Tempest Rime

Mal groaned again. "Ugh, you see what I mean. No offense, Scale, but your town is full of morons. You know that the last I went through there, that Rainbow Dash pony... You've heard of her right? Well, she almost picked a fight with me, after I'd just been in a fight in the Everfree. What a bunch of paranoid jerks. There I was bleeding, and she was almost ready to attack me! And this is the sort of pony Princess Celestia gives power over world-altering magical artifacts to." She scowled. "We oughta count ourselves extremely lucky that they managed to stop Discord at all. Or I dunno, maybe not. Maybe Discord would have been better than that." She gestured out the windows of the cafe that opened facing the palace. The talk had, as she had been hoping for, distracted her from Zephyr, but that was only serving to bring her back to her typical, cantankerous self.

Mal stared at Nightmare Moon, not even noticing the other two ponies at first. When Luna spoke, it finally startled her back to reality. The Princess had actually introduced herself? Mal couldn't help but laugh. "Hah! I think we all know who you are, Princess." She sneered slightly, but made an effort not to be too impolite. Even if Nightmare Moon had been defeated, it didn't mean that the Princess wasn't still a dangerous pony to make an enemy of. Still, Mal was not going to just roll over and kiss flank like this pegasus. She looked the Princess straight in the eyes, and spoke "I'm Malediction. I was out looking for..." She paused, narrowing her eyes. The Princess hadn't actually said what she was looking for, so there was no reason for Mal to explain her own purposes either. "Well, I was looking for 'something' too." She paused, giving the other two a detailed look over. She hadn't paid any attention to their names, but that was just as well. She'd figure out some nice degrading nicknames for them if she needed to. "You foals lost too?"

"Gym? Do what?" Bea took a moment to catch on. "Oh, um... yes, it is certainly as you say. Shall we-aaaugh!" She was cut off as Jace picked her up and lifted her onto his back. She struggled and flailed for a moment, nearly falling right back off until she wrapped her forelegs around him and held on. She was grateful that she was naturally red, else her embarrassment would have show right through her coat. "M-m-monseigneur! Zis is m-most undignified," she exclaimed, her accent thickening for a moment. Catching herself, she cleared her throat. "Ah, though, in the interest of expedience, I suppose I can endure it." She swallowed her discomfort, trying to imagine that the earth pony was nothing more than a friendly dolphin, carrying her along. She took a deep breath and exhaled, composing herself. "So, what is this fair of yours? Is it some manner of festival? Is there an 'oliday going on? 'Ow far away is it?" She unleashed a barrage of questions, as she was completely unfamiliar with anything in the area save the local waterways she'd looked up on her map.

"A river?" Mal asked quietly. All at once her frustration and feelings of uselessness burst out, and her raised her voice in a screech of unconstrained fury. "A RIVER!? A BUNCH OF WATER IS CAUSING THIS?" She couldn't burn water. She'd gone through all of this only to find that once again her own magical infirmity was ruining everything. Mal gathered up everything she had, all her anger, all her frustrations, all her irritation, and every last bit of magical reserves she had in her. With a scream like that of a raging beast, she unleashed a coruscating torrent of viridian flame at the river, sending fire streaming into it for a good thirty seconds. She didn't stop until her knees buckled and she felt a sharp pain in her horn. Her magic fizzled out, and she collapsed, breathing heavily. She looked up at the river hopefully, but it was no use. Her assault hadn't even chilled the running water enough to freeze its surface. She let herself slump down completely onto the ground. She'd pushed herself too hard. She could hear one of the robots clanking up behind her with it's monotonous voice. She could feel it grab her hooves somehow, restraining her with some kind of manacles while it announced "SUSPECT DE-TAINED." There wasn't an ounce of rage left in her, and without that, Mal felt only a deep sense of hopelessness and despair. Even had she the energy to resist, at this point she would not have done so.

