Chapter 1: And she crashed into his life.
A unicorn sat in front of a blank page of paper, searching for inspiration. His horn momentarily glowed as he magically pulled aside the curtains and opened up the dirty window, so that he may illuminate the words he couldn't find. A massive sunbeam showered down upon the white page, but alas no words appeared.
"Maybe I should actually look at the information I have." The unicorn decided, glancing over the frustrating pamphlet once more. The pages described a unicorn famous for fantastic magic tricks, and for being famous throughout most of the country.
The unicorn pony put down the flier, and levitated another another piece of paper from his selection of mail. He opened up the envelope, and found another pamphlet inside, this time for a prestigious magic school. The envelope was from the unicorn's mother. "As if, Mom. I'll go to your silly magic school when my house catches on fire." The unicorn shook his head, he had received this same magic school invitation dozens of times.
The Unicorn pony was named Static Mist, and his ordinary and regularly scheduled life was about to change forever.
It began when he heard a strange old-fashioned sci-fi screechy warpy sound, and then silence.
"That... Was a really weird sound. I think I should go investigate it." He said aloud to nopony, before cautiously opening his door and going out to explore.
His house sat a little distance away from the bustle of the town on the side of a lovely grassy hill. It was a pastel blue with two stories and a town-facing balcony, and was built not too long before the birth of Static Mist.
Static stepped out side into the crisp air of autumn, but was a bit too distracted to notice the sweet smells and the shrill bird chirps of the forest behind his home.
A big blue box sat upon his front lawn, looking rather out of place. A door opened out of it, and a brown stallion stepped out with a nervous glance. "Let's see... It looks like the space-time continuum isn't collapsing, so either I'm still in the same dimension, or I actually made it!" The stallion said somewhat cheerily with a curious northern accent.
"Excuse me, but may I ask why you are on my lawn? Or more importantly how you got that large box here?" Static asked politely.
"Oh! Hello! Sorry, didn't see you there. I'm the Doctor, and I'm looking for someone."
Calling himself 'The Doctor' piqued Static's interest, as he had recently received a letter addressed to 'The Doctor.'
"The Doctor? A bit of an unusual name. I'm almost certain that most ponies have some sort of informal name that doesn't sound so much like... A title." Static noted, and then turned to retreat momentarily into his house. He came back shortly with the Doctor's letter in his mouth, and then he awkwardly placed it at his feet.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, and smiled. "Is that mine? Brilliant! I haven't been here more than twelve seconds and I've already got mail!"
Static realized that the Doctor was an earth pony, weird how he still seemed magical, so he levitated and opened the letter for him. "Ah, thank you. Now let's see what all this fuss is about." He read in silence with a smile for a few seconds, and then chuckled. "Yep, that does sound like me." Static gave a look of confusion, "Who is it from?" "Ah! That friend I was searching for, wonderful news! I found her. Dreadful news! She'll be here in a month, and I won't be back till much later. Can I count on you to look after her when she arrives? She'll need a place to stay and somepony to show her around. Great! Wonderful! I knew I could count on you! Good luck!"
The Doctor retreated back into his blue box, and only asked one more thing. "Terribly sorry to trespass on your lawn by the way, what did you say your name was? Static?"
"I'm... Static Mist. How did you- Wait, so I'm looking after your friend when she arrives? I don't remember agreeing to this. How will I even know who she is?"
The Doctor gave a sly smile. "Ah, that's half the fun of it mate! Her name is Violet Nightfire, and she'll be in a bit of a fiery state."
He closed the door, and Static stood in disbelief as the blue box made the same screechy warpy noise, as it faded seemingly out of existence. Static stood there for a while, shocked that he was suddenly going to be hosting someone in just a month, and he hadn't even voiced more than one complaint. And when did he tell the Doctor his name?
Static looked down, and noticed he still had the letter floating in front of him. He turned it around and read.
-Doctor! I know you travel a lot, so it will be weird timing when you get this. I'm writing this after you've picked me up, but Static assured me that you will get this just in time.
(I assured who what now? I don't remember this! After he picks her up? Did I just meet a time-traveller?) Static thought to himself, and then continued.
I'm going to be arriving in exactly a month, a little hot-headed, and you need to tell Static to have a place for me to cool down. He is going to be a little confused an uncertain first, but eventually he'll get used to having company in his home. It will be about a year before you return, so Static if you read this before you meet me... Get ready for some adventures my friend.
-Vi
PS (Towards Static)... Get used to being called Misty~!
"A year..." Static mumbled, really concerned as to how he was to deal with someone who calls themselves a friend before meeting him, when Static wasn't even used to having friends. Friends had never seemed important to Static, and he certainly wasn't sure how to react to having a mare visit for a year.
At this point, Static hoped that he was somehow having a really bad daydream, or that Violet would make a wrong turn somewhere. He also hoped that the year would go by slowly. He would be wishing for more time very soon, in about a month and five days actually.
Static retreated back into the home he had known for so long. When he had graduated from what us readers would know as a high school, Static had inherited his parent's homes as they moved away to leave him on his own. His mother constantly sent him application forms to a magic academy equivalent to a university. The only reason why these application forms were sent is due to the fact that Static's mother was a skilled magic teacher, and desperately wanted her son to reach his full potential. Static didn't see himself as a very powerful unicorn however, so no action was taken on his part to attend the magic academy due to fear of failure and lack of self-confidence.
Static's father was little better, being a prestigious writer of fictional works, and fairly well renowned. He didn't want Static to follow in his footsteps, since that would be too cliché. But Static wanted to write stories, so he decided to go towards Non-fiction instead.
As Static entered his home again, he turned around and locked the door. "What just happened?" He asked aloud, thoroughly confused by what he had witnessed. His vision moved back to the magazine article he was supposed to be writing, but his part-time job seemed strangely irrelevant in light of recent events.
(Who is Violet... how does she know my name? Where is she from? Why is she staying at my house? WHY IS SHE STAYING FOR A YEAR?) These were the questions that were floating around Static's mind for the next few hours, as he offhandedly attempted to write his magazine article about that Weaver unicorn guy.
"Okay... When she gets here, all I have to do is say no... Right? Surely she can't force her way in and stay for A YEAR? But what if she is seriously in need? Is it really my responsibility to help her? WHY AM I TALKING TO MYSELF?"
