Limits of the Horizonsby Beware The CarpenterChapters1 - The day Dash begged2 - Youtherd3 - CustardAuthors note - NOT canceled1 - The day Dash beggedSweat, mingled with despair, cascaded down Rainbow Dash. This was quite possibly the stupidest thing she had ever done, and not even because she’d just committed several felonies bashing through those doctors at the hospital—they’d deserved it. They said there was nothing they could do for Sky Blaze except make her last days more comfortable, but still insisted on keeping her at the hospital because, “there was nothing anyone else could do.” No. There was someone else, Zecora. She had cures for everything; she could heal anything. She was a miracle worker, and Dash needed a miracle to save her daughter. If this had happened ten years ago, Dash and Storm would have taken Sky Blaze directly to Zecora, instead of watching her waste away for months. But this wasn’t ten years ago, this was today—after the second Lunar rebellion, after Celestia broke her word, and after Zecora took revenge. At the time it had all seemed logical; even if Zecora had gotten hurt. Yes, Luna had become Nightmare Moon again; and yes, Zecora had stopped her; and yes, Celestia had promised that in return she would do everything she could to help with Zecora’s last ditch attempt to rescue her own daughter; but it was simply too dangerous. Helping Zecora would have risked open war with the Zaharren, and so Celestia had tried to pay her off with money instead. Zecora had gotten even, and no matter what her reasons were, nothing could ever justify what she had done. Rainbow Dash had never forgiven Zecora for what she did and never would. Dash hated Zecora. After what happened, Dash and Storm had tried to kill her, but it had been over in seconds. Zecora had thrown them out and told them to never come back. Now Dash was going back—to beg for the life of her daughter; she would do anything Zecora wanted, take any contract, and the consequences be dammed. Dash could feel Sky Blaze’s breathing and heart rate becoming irregular and more frantic, as her feeble grasp on life weakened. With the Everfree Forest stretching beneath them, Dash spotted the microscopic clearing that marked Zecora’s hut and began her descent; her left wing, was once smashed seemingly beyond repair, beating in unison with the right, thanks to a long past favor from Zecora. Zecora had been tending her herb garden, but noticed Dash before she was even halfway to the ground. Dash landed as softly as she could, and then dropped to her knees; sliding her gasping daughter into her wings and cradling her to her chest. Dash barely managed the courage to make eye contact with the zebra witch looming over them. Explanations were unnecessary—the dying, rainbow maned-filly in her arms told Zecora what Dash wanted, and every tear streaming down the mother’s cheeks told what she was willing to give. A low sob of pain escaped from Sky Blaze, and one word choked its way through Rainbow Dash’s sealed lips, “…please.” 2 - YoutherdTen years later Sky Fire’s lips moved gently over Epiphany Dazzle’s, counting her teeth one by one and tasting her blackberry lip gloss as he leaned deeper into the kiss. The grass was moist with dew under their hooves, protected from the morning sun by swaying branches of the fragrant trees, which now scattered dappled sunlight over the skins of the young lovers, as the wind kissed the sweat from their bodies. Sky Fire closed his eyes, and wrapped one hoof around Epiphany Dazzle’s head and horn, drawing her even closer to him as he kissed his goodbye. There was also some guy who was trying to kill him. Coming at him from his right was some muscular earth pony colt who was cursing something about Sky Fire having slept with his fillyfriend. So far he hadn’t given a name, so Sky Fire wasn’t exactly sure who he was talking about, but it was probably that pegasus he did two nights ago, who’d mentioned her coltfriend had cheated on her and wanted to get even. Dazzle turned her head to look at the colt but Sky Fire gently bit down on her lip to keep her facing him, and then wrapped his wing around both their faces, blotting out her sight of the attacker. Of course, this also blocked Sky Fire’s sight, but he didn’t need it. The earth pony was making enough noise to go by and so at just the right time, Sky Fire aimed a side kick an inch above the source of the cursing, let his leg retract, to avoid breaking the colts muzzle, then pushed back, throwing the colt to the ground, furious, yet unharmed. Sky Fire picked a piece of celery from between Dazzle’s teeth, then used his tongue to block the roof of his mouth and then breathed in deeply through Dazzle’s nose, before bringing his wing back hitting the earth pony across the face. As the colt stumbled, Sky Fire grabbed the guy’s knee with his forehoof and pulled it out from under him; rolling him to the ground. Dazzle pulled away for real this time; choking on uncertainty, “Do you need a minute to take care of this?” “No” quipped Sky Fire kissing her again, “I’m good.” The earth pony picked himself up, and pelted a rock towards Sky Fire. His aim was way off, but would have come just close enough to hitting Dazzle that it justified Sky Fire pushing her to the wet grass and landing on top of her as he ‘shoved her out of the way’. “Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I won’t let him hurt you.” Sky Fire leaned in for another kiss but this time Dazzle pushed him off and stood up “… I’ll see you later.” She almost hissed as she turned and began trotting away. “I’ll miss you” he called after her. Sky Fire watched her flank disappear into the trees and sighed in disappointment, then turned on the earth pony who was coming at him and landed a solid blow to the strongest point of the earth pony’s ribcage, hitting him into the air. Sky Fire launched into the wind, caught the earth pony by his hind legs and then, using his own upward momentum and wing power, spun both of them through a five hundred-seventy degree angle, before letting go, hurdling the earth pony into a nearby pond. Hovering triumphant, Sky Fire listened to the excited gasps from the two unicorn fillies who had been watching from a hill, just outside of ear-shot, that he’d been pretended not to notice until now. He could have dealt with that colt hours ago, when he first showed up, and then done his thing with Dazzle unimpeded. Even after the colt appeared the second time, Sky Fire could have still done things in a way that would have included him doing Dazzle in the cave under the park; but that would have done nothing for the spectators, both of whom were gorgeous. Dazzle was awesome; but even she liked to at least pretend she had his complete attention when they were together. She was mad; but when Sky Fire got back in two weeks she’d forgive him and these two new fillies would have marinated in their curiosity enough to be ripe for the picking, meaning he’d have sacrificed one re-run with Dazzle for potentially two new fillyfriends. He just needed to finish their appetizer. After watching the earth pony crawl out of the pond and cast a hateful glare at him; Sky Fire took to the air and made a slow pass over the fillies. One of them averted her eyes, and probably wouldn’t make for good company, but her friend was doing a hopeless job pretending not to stare as he showed her everything he had to offer. A moment was all it took for him to memorize her green face, outlined by a lively amber mane. If he saw her again he would know, and as for her - the rainbow mane was pretty distinctive and so was the physic that shamed most professional athletes, wrapped in gorgeous blood-red fur. Sky Fire climbed higher and maneuvered a subtle salute, just clear enough to make her wonder whether or not she had imagined it as the shallow tree line of Canterlot’s botanical gardens gave way to the clock tower and- Hayfries; he was late! ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Daring Do stood with her wings tied to her back and legs chained to the podium; surrounded on all sides by hundreds of mountain gorillas, waiting to tear her limb from limb. The air was thick with hatred permeating from their every breath, but not one of them moved or made a sound, sitting in reverent fear for their king who sat high on his granite throne, examining Daring’s equipment piece by piece, before throwing it in a pile on the ground. Ordinarily Daring would have tried lying her way out of this, telling a story that was more believable then the truth, a truth which she herself just barely believed; but she couldn’t. To her right stood a tall gray unicorn stallion with a lasso cutie-mark; the renown sheriff Straight Way. He was the one who had hunted her for a month in a race across continents, finally catching her last week in a triple cross in the Ephrentine Palace. He was the one who had brought her here, to be tried and executed by the Mad Ape King and his people; he was the reason that lying here meant certain death… and he was her only hope for survival. Straight Way had studied Daring; he knew her methods, habits, strengths and weaknesses, and she had studied him just as closely. She knew the value that he placed on justice, that he would never let an innocent person be condemned, or a guilty one go free. He knew her side of the story, and for one moment, he had almost believed her, but then Jeopardous Zeal came and ruined everything. While he was taking her here, Daring had tried again to convince Straight Way of the truth, and she knew that he was questioning his own judgment. If she told the truth now, there was a chance, just a chance that he would believe her again, and then maybe he could find a way to help her. But if she deviated from her story, even in the slightest, he would lose all faith in her, she would die, Straight Way would never know the truth until it was too late, and Jeopardous Zeal would win. The Mad Ape King tossed aside Daring’s lock picks and lifted her boomerang high for all to see. “What is this?” “That’s… my boomerang;” said Daring hesitantly, “It was given to me by the governor of Saddle Arabia for uncovering an