As Ye Sew, So Shall Ye Rip

As Ye Sew, So Shall Ye Rip

Reactions, Independence, and Snow!

Aboard the Spirit of the West Passenger Liner
Kansas/Colorado Border

Ark was the first awake in the sleeper car he, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash shared. Their luggage was set in the racks above and his cybernetic prosthetic legs were racked into a charging station. Ark found it surprising that a charging station for prosthetics was built into the sleeper cars, but he didn’t feel like questioning it. Instead, he checked the capacity of his legs’ internal battery. The readout confirmed they were fully charged, so he disconnected the charging cable from the power port, removed the prosthesis from the charging station and affixed him to the neural interfaces grafted onto his thighs. The hum of the legs servos activating told Ark he was ready to be mobile.

The same hum awoke Fluttershy, he soft green eyes fluttering open as Ark stood up from his rack. She yawned cutely, the rose to a sitting position in the bunk she used; she had stripped nude to sleep last night, so she was au natural to greet the morning. Ark could not suppress the smile that threatened to break his face in half looking upon the mare. Though she had long acclimated to life amongst humans, there was still some part of her that operated on her more Equestrian instincts. Sleeping in the nude was one of them and Ark had to imagine that going to sleep with clothes when one had a full coat of fur to contend with was probably very uncomfortable.

“Go’ mornin’,” Shy mumbled, another yawn disrupting her sleep, “Are we in Denver yet?”

“Not yet,” Ark answered, “we just crossed over the Kansas-Colorado state lines. We probably won’t be in Denver until this afternoon. According to the on board VI, we’ll be making a quick stop at Colorado Springs before making our way north to Denver. Should be enough time for some quick sight seeing, though, from what I understand, Colorado Springs is now nothing more than a tourist trap with block after solid block of Stacks in every direction.”

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy breathed, “why would anypony make a tourist attraction out of such- detestable living conditions?”

“I don’t know, Shy,” Ark replied, “must be some rich jerks’ joke or something. I do hear there’s a nice vegetarian diner at the train station, so maybe we can get some lunch there.”

“Oh, let’s hope so,” Fluttershy said, “should we wake up Dashie?”

“Nah, let her sleep,” Ark said, “sounded like she had a hard enough time finding a comfortable sleeping position with the relays on her back. How about you get dressed, we head on down to the dining car and grab some breakfast. We’ll bring back something for Dash when we’re done.”

“Okay!”

Stepping into the dining car both of them were greeted with the sight of a few booths set against the wall, a small station where one of the staff waited on those who wanted a fully immersive dining experience, but one thing that really stood out to Fluttershy was the lack of anything really fresh. Instead it looked as if most of the options they had were prepackaged meals. There were cereals a plenty, several premade but ready to be reheated breakfast sandwiches, several cans of soup, and a small freezer that seemed to have a selection of frozen goods.

A small pout began to appear on Fluttershy’s lips before she noticed something off in the distance. It was on the edge of the counter, but there was a waffle maker, and a bowl that appeared to have something in it. Moving toward it she felt her wings expand slightly. There was batter for pancakes and waffles, which meant that there could be waffles. She moved toward the waffle maker, and she lifted the bowl. The smell was exactly what she had hoped for. The batter smelled rich, sweet, and well made. It actually smelled like the batter they made the waffles at Waffle House from.

She poured the batter into the waffle maker, shut it, and watched as the indicator light came on. Her eyes practically glowed with excitement as it began to create her waffle. There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to make one for Ark, and although she didn’t come with them she’d make one for Rainbow. As she recalled Rainbow had a tendency of liking them with strawberry jam. She could see small packets of jellies and jams, and found a couple of strawberry jams that she could take with them. Personally she was more into fresh or frozen fruit. Her hopes began to fade until she saw the freezer door open, and there were a few small packs of tropical fruit. She could see bananas, mangos, and pineapples. Her eyes fixated on the package, and she knew that if they would allow her she would take the small package, adorn her waffle with it, and she saw a few packets of honey.

She had the makings of a complete breakfast, and one that she had every intention of enjoying. She finished the first waffle, started on the next, and when the train staff member walked by she gave them a smile.

“Ummm, excuse me?” she asked, causing them to stop, “Could I maybe get a small package of that tropical fruit, um that is if you don’t mind.”

