Night Crew

by NFire

Chapters

Chapter 9
Chapter 14
Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3
Chapter 4 - Meeting the Night Crew
Chapter 5 - Let's have a drink!
Chapter 6
Chapter 7 - It's always the quiet ones.
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

Chapter 9

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Chapter 14

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Chapter 1.

“Oh COME ON!”

The yelling rang out through the weather offices like the clear tolling of a school bell. The ponies inside stopped what they were doing and looked towards the Weather Manager’s office in slow disbelief. Exchanging glances and wondering what in Celestia’s name could be going on in there. Shuffling of papers and work schedules stopped, as they all leaned a bit towards the door, wanting to hear more.

“You can’t be serious, a hundred BITS?”

Inside the office, the weather Manager stood behind his desk, one hoof to his face as he’d already gone through this with the pony standing in front of him. The mare in question had a light amber and gold mane, which went with the soft umber coloring of her coat, she wasn’t bad looking, just slightly.. well more than slightly peeved.

“Look, Fire, I told you, you destroyed half an acre of somepony’s garden, it’s got to be paid for!”

“But a HUNDRED bits? Moon and stars that’s half my pay! What was that pony growing? Platinum fruit for cryin’ out loud? There’s gotta be some thing left!”

Storm Cloud sighed, looking into her angry face, his slight accent came out fully as he explained one...more...time. “It was a prize winning vegetable garden, and the mayor has upheld the claim, it’s got to be paid. You destroyed the whole half acre, it’s blasted, demolished, kaput, gone to the other side!” He planted both front hooves on his desk and leaned over it, nose to nose with the mare, “It has gone off to join the bleeding choir invisible! It is NO MORE!” He snorted a puff of air into her face, making her back off just a bit.

He gathered himself back up, straightening his tie as he put his forehooves back on the floor, looking at the little mare as she stood staring at the wooden planks in front of his desk.

“Fire, yer a good weather pony, you work hard, but you keep messing with lightning, and we TOLD you, time and again, you weren’t to do that because of your..er...problem. This is the fifth time, we just can’t take the expense!”

“But I’m getting better!”

Storm sighed, getting out Hangfire’s file and setting it on the desk. “You know what this is? You. All you. This is the file containing all reports from the last six months.”

She glanced at it, noticing it was a bit thick.

“What did we tell you after the train tracks got hit?”

She mumbled something in reply.

He leaned forward, putting a hoof behind one ear, “Pardon?”

“Stay away from the lightning...”

“Right, and what did we tell you after that tower at Canterlot got whacked?”

“Stay away from the lightning...”

“Correct again, now, what did we EXPRESSLY tell you after The Royal Guard Barracks Incident?”

“Stay away from the lightning...”

“RIGHT again! Now, what does all that add up to?”

Her violet eyes stared out from under falling bangs as she replied, “Stay away from the lightning?”

“EXACTLY!” He slammed a fore hoof on the desk, “Now tell me why, by Sun and Moon can you NOT UNDERSTAND THAT?” His bellowing had reached new heights now, shaking the glass in the windows as the veins in his neck stood out a bit from the force of his anger.

Her mane blew out of her face backwards as she withstood the typhoon of anger from her boss, her eyes wide. Leaning forward slightly as he continued his tirade about her not listening, about the money that had to be paid, and he was tired of hearing what she’d destroyed next, like a sirocco from the desert she was blasted with his fury.

“WHAT in Luna’s name is SO HARD about the words, STAY AWAY FROM THE LIGHTNING?”

She blinked a bit, clearing her eyes and mumbled again, not wanting to anger her boss, “But I need the practice?”

“Go practice over the Everfree for crying out loud, at least there no one will be making claims against the weather offices! Stars above Hangfire, at least use some common sense!” He glared at her over the desk, wings pinned to his side, and this time, she could tell he really was at his limit.

“Go blast a Hydra or something, maybe keep some of those Everfree Forest plants from over-growing! Sweet Mother of Celestia! Just STOP BLOWING THINGS IN TOWN UP!”

He stopped his bellowing and stood back behind his desk, huffing a bit and slightly surprised at his own vehemence. He closed his eyes and placed a hoof on his muzzle, rubbing it a bit before he found himself calm enough for his next sentence.

“We’re going to put you on the Night Crew.”

She opened her mouth for a second, then shut it with a snap, a confused look on her face. “....Do what?”

“We’re putting you on the Night Crew, it’s time and a half, and it’ll be easier on all of us I think. It’s either that, or..” And here he put his hoof on the desk again with a slap, “We fire you.”

Hangfire thought furiously, she couldn’t lose this job, she loved being a weather pony! But..

“We have a Night Crew?”

“Well, it’s where we need weather ponies the most, gotta keep the storm fronts in place and do a bit of controlling, it’s not bad work, but alot of folks don’t know we do it.” He shuffled some papers on his desk, studiously avoiding her eyes.

She glared at him for a second, knowing something was up, but in light of recent events, she decided not to press the point. Sighing to herself, she nodded.

“Fine, I’ll take it.”

“Good! And maybe after a few months we’ll see about getting you back on the normal schedule, you report tomorrow night, give you a day to get your schedule adjusted and all that.”

“Okay.. and boss?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for not firing me.”

“Yer a good pony Hangfire, just need a bit of common sense sometimes eh?”

She nodded and opened the door, stepping out into the offices and desks of Weather Management in Cloudsdale, her ears hearing the clicking of the door shutting behind her, but strangely, nothing else. It didn’t quite hit her until she looked up, seeing everypony staring at her in dead silence, you could have heard a pin drop, to form a cliche.

Her mouth tightened a bit, seeing every eye in the place directly on her slump shouldered form.

“WHAT?”

Author's Note

I have absolutely no idea where this will go, but I think it'll be fun. Enjoy the read folks, and laugh a bit if you catch the references. If any known characters come in, I shall update tags as the chapters are posted. So no fear, someone will have a cameo I'm sure. I enjoy writing about the non-famous folks, I mean, what kind of hijinks could they possibly get into right? I have slapped a T rating on it, due to what may come.

Chapter 2.

Pokey’s Bar was hopping that night, the DJ playing the latest hits, ponies dancing or huddling in small crowds, except for Hangfire..

She sat on a cushion, pretty comfortable really, her head lay flat on the bar top, jaw holding her up as she dangled her legs in front of her, letting the position hold her body upwards. Four straws linked together, let her sip from the big mug of hard cider next to her so she didn’t have to move.

Hangfire was flat out disgusted, with life in general, and of course, the problem that got her here in the first place. Know what a hangfire is? It’s a slow burn, slow enough you don’t notice it until it explodes in your face.

Yep, that’s me, she thought. And the funny thing, it translated over to working with lightning.

Having a conversation with yourself is not good, she thought, but at least I can win arguments. She could hear her mom’s voice loud and clear, almost like a little version of her was standing on her shoulder, talking in her ear. The thought was so persuasive she glanced to the left and right, making sure there wasn’t some itty-bitty pegasi on her shoulder wearing pince-nez and shaking a hoof at her.

“Being a weather pony is beneath your station! You’re destined for greater things!”

Right mom, working with dad at the Rainbow Factory, wow, exciting times there. I can blow the ponyfeathers out of buildings, maybe I can join a demo crew?

She sighed inwardly, taking a big slurping sip from the straw and staring ahead, her internal conversation still going.

The problem is, I don’t get mad a lot, I really don’t, I just explode after the fuse is lit.. In a variable amount of time of course, depending on what the problem is. But why, good Celestia WHY did it have to transfer over to lightning?

When she was in weather school, she’d tried and tried to make the lightning, nothing, not a peep, a sparkle, a zap, nada. But after she left, and some others moved it away, the cloud she’d been practicing on exploded in fury, almost wrecking the playground. She was a time bomb with lightning, every...single...time...

That’s a good name, she thought, Time Bomb.. yeah paint over my cutie mark, I could hide somewhere, blow stuff up on demand. That’s it! Become a traveling wizard! Taking over countries! Ruling far lands, and all with the power at my command! Bow before me minions! Muahaha!

“Another mug miss?”

Hangfire blinked at the off green stallion behind the bar, snapped out of her reverie of empire building.

“Do what?”

“Would you like another mug of cider?”

Her lips wandered over to the straw, inhaling and getting only drops, “Yeah, I guess so, thanks gumby.”

The bar tender gave her a flat stare and sighed, “My name is Glasses, WHY do you keep calling me that?”

Returning his stare, deadpan, she shrugged her slumped shoulders, “I dunno, seems to fit somehow, go figure.”

He walked away in a huff as she popped a piece of grilled broccoli in her mouth, chewing slowly. Her leg returning to dangle below the bar. Thoughts raced through her mind as she sipped from the mug, wondering why her boss looked a bit suspicious when he told her about the Night Crew. Time and half too, no one paid like that, even the weather crews. Something was definitely up here.

Her thoughts were once again interrupted by someone standing next to her, lips still wrapped around the straw, she glanced to see some stallion leaning on the bar, ordering a drink. Not bad looking, though a bit too much styling in his mane.

She dismissed him, returning to her cider, broccoli, and thoughts of bringing rampaging doom over helpless countries. A throne, yeah she’d want a throne, and a harem of course, gotta keep up appearances. A crown would be nice, something with a few gems, sure.. Oh! And gotta have..

“ Excuse me miss?”

She sighed, once again her dreams of world building were interrupted. She replied to the voice without even turning her head, “What?”

“I happened to see you sitting here alone, and wondered if you’d like a bit of company?” It was the same stallion, settling next to her on a cushion.

She raised one eyebrow, noticing the slick mane, and slight leer on his face, cause he sure wasn’t looking at hers. His eyes were locked a bit lower down as he struggled to maintain the conversation.

“I have to be at work tomorrow, sorry, haven’t got the time.” She thought furiously, she’d be sleeping all day just to catch up with an evening schedule. Popping another broccoli with a sigh, she ignored the oily voice, lost in thoughts once more.

A hoof, definitely not one of hers, lay itself right above her backside, stroking the coat a bit as it worked it’s way a bit lower, along her cutie mark and almost under her tail before roaming back again. Her eyes popped open wide as she turned them slowly to stare at the pony next to her.

Scriiiitch....the fuse was lit.....

She glared daggers at intruding stallion from the bar top, “You might want to remove that hoof there buddy.”

The slick voice, calm and collected like he’d done this a thousand times, (He probably had she thought); continued on, his hoof still roaming, and was getting closer to the sweet spot before returning to stroke along her marked side. Ruffling the fur there slightly, he leaned in closer, making it seem like it was just an intimate conversation between them.

“Oh come now, such a pretty mare, all alone tonight, you were looking depressed. I figured you might need some cheering up.” The hoof kept rubbing along her cutie mark, getting dangerously close.

“And the person to do that,” She snorted, “Would be none other than yourself, correct?” The fuse was getting shorter now.

The grin definitely was a leer now, out in the open and he had one thing on his mind. The muzzle leaned in to nuzzle along her shoulder as the fuse slowly burned it’s way through to the end.

“What say you and I, leave and go back to my place for a little more chit-chat? I have some wine, better than this country swill they serve here, and we can talk some more. Maybe have a bit of a tumble?”

......boom.....

Hangfire lifted her head off the bar, ignoring the hoof on her backside for a moment as she gave him her most winning smile. The violet eyes lighting up as she reached for her mug, ears perked, whole body leaning toward him like he was the most interesting pony in the world.

Her voice came out syrupy sweet, like some innocent young filly, “Oh my gosh! Me? Out of everyone here! Well I’ll have to show my appreciation for your most generous offer.!”

Vinyl Scratch was dealing the tunes out in a big way, thumping along with the rythmns, her head bobbing left and right. Something pattered across her turntable, a few somethings. Lifting her glasses to take a look, she laughed. Fans had thrown a lot of stuff at her before during a set, but Moon and Stars! Teeth?

Chapter 3

Hangfire awoke to a blazing headache, “Oh stars, way way too much cider.” by the way her tummy rumbled, far too many grilled vegetables.

Making her way to the bathroom, she turned the faucets on, running a seriously hot tub full, with lots of bubbles, she liked that, could bury her troubles away in a soak. Staring into the mirror, a haggard face looked back, a bit bleary eyed, her amber and gold mane sticking out in every which way. She sighed, it was getting to be evening, and she had to prepare for her first night on the crew.

Running a hoof through her mane, she turned off the faucets, almost drooling in anticipation of a nice, hot soak.

A knocking at the door shattered the moment of peace.

Closing her eyes, she put a hoof along her muzzle and sighed, “Seriously?” Giving in to fate, she brushed her mane quickly, not as nice as she’d like, but good enough for government work. Trotting down the hallway, eyeing the banister on the stairs as a quick way to get down to the ground floor, and immediately discarding it as a “Bad Idea”, quotes intended, one of her mother’s phrases. Which, to Hangfire’s enjoyment, she usually ignored, getting into trouble as a young filly, but as she grew older, she got a ‘bit’ wiser.. Not to say she didn’t enjoy a good pranking now and then.

Grabbing the handle, she opened the front door, seeing her friend Bon Bon there, “Heya Bons, what’s up?” Bon Bon was a great friend, Lyra as well, though she really wasn’t sure why Lyra seemed a bit off, but that’s okay, she liked ‘em both, good ponies.

Bon Bon’s cerulean eyes glimmered as she saw the state her friend was in, “ ‘Fire! Hey! Did you hear what happened at Pokey’s last night?” Her blue mane bobbed up and down in excitement, “They had to call the Emergency crew, appears there was a fight and some stallion got clobbered!”

Hangfire tried, she really did, to not look guilty, to not look away, to say SOMETHING to Bon Bon that wasn’t going to be immediately suspicious. To say she failed dramatically, is like saying Rarity just mildly disliked being dirty, the understatement of the year.

“Uh, wow, hope he’s okay?” Her voice raised at the end of the statement into a sort of squeak, as she grinned as best she could, presenting her best face forward.

Bon Bon’s eyes narrowed as she looked a bit askance at her friend, “You know something.”

“I don’t! I swear, just went for drinks last night, some food, heck you know me! I don’t bother anyone!” One forehoof rubbed the other as she smiled again to Bon Bon, her violet eyes betraying everything.

The beige pony pushed Hangfire back into the living room, shutting the door with a back hoof and glaring at her friend, “You did something, was that YOU?” Her blue eyes pinned Hangfire right to the floor.

Hangfire couldn’t help it, the blush rose in her cheeks as she rubbed a hoof along the back of her head, she stared down at the floor and made a reply. Along with that explosive temper, she just couldn’t lie, it wasn’t in her, “I might have..well...hitsomeonewithamugfullofciderandknockedafewteethout....” She studiously avoided BonBon’s eyes.

The beige pony’s ear’s perked up, leaning in to hear the run on sentence as it got lower and lower, “What? You did what?”

Hangfire closed her eyes, lowering her ears, giving a dramatic sigh and saying slower this time, “I might have hit someone with a mug full of cider and knocked a few teeth out...okay?”

“Oh sweet Celestia Hangfire, WHY? I’m your friend, I love you to death, but you keep doing this!”

The violet eyes returned upwards, giving Bon Bon a dead stare, “He was grabbing my pl..er..backside.”, forgoing the vulgar term for a moment, “I told him to back off, and he seemed to think since I was there alone we’d go back to HIS place and I’d give him a bit of fun!” She hmphed and let her hindquarters slap down on the floor, crossing her forelegs, “He was a jerk!”

Bon Bon closed her eyes and thought a moment, “‘Fire, seriously, you need to stop doing that.”

“What do you mean ‘stop doing that’? I don’t do it alot! Not like I go out at night thinking, “Hey! I’m gonna go wreck someone’s day today!” She flapped her fore hooves around while talking, “I’m not a bad person! I don’t go looking for trouble, but NO one grabs my backside, and expects me to like it without being invited!”

Bon Bon nodded, “I see your point,” rubbing her forehead for a moment before setting down herself, quiet dropped in for a few moments as they stared at each other. “You seriously hit him with a mug of cider?” A smile was starting to crack her stern demeanor now.

Hangfire nodded, a smile starting on her face as well, “Oh yeah, you know those big heavy mugs they use at Pokey’s?” Bon Bon nodded. “I reared back and clobbered him with all I had! The DJ was commenting when I left about if someone had lost their teeth she had em in the Lost and Found!”

Bon Bon couldn’t hold it anymore, she burst out laughing, holding her stomach and rolling around on the floor. “Oh moon and stars Hang, seriously? I can’t wait to tell Lyra about this! Oh she’s gonna laugh!”

Hangfire rolled her eyes, laughing with her friend, laying on her side and just letting the hilarity out as she remembered what had happened that night. She laid it all out for Bon Bon, from the dreams of empire building to the final crack as the mug connected to the stallions’ face. Her wings flapping a bit as she recovered, wiping tears from her face, “I promise Bon Bon, I’ll try harder, really.”

Bon Bon got up and hugged her friend, “It’s late, I’ve got to go share this with Lyra, but you take care alright? We’ll catch up tomorrow. Maybe we can go out and make you some more friends instead of just me and Lyra and Derpy and a few others eh?”

Hangfire nodded, watching her friend go out the door, standing on the porchway as she slowly faded into the dark. Looking around, she realized, she wasn’t that bad off, she had plenty of friends, yes she did, she didn’t need more! What was Bon Bon talking bout anyways?

Raising a hoof to the sky, she yelled loudly into the street, “I got lots of friends dangit!”

The pony sweeping the street turned and looked at the disheveled figure yelling from the doorway.. “Uh...okay? Good for you?”

Hangfire pinched her nose and sighed, going inside and slamming the door, hoping her bath hadn’t turned cold.

Wrapping her scarf around her neck, making sure her saddlebags were tight enough, Hangfire prepared for her day at work. Or night, whichever, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. The weather was going to turn cold, now that the Running of the Leaves was over, cold fronts had to be moved in just right during the day, and kept in place at night. She’d always wondered who did that while everypony was asleep, and now she knew.

She shot off her balcony, heading upwards to the local weather offices over Ponyville. Running over everything, she’d got her lunch packed, her bags with weather gear, goggles, gotta have goggles. I closed the house, made sure the fire was banked, already did the shopping for tomorrow. Everything was good, she thought, as she swooped through the skies, enjoying the lift under her wings, every moment flying a gift.

