03 - R&R
What do you do when not out performing daring heroics?
"Why the long face, Sarge?" Green River asked as his squad leader sank into the steaming tub without armor. A groan of releasing tension oozed out of him and he dunked his head under the water for several seconds before coming back up for air.
"Did you speak to Princess Celestia?" Tick asked at once, but the sergeant only shook his head.
"Oh!" River moved excitedly and sloshed some of his bath water onto the floor. "Did you get to see her royal hotness?" The dead-eye stare of his squad leader caused the exuberance to fade from the young soldier's face. "Oh ... oh buck."
"We're on stand-by," Blue Shield finally told them as they all lounged in their own tubs which had mostly cooled. The mirth in their faces faded as they all leaned heavily upon the wooden ledge. Shade gave the water an irritated slap while Tick and Tock exchanged worried glances.
"Great," River sighed.
"Orders?" Shade asked unceremoniously.
"Stay sober and get some rest," Blue Shield told them. "We have the rest of this day to ourselves but we are not to indulge in anything that will leave us unprepared for the morrow. Get a good meal but don't eat anything greasy. Visit your family, if they're close, but spend the night in your rack. Lights out will be midnight."
"A curfew?" Green River blanched with the scoff of one who was offended by the notion.
"Princess Luna likes to send her troops out at midnight," Shade reminded River. All were quiet for a moment. Then the dark grey pony turned to his leader and spoke on a familiar level. "Shield ... do you have any intelligence we might need for this one?"
"Something ... is happening," Blue finally said after reviewing the details of his encounter with his mind's eye. "I'm not sure what is going on yet but it has the Night Mare all worked up. She's gone to Princess Celestia with her concerns ... but they have not yet been taken seriously. This might just be some wild goose chase ..."
"But you don't believe that," Shade spoke quietly.
"No," Blue Shield shook his head. "Something's about to happen ... something big."
Quiet fell upon the others as their sergeant's words sank in. The quiet helped the frayed nerves and he let himself sink until only his ears and his nostrils were breaching the surface of the water. Green River broke first.
"Well I'm not wasting my time here with a bunch of naked stallions," River declared as he clopped onto the stone floor and wiped a towel over his skin. "There's fillies to be flirted with and I'm gonna go scare me up a piece of flank!"
"Make certain they're legal this time," Tick teased as he too got out of the tub.
"Mayhaps we should go with to chaperone," Tock sniggered as he too stepped to the floor.
"Fine," River snorted, "you can be my wingponies."
Tick and Tock made sounds of mutually offended dismissal, then both answered, "We shall see."
A moment later Blue Shield came up for air and found Shade with a towel wrapped around himself. I didn't hear him get out of the water at all! How does he do that?
"Blue," Shade spoke quietly, "what's going on?"
"I don't know yet."
"Seriously?" Blue nodded. "Not even a guess?"
"Who knows?" Blue shrugged.
"You are lying." Blue found his old friend's eyes and they gazed right through him. "Speculate." Silence followed as the pony Blue trusted the most drew his true fears right to the surface. He looked away first and then took another deep breath to gather his thoughts.
"The Mare in the Moon was imprisoned for a thousand years ... but she might not have been the only thing trapped up there." Blue paused and then asked the question he feared. "What if our dark princess was not the only nightmare to get free? What if something else got loose and is out there right now ... scheming?"
"That ... is a frightening thought," Shade admitted. "So ... we are on stand-by?"
"Yep."
"Hmmm," the dark eyed pony rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I know a place with good food and a wonderful view."
"I'm not going anywhere," Blue started to protest but several course brushes suddenly lifted into the air and surrounded the helpless stallion in his tub. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Don't tempt me," Shade warned him.
"Pah ... fine," Blue sighed as he took over the spell on a few of the brushes and let the rest fall to the ground. Then, he closed his eyes and brought them in with some soap to scrub himself pink. Then he climbed out of the water and let his skin tingle. A brief rubdown later and he turned to the clothing Shade had brought with. "Not our usual finery?"
"They don't like grunts," Shade told him.