"Not nice? Not nice? You know what's not nice? Guards who think they can push me around just 'cause they got a stinkin' badge. I don't take that kind of bull from anypony, least of all those stuck-up ingrates. My taxes pay their wages, and they turn right back around and harass me." Mal harrumphed indignantly. She glanced at Scale. "I'm just saying that because that's what I look for in a stallion. I don't know what he wants. I don't want to seem too clingy. I mean, I already told him how I feel." She paused. "Well, ok, maybe not in words, but I think my actions made it plenty clear that I liked him." She smirked slightly. "And I did threaten him with violence if he didn't come back, so there's really nothing unclear there. It's not like we left anything hanging, I'm just impatient to see him again." Another sigh escaped her. "Anyway, more to the point, I really just can't afford to take such a long vacation. I mean, I know the whole area from here down to Hoofington and over to the Everfree, and I've never heard of Appleloosa. It's gotta be at least far away enough that I don't know of it. That means just getting all the way over there would take days and days, and I got bills to pay back here. Stupid shop."

Mal groaned. "Ugh, you're from Ponyville? Actually, I guess that does explain a few things about you, coming from a small town like that. And I don't want to write him a letter. I don't know what I'd even say! He probably already thinks I'm enough of a creep, he doesn't need to know how I'm obsessing about him now." She sighed. "What I want isn't talk, it's action." She rolled her eyes at Scale's 'scrawny colt' comment. "Whatever four-eyes, at least you still got both halves of your face. If you do want a fillyfriend, acting like that is exactly the way you'll never get one. You gotta act direct and confident, even if you don't actually feel that way. Seriously though, if a jerk like me can find somepony, so can you." She sighed and turned to address Dazzle's comments. "I was loitering. And kinda near the castle, so the guards got testy. And I may have pushed them a bit too far with mean comments. It kinda got out of hand. We ended up spending the night in a holding cell." She squirmed slightly, starting to feel the caffeine. "And as for love, you may think that looking back, but if you'd never loved in the first place you wouldn't have any idea what you'd missed out on. There are plenty of ways to have a good time without creating an emotional dependency on somepony. Seriously, look what it's doing to me!"

Lola's discerning eye caught Rivet's misgivings even before she had a chance to read the note. "Oh don't worry, dear," she said dismissively. "I'm merely being through. I'm not saying those are likely to happen with this design, they're mere examples. If you knew what problems to actually expect, you wouldn't be testing, you'd be reworking the designs already." She smiled. She was far too self-assured to second guess her use of the time spent socializing. The whole point of this sort of soirée was to establish connections. While Rivet may have steered the topic of conversation away from NSI, any actual business deals with Snowfall could be handled later. Indeed, watching Snowfall's reactions to Rivet had probably been more enlightening than simply speaking to Snowfall directly. She now knew that she could trust NSI professionally, as Snowfall's conduct had been impeccable. Perhaps that was a matter of course for pony companies, but among griffins, such trustworthiness was a high mark. "As for Hoofington, I regret it is unlikely that I will have cause to go down there again personally for some time. I will of course, send a representative, and you may see a few of my ships come by if their routes take them in the area, but between my ongoing research in Canterlot, trying to manage our R&D department back home in Talonopolis, and keeping up with my increasing familial responsibilities, I am generally quite swamped. my appologies."

Mal's ears went back and she glanced around in embarrassment at discussing this in such a public setting, but she didn't let it hold back her reply. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course love is a weakness. It may feel good, it may even make you 'happy', but that's the whole reason it makes you weak! You don't think clearly about somepony you love. You make mistakes. And... when... when you lose them..." She blanched and sat back up, putting a hoof over her mouth. Blinking back tears, she struggled to reign in her emotions and did her best to keep from thinking about that. After taking a moment to compose herself, she took a deep breath. "It's not worth it," she said finally. "Besides. I can't be in love. It's too soon. We've only been on two dates, and that's only if you count getting arrested." Granted, Mal had never gotten past the first date before, but that was beside the point. "And then he had to leave for some stupid project in some backwater dump called 'Appleloosa,' wherever that is. Wouldn't be surprised if he never comes back. I don't even know how long I should wait! And even if he comes back, he lives in Cloudsdale, so I'll still never get to see him." She glanced back to Scale Model and sighed. "Anyway, now you know why I assumed you two were on a date, it's just sort of on my mind." Just talking about it had, in fact, helped her calm down a bit, so she proceeded to finish her sugary drink. The drink being way more delicious than she was used to hadn't hurt either. "I may have to get this more often. It's really not much more expensive, and it is actually really good."