Sleeping during the day might take some getting used to, but that’s alright, I’ll work my way back up. Her optimism ran high, thinking things might not be that bad, it’s only temporary from what the boss said.

She came to a halt on the landing, touching down neatly with all four hooves, a smile brightening her face as she trotted up to the door. I can do this, I can, I’ll work hard, show them I’ll stay away from the lightning, just be the best weather pony I can. Yeah, that’s it!

Her smile got a bit wider as she opened the door, letting the warm air hit her and entering the ready room, only to be stared at by the group of ponies already there. A particularly fat stallion was standing there with a managers cap on, giving her a glower and a simple sentence that left no doubt in her mind.

“Yer late luscious, get in gear and get yer plot moving..”

Well ponyfeathers......

Chapter 4 - Meeting the Night Crew

Oh she seriously did not like the look of the new manager. Pegasi usually took good care of themselves, flying, working hard if they’re in weather control, or whatever it took to stay sleek and in flying trim.. Well.. Snowflake was okay, though he was a bit muscly, but he sure was polite.

Hangfire nodded, heading to the ready room, passing by the group of ponies already there. One by one they followed her as well, time to gear up and get that storm front stabilized for the night, it was going to start getting bitter at night.

She found a locker, claimed it and dumped her bags inside, looking out of the corner of her eyes at the other ponies with her. Her mind wandered a bit, wondering why they were here as well, “Wonder who they teed off?”

A couple of mares next to her introduced themselves quietly, which made Hangfire perk an ear, noticing no one was talking, no chatter, no fun, nothing, like a graveyard.

“Hi, I’m Chryse, this is Cornflower my sister, you’re new right?” Her voice was low and soft, her coat a snowy white, mane and tail red with blue highlights, she had the softest orange shaded eyes Hangfire had ever seen. Her sister Cornflower matched her namesake, an intense deep blue, light green mane and tale, with yellow eyes that shied away when Hangfire looked, she didn’t say anything, just waved hello.

“I am yes," she replied while waving to Cornflower. “Pardon me asking, you sure don’t look anything like sisters.”

Chryse laughed, “Roll of the dice I guess, mom and dad were pretty different shades too, so I guess we got the best of both.”

“And your name? Chryse?”

“Short for Chrysanthemum, too long to keep repeating, so, Chryse.” She gave a winning smile, and a shoulder bump to Hangfire, “How about you?”

“I’m Hangfire, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Wait..” Chryse narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment, “Aren’t you the one ..”

Hangifre sighed and nodded, “Yes, the Royal Barracks, Canterlot Tower..yes...that’s...me.” She looked at the ground, rubbing one leg along the other, searching for something to look at, anything but the two sisters.

Chryse laughed lightly, “Don’t worry about it, we’re all here for something. You don’t get sentenced to the Night Crew for being the best.”

She perked up at that, “Sentenced?”

“Well that’s what it is, they pay alot of bits for this shift, but no one wants it, so they send folks down they think can’t cut it on the regular day shifts.”

“Well, how about you? What did you do?”

“My sister has a bad stutter, and I wasn’t going to let her go anywhere alone without me. So here I am.”

“They sent her here for stuttering? Tell me you’re joking, seriously?”

Chryse and shy Cornflower both nodded, looking deadly serious. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“No one told me anything! I just got told to report and here I am, no one wanted to talk about it.”

“I’m sorry, we thought you knew, do something too wrong, or you don’t 'fit in’ like the higher ups want you too, you get sent here. Until you get a reprieve, or just quit,” Chryse looked around for a moment and leaned in to whisper to Hangfire, “Or you get hurt or killed.”

Her eyes widened, staring at Chryse for a few moments, “KILLED?”

The snowy mare waved a hoof, hushing her quickly, “Some ponies have been seriously injured on the Night Crew, they don’t talk about it alot, they just pay them off and fire them.”

“That doesn’t sound right, it really doesn’t.”

“It’s what they do, just be careful out there alright?”

Hangfire nodded, “I will.” She took a look around, “So, who’s everyone else?”

Chryse smiled as they both geared up, pointing with a hoof at different folks, “The big orange stallion, that’s Hazy, he’s nice, he talks slow, but he’s really good to know.” She pointed off to the right, “And that red stallion, he’s Blue Winds, he’s nice too, but he’s got a problem with flying, he’s not real good about it so we all watch out for him. Something with the way his wings grew out.” She leaned close as she pointed out what was obviously a husband and wife team, “That’s Fast Lane, and Crystal Ring, we’re not sure why in the skies they’re here. It’s got to be for the extra money..”

Hangfire gave the two a good look, half listening to Chryse as she saw they were immaculately dressed, hooficures and all, and it was puzzling. He was brutally handsome really, she was terminally pretty you could say, and why they were on the Night Crew was anyponies guess.

She nodded absently to Chryse, finally gearing up herself, and making sure her goggles were on tight. Going to be extra cold handling the storm-front out there, so she wrapped her scarf tight.

“You can hang with us, we’ll do the line work and get you used to the night flying part, that sound okay?” Cornflower peeked out from behind Chryse and smiled expectantly at her.

“I can do that, it’s sure going to be different.”

The other two nodded, Chryse gave Hangfire another friendly shoulder bump as the whole group walked out to the launch area, doing a last check on suits, goggles and cold weather gear.

The heavyset manager gave them all a once over...was that a sneer? Hangfire banished the thought, trying to remain positive.

“Awright, here’s you’re assignments.” He posted the roster on the board, the group gathered around, taking a look before leaping off the pad into the darkness.

Hangfire was going to be working “the line” with Chryse and Cornflower just like they offered, that was a relief. She didn’t want to be stuck with on the job training in the middle of the night handling a cold front. Turning around, she caught Chryse growling in a low tone of voice to the manager, stepping in between him and Cornflower; who was shyly hiding behind her sister.

“I told you, stay away from her you jerk”

“Or what? Nothing. Just trying to make a bit of conversation, or are you two fillyfoolers er sumthin’ eh?” He gave them both a leer, which Chryse returned with a disgusted snort. “So what? Not like you two are going out with Shaky and Slowpoke, Celestia forbid!” He laughed, turning to Hangfire, “Luscious, you hang out with Slap and Tickle here, they’ll show you the ropes.” He gave her a wink that sent a shiver down her spine, walking away.

“Shaky and Slowpoke?”

Chryse sighed, looking at the ground, “He gives everyone nicknames, he means Blue Winds and Hazy. I’d like to slap and tickle him with the back of my hoof one day if we didn’t need the money...jerk.”

“And the Slap and Tickle thing?”

Another deep sigh, Chryse motioned to her sister as they walked to the launchpad, “He’s always commenting about how he’d like to try a little fun with both of us, you know, slap and tickle?”

Hangfire closed her eyes for a moment, slapping her goggles down over her eyes before they launched into the sky, the night winds catching the three as they lifted towards the heavy clouds.

Oh no, she didn’t like the look of that manager at all...

Chapter 5 - Let's have a drink!

The nights passed quickly, winter moving in, scheduled fronts that had to be put into place at night, it was thrilling, hard work. At breaks, the team would huddle in the line shacks to warm up before heading out to make sure the clouds hadn’t decided to wander. Hangfire quickly found out, the manager was not on the teams list for Hearth’s Warming Day either..

Walking in with Chryse, she waved to Cornflower who was huddled by the fire, shaking off the flurry she’d accidently run into out there. Hazy and Blue were toasting their hooves as well, having bore the brunt of line right now, since it was heavy clouds, pregnant with more snow for tonight and the morning.

Hangfire stuck her backside right up to the fire, sighing in happiness, not really caring if her amber tail caught fire or not, she couldn’t feel either cheek right now.

Hazy chuckled, he had a really deep voice, very nice to listen to, but he tended to talk very slow, so you had to pay a lot of attention, “Careful Hang..you’ll...burn your..cutie...mark...off..” Blue added his voice to the chuckling.

She gave them a look, sticking her tongue out, flipping her tail around and shaking her backside in their faces, “It’s cold, my back end is cold, you’ll see! You’ll be the same way after the next run!”

She had become friends with the four other ponies quickly, they were nice, polite, nothing wrong with them at all. Fast Lane and his wife didn’t hang with them, it was like they didn’t even belong, they did their jobs, but didn’t want to pass any time with the rest of the night crew.

Chryse looked around, “Say, where IS Lane and his wife?”

Cornflower tapped her sister, leaning in and whispering in her ear, “They WHAT?”

The rest of the group looked to Chryse expectantly.

Her face twisted in only what can be called controlled anger, “They left early, we’re stuck with the front for tonight.” The other three groaned, it meant more work for them, keeping everything in place, it was going to be less breaks for them to warm up.

“Look guys, “Chryse said softly, “Let’s do this tonight, I’ll buy the first round since we get the next night off. That fair enough?”

Blue smiled a bit, leaning against the warm hearth, “Doncha worry Chryse, you know we’ll get it done.”

“I know, I know, but still, first ones on me.”

“Chryse...you..can’t...afford that..”

“Bah, it’s one time, don’t expect it again you mooches!”

The rest held their hooves up in surrender, it was fine with them. After warming up a bit more, they headed back out into the bitter night, finishing their tasks as quickly as they could, making sure the day shift got briefed and they were off to their homes.

Hangfire slept the day away, waking in the evening with a grunt, but then realizing she was meeting the rest of her new friends at the bar. Thank Celestia not Pokey’s, she figured she had a warrant out for her there, or the bartender would snitch her out. He hadn’t so far, cause she was a regular, but she resolved to stop calling him gumby.

So she dressed her best, even went so far as to style her mane, brush her tail gleaming gold, and put on a bit of makeup, showing her best face. She grinned in the mirror, “Look Bons, making friends!”

She zipped out of the house, wanting to be the first one there, it was a new place called Doubles, supposed to be really nice. Hangfire was impressed just at the front door, big and solid, a really nice doorpony let her in. Squinting her eyes, she looked through the lights from the DJ...funny..was that the same..

“HANG! Over here!”

She whipped her head around, seeing Chryse waving from a private table, Cornflower right beside her, Hazy and Blue already partaking of the first round promised. She trotted over and pulled up a cushion, these were even better than Pokey’s she thought. Settling right in, she shoulder bumped Cornflower “Hiya ‘Flower!”

Cornflowers yellow eyes smiled at her. She never talked, only whispered to Chryse, and one day, Hangfire resolved, she was going to get her to say something.

A big mug of Apple Farms Best Hard Cider was plunked down in front of her, Chryse raising hers in salute, “Here’s to the Night Crew, best bunch of misfits around!”

The rest pushed their mugs against hers and took long draughts. Sighing at the fresh, crisp taste, the alcoholic bite, and laughing at the various foamy moustaches everyone ended up with.

Blue Winds posed for a second, miming stroking his and leering, “I say Mister Weather Manager, draw me like one of your Prance mares eh?”

Cornflower spit out her drink and started coughing with laughter, they actually heard her voice this time, high and sweet, like a bell. She quickly covered her mouth and blushed down to her tail.

Hangfire pointed a hoof, “AH HA! You CAN talk! You shyster!”

Cornflower just nodded but was interrupted, “Oh no, you got a voice, use it, I’m not talking to you ‘till ya do!” She turned her nose up, looking away with an overly dramatic flair.

Cornflower looked at the table, still blushing under her deep blue coat, and leaned over to whisper in Hangfire’s ear, “I..i..is th...th...th...this O...o...o...okay?”

‘Fire turned and hugged the little mare hard, “It’s enough ‘Flower.”

Chryse smiled, seeing her sister actually connect with someone other than herself. Hazy and Blue cheered, ordered another round, toasting her voice a few times, causing Cornflower to almost duck under the table and hide.

Chryse pulled Hazy out on the dance floor, where surprisingly he was pretty light on his hooves, dancing with the snowy mare, who complemented him quite well. They ended up dancing in a cleared circle because the other patrons enjoyed watching as well, returning to the table hot and sweaty, begging for another round.

Hangfire was enjoying herself immensely, noticing out of the corner of her eye Chryse was looking at her with raised eyebrows, “Well?”

“What? What? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

Chryse gave her that, ‘don’t be dumb look,’ “Go on, dance! Take Blue with you!”

She actually blushed, though hard to tell under her umber coat, they could tell. Cornflower bumped her backside with hers and pushed them out on the dance floor. Blue was a great dancer, but Hangfire whispered in his ear she had two left hooves. He nodded and took the lead, dancing the songs away till she asked to stop, hot and tired.

They both sat down to fresh cold mugs, slurping noisily and chattering about the dancing, Hangfire had never had real friends before, she had some, but these, these were different. They didn’t know her, and just accepted her, and somehow, it made that all the more special.

She leaned over to Chryse, “Hey Chryse, why aren’t you seeing some special pony? I mean Hazy’s good looking, he’s bright, and he’s really a good stallion?”

Chryse leaned over and whispered very quietly in her ear, “Didn’t you notice?” And pointed at him and Blues’ hooves just barely above the table, clasped together, “Him and Blue are a couple.”

Hangfire facehoofed, she was definitely not observant, not one bit, “I’m sorry Chryse, I wasn’t paying attention.”

She laughed in return, “They keep it quiet, some folks don’t like it, but they’re happy, me and Cornflower think it’s great.”

“Well they seem happy.”

“They are, people make fun of Hazy cause he talks slow, but he’ll kick your plot right into the ground. He’s got the bulk, plus he’s a whiz at mathematics. Blue, he’s just an everyday stallion, just got a bit of a problem with his wing, but we all look out for him. It works, and it works well.”

Hangfire turned and looked into Chryse’s eyes, “What about you?” Referring to the managers comment she was a fillyfooler.

She got a slow smile in return, a gentle blink of the eyes as Chryse laid her cheek along hers for just a brief moment of warm contact. “I’m just me, nothing special.”

Their attention was drawn back to reality by Cornflower making squeaking noises, tapping on her sisters’ shoulder, pointing out to the dance floor. They turned to see what the commotion was about.

It was Blue and Hazy, whipping along the dance floor in some kind of complicated step that went a lot faster than Hangfire could follow, doing turns and flips along each other like some acrobatic team, their wings helping them dive and duck, it was an awesome display of Pegasi abilities. The DJ was whooping it up, and it WAS the same one from Pokey’s, making Hangfire hide a bit behind Chryse, she’d explain later. The lights flashing, the music turned up into a fast beat, and still, sweating and smiling, there was Hazy and Blue having the time of their lives.

Hangfire leaned on Chryse’s shoulder, watching the dance, seeing more pegasi join in, turning it into an acrobatic show that rarely gets seen on the ground, it was awesome. She drank her cider and saw the whole floor joining in now, it was turning into a regular carnival atmosphere out there, Earth Ponies showing their strength off by flipping others into the air, pegasi grabbing and dancing with them, it was incredible. Unicorns were using their magic to levitate more ponies, couples in the air, drinks to thirsty dancers. It was honestly amazing. Chryse grabbed her and Cornflower and promptly got them involved as well.

She was laughing and flapping her wings, diving and dashing around, smiling at her new friends, she wanted the night to last forever. Turning and twisting, dancing along the floor, up along the ceiling, the past weeks forgotten. Her mane and tail flying in the breeze created by so much movement. She was laughing out loud for the first time in a long time, grabbing Chryse and doing an aerial dance to the beat.

‘Fire felt the heat in the club, a haze forming from the bodies all around. It was a clean, fresh smell from the earth ponies, a sort of spicy one from the unicorns, and the pegasi topped it off with a softer scent, adding together in a frenzy of celebration for everyone. It was rare that it happened, but when it did, it was marvelous to behold, joy, and laughter, not a party type, but a deeper enjoyment of just being a pony, who you were and are.

The ponies of Equestria have a deep understanding of the land and themselves most times. Magic permeates everything, and when joy is felt, it’s released, through song, or in this case, celebration. And the celebration was just starting, the DJ was having a hard time keeping up with requests, as the drinks flowed like water. It wasn’t a celebration for anything in particular, it just was. One of those things that happens when you get enough in a crowd that say “Buck it, we’re having fun tonight.” And this time, it appeared the whole club was in on it.

The air was thick with a perfume that hit every nostril, turned every head, made bodies lean and rub against one another in joy. Hangfire spun with happiness in the air, brushing up against others as well, enjoying the camaraderie. She felt fore legs slip around her from behind, turning her head to see who it was, and fell into Cornflowers’ hug.

After that, she was sure she spent most of her budgeted amount, buying drinks, dancing with the team, or anyone that came by. It was just fun, the purest form, and yes, even Pinky showed up, she had to add balloons and lots of sugary goodies for everyone, she said she’d felt her “Pinkie Sense” go off like a rocket and couldn’t miss the party. This following the unveiling of a few thousand sugary sweet goodies that were immediately consumed, with cries for “More more!” According to later reports, Sugar Cube Corner closed down for the next two days recovering from the shock of all the baked goods gone, plus the income from the purchases.

Blue and Hazy were oblivious to what they started, until they finally looked around and saw basically a festival break out around them. They snuck back to the table and grabbed some snacks, watching the whole thing till Chryse spotted them, dragging them back into the melee they started. Pushing a couple of cold drinks in their hooves and sending them back onto the dance floor. No one was a wallflower that night, people who avoided dancing or just sat around, either left or they got dragged in, no exceptions. The bartender did a wonderful jig on the bar.

Ponies do know a lot of things, and one of them is how to enjoy themselves. Hyped up on enough sugar and alcohol to kill several thousand large land animals, it went on to the hours of the morning, and beyond. The local guard had to post outside to keep the line orderly as word got around, half the town showed up. It was peaceable, but there was a flying squad of forty more just in case hanging around the corner. Fortunately, no riots, malfeasance, nor vandalism had occurred. But, most of the businesses had to shut down for the next day, as their employees had gone to the club and refused to go to work. Actually, they refused to come out of the club at all. The DJ was still playing, alcohol was being brought by cart into the back, and folks who went in never came out.

The Guard Captain had a hard time explaining to the mayor, why the club was thumping at 8am in the morning, the businesses were shut down, and that front door was like a black hole where things disappeared. Including one unfortunate Guard Lieutenant who made the mistake of stepping inside for a moment. He was recovered sans armor in the river the next day, unharmed and with a few addresses tucked into his money bag.

