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Displacement

by hornethead

Chapter 61: A Special Night

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Chapter 61: A Special Night

"You sure about this?"

"Yeah. My aim is pretty good. Plus I have Plan B." James patted the pack on his back.

"Ok, it just seems a little... crazy." Twilight said uneasily.

"Honey, if you knew about half the stuff our boss has done, you would think this is pretty tame." Myst commented from the open cockpit door.

The three of them were high up in the air over Saddle Lake. Far below them was a rainbow maned pegasus mare, currently unaware of the event unfolding above her. James knew she was out here specifically to be alone, but he needed to talk to her. He couldn't leave this with bad blood between them, not when he knew what was coming just over the horizon. Hence his hastily put together and ultimately dangerously stupid plan to get her attention.

"I'm just worried. From what I know about your parachutes, if you miss, or even if you hit and fall off later, you'll only have a few seconds to activate it before you're too close to the ground for it to do any good." Twilight pointed out.

James looked out over the edge of the deck to the surface below, "I'll just make sure to aim for the water."

"Well... ok then. Hold still."

The unicorn's horn flared up with magical energy and James relaxed his body in preparation for the next part. A familiar cold tingle washed over and through his body as Twilight's magic took effect. Then in a flash, it was gone, the feeling dissipating and fading away.

"Now remember, this spell isn't as strong as the one I put on you before. Instead of a day, you have maybe thirty minutes, so make it count."

"Understood."

"Good. Now go get her."

James stepped up to the edge of the deck and looked down. He saw his target far below, her cloud lazily drifting over the water. Now all he needed was a landing zone. He searched the sky until he found a slightly larger cloud care freely moving close to Dash's. Perfect. He took a deep breath and stepped into thin air.

He pulled in his arms close to his body and manipulated them slightly to allow him to move ever closer to his intended landing spot. The cloud was moving slowly, but he was falling fast and if he missed, he might not get a second chance. The wind roared past his ears as he focused on the cloud and put all his energy into placing his body over it. Once he was confident he on a collision course, he spread his arms and legs to stabilize his flight and slow himself down some. It was then a thought occurred to him. He had never hit a cloud while under the cloud walking spell, not at this speed. He hoped it would be a soft as it looked when he saw pegasi do it.

Below the swiftly approaching human, the lounging pegasus mare heard a distant rushing noise, accompanied by the sound of fabric flapping madly in the wind. She opened an eye and looked for the source. She was very surprised when she found it.

"What the?"

A flightless four limbed figure drove down towards her at high velocity. With a loud whumpf, the figure smashed into another cloud that had been drifting near her close by. Groggily, the figure pulled himself up onto his knees, now she could see clearly who it was and she wasn't all that surprised.

"I'm still mad at you, you know." She said, crossing her forelegs and giving James the evil eye.

James sat up and shook his head. The sudden impact was a bit jarring, but it wasn't so painful as he had feared. It was almost like slamming into a pile of down pillows.

"I know, I know. I just wanted to come speak to you, apologize." He explained. "I'm sorry for what I did back there at the restaurant. I kind of lost it for a moment.

"You made me look stupid in front of all those ponies!" She shouted at him.

"I know, and I'm sorry. Please, just let me find a way to make up for it." He pleaded, holding up his hands.

"That's another thing! Look at your hands! You got hurt again. What'd you do, get in another fight?"

"Yeah, I did. With a dumpster."

"Wait, wha-?" His last statement caught her a little off guard.

" I was so pissed at myself for what I did, i needed to let it out. So... yeah..." he help up his hands, wiggling his fingers. "Besides, how did you get up here with your sprained wing?"

"Well I uh... Well I wouldn't have come up here if you hadn't flipped out like that. All I wanted to do was help."

"I know. Alright, how about this: Our main mode of communication out there will be radio, but it has it's limitations, such as range and clarity. We both know you're the faster flier in Equestria, right? How about you carry the real important messages back and forth between us and the princesses?"