Static shook his head in frustration, unsure of how to react to his situation. (Okay... I just have to figure out a plan, and there is only one place I know to go to in times like these!) Static gave up attempting his article, and trotted for the door. Knowing exactly where his hooves would carry him.
And soon he arrived. He stared up at the grand building, admiring the large sign with the words that filled him with much joy. "Public Library!" he grinned, and then dashed inside. Some nearby other ponies stood by, confused by his random outburst, before going back to their normal lives.
The enormous wall-sized mosaic of the founder of the semi-recently constructed library, built only a decade ago, shined and glowed in it's full glory. The Mosaic depicted the purple Alicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle. Static still remembered the day of her coronation, even though he had been very young.
The library was distressingly empty, but this was good since it meant Static might receive attention and assistance in seconds instead of hours.
Sure enough, an older mare turned to him and said, "Good afternoon! Is there anything you are looking for today?" Static nodded. "Well, I'm not exactly sure where to start, but I guess I'm looking for some life advice. Apparently there is going to be a stran- A family friend staying with me for quite some time. A mare I've never met, and don't really know what to do about." Static hoped the librarian wouldn't notice he had almost called her a stranger, since that would probably require a lot more of an explanation.
"A mare huh? Well, the best people to ask would probably be the parts of the family she was friends with." The family friend story backfired, now Static would have to do even more explaining. "Uhh- I'm not really, in contact with those particular family members?" Static didn't sound sure, but apparently the mare believed him since she replied, "Oh. Well, There are few books that would probably help, but they do exist!"
Static left the library with three books, one a story about a mare who was forced to live with her cousin, one, that would probably be the most helpful, by the same author from the point of view of that cousin. And the last one was one Static picked out himself, since it contained a small segment of information on the Doctor. He found several other notable illustrations of the Doctor and that blue box known as, the TARDIS. Nothing he found told him anything about Violet however, as the Doctor appeared to be a fictional character featured on a television series called 'Doctor Whooves.'
It was now a tad later in the day, and the sun was almost setting when Static finally returned to his home. (Alrighty, I've got 29 days left. Wait! It's a leap year! That means that... Nothing changes. I can't believe I've been living alone for six months now and I still can't schedule things properly.) He trotted upstairs to his bedroom, and flicked on the lightswitch. His grandmother's epic wall mural of Canterlot Castle was revealed in all it's glory, and through chance Static noticed something about it he had never noticed before. In one tiny corner on a tiny balcony was painted a little blue box, beside it a brown Stallion.
Static dropped his books in shock, and fled the room momentarily. He sneaked back into his room, and got closer to study the image more thoroughly. The Doctor, or what looked like the Doctor, was sitting contentedly beside a grey pegasus that Static thought he recognized, but hadn't seen for many years. A few balconies up, was the part of the image Static was most familiar with, an older version of himself. Though now for the first time he looked closely at the rest of the ponies in the picture. Beside his Static esque painted pony was a pegasus with a neat blue mane and a- "Violet coat? No... I'm thinking too deeply into this." On the right, though technically left from the point of view of the Static in the picture, was another pegasus, with green mane and darker lavender coat.
(Oh well, my Grandmother was known for being creative. I'm sure that it's just that she drew a pony similar to me, and then put a random mare next to that. The Doctor is another thing all together, but I'm sure I'll find an explanation someday.)
Static returned downstairs, and back to his writing desk.
Days went by, and Static slowly forgot all about Violet. It took a while longer to forget the Doctor, since a picture of him was literally in his room... On the wall...
Eventually Static chalked it up to a weird day dream, since the entire thing seemed all together impossible. The end of the month long time-limit drew near however... And then all too soon it was over. Static Mist had gone back to settling into his normal life style of writing articles for magazines and newspapers, and avoiding most forms of social interaction. Occasionally he would write his mother and father, and once he even wrote one of his old teachers to let him know how he was doing. Things were fine in his life... But they were increasingly growing boring.
He did eventually manage to read the three books he had taken out, but while the first two were good stories and well written, they probably weren't going to be very helpful. The third book, the that contained information about the Doctor, was somewhat helpful about revealing what kind of pony the Doctor was. However, there was no information about a pony named Violet anywhere, so Static set it aside for later.
The end of the month came, and while Static had thought he would of dreaded this day a month ago, instead he found excitement. (Today has the potential to be exciting and new, and I don't know why I suddenly like that concept.) Static stepped outside into the warm early-summer air. And headed into town, wondering when Violet would arrive... If she would at all.
Static Mist wandered through the streets of his lovely and scenic hometown, called Lilac Chasm. He wasn't quite sure why, as there were no chasms within 30 kilometers, but it was a nice quiet town. Only a few kilometers away was also the somewhat massive city of Vanhoover.
It was a lovely summer day, with several birds trying to sing, but being denied when ever some busy pony came rushing down the street in a carriage or if they were rich enough maybe they might be driving an automobile. Static was walking down one of the main streets, deciding that if he were to meet up with this Violet pony, he would likely find her at the train station.
The street was quite wide, with various stores and even two apartments in the local area, that later stretched onwards into farmland and then mountain trails. On the sides of the streets were rows and rows of various trees, mostly alder but occasionally maple or cherry. The sidewalk was cement, unlike the dirt paths found in the hilly farmlands further down the main street, and the municipality had purchased glass mosaics to be set into the sidewalks. Of course, the mosaics were of old ponies Static knew nothing about besides that they had helped found Lilac Chasm and help it become so much more than the small logging town it was centuries ago.
Static glanced away from the distracting history, as he was approaching the turn that led to the train station. He turned away from the pleasant road, and encountered what was known as, "The belt" because all the pedestrians would travel along the road as if it were a conveyer belt. There were a few fast food places along the side of the road, but if you planned to go into one you would have to hurry. Static recalled several times when he had been separated from his parents trying to enter one of the stores during the peak hours of the day.
Static stood at the head of the street today, watching the less than usual crowds move along to and from the train station. He took some steps forward, and then continued straight onwards. He soon found himself stepping onto the large train platform, and stared down towards the empty tracks. He looked up to the digital display, and noticed that it would be only three minutes until the first train of the morning arrived. He also noticed that it was only 8 am, and that he had gotten up three hours earlier than usual.