Foals were warned that day not to go near the street, the Princesses declared an impromptu holiday, seeing as no one was coming out. The Guard, received combat pay for that day and the next. The Mayor and the city advisers just shook their heads when they walked by, the beats from the music still resounding through the streets. They had tried cutting the electricity, but when the thumping from a few thousand hooves started up, it was immediately turned back on.

It was referred to as the “One Time Holiday.”

According to Pinkie Pie, who, strangely enough was the only one able to get in and out of the club, she reported everything was good, no one was hurt, lots of fun inside. The Princesses themselves dropped by to see what the commotion was about, and upon returning outside, minus Princess Luna who stayed, they retreated with looks of shock and refused to comment.

Princess Luna was seen wearing a smug look for a few weeks afterwards, slyly winking to certain folks, and receiving in return the same knowing smile.

The weather suffered a bit, but the town had gone through worse.

Eventually on the second day, the music started dying out in the evening. A few, well no one got an accurate count, thousand ponies were singing at the top of their lungs as they headed for home. The clubs’ managers were still trying to figure out what happened, as crowds of happy ponies went their separate ways. It truly didn’t stop there, as most floated around in a happy daze for weeks afterwards. Ponies were reunited with loved ones, though a few were still MIA until the guard sent a special commando squad led by Pinkie to go in and get the rest.

When asked, Pinkie had told local news reporters that, “It sure was fun in there.” No one ever got more of an answer.

The local breweries and distilleries were shutting down for the week as they realized they were totally out of any kind of product whatsoever. They had to order more materials and ingredients from Manehatten and Fillydelphia to start producing again.

No one ever figured how they fit that many ponies in one building, theorists came up with explanations, but they were thrown aside in disgust. They turned to throwing their hooves in the air and muttering to themselves quite a bit.

The Guard Captain and his ponies were decorated for bravery above and beyond the call, the Lieutenant also once he recovered. They did try to debrief him, but all they said was he kept a stupid grin on his face and sang to himself for a week.

Strangely enough, not a single picture, written account, nor any type of recording was ever found or made of this event, which still puzzles ponies to this day.

And it was said, so many years in the future after the club was gone. That on certain nights, you could hear the ghostly sounds of wubs on the wind....

Author's Note

Yeah, the club scene got nuts, but hey, comedy right? :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 6

Hangfire awoke in her soft bed, stretching languorously as she kept her eyes closed. Every muscle delightfully sore, twisting and turning under the covers, she lifted her forelegs and gave a groan of delight. It wasn’t a soreness from work, but one of those glows you get from having fun all night long, like the club..

Oh Stars! The Club! Her eyes flew open in a panic, looking at the ceiling as she tried to think about the club and what happened, her inner clock chiming.. Sweet Celestia, it’s TWO DAYS later? Oh no, she was dead, she missed work, she missed a whole shift, oh no, this is the worst thing.. but.. oh moon and stars..the club..

She closed her eyes and let the warm glow flow right through her, pictures, words, things done and said, it had been the most wonderful night of her life in forever. So much to drink though, urgh.. But that dancing, the cuddling, everything. Skies above it had been so very nice. She hugged herself with a little giggle, smiling and sighing happily.

“Hey ‘Fire, finally up?” She heard a soft voice whisper in her right ear.

Her eyes shot open, staring at the ceiling for a second before slowly turning to look to her right, where she met Chryse’s smiling orange eyes.

“I uh..um..”

A muzzle from her left side nuzzled the back of her neck, deep blue fore legs wrapped around her chest, as a form snuggled up tight behind her, Cornflower?

Chryse was still looking at her, giving her a mischievous grin, when a knock came at the door. The snowy white mare yelled, “Come on in!”

Blue and Hazy appeared, with trays of food on their backs as they excitedly chattered away, “Oh my heavens did you see the kitchen? We brought food! This place is SO nice!”

Hangfire just stared at Chryse, “I..uhm..oh..”

Oh ponyfeathers......

“Oh cripes, you shoulda seen your face ‘Fire, that was the funniest thing I have EVER seen!” Chryse was laughing so hard she couldn’t breath.

Hangfire lowered her eyes, blushing intensely now as they sat on the bed, munching on the food Blue and Hazy brought. “But..I uh..”

Cornflower leaned over and hugged her round the shoulders, whispering in her ear, “I..i..it’s al..al..al..alright..”

Blue and Hazy just sat and laughed, rolling on the floor when Chryse had told them what happened.

“But I mean, we..I didn’t..did we?”

Chryse laughed again, “Nonono, you said we could all crash here, and there wasn’t enough beds, so you said we could sleep here. Blue and Hazy took the downstairs.” She gave ‘Fire an overly dramatic salacious wink, wriggling her eyebrows with an evil laugh, “But it COULD have happened!”

Hangfire covered her face with her hooves, “Oh come on!”

The room rocked with laughter again, Cornflower gave her another sweet hug as Chryse explained, seriously this time, nothing had happened, they promised. Besides, they were all so drunk the other night they all doubted anyone did anything but sleep.

Her tummy rumbled a bit, and she grabbed for the clover omelet on her plate, munching mightily as she lost her blush, licking the plate clean, “So what happened at the cl...” And then it all came back, sound and fury, light and laughter.

Her shocked face must have told it all, the other four rolling off the bed with laughter as she rummaged through the memories like a slide show.

“Was that...was..Princess Luna?”

She received four nods, “Oh stars..oh wow..”

So they passed most of the afternoon stuffing themselves full, lying around and generally being lazy for a while.

Chryse piped up, “So 'Fire, where’d you get the money for this place?”

“My dad helped me buy it, he’s a manager in Cloudcroft, and I love him to death, he figured if I was going to make it on my own, I’d at least have a nice place to live.”

Blue nodded emphatically, “You should see the kitchen! Huge freezer, tons of food, and the guest room was wow!”

Hazy added his thoughts, “And ...thank you...for letting...us...stay..”

Hangfire hugged the bulky stallion, “You’re welcome Hazy, it was my pleasure!” And it was, she thought, for the first time in a long time it was. She liked these ponies, immensely. Where others saw faults, she saw kindness and love of life, it makes a difference. As Bons always told her, it’s friends that help make the pony. She was right, friends help, a lot.

“Annnnnnnd!” Chryse held up a hoof, “we’re safe, the princesses declared a One Time Holiday so we can just show up tonight and no problems, though I’m sure Manager Jerk will grumble.”

Hangfire felt a sigh of relief coming from her, slumping back into the pillows with a thud, she’d thought for sure she’d messed up again and lost her job.

Chryse did point a hoof at Blue and Hazy though, “And just what were you ponies thinking, starting everything with that dancing, Celestia we can’t take you anywhere!”

‘Fire laughed, seeing her shaking a hoof at both the stallions and getting a mock serious tone in her voice, her face reminded her of her mother, always shaking a hoof at her. A giggle broke free and turned into a full fledged belly laugh, rocking on the mattress as she related why she was laughing so much.

As with all good things, it must end, everyone broke for their own homes to get their gear, promising to meet up in the shack later, it was going to be a cold, rainy night on the line.

Hangifre swept out of the low lying clouds, landing quickly on the platform and hustling inside. Stars was it cold! She slammed the door behind her with a back hoof, shaking the water free in the entryway before stepping out into the common area.

She waved to her friends, seeing Fast Lane and his wife talking to the Manager, some kind of vicious conversation was going on, a lot of hoof pointing and minor shouting, she didn’t want to get involved, so headed back to the locker area.

Chryse, ‘Flower and the rest wandered in, changing into cold weather gear as they got ready to release the storm tonight, it was going to be a long night, they had to dump snow in certain areas to get the right amount of melt in the daytime, making sure things got watered evenly.

Turning to Chryse as she belted her suit on, “What’s going on out there?”

Chryse shrugged, getting a disgusted look on her face, “Something about them not wanting to work tonight. I can’t figure it, they get all the days off they want, but when we ask, we’re told no. We get our normal days, but other than that, we’re held to a tight schedule.” She got a thoughtful look on her face, “You know, something else. There’s been a few couples or singles like that the past months, they come in, work when they want, get paid and then they go away, to be replaced by more. It’s odd, because I sure don’t remember alot of them EVER being on the weather crews.”

“And when someone like us, a bit of a misfit, gets sent down here, we’re stuck. It doesn’t add up.”

Hangfire nodded and finished gearing up, slapping her goggles on as they walked out to the platform for launch, she gave everyone a hoofbump for luck, “Be careful you goofy ponies, see you in the line shack.” They waved and took off, she was pairing again with Chryse and her sister tonight, it appeared to be a permanent posting, she didn’t mind, they got the work done, and maybe it would prove to be a quick night.

It turned out to be, the storm wasn’t acting up, they got alot of what they needed to accomplished. Warming in the line shack, they joked and talked about how to spend their next day off, although giving Hazy and Blue a hard time to behave. It really wasn’t their fault for the club, but the rest couldn’t resist, and seeing Hazy blush was funny, a big muscle bound stallion going beet red made it all the more funny.

It was a good night, swooping and diving among the clouds, shaking the snow off for another pass, it was almost as if she were alone up in the sky. She slipped and dove, doing a few more loops and rolls than she had to, but stretching herself out, spreading her wings wide, she caught the air and lifted free of any cares and worries. She spotted Chryse and Cornflower off to the east, giving them a wave before diving in again. She was heading towards where Hazy and Blue were working the line, seeing them, giving them a wave as well. As she stopped and dove, she could swear she saw another figure out in the clouds, but that kind of thing got spotted all the time, it was night, lots of storm to handle.

A cry got her attention as thunder cracked along the line, suddenly the front was bursting with electricity out of control. She hovered then flapping hard, pulling out of the line, checking to see if ‘Flower and Chryse were clear, she spotted them along the front, clear and done. Turning again, she spotted Hazy yelling at someone before a huge thunderboomer went crackling along the cloudfront, making her squint, holding her forelegs up against the light.

As her vision cleared, she could see Hazy diving in a reckless maneuver, stooping his wings tight and making a beeline towards a falling figure.

It was Blue.

Author's Note

If you've kept up so far, my thanks to you. Hopefully you'll stay till the end. Until then, enjoy the chapters, and thanks again for reading :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 7 - It's always the quiet ones.

Hangfire let out a yell to Chryse, before diving, following Hazy as he tried to reach Blue before he slammed into the ground. The clouds were bursting with electricity, but that wasn’t right! It was supposed to be a snow storm! She stayed well away from the front as she caught up with the big orange stallion, both of them in a steep dive before they managed to snag Blue by the hind legs, yanking up and flapping their wings with everything they had; stopping just short of the ground, letting poor Blue settle into the wet grass.

Blue was burned badly, his whole side crisped with a smell of burnt flesh that hit their nostrils. Hazy was gently patting his cheek, trying to get him to wake up, it appeared he was breathing, but very shallowly. They needed help.

Hangfire shot into the sky, seeing Chryse and Cornflower looking around for them, in a yelled conversation, she told them they needed Search and Rescue now! Cornflower following her back down as Chryse took off at top speed for the emergency shack.

The pretty blue mare squeaked in horror, seeing poor Blue’s wingfeathers half gone, his side a ruin. Hangfire could do nothing, except try and keep him comfortable with Hazy till the S&R ponies got there. Cornflowers’ eyes tearing up as she saw her friend hurt so badly, not able to say much except stroke along his burnt wings, trying along with the rest to keep him with them.

Chryse came screaming out of the sky in a slam-landing, all four hooves hitting ground at the same time, taking the shock equally. She was followed by the emergency squad, a medic grabbing for a bag as he set down next to Blue, checking him over, the others getting him ready to be hauled to the hospital ASAP.

A unicorn medic teleported in, put a painkiller spell on him, stopping the groaning that was coming now as he woke up. His breath panted from his nostrils as he still tried not to scream out loud. Blue’s eyelids cracked open, his eyes rolling in their sockets as he tried to get his bearings. Hazy was right by his side, shushing him quietly, holding his hoof in both of his as he tried to reassure his partner.

The medical crew wrapped up as best they could, shunting an IV into the large neck vein , lifting him carefully into the flying stretcher, designed to haul patients by four pegasi, fast and quick. Rolling him flat, they strapped him in and shot into the sky as fast as they could, followed by Hazy. The unicorn blinked back to the med shack in case of any more emergencies, contacting the hospital by spell to inform them of a casualty.

Cornflower had a hoof in her mouth, tears in her eyes as she watched her friend being taken off to hospital. Chryse hugged her warmly, Hangfire could only sit and watch, wondering what in the hay had happened? What in Celestias’ warm sun...had happened?

“Whoa whoa whoa, you’re blaming US for this?” Hangfire and Chryse looked at the fat pegasus in shock, “The hay do you mean ‘it was our fault!’?”

“Well you buncha idiots were doing the storm line, who else coulda caused the backlash?” He eyed Hangfire for a moment, “And we all know YOU have a problem with lightning usage, so maybe you tried a little test and got someone hurt?”

Chryse grabbed Hangfire’s arm before she could slug the fat jerk, he laughed, seeing the struggle and ignoring it completely. “What? Didn’t tell your fillyfooler friends you got a problem huh?” He gave them another malicious laugh, “Well I’m sure there will be an investigation. ‘Course, we can always see that you mares get cleared ya know? Maybe spend a little time with a certain manager?”

They knew exactly what he meant, Chryse gagged, “Ugh, you’re disgusting, we’ll take the investigation!” She kept a hold of ‘Fire, dragging her away with Cornflower trailing. The voice of their boss in their ears as they slammed out of the shack.

“Offers always open! Sure you’d like a REAL stallion!” The laughter followed them into the night like a rope around their necks.

“Chryse, let go, let’s go to my place, then we’ll get to the hospital, Hazy must be frantic.” Chryse let her arm go as the three stretched their wings, heading for Ponyville and Hangfire’s house. After dropping off their gear they streaked over to the hospital, finding Hazy had turned into a wreck in the waiting room.

The big orange stallion was close to panic as he waited for word of his partner, Blue was the closest he had to family and he couldn’t stand the waiting, the nurses had gently ushered him out of the room with promises to let him know.

Chryse, ‘Flower and ‘Fire grabbed him in a hug as they rushed into the waiting room, setting him down and getting him a bit calmer, before he trashed the whole place.

Cornflower whispered something in his ear, he nodded, “They...said to sit...and wait.. I...I...don’t know...what..to....do.”

Hangfire wing-hugged him gently, “It’s alright, that crew got there fast, they were good Hazy, he’ll be okay. He’s got to be, Blue’s a strong pony, he’ll make it.”

Hazy could do nothing but nod, his tears rolling down the orange cheeks to splash on the floor. “His...wing was...getting....alot stronger....too! He...was so...happy! He was...born...that...way....you know..”

Chryse nodded, “We know Hazy, we’re the flying misfits.” She got a chuckle out of the big stallion, “He told us all about it.”

The big stallion just nodded and sat there, twisting his hooves in front of him.

Cornflower leaned against him, whispering in his ear, giving him a warm hug as they all sat there waiting for the doctor.

Who finally came in an hour later, after everyone else were nervous wrecks.

“Anyone here named Hazy?” He got a nod and points from everyone, coming over to speak quietly with the group.

“He’ll be fine, he took a bad hit, more than ponies are supposed to. We managed to save his wing, he won’t be flying for a few months, but he should recover with work and physical therapy. You’ve got a comfortable place for him at home? Where he can work it out?”

Hangfire spoke up, “He’ll be staying with me, got a big house, Hazy and all of us will take care of him.”

The doctor nodded, “He’ll need time, but he should be okay, he’s very very lucky. I’m sorry you can’t see him right now, we’ve got him knocked out till the repairs take. Magic can only do so much, then it’s up to the body itself.”

They all nodded and thanked the doctor, grabbing Hazy and almost dragging him out as he protested. They reminded him he needed sleep and something to eat, starving himself over this wouldn’t do him or Blue any good. He just nodded and went home with them, Hangfire and Cornflower put him to bed, letting him rest with some hot tea, while they gathered in the kitchen.

Hangfire made some coffee as they sat there, thinking about Blue when it hit her, “Hey, I saw someone in the cloud front just before the lightning hit.”

Chryse raised an eyebrow, “You sure about that?”

“Positive, I thought it might’ve been a mirage, but now, I’m not so sure.”

Chryse’s face got an angry look, “Why do I think that jerk Manager had something to do with this?”

Cornflower nodded silently as Hangfire added, “You know, I could swear he was getting his laughs about Blue getting hurt, I really could. This is too much, why would anyone want to hurt poor Blue?”

Chryse stared into her cup, “Cause he’s a ‘puller’.

“Pardon me?”

“It’s a vulgar term used by ponies who don’t like stallions who like other stallions, it means..”

“I got it, that’s gross.”

“That’s what Hazy and Blue put up with, and I’ve heard that Manager use the term in passing sometimes, took me a while to get the nerve to ask Hazy ‘bout it. He was fine telling me, but that fat plot used it not a few times referring to them.”

Hangfire couldn’t believe this, it was Ponyville! Known throughout the land for acceptance and the great ponies here!

Chryse saw her face and nodded, “There’s always a few bad apples ‘Fire, you know that. The roster on the wall before we left? It also appears we’re getting another of Fast Lane’s friends on the crew, one I’ve never seen before, but he’s got Blue’s slot till he gets better.”

“You know Chryse, I didn’t even know we had a night crew till I was put on it. Now, ponies are on it that have nothing to do with the weather, Blue gets hurt, and there’s an immediate replacement? We need to get into that managers office and find out what’s going on.”

Cornflower squeaked a bit, nodding, she’d gotten into the habit when she wanted attention but didn’t want to talk, she looked slyly at Hangfire and Chrysanthemum, pulling out from her bags a ring of strange tools, looking like little hooks..

“CORNFLOWER! Where did you get those!” Chryse was stunned, her little sister? Lockpicks!

Poor Cornflower blushed under her deep blue coat, leaning in and having a whispered conversation with her sister, Hangfire leaned in trying to hear as well..” I remember that..yeah.. You WHAT? With WHO? Did you put it BACK?” Cornflower nodded and kept going. “Wait wait, is that why.. “ Cornflower nodded again, “So you’re saying.....” Much more whispering, then it stopped, Chryse was looking pole-axed as she turned to her sister, giving her the 'You are in SO much trouble’ look, “We’re going to have a long, long talk sister mine..”

Cornflower gave another sorrowful squeak, before smiling again, lifting the ring of tools up. Hangfire leaned over and hoofbumped her, sticking her tongue out at Chryse, “She’s got skills.”

