Stratusburg is a small city nestled high in the mountains of Equestria. It is unusual in that regard, not because of the mountains but because of the fact it is primarily inhabited by pegasi. This is rare for ground based settlements, which conventionally have a majority earth pony population, or sometimes unicorns, who often prefer to settle in mountainous places, whereas Pegasi generally prefer to create settlements in the clouds. This is because pegasi are unique amongst the races in their ability to walk on clouds and breath very thin air, an ability only matched by the alicorn (of which there are not many), due to their combined earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn biology. Stratusburg, however, had the advantage it was hard to reach by non flying creatures, and hence many pegasi called it their home. That, and it had plenty of cheap real estate, but let's not get into that too much now.
The town was currently enjoying a lovely evening as the sun started to fall below the mountains, turning the air a variety of shades of blue, red, orange and indigo at various points. A surprising number had turned out to start hosting a market, the cooler air and clearer environment making it perfect for a market now. Selling things when it is very hot and the sun is at its peak generally does not work. The local restaurant, run by- no surprises here- a pegasus- was also busy that night, many sitting back and looking at their newspapers, playing a game of pool or playing at cards, or in some cases just kicking back and enjoying a drink. It is here that our protagonist enters.
On one quiet street of this quiet town, a door opened hastily, closed behind the occupant, slamming shut with a bang, and then was locked in place. A young pegasus mare rushed out of the door and began trotting as fast as she could along the street, looking up at the clock as she did so, the old clock that sat atop the town hall tower. The hands moved slowly as she rushed along.
"I hope I'm not too late!" she called, as the rushed along, though not wanting to go too fast for fear of tripping up and looking silly as a result. That would never do.
I suppose we should take the opportunity to take a look at our speaker and protagonist, and examine her appearance. She was, as previously stated, a pegasus, with a greenish grey coat and light bluish green eyes. Her mane, exquisitely colored in shades of green and yellow, was piled up upon her head and seemed to float in place in defiance of all known laws of gravity. Said mane also curled around the back of her neck and ran along to sit in front of her. Her cutie mark, of a tornado like thing, sat upon her flanks, and her wings were curled up at her sides. Out of her rear floated a tail of the same color as the rest of her mane, and gently hovered in the air in defiance of physics.
Her name was Vapor Trail, a trained Wonderbolt and life long resident of Stratusburg. Here on leave from her training alongside other cadets, she was heading out for a date, and was convinced she was late. In the distance, she heard some angry shouts, though nothing to be particularly concerned about, and dashed under the canopy of the aforementioned cafe to see her date sitting there casually in the chair, his back against the backrest and his hooves behind his head.
The familiar blue fur and green buzzcut mane, as well as green eyes, with a similarly short tail, and a cutie mark of a yellow lightning bolt, was her fellow Wonderbolt, foalhood friend, and crush, Sky Stinger. If he was here, she was therefore late. "Sorry I'm late Sky!"
Sky smiled, and indicated to the other chair. "You're on time. I'm early." He touched the side of a glass with his hoof, and the waiter returned from earlier. "Vapour would like to order too."
""My usual, please," Vapor answered as well.
"You two are so predictable," the waiter smiled. "That's two drinks, coming right up." Somepony had had the kindness to light some candles on the table, which made the scene so very romantic (and precisely the atmosphere that the pair was looking for on the day).
"So, how was your day?" Sky asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"Same as yours," she smiled back. "Training as usual, then some time to relax." She then looked down, and put her hoof on her muzzle. "A-choo!" A few years back, Vapor had been voted 'Stratsburg's best sneeze', an interesting category to win which had seen Angel Wings nearly beat her. Sky, on the other hand, was Best Flyer, something that will surprise nopony, I reckon.
Vapor's attention was drawn again when Sky spoke again. ""There's something I'd like to do."
"What's that?" she asked, and then she saw Sky had removed a small box and opened it. Inside it was a ring, and one of the most beautiful rings that she had ever seen. ""That ring is so beautiful!"
Then, Sky asked her the question she had been waiting to hear for years. "Vapor Trail," he asked, his muzzle wide and smiling in happiness. "Will you marry me?"