Time went by, and Static went back to one of the Belt's stores to purchase a cream cheese bagel breakfast. He had a coupon for a free coffee in his wallet, located in his dark green saddle bag, but Static didn't actually like coffee so he left it on his table hoping somepony else who did might find it. He returned to his spot at the train station, and waited through two more train arrivals. Apparently Lilac Chasm was the type of town that had hundreds of visitors per day due to it's famous mountain trails and lakes, but Static still felt that three trains in two and a half hours was too much for a town that supposed to be considered small.
It was 11 am when Static realized he couldn't just stay at the train station all day, and that he should probably come back later in the day. Maybe two or three, and then again at eight or nine. The last train came at eleven at night, so surely Violet would have showed up by then if she was going to.
Static was about to leave, when he heard several ponies chatting. They appeared somewhat important and official, and they seemed to be talking about something important. Static's journalism instincts took over, and he trotted over nonchalantly to listen in. (After all, you never know when the next big story might come along!) He glanced towards the train schedules, and made sure his ears didn't swivel towards the conversing ponies.
The one on the left appeared to be in middle age, the other slightly younger and apparently less experienced. Both were male pegasi, and wore a similar flightsuit under a black buisness jacket. They also wore similar dark shades, adding to their levels of looking suspicious considering one had flight goggles hanging out of his pocket. Their conversation went like this:
Pony 1: "So how long ago did this happen?"
Pony 2 replied, "I just got off the phone with the boss. The Pegasus is unconscious, and traveling at a speed we're pretty sure breaks most speed records recorded in the past thirty years. We haven't seen anypony this fast since that wonderbolt crash in '87."
Pony 1 appeared distressed, and his wings shifted nervously under his long black coat. "How are we going to catch her? The department has never been able to deal with this kind of stuff before!"
The second pony shifted uncomfortably as he began to get suspicious of Static's proximity. He glanced over at him, but noticed his ears weren't turned towards their conversation, so continued.
Static nevertheless decided to take some more precautions, and quickly removed his contact lenses, replacing them with his pair of glasses. His glasses were specially designed by the Journalists snooping Association to be extra reflective on the corners so that snoopy journalists could observe events behind them discreetly. (I never thought I would ever use these things, but it turns out these are really useful.)
Pony 2 continued, "That was many years ago. The DoDFaCP hasn't failed to prevent this type of thing for many years now."
Pony 1 shook his head, "Yeah, but all those cases haven't involved a Pegasus flying at mock three, while unconscious!"
Pony 2 put his hoof to the other pony's mouth, "Keep it down! We don't want any of the public panicking. We have the training to deal with this, and this time we aren't amateurs. We can do it this time Gust. You can do it, I won't be there to slow you down. Ever since that crash in 87' I've been teaching you everything there is to know, so you can't mess up like I did."
Static trailed through his memories, trying to put together what DoDFaCP might stand for. 87' was several years before he was born, but it seemed to be important to these ponies so surely he must have heard about it at one point!
(Okay, take what you know, put together the pieces, and discover the facts later. This is what you were taught in journalism class, all of three years ago. Okay... They call themselves 'The Department', so that's probably one of the Ds in the acronym. They are discussing a pegasus who is flying dangerously, and likely to crash.) The pieces fell together, and Static almost gave a gasp of realization.
(Of course! The Department of Dangerous Flying and Crash Prevention!) They were reprimanded intensely for one of their members failing to prevent the crash of the most famous wonderbolt crashes in racing history. The crash occured when the wonderbolt, who had been participating in one of the most famous races of all time, had flown to fast and passed out when too much blood left his brain. The wonder bolt had survived, but despite a full recovery never felt confident to fly fast ever again.
The older Stallion pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket, and had a quick conversation. He said his farewells, and returned to his conversation with the younger partner. This time he sounded concerned, and there was a noticable edge of panic to his voice. "We've got about two minutes until impact, the other teams have all failed, and haven't been able to catch up. This means that this is all riding on you friend."
The younger pony frowned. "Are you sure you couldn't help?" The older shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but ever since my brother... Since that crash. You know I vowed never to fly again."
The younger drooped his head, aware of his responsibilities. "Very well. Where's the projected landing site?" The other looked into the distance. "You see that house on that hill over there? The one with the forwards facing balcony?"
Static's ears immediately turned towards the conversation against his will, as did the rest of him. "Of course! It had to be my house! How long until impact again?" He was already standing on the verge of a run, ready to race away after a moments notice.
The younger looked surprise, putting forth reasonable questions such as, "Wait, who are you? How long have you been listening?" But the older pony was not surprised.
"Aha! I knew you were listening! The train has already come and gone, and you didn't find anyone or leave. You did a good job of hiding your eavesdropping though, I only noticed when you changed your contacts into glasses, for seemingly no reason. You only have a minute and a half to get home. Get going kid! My partner here will try to protect your property, but there is little we can do at this point."
Static nodded his gratitude, and turned and took off as swiftly as he could. Meanwhile the younger pony took off and followed him. "Wait, so your house is the one in danger? I guess it's unusual for me to do this but..." The young pegasus known only as Gust swooped Static up and carried him home in a matter of seconds. He dropped him off the balcony, and stared towards the horizon. A large cluster of black dots could be seen, as well as one glowing orange dot.
"Woah! You guys are fast!" Static complimented him, standing on the balcony in shock that he had moved so quickly. Gust nodded, and pointed out. "You should probably get away from this balcony, unless you want to be part of a crater. This pegasus is coming in hot, and I'm not sure how effective I can be. I only wish my partner Bolt was willing to help, He stopped flying when his brother was nearly killed in that old wonderbolt crash I'm sure you heard us talking about. He feels that it's his fault he crashed, since he was on the crash prevention team and was unable to catch him. He's still the fastest pony in our line of work, and despite what you may think he means when he says he doesn't fly, it only means he doesn't do any flying rescues."
One particular set of words stuck in Static's head for a minute, "Coming in hot?" (What was it that letter said a month ago? Violet would be coming in a little hot-headed? Did this have to do with that definition? Is that glowing dot her? Is 'coming in hot' supposed to mean ON FIRE?) He watched as Gust gave a quick farewell, flying swiftly towards the horizon, where he would be attempting to coax a flaming pegasi to a stop, with no co-operation from her. Of course, there would be no resistance either, but that didn't mean it would be easy. After all, she was on fire.
