Title:           Family things #3
Author:          Maintenance-Bro
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/EusijR31
First Edit:      Saturday 6th of September 2014 03:28:11 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Saturday 6th of September 2014 03:28:11 PM CDT

Elsewhere in a small town called Ponyville:
Falken has just arrived nearly crashing into Twilight when he landed.
"Sorry."
"About what?"
"I nearly flattened you when I landed."
"Falken, I would have teleported out of the way." Twilight said trying to reassure Falken who was very much rushed.
"Yea I uh I got something for you."
"Really what is it?"
"It's a letter." Falken said as he opened the missile bay and the letter was gently taped to the missile rail. Since Falken's not too big on carrying missiles just gun ammo and full laser charge, he has quite a lot of space for books.
"Oh. So you came out all this way to deliver a letter yourself?"
"Yea, uh I need to call my dad. To let him know I'm here."
"Alright. Well, you do that while I read this." Twilight said as she opened the letter and Falken ducked away to bounce radio signals off of whatever high flying pony was up today.
"You've got Rex, state business and"
"Dad it's me."
"Hey, 1000 hrs. Not bad, you managed to shave thirty off your time."
"Well I'm here, and Purple is reading the letter."
"You've got an hour to rest, be home no later than 1330."
"Understood Falken out." he said as he did make the call, which made you a little more lenient on him.
Falken walked back towards Twilight and sat under a tree, and sighed, turning off his projected eyes and rested for a couple of minutes. So when Twilight walked up to him, he was completely unaware of her presence.
"Copper?" Twilight said using her nickname for him based on his coloration, like he used purple for her.
"Falken!"
"GAA! What?" Falken said in a bit of a shock from being accidentally falling asleep for a couple of minutes.
"Calm down would you? I didn't mean to startle you."
"Oh it's you. I'm sorry, I uh fell asleep unintentionally."
"I noticed, your eyes weren't up, nor were your optical sensors on."
"Oh, I guess I failed to notice that."
"That's what a lack of sleep does to a pony. Did you write that letter?"
"Yes, why?" Falken asked rather nervously
Twilight paused for a moment to think of how to tell Falken what she thought of his letter.
"It's a very sweet letter Copper, and I'm flattered really."
"But..."
"But you're also very young, I can't say that I feel the same way about you due to the fact of how much I value our friendship."
"That's relieving to hear." Falken said unknowingly very happy to have just been friend-zoned.
"It is?"
"Yes, I was afraid that sharing those feelings with you would ruin any chances of us remaining friends. I feared that you would misinterpret what I had wrote and that would destroy our friendship."
"Really?" Twilight asked rather intrigued by his reaction to this.
"Yes, I thought confessing that I love you would be a very large detriment towards all the trust we have built up. I was more afraid of losing you altogether than any sort of progress." Falken said with a smile on his face, and a sense of confusion deep inside.
"How long do you have till you have to go home?"
"I have until 1330 to be home. So if I subtract two hours from that, I'm open until 1130 hrs."
"That's only thirty minutes from now."
"Oh. Well is there anything we can do in thirty minutes?" Falken asked which got Twilight to smile.
"How about we go grab a snack alright Copper?"
"Why not Purple, I do enjoy your company."
"As I do yours Copper." Twilight said as they walked off to get something to eat.
 
1130 Hrs. Avalon's Shadow.
You, Morgan and Thunder are playing the Equestrian equivalent of Risk, and despite both your and Morgan's best efforts, Thunder seems to be winning, and beating both you and Morgan badly.
"Giving in already Rex?"
"I know when the game is lost for me Thunder, and there ain't no way I can pull a comeback out my ass."
"Oh you're no fun." Thunder said as you toss up your arms and the phone rings, which means you've got to answer it.
"Go for Rex."
"It's Twilight."
"So how'd it go?"
"How'd what go?"
"I know you got a letter from Falken, delivered by him." You say
"Oh. That."
