Having being turned into a pegasus, courtesy of Discord, Lizzie now has her first real job in Equestria as a Patrol Officer in Ponyville's local Weather Patrol under Rainbow Dash. Follow her and her fellow squad mates, as well as a colourful cast of friends and enemies as she deals with rain, sleet, snow, dead of night, and even the occasional love interest. Not to mention balancing it all with a small zoo's worth of animals at home and one very overprotective older brother.
I stood on the precipice. Far below I could see the small town which I called my home. Beyond that, the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside, and beyond that, the vast mountain that dominated the valley. It all looked pretty small from up here. At a rough guess, I’d say there was at least a six thousand foot drop, just one step away. It was quiet up here too. At this time of the morning, when the sun hadn’t yet warmed the air up, everything was calm and still, if a little chilly.
Still, I loved this time of the morning; clear skies almost all to myself for miles around. I slowed my breathing a little. No matter how many times I do this, there’s always that residual bit of fear in the back of my mind; the part of me that says this isn’t a good idea. But I know what I’m doing. I’ve done this hundreds of times and I’m still here. I felt a smile form on my face.
I took one last deep breath, and then, with a single, graceful bound, I leapt into the abyss.
The first thing that happens is that drop; gravity wants you back downstairs and your guts are happy to follow. After that, the air starts pounding against you as you pick up speed. The slight chill turns to biting cold in a heartbeat. Eventually though, it begins to ease off; you hit terminal velocity. The ground rushes up to meet you pretty sharpish; what used to be just a speck now almost fills your vision.
I counted in my head. One. Two. Three.
And then I opened my wings.
My descent slowed, the winds stopped nipping at me, and suddenly, it was as if I was just walking on the air. That’s as good a description of flying as any I suppose.
The speed I picked up in my dive now turned to forward momentum. I was shooting over the treetops at a heck of a pace. Every slight twitch of my wings affected my pitch and bank. It’s certainly different to the artificial feeling of flying an aeroplane. You are the plane.
Dashing over the treetops, I sped over streams, open fields, and the houses of still sleeping ponies. I though, was wide awake now. There’s nothing like giving gravity the middle feather to get yourself up and about and get your blood pumping.
Pulling myself up, I zoom climbed back towards the clouds. Picking one of suitable size, I made my way towards it, pulling up and loosing speed as I went. Just as I found myself above it, my speed ran out. Instinctively, I flapped my wings to stay up in the air, and a moment later I settled on the soft, fluffy white surface of the cloud.
I was awake now.
Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is Elisabeth. With an ‘S’. You send me a letter with a ‘Z’ in my name and I’ll insert it up your…never mind. Just remember that, will you? As you might have guessed, I’m not a human. I used to be. Up until a year ago, I was your average teenage girl. Now though, thanks partly to a weird portal that I still don’t understand, and partly to my best friend’s jerk roommate, I’m a pegasus. A pegasus pony to be more precise. I could explain how I’m now stuck in a world based off some little girls’ TV show, but you’ve heard all that before, haven’t you? Suffice it to say, that I now live in Equestria, along with the rest of my family.
My parents both got pulled through the strange portal with me, although we were separated for a little while when we first got here. They’re both still human and live in their own house in Ponyville. My Mum’s a teacher at the elementary school, and my Dad works for the princesses, the rulers of Equestria, up in Canterlot; that’s the capital.
Then, there’s my older brother; Bones. Well, the name he gave himself when he got here was Blade Star, but everypony around here tends to call him Bones instead. It sounds less stupid if you ask me. He didn’t used to be called either though. He only changed it because, while we stayed human when we came through the portal, he got turned into a pony right off the bat. Unlike me though, he’s a unicorn, complete with magic. He lives with his sort of girlfriend Applejack and her family on their farm; Sweet Apple Acres.
I’d been here a few months, living with my roommate and friend, Fluttershy, in her cottage, just on the edge of the Everfree Forest. She’s a pegasus pony too, although she doesn’t fly as much as I do; she prefers to stay on the ground. Anyway, I helped her look after all the animals she takes care of, although I was somewhat limited at times, because I couldn’t fly.
Well, it just so happens, that one of Fluttershy’s friends is also an immortal spirit of chaos, because that’s a thing here. One offhand comment to him and poof, the next morning I wake up as I am now; a pegasus pony with a dark blue coat and a brunette coloured mane and tail; it’s actually not too different to my old hair really.
Originally, I was only meant to be stuck like that for a week. That was Discord’s idea of a practical joke. But to be honest, being one of only three humans in the world wasn’t exactly fun. Like I said before, I was a bit handicapped. By the end of that week, I’d learned (sort of) how to fly and a friend of a friend had even offered me a job to earn some money. So, since Discord could undo the spell anytime anyway, I asked him not to undo it for the time being. It’s been six months, and I haven’t looked back.
My job is working as a member of Ponyville’s Weather Patrol. Pegasus ponies you see, in addition to flying, can also walk on clouds, and manipulate the weather. In Equestria, weather is tightly controlled, rather than being simply left to chance. That way, crops get water when they need it, it snows in the winter, and we avoid crazy weather like storms and hurricanes, unless we need them of course.
I’ve been working with my boss, Rainbow Dash, since she offered me some work. She’s been tutoring me, both on flying and on how weather works here in this land of magical technicolour ponies. Along with the rest of our patrol flight, we work to keep the weather around Ponyville under control and on schedule.
It wasn’t the job I expected to get, but I actually enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun and the pay is pretty good too for a blue collar nine to five job. It’s a lot of fun too at times. Let me tell you some of my more interesting stories.
Gliding down from the cloud, I soon found myself back at the cottage. Heading inside, I found that Fluttershy was already up and about. She was busily making breakfast in the kitchen, a spoon in her mouth as she tried to fish out a couple of boiled eggs to go with the toast she was making.
“Morning, Fluttershy,” I called out as I trotted in. Once upon a time, that would have made her jump out of her skin. Nowadays, it just makes her start slightly. She turned round to face me, spitting the spoon out so that she could talk without sounding muffled.
“Oh, good morning, Lizzie,” she replied sweetly, with a small smile. “How was your morning workout?”
“Not too bad,” I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. “Although I think I might want to try adding in a few more manoeuvres when I’m lower down. Half the time that’s what you need in weather work. Maybe I could try heading around Sweet Apple Acres sometime.”
“I just hope you take care of yourself up there,” Fluttershy said as she set out our breakfasts. I smiled again at sat down at the nearby table.
“Oh c’mon, Shy, you know me. I’m always careful up there.” Since the day we first met, Fluttershy has always been a touch maternal around me.
I remember when we first arrived, while Mum and Dad were just worried and Bones was excited as hell, I was just plain scared stiff. When we first ran into the ponies, I froze up. Fluttershy walked over to me and hugged me, doing her best to make me feel better. And, to be honest, she did. That’s partly why I ended up staying with her. I don’t know why, but even then, something told me that I could trust her.
My thoughts were cut off by a sudden stamping sound next to me. Looking down, I saw Satan’s little lap dog. Fluttershy looks after plenty of animals, but her only pet is Angel Bunny. Never has an animal been less aptly named. That rabbit is mean as hell. Luckily, being a rabbit, he’s not that dangerous or scary. Still, he can be really annoying at times, and it doesn’t help that Fluttershy always caves in to him.
Angel was sitting right next to my chair, glaring up at me indignantly. The noise I’d heard was him stamping his foot to get our attention. He can’t speak, but his expressions and gestures usually allow him to get his message across. This one was fairly obvious.
‘I want food!’ he demanded, pointing angrily at my own egg and toast.
“Fluttershy will feed you in a minute, Angel,” I replied. This was not a satisfactory answer.
With a few short hops, the little white rabbit had leapt onto the table and quickly grabbed a round of toast from the rack where it was cooling. Then he jumped past Fluttershy and made a run for the living room to eat his ill-gotten meal.
“Angel!” I exclaimed angrily. “Bring that back here now!” I was about to get up to chase the little bugger down when Fluttershy stopped me.
“Oh leave him be, Lizzie,” she implored. I rolled my eyes.
“You can’t keep letting him get away with things like that, Fluttershy,” I replied as I sat back down again. “He needs boundaries.”
Despite all my efforts since I got here, at times, Fluttershy spoils Angel rotten. Although I think he was probably that way when she got him. While she’s gotten better at standing up for herself, she still struggles to put her hoof down when it comes to that rabbit. It baffles me sometimes, I mean, I heard that once she chewed a huge dragon out so bad that it cried! And don’t even get me started on that stare thing she can do; trust me, that thing’s bad ju-ju.
Still, the world’s most evil rabbit had made his escape and was now, no doubt, sitting on the couch, covering it in crumbs as he wolfed down his meal. At least the rest of the animals are nice.
The two of us talked over breakfast, mainly about what we’d be doing today. Fluttershy was planning on cleaning out the hen houses and heading into town to buy some more bird feed. Big Mac was supposed to come by later to help with a couple of repairs that needed doing too.
As for me, I was off to meet up with the rest of the team this morning. We’d get our assignments and set to work. I was betting that today would be fairly quiet. We’d had a pretty big rainstorm last week, and the weather schedule was pretty much clear all week. So it would just be a case of keeping things in line and busting up any renegade clouds, with maybe a bit of training thrown in for good measure.
As I finished up my coffee, I heard the cuckoo clock pipe out the half hour. I needed to be at the office by nine, so it was time that I got going.
“Right,” I said, getting up from my seat and depositing my plate and cup into the sink. “I’d best be off, ‘Shy. I’ll be around town if you need me and I should get back around half five.”
“Okay, Lizzie,” Fluttershy replied with a nod. “Have fun out there.”
Heading for the front door, I grabbed what little I needed to take with me to work. I grabbed my saddlebags, which held my lunch and a basic first aid kit, my flying goggles, and my maroon coloured flying scarf to keep warm at higher altitudes. Lastly, for good luck, I clipped onto my scarf a small brass Royal Flying Corps badge; wings under a crown with 'RFC' in the centre. Great-Great-Uncle Algernon flew Camels with 266 back in the day, and it seemed appropriate to wear it.
“Bye, Fluttershy,” I called out as I went out the door.
“Bye, Lizzie,” came the reply.
With that, I headed out. And with a running start I took off into the sky.
The flight up was a fairly easy one. Like I said, this early on, the skies were pretty much clear, not that Ponyville’s airspace ever gets that busy, and visibility was perfect. I was heading into town to meet up with the rest of the team.
Ponyville’s Weather Patrol is quite a small group, so small in fact that we don’t actually have any offices, or a building. We tend to meet up somewhere above Ponyville, settle down on some cobbled together clouds, have our morning briefing, and then get to it. Unless it’s still raining of course, then we all meet up in the local café or something to keep dry for a little while. Today though, we’d be out in the open air, so as I headed to Ponyville, I began looking for an extra large, out of place mass of clouds. As I flew towards town, I began to whistle to myself and stunt a bit for fun.
Before long, I spotted our meeting place, not too far from town hall, a couple thousand feet up. As I drew closer, I saw that there were already a few ponies there.
Now, let me introduce you to the other guys on the team.
The first pony I ran into when I landed was Thunderlane, one of only two stallions of the team. He’s one of the more experienced flyers; a graduate of the Wonderbolt Academy with five years of weather work under his belt. As a rule, our team is fairly informal, but we all have ranks, my own being Patrol Officer. Thunderlane however, is a bit more senior. As the team’s second in command, he carries the rank of flight sergeant. As such, a lot of ponies affectionately refer to him as ‘Flight’. He’s got a dark grey coat not too dissimilar to Bones, with a prominent silvery grey Mohawk mane, and his cutie mark is a storm cloud with a lightning bolt.
After that was Flitter. She’s also a bit of an old hoof when it comes to weather work, although she doesn’t have as much experience as Thunderlane. She’s still a pretty talented flyer though, although Rainbow is forever telling her to take out that ribbon she wears in her mane when we’re doing storm of high wind work. I get the impression that she kind of has a thing for Thunderlane, and she also earns a few extra bits babysitting Rumble for him from time to time.
Then there’s Cloud Chaser, one of the more…eccentric members of our little group. She looks a little bit like Flitter, with a similarly greyish blue coat and a light blue mane and tail. Unlike her sister though, her mane has a much spikier style to it, along with some white highlights. Those two are like opposite sides of the same coin. Unlike Flitter, Cloud Chaser is a bit headstrong at times and takes risk I certainly wouldn’t. Still, she’s a good pony to have on the team as she’s remarkably skilled when it comes to thunder clouds.
The other stallion on the team is the new kid, Dewdrop. I actually got him the job myself. He’s new to both Ponyville and the Weather Patrol, having moved here a few months ago from Las Pegasus. He’s got a turquoise coat and blond coloured mane and tail. He’s a year or so younger than me and just a bit shy as well. I spend a fair bit of time with him on my wing, teaching him and keeping an eye on his work, although he is getting pretty good now. After all, he survived tornado duty, and even saved my skin once. He also has a proper crush on me. We’ve been out for coffee a few times after work, which has been more than enough to get my mum’s attention. I do like him, I’m just not ready to admit it to the whole of Equestria yet.
Now, normally, there would have been one more pony here, usually the first one there waiting for everypony else. Today though, Rainbow Dash, the captain of our patrol, was nowhere to be found. Alighting on the cloud, I asked the obvious question.
“Hey guys,” I greeted as I folded in my wings. “Where’s RD at this morning?”
“She’s gone with Princess Twilight up to the Crystal Empire,” Thunderlane explained. “I guess Princess Cadence must have had her foal.”
“So are you in charge today then, Flight?” I asked. He nodded.
“Just for today,” he said. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing major today, and Dash left me instructions.” He showed me a few sheets of paper and a couple maps, annotated in RD’s writing.
“So what are we doing today then?” Flitter asked, eager to start. Thunderlane glanced through the notes he had.
“Right,” he began. “Flitter and Cloudchaser, you guys need to head out on patrol over town. The humidity’s been all screwy the past couple of days. Take a look around and see what you can find out.
“Lizzie, take Dewdrop with you out towards the Everfree Forest and keep an eye out for renegade storms or ground fog. Anything that blows in, you kick it back to where it came from. Got it?”
“Yes, Flight,” I answered with a nod.
“Okay, Thunderlane,” Dewdrop said a little meekly.
“Fine, and I’ll be on high lookout today. Any problems or changes to assignment, you’ll hear it from me. Everypony happy? Any questions? No? Okay then, get to it.”
With that, the five of us parted. Flitter and Cloud Chaser headed west to start a circuit of the town, while Dewdrop followed me east back towards home and the Everfree’s border with Ponyville. Thunderlane meanwhile, boomed and zoomed upward to get a better lie of the land.
With Dewdrop following close behind, the two of us headed out for the Everfree Forest. It wasn’t too long of a flight there, but it was a bit annoying having to go back over my own tracks. If only ponies could invent mobile phones and instant messaging already! Still, it did give me a couple of opportunities. Passing over some woodland, I turned back and called to Dewdrop.
“Hey, Dewdrop!” I shouted, catching his attention. “How about a quick obstacle course before we hit the Everfree?”
I gestured to the trees below us. Manoeuvrability is one of the most important things needed if you’re doing weather work. In heavy storms or rain squalls, you need to be able to avoid both clouds and each other, while getting on with your job. That means quick reflexes, good straight line speed, and the ability to change direction or even hover at a moment’s notice.
One of the ways Rainbow suggested I practice this when I was first learning to fly was to weave between trees. In woodland, the patterns are pretty random and the gaps between them can get very tight, so it makes for good practice.
“S-sure. If you think it best,” Dewdrop called back to me. I nodded and leaned to the right. Dropping my wing, I began to sideslip downwards. Before long, we were a mere six or seven feet off the deck. Dewdrop pulled up alongside me.
“Okay, Dewdrop, it’s the same as last time,” I instructed. “Follow my lead as fast as you can. Be ready to go to knife edge if you need to and watch for me breaking hard. Other than that; don’t hit the trees, and you’ll be fine.”
With that, I put on a burst of speed and moved in front of him. Dewdrop was to keep station about six feet behind me and follow me exactly. We quickly began to close on the patch of woodland.
“Right. Ready, steady, go!” I called out and accelerated hard.
The trees now rushed up at a much greater pace. My first move was to jink to the right, and then the fun started. The trees were very, very close together at times. But I had to keep both my direction and speed constant, without climbing out of the trees. It kind of reminds me of that speeder bike scene in Star Wars, with the same result if you buck it up.
My heart was going a mile a minute as the two of us shot through a small clearing. Between the adrenaline and the effort you're using to keep your speed up, it makes for good mental as well as physical exercise.
Finally, I saw open fields ahead of me. Shooting out into the open air, I climbed up and barrel rolled in celebration at my near perfect run. I’d tapped the odd branch here and there, but nothing major.
Turning around, I waited for Dewdrop. He emerged a few seconds after me, looking a bit the worse for wear. He’d not exactly crashed, but his left wing had picked up a branch, and I knew that he’d climbed out of the trees at least once. He climbed up to me, huffing and puffing all the way. If nothing else, it will help him build up his endurance. I smiled as he drew level with me and hovered.
“Not too bad, Dewdrop,” I said kindly. “But you need to stay in the trees. You can bail out here, but if you get stuck between two other flyers and a bad thunder cloud, you’re going to need the skills to fly your way through it.” Dewdrop tried to catch his breath before responding.
“Okay…okay, Lizzie,” he said. “I’ll try harder next time.”
“Good,” I said with a smile. “Now come on, we’d best make a start on our patrol route.”
Climbing a little, the two of us settled down to a gentle cruise over to the Everfree. In all honesty, this is one of the easiest assignments you can get around here. Usually. As a rule, Everfree weather stays inside the forest, just like all the animals do. So patrolling the area just means a leisurely flight along the perimeter until your shift ends. However, on the rare occasion something does try to break out, it can be a real problem.
Unlike normal weather, storms from the Everfree don’t respond to normal means of control. It’s much more like weather back on Earth. The only way to beat it back is to get a competing weather front going and divert it back into the forest, and that needs a lot of ponies. Still, when we arrived it looked pretty quiet; blue skies and unlimited visibility for miles around.
“Hey, Dewdrop,” I called out as we got closer. “Why don’t you take lead for a bit, practice your navigational skills. I’ll stay on your wing.” Considering the obstacle course I’d just had him run, it seemed like a good little reward. Dewdrop nodded and pulled in front of me and then banked left, starting a circuit of the Everfree perimeter around Ponyville.
The next couple of hours were pretty quiet. Being in the patrol is a little bit like being a soldier; your job is hours of mostly boredom and monotony, punctuated by moments of excitement, and occasionally terror. The former pretty much summed up our patrol so far. We’d been pretty much gliding back and forth in front of the Everfree’s boundary. There were no renegade storms to push back, no ground fog that needed whipping up, not even a stray raincloud. All in all, I was pretty bored, and so was Dewdrop.
“How much longer do we have to do this?” Dewdrop called back to me. He was still flying element lead. I took a quick glance at the sun.
“I’d say we’ve got at least another two hours yet,” I replied. Dewdrop huffed. “If you’re bored, we could play I spy.”
“Yeah, go on then,” Dewdrop agreed.
“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘S’.” Dewdrop thought.
“Sky?”
“Well done,” I answered snarkily. “Now just keep an eye out for anything on the horizon will you?”
So we kept on flying back and forth, and still nothing happened. Usually the Everfree would throw out something during a patrol, but today it seemed content to stay inside its borders. Maybe I should ask Discord to scatter some more of those Plundervines, or whatever they were called, just to shake things up.
As we banked around to head back along our path again though, I picked up a noise on the wind. Since becoming a pegasus, both my sight and hearing have improved noticeably. Calling for Dewdrop to hold fast, we both paused and strained our ears.
“Lizzie! Dewdrop!” the voice called. Looking around, I tried to find where the voice was coming from, but I couldn’t see anypony besides us. Luckily, Dewdrops eyes were better than mine.
“There, look,” he said, pointing with a hoof. “It’s Thunderlane!”
Off in the distance, I could just about make out a small grey speck against the blue sky.
“Come on then, we better go and see what he wants.” Putting on a burst of speed, we made for the lone pegasus. Calling out to him, I quickly managed to get his attention, and we soon met each other. I asked the obvious question.
“What’s the matter, Flight? Something come up?” Thunderlane nodded, looking pretty concerned.
“It sure has,” he replied. “Follow me, I’ll explain on the way.” He then took off at speed, heading north. Dewdrop and I quickly followed.
Thunderlane kept his summary of the situation brief, partly due to time pressures, but also due to the fact that he was pushing himself so hard he could barely catch his breath.
About twenty minutes ago, pegasi north of us around Vanhoover had started running into some unusual weather patterns coming from the Frozen North. As you can guess, the northern territories are pretty much a block of ice. Except for the Crystal Empire, the place was nothing but cold, empty tundra, with constant snowstorms.
Usually, these storms didn’t come very far south. At worst, you would get some low pressure system briefly swing down before it dissipated. Now though, the perpetual storms suddenly seemed to have increased in intensity. Passage up to the Crystal Empire was now suicide, and there’d been no word from the city, assuming it was still there. Worse still, the storms were swinging down south at speed. They’d hit and bury Vanhoover in less than an hour.
Weather in the Frozen North was almost impossible to control due to its intensity. I knew for a fact that ponies had been lost up there; frozen in flight. The local teams were getting overwhelmed and had called for extra help. We were the nearest team available, so we would be their reinforcements until more help could arrive from Cloudsdale in the form of the Wonderbolts. Thunderlane told us that our orders were simple; hold the line until help arrived. If we couldn’t stop that weather front and it unloaded on Vanhoover, it could result in a major disaster.
We soon found ourselves joined by Flitter and Cloudchaser, the five of us heading north to Vanhoover. Nopony mentioned a word about Rainbow. We all knew she was up there in the Crystal Empire. We just hoped that she was alright.
We covered the fifty miles to Vanhoover in ten minutes. When we got there, the scene was not promising. The city was still there, but the storm had to be less than five miles from its limits. It was massive, bigger than anything I’d ever seen, a huge, seemingly endless black cloud rolling south towards us. Here and there, you could see multi-coloured specks moving back and forth in front of the clouds; the local patrol teams. They were doing all they could, but it was clear that they were being forced back. And here we were, the relief column; five ponies.
“Okay, everypony,” Thunderlane called out. “Form up into arrow formation and stay there until I tell you otherwise! Lizzie and Dewdrop, take right, Flitter and Cloudchaser on the left.”
We quickly moved into formation. We’d need to stick together on this job. With a storm this big, getting separated might see you go missing and never being found. Putting on a burst of speed, we made for the city. Our first objective would be to find the head of the local weather team and come up with a plan.
As we drew towards the city and the storm wall, we were approached by a couple of pegasi from the local team.
“Hey! You folks my reinforcements?” a large green coated pegasus asked.
“Yes,” Thunderlane replied, pulling us into a hover on station. “Ponyville weather team reporting as ordered. How can we help?”
“I’m Cloud Skimmer,” the stallion replied. “Head of the Vanhoover weather squadron. We’ve been trying to push the storm back, but the air currents are way too strong. The damn thing’s like Everfree weather. Flying through the clouds freezes your wings up with ice. I’ve already lost two ponies to frostbite. We can’t hold it for much longer, and I don’t think you five will be able to tip the scales.”
“What do you suggest then?” Thunderlane asked. “Cloudsdale said it’ll be at least another half hour before the Wonderbolts and help from Cloudsdale will be in any position to assist.” Cloud Skimmer pointed to the storm.
“We’ve been trying to alter the storm’s course,” he said “We can’t stop it, but we’ve had some success in steering it. High speed close passes seem to be enough to affect it. So far we’ve managed to turn the storm about three degrees to port. If we can get that to seven before it gets to within a mile of the city, it should pass by without dropping its load on Vanhoover.
“I need the five of you to execute passes around the left hoof side of the storm. With the extra wing power, it should be enough to turn it all the way. After that, with help from Cloudsdale, we should be able to set up a weather system to meet it and use a high pressure to push it back north.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Thunderlane agreed. “We’ll get right on it.” He then turned to us.
“Okay, everypony, you heard Cloud Skimmer. I want high speed passes around the left hoof side of the storm wall. Split into elements of two, and I’ll circle high to monitor the course of the storm. Keep clear of the clouds themselves and watch out for windshear. Stick together and we’ll get through this. Go!”
We all broke formation, once again, Dewdrop was on my wing. There was no way I was going to let him take the lead on this one. Flitter and Cloudchaser followed close behind us. It was better to work in groups of two like this. In the past, weather teams had experimented with what they called the ‘fluid four’ formation, but it had never been much use.
As we drew nearer, the storm filled more and more of our vision. I was reminded of tornado duty late last year. It was an intimidating sight. I turned back to Dewdrop.
“Right, Dewdrop,” I called out. “We’ll pull up and then go into a steep dive. Level off as we draw level with the storm, and then gun it. Understand?” Dewdrop nodded.
Leaning back, I pulled myself into a climb. I had to flap my wings harder to keep my speed up, and the wind from the storm made keeping stable a challenge. But we managed to dive and gained a lot of speed, enough to create a pretty sizeable wake behind us. This was what would turn the storm those seven degrees we needed.
Think of it as if you’re taking a boat through water. The ship forms a wake. Well, you do the exact same thing in the air, only you can’t see it. Our wake would push at the storm as we passed by, destabilising it and slowing it down, thereby causing the rest of the storm to pivot slightly, changing its course.
As we passed by the storm and pushed ourselves as hard as we could, I felt a cold chill. We were a good ten feet from the storm wall, but my wings were now covered in tiny ice crystals. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if I actually went into it.
Dew drop was still behind me as well, and looking just as frozen as I was. Flapping our wings and dropping to a lower altitude helped clear that up. Glancing behind us, I saw Flitter and Cloudchaser following us. They too got a bit of a chill from the storm but passed by safely. Climbing again, we made for Thunderlane, who was hovering with Cloud Skimmer and watching our progress.
“How’s it looking, Flight?” I shouted up to him over the wind.
“I’d call it just under a degree,” Thunderlane called back. “Keep at it. We’ve not got much time.”
The four of us dived down again and prepared to make another run. At a best guess, based on the results of our last run, it would take at least another four or five passes to shift the direction of the storm. But as we began to dive again, the bit dropped with a horrible clang.
The storm needed to be on course at least a mile before it reached the city, to ensure that it swung around. It was moving at a fair old pace as well. Based on what we’d done already, and the time it took to perform one run, against the time we had before the storm reached Vanhoover, there was one simple problem. We couldn’t make it. The storm would only be turned by about six and a half degrees by the time it reached the mile marker. As we dived, I explained this to Dewdrop and the others, and we redoubled our efforts. As is so often said, failure wasn’t an option.
So we kept at it, diving onto the storm, levelling off, and then slamming our wake into the storm wall, before diving to clear off the freezing crystals. We were starting to tire and our effect of the storm was reduced as a result. We were making progress, but it wasn’t enough. Even with Thunderlane and Cloud Skimmer helping, we weren’t turning it far enough away. As we banked away for another pass, probably the last one, Thunderlane called up.
“Guys, we’re not going to make it,” he declared. “That storm is going to bury the western part of Vanhoover unless we turn it now. I’m open to suggestions.” We all thought as we looked down on the advancing storm. We only needed to turn it half a degree but a wake induced turn would be too slow.
“I’ve got one idea,” Dewdrop piped up. We all turned to him.
“Let’s hear it then, and fast, kid,” Thunderlane replied.
“We ram it,” Dewdrop said simply. “The force of the impact will be enough to turn it far enough, and quickly enough.”
“Yeah, and we’ll all get turned into pony popsicles!” Cloudchaser replied. Dewdrop shook his head.
“Not you; me,” he replied. “One pony hitting the storm at full speed will be enough.”
“Don’t be stupid, kid!” Cloud Skimmer barked. “Nopony can survive that cold!” Thunderlane thought for a moment.
“You know I can’t order you to do this, Dewdrop,” he said after a moment. Dewdrop nodded.
“I’ll see you in a minute,” he said, and then dived away.
“Dewdrop!” I yelled. I didn’t think the idiot would be stupid enough to actually do what he was talking about. Leaving Thunderlane and the others, I dived after him.
He was already moving at a terrific pace towards the storm. His plan would most likely work. But it would also probably get the stupid twit killed. As we neared the storm, I began to yell at him, trying to get him to pull off, but he wouldn’t listen to me. The storm once again surged up to meet us, and the icy wind began to nip at my mane. We were less than twenty seconds from impact. The only plan I had was to follow him in. He’d break through the storm, while I’d keep up my momentum. With any luck, I’d hit him from behind and it would carry us both through to the other side of the storm before we froze.
As it turned out though, none of that happened.
Just before we both slammed into the dark mass of clouds, the sky was lit up with streamers and fire and beautiful colours. Back home, you’d have called these the Northern Lights, but we were far too south for them to be visible. The same effect though was produced by the Crystal Heart when it was fully powered up, and it controlled these crazy storms.
Much to everypony’s relief, as the sky lit up, the clouds began to reverse their course, heading away from Vanhoover and back to the Frozen North. Instead of hitting the clouds, Dewdrop and I shot through thin air, and it took quite a bit of effort on our parts to pull up to level flight before we hit the deck. After all, the faster you go, the more air rushes over your wings, making it harder to make inputs.
Still, we managed to pull up, and after berating Dewdrop for doing something so stupid and scaring the hell out of me, we both returned to Thunderlane and the others.
“Well that was lucky,” Thunderlane said. “It looks like the entire storm has reversed course.”
At that moment, we all picked up the sound of approaching pegasi. Looking to the south, we saw the tell-tale smoke trails of the Wonderbolts. It seemed help from Cloudsdale had finally arrived.
“Heh. About bloody time!” I complained as the famed squadron shot overhead.
“Stow it,” Thunderlane ordered. “Come on, let’s head back to Ponyville.”
We arrived back in Ponyville around the same time that Twilight and the others got back by the train; bad headwinds had slowed us down on the way home. We told her what had happened and together with Twilight, Rainbow filled us in on what had gone on in the Frozen North.
It turned out that Princess Cadence’s new foal had somehow shattered the Crystal Heart, which was what had caused the weather up there to go haywire. With help from Twilight and her new student Starlight Glimmer, as well as another pony named Sunburst, the princesses had been able to reconstruct it and get control of the weather back. It was just lucky that they did it before it all dropped onto one of Equestria’s northern cities.
It certainly made for an interesting report, and a good story to tell Fluttershy when I got back that evening. The two of us were both shattered, me from my run up to Vanhoover, and she from her trip to the Crystal Empire. So, after a quick dinner, we both turned in early. After all, in spite of all that had happened, I still had work at nine o’clock tomorrow.
One of the weirdest things about being a pony is, without any doubt, the cutie marks. I don’t know who the hell came up with that as a name for them, but it just sounds so damn stupid, at least to me. I mean, could they make it any more girlish? Why couldn’t they call them…I don’t know…just talent marks, or skill signs? Nah, that doesn’t work.
Cutie marks, in any case, are a big part of pony society. From what I understand, when a colt or filly is born, they don’t have a cutie mark at all. And then, later in life, they eventually have this sort of epiphany moment where they realise what their special talent is. When that happens, the magic kicks in, and then their mark appears. Then they have some party that steals its name from some Mexican thing.
I have one. Given my age, I’d be looked on as a bit odd if I didn’t. My cutie mark is a pair of wings, with a musical note in the centre. But unlike other ponies, I didn’t exactly earn my cutie mark. When Discord turned me into a pony, I already had it, so I was never really a ‘blank flank’ as that bitchy kid my Mum teaches would put it.
It’s nice not having to strive and search to find my special purpose. For three certain fillies, that used to be a full time job. But at times, I can’t help but feel as though I cheated the system in some way. I never had any sudden realisation. I don’t even really know what my cutie mark means. From what I’ve heard, they can be either really specific, or really obscure. Fluttershy for instance, her cutie mark is three butterflies. She got that when she discovered her love for animals, and her seemingly innate ability to understand them and communicate with them. How three butterflies sums that up, I don’t know. On the other hand, you have Applejack. Her apple cutie mark is pretty easy to work out; she’s good at growing apple trees and getting a good crop from them.
So what the hell does wings and a musical note mean? I guess the wings mean flying, but that’s hardly my special talent now is it? Most pegasi can fly, more or less. And why does it have a musical note on too. I could play the piano back home, but why would it be with the wings? The rules on cutie marks say that a pony only has one special talent, so it can’t be flying and music.
Every now and then I get like this. I get to wondering what in Equestria this stupid tattoo on my flank means. I don’t know, Fluttershy doesn’t know, and Discord on the one occasion I asked him, simply zipped up his mouth and sodded off like the bellend he is.
I decided to go for a flight to try and clear my head. I tend to go for a flight whenever there’s stuff on my mind. Flying really does give me a chance to let my mind wander. I needed to get my mind off cutie marks for a while.
It was about mid-afternoon on a Saturday; Dash didn’t have anything for us to do today, so we’d all been let off earlier than usual. I decided to go for a flight around Sweet Apple Acres. I called to Fluttershy, who was feeding her chickens as I left, and promised her that I’d be back within an hour or so. Angel, who was sitting on her back, blew me a raspberry in return.
Taking off with a leap I quickly climbed up a couple hundred feet. I was well below the cloud layer, but high up enough not to bother anypony, or put any low flying traffic at risk. I followed the river that ran through town back up towards its source, that would take me through Sweet Apple Acres. You have to learn landmarks like that in world with no GPS. Dad says that’s how old aviators used to navigate. I’m even learning to fly by the stars at night.
I soon found myself over the apple orchards and relaxed. Hardly anypony came up this way except ponies from the patrol, and I knew that there was nothing scheduled for today. I began to do the odd stunt; a slow roll here, an Immelmann there; just enough to keep my wits sharp. As I crossed over an open field, I saw my big brother heaving away at a plough. The field looked about half done from up here.
That was when I thought of something. Bones too had had a cutie mark for as long as he’d been a pony. His crossed swords cutie mark had been there when we first arrived in the Everfree Forest. Maybe he had some idea about where my cutie mark came from.
Angling down, I started a slow spiral dive towards him. About thirty feet up, I caught his attention.
“Hey, Bones!” I called out. Pausing in his work, my brother waved at me with his hat in his hoof.
Touching down, I skidded to a stop on the uneven ground.
“Well hey there, sis,” he said in that odd hillbilly accent that’s he’s had ever since he moved in with the Apples’. “What brings ya out this way?”
“I wanted to ask you something about your cutie mark,” I replied, flapping my wings a couple of times to get the dust out. Briefly, I explained what I’d been thinking about that afternoon. Bones seemed interested.
“Well, that is a mite strange,” he admitted. “Ah figured ya already knew what your cutie mark meant.”
“What does yours mean anyway?” I asked, gesturing with a wing. Bones turned slightly to show his own cutie mark.
“Two sabers parryin’ each other,” he said. “In sword fightin’, that’s a defensive move. My magic specialises in those kinds of spells, things like shields and stun spells.”
“But how do you know that?” I asked in confusion. “You woke up with your cutie mark the same as I did.” Bones nodded and explained.
“When Ah first woke up here, Ah didn’t know what it meant,” he admitted. “Ya have to remember that Ah designed this pony, it was my own original character, and my ponysona.”
“Gay.” I ducked as a bolt of magic shot my way. Bones snarled in annoyance.
“Anyway. Ah didn’t realise that defensive magic was my special talent until Twilight introduced me to Strong Shield. He taught me a few things and said that Ah was mighty good at it. When he said that, it kind of just dawned on me how that could fit in to my cutie mark. Ya sort of just come to realise it.”
“So what do you think my cutie mark symbolises?” I asked. "You must have some idea." Bones smiled wryly.
“You might very well think that, sis,” he said, a grin spreading on his face as his southern accent became softer. "But Ah couldn’t possibly comment." I rolled my eyes while he paused for a moment to think.
"But Ah reckon Ah do know somepony who could help," he admitted. He turned out toward the apple orchard. "Apple Bloom!”
His sudden call made me jump. And not three seconds later, an adorable little filly with a yellowish coat and red mane, with a huge pink bow was at his side.
“Yes, Bones,” she asked, with some excitement. Bones smiled.
“AB,” he said kindly. “My little sister needs the services of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Think ya can help her find what her cutie mark means?” Apple Bloom’s mouth made an ‘o’ shape as shot over to me to take a look.
“Well, sure,” she agreed looking up to me. “Me and the Crusaders would love to help ya out. C’mon then, Ah’ll take to our clubhouse.”
With that, I found myself in the little filly’s surprisingly strong grip, and pulled off towards the old treehouse that Applejack had given them to turn into their base of operations. Mum had been telling me that since all three of them had gained their cutie marks, they’d set up some sort of consulting agency. I’d be interested to see what these three fillies could do. Heck, if anypony could help me, it was probably them.
The two of us left Bones to resume his ploughing. As I left though, I couldn’t help but think that I heard him talking to somepony. But as far as I could see, he was all alone.
I followed Apple Bloom, still being half dragged by her through the apple orchards. Before long, we arrived at the Crusaders club house. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were already there and waiting for us.
“Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse, Lizzie,” said Sweetie Belle, her voice squeaking slightly.
“Thank you, Sweetie Belle,” I replied.
The trio led me up the small ramp to the clubhouse, chatting to each other as we went. Even as a pony, I had to duck my head slightly as I walked in. I guess this place was built for foals, not full grown ponies.
The place was actually, considering that it was run by three fillies, quite impressive. The place was well furnished with cushions for ponies to sit down. There was even a bowl of mints for prospective clients. On the far wall was a set of photos, presumably their various success stories. I spotted Bones’ photo there amongst the others. Before long, I found myself in a sort of interview/tribunal/Spanish Inquisition with the Crusaders.
“So, how can the Cutie Mark Crusaders help you today?” Sweetie Belle asked, smiling innocently. Apple Bloom elbowed her in the ribs.
“Sweetie Belle, ya know why’s she’s here,” she half whispered. “Didn’t ya listen to what Ah said to ya when we got here? She wants to find out what her cutie mark means.”
“Why do we even have to ask ponies that anyway?” Scootaloo chipped in at a more audible volume. “The only reason ponies come to us is for help with their cutie marks.”
“It’s professional,” Sweetie Belle retorted hotly.
“Er, Ah don’t think this is exactly professional,” Apple Bloom replied, pushing the two quarrelling fillies apart. She then turned back to me.
“Now, Lizzie,” she went on. “What exactly is the problem you’re havin’ with your cutie mark?” All three now looked at me inquisitively.
“Well,” I began. “I didn’t earn my cutie mark like most ponies. When Discord turned me into a pegasus last year, I had it from the first day. So I never really had a moment where I realised what my special talent is. I want to find out what it is. Otherwise, I kinda feel like a fraud having a cutie mark.”
The three fillies listened in silence. After I was done, all three came around and examined my cutie mark; something that made me feel very uncomfortable and awkward.
“Hm,” Sweetie Belle mused. “Wings and a note. The wings must mean Lizzie’s flying ability.”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed, nodding. “Even Rainbow Dash says she a good flyer. Why else would she recruit her into the Weather Patrol?”
“But what about the music note?” Apple Bloom asked. "Music can’t be her special talent, if she’s already got flyin’ there too. How can they fit together?”
All three of them now fell into what seemed deep thought, sitting down and looking as thoughtful as they could. This went on for more than a few minutes, eventually though they all broke from their reprieve.
“Any ideas, you two?” Apple Bloom asked. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shook their heads. It looked like I’d given them a bit of a challenge.
“Maybe we should observe Lizzie for a while; see if her special talent shows itself?” Scootaloo suggested.
“Agreed,” Sweetie Belle said. She then turned to me. “Okay, Lizzie, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are on the case. The first thing we need to do is follow you through the course of normal day. A lot of ponies who come to us actually use their special talent without realising it.”
“Er…okay,” I said, sounding a little unsure. “So when do you want to start then?”
“Well, you’re out of your normal routine at the moment, and I know you don’t work on Sundays. So how about we start first thing on Monday. We’ll meet with you at Fluttershy’s cottage.”
It sounded like as good a plan as any. And after all, how could I argue with a wall full of satisfied customers?
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, getting to my hooves. “I’ll meet you three at Fluttershy’s then, first thing on Monday morning.” I headed out the door, luckily remembering to duck and avoid the top of the frame.
“Bye, Lizzie,” the three fillies called.
Monday morning soon rolled around. I guess we were lucky that school was out for a few weeks, otherwise the Crusaders would have been hard pressed to spend any time with me. True to their word, I found all three of them waiting outside for me when I left for work.
“Morning you three,” I said, sounding far more bright eyed and bushy tailed than they looked. “So, you’re following me around all day are you?”
“Yep,” Sweetie Belle replied with a nod. “We’ll follow you through your normal routines and see if we can’t help you find your special talent.”
Instantly though, I found a bit of a flaw in their plan. The first thing I do after walking out of Fluttershy’s cottage is take off and head to Ponyville to meet up with the rest of the guys for our daily assignments. That meant flying, and none of the Crusaders could really fly. Even Scootaloo could only really hover at best.
“Okay, girls. I can see at least one problem with that,” I replied. To emphasise my point, I opened my wings for a moment. A look of realisation appeared on the three fillies faces.
“Oh,” all three said. Scootaloo though perked up.
“Don’t worry, you two,” she said to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “We can use this as a chance to try out my new launching system!” Both fillies now looked more than a little worried.
“Launching system?” I asked curiously.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo replied. “I’ve found a guaranteed way for me to fly without my wings! I use my scooter, get up some real speed, and then take off from a ramp. The momentum can get me all the way to Cloudsdale if I really go for it!”
As a wise cowboy doll once said; ‘That wasn’t flying! That was falling with style!’. Still it meant that at least one of the Crusaders could follow me to work.
“What about the two of you?” I asked the other Crusaders. Sweetie Belle quickly came up with a backup plan.
“Don’t worry about, Lizzie,” she assured me. “We can just borrow Twilight’s old balloon and follow in a little while.” The three fillies quickly agreed on their plan, and then split up. Scootaloo stuck with me, while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom headed for Twilight’s castle.
This plan of theirs was getting more and more hare-brained by the second.
“Scootaloo, are you really sure about this?” I asked, now more than a little fearful for her safety.
I’d walked with her to Ponyville, and we were now standing almost directly underneath where Dash and the others would meet up. With some effort, the two of us had been able to haul her ‘launching ramp’ into the proper place. Her theory was good; the navy used the same ‘ski jump’ ramp on the small carriers like Invincible to launch Harrier fighters. The problem was if she missed her target. Unable to properly fly, if she didn’t make it to a cloud, she’d go plummeting back to Equestria.
“Jeez, relax, Lizzie,” Scootaloo replied. “I’ve done this a bunch of times. Just follow me up.”
With that, Scootaloo got on her scooter and began her run. She used to own small wings to give her the extra speed she needed. It was quite funny really; she buzzed along like a hummingbird, but somehow, her wings mimicked the sound of a moped. I followed her on the wing, flying just a couple feet off the ground. A few seconds later she hit the ramp and went rocketing up, I pitched up and with a burst of speed, followed.
Amazingly, she actually did make it. The little orange pegasus shot past the cloud, stalled out and dropped a few feet to land on its soft surface next to a waiting Thunderlane. I followed a few moments later and landed besides her.
“Nice moves, Scoots,” Rainbow Dash said. RD was sitting directly opposite her semi-adopted little sister. With my arrival, the group was complete and Rainbow began her usual morning briefing. As things were winding down, the other two Crusaders arrived in a barrowed balloon.
“And Lizzie,” she said, as she came to me. “I want you to do a quick recon patrol up through the valley towards Ghastly Gorge.”
“Sure thing, Dash,” I answered with a nod. “Is it okay if Scoots and the other crusaders tag along?”
“I guess so,” Rainbow replied. “Just keep an eye on them, make sure they stay in their balloon, and don’t let them into the gorge. The last thing I need is an article in tomorrow’s paper about three fillies getting eaten by eels.” Everypony laughed at that.
“Alright,” I said, turning to the Crusaders. Scootaloo was still sitting next to me, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were still in the balloon’s basket. Not being pegasi, they couldn’t walk on clouds like we could. “You heard what Rainbow said; stick in that balloon and do what I tell you. Understand?”
“Yes, Lizzie,” the three fillies responded innocently. With that, I took off and headed north, my three observers following close behind.
It was a little odd, flying with a balloon tailing me. I felt like I was trying to pass my flight certification all over again. Before I could actually work with Dash, I had to pass a bunch of tests, a bit like a driving test back home. These ‘observers’ from Cloudsdale had me jump through hoops with different exercises and random events to test whether or not I was up to par.
The Crusaders followed me, with Scootaloo’s moped wings providing the balloon with thrust, all the way along my patrol route. I figured that Dash had given me something easy to do for the sake of them. Really all I was doing today was a circuit from Ponyville to Canterlot and back again to check for stray weather patterns. Unlike when I was out with Dewdrop near the Everfree though, I had a bit more freedom. The airspace was clear for miles, so most ponies, when they got this assignment, would use it as an opportunity to practice some fancy flying, tricks, stunts and so on.
I confess that I do that too. Hey, it never hurts to keep your skills sharp. You never know when a split-S is going to help get you out trouble in a bad rain squall. And since I had an audience following me, I decided to show off a bit.
I’m not as fast as Rainbow, but I am quite good at pulling sharp turns and sudden changes of direction, and that’s often just as good as straight line speed. The three fillies behind me seemed impressed with my little show, although I heard Scootaloo say that Rainbow Dash was still a way better flyer than I was.
It is fun though…flying, I mean. I do enjoy more than pretty much anything else. There’s this great sense of freedom when you’re up in the air, more so when you know that it really is you that’s flying, not some machine that you’re controlling. There’s no fear of falling or anything, it’s just so peaceful. Even at high speed, on a clear day, with an open sky, flying is just so relaxing. The slightest twitch in a single feather affects your pitch and banking. It’s like nothing else in the world. Bones and other unicorns may have their magic, but you’d never be able to convince me to give up my wings.
A few moments later, I was startled out of my sort of meditation by Sweetie Belle calling to me from the Crusaders’ balloon. Pulling up, I slowed to a hover and let them catch up. As they drew closer, I picked up the sound of Scootaloo’s moped wings again.
“What’s the matter, you three?” I asked as I drifted over to them.
“We were just watchin’ ya flying there,” Apple Bloom said. “And ya seemed to be really havin’ a great time of it too.” I smiled.
“Yeah, you got me there. Ever since I learnt how, I’ve been in love with flying.”
“That sounds like a special talent to me,” Scootaloo piped up. But I hadn’t had that realisation, and my cutie mark hadn’t done anything either. Something was missing.
“But we still haven’t worked out how that musical note fits in,” Sweetie Belle replied. “We can’t explain half of her cutie mark and say we’re done. Okay, yes, her special talent is flying, but why? Does the music note mean anything to you, Lizzie?” All three Crusaders turned to me.
I thought for a few moments. Of course a music note meant something to me! Back home I’d been quite musical. Bones had played the violin for a few years as a hobby, while I’d taken up piano and gone up through the grades. I’d been pretty good at it, and played a few times at church and at Christmastime. I explained this to the Crusaders.
“Well, I used to play the piano back on Earth,” I explained. “I actually had a little go at it when we got here. But these hooves don’t really have the dexterity. I can’t even explain how some ponies can play the piano. You need fingers for it.”
“But that was what you were good at back on Earth?” Sweetie Belle pressed. “I know humans don’t have cutie marks, but it sounds like that was your special talent.” I frowned.
“If that’s true though, why can’t I play the piano as a pony?” I asked. After all, a cutie mark was supposed to be something fixed for life. The three fillies turned to look at each other.
“Maybe it’s something to do with having a new body?” Scootaloo suggested. “Maybe changing into a pegasus affected your special talent in some way?”
“Okay,” Sweetie Belle said. “So we know that Lizzie’s special talent now is flying, and when she was a human, it was music. Maybe that’s why the two are together, like a sort of continuity.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, curiously.
“Answer me this, Lizzie,” Sweetie Belle said. “How do you feel when you’re flying?”
“Well…I…I guess you could say I feel great. Flying’s a great experience.” Sweetie Belle jumped in again.
“And when you were a human, how did it feel to play the piano?” I was about to answer, when the penny dropped.
“It’s the same feeling!” I exclaimed. “I love flying just as much as I did playing the piano. I get the same emotional high from it; I’m just as good at it. That’s why my cutie mark has a music note on it. I’m not good at playing the piano any more, but flying makes me feel the same way, that’s why it’s my special talent!”
All of a sudden my vision swam in front of me, sending the Crusaders out of focus. I felt gravity shift out from under me as I was taken hold of by some magical force. I stopped flapping my wings as they were gently pressed to my sides. Bright lights danced across my vision for a few seconds and I felt a strange sense of Nirvana. A few moments later, it ended. A bright flash briefly blinded me, and gravity returned. I flapped my wings hard to get back into a hover.
As my eyesight returned, I found that I was still in front of the Crusaders, who were still in their balloon. The energy I’d felt before had passed, except I could still feel something along my back. Craning my neck around, I looked at where my cutie mark was. It was still there, but now seemed to be pulsing with light, just like a brand new mark would.
“That was it!” Scootaloo exclaimed, speaking for all of us. “You really earned your cutie mark, Lizzie!” All three Crusaders cheered at their success. As for me, I was so stunned that I had to briefly rest in the balloon’s basket.
For the first time since I became a pegasus, I felt like it was right for me to have my cutie mark. It was no longer something Discord stuck on there when he changed me into this form, but something that I’d earned, with a little help of course. I can’t quite explain it, but when I finally worked it out, everything just seemed to make sense for a moment, and I do mean everything. Like I said before, the closest description I have is something of a Nirvana moment, or maybe smoking a bit too much whacky baccy.
After I recovered and took flight again, the Crusaders followed me through my patrol route. It was probably the fastest circuit of the valley in history. I was so eager to get back to Ponyville and tell everypony what had happened. Okay, my cutie mark hadn’t just appeared, as far as appearances go, I looked the same as when I’d left. But now I understood what my cutie mark was telling me. That flight home felt like my first flight all over again.
After I got off work that evening, I met up with the Crusaders again at their clubhouse. I quickly found myself pulled into a mini photo booth. A quick flash later, and my slightly surprised looking face was added to their wall of successes.
I had to give the three fillies credit. In a day, they’d managed to help me work out something that had baffled me for the better part of a year. They certainly earned their own cutie marks. I felt different myself; it was as if my cutie mark had appeared that day. I was almost tempted to ask Pinkie to throw me one of those special cutie mark parties. But that seemed a bit silly. I’d had my cutie mark for a while, only now I actually had an idea of what it meant.
It was a nice bit of continuity too. The mixing of the two separate cutie marks, I mean. I’m a great flyer now as a pegasus. But my mark also reminds me that I was once a human. It was actually interesting to think about how my cutie mark effectively changed when I became a pegasus. I wondered if the same had actually happened to Bones. I know for a fact he wasn’t any good at either magic or fighting back on Earth.
One of those mysteries of life, I guess. I was just glad that I did understand my cutie mark.
In addition to my paying job looking after the weather in and around Ponyville, I also like to do my best to help out Fluttershy whenever I can. In fact, when I first got here and moved in with her, that’s pretty much what I spent all my time doing.
Fluttershy you see, loves animals, even more than my cat obsessed godmother. Any wild animals that come her way, she looks after them as much as she can. On Earth, I’d actually be against this, since that kind of behaviour can actually harm wildlife in the long run, things like overfeeding, encouraging dependence, and overpopulation. In Equestria though, the animals require a bit more help, so Fluttershy’s help is greatly appreciated by all of them. In the house right now, I know for a fact there’s at least one bear, a bunch of rabbits including Angel, all sorts of wild birds, a couple of ferrets, and even a complete bee hive.
Her ability to naturally communicate with all these creatures gives her a pretty unique advantage too. But anyway, like I said, when I first got here, I spent most of my time helping her out, feeding the animals, helping her bandage them and fix them up if they got hurt, and occasionally resolving the odd dispute. Even though I now have a full time job, I like to help her out whenever I can. As much as I love my job, it is really nice to look after all these animals, which are often so god damn adorable. It’s a nice way for me to relax a little after a long day, and to help Fluttershy out and ease her own workload.
At the moment, I was outside the cottage in the front yard. Along with the menagerie of visiting animals that come and go as they please, Fluttershy also keeps a small flock of chickens, mainly for their eggs. We used to have chickens back home on Earth, so I’m more than able to help her on my own. Right now, I was feeding them, chucking corn around their little run, while mimicking the odd clucking sound that the cockerel makes to call the hens to food.
The fact that all then hens came running when I did that should have told me that I’ve gotten too good at it. But I guess that’s what happens when you live in Wales for nearly half your life. The cockerel followed them and briefly glared at me for taking his job.
Fluttershy fed them a mix of mixed corn and maize, along with what’s called layers mash; effectively porridge for chickens, all the basic nutrients they need to lay good eggs. The hens all gladly gobbled up the food. It was just a shame that they were in this run, which had had all its grass consumed. But this close to the Everfree forest and all its predators, it wasn’t safe to let them go free range.
As I finished scattering the chickens lunch, one of the hens emerged from the chicken coop and trotted down towards the other. As I said before, chickens have all sorts of different calls and make all sorts of sounds to give certain messages. Right now, this hen was giving of a few short clucks, followed by a longer crow. That’s what they call a layer’s call; she’d just laid an egg. She's actually telling the cockerel not to jump her because she's going to be busy sitting the clutch and doesn't need fertilising, in case you're interested.
Trotting over to the chicken coop, I opened the door on the side and stuck my head in. The place would need cleaning out soon, particularly with the warm weather we had at the moment. The place stank something horrid. Chickens unfortunately aren’t like pigs. Pigs pick one spot, away from where they sleep to do their business. Chickens just go ‘bombs away’ regardless of where they are.