Tempest looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm, you could build the house itself right out over the water, I've seen some lake homes built like that." She coughed. "And by seen, I mean, uh... I've seen pictures. But they do exist, I'm sure we could find somepony with the technical know-how to make one. Oh, and then you could even have an underwater section of your house. Just in case you needed a bit more privacy. The lake does see swimmers on occasion... though not as many since the squid incident. But still, privacy is very important." She paused, sighed, and flitted back down the hill, offering a helping hoof to Granola. "Need help? It is a little slick..." She did her best to hide it, but a slight smile showed on her face.

"Nothing's wrong," said Mal sullenly. "Um... the drink is just... so good that I..." She paused and sighed. "Yeah, ok, that's not gonna foal anypony. I just, um, I'm not sure I should talk about it. I mean, it's not like it's a secret, it's more like... I don't even know how to express it, even with all my vocabulary." She sniffed and took another sip of her drink. "This is good, though. I feel a little better already." Mal slumped down, resting her head on the table. "I hate feeling this way, I'm all emotional. I mean, normally I'm emotional, but it's all things I'm used to. Anger, resentment, spite.... you know, the usual. But now I'm all anxious and depressed and, and... and there's this other feeling I've never felt before, like my heart is... is..." She paused. Attempting to describe it, had led her right to a word for the emotion. "Aching? Heartache? But it can't be, that would mean I'm in love, and I can't be in love. It's an unacceptable weakness." She was talking to herself more than to the others now. "But what if I've already gone too far? I... ARGH!" She glanced up. "You see why I don't want to talk about it!? Lets change the subject, anything else will do. We can talk about... I dunno, sciency mathy stuff or... or..." She frowned at Dazzle. "whatever you study. I mean, you're a magic student, obviously, but what's your speciality?"

Mal snorted. "Yeah sure, Dark Core, that sounds like a real name. I mean, I could care less about you using an alias. Seriously, do you think Malediction is a real name?" She rolled her eyes. "But if you're dating her, she ought to know the truth." She sighed. She'd really only seen him in a certain light at the gala, now he was rapidly dispelling her illusions of him. And Cat was right, he was probably a good 4 years her junior. Better Mal's false hopes be crushed now than allow them to fester. She turned to Cat and smiled malevolently. Since the little filly was now attempting to flee her retribution, Mal broke into a canter, running around to get face to face with her again. Cat could try to ignore her, but she was gonna make sure she was still heard. She stood face to face with the little runt and said, "Well well well, I guess you've got some fire in you after all." She grinned. "Guess I owe you an apology. I won't give it to you, but I owe it. But you can have my blessing. Good luck. You'll need it. Oh, and maybe if you want to see more of his non-villain side, you should show your non-pathetic side more, too." She turned away from them. "Well whatever." Her gaze passed between Rainbow Dash and Dark Core. "You two gonna fight? 'Cause I'd love to see what, if anything, the famous Rainbow Dash can actually do."