assassination attempt on his life. It’s enchanted with accuracy, and increase the strength of its wilder. I use it to test for booby traps when exploring tombs and… I have used it in self-defense.” “How many of my people have you murdered with this?” “None.” “What’s wrong Jeopardy? Did you never get the chance to use your latest stolen booty; you were so busy burning villages and selling my people as slaves?” “I’m not Jeopardous Zeal!” pleaded Daring desperately, “My name is Daring Do! Jeopardous Zeal is my twin sister! We were separated at birth; she was raised by our father, Warlord Spoil, I was raised in Equestria by who I thought were my real parents. I didn’t know she existed until three weeks ago, when I encountered some of her soldiers and they mistook me for her.” The assembly was silent and then all at once the gorillas began howling demands for her blood while their king sat in silence, his frown pulling his mohawk forewords like a blade. After letting his people make their demand clear The Ape King raised one fist, and the auditorium grew silent; “Do you have any proof?” Daring trembled, looking sideways to Straight Way who shifted uncomfortably, knowing as well as she did that the only thing that came close to evidence was at the bottom of the river, “… No.” The Ape King slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne, cracking it. “I usually pity the fools who find themselves in my court. I pity the thief who got caught after losen his job. I pity the kid prankster who got someone hurt. But you’re not a fool Jeopardy, and I don’t pity you!” The Ape King rose and began descending the stairs of his throne, calling out to his vengeance starved people; “Jeopardous Zeal, and her army of Snare Blades, have robbed our mothers! They’ve murdered our brothers! They’ve taken our kids, and used them as slaves! SHE WILL PAY!” The gorillas began roaring a contorted babble of threats and verdicts until one constant chant came to drown out the rest; “Death! Death! Death! Death!” If the guerrillas and their allies thought Jeopardy was dead, she could fake the disbandment of her Snare Blades, and everyone would believe that the war was over. “Death! Death!” Jeopardous Zeal had the dagger of Jintun, stolen from the Giraffadie prophets, which granted its wielder glimpses of the future. All she needed was time to master its power. “Death! Death!” When she did strike; it would be too late. “Death! Death!” The Alliance would crumble. “Death! Death!” The Snare Blades would be unstoppable. “Death! Death!” Jeopardous Zeal would be invincible. "Death! Death!” The world would fall. “Death! Death! Death! Death!” The gorillas had picked up stones and began banging them together in time with their chant, waiting for their king to give the order. “Death! Death! Death! Death!” Daring looking up, and found herself looking into the eyes of Straight Way his blond and crimson mane bristling in the breeze around eyes which showed equal measures of sorrow and regret. Could he not see her for who she really was? “Death! Death!” “Straight Way” she whispered, unsure if her trembling voice carried above the pounding rocks, let alone her own beating heart, “Help me.” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Tungsten flipped the page to the next chapter. He knew what happened next, mom had read him the series when he was a kid, and he’d read it for himself a few years ago, yet his eagerness for Daring Do’s adventures never faded. Tungsten started reading again, but before The Mad Ape King realized he’d been tricked, the words all suddenly got bigger as his book stopped moving but he didn’t. Not being the first time he’d walked into someone while reading, Tungsten stopped in time to only give the other pony a minor bump. He looked up, hoping it wasn’t someone annoying and was glad it was only Star Streak. “Hi Tungsten.” Called the black pegasus, without looking up. “Hey Star Streak.” Star Strike looked down at the book that had fallen to the floor, “Daring Do and The Family Lies. I thought’s you’d read that already; or are you working on some kind of project for Daringcon at Youtherd?” Tungsten snatched his book up off the floor with his magic, “I like reading them again, there’s so much hidden in them that you don’t see the first time; allusions, foreshadowing, stuff like that.” “You know you can just watch the movies, right?” Tungsten snorted in derision, “They butchered the movies. They took out all the really cool stuff to make them shorter, and then filled them back up again with junk that doesn’t even make sense!” “Whatever” sighed Star Streak, “The point of movies is to entertain; nothing more.” “Oh yea? What if one day the fate of the world rests on the accuracy of the Daring Do, book to movie translations?” Star Streak screwed up his face, “How would that happen?” Tungsten thought furiously for a moment, searching his mind for that precious scenario with which he could answer his rival's challange, “…You’re right; that is a bit of a long shot.” “Whatever.” “See you at Youtherd?” “Wouldn’t miss it,” said Star Streak, turning back to his locker. Tungsten tucked his book back in into his saddlebags; walked to his own locker and withdrew three bags, each already packed for the holidays. The first was a bug-out bag; small, light, and packed with an arsenal of highly versatile tools, first aid, concentrated rations and water flask. Tungsten had only ever needed this bag once, but he’d always had it, and his parents insisted that he keep it close by, and got upset if he used the stuff for something he wasn’t supposed to, (especially the super glue). The second bag was considerably heavier; stuffed with treats, games, books, pranks, a costume, and more treats for Youthherd. The third bag was a sack that had been slowly swelling since the start of the school year, packed with all the old homework, tests and schoolbooks he didn’t need anymore. Tungsten knew it wasn’t as much as the older kids would have, but it would still make some nice fuel for the bond fire. After shoving the final doomed convicts into the sack, Tungsten withdrew all three bags, and refilled his locker with the schoolbooks he’d been carrying; neatly stacking them with his, quite pleasing, end of year report card on the top, for when dad came by to pick his books up later. He cantered to the front of the school to a rose red pegasus with a rainbow streaked mane who was waiting for him. “Hey Tungsten” she smiled, “Ready to go?” “You bet Sky Blaze.” Tungsten fell in beside Sky Blaze and gave her a bro-hoof; although it wasn’t really a bro-hoof since Sky Blaze wasn’t his bro, (Sky Fire was). She was still cool though, but not awesome like Sky Fire, even though they were twins. (Sky Fire always said that Sky Blaze was awesome but in a boring sort of way and Tungsten pretended he didn’t know what that meant because otherwise Sky Blaze would become a nagging prude. See? Totally un-awesome.) Tungsten on the other hoof was awesome, (or at least he was going to be,) but he wasn’t nearly as cool as either of his older siblings; his coat red was like theirs but he wasn’t as smart or as good at fighting as they were, his mane was a stupid pale grey instead of rainbow, and on top of all that, he was just a unicorn. He was still cool though; definitely the coolest kid in his class and one of the few that was going to be at Youtherd this year! The unofficial rules said you had to be at least sixteen to be allowed to go there for the holidays, and Tungsten was only twelve; but no one really kept track and so if you had an older sibling who was willing to take you, you could go! Youtherd was the greatest party in Equestria; held every year in Ponyville for anyone in high school or early college, celebrating the end of the school year. Tungsten had heard about all the awesome stuff that happened with the concerts, sport events, advanced screenings of new movies, carnivals and circuses that visited there and couldn’t wait to get in on it himself. Tungsten was looking forewords to the sport events, especially the flying, because he would get to watch Sky Fire and Sky Blaze beat everybody; unless Sky Fire was too busy banging fillies. If that happened, Sky Blaze would win everything, since she wouldn’t be distracted by the colts, because she was boring. The best part about Youtherd however was definitely going to be huge Daringcon expo they were having. Sky Fire had promised to go with him and that meant he would because Sky Fire always kept his promises, (at least to his little bro.) …Where was he? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Sky Blaze trotted besides Tungsten towards the train station; her eyes scanning the crowded sky for Sky Fire, vainly, as he was nowhere to be seen. It was only too easy to guess where he was, or at least what he was doing; where and who were now always open to negotiation for Sky Fire. Not that Sky Blaze had any problem with taking Tungsten to Ponyville and letting Sky Fire take the next train. By virtually every measure, she would prefer to go without him, but she still wished he were here. Sky Fire had promised Tungsten he would be here and, until now, Tungsten had been the only person left who Sky Fire’s promises to mattered more to him than chasing some filly’s tail. This settled it then; Sky Fire was a hedonistic jerk who cared more about himself than anyone else; and didn’t even have the wisdom to see that he was destroying himself in the long-run, along with his best chances for an actual relationship. The worst part was that Tungsten was probably going to accept this. He might be annoyed for a while, but Sky Fire would never admit to having been wrong, Tungsten would believe whatever Sky Fire told him, and so Tungsten would learn that no promise was sacred so long as breaking it gave you a chance of getting laid. It was a lesson Sky Blaze was sure Tungsten would employ later on in life, probably much younger then Sky Fire had been when he first even considered it. Why did Sky Fire have to be such a cheat? Why did Tungsten have to admire him so much? Why was it that, just when Sky Blaze needed her the most, Zecora had vanished? Ever since