Holding my breath, I leaned inside and looked in the straw filled nest boxes. Most were empty at the moment. One was occupied by Elizabeak (yes, Fluttershy names her chickens). She fluffed herself up and made a noise very reminiscent of her dinosaur ancestors in an attempt to warn me off. Next to her though, was another next box with a freshly laid egg in it. Reaching with a wing, I gently removed it. It was still warm to the touch as well. Withdrawing away from the still angry chicken, I shut the door behind me and trotted out of the run. That made six eggs we’d had today.
Leaving the chickens to go about the business of gobbling up the food I’d given them, I headed back to the cottage. Heading inside, I made for the kitchen that lay just beyond the living room. Turning on the hot tap at the sink, I washed off the new egg and then dried it off. After that, I grabbed a pencil, and gently marked the egg with today’s date. That way, we ate the oldest eggs first, so none went bad or went to waste.
As I was placing the new egg into the basket with the others, I heard the front door open and the sound of hooves on the floor.
“Are you in here, Lizzie?” a voice called. It was Fluttershy back from her own chores.
“I’m just in here,” I called back. “I got another egg from the hens just now. But I think Elizabeak’s starting to go broody.”
‘Broody’ was the term used when a hen wanted to sit a clutch of eggs to hatch chicks. That’s why she’d reacted so negatively to me coming to collect the eggs. Normally with chickens, you can just put your hand, or wing, right under them and take the egg, and they won’t mind. Usually, a hen will give it up if she doesn’t have any eggs to sit, but it might not be a bad idea to have a few new chicks; some of the hens were getting on after all.
“Do you think it might be a good idea to let her sit them, Fluttershy?” I asked as she trotted into the kitchen, Angel perched on her back. “We could do with a few more chickens.” Fluttershy thought for a moment.
“Well, if she’s sitting her eggs, I don’t see what we can do to stop her.” If you do throw a broody hen off the nest, she’ll just bugger off and lay out somewhere, which usually gets her eaten. “But I don’t really have anywhere for her to raise the chicks. The coop’s meant for the grown up chickens.”
“Yeah, you need a brooder coop,” I replied, nodding. “We used to have one back home that Dad built.”
Unfortunately though, I didn’t know too much about how he built it. It was a simple enough design; a small hutch with an attached run, covered by wire mesh, with two wooden poles running along the sides so that you could move it to fresh ground from time to time. The only problem was that I knew jack about woodwork. Okay, sure, I’d done a bit in high school, but nothing really useful. This would be a pretty big project by my standards. We’d need some help.
“I suppose I could go and ask my Dad for some help,” I suggested. “After all, he managed to build the one we had on his own. I’ll head over there now and see if he’s in.”
Leaving Fluttershy to keep an eye on the hens, I took off and made the short hop flight to Ponyville. I was lucky that Dad wasn’t at work today; otherwise he’d be all the way up in Canterlot. And there was no way I was going to fly all the way up that mountain just to ask for some advice.
A quick flight saw me touching down at my parents’ front door. They’ve got quite the nice little house, courtesy of Princess Celestia. It wasn’t a mansion by any means, but it meant they didn’t have to stay with Twilight or anypony else. At this point, with both of them working, they’ve probably earned enough to pay off a good portion of the costs anyway.
Knocking on the door didn’t get me anywhere. Mum would still be at school for a few hours, but I knew Dad was here. After glancing in through the living room window and snapping the letterbox a couple of times, I went around the side of the house to look for him.
As I half expected, I found my dad in his study, at the back of the house. He was engrossed in his paperwork and had a few books out on his large mahogany desk. A quick tap on the window startled him out of his thoughts. I gestured for him to let me in by the back door, which he happily did. I trotted around the house again and waited patiently as he unlocked the kitchen door.
“Hello there, Lizzie,” he said as he stepped out. “What brings you down this way?”
“Do you remember that brooder coop you made back at the house, Dad?” I asked. After thinking for a moment, he nodded.
“Oh, yes, I remember that old thing. I build it myself.” He chuckled. “I still have half the splinters to prove it.” My dad does have a sort of ability to hurt himself like that. I quickly explained my problem.
“One of Fluttershy’s chickens had started to go broody,” I said. “I was wondering if you could help me build something so the hen can raise the chicks safely.” My dad frowned at that.
“Hmm, I’m not sure I’ll be able to help you there, kiddo,” he replied. “Tia…I mean Princess Celestia’s got me pretty swamped at the moment with this business about Mareitanian sovereignty. I need to have a summery hammered out by Monday. I could draw up some plans for you and give you a shopping list for what you’ll need. But you’ll have to find somepony else to help build it.”
It wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but at least I was getting something for my trouble. After all, if he could show me the plans, and everything I’d need, I was fairly confident that I could put it all together, with maybe a little help from Fluttershy.
“Well that would still help me a lot, Dad,” I said with a smile. He smiled back.
“Perfect! Come on in then. I’ll put the kettle on and we can have a look at what you want to do.”
Dad gave me a few simple sketches of what he’d made back home. It looked simple enough really, it was just a lot of work as he’d said. Overall, I’d say it was about five or six smaller projects all put together. I could do it, but with my own paying job to think about, I’d be lucky to have it ready when the chicks were grown into pullets. Long story short then, I’d need some help.
After thanking Dad for his advice, particularly his little shopping list of materials I’d need, I headed off to the hardware store in town. Fluttershy wasn’t exactly the most practical mare in town (that was more Applejack’s racket), so I’d need to get a few tools as well as materials.
The other question was who I could ask to help me. Fluttershy wasn’t really an option, although I’m sure she could help in some way.
There was my big brother, Bones, of course. He’d picked up more than a few tricks of the trade from working on the farm; a good deal of his time there was spent fixing things up.
Or I could ask Big Mac. I certainly wouldn’t mind having him around for a while, and he’d probably get it done in ten minutes too.
But they’d probably both be pretty tied up right about now. It was harvest season over on Sweet Apple Acres, so they probably wouldn’t be able to spare a hoof.
Who else could I get to help me? Maybe I could ask…
“Hey, Lizzie!” a voice called out, startling me. I let out a yelp and reflexively spread out my wings in an effort to intimidate. Luckily, that was totally unnecessary. It was Dewdrop. The turquoise pegasus looked at me funny for a moment.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to spook you,” he apologised. “What are you up to anyway?” He glanced at my saddlebags, which currently held the various plans and lists Dad had drawn up for me.
“I’m looking to build a brooder coop for some of Fluttershy’s chickens,” I explained. “One of them has started sitting her eggs, so we need somewhere for her to stay other than the coop. I was just talking to Dad, and he was giving me some advice on building one.” This seemed to catch Dewdrop’s attention.
“Well, I used to do a bit of woodwork sometimes in Las Pegasus,” he said. “My dad was a builder and he’d sometimes take me along to work with him. Maybe I can give you a hoof?”
Some help would be quite welcome, and it’s always fun doing a project like this with a friend. And hey, free labour, I ain’t gonna turn that down.
“Yeah, sure, I could use some help,” I agreed. “I’m just gonna collect all the stuff we’ll need, and then we can both head back to Fluttershy’s cottage and make a start.”
The two of us then headed for the hardware store. Ponies don’t exactly have a B&Q, but Ponyville does have a decent hardware store. I could get the tools and the lumber I needed.
The place was a little ways past Sugarcube Corner, but before you got to Town Hall. It was a fairly small place, but well stocked and with a friendly owner. Walking inside, I pulled out my list and began to look for all the stuff we’d need.
It took quite a while in the end to find everything we’d need, never mind carry it all. I was certainly glad that Dewdrop had offered to help out when I ran into him. To build this brooder coop, in addition to the wood we’d need, I had to buy a hammer, nails, wire mesh, a saw, some waterproof roof material, metals hinges and locking bolts, industrial strength glue (oh the irony!), paintbrushes and waterproof paint. All in all, it was quite a big spend on my salary.
Dewdrop kindly agreed to carry most of the stuff up to the counter, although I had all the wood we’d need on one of those large trolleys. As we got into line, I found myself meeting a familiar face.
“Hey there, Bones,” I called out to my big brother. “What are you doing here?” Bones turned around and smiled when he saw me. Said smile briefly turned to a scowl when he saw Dewdrop, who physically wilted before the bigger unicorn. Even now, the silly idiot is way too overprotective of me.
“Just grabbing a few things,” he replied after a moment. He turned to show me what he had in his magic. Considering that he helps look after an entire farm, and all the equipment and buildings on it, he seemed to have surprisingly little.
“Is that all?” I asked with some surprise. Bones smiled.
“Don’t worry, Ah’ve got plenty of other stuff back in the barn,” he replied with a laugh. “But Ah always like to have this stuff on hand; WD 40, vise grips, and duct tape. Any stallion worth his salt can do most jobs with just this.”
“Well Dewdrop and I are starting a little project,” I explained. “One of Fluttershy’s hens has started sitting the eggs, so we’re going to build a brooder coop for her.”
“Oh, nice,” Bones replied, smiling again. “If ya need some extra hooves, me and Mac could probably spare some time for ya.” I shook my head and smiled.
“Thanks, Bones,” I said. “But I think Dewdrop and I can manage on our own.” Bones shrugged his shoulders.
“Suit yourself then,” he said simply. He then walked up to the counter to pay for his stuff. A moment later, it was our turn.
The pony who owns this place is a stallion called Rivet. He was a builder up in Manehatten before he moved out here for a quieter life. He bought this store from its previous owner and has been doing well ever since. After all, given the occasional monster attack that tends to hit Ponyville every other month, there is quite a demand for good quality building materials. Dewdrop and I hauled all our purchases onto the large counter before the slightly bemused looking earth pony.
“Sounds like you two have quite the project on your hooves,” the caramel coloured stallion said as he looked at all that we’d brought up.
“I used to do stuff like this with Dad when I was younger,” I replied. “Besides, I’ve got instructions and a bit of help if I need it.” I turned to Dewdrop, who was now blushing a little.
Rivet tallied up everything and worked out a bill. It actually wasn’t as steep as I thought it was going to be. Okay, it was still a bit of a kick in the teeth, but nothing major. I passed him my small sack of bits, which he quickly counted out before jotting down my receipt.
“Okay, you’re all set,” Rivet said. “You two can borrow the dolly and bring it back tomorrow.” That was kind of him. I flashed him a quick smile.
“Thanks, Rivet,” I said as I began to push at the cart. “I’ll let you know how it all goes.”
It took us both about twenty minutes to haul everything back to Fluttershy’s. Of the three tribes, I’d say pegasi are the second strongest in terms of physical strength. I can’t hold a candle to somepony like Applejack, but I’m no weakling either. Obviously, there are some exceptions, but earth ponies seem to be the strongest, followed by us pegasi, and with unicorns relying on magic in the place of physical muscle. Still, it remained hard going to get everything back to the cottage. When we finally did, Dewdrop briefly lay down in exhaustion. I was pretty knackered too.
“Ow,” Dewdrop complained from his position on the ground. “I can’t feel my legs.” I meanwhile had my head low, trying to catch my breath.
“C’mon, Dewdrop,” I said, wheezing. “Come inside and have a cold drink or something.” Dewdrop quickly got to his feet.
“Thanks, Lizzie.”
Heading inside, we found a Fluttershy, who was surprised at both Dewdrop’s sudden appearance, and the arrival of all the kit we’d bought outside her home. Sitting down together in the living room, I explained what I’d been up to.
“Are you sure you’re going to need all of that?” Fluttershy asked, gesturing out of the window.
“That’s what my dad said,” I replied with a nod. “I’ll have to saw up some of the wood first, but when we’re done, we should have a nice little brooder coop where a hen can sit the eggs, hatch the chicks, and take them outside for a while. Then, once they’re old enough, there’s a side door at the end of the run to let them out. And if the ground starts to get overused, the two of us can simply lift it up and move it to a new patch.”
“Well it sounds perfect,” Fluttershy agreed. “And I’m so glad you offered to help Lizzie, Dewdrop.” She smiled kindly at the stallion who had now recovered enough to breathe easily.
“I think we can get the wood sorted today,” I went on. “And then tomorrow, we can start building the coop. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.”
The two of us held off for a while to chat with Fluttershy and finish out lunch. But before long, the two of us headed outside again and set to work.
First of all, we needed to cut the wood we had to the correct length. And width for what we’d need. We’d be using mainly planks placed on top of a basic wood frame. There’d also be a sturdier roof, which could be removed, that would be covered with waterproof material, and then we’d add in town hinged doors, one to let the chickens into the run, and one to let them out into the big wide world. After that, all that remained was to pin on the wire mesh and attach the two long spars so that it could be carried about.
That was pretty much what we spent the rest of that afternoon doing. We’d got a rudimentary workbench set up, and while I marked out the lengths we’d need with a pencil, Dewdrop sawed away, holding the saw with his hooves and standing in a weirdly human way on his hind legs. I guess it let him put more weight into it.
It was tough work, particularly with the hot sun, but we needed to get this all sorted in the dry weather that we had.
We stopped every now and then for breaks, and Fluttershy, in an attempt to do something to lend a hand, regularly brought us out lemonade and helped clean up the ungodly amount of sawdust that quickly built up around our hooves. Trust me, sawdust is a lot worse when you have fur for it to get stuck in.
By the time evening rolled around, we’d made good progress. All the planks were sorted, as were all the spars. I’d organised them into groups, so that Fluttershy’s front garden now seemed to contain a huge Lego set. But that, we would assemble tomorrow.
Thanking Dewdrop for his help, we let him head back to his own home to rest. I was certainly glad that it was the weekend. I might have had Monday off, but I knew he didn’t, so at least I wouldn’t be losing my help. After piling up all the wood as needed, Fluttershy and I went back inside for dinner. I was pretty worn out; my muscles ached as if I’d flown from here to Las Pegasus and back. Still, needs must, as my dad would say.
I woke up the next morning bright and early. With my job, it’s pretty much a habit now, and a very hard one to break. Throwing off the covers, I got up and headed downstairs, rubbing my eyes to get the sleep out of them. To my surprise, I noticed that Fluttershy’s bed was also empty. Don’t get me wrong, Fluttershy gets up pretty early most days to take care of all the animals she looks after, but still, usually when I got up she was still snoring peacefully.
Glancing out of the window, I saw that the sun was just peaking above the horizon. Sunrise and sunset is quite a weird thing here in Equestria. Instead of a long slow changeover, sometimes with both the sun and the moon visible in the sky, both bodies move at a fairly quick pace at dusk and dawn. I guess that given how the princesses move them with their magic, it takes far less time than just regular old gravity. Once they’re in the sky, they move just like the sun and the moon back home did, it’s just that changeover that happens quickly.
I shook my head as I trotted downstairs. That was just one of the many odd things about this place. Heck, I was surprised as anything when Twilight told me that both the sun and moon revolved around Equestria. Galileo would have gone mental if he ever wound up here.
Coming downstairs into the living room, I found no sign of Fluttershy, or any of the animals. My brow furrowed in confusion, and some concern; after all it was a very rare thing for Fluttershy’s cottage to be so quiet.
“Fluttershy?” I called out. No reply.
“Fluttershy? Are you in here?” Again, still nothing.
“Angel?” Yeah, I was getting a bit desperate to find somepony.
Just then though, my ears, which are now way more sensitive than they used to be, picked up the faint sound of voices from somewhere outside. Heading out the front door, I went to see what was going on. What I saw…surprised me.
On the one hand, there was Fluttershy, with Angel perched on her back. That was normal enough. What wasn’t normal, in fact, it seemed impossible, was the now fully completed, as in built varnished, finished, and painted, brooder coop.
Now, I know for a fact that last night, when I went to bed, that thing was in bits, nowhere near built. So how on earth had it got into its present state? For goodness sake, it was even now occupied by the brewdy hen, who I could see through the small pop hole, sitting her eggs contentedly. I’m fairly certain my mouth was agape at this point. A moment later, with some prompting from Angel, Fluttershy noticed me.
“Oh, good morning, Lizzie,” she said good naturedly. “What do you think of the new coop?” I was still too stunned.
“But…but…how?!” I exclaimed. Just then, I heard an evil chuckle close at hand.
“Oh dear. It looks like little Lizzie’s having a bit of a breakdown,”
That voice, I knew all too well, mainly because that he was a frequent visitor to the cottage. It was Discord, Fluttershy’s best friend. He’s a crazy, and I do mean crazy, draconequus; a chaotic being with magic that surpasses even an alicorn. Ever since his ‘reformation’, he’s been very close with Fluttershy. Very close, if you catch my drift.
Of course, it all made sense now. Discord had probably turned up this morning to see Fluttershy, and then used his magic to instantly put the coop together. He often does little (by his standards) things like that in an attempt to impress Fluttershy. He’s actually quite clingy around her, and he sometimes gets quite worried about disappointing her. The only trouble is, Discord’s brand of magic tends to give a few…odd results. You should see his house.
“Discord came by this morning,” Fluttershy explained. “He offered to help finish putting the coop together. I know you and Dewdrop were pretty tired yesterday, and it looks so nice too.”
Both were good points. My muscles were still a tad sore and not looking forward to the prospect of extra work. And, to Discord’s credit, it did look very nice and normal. No strange colours, no odd building materials, no giant chickens, no beings of inconceivable horror. It looked as if he’d actually followed the plan I’d set out.
Actually, now that I think about it, that’s more worrying. You see, this is the problem with Discord; distinguishing between a genuinely kind and thoughtful act, and the prelude to one of his large scale pranks. Still, since Fluttershy seemed to take things at face value, I decided to play along.
“Well, it’s certainly a neat job, Discord,” I said, looking over the finished product. “I guess I owe you my thanks. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to putting all this together in one day.” Discord bowed in that comical way of his.
“You are quite welcome, my dear,” he replied with a grin. “I’m always happy to lend a claw or paw whenever I can. Especially when it helps out Fluttershy here.”
“Discord and I were just about to have breakfast. Do you want to join us?” Fluttershy asked. I shook my head. Discord greatly values his time with Fluttershy, and I had no doubt that he’d be difficult if there was a third wheel to contend with.
“Nah, I’m good,” I replied. “Since I’m up though, I guess I’ll make a start on my morning workout. I’ll see you round, Discord. Opening my wings, I launched myself into the air, leaving the pegasus and her draconequus friend to themselves.
I was half glad to get away from Discord. Dad says he’s alright, and so does Fluttershy, but I’ve personally always felt a little uneasy if I’m around him for long periods of time, and I get the same feeling for short periods of time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for what he did, turning me into a pegasus and all, but still…you know that feeling you get in your gut that tells you to be careful around someone, that’s what I felt around Discord. I never could understand how Dad or Bones could be so blasé around something that could quite literally, turn them inside out with a snap of his talons, never mind the fact that they both regularly argued with him and told him off when he got too wayward with his magic.
Climbing again, I managed to find one of the thermals that was warming up this early on and used it to gain a bit of altitude. I was over Ponyville now, and if I stayed on this course, I’d hit Whitetail Wood before long.
As I continued to glide, I thought about what I could do today, given that my little project had been suddenly completed for me. I guess I had a free day to kick back and relax. I was up to date with my paperwork, we were alright for food and other essentials at the cottage. I guess I could swing by Carousel Boutique and do some window shopping.
Passing over the last few houses in Ponyville, I picked out a familiar face far below. I could see a light cyan and blonde coloured spot just coming out of a modest house. That must be Dewdrop. Well, one thing I needed to do today was tell him that his services were no longer required. I didn’t want the poor guy to come all the way out to the cottage only to find everything done, or worse, have him run into Discord.
Leaning onto my left side, I let myself drop down before gliding down onto the front lawn. It’s quite a trick that. Most pegasi go into a hover before they land, but Dash makes us practice what she calls ‘combat landings’ where you instead have to get up a steady canter while you’re still in the air so that you don’t fall on your face when your hooves touch down. It never hurts to practice.
“Morning, Dewdrop!” I called out as I touched town, more or less, evenly. The stallion looked up from tightening his saddlebags, which were both filled with tools.
“Lizzie!” he responded, with a bright smile. “What brings you out this way so early?” I explained the odd series of events that brought me here.
“So since Discord’s finished building the coop, I guess you don’t need to come up to the cottage,” I said as I finished up my quick summary. Dewdrop looked a little crestfallen.
“Oh, I see,” he said glumly. “Alright then, I’ll just put this stuff back inside.”
I guess the poor guy was looking forward to helping me out. Like I said before, he may have something of a teensy tiny little crush on me. I decided to throw him a bone. I couldn’t exactly head back home until Discord was out and away.
“Tell you what, Dewdrop,” I said with a smile. “How about we both go to the Hay Burger and get some breakfast?” Instantly, Dewdrop perked up. Mum always did say to me that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
“Sure!” he replied, with a little too much unbridled enthusiasm. “I’d love to!”
And so the two of went and had breakfast together.
I was out on an ordinary patrol on the northern side of Ponyville. It had been a pretty quiet day with hardly a cloud to be seen in the clear blue summer sky. In fact it had been quiet the last couple of weeks. Dash was actually having a hard time assigning us anything other than ordinary patrols. In other words, you had half a dozen ponies with nothing better to do than lazily fly back and forth over town and up and down the valley. There were no rogue weather patterns, no bits of ground fog, no stray rainclouds, no nothing. Heck, at this point, I wanted to find myself in one the whacky adventures that Twilight and her friends occasionally got involved in.
But it remained quiet. I tugged at my flying scarf with a free hoof. Even this high up, it was getting a little warm. I was careful not to knock off the RFC badge that held it tight. Perhaps a burst of ‘archie’ would spice up my day? Allowing my thoughts to drift for a moment, I thought back to that time. The slightly worn badge had to be around a hundred years old now, and on Earth, flying had changed a great deal.
I’d actually read up a bit about one of the few members of my family to have ever gained much fame a few years ago. I never met my Great-Great-Uncle Algernon (MC, DFC and bar); he died in the early sixties, not long after my mum was born. As I said before, he was in the Flying Corps, as the air force was called when it was still part of the army. He flew Camels from early 1917, all the way through to the armistice with the Germans, by that time he’d risen to the rank of captain. He did quite well too, with a total of thirty two kills to his credit.
Back then, aircraft were in their infancy. There was no radio or radar, no missiles, no oxygen masks, and no parachutes (believe it or not, they did exist, but weren’t issued because the army thought they’d encourage cowardice). Men took to the air in flimsy wood and canvas machines that were liable to break apart or catch fire at any given moment. It was dangerous, and few pilots on the front lines lasted more than a few weeks. But there was also a romantic side to it, a sense of freedom and adventure. I feel the same when I’m flying. After all, we can only communicate by gestures and shouting, there’s no such thing as radar, you have to navigate by landmarks, and weather work has its own perils.
I shook my head. No, my job isn’t quite that dangerous. There’s nopony out there looking to shoot me out of the sky, nor I them. Flying in Equestria is far more peaceful, at least out here where there’s so little traffic. Still, I do feel a bit of a connection at times with my distant relative.
Looking up, I saw that the prevailing wind had caused me to drift a little off my old course. Leaning a little to the right and angling my wings, I gently turned back to the right direction. In another few minutes I’d be heading back in for the afternoon. And once again I’d have to write up a report explaining how utterly uneventful my patrol was. Not a Hun…er, sorry…not a stray cloud for miles.
The only thing to keep me occupied all this time was looking down at what was going on below me. The sky might have been quiet, but it was quite busy down on the ground. Today was market day in Ponyville. It’s certainly an interesting perspective to see things from up here, sometimes, on quiet patrols like this one, I get quite deep in thought, about life, the universe, and well, everything.
Just as I reached the point where I planned to turn back and dive back for home, I spotted somepony trotting through the market square. Being such a small town, I recognise pretty much everypony I see, at least by appearance if not by name. And you’d have had to have your head buried under a rock not to recognise this pony.
Her name was Starlight Glimmer. She’s Twilight’s new pupil and is learning from the princess all there is to learn about friendship. She was a pinkish unicorn, with a dark purple and green coloured mane. Even if I hadn’t recognised her, I’d have known it was Starlight simply by the way the crowd parted. Creating some weird ass equality cult and then keeping ponies imprisoned there without their cutie marks tends to get you that kind of treatment. Bones says she’s alright, if a little crazy like Twilight. Personally though, as someone who can’t use magic to protect themselves from her spells, I give her a wide berth. She’s been in town a few weeks now, but she’s having trouble settling in. Aside from Twilight, and perhaps Bones, she doesn’t have that many friends. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fairly sure she’s okay now, but ponies in a small town take a while to forget your past mistakes.
Leaving the unstable unicorn to herself, I banked away and made for the other side of town. I’d make one circuit and then head home. Leaning back, I let myself gain a bit more altitude at the cost of some speed. I flapped my wings a couple of times to keep my speed up. Before long, the houses began to taper off in favour of open fields, woodlands and the odd dirt path. Normally, you don’t see many ponies out here. Today though, things were a little different, as I spotted a solitary pony travelling along one of the roads I used for navigation in the direction of town. Unlike Starlight, I didn’t recognise this pony. Apparently there was somepony new coming to town. I felt pity for her, knowing that Pinkie Pie would be on her in milliseconds.
She was a unicorn, around Twilight’s age I’d say, so a little older than me. She had a light blue coat with a silvery coloured mane that was somewhat curled. I couldn’t make out her cutie mark from up here as it was obscured, but I could see that she was hauling a decent sized wagon behind her. I side slipped a little to drop my altitude and get a better look. A closer inspection showed that it was actually a caravan. Was she a traveller then? Did they have tinkers in Equestria? Even stranger was her outfit. She seemed to have on one of those stereotypical wizards hat, a sort of light purple coloured thing, covered with yellow and purple stars, she also wore a cloak with a similar design. A travelling magician maybe?
Since I still had nothing to do, and since the mare looked a little lonely all on her own down there, I decided to drop down and say hello. Side slipping again, I quickly dropped my altitude, in a few moments I was skimming along the treetops with just enough speed to glide. As I came onto the road, I pulled myself up into a hover and landed just in front of the unicorn. She looked up at my sudden appearance and whinnied in surprise.
“Hi there. I’m Lizzie.” I said with a smile. “You on your way to Ponyville?” After taking a moment to recover herself, the mare nodded.
“Er, yes,” she said, in a somewhat haughty voice. “Trixie is coming to Ponyville as part of her Grand Apology Tour around Equestria. Perhaps you’ve seen Trixie’s last performance in Manehatten?”
I fought back the urge to laugh at her speaking in the third person. She was going to fit right in in Ponyville. Believe it or not, I’d actually seen this behaviour before. Every Christmas, we’d hear from my cousin down in Milton Keynes. Every letter was written in the third person and made a very strange read. This ‘Trixie’ though seemed to actually speak about herself in the third person.
“No, I can’t say that I have,” I replied honestly. “What is it that you do exactly?” Trixie tossed her head back in a coquettish manner similar to Rarity when she gets offended.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie,” she replied, rolling her r’s. “Is one of the finest magicians and illusionists in all of Equestria! And she has come to Ponyville as part of her tour.”
It seemed a bit odd to me. All ponies, myself included, were magical to one extent or another. Unicorns though could actually use their magic to affect the world. What was the point then of a magician? Heck, what was the point of sleight of hoof when unicorns could simply teleport an object, or levitate it, or turn it into something else with their magic? If she were a pegasi or an earth pony, it would make more sense, but a unicorn magician seemed strange. Rather foolishly, I put this question to Trixie.
“While Trixie does possess excellent magical powers, she is also quite able to perform wondrous acts of magic without them!” she snapped. “Besides, what would a pegasus like you know of such things?”
Wow, racist much? This Trixie certainly seemed to have quite the ego. But I did have an ace up my sleeve. Back on Earth, I leant a few coin tricks from my grandad. They were quite easy to adapt to wings. Taking a bit out of my saddlebag, I held it up to show Trixie.
“I think you’ll find that I know plenty about magic,” I replied.
Covering the coin with my feathers, I performed a simple French drop, making the coin seemingly disappear. Trixie though, was unimpressed.
“A Prench drop is hardly that extraordinary,” she commented with some disdain. “Trixie could make an entire banking establishment disappear if she wished.” Sure you could. I continued to trot alongside her. I tried to steer the conversation in a more friendly direction.
“Well, you should do quite well in Ponyville,” I offered. “We don’t get many travelling shows through here. I’m sure you’ll be able to draw quite a crowd.”
“Of course,” Trixie replied confidently. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s shows are always popular, even out here in this Celestia forsaken town.” There was just no pleasing this mare, was there?
“I can think of one pony you might want to talk with,” I suggested. “Twilight Sparkle is our local magical expert. I’m sure that…” I paused when I realised that Trixie had stopped in the road.
Her face had suddenly turned a remarkable shade of bright red, and without warning she began one very angry, hate fuelled rant, hurling at Twilight seemingly all the insulting names she could bring to mind, and leaving me in no doubt that she absolutely despised the Princess of Friendship and anypony associated with her. It was surprising to say the least. I mean, okay Twilight can be a bit of a know it all at times, but I’ve never seen somepony react so negatively to just mentioning her name. A moment later, Trixie recovered herself.
“Trixie apologises,” she said awkwardly. “In the past, Twilight Sparkle has always been something of a rival to Trixie, and our last meeting ended with Trixie fleeing Ponyville.”
So she’d been in town before? I racked my brains in an effort to remember, but I couldn’t recall any Trixie in recent memory. It must have been before we came to Equestria.
I tried to think of some of the stories Bones had told me about from time to time; some of the ‘episodes’ that took place on the show before we got here. The name ‘Trixie’ did seem vaguely familiar now. I did my best to offer some reassurance.
“Well, I should think you’ll be alright in Ponyville,” I said reassuringly. “I mean, one of our newest residents, Starlight Glimmer, nearly completely destroyed Equestria through time travel. I mean, what did you even do anyway?”
Before Trixie could answer, another, more familiar voice, jumped in on the conversation.
“She used a soul sucking amulet to augment her own powers, placed a giant magical bubble over the town, exiled Twilight, and made everypony else work as her slaves while she went slowly crazy,” said Bones sardonically as he stood opposite us on the road, a cart of apples behind him. He then turned to my unicorn companion.
“Hey there, Trix,” he said, touching the brim of his hat. “Long time no see.”
Silence prevailed for a few moments as cowpony and showmare stood across from each other. After a moment, Trixie spoke up.
“Does Trixie know you?” she asked, still speaking in the third person. Bones smiled and cocked his head to one side.
“No,” he replied, unhitching himself from his cart and slowly walking towards her. “But Ah know you. Shoot, where Ah come from, you’re famous. Beatrix Lulamoon; stage magician, illusionist, and spell caster extraordinaire. What brings y’all back to Ponyville?”
“Trixie is on her apology tour throughout Equestria,” Trixie explained. Bones frowned and raised an eyebrow.
“So ya haven’t come back here hell bent on revenge against say, Twilight Sparkle?” he asked. Trixie ground her teeth at that.
“No, I have not!” she snapped, switching to the first person. “Trixie is here to perform her act and nothing more! Now kindly let Trixie pass. She has no time to talk with country bumpkins!” Bones frowned before stepping to one side.
“Well then, welcome to Ponyville, Ms. Lulamoon.”
With an angry snort, Trixie set off again, trotting past the both of us and leaving me alone with my older brother. He wasn’t usually like that. Heck, I’d never really seen him act like that before. Okay, he can be a bit of an ass, but he’s usually kind and friendly to ponies. He seemed to really have something against Trixie though.
“What the heck was that about?” I asked crossly. Bones turned back to me, having watched the showmare go.
“Ah wouldn’t trust that mare as far as Ah could throw her,” he said. “Every time she’s come to Ponyville there’s been trouble. And Ah seriously doubt that she’s just here to put on a show.”
“Why?” I asked curiously, now recalling fully the whole incident involving the Alicorn Amulet. “From what you told me, the last time she left, she was really apologetic to everypony.” Bones sneered.
“That doesn’t change what she did,” he replied. “The mare’s crazy, with an ego to match.”
“Bones, she’s a travelling magician!” I exclaimed. “She’s living out of a caravan going from town to town to make a few bits. She’s not exactly Discord.” Bones frowned again.
“Ah still don’t like the idea of havin’ her in town.” He shook his head. “Ah’m gonna go talk to Mayor Mare and then see if Ah can give Twilight a heads up.”
He then trotted back over to his apple cart, hitched himself back up and went on his way. His behaviour surprised me. Usually, like I said, he was friendly with most ponies. And the two beings in this world he held a real grudge against had wronged him in some way. With Trixie though, he’d never met her outside of that show, and he’d instantly made up his mind about her. And the trouble with Bones is that he can be very set in his ways and firm in his opinions when he wants to be.
Still, I saw no reason why I should take that view. Yes, Trixie had done some stupid stuff. But one was an accident that really wasn’t her fault, and the other was more due to the effects of a freaky magical necklace. Yes she was very egotistical and somewhat arrogant, with a personality to match, but she was hardly a threat to Equestria.
And the sad thing was Bones probably wasn’t the only pony who was going to take a dim view of Trixie rolling into town. Small towns don’t forget little things like being encased in magic bubbles and made to work as slaves. Still, at least the poor mare was trying to make amends. For that she deserved to have somepony in her corner. I was pretty much done with my patrol as it was, so I cantered after her, following her wheel tracks in the road.
I caught up with Trixie a little ways before she reached Ponyville proper. She was hauling her wagon up an incline towards one of the bridges than crosses the river. Since she appeared to be struggling with the heavy load, I decided to help out.
I might not be as strong as an earth pony, but I can still pull my weight. My strongest muscles are of course my wings, and they can provide quite a bit of force when needed. So I jumped up into a hover and pressed myself against the back of Trixie’s wagon, then I started flapping my wings as hard as I could; that generated a sizeable force that took some of the load off of Trixie. When we got to the top of the hill, I backed off and fluttered over to the front. Trixie was still worn out, but smiled at me when I came up to her.
“Thank you for that,” she said. “Even with magic that wagon is still a lot of weight for one pony to pull.” At last, she seemed to be coming around.
“Your welcome, Trixie,” I replied. “You looked like you needed some help.” Trixie paused for a few moments to catch her breath.
“Well, at least the road is level from now on,” she said. “I just need to find somewhere to set up for my show.” I thought for a moment and decided to help out again.
“I know a couple of places you could try,” I offered. “I’m guessing you need a pretty open space?” The showmare nodded.
“I need somewhere to set up the stage and all my props,” Trixie explained. “And somewhere to park my wagon.”
I had a couple of ideas. Since I spent so much time flying around Ponyville, I knew the town and the area like the back of my hoof. There was one good place that jumped out at me. It was not too far from Fluttershy’s cottage, but it was close enough to the town to be convenient. It was a small meadow, with a brook running through the nearby wood.
“Follow me, Trixie,” I said. “I think I know just the place.”
I led Trixie somewhat around town. It’s hard enough manoeuvring a large wagon through the at times narrow streets, but I also didn’t want to risk her getting a negative reception with nowhere to get away to. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the worst she’ll get from Ponyville’s residents is the occasional glare and the odd muttered remark, but it’s still not nice. And with any luck, this apology tour of hers would change all that.
Following the familiar path, we soon found ourselves where we wanted to be. Trixie moved her wagon into place, unhitched herself and locked on the brakes. She then set about unpacking. I offered to help out, but she said she could manage, and that I’d already helped out enough. So I headed off, I was halfway home already.
When I got back to the cottage, I found it mostly empty, except for Angel and the other animals that live indoors. The rabbit, of course, wanted feeding. But unlike Fluttershy, I don’t cave in as easily. In the end, I told him that if he didn’t stop badgering me, he’d be getting a carrot, but not in the way he wanted. That made him back off.
I set myself up at my small desk and began jotting down my report for the day. I left my meeting with Trixie out of it, of course. Rainbow would be reading this, and I doubted that she’d react any better to the news of Trixie’s return than Bones did; she is a bit of a hothead after all. Plus, it had nothing to do with the weather anyway.
Fluttershy came back not long afterwards, having been out with Discord (as friends she reassured me, blushing all the time). She fed Angel his dinner, and then the two of us set about cooking for ourselves. Fluttershy is actually quite talented when it comes to cooking.
We chatted about our day as we ate. Again, I kept Trixie out of the conversation. I was sure that by this time tomorrow, it would be all over town anyway. The subject of magic did come up though. Fluttershy was telling me how the map was now working again. In the event she had to go somewhere on a friendship problem, I’d need to look after the cottage and all the animals.
Other than that though, it was a quiet evening. But I figured that tomorrow would be quite interesting.
The next day, I had the morning off, and I was planning to relax and enjoy myself. As much as I love flying, it is a bit of a strain on my muscles and feathers. So, every now and again, I treat myself and go for a treatment at the day spa in town. Rarity recommended it to me, although personally, I think she spends far too much time there. I’ve been a few times myself though, whenever I have the bits to spare. On occasion I’ve gone with Fluttershy and sometimes with Mum, and on one occasion, I even went with Dad after he threw his back out, though he swore me to secrecy afterwards.
Today though, I’d be going on my own. I just needed a quick soak, a good massage, and see my wings tended to. It might not be a full day experience, but it was plenty relaxing for me.
Fluttershy was busy today running her own sort of spa. Harry, the bear that often drops by the cottage, had some trouble with his back, so she was going to have a go at helping him out. Twilight had told me about the last time she did that, the then unicorn had turned to and thought that she was fighting with the huge bear. Personally, I never really went in for those deep massages.
Heading into town, I soon found my way into the day spa. It was surprisingly busy in there for a weekday. In particular, I saw that the steam room had a line that went around the corner of the corridor. Again, I’ve never really liked that sought of thing. I was just here for a good wash and to relax my muscles.
Sitting myself down in the waiting room, I grabbed up a copy of the Foal Free Press and waited for my ticket number to come up on the counter. As I was reading, I heard the front door go, and out of habit I looked up. To my surprise, I saw that it was Trixie; the unicorn I’d met yesterday. After going up to the front desk, she trotted over to me and settled down to read herself.
“Hey there, Trixie,” I greeted. “Come to relax after that long journey?” The showmare nodded.
“A magician needs to be limber and well rested before a show,” she replied. “And it is always nice to treat myself like this.” I smiled.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. A month of dull patrols doesn’t exactly do wonders for your muscles either.”
Just then, Aloe (or Lotus, to be honest, I never learnt which one is which) called my name, saying that it was time for my appointment. I set down my magazine and got up to leave.
“Well, that’s me. I’ll see you around, Trixie.”
Following Aloe (or Lotus), I soon found myself enjoying a relaxing soak in a tub. I considered following some of Rarity’s advice and springing for a mud bath, but all I needed was a relaxing soak and I didn’t fancy paying the ten bits. Besides, the warm water was just as refreshing for me. With the string of hot days we’ve had, and that fact that I’ve been flying so much, I needed to clear out my pores. It also gave me a chance to preen myself.
Pegasi you see, are quite like birds, and our wings need to be preened and taken care of from time to time. You just use your teeth to gently nip at stray feathers and pull them back into line. It’s also quite a good idea to check for any parasites that might have been picked up, which is another advantage of having a soak. It looks a little odd, but it’s necessary, like cleaning your teeth. If feathers aren’t kept in good condition, they can start to fall out. In a worst case scenario, that can actually mean that a pegasus loses their ability to fly, even with their magic.
After twenty minutes soaking, and my hooves getting a washer woman effect, I climbed out of the tub. Grabbing a bathrobe and towel to dry myself off, I again followed Lotus (or Aloe). I’d now get a massage to relax my muscles, particularly my poor wings. The day spa has a special treatment for wing massage and I was looking forward to it.
Aloe led me through a couple of the other treatment rooms, and as we trotted along, I spotted a familiar face, albeit covered by cucumbers and a facial mask. Trixie was reclining in a chair while one of the attendants was giving her a hooficure.
“Hey, Trixie,” I said with a wave, forgetting that she couldn’t see anything. Trixie waved back in reply, having recognised my voice.
“Hi, Lizzie,” she replied as I walked on, following Aloe (or Lotus).
We now went through one of the corridors that led off to a few of the other treatment rooms. And to my surprise, I spotted another, and somewhat infamous face. It was Starlight Glimmer. She was heading in the opposite direction to me. I could easily understand her coming here, being somewhat reviled by a whole town while working on complex friendship studies can be a little taxing on the body, as well as the soul. I waved to her as we both passed.
I smiled to myself as I saw her go into the same room that I’d just stepped out of. She might find something of a friend in Trixie, assuming of course, that she can overlook her massive ego. They were both unicorns, and fairly talented ones at that, and more crucially, they were both presumably quite lonely, given their similar situations. It would be nice for Starlight to have a friend outside of her teacher too. I know that Twilight means well, but it’s hard to accept friendship as a concept when everypony else is seemingly against you.
Starlight and Trixie though, were soon out of my mind. As I said before, the day spa has a special treatment for wings which I planned on having, to do it though, they need one of their few male employees.
Bulk Biceps, is a bit of an odd case. I’m fairly certain all the steroids have screwed up his brain, never mind what they did to other areas. Still, he’s a nice enough guy, albeit a bit simple. He works a few part time jobs to make ends meet, and he is very good at deep tissue massages. He certainly did a good job with me. Okay, at first it did sting as all the knots were worked out, but I was soon feeling much better. By the time I was done, my wings had their full range of motion back, the aches were all gone, and I felt relaxed all round.
Well worth the daylight robbery they call their fee.
A few days later, and Ponyville was a hive of activity. Two big events were happening. Firstly, Trixie was putting on her show, where she would apparently be performing a trick involving a live manticore. The other was that Princess Celestia was visiting to see Twilight and check up on Starlight’s process, and generally determine whether or not the mare was still a danger to society.
The latter was a fairly private affair, but Trixie’s show, despite her reputation, had drawn a huge crowd. I’d managed to get a ticket for myself somewhere near the stage. Unfortunately, Fluttershy had to stay home to look after Hummingway, the hummingbird, who had developed a nasty case of pneumonia. RD too was busy today, and even the prospect of seeing Trixie jump into a manticore’s mouth wasn’t enough to convince her to come. Still, as I said, attendance was pretty good considering Trixie’s reputation. With any luck, putting on a good show as part of this apology tour would go a long way to changing ponies views of her.
As she came on stage however, it was apparent that something was up. She seemed a bit down, and a far cry from the show off I’d met a couple days before. Still, as they say in that business, ‘the show must go on’. Ponies were all eager to see the famous Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive. The trick was one of Hoofdini’s and apparently died with him, but Trixie claimed to have cracked it.
It was quite a spectacle. Trixie would be shot out of a cannon, fly into the mouth of the manticore, and then somehow get out before the creature swallowed her whole. It certainly seemed a dangerous thing to do, even if she had supposedly cracked it.
Still, as far as I can tell, the trick came off perfectly. Trixie did indeed get shot from a cannon and went into the manticore’s mouth which promptly closed. There was a brief flash from inside the beast’s mouth, and a few seconds later, Trixie appeared on the stage, looking a little worse for wear (and a bit slobbery), but otherwise unharmed.
Then, much to my delight, she brought out onto the stage her, and I quote, ‘great and powerful assistant’. It was Starlight! The two had indeed become good friends, although I later learned that the situation was far rockier than it appeared to me, with Twilight being more than a little concerned about their friendship.
But all in all, the show went very well. From eavesdropping on the crowd around me, I could hear opinions of both Trixie and Starlight changing. Even Bones, who was also there at the show, reluctantly began to change his tune in regards to Trixie. He was also quite impressed with Starlight. Much to the annoyance of everypony around him though, he pointed out that Starlight must have used a teleportation spell to get Trixie out of the manticore before it ate her.
All in all, the show had gone very well, and Trixie would no doubt be able to put on a second show the next night to and equally packed crowd. I was quite glad to see that the two mares had each found a friend too. I may not have had a massive hand in it, but I like to think that I helped set events in motion, in a small way.
With the end of the show, there was just one problem. Tonight was also the night that Twilight and Starlight were supposed to have dinner with Celestia at Twilight’s castle, and introduce Starlight’s friends. I had to stifle a giggle as all three of them went galloping hell for leather back there. Apparently, Twilight had left Celestia alone with just Vinyl Scratch, Cranky, and Derpy for company.
I was sitting down at one of the outdoor tables outside a café in Ponyville. It was Wednesday and I was back on duty again. In fact we all were; we were scheduled to manage a major storm this week, so we’d all gathered here to meet up over breakfast and talk tactics. Well, we would, if we were all here. At present, we were short one pony.
“I say she’s napping on a cloud somewhere,” Thunderlane said, taking a bite out of his dandelion sandwich.
“No way, Flight,” Flitter replied, shaking her head. “Ten bits says she’s off fangirling around the Wonderbolts. You hear they’re in town for a show this week? Ever since she got that reservist spot, she’s been more obsessed than ever.”
Ah yes, the Wonderbolts. They’re Equestria’s answer to the Red Arrows; a highly trained and highly skilled pegasi display team. They do shows all over Equestria, as well as acting as a rapid response force when needed. Based out of Cloudsdale, which is where their HQ and training facilities are located, they fly all over Equestria, taking part in displays, races, and even helping out with weather work at times. Not too long after I arrived here, Rainbow joined the Wonderbolt Reserves; they aren’t part of the squadron, but they are on the list for promotion whenever they do open the books.
“I think you’re both wrong,” Cloudchaser broke in. “I think she’s been getting all sweet on Soarin and…” Now I jumped in.
“Actually, you’re all wrong. She’s just over there, heading straight for us.” I pointed out with a hoof, prompting the others to take a look.
You could just barely make her out as a small speck in the distance. Thank goodness for my pegasi eye sight. She was certainly hauling ass; I guess she knew she was late. To everypony’s surprise though, as she drew nearer, she actually accelerated. I watched as the air pressure began to form a cone just ahead of her. That meant she was close to the sound barrier.
As she began to roar over the town, we watched as her form seemed to stretch out. All of a sudden, the cone moved backwards behind her and she shot forward. In an instant, the sky was lit up by a huge circular rainbow and there was an almighty bang as she broke the barrier.
“Cover your ears!” Thunderlane yelled. We barely had time to before the sonic boom, which was louder than a thunderclap reached us. Behind us, a couple of the café’s windows blew out from the overpressure.
Dash shot over us at a speed faster than a bullet from a gun, trailing a rainbow coloured wake behind her. It wasn’t until a few seconds after she passed overhead that we heard the signature whooshing jet sound of a pegasus in high speed flight.
After passing over us, Rainbow banked hard and dropped back below supersonic. Fishtailing all the way down to lose speed, she eventually touched down just in front of us. We were all silent and no doubt had surprised looks on our faces. Dash just stood there grinning.
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” she said casually. Thunderlane was the first to come to his senses.
“Rainbow,” he said calmly. “I’m going to ask you a simple question. What…the buck…is wrong with you?! What in the name of Celestia are you doing a rainboom right over town for; you must have blown out half the windows in Ponyville!”
The smug look on Dash’s face now quickly disappeared. She took a quick look around and saw how quite a few windows were blown in.
“Oh…er….oops?” she offered meekly. Thunderlane however, wasn’t finished.
“You’re damn right ‘oops’! You’re lucky you didn’t blow out somepony’s ear drums! Why were you going that fast anyway?” Dash now rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
“Well, I kinda got some good news just now,” she said.
“What’s that then?” I asked. Dash now recovered a little and broke out into a grin.
“I just talked to Spitfire. They want me in the show this week!”
“Does that mean…?” Flitter asked. Rainbow nodded.
“Hell yeah it does!” she exclaimed “I’m in the Wonderbolts!”
The five of us all fell into stunned silence while Rainbow kept grinning. Dewdrop was the first one to come to his senses.
“You got into the Wonderbolts? How?!” he asked excitedly. Dash threw her mane back in an effort to look cool before replying.
“Simple,” she answered. “One of the ponies on the squadron is retiring next month, and my name just happened to be top of the list.”
To be fair, she was a damned good flyer. Apart from one or two minor incidents on her record, and one major one involving a giant snowball last winter, she seemed like a good candidate for the ‘Bolts. Dash is not only fast, as we’d all just seen, but she can turn on a tanner as well. You need speed and agility to get into the Wonderbolts. Well, that and the innate desire to fly harder and faster than anypony else in the sky. That seemed to suit Rainbow down to a T.
“Wow, congratulations, Dash!” I said, prompting everypony else to follow suit. “So when do you start then?” Dash explained her new schedule.
“Training should start tomorrow at Wonderbolt Headquarters,” she said. “We’ve only got a couple days before the show here in Ponyville.”
“Hang on a minute though!” Thunderlane broke in. “If you’re going off with the Wonderbolts, doesn’t that mean you’re leaving the Weather Patrol?”
Almost at once, everypony’s joy and excitement turned to sadness. Rainbow had been the boss for more than a few years. We’d all be sad to see her leave Ponyville.” Luckily, Dash quickly explained that worry away.
“Chillax, guys,” she said reassuringly. “I’m staying with the patrol, and I’m not leaving Ponyville. But we are going to have to work out who’s gonna run things here when I’m away on shows.” Thunderlane puffed out his chest.
“I’m sure I can look after things for you, RD,” he said, sounding a little prideful.
“Hey, what makes you think you’ll be in charge, Thunderlane?” Flitter demanded. He turned to face her, scowling a little.
“I’m the next most senior officer, Flitter,” he replied. “If Dash isn’t around, then the book says I run the show.”
“Oh please, Thunderlane,” Cloudchaser replied. “You could barely handle that bad rainstorm last month. How are you supposed to run an entire patrol?” Thunderlane barred his teeth in annoyance.
We had a bit of a problem. Flight was correct in what he said. According to the regs, if Dash wasn’t around; either off ill, incapacitated, or KIA, formal authority passed down to him as the patrol flight sergeant. Below that you had Flitter and me, who were patrol officers first class, and then Cloudchaser, who was second, and then Dewdrop, who was third class. On the other hoof though, while he was a good flyer, he wasn’t the best leader. He could manage a calm day or the odd rain cloud, but if we had to deal with a major storm, he might have trouble. Rainbow stepped in to try and settle the argument.
“Hey, hey, hey, shut the hay up, the lot of you!” she barked, stopping our arguing. “Thunderlane, you’re going to be in charge, as per Weather Patrol regulations.” Thunderlane smiled at that, flashing a grin towards Flitter and Cloudchaser.
“However,” Dash went on, promptly wiping the smile off his face. “You’re going to work jointly with Lizzie. She’ll back you up on all decisions.”
“What?!” Thunderlane shouted. I merely found myself blushing. Dash explained.
“You’re a good flyer, Thunderlane,” Dash said. “But I don’t feel comfortable leaving you on your own. Lizzie has learned a lot in the short time she’s been here. In particular, she’s good at flying in storm weather and coordinating the team. So you’ll work together to get things done.”
“But I’m the senior officer!” Thunderlane said, almost pleadingly.
“Yes, you are,” Dash replied. “But Lizzie’s better at dealing with rough weather. You do see how ‘better’ trumps ‘senior’, right?” I heard Dewdrop giggle. Thunderlane grumbled.
“Fine,” he said at last, still scowling.
“Good,” Dash said, returning to a more friendly tone. “Trust me, it’ll be good for the both of you. Anyway, I’ve gotta get over to see Spitfire. I’ll catch you guys later.”
Grabbing a slice of pie for herself, she took off back into the air and was quickly out of sight. We were all quiet for a few moments. There was tension in the air. Thunderlane looked pretty miffed, and was glaring in my direction. He seemed to wage a mental battle for a few moments before coming to his senses.
“Alright, everypony,” he said. “You heard what Dash said. As now me and Lizzie are in temporary command of the patrol. Everypony on board?” We all nodded. “Good, then let’s finish up here and get to work.”
Dash had left the weather schedule for the next couple of days in Thunderlane’s mailbox. The two of looked over it together. For the most part it was simple enough. Light cloud cover today, light rains tomorrow, all building up to a major storm the day after that. It would be a bit tough being a man down with Rainbow away, but I figured we should still be able to do it.
“Doesn’t look too bad,” Thunderlane commented, after looking the charts over. “Apart from this major storm at the end of the week we should do fine.”
“Yeah, but that storm looks pretty rough,” I replied. “Heavy rain and thundercloud coverage, multiple lightning strikes, and winds aloft above forty five knots easterly. Hell of a thing to fly in, Flight.” Frowning, Thunderlane nodded.
“Between the two of us we ought to manage though, eh?” he offered. On the flight over to RD’s little mansion, I’d noticed him soften up a bit. With any luck, we’d actually do quite well working together.
“Oh sure,” I agreed with a nod. “It’s just gonna be a bit weird without Dash around.”
Putting the schedule in his saddlebags, Thunderlane headed back to the café, with me following behind. Flitter, Cloudchaser, and Dewdrop were waiting there for us. Touching down a few feet away, Thunderlane passed out copies of the day’s schedule (that’s the SOP for a patrol; everypony gets their own copy of the plan for the day) and began to give us a briefing, something Dash usually did.
“Okay, everypony,” he began. “We’ve got a nice easy day for our first day without Rainbow. Just some light cloud cover to build up, starting at Fluttershy’s cottage, and stretching across to Sweet Apple Acres. From there we’ll let it drift across town and start forming the basis of the storm due this week.
“Now, I’ll take the lookout two thousand feet above you all. Lizzie, I want you to work with Flitter and Cloudchaser to work up the ground fog into the clouds. And Dewdrop, you’re on rear guard; keep an eye on the Everfree and make sure no rogue weather comes our way. Sound good?”
Flitter and Cloudchaser nodded in agreement. Dewdrop however, looked a little nervous. I found myself a little concerned too and as we all took off, I raised my concerns with Thunderlane.
“Flight, don’t you think it’s a bit dicey putting Dewdrop on rear guard? I know he’s picked up a lot since he started, but dealing with Everfree weather on your own even made Dash sweat a couple of times. Maybe I should take that spot, and then Dewdrop can work on the ground fog with the girls?” Thunderlane sighed and put a hoof to the bridge of his nose.
“Really?” he said, turning to me. “I’ve been in charge five minutes and you’re already questioning my decisions?” Oh great.
“I’m just saying the kid’s a little inexperienced for that kind of work, that’s all. Dash asked me to help out and give you advice. I’m just saying what I think.” Thunderlane snorted.
