The Edge of Madness

by SaltyJustice

Chapter 12

I neglected to pack myself a lunch as I headed out, knowing I would regret it later but unconcerned. Improvisation was my specialty, after all, or I could just mooch something from the cafeteria. I arrived early enough to sweep the building again, but nothing was out of place, save one thing.

The basement door had been repaired, or rather replaced, with a bright white door with steel trim all around it. It had a large, rather obvious lock, and another, and another. I counted six locks total on the door, all made of the same steel the trim was. Perhaps this had something to do with last night? Nah.

Finding nothing further out of place, I made my way to the sparring platform floating above the school. I had figured it would be empty, and I had figured wrong. Argent Scythe was there, doing something with the bungee lines.

"Oh, miss Autrena!" she said with surprise as I flew up and landed on the platform.

"Did you not expect me to be here? I know I'm a little early," I said, looking up at the sun. I gauged it to be eight or so. "Or a lot early, whoops."

"Oh no, it's just, uh," she said, looking bashful.

"Wait, weren't you let go the other day? What happened?" I asked. A wicked grin spread across her face.

"Strangest thing, the guy who was supposed to replace me? Something came up, so I got my job back," she said. She looked around to make sure nopony was around. We were alone.

"Thanks so much," she said.

"Uh, you're welcome? What did I do?" I asked. She was taken aback by my confusion.

"Well, Princess, I figured you would have something to do with it. I try not to play politics but I don't turn down good news," she said.

"Captain Wintermere told you, I take it?" I asked.

"Yes ma'am. I will absolutely not violate your cover ma'am," she said, giving a crisp salute.

I was starting to think the entire city knew, but thought everypony else didn't, and thus believed it was a secret. This cover story was getting more ridiculous by the minute.

"I had nothing to do with it. I guess you just got lucky," I said. She dropped the salute.

"Very well ma'am, I will assume you are being modest," she said. Not only is the truth a cover story, telling the truth now made me look self-serving. Maybe I should take up recreational lying?

Midnight flew up over the side of the platform and landed, giving Argent a salute.

"Cadet Midnight Blossom, reporting for duty ma'am!" she shouted. She gave me a wink.

"Bright and early cadet? I like that. Do you have your training weapon?" Argent asked her.

Midnight had cleaned her cadet's shirt last night, but that didn't help. It had a wide range of holes and gashes, and had been patched a dozen times using different materials. She had a large sheath slung on her back, and leaped into the air while unsheathing the blunted training sword. She flapped as she ran her hoof along the blade to make sure it was non-lethal, accidents with edged weapons having a very predictable outcome.

"Yes ma'am, this weapon is up to code and ready for action," she said. Argent turned to me.

"What about you Autrena, do you have your practice weapon?" she asked me.

"No, this is my normal sword. Where might I get a practice one?" I asked. Midnight swooped over and landed next to me.

"Wow, that's a real sword? Can I see it? Please?" she asked me, practically grabbing at the sheath while I stepped away.

"Cadet!" Argent yelled. Midnight snapped to attention.

"Now, I'll go get you your practice sword ma'am. Please wait right here," Argent said, and flew off the platform. As soon as she was out of sight, Midnight started to bug me again.

"Please please please?" she asked, looking like a filly. This was exactly how Twilight acted, come to think of it. And Minty...

"Later," I hissed, as Argent flew back up onto the platform with another sword in tow. She passed it to me, and I quickly checked the edge.

"Good to go," I said.

Another two students flew up and landed on the platform. Evidently being early was more common than being on time, though we still waited around until it was time for class to officially begin. That day, we were doing weapons-recovery drills, as we had been told the day previous. The instructor ties your weapon to the bungee cables while you hang underneath the cloud. Then, she tosses them off, and you have to catch them before the cable goes taut. It was a good bit of fun, and very useful for aerial combat.

Midnight was far too eager to impress, and kept catching her blade in time, but did not seem to mind grabbing the edged part. That's a good way to cut your legs off. I made sure to always grab by the handle if possible, and only go for the flat of the blade if the alternative is to miss entirely.