The staff member, a human mare, nodded, fished out a package, and placed it next to her.

“Glad to be of help,” she said, “If you need anything else just let one of us know.”

She smiled, and then she began finishing up the breakfast that she was making for all of them. Ark motioned her over to the booth he’d procured for them, and she slid him a waffle. She also slid him a couple of small packets of butter, and a few packets of honey. He gave her a nod, and the two of them began to tuck into their breakfast. A little over halfway through their breakfast the door opened and they saw Rainbow. She looked half awake, her mane a mess, and her tank top and shorts did little to cover her more generous proportions.

“Morning,” she mumbled before she scooted in by Fluttershy, “Breakfast?”

Fluttershy pushed a waffle toward her, a small packet of peanut butter, and three packets of honey. Rainbow began tearing into it, eating like she was starving to death. Fluttershy understood part of it. Pegasi, and alicorns she supposed, had some internal magic that helped them fly, but it also caused their metabolism to work overtime if they were injured. It basically sped up recoveries. The problem was that injuries like Rainbow’s would never have healed back home. She would become a cripple, at best, and she would require three times the food that a normal pony did for most of her life. The technology they had, and Discord’s help, were the very things that would give her a second chance.

She watched as Rainbow finished the waffle, and then she eyed the fruit that Fluttershy had.

“I’ll share,” Fluttershy said, “But I want you to slow down a little bit. Your natural metabolism could overheat your neural synaptic relays. They’ve set them for a Pegasus, but they don’t realize how hard a Pegasus’ metabolism works when we’re healing.”

Rainbow nodded. Fluttershy split the fruit between then, and as Rainbow began to tuck into it the door opened again.

Rarity stepped in with her three children and John close behind them. The children, all exceptionally well behaved, moved toward a booth near Ark, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. A few minutes later Rarity walked over with waffles, some frozen fruit, orange juice, and coffee. She also floated three mugs of the blessed morning brew to the three sitting next to them.

“Good morning!”

Rainbow Dash grumbled something about morning ponies. Ark nodded, and Fluttershy smiled at her.

“Good morning Rarity,” she said, “Did you sleep well?”

Rarity gave a nod, “As well as one can on a train,” she said, “I dare say that it reminds me quite a bit of taking a train to Appleoosa with Applejack.”

Rainbow grinned, “Yeah, where Flutters said she would like to be a tree.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, “Yes, I remember,” she said, “I also remember Rainbow thinking the Buffalo were up to something to begin with.”

Rainbow smiled sheepishly, “Well, they were, kinda,” she replied, “So, Rarity, you’re going to be looking into opening a new store, right?”

Rarity grinned, “Rainbow, darling, that was a very tactful way of changing the conversation, but yes that’s the plan,” she said, “Although I did speak to Ms Pommel, and she said that she and her fiance have more than enough room for all of us. In fact she was ensuring that we would be able to enjoy our stay with them.”

“So, the guy she’s with runs a hotel or something?” Rainbow asked, “Cause that’s kinda what it sounds like.”

Rarity tittered, “Nothing so trite,” she said, “He’s involved in a sport. From what I’ve seen it seems a bit uncivilized, but I am quite certain he will fill you in if you ask.”

Rainbow looked at her, blinked, and then looked at both Ark and Fluttershy, “We’re going, right?” she asked, “I mean it’s only right we go since they’ve gone through the trouble of setting a place up.”

Ark looked at her, and while he wouldn’t ever admit it out loud the truth was that Rainbow Dash’s puppy dog eyes were dangerous. They needed to be classified as weapons of mass cuteness. It was a massive departure from the normally brash and somewhat arrogant Pegasus.

“We’ve got to see Doughnut, but I suppose.”

There was a quick, and high pitched, squee which ended with a kiss. With Fluttershy. Kissing was sweet, reserved, and usually an expression of the love and kindness she had. Kissing with Rainbow was a contest. She skipped the modest kiss, and instead she dove straight to the slight thing she learned to do with her tongue.

Ark sat stunned, Fluttershy looked surprised, and then she shook her head, “Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed, “You’re still healing, and that’s not a thank you kiss!”

“Hmmm, sure it was?”

There was a little laugh, and they looked toward one of Rarity’s foals. The little filly looked to be nearly a copy of Rarity. She smiled and looked at them innocently.

