Long Distance

by Ezn

Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Sibwashie smiled confidently, and a sense of knowing glinted in his eyes. The twilight had turned into night, and Luna had not yet raised the moon. It's only a matter of time now, he thought.

Joyous Dawn snarled. "I don't see what that has to do with anything. Luna will raise the moon, and then she will bring me a piece of it! That, or I am going to kill Ocean Glider! Do as I say, and what in Equestria is that light?!"

At that moment, White Noise felt a warm sensation on his back. A bright yellow light was shining in through the gap in the ceiling, making the night feel just like day. He felt the corners of his mouth turn up instinctually.

A loud voice shouted from above, "No more ponies will be harmed tonight!"

The wooden beam dropped to the ground with a clatter and Ocean took a deep breath. As her face returned to its normal colour, fear and discomfort was replaced by rage and disappointment. Her hindlegs shot into a powerful buck, and she heard a scream.

"Ah-hem," the voice said. "What did I just say?"

Ocean Glider's eyes travelled up to the ceiling, and her eyes met with the stern gaze of a great white alicorn in all her glory – Princess Celestia. A nervous chuckle escaped Ocean's throat before she dropped to the floor in a low bow.

"Sister!" Princess Luna exclaimed, running to embrace Celestia as she landed on the platform.

"I came here as soon as I noticed the lack of a moon in your night, Luna," she said, caressing the back of her sister's mane. "What happened to you? You look a mess!"

Luna's forehead creased. "'Twas her, dear sister!" she exclaimed, pointing an accusing forehoof at Dawn. "The red unicorn! She had evil desires for OUR moon! And she was aided by the green unicorns chained near thy feet!"

Celestia cast a brief glance at Trapper and Tamer, still lying unconscious, and then there was a brilliant flash as she teleported in front of Dawn, who lay on the floor, clutching her midsection. "Explain yourself," Celestia demanded.

Agonisingly, Dawn pulled her head up to look Celestia in the eyes. "I– I had such beautiful plans... everything would have worked out..."

"WASTE NOT thy time with that SCOUNDREL, Celestia," Luna barked. "Know only that she wronged us, and that these good ponies came to our aid."

Princess Celestia nodded. She lent down to whisper something in one of Dawn's ears, and then put her to sleep with the touch of her horn.

"I recognise one of you," Celestia said, turning to the four ponies in the room who were still bowing. "Rise, so that I might see you better."

The four rose, and White saw a glint of recognition in Celestia's eyes as they made contact with his own. He smiled sheepishly.

"You are one of my students," Celestia said kindly, taking a step towards him. "Your name is" – she closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment – "White Noise, and you graduated with a degree in communication magic last year."

"Yes, your majesty," White replied. "That is all correct."

Celestia glanced back at Luna. "You say that this pony and his friends aided you?"

"Yes, YES!" Luna nodded her head vigorously. "Although OUR mane and tail now glow with the STARRY CURTAIN OF NIGHT, we are still weak. Without the help of these brave ponies, we do not know what might have happened."

"I see." Celestia turned back to White. "Tell me, White Noise, my student, what have you learnt?"

"Well I'm not–"

"Once a student, always a student."

"Well I didn't–"

"I'm not interested in your technical learnings."

"Then I guess... I've learnt..."

White's eyes clouded over with thought as he cast his mind back over the ordeal he'd just come out of, and over the journey he'd undertaken to get there. Joyous Dawn had orchestrated so much of the things he'd seen, and so many of the coincidences that led to him and his friends being there that night.

"President Dawn wanted to end famine by bringing a piece of the moon down to where we can grow food on it. She was driven insane by a desire for 'progress', and she hurt so many ponies trying to achieve it. So maybe... progress is bad? ...No, that's not it!"

White thought some more, and the Princess waited. "I began this expedition to find out more about dragonfire, so that I could advance the technology my business runs on. I also wanted progress. But because of that, my employee Melvin thought that his job was going to be made obsolete... and so he embezzled me and committed fraud. Is progress bad?"

Celestia said nothing.

"No, progress can't be bad. If progress were bad, Zebrica would still be a bunch of loose tribes, or we'd all still be at war with the dragons and the griffons. I've got so many ideas for innovations and new products... they can't all be rotten, evil things that'll cause pain and suffering."

A smile was beginning to creep over Celestia's face, and White became more confident.