Vapor wasted no time in leaping over the table and taking Sky into a tackle hug, nearly knocking his chair over in the process and leaving Sky briefly without air. "Yes!" she cried. "Yes, yes, and yes again! Sky, you've made me the happiest mare alive!"
It took Sky a few seconds to react, but he caught on, and returned the hug. "You know how I feel about you, Vapor. Let's have the wedding as soon as we can."
Vapor was now grinning like an idiot. "That's sounds fantast-" Suddenly, her mind went blank, and the word MA flashed across her mind. She put her hoof up to her forehead to try and clear it. "Sugarcubes! Not again!"
Sky went over, looking very concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Vapor replied, looking at the ground. "Just randomly the word 'ma' flashed through my head. Probably nothing."
Sky nodded, but Vapor could tell he wasn't convinced.
As far as foals go, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger constituted polar opposites. Sky was loud, pretty brash, and constantly trying to get attention from his parents (which he rarely received, as he had to compete with four pretty noisy siblings). Vapor, on the other hand, was an only foal (although she had once used the word 'child'. What is a child? I've never seen one), and as a result her parents constantly bombarded her with love and affection, getting her attention at practically any occasion and trying to keep her engaged no matter what. Let us flash forward to the day she and Sky met. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone, the sky was blue, and some clouds floated about in the sky. But Vapor wasn't happy. She sat on a cloud, looking down upon the Stinger family playing in the backyard. She had no siblings, so had nobody to share that sort of bond or affection with.
Just then, two familiar voices echoed from down below, where her home was.
"Vapor Trail!" called the voice of her mother, Twirly Whirly. "Where are you? Do you need a snack? Do you wanna do homework?"
This was then followed by her father, Steer Straight. "Or we can just spend some time together! All day is never enough!"
Vapor rolled her eyes. As much as she loved them, she did find their constant attention seeking antics extremely irritating, especially as she saw Sky fail for the one hundredth time to get the attention of his parents.
"Mom, Dad, I'm here! Look, look, look- look- look- look, hey! Mom, Dad, can you see?" Sky was trying to pull off a flipping loop, but didn't have the wing strength to pull himself into it and clear the angle in time. He was just about to give up, when Vapor decided to make her move. She hovered in behind him, and flapped her wings forward, giving Sky just enough wind to be propelled upwards and clear the loop. As he stopped, clearly, astonished that he had somehow pulled it off, Vapor spoke up again.
"Whoa, that was amazing!"
Sky turned around to see Vapor sitting there. "How long have you been there?" he asked.
"A little while," Vapor replied. "But I think we both have what the other needs. A friend. I don't know anybo- anypony my age, and you don't seem to be noticed by your parents or siblings. So, what do you say? Friends?"
Sky whizzed in and hoofbumped her. "Yeah! Friends forever!"
Flying through the skies, defying gravity and pulling off insane stunts and fast maneuvers together, gave both of them what they wanted. As the years passed, their bond only grew stronger, with their closeness improving their flying as the whizzed through the air and soared over the hills and valleys of Stratusburg. After graduating from high school, both of them (by now a stallion and a mare respectively rather than a filly or a colt) applied to join the Wonderbolt Academy. To both their surprise, both of them had got into the Academy, although it was here things had begun to go wrong.
Sky's overconfidence had only seemed to get worse, with him paying no attention to the lessons on wing angles, wind speed, propulsion, air resistance, and other critical things he needed to know in order to fly well. Vapor, on the other hoof, was worried that somepony would spot what she was doing in helping him. And they did. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash had confronted her over it in the locker room, and she had told them the story of their foalhood (although she did make a slipup of making reference to 'kids' and 'only child', which somehow neither Twilight nor Rainbow noticed). Attempts to solve the problem through increased extreme training hadn't worked, and eventually Vapor had openly told Sky what she had been doing. He had brushed it off at first as nonsense, but when he tried to pull off his signature maneuver, solo, he had rapidly learned of his folly and hit the ground like a ton of bricks. He certainly felt like he had hit a ton of bricks afterwards, as from then on he'd berated her about lying to him and then flown off, wishing he had never been her friend.