her extended sojourn as a patient, the two of them had been close. Short, patient recovery reports had grown into long, heartfelt letters as Zecora became her pen-pal, and closest confidant. Sky Blaze had told Zecora things she’d never told anyone else and, when she was old enough to understand, Zecora repaid her in kind. More often than not over the last few years, Sky Blaze had spent at least some of each holiday visiting Zecora and known that if she ever needed to just drop by over the weekend to get some headspace, she was always welcome. Sometimes Zecora would teach her something about natural remedies or history or understanding people’s behavior; once in a while she would teach her something new about combat, but mostly, they were just friends. And then, three weeks ago, she left. Sky Blaze received one last letter from Zecora thanking her for her friendship over the years, but saying she needed to leave, and might or might not be able to reestablish contact, at an unspecified later date. Sky Blaze had dropped everything and raced to Zecora’s hut hoping for an explanation, or at least to show her off but the hut was empty except for another letter on the table that repeated the first, but with added emphasis that Sky Blaze should not try to follow her. There was no sign that anyone else had been in, or searched Zecora’s hut. Nor were there any booby traps, but Sky Blaze concluded that that was probably because Zecora had known she would come there, and didn’t want to hurt her by mistake, so Sky Blaze remedied the situation by setting some traps of her own. Since then she had checked back on Zecora’s hut several times, but nothing had triggered her traps, and nothing had changed except the slow accumulation of dust, making Sky Blaze wonder if she had been right in assuming Zecora had been found out. It didn’t matter. Wherever she was; Zecora was protected, and since keeping her in her prayers was all she could do for her at the moment, Zecora would want her to be content with that instead of stressing out over things beyond her control, sacrificing attention which should be spent on matters that she could influence. The most important of said matters, was standing beside her, shifting uncomfortably as he searched the sky for his imperious older brother. Maybe this really was for the best. It was three minutes till the train pulled out, and Sky Blaze could see the sinking realization on Tungsten’s face that Sky Fire really wasn’t coming. This may be one of the best chances she had had to talk to Tungsten in a long time. Maybe if two of them could get a private booth, and some ice-cream, and the two of them could talk, really talk and then maybe, just maybe, having been stood up by his idol, Tungsten would actually liste – thud! A bag hit the ground next to her. Thud! And another one. “Sky Fire!” Tungsten yelled excitedly. “Hey bro!” grinned Sky Fire, landing carefully in the narrow space between Sky Blaze and Tungsten, before ruffling his little brother’s mane “You ready for your first Youtherd?” Sky Blaze sighed. 3 - CustardSky Fire trotted behind Tungsten down the train alley; waiting for him to pick a seat. So far he had passed several cubicles with empty seats and doable fillies, but he wanted to spend some time with you little brother and he didn’t want to leave him alone with Sky Blaze, she had that look in her eye again. Tungsten double checked through the window of one cubicle and then dashed in, already withdrawing a deck of cards on his way in and plopping down next to a colt Sky Fire vaguely recognized from the Daring Do trading card club; Star Streak or something like that. Sky Fire shrugged and followed Tungsten in, aside from Star Streak the cubicle was empty so - why hello. A snow-white pegasus filly with a black mane and tail sitting behind the door, across from Star Streak with her muzzle buried in a book. Tungsten was busy, so rather than disturb him, Sky Fire strode in, ignored the cargo racks on the roof, set his bags down very gently on the seat by the window, as though they contained some fragile and mysterious treasure and then sat down next to them and, coincidentally, the snow-white filly. Sky Blaze reluctantly took the last seat in the cubicle, next to Tungsten and across from Sky Fire’s bags. The filly buried her nose deeper into her book, trying to ignore the intrusions. Sky Fire checked the cover of the book, and the filly’s cutie-mark; an explorer trekking through snowcapped mountains, and a magnifying glass juxtaposed over a map. He saw a pattern, and several possible plans, but he didn’t make his move until Tungsten gave a small ‘eek’ when he saw one of Star Streak’s rarer cards. The filly simply rolled her eyes and tried to focus harder on the book she was reading. So she liked adventure, but not Daring Do, interesting. “You don’t like Daring Do?” asked Sky Fire, not giving his opinion one way or the other. The filly snorted, “I like useful things, not children’s fantasies that have no bearing whatsoever on real life.” “Oh?” The filly snapped her book shut for a moment, presenting him the title, “I want to know what would really work if you were lost in the wilderness; not theoretical ways of disarming booby traps in a temple that no one would ever actually build, or fight monsters that don’t exist.” “If you’re looking for actual survival techniques, you’re hurting yourself with this book, I can tell from the cover it’s a fake.” The filly looked annoyed, but curious, “…How?” “If she’s an actual explorer going cross country through snow, where are her snow shoes?” The filly stared at him for a moment, then back down to the cover of her book, then slowly back up at him again, and then dropped her book quietly; “Hi,” she said, trying to pretend nothing had happened; “I’m Spy Path, do you do a lot of reading on wilderness survival too?” “Name’s Sky Fire; I've never read a book on wilderness survival in my life. I’ve lived it!” “What do you mean?” “My parents both worked in the royal air force, training the crews of long-range zeppelins to survive in the harshest environments in the world in case their airships went down, along with elite combat training in case of hostile natives or wildlife.” Sky Blaze was there and would call him out if he stretched the truth where he wasn’t supposed to, but this really was the official story as to what dad used to do for the government. “My parents trained us as well; combat training two hours a day, six days a week, starting when we were just three years old, and eight or nine times a year they took us out on ‘vacations’ to teach us wilderness survival. When I were seven; they left me and my sister at the northern edge of Whitetail Wood the day before Hearths Warming Eve with our wings tied to our backs, a sandwich each and a compass to share, and told us that if we weren’t in Ponyville by Hearth’s Warming morning, we wouldn’t get our presents.” Spy’s mouth tightened, “Are your parent’s like… sadistic psychopaths?” “Are you kidding? They’re awesome! They never gave us more then we could manage; but when my dad was a kid, he lived on the street for a while where some really nasty stuff happened, or almost happened, to him and his little sister. He wanted to be certain that we knew how to take care of ourselves.” “But… they left you alone in Whitetail Wood in the middle of winter; you could have been killed!” “They didn’t really leave us, but we thought they had. We were scared at the time but after a few minutes we made some snow-shoes and started walking, foraging as we went, recognizing signs of danger to avoid, building a shelter, all like they taught us. Got to Ponyville with twelve hours to spare and found out mom and dad had been following us the whole time, watching to make sure we didn’t actually get hurt.” Spy Path’s gaze slowly began melting from pity, to envy, “That’s… amazing.” “It was nothing compared to some of the challenges they gave us when we got older; deserts where sweat poured off your skin like rivers, jungles where the mosquitoes ate you alive, snow plains where you could feel the saliva freeze in your mouth.” Spy gave a slight shiver, licking her lips and Sky Fire inched closer. Out of the corner of his eye, Sky Fire saw Tungsten had stopped playing with the cards and was watching him quietly with a jaunty grin. Sky Fire passed him a sly wink and continued the lesson. “They also gave us themes to the training to make things more… interesting. So let’s say you and I were out hiding in the snow from bandits; we'd not only needed to eat and stay warm but also remain hidden. Your coat would be perfect, but we’d have to find a way to camouflage your mane.” Sky Fire carefully wrapped his wing Spy’s mane, so far so good. “Or we might have our wings tied to our backs, pretending that they were broken,” he contracted his wing tightly, compressing Spy Path’s wings to her sides. “Or maybe they’d say one of us was wounded, and the other needed to carry them on their backs.” Spy Path shifted uneasily, and Sky Fire released her, before his wing grew offensive. “So, what about you? You do all this reading, but how much camping have you actually done?” he already knew they answer; one look at her soft, slightly pudgy, fur told him she was an indoors pony. Spy’s face fell, as the arrogance that had clothed her just a minute ago was coming stripped away, “… Not since I was a kid; my mom and I live in Manehatten and for the last few years I’ve needed to spend all my holidays helping in her store.” No mention of her father. Sky Fire guessed he was probably the one that used to take her camping, she probably missed both. “So with a name like Spy Path, and a cutie mark for exploration, you don’t ever actually do it?” Spy shook her head, blushing, “Well we’ll have to remedy that. You’re obviously not at your mom’s shop this week and I’m planning to take an overnight camping trip to Whitetail Mountain, overlooking Ponyville. I’d be honored if you were to join me." “It’s not your honor he wants.” Sky Blaze said dryly from across the cubicle. Sky Fire shot her piercing glance but was annoyed to see that she was staring out the window, carelessly letting