Mystery in the Everfree (Unedited)
Something fervently poked me in the side and tried valiantly to get my attention. I groaned and tried to move away but it seemed to follow me wherever I went. "Wake up Leon, we got things to do." It said.
"Five more minutes," I yawned and scooted away.
My assailant sighed and I felt warmth my cheek. I muttered under my breath and cracked open an eye to see what it was; it was none other than Dash, nuzzling me. My eyes instantly shot open, my heart pounded against my chest and I scrambled into a sitting position, watching her as both our faces went red and she tried not to laugh.
"What was that for?" I asked, stretching and turning away so she couldn’t see my blush.
"For not waking up," she giggled.
I faintly smiled. "So? It's not like I had anything planned for today. Thought I could finally sleep in."
She paused. "Well, I was thinking about showing you around Cloudsdale, thought you'd enjoy it."
"You mean that cloud city?" I said, pointing into the distance.
"Unless you can think of another reason why it'd be called Cloudsdale," she smirked.
"Touché Dash, touché." I paused and looked at it. "Why do you want to go there?"
"One, cause it's awesome. And two, since you're going to be working with me, we gotta get your paperwork filled out and let the big wigs know." She said.
"Oh wonderful more paperwork," I said with a small frown.
"Trust me; I like it as much as you do." She said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Last one there buys the winner something at Sugarcube Corner?"
I sighed. "I don’t have any bits…"
She paused, thinking. "Then how about this, loser has to do anything the winner says for the rest of the day?"
I smirked and held out a hoof. "Sounds like a horrible idea, you got yourself a bet."
She laughed and shook my hoof. "Okay..." She squinted before turning around and pointed back into town. "On the other side of town, a little past the town exit, is Cloudsdale." She said.
I nodded and we bent down, our wings extended. "On your mark…"
"Get set…"
"GO!" we both yelled at the same time, two blurs rushing towards Cloudsdale.
--**--
I sighed, my chin resting on my chest. "Alright Dash, you won." I panted as we collapsed against each other on a bench in some park.
Cloudsdale was just as I pictured an entire city made of clouds to look like, blindingly white and puffy. It seemed to have a Greek theme to it, pillars everywhere throughout the city. Pools of rainbows were as frequent as the fountains in Canterlot. The streets were lined with houses that looked like Dash's, just not as grand or large. Most were simple one story houses, a few two and even a three story house sprinkled in. The pegasi didn’t seem to notice either of us as they continued to wander around in their own little worlds, going place to place. A few fillies ran around near us playing tag, laughing.
One place stood out in particular; it was an enormous building, rainbows spilling out on the side. I stared at it, my mouth opened wide. "What is that place?"
"That's the weather factory." Dash said, a little breathless. She had a smug grin on her face.
I chuckled. "Oh dear, I don't like that look," I grinned at her.
She softly punched my arm. "You shouldn't…" She said and put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm… what should I make you do?" she muttered and tapped her chin lightly. She went silent as she stared off into space before a devious grin appeared on her face. "I know what I want you to do. When we finish here, you have to volunteer to help Rarity."
I looked at her, eyebrow raised. "And that’s bad how?"
She laughed. "You'll see," she said, getting off the bench. "Come on, let's start that paperwork." She walked towards the giant building. I watched her for a moment before shrugging and got up to follow. It was still weird to walk on clouds, their damp structure scaring me every time I move my hoof and I half expected to fall through.
We were silent walking next to each other, my mouth slightly opened as I stared in awe at the city. I was about to ask her something when my thoughts were interrupted by three ponies laughing. "Well if it isn't Rainbow Crash. And look, she has a friend." Somepony said.
I turned and saw three pegasi sat off to the side, looking at us. The tallest one had light tan coat with three basketballs arranged in a triangle for a cutie mark. His brown mane flowed down his face, covering his eyes till there was just a tint of green.
To his right was a shorter pegasus with a brown coat. He reminded me of a surfer, his mane the color of sand and it hung to his head. He had a dumbbell for a cutie mark.
The final of the trio was a shorter pegasus, a bit thicker than normal. He had a gray coat and a black mane covering his eyes, which seemed to be a running theme here. For his cutie mark, he had three footballs, arranged in the same pattern as the basketballs.