“The kid’s got to do some of the heavy lifting some time,” he replied. “I can’t just keep relegating him to easy work, otherwise we’ll be down two flyers instead of one when the chips are down.” He had a point I suppose, still I didn’t like it. But, it wasn’t dangerous, so there was no way I was going to countermand him.
We soon reached and began to orbit Whitetail Wood. At this time of year, particularly in early morning, you could find quite a bit of fog and mist here that could be whipped up into clouds. It was just a case of gathering it all together to increase its density. When that was done, you effectively had a ready formed rain cloud.
The only trouble is that it’s back breaking work. Because it’s so thin when it’s a mist, you can’t manipulate it with your hooves like you would a cloud. You have to use your wings and tail instead to try and force it all into a single mass. And since the mist wants to dissipate again, it’s constant work to keep the thing together. By the end of it, you’ve worked up a pretty good sweat.
That was precisely what happened to me, Flitter, and Cloudchaser after a couple hours. We managed to form three clouds before half ten, which wasn’t too bad. We could have done more, if I or one of the others hadn’t had to break off every now and then to help Dewdrop.
Like I said before, being the rear guard to the Everfree can be a demanding job. The last thing you want when you’re producing clouds, or otherwise forming a weather pattern, is for random stuff to come flying through, potentially upsetting things. And when it comes to the Everfree Forest, the weather can be a pretty bad hazard.
Thunderlane was right when he said Dewdrop needed to learn to do some more difficult tasks, but this was like dropping him into the sea after a couple of swimming lessons in the shallow end. He did his best, but I still had to peel off every now and then and help him get a cloud heading back into the forest. He didn’t do a bad job by any means, but I could have done better, and he’d have been more help on the ground whipping up the mist.
I just felt that it was a bit irresponsible of Thunderlane, considering that Everfree weather can get quite dangerous if left unchecked. Maybe we just have different styles of working? Either way, I didn’t want to get on Flight’s bad side or cause friction with anypony else, so I kept my mouth shut for the time being.
Eventually, around midday, we had the clouds we needed up in the air and under control. For the time being, we moved them over towards Fluttershy’s cottage and pinned them there, tagging them with those daft ‘Not to be moved’ tags that we have to slap on whenever we pin a cloud somewhere that isn’t its spot in a pattern.
All in all, we’d done okay. Everything was sorted for tomorrow’s storm now. Thunderlane thanked us all for a job well done and then dismissed us. I simply dived down to the cottage while everypony else headed back to town.
I found Fluttershy outside, talking with a couple of squirrels. For the life of me, I can’t stand those tree rats, ever since one of them bit me on the arm when we were on holiday and I had to get a rabies shot in the gut. Swooping down towards the trio, the two squirrels darted up a tree as I touched down.
“Hey Fluttershy,” I said as I folded up my wings. “Have you heard the news about Rainbow?” Fluttershy and Rainbow were childhood friends, and I imagined that she’d be interested to hear the news of RD getting accepted after all this time.
“I heard about it this morning,” Fluttershy replied, wearing an extra wide, Pinkie Pie smile. “Oh I’m so glad she’s finally been able to join the Wonderbolts properly. I’ve even been practicing my cheer for when she does her show; watch.”
To my delight, the pegasus reared up on the hind legs, before plunging back down and…ahem…’yelling’ out a barely audible yay. It was fecking adorable. I managed to stop myself from giggling though.
We both went inside and talked about what had happened. Dash was apparently already off at Wonderbolt HQ for practice. I didn’t doubt that she’d be fitting right in with the rest of them. Dash might have the appearance of a slouch, what with her frequent napping and all, but when it came to her work, she was a real professional. She hadn’t ended up as an element of harmony by accident after all. I did however explain my concerns about Thunderlane to Fluttershy over tea.
“I don’t know what to say, ‘Shy,” I said as I stirred in a bit more sugar. “He’s not a bad leader, but I’ve seen him wobble when we’ve been in a tight spot, you know, make a bad call in the heat of the moment. I just want to help out, but every time I do, it feels like I’m taking the reins off him, and that makes him feel daft.” Fluttershy nodded in understanding.
“That does sound like a bit of a difficult situation,” she agreed. “Maybe you could talk to Twilight; she’s been looking for a new friendship problem to work on.” I considered that. Twilight did have a knack for these sorts of problems. Before I had a chance to act though, Fluttershy’s other friend joined us.
There was a bright flash over by the sofa, and a moment later, that damn Discord was sitting there, reclining and grinning like the smug bastard he is.
“Ooh, do I smell some chaos cooking?” he asked curiously, looking in my general direction. I resisted the urge to snap at him. Fluttershy says that it interferes with his reformation if I’m always yelling at him.
“Actually, you just dropped in on a friendship problem, Discord,” Fluttershy replied sweetly, pouring him a cup of tea as he spoke.
“Ah yes,” Discord went on. “Little Miss Control Freak here doesn’t like somepony taking a different approach to her beloved Rainbow.”
“I’m not a control freak, Discord,” I replied testily. “I’m just worried that something’s going to go wrong.” Discord rolled his eyes.
“Oh for goodness sake,” he said, sitting upright. “If you want to start your little revolution, don’t hide it. Just come out and tell him you think he’s an ass.” Snapping his fingers, Discord produced a red beret and Che Guevara t-shirt.
“He’s not an ass!” I shot back. “He’s a damn good flyer!”
“Then what’s the problem?” Discord asked. “Pick a side, sister! Either he’s good at his job and you should follow him, or he isn’t and you should replace him. It can’t be both.”
I pondered that as the draconequus sipped at his tea. As crazy as he is, he tends to come out with something useful. I was playing a bit of both sides wasn’t I? I respected Thunderlane, but I’d rather one of us were in charge. As it is, I feel like I’m stepping on his toes whenever I question his decisions. Fluttershy now spoke up.
“I think I have an idea of the problem, Lizzie,” she offered. “I think you both have different ways of working. To you Thunderlane’s methods seem a bit risky. But on the other hoof, to him your views seem to be playing things too safe at the cost of efficiency. They both have their merits, but like Discord said, you have to pick one. You can’t have two ponies at the top.”
I nodded in understanding. Fluttershy had summed it up pretty well. Maybe I was taking this all too seriously. After all, what it all boiled down to was me thinking ‘if I was in charge, I wouldn’t have done that’. The fact of the matter though, was that I wasn’t in charge, I was second in command and meant to offer advice. Whether Thunderlane wanted to follow that advice was another story. I decided that, unless something went seriously off the rails, I’d let things lie. I’d still offer advice, but I wouldn’t keep countering Thunderlane at every little decision.
The next day was the day we’d actually be forming the storm. This afternoon, we’d set the whole thing off and watch it drift down the valley. I tell you, it’s quite a sight to behold, you feel proud of the fact that you helped create the thing too. Just as long as you’re at a safe distance. They may just drop rain and the odd bolt on the ground, but in the air, big storms can be seriously dicey. There’s heavy windshear, poor visibility, the driving rain, and the risk of getting hit by a stray bolt of lightning to worry about. Any pegasus with half a brain doesn’t fly in one if they can help it.
We’d gathered up the basics of the storm yesterday, in the clouds that we’d pinned up above Fluttershy’s cottage. Today, we’d be adding the water to them to fatten them up, and then charge them up with lightning, thus creating a thundercloud. Tie them all together and boom, you’ve got a thunderstorm at five o’clock sharp, as per schedule.
Given that the clouds were pinned right above where I lived, I had a bit of a slower start today, since I didn’t need to fly out to Ponyville. Still, Fluttershy was sure to give me a good breakfast. I’d probably be too busy for lunch today.
Taking off, I quickly climbed up to be level with the clouds we’d made and sat myself down on one while I waited for the others to arrive. I didn’t have to wait too long. Thunderlane and the others came streaking in and soon settled themselves down on some of the other clouds. Dewdrop glided down and sat himself next to me. Once we were all settled, Thunderlane began his briefing.
“Alright, everypony,” he began. Today we’re aiming to get this storm underway. That means filling up these clouds with water from the lake, and charging them for lightning strikes. We’ll tow them over the lake to save a bit of time. Ideally, I want this done by four, and the storm active by five. Sound good?” Everypony nodded.
Once again though, that little voice in my head was concerned. It might have been quicker to move the clouds over the lake, but it was a bit dicey. Over water, the clouds could potentially send lightning into the water, rather than simply being earthed when they hit the ground. In addition to frying any fish in there, it could also hurt anypony who was taking a dip, something that wasn’t uncommon in warmer weather.
But, I said to myself, this was Thunderlane’s show. It might not have been exact procedure, but it wasn’t dangerous either. As long as you were careful, and made sure the clouds didn’t start up, we ought to be fine. So, I followed everypony else as we took position behind the clouds.
“Okay, everypony take a cloud and make for the lake in town,” Thunderlane ordered. “Once we’re there, Flitter, Dewdrop, and Cloudchaser, start bringing water up with buckets and fill the clouds to brim. Lizzie and me will then start charging them up. Watch your backs, and be careful not to earth yourselves on the clouds. Let’s go.”
We all headed for the lake in Ponyville. The going was a little slow. Contrary to popular belief, clouds can actually be quite heavy things to move. Celestia knew how tricky it would be to put all of these together and get them moving on course when we were done.
There are times when I find myself wishing that Discord had turned me into an earth pony instead of a pegasus. The increased strength and stamina sure would help out with the heavy duty work. Heck, I’ve seen Big Mac knock down an entire tree in one kick. This was certainly one of those times. The cloud I was pushing was heavier than sin. I was amazed the damn thing could float at all and didn’t just sink down to the ground. And they were only going to get heavier when the water was added. I guess it explains that heavy oppressive feeling you get when a thunderstorm rolls close.
Huffing and puff, we eventually reached the lake just outside Ponyville. Annoyingly, the very same momentum we’d all worked so hard to create, now worked against us as we tried to stop the clouds and hold them in place. Ever try to stop a car that’s already begun to roll down a hill? It’s that kind of feeling.
Still, we got there in the end. Dewdrop, with Flitter and Cloudchaser on each wing dived down for the lake some thousand feet below. We’d brought a few pails with us. They’d essentially do what those firefighting plans do. They’d skim across the water and load up their pails with water, then circle back up and deposit them in the clouds.
And here was the first problem with Thunderlane’s plan. Usually, we’d have the clouds stand off somewhere from where we’d eventually need them. Once you’d picked up the water, which was damn heavy itself, you had a fairly steady climb back to altitude. But with them positioned directly over the lake, Dewdrop and the others had to work upwards in a long climbing spiral, taking far more effort and arguably more time.
As Flitter dumped a few gallons into the cloud before me, Thunderlane called over to me.
“Well don’t just sit there, Lizzie,” he said. “Get started charging the cloud!”
Now, again, this wasn’t against the rules. I know for a fact a lot of weather pegasi do the same thing. But charging a cloud that’s still being loaded isn’t best practice. If you have problems with the cloud, like it starts to sink earthwards, you also have to contend with the fact that the cloud’s live and hot. As it’s still in the air, it ought to be fairly safe. An airborne pegasus isn’t the quickest path to ground. Still, RD always discouraged the practice.
Frowning, I bit my tongue and set about pounding at the cloud, while Thunderlane did the same on his. Before long, they turned from the grey of a raincloud, to the menacing black of a storm cloud. I followed procedure and called down to the pegasi still collecting water below us.
“Head’s up down there! Hot clouds in your area! Keep clear!” I yelled out
It was a safety thing, warning any pegasi around not to fly directly below the storm clouds. Potentially, they could shorten the path to ground enough for the energy in the cloud to jump. The upshot of that is the same as what happens when electricity arcs from an overhead cable on the railway. It ain’t pretty.
Before long, Cloudchaser had dumped the last fill of rainwater. The storm clouds looked heavier than ever, and even flying close caused my mane to stand up from the static. Now came the hard part; forming the whole thing into a storm, and pushing it off on its intended course. Carefully, we began to connect up the clouds. Usually, nothing was simpler. But you needed to be careful with storm clouds; a solid jolt could set them off.
I was pushing my own cloud towards the centre mass when things started to go sideways. It started when Flitter called out a warning.
“Hey, guys!” she called out. “This cloud’s starting to sink, lend a hoof!”
Turning to look, I saw that Flitter’s cloud was slowly sinking down. The thing was overloaded, and since the rain hadn’t been triggered yet, the only thing for the cloud to do was obey the laws of gravity. I began to head over to help, as did Thunderlane.
“Don’t start it up, Flitter,” he ordered. “It’ll take ages to get it under control. Hold tight and I’ll help you stabilise it. Once it’s in the main storm, it should hold fine.” He then dived down and headed under the cloud.
Now, ordinarily, this is what you do. Because, usually, the cloud isn’t charged up yet. That happens, if you go by the book, when the whole storm is put together. But because of the way things had gone, the cloud was now live.
It suddenly, and horrifically clicked in my mind. The cloud was hot. Thunderlane was heading underneath it. He’d present an ideal place for the lightning to arc, and from there a path to the ground. He was going to get fried!
Everything seemed to slow down. I remember I called out to Thunderlane, warning him to stop. But by the time I did, he was already underneath the cloud. So, I did what I’d done with Dewdrop just a few weeks back up in Vanhoover. I flapped as hard as I could, made myself as aerodynamic as possible, and ploughed straight into his side.
I saw stars for a moment before my vision came back. I was tumbling end over end though the sky. Following what Dash had taught me, I found the horizon and levelled off again. Looking around, I saw that Thunderlane was doing the same. Despite his dark grey coat, he looked white as a sheet. So did everypony else for that matter. All the flyers were hovering, with looks of astonishment on their faces. Looking down to the ground, I saw a dark charred spot of land. That was where the bolt of lightning had struck. I looked back to Thunderlane.
“Sweet Luna,” he muttered. “Thanks, Lizzie.”
Three days later, and I was in Cloudsdale. And, to borrow from a certain Kubrick film, I was in a world of shit. Well, me and Thunderlane were. The two of us were standing at attention before a panel of three highly experienced flyers. And we were about to get the telling off of a lifetime.
After I saved Thunderlane’s neck, the whole operation had to be abandoned. The sinking cloud sank into the lake, and the rest of the storm had to be put on hold. A near miss like that means an automatic investigation, hence our current situation.
I knew one of the ponies on the panel personally, and two by reputation. The one I knew was Rainbow Dash, now a member of the Wonderbolts. The other two were Viper; a Wonderbolt Academy instructor, and Spitfire, the Wonderbolts’ current CO. All three of them were staring at us with an extremely unforgiving gaze. Spitfire, at the head of the panel, spoke first.
“Alright,” she began, eying us through her tinted shades. “We’ve heard your testimonies on what happened, and from your fellow patrol members. I think we’re now ready to make our recommendations for further action.” My stomach tightened.
“The near miss occurred for one simple reason. The two most senior officers did not work together to control the situation, with the second in command unwilling to speak up when she noticed unsafe practices being used, and the flight leader refusing to abide by established safe practice procedures. As a result Flight Sergeant Thunderlane moved into a position beneath a hot cloud, allowing for the possibility of a strike to occur. It was only due to prompt action by Patrol Officer Elisabeth that nopony was hurt. You were both very lucky.” Spitfire paused for a moment.
“You will both receive an official reprimand on your records. However, you will be permitted to continue to perform your duties in regards to weather control flying. Patrol Captain Rainbow Dash will return and take command of the section for the foreseeable future. That is all. Dismissed.”
We both saluted, as was proper, and quickly hurried out, before Spitfire could change her mind. I’d say we got off lightly, certainly Flight. He could have been busted back down the ranks. As we walked out of the building and onto the streets of Cloudsdale, I turned to him.
“Is this the part where you say ‘I told you so’?” Thunderlane asked. I shook my head.
“No,” I replied. “This is the part where I say I’m sorry.” Thunderlane smiled kindly.
“Yeah, me too,” he said. He pulled me into a friendly hug. I was glad that there was no bad blood between us.
Suddenly, we were startled by a new voice joining us.
“If you two are done hugging it out,” Rainbow said. “We better bet back to Ponyville. We’ve got a storm to build up.” The three of us quickly took to the air and began the flight towards home.
“Say, RD,” Thunderlane said as we dropped below the clouds. “How come the ‘Bolts are letting you come back all of a sudden. Didn’t you just do your first show in Ponyville?”
I’d missed the Wonderbolts display, as had Thunderlane. We were both too damn depressed after what happened, and too shook up. As it turned out, we weren’t the only ones who’d recently gotten a bollocking from Spitfire. I spotted an official looking letter hanging out of RD’s saddlebag.
“You guys didn’t hear?” Dash asked as we passed over Sweet Apple Acres.
“Hear what?” Flight asked. Dash suddenly froze up for a moment.
“Oh…er…nothing, Thunderlane. Just be happy that I’m back for at least a month.”
She then put on a burst of speed and pulled away from the two of us. The letter fluttered out of her saddlebag. Grabbing it, I was about to call out and try to catch up with her, when I saw the subject line.
Spitfire had put her on month long probation.
I guess we weren’t the only ones who’d had a close shave.
After the whole near miss incident, I took a week off from the patrol. Dash pretty much ordered me to. While I don’t like to admit it, the whole thing shook me up pretty bad. After all, I did only miss getting electrocuted by the skin of my teeth. My nerves were shot for a couple days afterwards. The same thing happened to Thunderlane. Even with his many years of experience, the knowledge of just how close he came to meeting his maker put him decidedly out of sorts.
Hell, if I’m honest, everypony was shook up by the whole thing. We only got about half of our usual workload done. Everypony was hypervigilant and safety conscious, and we weren’t about to do any storm work. Luckily, the next few weeks were slated to be fairly quiet, so it didn’t cause too much of an impact.
Like I said, after a couple days of this, Dash told me, as well as Thunderlane, to take a few days to get our heads right. I still flew of course. As long as I stayed away from dark clouds, I was fine. I could still fly and stunt with the best of them. But around storms, or big weather systems, I would get on edge.
Luckily for me, I had a lot of people around to support me. Aside from Dash and my friends in the patrol, my parents both did their best to help me out, dropping by to see me whenever they could and watching my flying practice. Fluttershy and her friends did the same thing too, including Dash, who stopped by over her lunch break to talk. As the patrol CO, and national hero, she’d been through more than a couple close shaves that had kept her up at night. The same could be said for Fluttershy. The two pegasi gave me advice on dealing with my sudden anxiety and slowly but surely, I got back to it.
My dad had told me that the worst thing I could do was stop flying or working with weather. I needed to get back in the saddle, confront what had scared me, and move on, before it had a chance to do any lasting damage.
By the end of the week, I was back to something like my old self and assured Dash that, while I would never forget that particular day, I was happy to return to work. Thunderlane too was eager to get back to it, although he now had a far less relaxed attitude to storm flying, a fact which only strengthened everypony’s trust in him.
Next Monday, we both triumphantly made our return to the patrol and were added back on to the duty roster. A quick run down by Dr. Horse at Ponyville General cleared us both as medically fit for weather work both physically and psychologically.
We were back in business.
A week later, and things had pretty much returned to normal. We’d had to deal with a bit of a backlog of work when I first got back. After all, that entire storm had to be abandoned, which had a knock on effect on the weather in the future.
It had been a couple of hard days, but we were now back on track, with all six of us working as one team again. Rainbow was still with us and in charge, although she did have to disappear every now and then to do stuff at Wonderbolt HQ as part of her probation. She’d told us all what happened, since Thunderlane and I had missed the show. Flight even said that, since he always had his nickname, that maybe Dash should start using her Wonderbolt call sign when on patrol. So every now and then, Dash was jokingly referred to as ‘Crash’ by us all, in a nice way of course.
Dash joked back saying that at some point she’d think of nicknames for all of us. She quickly found ‘Newbie’ more than suitable for Dewdrop. Just like with the Wonderbolts though, there was no malice behind it. After all, Dewdrop was quite happy to call his boss ‘Crash’ to her face.
By the time the weekend finally rolled around, we were all pretty tired out from the extra work. But there’s no rest for the wicked, as my dad would say. We had to work Saturday as well this week to tie off a few loose ends here and there. Nothing major mind you, just things like moving off stray clouds or evaporating away some standing water. Still, I’d rather have my full weekend. At least we got overtime pay.
Sunday of course, we did get off. We have to have one day a week off by law after all. Fluttershy was busy taking Angel off to Dr. Fauna, the local vet. The rabbit had developed a rather nasty cold that was refusing to clean up on its own. As much as I may dislike that little demon, he did seem to be suffering quite a bit.
Since Fluttershy would be away in the morning, I volunteered to look after some of her animal friends, and after that, I planned to go visit my parents, who I hadn’t had a chance to really talk with since the day of my near miss with a thunderbolt.
Mum and Dad have themselves a pretty nice house in Ponyville. It was actually built especially for them, courtesy of Princess Celestia. When we all first arrived here, we all ended up rooming with one pony or another. I stayed with Fluttershy, Bones stayed in the Apples’ spare room, and Mum and Dad stayed in Twilight’s old library (this was before that psycho Tirek got loose). While they got by until they could get up to Canterlot, Twilight’s home wasn’t really built for them. They were having to sleep in a bed too small and short for them, and there wasn’t exactly much space either. So, the princess had a modest home built to give them a place to stay. After all, we didn’t have a penny to our name when we got here. It’s specially built for them, and a little larger than a pony home. Dad says that the princess actually quite likes it too, since she’s quite a bit taller than most ponies.
At this point, they’ve bought the place properly, since it was originally meant as a place to live until we could find a way home, and they’ve really made it their own. There’s a nice little garden in the front and back, Mum’s had the kitchen done up, and Dad’s turned one of the rooms downstairs into his private study.
The house fits in pretty well, keeping with Ponyville’s German-Swiss aesthetic, but it has a few human touches here and there as well. At this point, they’ve been living there for a couple of years, and everypony in town knows them. Heck, even a few Canterlot ponies recognise the place when they visit.
Opening up the small wooden gate, I trotted up the path to the door and rang the doorbell.
“Coming!” I heard my Mum’s partly muffled voice. A moment later I heard the deadbolt go, the door opened, and there was my Mum, smiling down at me on the doorstep.
That’s certainly one of the big things that take getting used to. As a human, I was about 5’3 or 5’4. Now, I’m just about four feet tall on all fours. So my mum’s gone from being a few inches shorter than me, to noticeably taller. It was actually quite funny when we first came to Equestria, since Bones was a pony from minute one. So until Discord decided to have some fun, I was far taller than my big brother.
“Hey there, Mam,” I said as the door opened. “Not busy are you?”
“No, no, not at all, sweetie,” Mum said kindly. “Come on in. I’ve just put the kettle on anyway.”
Stepping inside, I was about to follow her down the narrow hallway and into the kitchen at the back of the house. Before I had a chance though, I was pounced on by the house's other resident.
With loud barking Charlie bounded up to me. On the surface, he's a German Shepherd dog and my parents' pet. But in reality, he's a friendly, if slightly dumb, changeling. Dad found him in Canterlot and took him in. In exchange for their protection, he gets a little bit of love every now and then. I always found it odd how he doesn't speak. Strong Shield; Bones' friend, said that even drones can talk, but for whatever reason, Charlie doesn't speak outside of noises.
Mum eventually pulled him off me. He was only being friendly after all. I followed the two of them to the kitchen, where charlie happily returned to his basket. On the stove, a kettle was just coming to the boil and beginning to whistle furiously. Mum quickly went and turned it off, placing it off to one side. The whistling slowly petered out.
“Want to try this new Zebrican tea I’ve got?” she asked, holding up a small box. “It tastes almost the same as Red Bush.”
“Sure,” I replied. “Where did you get from?” Ponyville isn’t exactly known for such things. There’s certainly no Waitrose in town.
“Zecora had it at her stall last market day,” Mum said. “I was going to see if she had anything to help your dad out. He’s come down with a bit of a cold this week. She suggested I try it while she was making up her version of Lemsip. I liked it, and it makes a nice change from that stuff Barnyard Bargains calls tea.”
“Well,” I said, sitting myself down at the table. “At least if Cousin John ever joins us, he’ll be glad to know that somewhere in Equestria there’s a veldt.”
Cousin John, actually my cousin once removed, spent most of his life in Rhodesia, what’s now Zimbabwe. His family owned a modest farm, which had been in the family since the Matabele War and his grandfather had fought the Boers. He would send my mum and her family a box of Red Bush tea every Christmas. He stayed there until the peace deal, fighting with the security forces during the Bush War. After Mugabe was elected, the new government seized all his land for ‘redistribution’, though from what he told us, after he and his family were forced out, it was just occupied by ex-guerrilla squatters. He moved down to what was then allied South Africa and took a smallholding as close to the border as he could.
We all went down there once to visit him there when I was six or seven; several years after the end of apartheid (talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire). Bones was greatly taken with his stories of his time in the war and those of his forefathers. After all, it isn’t something anyone really talked about back in England; in the 90's, empire was decidedly out of vogue, never mind the fact that Rhodesia essentially went off the reservation just like the Yanks had done. Plus, at the time, everyone was celebrating the end of the last white led government in Africa. I was glad just to see the country; South Africa, like Rhodesia was a stunning place after all. I kind of wish I could see his old farm sometimes. But with the way Zimbabwe is, or rather was when we left, for all I know Mugabe’s dead and rotting in the ground by now, there was no question of us going down there.
“Oh, he’d never be able to stand it here, Lizzie,” Mum said with a laugh. “At any rate, I doubt he’d get on with the zebras.”
Ah, yes. Cousin John was very much ‘of his time’ as my dad put it. He certainly wasn't happy when apartheid finally ended Although when you consider who took all his land, killed a lot of his friends, and turned his previously thriving country into a cesspit of economic inflation and human rights abuses, you could hardly blame him for seeing things that way. And, in a way, when you look at modern ANC led South Africa, or Zimbabwe, you can't help but wonder sometimes if he had a point. Heck, even before we left, he was concerned about his current farm potentially being taken off him by the government.
“Still, I’m surprised you remember him after all these years,” Mum went on. “The last time we visited him you couldn’t have been more than six or seven.” True, I thought to myself, but few people could ‘forget’ someone like that. The man was like a real life Richard Hannay.
“Anyway,” she went on, changing the subject. “How have you been doing? I saw you and Flitter moving those rainclouds about on Wednesday.”
I took a sip of the Red Bush Mum had poured out. Luckily, she had the sense to put in a healthy amount of sugar. Rooibos, as it's called in Afrikaans, is bitter as hell, and even worse if you’re dumb enough to add milk. Still, with a bit of sweetness, it’s very pleasant and has a beautiful reddish colour.
“Yeah, I’ve been getting back into the swing of things this past week. And, hey, thanks for coming out with Dad to support me when I was practicing.” Mum smiled and waved me off.
“Please, what are mothers for. If anyone should be thankful, it should be Thunderlane; your father and Bones were ready to knock six bells out of him until I got them to calm down.” I smiled at that image.
“Think you can get them to leave Dewdrop alone as well?” I asked.
Ever since Dewdrop first asked me out for coffee during the last Hurricane Season, my dad and my brother have been giving him the stink eye and generally being the overprotective idiots that they are. I can sort of understand why they’re doing it; my last boyfriend did turn out to be a complete tool. But there’s not even anything really going on between me and Dewdrop.
“Oh, don’t you worry about that. Give them a little time and they’ll get bored of it anyway,” Mum assured me, sipping her own tea. “So, aside from dropping by, what are you up to today?”
“I thought I might go say hi to Dash in a bit,” I replied. “I spend a load of time with her at work, but I don’t really spend much time with any of the others outside of work. Pinkie Pie said it might be an idea to organise a little work party or something for later in the month. You know, go have a few drinks or something and let our manes down.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Mum agreed. “With all that’s been going on these past couple weeks I’d say you’ve all earned it.”
I stayed chatting with Mum for another half hour or so before I headed off. Like I said to her, I wanted to swing by Dash’s place today as well. And, without being overly harsh to my mum, she can talk your ear off at times.
Heading out the front door, I trotted back down the garden path to the road. From there, I made a quick jump into the air and began to climb up to altitude. I’d only been sort of grounded for about a week or so, but it had felt like so much longer. As unsettled as I had been by the storm, I’d still missed flying. I think it was that that helped me overcome my brief anxiety. I wanted to be flying, more than I feared being hit by lightning.
Levelling off just above the cloud base, I did a little barrel role as I straightened out. It was harder to navigate by landmarks this high up, but Dash usually kept her house above the cloud layer to dodge local storms.
As I flew and picked up speed, the words of an old song Cousin John had taught me came to mind. I guess chatting about him with Mum had brought the memories back.
RLI was the Rhodesian Light Infantry, something similar to the Americans ‘Air Cav’; the Bush War did kick off the same year as Vietnam after all. Like the Yanks, they used helicopters to get where they needed to go, and then tracked down the communist guerrillas on foot, with attack helicopters and jets there to help out if needed.
But while as a pegasus I might be seen as a blue job, Cousin John was definitely a brown. And while the RLI spent their time in helicopters, his unit, the Rhodesian African Rifles, would spend weeks patrolling along the Zambezi River in the north of the country, watching for enemy incursions by day and marching through the jungle at night.
Before long, Dash’s home came into view. A lot of people have a go at Dash for having a bit of an ego when it comes to her flying. I don’t think her house does much for her case. The place is pretty large; nothing on Twilight’s castle, but still far bigger than your average house. Actually, I’m not sure if it counts as a mansion or not. But with its rainbow waterfalls (which Rainbow uses as an old wives tale hangover cure) it is just a little ostentatious. But hey, when you’re building with clouds, I guess you aren’t as restricted compared to building on the ground.
Touching down on her cloud ‘driveway’, I’m still entirely sure how that works, I was about to knock on the door. But at the moment I did so, Dash came out, obviously about to head off somewhere. Not expecting me, Dash nearly walked straight into me, letting out a startled whiney at the sight of me.
“Oh, it’s you, Lizzie,” she said after she had recovered herself. “What can I do for you?”
“Hey, RD. I was just in the neighbourhood and thought I might drop by,” I explained.
“Oh, cool,” Dash replied. “I was just about to head out though. I gotta head up to Wonderbolt Headquarters to pick up some pre-flight briefings from Spitfire. She says I can take part in the show in Canterlot next week. You can tag along if you want.”
“Sure,” I said. I was slightly disappointed at not getting a chance to see inside Rainbow’s house. But hey, you can’t win ‘em all.
Turning around, we both took off and began the steady climb on course towards Cloudsdale. As we went along, Dash struck up a conversation.
“How’s things at Fluttershy’s then?” she asked, moving slightly closer so we could talk more easily. “I’ve been meaning to drop by, but between the patrol and the ‘Bolts probation stuff, I haven’t exactly had much free time on my hooves.”
“Not too bad,” I replied. “Although she’s been a bit worried about Angel. The guy’s had a cold this past week. Actually, I think there might be something going around, my Dad’s come down with something nasty as well.”
“Eww,” Dash remarked.
“Anyway, I wanted to pick your brains about something,” I went on. “I was chatting with my mum earlier, and she was saying it might be an idea for us all to have a little get together sometime. I mean, these last couple weeks have been a bit stress filled and all. I figured we could ask Pinkie Pie to set something up.” Dash thought for a moment.
“Yeah, I guess we could all do with a chance to let our manes down,” she agreed with a nod. “Tell you what; lemme just stop off at ‘Bolts HQ, and then we’ll swing by Sugarcube Corner.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said.
I’d seen pictures of the famous Wonderbolt Academy in books and in the paper when they did shows, but I’d never been near the place myself. It kind of has a sort of Bond thing going on. The place, after all, is located on a mountaintop above the cloud base. I think it’s called a tepui or something like that. It’s essentially a mountain with a flat peak. It was at this very high point that the Wonderbolts had made their headquarters and training academy for new recruits.
From up in the air, you could make out the single runway that ran along the length of the tepui. I could also see the windsock, and a few other landing aids, like the night flying lights and VASI. Around the runway were a few of the academy buildings, including the barracks and classrooms. We passed over all this, and I soon found myself touching down just outside the headquarters building.
I was actually surprised at how easy it was to get in. Wonderbolts are a sort of quassi-military group. I had expected that we’d have to go past a gate or security checkpoint, or at the very least be required to wear ID badges. I’d gone to the RAF museum at Cosford once. The place was also an active base, so there was a fair bit of security, barbed wire, CCTV, anything really to keep certain people out. I guess Equestria doesn’t have issues with terrorists; or if they do, they have a really lax attitude about it.
Dash told me to hang around outside while she popped in to pick up the files Spitfire wanted her to have. She couldn’t have been gone for more than thirty seconds, when I found myself confronted with a celebrity. I was watching a couple of pegasi practice some formation work, when I heard a male voice close at hoof.
“Hey, I haven’t seen you around here before,” he said. I turned and was very much surprised to see who it was.
Standing there before me, was none other than Soarin; the ‘Bolts second-in-command.
And also the guy who’s been on a bunch of Playcolt magazine covers….and centrefolds….which I don’t have copies of stashed under my bed.
I remember when Discord first changed me into a pony, about a week later, Shining Armor, Twilight’s brother, came down from Canterlot. When I was human, I saw him as a pony, nothing more. But when I was a pony myself he was…well, kinda hot. I’m still getting used to the idea of it all. I can’t help but feel like I’m one of those weirdos you read about on the internet.
Long story short, at this point, from my perspective, Soarin is really attractive. And now he was here, not two feet away, talking to me. I may have gone a little funny in the head.
Luckily, before my silence (and somewhat creepy stare, smile and extended wings) could drag on too long, I was saved by Rainbow’s return. Trotting down the steps, she quickly spotted Soarin. He quickly took the opportunity to look for an exit.
“Hey there, Crash!” he said, looking at RD a little desperately. “What brings you up here?”
“Hey, Clipper,” Rainbow replied, calling Soarin by his callsign. “Spitfire just wanted me to pick up some pre-flight stuff for next week. I see you’ve met Lizzie too. She’s one of the flyers on the patrol back in Ponyville.” Soarin turned back to me.
“Oh…er, well, pleased to meet you, Lizzie,” he said, taking my hoof for a moment. I now stopped staring with my mouth agape and tried to recover. I felt a blush creep up my face.
“Oh, pleased to meet you too, Soarin,” I replied, a little lamely.
With a quick wave to Dash, the stallion took off and was soon out of sight. Behind me, I heard Dash sniggering. I turned and glared at her.
“Oh relax, Lizzie,” she said between laughs. “You’re not the first filly to do that to the poor guy. It’s always funny though.” Still feeling a little embarrassed, I batted Dash behind the head with a wing.
“Ow!” Dash exclaimed. “I was only kidding.”
Departing Wonderbolt HQ, we both dived back down towards the ground. Following the river, we made good time back to Ponyville. Dash even had a chance to show me some of the new tricks she’s picked up from flying with Spitfire and the others. One I was actually sort of familiar with. Technically, it was a dogfighting move, but it was a good one to have in the box if you ever needed to brake suddenly.
You see, when you’re flying, even if you go into a turn standing on your wingtip, your forward momentum is still going to push you forward, toward whatever you’re trying to avoid, and in tight spaces, you may need to stop right on a bit. So, what Dash did was effectively the start of an Immelmann turn (that’s where you pull up, roll on your back and chance direction at the cost of speed). Instead of levelling off and rolling though, you keep it at a straight climb and flatten out your wings. The climb kills you speed, while your now non-aerodynamic wings kill your forward momentum. I tried a few times, and at close range, there was no way I could match Dash’s turn after she pulled that move. So, I filed it away as I do with a lot of stunts.
Before too long, we reached Ponyville and found ourselves at Sugarcube Corner. I figured that we’d go in, grab something for lunch, and then set up this little party with Pinkie.
Of course, I forgot that this was Pinkie Pie we were dealing with.
Walking inside the bakery, there was no sign of her. The place was busy enough. From behind the counter, Mrs. Cake waved to the both us in her friendly way. Pinkie though, was nowhere to be found. I figured that she was probably in the kitchen working on some new concoction, so I trotted up the counter, with Dash following.
“Well hello there, Lizzie,” Mrs. Cake said. “What can I get for you?” I smiled at the friendly baker.
“The usual for me, Mrs. Cake,” I replied. “A Chelshay bun please.” I turned to Rainbow, who was standing behind me.
“And I’ll have a couple of Pinkie’s secret recipe cupcakes,” she added.
Mrs. Cake quickly trotted off into the kitchen to fetch our orders. Reaching into my saddlebag with my snout, I fished out my coin purse.
“Here,” I said to Dash. “You let have a look at the academy, I’ll pay for lunch.”
“Okay,” Dash replied. I reminded myself that I was with Element of Loyalty, not generosity. And it seemed that Dash had missed the social nicety of at least pretending to argue over who paid.
Suddenly, those thoughts made themselves known.
“Geez, Dashy!” a voice close at hand said. “You’re supposed to at least offer to go Dutch first.”
The two of us all but jumped out of our skin, literally in the case of Dash who leapt up and stayed in a steady hover a couple feet off the ground. Turning around, we found ourselves face to face with Pinkie, who had our respective orders in hoof. I’d kept my eye on the door to the kitchen the entire time. I hadn’t seen anypony go in or out besides Mrs. Cake.
“How do you do that, Pinkie?” I asked, exasperated.
“Easy,” Pinkie replied. “I just use my tunnel like I always do.” She pointed to an open manhole cover in one corner of the shop. I decided not to ask why a bakery needed tunnels running under the shop floor, nor did I ask if there were any other tunnels I should know about. To do so would just be a waste of time, or make my head hurt, depending on Pinkie’s response.
Passing her the five bits I owed for lunch, still with no protest from Dash, I broached the subject of throwing a bash for everypony from the patrol. She was her usual enthusiastic self about it and pointed me in the direction of the landlord of the local pub. I figured Sugarcube Corner would be a bit too much, I didn’t want to impose on Twilight or Applejack by asking to use their places, and given that this was going to be just an informal little get together, a pub or bar seemed like the ideal place, particularly when you remember Dash’s liking for cider.
Parting ways with Dash after lunch, I headed for the one tavern in Ponyville. It’s actually a little strange living in a town with only one drinking establishment. Back in Wales, the two things you’d find in even the smallest villages was a church and at least three or four pubs catering to the different social classes. Here though, there was only the one place, run by Berry Punch. How the place hasn’t imploded due to the landlord drinking away half the stock is beyond me.
As a rule, the place was fairly quiet except in the evenings. Luckily for us though, the place had a function room off the tap room that could be rented out for a modest fee. I figured that would be best for a little party like us. That and the snooker table was in there too.
Heading to the other side of Ponyville, and passing the train station on the way, I soon found myself outside the little establishment. Like most buildings, it was built in the Swiss-Germanic style, albeit a little larger, and with the obvious trappings of a pub outside. Heading inside, I found Berry cleaning the bar, on which sat her little filly. Other than that, at this time of day the place was pretty empty. Most of the chairs were still on the tables.
“Hey there, Lizzie,” Berry said as I walked in. “What brings you here so early in the day?” I trotted up to the bar.
“I was wondering if I could rent out the back room tomorrow night, Berry,” I replied, fishing out my coin purse again. The mare’s eyes went up in slight surprise.
“Oh, having a little party are we?” she asked. “How many and for long?”
“Just me and a few guys from the patrol, so six all in. And you could call it four hours or so. We’re just having a little night off to let our manes down.” Berry nodded.
“Yeah, I heard about that near miss you guys had a couple weeks back,” she said moving to stack a few glasses on the shelves behind the bar. “I’ll book you in then for next Friday then?”
“That’d be great,” I agreed with a nod. I passed over a small sum. “Here’s a little deposit for you.”
Berry quickly scribbled out a receipt for me and quickly jotted down a note in a ledger. Thanking her, I headed back to Fluttershy’s, where poor Angel was still sneezing.
Next Friday saw me outside the pub again. I had asked Fluttershy to come along. She’s a lot better at parties nowadays, and I was sure Rainbow would like to have her best friend there. But unfortunately, though much to my amusement, Angel was still sick as a dog…or rabbit. Dr Fauna had put him on a steady dose of antibiotics, and Fluttershy was insistent on sitting by his bedside and making him carrot soup. So I went on my own.
I was actually the second one to get there. You’d have thought that being the organiser of this little night on the town that I’d be there before everypony else. But it was Dewdrop, who had turned up a half hour early to avoid being late, that beat me to it. I found him at the bar sipping on a glass of orange juice and doing his best to avoid the female attention that was coming his way. Sometimes, I honestly don’t think he realises how adorable he can be at times.
After saying hello to Berry, who was behind the bar, and getting myself a mug of cider (sadly ponies have no concept of Guinness), I led him back to the function room that I’d booked. Pinkie had very kindly helped me set up a few things. We’d got music, a fair bit of party food, a snooker table, darts. All that was missing was one of those stupid arcade slot machines you used to get in pubs back home.
The two of us sat down at one of the tables and chatted while we waited for the others to arrive. It was nice to get some time with Dewdrop. Okay, I may not like him like him, but he’s still a sweet guy and a good friend. I’ve been trying to work out exactly where he thinks our relationship is. He’s quite the shy type, so even if he did like me that way, I’m not sure he’d ever admit it.
We talked about how he was finding things in the patrol, how he’d been settling into life in Ponyville, and what he was up to at the moment.
At one point, I broached the obvious question of his drink. Not that I have anything against that; I was just curious, that was all. Dewdrop simply replied that he never really developed a taste for it. And growing up in Las Pegasus, he saw plenty of reasons not to drink every day.
As the appointed time for things to kick off rolled around, we were joined by everypony else. Dash was quick to arrive, probably due to the promise of cider stashed away from last season. Flitter and Cloudchaser came together, and proceeded to order more than a couple cocktails for themselves. And then finally Thunderlane, who promptly took to the snooker table, eventually convincing Dewdrop to join him.
And with that, the night kicked off.
A few hours later, and we were all enjoying ourselves. Dash was struggling to stay standing due to all the hard cider she’s drunk, while Flitter and Cloudchaser were stuck in fits of giggles and every now and again made passes at Dewdrop. Speaking of, the young stallion turned out to be something of a shark when it came to snooker. In indignation, Thunderlane had demanded a rematch and wagered a few bits too. As a result, Dewdrop’s monthly paycheck had gone up by the better part of a hundred bits.
As for me, I had a fairly nice buzz going, although I wasn’t drunk just yet. I’m normally a bit of a lightweight like Mum. Maybe this pony body has better tolerance or something? I was lounging at one of the tables, trying to play a pony version of Jenga with Dash. Trust me, it’s much harder to do it with your wingtips that it is with hands. Being buzzed probably didn’t help either.
At about half eleven, Dash emerged from her salt fueled slumber and declared that we needed to have a sing song. Well, everypony was up for that. The only question was what to sing. For whatever reason, the only song that came to mind at that point was ‘Come On You Reds’, which I doubted anypony else knew. Thunderlane suggested a Griffon drinking song, but none of us really had the grasp of their language at this point. After some arguing, Dash spoke up.
“Hey, hey, everypony!” she declared, slurring her words a little. “We are members of the Weather Patrol. There’s only one song we can sing!” The others all quickly brightened up at this.
“Yes!” Thunderlane agreed loudly. “We all know the EWP anthem, don’t we?” There was a chorus of agreement all around.
The anthem of the Equestrian Weather Patrol was a song known by everypony in the patrol, for obvious reasons. Even Dewdrop, new as he was, knew the chorus. So, gathering around a table, glasses, mugs, and bottles in hoof, Dash led us off. I meanwhile, set myself up at the piano in the corner. I may not be as good as I used to be, but I can still manage a tune.
Back in ancient days of yore a regiment was born And her gallant troopers flew in sunshine and in storm From Vanhoover to Canterlot and the mighty Everfree Known by many names it was the EWP
Come ye flyers of old where’er ye may be Drink a century toast to the EWP And we’ll sing a couple of bars of the good ol’ thunderclap song To the EWP and the regiment lives on
We have served in war and peace, known glory and have bled A multi sided role in the land where we were bred The guardian of our weather, we were always there Like that flyer who was cut down in San Fransiscolt Square
Come ye flyers of old where’er ye may be Drink a century toast to the EWP And we’ll sing a couple of bars of the good ol’ thunderclap song To the EWP and the regiment lives on
Our flyers they soar on onto the honour roll And we’ll keep going till our very last patrol To the last cloud in the stores, last flyer in the sky Last squawker on the radio, the legend cannot die
Come ye flyers of old where’er ye may be Drink a century toast to the EWP And we’ll sing a couple of bars of the good ol’ thunderclap song To the EWP and the regiment lives on
After that, things really kicked off. We all had a great time and revelled in the chance to let our manes down and relax for once. It felt like all the stress, all the worry, and all the fear that had hung over us the past couple weeks had evaporated. We at last felt like the happy-go-lucky set of flyers we were.
Two o’clock eventually rolled around, the bell rang, and a reluctant Berry Punch came to turf us out with the age old phrase of ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here’.
So, with belated groans and moans, we all hauled ourselves to our now very unsteady hooves and prepared to make our way back to our homes. The only one still sober was Dewdrop, who having not touched a drop all night, insistently sticking to his orange juice, found himself tasked with getting us all home safely. Or at the very least, off of Berry Punch’s property.
Staggering out into the cold night air, I found myself leaning on the young stallion for balance. He didn’t seem to mind that much, and there was no way I was going to try walking just yet. As I learned a few minutes later, I’d had a bit too much to drink. Dash turned around to address us all.
“All…urph…alright, everypony,” she began unsteadily. “I’m sure we all wanna thank Lizzie for settin’…*hic*… settin’ all this up for us. I’m pretty sure we’ve all had some fun tonight.” There was a round of thanks sent my way, which simply caused me to smile goofily.
“Aw, you’re welcome, you bozos,” I replied good naturedly. “I’m just thankful for Thunderlane picking up the tab.” Thunderlane’s eyes went wide for a moment, until the laughter told him I was just messing with him. He grinned wryly at me.
“You guys can stay out if you want,” Thunderlane declared. “Me though, I’m gonna go home, and have some sex.” Cloudchaser laughed as the dark stallion lumbered off.
“Flight, you’re gonna go home and puke,” she called after him.
“Yeah, well, that’ll be fun too,” he replied, already regretting his choice of very strong moonshine.
Dash too was quick to say her farewells and took off into the night. There was plenty of light from the full moon tonight, so she shouldn’t have too much trouble finding somewhere to set down and sleep tonight off. Although watching her go, instead of her usually skilful flying form, she looked more like a very confused pheasant.
Flitter and Cloudchaser, despite the lateness of the hour, declared their intention to look for any other drinking establishment that would let them in. They were giggly, but they hadn’t taken complete leave of their senses, so I was fairly sure they’d be alright as long as they stuck together.
That left just me and Dewdrop. Since we both lived on the ground, and given how drunk I was, Dewdrop offered to help me get home. As we walked, or rather, as Dewdrop walked and I clambered all over him like a climbing frame, I struck up a conversation with him, between bouts of singing ‘It's a long way to Mukumbura’.
“Oh, you’re so good to me, Dewdrop,” I slurred as we came towards Fluttershy’s cottage.
“You’re so nice, and really cute too, d’ya know that?” Dewdrop blushed and feigned a laugh.
“Nah, I’m serious,” I went on. “You’ve got that whole adorable shy guy thing goin’ on. Girls’ love that. You’re like a puppy they all wanna take home.” As you can probably tell, I was very drunk. Eventually, we got to the front door and I fished the spare key out from under a rock by the door.
“Goodnight, Lizzie,” Dewdrop said kindly. Luckily, I think he knew it was the booze talking and not me. Although on the other hand ‘in vino veritas’. I turned round as I stepped inside to look back at the kind, young stallion that had escorted me home and, to his credit, not done anything to take advantage of the situation.
“Aw, goodnight, Dewdrop. Now come ‘ere.”
And with that, I grabbed his head with both front hooves and drunkenly kissed him. The poor guy went bright red in a moment. After I let him go he mumbled something about needing to get going and galloped off. I meanwhile stumbled upstairs to bed, somehow managed to not wake Fluttershy, and promptly fell fast asleep.
The next morning, I deeply regretted ever suggesting the idea of throwing a party to help us all relax. My head of was throbbing, I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, my mouth was dry as a desert and my wings had a dull pain shooting up along them.
Opening my eyes, I squinted at the far too bright light of the early morning, and inwardly cursed Celestia for raising the sun. Putting a hoof up to block the light helped a little, but I still had a splitting headache.
Blinking a few times and rubbing my eyes made me feel a little better, but I knew I needed to get up and have some water and some aspirin if I wanted to feel equine again.
I was about to get up; not a pleasant prospect, when the memories of last night came flooding back in steady spurts. I remember everypony arriving, I remember us all drinking and having a good time. I remember singing a few songs with Dash and the others. After that though, things got a bit blurry. I remember that Berry came and kicked us all out at around two. How did I get home though? More to the point how did anypony else get home? I knew for a fact that Dash was way more drunk than I was, and she had to fly home as well.
It was then I remembered the very end of the night. Dewdrop was the only one still sober. He’d been a gentlecolt and helped me get home without trouble. And then….and then I’d kissed him on the doorstep…quite drunkenly too.
“Aw buck!” I grumbled to myself.
Normally I’m alright even when I’ve had a few too many. I certainly don’t turn into one of those girls that suddenly flirts with everything that moves. So what the hell had possessed drunk me to kiss Dewdrop like that? I mean, it wasn’t as if it was just an innocent peck on the cheek; I’d grabbed him with both hooves and properly snogged him! How the buck was I going to deal with this? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I liked Dewdrop, but I didn’t like him that way.
Did I?
Okay, yes he was cute, funny, smart, kind, and very easy on the eyes to boot. But I was sure, or at least had been until last night, that I liked him as a friend. I mean, Thunderlane isn’t exactly bad looking, but I never saw us as anything but friends. Mind you, the way I feel about Dewdrop I guess is kind of the same way I felt about my last boyfriend. My mum called it the Florence Nightingale effect. I feel sorry for a guy, become friends with him, and then I end up developing feelings for him. The only problem was that my last boyfriend turned out to be really clingy.
I shook my head; Dewdrop wasn’t like that. He lived on his own, was fairly self-reliant, and had gotten himself a good job, albeit through my recommendation.
So what was I to do? Things were going to be awkward as hell on Monday morning. Maybe I’d get lucky and I wouldn’t be working with him for a couple days? Hopefully he’d realise it was just a silly drunken mistake. That was how I saw it at any rate. Still, at least nopony else had seen it. It would be way worse if I’d done it in front of Dash, or Celestia forbid, Flitter. That mare spent most of her off time gossiping with Rarity. If she got wind of it, the story would be all round town by lunchtime.
Deciding that it was one of those problems I couldn’t, and shouldn’t try to fix right now, I hauled myself out of bed. The world came back into focus, although it was still too bright. Looking over, I saw that Fluttershy’s bed was empty and made. The clock on my bedside table told me it was just past ten.
Pushing myself off the edge of the bed, I did my best to smooth out my severe case of bedmane and headed downstairs. If Fluttershy wasn’t too busy at the moment, maybe I could ask her advice?
After popping to the bathroom, and rinsing out my mouth to get rid of the stale booze taste and bog breath, I took a quick bath and did my best to mend the rats’ nest that was my mane. A couple aspirins later, I looked almost like a pony, as opposed to a changeling that had forgotten how to make its disguise magic work, and was now stuck between the two species. The aspirin and the steam from the hot water helped clear my head, and a touch of foundation helped hide the bags under my eyes.
I took a look at myself in the mirror. Satisfied that my blue coat was now clean, my mane and tail were brushed and conditioned, and all my feathers were properly arranged, I headed downstairs for a late breakfast.
My hooves caused the wooden boards on the stairs to creak a little, catching Fluttershy’s attention. She was sitting in her armchair, sipping daintily at a cup of green tea. She looked up and caught a glance at my bleary expression.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” she said with a smile on her face. Fluttershy really has come a long way in overcoming her shyness. She’s even learnt how to be snarky; probably Discord’s fault.
Getting to the bottom of the stairs, I did my best to smile back at my best friend and roommate.
“Morning, Fluttershy,” I replied. My voice was still a bit scratchy, and I sounded a little like Dash, if Dash had grown up in the south of Wales (or Fraggle Rock as my brother calls it).
“Did you have fun with Rainbow and everypony else last night?” she asked, now a little more compassionate. It served as a good way to explain my new predicament.
First though, I needed some coffee.
“Er, I’ll tell you in a minute, Shy,” I said, making my way towards the kitchen. “I just need a cup of coffee or something to get me going again.”
As I carefully made my way to the kitchen, I passed a few of Fluttershy’s animal friends. Having lived her for over a year now, they all know me and are quite friendly with me. I may not have Fluttershy’s ability to communicate with them, but I can make myself understood. I think it’s mainly because they all see that Fluttershy and I are friends, so they know I can’t be a threat.
“Morning, Angel,” I said, passing the rabbit who was busily wolfing down his own breakfast. Angel chirped back through a mouthful of carrot.
“Morning, Hummingway,” I said to the hummingbird, the little bird tweeted back.
“Morning, Harry,” I greeted that frighteningly large, yet surprisingly gentle grizzly bear. He in turn rumbled back.
“Morning, Discord.”
I paused mid stride, becoming aware of a new headache spontaneously developing. I shut my eyes for a moment, praying that I’d just hallucinated or something. But, no such luck.
“Morning, Lizzie,” Discord replied far too cheerily. “You look like Tartarus.”
Buck.
“So do you, Discord,” I snapped back irritably. “At least I have the excuse that I went out drinking last night.” Discord turned his nose up at that and huffed irritably.
“I’ll have you know that I work hard to maintain my current appearance!” he blustered. Fluttershy now stepped in, ever the peacemaker.
“Alright, you two. That’s enough bickering,” she said in a maternal tone. “What did you want to talk to me about, Lizzie?”
Shouldering Discord off of one half of the sofa, I sat myself down, while Fluttershy poured me a much needed cup of tea. With any luck the chamomile would help on my headache, or at least keep my stress down around Discord.
“Well, it’s about last night,” I began. Discord quickly jumped in.