The intimidating orange glow grew, and Static noticed several ponies down on the main street stopping, and pointing. One of them noticed the direction the flamey pony was headed, and called out to Static. "Hey! I think you should probably get away from there! Mr.Unicorn! Hello!?" Static looked at him, looked back towards the orange glow he now found himself assuming was Violet, and nodded. He called back, "That would certainly be for the best! But I'm afraid I have other plans."
Static gulped in fear, knowing that the spell he was going to attempt had at least a 70% chance of failing. He focused his horn, and a large blue glow formed around it. A crackle of electricity was heard, and a blue field slowly formed around Static, then grew to be slightly larger than his entire home. (No... A simple shield won't work, I have to bounce her away.) Static closed his eyes, focusing on changing the shape of his magic. A solid platform of magic seemed to form, then Static put his own little touch into it.
(Mom always said I was good with electric magic, let's hope she was right. I need to form an electromagnetic field that will push and guide Violet back into the air. Let's just hope I have enough magic to do it.) Static thought to himself, refocusing his flow of energy, to be less of a contained magic barrier, and more to being an electric blue wall of various zaps and flickers.
Violet Nightfire opened her eyes, aware of a strangely comfortable warm force around her. Then she saw with those eyes, and noticed everything appeared red, then she understood with her eyes, and realized she was falling, and somehow on fire. "AH!" She cried out, though the words were never heard by her own ears considering she was traveling much faster than sound. She looked around with some difficulty, and noticed some unfamiliar pegasi attempting to keep up with her, though unable to come close enough to help her slow down due to the flames surrounding her.
(Hold up! I'm on fire! Why am I not in immense pain? How did I even get here?) Questions strolled through her brain as she attempted to recall what had happened and why. The only thing she managed to deduce was that this must be magical fire, and whoever placed a spell of magic fire on her would be getting a serious rump-kicking later.
She snapped her eyes forward again, since there was no pain from heat, only discomfort. "AH!" She cried again as she noticed her current trajectory placed her about thirty meters underground, through a house. She quickly found out that she was unable to bend or twist her wings without pain. It wasn't magic pain, or pain from the fire, it was pain from the air pushing against her feathers, and threatening to tear them out.
"Can any of you experienced flyers tell me what to do!?" She called out, hoping one of the other pegasi would be able to help teach her an advanced flying technique that didn't require the use of wings in the next forty seconds before impact. No answer came, as none of the other pegasi were willing to break the sound barrier in an attempt to catch up to her, and get ahead to call out helpful things. It's that or they simply didn't hear her, which would make far more sense.
"Okay Vi, think of what they taught you in flight school. When you are in a crisis situation, do not panic and make slow movements to correct your course. Also, they taught you that bigger pegasi are often clumsier, and that you were voted most likely to perform at an airshow!" She yelled out, but was unheard due to her situation. (Of course, that was my first year of flight academy, the next year I was voted most likely to die in a horrible crash, due to lack of practice.) Violet realized she probably shouldn't think of flight school, since she had never graduated from her last year yet. Infact, she had been on spring break when all of THIS happened. She suddenly realized that she was recovering her memories, though she had yet to understand why she lost them.
Violet finally realized that she had less than twenty seconds left before she crashed, and she hadn't started changing course yet. She pulled out her wings ever so slightly, and began to pull up, ever so slightly but probably not enough to save her. She flared her wings out more, ignoring the pain.
A dark shape came up to meet her, flying faster than the rest of the pegasi, yet bearing a flight suit with the same logo. He seemed to call out something, that through Violet's limited knowledge of reading lips she thought to mean that his name was Gust. He also seemed to be going on some speel about his partner, and not letting him down no matter what.
Violet looked back towards the massive ground before her, the house now uncomfortably large despite still being more than a kilometer away.
Gust, or whatever his name was pulled up close to Violet, and ignored the potential heat and pain as he stretched his hooves through the field of fire, which he was very surprised to learn wasn't real fire and wasn't painful at all. After which he quickly clasped onto Violet, and angled his wings slightly less than Violet had angled hers. "Doesn't that hurt?" He yelled, referring to the pain of the wind against her poor wings. She nodded, and noticed for the first time that a tiny stream of blood was leaking through her feathers. Violet had been cut by the air, and quickly noticed that it hurt a lot more than the fake fire.
Ten seconds till impact, and Violet was forced to retract her wings. Too much pain, and she was losing blood at an uncomfortable rate. Gust noticed this, and grimaced as he realized that they were going to collide with the very top of Static's home without Violet's assistance. Violet closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable end. She felt her coat begin to tingle five seconds later, as if some sort of Static electricity was surrounding her. She opened here eyes again, and saw blue lightning tugging her straight down towards the house.
Four seconds left, The blue light got brighter, now tugging her slightly less towards the downwards direction and more straight forwards.
Three seconds, The blue light now looked like real lightning, and she could just make out the shape of a unicorn on the balcony of the house.
Two seconds. OKAY, now it looked like real lightning, it was so bright that she could only make out Gust's look of terror as his wings locked up in fear. She could also make out the unicorn on the balcony now.
One second. The lightning seemed to be pushing her upwards, as well as pulling her forwards now. She noticed a look of complete determination on the unicorn's face.
*Whoosh* The bottom of the house went screaming below her, as she hit a final concentration of the blue lightning and was pushed back into the sky, away from the terrifying ground. Had she looked back she would have seen a blue burst of magic, as Static was flattened onto his balcony and his magic was dispersed into a ring of blue. In the same second her surrounding magic flame was torn away, and she bounced away.
Gust opened his eyes, and slowly flared his wings. Most of the pair's speed had been absorbed by Static's magic, and Gust could do his job now. He flipped Violet over, and slowly brought them in a neat circle to a steady climb. Finally all their momentum was gone, and they were safe. Trouble was, Gust chose this time to faint with relief.
"Ack! What are you doing! I need you! My wings are hurt!" Violet cried out as they tumbled through open sky for several seconds, before crashing into... A cloud of pegasi, who had been waiting all day to save Violet, and certainly weren't going to let her fall now.
"We've gotcha Missy! I don't understand how the two of you aren't burnt, but I'm glad you're okay."
