Of Fractured Steel and Broken Hearts
A squad of three ponies were patrolling down a road in a small backwater town on the edge of a bayou. In the lead was Wind Shear, a white pegasus with hazel eyes and a short fiery orange mane. Trotting beside him was his best friend Silver Streak, a grey earth pony with yellow eyes and a silver mane. Finally taking up the rear of their formation was Dusty, a tan colored earth-pony with golden eyes and a light brown mane.
Silver Streak swatted a hoof at a fly that landed on his snout. “Bucking swamp, bucking heat, bucking bugs!”
Wind Shear looked over at his friend and chuckled. “It’s a bayou.”
Silver Streak rolled his eyes. “Whatever, this place sucks.”
“Quit your bitching city slicker.” Dusty snapped at him. He turned and admired the swamp on the side of the road. “This place ain’t bad, kind of nice actually.”
Silver Streak looked back at him with a furrowed brow. “That’s because you were born in a swamp you damn hick.”
“And damn proud of it!” Dusty retorted with a prideful grin. “Made me tough, unlike you softies livin in the city.”
Silver Streak stopped and turned all the way around. “Living in the city does not make you soft!”
Dusty laughed and trotted past him. “You Manehatten folk are afraid to get your hooves dirty, of course it makes ya soft!”
Silver Streak growled and lunged at him. “Why you little-“
“Would you two mares quit arguing?!” Shouted an agitated Wind Shear.
“Hey!” Both Dusty and Silver Streak shouted simultaneously.
Wind Shear rolled his eyes and waved them forward. “Come on guys, we got a mission to accomplish, you can save the bitching for later.”
“We’re just investigating a break-in.” Silver Streak grumbled to himself.
Wind Shear ignored him and continued marching down the road. Always bitching, typical Silver Streak. In truth, he agreed, this was a stupid assignment, they were soldiers, not cops. Orders were orders though, and Wind Shear would follow them diligently.
After a few minutes of silent trotting down the road, they finally came across the shack they were sent to investigate. It was sitting on the side of the road, vegetation surrounding it. On the outside they could tell it was pretty old, given the fact that the wood was rotting and the windows looked like nopony has cleaned them in ages.
Approaching the shack, Wind Shear motioned for his two squad mates to follow him. Everything was silent, save for the creaking and groaning of the old wood underneath Wind Shear’s hooves.
The porch was empty, save for a single rocking chair and an old quilt draped over the back of it. Wind Shear made his way towards the door and saw that it was open. Putting a hoof to the door, he slowly pushed it open, the old hinges creaked loudly in protest.
The air inside the shack was stale with a neat layer of dust coating everything inside. Several old photos hung from the far wall; dust and grime covered the glass, giving the pictures a slightly yellow hue. The rest of the room was empty, except for an old sofa and a wooden chair on his left. Behind the sofa was a doorway to another room.
Wind Shear silently went over to the doorway, taking a mental note of the open door. Keeping a hoof on the hilt of the knife on his belt, he peered into the doorway and was greeted by a kitchen. There was an oven sitting up on the far wall with two cabinets flanking it. Judging by the amount of dust and grime, the oven looked like it hadn’t been used in ages. Next to the doorway sat a wooden table with a single chair scooted underneath it.
Noticing a single piece of paper on the table, Wind Shear approached it and flipped it over. His spine turned cold when he saw what was on it: a photo of him and his squad approaching the house.
Suddenly he felt a hoof on his shoulder, he quickly turned around and drew his knife at his attacker.
“Whoa there buddy! It’s just me!” Said Silver streak with a hoof raised up.
Wind Shear lowered his stance, but still kept his knife out. “Look at the photo.”
Silver Streak raised an eyebrow. “What photo?”
“The one on the table!” Wind Shear shouted.
Silver Streak looked at the table curiously. “Uh…it’s just a piece of paper.”
Wind Shear looked back down and sure enough the photo turned blank. He picked it up and flipped it over. Nope, still blank. “What the- there was a photo on here just a second ago!”
Silver Streak took the paper and shook his head. “I think the air in here might be getting to you dude.”
Wind Shear rubbed a hoof to his eyes and looked at the paper one last time. Still blank. He sheathed his knife and shook his head. “Maybe I am losing my damn mind.” He trotted past Silver Streak back to the living room.
“I’m sure you already lost it.” Silver Streak said with a chuckle.
Wind Shear merely rolled his eyes as he exited the house. Well that was strange…empty house and a blank piece of paper? Somepony is definitely playing a prank on us. He looked around for his third companion. “Uh, where’s Dusty at?”
“Who?” Silver Streak said while trotting up to him.
Wind Shear narrowed his eyes at him, thinking he was the victim of another prank. “You’re kidding right?”
Silver Streak glanced to his left, then his right, then back at Wind Shear. “No jokes here crazy guy.”
Wind Shear furrowed his brow. “Where is Dusty at? So help me if you let him go see that filly down the road again I’ll-“
“Slow down there buddy.” Silver Streak said with a raised hoof. “I have never heard of somepony named ‘Dusty’ before.”