The other students were fairly clumsy but showed good improvement by the end of the lesson. I, of course, had no trouble, but that was the entire reason I was here. After about an hour, the other half of the cadets showed up and did the same lesson while we watched.

"Hey, you ever been in a duel?" Midnight asked me as we hovered, about two-hundred meters from the platform.

"More than you'd believe," I said. She had been asking me questions like this endlessly.

"Did you win?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"All of them?" she asked.

I turned to her.

"Yes, Midnight, I won every single one," I said sarcastically. Of course, she didn't pick up the sarcasm.

"Teach me? Please!?" she practically begged.

"Lesson one will be patience," I said under my breath, as we watched two of the B-group students both fail to catch their spears. Argent said something to them as they hauled their spears back up by the bungee cables. I noticed a pony with a blue uniform flying up to us.

"Excuse me, I was told I could find Miamore up here?" he asked me. His uniform was that of a postal worked, now that I saw it up close.

"That's me," I said. I was saying that a lot lately.

"Special delivery, high priority," he said, pulling out a letter and passing it to me. He flew off without another word.

"Aren't you supposed to sign something for that?" Midnight asked. I ignored her, and tried to read the letter.

"Hold this," I said, passing her my training sword. I didn't have anywhere to put it and couldn't use my magic to hold up the letter. I had also learned not to try to hold a metal object in my mouth; bad for your teeth, so I had been told.

Dear Miamore

We believe this is a Ziristone artifact, but it's so full of magic it can't absorb any more. That's our best guess anyway. Did you happen to touch it? It has some, shall we say, disturbing properties when it is touched. We will investigate more and get back to you.

No luck on the green symbols either. I'm working on it.

-Victoria

I wondered just how many other ponies would know what Ziristone was, should this top-secret letter have been intercepted. Did we have any enemies? I had been away for a while, and Tia hadn't mentioned any, but she signed the letter as Victoria. Perhaps it was secrecy for its own sake.

"What's the letter say?" Midnight asked me.

"Top-secret, can't tell you," I said, my voice was getting grated.

"Really? Why's it top secret?" she asked.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," I said. Sarcasm, comedy, all were lost on her. She hushed right up.

We watched the rest of the lesson and gathered for Argent's explanation and coaching. We had another lesson that afternoon, and were expected to practice more on our own. I actually liked the very loose organization, the cadets were learning independence and self-betterment at the same time as combat skills they'd rarely use. Perhaps this was why Argent was the best.

I had figured I'd have a spare moment to take a drink of water, but Midnight wasn't having any of it. Before all the other cadets had even left the platform, she already had her sword drawn and was standing there, reared up, brandishing it.

"Are you just a bit excited?" I asked. She shook her head.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," she said. Kind of out of place, unless she honestly thought half a day was a long time.

There was no schedule for this sparring, she just came straight at me and attacked like a berserker. There was very little discipline, but she made up for it with strength and endurance, swinging wildly and trying to overpower me.

Rather than play her game, I kept my hooves on the platform and stayed low. She fought the whole time with her wings flared, ready to jump into the air at a moment's notice, but I simply parried and dodged in order to let her tire herself out. She had real talent, latent and unrealized, but nopony had shown her how to use it before now.

As I saw her start to pant and sweat, I let her keep going until she seemed ripe. Then, in one swift motion, I parried a swing and brought my free leg down to pin the blade. I spun around and pulled, yanking her sword out of her grip. She was completely unprepared for it and stood dazed as I gave the blade back to her.

"What just happened?" she asked me, possibly in shock.

"I disarmed you, that means you lost," I said.

"Oh, okay," she said, dejected. This must have not happened before.

"Don't look like that, you've got some real talent. Here, watch me," I said, and I demonstrated how to swing without sending yourself off balance. We'd need to work on the basics. Need to learn to flap before you can fly, and all that.

Midnight wanted to keep going after two hours, but I wanted to get a drink and eat the nothing I had packed. I headed over to the cafeteria to see what was on offer. Midnight decided to tag along, having nothing else to do, and we ate together.