Dash's mood picked up, but dropped again, her ears going flat, when she thought about what he just said, "So you are going back out..."

*sigh* "Yes. Things are about to get pretty dark. I can't tell you much right now, but... it's gonna be ugly."

"Then if that's how I can help, I'd be happy to."

A big smile grew on James' face, "So then you'll forgive me?"

"Yeah, I guess I can. But you owe me again." She said playfully, a small grin forming on her face as well.

James got on his feet and leaped the small gap between their clouds and pulled her into a hug and pecked her on the lips, "I can live with that. How's your wing?"

"Uhhh... not so good." Dash admitted.

She extended it so James could see it. The joint at the base of the wing where it attached to her back had taken on a slightly purple hue and become a little swollen.

"Well that's no good."

James released her and let her sit back down. He walked over to the edge of the cloud, noticing that his feet were starting to sink slightly with each step, and peered down. Unfortunately, he could see that they had drifted some ways away from the lake shore. He looked up, the Clipper was nowhere in sight.

"Huh, that's a problem." He turned back to the mare sitting behind him, "You up for a swim?"

"I think... maybe. How are we gonna get down?"

"Here, come 'ere." He walked back over to her and picked her back up. His feet were sinking deeper into the fluffy surface.

"What're you doing?"

"Just put your forelegs around my neck and wrap your legs around my torso, hold on tight." He instructed her, getting a good grip around her back, being careful to avoid agitating her injured wing.

"James, I don't really think this is the time for that..."

"Just trust me." He approached the edge of the cloud.

Dash looked over her shoulder, "James, what are you doing?" Her voice was tinged with a hint of worry, "You're not going to jump are you? I- I can't fly right now!"

"Relax, I'll do all the flying for us."

"But you don't have any wings!"

"I got the next best thing. Besides, in a minute we won't have a choice." He was now starting to sink up to his knees.

"James, maybe we could just wait for somepony to come. O- Or--"

Her words were cut off as James suddenly stepped from their fluffy platform and began the plunge to the water below. They only fell free for a few seconds before James released the the pilot chute and and stopped their high speed plummet to the earth. The abrupt deceleration nearly tore the two of them from each other, but they both managed to hold on, remaining in a locked embrace. In just a minute, they had almost reached the surface of the water.

"Hold your breath." James warned.

Dash sucked in a lung full of air and sealed her mouth shut. While they were just fifteen feet from impact, James pulled a cord attached to a quick release, detaching them from the parachute and dumping them both into the chilly water below where they went submerged. With a few powerful strokes, James brought them back to the surface, the mare still clinging to him taking in deep breaths of air.

Together they swam back to shore, which was just under fifty yards away. An easy swim for James, but a little more taxing for Dash who was still a somewhat novice swimmer. As they pulled themselves onto dry land, Dash shook off the excess water from her coat while James tried to wring what he could from his clothing. Gratefully, it was still summer, but a slight breeze added a small chilling effect.

"Well, I guess there goes the favor you owe me." RD said almost dejectedly.

"Meh, we'll call that one a freebie." James replied with a grin. "C'mon, let's get you over to Fluttershy's, she can take a look at your wing and I need to get my bandages changed."

As painlessly as he could, he tried to rid the slowly reddening gauze of water, but it was futile, the dressings were completely waterlogged.

"Ok, but afterwards I want to talk about that job you mentioned in helping you out."

"Of course."

=====================================================================

"...and so that's pretty much what we're up against. Any questions?"

In the back of the briefing room, Flash raised a hoof, "Yeah, what's a civvie doing here in a secret briefing? Is she helping us fight or something?" He was referring to Rainbow Dash, who was sitting off to the side.

"No, she won't be doing any fighting. She will, however, be doing an important job carrying reports and messages back and forth between Shining Armor at his command post and the royalty further back. She's the fastest flier around, so she fits the part. I'm showing her this so she knows what areas to avoid. Any other questions?" James informed him.

