smiling confidently. He scouted out which two aerial targets to destroy, after making his pick, he launched two fire balls simultaneously; the first one was a little bit smaller than the one he had launched previously, the second was considered smaller than the average. The first targets resultant state came to be as the previous, although the second target was only wiped out halfway.

Jokey shook his head as he felt slightly dazed, "eh... not what I expected..."

"Looks like the others are resting up, you should take a break as well, you've all been at it for a while now," Twilight complied.

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Jokey sat down against one of the field obstacles behind him as he saw Whooves walking up to them, "hey Doc."

"Hi, just resting up?" Whooves asked.

"Yeah," Jokey replied as he yawned, "just gonna switch off the lights for a bit," Jokey then fell asleep, his head sank into the popped up collar of his dark purple shirt as he placed one hoof over his stomach and slightly loosened the belt around his matching pants with a bit of magic.

"He's been pushing himself for a while now," Twilight added.

"I can see that, he's been putting on quite the show, haha." Whooves said in agreement.

"How are the designs for the suits coming along?" Twilight asked curiously as she noticed the stacks of scrolls poking out of his backpack on both sides.

"Well, I'm just about finished, I'll be heading over to the boutique soon where Princess Luna will be waiting... wow, I have to say I am rather nervous, I never spoke to any of the princesses before." Whooves anxiously brushed his left hoof against his right.

"There s no need to worry, Princess Luna is all well meaning," Twilight remarked to Whooves positively, "The worst she'll do is use her royal Canterlot voice," she added with a giggle bringing back the memory of when Fluttershy had tried to teach Luna to control her voice in Nightmare night, or more like Twilight herself made Fluttershy teach her.

As Twilight and the Doctor were discussing magical enhancements that can be made to the suits, Forest was flipping through the pages of the Thundertred spell book.

'Chain lightning spell... no incantation required, yeah I got that already... direct focus to bloodline nerve linked to magical energy flow and horn, yadda, yadda, yadda, already know about that... material affects, there we go!' Forest mentally read through the spells effects and conditions, 'the flow of electricity shall become more difficult to maintain as the material that you are striking possesses properties which are indicated to be an insulator more than a conductor, practising on such materials can greatly strengthen the attack but be weary not to over cast if spell consists to end early, too much power being put into the spell can lead to great loss of energy and will bring the users vitality down to a dangerous level,' at that point he had realised how tired he was, he had cast that spell a few times before. He continued to read through information of the spell.

'Right, so the spell isn't necessarily weak... hey what s this? Cloud version? Requires incantation and clouds in the sky, lighting will be more effective depending on the clouds state, saves more magical energy but electrical flow cannot be maintained in return,' Forest looked up to find no cloud in sight, 'looks like we're scheduled for clear skies today... wha- what am I thinking? I'm not gonna try that in front of my friends... but I don't wanna lie to them either... what should I say to them? I have to think of a way to tell them about this book.'

Forest then flipped all the way to the last page of the book where a single certain spell was written, plane and simple with brief instructions and explanation; the magic reveal spell; reveals anything that has been altered from its true form due to the use of magic. Although this was seen as a mistake to Forest for that spell was cast-able by anypony, it had no strict link to the family magic, and with his previous efforts, he once again tried to cast the spell.

A small crystal blue orb shined at the tip of his horn, it glowed brightly as he waved his horn across the book. No effect, same as before, the book remained unchanged. Forest sighed at his spiteful attempt for he had already known what the result would be, he closed up the book and gazed upon the back cover; the neatly silver crested sides of the book were shaped like lighting bolts that stretched out to the centre forming a spiral shape leading to a yellow gem that was perfectly carved to fit a hole in the book, 'well, Electro, you've got style, I'll give you that.'

Forest noticed a purple unicorn and greyish amber earth pony walking up to him for a distance not to far, he paused and quickly opened up his backpack and casually put the book away, it's front cover facing Twilight and Whooves with his hoof covering the title, trying his best to show he wasn t trying to hide anything.

"Yo, guys," Forest said to them heartily as they approached him.

"How goes the training? Learned anything new?" Twilight asked him as she returned a smile.

"Yeah, you can say that, just expanding my knowledge on some spells," he replied.

"Talk about learning, I was wondering, how did you get a hold on those lighting spells?" Whooves asked him eccentrically.

There it goes, the question he wasn't ready to cover up entirely, but he saw it coming as recent events led his friends to certain suspicions. He recalled the thought of what Surgio had told him, something that belongs to the Thundertred family. Forest knows Twilight well and he knows what she was thinking, and her hunch was right. It's that book.

Twilight's smile disappeared and her expression changed to a look of concern, she immediately picked up on what was going on and there was no point for Forest to try and hide it, they are indeed close friends and Forest specifically remembered showing her the book in the early days of his arrival to Ponyville, before Pinkie Pie and himself even got together. All his friends, they know about his past, but only Pinkie Pie and Twilight know about that book.