Dash glared at the three as she led me closer to the factory.
"What's wrong Crash? Who's that pony anyway?"
I looked at them before turning to her. "Who are they?"
"Just some bullies from flight school." She said, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I thought I got rid of them after I won the Best Young Flyer but apparently not." She grabbed my hoof. "Just ignore them."
I nodded, ignoring the three pegasi heckling her as they followed us to the factory. I could see Dash trying not to let them bother her and ignore them like she said, but that was fading fast, her mouth clenched. Finally, she stopped in front of the factory, whirling around and glared at the three.
"What do you three want?!" she yelled angrily.
"Well that's no way to treat old friends," the tallest said.
"Yeah old friends,” the surfer said, getting a hoof five from the other.
She rolled her eyes. "I thought you three wanted to hang out after I did the Sonic Rainboom."
"We did, till we realized it was fake."
Dash’s eyes went wide with shock. “Excuse me?”
"We know how good of friends you are with Celestia’s student. Wouldn’t surprise me if you had her help you.”
Both mine and Dash’s jaws dropped. That’s… that’s just a bunch of bull! “Hey-” I started, Dash cutting me off.
“Are you saying that I can’t do the Rainboom?”
“When was the last time you even tried to do it?"
She went to open her mouth, pausing. She blinked a few times. "I-I just did it the other day."
“Oh? What about trying out for the Wonderbolts?”
“I-”
All three of them laughed. "Admit it; you know it’s a hopeless dream."
"Is not!"
"Is so!"
"Not!" Dash stomped towards them, head to head with their leader.
"So!"
“Hey!” I interrupted, Dash and the three pegasi at me. I quickly grabbed Dash’s hoof and pulled her back. “Come on, let’s go.” I insisted and we left the three.
“That’s right, better leave before you embarrass yourself.” The leader chuckled, high hoofing his friends.
Dash grinded her teeth and went to say something. “It’s better if you just ignore them.” I interrupted, pulling her towards the building.
“But I could do the Sonic Rainboom in ten seconds flat!”
“I know but with those types of ponies, it would be a waste of time.” I opened the door for her to the Weather Factory.
She sighed and grumbled under her breath, walking through the door. I shut it behind me and stared in surprise. Streams of rainbows fell from holes in the wall into separate pools while doors led off into multiple corridors. Ponies stood on each side of the pools, testing and sampling the rainbows with sticks they tentatively poked into the swirling colors. A few chairs sprinkled the sides leading up to the receptionist.
She had a light gold with pale apple green highlights, her bangs just hovering above her eyes. Her pale gray opal coat stood out against the white clouds as her blue eyes flicked back and forth as she flipped through a pages of a magazine.
“Hey Helia!” Dash yelled, slamming her hoof down on the counter.
The pony in question jumped and rapidly shut the magazine before she looked up at us. She paused and with a quick blink and sigh, flipped back to her spot in the magazine. “Hey Dash, what’d you forget this time?”
Dash’s cheeks turned a slight shade of pink and she chuckled nervously. “I didn’t forget anything… just wanted to get the paperwork for the newbie here.” She said, grabbing my hoof and pushed me closer.
Helia looked up again with a raised eyebrow at me. “You wanna be a weather pegasus?”
“...Yes?” I asked, confused.
Helia shrugged and turned around, getting out of the chair and rummaged underneath the counter. She returned with a small clipboard. She hoofed it to me and a pen. “Just fill out the forms and you’ll be all set.” She said, sitting down and returning to her magazine.
I sighed and walked over to a seat, sitting down and grabbing the pen. “I hate paperwork…” I muttered as Dash flew off to talk to somepony.
--**--
What felt like hours later, but was only about fifteen minutes, we walked out of the weather factory, wandering aimlessly around Cloudsdale.
“So what exactly do I do?” I asked and scratched my head.
“I thought it was self explanatory; you help with the weather.”
“I know that, I mean… how do we do that?”
“Well, at the start of the month, your captain, which is yours truly, will get a schedule of the weather for their area. Then we get the clouds from here and push them to Ponyville or get rid of them. Really depends on what the higher ups want I guess.”