"Yes, that."
"Well, he took it surprisingly well."
"Really what'd you do?" You ask wanting to hear it from Twilight and then again from Falken.
"I believe the term Rarity uses is Friend-Zoned."
"He took being friend-zoned well?"
"Yes, which is surprising, he totally told me he loved me in the letter he wrote."
"Stop I don't want to even know what he wrote."
"It was very sweet Rex, he poured his heart into writing it."
"I'm sure he did, and I'm glad you didn't break his heart."
"He was actually afraid that telling me what he did would cause us to drift apart. Copper was relieved to hear that he was still my friend, but he's still so young."
"Copper?" You ask getting Twilight to choke up on the other end.
"It's nothing."
"Doesn't sound like nothing to me."
"Well, it's a color based nickname I gave him."
"Since he calls you Purple?"
"Yes. Look I just called to let you know what he did, but it looks like you already knew." Twilight said as you just laugh a little.
"At least you didn't put him into the brother zone. That'd just confuse the hell out of him."
"What's that?"
"I'll have to explain that the next time you come out here Twilight, I should be going, Morgan's getting a little nosy."
"Alright. I'll be in touch." Twilight said as you hang up the phone that was on speaker the entire time.
"So, that was a thing." You say as you return to the table.
"What's friend zoned?"
"You don't know what that is?"
"No I don't. What is it?" Thunder asked as you now have to explain what friend-zone means to Thunder.
"Well the easiest way for me to explain friend-zone is when a guy likes a girl but she doesn't like him the same way he does, and well she still wants to be friends, and doesn't want to hurt his feelings so he goes into this relationship black hole called a friend-zone, for which many there is no escape from." You say explaining it to the best of your ability.
"Oh, and that's what happened to Falken?"
"And he sounds like he was expecting her to hate him for telling her what he did."
"That's rather strange."
"We're talking about Falken here, everything the boy does is strange." You say in a non-concerned manner.
"Yea, Falken is the family oddball. I know I'm like daddy, and well, he doesn't take after you mom."
"Well, he's allowed to be different, we are two different types of ponies after all. You and your father are air superiority and I'm close air support."
"And Falken is?"
"More situated towards air superiority than he is ground, but he seems to lie somewhere in the middle." Thunder said as you were trying to think of where he fit into everything.
Falken doesn't really fit anywhere in the spectrum of fighter or attack ponies, he's just there. More towards the fighter than he is attack, but nowhere near neutral enough to be considered a multirole.
"To be honest, I think he's more of a research platform than Morgan and I are. He's got the mindset for it, since well, I'm a little too aggressive to do that type of work."
"OH you are not."
"Have you seen me angry?"
"Yes, and you can do research work if you wanted to. You just don't want to." Thunder said about the experimental designation you have.
"Whatever I still don't want to do it."
"Yes because you're a better problem solver than you are at finding them."
"Because problems love to find me, I hate finding them." You say knowing you love your job as a mechanic.
"Not all the time, sometimes you do go searching for trouble dad."
"When?"
"Canterlot? The castle?"
"Oh well You know why I do those things there."
"I don't know why you bother trying to get back at Celestia for what she's done to you, she's been very grateful for your help with the gryphon situation and those times you've helped her with Foxhound."
"Yea, but for me to care, it's going to take more than her being grateful that I'm around." You say as you're putting the board game away and thinking of what to have for lunch.
"You think we can go to the Edge of Space today for lunch?"
"Why not, don't feel like cooking?"
"I'd rather not."
"Alright. Let me just clean up the table real quick and then we'll go get a bite to eat." You say as you put all the pieces back into their boxes and back into the larger box they came in.
1200 Hrs. Edge of Space
The bar's not terribly busy, considering it's lunch and most of the Lockheed family has recently decided to go home, which means Raptor's back outside again.
"Well it's been ah while since y'all were here."
"I guess it has KC. There anything new?"