“Ah! I knew it!” he declared. “This should be interesting.” A snap of his talons got him a large bag of popcorn to munch on. Fluttershy looked at him pleadingly. To my continued surprise, she managed to have an effect on him, and he fell silent again.
“Well, Dash, me and the others all had a bit too much salt last night,” I explained. “Except for Dewdrop, apparently he’s like you, Fluttershy, and doesn’t drink. Anyway, by the end of the night, we were all pretty far along, and Dewdrop offered to help me get home.” At this point, Fluttershy herself became a little worried.
“He didn’t do anything to you?” she asked, sounding slightly concerned. Weirdly, I could have sworn I saw her teeth gnash for a moment.
“No, no, no,” I reassured her, waving a hoof. “No, it was more what I did to him. When we got back here, he brought me as far as the doorstep. I’d been saying stupid stuff to him all the way back, and when we got here, I kissed him.” Fluttershy blushed.
“Oh…oh my,” Fluttershy said quietly. Discord however, had a different take.
“Ah, young love,” he proclaimed, still munching on his popcorn. I turned to face him.
“Discord! I was drunk!” I shot back. “I didn’t actually mean it.” He raised an eyebrow and there suddenly appeared a pair of half-moon glasses on his nose, which he looked over to me.
“Didn’t you?” he asked, with a sage note in his voice. “Seems to me this is a case of drunk you knowing what sober you wants.”
“It’s not like that!” I persisted. Discord huffed and crossed his mismatched arms.
“For goodness sake, you’re almost as bad as that brother of yours, you know that? You both have somepony you like sitting right in front of you, and you won’t do anything about it.” He paused for a moment. “Listen to me, I sound like that stupid love princess.”
He did however, sort of make a point. Bones’ romance with Applejack, if you can call it that, was painful to any observer. Both ponies danced around the issue for months, until finally Princess Cadence came down to knock some sense into Bones’ head. For goodness sake, at the Hearth’s Warming Eve party, AJ got Bones under the mistletoe, and he still had a hard time believing it!
But I wasn’t like that. I knew Dewdrop had a crush on me, ever since he asked me out for coffee during hurricane season. The problem was that I’d never explicitly told him ‘no’. So last night might well complicate things and give him the wrong idea, and make it harder at the end of the day to be honest with him.
“The way I see it, Lizzie,” Fluttershy said after a moment. “You have two options. One the one hoof, you can go straight up to him on Monday morning, and privately tell him that what happened was a drunken mistake, and that you have no feelings for him beyond that of friends. It will hurt him, but it will be better for both of you in the long run. On the other hoof, you could tell him that it was a drunken mistake, but you’re willing to see what happens. It all depends on how you really feel about Dewdrop, and what you want to do next.”
I was surprised to say the least. Fluttershy’s advice sounded almost as if it came from the Princess of Love herself. She did offer two good alternatives too. Now I just had to decide. How did I feel about Dewdrop?
Not wanting to be a third wheel between Fluttershy and Discord any longer, I said that I was going for a flight to mull things over. I left the two friends chatting in the living room, while I, grabbing my scarf and goggles, went for a mid-morning flight to clear my head.
By the time Monday morning rolled around, I was feeling better, both physically and mentally. My hangover was now a mere memory, and I had a fair idea of what I was going to do about Dewdrop.
Fluttershy had made some good points, and after much soul searching and talking things over with Mum, I’d decided to press on and test the waters. While I wasn’t about to walk up to Dewdrop and say I liked him (Mum had warned me about mixing work and play), I wasn’t about to crush his dreams outright either. After all, as I said before, he was a nice enough guy, and I considered him a good friend as it was. So for the moment, I would let events run their course.
I headed to meet the others that morning in good spirits. However, I wasn’t prepared for the bombshell Dash was planning to drop. I reached the little group of clouds that she’d selected for our morning briefing just as she broke the news.
“And what the hay do you mean by ‘outbreak’?” Thunderlane exclaimed. Flitter and Cloudchaser were looking at each other nervously, and everypony was chattering excitedly. I landed next to Dash.
“Alright everypony, quiet down!” Dash shouted. Silence fell on the group.
“Now,” she said, more calmly. “This is what I’ve been told. “Cloudsdale is officially under quarantine for two weeks. Nopony goes in or out except medic ponies. That includes a five mile radius around the city. Some kind of flu is what I’ve been told. It isn’t fatal, and everypony who caught it is on the mend. But as of right now, the Weather Factory, which is outside the quarantine zone, is running on a skeleton crew. All the patrols in the local area have been asked to send some of their flyers up to help run things for the next week. After that, it will rotate to other squadrons.”
“So what’s the punchline then?” Thunderlane asked.
“The punchline, Flight,” Cloudchaser said. “Is that we have to send two ponies up there for a week, and we’ll be two ponies down back here.”
“What exactly are we doing up there anyway?” Dewdrop asked. “None of us have had any training on weather manufacturing.”
“Like I said,” Dash replied. “There’s still a skeleton crew up there. They’ll give the volunteers a crash course and supervise. Don’t worry, nopony’s gonna ask you to make snowflakes.”
“Well, I guess I could lend a hoof,” Dewdrop said, much to everypony’s surprise. “I’m still new to the patrol as it is, so me not being here will have the least impact.”
“He makes a good point,” Flitter agreed. Based on that logic, I could go as well. After all, Dad was always telling me to broaden my skill set at every opportunity.
“I’ll go too,” I said. “You guys managed alright without me before. I think you can spare me for one week, right?” Dash frowned and thought for a moment.
“It’ll mean we have a way busier week than normal,” she said at last. “And there’s no way I’m gonna have any time for napping. But yeah, I think we should be able to manage. And having somepony with more experience pick up some tricks from manufacturing will probably help us in the long run too.” There were a few more mutterings around the group.
“Okay then, it’s settled. Lizzie and Dewdrop are going to be working up at the weather factory for this week. The rest of us will have to do our best to get by until then. Everypony okay with that?” There were no dissenters.
So Dash wished us good luck, as did Flight and the others. Rainbow said that we were to report as soon as possible to the weather factory’s front entrance, where all the other volunteers would be assembling. After that, we’d be broken up into teams and assigned to various jobs, working under the skeleton crew who would give us some basic on the job training.
Taking wing, the two of us left Dash and the others to go about their usual briefing, and we headed off in the direction of Cloudsdale.
As usual, I took the lead spot, with Dewdrop following behind and slightly off to my left. It was a fairly quiet flight. As much as I knew it was highly improbable, I couldn’t help but remember Mum’s comments about Dad getting ill last week. He couldn’t have inadvertently caused some sort of plague could he; introducing a human illness to the ponies who had no immunity to it? That was one of the many concerns Bones had had when we first got here, although he was more worried about us catching something.
I shook my head. It seemed very unlikely. After all, Dad never went near Cloudsdale normally, so how would spread and affect only there? We were well into autumn as it was and well on the way to Hearth’s Warming. More than likely this was just one of those winter bugs that had done a little better than most.
Getting up to altitude, we saw Cloudsdale. The place looked alright enough, although we couldn’t see any pegasi flying about. A few miles from there, presumably outside the quarantine, was the smoke stacks of the weather factory, which was still pouting out rainbow coloured smoke. I caught Dewdrop’s attention and gestured to the large facility. We quickly changed course.
We would have gotten there without trouble if not for what happened next.
As we were gliding along on the thermals, I suddenly became aware of a shadow passing overhead. For a moment, the air was colder on my coat and the sun was briefly blotted out. I scarcely had time to push up my goggles and look before the four of them were on us. Four Royal Guard pegasi, in full armour suddenly surrounded us. I hadn’t even heard them coming. The shadow had been the guy on top cover sliding into position. The one on the right signalled to me, and I moved closer and pulled down my flying scarf so as to speak without having to yell.
“You’re very close to the quarantine zone, you two,” he called out.
“We’re local weather patrol,” I replied, gesturing to the goggles around my neck. “Heard they needed volunteers to help running the weather factory until things calm down.” The guard looked us over.
“Fair enough. We’ll escort you there then, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. We’ll follow your lead.”
Our flight of six now moved around, with the guards moving into a less aggressive formation. I wondered what they were doing up here, or why they’d suddenly intercepted us.
“How come you guys are up here anyway?” I asked. “I know Cloudsdale is under quarantine, but I didn’t think we’d need guards.”
“We’ve had a few ponies try to get in or out. Some folks who live there were away when the quarantine was set up, and there are a few tourists and visitors stuck there. A few of the more desperate ones tried to cross the line, so we’ve been sent up here to turn ‘em back. I tell you, that flu they’ve got is something nasty.”
Before long, we came upon the landing platform for the weather factory. The guards all banked away, with one pausing to rock his wings in a friendly gesture to his fellow flyers.
Touching down on the soft clouds, we found a pegasus dressed in a white lab coat waiting for us.
“You some more of my volunteers?” she asked as we landed, I nodded.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m Lizzie, and this is Dewdrop. We’re from Ponyville’s local patrol.” The mare reached out to shake our hooves.
“I’m Clear Skies,” she said. “I’m in charge of snow production here at the weather factory.”
Clear Skies had a very light pink coat and a light purple mane, with a few lighter highlights in it, done up in a fairly short style. She was around Dash’s age, perhaps a little older.
“If you’d like to follow me,” she said, turning around. “I’ll show you where you’ll both be working for the next week.”
Following her inside, we were first led into the locker room. Since there were so few ponies here at the moment, we had our choice. We also got issued a lab coat, hard hat, and protective goggles. Clear Skies then led us out to the factory floor, giving us a brief health and safety lesson on the way.
We soon found ourselves in a large, open room, filled with several large tanks of snow. Each one had a large pipe that dropped down to the floor, with an obvious valve for controlling the flow. Nearby, there was a similar tank filled with a large amount of cloud material
“Right,” Clear Skies said. “This is snow cloud production, where the pair of you will be working. As you can see, the snow itself is already manufactured. Thank Celestia that this outbreak hit after we’d actually made up the snowflakes. There’s no way we could ask a bunch of volunteers to do that. It takes years to learn how to make snowflakes. Anyway, all you two have to do is take the snow from those tanks and fill the empty clouds so we can start putting down the first snowfall next month. The principle is the same as putting clouds together for a storm, so you should be alright. If you have any problems, there’s an intercom on the far wall that connects to snowflake production; you can reach me there.”
“Makes sense to me,” I said.
“Yeah, me too,” Dewdrop added. Clear Skies smiled.
“Good. Then I’ll leave the two of you to get started. Lunch break is at one, and we clock out at five.”
With that she left us to it. There were about a dozen workstations here. Dewdrop and I took the ones at the far end, to save time moving snow and cloud around. We decided to work together rather than separately. I’d form up the clouds, and then Dewdrop would add the snowflakes. All in all, we should be able to make a sizeable snowstorm by the end of the week.
We spent the next two days as worker bees. It was a nice change actually from weather work. Yes, it was repetitive as hell, but I still found some enjoyment from it. Whether or not that was due to Dewdrop also being there was up for debate.
By Wednesday, we’d settled into a routine for the week. As ever, I’d leave Fluttershy’s bright and early while she was feeding all the animals. With my silk flying scarf round my neck and a packed lunch in my saddlebags, I’d head off towards Cloudsdale. I’d pass the guards, who all knew me by sight. Usually, I’d meet up with Dewdrop on the way in, his light cyan coat standing out against the grey clouds. After that, we’d touch down at the factory, touch base with Clear Skies and get to work.
For the most part, we worked in companionable silence, occasionally chatting when we first got in. I’d also got into the habit of sharing lunch with Dewdrop in the factory’s break room. Despite how little we talked, I think we both got a fair bit closer. I knew Dewdrop had been crushing on me ever since that incident with the tornado, but now I was starting to feel similarly towards him. I’d been single for a few years now. Heck, one of the main reasons I’d asked Discord to let me stay as a pony was because I wanted to meet somepony someday. The upshot of it was, yes, I liked Dewdrop, and he liked me. Now, what was I to do about it?
My obvious first thought was to ask him out. Maybe I could try that bistro place Rarity was talking about? If things went well, we could go further and see what happened, if not, it would just be a meal out between friends.
I asked him when we were both tucking into our sandwiches in the break room.
“Say, Dewdrop, can we talk for a minute?” I asked. He looked up, curious.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied, setting his own dandelion sandwich to one side. “What about?” I felt my heartbeat increase.
“I want to talk about what happened after the party,” I explained evenly. Dewdrop suddenly turned a shade of red, presumably at the memory. “First of all, I want to say I’m sorry.” Dewdrop now fond his voice.
“Oh…it’s alright,” he said. “You were pretty drunk after all. We all do silly things when we’ve had too much salt. You should have seen some of the antics my old man got up.”
“I wanna try and make it up to you,” I went on. “How about I take you out to dinner this weekend? Rarity was telling me about this nice little bistro place down on Stirrup Street.”
I thought I was pretty smooth. It wasn’t as if I could just come out and say I liked him. Knowing Dewdrop, that would probably just scare him off anyway. This was a bit more subtle, but I figured it was still obvious enough for him to work out what was happening.
He certainly seemed to get what I was driving at, because for a moment or so, he froze pretty much solid where he was, mouth half open in shock. I suppose I would be too if my previously unrequited crush asked me out. I’m not gonna lie though, his surprise was really cute. After a moment or two though, he recovered.
“Erm…yeah…sure, I’d like that,” he stammered out. “Do you want me to come by your place or..?” I flashed a smile at him.
“I’ll come to yours and pick you up. Say around half seven?” Dewdrop nodded emphatically in agreement.
After lunch, we went back to work. Dewdrop was positively beaming the whole time, but trying not to show it. Our time together went from companionable silence, to near constant nattering. By the end of the week, it was as if we’d already had a date or two, because we knew so much about each other.
When we came down from Cloudsdale on Friday afternoon, Dash and the others were waiting for us, having prepared a little welcome back party in the park, nothing major, just a banner and a few soft drinks. I couldn’t help but notice the conspiratorial whispering between Flitter and Cloudchaser, and the near constant furtive glances towards me and Dewdrop.
I figured that by tomorrow night, the whole town would know that something was up. Of course, I didn’t count on that information falling into a certain pair of hooves.
I don’t think a day passed into evening quicker in my entire life. Perhaps Celestia had been watching and lowered the sun a couple hours early? It would certainly make the expression ‘time flies’ a bit more literal. In any case, the day was passing and the sky was painted with red and purple hues when I stood in the bedroom I shared with Fluttershy, looking at myself in the full length mirror.
I’d told nopony except Fluttershy what had happened up in Cloudsdale, and promptly sworn the mare to secrecy. The last thing I wanted was for this thing to get out. Yes Flitter had already stirred up rumours, but they were just that for the moment. If Roseluck, or Celestia forbid, Rarity found out what the two of us were up to, she’d be on me in a flash. I wanted this evening to be fairly low key; no fancy dresses, no roses or grand gestures, just two ponies going out for dinner.
Still, I never had actually done this before in my life. I’d originally not thought that I’d be the one doing the asking. But as much as Dewdrop likes me, as far as I can make out, his shy nature would mean that I’d be waiting an age before he popped the question. So I’d broken with gender norms and took the initiative.
While I didn’t want to make too much of a fuss, I was going to put a fair bit of effort in. I was going to dress up nice, put on some make up and perfume, and generally do all I could to woo Dewdrop. Hence why I was standing in front of a full length mirror, with Fluttershy on hoof to offer advice. She claims to be a novice, but I know from Bones and Rarity that she used to be a full blown model, and she knows way more about sewing than she lets on.
I didn’t have that many clothes to pick from. As you might have noticed, ponies as a rule don’t wear them in their daily lives, unless they're snobs, or they need them for work. While I may have had a sizeable collection back on Earth, here I had far less. A patrol officer’s pay, while good, doesn’t allow for monthly clothes binges. Still, Fluttershy and I were of a similar build, and she’d said I could borrow something for the night if it took my fancy.
“What about this one?” Fluttershy suggested, bringing over another dress.
The trouble with pony fashions is that dresses seem to be the only option for mares. Stallions get jackets, mares get dresses. I’m sure Henry ford would love the amount of choice. While they were all very nice; quite a few of them were Rarity’s work, they were a bit too over the top for me.
“It’s a bit too much, Fluttershy,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’m going to a nice bistro, but it’s not a three horseshoe place. If I go dressed to the nines, I’ll look too formal.”
Fluttershy paused to think. Like I said, she knows more about fashion than you might think.
“You want something informal, right?” Then how about this?”
Trotting over to the wardrobe, she pulled out what initially looked like another Rarity designed over the top dress. But as I got a closer look, I saw that it was far more simple than that. It wasn’t plain by any means, but it was just right for what I needed.
The dress was fairly short, though not so short as to be scandalous. It was mainly a light purple colour. My coat is somewhat of a greyish blue really, so it contrasted quite well. It also went alright with my dark brown mane, which is something of an oddity among ponies, at least among mares. It was simple enough, but it sure made me look good. I guess it gave off a sort of subtle beauty if that makes any sense.
Fluttershy had already helped me do my mane and tail up a little, another hidden talent of hers. Again, I didn’t want to do too much, but just enough so that I looked as if I put in some effort tonight. We kept the style mainly as it was, adding a few curls here and there. I considered putting in some highlights, but Fluttershy advised against it.
The last thing was a touch of perfume. Mum had gotten me some high end bottle for my birthday last year, and this seemed like a good time to put it to use. With that done, I checked myself in the mirror one last time. While I don’t consider myself an expert in understanding stallions, or males in general, I thought I looked rather appealing. Fluttershy agreed with me. In an adorable effort to try and get some male opinion, she brought Angel upstairs and asked him his opinion. Given how that rabbit and I don’t get on, he simply blew a raspberry at me and sodded of. I just decided to use the fact that he hadn’t burst out laughing to my advantage.
So, at seven o’clock, I was ready to go. I grabbed my small handbag; somehow I doubted I’d look good carrying my essentials in a saddlebag, and made for the door.
“Good luck tonight, Lizzie,” Fluttershy said as I headed out the door. “And have fun!”
With a smile and a wave, I headed out and started for Dewdrop’s house.
I had quite the journey to make. Normally, it would just be a matter of flying over to Dewdrop’s; as a rule that took four or six minutes at most. But because I didn’t want to mess up my outfit or mane, I had opted to walk, which would take a good deal longer. Dewdrop’s home you see, was on the opposite side of Ponyville. I would have to cross most of the town to get there. Hence why I was setting out a good half hour before the appointed time.
It was now early evening. The sun was just about visible over the horizon and was dropping at a steady pace, courtesy of Princess Celestia. By the time I got to Dewdrop’s it would be almost dark. For now though, it was a pretty autumn evening in rural Equestria. The sky was filled with red and gold hues as the remaining sunlight lit up the clouds. The first few stars, high up in the indigo sky were now beginning to appear. In a way, rural Ponyville was a lot like my old home, only with far few storms and overcast periods.
Before long, I came upon the first few houses that marked the effective border of Ponyville. It started with small, isolated cottage, not dissimilar to Fluttershy’s own home. As I went on though, these gave way to larger dwellings, shops and businesses, as I drew nearer to the town centre.
There were still quite a few ponies about, some, like me, preparing for a night out. Others were just closing up shop as the work day came to an end with the rise of Princess Luna’s moon. I actually passed the bistro Dewdrop and I were planning on dining in. It was, by Ponyville standards, a very up market place, although I doubt it would be looked on as any but a hovel in Canterlot. Presently, there was a modest queue out the front door, although I doubted the place would be completely full.
Passing the restaurant by, I continued on my course. It was a little odd actually. I’m used to just shooting over Ponyville on the wing. Buildings that I normally thought of as mere moments apart, now took a few minutes to pass between.
I soon found myself at Town Hall, which marked the near epicentre of Ponyville. From here, you could get pretty much anywhere, from Carousel Boutique, to the schoolhouse, or Twilight’s castle, which shimmered in the fading light, dominating the skyline.
The house I was interested in though, was a little ways beyond all that. As I said, Dewdrop lived on the other side of Ponyville, not too far from the train station. It was your typical Ponyville design; that odd blend of Swiss, German and Austrian architecture. The place was fairly small; similar in size to a semi-detached council house, although with far superior aesthetics. Dewdrop had been quite lucky in getting the place when he first arrived in Ponyville. I’m sure there were more than a few buyers vying for it.
Trotting up to the front door, I paused for a moment and checked the nearby clock tower. It was twenty five past; I was five minutes early. Not bad considering how far I’d come. Walking up to the front door, I rang the bell, hearing it clang somewhere inside. A moment later, I heard Dewdrop’s voice.
“Just a minute!” he called out. I heard hooves on the wooden floor. A moment later, the latch went and the door opened, revealing Dewdrop.
He was quite a sight. Like me, he’d apparently strived for a balance between formal and casual. He was wearing a suit dark suit jacket, along with a nice shirt and collar. A black tie, tied up in a classic bow completed the image. He smiled at me in that awkward way of his.
“Hey…hey there, Lizzie,” he said, blushing a little, quite visibly under his aqua coat. “You look lovely this evening.” I smiled back at him.
“You look great too, Dewdrop.” I pulled him onto a quick hug which no doubt got him to blush even more. “So shall we head out?”
“Sure,” he agreed. A moment later though, he doubled back to his front door. He returned with a single yellow daffodil.
“I got this for you,” he said, a little coyly before tucking it just behind my left ear.
“Aww, thanks, Dewdrop,” I replied, giving him an quick, innocent peck on the cheek. “Now come on, it looked pretty busy down there on my way here.”
The two of us walked back towards the bistro. Dewdrop was a little quiet, which I put down to nerves. He’d told me some time before that he’d never been out on a date with a mare. I was a little nervous too to be honest. I’d had a couple of boyfriends, but those relationships had been pretty informal. And as I said, it was still a little odd to be taking the lead here.
Leaving Dewdrop’s house behind, we headed back into Ponyville proper. The market was now pretty much deserted and the streets were noticeably quieter. Having only one pub and a couple restaurants, the village doesn’t exactly have much of a nightlife. We did however see a few ponies out and about, including a few heading to the same restaurant we were bound for.
As we rounded the corner, we came upon the place. It did indeed look fairly busy. For a moment, I regretted my hasty actions. Asking Dewdrop out this weekend meant I hadn’t been able to book a table. I began to wonder what I was going to do if they were full up. Still, they seemed to be taking in customers for the moment, so we joined the queue. Imagine my mixture of shock and surprise when I spotted who was in front of us, or rather, when they spotted me.
“Well hey there, sis,” an unmistakably southern accent greeted me. “Ah didn’t realise y’all would be out here tonight.”
Standing there in front of me was my brother, Bones. Like Dewdrop, he was dressed up a little, with a jacket and collar. And standing beside him was his own marefriend, Applejack. I’ll be honest, I was mortified.
“B-Bones!” I stammered out. “Wha-what are you doing here?” He smiled at me and quickly explained.
“Believe it or not, sis, today is the day when AJ and me first started datin’. We’ve been goin’ a solid two years now. How about you, what brings y’all out here tonight?” As he asked, he cast a quick, disapproving glance at Dewdrop, who was standing just behind me.
I decided that I had to nip this in the bud. Bones may be my big brother, and he did look after me when we were younger (mostly), but who I chose to go out with was no business of his, and I wasn’t about to let him try and intimidate Dewdrop or scare him off. You’d have thought having to deal with that from Big Mac would have made him realise how silly it was.
“I asked Dewdrop out on a date,” I replied matter of factly.
“Well ain’t that sweet,” Applejack said kindly, smiling at us both. I noticed her subtly elbow Bones in the ribs, making him wince slightly. Good to know I have somepony in my corner.
“Tell ya what,” Applejack went on. “Ah hear this place is mighty busy tonight. How ‘bout you folks join us, and we can split a booth?”
It seemed a bit of an odd arrangement for a first date; both to share a table and have my older brother there too. But Applejack was right, the place looked to be filling up fast. And hey, it never hurts to have another mare close by in case some red flag crops up.
“Yeah, sure,” I replied. “We’d love to join you, right, Dewdrop?” The stallion nodded a little uncertainly. Presumably he was torn between keeping me happy and keeping away from Bones.
So I found myself inadvertently on a double date, of sorts. It was kind of Applejack to help ensure we got a table. I know for a fact that not five minutes later they were turning ponies away, saying that the place was full. However, double dating with your brother is somewhat…awkward.
As we sat down, nopony said much. Applejack smiled at me in an effort to be reassuring, but Bones had a stare fixed squarely on Dewdrop. He in turn was being very quiet and doing his upmost to look inconspicuous. I now had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
A few minutes after we arrived and had settled in, a waiter dropped by with menus and took our drink orders. I used to do a bit of waitressing myself when I was in high school, so I knew the worst thing I could do was take it out on him. So I put on a faux smile and did my best to be polite, as did everypony else.
We all decided to split a very nice bottle of red between us. I half hoped that that would help the evening pass a little more smoothly. On the other hoof, I was hoping that Starlight was nearby. Perhaps she still remembered Starswirl’s time travel spell and take me back ten minutes so I could politely refuse AJ’s offer.
Unfortunately, no such crazy cult mare was forthcoming. I decided to have a go at breaking the ice. This near total silence between us in an otherwise busy restaurant was ridiculous.
“So, Applejack,” I began, turning to my one ally. “How have things been at Sweet Apple Acres?”
“Well, we’ve been mighty busy up there, Lizzie,” the orange mare replied. “Applebuck Season’s just gone, so we’re gearin up for makin’ cider in a few weeks.”
“I’ll make sure to keep that under my hat,” I replied with a laugh. “If Dash hears one whisper about cider, it’s all she can think about for the next week!”
At this point Applejack took note of her coltfriend’s continued silence. Bones was sitting perfectly still, and continuing to glare with barely contained anger at poor Dewdrop, who was pressing himself further and further into the chair. All that was missing was the sound of his teeth gnashing. Other mares, like Twilight or Rarity, might have done their best to skirt around such a problem and try and ease him into polite conversation. Applejack though, has no problem being blunt; very blunt. That’s what you get for being the Element of Honesty I suppose.
“Oh, Bones!” she exclaimed, punching him lightly on the arm. “Will ya stop scarin’ the poor colt? He’s nervous enough about tonight as it is! Besides, it ain’t your place to tell your sister who she can and can’t go out with.” At this point, she turned to me again.
“Big Macintosh was just as bad when Bones first started makin’ eyes at me. When Bones told him he liked me, the two went for one heck of a long walk. Mac told me he took him out by the old tree graveyard, and told him exactly what he’d do to him if he hurt my feelings. If this lug ever hurts my feelin’s, he’ll know ‘bout it long before Big Macintosh finds him!” I laughed with her and decided to join in.
“I’ll tell you what this is about, AJ,” I said. “It’s because my last boyfriend back home was a bit of a tool. So now he feels justified in looking out for me.”
Finally, Bones could take the embarrassment no longer.
“Alright!” he yelled. “Enough! Ah get it!” Then, in a quieter tone to Applejack. “Ah’ll be good.” The two then shared a loving nuzzle.
“That’s better,” AJ said. “Least now we can enjoy some fancy food like civilised ponies.”
At that point the waiter returned to take our orders. We all quickly scrabbled to pick something out. I went for the ratatouille; a favourite dish of mine since I saw the film and got my mum to make it for dinner. As the waiter departed, it was as if an oppressive cloud had been lifted. Bones finally relaxed and loosened up, and most importantly stopped trying to intimidate Dewdrop. Dewdrop in turn relaxed and started being more open with his affections towards me. In short, it turned from a sort of Mexicolt stand off into an actual double date.
Things picked up greatly from then on out. Bones stopped being an overprotective jerk ass, and Dewdrop stopped trying to disappear into the seating. We actually had a really nice time together chatting over good food and drink. I had a really great time, and based on how things had gone so far, there was definitely going to be a second date.
Bones and Applejack enjoyed themselves too. Neither of them, as a rule, are given to overly romantic gestures. Applejack is a workaholic and Bones, by his own admission, is something of an asexual. I always found their relationship a little odd actually. They love each other, care about each other, and they’ve been going strong for a while now. But I’ve not heard anything about them tying the knot. But hey, who am I to stick my snout in my brother’s life, eh?
We all had a desert after our main meals, with me guiltily picking out the chocolate cake to split with Dewdrop. While it was starting to get a little late, particularly for the two farmers in our party, who didn’t have the luxury of a weekend off, we all agreed to stay a while and have some after dinner drinks.
By now, Bones had really warmed up to Dewdrop, and the two were chatting like old friends. It got to the point where Bones started spinning a few yarns.
“So anyway,” he was saying. “There Ah am, standing at the crossroads, just waitin’ for this herd of cows to mosey on over. Suddenly, Ah start hearin’ this rumbling. Ah mean, the ground is now starting to shake. Ah look up and Ah see Mac, runnin’ fer his life, hollering at me to get up a tree. The whole herd is stampeedin’, and they ain’t gonna stop ‘til they hit water.
“So Ah’m thinkin’ ‘Well, today could’ve gone better!’. These cows are really tearin’ up the fields towards me. There’s nowhere for me to go, and Ah’m just waiting fer them to hit. And then, right before they reach me, Ah hear this hiss, a snake right, and the whole herd starts trippin’ up!”
We all burst out laughing at the mental image as Bones continued.
“Ah reckon the poor thing must’ve bitten the lead, and then they all just ploughed into each other. It was a thing of frickin’ beauty!”
The story was funny as hell, and true, since Applejack backed up the facts. And it would have been just another enjoyable part of the evening, if Dewdrop hadn’t said what he said, and given Bones one last chance to mess with him.
The aqua blue stallion laughed and, in the most innocent way remarked.
“You’re really funny, Bones!” I didn’t even have time to facehoof.
Instantly, Bones’ smile faltered and faded as he looked at Dewdrop with a slightly offended air.
“What do ya mean Ah’m funny?” he asked. Dewdrop half realised the hole he’d stepped into and tried to explain himself.
“It’s funny, you know. It’s a funny story. You’re a funny guy,” he replied. He laughed trying to lighten the mood again, but Bones was having none of it.
“What do ya mean? Do ya mean the way Ah talk? What?” My own conversation with AJ had also now ground to a halt as we both realised what was going on. Still, poor Dewdrop tried to backtrack.
“It’s just…you know,” Dewdrop replied. “It’s funny, you know, the way you tell the story and everything.” Bones’ tone now changed to a much harder tone.
“Funny how? What’s funny about it?” Trying to smooth things over, Applejack stepped in.
“Sugarcube, ya’ll got it all wrong,” she said, but Bones cut her off.
“No, ‘Jack, Dewdrop‘s a big colt, he knows what he said. What did ya say? Funny how?” Bones’ horn now started to glow ever so slightly with his magic, and Dewdrop began to get seriously worried.
“Just…” he stammered.
“What?” Bones demanded.
“Just…you’re funny.” Bones frowned again.
“Ya mean, let me understand this because, ya know maybe it’s me, Ah’m a little tired. But Ah’m funny how, like a clown, Ah amuse y’all, Ah make y’all laugh? What do ya mean funny? Funny how? How am Ah funny?” The sweat was now pouring off of Dewdrop’s brow.
“Just…you know…how you tell the story,” Dewdrop said, looking around for possible escape routes.
“No, Ah don’t know, you said it! How do Ah know?!” Bones snapped back. “You said Ah’m funny. How am Ah funny, what is so funny ‘bout me? Tell me, tell me what’s funny!”
The whole restaurant had now gone pretty much silent. The two stallions were staring at each other; Dewdrop close to panicking and Bones close to losing his temper and doing something rash. Finally, after several tense moments, during which neither side so much as blinked, Dewdrop spoke with a laugh.
“Get out of here, Bones!” he exclaimed half seriously.
To my amazement, Bones too broke out into a laugh and was suddenly joking with Dewdrop just as before. I swear to Celestia, I will never understand the psychology of guys, of any species!
“I almost had him! I almost had him! Ya stutterin' feather duster!” Bones was saying with a smile, pointing at Dewdrop, while Applejack batted him behind the ears, knocking his hat off.
Dewdrop too was laughing, albeit still a bit nervously. Still, he seemed okay. And I knew precisely what my idiot brother was doing. He was having one last go at Dewdrop to check if he was ‘good enough’ for me. Evidently, he’d passed.
After that, everypony settled as the evening began to wind down. We finished our drinks and asked for the cheque. We all decided to split the bill, since we didn’t all originally plan on dining together. Bones’ paid for his and Applejack’s meal, while Dewdrop footed the bill for us, despite my request that we go Dutch. It later dawned on me that the phrase ‘go Dutch’ probably had no meaning in Equestria, since neither the Netherlands nor the Dutch people exist.
With the bill paid, the four of us prepared to go our separate ways. The evening had started off a little strangely, and there had been one or two hiccups, mainly due to a certain grey unicorn, but overall things had gone well. As I said before, there was now no doubt in my mind that I’d be asking Dewdrop out on a second date. Or, who knows, maybe after tonight, he’ll pluck up the courage and ask me.
Bidding our two friends goodbye, Dewdrop and I set off. It was now dark outside, although a silvery moon gave us more than enough light to see by. Surprisingly, I found that Dewdrop intended to take the lead, and after a moment, I realised we were heading the wrong way.
“Hey, Dewdrop,” I said, nudging his shoulder. “Your place is back that way.” I gestured with a hoof towards his home. At the moment, we were heading in the completely opposite direction. Dewdrop turned and smiled at me.
“Well, since you asked me out, picked me up, and generally did most of the things the stallion is supposed to do on a first date, I thought the least I could do is walk you home.”
I found my cheeks blushing ever so slightly. The last time he was more confident than normal was after he saved me from getting pulled into the rising water during hurricane season. I guess earning Bones’ approval had given him a bit of a confidence boost. He certainly seemed to walk taller as we wove our way through town. I decided to stroke his ego a little more.
“You know, I had a really lovely time tonight, Dewdrop,” I said. Leaning close, I nuzzled him slightly. And this time, he didn’t so much as flinch. “We should do this again sometime.” Dewdrop nuzzled me back, wrapping a wing over my back.
“Sure, Lizzie,” he replied. “You know, I have a couple days leave coming up, and I plan on using them.”
“Oh, where were you thinking?” I asked coyly. Dewdrop thought for a moment.
“Maybe the Crystal Empire?” he suggested. “I hear it’s beautiful this time of year with all the snow.”
I realised that the two of us had, seemingly without noticing, stopped walking. We were a little ways outside Ponyville now, perhaps a quarter mile or so from the cottage. I found Dewdrop’s eyes meeting my own. We leaned closer to each other, I even closed my eyes.
However, before anything could happen, the two of us were startled by the signature pop and flash of a teleportation spell. The road in front of us briefly lit up, dazzling us and making us both shield our eyes with our wings. When I peeked to look, I was confronted with a less than ideal situation.
I had thought it might be Bones doing one last thing to mess with Dewdrop. While he isn’t very powerful in terms of magic, he can very rarely pull of a short distance teleport. But no, it wasn’t my older brother, or Twilight, or any of the princesses. It was the last person I wanted to see. There, standing before us, a daft grin on his face, was Discord.
“Lizzie!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms wide and pulling me into a hug that lifted all four feet off the ground. “So wonderful to see you!” He now turned his attention to Dewdrop, whose ego trip had come crashing down with a thud.
“Oh and look,” the draconequus went on, his yellow and red eyes picking out my companion. “It’s adorable, shy, generic male love interest!” Dewdrop backed away a couple paces as Discord set me back down.
“What are you doing out here this time of night, Discord?” I asked with no small amount of suspicion. The Spirit of Chaos grinned again.
“Why it’s funny you should ask, roomie!” he replied. “Fluttershy and I were just heading out for a little sleepover at Twilight’s place.” A snap of his talon caused a very surprised Fluttershy to appear next to him, bags at her sides.
“Discord, you could have just waited for me to catch up,” she admonished. I turned my attention back to Discord.
“And you just happened to do this now, right? There’s no ulterior motive here?” Discord now took on a slightly hurt expression.
“Goodness, no!” he replied in an unsuccessful effort to be reassuring. “I certainly didn’t mean to catch you off guard. But you’ll be alright, won’t you, Lizzie, in an empty cottage with nopony around to disturb you all night, and nopony having seen the two of you come out all this way, and no work tomorrow morning?”
At this point, Fluttershy cleared her throat, catching her best friend’s attention. Discord quickly wrapped up his little spiel.
“Anyway,” he said, clapping his mismatched hands together. “Got to be off, must dash, bye now!” With a snap of his talon, he and Fluttershy once again disappeared into the night.
I turned to Dewdrop. It was pretty obvious how the land lay. And it was even more obvious what Discord had done, leaving me and potentially Dewdrop alone in an isolated cottage until morning. He might as well have just come out and said it! I was certainly surprised that Fluttershy went along with it, but she too seemed to be in on things.
So we plodded on towards the cottage. Before long, we came upon the little bridge that spanned the nearby creek. Crossing over it, we passed the chicken coop and the new brooder coop, and soon found ourselves at the front door.
Now we found ourselves at a crossroads. What to do next? Discord and Fluttershy had vacated the house for us, along with seemingly all the animals. We had the place to ourselves. I found myself in two minds. Yes, I liked Dewdrop, but I wasn’t planning on going that far with him, at least, not yet. Plus, while I don’t like to admit it, I still have a few hang ups about doing…that as a pony. Dewdrop, seeing my indecision, spoke up.
“Lizzie,” he said softly. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’m sure Discord was trying to be nice…in his own screwed up way, but I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”
I thought to myself. Dewdrop had been a perfect gentlecolt all evening, treating me well, and not even once rising to by brother’s bait. I knew him and I trusted him completely. While this might only be our first proper date, we’d known each other for months.
A few months passed, autumn turned into winter. Dewdrop and I went out on a couple more dates, and our relationship settled down into something more long term. Bones and my dad both backed off, particularly after I introduced him properly to my parents. On the work side of things, Rainbow was initially a little worried, and apparently had to send off some HR paperwork to Cloudsdale telling them that two of her officers were in a relationship. Other than that though, ponies were very accepting of it.
So things quickly settled down into their familiar routines. As we neared winter of course, weather work began to increase. The Running of the Leaves came and went, and soon we began getting the initial orders for snowfall, ice, frost, and even some occasional fog fronts. It was fascinating to watch how the landscape changed, even more so when you know that you had a hoof in it.
By early December, the green rolling hills were covered in pristine white snow, most of it barely marked by ponies. The skies were a beautiful crystal blue most days, and all the houses now sported a fine layer of frost on their roofs and windows, while lines of grey smoke would curl up from the chimneys in the morning, as ponies did their best to stave off the cold.
That was the only real problem; the cold. Of course, we keep the temperature tightly controlled this time of year. Dash said, despite our complaints, this was nothing to how things were before Equestria, when the Windigoes kept up a state of perpetual winter. Still, it was bitterly cold. Flying so high most of the time, plus the wind, meant we got it even worse than most. On more than one occasion, it was so cold that my goggles got stuck to my face. Fluttershy had to spend a good three quarters of an hour bathing the area with warm water to melt the fine frost just so I could take them off and see the silly panda eyes I now had.
Still, at least I had my flying scarf to help me keep warm. I’m sure great-great uncle Algernon struggled with the same conditions when he flew on the Western Front. Open cockpit flying at fifteen thousand feet is not a fun experience for ponies or humans when there’s a bitter north wind blowing. Still, at least he had a nice warm flying coat to go with his scarf.
Anyway, as we drew towards the end of the year, Hearth’s Warming Eve approached. This is the Equestrian’s biggest holiday, for which everything shuts down. It’s a sort of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Fourth of July all rolled into one. So you can imagine that to a Brit like me, it was a little alien. The whole raising of the flag thing in the morning makes me want to whistle ‘Deutschland, Deutschland, Über Ales’. Still, I’d happily sign up to the whole Christmas gig, particularly as there was an effective guarantee of a white Christmas, instead of just another grey, rainy day in December.
Given her status as a princess, and her owning a very large castle, Twilight was somewhat obliged to hold a Hearth’s Warming party for everypony, which she was happy to do. The huge crystal tree like castle was decorated with lights and ornaments, a holly wreath on the door, and a huge tree in the main hall, with a great raging fire in the fireplace to keep everypony warm. In concert with Pinkie Pie and Applejack, she even organised a banquet for everypony.
It was to this festive event that I was heading. It was in the early evening, but being winter, it was already pitch dark. If not for the light of the moon reflecting off the snow, flying would have been difficult. As a rule, pegasi, like most other animals, don’t fly in the dark, with the exception of thestrals, who have specially adapted eyesight.
I also had one other advantage myself. In addition to the warm Hearth’s Warming jumpers Fluttershy and I were wearing to ward off the cold, I’d taken a leap out of old Rudolph’s book. Attached to my nose, kindly enchanted by Rarity to make it glow, was a medium sized red ruby. Held fast on my snout, it acted, as in the story, as a great big headlamp for me.
Still, tonight it was easy enough. With Fluttershy alongside me, we both made for Twilight’s castle, which shone like a lighthouse against the darkening sky. With snow all around, lights, holly wreaths, trees, presents, and everything else, I was getting into the Christmas spirit.
As the two of us flew through the sky, I tried teaching Fluttershy a few Christmas carols and songs. She was quite interested in our alternative to the Equestrian holiday. Twilight was too, particularly in regards to the religious aspect, which made an interesting study for her on human society. I like to think that both holidays have the same motivation; a time when everypony and everyone opens their shut up hearts to their fellow man and comes together at that darkest time of the year in the spirit of friendship and harmony.
Sailing through the starry sky, we both managed a not too shabby version of ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’.
Before too long, the pair of us landed at the steps of Twilight’s castle. It was quite busy, with ponies filing in at a steady pace, eager to get into the warm. Through the open front doors, I picked up the smell of fir trees, mince pies, and roasted chestnuts. Above the doorway was a pair of golden bells, which rang softly in the wind. Well, you know the saying; ‘every time a bell rings, a pegasus gets his wings’.
Following the queue we were soon inside and I removed my flying scarf, which I’d kept wrapped tightly around in an effort to stay warm. I also turned down my nose gear to avoid blinding anypony I looked at. I got a few odd looks, but I thought it was quite a nice little thing to have. All I needed now was some of the antler headbands you used to be able to get.
The main hall was bustling with activity. It looked as though the entire town had turned out for this get together. Fluttershy spotted Twilight and her friends, while I picked out my parents. The two of us decided to split up for a while and then meet up later on. I was actually surprised that Fluttershy suggested that. But as I’ve said before, she’s come a long way from being that adorably shy wallflower. I left her to chat with her friends.
Meanwhile, I went over to chat with my parents. I’d seen Mum recently, but Dad, given how busy he was in Canterlot, had been a bit absent from my life for a few weeks. So I was looking forward to the chance to chat with him beyond mere passing.
The pair of them were dressed up suitably for the season. Mum had a typical woolly Christmas jumper on, with an image of Father Christmas embroided on the front and was sporting one of those red and white Santa hats with a silver bell attached to the end. Dad on the other hand, seemed to have been at his tailor’s again, and had dressed himself up in a very Dickensian fashion, complete with top hat, greatcoat and stick. They both looked to be having a great time chatting with Cheerilee when I trotted up.
“Mum! Dad!” I called out, catching their attention over the general hubbub that filled the hall. Both turned to me and smiled.
“Lizzie!” Mum called out, waving me over.
Jumping up briefly on my hind legs, I was able to hug her. Dad meanwhile, was a bit trickier, being closer to six feet. So I used my wings to get myself up to his level and wrapped my forelegs around him.
“It’s great to see you, sweetie,” he said kindly, equally glad to see me. A moment later, I carefully eased myself back down to the ground and folded my wings to my sides.
“You too, Dad,” I replied. “How’s it been up in Canterlot?” He shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh, not too bad,” he said. “Day Court keeps me busy enough, although I’m glad to say I haven’t seen Rainbow Dash’s name come up again.”
Dad had been involved in settling things with Cloudsdale after RD had a bit of a breakdown last winter. Long story short, she caused a lot of damage to the weather factory and covered Ponyville and the surrounding area in snow about a month ahead of schedule.
“Come on, Dad. I think she’s learnt her lesson by now,” I argued.
“True,” he replied. “But at this point she still owes Cloudsdale some seventy five thousand bits in damages. Anyway, enough about all of that. How have you been?”
“It’s certainly been busy this past month or so,” I said. “You wouldn’t believe how much work goes into making a controllable snow storm. Dewdrop volunteered to stay up this evening to keep an eye on things. Flight was about to have us draw straws otherwise.”
“Oh, so he’s going to miss out on all this?” Mum asking with a sad tone in her voice. “It seems a shame to leave him out in the cold.”
“Come on, dear,” Dad said. “You know what the lad’s like, always putting others before himself.”
At that point, we were joined by the fourth and final member of our family as Bones trotted up.
“Evenin’, everypony,” he said as he walked up, dusting off a bit of snow that had gathered on the brim of his Stetson. Mum quickly jumped on him.
“Good lord!” she exclaimed. “Haven’t you got a coat or anything, son? You must be freezing.”
With a grin, Bones powered up his horn, creating that signature dark blue glow. A moment later, a similarly coloured semi-sphere surrounded him.
“This keeps the snow and wind out, and keeps the heat in,” he replied, shouting a little to make himself heard through the magical shield. Deactivating his magic, he let the construct disappear again.
“Strong Shield showed me it was a good way to keep yourself protected, be it from enemy attack, or a chilly northern wind.”
“Impressive, lad,” my dad commented. Bones waved away the compliment.
“Ah don’t hold a candle to Starlight, never mind Twilight,” he replied.
“Still though,” Mum said. “Twilight told me that you know a fair bit more than the average unicorn.”
The four us chatted together, catching up on important events and what was happening in our lives. We often bumped into each other, but it was rare that all four of us could get together like this. Dad was kept busy in Canterlot, Mum had her schoolwork, I had my own job, and Bones had to look after the farm with Applejack.
About twenty minutes later, the four of us were joined by both Fluttershy and Applejack. The six friends had all got together, like us, to catch up. While they might be close friends with each other, life does sometimes make it harder for them all to get together as one group, at least when Equestria isn’t under threat of annihilation.
Apparently, they’d been doing their best to bring Starlight in on proceedings. While the one-time lunatic was adjusting back into society, she still had a few issues to work out. An off hoof mention to Twilight that she thought that holiday was a waste of time had prompted the little alicorn to go full on lecture mode. Starlight had tried to counter that she already knew the story, which she dismissed as make believe and an excuse for songs and partying.
Twilight however, had a different story, which Fluttershy related to us. And, to my surprise, while this was my first time hearing it, it was unmistakably familiar. The story was that of Snowfall Frost, a slightly psychotic unicorn that attempted, through potion, incantation, or other forms of magic, erase Hearth’s Warming Eve. Why you ask? Because it was a waste of time that could be used more productively elsewhere. When Fluttershy got to the Ghost of Hearth’s Warming Past, I felt compelled to step in.
“Hang on, Fluttershy!” I exclaimed. “That’s just ‘A Christmas Carol’ with ponies in it!” Fluttershy looked at me, confused.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s a book written back on Earth,” my dad explained. “The storyline is quite similar to that of Snowfall Frost, only it uses Christmas instead of Hearth’s Warming Eve and there’s no magic. Actually, now that I think about it…” He trailed off.
Looking around for a few moments, my Dad picked out Spike, who was contentedly chatting away with Rarity. Now there’s a surprise.
“Hey, Spike!” my dad called, getting the little dragon’s attention. “Any chance you could fetch a book from Twilight’s library for me?”
Spike quickly came over to us, with my Dad bending down to be closer to his eye level. He only comes up to my shoulders, so you can imagine how small he is next to a six foot human.
“Sure, Roger. What are you looking for?” he asked. My dad smiled.
“One of the books that came through the portal from Earth,” he explained. “A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens, mid nineteenth century.” The dragon nodded and went off to look.
“So what’s this story like then?” Fluttershy asked curiously. “And how can it be so similar to the tale of Snowfall Frost?” Now Bones stepped in.
“We’ve seen lots of parallels between our two worlds, Fluttershy,” he explained. “Everything from famous people and places, to languages, even the animals here in Equestria have their counterparts on Earth. This is just another example of the overlap between the two.”
“It is fascinating though isn’t it,” my mum said. “How our two societies can grow up, completely unaware of the other, and yet develop along such similar lines.” We all nodded in agreement at that.
A few minutes later, Spike returned, a leather bound volume in his claws. He handed it to Dad, who promptly dusted it off and opened it up.
“Yes, this is the one, Spike,” he said. “Thanks, lad.” Spike shrugged his shoulders.
“Eh, no biggie,” Spike replied. “You know, I don’t think Twilight’s actually read this yet.” He’d barely had a chance to take another look at the book, when a lavender coloured blur shot into our small group as if from nowhere.
“What?!” Twilight exclaimed in amazement and shock. “A book I haven’t read?!” She grabbed the novel from my Dad’s hands and eyed it eagerly. Luckily, he was understanding.
“Okay, easy there, Twilight,” he said, gently prising the book from her hooves. An idea then struck him.
“Hey, how about this?” he suggested with a smile. “My dad always used to read this to me and my mum every Christmas. It isn’t an especially long read, and the night’s young yet. How about I do a live reading here for everypony in the castle? A chance to get acquainted with some of Earth’s greatest literature."
This served to calm the excited Twilight down. She readily agreed to it and quickly gathered all her friends together, including Starlight. After that, she went up to one of the galleries that overlooked the main hall and let everypony else know what was happening. I think even my dad was surprised by the numbers. Rainbow even allowed me to go and fetch Dewdrop in, since the storm was due to stop any time now.
And so, we all gathered together in the great hall. My dad set himself down with the book and his reading glasses at one of the tables. To add to the authenticity, and allow the story to give off that truly supernatural vibe, he had Twilight dim the lights, with only a few candles to light the room.
Leaning back in the chair, he turned to the first page and began.
“Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail…”
The assembled crowd of ponies spent the next couple of hours listening to my dad read. Apart from the occasional whispered remark to a friend, or a sudden surprised gasp, the large crowd stayed silent. My dad has always been a good speaker, and he was really able to bring the story to life, from the opening description of Scrooge, to the sudden appearance of Marley’s ghost in Scrooge’s home (a facet that was absent from the tale of Snowfall Frost and scared even Rainbow Dash out of her wits), to the three ghosts of Christmas, ending with the terrifying image of Scrooge kneeling next to the Ghost Christmas Yet to Come, begging it to prevent the terrible future it showed him.
I think everypony found some warmth in the heart warming finale. The story does end on such a wonderful note. Even in the darkest time of the year, we can all still come together for the betterment of others, and no one is too old to learn from their mistakes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Starlight Glimmer, who had kept some distance from the crowd smiling as my dad came to the end of the story.
“He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”
The assembled ponies all applauded as he finished, stamping their hooves in the crystal floor. Closing the book up, Dad took off his reading glasses and thanked the ponies for their attention. He enjoyed reading too I think, keeping one of his own Christmas traditions alive.
It is interesting to think how much we have left Earth behind these past couple of years. I haven’t forgotten my life there by any means, nor have any of us. But living in Equestria has meant many changes, so it was nice to relive on little bit of Earth through that old story.
With the story done, Twilight declared that, thanks to Pinkie, Applejack and a few cooks sent down by Celestia from Canterlot, the feast was ready. Everypony promptly sat themselves down at the long crystal table. The four of us found ourselves sitting next to each other. I was between Mum and Dad, while Bones was next to Mum. Beyond him was Applejack and Big Mac, and past Dad was Dewdrop. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were with their friends and sat opposite us.
The feast was something else. While there was sadly no goose, turkey, chicken or duck to be had, there were plenty of foods we could all enjoy, including a very nice vegetable stew that warmed everypony through.
As I said before, it was nice that we were all able to get together as a family for once. I know Bones and me are both adults and we’ve both flown the next, literally in my case, but it’s always nice to be around your parents, and they treat you like kids no matter how old you get.
Mum asked me if I fancied going up with her on a shopping trip to Canterlot. It seemed that Dad, in one of his rare diabolical moods, courtesy of Discord, had pitched the idea of January sales to Princess Celestia, and it seemed to have taken root. Heaven help the ponies come New Years’ when the rush begins. Bones meanwhile offered Dad the chance to go camping with him next time he went out to check the many miles of fences that surrounded Sweet Apple Acres.
“Oh, it’s just so nice to be able to spend Christmas…er Hearth’s Warming as a family,” Mum said with a teary eyed smile.
“And good friends too,” Bones replied. “Remember last year? Applejack and the others all went to visit Pinkie’s family on their rock farm and I came by your place looking for some Heath’s Warming dinner.” Mum and Dad laughed at that memory.
“We had to let you in, lad,” Dad replied. “You looked like some poor lost puppy out there in the snow.” Bones blushed at the friendly jab.
“Do you want me and Lizzie to stop by tomorrow like last year?” he asked. Mum nodded.
“Of course!” she replied. “Just because we’re in Equestria doesn’t mean you stop the traditional open house come December 25th. You can bring Applejack along too if you like. And Dewdrop, you’re welcome to drop by too.”
The stallion in question quietly nodded and promised his attendance.
A couple hours later and it was getting late. The town clock chimed out ten and the party began to steadily break up as ponies headed home. We were all sitting at the table still, chatting with each other and the various friends we spotted from amongst the crowd.
Bones and Applejack were the first of our group to head home, needing the early start tomorrow. Just because it was Hearth’s Warming didn’t mean that their chores magically went away.
Twilight stationed herself near the doorway, wishing everypony who left the compliments of the season. An increasingly tired looking Spike stood by her side, along with Starlight, who was endeavouring to make a few more friends and finally shed her old cult leader image.
Mum and Dad went next. There was no school for Mum tomorrow, and Day Court was always suspended over Hearth’s Warming, so they’d both be having a lie in. I think they were certainly glad that there were no more kids waking them up at half-five, jumping on their bed and demanded to all go downstairs to see what presents Father Christmas had left them.
That left just me and Fluttershy. We both would be getting up somewhat early to look after all the animals in the cottage. While I may have a job working on the patrol, I do my best to help out wherever and whenever I can; it’s partly the reason I wanted to be a pegasus in the first place after all.