his piercing glance go to waste. “My brother won’t rape you; but his only reason for inviting you is because he thinks you might sleep with him.” The mood deflated as Spy Path pulled away, but she didn’t go too far or go back to her book just yet, meaning not everything was lost. Sky Fire guessed Spy Path had been around the block with at least a few colts before; he could tell she wanted him, but still had the usual reservations about going camping with a total stranger. “I could introduce you to the dragon that lives on Whitetail Mountain.” Spy Path paused, “…You know him? Seriously?” “Spike? Sure, he and I have known each other since I was a baby; like a giant, scaly, fire breathing older brother that might outlive Celestia.” Spy Path shot a glance to Sky Blaze like she was expecting her to deny it, when she didn’t, she gave a quick swallow. “Is he… safe?” “Safe? No; he’s a dragon, but he is gentle. He wouldn’t hurt a fly if he didn’t have to; but if you threatened someone he loves, he’d eat you up alive before you knew what was happening.” “What's he like?” “Well… usually now all he does now is just eat and sleep, but back when I was a kid he was a different dragon, totally awesome, though with a bit of a knack for getting himself into trouble. I remember this one time he came camping with my family out in the forest when he and I went looking for edible roots; he found an abandoned mine he wanted to explore, and we ended up walking straight into the middle of a diamond dog casino.” Spy Path laughed, “OK, now you’re pulling my tail.” “If I were pulling your tail, you’d know it. I swear; this actually happened; tell her Tungsten. “He is telling the truth,” Interrupted Sky Blaze before Tungsten could get a word in, “But it wasn’t that interesting really, at least compared to some of the other situations Sky Fire’s been in; like for instance that time he tried to organize a four-way with The Mcpie Triplets.” Sparks of hatred flew through Sky Fire’s mind as knives of dread, dipped in humiliation, stabbed him in the back; “Don't you dare!” “Oh come on, it's a great story. He ended up-” “Don't finish that sentence!” Star Streak, who’d long since stopped actually looking at trading cards, now dropped them in one movement of confused horror, “Wait a second; aren’t the Mcpie triplets… your cousins?” “Pinkie Pie’s not really our mom’s sister,” explained Sky Blaze, “They’re just really good friends, so we’re not actually connected to the triplets in any way, despite Sky Fire’s best efforts.” “PLEASE, stop talking!” Spy Path giggled, even though she wasn’t sure what she was laughing at, “I’ve never heard of these girls before, who are they?” “Three hyperactive pink party ponies named Pinkie Zip, Pinkie Zest and pinkie Zing; or as Sky Fire sometimes refers to them, the three headed demon of mania. Pinkie Zip’s cutie mark is chopped up ribbons, Pinkie Zest’s is chopped up streamers and Pinkie Zing’s is for confetti, and don’t you dare trying telling them that they’re the same thing. They go everywhere together, do everything together, speak in unison, and agree on absolutely everything except what to name their pet cat.” “What?” “It’s the only thing they’ve ever disagreed on, but they’ve argued about ever since they got the poor thing. They keep coming up with these ridiculous contests to see who gets to name it, but always come out in a three way tie and the fighting continues.” “Why can’t they just name the cat after what it does like everyone else?” “I don’t know, it’s just a normal gray and white cat but,” Sky Blaze held one hoof to her forehead, and breathed deeply, “Pinkie Zip wants to name the cat Bob, Pinkie Zest wants to name it George and Pinkie Zing wants to name the cat Larry.” The expression on Spy’s face started to laugh, then just got confused;“…What do those names even mean?” “I don’t think they mean anything, the triplets just made them up.” Spy snickered, leaning forwards, “So what’s the deal between them and Sky Fire?” Sky Blaze struggled not to laugh and succeeded, barely, “Well, last year, our family was visiting theirs, and Sky Fire decided that if he could ‘get it on’ with triple jointed triplets, he’d have bragging rights for the rest of his life. He started trying to talk them up and thought he’d succeeded when they invited him to ‘play a game’ with them involving mattresses, bathtubs, and custard. Sky Fire very eagerly accepted, only to discover that they had something completely different in mind to what he did.” “Stop it Sky Blaze!” yelled Sky Fire desprately. “Come on Fire; I thought you liked playing with girls who thought outside the box.” “Those girls, *are, CRAZY!”*** “And the moral of the story is?” “Never trust girls who say they know a neat game you can play with mattresses and custard!” Spy Path smiled at him sweetly, “I'll keep that in mind.” Star Streak leaned forwards excitedly, “So, what actually happened?” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The doorway into the hallway burst open, giving emergency passage to a red pegasus who slammed the door behind him and began galloping down the hall, covering his mortified face with one wing as the cubicle behind him lit up with mocking laughter as his sister took great delight in recounting the *worst*** thing that had ever happened to him. He needed a distraction, anything to prevent himself from remembering that awful, aweful day and given his limited choice of destinations, he headed to the café cart, finding it almost empty except for one of the best type of distraction there was. Earth pony filly, pale tan coat, long blond mane that looked like it had come straight from the spa, terrific overall figure with a comfy looking back and a gait that showed if she had a colt-friend, he wasn’t taking care of business. Sky Fire checked her flank and then her cutie mark finding it a double octave; a musician then, what instrument? Sky Fire checked her flank more closely, muscular hind legs implied she spent a lot of time standing upright, and those callused grove across her hoof - of course, she was a cellist! The filly gave a sigh, a very specific kind of sigh suggesting considerable disappointment. The way she moved told Sky Fire she didn’t think too highly of herself, so maybe her parents (or parent) was the type for whom nothing was ever good enough, or maybe her end-of-year report card had left a lot to be desired, or both. Either way she could be a lot of fun, the real question then; who was he? A dormant poet soul who would give anything to learn to play the cello; who would be enamored by her music and hang upon her every word. He could ask her to teach him, and after a few bungled attempts ask her to stand behind him, put her arms on his arms, put her hooves on his hooves and together they could make such beautiful music; as he learned rapidly inspired by her beauty as her talent unlocked his dormant potential. Two, maybe three dates and- No wait. As Sky Fire pretended to study the menu, the filly that had begun walking away from the buffet, froze and then slowly turned back. She waited a moment in uncertainty, and then put back several of the bowls of grains and salads she’d filled her tray with originally, until her tray was almost empty, and then went to the desert bar. She made several nervous glances around the cart, as if her parents might spring out from under the table, and then began filling her tray with brownies, cheesecake, and honey sticks before daring to assemble a heaping bowl of ice cream that she drowned in chocolate sauce. She had more sugar than she could possibly eat, but still didn’t look satisfied; she reached for a spoon, stopped, then dug the tip of her hoof into her ice-cream and flicked some onto her pristine fur coat, and then rubbed the rest into her mane. Finally satisfied, she turned purposefully and moved on, her frazzled mane now showing several strands of black, meaning she had just dyed it, because she wanted to be a different person at Youtherd then she was at home. Sky Fire grinned as he finally understood; this girl wasn’t looking to be made to feel like she was good enough for the system; she was looking to buck the system all together. She didn’t want to help someone else fit into it; she was looking to rebel, but didn’t know how. Sky Fire turned in an instant from student, to teacher; and from a shy and quiet poet, to a rough and mysterious rouge, as unpredictable as the Everfree forest and with all the passion of a raging manticore. Sky Fire finished his inspection of the menu and began strutting towards her; she turned to face him and smiled, flashing brilliant blue eyes. Two or three dates? This girl would be hitting a sugar rush in a few hours; all that vent up frustration would be looking to escape and he’d be there to catch. He just needed to pick the lock to the baggage carriage, like any good rogue would, to get them some privacy and - CU-ss-ta-r-d! The filly… put a bowl… of custard on her desert tray. The filly might have spoken to him on his way past, or she might not, Sky Fire wasn’t sure. He pushed past her, keeping as much distance as possible, and kept walking into the next train cart, as a cold sweat broke down his spine. Authors note - NOT canceledThis story contains multiple lines of plot and I was originally unsure whether to begin with spending about four chapters introducing and developing next generation OC's before anything really happens, or to begin with Twilight and get straight into the plot. I decided to post the next gen and Twilight as separate stories and see which got better results, and Twilight won. A few days ago I finished the first arch of Twilight's story and will now get back to the kids, but first I'm going to attach the two stories together, meaning to get the continuation of this story you're going to have to go to Limits of the Horizon (Similar name yes, the idea was to see which chapter opening would be better received, which meant keeping every other factor as close as possible to be fair.) Stay tuned for chapter 13 to see Shining Armor and Cadance's kids, along with the reclusive adult Dinky who refuses to let go of the fantasies she build around herself as a child to escape the tirades of her abusive father.