Chryse facehoofed, sighing a bit, “Well thanks to the career criminal sister of mine, we have a way.” She looked at them both, “Now, here’s what we do....”

Chapter 8

Three pairs of ears, attached to three heads peeked over the bank of a cloud, their eyes fixed on the last pony out of the offices where they met each night for shift. That target turned around, locking the door just for safety really, not so much crime, and flew off to join his own family.

Two heads ducked down, though a deep blue one kept watching until yanked back down by a snowy white hoof.

“C’mon Cornflower, stay with us here, yeesh,” Chryse gave her sisters’ mane a good ruffling, to which Cornflower replied with a giggle and squeak.

Hangfire looked at them both, “Okay, we get in, get out, there’s got to be something in that jerk’s office that’ll tell us what’s going on. Other than that, I got nothin’. “

‘Flower and Chryse nodded, all three taking one last look over the cloud bank as evening fell, darkness starting to cover the skies, leaping out of the puffy whiteness and swooping down to the doorway.

“Okay ‘Flower, all yours.”

Cornflower looked around sneakily, or dramatically, depending on who you asked, but receiving facehooves from both ‘Fire and Chryse, “Cornflower, we’re not secret agents! C’mon!” The deep blue pony gave them both exasperated looks, a ‘I can’t have any fun,’ sigh before turning to the door, the lockpicks in her mouth making short work of the simple door lock.

They hustled inside the office, slamming the door behind them, heading straight for the night managers office. Hangfire pushing ‘Flower and Chryse in, in front of her and slamming the door, her heartbeat pronounced in her ears. “C’mon guys, let’s hurry, I’m not sure ‘bout this.”

Chryse turned and gave her a stare, as Cornflower started rummaging through doors and files. “Are you kidding me? REALLY?” ‘Fire made shushing motions at the raised voice. “You want to bail out NOW?”

“Chryse, shhhhhhhh! Moon and Stars I’m just nervous, I’ve never done breaking and entering!”

Chryse hooked a hoof over her shoulder, pointing at Cornflower who was skillfully looking through files and records, “You think “I” have? Heck lookit HER! She’s the pro!” Cornflower smiled and squeaked, going back to her searching.

Hangfire nodded, letting out a sigh as she stood near the door, listening close for anyone coming in, “I know! I know! Shhhh! Geez, just nervous okay?”

Chryse let out an exasperated breath, turning to help her sister.

Hangfire’s thoughts ransacked her own brain, Oh stars, we’re gonna get caught, they’re gonna throw us in the deepest Canterlot Dungeons. My career will be so over I’ll have to move to some desert to water cactus. Dad would kill me...no wait, he wouldn’t, he’d give me a disappointed look and I’d kill myself from the thought of making him sad that way. Oh Celestia we’re doomed!

She kept her ear to the door, listening while her pulse went higher and higher, threatening to give her a serious panic attack. Cornflower on the other hand was happily rummaging through files, grabbing one here and there, her sister whipping out a copy-gem. The gem had been bought, for a bit of a price, to copy whatever they found, just get a blank parchment, wipe the gem over the printed one, and the over the blank, ta-daaa! Exact copy!

Hangfire didn’t care, the blood pounded in her ears as she tried to pay attention to the door, but just couldn’t. She could hear clear as a bell, her mom’s voice.

“I TOLD you you’d come to nothing! Being a weather pony, now a criminal! Oh your poor dear mother never had such a shock!” She had a habit of talking in the third person for some odd reason. “Your mother told you, but no, you go off and do this! Oh the shame! We’ll be thrown out of Cloudcroft for sure! Shaming the family like this!”

She stared off into space, thinking furiously, Oh stars, they’ll lock us up, the world will know I’m a criminal, I’ll never get another job again! Oh no...nonono I’ll have to move back HOME!

Chryse and Cornflower were finishing up, tucking the last of the records back into place before looking up towards the door. Seeing Hangfire on her back legs, back planted against the door as if holding the hounds of Tartarus outside, her eyes gone to almost pinpricks as she started shaking.

Oh no, moving back HOME! No, nonono I’ll have to date whoever my mom wants! She’s even kept my room the same as it was! NO! Oh moon and stars I HATE ruffles! NOOOO! She heard the voice again, “It’s alright sweetie, we’ll find you a nice stallion to settle down with.” No..nono..and..and worst of all, she’ll make me eat asparagus again! Oh Luna please, anything but that, oh I hate that stuff, hate it! Ruffles, she’ll make me wear ruffles, and frilly things! Her mind went wandering down further dark paths, losing itself in pure terror, tea parties, little cucumber sandwiches, stuck up gold digging mares, garden parties! NO! If we get caught, if we get caught!

Chryse and Cornflower saw tears start rolling down Hangfire’s cheeks as they sidled closer, staring at the terrified mare. Her whole body was shaking like a leaf on Running of the Leaves Day. Her face had gone pale, Chryse waved a hoof in front of her eyes, “Hangfire? Hangfire?”

She exchanged shrugs with her sister and kept waving a hoof. Finally, taking Hangfire’s face in both hooves, she stared into her eyes, “ ‘Fire, c’mon ‘Fire, we’re fine, it’s fine.”

“I.....hate asparagus.....”

Chryse’s brow furrowed, a confused look on her face as she made up her mind, slapping Hangfire with a hoof , knocking her back into reality as she still stood shaking against the door.

“Chryse..?”

“Hey, hey yer back, what’re you so afraid of, we’re fine, we’re fine.” She hugged her friend warmly while Cornflower took over listening, “What’s wrong with you?” She ran a soothing hoof down the umber mare’s back, “What’s going on in there?”

The blond mare looked at Chryse, “Terrible things just...just terrible things... Please don’t make me move back home!” She clung to Chryse with both forelegs, “Oh stars please don’t make me move back home!”

Chryse blinked, having absolutely no clue nor frame of reference for this outburst, she comforted her friend, “I promise, I won’t.” She exchanged looks of utter confusion with Cornflower over the mare’s shoulder waiting for Hangfire to settle down.

She wiped her face with a hoof, blinking and looking around, hugging Chryse, “Wow, uh..sorry.. my mind kinda ran away with me..”

“Ran away? More like went screaming into the Everfree! ‘Fire we gotta talk sometime.”

Hangfire nodded, collecting herself once again. “I’m okay, I kinda let my imagination run wild, it’s my first burglary you know.” She gave Chryse a bit of a shaky grin, firming up as she shook herself. “We better get out of here.”

Chryse gave an absolute affirmative on that one, before poor ‘Fire freaked again. “Let’s go ‘Flower!”

Cornflower nodded, opening the door, then slamming it shut with a squeak and a look of fear! She tried to say something, but was stuttering so bad they couldn’t make it out.

Chryse facehooved, why was everyone freaking out, why?

Cornflower opened the door just a bit, letting Chryse see where she pointed.

Oh ponyfeathers.... it was the janitor...

Now the Janitor, was a nice pony, he really was. He loved his job, he liked making things clean and sparkling. His cutie mark was even crossed brooms, he was very proud of it. He’d done this job for years, and he was a happy pony. Sweeper wasn’t the smartest pony, nor was he the most handsome, but he was good, solid, truthful to a fault, and no one, absolutely no one ever had a bad thing to say about him. He always had a smile and a nice thought to say to folks when he flew in and out, shared his lunch when others looked like they needed it. He was just one of those ponies everyone knew, but didn’t really know.

It would surprise ponies everywhere, if they knew he had just completed a book about the aerodynamics of Pegasi. He carved gems, which sold in Canterlot stores for quite a bit as well, under a pseudonym. His fourth romance novel was due out this week, the other three getting acclaim as “Well written, historically accurate, and “Sweet Celestia, what a sweat maker of a love scene!” ,also under a pseudonym. Yes, Sweeper was just a pony with hidden depths, and one of them was honesty. If he caught them, he’d report them, unless he felt as if he shouldn’t.

“Pits, it’s Sweeper, he’ll turn us in, we gotta get out of here!”

Hangfire started to panic again, what to do, what to do? She thought rapidly for a moment, then pushed Cornflower around behind the desk, “Just stay there, duck behind the desk!” Cornflower squeaked in protest but ducked down.

She grabbed Chryse, hauling her around to the same side of the desk, jumping up and planting her backside on the managers blotter. She turned Chryse around to face her , lifting her up to stand in front of her behind the desk, as they heard the squeaky cart Sweeper was pushing getting closer to the door.

Hangfire looked Chryse right in the eyes, wrapping her hind legs around the snowy mares hips, “Don’t say I never did anything for you.” taking the mare’s face in her hooves, and as the door opened, she kissed Chryse’s lips warmly. Her fore legs slipping down to wrap around the white barrel, pulling her close.

Chryse leaned into the kiss, trying not to let her eyes open as she heard the silence from the open doorway. Her own fore legs wrapping around Hangfire, her tongue running loose and free along with her friends.

Now, Sweeper had seen some things in his life, he had. He even wrote about them, or just kept it to himself. Opening the door to what was probably the most intimate scene he’d ever come across, stopped him dead in his tracks.

A flush came to his cheeks, he was no stranger to love being an older pony. But somehow, the snowy white mare, and the darker colored one wrapped in what was obviously a passionate embrace, triggered his sense of chivalry. He didn’t stare, nor did he interrupt, he just started backing out of the office quietly, but not before seeing a darker blue pair of ears peeking over the desk, and definitely NOT wanting to know the details! If ponies were in love, they were in love, and it wasn’t his business as he closed the door.

Outside of the office he wiped his brow and made off to the furthest reaches of the office, figuring starting there would allow the mares to make a nice quiet getaway. He was sure they heard him, so he made himself scarce. Though to be honest, if anyone were to notice, what he saw showed up in his fifth romance novel, colors changed of course.

Hangfire leaned back from the kiss, her lips tingling and oh so warm as she held Chryse closely, looking into her soft orange eyes. They were both panting a bit, heat rushing throughout their bodies as they sat there for a moment, just looking at each other with a bit of surprise. ‘Fire’s ears lowered a bit as her cheeks glowed a bright red, letting Chryse loose from her forelegs.

For once in her life, Chryse herself felt a bit shy as well, looking at her friends violet eyes, trying and failing not to look away. Both of them avoiding a direct gaze as Hangfire slipped off the desk, giving Chryse a bump with her hindquarters and a smile. Chryse winked back and they both jumped, as Cornflower poked them from under the desk, wanting out from her cramped position. She sighed happily, stretching out and heading for the door, looking out to see Sweeper as far away from the office as he could get.

Hangfire hummed to herself, leaning into Chryse as they walked towards the opening, Cornflower grinning a bit as they peeked out, then made for the outer door; catching a glimpse of Sweeper studiously avoiding any eye contact and polishing a desk.

Swooping off into the early evening, Hangfire’s thought’s turned to her panic attack, now long gone, feeling a languorous mood as they swept down towards her house to look over the papers. Landing on the balcony, they trotted inside, wanting to get a good look at what Chryse and Cornflower had found.

Time to find out what was going on.

Chapter 10

The next day or so, all was going normally. The little group picking up the slack, while the new weather ponies seemed to be busy elsewhere for some reason or another. It rankled, but nothing could be done until they got a chance to sit with the parchment they had purloined and really give them a once over.

So, to offset the bad feelings, Hangfire decreed a dress up day! They would wear the finery they had bought and received at Rarity’s to work. Although one would worry about damaging the fine items, Rarity never made anything that wasn’t sturdy, it would outlast anything else comparable.

Hangfire, Cornflower, Chryse and Hazy walked in looking like fashion models off the runway, the gems sparkling in the office light. The colors rippled along the soft fabrics, showing every precise stitch and the tiny jewels embedded therein.

Warm? Warm enough like a second coat, but light enough to not get in the way of anypony’s hooves. They were marvels of design and function and they wore them like royalty.

Which of course, entirely pissed off the Manager, and the so called new weather ponies who looked on with not a slight envy.

They were in the locker room, making sure they folded their new clothes carefully before changing into their weather gear. Hearing the door slamming behind them, followed by the raspy laugh of a pegasi they’d all learned so well to despise.

‘So, nice new clothes you got there.”

Chryse pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, “Yes, what business is it of yours?”

The fat manager leaned up against a wall of lockers, a smirk on his face, “Just wondering how you all could afford it. Not like you guys make enough to get anything like that.”

Hangfire whipped around, pointing a hoof, “For your information, we got them at Rarity’s, she was kind and generous to a fault, and let us have things at a lower price.”

The raspy laugh returned, the brown eyes staring at them in accusation, “Oh really? One of the finest clothiers in Ponyville and she just ups and lowers her prices. Riiiiight. More like you all been doing a few things on the side maybe? I know certain ponies like paying for a bit of fun on the side. The rumors about Rarity might even say it’s true.”

Cornflower shot out from behind Chryse, “Y..y...you t...t..take th...th..that..” And was interrupted rudely.

“O..o..o..or wh..wh..what?” He mocked poor Cornflowers stutter and leered back at her, “For telling the truth? Everyone knows your little group are nothin’ but ‘pullers and ‘foolers. Ain’t too hard to imagine you selling yourselves on the side for a little gain, some bits, maybe some new clothes! I bet that’s it, got yourselves a little thing on the side, maybe helping Miss Rarity fulfill her desires a bit in exchange?”

Hangfire had had enough, she shot off the bench, rearing back with one hoof to flatten that pudgy face before she was dragged down and back by Cornflower and Chryse grabbing her arms and holding her. “Don’t Hang, don’t, it’s just words.”

“No! Rarity’s special, she’s someone nice! Someone like him doesn’t get to insult her! NO!” She struggled against the restraining arms, anger lighting her face up, she wanted a piece of that jerk badly.

“Hang, we’ll lose our jobs, don’t, please don’t!”

She stopped struggling, letting herself hang in their arms for a moment before turning away, wiping her face as she said out loud, “It’s not true.”

That raspy laugh returned, “Oh ho ho, I see it IS true, oh I can’t wait to tell the other ponies what you’ve got going on!” He grinned along one side of his mouth, giving them a wink, “Maybe I can offer a few bits for somthin’ huh? Shouldn’t cost THAT much.” He hooked a hoof over his shoulder, “I bet that’s what his buddy is doing right now since he can’t fly!” The laugh returned louder and uglier than before.

And was quickly silenced with a thunderous crash.

Hazy. Warm, wonderful, slow-talking Hazy. Who liked watching butterflies with his coltfriend. Who never said a word against anypony in the world, had been listening closely to the whole thing, not wanting anyone to get hurt.

He had heard the ‘puller’ comment, making him angry, but nothing he hadn’t heard before. Listening to the comments about Miss Rarity, whom he had sent flowers as a thank you, made him outraged. He had been about to say something, when he saw the pointed hoof, and the nasty comment about Blue. He went livid, blowing his nostrils wide as he stood up and drove his entire body into a hit.

Hazy was built like a steel outhouse, rock solid muscle from one end to the other. He stood up on his hind legs, rearing back with one stone like hoof and hammered it right into the managers face. The force of the blow sending the pegasus flying into the lockers, knocking a couple rows over before he landed in a tumbled heap.

The big stallion was furious, he was beyond incensed as he stalked over to the manager. His eyes flashed as he reared back again, the triphammer hoof hitting the leering face again and once more. The sound of bone breaking was audible to everyone in the room, the other pegasi crowding the doorway to see what had happened.

He pointed a big shod fore hoof at the manager and said in his usual way; “Don’t...you..e...ever..say..anything...about..Miss..Rarity again! A..and don’t ever...ever...say anything ab..about...Blue!” He leaned back, winding up for a final blow with everything he had, his whole body turned to one purpose, pulping that manager!

“HAZY NO!” Chryse screamed into the silence, “Stars Hazy no! Stop! Please stop!”

The big male blinked for a second, looking around as if realizing what he’d done. He dropped to all fours and stared at the ground before looking up at Chryse, firm determination on his face. “No...more...Chryse..”

The pegasi at the door were calling for a medical crew. the three mares rushed over to Hazy, blocking him from the manager, and hugging him.

Hangfire grabbed the big stallions head, “Hazy, oh Hazy you shouldn’t have done that!”

He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing heavily and calming down as he gathered his thoughts. “Miss Rarity...was...so...nice..to..all...of..us And...and...what..he...said..about her....and...Blue....isn’t...true!”

Hangfire hugged him tighter, “We know that Hazy, we know, it’s just words, they don’t mean anything! He’s just a jerk, you should have just ignored him, he’s nothing.” She leaned her head against his, holding tight as the medical crew rushed past them, tending to the manager. “Hazy, you’ve got to go, go home, stay there.”

He nodded, and grabbed his things from the ruined lockers, heading out of the weather offices.

Fate sometimes is cruel, and this was one of those times. The manager could still talk, albeit quite slurred, but the meaning was unmistakable.

“You’re fired! Get out, I don’t want to see you here again! FIRED!” He pointed a shaking hoof at the three mares, “Get out to your jobs or I’ll fire you too!”

They all stared at the bloody face, the medical unicorn trying to put a pain spell on him so he’d shut up. The two pegasi with him looked at the three mares and made ‘get along’ motions unobtrusively. They’d been at the scenes of enough accidents on the night shift, and were tired as well of this bombastic manager. They nodded and acceded to the request, slapping their gear on and taking to the skies.

In the line shack later, while warming themselves, Hangfire re-enacted the first punch over and over to the laughter of Chryse and Cornflower. The three mares sat around the crackling fires, getting ready to go back out, and silently thanking Celestia for sending a bit of justice their way.

Chapter 11

Hangfire woke with a start, the sun was up and she stretched a bit before slipping out of the bed. Chryse and Cornflower mumbled in their sleep as she went down to fix a cup of coffee.

She sat at the big kitchen table, a cup of hot coffee in her hoof as she stared at the pile of parchment in front of her, sighing to herself as she tried to make heads or tails of the numbers written everywhere, wishing she’d paid more attention in class.

Sipping the hot brew slowly, letting it warm her insides, her eyes slipped to the calender on the wall. She squinted a bit at the date and almost dropped her coffee cup!

Oh pits, Hearth’s Warming Eve was tomorrow and she hadn’t bought a single thing!