Mal rolled her eyes at their comments upon returning. "Whatever, four-eyes, now it's your turn to wait. All alone with the the cute college coed. Hope you can manage that." She smirked at him briefly before glancing over at the... thing that Dazzle was drinking. "So good, huh?" Well what the hay, the worst that could happen is that she wouldn't like it. Considering the options, she walked up to the counter. She pointed a hoof back towards Dazzle, and told the barista "I'll have one of what she's having." The barista looked surprised. "Oh, going for something a bit different today, eh? Coming right up." Mal blinked. "What do you mean something different?" "Well, you usually get the plain stuff, not the frilly drinks." He spoke offhand as he was mixing it. Mal stood there aghast. This was terrible. She came here enough that they recognized her. It was now official. She was trapped. Her mind wandered through various horrific scenarios. She'd never find a way to get out of this now. She was dating, she was making friends, and now even the guy she bought her caffeine from recognized her. It was only a matter of time before somepony hurt her again. Her face a a mixture of fear and resignation when she returned, bearing her drink. She sat it down at the table beside the others and bleakly sipped from it. "It... it is good," she managed to say with a sniffle.

Mal sighed and relaxed for a moment while the others ordered. She hadn't realized it, but her hooves had been getting tired. She'd been walking around the city with nothing to do for a while now. Just having other ponies around was actually... helping? The thought boggled her mind. Maybe this is what Zephyr had meant back in the jail. And there it was again. Her thoughts leading her back to him. She shook her head in irritation. This should not have been bothering her as much as it was. She turned her attention towards her... companions. 'Friends' was not a word she was yet prepared to use to describe them, though they were at least proving useful to her mental state for the time being. She particularly focused on Dazzle, or, more to the point, on what Dazzle ordered. Mal had never been much of one for the treats, but she figured as long as she was trying new things such as 'being sociable,' she might as well also see what all the fuss was about. She couldn't actually hear the orders, but she saw the giant mound of whipped-cream and decided it looked rather appetizing after all. Resolving to order the same when her turn came, she slumped down into her chair and waited for the others to sit down.

Lola tapped a claw against her beak thoughtfully. "Well, 240 hours in the lab is good, if you're that far it probably merits some further stress-testing. But in the field, this thing is going to be going through rigors you might never see in testing. A storm could cause an electrical surge with unpredictable results, setting off anything explosive. Turbulence can cause a lot of vibration that could also cause issues. Not to mention that most airship tours last far more than 10 days, often they'll be traveling for months." She waved a talon at the blueprints. "Oh no, I'd prefer not to have a copy of the blueprints lying around. While I would of course never wish to steal your ideas, I do have competitors in Talonopolis who would not be so sporting, and it would be to my own detriment as well as yours if you were to fall victim to industrial espionage." An idea struck her. "Ah, I tell you what I can do, however. Since you're working on testing, I could ship over one of our old prototypes. It's quite small, little more a balloon with an engine and a cockpit, but it would give you the opportunity to test out your drive in real working conditions. You may need to enlist some pegasi to test inclement weather conditions, too, remember that in Aquelia the weather doesn't follow our management." She winked at the last comment.

Mal scowled. Holding back was not her speciality. "Grrr, I wanna HURT something" She glanced back towards the robots as they galloped, contenting herself with a few taunts and jeers for the time being. "Come on gear-brains, is that all? You're gonna need some backup if you want to catch us!" She hollered back over her shoulder and sending one of her wisps to sear a long line along the nearby trees. By their shouting, they didn't seem to like vandalism, so it seemed as good a way to attract their attention as any. "I don't know much about ley lines, I always skipped that boring geomancy stuff. Wasn't really relevant to my problems anyway. So it's up to you, whatever you think will stop 'em works for me." Letting the excitement get the better of her, she pushed ahead of the Doctor in another burst of speed. She was enjoying the chase so much that she wasn't thinking to hold much energy back. As she rounded a curve in the road, however, her taunts were realized. At least a dozen more of the machines had set up a blockade. Mal skidded to a halt. "Anytime now," she said as one of the new robots narrowly missed grabbing her tail. Another good reason to keep it short. "Hope that thing can handle some offroading, Doc," she yelled, getting completely blindsided by one of the reenforcements as it charged her. It hit like a battering ram, knocking the wind out of Mal and sending her tumbling into the bushes, more briars. She pushed herself back up as quick as she could, now covered in scratches and very, very angry. After pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she screamed in anger. "GIVE ME A TARGET!"

