Chapter 13: Return Flight
Name: MSG. Adam “Shifty” Smith
Date: August 25, 2015 (December 12, Equestria)
Location: Canterlot Castle
Time: 0900
If there was anything that Adam could feel for the guards in charge of transporting the baggage the girls had, it would be pity. Not only did the guards have to deal with the mountain of luggage that they had brought with them, but they now also had the pleasure of having to include the second, smaller, mountain of supplies Rarity had purchased while she was there. Adam had to suppress the fit of laughter at seeing the looks they were making at seeing their responsibility in front of them, it was not a look of happiness. He was doing the exact opposite however, he was going to be leaving something behind for the princesses to use, something he knew would prove to be useful.
Grabbing one of his bags he brought it to the princesses, who had been standing of to the side while the others prepared for departure.
Celestia smiled at him as he approached and said, “Ah, Adam, I have something to tell you. While you have been staying here, I had contracted some construction ponies to begin work on your new home for you to stay in. From their last report, they have stated that they should be finished within the week. All costs for its constructions have been taken care of and it will be furnished with a few things that you will need.”
Adam was taken aback at hearing that not only would he have a place to call his own but that they had taken the liberty of paying for the costs and furnishings.
“I am truly thankful for ya’lls thoughtfulness of my living situation and I have something to give in return.” Digging through his bag, he removed the rectangular block that Twilight recognized as the device she had used to contact Adam when he had gone missing. “Having seen how you communicate with Twilight using scrolls and fire, consider it a jumpstart to ya’lls communication package by about one hundred years. This will allow the two of ya to talk with me instantly as long as I am within range with either this,” he pointed to the throat mic he was wearing again, “or with the other communication gear that I have in my other bag. Unlike my throat mic, this allows for long range communication and will be able to reach the one I will be holding on to. With these ya’ll will be able to speak with me whenever ya need to and I can even give you a verbal report or update on things going on in Ponyville. The same can be said the other way around, but there is a drawback and that is that I will need to be nearby to hear it.”
After seeing the communication radio being given to them Luna said, “This is a truly valuable piece of equipment that you are giving us, which we gladly accept. Though my sister and I would love to ask you many more questions about it, we must return to our duties to the country and you too must return to Ponyville with the others. But before you go take this,” she levitated over a small bag, ”in there is one hundred gold bits so that you may buy what you need until starting your duties. Farewell Adam we will see you again and we expect a weekly report from you.”
Fucking fantastic.
After the princesses had taken their leave Adam looked into the bag, having never actually seen the currency before and was surprised to find that they were in fact made of gold and mixed in was a ticket. He couldn’t recall either of the princesses ever mentioning there being a ticket in the bag but since they were no longer there he couldn’t ask them.
I guess I’ll just have to ask one of the girls about it, one of them might know something.
Finding a loop connected to the bag he was able to tie it to the base of his wing and keep it tucked underneath and out of view of others. Collecting his other belongings he made his way over to the second carriage and fastened them down so that they wouldn’t move during the journey before making his way to the first carriage. Seeing that the girls had already made themselves comfortable inside, he took his place against the side like last time.
Once the last of them were seated the guards took to the skies and aimed for Ponyville in their standard formation.
----
Canterlot Castle Throne Room
Celestia and Luna stood at their thrones with the radio sitting in between them, happy with how things had transpired. Celestia took this moment to sit down in preparation for the courts to open for the day, even if it was later than normal. Luna on the other hoof was doing some sort of victory dance that forced Celestia to ask, “And what pray tell has you in such a fine mood this morning Lulu?”
Luna stopped her dance to look at her older sister and excitedly respond, “Did thou not listen to us? We did not speak as we did in times past. Thy lessons have been working wonderfully and they now bare fruit.” She continued where she left off in her little dance without a care in the world.
Luna’s slip back into the old speech without realizing it caused a fit of laughter to take Celestia. It took several minutes before she was finally able to regain control again and speak, “Lulu you’re doing it again.”
Luna stopped her victory dance and blinked a few time, the smile leaving her muzzle. The room went silent before she finally spoke, “BU-”
----
Being up in the air and having nowhere to be at the moment Adam thought that that would be the perfect opportunity for him so he asked, “Hey girls I was talking to the princesses and they gave me some bits, but when I opened the bag I also found this,” as he pulled out the ticket he could see their reactions. Twilight’s was the look of shock while Applejack and Rainbow Dash gave soft groans. Rarity had a look of excitement and said something about things being more interesting than last time, Pinkie was acting just how Pinkie always acted which made it difficult for Adam to glean any information from her. Lastly, Fluttershy hid further into her mane and mumbled how wonderful that was for him to get a ticket.
“So anyone going to tell me or am I just going to have to guess?”