Just as Twilight and Rainbow had created the mess, they fixed it, getting them to reconcile and ultimately pass their trials. They had gone through training, and were now fully fledged Wonderbolts, flying through the skies in blue and yellow, making their mark and keeping the skies clean and cloud free. And now, the happiest day of her life was near. Her chance to marry the stallion of her dreams. There was just a bit of a problem, I'm sorry to say.
Ever since she was a foal, just like the one she had gotten in the cafe in Stratusburg, she had had these strange recollections of strange things. These recollections were of a big place on an island, but not Sodor, where a thing was in a park late at night and there were some other strange things, such as a box and a trail of odd green stuff running on a pathway. She'd never really put much stock into these odd visions though, as they seemed so random and meaningless to her. Besides, she had bigger things to think about.
The night before her wedding, she had stayed at her parent's house, as of course it is bad luck for the bridge and groom to be together before the wedding itself, to be exact 24 hours before the wedding itself. Early that morning, she was taken off to the dressing room, where Rarity was waiting (a friend of Twilight's, a favor had been called in) to fit her into something that looked simply magnificent. But if you want to learn what that something that was simply magnificent was, you'll need to wait until tomorrow, when the next chapter arrives.
Vapor was in the dressing room with Rarity and her assistants, who were busy getting her ready. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Coco Pommel quickly set to work, making adjustments to her mane, getting it fully cleaned up, manicured, washed, and ensuring that it glowed and shone with a seeming natural light.
Coco looked in close. "I think makeup would be unnecessary."
"Thank Faust," Vapor replied. "I never was keen on that sort of stu- HEY! Watch where you put that!"
Rarity nodded as she removed the pin that had accidentally ended up where it should not have been. "Sorry, darling. But I must say you need to relax a bit. This is simple. It's as easy as getting married!"
"I AM getting married! And it's not easy with all the nerves!"
"But do try to keep still. Rainbow, Coco, please do help me with the gown. I trust she will look most splendid by the time we are done with this. Hold still!"
"How can we help if we hold still?" Rainbow Dash asked. "That is possibly the most ridiculous request I have ever heard."
After a few more moments of pulling and adjustments later, Rarity used her magic to lower something else onto Vapor's head. Turning her briefly, she flipped a mirror round, and showed the world (and the subject) what a magnificent job had been done for the bride to be.
Her mane was done up in her usual, angelic way, and a golden crown was nestled in amongst her mane, beautifully shining out in the dark. Her eyes glowed in the light, although her face was not done up in any way, letting her natural beauty shine through. Around her neck was a golden choker, and she wore a dress unlike any Rarity had ever made before. The bodice was dark blue, and the sleeves which took up her forelegs (apart from the bottom of her hooves), although two holes were cut in the sides to give space for her wings. The skirt extended over, and covered completely, her hind legs and tail, and a white collar surrounded her neck, only accentuating her face and how stunning it was.
Vapor gasped, and looked about. "Do you think Sky will like it? I haven't told him what I had planned."
"Will you like what Sky's wearing? He didn't tell you what he had planned." Coco pointed out, Or should I say miss.
"Ahem," said a voice from nearby. "I hate to interrupt the work of the dressing room, but we are due to start. Please form up outside the West door when ready, and the chorus shall start."
"We'd better not waste any more time!" Rainbow exclaimed, bashing the door open. "Come on!"
The doors were opened, the birds began to sing, and Vapor looked about as she proceeded up the aisle. It seemed as if the entire town had turned out. The mayor was there, the Elements were in the congregation, her parents were there as well, the Apples were trying (and failing) to keep the catering under control (they had a lot of hungry mouths to feed!), Fluttershy was coordinating the chorus, and of course Twilight Sparkle was sitting there, having set aside her regalia to try and fit in. It was hard to imagine one of the other Princesses making a similar move, as Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were rarely if ever seen without their barding on. Then her eyes fell upon her own true love.
Sky Stinger. How had that tailor made him look so much more handsome than Vapor had imagined possible? He was wearing a dark grey suit, with holes cut in the side that allowed for his wings to pop through, which almost reached the bottom of his forelegs, and opened up where the collar sat around his shoulders and neck. In addition, his upper sleeves were slightly puffed out, and extended onto the back part, with a pair of fabric strands running around to the front of his chest, forming a nice red seal in the front. His hind legs had armor plating attached to them, and the bottom of the suit on his back legs was complemented with black boots that covered his hooves entirely. Vapor could only imagine how uncomfortable that lot must be to wear, but as she approached the front and stopped to face him, Sky's eyes suddenly seemed to glaze over and his body went completely rigid, as if he had suffered some sort of injury as he continued to stare off into space for several minutes. The priest, by this point, had begun to greet the assembled congregation.