"Do you drink out of the public fountains?" she asked me, as I went over to the fountain.

"Yes?" I said. She was a bit of an odd duck, what's wrong with drinking from the clouds? I figured that was where the water came from, since Squeaky installed the tap there. Maybe not.

"You shouldn't do that, I heard the government puts stuff in the public water," she said, deadly serious, "Fluoride and stuff. Mind-control, it makes you docile and easy to control."

"Do you know anypony named Minty?" I asked her.

"No, should I?" she said, shaking her head.

"Nevermind. If I don't drink from public fountains, where do you get your water?" I asked.

She pulled out an orange bottle which was filled with, well, water.

"I got this stuff, I call it 'Midnight's Sewer Brew'. I make it myself," she said, matter-of-factly. I detected no pride in her voice, this was a public service.

"Please don't tell me you pull water out of the sewers," I said, grimacing.

"What? No, I use ground-up rat weed, it grew all over the place in Ponyville. Rat weed, sewer brew, get it?" she said.

"What else is in there?" I asked.

"Sugar, rainwater, a pinch of salt. This stuff is great, try some," she said.

I took a small drink, and it was actually pretty good. I had never even heard of rat weed before, I would need to look that up. If it was poisonous, Midnight would have been dead by now. Then again, it could also have accounted for her hyperactive behavior, I didn't know what was in it. Rat weed could very well be a hallucinogen.

That afternoon we were doing some group takeoff drills. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but there was a sense of unity with the rest of the cadets, trying to get scrambled out of the barracks in under one minute. They used this sort of thing in emergencies to assist firefighters in Canterlot, though I wondered what they would use it for in Los Pegasus. Perhaps they scrambled everypony whenever one of the theaters downtown had an act cancel, and we'd need to scour the town fast for an alternative to make sure the tourists stayed entertained. Lives would be hanging in the balance.

I gave the building another sweep before I packed in for the day. As before, Fluttershy was milling around the entrance of the building, hiding behind a potted plant whenever somepony came by. There was no sign of Rainbow though, and Fluttershy wasn't willing to tell me where she was, if she even knew.

I had resolved to resume my patrolling later that day, I would need a proper meal and a rest before I could continue. Midnight had asked me to train her more later that evening, so I had intended to conveniently take her along on the patrols. Not for her sake, of course, but so I would not be alone should another trap take place. Two heads are better than one, even if one is Midnight's head.

When we reached the house, Fluttershy ran in ahead of me to search for Labamba, but he was not there. In fact, nopony was home, which was unusual. Perhaps he had hopped out a window, as our house was rather insecure. I didn't even bother to lock the door anymore, since somepony could just kick a hole in the clouds if they wanted to steal everything. They'd make off with our laundry I suppose, there was little of value in the building.

As I was puzzling over the missing Flamingo, I heard a scratching sound coming from somewhere. Following the noise, I found a tin can sitting in the laundry room, attached by a wire to a small, white box.

"Cadence, can you come in here please?" the can said to me. The can. It was talking.

I mean, that's really when you figure you've gone off the deep end right? When inanimate objects start talking to you, that's a bad sign. I figured I may as well roll with it, if you're going to be nuts you may as well enjoy it.

"I'm already here, miss can," I said to it. The can did not react.

"Oh, oops. You were supposed to be in the living room when I said that," the can said back. It sounded a lot like Squeaky, but with a garbling noise in between.

"Can you not see me?" I asked the can.

"You don't have any idea how radio waves work, do you?" asked the can. I did not like its tone.

"Don't get snippy with me, tin can. I will kick you out the window if I have to. Hope you like the ten-thousand foot drop," I said. The can wisely shut up.

I heard the door open and somepony start towards the laundry room. Squeaky stuck her head in. I noticed a metal object tucked under her wing, but I couldn't make out what it was with all the feathers in the way.

"Are you some kind of special case, Cadence? Anypony would be able to figure out how a radio works if I showed them," she said. The connection was starting to become clear.