It was Twilight who finally answered Adam saying, “That is a ticket for the Grand Galloping Gala and it is the most prestigious event in all of Equestria for a pony to attend. I had received our tickets and was waiting to give them to everypony, but I guess I can just do that when we land again.” There were more groans that followed Twilight’s statement from Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
Placing the ticket back into the pouch and tieing it to the base of his wing again, he quickly lost any interest in the conversation the girls had gotten into about fashion, parties and farm work. Not wanting to sit in boredom, he pulled out his Ipod again and plugged in his ear buds. Finding the song he wanted to listen to he hit the play button and started humming along.
Halfway through the song he didn’t notice that he had gotten lost in the song and was out right singing and banging along with the beat.
With the last notes fading, Adam was made painfully aware of how quiet the girls had become next to him. He could feel his cheeks begin to redden from embarrassment while his eyes darted around looking for some sort of distraction but found nothing.
“Uh well... Nothing to do here,” quickly standing up he lept over the side. Backflip for style.
The air tore at his clothes as he plummeted away from the carriage, the thrill of it sent spikes of adrenaline through his system as he gained more and more speed. A short glance over his shoulder however told him he wasn’t alone as he saw a rainbow maned pegasus rocket towards him with a determined look on her face.
Oh, I’m not going to make it that easy.
To reduce his air resistance, he straightened his body out with his face towards the ground. He could feel the intensity of the wind on his face increase as he sped faster and faster to the ground. As the ground became closer and closer it was soon time for him to pull out of the dive and gain altitude.
This will either be really fun or I’ll become a pancake. I really hope its option A.
Opening his wings he could immediately feel the tug of the air on his wings and the strain on the muscles as they screamed in protest and lifted him away. Every fiber and muscle burned from the exertion required and nearly caused him to scream. The airspeed gained from the dive, along side his added flaps, allowed for him to quickly increase the distance once again between himself and the hard ground. Just as he was beginning to level off his flight the amount of effort increased dramatically. Looking back he saw the culprit being none other than Rainbow Dash pulling on his hind legs with a mischievous grin on her face.
“I’m not letting you get away that easily. Since we have you up here and flying already, why not get started on your training.”
“Let go damn it,” Adam grunted from the strain. With Rainbow Dash pulling on his leg he had to increase the amount of effort he was already having to deal with. “Seriously let go.”
“Not going to happen. Princess Celestia wanted me to train you and thats what I am going to do,” the grin never leaving her muzzle.
“Would you please let me go?”
“Weeeellllll, since you asked nicely,” the grin widening further, she let go of his leg which sent him rocketing forward from the sudden lack of resistance. She followed him a few feet away just incase, laughing the entire time.
Recovering as quickly as he could he went straight for the second carriage with all the luggage, having had enough of flying for one day. As he approached the carriage he yelled over his shoulder to Rainbow Dash, “So how do I land, ya know, without crashing?”
“Well for starters you should probably slow down and prepare you legs to absorb the impact.”
Adam nodded his head as he followed her instructions and made his descent towards the luggage, the guards pulling it however had worried looks after they heard him ask how to land. The two guards closed their eyes in anticipation of Adam’s collision with the cart and were rewarded with the sound of Adam slamming into the luggage.
Rainbow Dash flew up alongside the carriage tapping her chin with her hoof, “Hmm, maybe we should have started with a nonmoving landing platform for you to try on first. Its kinda harder to land on something that is also moving especially for a beginner.”
Adam shot Rainbow Dash a look before saying, “You could have said that before I smashed my face into a bunch of Rarity’s suitcases.”
“How else are you going to learn these things if you don’t try, that and its funny to watch you crash into everything.”
He just rolled his eyes at her, he wasn’t going to stoop down to her level, not yet anyways, he was going to wait for when she least expected it. In the meantime he just wanted to rest for the remainder of the trip back, even if it was with the luggage. He waved Rainbow Dash away and laid back down, he was too tired to attempt to crossover to the other carriage. He made himself as comfortable as possible before he closed his eyes. Before sleep could take him though he called up to the guards pulling and said, “Give me a shout when we are five minutes out from Ponyville, OK.”
The guards replied with, “Yes sir,” tensing up slightly from talking with him.
“Hey none of that ‘yes sir’ stuff, I’m not on duty.” Not really caring to hear their reply he finally fell asleep for the rest of the flight.
----
“So,” Twilight began as Rainbow Dash landed amongst them again, “how do you think he will do once you really start training him?”
Rainbow Dash shifted her wings into a more comfortable position before replying, “Well from what I saw, he should do fine and shouldn’t take too long. He does need to learn the proper technique though if he wants to stay in the air longer, I mean did you see how worn out he was just from that little stunt.”
“Speaking of teachers, I wonder who Princess Celestia hired to train Adam, other than Rainbow Dash that is,” asked Rarity.