“I see…”
“And since you’re new, you’ll partner with me till I think you’re okay on your own. And from what I’ve seen during Winter Wrap Up, you’re not that bad.” She said with a grin.
“Thanks… I think.”
“Trust me, you’ll get the hang of it fast, it’s not that hard.” She said, looking around.
“If you say so… it’s just weird, being able to control the clouds and weather.” I said, carefully walking with her. I stepped on a damp part and instinctively hopped back before tentatively poking the spot.
She shook her head. “Look, you’re not gonna fall through. Trust me, you’ll be fine, now come on, let’s go home.”
I followed her and watched where I walked, making sure a hole wasn’t going to magically appear in front of me. It’d be my luck and just what I need, another trip to the bloody hospital. I think I’ve seen enough of that place for a lifetime. We were silent as we walked to the edge of the town and took to the sky. The sun was still high in the sky, brightly shining down on Ponyville.
We flew leisurely, Dash giving me a few tips, mimicking the motions. Finally, we saw Ponyville coming up, the Everfree Forest looming eerily behind it. Dash turned to me and grinned, her wings flapping a little faster. I rolled my eyes as I pushed my wings to match with hers, quickly gaining on her.
A moment later, we were neck and neck, straining to get ahead of the other. Dash laughed and shot forward, her tail leaving behind a rainbow after image. I gritted my teeth and pulled right next to her, our wings buzzing. She held out a hoof and I quickly grabbed it as we twirled and corkscrewed down. I suddenly had a bad feeling, barely able to control my descent. We screamed, Dash yelling excitedly, enjoying the sensation. I closed my eyes tightly, my other hoof grabbing Dash’s.
We abruptly pulled up, Dash grunting with exercison. She steadied us for a brief moment before we gently descended again. I opened my eyes and let go of her hoof as we landed lightly next to town hall. We leaned against each other for a moment, dizzy.
“That was awesome! We need to do that again!” she said, holding a hoof to her head.
“Yeah… totally…” I muttered, waiting for the world to stop spinning.
“I can’t believe we pulled off a duo Tornado Pull!” she said.
I looked at her clueless. “A what?”
“It’s an old weather pony trick; you create a tornado and it helps clean up the clouds super fast. No pony does it any more, it’s sorta dangerous.”
“I noticed,” I chuckled.
“But we did it, a duo version. I don’t think that’s been done before… I’ve been wanting to try it out for ages but no pony wanted to do that. Except Derpy…”
“How’d that go?”
“Had to help rebuild half the town.” She said, turning away to hide a blush.
I laughed. “Well… glad we didn’t crash.”
“Please, I wouldn’t have let us, I had it all under control.”
I shrugged and groggily started walking. “If you say so, you’re the boss.”
Her cheeks reddened and we headed towards the library before she stopped us. “We should go see if Rarity needs help.”
“You mean, right now?”
“Well duh, you lost the race so you have to do what I said remember?”
“Yeah… but, fine.” I said exasperated and we turned and took the street towards the Boutique instead.
I pushed open the door, the little bell rang from the top. “Just a moment!” We heard Rarity say and we waited in the front room. The marshmallow unicorn appeared moments later, surprised. “Oh Leon, Rainbow, and what are you two up to?”
Me and Dash shared a look before she nudged me forward and I coughed. “Well… I was wondering if you needed help.”
She blinked. “Well… I do have the spring lineup to get ready for…”
“Then I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
She smiled. “That’s so kind of you, thank you darling.” She turned to Dash. “And what about you Rainbow? Would you like to help?”
“Celestia no,” she said. Rarity’s gaze darkened and Dash backed up towards the door. “I just remembered… I have to er… go talk to Pinkie. I’ll see ya around.” She hastily added before leaving, the door slamming shut.
Rarity rolled her eyes and led me into the back of the shop. It was strewn with bobby pins, fabric, ribbon, and several creepy pony mannequins. I shivered and kept an eye on them, making sure they didn’t start moving by themselves. Her cheeks turned pink when she caught me looking around. “Sorry for the mess darling, I’ve just been a bit preoccupied coming up with designs.”
“It’s no problem, just tell me what I can do to help.”