"On tha menu or in mah life?"
"Either works for me buddy." You say getting a hearty laugh out of him.
"Well shoot, ah thought ya were comin over here fer lunch not a social call."
"We are here for lunch KC, can't I talk to you at the same time since it's not that busy?"
"Ah don't see why not, but let's jus get yer orders first." KC said getting you to laugh, Morgan and Thunder were both amused with KC's politeness, something he's probably picked up from Sadie.
"Whatever you have ready will be fine for me."
"Alright Thunder, an you Morgan?"
"Oh, I'll just have a salad."
"Rex?"
"I dunno surprise me."
"Ah can do that." KC said as he was thinking of something that would surprise you, or at least make you regret saying that.
"It's kind of nice to be back to how things somewhat were, before they got really busy."
"Mom, things haven't changed."
"Yes they have Morgan, You and Falken spend a lot of time away from home. Falken more than he should, but that's because he's got a crush on Twilight." Thunder said as she was the main source of small talk at the table today. You were elsewhere, looking around to see who was in today. Ivan in his usual place, passed out piss drunk, he'll be up in an hour just to resume drinking, for an IL-2. he's definitely got the rest of them on ability to drink. As you're positive the amount of alcohol he's drunk would be able to kill even Celestia or at least 15 or so ponies.
1300 hrs. Avalon's Shadow.
Falken has returned to find the family at lunch.
"Did you forget to invite me?"
"No, KC was waiting on you, so he's been denying me food."
"At least he has the decency to wait for the entire family to show up."
"Don't complain. How'd things go?" You ask wondering what Falken though of his situation.
"Much better than expected. We are not in a relationship but are still friends."
"Well, least it exceeds your expectations."
"Yes, perhaps it was the best way for me to express how I feel about her." Falken said as KC brought out everyone's lunch, Falken's included.
"Afternoon Falken. Where's yer little friend?"
"She's back in Ponyville."
"Thas a shame, tha two of ya are almost inseparable."
"Yes, we are rather close." Falken said a little embarrassed about KC's statement.
"Well Ah'll be leavin ya to yer lunches." KC said as he walked away allowing Falken to speak up.
"Though I do feel slightly confused about the situation. The prospect of her still being friends with me even though I attempted to ask her on a date. Does that mean something?"
"It means something to me. Cause I've been there before."
"Really?"
"Yea, dating can be difficult. Especially when you're young." You say sympathizing with him for a moment.
"Yea, I can't help but be confused by her actions, I'm grateful that we are still friends but still, it is odd."
"Buddy, you're now in what most guys call the Friend-zone, which is usually an endless abyss of dating that we can not escape. Few can escape it and most just resign to their fate."
"I don't get it."
"She doesn't like you romantically and doesn't want to hurt your feelings, but this is the princess of Friendship after all so she really does want to be your friend. If not I'll get mom to bomb the shit out of her house." You say getting a little bit of a laugh out of both Thunder and Falken.
"Yes I do feel that Purple is being very genuine when she said she still wants to be my friend. though she did seem a little confused."
"Don't think too much into it Falken. You're only going to trick yourself that way."
"Yes I presume you're right dad. But would it be alright if I invite her over for a couple of days?" Falken asked as you grit your teeth a little and look over to Thunder.
"Well as long as it doesn't cause any problems I'm alright with it."
"Thank you mom. I'll make sure there's no issues." Falken said as you tried not to think of it and went back to eating your lunch which was a surprise, and you were disappointed to have a salad before you. It was a surprise and not a very good one, but it's still food.
Lunch went pretty well considering Falken's mind was elsewhere and you were trying not to focus solely on his relationship with Twilight. Morgan isn't that concerning with her relationships, she knows she can be a little scary at times and that sometimes scares away her prospects. Not that she really minds that anyways.
After lunch, the four of you head off to the dam and stare down at the city.
"When can I have Purple over."