Forest sighed as he was about to reach into his backpack again, "Okay, there s something I need to tell you-" A voice from above interrupted him, the three looked up to find Rainbow Dash at an airspace. She was wearing a tight black and white jogging suit.

"What s the deal you guys? come on!" Rainbow Dash shouted as four pegasi guards soon followed up to her and hovered next to her, panting and in need of a break, "look at you guys, your barely keeping up." Rainbow added.

"Sorry ma'am... but your really fast." One of the guards said in a struggle of breath.

"Look, I know I'm really amazing and all, but seriously, is that gonna be your excuse the next time you might be fighting some monster from who knows where?"

"Well, no... but-"

"No buts, your royal guards for cryin' out loud, you need to step up your game!" She stated as she then looked down to spot Arrow who was next to Boa, both looking up at her.

"Hey, Arrow!" Rainbow Dash shouted to him.

Arrow stood up in response to her call, "Yes Rainbow! Is anything the matter!" He replied so casually.

"Pretty much, your squad here could use some more pointers, looks like mine are a bit to advanced so gimme a helping hoof here why don't ya!"

"Excuse me, Boa, It looks like I am needed." Arrow remarked as he spread out his wings.

"Go on, looking after the squads is part our training after all," she replied as she brushed a bit of hair out of the collar of her green training outfit, and with that, Arrow took off and flew up to Rainbow Dash and the squad of four and began hovering next to them.

"Right, is this South Bravo?" Arrow asked openly.

"Yes sir!" The four guards confirmed to him.

Rainbow Dash nodded as she crossed her front legs, "I was asked to train each pegasus group in advanced flight."

"Understood, let us continue along the way to Cloudsdale, there are some clouds we can use to help us in this session," Arrow stated.

"Right, took the words outta my mouth." Rainbow Dash grinned, she looked down and waved to the others, "Hey guys!" She greeted them heartily, they all waved and greeted her back except for Jokey who was still fast asleep.

The group of pegasi then took off to continue their training session as the rest would soon have to get back to theirs. Ditzy and Dinky Doo then made their way into the entrance to the training field walking up to Whooves, Forest, and Twilight.

"Papa!" Dinky exclaimed as she ran up to Whooves, he quickly turned around in response.

"Hey there, little muffin!" He replied happily, Dinky jumped up to him as he got up on his hind legs to catch her, she began to laugh and giggle as he held her and tickled her, making silly fatherly grunts. He then put her down and kissed her on her forehead.

"Hello, honey," He said softly as Ditzy walked up to him, smiling back, "You look stunning today," he added after they quickly kissed.

"Thank you, Whoovy," she intoned, "Hello everypony," she added waving to Forest and Twilight with Boa walking up to them from behind, they exchanged smiles as they greeted Ditzy and her daughter Dinky.

"Go on my little muffin, say hello to the nice ponies," Ditzy said as she bent her neck down and gently rubbed the side of her chin against the filly's head, Dinky mumbled as she turned around and hid behind her mothers front leg.

"Aww, she's shy," Whooves complied, "It's okay sweetie, these are our friends, they wont bite."

"It's okay Dinky, you remember me right? I was keeping you company when mommy and daddy went out last week," Twilight added with a comforting grin.

"Mhmm..." Dinky mumbled, as she slowly went in front of her mothers leg again, "h-hi..." she said timidly.

Boa, Twilight, and Forest then smiled in awe at the adorable sight as Dinky came out of her shadow, they playfully greeted her making her feel comfortable around them, Ditzy and the Doctor smiled as they watched their friends entertaining their daughter, in the required childish manner.

"Oh, Whoovy told me you were all going to be working really hard today, so I made some muffins for all of you," Ditzy stated as she uncovered a basket she was holding that revealed many blueberry muffins, their freshly baked aura gave off a luscious scent of ever so soft pastry and sweet blue berry. Forest could feel his mouth water at the sight.

"Aw, no way! Thank you so much! these look so great!" Forest exclaimed joyfully as he snatched a muffin from the basket and quickly devoured it, "hoowee! that hit the spot..." Forest noticed everyone staring at him being completely speechless, except for Dinky who giggled at the sight of his action. One of the biggest things that Forest and Pinkie Pie have in common is their love for baked and sweet things, he was not embarrassed at all by what he had just done, it's in his nature.

"Best muffins since ever, masterpiece," he complimented Ditzy's work, who grinned in delight.

"I'm glad you liked it." Ditzy replied

Boa giggled lightly as she shook her head, "what did I expect from Pinkie Pie's boyfriend?" Twilight nodded in agreement while smirking.

'Looks like I'm safe for now.' Forest thought in relief.

Jokey soon received a wake up call from Boa who alerted him of the muffins, as the others helped themselves to baskets contents and thanked Ditzy dearly, Whooves knelled down to pick up a scroll that fell out of his backpack, Dinky saw her chance to jump on to his back and then held on to his mane. It was their occasional play time; Whooves then smiled as he started to bounce around and spin, slowly and carefully, Dinky began screaming and laughing while Ditzy watched them as a touching warmth lit her heart.