"Gathered friends, today we are here to mark the wedding of Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail..."
Sky still wasn't reacting. Vapor waved a hoof in his face, but nothing happened. Then, suddenly, just as the vows were about to start, he seemed to snap back into reality for a moment.
The priest started to recite the first part of the vows for Sky to repeat, but as he was about to start speaking his jaw suddenly hung limp, before snapping shut. He brought his hooves up to his head, started shouting incoherent nonsense, and then ran at the front pew, bouncing off of it and crashing into another pillar, before seemingly recovering seconds later and standing up, looking totally confused.
Vapor tried to speak to him as the others looked at him with a mixture of horror and shock. ""Sky?" she asked. "W- what's going on?"
Suddenly, Sky started to shake, and he dashed straight past her, down the aisle, and straight for the door, galloping as fast as he could and knocking a table over as he ran along, before vanishing out of sight.
"Sky?" Vapor called, and set off after him, bouncing along as she did so. "Sky!?"
But it was too late. Sky Stinger had vanished into the crowd, and was nowhere to be seen.
Upon seeing Sky vanish into the crowd, Vapor set off after him, speeding through the streets as swiftly as she could. The ground was a bit wet, all of a sudden, and she slipped a few times before slamming into a cart.
"Hey, watch it, princess!" the driver shouted.
"Sorry!" Vapor replied, before the cart set off again. It sped through a muddy pool, splashing her in muddy coloured water and leaving her previously blue gown stained a vague earthy brown color. This did not deter her, and she sped off further into town, as quickly as she could, not able to fly thanks to the weight of her garments and their lack of aerodynamicity. But, after a few minutes of searching, she found Sky, who looked a mess. There was gigantic bags under his eyes, his eyeballs were looking and darting about erratically, and he was babbling incoherently about some nonsense.
"Sky?" she asked. "What's going on?"
Sky Stinger looked over to her, seemingly broken from his trance, but his eyes did little to mask his anger and frustration. "Great," he replied, "So nopony but me knows I'm a freak. Absolutely bucking fantastic."
Horrified that Sky was speaking about himself in such a way, Vapor reached her hoof forward to touch him gently. ""You're not a freak," she started to say, before Sky's hoof batted hers away.
He then launched off into an angry rant, which left Vapor stunned. "Don't you get it? I'm not even from here! I'm human! I'm not even an American, for Faust's sake! Buck this! I was British! It was that Damned package that did this and dumped me here-"
Knowing Sky's symptoms very well, Vapor reached for his muzzle and straightened his face, gazing deep into his eyes. "Sky!" she exclaimed, which at least shut him up. "Calm down!" This seemed to work, as Sky started to take deep breaths for a few minutes, allowing him to have a vaguely normal conversation.
"Sky, can you explain what you mean? I won't judge you."
Sky looked baffled. ""Really?"
Vapor smiled briefly, in an effort to cheer her coltfriend up. "What kind of marefriend would I be if I did?" she asked him.
Sky nodded gently. "All right. I'll tell you everything. But this may take a while." As Vapor set herself down, Sky began to tell his story. "I'm not from this world. I'm not even Sky Stinger. I was a thing called a human, called Tom, going to Manteo to visit my friend there. I stopped by his home, as he was out in town, and encountered a strange box in his living room, before touching the box, which was totally empty. It chucked some sort of energy into my body, and voila. I became Sky Stinger and got most of my memories deleted. However, some remained. That's what the flashes were, Echoes of my old life."
Vapor suddenly gasped as the pieces for her began to click into place. "I kind of have a confession to make too..."
The moment Vapor said that, Sky's body went rigid and his eyes turned red with both surprise and anger. ""Sorry?" he asked. "What did you say?"
"I kinda have a confession to make too," Vapor repeated to him, her concern growing. Her face showed sadness upon it, as did her eyes which looked similarly sad. "Those flashes I got are echoes of my old life, and now so much makes sense. Like when I spoke to Twilight and Rainbow about us, I called us 'kids', not 'foals'. I'm not from here either."