"Since when could you use magic? I've heard of a ghost-voice spell that would do this, though not out of a tin can. Is it an enchanted can?" I asked her. Her face took a sullen look.

"Radio waves, Cadence. They can transmit electrical signals over a distance," she said.

I looked at her dumbly.

"This is a revolution in the making! If I can work out the problems with the receiver and boost the transmitter, I could send radio signals all across Equestria in under a second!" she said, trying desperately to convince me this wasn't magic.

I continued to look dumb.

"Do you know what a telegraph is?" she asked me.

"No, is it like the intercom we had at school?" I asked. She put her hoof on her face and left it there. She turned and left the room, mumbling something as she did. I followed her out.

"I take it this is for your physics project," I said. Squeaky was holding her eyes closed in the living room.

"Where's mister Labamba?" Fluttershy asked her. Squeaky didn't take her hooves off her head.

"Outside, with Minty. Look out back," she said.

"What's Minty's project? Anything cool?" I asked.

"Radio waves aren't cool enough for you?" Squeaky asked me, looking upset.

I was about to answer, but a high pitched sound had begun a few moments earlier. It was getting louder and louder, and quickly drowned out anything I said. Before I could finish my sentence, the noise stopped and a red triangle wedged itself in the roof. It dangled down from above, more like a cone as I walked around it to get a better view.

"What in Equestria is that?" Squeaky said, looking at the object.

Without warning, a billowing cloud of smoke burst forth from it, covering us and everything in the house in a layer of thick black ash. I closed my eyes instinctively, and all three of us started coughing.

The cloud of ash settled in a few seconds, and I opened my eyes again to see Squeaky and Fluttershy standing baffled in the otherwise black-coated room. The bed was covered in fine ash, and as Squeaky moved I saw a perfect outline of her shape left in the ash layer.

Minty appeared at the kitchen window. Labamba stuck his head in soon after.

"It worked!" she shouted. Squeaky coughed again.

"What worked? Are you working on chemical weapons? " Squeaky said, coughing as she did. I started towards the feather duster that was in the kitchen, but I figured it was going to be utterly insufficient for this mess.

"No, that was the first test flight of the M-101 'Labamba' Rocket!" Minty said. Labamba squawked, also excited, though his face betrayed nothing.

"Mister Labamba, were you a part of this?" Fluttershy said, scolding him. He lowered his head beneath his wing, trying to hide.

"Don't give me that mister, you explain yourself right now," she said.

"Relax kid, this is my physics project," Minty said, trying to cool Fluttershy down.

"Minty, we already have rockets. That's not going to do you much good," Squeaky said, chiding her.

"It's not the rocket, it's the guidance system. Okay, I have a theory, right?" Minty said. She started to say something else before Squeaky cut her off.

"You are going to be working on the rocket first. And you're going to be cleaning the house too," she said. Minty sighed.

"Sorry," she said. Labamba squawked.

It was at this point that I realized I needed a shower, but I wasn't quite sure how to get a raincloud to do that.

"Can one of you show me how to make it rain?" I asked. Squeaky went over to the sink and starting washing her face off.

"Just get a cloud and stomp on it a few times, should start raining for you," she said. She grabbed a dish towel and wiped her face off, leaving a big black stain on the cloth. She threw it down in frustration.

"You're doing the laundry too," she said to Minty.

A proper meal was now out of the question, if I was going to make my appointment with Midnight, I'd need to improvise something for that as well.

I bid the twins goodbye as Minty was getting out some paper towels. I was thinking she'd need a lot more rolls of the stuff, but it wasn't my problem right now.

I had an idea of using the showers at the school to clean myself off and still make it in time, but Midnight intercepted me as I flew towards the school.

"Hey you're early, and you wear camo too! That is so cool," she said. I tried to ignore her.

"I need to take a shower," I said, "give me a few minutes."

"Oh okay, I'll meet you in the south gym?" she asked.

I didn't answer. I had a feeling, a bad one.

"Midnight, follow me, right now," I said.

"What? What for?" she started to ask.

"No time, move! Now!" I shouted.