Saying goodnight to Twilight, Spike and Starlight, the two of us headed home again. The snow had long since stopped and the clouds had parted, letting the moon and the stars shine through, and making our short flight home that much easier. It was also easier to talk as well.
“So you’re telling me,” Fluttershy said as we passed over town hall. “That on this night, every year, back on Earth, all the animals get human voices?” I smiled and shook my head.
“It’s just a legend, Fluttershy,” I replied. “Something you tell little kids about. It doesn’t really work here in Equestria though does it, certainly not as far as you’re concerned?”
Fluttershy can, after all, quite easily translate tweets, chirps, barks and clucks into Equestrian. And then of course, there are the cows and sheep. They occupy a rather odd spot in this society, being intelligent and able to talk, but not treated in the same way as ponies, zebras or other sapient creatures.
Before too long, the cottage appeared before us. It looked so beautiful in the night. Fluttershy and I had hung multi-coloured lights on the windows and along the edge of the roof. There was a snowpony in the garden that the two of us hand built. And in the window, you could just make out the same tree that stood, fully decorated in the corner of the front room.
Touching down almost silently in the soft, and somewhat deep snow, the two of us quickly hurried inside. I quickly went and stoked up the fire to get us some warmth before we went to bed, being careful to put the guard around it.
After that, the two of us stayed up for a little while before going off to bed, each looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.
The next morning, the two of us were woken from our respective beds by Angel. It seemed that Fluttershy had promised to make him one of his favourite meals for breakfast; some sort of carrot salad that was almost as big as he was. After turning us both out of our beds, the rabbit stood at the top of the stairs stamping his foot for attention. Somepony should really tell him that rabbits only do that to signal danger.
After Fluttershy had given him breakfast, the two of us set about feeding all the other animals. Wintertime sees both a drop and increase in the number of animals Fluttershy tends to. Some animals, like Harry the bear, the hedgehogs, the frogs and a few other creatures, RD’s pet tortoise Tank included, go off to hibernate in the winter. But at the same time, those who don’t hibernate have a harder time finding food and come to rely on Fluttershy more. This winter morning, the house was filled with birds and other small critters that had come inside to escape the biting cold.
With that all done, the two of us sat down to our own breakfasts before going on to give each other our presents. Angel, as I said before, had his special breakfast from Fluttershy. I meanwhile, wanting to get back at him for once, gave him one of those terribly itchy Christmas jumpers. Fluttershy thought it so cute that, despite Angel’s protests, he was compelled to wear it all day.
For Fluttershy I gave her one of my favourite childhood books from Earth, which had come through the rift. I was a little more careful in my choice than Bones, who, without telling her about the story, once gave her a copy of Watership Down. The poor mare was in tears for weeks. Playing things a little more safe, I gave her my old copy of The Animals of Farthing Wood, and had the decency to warn her about a couple of chapters.
As for me, Fluttershy gave me a very nice flying jacket. It was similar to the one Dash had from the Wonderbolts, although it lacked the various patches that hers came with. Instead it was just plain faux leather and wool lined. In any case, it would help me stay warm at high altitudes in the winter.
At around midday, the two of us arrived at my parents’ house. The front door sat wide open, as did the gate that led up the small path from the road. Inside, I could hear talking, laughter, and the unmistakable sounds of Christmas pop songs.
Mum used to have this CD called ‘The Best Christmas Album in the World…Ever’; a mix of 80’s and 90’s Christmas hits and older carols and songs. At the moment, I could hear John Lennon singing ‘Happy Christmas’. We always used to have that CD on when we put up and decorated the Christmas tree, and when we opened the presents on Christmas morning. By a stroke of luck, it had come through the rife intact, and thanks to Twilight, been turned into a record compatible with Equestrian technology.
Rapping on a door with a hoof, I called out.
“Hello? We’re here!”
Instantly, I heard cheering from the front room, and Mum came out into the hallway to welcome us in. Along with her Christmas themed jumper, she now had on one of those silly paper party hats that barely fitted her small head. Following at her heels was Charlie, who was equally pleased to see us. That changeling really has his act down to a fine art.
“Lizzie! Fluttershy! Great to see you. Happy Hearth’s Warming!” she said over the noise. Ushering us on, we soon found ourselves in the front room, where the party was in full swing.
There was full buffet laid out on the dining table for everyone to nibble at, as well as a fair bit of drink flowing. The record player was blasting, with Dad trying, and failing, to dance. Bones and Applejack were both tugging away at a Christmas cracker with their hooves. A few moments after we walked in, Applejack’s earth pony strength won out and the cracker went off with a pop, briefly startling Fluttershy. And surprisingly, Dewdrop had made it here before us. He was in the kitchen, stirring something in a large pot.
“Well, looks like we got here just in time,” I said as we walked in. “What’s Dewdrop doing, Mum?” Mum smiled and laughed before tapping my dad on the shoulder.
“You want to tell your daughter what you’ve got her poor boyfriend doing?” she asked. Dad stopped his crime against dancing and turned to me.
“Dewdrop’s helping me and Bones make the Bishop this year,” he explained.
“Bishop?” Fluttershy asked curiously.
“It’s an old Christmastime drink, Fluttershy,” Bones explained, having put AJ’s party hat on her head in the place of her usual Stetson. “Ya take a bottle of Port, heat it, then add a mix of ginger, coriander, and a few other spices, then let it simmer with a whole lemon studded with whole cloves. Ya serve it real hot to warm yourself up.”
Trotting into the kitchen, he conferred with Dewdrop for a couple moments, briefly testing a spoonful of the concoction. After running his slightly burnt tongue under some cold water, he came back and announced that it was ready. Dewdrop followed, bringing the steaming pot through, while Mum fetched some breakfast bowls to serve it in.
Using a ladle, the poured a few bowls out, one for herself and Dad. There were also a couple of heat resistant glasses, for those who only wanted to try it, which included Bones and AJ, as well as Dewdrop himself. He wanted to see precisely what he’d made; Bishop was a strong smelling drink after all. We even gave Charlie a little bit in his bowl.
“How ‘bout you try a sip, Fluttershy?” Bones suggested. “The alcohol is mostly boiled off, so it’s really just hot, spicy, grape juice.”
Taking a careful sniff, Fluttershy opted to try a bit, as did I. I could never manage a full bowl of the stuff; alcohol or not, Bishop really knocks you for six. It’s very nice, but the spices are very strong. The first year Dad and Bones made it, Mum had a full bowl in one sitting. By Boxing Day, her throat had pretty much seized up, and she couldn’t talk until New Year’s.
It was lovely.
Still, all three ponies, while caught off guard by the strength of the flavour, certainly enjoyed the drink. Applejack even asked my dad for the recipe, and suggested that maybe next winter, they could start a little seasonal business.
The seven of us then all settled down in the living room chatting with each other. Bones and Applejack got up at one point when ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas?’ came on the record player. Within the first verse, Mum, Dad, me, Dewdrop, and Fluttershy had all got up as well, singing the chorus and any line we knew.
Finally, around two o’clock, we all gathered around the little projector that Mum and Dad kept in their front room. They used it to watch old videos and DVDs that Twilight had turned into reels for them. There was one last Christmas tradition to perform after all, that involved gathering around the television. By a stroke of luck, the most recent speech, as far as we were aware, had come through on a copy of another tape. It was just a simple matter of spooling it up to the right spot.
As we all gathered on the sofa and chairs, Dad flicked the switch and commanded everypony to briefly in stand. It was time to hear Her Majesty speak.
After watching the Queen’s Christmas message, the little party began to wind down. After all, we all had other ponies to drop in on, or celebrations waiting for us at home. Still, it was great to get together with my family; with old friends and new friends.
Every now and then, I go up with Fluttershy to Cloudsdale. The city’s a great place to visit from time to time, with great shops, stunning views, and of course being the home of the Wonderbolts. It’s also Fluttershy’s birthplace. Her parents both still live there and she goes to see them from time to time. I’ve met them myself; they’re wonderful ponies. Like their daughter, both Mr and Mrs. Shy are quite…well, shy and reserved, but they were both great company. Honestly, if the rift between Equestria and Earth ever does open and stabilise enough for us to go back, I planned on taking them to the UK. They’d love it there.
However, while I may like Fluttershy’s parents, I can’t say the same for her younger brother; Zephyr Breeze. I swear, if that idiot wasn’t related to Fluttershy, I’d have kicked his flank from here to Yakyakistan by now. He is the literal definition of a slacker. He’s been to art college, but dropped out. He tried mane styling, but gave that up too. He must have tried or began studying two dozen different professions, and the silly twat’s given up on all of them.
As a result of these life choices, he spends most of his time either couch surfing, or mooching off of his parents and living with them. And he doesn’t even have the sense to be gracious about it. Rather than do all he could to earn his keep and find his own place, he walks all over his parents. It seems that the shyness gene somehow skipped him over. Fluttershy has tried talking with them before, but they struggle, like she used to, when it comes to putting their hoof down.
I’ve met him twice. Once when I went with Fluttershy to see her parents, and once when I was flying on patrol near Cloudsdale. Neither encounter was pleasant. In addition to being the closest thing Equestria has to a stoner, Zephyr also labours under the delusion that he’s Celestia’s gift to mares. Seriously, the guy makes those pick-up artist gits seem alluring. It’s even weirder when you think about how camp the guy is. I honestly thought he was batting for the other team.
I remember it all too clearly. The two of us walked into the front room, and there he was reclining on the couch reading magazines. The moment he saw me, he jumped up and tried some of the cheesiest pick-up lines I ever heard. Not exactly impressed, particularly as Fluttershy had supposedly told him before that I was seeing somepony, I shot him down in flames. That though, didn’t stop his ‘attempts’ at advances. Luckily though, as it turns out, putting a guy in a headlock and threatening to cut his balls off conveys the same message across both our realities.
I was just glad neither my dad nor Bones were about to see or hear anything. If either one of them had been there, I’m fairly certain Zephyr would have ended up either propping up the foundations of a house or been turned into very fine ash, depending on which of them reached him first.
So yeah, long story short, I didn’t like the guy. Fluttershy really only looks out for him because he’s family. She’s tried on occasion to help him. But when Zephyr is confronted with hard work, or any work for that matter, he just rolls over and either quits or is so lazy that he gets his ass fired. It’s a damn shame.
It was early spring, Winter Wrap Up had come and gone, and the land around the cottage was once again bright and colourful. Work in the patrol had finally eased off, with all the snow melted away, and all the ice defrosted. All the animals that had been hibernating had woken up, and Fluttershy’s small cottage was beginning to fill with this year’s first new arrivals. The days were longer, with only occasional spring rain showers to deal with. All in all, things were looking up.
I’d been looking after most of the animals myself today. Fluttershy had gone up to Cloudsdale to see her folks, and since today was my day off, I’d agreed to do most of her work so she could spend some time with her family. Right now, I was busy restocking the bird feeders that hung in and around the cottage.
I was currently hovering a few feet in the air, replacing a feeder that sat on the fence post that led to the cottage. . Sitting on the grass behind me, yammering away irritably, was Angel. He’d been fed already. The little sod had gotten fat over winter, so Fluttershy had put him on a diet for the next couple of months. Needless to say, he wasn’t much of a fan of it. But where Fluttershy would cave, I was more than willing to stand firm.
“No, Angel!” I snapped at him, for what felt like the umpteenth time. “You’re on a diet now, so either eat what you’ve got or go hungry!” The rabbit glared at me and blew a raspberry at me. I was very close to knocking him on his tail. Luckily, I was saved by the arrival of a friendly face.
“Come on now, Angel,” Bones said in his good natured way. “Didn’t your mamma ever tell you the old story? If ya don’t do what you’re told, the General will get ya!” Trotting up the path, he came up to me.
“Hey there, sis,” he said, touching the brim of his hat. “How ya keepin’?”
“Oh, not too bad,” I replied, dropping back down to the ground. “Fluttershy’s gone off to Cloudsdale for the day, so I’m taking care of a few things for her.”
“Including that fur ball over there, Ah see,” he said with a wry smile, pointing to Angel. Apparently, in his time watching that show based on Equestria, he’d developed a mild hatred for Angel Bunny.
It seemed the feeling was mutual too. Hearing the disparaging comment against him, Angel bounded over to Bones, and with one fluid motion, latched onto his hind leg with his buck teeth. Bones let out a cry that was half a shout of pain and half a whinny. His natural instinct to kick out soon flung Angel clear, sending him tumbling onto the grass. Still, it was clear that he’d broken the skin, for there was a small amount of blood coming from just above the hoof.
“Angel!” I shouted crossly at the evil bunny. I then went over to my brother. “Are you okay, Bones?”
A quick check showed that, apart from a very painful bite and a couple cuts, my brother was unhurt, although his hoof was now a bit tender. He quickly turned around and limped over to Angel, who now, realising he was in deep trouble, looked more than a little worried as he cowered in the grass. Bones leaned down to be eye level with him and bared his teeth in a snarl.
“Prince Rabbit,” he said darkly. “If you cannot control your people, I will find ways to control them.” At this, his eyes briefly lit up with the weird green and purple smoke that appears when what little dark magic he has manifests. It was more than enough the scare Angel into apologising profusely.
Taking Bones into the cottage, I fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom and bandaged his hoof up. Like I said, it skin was broken, but nothing more. Still, Bones said it was a bit sensitive to put weight on and told me he’d stop by the hospital on his way back home, just to be safe. This was a pity, since he’d apparently run into both Rainbow and Fluttershy when they passed over the farm on the way to Cloudsdale, so he’d come by with the intent to lend a hoof. Still, it was nice to have his company for a little while.
“I’m so sorry about Angel,” I said as he headed back to town. Bones smiled and waved away my apology.
“It’s okay, sis,” he replied. He then turned to Angel. “But Ah warn ya, Angel. Do that again, and y’all will be meeting a far blacker rabbit than yourself one of these nights.”
With that parting shot to my lapine housemate, he walked over the brook and made for Ponyville.
Fluttershy returned a few hours after Bones had left, she wasn’t in the best of moods either. There was a scowl on her face as she stalked into the cottage, and the animals warily skirted around her. Falling back on old habits and national stereotypes, I offered her a cup of tea, chamomile of course.
The two of us sat down together on the sofa and Fluttershy related to me what had happened.
“Zephyr’s back to living on my parent’s couch again,” she explained. I rolled my eyes in frustration.
“Aw hay,” I replied. “Since when?” Sighing to herself, Fluttershy took another sip of her tea.
“Since he gave up on mane styling and dropped out of barber college,” she said. “He’s been there a couple weeks now, and he’s absolutely walking all over my parents. He’s using Dad’s shed, you know, the one where he had his cloud collection, for his studio and meditation area. He’s moved all their knick knacks off the mantelpiece. It all just makes me so peeved, sometimes I just want to scream.”
With that, she reared up on her hind legs, before plunging back down and uttering one of the quietest ‘screams’ I’ve ever heard. Still, it did show the high water mark of my friend’s frustration.
“Well, look at it this way, Shy,” I said, putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “In another week he’ll find something new to try and he’ll bugger off for another month or so.”
“But that just repeats the cycle,” Fluttershy replied. “I want him to set off on his own, get a job and just…just stop freeloading off my parents!” The sudden outburst caught me off guard.
“Why not just tell him then? Go and confront him about his behaviour. You can stand up to him and help your parents out giving him the old heave ho.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
“Applejack said the same thing,” she said. “I ran into her at the market on my way back here. I’d just feel so guilty though, kicking him out like that.” I frowned.
“Fluttershy,” I said. “Zephyr isn’t in this mess because he’s had bad luck. He isn’t like this because there’s no jobs going. He’s like this because there are ponies around to enable his behaviour. Until somepony tells him that the choice is he either puts his nose to the grindstone, or he starts living out of a box, he’s never going to learn. I know that’s hard to hear, but think of the future. What’s he going to do when your parents get older? He can’t just keep mooching off them forever!”
Fluttershy stood up, a determined look on her face.
“You’re right, Lizzie!” she declared. “You and Applejack. If I don’t help Zephyr, then he’s going to be like this for the rest of his life. I’m his big sister for pony’s sake; I’m supposed to look out for him!”
First thing the next morning, Fluttershy headed back out to Cloudsdale. I meanwhile had work today, so after my normal morning exercises, with my flying scarf around my neck, I headed for Ponyville to meet with Dash and the others. We were supposed to be clearing house today as far as the schedule went. This would be the first really warm day of the season.
Heading into Ponyville, I found everypony else assembled under one of the large trees in the park. I waved good morning to Dash and sat myself down between Cloudchaser and Dewdrop, the latter of whom sent a friendly smile my way.
“Okay, good morning, everypony,” Dash said, holding a clipboard in her hooves. “We’ve got a nice easy day ahead of us this morning; cloud clearance all around. This is the first day this year we’re going up above fifteen degrees, so I’d like it all to go smoothly. We can finally get rid of that old storm system that’s been sitting above Whitetail Wood since Hearth’s Warming.” Dash then went over the assignments.
“Thunderlane, Dewdrop, Flitter and Cloudchaser,” she began. “You’re all going to be working together on the local airspace. Collect up whatever’s left from the last spring shower and fix it all together. The whole thing should be empty, but be careful once you get it all put together. Once it’s all complete, set it on course back to Cloudsdale, and we should be good.” She then turned to me.
“Lizzie, you’re gonna come with me to Whitetail Wood to dismantle that small rainstorm and do the same thing. Thunderlane, you’ll be in charge of your group, seeing as there’s no hot clouds about.”
That got a chuckle from everypony. While the near miss with the thundercloud had been scary at the time, and nearly had severe consequences, at this point, it was something we all looked back on with humour, and as an excuse to poke fun at the proud Thunderlane. Flight took it in his stride though, laughing us off.
With the briefing done, we split up into our two team, with me following Rainbow over to Whitetail Wood. It had been a good long while since I’d worked with Rainbow on my own, Plus, given that this work ought to be fairly light, it would be a nice chance to chat with my old flight instructor.
Hanging above Whitetail Wood, there was a large, and now defunct, storm system. It was a leftover from the early spring showers. We’d kept it around as a sort of holding tank to sure up later rain squalls. Now, with spring well on its way, there was less need for it, so it was time to send it back to Cloudsdale. There, at the weather factory, it would be broken down a repurposed into new weather systems.
Before all that could happen though, Dash and I needed to move it and set it on course to Cloudsdale. Think of it like those huge river barges you sometimes see. They have a small tug piloting them, but for the most part, they just drift on the current. That was pretty much what we were going to do. We’d start them moving on the right course, then they’d just drift towards Cloudsdale, linking up with Flight and the others along the way.
As we came close, I easily picked out the cloud front. It was quite small now, easy enough for two pegasi to move unaided.
“There it is, Dash,” I called out. Rainbow was flying a few feet ahead and to my right; the standard lead position in a two ship formation. Craning her neck around, she told me what we’d do.
“Okay, Lizzie, this should be easy enough,” she said. There’s no wind and the cloud’s pretty much empty, so it should be an easy job.” I nodded in understanding, adjusting my scarf a little. It was getting warm enough that I wouldn’t really need it now. But I looked on the thing, particularly the RFC badge that held it in place, as a good luck charm.
Banking to the left, we both dropped down and circled behind the clouds. There was no point in hitting these things at speed. You’d either just bounce right off them, bury yourself in the cloud, or the whole thing would split up into a dozen bits. So, as we rolled in, we flared a little and side slipped to cut our speed. We were almost hovering when we both got to the edge of the cloud.
“Alright, Lizzie,” Dash called as we braced ourselves. “On three. One. Two. Three!”
We both heaved away at the cloud. It wasn’t too heavy. At a rough guess, I’d say it was like trying to push a small car. Between the two of us, we had more than enough strength. The cloud steadily began to move, gradually picking up speed. Dash then moved slightly below the cloud to get it to start climbing up to altitude.
Five minutes in and things were going quite well. We’d got the cloud moving in one piece, it was showing no signs of instability, and we were both able to back off and let it run on its own momentum, occasionally guiding it with a gentle push here and there.
Now it was a simple matter of keeping an eye on it until we reached Flight and the rest of the patrol, which would, according to RD, be in about fifteen minutes. So, the two of us got to chatting. It would have been a perfectly peaceful journey, had not a certain stallion decided to barge in.
Without warning, that stupid git, Zephyr, came sailing down right between the two of us. For a brief moment, I actually thought it was Dewdrop, given that they both have somewhat similar coats and manes. However, nothing can hide that stupid five o’clock shadow around Zephyr’s jaw. The stupid twat is too lazy to even bloody shave!
“Well hello there, ladies,” he said in that terribly feminine accent of his. “And just how are we both doing this fine day? I’m sure it’s better now you’ve got ol’ Zephyr to hang with.”
He then proceeded to line himself up between us and rest a wing on each of our backs. We were actually carrying the mentally ill prat! Rainbow snorted in agitation. Zephyr seems to have gotten it into his head that she is infatuated with him. Supressing the urge to just move away and let him drop to his death, I turned to the stoner pegasus.
“Zephyr,” I said in faux friendly voice. “Take it off, or I’ll break it off.” He quickly decided to start flying under his own steam again and drifted lazily over to Rainbow.
“So, Rainbows,” he went on, completely unphased. “Still doing that whole ‘most awesome flyer in Equestria’ act to try to tempt me in?” Rainbow balked in shock.
I later learned from her that he’d said something similar to her when she went with Fluttershy to see her folks. He may try to hit on any mare with a pulse, but when it comes to Rainbow, he really pulls out all the stops. I just glared at him icily. It seemed to convey the right message.
“Well, I hate to kiss and run. But I better be going.” Rainbow looked puzzled.
“Zephyr, you didn’t even…” Before she could finish her sentence, Zephyr gave her a peck on the cheek. A moment later, he pulled away and flew off, leaving a stunned and blushing Rainbow in his wake. I was bucking speechless. Well, for a moment I was.
I stared at Rainbow, and she stared back at me. We were both shocked. After a minute, I found my voice again.
“Okay,” I said to Rainbow. “Now I’m gonna go kill him.” I was about to break away when Rainbow stopped me.
“No, Lizzie,” she said, for once being the voice of reason. “Let the dumbass be.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“That guy is bucking unbelievable!” I exclaimed. “Seriously, how has he got this far in life without somepony punching him in the face?” Dash shrugged her shoulders.
“The jerk never stays around long enough,” Dash replied. “Still, you seem to have got him scared.” I smiled at that.
“Yeah,” I replied with a nod. “Although part of me wants to see what Bones would do to him.” We both laughed at that.
“Hey, look at it this way,” Dash said. “At least you’re not like Fluttershy’s parents; you don’t have to go home to him every night.”
“Urgh!” I said with a shiver. “Perish the thought!”
Ten minutes later, we met up with Flight and everypony else. They’d managed to get everything underway without too many problems; a point Thunderlane was very keen to crow about. Dash quickly checked his ego.
“Yeah, yeah, Thunderlane. You managed to pilot a bunch of completely empty clouds without nearly frying yourself. Congratulations!” We all had a bit of a laugh at his expense
Linking up our two clouds into one large mass, half our task was complete. Now it was just a matter of gently guiding it all the way up to Cloudsdale and the weather factory, and of course making sure any errant pegasi stayed out of its way. Just like a river barge, we couldn’t exactly stop this thing on a bit.
We slowly drifted higher, passing the usual cloud layer and finding ourselves in the literal wild blue yonder. It was a fair bit colder this high up, and it was harder to fly too. The air was thinner up here, so it took more effort to keep up the half hover, half flying we were doing as we all piloted the clouds. I was again glad for my nice warm red flying scarf, and I found myself wishing I’d brought along the flying coat Fluttershy had gotten me for Hearth’s Warming.
Eventually though, the magnificent city of Cloudsdale came into view. We stopped the clouds ascent and carefully lined it up with the weather factory. A few minutes later and a team from there came out to relieve us of our unwieldy cargo. We were all tired; not from fatigue, but simply the mental exhaustion of such a slow, long winded job. Still, it was over now, and we could relax. Dash signalled us all to rally and we gathered around for a final debrief.
“Okay, everypony. That’s a wrap,” she said, pausing to yawn. Poor Dash was well overdue for one of her naps. “Cloudsdale has signed off on everything. We can all head home. I’ll see you all first thing tomorrow.”
So dismissed, we all dived back down towards the ground and Ponyville. Dash told me she was going to check up on Fluttershy. Apparently, she’d managed to convince her parents to send Zephyr on his merry way, though Celestia knows it was hard for them all to do it. I equated it to the way bears sometimes have to chase away their cubs; not fun, but ultimately for the best.
Leaving Dash, I headed into town; I needed to get a few things from the market. Living together as we do, Fluttershy and I try to split the weekly food shopping between us. I was going to be cooking tonight, so I needed to grab up a few things last minute. Luckily, the market wasn’t too busy at this point in the afternoon.
Twenty minutes later, I was weighed down by a whole lot of fresh vegetables. Flying was out of the question with all the bags I was carrying, so I had to walk back home, which took quite a bit longer than flying. By the time I walked across the little bridge to the cottage, I just wanted to go to bed. I figured this evening I could take a little nap before dinner, than have a long, hot bath before bed.
That wasn’t what I got.
As I approached, I caught the rainbow coloured contrails of RD flying away at what had to be near to top speed. Puzzled by her sudden departure, I opened the door and trotted into the front room.
What I saw almost caused me to drop all of my shopping.
There, moving the couch to the other end of the hall, was that sodding Zephyr Breeze.
“What the hay are you doing here?!” I exclaimed. Zephyr whinnied in surprise when he saw me.
“Oh, Lizzie!” he replied, a slight sweat forming on his brow. “Big sis let me move in with her. I’m your new roomie!”
“No you’re not,” I replied deadpan, before heading into the front room. “Fluttershy!”
I found my friend, sitting a little awkwardly on the sofa; the one which Zephyr hadn’t already moved about. She gave me an awkward smile.
“What’s he doing here?” I asked, gesturing to the pegasus stallion, who was still reorganising the hallway.” I thought you were going to convince your parents to turf him out.”
“I did,” Fluttershy replied. “Zephyr agreed to stop mooching off my parents and move out.”
“So now he’s staying here?” I asked. Fluttershy nodded.
“I’m not going to let him walk all over me, Lizzie,” Fluttershy reassured me. “If he’s going to stay here, he has to get a job. I’m going to take him to see Rarity tomorrow; she needs some help in her shop.”
Well, that softened the blow, I suppose. Still, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to sharing rooms with Zephyr, even if he was just couch surfing. However, Fluttershy promised that this was only temporary, until he could get on his hooves. After all, she’d shown that she was more than capable of putting her hoof down when it came to him. She’d also made it clear that he had to get, and keep, a job in order to stay with her. The DWP could learn a few thing from her, I reckon.
And so, there were now three of us living in one small cottage. I was reminded of my time back in my student digs. If nothing else because of the way Zephyr had a habit of pinching food from the freezer. Still, he managed to be tolerable. I think between Fluttershy, who he knows will kick him out if need be, and me, who I’m fairly certain he’s scared of, we could whip him into shape before the end of the month. The fact that Fluttershy had already lined up a job for him sounded promising.
The next morning, Fluttershy and I got Zephyr up. He was evidently quite used to sleeping in until the clock reached double figures. Between my job and looking after the animals though, Fluttershy and I are both early risers. I took his bed sheets off him when I went off on my morning flight, while Fluttershy kept prodding him every five minutes. In the end, the lazy beggar relented and got up.
All three of us left together. I would head off to work, while Fluttershy would take Zephyr for his first day at his new job. He’d be working in Carousel Boutique doing some simple jobs for Rarity, preparing material and the like. It wasn’t glamorous work, but Rarity was willing to pay the minimum and guarantee him the job.
Still, it seemed Zephyr was determined to screw up. Fluttershy told me all about it. Apparently, they left him alone for perhaps twenty minutes. All he had to do was dye some new fabric, not that much harder than washing clothes (although given that he’d been making his mum do that, I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised at what happened). To Rarity’s horror, Zephyr ‘outsourced’ the job to Opal and a few woodland creatures, coating them in dye and letting them gallivant around the room. The end result was a total mess, with dye all over the place, and a whole lot of good fabric ruined. Understandably, even with Fluttershy there, Rarity sacked Zephyr on the spot when he stormed off in a huff. Zephyr does like to go for the ‘you can’t fire me, I quit!’ approach.
Luckily, Fluttershy had a contingency plan. Twilight needed some help at her castle, mainly cleaning the place. Again, it wasn’t glamourous, but the pay was decent. Plus, Spike already did a fair amount of the work, so it wouldn’t be too much trouble. But again, Zephyr screwed things up, pulling the old Tom Sawyer act on Spike and getting him to do everything while he slacked off.
So, as a last resort, Fluttershy went to Rainbow. She was off at Wonderbolt Headquarters today, leaving Flight in charge. It’s a shame I wasn’t there to see it, since apparently, Rainbow finally lost her temper with Zephyr and zapped him with a low energy storm cloud. It wasn’t enough to hurt him, just burn off a chunk of his mane.
That it seemed was the last straw as far as Fluttershy was concerned.
I got back from the patrol at my usual time and, to my surprise, the cottage was empty. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. On the plus side though, all of Zephyr’s stuff was gone, so I assumed he’d either by some miracle found a job or, much more likely, Fluttershy had given him the boot.
Well, that was sort of what happened. It seemed I just missed all the excitement, or at least the opportunity for a good laugh.
Apparently, Fluttershy had kicked Zephyr out after he quit his last job with RD. Seriously, who gives up a job at Wonderbolt HQ; that would look great on any pegasus’ CV. Having nowhere else to go, and unwilling to get another job to convince Fluttershy to let him stay, he went off into the Everfree Forest. How he didn’t get himself eaten is beyond me. Maybe Celestia was feeling generous that day.
Anyway, Rainbow had tried to reassure Fluttershy that it was for the best. After all, Zephyr wouldn’t last ten minutes out in the woods, never mind the night. So surely he’d come crawling back, right? Well, no. He actually did try to stick it out, though seeing as he couldn’t light a fire, I’d give him about eleven minutes.
The two of them were interrupted by Constance, one of Fluttershy’s friends in the bird world. She told Fluttershy how Zephyr wasn’t doing so well, and they went to check on him.
When they found him in his new ‘home’, he was having quite the nervous breakdown, so they quickly stepped in. Fluttershy talked with him for a while and they eventually got to the root of his troubles. While he had talent, Zephyr was too afraid of failure to try. Rainbow and Fluttershy managed to bring him around. I could sort of understand where he was coming from, particularly when his little sister had saved Equestria around a dozen times; that was one hard act to follow.
A few minutes after I got back, all three of them returned to the cottage. First things first, Zephyr needed a bath.
After that, Zephyr did slowly begin to improve. He still has a bit of a grating personality, but his work ethic got better. Fluttershy took him back to the barber college and helped him get enrolled again. He stayed with us while he studied, becoming quite the good roommate. And it was kind of nice having a stallion at your beck and call too.
A few months later, he successfully completed his education in mane therapy and styling, graduating with honours. He then, as agreed, moved out of the cottage, with the intent to find his own place. He did stay with his parents for a few days though. I’m sure now that he’s applying himself he’ll have no trouble landing a job.
I still haven’t managed to convince him that Rainbow’s just not into him though.
I was flying. Well, let’s be honest, when was I not these days? Aside from work, flying is my special talent after all. I’m pretty good at it, and I enjoy it. It brings in money, makes me happy, and gives me a chance to be alone with my thoughts when I need to be.
The latter was the reason I was up in the air now. It was early morning on a Sunday. I’d done my usual fast and hectic exercise regimen. Taking off from the cottage, I buzzed around the edge of the Everfree Forest, weaving around the uncontrollable clouds that hung near the border. After that, I dived down towards the ground and made for Sweet Apple Acres. Raising the difficulty a notch, I slalomed between the rows of apple trees before pulling up into a zoom climb. I forced myself higher and higher until I ran out of puff and stalled out. Recovering from than, I practiced my gliding, using the thermals that were beginning to form to keep myself aloft. After performing a few stunts like a split-S, an Immelmann turn, and a rolling scissors with a passing eagle Fluttershy cared for, I made for home once again.
While fun and exciting though, my workout was exercise. It served a purpose; keeping myself in shape. Sometimes though, I like to just fly for the sake of flying.
After I’d finished my workout and had a quick shower, I headed out again, with no destination in particular in mind. It was still very early. The sun was just about coming up above the horizon (I actually find myself doing a good chunk of my workout in the dark in the winter, making it extra challenging).The grass was still sparkling with dew and none of the weather patterns you’d see later on in the day had formed yet. The sky was just a deep blue expanse, with a red and golden light off to the east.
I was now about five thousand feet up or there about. Pegasi don’t have altimeters, so it’s more a case of guess work. I was gliding, straight and level heading east, somewhere past Ponyville. Right now I was following the river than ran through town. In a little while, it would turn north towards Canterlot.
Apart from the air rushing past me, I could hear very little. It was too early for most birds to be up and about, with the notable exception of Owlowiscious, who occasionally joined me out of curiosity when he was off hunting. Most ponies were still in bed too, so there were no sounds coming from Ponyville. Everything was just quiet and peaceful.
My thoughts turned to my Uncle Algernon and his own experiences of flying. This sort of quietness, he would have probably found it unsettling. It can be quite scary, being alone in the sky. If you get lost in a cloud, lose your bearings, that same peaceful sky can become quite eerie as you desperately search for landmarks. Even more so if the land below is coated in thick fog.
On the other hand though, as I said, it can be very relaxing too. Particularly as I know that no Albatross is out there looking to put me in the sight of its twin Spandau guns. The land below was green and pleasant too, not the mud and craters of No Man’s Land.
Turning my thoughts away from that terrible war, I banked over slightly. I was flying over a very thinly formed cloud. Stretching out my wingtip, I watched as it carved a course through the vapour, splitting the cloud in two. The way both sides drifted apart was actually quite mesmerising.
As the sun rose higher, fully cresting the horizon, the river below began to glitter in the early morning rays. It was going to be a warm sunny day today.
Flying over the river caused my thoughts to turn to my Cousin John and the far off Zambezi. The bush pilots out there in their smuggled Lynxes would use it for navigation just as I was using the river below. It must have been difficult for them; such a beautiful country racked by what turned out to be a pointless war.
As I continued on my way, an old song of Cousin John’s came to mind. A song that they used to sing in the bar with some of the air force guys when they were off ops.
That’s another thing I don’t have to worry about; fire. Even in modern times, nothing terrifies a pilot more than fire. Once it gets going, there’s very little time to get it under control before the flames burn away vital wires and cables, or smoke clouds your vision so you can’t see your instruments, or even, God forbid, your emergency oxygen runs out. But it was far worse in the days of the Great War. Even in Cousin John’s time, you could bail out of a burning fighter. But back then? No parachute, no ejector seat, in a wood and canvas biplane with a petrol tank under your seat. You had a simple choice to make if your plane caught fire; stay, and burn to death in your machine, or jump into the abyss with equally undesirable results.
I shook my head to clear such thoughts. Being the plane myself, as it were, I’m able to avoid a lot of problems that dog human pilots; fuel, cargo, unruly passengers, equipment failure, fire, and the dangers of an emergency landing. Don’t’ get me wrong, if you’re careless, you can easily hurt yourself; a fact Rainbow can attest to. But as a pegasus, I’m probably in more danger from being run over by a runaway wagon than I am from flying.
No, for me, flying is quite the safe bet. I can cruise for a couple hours on a good thermal or two, and just relax. Sometimes, on mornings like this I even close my eyes for a few moments and just enjoy the feeling of being in the air.
Dropping my right wing, I let myself gradually descend and change course. Before too long, I was flying about two hundred feet above the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. With its size, the place is suitable if you want to get some space to yourself in the air. Rainbow comes here sometimes to practice, and to nap. And as I said before, the place makes up a decent chunk of my morning flight.
As I soared over the neat rows of apple trees, I picked out a large splotch of red below me. A quick turn and a second pass confirmed my suspicions; it was Big Mac. Like me, all the Apple family are early risers by the nature of their work. Big Mac seemed to be tending to a few of the apple trees. Applejack may be quite strong, and Bones may have upped his hitting power, but neither of them come close to Big Mac’s ability. Come Applebuck Season, he was pretty much their cornerstone. He also handles the heavy cider press too.
I circled around the area again. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Big Mac is awfully easy on the eyes. If I wasn’t with Dewdrop right now, I might have considered it. But until recently, he was in a fairly steady relationship with Cheerilee, a relationship which had sadly broken up. While he might have been on the market, I didn’t want to seem like I was stepping into Cheerilee’s horseshoes. And then of course, a few months later, I started going out with Dewdrop. No matter how much I might like Mac, along with almost every other mare in town, I wasn’t about to two time my coltfriend.
Still, there was no harm in dropping by to say hello to him. Plus I had been circling him like a hawk for the better part of five minutes; to fly off now would make me look a little odd.
Dropping down further, I switched into a hover and touched down a few yards in front of him. Mac promptly looked up from his work.
“Hey there, Big Mac,” I said in my usual friendly way. “Busy morning?”
“Eeyup,” he responded calmly with a nod. Big Mac never was one for small talk.
“I was just going for a quick flight around the neighbourhood,” I went on. Mac nodded again.
“Ah know,” he said, expanding his vocabulary a bit. “Ah saw ya circlin’ just now.”
I felt a blush creep up my face knowing that Mac had caught me ogling him. He knows a lot of the mares in town like him, but given his shy nature, and the fact that he’d recently gone through a painful, albeit consensual, breakup, he wasn’t inclined to do anything about it. Still, I felt a bit guilty. Luckily, Mac continued.
“Ya know you’re not the only pegasus pony here right now,” he offered, gesturing with his head the way he had come. “Ah saw Rainbow Dash nappin’ in one of the trees a little ways back. If Applejack sees her, Ah reckon she’ll be fixin’ to teach her a lesson again.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, curious. Mac explained.
“Applejack got sick of findin’ Rainbow Dash nappin’ in the apple trees; specially durin’ Applebuck Season. So last time she caught her, she hauled the pigs’ feeder filled with slop under the tree, bucked it, and knocked Rainbow Dash into it.” I chuckled at the mental image of that. And it did explain why Dash had suddenly stopped using one of her favourite napping spots.
“How about I head down that way and move her along before she gets another dunking?” I offered. Mac smiled and laughed softly.
“Well, Ah reckon she’d appreciate that,” he replied. I smiled back.
“I’ll go nab her,” I said, unfolding my wings. “That’s for the heads up, Big Mac. See you later.”
“Eeyup,” Mac replied.
Taking off again, I sped over the trees, just barely grazing the tops in search of a certain slumbering pegasus.
Finding said pegasus though, proved to be more than a little tricky. Was I doing this in the winter, nothing could be simpler. It would simply be a case of looking through the trees until I spotted a spot of cyan and rainbow. But now we were in spring, moving ever closer to summer. The trees were thick with green leaves and white and pink blossoms, completely blotting out any view between their branches from the air.
So I had to take the slower approach. Landing again, I slowly trotted through the orchard, looking up into the trees to see if I could pick out any blue or rainbow amidst the green. I suppose it didn’t hurt to give my legs some exercise as well as my wings. But like I said, being on the ground meant that the search was slow going.
It took me about ten minutes of walking through the orchard, every now and again doubling back on myself. Big Mac had said she wasn’t too far away, so I had to be fairly close.
In the end though, it wasn’t sight that helped me find her, but sound. As it turns out, Rainbow snores… a lot. I could tell why AJ was in the habit of turning her out of her sleeping berth. Working around that kind of noise all day was enough to drive anypony to distraction.
Following the appalling sound, I eventually found her in one of the older patriarchs of the orchard. She was reclining on a fairly high branch, but still easily visible from the ground, with her forelegs behind her head, resting against the trunk of the tree.
“Rainbow,” I called up to her in somewhat of a hushed tone in case Applejack was nearby. The sleeping pegasus however took no heed of me.
“Rainbow!” I tried again, somewhat louder, but still she kept on contentedly snoring, occasionally muttering something about Daring Do in her sleep.
So I flew up to her level and gave her a gentle shake. But still no response. It seemed that RD slept the sleep of the dead. So I went for a tried and true tactic my brother used to use to annoy me when we were kids.
Gently placing a hoof on her nose, I pinched it shut. In addition to being uncomfortable, it messed up her natural breathing rhythm. A few moments later and her forelegs both began to bat at me in a subconscious effort to make me let go. A second or two later, coughing, she woke up, and I released her.
Her eyes open blearily, revealing her striking magenta irises. She groaned as she came to and saw me.
“Urgh,” she complained. “Lizzie? What do you want?” I smiled in an effort to soften the blow.
“Sorry to interrupt your nap, Dash,” I said. “But Big Mac just passed by. He said if you’re still here when Applejack comes by, she’s gonna knock you into the pig trough again.”
That quickly got a response out of her.
She was up on her hooves in an instant and quickly joined me hovering in the air. Her head darted about looking for a certain orange, Stetson wearing pony. Luckily, Applejack didn’t seem to be about yet.
The two of us flew up to a nearby cloud and settled on it, since it was more than large enough for the both of us to rest on comfortably. Dash peaked over the edge, looking for AJ.
“Thanks, Lizzie,” Dash said, sounding relieved. “I only stopped to rest there for a minute. I didn’t mean to fall asleep there.” I smiled to myself, sure Dash.
“Well, I figured I wouldn’t like to be applebucked into a trough full of slops,” I replied with a shrug. “Just count yourself lucky I was around and ran into Big Mac.” Dash smiled back.
“Say, you busy today with Fluttershy or anything?” she asked. I shook my head.
“Not really,” I replied. “Discord’s dropping by today for his weekly afternoon tea. I tend to make myself scarce; I don’t think he likes the idea of having to ‘share’ Fluttershy. That and, while he may have been the one to give me my wings, he still creeps me out.” Dash laughed.
“I think he creeps everypony out sometimes,” she replied. “Still, he’s a good guy most of the time, now that he’s reformed and all.”
“That’s what makes it so weird though,” I replied. “I mean he is still the whole ‘Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony’ and everything. It’s like Fluttershy’s having tea with Hannibal Lecter.”
“Who?” I waved a hoof.
“Never mind; Earth thing,” I replied. Every now and then I still find myself saying things that make no sense to ponies.
“Say,” Dash said, changing the subject. “How about the two of us head down to Ponyville and get some breakfast at the Hayburger joint? I’m buying. It’s the least I could do for you, seeing as how you pretty much stopped AJ from covering me in muck again.”
Well, my granddad always said never turn down a free meal.
“Yeah, sure. I could go for that,” I replied.
Jumping off the cloud, the two of us began the short flight to Ponyville.
Equestria, believe it or not, has such a thing as fast food. Of course, being herbivores, all the food is plant based. There are no hamburgers or chicken nuggets, but you can get something close. The Hayburger in Ponyville is their answer to the likes of McDonalds, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even madder is the fact that Twilight loves it, continuing to patronise the place as a princess.
I go there every now and again myself as a guilty pleasure, or I grab a takeaway for Fluttershy and me when neither of us feels like cooking on a Friday night. It’s fairly cheap and the food actually isn’t half bad, especially compared to its Earth equivalent. I still remember the Panorama special on Subway, and how some of their staff were wiping snot on the sandwiches.
The two of us touched down just outside the place. It was still fairly early in the morning, but the place did open up for breakfast and had a few customers in there when we arrived. Trotting inside, the two of us got a small table by one of the large panoramic windows.
At this time in the morning, burgers and hay fries weren’t on the menu. Instead, the place ran a breakfast menu that was reminiscent of those old American diners. Dash got herself a carrot, egg and cheese bagel, the whole steamed carrot standing in for a sausage I guess. I on the other hoof having already had a halfway decent breakfast picked out a stack of pancakes with syrup. We also both got ourselves some coffee, particularly as Dash seemed to have trouble staying awake.
The two of us chatted as we ate. If nothing else, between the coffee and conversation, Dash was able to keep her head up. Plus, it was nice to just chat with her outside of work.
“So, how goes life in the Wonderbolts?” I asked, as I cut away at one of my pancakes. Dash sipped at her coffee.
“Not too bad,” she replied. “I’ve learned a lot these past few months, particularly about close formation flying. I tell ya, it’s a whole different ball game compared to weather work. But hey, at least I’m not stuck there at the end of each day cleaning up.” Dash had told me before that that particular honour was reserved for the worst flyer of the day. When she first started, it was the others’ way of hazing her a bit.
“So how come you were up and about so early?” Dash asked. “I know you do your exercises first thing, same as me. But I didn’t think you went all the way out to Sweet Apple Acres.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’d done my workout and I just felt like going for a flight,” I replied. “Ya know, see the sunrise, watch the clouds start rolling in; just enjoy the feeling of flying.” Dash smiled knowingly.
“You’re chasing that first flight feeling,” she said. I looked over at her quizzically.
“What do you mean?” I asked, dabbing my mouth with a napkin before the syrup dried.
Every pegasus pony gets like that every now and again,” Dash went on. “They try to recapture that feeling they had the first time they really flew. I still remember my first real flight when I was a filly. You never forget it.”
“I certainly haven’t forgotten mine,” I replied. “After all, it was only a couple years ago.” Dash nodded.
“I remember watching you,” she agreed. “You took to flying like a duck to water.”
Many moons ago…
I was still new to the whole 'being a pegasus' deal back then. Even today, I still remember the shock I felt when I woke up and found wings and hooves instead of hands and feet. It took me a fair while, with Fluttershy’s help, just to get walking mastered. Luckily, I was able to pick it up fairly quickly, something to do with horses on our own world. They’re usually up and about on their too long legs within minutes of being born. Still, it took a bit of effort to get the pattern down. I do remember falling and banging my jaw a few times.
Anyway, a quick visit to Twilight’s (this was before Tirek got out, when she was still living in her old library) helped explain things. The magic that had changed me was chaos based, pointing the finger squarely at Discord. After spontaneously appearing in the library, he explained his reasoning and why he had turned me into a pegasus. He also pointed out to Twilight that the spell had something called a lockout on it, which prevented it from stopping for about a week. So Twilight couldn’t undo it. I was to be stuck as a pegasus for a week.
On the one hoof, it was really unsettling for me. But as the days went by, and I began to get used to my temporary body, I found a few advantages. I was able to help Fluttershy a little more, and I wasn’t so much a burden on her, seeing as now everything in her cottage was more suited to me. However, I still couldn’t really fly, which was the big thing I’d mentioned to Discord that stopped me from helping out as much as I could.
I did try flying, hoping that I’d be able to pick it up as quickly as I did walking. But try as I might, I just couldn’t get myself stable. I could get in the air alright, a couple feet off the ground. But after a few moments, I’d start drifting around, lose my balance, tip over in one direction or another, and have an unwanted reunion with the ground. Fluttershy tried to teach me some basics, but as a weak flyer herself, she wasn’t that much help.
“Maybe you could ask Rainbow Dash for some help?” she suggested after another failed attempt. “She’s been helping Twilight get the hang of using her wings for a few months now. I’m sure she’d be able to make some time for you.”
So the two of us set off to look for her. We found her napping on a cloud just outside Ponyville. Fluttershy flew up to wake her and briefly explained my predicament.
“Well sure I can help you out, kid,” Dash replied enthusiastically. “Tell you what; meet me first thing tomorrow, and I’ll take you through some of the basics.”
And so, I did. I got up bright and early the next morning and left the cottage to meet up with Rainbow. The pegasus was waiting for me just where she said she would.
“Hey there, kid,” she said in greeting. “Let’s get you started then.”
We spent the next few hours going over the basic theories of flight and watching birds that were flying nearby. My first real problem was that I was flapping far too much, hence why I was unstable. I was trying to just get into a hover, whereas, according to Dash, the best thing was to master gliding first.
So we borrowed Twilight’s balloon and took it up to altitude. Dash parked up on a large cloud, which I could now of course walk on, something that was very strange for me, and even induced some vertigo when I looked down.
Walking over to the edge of the cloud, Dash broke off a large piece and formed it into a sort of pillow.
“Okay, we’re going to use this as a sort of training wheels,” she said. “Put this underneath you and step off the cloud. It will support your weight and do most of the flying for you. Then you can focus on controlling your wings.”
The idea of stepping off the cloud sounded more than a little dangerous to me. But Dash assured me that she’d be right beside me the whole time. So, with no small amount of trepidation, I began.
I cannot describe the feeling of sheer terror I felt when I realised that there was nothing under my hooves. I’m fairly certain I screamed a little. But as Dash said, the cloud kept me up in the air. My wings actually remained steadfastly secured at me sides, and it took quite a bit of coaxing from Dash to get me to relax enough to open then.
After that, things improved. I began to practice making gentle turns, ascending and descending slightly, and learning the basics of flying, without the threat of dropping to my death. After about half an hour, I was no longer frightened by the sight of the land far below, and we returned back to the cloud where we had started.
The next few days saw me steadily building on what I’d learned. I still used the cloud as a sort of crutch, but Dash quickly upped the ante. I was soon flying faster, pulling hard turns, rolls and, most importantly, learning how to hover, take off and land. After all, I wouldn’t always be on a cloud.
My fear of being up in the air steadily evaporated. I began to see myself as a pegasus, as a being with wings. So why did I need to be scared of heights? It wasn’t as it I could fall now, was it?
By the end of the week, Dash had me flying on my own. I still had the cloud under me, though it had become far smaller than when I started, but Dash was no longer flying on my wing. I was effectively soloing.
Finally, I came upon that day of days; my first true flight. There would be no cloud, no safety net, nopony at my side to help me out. Today, I had to take off from a cloud, fly around town in a stable manner and then perform a safe landing at Sugarcube Corner. I was nervous. As small as that cloud had been, it would have saved me had I ever panicked. Today though, I would be relying solely on my wings.
Dash took me up via balloon to our starting point; a cloud about two thousand feet up. I would jump off of this, dive, level off and use thermals to keep my altitude. I would then use known landmarks to find my way around town, avoiding any other pegasi that happened to be about. Finally, I would approach Sugarcube Corner and perform a safe, successful landing. For a first time flyer, who until a week ago hadn’t even had wings, it was a tall order. But the end of the week was fast approaching. I wanted to be able to say that I could fly before the spell gave out and I changed back to my old self. Although at that point, I was already considering staying like this.
Standing on the edge of the cloud, Dash gave me a reassuring pat on the back.
“Okay, Lizzie,” Dash said, smiling at me. “I’ll see you on the ground.”
With a single graceful leap, she dropped down below and flew the same route that I would be. I took a moment to breathe and prepare myself, and try and bottle up my fears. A particular song came into my head, which didn’t help matters.
But, there was no time like the present as my dad would say. And there was only one way off this cloud. I did my best to reassure myself. I could fly, other pegasi could fly. Heck, even Fluttershy could, so there was no way I should get bested by this. Taking one final deep breath to calm myself, I took a running leap.
Instantly, I felt the drop. There was nothing under my hooves and I began to fall. Fear kicked in immediately and my wings unhelpfully snapped to my sides, refusing to open. I had plenty of time to save myself, but still, it was not the best start. At least I didn’t scream I suppose.
As I plummeted, I remembered an amusing anecdote from one of my friends’ dads who had used to be in the army back in the day, in 2 Para; the parachute regiment.
Apparently, during the Falklands campaign, 2 Para were meant to fly in by helicopter to capture the main settlement of Port Stanley. But the freighter carrying them had been sunk a few days earlier, so they had to land with the rest of the troops and walk across the island. They all got piled into a landing craft and were taken to San Carlos Water with Royal Marine Commandos (who they hated with a passion, being from the navy) in charge of the landing craft. When they got to the beach and the doors opened, a Marine sergeant bellowed ‘disembark’. This was far too many syllables for the Paras, who stood there dumbfounded. Luckily, a Para officer saw what was happening and gave them a more familiar phrase. ‘Red light, green light, go!’
At that moment, my fear evaporated. My wings opened together and that awful feeling of falling suddenly stopped. I found myself not going downwards, but forwards through the air. I was flying.
It was…oddly serene actually. The rushing wind was gone and everything was just so quiet. It felt like I was sailing on water. Following what Dash had taught me, I carefully moved my wings, the slightest twitch affecting my pitch and bank. I stayed like that for a couple minutes before I realised that I needed to get back on course. It was just so…mesmerising. I didn’t want it to end. I just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Before long, I’d followed my landmarks and circled around town. With some effort, I made a halfway decent landing just outside Sugarcube Corner where I found not only Dash, but also all her friends, my parents and my brother. They all applauded me in their own way, although I’m sure Mum was having kittens at first. They were all proud of me though. Pinkie quickly declared that a party was in order and ushered everypony inside, leaving me and Dash a moment to talk.
“How do you feel?” she asked me. I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“It was just…wow,” I replied, still riding the high.
“Nothing like it is there,” Dash said, more of a statement than a question. “You know, for somepony who couldn’t even open their wings a few days ago, you’ve come a long way, Lizzie. I know this may sound weird, but if you want, I could probably swing you a job working with me in the Weather Patrol.”
I jumped at the prospect of paid employment. That only further served to sway my eventual decision to remain a pegasus. Two days later, having been more of a help to Fluttershy than I ever had since I arrived in Equestria, and the spell was about to run out. I asked Discord to extend it to make it permanent.
Best decision of my life.
“So what, it’s like I’m chasing that first high from back then?” I asked Dash as we finished up our meals.
“Something like that,” she replied. “I don’t know all the egghead stuff behind it, but it’s like you remember everything that much clearer, time slows down, and everything just seems so peaceful.” I nodded in understanding.
“Yeah, that about sums it up for me,” I agreed.
“It’s a gift,” Dash went on, her voice sounding far away. “Flying I mean. It’s something we all earn. We work hard to earn the right to soar through the skies. But it’s something that can just as easily be taken away if you don’t respect it. Remember that.”
“That’s awfully deep, Rainbow,” I said, with the ghost of a smile. Rainbow quickly jumped back to reality, rubbing her neck in embarrassment.