Sky's previously red face went a shade of purple. Vapor wasn't sure whether to take a photograph or call a doctor.
"Well?" Sky asked, his eyes now redder than before. "Who were you?"
Vapor took a deep breath, before continuing, her eyes increasingly pained. "That Jimmy guy you mentioned? I was him. Jimmy Hook of Manteo and known across the internet for various transformation related things."
This seemed to make Sky even angrier. ""Well, how did you get here?!" he snapped. "I remember there being two boxes, what about the other one?"
Vapor knew exactly where this was leading. "I got home after getting the Kirin into its box at about 7 at night..."
Jimmy sighed and yawned as he opened his door. That had been a long night, as the local municipal department had informed him that a Kirin had made its way into the park, and was causing considerable amounts of mayhem on the ground. Thankfully, with his skills in handling Kirin (having been a Kirin), they were able to get it into its box, and ship it safely to somewhere in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He wondered if Tom had already arrived, and as he pushed open the door, he looked back and noticed something odd.
The note he had left was missing. He had attached it to his door to inform Tom where he was in case he arrived when he wasn't in:
Hi Tom!
I hope you made it to Manteo safely. I will probably be out when you get here (something about a Kirin wandering around the town square), but I left you a spare key and some food to warm up. Enjoy!
Jimmy
And yet, there it was, lying on the ground. The piece of paper on which the note was written. The food was untouched, the lights were still off, and the door was seemingly unlocked. That wasn't like Tom at all. He always locked a door behind him, suggesting somebody else had been in as well. As he stepped into the hallway, he saw torn and shredded fabric on the ground, as well as fragments of green fur. What had happened here?
Jimmy decided to look in the front room for clues. He stepped indoors, and found two boxes. One of them was open and lying about, and the other was closed, with a symbol of a jet exhaust, or what looked like it, attached to a piece of paper that was stapled to the top of the box. Jimmy closed in on it, and, ignoring all basic horror movie logic, decided to open it.
Then a voice spoke. "Haha! I already have one, and the other will soon be mine!"
A bright flash of light flew out of the box, and Jimmy was thrown through the air and crashed into another part of the bannister. He groaned as he tried to pull himself up, bringing his hand up to check for damage. He was greeted with a horrific sight: his fingers and thumb shrank into his hand as he looked on, and what was left morphed into a hoof. The process repeated on the other arm as the limbs snapped backwards, throwing him forward. His chest swelled in size, ripping his shirt off, and his hips widened as his legs snapped backwards, his feet shrinking into a pair of hooves. There was also another reason as to why his shirt was ripped off. He felt something in his back began to protrude through it, two somethings in fact. With the bones shifting and cracking, two bony implements forced their way out of his shoulders. His ass suddenly began to tingle, and a tail burst from his tailbone and ripped open the back of his pants. Moments later, his butt began to swell up, and before long his body behaved like it was under intense compression released suddenly. Every conceivable limb felt as though it was on fire as they swelled and thickened, his rear inflating like a balloon, his 'legs' groaning as they were now thickening like tree trunks. His remaining garments got tighter and tighter, until they could take no more. With loud tearing and ripping sounds, the seams burst and broke apart, fabric falling onto the floor at the sight of this horrific human-pony hybrid. And of course, he fell to the floor on all fours in order to maintain proper balance with his body at this point.
His neck cracked back as his manhood shot into his body (or once it was done, her body). Two pony ears grew from the top of her skull as her old ones vanished, and her nose and mouth fused into a petite, curved muzzle. This caused her glasses to get shattered and blown to pieces. Her eyes grew in size and turned a very light green from their normal blue, followed by her hair changing from brown into a mane of varying shades of blue, yellow, and some shades of green. Her tail took on this consistency too, hair sprouting from what had previously looked like a rat's tail. Finally, her entire body was covered in pale green fur. Flesh and feathers covered the bony implements, converting them into wings, and with a flash all of Jimmy's old memories were gone. She was Vapor Trail now.
Once Vapor had finished, Sky just stared at her in disbelief. "So why us?" he asked.
