Story of Maverick

Story of Maverick- Chapter 8: Running Start

Over the course of a week, the ponies of Farron harvested the last of their crops and prepared the fields for winter. Due to Failsafe’s injury, Scarlet Plume had Marmalade and Maverick help her in the field. Marmalade was happy to lend her mother a hoof, making a game out of the work. Maverick, on the other hand, worked begrudgingly and half-heartedly.

“Pick up the pace with your picking, son. We need to have as much food out of the ground as possible before the Pegasi bring the first snow of winter.”

As if on cue, the temperature began to drop as two masses approached Farron.

As the closer mass approached, the shapes of individual Pegasi became more defined. The chorus of wing flaps and clinking armor also became louder as the winged ponies got closer.

“Blast the stars,” a stallion grumbled. “They’re here earlier this time.

“Do you see the size of the clouds they brought? What are they trying to do? Freeze us to death?”

The Earth Ponies of Farron met the Pegasi at the edge of the village, a single pony from each group stepping forward.

“Cyclone Cut.”

“Hard Oak. You’re looking as sturdy as ever. A little on the thin side this year, though.”

The other Pegasi snickered, earning them glares from the earthbound residents of Farron.

“The earth didn’t give us as much of its bounty this year,” Oak stated.

He looked over the gray Pegasus before him and smirked.

“You’re sporting some new scars, Cyclone. You must be getting rusty out there, soldier.”

Now it was Cyclone’s turn to scowl, his comrades’ laughter ceasing.

“I would hope that this lean year—“

“We have your food, same amount as usual. It’s spreading our own supply thin, but we’re upholding our end of the agreement.”

Six sacks containing cabbages, potatoes and carrots were handed over to the Pegasi. However, instead of leaving immediately, they huddled together and spoke amongst themselves.

Wait a second, thought Maverick. Silver was given a chance to leave by other Unicorns. Maybe I can get out of this place by going with other Pegasi!

He snuck away from his family and towards the back of the crowd.

“What’s the holdup? You got your food, now leave us be!”

“Just a moment, earthbounds. We can see that things are pretty rough for you right now, so we’d like to cut you a deal.”

Hard Oak raised an eyebrow.

“What sort of deal?”

“Simple,” stated a Pegasus. “You give us some extra food this winter and we’ll give you less snow. That sounds fair, doesn’t it?”

“What? Are you featherheads out of your minds?”

“We barely have enough to feed ourselves as it is! Now you’re asking for extra?”

One Pegasus flew up and kicked a cloud, dumping snow on a few Earth Ponies below and laughing.

“We’re making you mud ponies a pretty generous offer. Besides, you don’t want your little shantytown to be buried in snow, do you?”

Ponies were about to come to blows when suddenly Maverick came galloping up from behind the crowd.

“Hey Pegasi! Check this out!”

He leaped into the air and began flapping his wings, flying over ponies’ heads.

“Agh! What in Tartarus?”

“He’s doing that freaky fire thing again!”

“Scarlet Plume, control your son!”

“Can it—oof!”

Maverick crashed face first into the dirt, skidding to a stop in front of the Pegasus troops. Ow. Okay, that did NOT turn out as cool as I pictured it.

“What do you know? There really is one of those freaky bat ponies here.”

“I figured they were just spooks from camp stories.”

“Cyclone looked down at Maverick with a half smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Can we help you, son? That was, heh heh, one heck of a flop right there.”

“Heck yeah, you can help me! Take me with you guys!”

Cyclone blinked in surprise as Scarlet’s jaw dropped three feet. A thick silence hung in the air for what felt like years, then it was shattered by the Pegasi’s guffaws.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Get a load of this colt! Ha!”

“What’s so funny? I’m being serious!”

Maverick stomped a hoof to emphasize his point.

“Heh heh heh. Listen, kid. Do you think we recruit anypony who asks?”

“I’m a Pegasus just like you. What’s the problem?”

“You may have wings, but you sure as sleet don’t know how to use them,” said Cyclone.

“I do too! I flew right in front of you!”

Cyclone chuckled as he walked up to the green colt.

“That wasn’t flying,” he said as he spread his wings. In an instant, Cyclone took to the sky and effortlessly maneuvered through the sky with smooth turns and sharp dives.

Holy Alicorns above, Maverick thought as he watched with awe. Cyclone landed on top of a cloud, dispensing a sprinkle of snow.

“THAT’S flying. If you could do at least that much, I might’ve considered drafting you as a junior trainee.”

“Now that the entertainment’s over, back to business. Do we have a deal, dirt munchers?”

Hard Oak and the other ponies gathered together and discussed the matter away from the Pegasi. After much talk, Hard Oak walked up to Cyclone with his chest puffed out.

“We’ve come to a decision. We’re not going to give you any more food than the agreed amount. Just because you control our weather doesn’t mean we’ll give in to your threats.”

One soldier scoffed and stepped forward.

“We don’t just control the weather, mud pony,” she hissed. “There are a lot of dangerous creatures out there. We’re all that stands between them and you.”

“Stand down, soldier,” commanded Cyclone. “They gave us their answer. Our business here is finished.”

Everypony watched the Pegasi bring down the first snow of winter, then fly away. Maverick’s ears twitched and his tail swished around as he watched the winged soldiers vanish over the horizon.

I’ve got to learn how to fly like that. Flying is my ticket out of here!