Finishing her coffee quickly, almost scalding her tongue, she jumped in for a quick shower, getting wrapped up for the weather, grabbing her bag of bits and headed out to find something for her friends. Hangfire closed the door quietly behind her as she left the house, still loving the scarf she was wearing, Rarity made wonderful things. That’s it! Rarity will have something, and I got enough to pay for it!

A grin on her face, she trotted down to the Carousel Boutique, wondering what the heck she was going to get, but figured she’d come up with something.

The Boutique was open for business, it appeared it was also quite brisk as she walked in, the light grey mare looked in a tizzy as she tried to help all the customers. Hangfire politely held back and went over to the glass case containing jewelry, searching for a couple things she knew Chryse and Cornflower would love. There they were!

Her eyes had settled on two pairs of earrings, most times ponies never wore anything like that, but these were somehow better. They weren’t something that you punched a hole in your ear to wear, but were made with a band, that fit tight and unobtrusively to the outside, making it look like it was pierced.

One set, was a pair of rubies set in gold bands, the other, a pair of deep blue sapphires set in silver. They would be perfect for the two mares! Her head tilted as she looked at the prices, realizing they weren’t that high at all, how in the hay did Rarity stay open?

She grabbed up the two sets and waited while Rarity dealt with what was left of the customers, all the last minute shopping was brisk for retailers on the day before Heath’s Warming Eve. She looked around the boutique, seeing all the new stuff that was out since the last time she had been there, and still wondering, how in the world can she do all this?

Her reverie was broken by a cultured voice next to her, suddenly enveloped in a hug!

“Hangfire! Darling how are you! I haven’t seen you in a couple weeks!”

She recoved quickly, hugging the pretty mare back, setting her choices on the counter, “I’ve been fine Mi..er.. Rarity, just working hard. I didn’t realize it was almost Hearth’s Warming and came to find gifts.”

The perfectly done mane flipped to the side as Rarity looked at the ear bands, “Oh those are truly wonderful! For Chryse and Cornflower I assume?”

Hangfire nodded, “Oh yes, they’re going to love them.”

The talk went for a bit, small chit-chat, Rarity asking about her friends. It gave her a warm feeling inside knowing it wasn’t just idle chatter, but Rarity truly did care about people.

As she was wrapping the ear bands, she placed a hoof on the counter, “And you tell that dear Hazy of yours, that the flowers he sent were marvelous! They were so beautiful and I still have them here!” She pointed to a large vase, filled with roses and carnations. “He has such good taste, do tell him to drop by so I may thank him in person would you?”

“I will, but he’s a bit shy, so it might take a bit.” She thought of the gregarious Rarity thanking the big stallion, he’d blush down to his hooves. A smile split her face at the thought, “I’ll see about getting him in here, I know you’re busy.”

That comment was waved off with the usual air, “Never too busy for friends!” She passed the packages back to Hangfire and gave her another hug, “You just take care of yourself now you hear?”

“Putting the wrapped packages in her bag, she nodded, “I will, and thank you again!”

There was a skip in her step as she trotted down the street, the day was a bit cloudy, but it was a lot warmer then it had been. It just made her all the more happy. Stopping on a street corner, she hooked into the local Quills and Sofa’s, Celestia knows why they chose that name. She rolled her eyes a bit, thinking someone had a bit too much cider that day when they opened the store, but they did sell great quills, and Blue loved to draw.

She picked up a wonderful set, along with colored inks for a next to nothing price, thank goodness for sales! She had them wrapped in gaily colored paper for him. Waving to the proprietor, she trotted back out, heading to the library, she needed to see if they had any books that Hazy would like.

Standing in front of the Golden Oaks Library, she tried to think of any books Hazy would like, he was so well read. She shook her head, thinking if ponies only knew the razor sharp mind behind his slow speech. Hangfire sighed, she hated losing games of chess to Hazy, one of these days.

Opening the door slowly, she was lost in thought, when a cheerful voice greeted her, “Hi! Can I help you?”

Shutting the door politely, Hangfire smiled, turning around to meet the violet eyes of Princess Twilight Sparkle herself! She stuttered a bit, bowing low to the ground, “I’m.. I’m sorry Princess I didn’t mean to bother.”

The bright eyes rolled as she made waving motions, “Ugh, stop that!” She pointed at her mane, “See? No crown, just a librarian.” She gave another winning smile, coming around the counter to stand by Hangfire, “Can I help you find a book?”

Hangfire stood back up, thinking quickly as to what to say. I mean, it’s not every day you meet, oh wait..she lived here, of course it was everyday you met royalty. She facehooved, I’m such a nit.

Twilight watched the umber mare facehoof, she tilted her head, it almost looked like she was talking to herself, “Are you okay?”

“J..Just flogging myself mentally your highness, sorry about that, I tend to do it alot.” She gave the princess a shaky grin while thinking to herself, great, I have just seriously messed up a first impression with royalty, I am scoring a thousand here.

“It’s Twilight please, and why are you doing that? I understand of course, I do it myself when I find I can’t properly organize things sometimes. It gets so frustrating to have...” and the princess was off, talking about lists, keeping things organized. Having to take care of royal duties as well as the library, her friends, and trying to spend time with them. It went on for quite a few minutes, Hangfire had no intention of interrupting it.

She kept the smile on her face, watching the princess walk around the room, pointing and gesturing to the books, her basement, the upper floors. Talking about the happenings in Canterlot that she had to attend, all the myriad things that make up a day.

Twilight wound down, turning around to see Hangfire setting on the floor. Twisting her hooves a bit as she waited politely for the princess to stop so maybe she could find something, but with absolutely no idea what to say about anything she had been talking about. Information overload had reached peak about 5 minutes into the one sided conversation.

Hangfire kept the nervous smile, “I..wow that sure seems like a busy time.” Great, just great, another witty comment ‘Fire, you’re doing well.

Twilight smiled back and realized what she had done and tried to make amends, “Ohmygosh I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to rattle on like that. Please accept my apologies!”

Hangfire’s eyes went a bit wide, a princess apologizing? Seriously? Ponies like her really had no day to day experience with anyone from the so-called upper class, they were just working ponies. But she was warming fast to this geeky, wonderfully polite mare who obviously loved her job no matter what she said.

“It’s okay, really, I just came in to buy a book for a friend if I could?” Hangfire got a hopeful look on her face, maybe she’d get lucky and this likeable mare had something?

“Of course, we have tons of them! “She gestured around, “What kind of book? Spells? Magic for beginners? We have math and science, and oh so many!”

“Would you have any on butterflies?”

The mulberry mare looked at her for a moment, then brightened, “Yes! We do, we have a few over here!” She launched herself at a shelf, bringing over a few thick bindings of parchment, beautifully bound. “This one is for identifying the various species by Bright Wings, truly a scholar! “ She showed a few more, leaving Hangfire to look through them, before picking one with pictures and descriptions of all sorts of butterflies. Hazy is gonna love this.

“This one if you would please?” She pointed to the plate filled book, bound in material with gold leaf titles. She had more than enough to purchase it and was pleased.

Twilight nodded, “Hearth’s Warming gift I take it?” She asked, sliding the book around and wrapping it in pretty paper.

Hangfire smiled brightly, “Oh yes, Hazy’s my friend, and he loves butterflies. He’s big and tough, but such a softie.”

It struck Hangfire at that moment. It wasn’t obtrusive, nor overt, but something in the way Twilight acted changed. A slight change in voice, her stance, it was nothing Hangfire could point to and say 'That was it.’ She tried to keep the smile from fading in fear as she watched the change, thanking Twilight very much for wrapping the book.

Paying for her acquisition, she politely took her leave and walked out of the library, a worried look crossing her face as she hustled to get home.

She trotted quickly, fears in her mind that they might be in a lot more trouble than they had thought. Had she looked back, she’d have seen Twilight talking intensely with Spike in the doorway of the library, looking her way.

Chapter 12

Hangfire had put her fears away for now, they had Hearth’s Warming Eve tonight, and she was busy fixing dinner. Hazy took Blue out for a walk, to stretch a bit from all the bedridden days. He was getting so much better she thought.

Chryse and Cornflower were out getting more stuff for dinner, and wine! They were going to really do it up tonight! She had a set of good plates, and dinnerware, delicate cups and saucers her mother had given her.

Everypony got tonight off, even the most hard-core workers took the day, and the next off. The weather was stabilized as best it could be, though flurries still happened until everypony was back at work.

She set out a linen tablecloth, smooth and brightly colored, covering the big dinner table, making sure each place setting was perfect. The glasses and cups set just so, napkins folded on the plates just like you find in a fancy restaurant.

Take that she thought, don’t have to pay fifty bits a plate here!

The fire was lit in the big hearth, warming the whole house, the flames dancing merrily in the waning sunlight. Candles of all colors decorated the shelves, the lights making hued shadows flicker all around. It was perfect, the first Hearth’s Warming with her friends, and she was so excited.

The presents she had bought for her friends lay on the hearth side, the paper shining in the light and put just right as well. She wanted everything perfect for this night and tomorrow, when they’d exchange gifts, and have another wonderful dinner.

They had endured so much together, so many little things that brought them closer. She relished the hugs she got from Cornflower every morning, just to say hello. The moments with Chryse, sharing a cup of tea or coffee, talking about anything and nothing. And just sometimes, ever so rarely, sharing a kiss in the hallway. She didn’t know exactly what her feelings were for Chryse, was it friendly, was it love? She wasn’t sure, but there was time to explore that later hopefully.

Hazy still won at chess dangit. She was bound and determined to beat that stupid stallion. Blue, decided the house needed some pictures, and ended up drawing a few that graced the bare walls, cheerful and bright, they lit up the heretofore empty spaces, making them more like home.

A worried look crossed her face as she stirred the pasta, thinking hard about the day before, and Twilight’s library. She didn’t know what she had said, going over the conversation hundreds of times in her mind. It was Hazy’s name that set it off, she was sure. Please, please Celestia, don’t let anything bad happen to that stallion, he doesn’t deserve anything bad. If anything he deserved a medal for throwing that punch. She could still see it in her mind, how angry he was.

She was so wrapped up in thought, she didn’t hear Chryse and Cornflower come in until two blue legs snuggled her from behind, “H..h...hi F..F...Fire..” Cornflower was talking a lot more since that day at Rarity’s, and it was just wonderful.

She wiped away her look, putting the lid on the pot and turning around to give her and her sister hugs, “About time you got back, are we in the poorhouse now?” Giving Chryse a wink as she saw all the bags on the counter.

Chryse took a pose, her foreleg along her brow, “Oh dear me, Cornflower ran me ragged all over town!” Rolling her eyes and laughing as Cornflower squeaked indignantly.

The blue mare pointed at Chryse, “Sh..sh..she t..t..took f..f..f..forever a..a..at th..the mm..mm..market!” Giving her sister a punch on the shoulder, tongue sticking out at the snowy mare.

Hangfire rolled her eyes, opening the oven, letting the smell of pumpkin and apple pie drift out to quell the argument. Chryse and Blue immediately shut up, leaning over her shoulder, “We didn’t know you could bake!?”

“I’m not as good as Sugar Cube Corner, but I try.” She checked them quickly and shut the door, pointing to a large box on the counter, “Though I did stop by and pick up some of those wonderful cupcakes you guys like.”

Chryse let out a yell, leaping for the box, barely beating her sister to open it. Inside was a couple dozen of Pinky’s Best they were called, Swirled icing, fudge everywhere, frosting that just made your mouth water looking at them, and the smell? Heaven had a hard time attracting residents because they got distracted by Pinky’s cupcakes.

Hangfire got a wooden spoon, waving it at the sisters, “Back! Back you ravenous beasts! Get yer hooves off those, they’re for later!” She gave them both taps on their backside, eliciting yelps and outraged looks. “Go on with you layabouts! Get the groceries out!” She menaced the two mares with swings of the spoon.

Chryse winked at her sister, receiving a nod, “There’s two of us, and you certainly can’t stop us both!” She gave a menacing laugh, eye-balling the box of treats. Her hooves reached out to try and tickle Hangfire as her sister ran for the box.

‘Fire swung the spoon, batting at a hoof, “Back I say! Cornflower you keep your hooves off those!”

Both sisters were laughing, the battle for cupcakes was getting a bit intense as Cornflower reached into the box, her sister yelling to get them both a couple. Hangfire swung around the kitchen table, swatting Cornflower on the backside again, seeing her jump and yell rubbing her cheek. “H..h..HEY!”

“I told you, no cupcakes till later!” She pointed the spoon at both the mares, giving them a stare, “Later!”

Cornflower and Chryse looked at each other, then launched themselves at Hangfire, who covered her face with her arms, expecting to get piled on any second. When it didn’t happen, she peeked out from between her arms, seeing Hazy had wrapped legs around both mares, holding them in midair as he stood on his back hooves, keeping them tight against his side, “Now...she...said...”

Cornflower hung there, looked defeated as Chryse slapped his hide, “Hey! No fair! Yer bigger than the rest of Ponyville you softie!”

Hazy just chuckledas he held them both till the sisters hung limp in his grip, utterly certain of sugary rewards until he had snuck up on them and caught them mid leap. “Promise...you’ll...behave..”

Chryse threw her hooves up in the air, “Fine, we’ll give up, we’ll wait for cupcakes!” Cornflower nodded in agreement as they were both dropped unceremoniously on the carpet. Giving Hazy the evil eye as they got back up, Chryse slapped his hide again, “You big bully!” Sticking her bottom lip out in a pout as she stood there. He leaned over and smooched her right on the mouth, leaving her flustered and blushing to her tail, “You...why..you..oooo..no fair!” Giving in and giving him a hug.

A voice interrupted, “Hey, you stealing my coltfriend there you wanton mare?” Blue peeked out from behind Hazy’s bulk, giving her a leer. “I always knew ya had the hots for him!” He leaned back against the doorway, throwing his hooves up in the air, “Oh whatever shall I do! Loneliness forever, stolen away by some mare! Oh the shame!”

Cornflower rolled on the floor laughing out loud, her sides heaving as she saw the look on her sisters face. Hangfire was leaning back against the stove hee hawing like some donkey, wiping tears from her eyes.

Chryse let go of Hazy, pinching her nose and sighing dramatically, “I can’t win, I just can’t win.” She peered up at Hazy who was trying his best to not laugh, only letting a few snerks out from his clamped shut mouth.

Chryse threw her hooves up in the air in a gesture of finality, “Okay fine, I see how it is, you all ganging up one poor mare, buncha bullies I tell you!” She was, however, getting a lot closer to the open box of cupcakes, reaching out while everyone was laughing to snag herself a snack.

The sneaking hoof was stopped dead by a wooden spoon, smacking her lightly on the pastern. She snatched it back, looking hurt as Hangfire waved the spoon around, “Nice try there Chryse.”

The orange eyes rolled as she went back to the table, sniffling in mock sadness, “I see how you are, we do all the shopping, but noooo..”

Hangfire pressed a hoof to her forehead, “Fine! Just ONE though! ONE!”

Cornflower gave a squeak, reaching the box the same time as Chryse did, each picking out a sugary coated treat, just the look of which would drive dentists mad. Peeling off the paper cups, they each took a bite and promptly sat their backends on the floor, lost in an orgy of sugary ecstasy.

Hangfire looked at the ceiling, “Good grief, just for a cupcake?” Her eyes came down to see Hazy and Blue giving her big sad puppy dog eyes, waiting for her okay, “Oh for Celestia’s sake! Stop looking at me like that! ONE! Just ONE!”

The two stallions immediately joined the sisters on the floor, savoring each bite of the cupcakes, which in all honesty, were some of the best cupcakes made in Equestria. Thrones and empires had been lost for less, and here in this kitchen, bliss prevailed.

Hangfire made sure her dinner was not going to burn, taking the pies out to cool, stepping over the supine ponies on the floor, each enjoying their own personal Elysium. Shaking her head, looking upwards one more time, she grabbed one and joined them, figuring..you know the rest I’m sure.

After shooing away the lotus eaters, Hangfire set about finishing dinner. She’d planned and sweated all day looking forward to this. Giving a holler down the hallway, she called them to the meal as she scurried about, setting out bowls and platters.

The four arrived at a table that would give some of the finest restaurants a run for their money. Hazy was asked to open the bottle of wine Chryse and Cornflower had bought especially for tonight.

Alongside the wine, there were warming mugs of spiced apple cider, cups of hot coffee, pitchers of cold milk and ice water dripping condensation on their napkins

Setting in the middle of the dinner table, platters of angel hair pasta, covered in a rich sauce thick with peppers, onions and mushrooms. Steaming basins of mashed potatoes set near boats of thick gravy. Baked potatoes adorned another plate, alongside fresh butter bought that day from the farms outside of town, accompanied by sour cream and chives.

There were stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, if it could be cut open, it got stuffed with warm fillings and spices. These resided next to baskets of hot dinner rolls, covered in soft cloths to keep warm. Crusty bread was sliced and arranged artfully, each piece piled with a heaping concoction consisting of tomatoes, peppers, cheese and spices.

Off to the side a fondue pot, for dipping anything they wanted, heavy and hot. Grilled vegetables overflowed the delicate bowls she’d set out especially for the dinner tonight.

Glass platters divided into five sections rested near each individual plate, the middle was full of blue cheese dressing, made that day cold and fresh, surrounded by olives, cherry tomatoes, celery and carrots.

A huge deep dish of salad, crisp lettuce draped with slices of different cheeses, more tomatoes, shaved carrots, radishes, anything she had she threw in.

If they survived the coming onslaught of tempting dishes, there was apple and pumpkin pies waiting. Fresh whipped cream cooling in the fridge along with ice cream of various flavors. Apple fritters from Sweet Apple Acres sat side by side with the cupcakes they had fought over earlier.

At last, the feast was laid out, just as Hangfire wanted it. She wanted everything to be perfect, for her friends. She was sure the budget was blown, nay destroyed for the month. But right now she didn’t care, seeing their faces as they kept watching her pull dish after dish out of the kitchen, bringing them to the immaculately set table, made it all worth while. She had found a set of cushions her mother had given her, too ostentatious for anything everyday, but just perfect to sit on at the low table. Soft velvety comfort cradling each pony as they waited for her to sit down.

Hangfire looked around to make sure everything was on the table, nothing left behind or they’d need. Finally setting at her place, she tied a napkin around her neck quickly, looking up to see them all raising their wine glasses. Tilting her head, she raised hers and was about to say something when she got interrupted by Blue.