Wind Shear growled to himself and looked around. Where the buck is that hick at? He looked at the ground saw a set of tracks. “Ah! Try and fool me will you!” He took off following the tracks, feeling as if he was on to their game.
Silver Streak took off after him. “Where are you going!?”
Wind Shear followed the tracks into the swamp, intent on giving Dusty the ass chewing of a life time. Leaving his post, I’ll bucking kill him myself!
Silver Streak galloped behind him, having no clue why they were trudging into a bug infested swamp. “Damn it! I swear if I get bit by something, I’m going to kill you!”
Ignoring his complaining, Wind Shear galloped deeper into the swamp. The smelly swamp water by now had soaked his fur and mud covered his hooves. Wind Shear kept following the hoof prints in the mud, right up until he tripped on something heavy.
Catching himself with his wings, he hovered in the air and turned around, noticing that Silver Streak was frozen in place. “What?” Wind Shear asked with a raised eyebrow.
Silver Streak kept his gaze locked on something below Wind Shear. Looking down, Wind Shear nearly screamed when he saw a massive, four hundred pound alligator about to snap its jaws on his hoof.
Quickly flying away, Wind Shear narrowly avoided its jaws and flew right next to Silver Streak. “It’s a bucking alligator!”
Silver Streak shot him a ‘you think so?’ look.
Drawing his knife, Wind Shear at this point wished he had brought his wing blades. His knife was large, nearly twelve inches long, but that was not enough to stop an alligator of this size. “You and Dusty just had to pull a prank didn’t you?!”
“For the last time who the buck-oh shit!” Silver Streak jumped out of the way as the massive alligator tried to take a large chunk out of him. The gator merely hissed and made another attempt at him which he dodged, only barely. “Go for him! He’s the one that tripped on you!”
To Wind Shear’s horror, the alligator turned towards him and hissed. “Oh buck.” Wind Shear dodged the alligator’s lunge at him and slashed his knife across its snout. The alligator ignored the blow and attacked again, determined to make dinner out of Wind Shear.
The alligator halted its attack when Silver Streak slashed at it’s tail with his knife. “Take that you bastard!” The alligator snapped his tail like a whip, catching Silver Streak in the face. Silver Streak rubbed a hoof to his cheek and backed up.
Wind Shear took the opportunity to plunge the knife into the alligators head. This time the alligator growled in pain and backed into deeper water, away from the two ponies. Wind Shear grinned in triumph as the alligator disappeared into the shadow of a tree.
Still rubbing a hoof to his face, Silver Streak sighed. “Can we go back to base now?”
Wind Shear turned to answer him but stopped when he heard a deep, maniacal laugh coming from the bog. Wind Shear looked around for the source of the laugh. “Dusty? Is that you?”
“You ponies are foolish, always jumping to the defense another, yet failing to watch your own back.”
“Dusty, this isn’t funny!” Wind Shear trailed his eyes around the surrounding bog. “Come on out!”
“You claim to protect others, but how can that be if you can’t protect yourself?”
Wind Shear didn’t notice a rock levitating up behind him. “Show yourself!”
“This is getting creepy Wind, let’s get out of here.” Silver Streak said glancing at Wind Shear.
“I’m everywhere Wind Shear…and I’m nowhere at the same time.” Out of the bog suddenly appeared a dark figure. He was a unicorn clad in black armor, with a hood and face-wrap and black tinted goggles covering his eyes.
Wind Shear’s eyes widened with alarm: he knew that unicorn from anywhere.
The unicorn cackled and set his sights on Wind Shear.
Suddenly the rock slammed into the back of Wind Shear’s head, causing him to fall on the ground. He looked up in a daze as Silver Streak tried to rush to his aid, but there was a flash of light and suddenly the unicorn slammed a hoof across Silver Streaks face, making a sickening crack.
Silver Streak spat a wad of blood out and swung his knife at the unicorn, who simply dodged his attacks.
Wind Shear tried to get up but he was hit by a bout of dizziness and fell over again. Damn it! Come on!
Silver Streak made another stab at the unicorn with his knife, but this time the unicorn caught his hoof and with one quick motion, snapped it. Silver Streak dropped the knife and screamed. “AHH! DAMN IT!”
The unicorn slammed another hoof into Silver Streaks chest, denting the armor and breaking a few ribs in the process. Silver Streak pivoted on his good hoof and attempted to buck the unicorn with his hind legs.
This time his blow connected, hitting the unicorn square in the chest. The armor crunched and the unicorn recoiled in pain then teleported out of sight.
Taking the opportunity, Silver Streak hobbled over to Wind Shear and pulled him up with his good hoof. “Come on! We’ve got to get out of here!”
Wind Shear’s daze started to disappear, allowing him to stand up. He rapidly looked around for the unicorn, not seeing any sign of him. “Where did he go?”
“Don’t ever ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.” Moments later there was a flash of light as the unicorn appeared behind Silver Streak. Before Wind Shear could react, the unicorn levitated a sword to Silver Streaks neck and slashed across it, spraying blood onto Wind Shear’s face.
Wind Shear watched in horror as his squad-mate and best friend’s eyes fixated on his. “Run.” He breathed out before slumping over into the mud.