“Sorry,” she said. “I guess talking about that first flight has got me thinking. You never get it back, no matter how hard you try. But I still wouldn’t trade these wings for anything, except maybe my friends.” I polished off the rest of my meal, as did Dash.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go for a flight.”
And so, having paid our bill, the two of us walked out of the Hayburger and took off into the sky. While the sun was beginning to rise, and the indigo blue was beginning to give way to the grey light of a summer dawn, there were still a few stars out.
“So, where do you wanna go, Lizzie?” Dash asked as she held station on my wing. I pointed a hoof at a star that was still faintly glimmering ahead of us.
“Second star to the right,” I said. “And straight on ‘til morning.”
Rainbow Dash is a pretty good friend and boss to me, but she does have one minor flaw. That is her need to frequently pull pranks on ponies. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind having a bit of a laugh every now and again. I certainly had a lot of fun messing with my brother come April 1st. But RD orchestrates these major plots and schemes seemingly every other week. I’ve been caught out more than once.
They’re usually pretty harmless, jump scares and practical jokes. Dash seems to have an endless supply of costumes. And with her Wonderbolt salary, she has seemingly infinite resources at her disposal. While it might be funny at first, after the first eight or nine times, it can get pretty grating. Particularly as I’ve never been able to get her back; she’s very good at spotting pranks a mile off.
That’s her only real vice though. Other than that, and her occasionally overinflated ego, Rainbow Dash is a good pony. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing her taken down a peg for once.
Every now and then, somepony in the weather patrol has to go off on what the ponies up in Cloudsdale call a ‘Long range meteorological analysis survey’. In the Princesses’ Equish, that means flying out a fair old way and checking on any and all weather patterns surrounding our area of operations. In short, it means flying up and down the entire Canterhorn valley, from Canterlot all the way south to Appleloosa. It was a long trip that would take about four or five days to complete.
It was a difficult job. For one thing, you had to spend the better part of your week by yourself. Cloudsdale provided a small stipend for accommodation and food, but not much else. But it also quite a lot of work; every single storm, cloud formation and pressure change has to be noted down and written up into a final monthly report upon your return. Conversely, you do get excused from all other duties for that week. But I’d much rather be doing regular weather work than traipsing all over Equestria.
Take a wild guess who drew the short straw this month? Yeah, me.
So, come Monday morning, with my saddlebags full of bedding, snacks, warm clothing and a few other essentials, I took off. I would be leaving Fluttershy on her own with Angel, although Discord was going to check in at his usual weekly slot as well. I was a little nervous; I’d never done an extended patrol like this before, and it seemed like a tall order.
Everypony from the patrol, as well as my family gather at Fluttershy’s to wish me well on my journey. It was nice to have a chance to say bye to everypony at once; I can’t stand long goodbyes. Heck, the feeling of homesickness was already starting to creep into my stomach.
“You’ll be fine out there, Lizzie,” Flight reassured me. “I know it seems like a lot to do, but it’s really just four or five days flying a circuit. You’ll be back in Ponyville before you know it.”
“Thunderlane’s right,” my dad added. “You used to go off on trips with your mates like this all the time, try and see it like that.”
Mum meanwhile just gave me a hug. While we don’t often see each other too much, the knowledge that I’d be out of town was making her a little teary as well. Finally, Fluttershy wished me well on my voyage.
“I’ll see you in a few days, Lizzie,” she said reassuringly.
Double checking my saddlebags one last time, I wrapped my flying scarf around my neck and put on my flying goggles, keeping them positioned just above my eyes for the moment. I had a map to hoof with my route outlined. Today, I would be flying up to Canterlot and settling down on its outskirts.
“Okay, everypony,” I said, preparing to take off. “I’ll see you all in about a week.”
“Bye, Lizzie,” everyone said, waving me off.
Jumping into the air, I found flying a bit of a challenge, given how I was presently weighed down with kit. As I went through my food supply though, that would steadily lessen. Flapping hard, I hauled myself into the air and soon the cottage, as well as Ponyville, was far behind me.
The flight north was fairly routine. I’d been up to Canterlot a few times with Mum and her friend Milano for a shopping trip, so it wasn’t as if the area was unfamiliar to me. I simply headed straight for that huge castle that sits on the edge of the mountain. I get building a castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest, but why build another one on the edge of a mountain? One bad earthquake and the whole thing could just fall away. Still, given that that city has stood for over a millennia without trouble, I guess it’s fairly safe. Princess Celestia wouldn’t have made it her seat of government otherwise.
The only other thing I had to contend with was the increased security. Being the capital and home to two of the princesses, the Royal Guard keep the city under a constant watch, with patrols in the air and on the ground. I had papers with me identifying me as a weather patrol officer, and the guard was typically kept informed of weather pegasi operations in and around the city. But every now and again, you’d get a challenge.
And it seemed that was what was happening now. As I passed over Whitetail Wood, I was buzzed by a squad of pegasi in Royal Guard armour. They didn’t attack, they simply passed very close to me as a warning, and then took station all around me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” one of them asked me rather roughly. Still, Dad had taught me to always be polite to the rozzers.
“Weather Patrol,” I replied, holding out my ID. “Heading up to Canterlot and then doubling back to Appleloosa on long range job.” The guard scrutinised my ID for a moment.
“Fair enough,” he said after checking it. He waved for the others to move away from me and adopt a less threatening escort pattern.
“Who are you guys anyway?” I asked innocently. “I wasn’t expecting to run into any patrols until I got nearer Canterlot.”
“We’re the 8492nd Guard Unit,” one of them explained. “We’re…er…on a training exercise out here. We saw you headed up towards Canterlot and wanted to make sure everything was alright.”
I didn’t know why until several days later, but something felt off about this lot. None of them would meet my gaze and something just seemed…not quite right about them. They continued to escort me towards Canterlot for a few more minutes before breaking off and heading back toward Whitetail Wood, where I saw them land. Again, that struck me as a little odd. Weren’t all the Royal Guards based in Canterlot?
Anyway, I continued north and before long reached the city. I had to be a little careful now. For obvious reasons Canterlot Castle is a serious no-fly zone, as in they will tackle you out of the air if you stray inside. It was a bit of a shame I would be reaching Canterlot today. Had I got here tomorrow, I might have been able to run into Dad on his way to and from Day Court at the castle.
Passing the glittering city below me, I continued to work my way around the mountain. It may look like a very sharp peak from way back in Ponyville, but the Canterhorn is a pretty damn big thing to fly around. Flying just above Canterlot’s altitude, it took me the better art of two hours to completely circle it. By that time it was getting on for sunset, and time for me to look for somewhere to spend the night.
While it was possible for me to navigate by stars and streetlights, my eyesight wasn’t really up to the job. No matter how many carrots I ate (that’s actually a lie the RAF came up with to hide the fact they had airborne radar by the way) my eyesight would never be anywhere near as good as a thestrals. And if I couldn’t clearly see and identify weather patterns, then there was little point in me flying. Plus I was getting worn out as it was.
So after passing the centre of Canterlot, which is way beyond my paygrade, I set down on the city’s outskirts. Flight had given me a list of decent bed and breakfast places I could stay in for each leg of the trip. I quickly found my way to the one I wanted. A few minutes later, I was checked in and having a simple dinner. By nine, I was in bed. I had an early start the next morning if I wanted to reach my next stopover on time.
I won’t talk too much about the rest of the trip. It was fairly uneventful, and mostly pretty boring. On my way south, I didn’t come across the 8492nd Guard Unit again, and there was no sign of them as I passed over Whitetail Wood. I thought that was, again, a little strange. Guards were typically stationed in a fixed spot. While I might not have run into the same group, I should have met somepony if there was a guard post there.
Heading south, I passed by Ponyville, skirting around the other side of the Everfree Forest. The forest stood between me and Fluttershy’s cottage, and the rest of Ponyville. Following the railways, I passed between Ghastly Gorge and Froggy Bottom Bog. As I passed over some rather thick woodland, I could have sworn that I saw some sort of stone structure, kind of like Stonehenge back on Earth. I ended my second day of flying around there, stopping off at a rather quaint roadside inn.
On my third day, I continued south, passing by Dodge Junction. After that the Macintosh Range came into view. While it might share its name with a certain red stallion back home, there was no relation between the two. This vast mountain range marked my end point. Appleloosa lay in a plain just ahead of the range. And beyond them lay the Badlands, where the changelings had been sent packing, though where they went afterwards was a mystery to anypony.
That was also the same day I reached Appleloosa. It was my first visit to Equestria’s southern frontier. The land beyond was still unexplored, consisting mainly of desert inhabited by the buffalo tribes. Appleloosa itself though was welcoming farming town, surrounded by apple trees. Some of these were transplants from Sweet Apple Acres and were owned by Applejack’s cousin, Braeburn. I actually met him when I arrived in town; a nice enough guy if a little…odd.
Day four saw me head up to the Macintosh Range before turning back north again and making for home. It took one more day to get back to Ponyville. And let me tell you, I would be glad for it. Five days on the road was tiring, never mind all the paperwork I had to write up at the end of each day. I’d booked myself a whole day at the spa with Rarity and Fluttershy to recuperate.
One more thing you ought to know. As part of my little care package, Dash had given me a few biscuits (yes, biscuits, not cookies. Unlike my brother, I still hold onto my British tongue), which the CMC were selling. As I pulled them out of my saddlebag, I couldn’t help but notice something hidden beneath them. Pushing the biscuits aside, I saw a note with a single word; ‘Gotcha!’.
I laughed shook my head, thanking my lucky stars I hadn’t taken a bite. Celestia only knows what was in them, and I didn’t plan on finding out.
“You’re getting rusty in your old age, Dash,” I said to myself as I stowed them back in my saddlebags. She really does need to learn to ease off on the pranks though. Five days out in the wilderness is the last time I want to have to deal with something like that.
A few hours later and Ponyville was in sight. I was going to touch down at Town Hall to meet up with Dash and then head to Fluttershy’s so I could finish writing up my final report. After that, I was going to crawl into bed and sleep for a thousand years.
Dropping my altitude, I flew over the centre of town. Something seemed off. For one thing, there were a bunch of medium sized storm clouds hanging around that were creating an overcast effect all around town. The schedule called for clear skies until early next week. Then there was the fact that it was so quiet. At this time of day, the town below ought to have been bustling with ponies at the market. But the whole town seemed all but deserted. There wasn’t a soul to be seen. Something was definitely up.
Descending again, now to almost rooftop level, I began to orbit the town, looking for somepony, anypony really. But try as I might, I couldn’t find anypony. There was nothing; the whole town seemed deserted.
Concerned, I landed at my pre-arranged spot at town hall. Nopony came out to greet me or anything. All that could be heard was the wind and my own breathing. I began to make my way to Twilight’s castle. If something was up, that place would both likely be the best shelter, and my best hope for finding out what the hay was going on.
As I made my way through town, I noticed something strange. All over the place, there were these discarded empty cookie boxes, the same as the one Dash had given me. There were dozens of them, scattered about all over the shop. All of them were torn open as well.
Finally, I came to the statue of Celestia near the centre of town. It was here that I finally found some ponies I knew. There was Dash, standing in the middle of the square. And by the fountain, hunched over a box of cookies, gorging themselves furiously, were Twilight and Spike. All three had their backs to me.
Dash looked okay, if a little spooked. Twilight and Spike on the other hoof, did not look well. Twilight’s coat and mane seemed to have dulled in colour. Not to monochrome levels like when Discord messed with her head, but the colour was subdued nonetheless. The same could be said of Spike; his scales had less of a sheen to them.
As I looked on at their strange behaviour, Dash called out to her two friends.
“Twilight!” she shouted, panting from exertion. “You gotta come with me to Sugarcube Corner! Something's going on with the Cakes! Well, not something exactly. I mean, it may have something to do with these joke cookies…” she trailed off for a moment.
Twilight and Spike both paused in their strange behaviour. Getting up, they slowly, and unsteadily, turned to face Rainbow Dash. What I saw freaked me out, big time.
The both of them looked decidedly unwell. Their eyes were bloodshot and their mouths were stained with a sort of rainbow colour, consisting of yellow, orange, purple and blue stripes. The pair of them moaned as if in pain, but their eyes showed no emotion. They just stared with unblinking pinprick eyes and groaned at us.
“Cookies!” they both moaned. “More cookies!”
That was more than enough for Dash and me too. Without apparently seeing me, Dash took off and bolted in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres as fast as her hooves could carry her. I meanwhile, not really thinking at this point, took of in the opposite direction.
So, SITREP; Ponyville appears to be infested with cookie obsessed zombies. That was a new one. Worse still, Twilight, the pony most likely to be able to fix things had already succumbed to the infection. I remembered the box of cookies in my own saddlebags. I quickly threw them away, in case the zombie ponies picked up the smell.
I kept running, with no particular destination in mind, only stopping when I was near the edge of town and crouched safely behind a house. What the buck was I going to do?!I’d seen more of those things on the way here. It looked as though the whole town was infected. My thoughts flew to my parents, Bones, Fluttershy; everypony I knew. Had they all fallen victim to this thing?
I tried to think of everything I could remember about zombies. These ones at least didn’t seem to move fast and couldn’t fly. So I ought to be safe on a cloud. But how did you stop them? Well, the movies always said that you had to hit them in the head to truly stop them.
I looked around; for once, my luck was in. Leaning against the back door of the house I was currently hiding behind, was a medium sized wooden cricket bat. Why it was there I have no clue; there’s no such thing as cricket in Equestria, and Dad always said that Britain’s greatest mistake was teaching foreigners how to play it. Still, it was weapon of sorts. Picking it up, I clutched it like my life depended on it.
I soon had an opportunity to test my theory too. A moment later, my hiding place was discovered. Filthy Rich, clearly infected, stumbled around the corner and moaned at me. Well, at least it was somepony I didn’t mind thumping in the head.
With one hard swing, I nailed the zombie right on the noggin. The groaning briefly became more pronounced, and then zombie Filthy fell down on the floor and stopped moving. If you’ll pardon the pun, I bowled him out. He was still alive though, since I could see him breathing, so I quickly made myself scarce.
Running out of Ponyville proper, I quickly leaped into the air again and the comparative safety it offered. I soon returned to my orbiting pattern over the town. As I climbed higher, I picked out…what I suppose you’d call a horde. There were about thirty odd zombies all heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, where Rainbow had run off to. There was no way I was taking on that lot with a cricket bat.
I thought about Bones again, and my parents. Had they been infected? Mum and Dad might not be susceptible. I tried to think about what to do.
I realised that, as far as I knew, this weird infection seemed to be confined to Ponyville, at least for the moment. I’d left Appleloosa a day ago, and there was no sign of anything going wrong down that way. I could get help.
Canterlot seemed like the best bet. The princesses and the Royal Guard were there and could surely help undo whatever the hell was going on. Heck, if I was lucky, Dad was up there too and had been out of town when this outbreak happened.
With a vague plan in my head, I changed my course and flew as fast as my wings could carry me towards Canterlot. I’m fairly sure I got close to performing a rainboom one or two times. I was really shifting along as I sped through the sky. I actually didn’t notice the six guards draw level with me.
“Hey, you there. Where the hay do you think you’re going?” a voice demanded.
I looked over and saw a white pegasus in full armour struggling to keep pace with me. I recognised him almost instantly. It was that same group of guards I’d run into a few days early. I quickly checked my headlong flight.
“Oh thank Celestia!” I exclaimed, looking to the guards that surrounded me. “Listen, there’s been some kind of outbreak in Ponyville. There’s bucking zombies walking the streets! I need you to get everypony you can together to help get things under control.” The guards all looked to each other.
“Right,” one of them said, sounding unconvinced. “You haven’t been feeling unwell have you? You haven’t had a bit of salt?” I was flabbergasted.
“What? No!” I shouted. “Listen, I need to get up to Canterlot to see the princesses.” I made to fly away but was stopped as a hoof grabbed my foreleg.
“I think you ought to come back with us to our outpost,” one of them said. “We can sort this out there.” I brushed him off.
“Are you deaf?!” I asked, exasperatedly. “I don’t have time to chit chat. I’m going up to Canterlot to warn everypony about this.”
With that, I flew away from the group. Two of them tried to block me in, the group having formed a circle around me. I quickly dodged them by diving and began to make for Canterlot. They quickly gave chase, ordering me to stop. Their reactions made no sense. You’d have thought something as serious as what I was telling them would get them to at least take a look. I was still perplexed as to why they were out here.
As it turned out, I had the speed advantage on them. Despite being guards, none of them were particularly good flyers, and they had a hard time keeping up. I even began to gain a lead. They were all going like hummingbirds, their wings flapping far too fast to be effective, I could have sworn I ever heard a buzzing sound because they were flapping so hard.
Even stranger, as I got in range of Canterlot, where they would logically catch me, the six guards suddenly broke off their pursuit and returned back the way they had come.
Still going like a bat pony out of Tartarus, I made for the castle. Landing hard at the front gates, I quickly explained to the guards on duty there that there was an emergency in Ponyville, and that I needed to see Princess Celestia immediately. Unlike the six that had chased me here, these guards quickly ushered me inside.
There was a medium sized queue to the throne room doors; petitioners to the Day Court. Being British, I dutifully took my place at the back of the line. The guards in response all but dragged me to the front and had the two on watch at the doors open them up, interrupting proceedings.
I found myself in the large, opulent throne room. A few other guards, secretarial staff, and a very surprised looking Fancy Pants turned to look at us. Princess Celestia meanwhile, looked on with calm curiosity.
“Is there a problem, my little pony?” she asked the guard that had brought me to the foot of the dais. The guard quickly explained what I had told him. Celestia turned to one of her aides.
“Fetch Captain Strong Shield down here at once,” she commanded. The pony quickly hurried off. She then turned back to me.
“I will send rescue and medical teams to Ponyville right away, Elisabeth,” she said. “And let me reassure you that your father is here, and quite well.” That was load off my mind.
“Thank you for that, your highness,” I replied, remembering my manners. “I’m just glad I ran into some guards who believed me. The ones I met near Whitetail Wood thought I was bonkers.” Celestia didn’t show it, but the two guards at her throne looked at each in other in surprise.
“Whitetail Wood?” she repeated. “What guards did you meet there?” Her voice wasn’t demanding, she merely sounded a little curious.
“I ran into about half a dozen Royal Guards somewhere between Ponyville and Canterlot. They called themselves the 8492nd Guard Unit.” Again, the two guards looked at each other, bewildered. Celestia frowned.
“Hmm, that is strange,” Celestia muttered. At the moment, Strong Shield came into the throne room. “Ah, Captain Strong Shield.” The disguised changeling saluted the princess.
“You sent for me, your highness?” he asked. Celestia summarised the situation.
“I want you to take Elisabeth and six of your best ponies down to Ponyville. Find out what is happening down there and report back .Rescue ponies in distress if possible.” Strong Shield nodded in understanding.
A few minutes later and I was flying back toward Ponyville with Strong Shield and six other guardsponies by my side. I was quite glad Princess Celestia had picked Strong Shield. I sort of know him through both my brother and my dad. Other than Shining Armor, I can’t think of any other guard I trust more.
Our small group was fairly quiet as we steadily got closer to Ponyville. For me though, the silence was deafening. Dad might have been alright, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Mum, Bones, Fluttershy and all my friends still in town. To try and distract myself I started talking to Strong Shield.
“What was up with Princess Celestia and the other guards back there?” I asked. Strong Shield turned to look at me.
“What do you mean?” he replied.
“When I told her about that group of guards I ran into, she looked surprised. So did a few of the guards there.” Strong Shield had just missed that conversation, and was a bit out of the loop.
“What group of guards?” he enquired. I quickly explained about the 8492nd. Strong Shield too got a look of confusion.
“Well, I can see why they were all so confused, kid,” he said. “There is no 8492nd Guard Unit. Heck, as far as I know, there isn’t any unit in Equestria’s military with that number.”
“So who were they then?” I asked, suddenly fearful, particularly when I remembered how they’d tried to get me to follow them to Whitetail Wood. Strong Shield shrugged his shoulders.
“No idea,” he replied. “We’ll worry about that later. Right now we’ve got bigger problems.”
That we did. We had a town full of zombies to deal with. At least I still had cricket bat.
However, as we descended down towards the town and flew over town hall, I couldn’t help but notice more than a few obvious changes.
For one thing, the previously overcast sky was now clear, just as it was supposed to be. Second, the town was no longer deathly silent. And third, Ponyville’s high street was filled with dozens of perfectly alive, non-zombie ponies. Including ones I’d seen mindlessly feasting on cookies not a half hour ago. My reaction was therefore understandable.
“What the buck?!” I exclaimed, causing a couple mothers to cover their foals’ ears and glare at me in annoyance. Strong Shield looked at me curiously.
“But…but,” I stammered in bewilderment. “They were zombies!” Strong Shield snorted.
“Those don’t look like zombies to me, kid,” he replied. “Maybe we ought to get you to a doctor after all.”
It made no sense. I’d seen it all with my own two eyes. I wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating. For pony’s sake, I still had a bit of blood on my coat from when I nailed that zombie in the jaw. How could everything suddenly be alright again?
Luckily for me, things were about to become abundantly clear. Right on cue, Thunderlane swooped in and joined our little formation.
“Lizzie! You’re back!” he exclaimed. “We were starting to get a bit worried about you.” I was too frazzled to say much back. Strong Shield had a few questions though.
“Sir, this may sound a little crazy, but have there been any…zombies around here lately?” Thunderlane laughed and, to my relief, nodded his head.
“Oh, is that why you guys are here?” Thunderlane replied off hoofedly. “Yeah, Pinkie Pie put together a little prank to get back at Rainbow Dash and we all pitched in; something to do with some cookies of hers.”
At Thunderlane’s explanation, I felt equal amounts of relief, embarrassment and anger. On the one hand, nopony was a zombie. But I had probably sent all of Canterlot into a panic with my report and now I looked deeply stupid. Seeing my curious state, Thunderlane tried to talk to me.
“Hey, Lizzie, you okay?” he asked. “You’ve, er, you’ve got a bit of red on your coat, just there.” He pointed to my chest.
Wait a minute. If nopony was a zombie….then Filthy….oh boy.
Luckily, with help from Twilight and my dad, I was able to get things straightened out. And Filthy was kind enough not to press charges for my little assault. Although he did send me the bill for his filling,
Apparently, not long after I left, Pinkie, having found out about Rainbow’s plan to prank the town with joke cookies that left a rainbow coloured mess on your mouth, decided to hoist Rainbow with her own petard. Getting everypony in on the act, she had them all pretend to act like zombies. So Dash thought her joke cookies had caused it all. And then, right before she thought she was about to be eaten by cookie obsessed zombies, they revealed their huge prank to her. The whole point was to show her how some pranks are neither funny nor particularly nice if you aren’t in on them.
Unfortunately, Pinkie hadn’t accounted for my arrival halfway through the production. I was just as fooled as Rainbow was. The end result was that Dash was taught a lesson, I was somewhat embarrassed, and Princess Celestia was apparently laughing herself silly about the whole thing.
And dear God the jokes. For about a month afterwards, both Rainbow and I were subjected to zombie related jokes from Flight and the others. Even Dewdrop and Fluttershy good naturedly poked fun at us. Still, eventually things moved on, though I’d rather not undergo a repeat performance.
Even today though, when Dad really wants to get under my skin, he’ll point innocently at my coat and remark;
“You’ve got red on you.” And then he suggests we go to the pub.
Daytime drinking doesn’t carry the same social penalties in Britain as it does in America. As long as you don’t go overboard and start downing shots at half past twelve, people don’t mind as a rule. Equestria, or at least Ponyville, seems to have a similar outlook, since the one tavern in town, owned by Berry Punch, is open most of the day. The place also has some halfway decent pub food as well. So, sometimes, when I’ve not got anything else on my plate, I head down there for a drink with my lunch.
I’m also usually lucky enough to run into somepony I know while I’m there. It’s a lot like where I used to live before. Ponyville is a small town where everypony knows everypony. Even around lunchtime, that small tavern is usually fairly busy with the lunch rush and its regulars. It’s certainly got a nice atmosphere.
The place could almost pass for an old English pub, or rather a pub in Trottingham. In contrast to Ponyville’s usual architectural style, the tavern is mainly dark wood and heavy stone on the inside. The bar is a dark mahogany, with a mixture of stone flags and wooden boards underfoot. There are a few barstools, but there are also quite a few booths with tables for four. And in the far corner is a large fireplace, which Berry gets going in the winter.
Pushing open the heavy oak door, I stepped inside. The smell of food and alcohol hit me as I made my way through the slightly dark entry passage. Another, lighter door opened out into the tap room. It was quite busy, with plenty of ponies chattering away and making a fair racket as they did so.
My eyes soon adjusted to the slightly lower light compared to outside, and I made my way over to the bar. Berry was behind it, as usual. Sometimes in the evening, if it’s quiet and not too rowdy, she’ll have her daughter help her out, although she’s careful to keep her away from the booze. Berry has a light purple coat and a dark pink mane. Unsurprisingly, her cutie mark is grapes. She does after all, have quite the knack when it comes to wine. She even managed to make Mum a decent replica of Calvados for her birthday last year.
“Afternoon, Berry,” I called out as I walked up to the bar. Berry looked up from cleaning glasses.
“Oh, hello there, Lizzie,” she replied in kind. “What can I get for you?” I took a quick glance at what was behind the bar. Ponies don’t seem to have invented the beer tap yet.
There were a couple of decent wines, red and whites, some strong spirits, but that’s more Bones’ thing than mine, and of course, the old standby; Sweet Apple Acres cider. Everypony loves that stuff, I can tell you, especially Rainbow Dash. I can guarantee that if you promised Dash cider, she’d do pretty much anything you asked of her.
“Glass of red please, Berry,” I said, placing a few bits on the counter. Berry nodded and fetched a glass and a bottle.
“Busy week?” she asked as she poured. I nodded. Berry was a proper bartender, and consequently knew almost everypony’s deepest secrets. Not that she would tell a soul.
“Yeah, I suppose so,” I replied. “Cloudchaser put herself in the hospital on Wednesday; nothing too serious, just a bad sprain on her wing. But it still left us one pony down though. Mind you, it was funny how she did it. The silly mare flew right through Dash’s wake; slammed right into a cloud.” Berry barked a short laugh.
“Well, at least you’ll be able to tease her about something if she ever brings up that cookie business again.” I smiled at that and took a sip of my drink.
“That was getting a tad old. As if I don’t feel embarrassed enough for bringing half the Royal Guard down here.” Berry’s expression changed now to be a little more serious.
“Hey, speaking of,” she said, pointing to one of the booths at the far end of the room. “That Captain Strong Shield came in here about twenty minutes ago with your dad. I heard them talking about something to do with changelings.”
“Changelings?” I asked. Strong Shield was one after all, so was my Dad’s dog. Maybe Berry just heard that? Still, why would they both be talking about changelings anyway? I quickly picked out the pair sitting down together.
“Hmm, that is strange, Berry,” I agreed, getting to my hooves. “I’ll go see if I can find out what’s up.”
Carefully holding my glass of wine between two of my feathers (which actually can act a lot like fingers at times) I trotted over to the pair. Strong Shield was out of uniform, since his coat was now a dark blue colour not that different from my own. Dad too was dressed fairly casually, rather than in his suit, which he’d wear if he was on business.
“Hey, Dad,” I said as I trotted over. Strong Shield started. I’d inadvertently approached him from his blind side, so he hadn’t seen me. Turning his head though, he flashed me a friendly smile.
“Sure,” I replied. “I did bring him and half the Royal Guard down here once.” Dad smiled kindly at me.
“What are you guys doing here though?” I asked curiously. Dad looked around briefly and then spoke to me in a lowered voice.
“We were just chatting about Thorax,” he replied.
“Who?” I asked curiously. Strong Shield explained.
“Ain’t you heard the scuttlebutt yet, kid?” he said. “They found a lone changeling up in the Crystal Empire; a friendly one.”
“A friendly one?” I repeated. “Is there such a thing?” I caught myself a second too late, remembering that the pony I was addressing was a changeling himself.
“Er, sorry,” I apologised. “No offence.” Strong Shield waved a hoof and laughed.
“None taken,” he replied. “But what I meant was that this changeling doesn’t want to steal love. He left the hive on his own, like me and tried to hide out in the empire. Shining Armor caught him and spooked him out into the tundra.” Dad continued.
“Shining called his sister and Spike up there to help find him. After all, Spike’s something of a hero up there.” Strong Shield stifled a laugh. “He actually managed to find this Thorax chap. By all accounts, the guy’s nothing like other changelings. He’s a bit like Strong Shield here; a dissident. Only he’s a drone rather than a soldier.”
“So what happened?” I asked, taking a seat next to Dad.
“Well, Spike managed to convince everypony, including Shining that Thorax was alright. He actually wants to share love, rather than take it. Even Strong Shield here occasionally pilfers a bit of love form ponies. It’s like he’s somehow managed to overcome his natural instincts.
“There was a bit of a misunderstanding when they let him near Flurry Heart, but with Spike’s help, Cadence offered Thorax citizenship in the Crystal Empire. Twilight’s now hoping that this may eventually lead to peace with the changelings as a race.”
I let out a low whistle. Changelings were the only real enemy Equestria had aside from the occasional monster attack. Peace with them would be like the Berlin Wall coming down. There’d be advantages for both sides.
“If that happened, I guess you could finally go back to the hive, Strong Shield,” I said. The one eyed guard shook his head.
“No way am I going back there, kid,” he replied firmly. “I didn’t leave the hive because I disagreed with stealing love. I left because of the way our soldiers acted during the attack on Canterlot. Besides, I’ve burned my bridges when it comes to the hive. I’ve built a life here in Equestria. Plus, think of all the ramifications if I suddenly revealed myself as a changeling. Even if we were at peace, there’d be an uproar. No, I’m better off sticking where I am.”
“Don’t you have any family or friends back there though?” I asked.
“You do realise who my mother is, right?” Strong Shield replied flatly. I thought for a moment before I remembered that only one being in an insect hive breeds. Yeah, I could see his point; his mother was public enemy number one in Equestria.
“As for friends,” Strong Shield went on. “Like I said before, they wouldn’t want to see me. Here on the other hoof, I’ve got Shining and his wife, the princesses, your dad, your brother, and a few other ponies to call friends. If there ever is a peace, I may go back and visit the old place, but it won’t be the same hive I left. That’s the price of defection; you can never go home again, no matter what.”
Pausing in his speech, he took a swig of his drink. It seemed as though Dad had talked him into a pint of bitter. Changelings can after all consume food, although it doesn’t replace their need for love energy.
“Still,” my dad replied, nursing his own beer. “You’ve got to admit this is an interesting development. I’ve always hoped for symbiosis with changelings; let them feed off willing ponies rather than making them steal. But sharing love? It sounds almost too good to be true.”
“That’s what worries me,” Strong Shield said, nodding. “I remember this Thorax guy from back when I was still in the hive. He was always a weird changeling. If his big brother hadn’t looked out for him, he wouldn’t have lasted long. The guy never really had the instincts of a predator. He was more like a pony really. As much as I hate to say it, I think this might all just be one odd bug crossing the lines.”
“Eh, the path to peace begins with one man putting down his gun, Strong Shield,” my dad countered.
“Yeah,” I added. “Maybe that one changeling could go back to the hive and convince others to join him.”
“That’s what Thorax said he might do,” Strong Shield agreed. “But still, I have my doubts.” Dad shrugged and finished his drink.
“Well, time will tell, my friend,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
As he said that, I finished off my own drink.
“And on that note, I’d best be heading off; stuff to do. Is it okay if I tell other ponies about this, Dad?” I asked. He nodded.
“Sure, it’s already in the papers up north. Just be careful you don’t start a panic with the word ‘changeling’.” I smiled at that.
“Right, I’ll stay away from Rose and her sisters.”
Taking my glass back to the bar, I thanked Berry for the drink. As I was about to leave however, another pony came in; a stallion draped in a trench coat. He swayed around unsteadily. Atop his head, pretty much covering his face was a large fedora. For a moment, I feared I was in the presence of Equestria’s answer to the neckbeard. As it turned out though, it was something much more funny.
Berry looked up from behind the bar and spotted the new, seemingly already drunk customer. Instead of taking their order though, she galloped over to the far corner of the bar and grabbed a broom. With little warning, she began swinging it at this odd stallion.
To my amazement and surprise, the stallion let out a very colt like scream and suddenly seemed to separate. The trench coat collapsed to the floor and out from it shot three frightened colts, all far too young to be in here unaccompanied. They all quickly disappeared out the door.
“You’ll have to come up with a better disguise than that, Button Mash!” Berry shouted after them. “You and Snips and Snails! I catch you trying to sneak in again and I’m telling your mother!” I couldn’t help but laughing.
“Sweet Celestia, Berry!” I exclaimed. “What was all that about?” Berry smiled and shook her head.
“Those damn colts, they keep trying to sneak into the bar. As if I can’t recognise three colts stacked on top of each other under a trench coat. That and they need to learn that grown up ponies don’t walk up to the bar and order ‘an alcohol’.” I smiled.
“Geez, and I thought the Cutie Mark Crusaders were bad.”
Saying goodbye to the landlady, I headed back outside.
Having heard that it was Spike who was responsible for befriending Thorax, I decided to head over to the library to say hi to him.
A lot of ponies don’t give Spike the credit he deserves if you ask me. Half the time, when Twilight or Starlight are dealing with a friendship problem, it will be the young baby dragon who acts as the voice of reason. More times than I can count he’s been the one to rein Twilight in and calm her down when she gets stressed out. And let’s be honest, if Twilight didn’t have Spike, she’d last about a week. He cooks, cleans, helps organise the library, and even does a fair bit of shopping.
And then of course, there’s his legendary status in the Crystal Empire. I don’t know all the details, but somehow it was Spike who managed to recover the Crystal Heart. And that was enough to not only defeat, but outright destroy the evil King Sombra. Twilight was stuck in one of the dark unicorns traps, Princess Cadence was magically exhausted, and Shining Armor had had his magic temporarily disabled. So Spike was the proverbial last man standing. When it was all over, the crystal ponies went ape for the little dragon, conferring on him the title of ‘Spike the Brave and Glorious’. He even has a statue made from crystal standing in the square outside the Crystal Palace.
And from what Dad and Strong Shield had told me, it sounded as though he had once again been the voice of reason when it came to Thorax. I later learned that Shining Armor was outright hostile to the idea of accepting Thorax at first. He even decried the idea of a nice changeling as an oxymoron. Like Bones, he does take something of a dim view of that species. However, just as Bones did, he’s begun to get past his demons. If there is to be a lasting peace between ponies and changelings, it will require effort on both sides.
Trotting down the road, I soon came upon Twilight’s castle. As usual, the front door was unlocked for library patrons, as well as ponies who wanted to see Twilight. I’m surprised she still keeps the castle so accessible. After all, if she’d had the sense to get a deadbolt, Starlight might not have had the chance to go wandering through time.
Heading inside, I found myself in the large open hallway. At the moment, the map was inactive, and appeared only as a large round table, surrounded by seven chairs. The seventh I should point out, belongs to Spike. Evidently the Tree of Harmony saw something in him as well.
“Hello? Anypony home?” I called out, my voice echoing slightly. I heard hooves on the crystal floor, and a few moments later, Twilight appeared.
“Hey there, Lizzie,” she greeted. “What brings you here?” I quickly explained.
“I ran into Dad and Captain Strong Shield at the bar, they told me what happened up in the Crystal Empire, so I thought I’d drop by to say hello to Spike.” The alicorn smiled at that.
“Oh, great,” she replied. “I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you. He’s in the library at the moment helping me with some new additions.”
Twilight led me down the corridor into the expansive library. It makes her old treehouse library look like a bookmobile. There’s actually a fair amount of stuff in here that's useful for me. Back when I was still learning the ropes with weather work, Dash and I spent a fair bit of time with our noses in books (although she tended to read Daring Do while I studied).
Spike was up a ladder, organising a stack of books almost as large as himself. They mostly seemed to be relating to magic (surprise, surprise). Walking in to the room, I called out to him.
“Hi Spike,” I called out. The little dragon started for a moment, nearly losing his balance on the ladder, before turning round to see me and Twilight.
“Oh, hi, Lizzie,” he said, climbing down to ground level and waddling over to the two of us. “Looking for something on weather?” I shook my head.
“No, Spike,” I replied kindly. “I’m here to see you. Dad told me what you did up in the Crystal Empire. Peace in our time, eh?” Spike tilted his head for a moment.
“Eh, what?” he asked, before realising what I meant. “Oh, you’re talking about Thorax, right?” I nodded.
“Dad says it’s going to be all over the news by tomorrow. I’d say you’ll be the toast of the town.” Spike blushed at that. I decided to tease him a little. “And I’m sure Rarity will be impressed too.” That only made his blush deepen and caused Twilight to giggle.
“Aw, it was nothing really,” Spike replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Sure it was, Spike,” I countered. “Don’t be so modest. You not only found Thorax, but you made friends with him and convinced everypony else that he was alright too. Hay, you even got Princess Cadence and Shining Armor to listen to you. Even Twilight here wasn’t sure about Thorax.”
“That is true, Spike,” Twilight agreed, a little uncomfortably. After all, she was supposed to be the Princess of Friendship. At that moment, an idea seemed to form in Twilight’s mind.
“You know, Spike,” she said. “It has been a couple of weeks since Thorax became a citizen of the Crystal Empire. Maybe you could go up there and visit him; see how he’s adjusting?”
Spike was about to reply, when all of a sudden, he let out a loud burp, quickly followed by a large flame. I actually had to duck to avoid the mini firestorm. The green fire whirled around over my head before forming into a scroll, which was kind enough to land right between my ears. It was a letter from the princess. I’d almost forgotten about Spike’s odd ability to send and receive messages.
Grabbing the letter in her magic, Twilight read the message over, while Spike apologised for almost roasting my head. A few moments later, Twilight told us what was up.
“Princess Celestia wants me to come up to Canterlot to help her in some of her royal duties,” she explained with a sad expression. “Sorry, Spike. But I’m afraid we’ll have to go and see Thorax another time.” Spike wilted at that. Twilight seemed a little sad too. While she does love being around her mentor, she also jumps at any chance she gets to see her family, particularly her new niece.
“Dang it!” Spike exclaimed in half irritation. A moment later though, he thought of a solution. “Wait a minute, can’t Starlight take me?” Twilight however, shook her head.
“I’m afraid not Spike. She’s visiting Trixie.” At the mention of the showmare, Twilight’s expression darkened. While the mare may no longer be evil, Twilight can’t stand her overbearing nature and maintains a rivalry with her. In any case, Starlight wasn’t available either, so Spike became sad again. There was one other option I could think of.
“I could always take him,” I suggested, smiling down at the little dragon. Twilight looked up from her thoughts.
“Really?” she asked curiously. I nodded.
“Sure,” I replied. “I’ve got a few days off, I wouldn’t mind going up to the Crystal Empire for a day or two. Plus I wouldn’t mind meeting Thorax.”
Spike looked at twilight excitedly. The young alicorn thought for a moment before deciding.
“Well, if you’re sure, Lizzie.” That was enough for Spike who hugged my foreleg in thanks.
“We can set off first thing tomorrow, Spike,” I said.
The next day saw me and Spike waiting on the platform. We’d only be up there for a day trip, so I didn’t have any bags with me. I considered simply flying up there, with Spike on my back. But given his species cold blooded nature, I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea. I certainly didn’t want to go back to Twilight and explain that her number one assistant had frozen to death.
The only real disappointment had been that Dewdrop had not been able to come with us. Ever since our first real date, he’s wanted to take me to visit the Crystal Empire and see their version of the northern lights. But luck was not on our side. While I might have had a few days off, he was stuck in training with Thunderlane. The two of us had talked about it and he had agreed that I was doing the right thing taking Spike up there. He just made me promise that the next time we both had leave at the same time we’d head up there for a few days.
Before too long, the train pulled into the station, and Spike and I clambered aboard. I’d gotten us both a basic day return that would get us to the Crystal Empire and back for a decent price. It was actually quite nice to chat with Spike on the way up there. I don’t see him too often, but he’s a smart cookie when it comes down to it. He told me that at the moment, Thorax was staying in the palace along with Sunburst, who as far as I can work out, is something like Flurry Heart’s godfather.
Now, normally, you’d be hard pressed to get inside that palace without an appointment. But given that I was travelling with a national hero of the Empire, I figured we’d be able to get in without too much trouble.
Before long, the green open fields of Equestria gave way to the icy tundra of the Frozen North. The snow was thick here, and more than once the train jolted as it ploughed through a particularly bad snowdrift. A bad storm was blowing outside, and I was glad I’d opted to pay for the train rather than risk my own neck.
Soon after though, the snowstorm began to subside as we drew near to the borders of the Crystal Empire. The magic of the Crystal Heart shields the whole city from the icy weather, making the place seem as if it’s in the height of summer. It certainly makes for a strange photograph; green fields with the backdrop of a snowstorm. We soon found ourselves coming to a stop at the train station; the last stop on the line. Beyond the Empire lay only more ice and the Yaks, who had little interest in railways.
Following Spike, I stepped onto the platform along with everypony else. Imagine my surprise when I saw who had been sent to meet us. Standing there, in the flesh, was Shining Armor; Prince of the Crystal Empire, and Royal Consort to Princess Cadence (a title he takes great pleasure boasting about). If he wasn’t a royal figure, he would no doubt appear alongside Soarin on Playcolt centrefolds.
“Spike!” the white unicorn called out. “Great to see you, buddy!” The little dragon briefly hugged his adoptive older brother. The Captain of Canterlot’s Royal Guard then turned his attention to me.
“Thanks for bringing Spike here, Lizzie,” he said gratefully. “Thorax was so pleased when he heard the two of you were coming to visit.”
“Oh…no worries, your highness,” I replied with a slight stutter. “I’m just sorry Twilight couldn’t come.” Shining smiled.
“Please, Lizzie,” you’re friends with my sister. You can just call me Shining.” I was thankful for the dark colour of my coat, as it did a good job of hiding my blush.
“Anyway,” Spike broke in excitedly. “Let’s head up to the palace and see Thorax.”
I’ve met two changelings in my life; Strong Shield and ‘Charlie’. Neither of them go about without a disguise though. Changelings in their natural form are just a tad unsettling to me, with black chitin, flimsy thin wings, and those creepy eyes with no pupils. It’s hard to work out what they’re looking at. That and the hissing and the serpent like tongue. So, you’ll forgive me if I was a little nervous. I knew that Thorax was alright, I guess it was just a natural fear to be afraid of something that could suck the love right out of you.
Shaking my head, I tried my best to set aside those kinds of thoughts. Thorax wasn’t like that. Heck, he was the exact opposite of that. He didn’t want to steal or sneak about. For pony’s sake, Shining Armor accepted him! I tried to focus more on my own curiosity. While Thorax might look a little frightening, he was also a source of tons of information. While I may not be an academic like Bones, I did have a couple questions I wanted answers to when it came to Changelings. And, let’s not forget, I was only really here to keep an eye on Spike.
Following Shining Armor, we soon reached the large towering spires of the palace. It’s certainly a sight to behold, even in the daylight. Come night time, it gets all lit up and shines out against the darkening sky.
Heading inside, we passed a few guards here and there, similar to those in Canterlot, but they were all Crystal ponies instead of pegasi. As we walked through the hallways, Shining Armor explained what was happening.
“Thorax has been living here for a couple weeks now,” he said. “Cadence and Sunburst have both been helping him adapt to living with ponies.”
“Must be challenging,” I replied. “For both sides.” Shining nodded.
“Twilight always says that best way for different groups to understand one another is to talk,” Spike offered. “We’ve a lot to learn from the changelings, just as they do from us.” See what I mean? Wisdom beyond his years.
We soon came to a set of large double doors that apparently led to one of the suites in the palace. Shining Armor knocked and a moment later the door opened.
I was actually a little surprised. I guess in my mind, I’d been conjuring up the stereotypical image of a changeling. Thorax was a little different. He actually reminded me of Dewdrop in a way. He was a little on the small side, with a fairly shy manner about him. His voice to was a far cry from the buzzing or gruff tone I’d expected.
“Oh, hi there, Shining,” he greeted before spotting Spike behind him. He smiled brightly at the little dragon and quickly ran over to hug him.
“Spike!” he exclaimed happily. “What are you doing here?” A moment later, he sat Spike back down.
“I thought I’d come and visit you; see how you were doing,” Spike explained. “Twilight let me come up here with a friend.” The two of them turned to me, Thorax noticing my presence for the first time.
“Lizzie, this is Thorax. Thorax, Lizzie,” Spike introduced us to one another. Thorax smiled and waved at me.
“Hi there,” he said, a little nervously.
“Nice to meet you, Thorax,” I replied with my own wave. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Spike.” Shining now broke into the conversation.
“Say, Spike,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to work now. But you three are welcome to go and have some lunch in the banquet hall.”
“Thanks, Shining,” Spike said, hugging his adoptive big brother again. Shining then trotted off.
A little while later, the three of us were sitting down in the banquet hall over lunch. Since Thorax had chosen not to consume love anymore, he was also eating solid food, although he preferred a distinctly unique diet. I had a friend in university who ate bugs as well, believe it or not.
After a few minutes chatting together, the ice was broken and we opened up to each other. Thorax was a really nice guy. Like I said; a little shy, and possibly batting for the other team, but he was a far cry from one of Chrysalis’ brood. I could certainly see why Dad was so interested. Sitting here with Thorax, it was as if I were just talking to a regular pony.
Sorry, that sounds really racist, doesn’t it?
What I mean is that I could see, just as Spike had, how Thorax could be a step in the right direction towards peace. There was a bit of a problem though.
“Oh, I could never go back there,” Thorax said, with a shudder. “I left the hive because I couldn’t stand the way we changelings just stole our food from ponies and other species.”
“But you’re the only changeling who’s ever been like this Thorax,” Spike replied. “Think about it; for all we know, there are others like you in the hive, too frightened to talk about the way they feel.”
“He’s right, Thorax,” I agreed. “Dissent begins with one person recognising that the way things are done isn’t working and offering an alternative. But it will most likely be hard to change the views of other changelings, particularly Chrysalis.”
It also probably didn’t help that the psycho bitch had a vendetta against Twilight, her friends, Cadence, and the other princesses for her own stupid plan failing. Seriously, Bones told me all about it. The silly cow got cocky and turned her back on her opponents to bucking sing! The only pony at fault was her.
“I hope though that other changelings will start to leave the hive like I did,” Thorax went on, sounding hopeful. “I can’t be the only one who saw that what we were doing wasn’t working.” I nodded, wiping my mouth with a napkin. Looking to Spike, who nodded to me, I decided to let Thorax in on a little secret.
“You know, Thorax,” I said. “You might be the first changeling to claim asylum in the Crystal Empire, but you’re not the first to leave the hive.” Thorax tilted his head, curiously. Spike explained things to him.
“Do you remember, back when the changelings attacked Canterlot?” he asked. Thorax nodded, wincing slightly at the memory. “Well, a changeling decided to switch sides back then; one of the changelings sent to infiltrate the Royal Guard. He kept his true nature secret afterwards, and even after he was exposed to a few ponies, including Lizzie, he stayed in Canterlot, working for the princesses. He calls himself Strong Shield now.” Thorax put a hoof to his chin in thought.
“I do remember something happening to one of the infiltrators,” he said slowly. “Something about him losing an eye in the battle and getting left behind.”
“Take a guess who’s responsible for that,” I said, my meaning obvious. Thorax gasped. “He’s had some hard days, and he does have to keep what he is a secret, but Strong Shield is able to live with ponies, and even command them. I don’t see why you can’t do the same. Only you won’t have to wear a mask.”
Spike and I stayed the rest of the afternoon. The conversation moved away from the difficult questions of assimilating into pony culture and whether or not the hive as a whole could change, to more mundane things. Apparently, Spike has been teaching Thorax how to play the Equestrians’ version of Dungeons and Dragons. The three of us spent a few hours helping him get his character created. I even had a go myself. It’s not really my cup of tea, but it was fun, and nice for Thorax to have somepony else who was just as clueless as he was.
All in all, I was glad I’d made the journey up here. Thorax and Strong Shield were like opposite sides of the same coin. One of them assimilated and kept his true nature hidden from all but a select few, the other was openly a changeling, but one that had chosen to live under a different set of values. Two different possible paths to peace.
As the early evening rolled around, the two of us said our goodbyes. It was a shame we didn’t get to see Cadence or little Flurry Heart, but they were both busy with Sunburst, Flurry’s sort of godfather, who was helping her learn to control the surges of her alicorn magic. After all, we couldn’t have her shattering the Crystal Heart and nearly destroying the Empire every time she cried, now could we?
Thorax came down to the railway station to see us off. Much to Spike’s satisfaction, nopony batted an eye around the changeling. The crystal ponies were more concerned with meeting their national hero.
Getting on board, we waved our goodbyes. I even suggested that Thorax might come and visit Ponyville once he got himself settled here. It might be nice for him and Strong Shield to cross paths.
The doors soon slammed shut and Spike and I were on our way home. It had been a long day, considering that today was my day off. Still, at least tomorrow was the start of the weekend, and it would be fairly quiet.
Chapter 14 - These Aren't the Ponies You're Looking For
Starlight Glimmer has now been living in Ponyville for just under six months. The stares have stopped, as have the whispers about her old cultish behaviour. With the passing of time, and only a few minor hiccups, Ponyville has come to accept her. Still, if you ask me, while she may no longer be evil per se, she does have a long way to go when it comes to friendship and understanding it.
She has one main fault really; she tries to use magic in the place of friendship. Now friendship may be magic, but that doesn’t mean one ought to be used in the place of the other. I remember Bones telling me that, before Starlight met and befriended Trixie, Twilight tried to introduce her to a few ponies around town. One of those ponies was Big Mac.
As we all know, Big Mac is…well, he’s a quiet guy. He has plenty to say according to both his sisters, only he chooses not to. Well, Starlight obviously wasn’t a fan of standing in silence when they were introduced. So, rather than talk and spend time with Mac to get him to open up, or maybe accept him for who he is, she cast a spell on him that forced him to talk non-stop.
I was on patrol over the orchards when it happened, and I saw the terrified stallion galloping away for Starlight hell for leather, begging anypony to make him stop talking. That’s her big problem if you ask me, she views magic as a quick fix to everything, rather than as an aid. Don’t get me wrong, once upon a time, Twilight had the exact same problem. And if I’m honest, the incident I’m about to relate was no worse than when Twilight cast a ‘Want it, Need it’ spell on the town when she got worked up over finding a friendship problem. I guess it was made a bit more serious by the fact that Starlight meant to do what she did, and she saw no problem with it.
Let me explain.
Twilight had for several months been tutoring Starlight, in a way not too dissimilar to the way she’d taught my brother. Although, while she helped my brother learn about magic and how to use it, with Starlight the subject was friendship, which if you ask me is far more complicated that any spell or incantation.
So far, she’d had mixed success. Starlight had been able to reconnect with her foalhood friend Sunburst (who I hear she may like as more than a friend) during Flurry Heart’s Crystalling and the slight disaster that accompanied it. She’s also made peace with her former followers back in the town she created. Her biggest stride though, was meeting and befriending Trixie. Although Twilight was less than pleased with the unicorn’s choice of best friend, she still accepted it.
Since then though, Starlight has sort of stagnated. She hasn’t gone back to her old ways or anything, but I rarely see her with Twilight on friendship lessons. She prefers to work on her already impressive magical abilities. A laudable goal, but not what Twilight is looking for. After all, it was using magic in the place of friendship that led her to run her crazy Equality cult.
I briefly bumped into them one morning as I was flying my morning route. Let me tell you, a unicorn is not something you expect to see when you’re a couple thousand feet up. Bones has told me about Starlight’s flight spell. He can even do it himself, although he says it’s very impractical and a wear on your magic. It’s actually a form of self-levitation, only Starlight can get herself up a lot higher than most, as it requires more power.
As I was buzzing along, the unicorn suddenly rose up into my flight path like a Harrier jet. Slightly below her was Twilight, following with her own alicorn wings.
“Starlight! Look out!” Twilight shouted out. Starlight spotted me seconds too late.
I banked as hard as I could, but there wasn’t enough room. The two of us collided with a fair amount of force. Ironically, if it all went to court, I’d probably get the blame, since Starlight was stationary in the air. Crashing into Starlight sideways caused my left wing to take the brunt of the impact. While the sky hog unicorn managed to keep her magic active, I lost all semblance of lift and, with a slightly injured wing, went tumbling from the sky.
Fortunately, I was able to straighten myself out before I bit the dust, and Twilight followed me down as well. I’m sure if I’d gotten into real trouble, she’d step in to help. As I stabilised, with one wing definitely sprained, Twilight appeared opposite me, concern on her face.
“Lizzie, I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed. “Are you alright?” I took a look at my wing. While it hurt to push it too far, I could still flap.
“Nothing a bit of rest won’t fix, Twilight,” I replied. “Although I’d suggest in future you keep your student on the ground. She might be able to fly, but she doesn’t seem to have much spacial awareness.” Twilight winced at that.
“Starlight was just showing me how her flight spell worked,” she explained. “Believe it or not, she’s actually shown me a thing or two I didn’t know about magic. But I’m sorry she caused you to crash.” At that moment, Starlight joined us, floating down in her own magic.
“You really ought to be more careful flying around like that,” she said, rubbing her shoulder. I narrowed my eyes at her and Twilight cast a withering glare in Starlight’s direction. She then turned back to me.
“Sorry,” she said again. “How about tomorrow you drop by the castle for lunch?” I smiled at that. See Starlight, you mouthy cow, that’s called apologising for being a unicorn that’s in the sky when she shouldn’t be! I suppose I should add to my criticisms that, at times, Starlight is socially tone deaf.
The two mares descended out of my field of vision, heading for the ground, where most unicorns belong. Meanwhile, I went and found a nice cloud to rest up on for a few minutes. I’ve got some first aid training from the Weather Patrol; mandatory course and everything. And based on the pain, I was fairly sure nothing was broken. Just to be safe though, I decided to pop down to the hospital and get myself checked out. My morning patrol could wait.