He grinned, a light in his eyes shone warmly, “I have been designated to tell you Miss Hangfire, that this is the finest dinner we have ever seen in our lives. I believe, as we all do, the Royal Canterlot Kitchens would be hard pressed to do the same.”

He waved a hoof at her when she tried to reply, “Stop. This is our turn now. To you, who opened her home and her heart to us when she didn’t have to. Who accepted us flying misfits without a qualm. To you, Miss Hangfire, our love, our affection and our friendship forever.”

She felt a lump in her throat, looking around the table, seeing smiles from Hazy and the sisters, nodding at her to say something. She looked at the food, the settings, everything she’d worked so hard to do, and not one bit of it compared to what Blue had just said.

Hangfire cleared her throat and lifted her wineglass a bit more, saying softly but loud enough for everyone to hear, “To family.”

Author's Note

Because Hearth's Warming is coming, so, slice of life here and the next then we're back into the bad ponies! Happy Hearth's Warming folks :twilightsmile:

Chapter 13 Author's Note

Sorry for the late update, getting mah own hearth's Warming ready, and to all of you fine, wonderful, fantastical readers, Happy Hearth's Warming to you and yours!

Chapter 13

Hangfire was awoken by the bouncing of the bed, most violently actually. It appears Cornflower was the first one up and decided in her way, that since she was awake everyone else needed to be. Thus, this was accomplished by treating the mattress like a trampoline.

The bouncing was accompanied by a loud “Wheee!” Then a squeaking as she landed, straddling Chryse and Hangfire as they tried to wake up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

“Cornflower, for Luna’s sake stoppit! Agh!”

The pretty blue mare stopped her bouncing, hugging her sister and pointing out the door to the room, “C..c..c’mon! I..i..it’s H...h...Hearth Wuh...wuh...Warming!”

Hangfire rubbed her eyes and smiled at ‘Flower, “Go on down to start the coffee, we’ll be right down. Promise!”

Cornflower gave a happy squeak and tumbled out of the doorway, leaving Hangfire and Chryse staring at each other blearily.

Chryse hugged her warmly, “Happy Hearth’s Warming Hang.”

“Same back atcha Chryse, should we get down there before she explodes?”

Chryse rolled her soft orange eyes and sighed, “Yeah we better, Celestia knows what she’s doing down there.”

Brushing their manes as best they could, they slipped out of the room, prepared for a holiday with smiles.

Cornflower, had started the coffee as asked, though she was bouncing around the living room. Looking at the presents laying along the hearth, tilting her head as she read the labels on each of them. There were a few more, as Hangfire was sure Blue and Hazy added their own during the night, as well as Chryse.

Hangfire dropped some logs into the banked fire, getting it nice and stoked, the flames dancing merrily as the house warmed. Chryse came out with mugs of coffee for everypony, seeing Hazy and Blue wander out of their room.

“Cornflower wake you as well?”

Blue laughed, “Yeah, seems to think everyone has to be up at..” He looked at the clock on the wall, “FOUR AM? Oh fer..geez Cornflower!”

The little blue mare was unrepentant, sitting with a candy cane in her muzzle, her yellow eyes just smiling at everyone in the firelight.

As they sat and shared quiet time, with the exception of Cornflower of course, they thought of the meal the night before. After stuffing themselves, they’d realized they’d had more than they needed. So bundling up against the cold, they had put all the hot dishes into containers and went out to find somepony that needed a bit of help.

Of course, no trip through the evening was replete without carols, so the little group belted out tunes as they marched their way through Ponyville, being joined by not a few more families that had decided to do the same thing.

As tends to happen in the small town, quite a crowd had gathered outside town hall, singing and tossing snowballs, piles of food and gifts gathered on the steps and decking outside. Mayor Mare had actually shown up, shaking herself out of a warm house, seeing the singing ponies laden with food and more tramping down the street.

Even in a community such as Ponyville, there was always a new family or two, or some people who hadn’t quite had enough for the holidays that needed a bit of help. The names were quickly found, Mayor Mare being quite the organizer. Ten families it seemed, needed a bit of help this season, so off the crowd went!

Of course, the sight of a few hundred ponies outside your door in the late evening was surprising to some, and it took a bit of talking from the Mayor to get them to open their doors. Whereupon the family or the single pony inside were showered with food and gifts, and a few carols sung, not really well but with enthusiasm. A few tears of joy were seen of course, families who’d hadn’t enough saved for much of a Hearth’s Warming were shocked to see ponies everywhere, giving them gifts for themselves and their little foals. Food piled high on the doorstep completed the giving as the crowd moved off to give away everything they’d brought.

Hearth’s Warming wasn’t about the getting, but the giving. The big impromptu crowd, wound it’s way through the town; till the last gift was given, the last container of hot food bestowed, and the last carol sung. They gathered one last time in front of town hall, for farewells and hugs, wending their way back home to enjoy the rest of the evening. Mayor Mare just shaking her head, seeing the happy crowd disperse and was pretty much convinced the whole town lost it’s collective mind in a good way some times.

It gave Hangfire a warm glow inside as she sipped her coffee, remembering the one family with three little foals who got buried under gifts and food. The father thanking everyone as mom told the little ones the crowd were Santa Hooves’ helpers dropping off things for Hearth’s Warming.

It had been a wonderful way to end a wonderful night, she thought. Smiling to herself, she busied with wandering into the kitchen, hoping to drive Cornflower nuts with the waiting as well. Grabbing a few plates of snacks out of the cold box, bringing them back into the warm living room, she joined the others who were rattling the wrapped boxes now.

“You put those down you mooches!” She waved a warning hoof at the bunch of ponies, “You can’t keep your hooves off the gifts for five minutes, yeesh!” In return, she got four sets of very big, warm pony eyes, sort of like puppy dog eyes, but much, much worse.

“AGH! You ponies are getting far too good at that stuff!”

Blue laughed, his wing on the mend faster now, he was actually taking short flights, his side was almost healed, though there would be a few scars. He let it roll off himself though, he was happy, with friends, and alive, that was the main thing. “Well we have a few gifts for you too! You suuuuuuuuure you don’t want to rattle a box?”

He proffered a brightly wrapped box, waving it in front of her muzzle, “C’mon now, you know you want to!”

Hangfire’s eyes narrowed a bit before she snatched the box from his hoof, “Fine!” And began to shake it as well, receiving only a muffled sound. “Huh, nothing to rattle in here.”

Cornflower of course, was just delighted to keep shaking a box or two. Finally looking around and asking, “C...c....can w..w..we.. o..oh....open nuh...nuh...now?”

Hangfire passed this one to Chryse, giving her a ‘It’s your call’ look and taking no responsibility whatsoever for any carnage after the decision was made.

Chryse sighed and nodded, “It’s morning, of course we can.”

They all took to unwrapping presents at the signal, though for some reason they all seemed to take their time, making sure the paper was smartly taken off each gift. This made Hangfire curious, as she tore her own off. “Hey, why are you doing that?”

Hazy looked up, “What?”

“Well, the way you’re taking the paper off, I mean.. Well, don’t you just tear it off?”

The four looked at each other as if she’d gone a bit mad, then stared at the paper they were all undoing neatly. Chryse and Cornflower blushed a bit, as they looked anywhere but at the paper, “Well.. me and ‘Flower never had much money, we always saved the paper to be reused..”

Hazy and Blue looked at each other, then nodded, “Us too. We always kept things to reuse or save for later, we never had much.”

Hangfire’s ears lowered as she thought about all the times she barreled through a wrapped gift, just tossing paper aside. The times she’d never thought about even keeping the paper as she was so excited on Hearth’s Warming Day.

“I... I never thought about it that way..”

She stood up and gathered the half-unwrapped gifts, “No, nonono, this won’t do!”

She stalked off into the kitchen, a few minutes later to the bewildered looks of her friends, she walked back out carrying the gifts wrapped again. “No, now you tear that paper off,” setting the presents back in front of everyone. “You tear it off, and for the love of Celestia, have fun. No more. Nope, not gonna be this way!”

Chryse stared at her for a moment, “What..I don’t..”

“Hangfire stamped a hoof, “No! We have a big house, we make enough between all of us. Sun and Moon you don’t HAVE to save anymore, it’s okay!” She gave them a pleading look, “We don’t have to scrounge, we don’t have to save every little bit. It’s Hearth’s Warming! Tear it off, forget just for one second, just..just...be foals again! No one’s going to judge you, I’m certainly not! This is OUR home! And by golly if we want to tear paper off and just throw it away, we WILL!”

With that, she tore the paper wrapping on her gift and tossed it aside. Giving them a look before she opened the box and gasped. A quartet of the softest socks she’d even seen lay upon wrapping tissue. Each one wound up in paper to keep it separate from the other, and drew her eyes to the gold and silver threads that shone just enough to set off her umber coat, “OHMYGOSH!”

Socks, being of course the equivalent to lingerie in the pony world, but she didn’t care, she pulled one out and held it to her chest, “I’ve never had any before!” Just the smile on her face alone could’ve lit the room.

She looked at the tissue paper inside, marked with three gems like a stamp on each thin sheet. She’d seen them...wait.. “Rarity’s? Oh my gosh I didn’t know she made these! Thank you so so much!”

Chryse leaned over and smiled, “It was Cornflower’s idea, so we asked Rarity if she had anything like that. Well of course she did, in a private area, so ponies wouldn’t feel self conscious when picking things out.”

Hangfire hit her face with a hoof, “I should’ve known that, darnit. Oh they’re lovely, and so soft!” Thank you SO much!”

She clung to the single sock, watching her friends open their gifts, there were a few so they had plenty of time.

On Hearth’s Warming, packages and gifts were never marked with who was giving, only the name of who was to receive. But everypony pretty much knew who got what for who, but it was the thought that counted, and traditions lived long.

Cornflower of course, let out a loud squeak when she saw she’d received a light blue quartet of socks as well, looking at Chryse in accusation, but getting waved away. “Stop it ‘Flower, I’m sneaky that way.” She was hugged by the blue mare, who then sat back and tried them on, blushing all the while.

Blue opened his own package, a confused look on his face for a moment before he realized what it was. A wing warmer! A comfy blanket, sort of, that fit over wings at night when sleeping, keeping them warm and steady, the perfect gift for someone who’s wings weren’t exactly up to snuff. He gave his coltfriend a warm hug, “Thanks so much Hazy, it’s perfect.”

Hazy blushed under his orange coat, “Welcome..”

Everyone’s eyes were on Chryse as she opened a gift, giving Cornflower a smile and a bit of a laugh as she pulled out a set of socks as well. Hangfire giggled, it appeared the two sisters weren’t as sneaky as they thought. Hugs were exchanged as Chryse looked at the dark socks, copper and gold threads flashing in the firelight.

The earrings were gushed over of course, being from the Carousel Boutique made them all the better. Hazy got lost in the butterfly book, Blue kept nudging him to pay attention. Blue of course, was lost in quills and inks, Hazy returning the favor when the others tore through their gifts as well.

It was a wonderful Hearth’s Warming Morning, the day was still to come as they watched the sun rise from the living room window. It was bloody cold outside, and there wasn’t anypony brave enough to go out there even for Celestia’s Sun.

Of course a big production was made by Hangfire, having them gather up the paper and properly tossing it away. She took the trash out to the side and left it there, admonishing them not to be embarrassed, sometimes it’s good to let things go.

Around the blazing fire they sat, whiling away the hours that day. It was a rare day when nopony worked or tried not to, unless it was the emergency crews. The weather always took a turn for the worse, since the weather crews really didn’t do a thing either.

Hangfire lounged around, wearing her new items. Seeing Chryse and Cornflower show theirs off, and the new ear bands as well. Hazy and Blue made the appropriate noises of course, wanting to get back to their own new things. Just one of those days when you feel a bit sinful, being lazy, wearing things around that you normally didn’t in the house. But this was her ersatz family, and she didn’t mind one bit.

It really couldn’t get any better than this.

Chapter 15

Hangfire waited, then cornered Hazy when he woke up. Dragging him to the kitchen table and setting him down with a cup of coffee shoved into his hooves.

“Look, what’s this mean?” She pointed to the word that had caught her eye earlier.

Hazy of course, took a minute or two to wake up, shuffling the papers as Hangfire got impatient. “Hazy c’mon, it’s important here.”

He nodded, “I...know. Let..me...wake...up..”

She sighed, staring into her coffee, “Sorry Hazy, sorry, take your time.”

He looked at his notes, then slipped out a couple of papers. In his halting way, he told her what he’d found so far. They were supposed to receive bonuses for working at night.

“Bonuses? Really? Have you guys got any yet, cause I sure haven’t.”

The big stallion shook his head, “No..one..has.”

“So where exactly is all this money going to?”

“I..don’t..know..yet. “ He pointed out another thing they’d copied, it was a list of all the weatherponies hurt in the line of duty. Who had been on the night crew. She recognized a few names, all of them had been paid off, very low she might add. But they were marked as injured or disabled. Every single one of them, injured.

“So all this money is going somewhere, and alot, I mean alot of ponies are getting hurt on the night shift, what the hay?”

Hazy shrugged, he looked as helpless as she felt. Finishing his coffee, he got up, and fixed them both something to eat. Setting a plate full of crunchy greens in front of her, he munched quietly as he pointed out a few things on the pieces of parchment.

He pointed out, the bonuses that they should be getting, which amounted to quite a bit of bits. Neither she nor he had remembered anything on payday, nor did anyone mention them before, even Chryse and ‘Flower.

“Hazy, work on em as best you can, I’m going to go see someone.”

He nodded, settling back down and concentrating on the stack.

She flew on to downtown Ponyville, looking for the one person she might be able to get some answers from. She found her, of course, napping on a singular puffy cloud over the orchards.

“Dash, hey Dash!”

Cerise eyes cracked open with a “Wha..?” Hooves rubbed away the sleep as Hangfire landed softly on the personal cloud.

“Hey Dash, I’m sorry to bother you, really I am. But ya got a minute?”

A hoof covered an open mouth, giving a big yawn as she finally woke up with a smile, “Oh! Hey Hang, sure. I..uh..was just practicing you know!” A grin covered the sleepy face, Rainbow Dash was known for her impromptu naps.

She smiled warmly, hiding it behind a hoof as she tried tot ake the comment in stride, “Right, got it, need that practice!”

An answering wink cleared the air, nothing like sharing a private joke. “What can I do for you though?”

“Well,” She twisted her hooves a bit as she sat on the cloud with Rainbow Dash, “Uhm, was just wondering.. You know Chryse and Hazy and I and Flower are on the night crew right?”

“Oh yeah! You guys are doing a great job!”

Hangfire’s head shot up as she looked a bit quizzical at the cyan mare, “Sorry?”

“You’re doing a great job! Yeah it’s been alot easier on the day shift. I know you guys work hard, and it’s a pain in the tail at night, but Celestia knows it sure makes it a bunch easier on us during the day!”

“But..I..”

Rainbow Dash looked over the side of the cloud for a moment, “Yeah, I tell you,” Ignoring Hangfire’s comment for the moment, “Without you guys it’d be alot harder to keep winter going right, we all appreciate it. Being weather manager is tough, but seriously, thanks!”

“Uhm..oh..you... You’re welcome!” She looked at her hooves for a moment more.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head, “Something wrong?”

“Oh, yeah. Uh, alot of ponies get injured on the night crew huh? Cause it’s dangerous?”

The multi-colored mane bounced as she nodded, “They do, but Canterlot, always provides a stipend, cause it’s in the line of duty. The Princesses always make sure that anyone doing a job gets hurt, there’s something to help them. They set that up a long time ago from what I heard.” She stared at Hangfire’s expression for a moment, “You are getting the thank you’s from the main offices right? The memo’s for doing a good job?”

The umber mare nodded, “Oh..oh sure! Yeah! It’s nice to be appreciated, I was just worried cause you know, Blue got hurt recently.” Nopony ever told them a thing about any thank-you’s, all they got was derision and scorn. Especially from manager jerk.

“I heard about that and tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t drop by, we were really busy! But I’m sure the office took care of any hospital bills like they usually do.” She gave a casual wave, like it was an everyday thing.

Wait a second, hospital bills..we had to pay those! Or did we? Her anger smouldered like a low fire now. That jerk, that plot kissing jerk. He said WE had to cover those!

She felt a nudge against her shoulder, snapping her out of her angry reverie, “Huh? What?”

“You okay?” Concerned eyes stared at her as Rainbow Dash smiled.

“Oh..sure yeah! Thanks Dash for the info!” She gave her a smile in return and a wave as she took off towards home. Her wings catching the crisp air, putting her airborne in a flat second.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin with a hoof as she watched the umber mare take off, going over the conversation in her head before streaking off towards the library.

Hangfire’s hooves hit the balcony as she stalked into the house, yelling out loud trying to find everyone. They looked up as she banged her way into the kitchen, saying at the same time she did.

“ The money's being stolen! ”

Chapter 16

A babble of voices surrounded the kitchen table as they all tried to talk at once, shouting over each other. Blue got control for a moment and slapped a hoof on the table, “HOLD IT!”

Everypony stared at him, silence fell on the house like snowfall.

“Eh..sorry. But anyways. Let’s hear you first Hang, whatcha got?”

Hangfire twisted her hooves in front of her on the table for a moment, “I went and saw Rainbow Dash, she’s the top weather pony manager around, so I figured she’d know a few things.” Her anger boiled up inside her for a moment before she slammed it back down. “She didn’t know Hazy was fired, I mentioned him to her and it really seemed she didn’t know. Did you know the weather control offices were supposed to pay the hospital bills too?”

Blue lost it, normally calm and cheerful, his eyes narrowed as he rocked the table with a hoof, “WHAT? We’re STILL paying those! You mean the offices were supposed to cover it? Why the hay is no one telling us....oh....”

Right. Manager Jerk.

“But why doesn’t anyone tell the higher ups anything?” He pleaded, “I mean..wait a second. “ He grabbed the parchment out from under Hazy’s hoof, “Most of these ponies had disabilities, something that kinda knocked them off stride, some didn’t, but I knew a couple of them. Cheerful, loved their jobs, liked everyone.” He pointed the tip of his hoof at the list, talking for Hazy since he could get the information out faster.