She scratched her chin for a moment. “Well I was hoping to try out a new style of vests, but the mannequin,” she pointed at a clothed one in the center of the room, “doesn’t quite capture the right feel.”
“Uh huh…” I said, not sure what she was saying.
“It won’t take long, besides, it’ll give me some new measurements to toy with.” She smiled as a tape measure, clipboard and a pencil floated to her. “Just stand still and I’ll write a few things down.” She said, the tape measure wrapping itself around me.
I followed her instructions, letting her get as many numbers as she needed. She wrote them down on her clipboard, a pair of red glasses resting gently on her nose. I watched as she dragged over the vest from the mannequin and took a pair of scissors to it. Some thread and needle traveled over, adding a few pieces to make it look fuller.
“So… what were you and Rainbow up to, if I may ask.” She asked, the pencil flying across the paper.
“Oh, she took me to Cloudsdale to get me signed up for Weather duty.”
“I see…” She said nonchalantly, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“What?”
“Oh nothing darling, I just find it cute.”
“Find what cute?” I asked.
She ignored me and hummed a tune, putting the vest on me and taking more measurements. Every time I tried to get an answer out of her, she went silent, refusing to answer. Eventually I gave up and silence fell on us, the only noise pencil on paper.
“So… how are you?” I finally asked.
“Simply marvelous darling, thanks for asking.” She batted her eyelashes. “And how about yourself?”
“Not too bad, could be worse.”
“Mhm…” She muttered. “Keeping busy, I suppose?”
“Yeah… at least I’ll have a few days before work starts.”
“Indeed,” she paused, “oh, Twilight wanted to see you.”
“Really?” I asked, eyebrow raised. “Do you know why?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I thought I saw some crystal ponies by the library, but I was in a hurry.”
“Crystal what now?”
“Crystal ponies darling, from the Crystal Empire. Her brother, Prince Shining Armor, runs it with Princess Cadance, his wife.”
“Oh…” I shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to see why she wanted to see me.”
“Well we’re finished now, you can head over there if you want. Tell her I said hello.”
I stretched for a moment, my hind leg gone numb. “I will.”
She put her clipboard and pencil on the table and gave me a quick hug. “Thanks for all your help today as well.”
I gave her a hug back. “It’s not a problem, glad I could help. I’m quite good at standing still and doing nothing… perfected in the hospital.”
She smiled and led me out, waving goodbye as I took a deep breath of fresh air. “Finally!” Dash said above me.
I looked up to the bottom of a cloud, Dash’s head peeking out from the side. “Hello.”
“What took so long? I thought you’d be in there forever… Was about to grab Pinkie and bust you out.”
“It wasn’t that long… only an hour or so.”
“Like I said, forever…” She groaned, hopping off the cloud. “So how was it?”
“Not too bad, I half expected to be grilled about something or another. But it was nice, kinda relaxing.”
Dash stared at me in horror, almost as if she was slapped. “You’re joking, right?”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind standing and not moving for long periods of time, used to do that at work.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, back on Earth I was in customer service for a few years. Lots of standing for eight or so hours. Incredibly boring and frustrating but hey, it was a paycheck.”
She went quiet as we headed to Twilight’s. “Do you miss it?”
“Miss what?”
“Home, Earth… whatever you wanna call it.”
“Oh…” I stopped, not sure how to respond. “Well of course I do…” I rubbed the back of my neck. During our talks in the hospital, I tended to shy away from anything related to how I got here. Only Fluttershy knew and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. “Just a few things.”
“Like?”
“A few friends, my family…” I said, trying to think. I realized I never really sat down and thought about who or what I’d miss. All the people I was close too probably got over me dying fast, I’m sure they expected it for quite a while. Obviously there’s no internet, tv, video games. Huh… it’s odd, since I’ve been here, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really had time to miss them…
“So uh… where are we going?” She asked, hoping to lighten the somber mood.
“To Twilight’s, apparently she wanted to see me, something about a crystal pony.” I said, glad for the topic change.
“How odd… usually Cadance doesn’t show up unannounced.”
“Cadance? Doesn’t she rule the Crystal Empire?”
She nodded. “Also Twilight’s sister-in-law and foal sitter, they were really close…”
“Oh… I see.” The library came into view, the massive tree hard to miss. Two crystallized ponies stood at the door, watching us as we got closer. “Er… hello.” I said, unsure as the guards watched us silently.