A single tear fell from Wind Shear’s eye as he gazed at his dying friend.
The unicorn leveled his bloody sword at Wind Shear. ”That’s some good advice.”
Immediately turning tail, Wind Shear took off galloping. He didn’t dare look back, afraid to see the unicorn gaining on him. He flapped his wings out and flew, knowing that the more distance he put between the unicorn and himself, the better.
I’m sorry Silver Streak! Damn it, I’m sorry! Wind Shear felt like a coward for fleeing like this, but he was unarmed and facing somepony who was adept in magic. To stand and fight would be certain death.
Wind Shear flew for what seemed like an hour before finally coming to rest behind a large tree. He needed to give his wings a break at this rate, or he would pull a muscle. Heaving in his breaths Wind Shear peered around the tree.
All he saw was more trees, no dark figures, and no cackling voices.
Out of nowhere he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, causing his vision to glaze over. That sharp pain passed through and then felt something protrude from his neck. Bringing his hooves to his neck, he felt a warm, slick, blade which, a moment later, was pulled from his grasp out through the way it came.
Wind Shear staggered around and fell next to a tree, blood leaking out of his mouth. His eyes widened when he saw the hooded unicorn, levitating a crimson blade next to him. “No matter how far you run, you cannot hide from darkness.” A moment later the unicorn brought the blade down into Wind Shear’s face, immediately darkening the world around him.
"AHHH!!!" Wind Shear's eyes shot open as he swung a hoof at his invisible foe. Heaving in rapid breaths, he glanced at his surroundings. Seeing only the night sky, he quickly brought a hoof his neck, breathing a sigh of relief when all he felt was fur.
"Damn it." He grumbled as his heart rate gradually slowed down. He sat back on his rump and rubbed his blood shot eyes with his hooves. "Bucking nightmares!" He shook his head "...they should be getting better, not worse."
Pulling his hooves away from his eyes, he sighed and stared out at the stars. A few minutes passed as he sat there quietly thinking to himself.
“I can’t believe it’s already been three years…” Wind Shear softly said to himself.
Three years, more like three days with how fresh the details were in his mind. Screams of the dying, sirens from the ambulances, and then there was the evil cackles of the attackers.
It was all too real to have happened so long ago.
Standing up, Wind Shear grabbed his saddle bags that were resting beside him and threw them on. As tired as he was, he didn’t want to go back to sleep, how could he?
Spreading out his wings, Wind Shear leapt off the cloud. He glided just above the cloud layer and leveled off.
Wind Shear idly watched the stars of the night as he flew, admiring their glistening beauty. He wasn’t exactly one for stargazing, but after spending enough lonely nights traveling, it’s something he found himself doing often.
Wind Shear had started star gazing when he had his first nightmare, just a few months after he was discharged from the Army. His sister, who he lived with at the time, had been asleep so instead of going and talking to her, he went outside to take a breather.
They weren’t as bright then as they are now with the return of Princess Luna, but they were still beautiful.
Wind Shear banked around a stray cloud, feeling the cool air rush past him. That was close. He tore his gaze from the stars and focused on his flying.
Soon after that first night, the nightmares began to get worse and a lot more frequent, even to the point where his screams had woken his sister up at night.
It scared her, Wind Shear knew it. Seeing her only family member left alive going through torment like that was extremely difficult for her, so unable to bear the pain he was putting her through…he left.
In hindsight it wasn’t very smart, because now she worried for his safety like she had been while he was in the Army, but this time he didn’t have any comrades watching his back. Now it was just him and the few things he packed.
Wind Shear sighed. He missed home, and his sister, but he couldn’t go back. Seeing how stressed he made her just killed him on the inside.
So for the past two and a half years he just drifted place to place, trying to make it on his own. Part of him hoped his nightmare’s would get better as time passed, but the other part of him new it was foolish to think that.
Wind Shear had gone from coast to coast, traveling from Baltimare, all the way to Las Pegasus. Despite all the time that has passed in his travels, he didn’t get better, in fact he got a lot worse.
Wind Shear was a living example that time does not heal all wounds, whoever invented that crock of lies deserved a life of pain and torture.
The sun started to rise on the horizon, bringing Wind Shear out of his thoughts. Shading his eyes with a hoof, he watched it bring forth a new day. It was beautiful, and in conjuncture with the rolling green fields and hay bales below him, it made for a sight that looked as if it was straight out of a painting.
Wind Shear grinned. At least that was one thing he always had to look forward to seeing every day.
Deciding he had enough of flying aimlessly, Wind Shear flew down to a cloud that wasn’t far off the ground. “Time to figure out where I’m going…” He mumbled to himself as he pulled a map of Equestria out of his saddle bags.
If there was one skill that he was thankful for learning in the Army, it was map reading. Looking over the side of the cloud, he looked for any landmarks. He squinted his eyes at what he thought was a forest in the distance.
The fog coming out of it made it look extremely creepy, bringing him to the conclusion that was the infamous Everfree forest.
“Yep, not going in there.” He said returning to his map. Being a Manticore’s breakfast was not exactly his idea of a good time.