“That’s the kind of kiss mommy gives daddy when he gets home from being away for a while” she beamed, “It’s fun because grandma and grandpa watch us for a while. We get to have chocolate, and ice cream, and all kinds of goodies. Plus when we get back mommy is in a really happy mood.”

Fluttershy giggled, and then she looked at Rainbow Dash, “It wasn’t a thank you kiss,” she said, “But we’ll say it was.”

Rarity sat beside John, and there was a slight blush across her cheeks. Although Radiance didn’t know exactly what the kiss entailed, everypony else did. She was once again thankful that she wasn’t a Canterlot Unicorn. She had absolutely no doubt that she would be viewed as a sexual deviant by their standards. Of course the fact that she enjoyed making love to her husband was enough to earn that title from most of the nobility.

She felt John’s arm around her, and she enjoyed the closeness. In truth when he came home her parents did watch their foals, and she normally would ravish him for a few hours. There was something absolutely wonderful about the way he felt. The way he made her feel, and she didn’t want to stop enjoying it.

“You’re lucky you’re cute, Rainbow,” Ark slurred, “otherwise I might have-”

The former soldier’s phone began to chirp then. Ark looked surprised, Fluttershy was too, but Rainbow was just nonplussed. Everyone and everypony in the car looked to Ark.

“Darling, don’t you think you should answer that?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, yeah, hold on,” Ark said, retrieving said device from the seat of the booth. Clicking on its surface, he looked upon the screen, a look of further surprise upon his face.

“It’s from Dmitri,” Ark said.

“Is- that important?” John asked.

“Uh, not really,” Ark murmured, “but I did send him a text regarding that fight between Grigori Rasputin and Miles Malone. He’s- well, he’s something of a made man in Russia. I wonder- Oh, now that is just stupid.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy inquired.

Ark didn’t answer, he just turned his phones screen toward everyone else. On the screen was a single image. A desk, likely oak in manufacture, and standing on it was a bottle of vodka- and a bullet.

“Um, darling, I’m uncertain of the context of this- uh, this missive, but is it- a threat?” Rarity asked.

“No,” Ark answered, “at least, I don’t think so. More like a warning, I think. Don’t think he appreciated my joke from the other day. Dmitri may put on a mask of joviality most days, but he’s a predator, through and through. There are no soft corners on that guy. Uncle Sergei, I don’t know what he did to that kid, but whatever it was, it really twisted him up…”

Shortly after the text, the few words, and the now mostly full bellies, the group of friends sat and talked about their lives. Fluttershy didn’t go into her love life for various reasons, but in truth three of them were innocently sitting and listening. Rainbow Dash went over her injury, the surgery, and then the surprise visit from Discord. She explained that the Dragonequis had mostly healed her, but explained that he was leaving it a little ways out because she needed to learn patience.

The train slowed down and the VI on board announced that the train was making it’s scheduled stop at Colorado Springs. For the Marshalls, it was a perfect place to stretch their legs, for Ark, Shy, and Dash, it was a time to get off the train for some actual decent food. There was an actual vegetarian diner at the train station, and the Marshalls joined them after they ordered. John was more than a little ashamed to admit that he hadn’t heard of The Veggie Tail Diner before, but the Faux Burger he had there was just as delicious as a real beef made one. Lunch was a veritable feast, but soon it was time to board the train again, with a small stop at a curio kiosk for souvenirs, and then it was a hour of travel north towards Denver.

The train began to slow, and the announcement that they would be arriving in Denver was made. The group of friends separated in order to gather their belongings. When they exited the train there was some vague speculation on what to look for. What they didn’t expect was a limo waiting for them. They watched as Coco walked toward them.

Rarity could see how happy her friend looked. Fluttershy could see how in love she appeared, and Rainbow Dash groused because it was obvious that she was getting a world class dicking, and she was still healing.

“Welcome to Denver!”

She smiled at them, “It was nice of Miles’ manager to arrange for the limo, although he didn’t have to.”

John and Ark both noticed the safety enhancements to the luxury ride. The glass had the unmistakable sheen of bullet proof glass. The tires were slightly bulged, and that indicated that they had living rubber inside of them. Although it was civilian transport there was no denying that it was possibly one of the safest vehicles outside of armored military transport.