Vapor extended her hoof to him. "Does it matter?" she asked. "We still love each other, and we can still be married, can't we?"
To her shock, Sky slapped her hoof away, and began ranting again. "Does this not disturb you? We literally don't belong! Don't you want to go back to your own life and be human again?"
Vapor looked shocked, and blinked for a second, not quite sure what had just happened. Had Sky just said what she thought he'd said? "S- sky-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" he screamed. "To think that you want to throw it all away just to live out some power fantasy sickens me! Vapor, Jimmy, whoever the Tartarus you are, you can forget about all this!"
Vapor, no matter how hard she tried, couldn't hold back the sobs. "I- I can't believe you, Sky!"
"Oh yeah?" he replied. "I can't believe you either!" And without another word, he took off into the sky, not looking back nor listening to Vapor's tears, jilted on her own wedding day.
It was cold, and wet, and rainy in Stratusburg. The rain came down, but no floods came up, as the pegasi in the region were doing a weather dump over the area for a week or so. But this week was loaded with pathetic fallacy, as everypony was sad. Most had heard of Sky's actions at the wedding and his rather harsh words towards Vapor, and had acted to comfort her in a hard time. None, however, had even spoken to Sky, who was acting more and more like a mad pony every time Vapor saw him, saying something about reverse unicorns and trying to break the sound barrier, not to mention other nonsense. He lived on his own now. His parents had thrown him out of his home for his actions, and Vapor certainly felt sorry for him. But nonetheless, he wasn't speaking to her, and so she wasn't talking to him either.
She had no idea why he was so obsessed with going back. Life here was perfect, more or less an absolute paradise? Why would you want to get rid of that in favor of the grime and rubbish of the world they had come from? Whatever had happened, and whatever strange circumstances had befallen her (or Jimmy, as they previously had been and might still be were it not for CARDBOARD BOXES!), Vapor knew she didn't want to go back to that old dump called Manteo, as Stratusburg was better. Even if it was a little wet at the moment.
She currently sat in her room in her home. Sky and she had lined up a new home to live in upon getting married, but they had been forced to hold off moving in for obvious reasons, and mercifully the estate agent had understood and held the property for them. Now, here she was, in a home that was mostly packed up in anticipation of moving. Sure seemed that wasn't happening any time soon.
As she sat there, pondering what was going to happen, tears leaking from her eyes from the fact her love was not with her. Just then, she heard some movement behind her, and looked behind her in confusion. Standing there were four men. Three were holding guitars, and the last was sitting at a drumkit that most certainly hadn't been there the last time she had looked. They each wore uniforms of a military style, each a different colour. One was blue, another yellow, another pink, and another red. One also had glasses one, and they all sported fashionable moustaches.
"What on Earth are the Beatles doing in my house?" Vapor asked, confused.
"We saw you were in the dumps, and decided to cheer you up," John explained. "We know that, deep down in your heart, you still have feelings for Sky."
"That's the problem!" Vapor replied, looking out of a window in despair. "I still love him, but I'm certain he doesn't now! If the way he spoke was anything to go by."
"Vapor, that isn't true," Ringo told her.
"Exactly!" George added. "We saw him talking of and thinking of you!"
"We can read minds, being figments of your and Sky's imagination," Paul helpfully added, tweaking a string on his bass. "After all, nothing communicates between culture and people like music. So we have a special song for you."
They took positions, and a magical orchestra appeared behind them, magically fitting into her room with space to spare and not clipping through any walls. And soon they began to play and sing, as an invisible piano became visible, and Paul started to play.
"Hey Trail, don't make it bad, Take a sad song and make it better: Remember to let him into your heart Then you can start to make it better.
"Hey Jude, don't be afraid, You were made to go out and get him: The minute you let him under your skin, Then you begin to make it better."
"And anytime you feel the pain, Hey Trail, refrain: Don't carry the world upon your shoulders. For well you know that it's a fool: Who plays it cool By making his world a little colder. Na-na-na, na, na Na-na-na, na!
"Hey Trail, don't let me down You have found him, now go and get him Remember to let him into your heart Then you can start to make it better
"So let it out and let it in Hey Trail, begin You're waiting for someone to perform with And don't you know that it's just you Hey Jude, you'll do The movement you need is on your shoulder Na-na-na, na, na Na-na-na, na, yeah
"Hey Trail, don't make it bad Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let him under your skin Then you'll begin to make it better Better better better better better, ah!"