Hopping up and down in her excitement, Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Oh oh oh, maybe she is getting one of the wonderbolts to teach him the techniques.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the idea, “Ha, as if. I don’t think its so important for him to fly that she would need to hire one of them to teach him. She probably got one of the weather team ponies to teach him.”
“Well either way I’m sure we'll be findin’ out soon enough once he starts,” stated Applejack not wanting the conversation to get out of hoof now that it was on the topic of the wonderbolts.
----
Adam’s dreamless sleep was interrupted by one of the guards, that pulled the carriage he was on, calling his name. He slowly opened his eyes and stretched his limbs feeling his joints crack and pop before he let out a tired sigh. Finally awake to his fullest he grabbed his bags and began to fully suit up in his gear like he had been the last time he was in town.
Not knowing of any place else to land the guards went straight to the library where they originally picked up everyone from. The two guards that had to pull the luggage carriage had the, once again, unfortunate responsibility of unloading all of Rarity’s new and old luggage. Adam on the on hand grabbed his own gear and set it towards the side, away from everyone else. Once everything had been removed a few of the guards gave Adam a quick nod before taking off and start their journey back to the capital.
“OK girls we’re finally back, I’m sure everypony wants to go home and see their families, so I will see you all later,” announced Twilight.
The others gave their nods of approval and started saying their goodbyes before taking their belongings and heading home, Rarity lifting her’s with her magic. After everyone had finally left for their homes, did Twilight turn and open the door to the library. She didn’t make it far before realizing that Adam wasn’t following behind her and turned to face him in confusion.
“Are you coming in or are you going to stand out here?”
“Actually I was going to go and find the local guard barracks. I need to go meet the men and- I mean stallions and mares that I’ll be workin’ with from now on. The best way to do that is to stay in the barracks until my new home is finished sometime next week.”
“Are you sure, that doesn’t sound like a very comfortable place to stay from what Shining has told me.”
“And you would be right but its not for very long, that and I don’t feel right stayin’ at the library. I just feel like I’m takin’ advantage of ya and Spike. Anyways I’ll see ya tomorrow,” with that he turned around with his bags and made his way towards the guard’s headquarters in town.
It was getting late into the evening before he finally actually found the building he had been on the hunt for. He wanted to quickly find a bunk somewhere inside and sleep until the shift change. The sooner he learned how the guard operated during the night the faster he could start working again and give him something to distract himself. The time he had spent relaxing in the capital gave him too much time to think about things he would rather not.
Opening the doors he saw a few solar guards walking to the barracks, none paying him the slightest bit of attention. Not really worried he started for one of the halls that had been labeled for the lunar guard barracks. In the barracks there was more activity going on as the guards were preparing to change shift for the night. As he entered a few looked at him with puzzled looks on their faces, not understanding why a civilian would wander into there of all places. Spotting an open bunk Adam tossed his bags next to it, not even bothering to unpack as he prepared to get some sleep.
“Um, excuse me, mind tell me what you are doing here in the guards barracks civilian.”
Adam turned to face the lunar guard that had approached him, raising an eyebrow at him before he responded, “Well I guess the princesses haven’t sent the letter yet or it just haven’t gotten here yet, either way it doesn’t matter.” Bringing a hoof to his chest he said, “I am the newly instated First Lieutenant Adam Smith that is to be stationed here until further notice.”
The reaction to his statement was immediate as several of the awake guards stopped what they were doing, many of them in different stages of assembling their armor, and saluted him. Adam just shook his head and chuckled, he was not used to that sort of reaction and it made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
“Sorry sir, none of us were aware that the capital would be sending somepony. Would you like me to introduce you to everypony?”
“That can wait until later tonight, I do need you to wake me when the shift changes though. Until then ya’ll can continue doing what ya’ll were doing.”
He began to unstrap his own armor and helmet, seeing as it would be rather uncomfortable to try and sleep in them even though he had done it several times before. Once he had finished taking everything off he grabbed the blankets and he pulled them back to allow him entrance beneath their warm layers. Beneath the blanket at last he let out a sigh and let his eyes slowly close and sleep take him.
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Looks like Adam's getting settled in. I hope everything goes well for him.
Loved that little stunt that Rainbow Dash pulled.
First.
To say first.
2432150
Nope
2432412 On the new chapter.
2432500
oh... Uhh yeup :P
2432742
... *erases entire chapter*
2433716
A certain wayward sniper better keep on his
toeshooves. It seems everything happens in Equestria for a reason. A sniper with weapons of doom might mean he's a fated counter to something more than the menace of the week coming out of the Everfree...2527862
2527926
I've been meaning to o back and edit those chapters...
2527959
I using it because its what people come to expect and can understand (I myself am a Texan from Houston).
2434829 dude.........the hell did you put in that comment cuase I saw the reply from the author...so yeah?
if I was he I use the bits to fix up the barracks make it better for him and his soldiers.
2432150 either i think that no one cares that you're first or you're the first to die or both