1 - The day Dash beggedSweat, mingled with despair, cascaded down Rainbow Dash. This was quite possibly the stupidest thing she had ever done, and not even because she’d just committed several felonies bashing through those doctors at the hospital—they’d deserved it. They said there was nothing they could do for Sky Blaze except make her last days more comfortable, but still insisted on keeping her at the hospital because, “there was nothing anyone else could do.” No. There was someone else, Zecora. She had cures for everything; she could heal anything. She was a miracle worker, and Dash needed a miracle to save her daughter. If this had happened ten years ago, Dash and Storm would have taken Sky Blaze directly to Zecora, instead of watching her waste away for months. But this wasn’t ten years ago, this was today—after the second Lunar rebellion, after Celestia broke her word, and after Zecora took revenge. At the time it had all seemed logical; even if Zecora had gotten hurt. Yes, Luna had become Nightmare Moon again; and yes, Zecora had stopped her; and yes, Celestia had promised that in return she would do everything she could to help with Zecora’s last ditch attempt to rescue her own daughter; but it was simply too dangerous. Helping Zecora would have risked open war with the Zaharren, and so Celestia had tried to pay her off with money instead. Zecora had gotten even, and no matter what her reasons were, nothing could ever justify what she had done. Rainbow Dash had never forgiven Zecora for what she did and never would. Dash hated Zecora. After what happened, Dash and Storm had tried to kill her, but it had been over in seconds. Zecora had thrown them out and told them to never come back. Now Dash was going back—to beg for the life of her daughter; she would do anything Zecora wanted, take any contract, and the consequences be dammed. Dash could feel Sky Blaze’s breathing and heart rate becoming irregular and more frantic, as her feeble grasp on life weakened. With the Everfree Forest stretching beneath them, Dash spotted the microscopic clearing that marked Zecora’s hut and began her descent; her left wing, was once smashed seemingly beyond repair, beating in unison with the right, thanks to a long past favor from Zecora. Zecora had been tending her herb garden, but noticed Dash before she was even halfway to the ground. Dash landed as softly as she could, and then dropped to her knees; sliding her gasping daughter into her wings and cradling her to her chest. Dash barely managed the courage to make eye contact with the zebra witch looming over them. Explanations were unnecessary—the dying, rainbow maned-filly in her arms told Zecora what Dash wanted, and every tear streaming down the mother’s cheeks told what she was willing to give. A low sob of pain escaped from Sky Blaze, and one word choked its way through Rainbow Dash’s sealed lips, “…please.”
2 - YoutherdTen years later Sky Fire’s lips moved gently over Epiphany Dazzle’s, counting her teeth one by one and tasting her blackberry lip gloss as he leaned deeper into the kiss. The grass was moist with dew under their hooves, protected from the morning sun by swaying branches of the fragrant trees, which now scattered dappled sunlight over the skins of the young lovers, as the wind kissed the sweat from their bodies. Sky Fire closed his eyes, and wrapped one hoof around Epiphany Dazzle’s head and horn, drawing her even closer to him as he kissed his goodbye. There was also some guy who was trying to kill him. Coming at him from his right was some muscular earth pony colt who was cursing something about Sky Fire having slept with his fillyfriend. So far he hadn’t given a name, so Sky Fire wasn’t exactly sure who he was talking about, but it was probably that pegasus he did two nights ago, who’d mentioned her coltfriend had cheated on her and wanted to get even. Dazzle turned her head to look at the colt but Sky Fire gently bit down on her lip to keep her facing him, and then wrapped his wing around both their faces, blotting out her sight of the attacker. Of course, this also blocked Sky Fire’s sight, but he didn’t need it. The earth pony was making enough noise to go by and so at just the right time, Sky Fire aimed a side kick an inch above the source of the cursing, let his leg retract, to avoid breaking the colts muzzle, then pushed back, throwing the colt to the ground, furious, yet unharmed. Sky Fire picked a piece of celery from between Dazzle’s teeth, then used his tongue to block the roof of his mouth and then breathed in deeply through Dazzle’s nose, before bringing his wing back hitting the earth pony across the face. As the colt stumbled, Sky Fire grabbed the guy’s knee with his forehoof and pulled it out from under him; rolling him to the ground. Dazzle pulled away for real this time; choking on uncertainty, “Do you need a minute to take care of this?” “No” quipped Sky Fire kissing her again, “I’m good.” The earth pony picked himself up, and pelted a rock towards Sky Fire. His aim was way off, but would have come just close enough to hitting Dazzle that it justified Sky Fire pushing her to the wet grass and landing on top of her as he ‘shoved her out of the way’. “Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I won’t let him hurt you.” Sky Fire leaned in for another kiss but this time Dazzle pushed him off and stood up “… I’ll see you later.” She almost hissed as she turned and began trotting away. “I’ll miss you” he called after her. Sky Fire watched her flank disappear into the trees and sighed in disappointment, then turned on the earth pony who was coming at him and landed a solid blow to the strongest point of the earth pony’s ribcage, hitting him into the air. Sky Fire launched into the wind, caught the earth pony by his hind legs and then, using his own upward momentum and wing power, spun both of them through a five hundred-seventy degree angle, before letting go, hurdling the earth pony into a nearby pond. Hovering triumphant, Sky Fire listened to the excited gasps from the two unicorn fillies who had been watching from a hill, just outside of ear-shot, that he’d been pretended not to notice until now. He could have dealt with that colt hours ago, when he first showed up, and then done his thing with Dazzle unimpeded. Even after the colt appeared the second time, Sky Fire could have still done things in a way that would have included him doing Dazzle in the cave under the park; but that would have done nothing for the spectators, both of whom were gorgeous. Dazzle was awesome; but even she liked to at least pretend she had his complete attention when they were together. She was mad; but when Sky Fire got back in two weeks she’d forgive him and these two new fillies would have marinated in their curiosity enough to be ripe for the picking, meaning he’d have sacrificed one re-run with Dazzle for potentially two new fillyfriends. He just needed to finish their appetizer. After watching the earth pony crawl out of the pond and cast a hateful glare at him; Sky Fire took to the air and made a slow pass over the fillies. One of them averted her eyes, and probably wouldn’t make for good company, but her friend was doing a hopeless job pretending not to stare as he showed her everything he had to offer. A moment was all it took for him to memorize her green face, outlined by a lively amber mane. If he saw her again he would know, and as for her - the rainbow mane was pretty distinctive and so was the physic that shamed most professional athletes, wrapped in gorgeous blood-red fur. Sky Fire climbed higher and maneuvered a subtle salute, just clear enough to make her wonder whether or not she had imagined it as the shallow tree line of Canterlot’s botanical gardens gave way to the clock tower and- Hayfries; he was late! ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Daring Do stood with her wings tied to her back and legs chained to the podium; surrounded on all sides by hundreds of mountain gorillas, waiting to tear her limb from limb. The air was thick with hatred permeating from their every breath, but not one of them moved or made a sound, sitting in reverent fear for their king who sat high on his granite throne, examining Daring’s equipment piece by piece, before throwing it in a pile on the ground. Ordinarily Daring would have tried lying her way out of this, telling a story that was more believable then the truth, a truth which she herself just barely believed; but she couldn’t. To her right stood a tall gray unicorn stallion with a lasso cutie-mark; the renown sheriff Straight Way. He was the one who had hunted her for a month in a race across continents, finally catching her last week in a triple cross in the Ephrentine Palace. He was the one who had brought her here, to be tried and executed by the Mad Ape King and his people; he was the reason that lying here meant certain death… and he was her only hope for survival. Straight Way had studied Daring; he knew her methods, habits, strengths and weaknesses, and she had studied him just as closely. She knew the value that he placed on justice, that he would never let an innocent person be condemned, or a guilty one go free. He knew her side of the story, and for one moment, he had almost believed her, but then Jeopardous Zeal came and ruined everything. While he was taking her here, Daring had tried again to convince Straight Way of the truth, and she knew that he was questioning his own judgment. If she told the truth now, there was a chance, just a chance that he would believe her again, and then maybe he could find a way to help her. But if she deviated from her story, even in the slightest, he would lose all faith in her, she would die, Straight Way would never know the truth until it was too late, and Jeopardous Zeal would win. The Mad Ape King tossed aside Daring’s lock picks and lifted her boomerang high for all to see. “What is this?” “That’s… my boomerang;” said Daring hesitantly, “It was given to me by the governor of Saddle Arabia for uncovering an assassination attempt on his life. It’s enchanted with accuracy, and