Getting inside there was room for days. Rainbow sat next to Ark, and Fluttershy sat on the other side. Rarity sat between Coco and John, and the three Marshall foals all took a seat across from their mother. There was no noise indicating that it was an electric vehicle. As it rolled the group began talking about the day.

“If none of you have anywhere pressing to be we could do a little window shopping,” Coco said, “There’s also Independence to look at. It’s worth checking out, although it is a tourist town.”

Rarity looked at her, “Similar to Colorado Springs?”

Coco shook her head, “Absolutely not,” she said, “A private individual bought the town from a Government auction, and it’s been developed to resemble what it looked like about seventy years ago.”

“You gotta be kidding me,” Ark murmured, “I mean, I didn’t get my legs blown off in Syria for some rich, entitled blowhard to buy up towns left, right, and center for their entertainment. Idle rich, I can understand, but that? I hate to say it, but I don’t think that kind of bullshit happens in The Motherland. You’d have to belong to falling government to allow private interests to buy a town like that.”

“I think I understand what you mean,” Coco assured Ark, “I’m not entirely sure I understand it myself, but Indepence hasn’t become a shanty town like most other cities and town in the nation. There’s only a small hoof full that haven’t been become overwhelmed with Stacks like in Colorado Springs, Washington, DC, or that tiny place out in Texas, where TICT exists…”

“Lampasas,” John answered, “I’ve been down that way before. Lotsa hills, orchards, and ranchlands, and not a Stack in sight. I think that Moexatl guy what runs TICT has poured billions into those new Lego Blocks and even has an entire arm of TICT building Archecologies. From what I hear, those archecologies are pretty nice places to live, what with large swathes of nature embedded into the architecture and all. Not all that affordable yet, but TICT has been working on it.”

“I have heard of those, too,” Rarity commented, “they sound absolutely divine! Although, Ark, I should correct an assumption you may have. Some of the towns bought at auction are not in the hands of multibillionaires (and seems odd even saying that word, too.) I hear one such town was bought by a young man that wanted nothing more than a place to settle down without the presence of Stacks or the crime rampant in big cities, like Cleveland and Oklahoma City.”

“Well, I’d rather see it first,” Ark answered, “I had an XO back in my Army days who used to wax poetic about his god would save him from mortal peril- up until the point that he was blown to smithereens by an RPG. …might be an old Russo saying about that. I’ll need to ask around.”

Miles listened and shook his head, “To be honest you’ve got a point thinking like that. There’s a good many towns that had long since closed up. The local governments no longer exist, the state governments make nothing off of them, and they end up selling the tracks of land off in auctions,” he said, “Mickey actually tried to talk me into purchasing a silver mining town that closed up in the early nineteen hundreds.”

He smiled, “I considered it,” he said, “After all, there were a few shops, multiple homes, and the mine itself. The problem is I know nothing about mining, and a town can only exist when there is something holding it together. I know that Mickey talked about us opening it up as a training town, but I couldn’t see an entire town focused around training athletes. It barely works for entertainment, and I wouldn’t want to be the reason for a newly reinhabited town to fall apart.”

He looked at Ark, “But, what Ms. Rarity said is true. There’s been something of a resurgence of small communities being brought back by individuals that happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

He grinned, “Independence is that kind of place,” he said with a smile, “It’s picturesque, and honestly about as close to a perfect representation of Americana as a person could hope to find.”

“It sounds nice,” John said, “But how can something like that exist without the corporations having a piece of it?”

Miles grinned, “From what I understand each business owner and every resident owns the town. They’ve worked hard to keep as much of the corporate influence out as possible,” he said, “There’s some exceptions of course. For example the grocery store does stock food that comes from corporations, but what I’ve been told is that the food comes from a corporate farm that doesn’t practice the modern version of indentured servitude.”

Miles grinned, “I can make a few calls, and arrange for some transportation over for all of us. I’d suggest my old Dodge, but something tells me that we’d be pretty cramped in the cab of my old truck.”

He took a look at the time, “Although I’m going to have to do a react video in a few minutes,” he said, “You’re all welcome to watch the movie itself with me. But the WBF wants me to stay as relevant as possible, and that means doing little videos, and keeping up with what’s trending. Since the match, what’s been trending has been classic boxing movies, and so guess what they’ve got me reacting to.”