Sighing, he saw that there weren’t any major cities near the Everfree besides Cloudsdale, and that definitely was not an option. Yet again, he didn’t really want to go to a major city, having spent most of his time in them, so why not a smaller town?
Looking at the map again, he noticed that there was a small town just to the northeast of the Everfree forest
“Ponyville…” Wind Shear chewed on the thought for a moment, before he looked at the map with disgust. “Pass.”
In Baltimare, he had been told Ponyville was a backwater town which meant one thing: hick country. It’s not that he had a problem with the cider-swilling and grass chewing folk, he just didn’t want to be around them.
…Ok maybe he did have a problem with them, but that didn’t matter. Wind Shear looked for any other nearby towns, but to his dismay, he saw nothing.
Wind Shear furrowed his brow and glared at his map. “You bastard." Sighing in defeat he reached in his bag to get his compass.
Poomf
Wind Shear stopped what he was doing and looked around. "What the hay was that?"
Poomf
Looking up, Wind Shear looked for the source of the sound, only to see a cloud above him.
Poomf
It was getting louder, and closer. He squinted his eyes at the cloud above him.
POOMF
"Huh, it almost sounds like somepony's bucking a-" Suddenly a speeding cyan blur busted through the cloud above. Wind Shear opened his mouth to scream, but it was caught in his mouth as a cyan missile slammed into him and ran him into a hay bale beneath the cloud.
Wind Shear felt his whole world spinning. "Ughhh..." He groaned from underneath the hay.
Everything hurt, even his pain was in pain. He tried to inhale a breath, but his diaphragm screamed at him for trying to move it so soon. He exhaled the small amount of oxygen he had in his lungs, only for it to come out as a weak cough.
Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the hay bale, anger pulsing through her at her messing up the trick for the fifth time that day. What the hay even-
A white hoof poked through the hay, trying to pull whoever was underneath out.
Dash growled and launched out of the hay. Mess up my trick, I'll show them! She flew over to the hoof and grasped it, pulling a white pegasus out of the hay.
Wind Shear gasped for air and smiled gratefully at Dash. "You saved me! Thank-"
He was cut off as Dash slammed a hoof to the side of his head, catapulting him away from the hay. The magenta in Dash's eyes turned to fire as she landed right next to the now groaning Wind Shear.
“WHY DID YOU BUCK UP MY TRICK!?” She shouted at the top of her lungs, her patience all but evaporated through her failed attempts at her trick.
Wind Shear glared angrily at her and stood up. “I was sitting on a cloud you crazy bitch!”
Dash grinded her teeth and swung at him again, but he ducked. “You were sitting on my cloud, bucking up my trick!” She swung at him again, this time punching him in the gut.
Wind Shear doubled over and clutched his stomach. One more time, do that one more time! He wouldn’t hit a mare, but damn it he would smack a filly!
“ANSWER ME!” Dash shouted in his ear, wings flaring out.
Gritting his teeth from the ringing in his ear, Wind Shear took a deep breath, deciding not to further escalate things with this crazy mare. “I was sitting on a cloud…” He said as calmly as he could. “I was just looking at my map, when you ran into me.”
Dash’s brain started to catch up to her at what just happened. She softened her stance, but only slightly.
Seeing her wings fold back to her side, Wind Shear thought it best to just apologize and move on. “Look, I’m sorry I messed up your trick or whatever you were doing, ok?”
Dash continued to glare razor sharp daggers at him, but after a few moments, she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Whatever, just stay out of my way from now on.”
Great, now I can just get back to…crap. Turning around to the hay bale he had crashed into, Wind Shear furrowed his brow when he realized that it would take forever to find his now missing map and compass.
“Great…” He mumbled to himself. Nothing like being lost so close to the Everfree. That’s when an idea popped in his head. He turned back to Ms. Rainbow Bitch, who had her back turned to him.
“Uh…ma’am?”
“What.” Dash said bluntly as she looked into the sky, trying to figure out where to start her routine...AGAIN!!!
“You wouldn’t happen to know how to get to Ponyville would you?” Wind Shear asked hopefully.
“I know where it’s at.” Dash spat on her hoof and held it up, figuring out which way the wind was blowing.
Wind Shear waited for an answer, but received only silence in return. Sighing, he lowered his brow. “Are you going to tell me?”
Dash spread out her wings. “Nope.” With that she took off into the air.
“HEY!” Wind Shear shouted.
She stopped midair and turned to face him, agitation rising again. “What now?”
Wind Shear growled inwardly at how much of a jerk she was being. “I’m freaking lost here ok, my map is probably half-way to Appaloosa and I have no idea where I’m at, would you please just point me into the right direction?”
Dash folded her forelegs across her chest. “I’m busy, so if you could just take your whiny self somewhere else, that would be great.”
“Did you not hear me?” Wind Shear growled.
Dash shook her head. “No, and I don’t care. It’s your problem.”
Now Wind Shear was starting to get irritated. She wasn’t going to tell him, and now he was going to be flying aimlessly.
That's when a light bulb lit up in his head. She did say she was doing a trick and judging by her cutie mark, she is probably some kind of racer… a strangely familiar racer now that he was getting a good look at her.