“Now, do you think for one second, some line worker weather pony would have the guts to go to higher ups, or even Rainbow Dash, and complain to them about all this? Manager Jerk had them all cowed and bullied, thinking if they did anything wrong they’d lose their jobs.” He sighed, “Yeah I went out and talked to a couple, they were so scared they’d get fired, and then they got injured, they got a simple payment and were blown off by Night Crew management..Manager Jerk.”

Hangfire nodded, “But that’s the thing, they’re not supposed to get a payment, they’re supposed to get a stipend for injury in the line of duty!”

All four sets of eyes looked at her, “Are you serious?”

“Yes! Rainbow Dash told me! It was set up by the Princesses long ago to help injured ponies!”

Chryse looked totally confused for a second, “But if that’s true, then where..” Then it hit her, it all connected.

“Those ‘friends’ of Manager Jerks! They never do any work, yet they get paid like we do! What do you want to bet they get paid at a lot higher rate, and make quite a bit more money? He’s spreading the wealth around, free of charge, to his so called ‘friends!”

“As long as he sends the right reports, and no one dares to say anything, he can get away with it, hay even Rainbow Dash didn’t know!”

They all looked at each other, downcast eyes checking the table out as Blue spoke quietly, “This is bad, really bad. We need to tell someone.”

Hangfire would have none of it, oh no, not before she vented on someone. “No, we’re gonna handle this, we’re the flying misfits right? Oh no, we’ll do this.”

Chryse got an evil grin on her face. Something nopony there had seen before, it was not just evil, but downright twisted in fact; they all shuddered a bit to see it on her face. “Oh yes, I’ve got a plan.

The night flew by again, the three mares worn out, but buoyed by Chryse’s plan for their little revenge. After they had stomped into the office to change into regular warm clothing, she and Cornflower wandered over to the manager. Bold as brass, looking for all the world like some loose mare out for a good time.

“Hey bossman?” Chryse was standing there, did she practice that pose? Her tail flicking a bit as her hips twitched, “Cornflower and I have been talking, how about you come round the house and we’ll see about getting a better..well...assignment so to speak?”

The ungainly pegasi almost fell off his hooves as he stood there blinking. Chryse was putting on her best, ‘come and get it’ face. Something none of them had seen her do. It was taking everything Hangfire had to not burst into fits of giggles.

But she had called it, the leer returned to the jerk’s face as he eyeballed both of them, even Cornflower was doing a good impression of a wanton mare.

“Oh really now? Finally decided to take on a real stallion ?”

Chryse’s snowy coat brushed the managers as she rubbed a cheek to his, whispering, “Oh yeah. “ She whispered directions to their home, and turned to walk out, giving her perfectly rounded backside a few extra shimmies for emphasis.

Cornflower followed her with a wink and wiggle as they walked out the door, taking to the air. They were flying for a few seconds before Hangfire burst into laughter. Giggles filled the air as they streaked towards home in the cold dawn.

It wasn’t very long after they returned home there came a knock at the door. Sure enough, there was Manager Jerk, almost drooling in anticipation of what he expected to get. Chryse tried to hold back from gagging, thinking of that huge belly and ugly face, but she gave him a wink and nuzzle, leading him into the big living room.

Seeing Hangfire lying on the couch, he about lost his mind, thinking of getting it going with THREE mares? Oh this was a dream come true.

Until Hazy walked in alongside Blue.

“Oh no, I don’t do the coltsnuggling thing, you’ll have to tell your friends there to take a hike.

Blue just smiled, it didn’t reach his eyes as he stared at the fat manager, pinning him in place, “Oh no. Nono. We wouldn’t dream of being with anyone like you, you ugly slob.”

“Hey, your fillyfooler friends invited me, so take off losers!”

Hazy just grinned, stamping a hoof on the floor, rattling the boards. A basso voice came from the hallway as a mountain of muscle with wings moved into the doorway.

Bulk Biceps was the pegasi’s name but everyone called him Snowflake; he had a real heart of gold, he tried to put up a front but everypony knew. He was a good pony and helped friends out. Hazy liked butterflies, Snowflake liked flowers, they were good friends.

“I think you are being rude.” Rather than the normal ‘YEAH!’ everyone expected, he could talk just fine, and with some culture when he chose.

Manager Jerk wasn’t worrying, he could just walk out, “Fine, I see how this is, a house full of lame and limp, and you too Bulk? Someone will have to take a look into this I guess.” Meaning he’d stir up trouble with weather control.

He turned to go back out the hall to the front door, but found his way blocked.

His eyes turned nervous as he actually had to look upwards from bumping into the chest of somepony.

Bulwark wore an eyepatch, due to an accident he was sure had been on purpose, but could never prove it. Depth perception gone, he couldn’t be a weather pony anymore, it had almost destroyed him. His green eye bored a hole right through the managers face, as he forced him backwards with a chest thump into the living room proper. Stonewall stood next to him, matching his name, hard and tall. Another casualty of the ‘accidents’ that befell Night Crew ponies. Now admittedly there was no one like Big Mac, ever. But these two pegasi could give him a run for his money.

Bastion and Granite, Earth Pony brothers, were behind them. Their coats flexing with solidity underneath, glaring at the manager, ducking through the door way as they all crowded the pegasus who was sweating bullets now.

Bulwark’s deep voice rang in their ears as he said softly, “You are going to tell us what’s been going on. Or by all that’s good in Celestia’s Sun, we’ll pull your wings one feather at a time.”

The bloodless face turned from pony to pony, seeing nothing but pure murder in their eyes. He tried to yell out for help, call the guard or something. Nothing came out but a miserable sputter as one of the huge Earth Ponies knocked a hoof into his throat.

“Calling the Guard are you? No fear, we’re IN the Guard.” Both brothers laughed, turning to show the brassards on their shoulders.

“You...you can’t do this! I’m important! Someone will hear about this!”

Granite chuckled, his voice gravelly and coarse, looming death in his face as he laughed, “Not if they don’t find the body.”

Stonewall slammed a plate like hoof on the floor, rattling the rafters with it’s force, “Start talking, NOW!”

The manager’s ego deflated, along with his resistance. The ponies crowded him onto the couch, sitting and listening to everything they’d figured out as it was confirmed. It was more than they had realized, the amounts that were being stolen. The high pitched voice squeaking out names and numbers, everything they needed to put the manager and his friends away. The two Guard ponies were taking copious notes as fast as they could write.

Hangfire let herself relax, leaning into the others as they heard the manager talk and talk. Everything it took so long to figure out, coming to the fore. Now maybe, they could get back to a normal life.

But then the manager kept talking.

Oh no.

Chapter 17

Oh no.

Hangfire’s hoof was covering her mouth as she ran to the bathroom. Becoming violently ill as she emptied her stomach with a gag, panting over the bowl like she had just run a ten mile marathon. Wiping her face, she staggered back out into the living room, to see the scene played out.

The Boulder brothers had stopped writing when the manager kept talking, the quills dropping from their mouths as they both leaned back against the wall. One was shaking his head vigorously, tottering on unsteady hooves, his brother leaning against him, hoof in front of his mouth. Even as guardsponies they were dumbfounded at the tale.

Cornflower was crying in the corner, comforted by her sister who stared at the fat manager like he was something out of an old pony horror tale. It couldn’t possibly be like that. Not in this world. Hazy and Blue were sitting on the floor, their eyes filled with tears as they blinked, taking in the pegasi’s tale.

It was surreal, it was something none of them had expected. Not in their stupidest wild dreams of revenge would they have thought a revelation like this would be forthcoming.

Stonewall went livid, nostrils flaring as he stood quietly and listened, ears perked, Bulwark lay a hoof on his friends shoulder holding him in place. Their bodies trembling in a rage so beyond the norm it counted as a force of nature. An occasional twitch of their coats, or an eye betrayed their feelings.

Snowflake sat on his backside, tilting his head and looking around at the shocked, stunned expressions on faces. He had nothing to say, nothing. He couldn’t even gather the words in thought as his mind reeled with the exposition. He was dumbstruck like the other ponies in the room.

Bulwark pointed a massive hoof at the tearful manager as he finished the story, “You’re lying.” The deep voice was very quiet.

The sobbing manager waved his hooves in front of his face, expecting a blow, “No! No I swear on my mother’s grave!”

Stonewall stomped forward, pushing his hoof against the managers shoulder, “After this is over, I’ll make sure you join her. That’s a promise.”

The pegasi cringed into the couch, holding his hooves in front of his face. He was done, gone and tearful, sobbing in misery as he kept relating the story.

Hangfire shut her eyes, screaming into the room, “Shutup shutup SHUTUP!”

The mood broke, every eye in the place turned to her as she waved her front hooves around, “Oh Celestia shutup! Stop, no, nono-no! There is NO way this is happening, none.” Her eyes turned to the others, pleading, tears rolling down her cheeks in a steady wave, she had nothing left but them.

Her mind gibbered at her, telling her over and over it was true, what the manager said was so true it hurt. She went screaming into those dark depths, body stiffening before a gentle push on her cheek brought her back.

Chryse leaned into her friend, Cornflower turned over to Hazy and Blue, “Stop ‘Fire, stop. Don’t leave us. We need you here.”

“But...no.. He’s LYING!”

Bulwark moved close, heavy wings wrapping around the two mares, “He’s not, you can see it. We need to go, we need to take care of this now. Forget the guard, forget anypony else. This is us.”

He turned to Stonewall, “Go get everyone you can with wings, we need to leave now. Meet us at the shack.”

Stonewall broke records slamming the door open and shooting into the sky.

Granite pushed himself off the wall, interrupting, “Bulwark, we have to call the guard. I’m serious now, this has gone way beyond town guard like us.”

Bulwark’s one remaining eye, a soft gentle green, gave one last smile to Hangfire and Chryse, “You need to go with us. We have to, this is about us all.” Before getting their answer, he turned to the Boulder brothers, “I’m sorry, I am so sorry you are involved.” He gestured to the wreck of a manager on the couch, “You keep him here, he’s not to be harmed. Do NOT let him leave. Just one last favor for a friend?”

Bastion, finally composed, nodded, “Oh yes, we will. We need to do this brother.” His eyes pleaded with Granite, who looked dubious.

Sighing, Granite finally nodded in agreement, “We will Bulwark. We promise. But you owe us, oh do you owe us.” A smile crossed the shaken face as he touched hooves with the big Pegasus. “Be careful.”

“Snowflake, you don’t have to come with us, we know the trouble you’d be in.”

The big white pegasus just smiled, albeit a bit sadly now, “No, this is intolerable.”

Hangfire and Chryse gave quick goodbyes to Hazy and Blue, making them promise they’d take care of Cornflower.

Hazy stopped them both with a hoof, “No...more..”

Nodding, they followed Bulwark out into the street, the sun was getting higher and they had little time. Lifting into the sky, they headed for the shack that served the storm line, making good time with anger pushing their wings.

The shack was stuffed full of ponies, Stonewall stood with a group of about thirty who were chatting away about what they’d been told. Bulwark, Snowflake, Hangfire and Chryse were bombarded with questions from shocked faces as they landed.

“Is it true?”

“Is Stonewall right?”

“What in the stars!”

Hangfire took the lead, she calmed them for a second, “Look, we’ll explain it all later in greater detail. We need to get to Cloudsdale now, and we need your help. Please, please help us?”

To a pony they agreed, the impromptu company of Pegasus took to the air, wings beating hard as they made the city of Pegasi in record time.

The manager had told them where, it was just a matter of taking the crowd of extremely angry ponies and getting them inside. It proved to be a lot easier than they thought, they belonged there of course. It was early so the building held no workers yet, the day had only just begun, they had plenty of time, even the streets were empty save for the body of Pegasus moving with a purpose.

Tramping down the hallway in one of the larger buildings, the crowd stopped at a secretary’s desk.

“There’s a meeting going on, you can’t go down there.”

Stonewall was beyond any idle chatter, he smashed a hoof into the desk, “Get out of our way or we’ll bury you.”

The scared secretary ran from the mob, calling for the guard as she did. The crowd pounded down the hallway, the only sound that of hooves along the floors. No words need be spoken, a quiet acrimony enclosing them all as they reached the door to the room.

A unicorn stallion was standing there outside the room, looking a bit nervous as the glow on it’s horn faded. He backed up when the crowd told him to move. Hangfire had a distinct feeling she knew that pony.

Bulwark turned on his front hooves, slamming his powerful back legs into the massive door, blasting it off the hinges to crash inside the room to amazed yells.

The mass of pegasi forced their way into the room, more than big enough to fit everyone. In the center of the open space, a table, round and heavy, around which were standing, or seated a collection of ponies wearing suits or ties. Mostly Pegasi, a few Unicorns here and there. They were all giving the entrants shocked looks as they forced themselves into the room.

These ponies were what was not so affectionately known as the upper crust of management, regular ponies never had day to day dealings with them. These were the ones that decided on day to day running of weather and the factories.

“What is the meaning of this?” A particularly snooty pony was glaring at the crowd, looking as if it were distasteful to even be around such folk.

Bulwark pointed a hoof at three ponies, secretaries by the look, “You, you and you. Get out. Now.”

The three picked stood up, looking as if they would argue, but reconsidering as they scampered out into the building proper.

Bulwark watched them leave, pointing to the rest, “They were the only innocents in this room.” The big pegasus turned to the pony who’d spoke, Hangfire and Chryse right beside him.

“We found out about your little scheme and everything you’ve done you piece of worthless manure.”

Straightening his tie, the executive looked at Bulwark, and the faces of pissed off ponies around them. “What exactly would that be then? I assure you, we are quite the responsible ponies here. Storming into this building does nopony any good, but I’m sure you’ll find that out languishing in Canterlot’s prison eh?”

Bulwark turned to Hangfire and Chryse, backing off a bit and letting them have center stage.

Hangfire took that and ran with it. “You couldn’t just steal money, oh no, you couldn’t just take what wasn’t yours and be happy.”

Some executives around the table started eyeballing each other, murmuring in the stifled atmosphere.

“SHUT UP!” Hangfire shouted to the room. “You had to make sure no one found out about it. Because your hooves were so dirty if it ever came out you’d live your days out in prison. So you MURDERED THEM!” She slammed a hoof down on the heavy table, “You murdered ponies who were just trying to work a job, just because of the money, all those thousands and thousands of bits. You couldn’t be happy with what you make, you had to get more!”

Hangfire pointed at hoof at Storm Cloud, oh yes, there was her previous boss. “You, you put them on the night crew, where they’d get injured. They’d have to quit or go on leave. But no you couldn’t be sure they’d stay quiet. To keep anyone from finding out, you had them killed!” She was panting with the exertion of shouting, lowering her voice a bit before she sounded totally off her rocker.

“Their families thought they had moved, or just gone to another town because of losing a job they loved. But no, you killed them, you murdered those poor ponies. That’s why we couldn’t track down all of them, they were missing, gone, and YOU did it!”

Slamming her hoof against the table again, she stood in the shocked silence from both sides. The ponies behind her staring at the executives around the table, murmuring breaking out behind as the realization set in.

The executive laughed, he actually laughed. Brushing off the accusation like it was nothing more than lint off a sleeve.

“It’s never about just the money you stupid filly. Oh no, never.” He brushed a sleeve with one hoof, taking up a stance behind the table. “Oh no.”

Hangfire looked at Chryse, something was wrong, this was not what they expected.

“You think you’ve figured out everything. No. Oh I admit, the money was a lovely recompense for all our time and work, “He gestured to the surrounding executives who sat around the table. “Isn’t this where the bad pony in all those horrible books reveals all?” He laughed, the sound ugly and grating.

“We’ve got the manager of the Night Crew, he told us everything you stupid plot!”

A hoof slammed on the desk, the executive looking fierce, “He knew nothing! A bit player for a bit part! Useful, but perhaps no more I’d guess. Maybe it’s time to wipe the slate clean and just continue on.” He looked at the nodding heads of the other executives.

Chryse tilted her head, she was slowly putting pieces together, making a whole from what the management type had said, then it clicked.

In a soft voice, barely heard, “You were getting rid of the ‘different’ ponies weren’t you?”

A stumble, a cough, hoof going to his tie as the executive stared at Chryse, his eyes wishing death upon her at that moment.

Hangfire goggled at Chryse, mouth hanging a bit open as she listened.

The mob of pegasi were silent as well, listening to the snowy mare as she kept going in a low tone.

“That’s why everypony on the crew were there.” She threw the words out with disdain as they’d been thrown at her, Hazy and so many in the past, “Fillyfoolers, coltcuddlers.. the handicapped. Pegasi who were good and kind, but always ‘different’. A short leg, not so great vision, a topped wing. Always something ‘different’. You didn’t just want them out of the way, you wanted them dead. If you got a sum of bits out of it, well then, that just made it all the better didn’t it? Of course the non ‘different’ ones, well they were just a bonus maybe? Somepony who didn’t fit in your plans?”

“You know nothing!”

“Oh no, I do, from seeing your face. Oh yes, you wanted them gone.”

“You still know nothing. Bah!” A hoof waved around, “Simple embezzlement, simply stealing funds, a time in jail and back out. It’s not a problem, not ever. Unlike you!” Here he pointed at Chryse and Hangfire, “You’ll be out of jobs, destitute, who’s going to believe some silly mares over US?” He gestured around the table to all the stone faces.

Chryse shrugged, “I think someone will believe us, someone will use a bit of a truth spell on that manager and dig deep in to what he knows. No, I think it’ll all come out.” She was baiting him, Hangfire could see it in the way she teased and drew out her words.

It was working. The face of the executive was beet red, tired of listening to a pretentious mare. He flushed with body language that screamed hatred.

“But then of course, I’m a ‘fillyfooler’ right? What do I know?” She rested one hoof upon the table, looking at a pony she recognized. “I know your daughter Flurry, and she happens to hang out the same places I do.”

The pony in question snorted, anger twisting his expression. If he’d have paid attention, Chryse never said his daughter was one, just that she was there.

The pony got up, pointing at Chryse, “You scum. You have no clue, my daughter is not one of YOU!” The top pony was making ‘sit down’ movements at the speaking exec who ignored them. “My daughter is good, obedient and she’ll be one of the ones who’ll rule over this new Pegasus nation!”

You could have heard a pin drop with a resounding clang.

“Sit down Scribble.” The top boss was trying to regain control as Chryse’s eyes widened, she could hear every breath, every rustle of feathers from the mob of ponies.