A quick visit to Nurse Redheart gave me a clean bill of health. However, Redheart did instruct me to rest up for a day or so, since I had indeed sprained my wing. Short flights were fine, but a full day at work would most likely exacerbate the injury. So, I had to go and find Dash and tell her she’d be a pony down tomorrow. She wasn’t best pleased, even less so when I explained why I was walking wounded.
Like me, she doesn’t see Starlight as evil any more, but she does see her as a bit of a walking talking safety hazard. Sure, you could say the same thing about Dash, but the worst she’s ever done intentionally is…well.
Okay, bad example.
Long story short, I was out of the game for a day or so. Luckily the schedule was fairly quiet at the moment, and we’d had practice working short one pony when Dash was off on her Wonderbolts training sessions, which occasionally clashed with her obligation at the patrol. Obviously, Bolt trumped Weather Patrol. So at least my temporary absence wouldn’t be too much trouble.
And at least I had something to do tomorrow to occupy myself. I suppose you could call it tea with the princess if you wanted, although few ponies call her anything other than Twilight. Still, it would be nice to see her again; she’s been meaning to do something for me since I took Spike up north to see Thorax. I know I spent a fair bit of time just hanging around the cottage when I first got here, but nowadays, if I’m cooped up in there too long, I start going a bit stir crazy. So as I said, I was glad that I wouldn’t just be sitting idle.
Having told Dash what was going on, I made for home. It was still fairly early in the afternoon; school was just about to let out. I soon passed over the town and decided to walk the last part of my journey to the cottage. I didn’t need to fly, and my legs could use the exercise. Plus, it gave me a chance to stop and smell the roses, along with all the other flowers that dotted the route home.
Fluttershy was tending to the chickens when I got back. My friend was quick to spot the bandage on my wing; something Redheart assured me was just a precaution. She quickly flew over to see what was the matter. I quickly reassured her, telling her about my literal run in with Starlight. Fluttershy frowned at that.
“Well, I’ll certainly be having words with Starlight when I see her tomorrow,” she said, puffing out her chest indignantly.
“What are you going to see Starlight for?” I asked. Surely she wasn’t just going because of that. Had the unicorn done something to one of her animal friends? If she had…Celestia have mercy on the poor mare’s soul.
“Oh, she was supposed to come by and help my take care of some of the animals,” Fluttershy replied. “But she keeps putting it off to study magic. I think Twilight’s told her to do it tomorrow. She stopped by and invited me to come to the castle tomorrow with a few of the animals.”
“Well, that’s lucky,” I replied with a smile. “Twilight invited me up to the castle tomorrow by way of an apology. We can go together.”
The next morning, Fluttershy and I headed out to the castle, with Fluttershy escorting a fair share of her animal friends. She was a little worried about finding the right habitat for some of them, who were ready to go back into the wild. With any luck, Starlight could bond with her over that, after all, she was quite the polymath like Twilight.
I meanwhile, was looking forward to catching up with twilight. It had been a few weeks since I’d taken Spike to the Crystal Empire, and it would be nice to catch up with her.
However, as we walked up the road to the castle, I was surprised to see Twilight and Spike standing outside with their bags packed. Fluttershy called out to her friend.
“Morning, Twilight,” she greeted cheerfully. “Morning, Spike,”
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied. She then noticed me, which seemed to surprise her.
“Hi there, Lizzie,” she said with a wave. “What brings you here?” I mimicked one of Applejack’s famous eyebrow raises.
“You invited me here, remember?” I said. “After Starlight crashed into me.” Twilight’s eyes went wide for a moment in realisation.
“Oh shoot!” she exclaimed, facehooving. “I completely forgot! Spike and I have to head up to Canterlot. I’m giving a presentation on friendship. I must have been so discombobulated after that accident yesterday that I forgot about it.” She let out a groan of frustration. Luckily, I was understanding. I’ve done the same thing myself once or twice.
“It’s no biggie, Twilight,” I replied maturely. “We all make mistakes. Rain check?” Twilight nodded emphatically.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “I’ll come find you as soon as I get back this afternoon.” I turned to Fluttershy while Twilight went to say bye to Starlight.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you later Fluttershy,” I said. Fluttershy nodded and we parted ways.
As the castle door opened though, I couldn’t help but notice that all of Twilight’s other friends were there. I guess she wanted Starlight to get to know each of them. Presumably, her putting it off had caused everything to pile up. Go big or go home, I guess.
Leaving Fluttershy and the others with Starlight, I headed into town. I fancied grabbing a bite to eat from Sugarcube Corner. And then, maybe I could go and relax in the park for a bit. It was a gorgeous day after all.
Given how physical my work is, I have to keep myself in tip top shape, and that includes keeping a careful watch on my diet. But, like most ponies, every now and then, I do have the odd little cheat day where I indulge myself a little bit. And since I had nothing to do for the next while, I decided to treat myself.
Heading down to Sugarcube Corner, I found the place fairly busy for the morning. It’s sort of like a cheaper, better quality version of Starbucks. The shop does cakes, biscuits and so forth, as well as hot drinks. So it makes the ideal place to go and grab a bite to eat. Trotting inside, I soon found myself at the front of the queue. Pinkie of course, wasn’t there, and Mr. Cake was manning the till instead. I presume his wife was looking after the kitchen.
“Morning, Mr. Cake,” I said as I came up to the counter, taking a look at what was on offer.
“Hello there, Lizzie,” the stallion replied. “What can I get for you?” I thought for a moment before settling on my choice.
“Can I have a slice of Madeira cake and a coffee to eat in, please?” Mr. Cake dutifully jotted down my order.
“Sure thing, Lizzie,” he said, tearing the one sheet off to pass to the kitchen. “That will be five bits. Take a seat and I’ll bring that out to you in a minute. We’re a little behind today with Pinkie Pie being busy at the Princess’ castle.”
“No worries,” I said, dropping the gold coins on the counter for him. “I’m sure you’ll be able to catch up when she gets back.”
I decided to sit outside. In the late spring and all through the summer, the Cakes set out of a few tables in front of Sugarcube Corner to increase the number of ponies who can eat in. Since it was nice and warm today with only a slight breeze, I thought it would be nice to have my snack outside.
I grabbed a copy of the local rag that was sitting on one of the chairs outside. It’s not exactly the Sunday Times, but it’s usually got a bit of interesting news to peddle, or at least something in the gossip column. There was a moderate sized article about Thorax, although it seemed the changeling was facing a bit of negative publicity from a few detractors.
A minute or so later, Mr. Cake brought out my coffee and cake. Unlike Bones, I tend to have a fair bit of milk and sugar in mine. Like I said before, today was a cheat day for me.
As I tucked into my little meal, I heard the signature whoosh sound of a pegasus close at hoof. Looking up, I spotted Rainbow Dash. Peculiarly, she seemed to be gathering up a whole lot of clouds, including stuff we’d put on the slate for next week. I wondered what was up.
“Hey, Dash!” I called up, catching her attention. “What are you doing with all those rain clouds?”
RD turned to me with an odd expression on her face. It was arguably devoid of…well, any expression; thousand yard stare and everything. My own expression now turned to one of worry.
“Starlight told me to get some water,” she said, in a monotone voice. Then, without paying any more attention to me she flew off, clouds in tow.
Something screwy was definitely going on. There was at least something wrong with Rainbow. Like I said, the vacant stare and monotone voice seemed very off, like she’d been lobotomised or something. The mention of Starlight’s name also caused me a bit of worry. I know what I said before, but I’m inclined to be a little suspicious about her.
I was about to fly off in pursuit of Dash when I felt a sharp twinge run up my wing. I looked back and, via the bandage still wrapped around it, I was reminded that I was temporarily grounded.
“Dammit,” I muttered to myself. Walking back to my table, I necked what was left of my coffee and trotted off in the direction I’d seen Dash go, back towards the castle.
I got to the castle, as it turns out, not too long after Twilight returned and everything was wrapped up. In short, the place was a mess. The pony responsible? You guessed it; Starlight Glimmer. The kitchen had clearly had a fire at some point judging by all the smoke that was now venting out of the open front door and windows. But the place also seemed to be half flooded. Understandably, Twilight was furious.
Galloping over to see if I could help, I ran into an unsteady Applejack who told me what it was that had happened, according to Twilight. By her own admission, due to what Starlight had done, she didn’t remember a thing.
“The five of us were all standin’ in the main hall,” Applejack explained. “We were all s’posed to be doin’ somethin’ with Starlight to try and help her make some more friends and deal with some friendship lessons. But she couldn’t work with all of us at the same time, so she went off to the library to look for a spell she could use. Dang fool.
“Anyway, she tried to mix together a bunch of different spells, an’ ended up hypnotising us all instead. She figured it would work for her friendship lesson, only problem was that everything she asked us to do, we took literally. It ended up with Pinkie Pie settin the kitchens on fire, and then when she asked RD to go get some water to put the flames out, Rainbow brought an entire storm indoors and flooded the place.”
“Well, that explains what Dash was up to when I saw her,” I said, quite shocked. “And it explains why she was acting so weird.” Applejack nodded.
“We’re all goin’ to meet up at a café down the street. Ah’m no good to anypony while Ah’ve got this headache.” She put her hoof to her forehead. “Dang that smarts worse that Bones’ whiskey.”
Leaving Applejack and the others to go on their way, I went over to Twilight, who it seemed had just finished scolding a very guilty looking Starlight.
I myself was at a loss to explain her reasoning. Okay, Twilight tried a few shortcuts with magic every now and then, but mind control magic? That stuff's bad juju by anypony’s standards, it’s effectively a form of dark magic. How could Starlight not realise how dangerous it was? For goodness sake, Bones has spent over a year studying all different kinds of dark magic trying to find ways to counter it.
That was when I got an interesting idea. Starlight had learnt an important lesson today; don’t hypnotise your friends. But at a more basic level, she seemed to lack an understanding about how dangerous certain types of magic can be…*cough* time travel *cough*. Maybe she could take a break from working with Twilight for a while, considering that Twilight still looking to be fuming, and go and talk with my brother? If nothing else, he could show her how to undo her mistakes.
Trotting over to the two mares, I waited for a break in the conversation to pitch my idea. Twilight was actually quite receptive to my suggestion, while Starlight stayed fairly quiet, keeping her head down, lest she draw further ire from the alicorn princess.
“That does sound like a good suggestion, Lizzie,” Twilight said. “It’s going to be a while before the effects of my counter spell wear off. I’m sure Blade Star could give Starlight a few pointers for a couple of hours.” Starlight made no reply. I did my best to be encouraging, despite the scale of her cock up.
“Come on, Starlight,” I said with a smile. “I’ll take you up to Sweet Apple Acres.”
“I’ll go on ahead and let Blade Star know you’re coming,” Twilight said. She then winked out of existence as she teleported away.
Starlight and I walked together in an uncomfortable silence. I’m not sure whether she was more ashamed or embarrassed by her actions. She had gone to Chrysalis levels of mind control after all. I hoped that Bones would be able to offer her some advice; something to help her feel better. It would certainly be a long road to forgiveness from Twilight and her friends. I’d say this has set her lessons back months. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Princess Celestia or my dad got involved. After all, I’m pretty certain there are actual laws against mind control magic, regardless of whether the spell was used intentionally or not.
I remember when Starlight first moved in with Twilight, my dad watched her like a hawk for months, never entirely trusting her. This incident certainly won’t help matters. Unless Twilight agrees to handle things, Starlight may find herself going to a dungeon.
I was however, a little more optimistic about my brother. He’d been rather neutral when it came to Starlight. He’d been friendly enough to her when she arrived in town, with him having her briefly help him test a spell he was working on. Aside from that though, he’d kept a respectful distance, going on about ‘risking contamination of the timeline’ when I asked him about it. While he’ll no doubt be mad that Starlight harmed Applejack, I think he’ll be a little less angry than Twilight was. After all, at the end of the day, nopony was permanently harmed, and it isn’t as if Starlight is going to do something like that again.
Before long, the two of us came upon Sweet Apple Acres. Following the path to the farmhouse, we found Twilight waiting for us. It was evening now, and the sun was going down. Twilight had spoken with Bones, who’d agreed to lend a hoof. She now had to head back to Ponyville to check on the others. She also told Twilight that she was to come to the café tomorrow to meet with them all and apologise. I decided to hang around, partly to support Starlight, but also to see my brother and what he was up to.
Heading into the Apple homestead, we passed Granny Smith, who was cooking at the stove. She told the two of us that Bones was waiting for Starlight upstairs. And so the two of us went up there, passing Big Mac and Apple Bloom on the way. Applejack had apparently come straight home and fallen fast asleep in her room.
Knocking on the room’s door with a hoof, Bones called for us to come in. I was a little surprised at what I found.
Bones has, for as long as he’s been here, been a farmer, studying magic occasionally as an amateur when he has some free time. His room then, was a reflection of that strange mix. On the one hoof, you had a Stetson hat and lasso on the hook behind the door, with a simple bed with apple motif sheets. But on the opposite side of the room, along with a desk and bureau, which was itself covered with various volumes and papers and what looked like a monograph of his own writing, there was a bookcase filled with volumes on magic as well as various little trinkets which he seemed to be studying, giving the impression of an academic’s office.
He smiled as the two of us walked in, although he seemed a little surprised to see me.
“Hey there, Starlight,” he said. “And what brings you here, sis?” I shrugged my shoulders.
“I just thought Starlight could use some company on the way over,” I replied. "What are you planning on doing anyway?” Bones explained.
“Don’t worry, Ah’m not mad if that’s what y’all are worried ‘bout,” he reassured the two of us. “If Twilight can forgive Trixie for all that stuff she did with the Alicorn Amulet, Ah reckon Ah’m able to overlook this misdemeanour. No, Ah thought Starlight and I could look at some of the dangers of dark magic, and how to counteract them.”
“Twilight told me before that you were studying dark magic,” Starlight said. “She said you’ve even done some experimentation with the Alicorn Amulet.”
“Under very close supervision,” Bones said. “We won’t be doin’ anythin’ like that today.” Getting up from his spot at his desk, he levitated his Stetson and placed it on his head.
“It’s a beautiful evenin’ tonight,” he went on. “How ‘bout we talk outside.”
The two of us followed him back outside, walking softly past Applejack’s room where the mare continued to sleep off the effects of her mind control experience.
Bones led the two of us out into the apple orchards, which were now bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. As we walked, Bones began to talk.
“Dark magic, Starlight,” he began. “Is like fire. It ain’t evil, not on its own. But if you don’t respect it, it will destroy you, and everypony around you. Nopony can truly master dark magic. Ah certainly can’t, nor can you. So ya shouldn’t go dabblin’ in such things.” Starlight now jumped in.
“It wasn’t that bad, Blade Star,” she replied. “I know I made a mistake, but nopony got hurt in the long run.” Bones turned and flashed her a cold glare.
“Starlight,” he said. “Tell me, if Twilight hadn’t come back, what would have happened? Say ya managed to get things in the castle under control, what would ya do, with five ponies effectively mindless? How long do ya think y’all would last before your morality began to crumble? For Luna’s sake, you were already happily manipulating them today.” He paused in his sermon as we came upon a rock with a spider sitting on it, nearby was a bucket filled with water.
“Well, why don’t we do a practical demonstration right here?” he suggested. “Let’s start with somethin’ simple; a little spider.”
With little warning, his eyes turned green and purple smoke began to pour from them like tears. His horn glowed black with dark energy. A moment later, a purple beam flew from his horn and struck the spider, briefly lifting it into the air. Just as quickly though, the display stopped, the spider returned to its spot on the rock, and Bones’ magic stopped.
“There,” he said, with some small amount of satisfaction. “That’s not too dissimilar to what y’all did today. That little critter is now completely under my control.”
The two of us looked at the spider. It didn’t seem any different, and it continued going about its business as though there was nothing wrong. Now though, Bones tapped into his magic again.
The spider went rigid for a moment, before leaping up into the air. It landed squarely on Starlight’s snout, causing the mare to let out a sharp cry and rear up in fright. It then scuttled off her and climbed up a nearby tree, coming to a stop on the end of a high branch. Bones, his magic still active, laughed at Starlight’s fright and turned his attention to the spider again.
“What should I have her do next, Starlight?” he asked, smiling malevolently. “Jump out of that tree?”
The spider now hurried down the trunk again and crawled over to the bucket of water. Climbing up the handle that hung at the side, it contentedly moved itself to the edge, its forelegs reaching out into the abyss.
“Maybe Ah should make her drown herself?” Bones suggested, still smiling with that strange vapour pouring from his eyes.
Starlight and I watched in horror as the spider inched ever closer to the edge. Then, as if it was perfectly natural, it let itself fall into the water.
Luckily, before that happened, Bones used his magic to place it back on the ground. He quickly reversed the spell he had placed on the creature and allowed it to skitter away amongst the grass. He turned to Starlight.
“Do ya see what I’m sayin’ now, Starlight?” he asked, sounding more like himself again. “A mind control spell can be fatal if ya want it to be. That’s why such spells must never be used. Magic may only be a tool, Starlight. But used improperly, it can take on a life of its own. That goes for normal magic too. Do ya get what Ah’m sayin’?” Starlight nodded. Bones smiled.
“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with a pony bein’ good at magic, or choosin’ to study it. But ya must learn responsibility and control over your abilities. If ya start down that dark path trod by so many before, then that same dark magic will forever dominate your destiny.”
We stayed with my brother a little while longer as the evening drew on towards sunset. He offered Starlight some guidance on reversing the effects of certain dark magic spells, pointing out that, with her abilities, she would be able to reverse spells that would leave him at a loss. I think he was channelling his inner Obi Wan Kenobi for the most part though. Starlight seemed to take his advice to heart though. To date, she’s not made a screw up quite as spectacular as that one.
The next day, she met up with Twilight’s friends, all of whom were still…hung over I suppose you could call it, it’s how Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy described it in any case. The five mares did forgive Starlight for her actions, although I know Twilight was still very disappointed in her student, and partially in herself for not seeing this coming. I know for a fact that she’s locked away a few choice texts and tomes in her own private study, lest some other unicorn prodigy wander in misuse them.
As for my dad, he was at first quite cross with Starlight and threatened her with proceedings. But some counselling from both Twilight and Celestia convinced him not to act. In the end, he settled for having an official caution placed on Starlight’s record and signed the matter off as being a case of no contest. He also advised Starlight that, should she find herself in hot water again, her best bet was to put a pair of underpants on her head and jam two pencils up her nose, convincing a court she was crazy so they’d send her to hospital rather than imprison her.
And as for Starlight herself, she was very much ashamed of her actions, seeing in hindsight how foolish, dangerous and unethical it all was. It upset her greatly, as she liked to think that she’d moved beyond the sadistic nutter that ruled a town of ponies without cutie marks. It left her questioning herself, and it took some time before her confidence was fully returned.
But on that front, a few months down the line, fate and an old enemy intervened.
I don’t cross paths with Princess Twilight Sparkle too often, or Twilight, as she prefers to be called by most ponies. The two of us move in different circles. Sure, I occasionally see her around town, hear the odd little fact or story from Dash or Bones, or stop by the library to check out a book. But as a rule, we only see each other in passing.
Not that we aren’t friends or anything. I owe Twilight a great deal, and I have helped her out and vice versa more than once, such as when I took Spike up to the Crystal Empire a few weeks back. We’re very friendly with each other. It’s just that, given our respective lines of work, we rarely happen to interact.
So, you can imagine how surprised I was when, as I was coming back from an ordinary patrol one evening, I found Spike; her dragon assistant, waiting for me outside the cottage. It had been a busy day at the office, so to speak. A random bank of fog had decided to start rolling out of the Everfree Forest and enveloping half of Ponyville in an eerie mist. Between myself, Dash, Dewdrop, Thunderlane, Flitter and Cloudchaser, it took the better part of a day to push it back into the forest where it belonged.
You see, Everfree weather is a bit weird. It doesn’t follow the ‘rules’ of weather control, acting more like weather on Earth. You can’t push half the clouds without getting a nasty shock, and fog was just as bad. We just went straight through it most of the time, rather than connecting with it. It’s one of those weird places in the world where the normal natural laws don’t seem to apply. Weather from there just goes where the wind and pressure takes it, and it can be quite powerful and dangerous to boot. Ponies had puzzled for years on why the Everfree was so wild. But so far, nopony had come up with any real explanation. We didn’t even understand how the Tree of Harmony controlled the forest’s growth, containing it where it was.
It was a scientific mystery and marvel. I should have been surprised that Twilight didn’t start trying to crack its enigma sooner.
Coming down to a soft landing in front of Spike, I tucked my wings to my sides and smiled down at the baby dragon. Like Twilight, I don’t see him too much, but he’s a really nice kid. Like I’ve said before; a lot of ponies underestimate him.
“Hey, Spike,” I said kindly. “What brings you up here?” Spike looked up at me and smiled back.
“Twilight sent me down here,” he replied. I half wondered how long it took the poor lad to waddle out here. “She wanted to know if you could stop by the castle tomorrow.” I thought for a moment.
I only had work in the morning tomorrow, and Fluttershy had said yesterday that she’d noticed a bit of a drop off in the number of animals needing her help or care, so I figured she probably wouldn’t need much of my help, aside from maybe feeding a few critters here and there. I’d have to double check with her and Dash, but otherwise, my schedule seemed fairly free.
“Er, yeah, I suppose so,” I replied after thinking for a moment. “Why?”
“She needs someone to help her fly over the Everfree Forest,” Spike explained. I was a bit puzzled by that.
“She’s an alicorn; she’s got wings, hasn’t she?” I said. “I know she isn’t the most stable flyer around, but she shouldn’t have any problems flying over the Everfree.” Spike paused for a moment and tried to recall something.
“She said something about flying at low altitude and…er…windshirt?” I laughed at that before catching myself. Spike briefly glared at me in embarrassment.
“Windshear, Spike,” I replied. “It’s what they call it when the wind suddenly changes direction. It is quite bad if you fly real low. It can even make pegasi crash land if it gets real bad.” Spike’s eyes went wide.
I could hardly blame the drake for being a little concerned at the prospect of Twilight venturing into such difficult conditions. Like I said, she isn’t the world’s greatest flier. Even on a calm day, she has to work to keep herself stable. I think that’s partly down to her overly large alicorn wings. They’re actually bigger than my own, looking a lot like Princess Celestia’s. They even sit differently at her sides. In any case, the size to wingspan ratio means the she’s alright at gliding long distance, but not so good at hovering. Or flying through unstable weather. I turned my attention back to Spike.
“If Twilight wants to go over the Everfree, then yeah, sure, I can help her out. I should have some free time tomorrow afternoon. What is she up to anyway?” Spike shrugged.
“Beats me,” he replied. “I think it’s got something to do with why the forest is the way it is. But you know how Twilight can be.” Ah yes, Twilight could be a bit of an egghead at times, as Dash would say.
Promising Spike that I would be there sometime around one, I let him get on his way home. I did offer him a quick ride back myself, but he declined, saying that he wanted to visit Rarity.
Heading into the cottage, I found Fluttershy grooming Angel, having evidently just given him his bath. I could tell by the state of the room. She’d obviously been hard pressed to catch him again. For an otherwise civilised creature, he does seem to see baths in the same way a kid does. He was now sitting on the soft, a permanent snarl on his face, while Fluttershy gently combed his fur with a small brush, pressing his ears back each time she did his head. She looked up as I came in.
“I just saw Spike outside,” I said as I took a look at the still angry rabbit. “Twilight wants me to lend a hoof with something tomorrow after I’m done with work. You gonna be okay looking after all the animals on your own?” Fluttershy set the brush down so that she could speak, giving Angel an opportunity to bound away.
“Actually,” Fluttershy said. “I was thinking of taking the afternoon to go and see Pinkie Pie. It’s pretty quiet around here at the moment. Most of my animal friends are able to look after themselves in the summer.” I nodded.
“It has been rather quiet these last couple weeks,” I agreed. “And I’m sure Pinkie would be glad to spend some time with you. I think we could both use a change in our routines for a day.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement before trotting into the kitchen to make some tea.
Next morning found me just as busy as I had been the day before. Once again, I was busy up in the sky with Dash and the others. This time though, it wasn’t the Everfree that was the cause of our problems, but our counterparts over in Baltimare.
The city was due for some heavy rainfall to compensate for higher than normal temperatures. Apparently, the town’s reservoir was getting quite low, so a top up was needed. The weather team there was meant to take the fully loaded storm clouds over to the reservoir and discharge them into the lake below. But during the journey there, the rain clouds began to destabilise, turning into a thundercloud, which soon became too hot to handle. I’m guessing somepony must have been bumping rather than pushing the cloud along, thereby inadvertently charging it.
The long and short of it, was that the team had been forced to back off from the clouds due to risk of lightning strike. Effectively out of control, it had drifted westward towards us, and was now bearing down. It wasn’t dangerous to anypony on the ground; no more so than your typical thunderstorm. However, an unchecked storm was something of a spanner in the works to Equestria’s tightly controlled and organised weather schedule. So we had been ordered to go out to meet the storm and try and break it up.
It was a bit of a challenge for us. But with a Wonderbolt, four experienced flyers, and one rookie who is fast becoming a ten year vet on hoof, we were able to break the storm apart. In more manageable pieces, we were able to discharge the lightening safely, turning the clouds back into regular rain clouds.
With that done, it was simply a case of reversing its course. By the time we’d flown twenty miles, the squad from Baltimare, suitably embarrassed, had caught up with their wayward charge. They took custody of the cloud front and would pilot it back to Baltimare, hopefully this time with more care.
The whole exercise left the six of us thoroughly exhausted. Dash, as our CO, gave us the rest of the day off, since there wasn’t any major weather due until a light shower on Thursday.
But, as Dad is fond of saying, there’s no rest for the wicked, and while everypony else headed home for a well-earned rest, I pointed my snout towards Twilight’s castle. It wouldn’t be too much trouble. Heck, it would be foal’s play compared to this morning. Still, when Dewdrop heard me explain what I was doing to Dash, he was a little concerned.
“The Everfree Forest!” he exclaimed, shooting over to join us. “I know you’re going with the princess, Lizzie, but don’t you think that it’s still a bit risky.” I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
“So was that rogue storm, Dewdrop,” I replied. “Besides, I’ve flown over the Everfree before.” Still, he wasn’t convinced.
“Yeah, over the edge of the forest, half a mile at most. You said Twilight wants to fly right over the centre. Nopony on record has ever flown so low over that place; it’s effectively uncharted!”
“Well that’s what Twilight wants to do,” I explained. “Besides, even if something does go wrong, we’ve got back up plans. Twilight might be able to use her magic to help us, or we could go to the old castle, and if we’re really in trouble, we can go find Zecora’s place.” I laid a hoof on his shoulder. “Trust me, Dewdrop. I’ll be fine.”
Frowning slightly, Dewdrop acquiesced and flew off, leaving me with Dash. My old instructor looked a little concerned too.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay with this, Lizzie?” she asked. “Dewdrop does have a point. Not even the ‘Bolts have charted the whole forest that low down.” I smiled at Dash.
“Rainbow,” I said. “How many times have you gone into the Everfree Forest?” Dash shrugged.
“I don’t know. At least half a dozen times.”
“Exactly,” I said. “I know there’s some dangerous things in there, but I’ll be careful, and I’ve got Twilight with me to boot. Tell you what; how about I take one of those earpiece communicators with me?”
The communicators were something Twilight had come up with. Sort of similar to a Bluetooth earpiece, they allowed us to communicate over long distances. We’d used them during Tornado duty to let us all hear each other over the wind and rain. But as we were often near enough to shout at each other, we rarely used them for anything else. I could grab one from Dash and she could keep one on hoof herself. Then if worst came to worst, I could send out a distress signal. It certainly seemed to appeal to Dash.
“Alright, that does sound like a good idea,” Dash agreed. “Stop by my place before you and Twi head out and I’ll hook you up.”
Having satisfied both my boss and my coltfriend that I’d be safe on one little, slightly bumpy pleasure flight, I jumped off the cloud we’d been standing on, and made my way back towards Ponyville and Twilight’s place.
The castle was, as usual, open when I got there, and heading inside, I found Twilight busily pouring over various texts and jotting down notes on the currently deactivated map. She can be very Sherlockian when she’s studying. Not that she has the ability to solve complex mysteries by simple observation, but she does tend to forget to tidy the place up when she has a problem on her hooves.
While I didn’t find the place covered in a haze of tobacco smoke, the throne room was littered with books and papers, no doubt organised in some fashion by the alicorn princess. As I walked in, Twilight was busily scribbling notes down on a piece of parchment.
“Hey there, Twilight,” I called out, causing her to briefly jump in fright. When she saw it was me though, she relaxed and smiled.
“Oh, Lizzie. Thanks for coming,” she said getting up and trotting over to hug me.
“No worries, Twilight,” I replied. “So how can I help? Spike said something about flying over the Everfree.” Twilight nodded.
“I’m working on a paper about the Everfree Forest,” she explained. “I’m trying to work out what causes the strange and uncontrollable weather in there. I figured that somepony who was used to flying through storms would be a good guide.” I blushed at the compliment.
“I’ve flown through one or two,” I replied humbly. “But what’s brought this on anyway? You’ve been in Ponyville for a few years. How come you never studied the forest before?”
“I haven’t really had the time for it,” she explained. “Between my royal duties, my friendship studies, the library and occasionally helping to save Equestria, I just haven’t had enough free time to invest in such a major project.”
“So what exactly do you want me to do then?” I enquired.
“Simple really,” Twilight explained. “I want to fly into the centre of the Everfree and collect some samples of the clouds there.” I let out a low whistle.
“That is kinda risky, Twilight,” I said with some trepidation. “I’ve flown a few miles in on occasion, and even then I’ve encountered winds that can knock a pegasus out of the sky. The sky above the centre of the forest is pretty much uncharted. But as long as we’re both careful, I don’t see why we can’t give it a try.” Twilight smiled at that.
“Great!” she exclaimed. “I’ll just grab my things and then we can…” She was cut off as her stomach let out a ferocious growl that caused both of us to blush. It seems that, like Holmes, on occasion, she got so caught up her in studies that she forgot the importance of eating.
So, before we both set off, we shared a late lunch together in the castle’s dining room. While Spike does most of the cooking, Twilight isn’t half bad herself. She even made up a few snacks for our journey into the Everfree.
With both our hungers satisfied, we prepared for the off. I’d got a pair of saddlebags containing maps, a first aid kit, and some basic supplies. I also explained to Twilight about the communicator I had, so I could contact Dash for help if we ran into trouble.
As for Twilight, she’d packed a variety of meteorological equipment, as well as several large glass containers, which resembled jars, that would hold her cloud samples and preserve them for future study. She also carried a few other supplies. Like any sensible scout, I’d divided our rations. That way, in the event one of us lost our saddlebags, we’d have enough food and water to survive on until we could be rescued.
Satisfied that all was well, the two of us headed out. Twilight called out to Spike to let him know that she was going and told him to expect her back in a few hours. If we weren’t back by nightfall, he was to find her friends and send a message off to Princess Celestia.
With that, the two of us took off. I quickly leapt into the air and climbed above the town. I quickly checked my headlong charge, remembering my companion. Twilight, in contrast to my own smooth take off, was struggling to climb at such a steep angle and came close to stalling a couple of times before she joined me.
Still somewhat unsteady, but nonetheless flying, Twilight took up station on my right. The two of us then headed off towards the dark and menacing Everfree Forest.
As I said to Twilight, I’d flown over the Everfree a couple of times before. Those occasions had been due to rogue weather spilling out. As a rule, once they could be brought under some kind of control, we simply pushed them back where they came from. Weather that we’d normally move out of the way or shut down was uncontrollable in the forest, so flying was far more dangerous. Hence everypony’s preference for only going in as far as they needed to.
Of course, this was really only limited to a small area above the forest. Once you got about five hundred feet or so up, you’d clear the weird magic that made the place so strange. As a result, pegasi had flown over the Everfree many times, but not as low as we were planning to. I could find my way, sure, but I wasn’t as confident about navigating all the unpredictable weather. I was even less confident when I thought about the greenhorn on my wing.
I led us up to about a thousand feet above the town and as the Everfree came into view, I signalled to Twilight to land on a nearby cloud. The pair of us touched down and I briefly went over the ground rules.
“Okay, Twilight,” I said. “We’re about to cross into the forest. We’ll drop down to about a hundred and fifty feet. That’s as low as I’m willing to go. You’re to stick to me like glue. I don’t know how bad the weather will be, so we can’t run the risk of losing each other in there. If anything goes wrong, I’ll rock my wings and climb. You’re to follow me up to at least a thousand feet. We do your tests and then we get out. Clear?” It felt strange to be talking to a princess like this. Twilight though was perfectly accommodating.
“As crystal,” she replied, opening her wings. With a nod, I jumped off the cloud, with Twilight following close behind.
Picking up a little speed as we dived, we zoomed down towards the forest. As we crossed the boundary, we were hit by a slight gust. Nothing major you understand, but enough to make us both wobble. That should have been a clear warning of what was coming.
Passing low over the forest, we initially encountered no real problems. The weather seemed to be just as clear as it was in Ponyville today. I’m sure though that, despite the sunlight, the forest itself would be quite dark, due to all tree canopy obscuring the sky. It’s what makes the forest so unsettling to most ponies.
As we continued, we occasionally passed over the odd clearing. Our presence and the jet engine sound generated by our flight startled one pack of timberwolves, and I caught a glimpse of the wooden canines scattering as we passed overhead. Aside from that though, the forest’s denizens kept to themselves. I certainly didn’t want to run into an Ursa Minor, or worse its mother, which was known to live somewhere deep in the forest.
Pressing further in, Twilight called out to me, asking if we could perhaps slow down to let her run some of her tests. I was happy enough to oblige. Things were going much better than I had hoped after all.
But as we neared the old castle, where the two princesses once made their home, we began to run into turbulence and a bad rain storm. And this wasn’t just the odd gust like before. The pair of us suddenly found ourselves being really knocked around by heavy wind and a fair amount of rain. Each time I tried to compensate for once drop, I was suddenly hit by windshear or an updraft. Neither of us could keep stable. Still, it wasn’t terrible, but it was uncomfortable. Twilight tried to lighten the mood as she pushed her damp mane out of her eyes.
“Just count yourself lucky we didn’t bring Shining Armor along with us,” she said to me. “He gets airsick really easily. He’s never been able to make it on an airship without throwing up.”
I laughed at that. Although I also wondered how that was possible, since horses, and consequently ponies digestive system didn’t work that way. My mind drifted for a moment, and it was near fatal. We’d been steadily dropping in altitude, although the change was so gradual, I’d hardly noticed it, particularly as dark clouds were now obscuring the horizon. One moment, the two of us were laughing, the next I was fighting to avoid slamming into the deck.
It was as if there was a huge, invisible hand pushing down on me. I was flying just fine, but I was dropping so fast my stomach was doing somersaults. I pulled myself up in an effort to climb, but that only slowed my descent a little. I quickly realised what was happening.
“Shit! Microburst!” I exclaimed. I turned back to Twilight. “Twilight, flap as hard as you can! Keep your speed up and follow me! Don’t try and climb!”
A microburst was like a large pillar of air that was rushing back down to earth. Think of how water from a tap goes. It shoots down to the basin and then pools and splashes as it lands. The turbulence we’d flown through had been the edge of the microburst; the pooling water. We were now right in the middle of it. The air current was pushing us down, and there was no way we could fight it. Doing the obvious thing and pulling up in an attempt to climb would just slow us down until we stalled and got exhausted. Dash had told me time and again, the best thing to do was keep level and fly as fast as possible to get through to the other side. These things were never that big after all.
Now normally, while a little scary, we’d get through something like this. But because we were so low, we just didn’t have enough altitude. In a human airplane, this would be fatal. But luckily for us, we were a bit more sturdy. The two of us ploughed into the treetops and we soon found ourselves entangled in the branches.
As we came to a stop, I found myself upside down, with Twilight slightly above me, each of my limbs was ensnared by branches and vines. We were both breathing heavily from the exertion. While the landing had been rough, nothing seemed to be broken. Still, not the best thing to happen to an ‘expert’ like myself.
“Bollocks!” I seethed to myself.
I might have been simply knocked about, but Twilight looked a fair bit worse for wear. When I realised we were well and truly screwed, I’d braced myself for the landing. Twilight on the other hoof had not. A rap on her head, courtesy of a particularly thick branch, had knocked her out cold. Luckily, before long, she began to come around.
“Twilight? Twilight? Can you hear me?” I called up as the alicorn stirred. She soon let out a groan of pain; a good sign really.
“What…what happened?” she asked in a slurred voice.
“We’re both up a tree, literally,” I explained. “A microburst pushed us down into the ground before we could fly through it. Are you hurt much?”
Twilight was just as bound as I was, although she’d had the luxury of ending right side up. She had a few cuts here and there, as I’m sure I did, but other than that, she looked none the worse for the experience.
“Aside from this headache, no, I think I’m okay,” she replied.
I turned my attention then to our current predicament. I could see the forest floor some seven or eight feet below us. If we could just break free of these branches and vines we could drop down and get our bearings, maybe even take off again. But all my limbs, as I said, we stuck fast, and the one thing I hadn’t thought to bring with me was a machete. I couldn’t even reach any of them to try biting my way through. Twilight on the other hoof…
“Do you think you can use your magic to get us free, Twilight?” I asked. She thought for a moment, before nodding.
“Hang on,” she said. “I’ll try and cut us loose.”
Powering up her magic, her horn glowed a bright magenta that quickly increased in intensity. A few seconds later, a sphere of magic emanated from her horn, forming a sphere some then feet across. I felt a slight heat wash over me, and I quickly smelt something burning.
When the sphere faded away, I found that, where there had once been branches, vines and leaves, there was now nothing. Toward the trunk, I could see where the branch had once connected, it was now cut cleanly across with some slight singeing. Twilight had somehow used her magic to burn away the vines that were restraining us. Fitting I suppose; when an RFC plane was shot down, the pilot usually set the remains alight to stop the machine falling into enemy hands.
Of course, that left us with one small problem. We were now some eight feet off the ground, with nothing holding us up. The pair of us dropped to the ground in a flash and I was reunited with both the earth and my old friend pain. I landed on my back and felt something in my left wing give. Twilight meanwhile, landed on all four hooves. She was quickly at my side.
“Oh my goodness,” she exclaimed as she saw my pained expression. “Lizzie, are you alright?”
Grimacing at the pain, I tried to get up. Twilight attempted to help me. However, flexing my one wing caused pain to shoot up it. The bone wasn’t shattered, I could tell that, but I probably had a bad fracture. I let myself collapse onto my side, which was a bit more comfortable.
“My left wing’s injured,” I said, wincing again. “I must have damaged it when we dropped.” Twilight’s ears flattened against skull, though I was quick to assure her that it wasn’t her fault.
Dragging myself over to my saddlebag, which had come off in the crash and landed on the forest floor, I fished out the communicator I’d brought and put it in my ear. Flicking the power switch, I tried to send out a message.
“CQ, CQ,” I called out in my clipped R/T voice. That was the signal for all stations to listen to the message. “Mayday, mayday, mayday. Two flyers down in the Everfree Forest due to microburst. Is anypony receiving? Over.” There was no response.
“Dash, are you reading me?” I tried again. “Dash, are you there? Mayday!”
I tapped the device a couple of times before removing it. It seemed that Sod’s law had struck again. The communicator was busted, and there was no way even Twilight could repair it out here. Annoyed, I tossed the trinket on the ground.
So, SITREP, we’d crashed in the middle of the Everfree, I was injured to the point where flying was out of the question, and I couldn’t get help via the radio. That left us with two options. We could either start walking, and hope we didn't run into timberwolves or a cockatrice, or Twilight could go to find help, leaving me undefended against predators. Neither was a good option. Twilight didn’t have much in the way of navigational skills in the air. Heck, I wasn’t entirely sure where we were on the map, so there was no guarantee of her being able to find me again.
Twilight did suggest the idea of going to get help from Zecora. The zebra shaman knew this forest like the back of her hoof and could defend herself from most of the beasts that lived here. But again, the problem of finding our way persisted.
In the end, we decided that we’d wait until evening. Spike knew to alert Twilight’s friends if she didn’t return by then. Rainbow Dash would then be bound to find the two of us. Worst case scenario, Princess Celestia or Princess Luna could send out a couple of thestrals. With Twilight’s magic, we’d be able to make a decent emergency flare to flag them down.
Until then though, we’d just have to wait and pass the time. While my wing hurt like a bugger, it wasn’t intolerable. I chatted with Twilight about my cousin John. I remember that he told me on one occasion, during a nasty firefight not too far from Victoria Falls, he’d taken a bullet in the thigh and shoulder, knocking him on his rear. He’d had to drag himself, still bleeding, under a bush to avoid being picked off by a sniper, and hold out with his pistol until a helicopter was able to evacuate him back to base. That was the same situation we were in now really. We’d just have to wait and hope that the snakes and snipers gave us a wide berth.
Dusk soon came, at least I think it was dusk. The cover of the trees made it hard to judge where the sun was. It was starting to drop cooler at any rate. We’d both kept our eyes on the sky, but there’d been neither hide nor hair of Rainbow Dash. I was starting to get quite worried. My wing, which was definitely fractured, was causing me further problems. I wasn’t an expert, but I had some basic medic training, and as far as I could make out, I was going into shock. I was sweating and shivering despite Twilight’s efforts. If help didn’t reach us soon, I was going to be in a world of trouble.
I did my best to stay awake. I kept talking to Twilight about anything that sprang to mind. I knew that sleep was now the worst thing for me.
Twilight too, despite her attempts to hide it, was getting worried as well. It was a ridiculous situation; we both had wings, but neither of us could use them to get help. Twilight even had magic for Celestia’s sake.
It was getting to the point where I knew I’d have to send Twilight off and hope that she could find her way back. There was no way we could spend the night out in the open, particularly with one of us wounded. I was just about to tell her to go, when I caught the sound of a pegasus’ wings. The strange jet engine like sound began to grow closer.
The two of us looked at each other and Twilight immediately powered up her horn. She let off a bolt of magic that flew upward a couple hundred feet before bursting like a great magenta firework. A few moments later, we heard a voice.
“Lizzie? Twilight? Can you hear me?” called a voice, echoing around the forest. It was Dewdrop!
“Yes! Here, Dewdrop! In the clearing!” I bellowed back.
A few moments later, I picked out his aqua coat against the sky, and he quickly landed in front of us. He was breathing hard from exertion and his limbs shivered from overuse. He took a few breaths before speaking.
“Thank Celestia I found the two of you!” he exclaimed, rushing over and nuzzling me comfortingly. “Dash got worried when she couldn’t raise you on comms, so she asked me to check that you were alright. I headed toward the old castle, and then asked Zecora if she’d seen you. Well, it turned out she was just about to set off to look for you as well. She said she’d seen you both get knocked down by the wind.” I nodded.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Bucking microburst got us. It came out of nowhere.” Dewdrop grimaced. “We both ended up in the trees, but Twilight cut us loose. I busted my wing in the fall, so I couldn’t go for help. The communicator broke too.” I gestured to the battered earpiece lying on the ground nearby.
“Dewdrop,” Twilight jumped in. “Lizzie’s hurt pretty bad. How far do you think it is to Zecora’s from here?”
“Zecora told me that she would head out as well to try and find you,” he explained. “Wait here and I’ll go look for her. Then I can guide her to you.”
My coltfriend was as good as his word. Five minutes later, Zecora had joined us, complete with a rudimentary medical kit. She bound up my bad wing with a splint to immobilise it and gave me some meds to help too. I was soon feeling a heck of a lot better. We were soon joined by Rainbow Dash, and a couple pegasi from Ponyville hospital; call it Equestria’s version of a CASEVAC.
I was airlifted by chariot to Ponyville General, where I spent about a fortnight healing up. Fluttershy regularly visited me, as did Twilight and my family, along with Rainbow Dash. All of them were glad I was safe and Flight made me promise that in future, I wouldn’t go gallivanting off into the Everfree without either him or Dash.
Still, Twilight did manage to get her cloud samples in the end. And although I’m not sure to what extent, I can now claim that I’ve helped advance the cause of science.
I found myself all but prancing out to the mailbox outside the cottage. Today I was expecting a very important letter.
I’d spent a day or so in the hospital for observation before being released to heal up for a couple weeks. That had been a bit of a trying time, since I was forbidden from flying at all. My wing had apparently taken a serious knock, so any movement could potentially exacerbate the injury.
Something similar had happened to me back on Earth when I was in my early teens. I’d been riding my bike along the country roads, when I’d hit a patch of loose gravel, slid, and come off. In addition to tearing up my arm (I had a helmet on, but was wearing a t-shirt), I also busted my collar bone pretty badly. I spent about a month with my right arm in a sling. This was just as bad, if not worse though, when it was my wing. I was basically an earth pony for a few weeks, living on half pay from the patrol.
But before too long, my wing had healed, and Dr. Horse had cleared me as being fit to fly. He also asked that he not see me for the next year or two, this being the second time I’d been in his office for a fitness check. I took the jab in my stride and re-joined the others at the patrol.
With summer now well underway, our workload was beginning to ease off, aside from the odd rainsquall here and there. With six ponies on the patrol, our days were getting long and slow. In the end, Dash suggested that we try some extracurricular activity, and apply to the academy for advanced flight training.
Ah yes, Wonderbolt Academy. We had two of the institutions alumni in our midst; Dash, an active Wonderbolt, and Thunderlane, who was a reservist, but hoping to go full time like Dash. The academy was open to any pegasi who could pass the initial sift, and if successful, a graduate had the option to either apply to the reserves, or continue in their present role. It certainly looked good on the old CV in any case. And since there was not much happening in Ponyville, I decided to throw my hat in the ring, as did Dewdrop.
Flitter and Cloudchaser had tried twice before, but been rejected, and the academy operated on a ‘two strikes and out’ system. Plus, Dash needed somepony to stay and help with the light duties she had going.
If we got in, we’d be away for a week, staying at the academy barracks. In a sense it was a bit like Junior Speedsters flight camp, but obviously way more advanced. I remember my dad compared the place to the ‘Top Gun’ school the Americans had to train their fighter pilots in dogfighting.
Plus, if you think about it, my only real flight training was an informal course laid on by Dash. It would be better to have some official training under my belt too.
So, Dewdrop and I sent out our applications, all carefully checked over and done in our neatest writing. The academy only took the best of the best, so you needed to be experienced and have a lot of flying under your belt. To be honest, I wasn’t too sure we’d make it. But considering the number of incidents I could write about for the application, I guess my lack of years was made up for by experience.
As I trotted over the small brook to the mailbox, I felt myself grow nervous and excited. This was a bit like getting something back from a job application. Either it was another step in the right direction, or my hopes were about to be dashed.
The little flag was up on the mailbox, and looking inside I found three letters, two were for Fluttershy, and one was for me. My letter was postmarked Cloudsdale and bore the seal of the academy. I held the envelope in trembling hooves as I fluttered back to the cottage.
Passing Fluttershy’s letters to her, I walked over to the sofa and sat down as I opened the envelope. It was indeed from the academy. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the first word was ‘congratulations’. Reading further told me that I had passed their initial application process and would now be allowed to attend the academy in a fortnight’s time. I was ecstatic. Sure I had no intention of joining the ‘Bolts, but this advanced course would be a great boost to me.
Leaving Fluttershy, I quickly headed out and flew over to Dewdrop’s house on the other end of town.
I landed just in front of Dewdrop’s front door about five minutes later. I ended up almost walking straight into him. I went to knock on the door just as he opened it. It was only by quick reflexes that I stopped myself from rapping on his snout. Like me, he had an opened envelope in his hooves.
“Lizzie!” he said, after recovering himself and pulling me into a hug. “I was just about to come over to see you. I got my reply from Wonderbolt Academy.” I held up my own letter.
“Me too, Dewdrop,” I replied with a smile on my face. “So how did you do?” Dewdrop was smiling broadly as he showed me the letter.
“Well, looks like we’re both in,” he said. “C’mon. Let’s go down to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate.”
And so, after he’d locked up his house, the two of us headed off into town. Pinkie, who was behind the register at Sugarcube Corner, quickly caught on to what we were both smiling about. She congratulated us warmly and promised to write to us as much as possible while we were away, to assure us that we hadn’t been forgotten in Ponyville. I later learned that she did the same thing when Dash and Thunderlane went.
Sitting down to our snacks, the two of us talked about what it would be like.
“Dash told me a bit about the stuff they do there,” I said to Dewdrop as I bit into a slice of carrot cake. That Dizzitron thing looks to be worse than a centrifuge.” Dewdrop nodded.
“Yeah, I heard that even Wonderbolts break out into a cold sweat when they get in the thing.” Still, we would all have to survive it.
“You think Spitfire will be the instructor again?” I asked, referring to the long standing commander of the Wonderbolts.
“Her or Soarin,” Dewdrop replied. “I don’t think they’ve let Dash out amongst the rookies just yet. Hey, if we pass, do you think she’ll let us get away with calling her Crash?” I laughed.
“Nah, I’m fairly certain she’ll still tear you a new one for that, Dewdrop,” I replied. “I’m pretty sure that’s a ‘Bolts only thing.”
“What about how they’ll break us all up,” Dewdrop went on. “Think the two of us will get to be wingponies?” I smiled coyly at him.
“I’m more curious as to who’ll be lead and who’ll be wingpony,” I said with a teasing look. Dewdrop blushed up to his ears.
A week or so later, the two of us were off. We took a few things with us from home; toiletries and the like, but most of our kit, including our flight suits, would be provided by the academy. Dash wished us both well, as did my parents, who also showed up to see me off.
It was a fair flight to the academy, not too far from Wonderbolt HQ. In fact, we actually landed on HQ’s runway when we got there, following about a dozen or so other trainees. There was quite the collection of ponies from all over Equestria. And these were all supposed to be at the top of their game.
Touching down on the runway, we were quickly met by a grey pegasus, with dark glasses, moustache and a baseball hat bearing the Wonderbolts emblem. With a clipboard in his hooves, he asked us a few questions.
“Name?” he asked the two of us.
“Elisabeth,” I replied quickly.
“And I’m Dewdrop,” my coltfriend quickly followed.
The stallion looked down his clipboard and, with a pen, marked off our names with a nod.
“Okay,” he said gruffly. “Head on over to the quartermaster’s office to pick up your flight suits and passes. Then join the other cadets just off the runway. Don’t be late!” With that, he left us and went to see to another group of new arrivals.
Following his direction, we soon found ourselves at the quartermaster’s office. He gave us both a small photo ID card on a lanyard to put around our necks, and after checking our size, handed us our flight suits. These things were skin tight and covered you from head to tail. The only part left exposed, unlike the real ‘Bolts flight suit, was our faces. We were also given a pair of goggles to wear. Our own weather patrol issue were deemed insufficient. We quickly changed into our new attire. They were apparently fitted with all sorts of special kit to help keep us from blacking out during high-G manoeuvres. They were also very, very tight, and a challenge to get into. I’m not sure if it was intended by the designers, but they did show off the curves and muscles of anypony who wore them. Dewdrop certainly cleaned up nicely, and I caught him eyeing me too once or twice.
Having stowed all our kit in our lockers back in the barracks, the two of us headed back to the runway and joined the other cadets who were milling around. We were the only ones from Ponyville, but there flyers from Manehatten and Baltimare, Vanhoover, Las Pegasus, Cloudsdale, Trottingham, and even the Griffon Kingdom.
We chatted with a few. They were all fairly friendly, if a bit competitive. But then, you had to be to get here, didn’t you? We were just starting to settle and wondering where our instructors were, when a whistle blew and we were all ordered to stand at attention. We quickly lined up.
There was no mistaking the raspy voice, or that shock of a red and gold mane. Spitfire had arrived, and she was joined by a few more instructors. She wore her Wonderbolt dress blues and had a pair of aviator's shades on, a look that brokered no argument.
“Alright, good morning, everypony,” she began. “I trust you all recognise me, so I’ll be brief. Welcome to Wonderbolt Academy. You are the top ten percent of all weather pegasi; the elite, the best of the best. Well, we’re gonna make you better. Here you will be trained in the principles and practices of advanced flight manoeuvres. It will be more challenging than anything you’ve done before. By the time you graduate, I expect that there’ll be far fewer faces than there are now.
“You will be under constant assessment; two flights each day, classes in between, and evaluations of your performance. We assign points based on that performance. If you do well enough, and acquire enough points, you will have the option to apply to the Wonderbolt Reserves, and maybe someday even wear this uniform.
“To start with, you’ll be broken up into teams of two; a lead pony and wing pony. You’ll work together through the course. When your name is called, step forward.” Another pegasus stallion now began to call out names.
“Clear Skies!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Partner with Moon Tracer.”
“Ice Storm!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Partner with Applewood.”
“Maverick!” My ears perked up at that one.
“Yes, sir!”
“Partner with Goose.” I had to really work to stop myself laughing. The list went on and on until my name came up.
“Elisabeth!” the pegasus called out, sounding a little perplexed at my not so Equestrian name.
“Yes, sir!” I called back, stepping forward.
“Partner with Dewdrop.” I resisted the urge to cheer. It would have sucked to be partnered with somepony else. To my surprise though, like Dash before me, I was handed the badge of a wingpony. Dewdrop was apparently to lead.
Now suitably paired up, we were all lined up again. Spitfire was there, her aviator shades making her face difficult to read, but I could feel her watching all of us closely.
“Alright,” she began. “Now that you’re paired up, we can start your training. I leave you with this friendly warning. This school is about precision; there are no points for second place.”
With that, Spitfire withdrew. While she did often take part in academy classes, as the CO of the ‘Bolts, she couldn’t handle everything. We were instead, as a class, passed off to other training staff. The most senior of these was the stallion who had greeted Dewdrop and I when we arrived, and whose name was Jester.
“Alright gentlecolts, we have a hop to take,” he declared. “To start with, we’ll be practicing the speed course. Fly five hundred laps around the track as fast as possible and then return here. The clock is ticking and as of now, we are keeping score.”