A coy grin spread across Wind Shear’s face.
Dash narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you smiling about?”
“I challenge you to a race.” He said with a confident smirk. “First one to Ponyville wins.”
Dash settled back on the ground and raised an eyebrow. She silently stared at Wind Shear before she cracked up and burst out laughing.
Wind Shear frowned. He thought for sure she would go for that idea.
Dash banged a hoof on the ground, laughing so hard that tears were forming in her eyes.
Wind Shear gave her a bemused stare as he waited for her to get it out of her system.
After a few more moments, she stood up, catching her breath. Seeing his bemused look she frowned. “Oh, you were serious?”
Wind Shear nodded.
Dash shook her head in amusement. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”
“A crazy mare who crashed into me.” Wind Shear answered nonchalantly.
Dash rolled her eyes before puffing out her chest and smirking. “I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria!”
Wind Shear stared at her silently before it clicked in his brain. “Wait, you’re the young mare who did the sonic rainboom at the Best Young Fliers Competition?!”
Dash grinned. “Aha! So you have heard of me!”
Wind Shear nodded. “Yeah my sister told me all about it, heh, she said it was one hay of a sight.”
“Mhm, and now you know you just made a terrible mistake.” Dash said prodding him in the chest with a hoof.
“Huh...oh…crap.” Wind Shear said realizing that he just challenged that same mare to a race. He sighed inwardly. Well, time to nut up or shut-up. Smirking himself, he gave her a determined look. “I guess I did, so, are you going to put your bits where your big mouth is or do you just want to forfeit now?”
Dash narrowed her eyes at him and spat in hoof holding it out. “You’re on.”
Wind Shear spat in his own hoof and connected with hers. “Let’s do this.”
“Readysetgo!” Dash said quickly taking off.
“WAIT, DAMN IT!” Wind Shear shouted at her.
Her competitive fire running wild, she turned back to him and groaned. “What the hay now?!” Seeing his furrowed brow, she sighed and lowered her brow. “Oh yeah, you don’t know where Ponyville is at…”
“You think so?” Wind Shear said, sarcasm dripping off of every word.
Dash landed and pointed a hoof to the right of them. “It’s a straight shot that way.”
Looking at the horizon, Wind Shear squinted. “I don’t see any buildings.”
Dash rolled her eyes and turned in the direction of Ponyville. “Duh, what’d you think it is, Manehatten?”
“No I…” Wind Shear sighed. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” He turned in the direction as well and stretched out his wings.
Dash cracked her neck a few times and stretched her forelegs. “First one to Ponyville Town Hall wins.”
Wind Shear glanced at her with confusion. “…and that is where?”
“Center of town.” Dash stated while flaring out her wings. “By the way, what's your name?”
“Wind Shear.” He stated while pulling his flight goggles out of his bag and putting them over his eyes.
Dash snickered and she shook her head. “What are you, clearing weather?”
“Nope.” He replied bluntly as he crouched down. “Just about to beat an egotistic mare.”
“Ha!” She said crouching down. “Says the one who is about to eat my rainbow trail.”
Wind Shear couldn't help but snicker. "One could take that as an offer Rainbow Dash." he said while waggling his eyebrows.
Dash blushed red and was about to slug him in the face again, but before she could Wind Shear stuck out his tongue and rocketed off the starting line towards Ponyville.
"What the-" she growled and took off after him. "I'm gonna kick your flank!"
Wind Shear didn't hear her shout though, all he heard was the breeze whistling past his ears. He flapped his wings harder, going faster and faster. A grin formed over his face as he turned around and saw no sign of Rainbow Dash.
His ploy to get a head start had apparently worked. He faced forward again when he noticed something move beside him out the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to see Rainbow give him a wink before she suddenly accelerated past him.
"NO WAY!" he shouted in disbelief. He was sure she wouldn't be able to catch up to him.
Rainbow Dash smiled as she soared past him. This isn't the first time somepony underestimated her, and it was always priceless to see their shocked faces when she left them in the dust.
She turned back to see where he was but growled in frustration when she saw he was rapidly gaining on her.
"Not gonna let you win that easy!" he shouted to her. Before he knew it, they were neck and neck. They both glared at each other, accelerating even faster, but neither gaining a lead on the other.
Rainbow growled in frustration. Every race she has ever been in the past few years, she has obliterated the competition. Nopony she knew could match her in speed; except for the Wonderbolts. How the hay was he able to keep up?
No, she had to teach this complete stranger a valuable life lesson: Rainbow Dash doesn't lose.
Wind Shear smiled when he noticed he started to get a lead on Rainbow. "You shouldn't underestimate your competition!"
Dash didn't respond, instead she slowed her breathing and narrowed her sight on the approaching town. She tuned out everything around her and only focused on her flying.
Suddenly she shot ahead of Wind Shear with a new burst of speed just short of sonic rainboom velocity, not slowing down until she reached her goal.
Wind Shear couldn't believe what just happened. One moment he was gaining a lead over Dash, then suddenly she just soared past him, leaving him to eat her rainbow trail as she put it. He tried even harder, forcing himself forward, but his wings would only allow a slightly higher speed.