Static was pressed to the ground with a bit of a painful crack in one of his hooves. "Ack!" He squeaked, as his hoof bent at an angle it wasn't supposed to. (I am amazed that worked. I really thought I was going to fail there.) He struggled to a stand, as magic fatigue threatened to make him pass out. Usually typical unicorn's could only hold a regular magic shield for about thirty seconds. Static had held a larger than usual one, changed its shape and magical type, and still held it for more than a minute. It was seconds from collapsing upon impact, so it was astounding Static had succeded. (Maybe Mom was right, I might have more talent than I choose to believe! Hmm... nah, I just had determination and force of will. I refuse to believe that I'm some sort of prodigy like she claims.)
Static hobbled into his home, down the stairs, outside the front door, and watched as the rescue ponies carried Vi and their apparently incapitated partner over his house and down to the main street. (What am I going to tell Violet? I saved you and now you have to live with me because Doctor? I'm sure that makes sense to someone, but certainly not me.)
The two were set down in front of Static's house, where a massive crowd of curious and concerned ponies were gathered. Several ponies were expecting Static to say something, considering he had just helped save both ponies and looked cool while doing it. But he just kept quiet, asking if Violet was okay.
The Violet coated, blue maned pegasus was suspicious, "Wait, how did you know my name was Violet?" She questioned the uncharacteristically quiet unicorn. "Umm, It's a bit of a long story, but do you happen to be friends with a pony that calls himself 'The Doctor'?" Violet blinked as a flash of memory related to that name assaulted her. "I think I'm aware of him." Static gave a slight sigh of relief, as if a month long worry had been put to rest. "Okay, they are likely to question you now, you need to say that you are fine to get home for now, and that you don't require any further assistance."
Violet gave a look of confusion, "Umm... Why? Who are you and why should I trust you? I mean, you saved my life, that's one good reason, but what if I wanted assistance from these ponies?"
Static glanced away ashamedly, as if he didn't know the reasons either. "I really don't know what reason you have to trust me," He then turned and gave her a look of hopefullness, "But surely you can trust the Doctor?"
Violet gave a worried look, "Well,-"
The conversation was cut short as Violet was taken to be questioned by the DoDFaCP ponies. They weren't mad at her, they simply wanted to know how she got up so high and why she was going so fast.
"I truly don't know! I know that the fire was fake fire, made of magic, so I think some sort of powerful wizard might have had some sort of fit of anger against me. I have no idea why as some of my memories are missing. I have no idea how I got into the sky!"
Eventually they let her go after signing some forms, and Static had to sign some customer satisfaction forms. During the signing of said forms, the old pony Bolt came up to talk to Static.
"That was a neat light show kid. You know, you're probably going to be in the news for a while." Static nodded, "I know. I'm a journalist myself, my bosses will probably ask me to write my own article." Bolt suddenly got a bit nervous, "A, uh- Journalist? Say, how much of my conversation with Gust did you hear? There are some potentially news worthy things we said, and I-" Static cut him off. "Relax. I'm not the kind of journalist who spreads around the bad news and dirty secrets of others. If you ask me, I really think that you should take up flying again. If you do, you might finally notice that your brother forgave you a while back." Bolt tilted his head in confusion, "I- what? What do you know about my brother?" He asked, not in anger, but with true curiosity. "I know that he started flying again in disguise. He's the new captain of the royal guard, and they say he is always talking about how he wishes his brother would fly over and visit him sometime. I'm pretty sure that spells out forgiveness."
Bolt thought for a minute, and sighed. "I knew that captain looked familiar. You're right, If he forgives me, than maybe I should forgive myself. Thank you, Static Mist, for everything you did here today. I think I might take a short vacation from the department, Gust is ample trained to handle my absence." He gave a quick nod, before leaving Static alone as he flew away.
Finally the crowds disappeared, and Violet was left with Static, alone after she had convinced various officials that she could find her way home alone. "I thought they would never leave! Now then, you mentioned the Doctor. Did he happen to say anything about what I would be doing while I am here?"
Static gave a nod, "He did say where you were to be staying, and for how long." Violet sighed relief. "Oh, that's good. I checked a map and found out that I have no way of getting home after all." Static offered interest, "Oh? Why's that?" Violet gave him an answer he really didn't want to hear. "Well, I think I may be stuck in a world that isn't mine." Static gave a frown, "Hmm, then I wonder if you are from a different time or dimension, like my studies of the Doctor's companions suggested. I thought for sure it couldn't be true, but if you truly can't find your home, than maybe..." Violet was a bit shocked. "So, I might be trapped in another dimension? That- That feels pretty accurate actually. I have a weird feeling deep down, as if I belong somewhere else."
Static gave a joking roll of his eyes, "Alrighty miss dimension traveler." He then gave a yawn, and continued, "I believe it may be getting late, and I should probably tell you where you were supposed to be staying according to the Doctor." Violet nodded, sharing his yawn. She had certainly had a busy day with all the falling from the bottom of the Stratosphere and nearly dying.
"And... It's apparently at my house." Violet tilted her head, "Oh? Well that's, good? I guess? You seem a nice person, I'm sure I could probably get along with you. How long am I supposed to be staying for?"
Static inhaled nervously, not knowing if he should tell the truth. "He didn't say, but I know it's definitely for a while." Violet was a bit contrary, not knowing how to feel about being told to stay at a strange colt's home. "And, how long is a while? Like, a while as in days, or a while as in weeks?" Static shrugged nervously, "Um, lets just say it's longer than a few weeks."
Violet stepped inside his house, as she realized she hadn't properly looked at Static, nor learned his full name. "Alrighty, get to know each other time, right now. What is your full name?" Static gave her a confused look, before answering, "Um, Static Keegan LightningDance Mist? I have orange eyes but they are often blue when I wear my contact lenses. My mother often tells me I have potential to become a powerful lightning mage but I am quite content with being a simple journalist." He answered flawlessly, anticipating Violet's questions before they were asked.
Violet gave a nod of approval, and began to walk away, responding, "Neat! So, where's the bathroom?" "Hey! You can't just ask for get to know each other time and then not tell me anything!" Static complained reasonably. Violet laughed, "Tee hee! Okay, in all seriousness. My full name is Violet Kamilia Nightfire... Dance. Apparently Dance is a common name, even you have it in your name, and because of that I switched to using my middle name as my last. I have purpleish eyes, and I'm only one semester away from graduating from my Flight academy. Many say I have talent as a flier, but I almost never practice seriously, so yeah."