"And I can't blame myself for what Melvin did! He's a schemer! I think... I think progress is complicated. And I think that's because dragons are complicated... and ponies are too, and so are zebras, and so is everyone! I've met so many different creatures on this journey, good and bad. Is that it? 'Ponies are complicated'?"

Princess Celestia nodded slowly. "Yes, my faithful student, that's it. You have done well."

"Thank-you, Princess!" White said, grinning. "'Ponies are complicated'."

Just then, the air sparked and a scroll materialised in front of Celestia's face. A telekinetic shroud wrapped around it before it hit the floor. "Excuse me," Celestia said. "I need to attend to this for just a moment."

As Celestia stepped away from the ponies to read the scroll, White felt a presence in his mind.

I know about this, White Noise. You have a gift that few ponies ever receive, and it can be a powerful tool for spreading the truth, or an evil power for lying to and manipulating others. I trust that you have used it for good, and I hope you shall continue to do so.

I... have, your Majesty, and I will.

Good. I'll be watching you, and so will Kasdar. Whatever you do with this power, one of us shall find out. Be careful.

Yes, Princess Celestia.

A shiver went down White's back, and he turned to his friends, shaking the thoughts out of his head. "Guess we'd better book that boat ride back. Ocean?"

Ocean Glider just looked at him. Sky stifled a giggle, and Sibwashie shook his head slowly.

At just that moment, there was a whooshing of air and Venkra descended through the gap in the roof. "I couldn't find Dawn anywhere, so she must still be – oh..."

Six pairs of eyes stared up at her.

"I missed something here, didn't I?"

Princess Celestia caught Venkra's eye and smiled up at her. "Yes, Ms Dragon, you did, but it is nothing that cannot be explained later. For now, know that you have my gratitude for whatever part you played in tonight's proceedings, and be still. My sister is about to raise the moon."

A hush fell over the observatory as the Princess of the Night stepped into the center of the raised platform, standing on the spot from which Dawn had previously taunted her. Her coat was matted and her crown askew, but she held her head up high and her starry mane billowed behind it.

Luna's horn glowed, softly at first, but then strong enough that the ponies had to shield their eyes. The glow grew to envelop her body, and with a flap of her wings she ascended three feet off the ground, and then six, and then twelve.

Her audience turned their heads to stare out of the gap in the roof, and they saw the moon – whole and unblemished – slowly rise into view.

"I don't think I missed anything at all," whispered Venkra.

***

"...And that's when Princess Celestia came in and told Ocean off for kicking President Dawn!" Sky finished, smiling broadly.

"Hey!" Ocean chided.

Venkra chuckled and reached for a sapphire from the middle of the table. "It's okay, she deserved it. You go Ocean!"

"Thank you."

The party sat around a circular table in the middle of a large auditorium that the Princesses had arranged to be cleared for their gathering. Celestia and Luna sat next to each other, with the ponies, zebra and dragon around them, digging into the feast that had been provided.

White turned to the Princesses, idly twiddling a fork with his telekinesis. "What are your Highnesses planning to do about... uh... the Lunar Republic? I get the feeling it's going to be a political nightmare."

"Yes, I imagine so," Princess Celestia replied. "President Joyous Dawn was well-loved by her people, and for many good reasons. Luna has told me much about her experiences in this country, and it is with a heavy heart that I am impressed with Dawn's brief leadership."

Luna looked down at her plate, sullen. "I used to be quite fond of her, sister."

"Yes, I'm certain. I had a long chat with Joyous Dawn before coming here. She's a very interesting pony... but quite mad, I fear. I will see to it that she gets the help she needs, and perhaps we can keep this whole sad affair from receiving too much publicity... although that is probably just wishful thinking."

"You're not angry?" asked White. "Not even after she had those two scumbag cronies of hers mind-control and hurt your sister?"

"I am deeply saddened that any ponies would do such horrible things, but I have long learned not to waste anger on what is already past. Those criminals will be put somewhere where they cannot hurt anypony ever again."

White nodded and lifted his fork to his mouth.

Princess Celestia wasn't finished. "My student, as you've learnt, ponies and all other speaking peoples are complex beings. I do not believe that any are predisposed entirely to evil, and I know that we all" – she glanced briefly at Luna – "deserve a second chance. It is just important to take precautions."

"I'll try to remember that, Princess," said White, chewing a lettuce leaf absently. "I think I know of someone I know who it should apply to."

***

The sun shone down brightly on the construction workers as they sweated and toiled rebuilding the front wall of Dragonfire Deliveries. Melvin sat close by, supervising the building and feeling glum. Guess this is my last little job before White fires me. Hope I at least get paid.