Sparks was next to raise a hoof, "So if we're not fighting up front, what will we be doing?"

"I'll be holding back at some distance providing sniper support, Flash, you'll be my spotter. Sparks, you and Myst will be my eyes and ears around the battle field, patrolling at a safe distance from the main fight and keep me and Shining updated on everything."

"What will the other teams be doing?"

"They'll be performing similar roles, only some will be held back as quick response teams."

"What will my task be?" Garth asked from the front row.

"Brother, you got good stamina especially while running, even better than me. Because of this, I need you to be johnny-on-the-spot with the ammo for me and the other teams. You can work in tandem with Sparks and Myst if you'd like."

The large warrior seemed a bit displeased with his role, but if he objected to it, he didn't show it.

"Alright, any more?"

This time, neither hooves nor hand were raised.

"Outstanding, dismissed."

The briefing session over, James' team got up from their seats and left the room to go on their separate businesses. James shuffled some papers on his desk, pages detailing the same briefing he had had just now given to his team, only these were destined for Princess Celestia for her review. He packed them all into an envelope, neatly organized and ready for delivery. He too left the building, stepping out into the warm night air and making for Twilight's home in Ponyville. He was soon joined by Rainbow Dash, who he had seen was eager to get done with the briefing, sitting still and listening not exactly being one of her strong points.

"So all this is really happening, huh?" Rainbow Dash said, her voice somewhat downcast. "You know, Twilight and the others could help too. They're all element bearers, just like me."

"I know. The Princesses already asked them for help. Twilight's helping organize the evacuations, Applejack is helping to supply rations and food. Hell, even Fluttershy's getting involved."

"But do you really have to be out there? I mean, I thought when you said I'd be helping you, I thought you meant helping you."

"You are. Thanks to you, I'll have one less thing to worry about. In a situation like this, it actually means a lot."

"Well ok. If you say so." Dash replied, still unconvinced. "Anyway, what are you doing tonight?" She asked, changing the topic.

"Well first I have to take this envelope to Spike. The sooner this gets to Celestia, the better. After that... not really anything. I was actually thinking of just taking it easy tonight."

"So you're free then?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Cool, meet me at the hill by your house." She instructed, snatching the envelope from James' grip and taking off at a gallop.

"Isn't your wing still a little sore?" He called after her.

"I'm still one of the fastest on land!" Was her response.

With a small grin, he shook his head and changed his path, now heading in the direction of his house. He had only walked about five minutes when Flash dropped to the ground beside him.

"Hey boss, what's goin' on?"

"Nothing really."

"Ok, well me and Sparks were thinking of heading over to our favorite bar with the girls for some drinks, you in?"

"No, not tonight. I kind of got a little thing of my own going on. How about next time, if we aren't already gone by then?" James offered.

"Sounds good, I'll hold you to it. And don't worry, I'll make sure to be quiet when we get back so as not to disturb the two of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" James said in a mock angry tone.

"What do you think?" Flash laughed back as he took to the sky with a few powerful flaps of his wings.

"Jackass." James chuckled under his breath.

James renewed his pace towards his home, wondering exactly what Dash might have in store for him. He imagined something like the last time he'd been there, which was some time ago, when they'd just lay there on the grass and stare up at the twinkling starlight. After all the running around and the stressful events of the past week, he welcomed the thought of simply doing just that, especially with that wonderful pegasus with rose colored eyes.

Nearing the hill, he saw that was not exactly going to be the case. Starting the gradual climb up it, he could see a horned quadrupedal figure rushing about and arranging items about a table built low to the ground. His curiosity piqued, James dropped into stealth mode and silently crept around the side of the hill where the large tree sat rooted in the grass. With a little finesse, he made it all the way to the trunk without being noticed.

The human leaned around the rough bark of the tree and took a peek at what exactly was going on. On a large square blanket only a short distance from the tree, Rarity was busy setting up what looked to be some kind of romantic outdoor, candle lit dinner. Two plush cushions were positioned on either side of the table on the blanket. A medium sized box rest nearby, lid open, the unicorn extracting things with her magic and arranging them on the table as she merrily hummed to her self.