Then they launched into the big bit that often get quoted at sports events.
"Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail! Na, na, na, na-na-na na Na-na-na na, hey Trail!!
Once they had finished, Vapor Trail knew exactly what she had to do. She dashed out of her home, sprinting into the street and trying to turn bends in the heavy rain. When suddenly she saw Sky, approaching over wet cobblestones.
"Vapor!" he called out.
"Sky!" Vapor called back, running into him. They took each others forehooves and looked at one another.
"I am so, so, sorry," Sky said, tears streaming down his face. "I know you probably won't, but do you forgive me for what I did?"
Vapor did the only thing she could in that moment to calm him. She kissed him, passionately, and gently, and with all the conviction a couple in love could ever give. "I will never cease to love you, no matter what happens." And at that moment, the sun cleared the clouds and the weather cleared.
"That's this lot done!" called Rainbow Dash, temporarily attached to rain duty. "See you next month!"
Sky suddenly pointed with his hoof at a nearby alleyway. "See that?"
It soon became clear why Sky had drawn attention to that figure. They appeared to be bipedal, unlike most organisms in Equestria that moved about on four (yes, Capper, I do know you exist, and you too, Captain Celaeno, hence why I said most, not all other), and they seemed to be dressed entirely dark colours in order to make them hard to spot in the alleyway they were advancing down. Similarly, they were trying to move stealthily to ensure they were not seen, something at which the figure was failing horribly, as they were clearly visible in that darkened corridor as they moved (we cannot be sure if they walked or trotted, not knowing what they are).
Sky spoke again, indicating to them again. "See that?"
Vapor nodded. "They look like trouble."
"I suggest we follow them," Sky nodded, speaking slowly to ensure all was understood clearly in the circumstance. "They look like trouble, as you said, and I think that we need to find out what they're up to."
Vapor couldn't help but worry, making her like Fluttershy sometimes. "They look oddly familiar somehow. Could they somehow be connected to what has been happening?"
"Given all that has been going on," Sky answered, "I wouldn't put it past such a theory. Let's go. Trail them from the air, and I'll follow on the ground."
Quite why a pegasus was trotting through a cobbled street may seem odd and bizarre, especially given that Vapor had wings and thus could fly (but not run, as she was not a zombies vampires, and if she was something odd was happening and could not be allowed to continue happening, the cowards, THE FOOLS!), but it was feared on Sky's part that the sight of two flying pegasi would attract far too much attention to them, and so Sky proceeded on the ground whilst Vapor enjoyed a bird's eye view of the scene below him. Vapor could clearly see them, as their choice of colour for clothing did not conceal them very well in the alleyway, and Sky, judging from the look of annoyance on his face, could clearly hear each and every one of their footsteps, thanks to ponies having super hearing compared to humans. However, as time went by, the being went into a door, and then proceeded to open it, and go through the door, and then close the door behind them, but seemingly forgetting to engage the lock behind them. Vapor landed next to said door whilst Sky came to a stop, rubbing his hooves (the fool had forgotten to put his horseshoes in that morning). "Are you ready?" Vapor asked, looking at Sky. "We have no idea what we'll find in there, or how to get out!"
Sky nodded grimly, clearly as uncomfortable as Vapor. "I'll admit to being worried about this too," he replied. "But we have to find the truth, no matter how bad it may be." They went in through that door, and into a dingy, poorly lit corridor that was so dark neither of them could see from one end of it to the other. The two pegasi proceeded down this dark corridor, which was dark and dank. Nasty smells hung off the walls, and the walls were blackened and covered in muck from decades sitting out of use. This was a disaster of a place, and felt like some sort of factory (Stratusburg did have an industrial past, but that was long ago, and the city's economy was no longer geared around manufacturing) that had lain abandoned for many decades, only now being brought back into service.
"This is like a set from the Saw films," Sky said suddenly, presumably the start of a bad joke. "I sure hope we don't come across any traps."
Vapor shuddered. Her nerves were very much on edge, and this wasn't helping in the slightest. "I would prefer if you didn't bring those up," she replied.