Static nodded, and then noticed something. "hmm, There's only one problem with your self-description. Your eyes aren't purple, they're red."
Violet raised an eyebrow, an continued on her quest to the bathroom, now with a second task of looking in the mirror. "Bathroom is the door on the second left- No other left! No, the one that's- Oh, I'll just show you." Static guided Violet into the one door she hadn't checked, and flicked on the light switch.
It was a modest bathroom, though the mirror was well polished, and the counters quite clean. The shower had some type of flowery shampoo, and Violet took note that Static's mane smelled a bit feminine. It certainly suited him though, and she quite liked the smell.
Violet's eyes wandered to her reflection in the mirror, and the sight of her eyes struck her. She paled a bit when she saw her eyes, but couldn't explain why she feared them. "I see, this is mildly disturbing but I can't remember why."
Then Violet flared out her wings, accidentally bopping Static on the nose. "Oopsies, I just need to check if..." She trailed off, as she noticed the entire inner section of her feathery plumage was drenched in blood. The cuts from the wind earlier had been even more severe than she thought, and she had thought them pretty bad. Static levitated some bandages out from a cupboard beside the shower, and carefully wrapped the bandages around her wings. "We'll have to change these in the morning, and you're going to need a serious shower. We can't let it sit for too long or it may cause some damage to the secondary covets and possibly the alulae. Your primaries are in no danger for now, but if we leave the wounds untreated and don't disinfect them there is a chance you might lose those lovely feathers."
Static used a tiny bit of magic to somehow prevent Violet from feeling pain in her wings, as he tightened up the bandages. "Two questions, how did you stop the pain and how do you know anything about the proper care of wings?" Static grunted as he tore another section of bandage with his teeth, while he seemingly did three other things with his magic. "Simple, I'm altering the flow of electricity to the nerve endings in your wings. This is generally discouraged, as I might make the bandages uncomfortable when I stop, but we seriously have to stop this bleeding fast if you've been bleeding all day. And question two is much simpler. I've written several magazine articles on the study of pegasus wings, as most other ponies can't get enough of it. I wasn't responsible for the source material or studying of course, but I read what I write."
He finished with the bandages, and released his magic. Violet tensed in preparation for her nerves to start feeling pain again, but the bandages weren't actually too bad.
"Alright! I guess I'll show you to your room now. It's gotten way to late and I didn't even notice." Violet gave him a look that asked, "Are you serious?" and then said, "I... Still need the bathroom. You haven't given me anytime alone at all yet." Static blushed, and fled the room with a quick and mumbled sorry.
Static waited in his living room, and finally Violet returned to join him. "Okay... I'm ready to hit the hay." Static gave a concerned look. "I don't have hay beds... My beds are made of fabric and softness and comfort. Are you sure you're alright Violet?" Violet let him have the same look, "It's... an expression."
Static gave up the charade, and laughed, "Ah! She actually fell for it! I bet for a second you began to wonder just how alternate this dimension is!" Violet gave a frown, then laughed along with him. She realized she was feeling strangely comfortable in his presence, and considered that maybe the next few weeks or however long she was staying here couldn't possibly be bad with a pleasant pony like Static.
The two finally went upstairs, and Static showed her to his mother's old room. It was fairly empty, since his mother had taken all her possessions a long time ago. All that remained in the room were the large bed, the nightstand and decorative lamp, and a bookcase. The closet was empty, but Violet didn't have any dire need to wear fancy dresses anytime soon anyway. Violet made herself comfortable, and sat on the bed.
"Well, I'd say today went well. Tomorrow is probably going to be panicky, as I have no idea how to treat guests. But until then, goodnight Vi!" He had meant to say Violet, but at that moment, through some weird twist of fate, Static accidentally choked.
"Vi? You're giving me nicknames already? I haven't even been here one day!" Violet teased, and then said, "Well, If we're gonna be all informal and stuff, then I'll just call you Misty! Goodnight Misty!"
Static Mist finished his choking fit, just as Violet was prepared to ask if he was okay. "Gh, ack! Wait what? Misty? Um, I guess I can live with that. Better than Staystay, like my Mother used to call me." He turned and fled the room before Violet could consider calling him Staystay, Thus Staystay did not stay.
Violet sat alone in the room for a minute, feeling like she was missing someone. "Star- Hm? Wait what? Am I just talking to myself?" She crept off the bed, in the unfamiliar house, and gently flicked off the light.
Chapter 2: The first day... part 1
Violet woke up to the sun streaming through a curtain. She had slept comfortably after the first half an hour, but before that had found herself shivering seemingly for no reason. Her dreams had been slightly haunted and full of ponies she didn't recognize, but she couldn't remeber her dreams now, despite just waking up.
The smell of food and possibly pancakes attempted to lure her out of the bedroom, but first she decided to stretch her wings... And completely forget about the bandages. "Myah!" She cried, as her bandages ripped a little and she reopened two of the five cuts on one wing. A slow drip of blood slid down her wing, and dropped perfectly into the center of her pillow. "Oops... I hope Static wont mind." She whispered.
"Mind what?" Static asked as he entered the room with apparent momentary super hearing. He also came bearing pancakes and tea, and then pretended to be upset as he said, "Oh. My mother's favorite pillow case. It was hand sewn by my great-great grandmother, and has been in the family for dozens of years." He joked, placing the food for Violet on the nightstand, and then drooping his head and sniffling a bit.
Violet's eyes were wide with guilt, when he lifted his head and said with a smile. "Tee hee! I'm only kidding of course. My parents took everything important with them when they moved out." Violet frowned, and gave him a light cuff on the shoulder. "Misty! Don't joke about things like that! I've only known you for a while, I don't know when you're joking!" Misty gave a sighing smile, "I'm sorry. I really am awful with friends. You're the closest thing I've had to a friend in years unless you count my family."
Static took the bloodied pillowcase, which at a second glance could never pass for anything old, away. He then quickly washed it with some strawberry smelling soap, while Violet investigated her pancakes. She noted the tiny packet of butter and syrup on the side, and wondered if Static might have her favorite pancake topping. "Hey Misty, do you happen to have any Blueberry jam for these pancakes?"