I opened the door and half expected the guards to stop us. When they didn’t, we walked inside. Twilight was talking to somepony as the two sat on the couch. He had a white coat, his hooves a dark blue. His two toned mane, a sapphire blue with light cerulean blocked his face. Next to him was a rather large suitcase with visible no markings indicating what it was.
“Shining? What are you doing here? I thought Cadance would be here instead.” Dash asked, surprised.
Twi looked at Dash. “Dash! That’s a bit rude!”
“It’s fine Twily,” Shining said, getting up to get a better look. He was a little taller than me and we sized each other up. “So this is Leon, I take it?”
I nodded. “Yes, and you’re Shining, Twilight’s brother?”
“Indeed,” he held out a hoof. “Nice to finally meet you.”
I shook it. “So how is Cadance?” Dash asked.
“She’s doing well, enjoying a small break from the Crystal Empire.”
“Really? Then who’s in charge?”
“The Minister, Amber Waves. Fantastic mare, really knows her stuff.” He said, looking slightly awkward.
“Ah…” Me and Dash shared a look before he cleared his throat.
“So…” Shining started, “the reason I’m here is one, I wanted to say to Twily. It’s been a long time.” He said as Twi’s cheeks turned red. “And secondly, I wanted to test something.” He said, his eyes glancing back to my sword. “Ah, you’re carrying your sword. Perfect.”
“What’d you mean?”
He ignored the question. “Do you mind if I see it?”
“Uh… sure, why not.” I said, undoing the clasp and hoofed it to him. Shining took it out of its sheath, eyeing the blade.
“It’s a reverse blade, interesting… Any reason why? Seems very impractical.”
“It’s… a long story.”
He nodded, not asking for details. His horn started to glow as his aura encased the sword and he let go. “Not bad, balanced expertly.” He said, replacing it in its sheath. “Very unusual…” He held it out and I took it back. “I heard you killed a manticore with it.”
“Yeah, but it nearly killed me in return.”
He faintly smiled. “Very stubborn creatures, especially those tails of theirs. Anyway, Leon, I was asked by Princess Celestia to test you on your swordsmanship, to put it bluntly.”
“What? Why?”
He hesitated. “I’m not… entirely sure.”
“Err… alright… I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” I faintly smiled. “Always wanted to learn how to fight with a sword.”
“Good, Princess Celestia will be happy.” He said, his magic encasing his suitcase and popped it open. “But I’d rather not accidently hurt ourselves, so we’ll use wooden swords.” He said, hoofing me one.
I grabbed it and tried to hold it. It was light compared to my sword and I gave it a few test swings, making sure I wouldn’t hit anypony. “You ready?” He asked and I nodded. “Good, we can spar out back.”
He led the way out, the guards standing at the back door as well. They watched us as me and Shining stood a few feet from each other, Dash and Twilight watching from the sidelines.
“So what-”
“We’ll go easy, since I don’t want anypony to get too hurt. Just come at me with everything you got.”
I gulped and he smiled. “Don’t worry, I used to be the Captain of the Guard, I’ll be fine.”
“I wasn’t worried about you…” I muttered, putting the sword in my mouth. I swung my head a few times, trying to get the feel for it. So bizarre… I guess I’m used to holding in my hands. Shining held his sword in his magic, the aura shining brightly. Oh that’s fair…
We stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. I took a deep breath and unfurled my wings. I flapped them once, pushing as hard as I could and zoomed towards him. He didn’t blink, watching as I made a low pass for his hoof. His sword flew to protect him and I turned, corkscrewing away. I landed and breathed again. I tentatively jumped towards him, swinging my sword back to strike his face.
His sword flew up, blocking me and using my own momentum, pushed me away. I backflipped and landed before charging again. I attacked with no rime or reason, hoping my attacks would catch him off guard; his sword was there to meet each strike.
I decided to change tactics, during one swipe he bounced back, I dropped the sword out of my mouth and grabbed it with my hoof, twirling it around for a moment before launching another attack. He faintly smiled and let me get as close as I could before he parried.
