City of Emona, Carniola
One Year after the Sacking of Canterlot
Cloud Runner

One year. That’s how long it’s been since I nearly died in Canterlot. In that same timeframe I’ve been augmented by humans for the sake of my own survival, nearly got roasted by a dragon, helped take down a crimelord and blew past a small army to liberate an entire nation.

And how the hell have I found time to get my mane cut?

I felt someone tap my shoulder twice before a pair of arms draped themselves around my shoulders. “Cloud, something on your mind?”

“Nothin’ Sky… Just remembering what this place looked like last time we were here.” I said, my memories flashing back to the two of us storming through the plaza as the griffon that had caused the two of us so much grief tried to escape.

Emphasis on tried.

“Definitely nicer these days.” She said.

“At least the craters are gone.” I observed, catching the glint off of her green eyes in the streetlights. Those eyes are a gateway right into Sky’s soul. The very soul that I fell for. And to think I barely knew her a year ago.

She nodded. “And the machine guns. The place looks really good without them.”

“Ya…” I muttered as we approached the new park that had been built where the city hall once stood. There was already a sizable crowd that had formed towards the center of the park around the reason that the two of us were here.

A bronze statue. Someone decided apparently that one of myself, Sky and Cosmo was well warranted after we liberated the island. From what we were told they’re calling it ‘The Trinity’. Something about how it was the three of us who took down the dictator that kept them all under their thumbs. Granted they only had the picture of us in our gear that they based the statue off of, but still… It’s a good gesture.

“Glad you two decided to show.” Cosmo said as he walked up behind us with a familiar blue mare in tow.

“You think my ego would let me?” I said with a chuckle.

Cosmo just shook his head as a small grin grew across his face. “No, but my fiancé here wouldn’t let us skip this little dedication.”

“Fiancé?” Sky asked.

Trixie nodded, holding out the hand that she was wearing that silver ring topped with a pale blue diamond. “He just asked me two days ago.”

“Took you long enough.” I said as a smile grew across my face. “Congratulations Cosmo.”

“Yah, thanks.” He said. “So what-”

“Excuse me?” Some Griffon with a notepad had approached us while we were distracted with Cosmo’s news. “Are you the Ranger?”

“Uh…” And now we get to see Cosmo caught flatfooted. If this guy wasn’t so blunt it might be entertaining.

“He is.” I answered. “I’m Tempest, and the beautiful mare on my right here is my partner in crime Typhoon.”

“Cloud, what the hell!” Cosmo hissed.

“Dude, relax. Would you rather someone recognize you before we got into the crowd or when we’re surrounded?” Cosmo just kept his mouth shut. “I take it you’re a reporter?”

“I am.” The Griffon said. “My name is Calvin, I’m with the Emona Register. I know it’s a bit out of left field but could I get an interview?”

I glanced over at Sky just in time to catch her nod. “Well me and my partner are game.”

“Fine.” Cosmo groaned. “But not here.”

Calvin nodded and pointed over to a small café just off the plaza. “I happen to know the owner so we should be able to get some privacy.”

He certainly wasn’t lying about the privacy. The moment we walked through those doors the owner came out and closed up shop. “So… What do you want to know?” I asked as we shuffled into a booth nestled by the corner of the storefront.

“Well the first thing I want to do is thank the three of you. You see I was one of the political prisoners you rescued in Odessa.” Calvin explained.

“Which is why you recognized us…” Cosmo muttered.

“Exactly.” He said. “So I guess my first actual question would be what brought you to Carniola?”

“Well the honest answer is that it was a total accident.” Cosmo said. “I’m just going to assume you already know about the flood, so we’ll skip that. In the immediate aftermath one of the big bads in Vanhoover’s criminal underground started making some moves against the guard. The problem was that the stallion, he was going by Stalemate at the time, didn’t officially exists.”

“So was it an alias?”

“It was.” Cosmo replied. “Now I’d tangled with him for the better part of the decade but I couldn’t convince anyone, the guard or even the Princess, would arrest him unless we knew who he really was. Hell, about six years ago I had the bastard in cuffs with the guard, and the Captain at the time made me let him go.”

Calvin jotted some notes down on his notepad before looking back up to Cosmo. “He made you let him go?”

Cosmo nodded. “Now I can’t confirm whether I was involved in his decision or not, but the Captain put in for early retirement within twenty-four hours.”

“Ouch…” Calvin muttered. “Now did you ever figure out what his real name was?”

“He did after I showed up.” Sky added. “Cosmo and I both are native to the Wasteland and he thought I had died shortly after we arrived here about a decade ago. I didn’t know where to find him until Vanhoover got hit. At the time I was in Nuremburg interrogating some of Stalemate’s officers and managed to get his real name out of them.”

“Sky ended up bringing me the info, but at the time I wasn’t entirely trusting of her.” Cosmo explained. “You need to know that I at least thought that she died in my arms. So for Sky to show up after all that time…”

“It was hard to believe, wasn’t it?”

“Absolutely.” Cosmo muttered. “For the longest time she was the most important pony in my life, and when she died I was all alone until I met my fiancé. And shortly after meeting her Sky shows up in my apartment and starts going through my booze.”

Calvin chuckled. “That’s… One way to make an entrance.”

“No one said it wasn’t memorable.” Sky insisted. “Sure we got our asses kicked taking Phalanx down…”

“But taking him in showed the real threat.” I finished.

“De Witt?” Calvin asked.

I nodded. “At first we didn’t trust what Phalanx had told us… Then I ran into one of De Witt’s agents imbedded with the Royal Guard while we were in Canterlot trying to get information.”

“I take it you have a bit a problem with that individual?”

“Caliper was responsible for breaking up my family.” I stopped and took a swig of some cider that had been put down in front of me. “He kidnapped my sister…” I stopped and downed another portion of the mug, hoping to use the time to collect my thoughts.

Calvin nodded before taking a sip of his own drink. “I take it that there’s more to that story?”

Maybe I’m cynical but I’m hard-pressed to find ponies that just care for the sake of caring. As I studied Calvin’s face I kept running into that same question. Might as well go for it. “There most certainly is… Call me crazy, but I think you might want to start planning a book.”

Author's Note

And here's the kickoff for Class 1.5!

Right now I've got three chapters in the queue for release, and one more that's in progress. They'll go out as soon as I'm happy with them.

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section, and I want to hear from you fellow denizens of the interwebs. Until next time!
-Striker