"A little late for a picnic, don't you think?" James said, stepping out from behind the tree.

"WHA— AHHHH!" The mare reared up on her hind legs and fell over onto her back in fright.

James couldn't help be chuckle a little at her reaction, "Woah, are you alright? Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Rarity got back up and glared angrily at James as she dusted herself off, "Really? Well you ought to think about how you approach somepony before you give them a heart attack!"

"Oh, it wasn't that bad. What are you doing out here anyway?"

"If you must know, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was busy setting up a nice romantic evening for both you and Rainbow Dash at her request." Rarity said in annoyance as she returned to her task.

"Hm, seems a bit out of character for her."

"Yes I agree but, it's what she wants."

Behind them, the soft sounds of hooves on grass came from down the hill. Rarity picked up on it and quickly lit the candles with a flash of her magic before putting some finishing touches to her work.

"Well, that will be her. The food, drinks and plates are in the box, please help yourself. And don't worry too much about clean up, I'll come back later and take care of it. Ta~ta~!"

With that, Rarity excused herself and went the opposite direction down the hill leaving James standing next to the table feeling somewhat awkward. He turned to face the approaching hoof steps, not entire sure of what he should do. Eventually from down the hill, the mare of the sky blue coat came walking. James looked on with a bit of awe as he took in her appearance.

She was wearing her usually messy mane in a neat little braid that came down from one side of her neck, the hair on top of her head was brushed and freshly washed, almost shiny. James thought he could see what looked to be just a thin application of eye shadow and mascara around her sparkling red rosy eyes. Around her neck she wore the small stone he had gotten for her in High Tower. It was something he certainly wasn't accustomed to seeing her wearing.

"Uh... wow. So what's the occasion?"

"Why would I need a reason for this?"

"Oh, you don't, it's just... kind of spontaneous. Almost Pinkie spontaneous. And the only time I've ever seen you dress up is for the Gala."

"Well, I just thought since we might not see each other again for a while, we'd do something special."

"Ok then." James shrugged, "Sounds good to me. You look great, by the way."

"Hm hm, thanks." She said smiling as she took her seat.

James took his across from her and began digging around the box Rarity had left for them. From it he pulled out a couple of ceramic plates, some silverware for him, some drinking glasses made from crystal, a few smaller boxes he assumed contained the food which were still warm, and a fancy looking bottle of red wine.

From the food boxes he found the usual oat cakes, shredded wheat, even a small batch of hay fries. There was also some apple fritters thrown in that looked to be of Applejack's make and even some cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner. James was almost worried when he couldn't find any fare suitable for his digestive system besides the pastries and apple products, but his concerns he found were for nought when he discovered a boxed meal near the bottom that held a boxed meal of rice, beans, veggies, and chunks of tofu all mixed together in a pungent and delicious smelling sauce.

"Who made all of this? Couldn't have been you." James teased.

"Hey, I can cook plenty good!" Dash retorted.

"Yeah, tell that to my stomach."

"You wanna hoof in your stomach?"

"Hey, woah, no need to fight. Let's just dig in."

"Ok, but after we eat you're gettin' it!" Dash playfully warned.

James divvied up the food and poured some of the wine for them both. Together they ate in silence, just enjoying each other's presence and the beautifully starlit night sky above them. The only source of light on the hill were the two large candles that sat burning softly on the table.

After they'd eaten their meals and most of the wine was gone, they polished it off with the apple fritters and cupcakes that had been included. James swallowed the last morsel of one of the fritters and looked up to his date. She was staring at him with sultry and seductive eyes.

"How was your dessert?" He asked her.

"Dessert? I haven't had my dessert yet..."

"Oh? I thought we just ate it. There's nothing left." James said in mock innocence.

"It's not here."

"Then where is it?"

"How about your place..."

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