His brow furrowed and his sword lunged at me. My eyes widened and I got a block up just in time. I grunted, the tip of his sword had whacked my rib. I pushed against it and ran in close, hoping to get a shot while his sword was far away.
I swung overhead and almost hit him, but his sword blocked it with its hilt. He pushed it with his magic and I stumbled back as his sword came at me. I couldn’t blink as he rained blow after blow at me. I knew it was only a matter of time, our wooden swords a blur. I took a quick glance at him and saw he wore a small smile.
I didn’t have time to think and just let instinct take over and I somehow managed to block and parry each of his attacks. I grinned, going on the offensive as we traded blows. My hooves were going numb, not use to all this exercise but I continued to evade his strikes while he effortlessly blocked mine.
It went on for what seems liked days, our swords almost breaking under the repeated blows. Finally, I lunged, thinking I had perfect shot. It turned out to be a ruse as he smacked my hoof and I dropped my sword. He twirled the sword around and hit me squarely between the eyes. I fell to the ground with a groan, holding my head.
“Phew, that was some good sword work. Haven’t had a workout like that in awhile.” He said, walking over and offered a hoof.
I looked at it for a moment before I accepted it and got up. “But I didn’t even hit you once.”
“Don’t worry, I was trained by an expert.” He stopped for a moment and grabbed the two swords. “You’re pretty fast,” he stated simply, “but lack any form. Very uncoordinated and wild. However, you did do some things I’ve never seen before. Where’d you learn them?”
I blushed slightly and looked away. “I… I saw them in a show once, thought might as well try.”
“Well with a bit of training, I’m sure you’ll be a great swordspony.” He looked at the girls. “What I’m about to say is better left not repeated.” They nodded and he sighed. “The reason Princess Celestia wanted me to start training you is because she’s worried.”
“Worried? Why?”
“The other nations are nervous. They just heard that another human has entered Terra and as I’m sure you’re aware, it didn’t end so well last time.”
“I heard… but it couldn’t be that bad.”
He shrugged. “Be that as it may, Princess Celestia and Luna both got a bad feeling and they wanted to make sure you were able to protect yourself.”
“But what if I turned out like the last human? Wouldn’t teaching me how to fight better be kinda counterproductive?”
“Yes well… she said you won’t turn out like your ancestor.”
“How does she know?”
He glanced at Twi and Dash. “Let’s just say your friends will make sure that won’t happen.”
They avoided my eyes as I looked at them, confused. “What-”
“Well, I should be heading back to the train station. Gotta make sure to get to the Crystal Kingdom bright and early tomorrow.” He said, putting the swords back into the suitcase. The guards appeared before him, one of them winking at Twi as her cheeks went pink. Shining hugged her and held out a hoof for me. “I’ll let Princess Celestia know how you did and she’ll probably send somepony over to help train you.”
I shook it. “That’s great… but what did you mean before?”
“Not sure, I didn’t really ask what she meant.”
I went to argue as a guard cleared his throat. “We’ll be late your majesty.”
“Alright, well it was nice meeting you. And Twi, don’t be such a stranger, you should visit more.”
“I’ll try…” She said nervously, the three of them leaving. “Look Leon, before you ask, I don’t know what he meant.” She said, already cutting off my question.
Dash still refused to look me in the eye. “Twi…” But I stopped myself. If they’re not gonna say anything, better not argue… Even though I really wanted to know, its best not to piss off a unicorn.
I got up, my body shaking and took a deep breath. I took my sword from Dash and threw it around my shoulders. “Imma go lay down for a bit, I’m tired…”
“Alright, stop by later if you can. I wanted to ask you about something.”
“Err… sure, I will.” I said and took to the sky. “See ya later Dash.”
“Wait, I’ll come with you.” She said, flying up to me.
I nodded and waved goodbye to Twilight before gliding away, Dash right beside me. “What’s up?” I asked.
She was silent, looking like she was fighting to say something. “Just… I guess that’s why they made him Captain of the Guard.” She said finally.
“What’d you mean?”
“Well… nothing against him, but I always thought Shining was a bit… pompous.” I raised an eyebrow. “When I heard he was a guard, I assumed he was pretty much unbeatable but was tricked by Chrysalis and beaten by Sombra.” She lowered her voice. “Now I wouldn’t say anything to Twi, but I never really thought that much of guards since then, always seeming to get their flanks kicked.”