"I... um." Tempest looked perplexed as Starburst fled. "What was that all about?" She looked outside. "And more importantly, what time is it? I do hope I'm not late for work. Not that I'll be able to do any actual weather work like this, but at least I can get some paperwork filed." In response to the inquiries from the other ponies who had not flown off, she stretched experimentally. "Well, I at least am feeling fine. I mean, I can't fly, obviously, but the wing certainly doesn't hurt. And... well, I assume Starburst is feeling well enough, since she certainly flew out of here in a hurry. Maybe she had something she had to do. Well, whatever. I suppose I'll head out too. Feel free to look me up if you're ever in Ponyville." With that, she gathered up her things and set off for home.

Tempest fluttered back to wakefulness, having drifted off somewhat earlier. She blinked in confusion for a few moments at the unfamiliar surroundings until the earlier events came flooding back. She groaned softly. "Ugh, yes Miss Starburst? I'm glad you're up. You gave us quite the fright fainting like that. I mean, I knew it was a bit chilly, but hypothermia was not what I was expecting. Um... sorry about that, by the way. I'm afraid I've ruined the festival for you. Are you feeling alright at least?" She didn't mention her own injury, but in order to prevent her from sleeping on it they had made her sleep on her stomach, so the cast was quite clearly visible. "Have you been up long? Mister Table, that is, the stallion from before, he was going to come by to check up that you were alright, did you speak to him?"

Mal led the way into the coffee shop, ignoring the talk of sharing problems and friendship. It was a pleasant sort of place, the sort frequented by students at the university. It was nothing special, there were dozens like it in the area, the only real reason she frequented it was because of its location. As they entered, Mal scanned the room. There was only one open table, and it wasn't the secluded one in the back she usually sat at. She scowled at that fact, but in the interest of actually getting a table at all, she quickly sat down. In spite of the crowd, it wasn't particularly noisy, as most of the ponies there were students busying themselves with their studies. "Alright, I'm staking claim to the last table here, you two go ahead and order, then I'll go up when you get back. This isn't some fancy cafe with waiters, you actually gotta go up and get your drinks. The barista is fast, though, seriously, he can whip up whatever'll keep you going in seconds." She did her best to say this sullenly, trying to avoid sounding like she was praising him.

"Like I said, I don't really drink coffee to enjoy it. It's to keep me awake when I'm pulling a really late shift or something. But I don't even care right now, I'll try the fancy stuff. Why not? Anything to take my mind off Ze-" She caught herself just in time. "Uh, I mean, off the magic. My magic. Fading." Mal glanced around nervously. "Anyway, trust me kid, I've read just about everything on magical ailments. I used to think I had one, after all. My magic has always been a bit different. Never worked quite right. Anyway, it turned out to be a fundamental incompatibility in materialization matrices, leading to a drastic power sink whenever I tried to potentiate an incantation field. Critical imbalances in aetheric forces and all that." She sniffed, not really caring if the other ponies actually followed her explanation. "Uh... so the point I'm getting at is that in regards to my magic fizzling, I probably know more about my own brand of magic than any of your professors, since I've spent practically every waking moment studying it. And I know it's not a magical disease or anything, because I can still feel the magic there. My levitation is just as strong as ever. It's the spell matrix that's off. I can't really get into the mindset I need to use it for some reason." She sighed. It wasn't even the magic that was bothering her, rather, she was pretty certain that her magic was not working because she was bothered. But she couldn't just admit that, what would they think if they knew that a little self-doubt was all it took to cripple her. She looked up and realized that she hadn't actually been paying attention to where she'd been going. "Oh, there it is." She turned sharply and walked to a somewhat plain but still rather nicely decorated little coffee shop, tucked in between a book store and a hardware shop. Everything she needed all in one place. "Come on, it's not the best place for privacy, but it's cheap and it tastes good. This early it'll still have a bunch of students, but if we're lucky we might be able to get the table in the back corner, that's not too bad."