"We're not ..." his friend crooked a brow. "They don't like grunts."
*****
A few hours later, Blue found himself on a raised part of Canterlot, at a café, surrounded by the most beautiful creatures in all of Equestria. The Mile High Club was owned and operated by pegasus ponies, and it was rare for anypony outside of their own to take to the place at all. The lower levels had wooden flooring but some clouds had been rolled into place for some of the upper levels.
Blue and Shade had a spell made for just a moment and they cast it at the base before they moved into view. Several concerned expressions found them when they bypassed the warning signs and then hopped off of the stairs onto the clouds. Blue could not help but grin at the feel of the spongy material under his hooves and he trotted lightly to a table that granted them a fine view of the countryside beyond the walls of the city. The two of them managed to angle themselves so that they could both see the entrance and still watch each other's backs. The lack of walls meant the platform gave way to open air and while they had been developing some spells that would allow them to float like feathers to the ground ... the return climb would guarantee their food would be cold before they got back.
"Nice," Blue told his companion as they settled into the comfort of their nimbus seats. "We're pulling a mixture of stares, though."
"It's a bit elitist up here," Shade admitted as he picked up his menu.
"But ... there are stairs," Blue countered.
"By royal decree," Shade said dismissively as his eyes scanned lazily over the list, "can't be overtly racist ... but it doesn't stop folks from trying."
Blue gave a murmur of acknowledgment as he remembered River's comments about earth ponies and how useless they were. Wingless, hornless, brutes without style or class, he had said. Blue had tried hard not to agree with his comrade's crass comments but it was difficult sometimes. A life without magic was one he could not imagine ... but at least the pegasus ponies can fly.
That last thought drew his eyes away from his menu to the landing pad marked in red where wait-staff landed with trays for their customers. Blue's eyes followed their comings and goings, dazzled by the casual grace of their movements and wishing he could figure out a spell that would give him wings. Rumors of the unicorn who had entered the young flyers competition with dew drenched butterfly wings had drawn him back to his books but that kind of magic was beyond him. I'm a soldier ... not an artist. It takes real skill to pull something like that off. Still ... he had to try ... though he had yet to succeed in doing much more than get himself soaked.
A beautiful pink filly captured Blue's attention as she landed and his eyes grew huge as he watched her fold her wings together and glance around. When their eyes met his heart leapt and then bellowed with a surge of pure thunder. Her body was all lean muscle and easy grace as she trotted over to their table, and she blinked twice at him before slapping her notepad onto the table and gripping a pencil with her lips.
"Can I take your order?"
"Uh ..." Tower to Blue ... Tower to Blue ... engage please ... hello? Blue?
"Nimbus special with a side of rain-soup-surprise," Shade finally said. "This is his first time here so he'll get the rainbow delight."
"One nimbus special and one rainbow delight," the waitress repeated. "Anything to drink with that?"
"Two thunderclouds, please," shade answered. "And a pair of bowls in case we spill."
"Oh," the waitress blinked as she tried not to smile, "of course." Her lips swirled the pencil over her notepad and Blue marveled at the skill he had never bothered to learn. "Anything else?" she asked as she slid the pencil back into her notepad.
"No thanks," Shade told her with a pleasant smile. She nodded and then moved away. "Hey, cow-paddy." Blue blinked and looked over at his friend. "You going to talk to her or just drool?"
"I ... I can't ..." Tower to Blue ... engage already!
"What ... scared?"
"Uh ... huh ..."
"Blue," Shade said with annoyed expression, "Less than twelve hours ago I watched you charge directly into the fire stream of a very angry dragon. This is far less scary."
"But ... she's just so ... so ..." Engage Blue ... please respond!
"Pretty," Shade teased him, "graceful, beautiful, kinda hot?" Blue grunted an affirmative and nodded slightly. "Well she's not going to take you flying unless you ask." Blue flushed and was certain the burn would cover all of him before long. Shade let out a laugh. "Oh, good grief. You're so weird, Blue. Now stop blushing ... somepony's going to think we're on a date or something."