There was some interest shown, and he looked at the video next in the que, “Okay, I haven’t watched this one, but I’ve heard some news about it. From what I’ve heard it’s kind of a sad one, and I’m not sure how all of you might feel about some kids watching something like this.”

Rarity gave a nod, “I am afraid that I must agree,” she said, “Which means that I know three foals who can come help their mother in the kitchen.”

She looked at Coco, “Do you mind if I prepare something for everypony?” she asked, “I do know that it is your home, but I simply feel as if I should do something to repay your wonderful generosity in allowing us to stay here.”

Coco smiled, “That would be fine Rarity,” she said, “Why don’t we both go in, and I’ll see if we need to make any orders.”

Together they led Jake, Jewel, and Radiance into the kitchen. Once inside Coco opened the refrigerator. Like Miles she didn’t see a reason to replace the original refrigerator. It worked perfectly well, despite not being able to be connected to Julia or Archie, but she was able to keep Julia updated on what was in the refrigerator, and Julia, or Archie, was able to make the orders to the local grocers for what supplies they might need.

She activated her tablet, and smiled as Julia appeared, “Good afternoon madam,” she said, “How may I help you?”

She grinned, “Julia,” she said, “Based on what we last used, is there anything that we’re low on, and what would you suggest as a wonderful snack for friends visiting?”

Julia smiled, “Well, you are low on milk,” she said, “You did use some making those wonderful cookies that you had planned for your dear friend’s children. However, most everything else seems to be well enough stocked. As for a snack, might I suggest something simple? Especially with children visiting?”

Coco smiled, “Something simple would be wonderful. What’s your idea?”

Julia gave a bright smile before the image panned out revealing her standing there, “I suggest a selection of vegetables, a dipping sauce, such as ranch or bleu cheese, perhaps a small selection of sweets, nothing too overpowering, ginger snaps is a wonderful choice, and lastly something to drink. In this case my suggestion would be a nice cherry limeade, unless of course someone is allergic to citrus fruit.”

She smiled, “Rarity, how does that sound?”

Rarity grinned, “Actually that sounds simply divine darling,” she said, “And I need all three of your help in making these wonderful treats.”

Jewel smiled, “I can cut the vegetables, mama,” she said, “Daddy showed me how to do it.”

As Coco dug the vegetables out of the refrigerator, set up the cutting board, and grabbed the ingredients to make bleu cheese dip, in the entertainment room Miles was bringing the movie up on the large television. The group took a seat, and they began watching as an older man began training a young human mare to box. The movie began going in earnest. Fluttershy watched wide eyed as the young mare danced and fought inside of the ring. For Rainbow Dash it was an exciting moment. Miles was looking at a place near the television every so often and speaking to it. He was pointing out the accurate and inaccurate parts of the movie. For Rainbow it was a beautiful dance that was held by two athletes that were competing to prove who was the better athlete. She knew that this was a sport Earth Ponies did, and she’d heard that it still happened occasionally in Equestria, although most of the time it was mostly done in the more seedy places.

She watched, seeing each strike, seeing how the mare would dodge, and her attention was completely caught on each fight. The rest of the movie was good, but the fighting was awesome. It was exciting, and she couldn’t help it as her wings began to stick out a little bit. She felt bad for the mare, what happened to her, but she enjoyed the movie. Miles gave his impression of the movie, saying that while it wasn’t exceptionally common those kinds of things still happened. He then grabbed another movie, this one was about an underground boxing community, and to her surprise the fighting was just as good in it.

She felt herself getting excited about the idea of getting into the sport. She was fast enough that no pony would be able to hit her, and she could certainly handle getting a hit or two. Fluttershy looked at her lifelong friend, and she saw the same look that she’d seen every time that Rainbow wanted to get invested into a new sport. She shook her head and looked at her friend.

“No,” she said, “Rainbow, you absolutely do not need to do this.”

Rainbow looked at her, “But I’m way faster than any of them!”

“NO!” she exclaimed, “You don’t need to do this!”

“But come on, Shy,” Rainbow implored, pointing to the action on screen, “I can do this!”

“RAINBOW DANGER DASH, I WILL NOT HAVE PUT IN THE HOSPITAL AGAIN!”

That took all of the fight out of Rainbow and garnered the unwitting attention of everyone in the house. Both Pegasi deflated and Miles continued critiquing the film he was viewing.