"Very well," he replied. "Why not talk about how these wall patterns are all identical?"
"It's weird," she quivered. "I don't like this at all."
Suddenly, they went through another door, and before them lay a vast, open room, filled with strange machines, odd devices, and things that bubbled with strange liquid. At the center of it all stood a strange woman, her hair white, her ageless features staring angrily down upon the two pegasi. She also wore a black robe with red highlights. Her angry face changed to a smile when she saw them.
"Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail," she said. "How nice it was of you to join me. Or should I say- Tom Haddington and Jimmy Hook?"
"What do you want?" Sky demanded loudly.
"Always the one in the weaker position demanding to know things he had no entitlement to," she replied. "I'll save your intelligence the bother of introducing myself, but I am devoted to spreading the wonder and beauty of Equestria- and getting as many humans there as I can in the process. You really are so easy to find. But this is the wrong way around, and does rather expose a flaw in my modus operandi."
"The wrong way round?" Vapor asked. "What do you mean?"
"You were meant to be Sky Stinger, and Tom was meant to be Vapor Trail. Just to mix things up a little. Goes to show I'll need to be more careful with the boxes in the future. Oh well. You've discovered my plan, and I need to remove the glitch in the system. Goodbye, you two. I'd say it was nice knowing you, but it really hasn't."
Sky jumped to one side as he came under fire from some odd objects, and leaped into the air. Vapor joined him in the air, and they whizzed around that big open space, trying to avoid being shot down. "Vapor!" he called.
"Yeah?"
Sky's face was now more serious than ever before. "I need you to propel me into a flipping loop! That will allow me to accelerate fast enough to pull off a sonic boom!"
"That's too dangerous!" Vapor answered. "It could kill you!"
"We have to stop the Merchant from doing this to anypony else!" he shouted. "I'll be careful, I promise."
Vapor immediately flapped her wings forward, and watched as Sky plummeted toward the ground at speeds incredible. Vapor touched down, and watched as there was a gigantic explosion, smoke and rubble flying everywhere. But Sky was nowhere to be seen.
But Sky was nowhere to be seen. Had he fallen in the line of duty whilst trying to stop the Merchant? It certainly seemed that way. Vapor looked to the ground, when suddenly a rumbling and whooshing sound drew her attention. In front of her, the smoke cleared, and before her stood Sky, as if he was in the middle of a dramatic scene from a movie. The smoke cleared totally, and there was very little to be seen of anything. Vapor's jaw dropped in amazement.
"You did it!" she cried, racing forward and throwing her forelegs around Sky's neck. "We stopped the Merchant!"
More parts began to fall from the sky, and Sky indicated to them. "Yeah," he said, "but that's busted the return portal. The machines are gone." He looked almost sad as he continued. Almost being the key word here. "They were the only link to our old life. It's gone forever, and we can never go back."
"But at least we have each other," Vapor smiled, and she pulled back. "And before you ask, I forgive you for what you said to me that day. Man, that info dump must have been nasty!"
Sky laughed too. "You're asking me!" But in a moment, he had produced the very same ring that he had used when he proposed to her all those weeks ago. "Vapor, I know I've already asked this, but will you marry me?"
Vapor's reaction left Sky in absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
The second attempt at the wedding, with generous contributions from the princesses, went perfectly and somehow managed to be even more impressive than the first. Nothing went wrong in the slightest. Not even the cake cutting, which is often the production of quite a mess.
Then came the time for Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger to take their first dance as husband and wife. Vapor indicated to the DJ, and an old, familiar tune began to play as Vapor opened her mouth to sing.
"I really wanna stop, but I just got the taste for it, I feel like I could fly with the colt on the moon: So honey, hold my hoof, you like making me wait for it: I feel like I could die walking up to the room, oh yeah!"
Sky instantly knew what the song was, and nodded in approval. Carly Rae Jepsen was a perfect choice, and when they hit the chorus, they joined in together;
"I really, really, really, really, really, really like you!"
A few months after that, Vapor felt a little off, and so consulted with her doctor as to her situation. When she learned she was pregnant, she was ecstatic, as was Sky when he learned he was going to be a father. At last, the tragedy that had rung through the start of their married life was over, and they could start anew and go forth with their new lives.