"I don't know Falken, you're the one who sticks to a schedule better than us. What days to the two of you have free?"
"You assume we both know eachother's schedule?"
"Am I wrong?"
"No, I do know when she's got free time."
"Then invite her when she's got the time." You say as you turn to look over the lake behind the dam.
"I shall, may I bring her here?"
"I don't see why not."
"Great, she has a free week in a few days, I shall bring her then." Falken said rather pleased with himself.
You aren't terribly concerned or really care that much, as this does give both you and Thunder a chance to see how they interact after this friend zone incident.
"Hey we've got someone incoming."
"Yea. That slow of a speed, it's probably a VTOL or a Cessna."
"Hmm, looks like a VTOL." Morgan said as you turn around to see Lightning slowly approaching the dam.
"Rex, Sasha wants a checkup."
"You look like shit."
"Yea, Sasha's been keeping me up doing things."
"It shows. When did she want this checkup?"
"Soon." Lightning said as he hovered at the edge of the dam.
"Like today soon?"
"That'd be better. She probably would stop bothering me about it."
"Go get her and meet me in the shop." You say with a sigh as your family time is cut short.
"See you at home Rex."
"Yea see ya at home." You say as you take to the sky to head off to your shop.
1400 hrs. Your shop.
Lightning brought Sasha per her request to be seen by you. Sasha's as pregnant as ever, and Lightning well, the guy's pretty worn out. This all coming from being Sasha's errand runner for the duration of her pregnancy.
"You're looking well Sasha, though you've really got to let Lightning get some rest."
"Is not of your concerns."
"Actually it is. If he crashes due to lack of sleep and I have to put his ass back together because he crashed, I'm blaming you." You say as she walks to the center of the shop while you roll out the ultra sound gear to check the child.
"Why you be blamings of me?"
"Because every pony needs rest, not just you."
"Makes little sense."
"Sasha, let him rest."
"You do checkup or what?"
"No need for the attitude." You say as you hold the ultrasound sensor in your robotic hand and begin to scan to see what's forming inside of her, either another F-35B or perhaps a Yak-141, which would be a little surprising.
Sasha settles down a little while you do your repeated passes to make the image of the foal, and the two of them are staring at the projection with avid interest.
"I can tell you now it's going to be a little girl." You say as you managed to figure out that much.
"A little filly? What's she going to be like?"
"Oh no. Why'd it have to be a filly?"
"What you thinkings we call her?"
"I don't know. I wasn't expecting this." Lightning said as he crumpled up a little on the ground.
"Parenthood, welcome to the unexpected, takes forever to learn things." You say as you stop for a moment to put a hand on Lightning who's doing his absolute best to not complain.
You get back to work trying to figure out what the model will be while Sasha and Lightning try to come up with a name for the filly, though as you repeatedly scan over the tail section you're rather confused, it appears to be a Yak-141's tail, which means one thing, it's another Yakovlev.
"Rex, why you scanning same area?"
"Well, I'm trying to figure out what you're little girl is."
"Looks like my tail da?"
"Yea, an awful lot like yours." You say as you go and scan the rest to confirm that it will be a 141.
"Well, I can safely say that your little filly is going to be a Yak 141, just like her mamma. Congratulations you two." You say as you put down the sensor and go and make a printout of the whole ultrasound showing the silhouette of the 141 inside of Sasha.
"Rex, can I have a word with you?"
"Sure."
"Great. Uh in your office please?" Lightning said as he walked in there whereas you just sigh and shut down the robot in a corner of the shop and wake up in your office.
"Yea, what'd you need?"
"Um, I'm not prepared for a little filly."
"Neither was I when Morgan came into my life."
"Yea, but she's like five."
"Still WAS NOT PREPARED."
"So what should I expect?"
"I don't know. I'd just expect things that probably aren't likely to happen. She's going to look a lot like her mom you know that right?" You say only confirming what Lightning slightly feared.
"Yea, was a little worried about that."