Melvin smirked at that, but felt more like crying.

"Ah, Melvin!" said a painfully happy and familiar voice behind him. "Just the dragon I was looking for! I trust everything's going well here – mind if we have a quick word?"

Melvin slowly craned his neck around to glance at White Noise, standing there with his head held high, and nodded slowly. Let's just get this over with.

"Excellent!" White took a seat beside Melvin, and the two watched the building for a while.

"So am I fired?" Melvin asked bluntly.

White put a forehoof to his snout, appearing to think for a time before answering. Oh no, here comes a speech... thought Melvin.

"Well..." White began. "I think that yes, it would be a prudent business decision to fire you. You falsified prices, stole, sold new products without my authorisation, and went against the core philosophy of Dragonfire Delivery – that distance doesn't matter. I have a lot of very good reasons to fire you."

Melvin's head sunk. He wished White would just skip the lecture and fire him.

"However," White continued, "I've been going over the financials and talking to Correspondence, and now I realise that I also have a lot of good reasons not to. You may have stolen from my business, but a lot of what you stole probably wouldn't have come in if not for your innovations. We'll have to adjust the prices, of course, but newspaper delivery and the Dragonfire Digest? That stuff is brilliant!"

Melvin smiled slightly, daring to make eye-contact with his boss.

"Melvin," White said, adopting a serious and official tone, "I hereby promote you to Head of Marketing and Product Development. Correspondence shall be hired to do your old job – well, the parts a pony can do, anyway – and you'll be his supervisor."

"Wow..." Melvin replied, his eyes growing wide. "I– I don't know what to say... Thank you! I won't let you down, boss!"

White smiled, but then grew stern. "I'll be making sure of that. Although you will be Corr's supervisor, I've also asked him to keep an eye on you. What's more, I'm going to be paying closer attention to the financials from now on – Dragonfire Delivery's going places, and I'm going to need to learn some business savvy if I want to keep up."

That's true, Melvin thought, careful to hide his amusement.

"And there are some things you're going to need to learn too, Melvin. Things that a dragon should know – like the full extent of those powers you use to send mail around the world."

"Full extent? Like what?"

White's horn glowed. You'll see... and no, this isn't your brain talking to you.

Melvin's jaw fell open. "Did you–?"

"Ask Venkra about it."

And so Melvin did.

***

A week passed before the Moonchaser was set to leave for Equestria. In that time, the Dragonfire Delivery storefront was mostly rebuilt, and the Princesses had Joyous Dawn sent away to a mental hospital in Equestria.

On the morning of their voyage, the three travellers stood on the docks with Venkra. "I'm going to miss you colourful little horses," she said. "Travelling with you has been the most excitement I've had all century!"

"We'll miss you too, Venkra," said Sky. "Please don't forget to write... or pester White in his brain, if that's easier!"

"Thank you for all your aid, and may your journey be short
I hope we speak again soon, fair lady of the Dragon King's court," Sibwashie said, smiling.

"I get a rhyme!" Venkra grinned toothily. "Take care, stripey singing horse! May your days be... without remorse! ...That was a good one."

"Feel free to pester me whenever you want," White said. "Just not at night. Or when I'm busy with work. Or in the morning before I've had my coffee. Or–"

Venkra cackled loudly. "Okay, got it. I'll try to keep to those conditions, but no promises."

Venkra's friends laughed with her, and then their laughter slowly got quieter and died away. There was a period of silence.

"Guess it's time, huh?" Venkra said. "Nothing I hate more than agonising goodbyes, so... bye! White, stay smart. Sib, stay poetic. Sky, stay awesome!"

With that, Venkra drew her leathery wings and took off, waving a claw before she got too high for anypony on the ground to see it. Her friends waved their forelegs as she turned eastward and began her long flight back to Dragonia.

Sky sighed, and White and Sibwashie lay forehooves on each of her shoulders.

***

Waves jumped out of the path of the Moonchaser as it cut across the water. Three ponies and a zebra stood on its deck, looking back at an island that was slowly disappearing into the distance.

"I wonder what'll happen to the Lunar Republic now that its president's in a straitjacket," Sky wondered aloud.

"Oh, there'll be another election," Ocean said. "The old Farmer–Trader Alliance'll probably win it. They always did before Dawn came along, mainly 'cause they tended to be the only ones who ran."