"You know, I remember the first time Dinky called him papa... " Ditzy said to the others while watching them, "I began to tear up, it made me so happy that Dinky could have a daddy again."

"It's great to know the marriage is working out." Twilight complied.

"We're all very happy for you," Boa added.

"Mm, it really is... and thank you." Ditzy added, she then joined her daughter and her husband, the three had shown such a deep perspective of what a family is.

At that moment Forest thought about his parents, how they would have those moments, moments that were cut short, he then thought about Pinkie Pie, 'one day we can have that, Pinkamena.'

x

As time passed, the Whooves family left the training area, Doctor Whooves himself accompanied his family home before he had gone over to the boutique where Princess Luna and Rarity were waiting for his arrival. They soon discussed the plans and designs for the new battle suits for advance preparations, some blacksmith ponies had arrived sometime in the afternoon and set up an open workshop outside and have already produced some samples of the armour, armour types for earth, unicorn, and pegasus ponies.

After a few good hours of discussions and planning, the sun was brought down and the moon was raised for the night to begin.

"Okay, great, we can get to work with some of these samples as soon as tomorrow." Whooves started as be began to pack up the scrolls and papers holding the altered designs.

"Goodness, all this work today has deprived so much energy, I wouldn't mind stopping by the spa tomorrow," Rarity stated.

"Be sure thy gets plenty of rest, for the next day holds a more burdening task," Luna stated as she turned to the pegasi guard who was still accompanying her through out the whole day and dismissed him for the night.

'Must I really be reminded?' Rarity complained to herself in annoyance, 'Ugh, my hoofs are aching from all the rearrangements.'

"Rest well, and I bid a goodnight to all." Luna added, Whooves, Rarity, and the guard bowed to her, she then turned to the exit as Whooves and the guard followed. Once Luna teleported to Canterlot, the guard quickly hid behind a bush from outside the boutique and waited for Doctor Whooves to make his way out.

"Wow, they took off already? Oh well, see you tomorrow, Rarity." Whooves remarked as he waved a goodnight to Rarity.

"Yes, of course, goodnight." Rarity closed and locked the door, she soon retired to her bedroom of organised chaos for the night.

The guard waited until Whooves was out of sight, he then spread his wings and lunged out of the bush flying high up into the night sky, to a distance where he could not be seen. The guard flew over Ponyville and began descending once he was deep into the Everfree forest. He landed near a marshy lake that was surrounded by vine tangled trees, the night sky and moonshine made everything seem pitch black, the silence was deafening, all the guard could hear and feel was the thumping of his heartbeat. His coat the slowly began to change from white to dark grey, the blue eyes turned into sharp brownish-red, the armour was no longer a shade of gold but a shade of dark copper with red streaks across. The shape of the helmet was no longer Roman, but Spartan.

The mysterious guard traversed past the lake and manoeuvred over the vines until he came up to a large bolder, he stomped his hoof against the floor three times, leaving a time of at least two seconds in between each stomp. The bolder began to shift as it revealed an opening, a yellow light shined out, as he entered the hideout the bolder sealed shut behind him once again.

He walked up to a stallion who had a sharp ended horn, the unicorn was wearing a long black hooded cloak with a red symbol, a sphere with an arrow head pointing down and a dash on each side, he was sharpening a battle axe before he switched the sharpening tool off and gazed upon the reflective razor edged blade.

"You have gathered some useful information I hope?" The unicorn said stridently in a slightly hissing tone as he shined the blade.

"Yes, Sargent Razorsharp, the enemy is planning to manufacture new battle suits, pony type specific to be exact." The guard replied.

"Go on." The Sargent said as he put down the axe and turned to the guard while pulling down the hood; His mane were three separate mohawks, the middle one being tallest and crimson in colour, the side ones black. he wore an eye-patch covering his right eye, his left eye was like a target; black pupil surrounded by a white outer ring followed by a black outer ring. His coat was a pale brown colour.

"They discussed shapes that would bring an advantage and that would be easy to move in, they also mentioned magical enhancements... like less air resistance for example."

"Air resistance? that just pokes my funny bone..."

"I also have access to the designs... little do they know there was one more guard than there used to be."

"Looks like our enemy aren't as sharp as we thought." Sargent Razorsharp chuckled menacingly.

"I also know the one designing the suits, she is quite the crafty one when it comes to attire, she has a younger sibling to," the guard complied.

"Excellent... we'll capture them both and pinch the designer where it hurts... I can see it all coming together right now..."

"Shall I continue to spy on them, Sargent?"

"Return to Ponyville in a few hours," Razorsharp said as he levitated the axe, "let us regroup for a moment, I will soon send Kanthon a report of our progress... once he receives it, we shall wait for his arrival and take action when necessary."

He turned around to where a large bolder was located across the room, he then quickly threw the axe across the room, it impaled against the bolder slicing it in half and penetrating deep into the wall, "I can hardly wait."