"Afraid that she'll have you wrapped around her little hoof?"
"Yea. It's hard enough for me to say no to Sasha, saying no to a little Sasha that's going to be near impossible." Lightning said as you nod.
"It's going to be hard, but you can do it. Just don't doubt yourself."
"Easier said than done."
"Hey I may have made mistakes with both Falken and Morgan, but I didn't think twice about them. I don't regret what I've done."
"Thanks for the advice. Hopefully Sasha's going to let me get some rest now."
"If she doesn't tell her that I ordered you to get rest."
"Yea, she'll listen to that." Lightning said as both of you laugh. Good old Sasha, always listening to you and Sergei, more you than Sergei.
Shortly after Lightning and Sasha leave your shop you return home, confused and slightly tired.
"Hey dad, since Falken is having Twilight come over and we're going to be harassed with her nickname for him, do you mind if Luna comes over?"
"Of course not, she's my friend too you know."
"Oh right I forgot about that. You two do get along really well." Morgan said with a smile as she pranced off into the front room to lie on a couch.
"So we're having two princesses over?"
"Yea, aw hell I gotta clean again."
"Yup you need to clean. Do you mind if I go and visit mom?"
"Go ahead, I'm not going to stop you from visiting your parents, I should probably go with you."
"That's up to you."
"Then I'm going with you. I'm sure there won't be an emergency here that will need my attention." You say hoping for the best, considering you can leave Luna and Morgan alone and your hangar won't be burnt to the ground or any of your things misplaced.
Thunderbolt just shrugs as you go into the kitchen to make dinner for once.
Thunder seems a little surprised to see you making dinner, but she doesn't question it and goes to watch the TV. Sad thing is you're a simplistic cook, and nothing really huge comes out of your cooking. Though tonight you did manage to make a lasagna without somehow mangling it beyond the point of it being edible.
 
"Dad you know you can actually cook very well."
"Provided I have the recipe in front of me and follow it step by step."
"Still, you don't give yourself enough credit for what you can do." Morgan said as you laugh a little.
"So are you going out to Grandma Skye's this upcoming week with mom?"
"Yea I am, is there a problem with that Falken?"
"No there is not a problem with it, but aren't you concerned since it will be just me Morgan and Purple in the hangar?"
"Naw, Luna's gonna keep an eye on you."
"What? I bring Purple over and Morgan automatically gets to have Luna come over?"
"Someone needs to watch the hangar. And keep Morgan in line." You say as there is a double purpose for having Luna come over. Ironically that go to babysitter.
"Oh come on I'm not that bad am I?"
"No, I just want someone here who's going to make sure this place doesn't go up in flames."
"How would that happen dad?"
"I dunno you tell me. Three of us here can use lasers, and one of us has it internally stored."
"They'd cut the house down instead of burn it dad." Morgan said making you roll your eyes, it was the concept that counted, and clearly she didn't grasp that concept.
"I think your father is a little more concerned with this place being damaged Morgan."
"Oh, so that's what you meant."
"Well, he certainly does have an odd way of explaining things." Thunderbolt said as you had a slip up where you completely forgot that you have hooves and no hands, which involves you fumbling with a glass until you manage to either catch it or shatter it, today was a good day, you caught it.
"Hey I'm going to go our for a bit, you two mind?"
"No, not really. Who are you going to be with?"
"Just Nora."
"Alright, have fun." Thunderbolt said letting Morgan go.
 
2000 Hrs. Raptor's Hangar.
"Hey Nora! You home?"
"Yea, come in. Don't mind the mess, Mobius and Raptor got into a fight."
"Bout what?" Morgan asked as she walked in and stepped over a few things here and there.
"Their little brother. There's something seriously wrong with the Lockheed family."
"Doesn't help that Lightning's more Yakovlev than he is Lockheed now is he?"
"Huh?"
"His design and Sasha's are practically the same, just a different wing and intake design, other than their external appearance they're basically the same pony."