"You're joking," White said flatly. "All that talk about the power of 'democracy' and you ponies don't even use it properly?"

"Yeah, okay, fine. It's probably just 'cause no-one wants to do the thankless job our politicians have. I worked in that area for long enough to know it ain't no picnic."

Sibwashie smiled knowingly.

"So," Ocean said, "what are your plans now that you're on your way back to Fillydelphia? Gonna go back to the daily grind?"

"For a bit," White replied. "I think I'll focus on my business for a while, maybe do some research, but as soon as I can I want to get back to Zebrica. The zebras who invented radio live in Shangora, and, don't hold me to this, but I think that combinations of radio and dragonfire magics may yield some interesting results."

"When you return to my homeland, I think I too may benefit from another visit
Perhaps we can travel together again, if circumstance will permit it," Sibwashie offered.

"And I'll see if I can't come too!" Sky enthused. "After your little niece was so enthralled by my flying, I can't help but feel that Zebrica would be a great place to give my performing career a bit of a boost."
All three looked at Ocean. "At this rate I'm going to have to make that Lunar Republic–Zebrica trip a regular route."

"I guess this means we'll be seeing each other again soon," Sky said happily, turning her head away from the Lunar Republic and towards Equestria. "I'll be looking forward to it."

The four looked at each other, and then moved to the front of the boat, squinting their eyes to try to get a slight glimpse of the Equestrian shore.

"And, y'know," White began after a time, "there are a few dragons working for me and working at Princess Celestia's school who know nothing of their history or their inborn abilities. Maybe we could talk Venkra into..."

***

In a small inn in Hoofington, Petunia Grassfire sat behind the reception counter, absorbed in a paperback mystery novel. She suspected the butler of stealing the Grazington family's prized paleo-pony-period tapestry, but secretly hoped she'd be proven wrong.

As the grandfather clock against the wall struck five, she heard the door creak and the padding of three sets of hooves on the soft carpet. She looked up to see three familiar faces, all wearing familiar saddlebags that looked a little the worse for wear since the last time they'd been in town.

"Hi Mrs Hospitality!" Sky chirped.

"Greetings to you again, well-named innkeeper's bride
We're returned to this inn in search of a place to reside," added Sibwashie.

A smile broadened across Petunia's kindly old face. "Ms Wave! Mr Sibwashie and Mr Noise! How good to see you all again, and yes, of course we have room for you! How was your trip?"

The three travellers each raised one eyebrow, almost simultaneously. "Eventful," Sky said with a giggle.

Just then, a voice called down the stairs. "Good news, honey! I just read in the paper that they've finally managed to stop the attacks on Ponyv– why, hello there!"

Grassfire descended the staircase, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. "Did you come to hear another story?"

White Noise stepped forward and looked him in the eye. "Actually, Mr Hospitality, this time I think we have a story to tell you."

---

Acknowledgements

Comments

[SafariJohn]

A most excellent story to tell him.

I'd like to point out that it is "Mr." and "Mrs.," not "Mr" and "Mrs"

[Ezn]

1086602>>1091636
Wow, thanks for those comments! I'm really glad my story managed to absorb you so much!

1094513
Loved that movie!

1096945
Thanks, but I write in British/Commonwealth English, where we only put full stops after abbreviations when they end on letters that the word being abbreviated doesn't end on, so "Mr" etc... is correct for this story. But still, thanks.

And thank you for reading and commenting, everyone else! I've really enjoyed writing this story and wrote a long blog about it here, if you're interested.

[Themaskedferret]

Beautiful story! I definitely hope you'll continue writing and sharing with us. I wouldn't mind seeing more of what these guys get up to as well.

[Brony_Joe]

Finishing a story is always a bittersweet experience for me. I'm always glad to see things concluded but saddened knowing that nothing else is coming. Regardless, well done sir. Well done indeed.

[Leviathan Splash]

That. Was. Flippin'. AWESOME!

[q97randomguy]

So many things to add to my head canon.

[Silver Cloud]

So, I finally made the time to finish this wonderful story.

I'll be clear: there aren't very many OC stories that really interest me, and generally the sole reason I'll read one is because it has been highly recommended or I know the author in some way. The latter was the case in this scenario, but I'm extremely glad I did read it, and I'm not just saying that for the fact of having spoken to you on sites other than this one.