increase the strength of its wilder. I use it to test for booby traps when exploring tombs and… I have used it in self-defense.” “How many of my people have you murdered with this?” “None.” “What’s wrong Jeopardy? Did you never get the chance to use your latest stolen booty; you were so busy burning villages and selling my people as slaves?” “I’m not Jeopardous Zeal!” pleaded Daring desperately, “My name is Daring Do! Jeopardous Zeal is my twin sister! We were separated at birth; she was raised by our father, Warlord Spoil, I was raised in Equestria by who I thought were my real parents. I didn’t know she existed until three weeks ago, when I encountered some of her soldiers and they mistook me for her.” The assembly was silent and then all at once the gorillas began howling demands for her blood while their king sat in silence, his frown pulling his mohawk forewords like a blade. After letting his people make their demand clear The Ape King raised one fist, and the auditorium grew silent; “Do you have any proof?” Daring trembled, looking sideways to Straight Way who shifted uncomfortably, knowing as well as she did that the only thing that came close to evidence was at the bottom of the river, “… No.” The Ape King slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne, cracking it. “I usually pity the fools who find themselves in my court. I pity the thief who got caught after losen his job. I pity the kid prankster who got someone hurt. But you’re not a fool Jeopardy, and I don’t pity you!” The Ape King rose and began descending the stairs of his throne, calling out to his vengeance starved people; “Jeopardous Zeal, and her army of Snare Blades, have robbed our mothers! They’ve murdered our brothers! They’ve taken our kids, and used them as slaves! SHE WILL PAY!” The gorillas began roaring a contorted babble of threats and verdicts until one constant chant came to drown out the rest; “Death! Death! Death! Death!” If the guerrillas and their allies thought Jeopardy was dead, she could fake the disbandment of her Snare Blades, and everyone would believe that the war was over. “Death! Death!” Jeopardous Zeal had the dagger of Jintun, stolen from the Giraffadie prophets, which granted its wielder glimpses of the future. All she needed was time to master its power. “Death! Death!” When she did strike; it would be too late. “Death! Death!” The Alliance would crumble. “Death! Death!” The Snare Blades would be unstoppable. “Death! Death!” Jeopardous Zeal would be invincible. "Death! Death!” The world would fall. “Death! Death! Death! Death!” The gorillas had picked up stones and began banging them together in time with their chant, waiting for their king to give the order. “Death! Death! Death! Death!” Daring looking up, and found herself looking into the eyes of Straight Way his blond and crimson mane bristling in the breeze around eyes which showed equal measures of sorrow and regret. Could he not see her for who she really was? “Death! Death!” “Straight Way” she whispered, unsure if her trembling voice carried above the pounding rocks, let alone her own beating heart, “Help me.” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Tungsten flipped the page to the next chapter. He knew what happened next, mom had read him the series when he was a kid, and he’d read it for himself a few years ago, yet his eagerness for Daring Do’s adventures never faded. Tungsten started reading again, but before The Mad Ape King realized he’d been tricked, the words all suddenly got bigger as his book stopped moving but he didn’t. Not being the first time he’d walked into someone while reading, Tungsten stopped in time to only give the other pony a minor bump. He looked up, hoping it wasn’t someone annoying and was glad it was only Star Streak. “Hi Tungsten.” Called the black pegasus, without looking up. “Hey Star Streak.” Star Strike looked down at the book that had fallen to the floor, “Daring Do and The Family Lies. I thought’s you’d read that already; or are you working on some kind of project for Daringcon at Youtherd?” Tungsten snatched his book up off the floor with his magic, “I like reading them again, there’s so much hidden in them that you don’t see the first time; allusions, foreshadowing, stuff like that.” “You know you can just watch the movies, right?” Tungsten snorted in derision, “They butchered the movies. They took out all the really cool stuff to make them shorter, and then filled them back up again with junk that doesn’t even make sense!” “Whatever” sighed Star Streak, “The point of movies is to entertain; nothing more.” “Oh yea? What if one day the fate of the world rests on the accuracy of the Daring Do, book to movie translations?” Star Streak screwed up his face, “How would that happen?” Tungsten thought furiously for a moment, searching his mind for that precious scenario with which he could answer his rival's challange, “…You’re right; that is a bit of a long shot.” “Whatever.” “See you at Youtherd?” “Wouldn’t miss it,” said Star Streak, turning back to his locker. Tungsten tucked his book back in into his saddlebags; walked to his own locker and withdrew three bags, each already packed for the holidays. The first was a bug-out bag; small, light, and packed with an arsenal of highly versatile tools, first aid, concentrated rations and water flask. Tungsten had only ever needed this bag once, but he’d always had it, and his parents insisted that he keep it close by, and got upset if he used the stuff for something he wasn’t supposed to, (especially the super glue). The second bag was considerably heavier; stuffed with treats, games, books, pranks, a costume, and more treats for Youthherd. The third bag was a sack that had been slowly swelling since the start of the school year, packed with all the old homework, tests and schoolbooks he didn’t need anymore. Tungsten knew it wasn’t as much as the older kids would have, but it would still make some nice fuel for the bond fire. After shoving the final doomed convicts into the sack, Tungsten withdrew all three bags, and refilled his locker with the schoolbooks he’d been carrying; neatly stacking them with his, quite pleasing, end of year report card on the top, for when dad came by to pick his books up later. He cantered to the front of the school to a rose red pegasus with a rainbow streaked mane who was waiting for him. “Hey Tungsten” she smiled, “Ready to go?” “You bet Sky Blaze.” Tungsten fell in beside Sky Blaze and gave her a bro-hoof; although it wasn’t really a bro-hoof since Sky Blaze wasn’t his bro, (Sky Fire was). She was still cool though, but not awesome like Sky Fire, even though they were twins. (Sky Fire always said that Sky Blaze was awesome but in a boring sort of way and Tungsten pretended he didn’t know what that meant because otherwise Sky Blaze would become a nagging prude. See? Totally un-awesome.) Tungsten on the other hoof was awesome, (or at least he was going to be,) but he wasn’t nearly as cool as either of his older siblings; his coat red was like theirs but he wasn’t as smart or as good at fighting as they were, his mane was a stupid pale grey instead of rainbow, and on top of all that, he was just a unicorn. He was still cool though; definitely the coolest kid in his class and one of the few that was going to be at Youtherd this year! The unofficial rules said you had to be at least sixteen to be allowed to go there for the holidays, and Tungsten was only twelve; but no one really kept track and so if you had an older sibling who was willing to take you, you could go! Youtherd was the greatest party in Equestria; held every year in Ponyville for anyone in high school or early college, celebrating the end of the school year. Tungsten had heard about all the awesome stuff that happened with the concerts, sport events, advanced screenings of new movies, carnivals and circuses that visited there and couldn’t wait to get in on it himself. Tungsten was looking forewords to the sport events, especially the flying, because he would get to watch Sky Fire and Sky Blaze beat everybody; unless Sky Fire was too busy banging fillies. If that happened, Sky Blaze would win everything, since she wouldn’t be distracted by the colts, because she was boring. The best part about Youtherd however was definitely going to be huge Daringcon expo they were having. Sky Fire had promised to go with him and that meant he would because Sky Fire always kept his promises, (at least to his little bro.) …Where was he? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Sky Blaze trotted besides Tungsten towards the train station; her eyes scanning the crowded sky for Sky Fire, vainly, as he was nowhere to be seen. It was only too easy to guess where he was, or at least what he was doing; where and who were now always open to negotiation for Sky Fire. Not that Sky Blaze had any problem with taking Tungsten to Ponyville and letting Sky Fire take the next train. By virtually every measure, she would prefer to go without him, but she still wished he were here. Sky Fire had promised Tungsten he would be here and, until now, Tungsten had been the only person left who Sky Fire’s promises to mattered more to him than chasing some filly’s tail. This settled it then; Sky Fire was a hedonistic jerk who cared more about himself than anyone else; and didn’t even have the wisdom to see that he was destroying himself in the long-run, along with his best chances for an actual relationship. The worst part was that Tungsten was probably going to accept this. He might be annoyed for a while, but Sky Fire would never admit to having been wrong, Tungsten would believe whatever Sky Fire told him, and so Tungsten would learn that no promise was sacred so long as breaking it gave you a chance of getting laid. It was a lesson Sky Blaze was sure Tungsten would employ later on in life, probably much younger then Sky Fire had been when he first even considered it. Why did Sky Fire have to be such a cheat? Why did Tungsten have to admire him so much? Why was it that, just when Sky Blaze needed her the most, Zecora had vanished? Ever since her extended sojourn as a patient, the two of them had been