Dash made it to town hall well over a minute past Wind Shear. Although she was breathing rapidly to catch her breath, she couldn't help but smirk. She still held her title of being undefeated, and she got to show up a complete stranger. Yep, today has been a good day.
As she finally caught her breath, Wind Shear finally arrived and collapsed on the ground in front of town hall.
"That...was...intense..." He said in-between breaths. Dash trotted up to him and held out a hoof which he grasped as she helped him to his hooves.
"They don't call me the fastest flier in Equestria for nothing." She said with a grin.
Wind Shear allowed himself a few more breaths before speaking. "Yeah, no kidding, well I guess that means you win."
"I always do." Dash said matter-of-factly.
Wind Shear chuckled, his breath finally caught up. "Is that so?" he said semi-sarcastically.
Dash laughed. "Want me to prove that I win again?"
Wind Shear smiled. "Nah, I'll just take your word for it."
Dash chuckled "Heh, ok, but if you ever need your plot kicked again though, I'll happily oblige."
Wind Shear opened his mouth to respond when his stomach growled at him, reminding of him of his neglect. He put a hoof to his stomach and patted it. “Shh, quiet damn you!”
He looked up at Dash, whose right eyebrow was slowly rising.
Wind Shear sighed. “I said that out loud didn’t I?”
Dash slowly nodded. “You talk to your stomach?”
Wind Shear rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “…sometimes.”
Dash silently stared at him, never having heard of somepony doing that before.
Wind Shear lowered his brow in minor annoyance at her. “Yes, it’s weird, but if you had my stomach you would understand.”
Dash’s other eyebrow slowly raised. “Ok then…”
Wind Shear gave her bemused stare before giving his mane a shake. “Whatever.” He started to trot away from her, intent on satisfying his stomach’s demands. Before he even made it down the street he heard rapid hoofsteps come from behind him. “You joining me for lunch?”
Rainbow Dash, who by now had caught up to him, gave him a slight smirk. “I could be persuaded, that is if you’re buying.”
Wind Shear snorted and continued down the side of the road. Way to invite yourself. “Ok, I guess I can stand the company for a little bit, know any good places?”
Dash grinned as she had the perfect place in mind. “You like hay burgers?”
The diner Dash had picked seemed pretty nice. There were booths lining the walls with a large window beside each one of them. The diner was rather busy, but the waitress managed to find both pegasi an open booth.
Wind Shear sat across from Dash at a booth the waitress led them to, setting his saddlebags next to him. As he settled in, the waitress laid two menus in front of them both. “What will you two have to drink today?”
“Coffee.” Wind Shear said, his tired body needing a jolt.
Dash looked at him with disgust before looking to the waitress. “I’ll have carrot juice.”
The pink unicorn waitress levitated a notepad and pencil out of her apron pocket and wrote down their orders. “Ok, I’ll be right back with those in a minute.”
As soon as she left, Dash looked back at Wind Shear who was flipping through his menu. “Coffee?”
“Yep, only thing that keeps me awake.” He said without looking up.
Dash stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Yuck, I don’t know how you drink that nasty stuff.”
Wind Shear peered up at her from his menu. “Just put cream and sugar in it.”
Dash shook her head. “Pass, there is no faster way to sabotage a morning work-out.”
Wind Shear shrugged and looked back down at his menu. “Suit yourself.” Dash rolled her eyes and looked down at her menu, and as she did, he peered back up at her.
There was something vaguely familiar about her.
As Dash continued flipping through her menu, he squinted his eyes in thought. She didn’t seem like a small town mare, so there is no way she was from Ponyville…maybe that’s it. “Dash.”
She looked up at him. “Hm?”
Wind Shear closed the menu and sat back in his seat. “Where are you from?”
“Ponyville?” Dash said in a ‘duh stupid’ tone.
Wind Shear sighed. “I mean where were you raised genius.”
“Oh.” Dash grinned and sat up. “I’m from Cloudsdale, only the most awesome city on the planet, well…after Ponyville that is.”
Wind Shear grinned at her, happy to have something to talk about. “I was born in Cloudsdale myself, lived there until I graduated flight school.”
Dash’s ears perked up at the mention of flight school. “Which one did you graduate from?”
“Northwest Flight School.” His grin grew as Dash’s eyes widened. “You know, the Northwest-“
“The Northwest Hurricanes, heck yeah dude!” Dash finished for him with a smirk. “That’s where I graduated from!”
Suddenly it clicked in Wind Shear’s brain. “Aha! That’s where I knew you from!” He pointed a hoof at her rainbow mane. “How could I forget a mane as crazy as that?”
Dash scowled. “My mane is awesome, nothing less.”
“If by awesome you mean crazy, then yes, it is awesome.” Wind Shear chuckled when Dash growled in aggravation at him.
“Coming from the Spitfire fancolt.” Dash said while looking at his own mane. She smirked as his eyes trailed up at his mane. “You look like you just came from a Wonderbolt fan club meeting.”
Wind Shear put a hoof to his mane and ran it through it. “What, you mean this flowing masterpiece?”