Static returned with a fresh pillowcase, and answered, "You're actually going with the Misty thing? Huh, I wonder If I'll ever get used to that. And yeah, I happen to have a surplus of blueberry related products since my Mom doesn't like them, I encourage her to visit as seldom as possible."
Violet tilted her head, "You don't like your Mom coming over? Oh hey! I never asked what your family was like! We should discuss them over breakfast!" Violet took her tray of pancakes and blueberry tea into her mouth, and somehow charged into the kitchen without spilling anything.
Static watched her hasty escape, and studied the bed. (And... She just left fresh blood everywhere. I think it might be best to get her to a Doctor.)
Static followed her out to the kitchen, noticing a blood drop every fifteen feet. "Violet, you should think about eating in the bathroom, you're kinda... Getting blood on my carpets." He mentioned.
Violet had just placed her tray at the table, and turned to study her path of blood. "Heh heh, oops? Sorry Misty, be right back. I have to visit the bathroom anyways."
Static nodded peacefully, as his mind frantically tried to recall what his mother had told him removes blood from carpets.
Violet entered the bathroom, and stepped into the bathtub. She studied the taps, before realizing that no matter where she seemed to go, bathroom taps never functioned the same. "Uh, Misty? I may need some help with-"
From a seperate room, Misty magically twisted the taps, and the bath faucet poured out cold water. A few seconds later it warmed up, and he used his magic on the tab that operated the Shower too.
Violet stared at the taps, knowing she hadn't seen any of her own unicorn friends operate taps from a seperate room. (Then again, they haven't had the oppurtunity to do so. How often do I stay at friend's houses and take showers?) The thought struck her as interesting, as she could not recall if she actually had any unicorn friends at the moment. It finally occured to her that she may be suffering from memory loss, and thats when she finally stopped wasting water and stepped into the spray of the shower.
"Thank you Misty!" Violet finally remembered to call, as he noticed a change in sound when she stepped into the stream of water. Static finished applying vinegar to the rug, after remembering that apparently Vinegar was good for dealing with carpet stains.
It was around this time that Static remembered the wall mural upstairs, and that he hadn't gone to check if the mare next to him in the mural was similar to Violet at all.
Static decided he would go up when Violet was able to see it too, so he would know he wasn't going crazy. Maybe he would learn who some of the other ponies in the painting were too.
He approached Violet's pancakes, which she had somehow managed to take one bite of in the two seconds Misty hadn't been watching her.
Violet scrubbed her wings, and shampooed and conditioned her mane with the same floral smelling stuff. She recognized the brand as seeming to be a product for mares, and was glad Misty wasn't fussy over his hair products. She finished her shower, and dryed herself off on a towel Static must have set out for her before she woke up.
She found a brush in a drawer under the counter, and brushed her mane into it's usual Violet approved style. She studied her reflection, and noted her eyes were still red. She flared her wings in annoyance, and realized she she probably study them to see if she had cleaned off the blood properly. She had removed all the blood, but the tips of her wings were stained a subtle red.
She left the bathroom, and came back to notice Static had left the room, after placing her requested blueberry jam on the table. She managed to find a butter knife in one of the kitchen drawers, and was still attempting to open the jar when Static came back.
His eyes widened as with her freshly brushed mane she looked exactly like the mare depicted in the mural on his bedroom wall. He shook his head, trying to ignore the impossibility. "Um, need help?" He questioned Violet as she struggled with the jar.
Violet grunted, as she struggled to open the jar with her teeth. Static began to channel his magic to help her, when she suddenly succeeded. Static bit his lip as he watched the jam leap into the air... And landed peacefully with no consequences. Violet and Static stared at the wobbling jam jar for a few seconds with tense expressions, and then let out a sigh of relief simultaneously.
"I'll let you get the next one." Violet claimed, forcing a laugh out of Static. Violet remembered Static's interesting behavior when he had come in, and decided to inquire towards that. "So, what was with the look when you came in?" Static gave a bit of a half shrug, "It's something you have to see to understand."
He asked her to follow him to his room, and she noticed he was limping slightly as he went up. "What happened to your hoof?" She questioned, to which Static responded, "Well, when I deflected you the forwards momentum had to go somewhere. You may want to be careful if you go out to my balcony."
Violet nodded, slightly upset she had been here less than a full day and already hurt herself and her only friend.
The two entered Static's bedroom, and Violet found her eyes drawn to the enormous wall-sized painting. "Wow, who drew that? It's fantastic!" She exclaimed. Static nodded in agreement eagerly. "Yeah, my grandmother is fantastic at what she does." He looked to a specific section of the wall, where some of the bottom left balconies were. Violet followed his gaze and noticed something that shouldn't be there. "Is that... A PARASPRITE?" she shrieked at the tiniest detail of all that Static had managed to never notice. "Well, yes. I guess it is, but the part I wanted you to see is this." He pointed with a hoof.
Violet looked in the designated area, and saw something she hadn't seen for quite a while. Or at least, she thought it had been a while. It was the lovely blue Tardis, sitting close by was the Doctor. She looked one balcony up by chance and saw... "How long ago was this painted?" She asked in confusion, upon finding a depiction of a small Violet coated pegasus with a mane of light blue with dark tips, and purple eyes. Looking closely you could see that the cutie mark was the same as Violet's, a crescent moon beside a phoenix feather.
Static exhaled slowly, "Well, it was supposed to have been painted around eight years ago. It has never been altered as long as I have had this room, and I have always had this room."
Violet would have reacted and tried to ask more about the painter, when both were distracted by a ringing phone. Static jumped, "Whoa, I haven't gotten a phone call for at least a month or two! I wonder who it could be." He retreated downstairs, as Violet was left alone to study the painting.
(But who is this other pegasus? He looks so familiar, and yet...) She couldn't put a name to the face at the moment, so she studied the rest of the mural. She felt a tug of memory as she glanced upon the various faces, but couldn't recall who any of the depicted ponies other than Static, herself, and of course the Doctor. Of course, the Doctor was quite recognizable by the enormous blue box, who could forget him anyway?
The ringing had stopped, and Static was nearing the end of his conversation. "Okay, just one last question. How did you get this number?" There was a pause, "Okay, well how did you know where Violet was staying?"
Her ears perked with curiosity of who might know of her, and her past that seemed to be getting more mysterious rapidly. She trotted downstairs once more, ignoring the rest of Static's room.
