Between Heaven and Equestria - Part I

The smell of a grassy meadow after a summer storm was mixed with the sharp sweetness of honey at work. Humongous Humming Hazy Honeybees buzzed around the dozens of flowery fields which had been prepared for them by the keepers. Each of the yellow and black stripped insects would flop into a cluster of them like some enormous house cat and then roll like a playful dog. Pollen, petals, and nectar would all get stuck to the creature’s fur which it would then happily carry back to its lair.

The yellow pony who watched them had eyes for little else and a head filled with the events of the last few days. The excitement of the festival and the reactions of the tasters had allowed her to swim through a sea of endorphins. Now that it was over, she stared at the housecat-sized Hazy Honeybees and basked in the glow of her accomplishments. There was no way she could transport the tools needed to construct what was needed for a bee hive that would take up as much space as a three story building … but she could marvel at the work of those who had.

One of the unsteady giants flopped down at the pony’s feet and then gazed up at her with its multi-faceted eyes. It shivered in a little dance, producing a teeth grating hum and then turned to one side. With a smile, the pony reached for a single hoof and carefully scratched the oversized bee between the wings. The worker marched in place for several seconds, humming her appreciation at the pony who could reach the one area no bee ever could.

An instant later, the Humongous Humming Hazy Honeybee shuddered and waddled away to a place where it could fling itself into another open flowerbed. A joint grinding sound suddenly rattled through the fields and all of the bees seemed to take it as a signal. At least two dozen of them swarmed up and stirred up a flower scented wind as they flew back to their hive. It did not occur to the pony that she should have taken that moment to look around for whatever had startled the creatures.

The breath was knocked out of her lungs when the attack hit her. The battle cry of the predators flattened her fight or flight instincts for several precious seconds and then they were upon her fully. The ground fell away in a sideways arc and she was lifted higher into a horizon full of barren hills and sulfurous pools of molten stone. From there she would be a damsel … and her distress knew no end.

Honeycrisp let out a little gasp as she woke from her nightmare. Wide green eyes flicked in several wild motions until her mind caught up with her instincts and she realized the situation. I’m on a train … I was rescued … I am safe. The sound of her heartbeat abated in her ears and her breathing began to level out. Three of the unicorns who had rescued her were flopped into various sleeping positions but their seats were far enough away that none of them seemed to have noticed her outburst.

A sheepish little grin formed as she wiped the sleep-drool from one cheek and she moved carefully from where the others dreamed. A blanket fell to the floor and she blinked at it. She did not remembering having one when she had initially dozed off. Her eyes traveled suspiciously to Green River, but he sprawled in selfish ownership of his area and so she chose to imagine the leader of their group in her fairy tale.

The trip to the train’s little bathroom was a wobbly affair. She swore she could feel every uneven spot in the metal rails as the vibrations went up through the floor and into her hooves. The events of the past days made this a tiny inconvenience, however, and the grumbling of her angry stomach told her she had other issues to consider.

Two passenger cars led her past a few sleeping passengers to the dining car where the smell of cafeteria food seemed to have soaked into every surface. It was eerie, with only the light of the moon showing her inside, but her stomach ordered her to move forward like a stubborn filly in need of her dinner. There might not be much in the way of hot food available, but at this point she would happily eat them out of nuts and dried fruit if only to put the evil hunger beast to bed.

A small light glowed faintly to life and the sudden presence caused her to rein back with a tiny start. Two shapes could be seen at a table in the corner and she realized she was seeing her two missing guardians.

“Good morning,” Blue Shield rumbled politely, “sleep well?”

Honeycrisp flushed and ran a hoof along her tuff of hopelessly tangled mane. It fluffed back up and she grunted in frustration. I guess he’s already seen me at my worst, she thought as she forced herself to relax. “Not really,” she admitted as she closed the distance between them. “Nightmares.”

“I can’t stop thinking of the dragons?” Blue Shield asked as he moved politely to one side. Honeycrisp slid into the booth which the white and grey unicorns were sharing. Brilliant silver eyes stared silently from across the table, studying her with an intensity which had not become more tolerable with time. Shade was always watching … always calculating … and she never knew what it might be about.

“Do you think you are recovered enough to talk about it?” Blue Shield asked her with a gentle blanket covering his typically professional tone. The pure blue gaze was not something Honeycrisp felt she could meet as the memories came unbidden into her mind. A sharp breath widened her gaze a little as she recalled it but she gripped her emotions tightly and refused to lose control.