Dash laughed at him. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Wind Shear grinned sagely. “I will, thank you very much.”
The waitress came back to the table before Dash could retort. “Here’s your carrot juice.” She levitated the glass in front of Dash who smiled and thanked her. She then levitated a white mug in front of Wind Shear. “And here’s the coffee.” She smiled and levitated out her note pad and pencil again. “Are ready to order?”
Wind Shear looked down at his menu and trailed his hoof down it. “I’ll have a hay burger and a side of hay fries.”
The waitress wrote it down and turned to Dash. “And for you miss?”
“Same.” Dash said passing the menu to the waitress. She levitated both of them up and smiled at the two pegasi. “Ok, I’ll have those out for y’all shortly.”
As she trotted away, Dash turned back towards Wind Shear wanting to get back to their original topic. “So what year did you graduate?”
Wind Shear took a long, enjoyable sip from his coffee. “Ah good stuff. I was class of ’16, you?”
“Class of ’20.” Dash said with a proud grin, earning a chuckle from Wind Shear. “What?”
“Heh, you were just a fishy” Dash rolled her eyes. Wind Shear may not have been all that popular in school, but no matter what he could always ream on the freshponies.
“Laugh it up, I bet you were the loser who hung out with the chess team.” Dash’s smirk took a cheeky turn as his grin fell. “Am I in the ballpark?”
“It was checkers…” Wind Shear said with narrowed eyes. “I bet you were one of those douche bag hoofball jocks.”
Dash put her hooves to her cheeks in mock surprise. “Oh no! I’ve been found out, what shall I ever do?” She laughed and sat back in her seat. “Guilty as charged!”
Wind Shear rolled his eyes and gave her a cheeky grin of his own. “It’s no wonder why our hoofball team always lost then.”
Dash shrugged and put her hoof on her glass “Hey I was good, but they all sucked.” She took a drink from her juice and sighed as soon as she finished. “Besides, they liked looking at my plot more than they did the ball.”
“Did you expect any less from jocks?” Wind Shear asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dash shrugged. “I dunno, I figured they’d stop after I broke enough jaws.”
Wind Shear tilted his head, his grin remaining fixed. “You think that would stop a bunch of horny idiots?”
A blithe smirk formed on Dash’s face. “It sure stopped most of them.”
“Right…” Wind Shear nodded in approval. She’s tough I’ll give her that. “I’m curious, after you graduated, why did you come to Ponyville?”
Dash’s smirk promptly fell. Wind Shear raised a puzzled eyebrow. “What?”
Dash sighed and leaned her head on a hoof. “My dad got me a job here as a weather pony two years ago.” Her aggravated tone suggested she wasn’t fond of the idea.
“I take it Ponyville wasn’t your first choice.”
Dash shook her head. “Nope, I wanted to be a Wonderbolt, but daddy dearest thought that was ‘unrealistic’.” She said with air quotes.
Wind Shear stared at her blankly. It kind of is…
Dash perked up and smiled again. “Anyways, it’s not so bad here, I got plenty of friends and a nice house.”
“Can’t beat that right?” Wind Shear offered.
“I suppose not.” Dash looked up from the table and at him. “What about you, what did you do after flight school?”
Wind Shear swished around the contents of his coffee cup, blankly staring at it. “I Enlisted, then got out, now I’m traveling.”
Dash titled her head and looked at him quizzically. “You enlisted in the Royal Guard?”
“The Army.” Wind Shear corrected. He ended that line of questioning with a firm gaze. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
Dash’s brow lowered in disappointment, but she relented. Besides, who was she to pry? “Fair enough, what about you’re traveling then?”
“What about it?”
“Well are you going somewhere in particular, or are you a drifter?” Dash asked, curious about the other half of the country she hasn’t seen.
Wind Shear shrugged. “I go wherever the wind takes me I guess.” He took a sip of his coffee, the dark liquid knocking away the small amount of drowsiness he had earlier.
Once again, the waitress interrupted with two plates of food levitating beside her. “Here we are.” She said as she set the plates in front of them. “Let me know if you two need anything else!”
Wind Shear nodded his thanks as she left, then looked down at the beautiful sight before him: A steaming hayburger, with all the trimmings on a sesame bun with a nice pile of hay fries sitting beside it.
His stomach roared at him, letting him know the plate was missing something. I couldn’t agree more. Wind Shear promptly grabbed the bottle of ketchup at the table and unleashed a torrent of red goodness on top of his fries and burger.
Now that’s lunch. His stomach purred in agreement.
As he was about to dig in, he heard a chuckle across from him. “What?”
Dash was staring at the pile of ketchup on his food with a cheeky grin. “I don’t think you have enough ketchup.”
Wind Shear glanced over at the bottle. She’s right, it needs more. Dash nearly fell over laughing when he practically squeezed out half the bottle. He grinned at her. “Enough is never enough.”
Dash shook her head. “Wow.” She leaned over her food and began eating, Wind Shear doing the same.
Their conversation died down as they both silently ate, Wind Shear being a little lost in his food. After a while, they both finished, Wind Shear patting his stomach with a hoof. “Now that, was some good food.”