That pretty much set the tone for the day. Five hundred laps around the track was more than enough to wear most ponies out and took more than a fair amount of time. Dewdrop and I acquitted ourselves pretty well. We weren’t the fastest by any means, but we did do well enough to hold our own and come out in the top ten. Like I said before, unlike some of the cadets here, I had no interest in a future career with the Wonderbolts. I’m not afraid to admit it; I’m just not that good. Sure I can fly, but not at that level. For Celestia’s sake, the ‘Bolts push even Dash to near her absolute limit.
We ended up finishing the course in the top ten, which I was more than happy with. More than a few ponies had run themselves ragged and been forced on by the instructors when they tried to ease up.
In the evening, we all had dinner in the mess hall together. I guess the academy really does try to get you into the somewhat military mind-set of the Wonderbolts. They are a military organisation after all. After that, given as how it was our first day, and effectively a half day, we were all dismissed to rest up and get ready for tomorrow.
Dewdrop and I, along with most of the other cadets, welcomed the brief respite. The combination of the hard course, the baking sun, and the flight suits that had barely any breathing room, had left us sweating like pigs. A shower and a good night’s rest was just what the doctor ordered.
Of course, we didn’t get that. Much to our collective dismay, reveille came at half four in the morning. We were unceremoniously turned out of our bunks and made to line up on the parade ground in the dark. Luna’s moon still hung low in the sky, and only the faintest hints of the coming dawn were visible on the eastern horizon.
After being made to do PT exercises, we were all bustled into a lecture hall to start the coursework phase of the training. This I actually found quite interesting. If you want to be a good flyer, you need to understand the theory first. We examined methods of improving our turning radius and a trick known as the Wonderbolt Flick. In short, you banked left and then kicked out with your right leg. This was like crossing the controls in a plane and essentially made you skid through the sky for a few seconds, giving you time to react to an obstacle.
We were then marched out into the now bright morning sunshine for one of the less pleasant test; the Dizzitron. Even seasoned Wonderbolts fear and hate that contraption. It’s designed to simulate going into a flat spin. That’s one of the worst things that can happen to a pegasus.
A flat spin is when an aircraft goes into a spin, but stays on an even keel; sort of like a Frisbee. The result being that you quickly lose height. The flat spin is typically unrecoverable unless you have enough height to play with. Worse still, the extreme g-forces acting on you make it hard to apply the proper recovery procedure, hence its infamous reputation. The only way to get out was to push yourself into a dive, so you can get air flowing over your wings again.
Dewdrop and I watched as one by one, cadets were put through the Dizzitron. We all had time to reflect on the fact that, despite being called a simulator, nothing about this exercise was simulated.
Ponies had died doing it.
Eventually, Dewdrop’s turn came up. Climbing into the seat, he was strapped in and soon set off. The machine rotated him first around its axis, and then began to rotate his seat in order to induce the spin. Then, at the right moment, the restraints were released and Dewdrop was sent spinning off into the wild blue yonder. Like many cadets, he was screaming all the way.
I watched for several tense seconds as Dewdrop continued to spin, his wings struggling to fight against the G forces. Before long though, he managed to recover. Forcing his body weight forward, he began to pitch over into a dive. A little while after that, he recovered and performed a passable landing, considering that for him the world was probably still spinning.
Now it was my turn.
Walking up the steps to the seat, I felt my knees shaking. My heart beat faster in my chest. I felt that nagging urge to just turn and run. You could hardly blame me now, could you? This contraption was genuinely lethal, and here I was about to strap myself into it and put myself in one of the worst situations a pegasus can face in the air.
But there was no way I could turn around and give up. This was vital practice. Celestia forbid it, but I could end up in a flat spin for real one day. Better to practice now, with plenty of sky, than when I only had a couple hundred feet.
Swallowing my fear as best I could, I let myself be strapped in. The training officer checked everything was right and gave me a few words of encouragement.
“Don’t worry, kid,” he said. “It’s not as bad as you think. We’ve all done it, so can you.”
With that, he pulled the lever and activated the Dizzitron. I began to go up and down as the arm that I was attached to began to rotate. A few moments after I’d adjusted to that, the platform I was connected to started to turn as well, in the opposite direction. The speed of both was fairly slow, but I was already struggling to tell up from down.
Steadily, it got faster and faster. Ground and sky turned into one continuous blur. I felt the gravitational forces pushing me back into the backrest behind me. The wind rushed around me and a tried reflexively to open my wings and level off. They however, were presently bound by the straps. Suddenly, I heard the word of command.
“Release!”
All at once, the straps that had pinned me down let go. I found myself flung forward and away from the Dizzitron and the other cadets. My spin soon transitioned into a flat one, and my eyes were fixed onto the horizon. But the world was still barely in focus; simply a blur of colour. Try as I might, I could hardly move my wings. They were open now, but I couldn’t feel any air flowing over them.
I knew what I needed to do; lean forward. Forcing my centre of gravity ahead of me would push my into a dive and let me recover. But everything was just so heavy. It was an effort to even lift one foreleg! Still, I strained desperately. After all, I needed to recover. I pushed my head as far forward as I could, stuck out my two forelegs and tucked my hind legs under me. All the while my eyes streamed, my stomach did somersaults and I felt as though at any moment I’d lose my lunch.
Then slowly, degree by degree, I began to change my attitude. I began to see more of the ground and less of the sky. And then, in one sudden motion, I pitched down into a sharp dive. I went from spinning to an almost dead vertical dive. Exhausted, I forced my wings to work and pulled myself up. The world was still spinning as I tried to level off and stay there. At least I was out of the woods.
At a rough guess, I’d say I plummeted the better part of a thousand feet in a little under half a minute. I know I had to climb a little to get back to the runway. My landing would be an insult to my usual self, but I was just grateful to get down again. Doing what Dash termed ‘combat landings’ where you kept your forward momentum instead of hovering, I skipped a couple times before touching down and quite literally belly flopping on the runway.
Two medical corpsponies were there to greet me and helped me back on my feet. Dewdrop was there too, having been given the all clear after his own bumpy landing. I don’t think I’d ever hugged him quite so hard until then. It was certainly the first time he started hammering on my back, begging for air.
After all the other cadets had done their run, luckily with no incidents, although there were a couple who had the SAR ponies follow them down, just in case, we were told of our recovery times. I managed a respectable nineteen point six seconds, far behind RD’s twelve. Dewdrop however, pipped me at the post with a time of nineteen point two.
I guess they had good reason for making him lead pony.
The rest of that day was spent again in the classroom. This time we had the honour of having Soarin as our instructor. He went over our individual performance in the Dizzitron and highlighted possible improvements we could all make, as well as looking at other methods of recovering from various kinds of stalls, all of which were possible during formation flying. Of the supposed ‘unrecoverable’ stall, he said recovery from a flat spin was not impossible, merely very difficult.
At the end of the lecture, which again gave me a few new insights, he went on to explain what would be happening tomorrow.
“Right,” Soarin said as he packed away his lecture notes. “I’ll see you all in the morning for your next hop. We’re trying something a little different this year. You’ll still be flying in pairs; lead pony and wingpony, but the exercise will be something more than just capture the flag.
“In light of recent threats to the safety of Equestria, the Wonderbolts are looking to expand their combat capability. And so, tomorrow we will be looking ACM; air combat manoeuvring. You all might know it as ‘dogfighting’. Each element will go up and be pursued by two instructors. Your objective is to tag your opponent by physically touching them, to simulate using wing mounted blades. Do your best; we expect nothing less. Dismissed.”
We all filed out to enjoy what we could of our downtime. Still, tomorrow seemed to promise a bit of excitement. I found myself thinking again of my Great uncle Algernon and tried to recall some of the tactics the old RFC pilots used.
Once again, we were up and about at a very early hour, although this time we were a little more prepared. Our instructors quickly split us up into our two ship flights. Dewdrop and I would be one of the first flights of the day and going up against two of the instructors who’d been doing this sort of thing for years.
Obviously, this exercise would take place well away from the main base, out in the open sky. However, there was an effective arena set up. We could only fly five miles in each direction, and there was a hard deck (basically if you go below that altitude, you aren’t allowed to keep going with the exercise) of two thousand feet. As there was traffic below the academy, it wasn’t safe to be tail chasing and risking a crash.
The two of us took off from the runway a little while after breakfast. Dewdrop, being the lead pony, was in front. I on the other hoof was off his port wing and a little behind, providing cover. We soon arrived at the training area and found Jester, who would be one of the instructors we’d be up against.
“Morning, cadets,” he said as we drew alongside him. “Looks like you’ve drawn the black marble.”
“What do you mean, sir?” Dewdrop asked. Jester pointed to our right. Our other opponent was just pulling alongside. I recognised him instantly in his Wonderbolt flight suit.
“Good morning, rookies,” Soarin said with a wave. “I’ll try to go easy on you.” With that, he and Jester both banked away, leaving us stunned.
“Horseapples!” Dewdrop exclaimed. “We’re going up against Jester and Soarin?!” I tried to reassure him.
“Relax, Dewdrop. He’s probably saying ‘Sweet Celestia. It’s Lizzie and Dewdrop!’.” Dewdrop barked a short laugh.
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s saying that. Okay, how do you want to do this?” I shrugged.
“You’re lead, Dewdrop,” I replied. “I’ll stick to you like glue and keep you covered. If we can stay together we should stand a chance.” He nodded in agreement.
“Alright then. Let’s both get some height; make it harder for them to get the drop on us.”
The two of us quickly began to climb in a cruise to keep our speed up. I’d been thinking last night and talked with Dewdrop about how we might play this. Back in its day, the RFC had more than a few rules for dogfighting. Most of it actually came from the Germans. One particular set of rules was the so-called ‘Dicta Boelcke’ created by a German ace of the same name.
We were already following the first rule; ‘Try to secure the upper hand before attacking. If possible, keep the sun behind you’. We were climbing to get above our opponents and could then adjust our course to come at them from out of the sun. We’d also follow the fifth rule; ‘In any type of attack it is essential to assail your opponent from behind’.
The second rule was just as important though; ‘Always continue with an attack you have begun’. Turning away due to fear or the perception that you were losing just exposed your rear end to the enemy. This somewhat fed into the third rule to only engage at very close range. We had no choice about that, since we were fighting with blades rather than twin Vickers.
Right now though, we needed to focus on rule number four; ‘You should always try to keep your eye on your opponent and never let yourself be deceived by ruses’. We’d somewhat screwed that up, as we’d lost sight of Soarin and Jester when they broke away. Right now we were keeping our heads on a swivel and trying to pick them out before they spotted us.
After levelling off near the top of the arena, we tried to pick out our two foes. I quickly managed to spot something moving far below us; it was Jester, skimming along on his own.
“What do you think, Dewdrop?” I asked. Dewdrop frowned in thought.
“I don’t like it,” he replied. “Looks like a trap to me.”
“Maybe we can use that to our advantage,” I suggested, an idea forming in my head.
“What do you mean?”
“If we go down after Jester, then Soarin will probably pop out from somewhere and try to get us from behind. He’ll expect us to try and dive away, but we’ll do the opposite. When he attacks, we turn and attack him, then circle back for Jester. It will throw him off and put them on the defensive.”
It was a sound strategy, and another of Boelcke’s rules; ‘If an opponent dives on you, do not try to get around his attack, but fly to meet it’. Better to turn on him, even if it meant giving up speed for height, then try to outrun a Wonderbolt while showing our tails. After considering it for a moment, Dewdrop nodded in agreement.
“Alright then, we’ll try it,” he said. “Tally ho, bandit at ten o’clock low!”
We both pitched over into a dive, quickly picking up speed. We’d need it for when we had to turn on Soarin.
Jester was flying straight and level, something no skilled flyer would ever do in combat. It reinforced my belief that we were being baited. A few seconds before we drew level, he looked up and spotted us. Putting on a burst of speed, he dived, presumably trying to fly out of bounds. We however, had the speed advantage and quickly drew level. Dewdrop reached out with a wingtip and tagged Jester on the back.
“Jester’s dead!” Dewdrop proclaimed with no small amount of glee.
I pulled alongside him as well, keeping my eye on the sky above. Still though there was no sign of Soarin.
Suddenly though, the sunlight went, and I felt a gentle touch on my spine. Almost in my ear, I heard a voice.
“Bingo! Lizzie’s dead. You’re out of there, kid.”
To my astonishment, not two feet above me, flying inverted no less, was Soarin, wearing a shit eating grin on his face. Where the hay did he come from? I’d been scanning the sky above us very carefully. Soarin rolled level and settled into a station alongside me and Dewdrop, who he’d also caught.
“Good idea keeping an eye on the sky above you, cadet,” he said with some praise. “But did you think to consider the sky below you?”
Dammit! He must have been somewhere below Jester. We both saw the one pegasus and got fixated on him, assuming Soarin would ambush us from above. Instead, while I’d been looking up, he’d been quietly creeping in from below. I turned to Dewdrop, who had a rueful look on his face.
"The Ministry of Meteorological Affairs regrets to inform you your kids are dead because they were stupid," I said, more to myself than anypony else.
“Well, at least we got Jester,” Dewdop said in an effort to soften the blow.
We followed Soarin back to the academy and touched down on the runway. It seemed that, aside from Ice Storm and his wingpony, nopony had fared much better than us. Most hadn’t managed to bag either of their opponents. So, Dewdrop and I decided that, while we may not have been entirely successful, we’d still broken somewhat even.
The final test before our points were all tallied up was the famous Wonderbolt obstacle course. Now, I had my own little set up around Ponyville I used to practice on whenever I had the chance, but this was something else. There were hard turns, tight spaces; no room for error at all. And that was before you factored in the heavy crosswinds and driving rain that also covered parts of the course.
The final test then, would be something of a race to see who could post the fastest time. All of our groups lined up at the start. Before we started though, Dewdrop turned to me.
“Lizzie,” he said quietly, so that only I could hear. “I want you to be lead pony on this one.” I turned to look at him, a confused look on my face.
“What? Why?” I asked. “You’re lead pony, Dewdrop.” Dewdrop however, shook his head.
“If that last exercise had been real, I’d have got us both killed.” I rolled my eyes.
“Dewdrop, I missed Soarin too, and I was supposed to be the one covering you. If anypony should get the blame for that, it’s me.” Dewdrop’s ears flattened against his skull.
“You’ve got way more experience at this, Lizzie,” he said. If I’m on point, I might screw up again.”
Now I saw what was going on. Despite the fact that we were almost expected to fail the exercise, Dewdrop’s confidence had been knocked for six. I could just take the lead as he asked me, but that would probably be a bad idea. He was still new to the patrol, but he needed to learn to trust himself. I’d gone through something similar in my first year.
As I was trying to think of a suitable response, something my brother once said (although he was quoting someone else) popped into my mind. It seemed fitting. And hey, it worked on me.
“Yes, Dewdrop, you might screw up,” I said. “But that doesn’t let you step down from being lead pony. I’ll be on your wing.”
Dewdrop’s brow furrowed in thought. I was getting through to him. Placing a comforting wing on his shoulder, I smiled at him.
“Dewdrop,” I said kindly. “It is possible to commit no mistakes, and still lose. That isn’t a weakness; that’s just life.”
Before either of us could say anything else, the starting whistle blew, and we were off. Dewdrop flew lead.
We ended up doing quite well. As I’ve already said, we didn’t have ambitions about coming out on top. Still, we did quite well for ourselves. We had gotten enough points to graduate from the academy. As a result of that, we now had ‘advanced flight training’ markings on our records and we were authorised to take on more difficult work. We even had the option, if we wanted it, to go and apply to the Wonderbolt Reserves. I knew Thunderlane had gone and done that, hoping to follow in Dash’s hoofprints next time they opened the books.
The two of us though were quite happy with weather work, thank you very much. Besides, who knows; maybe in a few years, I’ll be able to nab Flight’s spot, or maybe even take over the patrol. I could certainly take my sergeants examination if I wanted it. If Thunderlane decided to leave, I could potentially step into his horseshoes.
Dewdrop too had benefitted from the experience. Like me, he was more looking for promotion than entry into the ‘Bolts. But along with the certification, he’d also gained a great deal of confidence in himself. When he’d first started, he’d been shy and ever the follower. Now though, Dash was frequently assigning him long range patrols or solo assignments. Nopony would need to hold his hoof anymore.
We did end up staying one extra day at the academy though. After the race, it seemed that Maverick and his wing pony Goose, decided to have a bit of a laugh to celebrate their high placing. One high speed, low altitude pass over the academy later, and there was a heck of a mess to clear up.
I was standing in the road, not too far from Twilight’s castle. Ponyville was bustling, with everypony in town out to celebrate the annual Sunset Festival. Call it a counterpart to the Summer Sun Celebration. All around town there were shops open, stalls selling their wares, and foals were all galloping around and enjoying the pleasant afternoon sun. It was hard to believe that a day ago, Equestria had almost been destroyed.
Trotting over to a park bench, I sat myself down to think. I decided to lie down in the usual pony way. I tried copying that fruitcake Lyra once or twice, and sitting like I would as a human, but it’s damn uncomfortable as a pony, particularly on your back. So I sat down in a more traditional way and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds I’d help form last week drift by.
I suppose I should have seen it coming really. Bones had always been going on and one about how every now and then we were due for a ‘finale’ as he called it. Apparently, he did his best to keep apprised of every friendship mission and notable incident that affected the lives of Twilight and her friends, tallying them all up. He’d started after Starlight tried to go a-wandering through time. His first incident was with little Flurry Heart, way back when that storm came south from the Frozen North. He counted that as two he told me. His count had risen over the course of a few months to twenty four, and he had become increasingly concerned ever since. He warned all of us to be on the alert.
I suppose then, I ought to have seen all this coming, or at least picked up on it sooner. It all started one evening when, while Fluttershy and I were sitting down to dinner, there was a knock at the door.
Somepony knocked on the front door with a fairly sturdy, and authoritative knock. Both Fluttershy and I were briefly startled out of our usual dinnertime conversation. The poor pegasus even dropped her cutlery.
“Who in Equestria would be coming by this late?” I asked a little crossly. After all, it was getting on for eight o’clock.
Setting down my own knife and fork, I got up and trotted over to the front door. I expected that this would be somepony with a wild animal they’d found. Pets went to Dr. Fauna, the local vet. Fluttershy tended to deal with wild animals, and ponies who found some poor beast injured would bring them here.
Unlocking the deadbolt on the front door, I opened it and was surprised to find myself looking at Spike. It wasn’t often the little dragon came all the way out here, certainly not at such a late hour. Still, as it was a friend, I put aside my brief annoyance.
“Oh, hey there, Spike,” I said with a smile. “What brings you out here?”
To my surprise though, Spike looked confused. For a moment, his mouth hung open, not sure what to say. A couple seconds later though, he recovered and spoke.
“Oh…er….hi there….er…I was looking for Fluttershy,” he said, a little uncertainly. I smiled, although I was a bit perplexed by the way he acted.
“We were just having dinner,” I replied. I then stood to one side. “You want to come in? I’m sure I could rustle up some decent gems for you.” At this though, the dragon recoiled.
“Er, no thanks,” he replied with a shake of his head. “Could you just tell her that she needs to come to the castle as soon as possible? It's a…er…friendship problem.”
Again I was surprised. Spike loved gems, and I could never recall a time he’d ever refused any. Still, there was obviously something up.
“Yeah sure, I can let Fluttershy know, Spike,” I said with a nod and a smile, neither of which I’d yet seen from the baby dragon.
And with that, he was gone, heading back toward Ponyville seemingly as fast as his legs could carry him.
I frowned for a moment. I should have realised that something was wrong then and there. But I had little experience in such things. So, I shook my head, chalked it up to the late hour and went back in to let Fluttershy know what was up.
Heading back into the kitchen, I found Fluttershy still at the table, imploring Angel to get away from my own dinner. A quick wave of a hoof startled him away and I sat back down.
“That was Spike,” I said as I sat back down and tucked in to my now slightly colder dinner. “He said Twilight wants you to come up to the castle right away, something to do with a friendship problem.”
Fluttershy paused and turned to examine her cutie mark, and I knew well why. Whenever the map summons them to send them off on a friendship problem, their cutie marks glow. Dad jokes that it’s like a sort of magical pager. But when Fluttershy examined her own mark then, it was the same as it always was. It wasn’t glowing or pulsing or anything. She frowned.
“That’s strange,” she said. “Usually I’d know about a friendship problem already. I wonder why Twilight had to have Spike come and tell me about this one.” She got up from her own dinner, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
“I guess I better be going then,” she said. “Will you be alright to look after Angel and the others while I’m gone?” I nodded. These missions could keep Fluttershy away from Ponyville for a couple days at a time, so we’d set up a system where I could look after the animals for a little while. Luckily, the cottage was fairly quiet at the moment.
“Sure, I can hold down the fort for you,” I replied with a smile.
And so a few minutes later, Fluttershy had packed her saddlebags and set offfor Twilight’s, leaving me alone with her animals friends.
I slept poorly that night. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up.
Turns out I was right.
I shook my head in annoyance. There was no use beating myself up now, after the fact. I knew that Bones was doing the exact same thing. Sure, he was glad to have Applejack back, but he was presently alternating between depression and self-worthlessness for not spotting the threat to her and his adopted family, and a very quiet rage that was continuing to bubble away just beneath the surface of his personality. He was out at the festival now, doing his best to have a good time.
I suppose that it’s a step up from how he was when this whole situation went down. I’ve known for a while that my brother had a problem with changelings. But for a good long while though, he seemed to have put all that behind him. After all, he counted one of them among his best friends, and seemed genuinely interested in meeting Thorax. Now though, he seemed to have relapsed somewhat into his old ways.
The next morning, Fluttershy hadn’t come back. Like I said, it wasn’t unusual for her to have to spend a few days away from the cottage on a friendship problem. Dash was away for the better part of a week when she was summoned up to Griffonstone. Still, it felt weird being in a empty house. There were few animals in at the moment, so the place was unusually quiet.
I even found myself wishing for Discord to show up so I would have somepony to talk to. But no such draconequus was forthcoming.
So, feeling a little despondent, I headed out to work.
After a quiet flight, I met up with Flight, who was the first to arrive. That was a little unusual. As a rule, Dash was usually the first one here. Touching down on the cloud, I enquired after our captain.
“Hey, Flight. Where’s Dash today?” Flight held up a copy of the local weather schedule.
“I don’t know for sure,” he replied. “She said she had to head off on some friendship problem or something; left me the schedule and the work order.” He paused and frowned.
“Something up?” I asked. Thunderlane shook his head.
“No,” he replied. “It’s just that, if Dash usually had to head off somewhere on short notice, she’d annotate all this stuff with notes on what to do. This time she just showed up at my door, gave me these and took off.”
That was odd. As the Element of Loyalty, Dash was the last pony to leave somepony holding the baby. Whatever little quest they’ve been sent on, it must be pretty urgent. Normally, she has the time to let us all know what’s happening beforehand.
The rest of the guys arrived in short order and Flight brought them all up to speed. Luckily for us, today was supposed to be a fairly quiet, easy going day for us. With the Sunset festival coming up, the order of the day was to ensure clear skies for the morrow. It had been a quiet enough week, but there were a few spots here and there that needed clearing around town. We could leave stuff further afield alone, unless it threatened to drift into town. As long as the festival didn’t get rained on, everypony was happy.
Thunderlane divided us up into teams. He’d be the one working on his own today, given how we were five instead of six. The other two teams were obvious. Flitter and Cloudchaser would work together on one set of weather systems, while Dewdrop and I would look into the other. Flight meanwhile would have a scout around further afield.
The five of us headed out. Dewdrop and I made for Whitetail Wood. There was supposed to be a heavy looking bunch of rain clouds hanging around the place. Flight said it was up to us whether we started them up and emptied them in place, or piloted them further away from Ponyville. Since pushing them away would just make them another weather team’s problem, I decided that we ought to empty them. Then they were just harmless clouds that could be allowed to drift.
Dewdrop wasn’t particularly concerned at Dash’s absence. As we flew along towards the woods, he struck up a conversation.
“Hey, Lizzie,” he called over, catching my attention. “When we’re done here, do you want to go grab something to eat at the Hayburger? My treat.” I smiled and nodded.
“Sure, Dewdrop,” I replied. “I’ll just need to head on over to the cottage to check on a few of the animals first. Fluttershy got called away last night, along with Dash I’m guessing. I promised to look after things while she’s away.”
“Wow, that friendship problem must be something serious,” Dewdrop said.
“Why d’you say that?”
“I was passing over town on my way back home yesterday evening, and I saw Applejack heading to the castle as well.” I was surprised to hear that. As a rule, the map only ever sent one or two ponies to solve a problem. Whatever was up had to be serious. My brother’s odd theories about a ‘finale’ being due came to the forefront of my mind. I decided that once I was done here, I’d go and check with Twilight to find out what was going on.
The pair of us made light work of the rainclouds. It’s actually quite fun to start up a storm, as long as you’re careful. Think of a cloud like a soda can. Standing still, it holds the water inside. But shake it up and it will burst, sort of, and start releasing it all as rain. So we got to spend an hour or so jumping on what felt like bouncy castles from when I was a kid.
Of course, you had to be careful, otherwise you could accidentally charge the cloud up into a thunder cloud. And if you kept at it, you might find yourself getting zapped, as a certain grey pegasus once found out, much to her and Town Hall’s cost.
We soon had all the clouds dumping their water onto the ground below. At this time of year, none of them were too full. We certainly didn’t need to worry about turning the ground below into a mud bath. Once all of the clouds had stopped releasing rain, they turned from their previous light grey, to almost white, showing that they had no more rain left in them.
That was our job done there. All in all it only took us a couple hours, and most of that was spent just watching the rain fall. It’s quite a strange sight being on top of a cloud that’s raining. You can see the rain below you, but you’re dry as a bone. It kind of messes with your head a bit.
It also gave me and Dewdrop a chance to talk. I needed someone to talk to really, having spent last night on my own. I’ve never liked being alone in a house. I know there were a bunch of animals there too, but I still felt a little uneasy.
With our work done, we wound our way back towards Ponyville. We both made for Twilight’s castle. Needless to say, we never got that far.
Just as we crossed into town a pair of guards swooped in on us and, in no uncertain terms, ordered us to land immediately. I tried to explain that we were both with the Weather Patrol, but the guards warned me that if we didn’t land, we’d be forced down.
We touched down not too far from our intended destination. The town was abuzz. Looking up, guards were criss crossing the sky and a crowd seemed to be gathered around the castle. Curious, Dewdrop and I headed that way. Something was clearly wrong.
Reaching the crowd, we pushed our way through to the front. Yet more guards had set up a perimeter around the castle and warned us that if we tried to enter, we’d be arrested. It was then however, a friendly face appeared.
“Lizzie!” my dad called out. He was standing with Shining Armor a few feet away. Smiling I made towards him, with Dewdrop following.
“Dad!” I called back, waving a hoof. He motioned for the nearest guard to let me by and quickly pulled me into a hug.
“Oh thank God you’re alright!” he exclaimed, still holding me tight. “I was worried that you might have been hurt when they lifted Fluttershy.” I was flabbergasted.
“What?!” I exclaimed. Setting me down, he explained.
Queen Chrysalis and her changeling hive had again attacked Equestria. The night before, they had orchestrated the near simultaneous ponynapping of Twilight and her friends, both princesses in Canterlot, and the royal family in the Crystal Empire. It seems that the queen planned to use the love meant for them as a means to feed her hive and conquer Equestria. Fortunately, Starlight had been away from the castle when everything went down, and with the help of her friend Trixie, Thorax, who was sent by Sunburst, and Discord, who was beyond angry that Fluttershy had been taken, they had defeated the queen and freed the captured ponies. Even weirder though, something had happened with the other changelings. Thorax had showed them how to share their love and it had resulted in some sort of metamorphosis. Thorax was now seemingly in charge and Chrysalis had fled into exile, leaving us at peace with the changelings.
There was however, one small problem. While the infiltrators in Canterlot and the Crystal Empire had been captured without trouble, the changelings inside Twilight’s castle had heard what had happened. Unwilling to surrender or recognise the new changeling government, they’d barricaded themselves in the castle. The Royal Guard had been sent to flush them out.
Dad quickly led me over to Fluttershy, who was sitting with Discord a little way away. The two of us hugged each other, glad that we were both safe. I did the same with Dash, who was now spoiling for a fight. The princesses were also here. Cadence, to be with her husband, Twilight, as this was her home, and Celestia and Luna to both command the guards and put up a front for the watching public, to show their princesses were alive and well.
Applejack was with them all too of course, with Bones on one side of her, and Big Mac on the other. Both, like Discord, looked to be in a fearsome mood, Bones in particular. I watched as he briefly left Applejack with her older brother and went over to speak to Luna. I overheard what was said.
“Ah can’t believe ya let her just slink away like that, Luna!” he said in a sharp tone. Luna smiled as she looked down at him.
“Chrysalis is beaten, young Blade Star,” she replied. “And I am not in the business of shooting a fleeing foe in the back.”
“Still, who knows what she’ll do now? It’s irresponsible of you to put your citizens at risk like that.” Now, Luna’s expression hardened. She didn’t shout, she just sounded a touch disappointed.
“I may call you friend,” she said coldly. “But forget not who you address when you speak to me, child.”
It was understandable in a way. Bones has always had a problem with Changelings, and Chrysalis in particular made him see red. He was mad at himself for not spotting the changeling threat to his marefriend, and also to Luna, given the way he idolises her, and he certainly didn’t ascribe to the idea of redeeming Chrysalis. Still, he quickly realised that he’d stepped over the line. Straightening himself up, he bowed deeply.
“Forgive me, princess,” he said softly. Luna smiled and placed a comforting wing on his back.
“I understand your anger, Blade Star,” she went on. “But you must not hold onto such things. Your study into dark magic should tell you the risks of such actions.” Bones nodded silently. Applejack now trotted over to join them.
“I’m just glad y’all are safe,” he said. “And Ah wish Ah’d been able to do somethin’ to help.” At this, my dad broke in on the conversation.
“Perhaps you can, lad,” he called out. We all looked over to him. “The Royal Guard says they don’t have any way of storming this castle without doing some serious damage. You studied military strategy, I was wondering if you had any ideas.” Bones brightened up at this and trotted over.
With Fluttershy, Dash and Dewdrop with me, we followed my brother to see if he had any plans. It seemed clear that we couldn’t talk these changelings into coming out. He looked up at the building for a few moments before speaking.
“Well, Ah can see one way,” he said, with a dark smile. “We get a tent large enough, cover the place, seal it airtight, then fill it with methyl bromide. That ought to get ‘em out. Then we can hang the varmints from a sour apple tree.” Evidently, his anger towards the changelings had not fully cooled.
“Not funny, boy,” Dad said with a scowl. “The princesses want to get these changelings out alive; hard arrests at worst. And like it or not, they're entitled to due process.” Bones snorted, muttering something about there being only one punishment for spies, but nodded and took another look at the castle.
A moment later, an idea struck him. It was almost as if a lightbulb came on above his head. He was paying particular attention to the windows, and the balcony at the front of the castle.
“Ah’ve got it!” he declared. “We’ll do an Iranian Embassy Siege!”
I found myself almost laughing at the memory. Mum and Dad both remembered that particular incident in London. It was the first time the public were introduced to the modern day SAS. The problem was the same as it was in Equestria; a group of bad guys holed up in a secured building.
Looking over toward the now liberated castle, I could see where a few of the windows and doors had had to be replaced. It had certainly been an interesting sight at the time.
We were all moved back from the castle for the rest of the day as Dad, Bones, and Shining all worked to coordinate the plan of attack. The night was luckily quiet, although the changelings were spotted from time to time looking out of a window here and there, watching what was going on.
The attack happened at dawn, to catch the tired changelings off guard. First, a group of pegasi flew up to the roof of the building. Abseiling down to windows on one of the higher levels, they blasted their way in with a fearsome noise. I remember poor Twilight wincing at the damage being done, although Shining assured her that it would be fairly minor by the end.
After a few explosions, we saw a group of unicorn guards teleport away, courtesy of Princess Celestia. They apparently appeared in the basement area, and while the first group worked their way downward having entered from near the roof, this second group moved upwards, trapping the changelings between two fires.
A few stun spells later, and a thorough sweep of the building to ensure that all the vases were vases, all those knickknacks were just knickknacks, and all the books were just books, and the threat was finally over. Six changelings, in hoof cuffs were paraded out of the building by the guards, most none the worse for their experience. The sudden attack, coupled with the surprise and confusion it created, allowed the guards to capture them all with no casualties, save for one pegasus who got singed when one of the charges went off a bit too close.
A few hours later, and arrangements had been made to take the changelings back to Canterlot for repatriation back to their homeland. All told, from the initial kidnap to the final changeling surrendering, the crisis was over and done with in less than twenty four hours.
And so, with victory and peace at hand, everypony was celebrating. Getting to my hooves, I left my comfortable seat on the bench and headed towards the tavern a little ways down the street. Looking up, i caught sight of Dewdrop moving a couple clouds around near Town Hall. The town's only watering hole was fairly well packed with revelers, even at this early point in the afternoon.
Pushing the door open, I found Berry desperately trying to keep all the customers happy. I decided to skip the drinks for now. I looked around to pick out anypony I knew. Fluttershy wasn’t here, nor was Dash. They’d all been celebrating with Starlight in her old village. Bones in particular had been a little hesitant about letting Applejack out of his sight again, but had eventually come around to the idea. Dad pointed out that, if the behaviour of a few rogue changelings affected the way he lived his life, then they might as well have won.
I managed to pick out both Dad and Bones, not that it was too hard. Both were at the far end of the room, gathered around a piano where Dad was hammering on the keys. The pair of them, with a few ponies joining in, were belting out an old song from Ireland.
It certainly seemed to be working like a charm on the room. Despite all that had happened, and how close we had come to utter defeat without even a shot being fired, everypony was now celebrating. As a wise man once said; ‘it could have, but it didn’t’. And let’s be honest, even with the scare, the changelings were now allies, or at the very least neutral and fairly friendly towards us. I’m no politician, but I’d wager that this represented a major shift in the balance of power. Heck, aside from maybe the griffons or the yaks, the changelings were the most formidable military force on the planet. Even Bones was willing to give credit where it was due for their synchronised ponynapping.
Leaving the two to keep on crooning, I kept looking around, I picked out Mum in a booth not too far away with Milano and Cheerilee; her two best friends. Trotting over, I decided to join them.
“Hey you three,” I said as I came over. Mum smiled at me and briefly hugged me as I sat down next to her.
“Hey there, sweetie,” she replied. “How are you feeling?” I shrugged my shoulders.
“Eh, like everypony else I guess,” I replied. “Starting to relax again and stop worrying.” Mum nodded.
“I know what you mean,” she agreed. The two mares nodded as well. “I’m still in two minds about letting your father go back to work. But from what I understand, there’s a whole different bunch of changelings in charge now, and that Chrysalis has taken off running.”
“That’s what I heard too,” Milano added. “This celebration is really helping everypony cope with what’s happened.” I nodded.
“I’ll just be glad when Fluttershy and Dash get back from Starlight’s old village,” I replied. “Then things can get back to normal.”
“How about Dewdrop?” Mum asked with a faint smile. I smiled too.
Dewdrop had been great these past couple days. He was with me the entire time the Royal Guard was in town, and only left me when he had to go back to work. For obvious reasons, weather ops had kind of fallen by the wayside. But, as ever, Dewdrop had been the one to help pick up the slack. He was so dependable like that; one of the many things I like about him. Heck, at this rate, he’ll be vying with Dash for the Element of Loyalty.
“I saw him on my way over here,” I said. I briefly explained how he was currently being an almost one pony weather team. I shook my head.
“You know, I should go and give him a hoof,” I said, half to myself. “Dash and Fluttershy will be back this evening. I might as well stick around and help him until then.”
So, leaving the tavern, and my family to enjoy the remaining celebrations, I took off into the sky.
It didn’t take too long to find Dewdrop. I ran into Thunderlane, who was also catching up on some work, keeping the skies clear.
“Hey, Flight!” I called out as I climbed up to meet him. Thunderlane waved a greeting back as I drew level with him. He was steadily buzzing from cloud to cloud, bucking them into vapour.
“Hey there, Lizzie,” he called back with a smile. “You’re not joining in at the festival?” I shook my head.
“I checked in with my folks and my brother,” I replied. “But I figured Dewdrop could use some help. Although I see he’s managed to rope you in as well.” Thunderlane barked out a laugh.
“Actually, I kind of volunteered myself,” he said, gesturing me to follow him.
We climbed up a little higher before coming across a single large cloud, which was hanging motionless in the sky. Atop the fluffy mass, there was a splash of light blue and blonde. Dewdrop was curled up like a cat, snoring softly.
“I found him pretty much exhausted,” Thunderlane explained, keeping his voice only just above a whisper, and doing his best to keep his wing beats soft. “Rumble’s alright back at the house for now. So I figured that the least I could do was help him out. The poor guy’s been on his hooves for twenty four hours.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the sleeping pony before me. The silly idiot had completely exhausted himself, staying up looking after me yesterday, and now pulling an entire weather team’s duty today, just so the rest of us could be with our families and friends.
“Why don’t you go keep an eye on Rumble, Flight,” I suggested. “I’ll finish up here and keep an eye on him.”
Thunderlane jumped at the chance and, after quickly telling me what little needed to be done to finish for the day, left me alone with Dewdrop, who continued to be undisturbed by the riotous celebration below.
As Thunderlane disappeared through the few remaining clouds, I gently nosed Dewdrop until he woke up. His right ear twitched and his eyes opened blearily. Lifting his head up off his forelegs, he let out a yawn before standing up. He quickly noticed my presence.
“Lizzie? What are you doing up here. I was just…” he quickly realised that I’d caught him napping. “Oh sweet Celestia! I’m sorry, Lizzie. I just closed my eyes for a moment.” I smiled kindly at him.
“Relax, Dewdrop. It’s alright. Flight took over for you. You earned the rest in any case.” He looked around at the now setting sun. It was getting into the early evening.
“How come you’re up here then?” Dewdrop asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Eh, everypony’s having a fun time in town. I figured my coltfriend could use some company.” I leaned in and nuzzled him softly. Dewdrop let out a slightly nervous laugh at the contact.
“It sure has been a crazy couple of days, hasn’t it,” he commented, now blushing slightly as I withdrew and lay down next to him.
“It sure has,” I replied. “At least Dash should be home tonight, along with Fluttershy and the others. Then I think things can get back to normal.”
“I hear that,” Dewdrop said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I like a little adventure every now and then. Otherwise, we’d just be buzzing around moving clouds all day. But these past two days have been enough to last me for quite a while.”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I know everypony’s celebrating and enjoying the festival down there, but I just want to relax, and get some peace and quiet.” An idea struck me.
“Tell you what,” I said. “How about we go for a flight. Just you and me.” Dewdrop smiled back at me and leaned in a little closer.
“Oh,” he said. “Where to?” I closed the distance.
“How about we finally go and see The Crystal Empire together?”
Before he could respond, I gave him a quick peck on the lips. The silly colt was stunned into silence. Giggling to myself, I flashed him a smile and, motioning for him to follow me, I leapt off the cloud and into the sweet embrace of the sky.
He was quickly on my heels, and the pair of us tail chased each other, twisting and rolling in sync with each other, each matching the others move, laughing at the silliness of it all.
I’ve had a few adventures in my time in the Weather Patrol. But I think my biggest one is just beginning.
And so Dewdrop and I cashed in some of our holiday time. Packing our bags, the pair of us flew north for our little getaway. We decided to fly there ourselves, rather than taking a train from Ponyville station, or an airship from Canterlot. I’ve always wanted to do something like that, even when I was back on Earth; travel somewhere myself, rather than with some guided group. We simply packed our saddlebags with food, clothes and a few other essentials and headed north.
The two of us ended up taking a rather hotchpotch route. Starting from Ponyville, we flew past Canterlot, stopping in the city briefly for lunch. I also took the opportunity to drop in on Dad at his office. He was having a fairly quiet day, having spent the past week or so arranging for the captured changelings to be repatriated back to their homeland. There was even some talk that he might have a part to play in a future Equestrian-Changeling embassy here in the capitol.
He was glad to see the both of us. He’s actually warmed up to Dewdrop quite well, just as my brother has. While he initially treated him with no small amount of suspicion, on this meeting, he greeted him like family. In particular, he thanked the young stallion for looking out for me during the incursion.
The three of us headed down from the castle to the city proper for lunch. My dad has a habit of having lunch at this little Griffon place in the lower part of the city (effectively the wrong side of the tracks). He regularly goes there for what he described as ‘the best ribs this side of Appleloosa’. I was a vegan long before I became a pony, so they didn’t exactly strike my fancy, never mind Dewdrop’s. But the Griffon proprietor had a plentiful vegetarian menu for pony customers as well.
After lunch, we continued on our way, stopping at Cloudsdale when it began to get dark. We checked ourselves into a little motel in the town a little up the road from the weather factory and stayed the night.
The next day, we continued on our way north. The train would have got us to the Empire by now, but the two of us had already had way more fun than a simple train journey. Every now and then, we’d land somewhere to rest up and get our bearings, be it a small town, a clearing in the woods, anywhere we could safely set down.
We ended up tenting it that night, within sight of the breath taking Neighagra Falls. And the morning after, the two of us half flew, half dived down into the pooling water below for a quick dip.
After that, we wrapped ourselves up in the warmest clothes we had and prepared to head through the icy tundra of the Frozen North. We decided to give Stalliongrad a wide berth in the end, as we’d both heard more than a couple stories about the place. Luckily for us, the weather wasn’t too bad. The uncontrolled snow storms were light for the most part, and easy enough to navigate around. It was beautiful in an eerie sort of way. The tundra seemed to stretch on forever, just snow and ice. The only blot on the map was the two of us, flying through the cold, clear blue sky.
Before too long, we came upon the glittering jewel of that place; The Crystal Empire. We saw the Imperial Palace first, jutting up high into the air. And as we drew nearer, coming under the protection of the Crystal Heart, the air grew warmer and the icy wind became a gentle breeze.
Touching down at the gates of the city state, we shed our heavy overcoats, earmuffs and hats and soon found ourselves on the crystalline streets.
The two of us spent the next few days in the city, playing tourist. With its comparatively recent return to the world, the Crystal Empire has more than a few sights to see. Aside from the huge palace, there were the markets, selling trinkets you couldn’t find anywhere else, the ancient library, and the beautiful crystal berry winery. At the latter of these, we got a guided tour around the place and purchased more than a couple of bottles, both for ourselves and for our friends back in Ponyville.
A lot of our time though, particularly after we’d gotten over the initial amazement that comes with arriving at a strange new place, we spent up on a cloud somewhere, looking out at the landscape, just talking. One night, the two of us slept up there. With the warm temperatures afforded by the Crystal Heart, it was quite comfortable. At the same time though, the cold weather beyond made the sky clear and crisp, with millions of stars glittering each night.
We got even luckier that night. I was just beginning to doze off next to Dewdrop, when he hurriedly nudged me awake. After blearily coming to, I saw what was up. Dewdrop was pointing skyward. Following his hoof, I saw the amazing trails of light and fire and magic; Equestria’s equivalent to the Northern Lights. The brilliant steamers danced across the inky blue sky, covering it with crimson, gold, green, and indigo, seeming to shimmer and reflect against the snowy landscape. It was incredible to see, lasting for a about five or six minutes, before silently vanishing as quietly as it had come.
The two of us slept in each other’s embrace that night, on a soft cloud far above the glittering city, and yet far below the brilliant stars.
We spent a couple more days in the Crystal Empire, before returning home along a different route.
Instead of heading due south, we decided to follow the train tracks home. The route was typically fast by the express train, but it would take us a couple of days to cover the distance. We ended up flying low through Galloping Gorge (not to be confused with Ghastly Gorge, which is south of Ponyville), testing ourselves against the strong air currents.
We then went a little out of our way when looking for somewhere to rest, heading a little to the west to reach Vanhoover. On the way in, much to our surprise, we ran into their local weather team, headed by Cloud Skimmer. I’d not seen him since we all flew up here months ago, when that rogue storm from the north threatened to engulf Equestria’s most northern city.
Surprisingly, he recognised us both, in particular Dewdrop, whose hare-brained scheme had in part helped to avert disaster. He was with his local squadron doing some light snow work in the area around town. The two of us explained what we were up to, and he kindly recommended us to a small hotel run by his younger brother. The kind stallion even got us a little discount as thanks for our help.
Finally, we reached Ponyville the following afternoon, having been away for just under two weeks, including our little journey back and forth. The place was just as it always was, quiet and idyllic, yet bustling with ponies I knew well. It was market day when we touched down. Bones was looking after the Apples’ stand and quickly came over to greet us.
“Lizzie! Dewdrop! You’re back!” he called out, running over to us both. “How was your break?”
“Oh great,” I replied with a smile. “Once I get the pictures developed, I’ll show you some of the sights.” I’d had the forethought to bring a camera with me; a bulky thing due to Equestria’s limited technology, but still capable.
“Well Ah’d hang onto it if I was you, sis,” Bones replied. “There’s gonna be one impressive show tomorrow, and Ah for one want pictures.” That piqued my interest.
“Oh, what’s that then?” I asked.
“There’s a big ceremony happenin’ at the castle tomorrow,” Bones explained. “Princess Celestia is gonna award medals to Starlight and the others for helping to beat the changelings, and she’s gonna officially sign the peace treaty with Thorax.”
“Wow, you’re gone for two weeks and everything happens at once,” I said. Still, it was better news than the last time Dewdrop and I had been away from town. “You going to that Bones?” He nodded.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied. “Ah wouldn’t miss it for the world. Ah’d like to meet that Thorax fella. And it’ll be nice to see Princess Luna again, under better circumstances. So, you two gonna be there?” Dewdrop and I looked at each other before nodding.
“Sure, we’ll be there. Hey, tell you what. Dewdrop and I will come meet you and AJ up at the farm. After the ceremony we can all go get lunch together again.” Now Bones really smiled.
“Now that sounds like a plan, sis,” he said. “Ah’ll see you tomorrow then.”
The next day, we were all due to meet up at Sweet Apple Acres. Dewdrop, Bones, Applejack and I would then all head down to Twilight’s castle together. I’d done my best to make myself look presentable. I figured that this wouldn’t be a black tie event, but that I ought to make some effort. So, I’d gone for my good luck charm. I was wearing my silk red flying scarf, pinned in place by the old brass badge of the Royal Flying Corps.
You know, looking back on it all, I’d say I’ve had a couple of adventures that might make Great Uncle Algernon jealous. Travelling to a new world aside, I’ve learnt to fly, been involved in everything from rain squalls to full blown tornadoes, I’ve helped hold off a devastating snow storm, I’ve nearly been hit by lightning while trying to save a friend’s life, fallen in love, helped a friend of a friend get into work at last, crash landed behind the lines, fought off a zombie outbreak, and even taken the first step toward becoming a Wonderbolt if I wanted.
It’s a lot to happen in the space of a few short months.
I arrived at the farm with both Dewdrop and Fluttershy. My pegasus roommate was keen to spend a bit more time with me after my two week absence. And it was nice to have us all together for once. The three of us had quite enjoyed our little flight over here. We'd briefly stopped by my parents' house on the way over. To my surprise, I'd found that their 'dog', Charlie, was still there. I'd assumed that the disguised changeling would want to go home, but he'd apparently, like Strong Shield, decided to keep his cover, despite their respective transformations. I guess it would be quite weird for ponies if they found out the Alsatian Collie cross was actually a changeling that my Dad had known about for months, even if he was friendly.
Trotting up to the house, I found Applejack waiting for me. Like me, she wasn’t too gussied up, and was dressed in her usual cowpony hat, with her blond mane and tail tied up in a…well, ponytail, with red ribbon. The two of us greeted each other; we’ve actually become quite close friends since Bones took us all out on that double date. I asked her where Bones was. She told me he was just getting dressed, having been working in the north field with Big Mac all morning, and apparently busy with spell last night.
In the distance, I heard the clock in town begin to chime. We’d need to get a move on if we were going to get there on foot. So, I trotted upstairs to ‘encourage’ him to get his arse in gear.
I passed Granny Smith, who was sleeping peacefully in her rocking chair. Walking through the kitchen and the front room, I trotted up the stairs to the landing and quickly found myself at Bones’ door, which was open.
It was the same odd mix of the agricultural and academic that I’d seen before when I came here with Starlight, with books lining the few shelves in the room, while a lasso hung off of one of the bedposts. Bones was currently standing in front of his desk, which was still cluttered with books, papers and his own jotted notes, looking at his reflection in the mirror. I noticed that, in keeping with more traditional manners, his hat was currently resting on a nearby hook fixed to the wall. Clearing my throat, I caught his attention. He smiled as he turned to me.
“Oh, hey there, sis,” he said in his usual easy going way. “What brings y’all up here?”
“It’s time we got a move on, Bones,” I replied. “AJ and the rest of us are waiting on you.”
With some small amount of surprise, Bones looked at the small alarm clock that sat on his bedside table, noticing the time with a start.
“Oh horseapples,” he cursed, before turning back to me. “Ah’ll be down in a minute or so. Ya can take off if ya want; Ah’ll catch up.”
I hesitated for a moment before agreeing with him. I knew for a fact that Bones could, in a pinch, use a teleportation spell to get somewhere almost as quick as I could fly. His record I think was from the farm to the train station in one jump, although that damn near exhausted him.
Heading back downstairs, I was careful to creep past the still snoring Granny Smith and back out into the yard. Dewdrop, Fluttershy and Applejack were still there.
“Where’s Bones, sugarcube?” Applejack enquired. I quickly explained.
“He’s gonna catch us up in a minute or two, AJ. But if we want to get to the castle on time, we better head off now.”
And so the four of us set out along the dirt path toward Ponyville. Glancing back, I saw Bones throwing on a waistcoat and a collar. He’d probably join us in a minute or so. It was odd for him to be late though. Usually he was as organised as Twilight. When I went upstairs, he seemed to be a little lost in thought. I guess he still has a lot on his mind.
We soon came to the fence that marked the edge of the farm and soon found ourselves on the main road into town. Passing the school and a few houses, we soon crossed the square by town hall and were shortly in front of the huge crystal castle. The windows had all been repaired or replaced and there was virtually no sign of any damage. It’s amazing what those Royal Engineers can do in a fortnight.
As we reached the threshold, we were joined by Rainbow Dash, who dropped in with her customary swiftness, causing both Dewdrop and Fluttershy to let out surprised squeaks. Our small group soon laughed it off though.
I found myself smiling as we trotted inside. Here I was with all my friends; the mare who first took me in and looked after me when I arrived here, the one who helped me get my first real job in Equestria, and the stallion who I cared for most.
Like I said before, I’ve had many adventures here in Equestria, both in and out of the Weather Patrol. But I think my biggest one is just beginning.
A/N: This little short chapter switches to the third person. Consider it both a teaser for my next story, and something I just wrote for fun.
Bones stood in his room, looking in the mirror as he listened to his sister’s hoofsteps fade as she walked down the stairs. Faintly, he could hear her saying something to Applejack as she made her way out. He needed to be leaving soon as well. It was high time he was at Twilight’s castle for the awards ceremony. And if nothing else, he was rather keen to meet this new leader of the changelings. After all, Bones was a great believer in the saying ‘know your enemy’. Peace or no, the changelings were a species that would bear watching.
Walking over to a nearby set of drawers, he passed his still cluttered bureau. The surface was covered with open books, dusty tomes and jotted notes, but one thing stood out; a manila folder filled with spell diagrams and incantations written in his own hoof. On the cover was a single word; 'FOXDIE'. Passing these things by, he walked to the set of drawers nearest the window and took out some of the few articles of clothing, beside his much treasured hat, which he owned. There wasn’t too much. A nearby wardrobe contained most things, including his prized grey shell jacket and work clothes. These drawers mainly contained odds and ends; handkerchiefs, bandannas, scarves and so on. In particular, the top drawer contained a couple of waistcoats, which he wore on special occasions. Taking out a deep blue navy one, something Rarity had made for him a couple of Hearths Warmings ago, he quickly threw it around his shoulders and buttoned up the front.
There was also a collar and necktie to go with it, completing the image of formality. While it wasn’t strictly necessary for the ceremony, Bones always did prefer to be overdressed rather than underdressed.
Walking back to the mirror, he used his magic to adjust the black bow tie, which now seemed to come alive through his magic. It took a couple of attempts, but he eventually managed to make a presentable bow. A few more tweaks, and he stopped to examine his reflection.
It was then that he paused. It was as if he suddenly noticed somepony else in the room with him. The slight smile he had been wearing a moment earlier vanished, and was replaced with a frown. His expression hardened into something that was not quite a scowl, but nonetheless showed irritation at the intrusion into his privacy.
Turning his head slightly, as if to look at the reflection of somepony standing behind him and to his right, he began to speak.
“Did you think Ah’d forgotten you?” he asked in a soft, low voice. “Perhaps you hoped Ah had.” He took out a small comb and using his magic straightened out his slightly untidy mane, still staring into the mirror, his eyes unblinking.
“Don’t waste a moment feelin’ pity for poor Chrysalis. The fate of all empires is to fall prey to the next one. Just as the head of a pride is eventually cast out by the younger model, it’s time for a new brew in the Changeling Hive. Whether that’s a good thing or not is somethin’ that we can only learn through time. Thorax may be new blood, but he’s earned the respect of his fellow changelings, and revolutions only take that one little spark. Now it’s a question of whether the flames will take, or if the fire will simply die out before the darkness.
“As for Celestia, that’s another dent in her pride, but that only ever makes her stronger. It’s a useful skill; turnin’ catastrophe into success.” He shook his head and smiled. “Clever Celestia; turning her would be captors into the junior partners of a new alliance. But then again, Thorax never did strike me as the forceful type. That’ll have to change. Getting to the top is one thing, staying there is another. Don’t believe me? Well, just ask Celestia.”
Satisfied with his appearance, he turned away from the mirror to face the door out into the hallway. He started off at a steady walk, but at the threshold he paused. Turning to the right, he cracked a wry smile.