Tempest sighed in irritation, though it was directed more towards herself than Turns. "Yes, I was a bit careless, and seem to have injured my wing when I crashed. I should have been more careful. And thank you, Mister Table, you have been most helpful. I must apologize for being so brusque with you earlier, I let myself panic somewhat, and now... well, look where that's gotten me." She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. The makeshift bed was a poor substitute for a nice, comfortable cloud. "Well, anyway, thank you. I appreciate your assistance, and I'm sure Miss Starburst will too when she awakens. Don't let us keep you here for too long, though. Or perhaps you could check back later when Miss Starburst is awake. I don't want to keep you from the rest of the festival, after all."

"I... wha?" Tempest hadn't even noticed the pain in her wing until the nurse had mentioned it thanks to the adrenaline. "Fractured bone? No flying?" She went limp and sat there blankly. How was she going to get home? She felt rather faint, though whether that was from the sudden shock or the anesthetic she wasn't sure. "Oh horseapples!" She swore angrily. How could she have been so careless? She knew better than this. The added mass from the other pony meant she should have slowed down sooner. She was lucky she'd only hurt herself, and not further injured the poor unconscious pegasus. It took her a moment to register the nurse's last words. Her friend? She didn't even know his name. Well, that would have to change, at least. She yelled in his direction, her tone no less authoritarian than before she was injured. "You there, the pink stallion stallion from before. Come on in." She didn't even wait for him to approach before continuing. "It appears that we may both be taken out for some time. Miss Starburst is likely going to require assistance in dismantling her stall when she comes to, if you don't mind waiting until then. Oh, and my name is Tempest Rime, what is yours?"

Mal scoffed. "Don't be a moron, Rain-boring. Even if I wanted to off the Princess, the one pony in Canterlot actually worthy of respect, it's such a ridiculously outlandish idea to even think there was any chance of it succeeding. He's the one who just admitted to wanting to overthrow her, however." She sneered at Dark. "Way to fall for that trick, by the way, 'DeMasque,' or whatever you're calling yourself today. I wonder, when you're done with this runt will you just pick up a new alias somewhere else?" She should have known better than to bother with him. He'd showed off plenty of his foalishness when she'd met him at the gala, and she'd been so willfully overlooking it. Well no more, she would cleanse this moron from her mind and think no more of him. She turned her glare upon the red unicorn and gave a malicious grin. "Darn right I'm a spiteful nag! If you aren't spiteful you just invite ponies to walk all over you." "And you!" She turned to stare venomously at Cat. "I wouldn't be so mad if you weren't such a complete and utter wuss! What are you even blithering about? If you want this moron, get off your flank and TAKE him, don't be so apologetic. If you don't stand up for yourself, you'll only drag him down to your level." She spat hatefully. "Ponies like you make me sick!"

Tempest beat her wings harder, the extra strain serving to heat her up more, counteracting the chill from the unconscious pony she was carrying. Come on Tempest, she thought to herself, you can do this, you managed to drag that giant stormcloud in all by yourself the last time we were short-staffed, this should be nothing. She managed to steady her flight somewhat and picked up speed. As it turned out, she picked up a little too much speed. She tried to slow down too late as she zipped towards the tent, and she went barreling in. Shifting her weight just in time, she managed to roll underneath Starburst in time to shield her from slamming into the ground, taking the crash herself. "Ow," she said meekly from underneath the other pegasus. She fluttered her wings and flailed briefly, but was too tired to actually push the other pony off, waiting instead for the nurses to lift the unconscious pony off of her. Once she was free, she stood up and shook herself. She hadn't injured herself in the crash at least. Completely ignoring Turns again, she watched silently as the nurses attempted to warm Starburst back up and revive her.