close. Short, patient recovery reports had grown into long, heartfelt letters as Zecora became her pen-pal, and closest confidant. Sky Blaze had told Zecora things she’d never told anyone else and, when she was old enough to understand, Zecora repaid her in kind. More often than not over the last few years, Sky Blaze had spent at least some of each holiday visiting Zecora and known that if she ever needed to just drop by over the weekend to get some headspace, she was always welcome. Sometimes Zecora would teach her something about natural remedies or history or understanding people’s behavior; once in a while she would teach her something new about combat, but mostly, they were just friends. And then, three weeks ago, she left. Sky Blaze received one last letter from Zecora thanking her for her friendship over the years, but saying she needed to leave, and might or might not be able to reestablish contact, at an unspecified later date. Sky Blaze had dropped everything and raced to Zecora’s hut hoping for an explanation, or at least to show her off but the hut was empty except for another letter on the table that repeated the first, but with added emphasis that Sky Blaze should not try to follow her. There was no sign that anyone else had been in, or searched Zecora’s hut. Nor were there any booby traps, but Sky Blaze concluded that that was probably because Zecora had known she would come there, and didn’t want to hurt her by mistake, so Sky Blaze remedied the situation by setting some traps of her own. Since then she had checked back on Zecora’s hut several times, but nothing had triggered her traps, and nothing had changed except the slow accumulation of dust, making Sky Blaze wonder if she had been right in assuming Zecora had been found out. It didn’t matter. Wherever she was; Zecora was protected, and since keeping her in her prayers was all she could do for her at the moment, Zecora would want her to be content with that instead of stressing out over things beyond her control, sacrificing attention which should be spent on matters that she could influence. The most important of said matters, was standing beside her, shifting uncomfortably as he searched the sky for his imperious older brother. Maybe this really was for the best. It was three minutes till the train pulled out, and Sky Blaze could see the sinking realization on Tungsten’s face that Sky Fire really wasn’t coming. This may be one of the best chances she had had to talk to Tungsten in a long time. Maybe if two of them could get a private booth, and some ice-cream, and the two of them could talk, really talk and then maybe, just maybe, having been stood up by his idol, Tungsten would actually liste – thud! A bag hit the ground next to her. Thud! And another one. “Sky Fire!” Tungsten yelled excitedly. “Hey bro!” grinned Sky Fire, landing carefully in the narrow space between Sky Blaze and Tungsten, before ruffling his little brother’s mane “You ready for your first Youtherd?” Sky Blaze sighed.
3 - CustardSky Fire trotted behind Tungsten down the train alley; waiting for him to pick a seat. So far he had passed several cubicles with empty seats and doable fillies, but he wanted to spend some time with you little brother and he didn’t want to leave him alone with Sky Blaze, she had that look in her eye again. Tungsten double checked through the window of one cubicle and then dashed in, already withdrawing a deck of cards on his way in and plopping down next to a colt Sky Fire vaguely recognized from the Daring Do trading card club; Star Streak or something like that. Sky Fire shrugged and followed Tungsten in, aside from Star Streak the cubicle was empty so - why hello. A snow-white pegasus filly with a black mane and tail sitting behind the door, across from Star Streak with her muzzle buried in a book. Tungsten was busy, so rather than disturb him, Sky Fire strode in, ignored the cargo racks on the roof, set his bags down very gently on the seat by the window, as though they contained some fragile and mysterious treasure and then sat down next to them and, coincidentally, the snow-white filly. Sky Blaze reluctantly took the last seat in the cubicle, next to Tungsten and across from Sky Fire’s bags. The filly buried her nose deeper into her book, trying to ignore the intrusions. Sky Fire checked the cover of the book, and the filly’s cutie-mark; an explorer trekking through snowcapped mountains, and a magnifying glass juxtaposed over a map. He saw a pattern, and several possible plans, but he didn’t make his move until Tungsten gave a small ‘eek’ when he saw one of Star Streak’s rarer cards. The filly simply rolled her eyes and tried to focus harder on the book she was reading. So she liked adventure, but not Daring Do, interesting. “You don’t like Daring Do?” asked Sky Fire, not giving his opinion one way or the other. The filly snorted, “I like useful things, not children’s fantasies that have no bearing whatsoever on real life.” “Oh?” The filly snapped her book shut for a moment, presenting him the title, “I want to know what would really work if you were lost in the wilderness; not theoretical ways of disarming booby traps in a temple that no one would ever actually build, or fight monsters that don’t exist.” “If you’re looking for actual survival techniques, you’re hurting yourself with this book, I can tell from the cover it’s a fake.” The filly looked annoyed, but curious, “…How?” “If she’s an actual explorer going cross country through snow, where are her snow shoes?” The filly stared at him for a moment, then back down to the cover of her book, then slowly back up at him again, and then dropped her book quietly; “Hi,” she said, trying to pretend nothing had happened; “I’m Spy Path, do you do a lot of reading on wilderness survival too?” “Name’s Sky Fire; I've never read a book on wilderness survival in my life. I’ve lived it!” “What do you mean?” “My parents both worked in the royal air force, training the crews of long-range zeppelins to survive in the harshest environments in the world in case their airships went down, along with elite combat training in case of hostile natives or wildlife.” Sky Blaze was there and would call him out if he stretched the truth where he wasn’t supposed to, but this really was the official story as to what dad used to do for the government. “My parents trained us as well; combat training two hours a day, six days a week, starting when we were just three years old, and eight or nine times a year they took us out on ‘vacations’ to teach us wilderness survival. When I were seven; they left me and my sister at the northern edge of Whitetail Wood the day before Hearths Warming Eve with our wings tied to our backs, a sandwich each and a compass to share, and told us that if we weren’t in Ponyville by Hearth’s Warming morning, we wouldn’t get our presents.” Spy’s mouth tightened, “Are your parent’s like… sadistic psychopaths?” “Are you kidding? They’re awesome! They never gave us more then we could manage; but when my dad was a kid, he lived on the street for a while where some really nasty stuff happened, or almost happened, to him and his little sister. He wanted to be certain that we knew how to take care of ourselves.” “But… they left you alone in Whitetail Wood in the middle of winter; you could have been killed!” “They didn’t really leave us, but we thought they had. We were scared at the time but after a few minutes we made some snow-shoes and started walking, foraging as we went, recognizing signs of danger to avoid, building a shelter, all like they taught us. Got to Ponyville with twelve hours to spare and found out mom and dad had been following us the whole time, watching to make sure we didn’t actually get hurt.” Spy Path’s gaze slowly began melting from pity, to envy, “That’s… amazing.” “It was nothing compared to some of the challenges they gave us when we got older; deserts where sweat poured off your skin like rivers, jungles where the mosquitoes ate you alive, snow plains where you could feel the saliva freeze in your mouth.” Spy gave a slight shiver, licking her lips and Sky Fire inched closer. Out of the corner of his eye, Sky Fire saw Tungsten had stopped playing with the cards and was watching him quietly with a jaunty grin. Sky Fire passed him a sly wink and continued the lesson. “They also gave us themes to the training to make things more… interesting. So let’s say you and I were out hiding in the snow from bandits; we'd not only needed to eat and stay warm but also remain hidden. Your coat would be perfect, but we’d have to find a way to camouflage your mane.” Sky Fire carefully wrapped his wing Spy’s mane, so far so good. “Or we might have our wings tied to our backs, pretending that they were broken,” he contracted his wing tightly, compressing Spy Path’s wings to her sides. “Or maybe they’d say one of us was wounded, and the other needed to carry them on their backs.” Spy Path shifted uneasily, and Sky Fire released her, before his wing grew offensive. “So, what about you? You do all this reading, but how much camping have you actually done?” he already knew they answer; one look at her soft, slightly pudgy, fur told him she was an indoors pony. Spy’s face fell, as the arrogance that had clothed her just a minute ago was coming stripped away, “… Not since I was a kid; my mom and I live in Manehatten and for the last few years I’ve needed to spend all my holidays helping in her store.” No mention of her father. Sky Fire guessed he was probably the one that used to take her camping, she probably missed both. “So with a name like Spy Path, and a cutie mark for exploration, you don’t ever actually do it?” Spy shook her head, blushing, “Well we’ll have to remedy that. You’re obviously not at your mom’s shop this week and I’m planning to take an overnight camping trip to Whitetail Mountain, overlooking Ponyville. I’d be honored if you were to join me." “It’s not your honor he wants.” Sky Blaze said dryly from across the cubicle. Sky Fire shot her piercing glance but was annoyed to see that she was staring out the window, carelessly letting his piercing glance go to waste. “My brother won’t rape you; but