“It might help,” she admitted. “I hear you’re supposed to talk to somepony when things like this happen.”

“I’m not a headshrinker,” Blue Shield spoke with a touch of humor in his tone, “but I’m told that I’m good at listening … and Shade’s so good at listening that you might forget he’s even here.”

“Thanks,” Honeycrisp smiled as she settled into place and took a breath. “I’m … really into plants. I’ve got a little shop, a few employees, and I occasionally try my hoof at honey making. It’s fun … though I’m still learning. My stuff’s got nothing on Beezwax’s Liquid Gold but I managed to get invited to compete anyway. The eightieth Baltimare Honey Competition’s an invitation only kind of thing … but they invited me anyway.”

“You must be good if you received an invitation to such an exclusive event,” Blue Shield commented, and a touch of pride glowed warmly in her chest.

“Nah,” Honeycrisp shook her head as the blush colored her cheeks with an orange hue. “I only got invited because I surprised a grieving mare with some flowers after her father passed away. There’s no way I’d have gotten an all-expenses paid vacation to Baltimare, otherwise.”

“Really?” Blue Shield asked with a teasing furrow of one brow. “You have no skill at all? You’re just that lovable?”

“Well … uhm …” the heat began to increase in her face and she felt it moving down her neck where it met up with the flutter in her chest.

“How did you do?” he asked.

“Well … I ranked twelfth …”

“Out of how many?” he asked politely.

“About thirty,” Honeycrisp said as she tried to remember more of the details that had been knocked aside when the dragons took her.

“So you beat out,” Blue Shield paused a beat to do math and then continued his question, “around twenty other professional honey makers? Now I will have to try out your blend when we get to Ponyville.”

“Okay,” she managed to say as she let her smile flash a little more widely than she meant it to. Stop grinning like an idiot Crispy! Focus!

“Miss Crisp?” His voice had the tone of one who was repeating himself and her ears flicked forward.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry to make you relive such a painful event,” the lieutenant paused as he made a visible effort to soften the blow of his next statement, “but do you think you are recovered enough to talk about the dragons?”

Hahaha!!! Look at the little morsel! Bet she’d go great with a side of rubies!

The memory caused her muscles to tense and she dropped her eyes to focus on the salt shaker.

“Is there anything to eat here?” she blurted, even though her appetite had fled.

“I’ll get something,” Shade spoke in a manner which caused her to jump. The nearly invisible unicorn slid from his perch and ghosted into the dining area. His silhouette faded into the shadows and it seemed as if he had disappeared entirely.

“It must have been really scary,” Blue Shield spoke calmly as if to a frightened animal. “How long were you tied to that stake?”

“I don’t know,” Honeycrisp admitted in almost a whisper. “Maybe a day. It seemed like forever.” The sound of the train rushing over metal rails was the only sound for an eternity. The knocking of where the tracks met was the only sound as she breathed through the emotions of her memories.

“Did the dragons say anything about their plans?” Blue Shield asked on the other side of that eternity.

“Oh,” she breathed, “well … they talked a lot about impressing some of the bigger dragons. There was this one … I think his name was Crackle … or was it a her …” she shook her head. “They wanted to impress the bigger dragons with the loot they got from their raids. They made a lot of jokes about eating too much of their treasure because … you know … they eat gemstones. But they said they could eat me because I wasn’t worth anything.”

A snort caused Honeycrisp to stop and she blinked up at the stallion in front of her. His eyes had narrowed and there were lines in his face that formed an outraged expression. For a moment she thought he was angry with her … but then he shook his head and snarled, “Animals.” He paused for a breath and then allowed his fury to recede into something more manageable. “I’m sorry … that must have been horrible. Please … continue.”

“Yeah,” she nodded with a tiny smile at the reaction of her savior, “it was bad … but there was a lot of commotion about a raid gone bad and so their attention got pulled away from me.”

“Oh?” Blue Shield leaned forward with interest.

“Yeah,” Honeycrisp nodded as she leaned unconsciously toward him, “there was a raid on a phoenix family that went horribly wrong. Three of the dragons were injured and one didn’t come back at all! They were so worked up about it that they were discussing how they could get revenge … they forgot all about me when that happened.”

“Strange,” the lieutenant spoke thoughtfully as he tapped one hoof in an unconscious manner upon the table, “that happened weeks before you were captured. I wonder why they waited so long to talk about it.”

“I don’t know,” Honeycrisp shrugged. “Maybe they were embarrassed and trying to hide it from the other dragons.”

“That’s a possibility,” the white stallion nodded as his eyes unfocused into deepening through.

He has such pretty eyes.

“Did any of the dragons act … a little weird?” The question snapped Honeycrisp out of her reverie but the question caused her to frown.

“Weird?” she blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Was one of them different from the others?” he clarified.

“Not … really,” Honeycrisp replied as she tried to sift through her memories for anything that might be useful. “I was kind of tied up.”

“Yes,” he held up one hoof in a placating gesture, “I apologize. But if you think of anything, please let me know.”

“Of course,” she replied a little too eagerly. “So ... what are you going to do when we get to Ponyville?”

“I’m going to meet a friend,” Blue Shield told her with a disarming smile. It did something to the mare and she forgot the questions that had been meant to follow. He’s so close … not even fully across the table. What would happen if I touched his hoof … would he let me? Would he pull back? Get a grip Honey … he’s a life-long career military pony! He’s married to the force and doesn’t do things like date or give Hearts-and-Hooves Day cards! But … he’s a thunderstorm in armor. I wonder what would spill out if I broke that disciplined shell …

The solid clunk of a shimmering plate, filled with breakfast-type food, landed on the table in front of Honeycrisp and she nearly tumbled onto the floor in a pile of shattered dignity. The dark grey unicorn had reappeared in his original position and she was, once again, filled with the feeling of being intruded upon during something personal.

“Oh! Thanks!” she nearly shouted as she tried to recover from so many emotions hitting her all at once. It might have just been nerves but for some reason Honeycrisp felt herself stuffing a little more food into her face than she thought was appropriate. Shade eyes her with a blandly suspicious stare and she focused more on her food in an effort to keep herself from shivering. I swear … it’s like he’s trying to keep his daughter’s virtue intact!

“We should be arriving in a few hours,” Blue Shield finally said. “It might be a good idea to get some more sleep before we arrive.

“Alright,” Shade spoke the word in such a low tone that Honeycrisp had almost not heard it. She paused in mid-chew to blink at the rare sound of his quiet voice. He then glanced at her, as if for good measure, as he trotted out of the car. An odd thought crossed her mind and she let her eyes roam over to Blue Shield … who as watching after his comrade with a fond expression.

Oh … my … oh …by Celestia … they’re … they’re …

“Don’t worry,” Blue Shield told her, “he’s always like that with ponies who he doesn’t really know.”

Oh no … they are!

“Oh, it’s okay,” Honeycrisp sputtered and a few tiny bits of leafy green flew out of her mouth. She chewed vigorously for a few more seconds as she waived her hoof and tried to smile and look non-judgmental. “To each their own!”

A sly little smile appeared on Blue Shield’s face and he gave her a slight nod. “Good night, Ms. Crisp,” he said politely as he slid from the compartment.

“Bucking figures,” she swore to herself once she was alone with her meal. “A once in a lifetime opportunity to get rescued from a fire breathing dragons by a knight in shining armor … and, of course, I would get rescued by one of the prancing ponies!”

*****

“Well?”

“She’s clean,” Shade said with certainty.

“Are you sure?”

“The only thing she’s hiding is a burning desire to ask you on a date,” the sergeant said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah … and not very well,” Blue Shield said with a smirk. “It was written all over her.”

“Interesting,” the dark grey unicorn rubbed his chin in a thoughtful gesture. The cushioned seats of the private car devoured the pair of them as they settled down for their debriefing and Blue Shield was distinctly uninterested in any word-play.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re about to say something to embarrass me?” Blue Shield asked dryly.

“Because you’ve known me a long time,” Shade said with a grin that nopony else would have noticed.

“Fine,” the larger stallion grumbled with a shake of his head, “say it.”

“I just find it interesting that her need was so great that she appears to want to latch onto you like a barnacle to the hull of a ship.”

“Heh,” Blue Shield snorted with amusement, “love barnacle.” Shade made a lewd “O” face and spent a few seconds sucking on the side of his hoof. Blue Shield shook with laughter for several seconds and was surprised how good it felt. “You’re such a pig.” He flopped over onto one side and made certain his back was to his friend.

“Rooting in the dirt isn’t all bad,” Shade commented as he lay down. “It might be nice to get a little muddy.” Blue Shield shook with laughter until tears rolled from his eyes.

“Oh, shut your pie hole,” Blue Shield ordered and then he drifted off to a nap that would carry him to the end of his trip.