Static hung up the phone as Violet entered the room. She read his somewhat confused expression, and questioned, "So, I'm assuming it's someone from the DoDFaCP trying to get a follow up report or something?" Static shook his head, his longish mane concealing his eyes. "She said she was working with them, but isn't quite a proper member of their organization. She was claiming that she knew a fair amount about you, and needs to talk to you about some pony named... Star Dance?"
Images of that Blueish purple pegasus with the green mane in the wall painting flashed through her mind. The images weren't of him as an older pony, but rather him in various ages, almost as if he had been there for Violet's entire youth.
Static gave a look of concern as one last image, that of familiar glowing red eyes belonging to a certain pony, assaulted her mind and she flinched away from the memory. But was it a memory? Or merely Violet's imaginings? She shook her head, "I know that name, but I don't think I remember the pony it belongs to."
"But surely you must remember something... Oh! I just realized I haven't had a chance to ask about your past! Though of course, you haven't had a chance to start breakfast quite yet, so that can probably wait."
Violet nodded, still deep in thought at the memories she had just experienced, and was unable to recall now even though it had been a matter of seconds. She returned to the table, to find her pancakes were finally cold. "Oh, cold pancakes... Well, I probably have eaten weirder things." Violet admitted, though beginning to question her knowledge of the past. When she had first arrived, she hadn't had time to try and think of her past, but now that she was looking back on it, she was almost certain there were large chunks missing. She was no longer sure what her actual past had been like, as everything seemed to blur, and thinking hard on particular details procured no results. (What happened to me? Something terrible no doubt, but what could make me lose all knowledge of my foalhood?)
Violet decided she wanted to continue the inquiry as to what the mysterious phone mare had conversed about. "So, Misty, this mare... What else did she say? When is she coming? What is she like?" Violet waited for an answer as Static removed her pancakes, and set them aside for himself. He poured left over batter into a frying pan as he answered, "Well... Vi... If you are serious about the whole nickname thing. This mare claimed to be working with our favorite department, as you know. However, she was a bit less specific about her company of origin. She claims to be working for something called the IIDA, but I have no idea what the acronym means. She's coming in four days, not sure why so long. What she's like? Well, she sounds a bit older than you, but younger than my sister would be..." He trailed off, as he accidentally reminded himself of the deceased family member he missed dearly.
"Your sister? Mind if I ask-" Violet attempted to ask, but was cut off by a quick, "Please don't." Static flipped a pancake silently, as Violet wondered what could have possibly happened to Static's unmentionable sister. Static attempted to hold back flood gates of emotion, but quickly found himself feeling tears escape his eyes. "She died last year, the investigators confirmed it was murder. I- I was the one who helped her get out that night, to go meet her friends at some party. I made sure Mom didn't hear so she could go and-" he was unable to finish, and Violet noticed a tear drop into her pancake. "Misty, you don't have to tell me, it's okay..." He shook his head, flipping the pancake once more, pressing the tear into the hot iron of the pan. "I never talked to anyone about it, I just let the emotions sit for-" His voice was now strained, as he tried to explain through soundless sobs. "I let them sit for a full year, never once talking to Mom or Dad about my own sis. And here you are, almost a complete stranger, and yet I'm talking to you about-" He couldn't produce any more words, as several more tears assaulted Violet's pancake.
Violet couldn't stand to see him sad, because aside from the silent sobs and the tears he didn't show anything different in his actions. He just held onto his own emotions as if not talking about his problems would make them go away. Violet tried to imagine what it would be like if her brother died, and then realized, (I have a brother? I do, don't I? Now is probably not the best time to think about him.)
She stood up, and draped a hopefully comforting wing across Static. "Hey, terrible things happen to the best people. Terrible things, that we can't do anything about. And although we can't forget them, we certainly can't just let them keep us down." (I probably just said the wrong thing... Oh gosh I probably just made him cry harder... Why am I so bad at comforting others?!) She panicked in her thoughts.
Static listened to her words, and tried to understand them. When he had read his fathers stories and novels, he never understood how half of what the characters said would ever make them feel better. These words were reminiscent of that, but when said in real life they seemed to have a lot more meaning and echoed sympathy far more than the written words ever could. A cynical part of his mind wanted to complain, (I thought I was stopping it from getting me down! This is literally the only time it has gotten me down! The only other time I cried for her was when I first heard she was gone...)
But Static preferred sympathetic words to his cruelly uncaring thoughts, and decided to accept the gesture of Violet's compassion. He stood for a while, silently crying in the odd way he always had, with Violet just covering him with her left wing. He occasionally flipped the pancake, despite the fact that it was probably ready by now. His eyes were blurry when he put that pancake on a plate beside him, and his attempts to focus his magic and levitate the glass bowl of batter were unsuccessful as long as he thought about his sister. His mind forced flashes of memory upon him, displaying Static as of a year before yelling at a mirror. "It's your fault! Why did you let her go!"
He shook away the memory, and decided to lift the glass bowl with his hooves. He somehow mangaed this successfully, and was able to begin cooking his next pancake. Violet interrupted his quiet world. "You know, I'm not actually sure just how hungry I am... I think I'll be fine with just one pancake." Static looked at her, noticing just how close she was as he felt her pleasantly warm breath on his muzzle. "Are you sure? I completely forgot to offer you dinner yesterday, you must surely be wasting away as we speak!" He attempted to joke, before looking back to the pancake and noticing why Violet didn't want it.
She retracted her wing, "Sorry..." Her wounds decided to open again when she flexed her wing to comfort Static, and the pancake batter was now partially contaminated with drops of blood. Static licked his nose, and realized her blood had dripped down his downcast face and had been unnoticed through the tears. He barely noticed a difference in taste, seeing as Violet's blood was similarly salty.
Violet blinked, then blushed profusely. "Um, I guess I should have told you I was getting blood on your face. I'm sorry. I, uh-" She turned and fled out the back door, not sure quite how to react to Static's blank stare as his face dripped red. "Vi, Its... Okay." She was already gone. Static sighed, (Ugh, why did I have to get all emotional? I should've just dropped it, or left the room. Now she probably thinks I'm mentally unstable or something...)
Static sighed, aware that now he would have to take a shower of his own. Things were off to a very weird start between the two ponies, and the day was only just beginning.