A pony named Nimble was the first to speak, “Are you INSANE? Do you want the Windigos to come back and destroy all we’ve built?”

A clearing of the throat, dusting off of a shoulder was the reply before the top boss looked at the ponies, “Heavens no. It’s not hatred you see.” Finally deciding to tell these stupid peons what they were missing, his rage getting the better of him.

With a hoof waving airily, as he looked up at the ceiling, “Oh they were drawn by hate, yes. Till the three tribes united. But see, ours is not so much hate as it is..well.. a cleansing. So we really have no fear of the Windigos.” Such disdain for powers beyond them.

His perfectly manicured hoof hit the big table, the crack resounding in the quiet room. “Pegasi were strong, powerful, warriors without peer. What now? Weather controllers, servants to a diarch that “loves” her little ponies. NO MORE!”

He snorted, blowing hot breath as he leaned over the wood, “We will take what is rightfully ours! Oh no, you can’t stop us. A lot of folk feel this way, it’s time to change, to bring back the days when everypony feared us! We do not need..” Here he gave almost a gag, looking at them like they were specks of dirt, “ Perverts, and lesser beings to stand in our way. Ours will be what we were meant to be. Strong, proud, and PURE!”

He sat down, giving them the arrogant face, assured there was no one around who heard what had been said, “But then, no worries. I’m sure you all can see yourselves out before this gets worse. Go back to your little lives before we have you arrested, but rest assured, we WILL deal with you in time.” So assured, so confident in their own power.

All Tartarus broke loose.

Bulwark, Stone and Snowflake leapt into the air, landing on the huge table and snapping it in half, driving it into the floor as they reached for the pony who had so easily talked of their deaths. Hangfire and Chryse dodged the others in the crowd, screaming as they flew and ran around the two mares, leaping for the executive ponies that had garnered so much anger in the last few minutes.

The two mares could only huddle and keep out of the way as the boardroom flooded with cries of anger, of pain and revenge, there was murder in the air. Hangfire spotted their old boss, Storm, trying to sneak out a side door. Racing over the fighting crowd they cornered him against the wall.

He flinched as they moved closer, “You bastard. You were sending us to die, you sent them ALL to die!” Hangfire didn’t hold back, she let her simmering anger explode into action. Rearing on her hind legs, she clobbered Storm with everything she had. Weeks, months of rage and anger pushing to the forefront of her mind. Poor Blue lying in the dirt ,burned and dying, all the names on the list that disappeared, never to be found. The arrogance of a few ponies who thought they would know better than anypony how to rule. Her wings popped open, lifting her up only to drop out of the air, her back hooves pile driving the focus of her rage into the floor. She could see nothing but a haze, clouding her sight as she pummeled the supine body before her. Her eyes narrowed in scope till only the target of her fury was the only thing in sight.

Chryse was screaming in her ears, pulling her arms back as she struggled to keep hitting the recumbent manager who was trying to block the hits with raised forelegs.

“Stop! Hangfire stop you’re killing him!”

“He sent us to DIE Chryse. Stars above he sent you and Cornflower to be killed! He wanted us to die!”

Chryse grabbed her face, pulling it close to hers, the soft orange eyes catching her own violet ones, “Stop it. We’re not like them. We can’t be like them. Don’t be like them Hangfire.”

The umber mare screamed out her frustrations, struggling to get another hit on the bloody manager. Chryse kept her face in an iron grip, keeping Hangfire focused on her own. Holding tight, Chryse slipped her arms downward and hugged her friend, embracing Hangfire warmly as she dragged her away from the wall, “Don’t be them, we’re better than that.”

Chryse shook her, rattling her body, “We’ve got to stop them, they’re going to kill those ponies.”

Hangfire rubbed her eyes, clearing them to look around.

The riot had broken into groups, each having one of the executives pinned to the floor, or the wall in Snowflakes case, beating the ever loving tar out of them. Hoof strikes were snapping wings and bones, dealing damage that would take forever, if they did, to heal. Blood spattered the floor as ponies took their frustrations out on those who had ordered so calmly the deaths of their friends and family, themselves! Unicorns getting slammed against the walls, crying out in pain as they rebounded into angry hooves.

Bulwark and Stonewall had the lead pony against a wall, snapping massive hooves into his body, breaking his will and his bones at the same time, trying to beat that smug look off his face.

Before they could move, a massive rumble came through the room as voice was heard.

“HOLD!”

Chryse cringed along with Hangfire, everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to the door. Eyes fell upon the smashed opening as there stood Princess Luna in full armor, her countenance fierce and definitely unyielding as she took in the wrecked room.

The pegasi holding the conspirators down, dropped their grips, bowing low to the Princess of the Night as she stalked into the room, heavily armed guards sweeping in behind her.

Chryse was holding on to Hangfire now, trembling as they bowed, “Oh Hangfire, we’re done for.”

They continued staring at the ground, peeking up to see the Night Princess walking among the downed bodies, a few getting up now and crying out to her for justice. The lead executive most of all, “Arrest them Your Highness, this bunch thought they’d storm in here to do harm, thank goodness you and your guard arrived in time!” The arrogance was back, slipped into like a well-used pair of pants. His voice slurred from the beating, he was rapidly gaining back his old composure.

“Amazing the gall of some ponies Princess. Hmph! Seems they wanted more money or something, it wasn’t quite clear.” How easily the lies came to that pompous pony.

The ponies from the mob just stared at the floor, knowing they had been seen beating the executives, the vehemence shown for what it was. They had no excuses, none were proffered.

When the Princess was angered, she slipped back into the old ways, the speech and voice.

“Indeed Cumulus, some would think they had aspirations above their stations.”

The Pegasi bowing low to the floor trembled, thinking by those words they were doomed. Peace reigned in Equestria, but for lawbreakers, there was swift, and final justice dealt surely by an even hoof.

The Princess of the Nights’ gaze swept the pegasi who bowed low to the floor. Never in surrender, no. Luna knew this, but in respect, respect she was due of course, but had earned with deed and word. It made the difference oh so much clearer.

“What would you think of that Twilight?”

Eyes turned to the doorway, as more guards poured in, crowding the room to capacity, followed by a mulberry mare. She trotted in uncertainly until she stood by Luna’s side. She wore no armor, but her badge of office, the crown, was affixed upon her indigo mane as she stood and surveyed the damage.

The executives stood or sat around the room, clearing their throats, brushing off silk ties and suits, listening to the exchange.

The rest of the ponies stayed bowed, some wings rustled as the trembling got the better of some, a hoof reached out here and there to steady the shaky ponies.

Twilight’s kind violet eyes rested on Hangfire and Chryse, noting them peeking out from their bowed state, “Ahem..well. I would think something had to be done about it.”

Luna nodded, as if to herself, pacing the room in between the ponies. Space was automatically made as she walked and talked. “Indeed.” She stopped, right by Bulwark and Stonewall, leaning a bit forward to make sure her words were heard very clearly, “In the days when my sister and I fought to free Equestria. We would deal with such miscreants harshly. I know all to well what happens when some get ideas of conceit and grandeur.”

She flipped her mane to the side, standing tall, “So Cumulus, how do you think we should deal with such as these?”

The executive immediately had an answer, “Well surely prison would teach them a lesson, anything beyond that would be up to Your Highnesses.”

Hangfire and Chryse, all the other ponies who had been bowing, started to straighten up now. Hearing the fawning voice rekindled the anger all over again, wings popping and snapping, hooves tapping the floor.

Luna tapped a hoof on her chin, eyeing the big pegasi near her, “Of course. Prison at the least.” She worked her way around the room, eyeing the assembled ponies before ending up standing near Twilight again.

“At the least, this should be called a riot, no? At the worst, I would say they bring the safety of Equestria into doubt.” She motioned a shod hoof, “Sharp Ears, attend me.”

The Unicorn from the hallway trotted in, carrying a gem in the glow of his magic. He bowed low, “Your Highness.”

“Show us.”

The gem lit up inside, a picture forming in the air of the previous conversation, every syllable, every snort, every crack of hoof on floor or table. The whole thing revealed in a moving picture as taken from the back of the crowd. Gasps from the executives as they saw themselves shown for what they were, murderous eyes slid toward Cumulus as he had assured them of no listeners.

Hangfire stared at Chryse as they saw themselves yelling and shouting in the room. The entire thing had been recorded.

Cumulus of course, snake oil salespony at his best, “Well your highness, surely magic can be made to show many different things? This..this Unicorn could be on their side for all we know!”

Her eyes narrowed at those words, closing the distance between herself and Cumulus quickly as she leaned into his face. “He is a trusted Guard Pony, and my personal guard, do not ever doubt the veracity of his magic nor his words.” She fairly hissed the words at him, making him take a step back, “We have been tracking the sums of money in the treasury, wondering where it would be. With such injuries happening, we wondered why the bills were not showing, as we do pay them.”

She stamped a metal clad hoof, the ringing making it perfectly clear she was not to be interrupted, as he tried to rebut her words. “Oh yes, we’ve kept track of the accidents, worrisome times indeed when ponies get hurt.”

“Embezzlement was not unknown in the past, greed outweighs common sense some times.”

She swung around to address the group of executives, “But then we stumble on this. Led here by those who would do nothing but work hard, be happy their days and live quietly.” She gestured to the crowd of Pegasi, “But no!” She flipped back swiftly, pointing her hoof at Cumulus, scant millimeters separating the sharp metal from his nose, “You would have dreams of empire, making those ‘lesser’ to yourselves bow and scrape as before!”

Her majesty and power shone like a silver light as she pronounced each word carefully, “Sharp Ears has been watching for evidence, waiting. He has seen the misery and pain you have caused. Even he had not counted on this.”

Hangfire’s eyes widened as she whispered to Chryse, “It’s the Unicorn medic!” Finally she remembered where she had seen him!

Chryse’s surprised eyes blinked as she remembered him standing over Blue, casting pain relief spells as fast as he could. “Oh stars. We never even paid attention to him.”

Luna’s rage was terrible to behold in the crowded room. Her nostrils flared as she glowed with an inner light, bathing the walls and ponies with her majesty. She lay a hoof on Bulwark’s shoulder, seeing his eye patch as she cast her eyes around to those who would do harm to her subjects.

She leaned into her voice now, louder and stronger than ever before, “You will not see the light of day for the harm you have caused. You are murderers, traitors; to be shunned, your families disgraced because of your deeds!”

Cumulus actually stood against the gale force of her pronouncement, “Celestia will not let this happen! She will overturn this! This is cruel!”

The Princess leaned her face close to his, her voice still loud and clear, “Do not talk to me of cruel, killer of ponies.” Her body fairly quaked with the impulse to flatten this upstart who would shatter the peace of Equestria. “My sister has given me the task to deal with as I so choose. You have not seen a tenth of what I am capable of.” Her eyes flicked to the sides, staring at the executives who now looked fearful as well, “But I promise we shall prune this tree root and branch. None shall see the sun ever again.”

She stood on all four hooves as she gestured to the heavily armed troops, “Take them, throw them in the lowest dungeons. None are to speak to them nor offer succor.” She looked at the Captain of the Guard carefully, “Do not be gentle.”

The Captain saluted, “Yes Your Highness!” He directed his troops to shove the conspirators out and into the hooves of more guards, they were definitely not gentle, having watched the recording as well. Stone faces surrounded the cowed executives now as they were hustled off.

Princess Luna stood beside Twilight now, looking at the pegasi that were left, each and every one of them waiting for the hammer to fall.

“So Twilight, what shall we do with such miscreants and ruffians as before us?” Her voice had softened to a normal tone, a hint of humor in it now.

The newest Princess smiled, mischievousness in her eyes as she spoke, “I believe the law states a fine of ten bits for destruction of government property Luna.”

The metal clad hoof stamped the floor, “Done!” And then she shook it at the crowd, “Lawbreakers! Hmph! Destroying a perfectly nice table too!” She actually laughed, turning to leave with her guards as the the shocked ponies watched, none daring to move as their eyes followed her out of the room.

Twilight trotted over to Hangfire and Chryse, “Go, it’s alright. I’ll see you at your house in a bit.”

With that, she left, leaving stunned faces staring at each other for just a second, before everyone scrambled out of the room, pouring down the hallway and into the skies as they fled for their homes. A multi-color riot of wings that had all the incoming workers wondering just what was going on.

Hazy and Blue were waiting for them as they arrived, telling them the Guards had come and taken the manager; the Boulder brothers had to go as well, they were definitely in trouble from what Blue said. They all hoped nothing bad would happen to the big Earth ponies.

Cornflower grabbed her sister in a hug and wouldn’t let go, her eyes cried out now, she lay holding her tight on the couch as they related what had happened in the offices in Cloudcroft. The outcome, and how they now owed twenty bits for damages.” That got a bit of a strained laugh.

Blue scratched his head with a hoof, “But what I don’t get..”

The knock was a bit loud in the quiet house. All eyes turned to the door as Hangfire went to open it.

“Princess! Oh..uh we forget to tell everyone you’d be by, I’m so sorry!”

Twilight stood there, with Rainbow Dash and Rarity as Hangfire stuttered and tried to make amends.

“Stop, just stop, stop apologizing, ugh. See? No crown, not a Princess now.” She pointed to her mane, “May we please come in?”

“Oh! Yes, please do! Would you like some tea or cookies?” Hangfire noticed Chryse and Cornflower shooting off to the kitchen as they entered the living room. Blue and Hazy bowed in respect to the smiling mulberry alicorn.

Twilight gave a look of exasperation and waved them off, “Stop that! I can’t get used to all this Princess stuff.”

They all sat in silence for a moment, no one quite knowing where to start as Chryse and Cornflower came back with their nicest tea set, serving everypony a cup of hot tea, with cookies on the side. They’d dragged in some comfortable cushions as well to provide more places to relax.

Rarity broke the uncomfortable silence first, “Well, since no one will talk, I shall!” She went over to Hazy and gave him a demure peck on the cheek, “That’s for those wonderful flowers you sent.” He blushed right down to his tail; she then rewarded him with another kiss, on the lips this time, sweet and warm. “And that, dear stallion is for defending my honor.”

He looked startled for a moment, “But..how..”

She waved the comment away airily, “Oh lets say I found out through a friend.” Returning to her seat she took up the tea in her magic, sipping quietly. She would never mention the book writing janitor who had told her the tale of Hazy knocking out the manager when he had heard the slight to Rarity’s name.

The silence grew a bit more before Hangfire spoke up, “Princess..”

“Twilight please.”

“Twilight, we’re so sorry for all the trouble, we really are, we had no idea it was anything like this.”

Twilight smiled, those kind eyes again, “Well, when you told Rarity about what was going on, she came to me, and we went to the Princesses who started the investigation.”

The pretty mare spoke up, “It was the least I could do for a friend you know. No one should be treated the way you were. Or anypony else for that matter.”

Rainbow Dash chimed in, “I got suspicious too, when you asked all those questions and stuff. So I went to see Twilight and she told me what was going on. But, of course we didn’t know it wasn’t you doing...those.. taking the..you know. Heh.”

Chryse popped up, “Wait, you thought WE were in on it?”

Twilight laughed, “Of course, you were acting so nervous every time you got around people, like you were hiding something. So what were we supposed to think? So we kept an eye on you.”

Hangfire facehooved, “Figures, I can’t play poker for nothing.”

Dash laughed, “Oh yeah, Twilight told me how you nearly had a nervous breakdown in the library, I laughed my flank off!”

“Gee thanks Dash, really appreciate the love there.” Hangfire sighed, tossing a cookie at the cyan mare.

She caught it in a hoof and munched happily, “Anytime!”

Blue spoke up, “But who was the unicorn that Hangfire ambushed in the cloud front that night?

A bit of laughter preceded the answer from Twilight, “Oh, that was the Unicorn medic, he was out there keeping an eye on you because Luna didn’t want anymore accidents. Of course he never counted on Hangfire spotting him. He said to tell you you’ve got a heckuva hit by the way.”

The umber mare just kept a hoof on her face, “We really screwed things up huh?”

“No, not really. I don’t think anyone had an inkling of what was really going on, even Celestia was surprised.”

Hazy and Blue asked the Princess if she would make sure the Boulder brothers didn’t get in any trouble if she could?

“Oh, well there are rules, but they’ve been given three days off. With pay of course,” Here a wink from a violet eye. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“So, after all this, everyone’s going to be okay? Even Snowflake was worried he’d be in trouble, we know how he likes the Wonderbolt academy training and stuff.”

“Well the families are being notified, I’m sure there will be alot of court judgements. Luna’s confiscating all their property and proceeds. It’s a mess, but it’ll get sorted out.” She chuckled at the mention of the big white pegasus, “Yes Snowflake’s fine too, we told him not to worry.”

Chryse asked something they’d all been wondering, “What about those ‘friends’ of the manager sponging all those bits off for no work?”

Dash laughed, “Oh that was great! You should see what Princess Luna’s planning on that one! She’s gonna take the money back, PLUS interest! Oh stars they’re all gonna be making payments forever!”

Cornflower piped up for the first time, “S..s..serves. Th..th..them Ruh...ruh..right!”

“So Twilight, Dash,“ Hangfire was twisting her hooves in front of her, “Can we keep our jobs? We really like being weather ponies. I know alot of folks think it’s just a job, but we really do like it. Blue’s almost healed now, and he wants to come back too.” Everyone got eager looks on their faces as they waited for an answer.

Rainbow Dash spoke first, “Heck yes! We need ponies on the night crew, but it’s not gonna be a bad assignment anymore. Twilight and I pulled a few strings to get some really nice folks on it now. Anypony needs a job, we’ll find one, guaranteed.” She made a pointed look at all of them, “ANY pony.”

The relief was palpable as they shared smiles, relaxing for the first time, well, in months. “That’s so great thank you so much! Maybe Bulwark and all the others can go back to weather or something!”

Everyone shared a bit of conversation before it was time for the three to take their leave, before they left though, Twilight turned to the little group, “By the way, I also came here for one other thing.” She presented a parchment to Hangfire and Chryse, “I need your twenty bits for damages, it’s the law you know.”

Everyone laughed at the crestfallen look on Hangfire and Chryse’s faces as they mumbled, getting out their bags of bits.

Well ponyfeathers...

Author's Note

Hopefully the ending satisfies. And I can't thank all you fine reading folks out there for the nice comments and for enjoying the story. Have fun! :twilightsmile: