The Reservation System

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The Reservation System

by WhiteRooster21

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Chapter 2

B:0 C:1 W:1 P:1

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Fluttershy awoke bound.

She sat there, eyes closed, wrapped up tight, her legs pressed against her body, her face the only thing sticking out of what ever was cloth held her.

"Mom" Fluttershy gritted her teeth "every time."

Fluttershy unrivaled the oversize baby blanket, hopping off of her bed and headed into the darkness of her home with a scowl.

She made her way down the stairs across the living room and into the kitchen, there she found her, making oatmeal from a box, humming a merry tune as she gently swayed side to side.

Fluttershy's scowl faded as her heart wavered, her legs shook, and every mussel in her body said to get out and hide.

"Hello Dear, did I wake you?" the figure turned to Fluttershy, her warm smile melting any hope of malcontent.

Fluttershy tensed, fighting her flight instinct she met her gaze and smiled.

"Hi Mom" Fluttershy took a deep breath, maybe today was the day? "N-no, I always wake up pretty early."

"To feed your dear little animal friends, right?" Mom placed a bowl in front of Fluttershy, the smell of hot oatmeal filled her senses.

"Yes, Mom." Fluttershy took a bite of the oatmeal. Too hot, but that was expected.

"So, Mom, what brings you here from Canterlot?"

"Can't a mother visit her foal every now and again?"

Coy, as always. When was the last time she simply told some pony what she was doing? Fluttershy didn't remember.

"Its a long way from here to Canterlot, Mom. I just wish I could have gotten a little bit of warning, so I could um, tidy up?"

Mothers eyes narrowed as she looked down at her "So you could hide? Like at the running of the leaves?"

"I-I wasn't hiding," Fluttershy stuttered, shrinking before her mothers gaze. "Mom, I was with my critter friends!"

Tap.

"And tea with your aunt? Were you so busy with your critter friends that you couldn't stop by and say hello?"

Fluttershy pulled back into her chair, she had to get away, out of her mothers surgical attack.

"I-I was a little late, I'm sorry."

"Late enough to miss me, but not your aunt?

She was trapped. She stuttered, searching for words that just wouldn't come. After a while mother let up.

Tap. Tap

"Eat your oatmeal dear, before it gets cold" Mother turned to the dishes, filling the sink with hot water  "we are a family, and no matter what happens, I will always be your mother, and I will always be hear for you."

Fluttershy looked into her oatmeal, wishing there was enough for her to drown "Y-yes Mom."

Tap. Tap Tap Tap Tap!

Fluttershy and her mother both jerked there heads at the direction the tapping was coming from, only to see a floating figure behind the kitchen window. Fluttershy looked at the creature and for a second, wondered if it was one of her nocturnal critter friends coming back early. But something was off about the creature, it was too big to be flying and more importantly, none of her critter friends had giant glowing green eyes.

Fluttershy screamed.

Mother struck like a pray mantis, flicking the window open and grabbing the owner of the glowing green eyes and slamming her onto the table, the oatmeal Fluttershy had been previously eating flew into the ceiling with a satisfying splat.

The intruder squirmed under mothers grip, as her limbs moved they got a sense of the creature, two eyes, four hooves and a rainbow mane wearing moderately expensive looking night vision goggles made it clear who was on their kitchen table.

"R-Rainbow?" Fluttershy looked down at her friend pinned to the table by mother.

"Hey Fluttershy and -" Rainbow's pupils shrunk to pin pricks when she got a good look at who was holding her down  "Ms. Fluttershy's Mom, nice to see you! Also, can't breath here, heh heh" mothers grip lessened, allowing Rainbow room to breath.

"Rainbow what are you doing here so early in the morning?" Fluttershy said.

"Yes Rainbow Dash, its not like you to be awake so early." Ms. Fluttershy's Mom stated in her normal professional manor. "You nearly scared Fluttershy and myself to death."

Rainbow Dash shot Ms. Fluttershy's Mom her best 'are you kidding me?' look.

"And why are you wearing those scary green goggles?" Fluttershy tacked on.

"Well" Rainbow pulled the goggles off her head, "these are my night vision goggles, Pinkie showed me this place, over in griffin country that ships them real cheap, so I bought a pair."

"So you came here to show Fluttershy some toy?" Ms. Fluttershy's Mom arched a eyebrow.

"What? No I got these a month ago, I came over because my house is over charged."

The Fluttershy family's eyes shot open.

"R-Rainbow are you okay?!  Oh my goodness how could this of happened!" Fluttershy panicked, checking Rainbow Dash over for injuries.

"I'm fine, Modern cloud houses are pretty resistant to over charges, as long as you don't turn anything on your okay, if ya turn anything on then ya gets fried." Tears welled in Fluttershy's eyes "b-bu-but I didn't so there is no need to worry at all Fluttershy!"

"B-but" Fluttershy stammered as she clung tightly to her friend before her mother pulled her off Rainbow Dash.

"She is fine dear, her house just needs to have its excess electricity bled out and she will be home in no time" Ms. Fluttershy's Mom turned to Rainbow Dash "I take it you came over to crash at Fluttershy's then?" Rainbow nodded "then take a seat, I made oatmeal." Ms. Fluttershy's mom beamed as the oatmeal fell from the ceiling onto her head.

The pink pegasus was carted off shortly after the medical chariot arrived, taken to Ponyville General, it being the closest hospital to the scene. The emergency weather teams were called to make quick work of the fire, the Guard not wanting to risk the scene being contaminated, left the local weather teams out of the loop.

As the moon left the night behind and the sky sat empty, two Night Guards, both sporting the leathery wings that marked them as Thestrals or as most called them 'Bat Ponies',  floated above the lake of ash.

The Night Guard looked down upon the scene, the fire was gone, the weather team was packing up their clouds, ready to call it a night, and all that remain of the Thunder Jacker was a crater the size of a small town, and a white ash field the size of Canterlot with match stick trees sprinkled throwout.

"What could have done this?" the Night Guard mare said, surveying the scene.

"Well, it was one of the older models, you know how they were filled with gas instead of clouds right?" The other, more masculine guard nodded sagely.

"Every airship made in the last 200 years was built so that if the balloon did catch fire, which didn't happen much baring a dog fight, it wouldn't explode, just a slow burn off."

"Well, maybe thats whats happened here? I mean look at all this ash!" The Masculine guard opened his fore hooves, as if to grab the scene in a bear hug.

"Slow burn offs don't leave craters so big that they sent rocks the size of my head falling over a mile away!" the mare guard seethed, looking down at the hole below them.

"Maybe the failsafe', I don't know failed? Besides, 'as big as your head' is kind of an exaggeration there Detective."

"Thats Detective Berry to you Junior! Besides the Thunder Jacker was a 'medium sized' cargo ship, and thats the 'medium sized' they used 40 years ago when the model was no doubt released, now the bloody thing might as well be called a dingy."

"So?" The Junior Night Guard shrugged.

"So? So?! So how could a dingy make a blast big enough to level the bucking capital?! The thing was moving bloody nic knacks! Those Daring Do dolls everyponies foal is running around with! Nothing that could send a city to its grave! Or make a good chunk of the Everfree into a ash pit! Something is going on!" Night Guard Black Berry huffed in frustration.

"WHAT" The Junior Night Guard looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Well, seams like I broke threw to you-"

"MY KID HAS BEEN WAITING FOREVER FOR MORE OF THOSE DOLLS TO GET HERE! SHE'LL BE CRUSHED!"

Berry sighed, "Not the response I was hoping for but can I count on you Bell?"

Junior Detective Blue Bell blinked "Count on me for what?"

"Why, to investigate of course, its kind of your job now, remember?"

Fluttershy went about her morning labors, preparing dinner for the nocturnal critters, and breakfast for the rest. As she went about her task fluttering about in silence, Ms. Fluttershy's Mother and Rainbow Dash watched from a distance, unwilling to disturb her.

"So Rainbow Dash," Ms. Fluttershy's Mom sat down passing Rainbow a glass of water, "how have you been holding up?"

"You know," Rainbow Dash Snickered "you ask me that every time we talk, ever sense I moved to town when I was a little filly, you know that right?"

Ms. Fluttershy's Mom nodded, still smiling, as always.

"And for that last few years whats always been my answer?"

"Just wanted to be sure." They watched Fluttershy for a few minutes, before Ms. Fluttershy's Mom spoke up again.

"Any growing pains?"

Rainbow Dash's head looked like a cherry.

"Ill take that as a 'yes'."

"Y-you s-ssh-shouldn't go asking such embarrassing questions like that!" Rainbow Dash huffed, looking away from her.

"Come now Rainbow Dash, its a natural part of growing up and nothing you should feel ashamed of~" Ms. Fluttershy's Mom giggled.

"I 'grew up' already I am a legally recognized adult thank you!"

"Well, yes the court dos view you as an adult Rainbow Dash, however physically-"

"Physically I don't want to talk about this!" Rainbow Dash took to the sky above "I'm going to go help Fluttershy!"

Ms. Fluttershy's Mom just shook her head, "Rainbow Dash, when are you going to learn your not alone in this? Every pony on the reservation knows what your going threw."

Rainbow Dash stopped, just sitting there in the air for what seamed like an eternity, before turning to look at Ms. Fluttershy's Mom.

"You know thats not true." Rainbow Dash's gaze was uncharacteristically cold.

"Rainbow! Why would you think I would be lying to you?" Ms. Fluttershy's Mom gasped

"Its not a lie, but not every pony in town knows."  Ms. Fluttershy's Mom eyes focused with clarity.

"Every pony in town knows, every pony except Twilight."