“Mhm.” Dash wiped her mouth with a hoof. “I usually try to avoid fried food, but every once in a while it’s ok.”
“Not me.” Wind Shear said with a satisfied grin. “I’ll never pass on a good hayburger.
Dash momentarily glanced at his gut. “I can see that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wind Shear asked as she snickered.
Dash waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh it’s nothing.” She stifled the rest of her snickers before thinking of a question that nagged on her mind. “So since you’re a drifter, how long are you going to be staying in Ponyville?”
Wind Shear shrugged, removing his hoof from his belly. “Probably a week or two, maybe work a few odd jobs to make some cash.” Upon seeing Dash’s grin vanish he cocked up an eyebrow up. “What?”
Dash glanced at the bill the waitress had left on the table then glanced back at him. “You mean you’re broke?”
Wind Shear rubbed a hoof behind his head as his lips curled into a sheepish smile. “A little bit.”
“You offered to buy lunch when you knew didn’t have the bits?” Dash dragged a hoof across her face. “Dude…what the hay.” She reached for the bill but Wind Shear immediately snatched it. “Hey!”
“I got this.” He said as he dug into his bags sitting next to the booth.
“No way!” Dash protested as she reached for the bill. He swatted her hoof away with a wing, earning a growl of frustration from her.
“I said I’d buy lunch, and I’m doing it.” Wind Shear produced a sack of bits out of his bags, pouring half of the contents onto the table.
Dash’s jaw fell open. “Holy crap dude, that’s like all your money!”
Wind Shear shrugged. “I’ll manage.”
Dash’s brow furrowed in aggravation. “You hardly have enough for a hotel room.”
Wind Shear peered into the half empty bag. “I got enough for a few nights.” He put the bag back into his saddle bags. “Like I said, I’ll just do some odd jobs to make up for it.”
Dash folded her hooves across her chest. There was no way he’d make enough doing ‘odd-jobs’ as he put it. Suddenly an idea came to Dash, her mouth slowly curling into a grin. “Hey, you said you needed a job?”
Wind Shear pushed the small pile of bits, plus tip towards the center of the table for the waitress. “Something part-time for now, what, you got something in mind?”
Dash nodded. “How does weather work sound?”
“Boring as hay.” Wind Shear replied with a bemused gaze.
Dash rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad, kind of fun actually.”
Wind Shear didn’t exactly believe that. “How is pushing around clouds fun?”
“It’s more than that you feather head.” Dash said in mild aggravation. “Just hear me out.”
Wind Shear chuckled. “Ok, I’ll humor you.”
“Good, now, the pay is pretty decent, and the position is part time,” She paused and tapped a hoof to her chin as if in thought. “…the captain is really cool, and she’s very flexible with the hours.” Dash grinned at him, already thinking of ways to surprise him with her hidden nugget of truth.
“Ok.” Wind Shear tapped his hoof to the table in thought for a moment. “…she’ll be flexible with my hours?”
“You could work at night if you wanted to.” Dash said, folding her hooves behind her head.
Wind Shear took a few more moments to contemplate it. Weather work doesn’t seem so bad, easy money right? “Would I be able to quit no questions asked?”
“Absolutely.” Dash’s grin grew wide. “So, are you in?”
Wind Shear nodded slowly. “Sure, why not?”
“Great!” Dash grabbed a nearby paper napkin and the pencil that the waitress left at the table. She spat out the pencil when she finished writing the address and passed the napkin to him. “Be there at around ten a.m. tomorrow.”
Wind Shear looked up from the napkin with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you said I could work whenever I want.”
Dash held up a hoof. “Yeah, but the captain is going to want to have a look at you first, you know, see your stuff.”
Wind Shear glanced back down at the napkin for a moment then tucked it under his wing. “Ok, works for me I guess.”
Dash got up from her seat. “Awesome.” Wind Shear joined her and threw on his bags. They both headed out the door of the diner, waving goodbye at the waitress.
As they stepped outside, Wind Shear inhaled the crisp, fall air. “At least the air here is fresh.”
“Yep, told ya this place is awesome.” Dash said with a smile before holding out a hoof. “I’m going to get going, it was nice meeting you.”
Wind Shear clicked his hoof against hers in a hoof-bump. “Likewise, see you tomorrow?”
“You bet.” Dash winked before taking off into the air, leaving Wind Shear with his thoughts.
She’s not too bad for an egotistic mare. Wind Shear turned away and looked around the street before him. There were multiple cottages and places of business lining the dirt road, various ponies trotting up and down the sides of the road, carefree smiles on their faces.
They seemed light hearted, like the troubles of the world didn’t exist. Wind Shear envied them. Ignorance is bliss, if only they knew.
He doubted anypony here, especially Rainbow Dash had any clue what sacrifice or loss were. “She would probably act like it was the end of the world if she lost a race.” He chuckled to himself.
Wind Shear sighed and pulled himself out of his funk. He just needed some rest, that’s all. So with a dismissive shake of his head, he trotted off in search of a hotel.
He could only hope that his mind would allow him the much needed rest.