his only reason for inviting you is because he thinks you might sleep with him.” The mood deflated as Spy Path pulled away, but she didn’t go too far or go back to her book just yet, meaning not everything was lost. Sky Fire guessed Spy Path had been around the block with at least a few colts before; he could tell she wanted him, but still had the usual reservations about going camping with a total stranger. “I could introduce you to the dragon that lives on Whitetail Mountain.” Spy Path paused, “…You know him? Seriously?” “Spike? Sure, he and I have known each other since I was a baby; like a giant, scaly, fire breathing older brother that might outlive Celestia.” Spy Path shot a glance to Sky Blaze like she was expecting her to deny it, when she didn’t, she gave a quick swallow. “Is he… safe?” “Safe? No; he’s a dragon, but he is gentle. He wouldn’t hurt a fly if he didn’t have to; but if you threatened someone he loves, he’d eat you up alive before you knew what was happening.” “What's he like?” “Well… usually now all he does now is just eat and sleep, but back when I was a kid he was a different dragon, totally awesome, though with a bit of a knack for getting himself into trouble. I remember this one time he came camping with my family out in the forest when he and I went looking for edible roots; he found an abandoned mine he wanted to explore, and we ended up walking straight into the middle of a diamond dog casino.” Spy Path laughed, “OK, now you’re pulling my tail.” “If I were pulling your tail, you’d know it. I swear; this actually happened; tell her Tungsten. “He is telling the truth,” Interrupted Sky Blaze before Tungsten could get a word in, “But it wasn’t that interesting really, at least compared to some of the other situations Sky Fire’s been in; like for instance that time he tried to organize a four-way with The Mcpie Triplets.” Sparks of hatred flew through Sky Fire’s mind as knives of dread, dipped in humiliation, stabbed him in the back; “Don't you dare!” “Oh come on, it's a great story. He ended up-” “Don't finish that sentence!” Star Streak, who’d long since stopped actually looking at trading cards, now dropped them in one movement of confused horror, “Wait a second; aren’t the Mcpie triplets… your cousins?” “Pinkie Pie’s not really our mom’s sister,” explained Sky Blaze, “They’re just really good friends, so we’re not actually connected to the triplets in any way, despite Sky Fire’s best efforts.” “PLEASE, stop talking!” Spy Path giggled, even though she wasn’t sure what she was laughing at, “I’ve never heard of these girls before, who are they?” “Three hyperactive pink party ponies named Pinkie Zip, Pinkie Zest and pinkie Zing; or as Sky Fire sometimes refers to them, the three headed demon of mania. Pinkie Zip’s cutie mark is chopped up ribbons, Pinkie Zest’s is chopped up streamers and Pinkie Zing’s is for confetti, and don’t you dare trying telling them that they’re the same thing. They go everywhere together, do everything together, speak in unison, and agree on absolutely everything except what to name their pet cat.” “What?” “It’s the only thing they’ve ever disagreed on, but they’ve argued about ever since they got the poor thing. They keep coming up with these ridiculous contests to see who gets to name it, but always come out in a three way tie and the fighting continues.” “Why can’t they just name the cat after what it does like everyone else?” “I don’t know, it’s just a normal gray and white cat but,” Sky Blaze held one hoof to her forehead, and breathed deeply, “Pinkie Zip wants to name the cat Bob, Pinkie Zest wants to name it George and Pinkie Zing wants to name the cat Larry.” The expression on Spy’s face started to laugh, then just got confused;“…What do those names even mean?” “I don’t think they mean anything, the triplets just made them up.” Spy snickered, leaning forwards, “So what’s the deal between them and Sky Fire?” Sky Blaze struggled not to laugh and succeeded, barely, “Well, last year, our family was visiting theirs, and Sky Fire decided that if he could ‘get it on’ with triple jointed triplets, he’d have bragging rights for the rest of his life. He started trying to talk them up and thought he’d succeeded when they invited him to ‘play a game’ with them involving mattresses, bathtubs, and custard. Sky Fire very eagerly accepted, only to discover that they had something completely different in mind to what he did.” “Stop it Sky Blaze!” yelled Sky Fire desprately. “Come on Fire; I thought you liked playing with girls who thought outside the box.” “Those girls, *are, CRAZY!”*** “And the moral of the story is?” “Never trust girls who say they know a neat game you can play with mattresses and custard!” Spy Path smiled at him sweetly, “I'll keep that in mind.” Star Streak leaned forwards excitedly, “So, what actually happened?” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The doorway into the hallway burst open, giving emergency passage to a red pegasus who slammed the door behind him and began galloping down the hall, covering his mortified face with one wing as the cubicle behind him lit up with mocking laughter as his sister took great delight in recounting the *worst*** thing that had ever happened to him. He needed a distraction, anything to prevent himself from remembering that awful, aweful day and given his limited choice of destinations, he headed to the café cart, finding it almost empty except for one of the best type of distraction there was. Earth pony filly, pale tan coat, long blond mane that looked like it had come straight from the spa, terrific overall figure with a comfy looking back and a gait that showed if she had a colt-friend, he wasn’t taking care of business. Sky Fire checked her flank and then her cutie mark finding it a double octave; a musician then, what instrument? Sky Fire checked her flank more closely, muscular hind legs implied she spent a lot of time standing upright, and those callused grove across her hoof - of course, she was a cellist! The filly gave a sigh, a very specific kind of sigh suggesting considerable disappointment. The way she moved told Sky Fire she didn’t think too highly of herself, so maybe her parents (or parent) was the type for whom nothing was ever good enough, or maybe her end-of-year report card had left a lot to be desired, or both. Either way she could be a lot of fun, the real question then; who was he? A dormant poet soul who would give anything to learn to play the cello; who would be enamored by her music and hang upon her every word. He could ask her to teach him, and after a few bungled attempts ask her to stand behind him, put her arms on his arms, put her hooves on his hooves and together they could make such beautiful music; as he learned rapidly inspired by her beauty as her talent unlocked his dormant potential. Two, maybe three dates and- No wait. As Sky Fire pretended to study the menu, the filly that had begun walking away from the buffet, froze and then slowly turned back. She waited a moment in uncertainty, and then put back several of the bowls of grains and salads she’d filled her tray with originally, until her tray was almost empty, and then went to the desert bar. She made several nervous glances around the cart, as if her parents might spring out from under the table, and then began filling her tray with brownies, cheesecake, and honey sticks before daring to assemble a heaping bowl of ice cream that she drowned in chocolate sauce. She had more sugar than she could possibly eat, but still didn’t look satisfied; she reached for a spoon, stopped, then dug the tip of her hoof into her ice-cream and flicked some onto her pristine fur coat, and then rubbed the rest into her mane. Finally satisfied, she turned purposefully and moved on, her frazzled mane now showing several strands of black, meaning she had just dyed it, because she wanted to be a different person at Youtherd then she was at home. Sky Fire grinned as he finally understood; this girl wasn’t looking to be made to feel like she was good enough for the system; she was looking to buck the system all together. She didn’t want to help someone else fit into it; she was looking to rebel, but didn’t know how. Sky Fire turned in an instant from student, to teacher; and from a shy and quiet poet, to a rough and mysterious rouge, as unpredictable as the Everfree forest and with all the passion of a raging manticore. Sky Fire finished his inspection of the menu and began strutting towards her; she turned to face him and smiled, flashing brilliant blue eyes. Two or three dates? This girl would be hitting a sugar rush in a few hours; all that vent up frustration would be looking to escape and he’d be there to catch. He just needed to pick the lock to the baggage carriage, like any good rogue would, to get them some privacy and - CU-ss-ta-r-d! The filly… put a bowl… of custard on her desert tray. The filly might have spoken to him on his way past, or she might not, Sky Fire wasn’t sure. He pushed past her, keeping as much distance as possible, and kept walking into the next train cart, as a cold sweat broke down his spine.
Authors note - NOT canceledThis story contains multiple lines of plot and I was originally unsure whether to begin with spending about four chapters introducing and developing next generation OC's before anything really happens, or to begin with Twilight and get straight into the plot. I decided to post the next gen and Twilight as separate stories and see which got better results, and Twilight won. A few days ago I finished the first arch of Twilight's story and will now get back to the kids, but first I'm going to attach the two stories together, meaning to get the continuation of this story you're going to have to go to Limits of the Horizon (Similar name yes, the idea was to see which chapter opening would be better received, which meant keeping every other factor as close as possible to be fair.) Stay tuned for chapter 13 to see Shining Armor and Cadance's kids, along with the reclusive adult Dinky who refuses to let go of the fantasies she build around herself as a child to escape the tirades of her abusive father.