This really was excellent, both in terms of writing quality and story. There were a few times, mostly in these last chapters, that I felt that the pacing sped up a little too much, and it seemed like you were trying to move towards the end a bit too quickly (for example, the issue of the gafcomp wasn't brought up at all when Sky and Venkra parted), but other than that I can't really fault you on this.
I envy both your writing talent, and your ability to have put this story together so well. The planning you put into seems unfathomable to me, since most of my own story ideas seem to revolve around a single concept, which, more often than not, dwindles pretty quickly.

I love the depth of the characters you created here, particularly White as the central protagonist. I hope you find an opportunity to write more about him at some point, although I must say that Sky Wave was my favourite of your little cast. There's a part of me that wishes she'd gotten a little more time in the limelight, partly because I enjoy free-spirited personalities (ponyalities?) and a general positive attitude, and also partly because I just love pegasi and the notion of free flight...

The episodic nature of the story, and, as you called it, continuity creep, was one of the aspects I particularly liked. I'm a fan of the Avatar cartoons myself, and I can see how they influenced, in some ways, the layout of the plot. A tale which does not immediately reveal its overall direction, yet has enough pointers that, at the end, you can look back and see that they were there all along, is the best kind. In my opinion anyway.

I wish I had time to make this a longer comment so as to address further points I enjoyed, but just know that I enjoyed this work immensely, and I look forward to further works from you (I should probably go read IDoD now...).

Oh, and I actually feel honoured that you included me in your acknowledgements. I don't feel like I did enough to deserve a spot there, but thank you nonetheless, and happy writings.

[Ezn]

1177340
Wow, thanks for saying all that. Makes me feel all light and happy inside.

I think I see your point about the pacing. There were points were I was afraid of making the story too dull and meandering, and I guess I overcompensated for that a bit. But I'll keep it in mind for my future stories. In a month or two, once the dust has settled, I may go over this fic again and make a few small tweaks here and there.

It's enough that you commented and occasionally pestered me to write new chapters of this. The enthusiasm you and everyone else in this comment section have shown to reading this fic is really what kept me going.

About continuations: all I'm going to say is that it's terribly obvious to anyone how much room I've left for that sort of thing.

[werewolf435]

Wow. Finally got through this fic, and I'm kin of sad. This is a wonderful story and I think I'm going to have to check out your other works (assuming you have any, naturally).

I especially liked all these random bits of worldbuilding you threw into this. Stories like Melvin, or the dragon king. And how you constantly give little tidbits of news from all around Equestria at random parts of the story, without making it feel out of place. All-in-all, this has been a very enjoyable read. And if I could give more than one thumb, you'd have one for each chapter. =3

[Chayn]

I don't know why this story didn't get much pluses(because of almost total abscence of m6?) but it definitely worth rteading. Dear author, I must say that there is moments that could be predicted rather simple, but it doesn't spoil the story in my opinion. Other than that it'ssimply good written adventure story, though some downtime moments doesn't suit my tatse(after all, we didn't saw what happened in Bridleburg, if I'm not mistaken?).

[Ezn]

1267047
I do have some other stories, but nothing quite like this one. Still, you may find something you enjoy!

I really love worldbuilding. My favourite thing about writing this fic was taking little things from the show, like Spike's rampage or Zecora's rhyming, and expanding on them to create whole cultures.

Thanks for the kind words.

1278330
Far as I can tell, my low thumb count is exactly because of the moreorless complete absence of the mane six. You hit the nail on the head.

Still, I'm very grateful for everyone who has taken the time to read and thumb-up and/or fave this story, and especially for folks like you who leave comments.

Thanks for your kind words, and yes, I know what you mean about the downtime. This is the first time I've written a story of this length and scope, and there are still a number of things I need to learn about pacing. Some parts of the fic dragged, some were a bit rushed... I'm trying to learn from those and pace things better in future.

Yeah, we never did find out what happened in Bridleburg... (=

[Chayn]

1278395
Perhaps it worth a little sidefic in it's own right?)

[werewolf435]

1278414 perhaps we could even get a little fic for the story behind "the noble manticore inn". That one's got me curious. =3

[Chayn]

1278724

Huh... Yeah, that's too. Fanfic should be called "Rawr!..Ah say." or something like that)

[Astarea]

Exquisite. Carry on!

[j-grizz]

Finally got around to finishing this. Not perfect, but most entertaining. Thanks.

[Wolfe The Destroyer]

Are you having a sequel?

[oo]

Just a hair under 25,000 words in. Really wanting this to pick up at some point. Even at its most eventful, this still strikes me as more slice-of-life than adventure.