“Well, I can tell you he definitely knows his stuff.” I said and found a nice puffy cloud, I pulled up and landed lightly. “I did everything I could to hit him and he easily blocked. He was toying with me the entire time; I’m sure if he wanted to, he could’ve ended in like five seconds.” I laid down and got comfy, Dash landing next to me. I yawned and used my sword as a pillow. “I think he’s just gets put in a bad spot with no warning.” I stared up into the sky, my eyelids getting heavy.
“Yeah, you can say that.” She said, getting comfy as well. She laid down, stretching out next to me. “I’ve been meaning to start catching up on my naps.” She muttered through a yawn and snuggled the cloud.
I faintly smiled and closed my eyes. “Enjoy your nap Dash.”
“You too…”
--**--
Several weeks passed by as I got used to my new job. Dash and I would usually take the hardest jobs and I learned what not to do. A lot. Several times we had to make a quick trip to the hospital to stop me from electrocuting other ponies. She thought that was hilarious, I not so much.
When we finished fixing the weather, we’d usually go to Sugarcube Corner and I’d get roped into helping Pinkie and Dash pull off a prank or two. Once I was able to leave them, I went back home and practiced with my sword. My face got red as I thought back on how easily Shining beat me. He did it so effortlessly...
Every other week, I’d have to go out shopping and I’d wander aimlessly around the market, meeting quite a few nice ponies. I managed, abet accidently, to run into Derpy several times. She had a small unicorn filly with her, hopping excitedly on her back. I found out it was her daughter, Dinky. She stared up at me and somehow I got roped into dinner that night. It was a fun dinner, Dinky talking to me about how much she loved her mom, what she was learning in school, helping Derpy with dinner. It was a good night, one of the few times I was able to relax and laugh easily. It soon became a once a week thing to go over to Derpy’s for dinner or they’d come over to my house and I’d cook.
I even saw Fluttershy a few times and we enjoyed walking and talking. Seems Ivic was getting better, Twilight and Fluttershy training him on magic and how to be a pony. I asked why Celestia didn’t just implant how to do it like she did with me, but Twilight said it was impossible. Since he was a unicorn, his magic would interfere with the spell. Magic is weird like that, she said.
--**--
I flew over the Everfree, trailing a rogue cloud. Stupid thing! I finally caught up to it and pushed it back. It was supposed to rain for the weekend and we needed all the clouds we could find, the weather factory having a bit of a hiccup. I grumbled under my breath, checking periodically to make sure I was going the right direction.
I looked down and a glint of something bright blinding me for a second. “What the…” I said, blinking to get the spots to go away. “What was that?” I muttered and looked back down. It flashed again, the sun just in the right spot. “Stay right there.” I said, hitting the cloud and flying down.
I was just over a small clearing in the forest, the canopy open to reveal a nice small babbling river. A small pair of saddlebags hung from a low branch just on the edge, the water moving the bag. The top of something poked from a rip in the side.
I landed right next to it and picked it off the branch. I didn’t see a cutie mark on it, usually the clasp would be in the shape of something, so they’d know who the owner of it was. I paused and looked around the forest, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. I tried to avoid going in, having learned both from the manticore and the blizzard that it was a dangerous place. I opened the lid and looked inside.
What caught my eye was a dirty broken mirror, the shard glinting the sunlight from the rip on the side. Next to it… was an egg. “What the hell…” I said, picking it up.
It was a small crimson red and gold egg, the gold splotched in random spots. It was dirty and I walked over to the river, splashing water on it. I turned it around, trying to find some form of markings. I grabbed the bag and put it back in, then maneuvered the mirror pieces so they’d block the rip. I flipped the lid closed and made sure it locked before putting it on. I flew up, back to the cloud. I took one final look around the Everfree before I started push the cloud.
How weird… maybe Twilight will know what it is. I headed back to Ponyville, the egg cold against my side.
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Derp
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Basil Peverell... wow, the references in that name...
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Go read a new point of view.
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I'm actually working on another chapter/another story... but I didn't realize time flew by so fast...
I Pinkie Promise I will!