"And you know this how?" Nora asked rather interested in this new Revelation.
"Well from what I managed to get from my dad, back where he's from there was Yakovlev and Lockheed, but they were design families, and Lockheed shamelessly stole the Yak 141 design from Yakovlev, but they did give some compensation for stealing their designs when a nation went under." Morgan said sharing how she knew that.
"That's pretty interesting, your dad know anything about me?"
"It's better we don't go there Nora."
"Why's that?"
"Just don't." Morgan said as she went and sat on the couch.
"Alright, so what do you want to do?"
"I dunno, I'm gonna go ask Luna if she can come over for a week or so tomorrow."
"Sounds like fun. Hey why don't we go out there tonight?"
"Tonight are you serious?"
"Yea, just you me and Raptor." Nora said as Morgan had to think for a minute or two.
"I'd have to ask."
"What your parents don't know won't hurt them."
"It'll hurt me you idiot."
"Oh no it won't."
"Right, you don't have a brother that's got a friend coming over that he happens to be really close to and has a rather annoying nickname from her." Morgan said getting a little frustrated with Nora.
"Alright, no need for you to be angry, just go and ask. I'll see if Raptor wants to come along."
"Thank you. I'll be back in a couple minutes."
"Alright. Raptor! Where are you!" Nora yelled out after Morgan left the hangar to try and find Raptor.
"Behind you."
"Ah there you are, did ya want to head out to Canterlot tonight?"
"Uh why?"
"Oh I just want to go there."
"I guess. Why so suddenly though?"
"Thought you could use a break from Mobius. Oh and Morgan's coming along." Nora said as Raptor had a twinge of fear shoot through her.
"Uh, I'm not too sure about tagging along with Morgan."
"Why's that? She's going with us not against us silly."
"Still, It's just really weird for me to be around me."
"It's not like her designation is going to replace you, these ponies have put a little too much emphasis on stealth over pure power." Nora said trying to calm Raptor's nerves a little.
"Still, I can't help but notice that she's got a bit of an attitude around me."
"That's because she's wondering why you think she's so high and mighty. Just because her dad runs this place doesn't mean anything to her."
"Huh, when you put it like that it makes it seem like I'm the bad pony here."
"You do act very erratically around her." Nora said as Morgan came back.
"Who does what now?"
"Raptor is skittish around you."
"What else is new? It's not like I haven't noticed. I don't bite I promise Raptor." Morgan said getting a weak smile from Raptor.
"So?"
"They said yes I could go. But I can't be out too late."
"Alright so let's go."
"Ok." Morgan said not very excited that she arrived just to leave again, but she did get to go and visit Luna, and hang out with Nora at the same time.
2300 Hrs. Canterlot.
Morgan went and asked Luna about coming out to Avalon's Shadow in a few days, while Raptor and Nora walked around outside in the city. Being the only other two very lost looking ponies in the city, it didn't take Morgan very long to find them.
"So you two enjoying yourselves?"
"Damned it Morgan don't sneak up on us like that!"
"Doesn't answer my question and perhaps you need your rear radar looked at." Morgan said as she barged into the group as always with Luna riding on her back.
"Well, we are having a good time looking around. Who's the pony on your back?"
"Oh? That's my friend Princess Luna."
"Really? You're friends with the Princess of the night?"
"Yup. So is my dad, we all kind of don't agree with Celestia sometimes." Morgan said getting a little laugh from Luna.
"Wow I didn't think you knew any ponies."
"Very few Raptor."
"That's kind of neat."
"Well, I don't think much of it. Considering I'm here usually at night, it's just me Luna and her guards who hang out." Morgan said as the three of them walked the mostly empty streets, except for that late night crowd.
"That is true, I have rarely seen any of Morgan's friends outside of Avalon's Shadow. It must be a special occurrence for you two to be out here."
"Well, we just needed to get away that's all."
"Understandable. You two are feeling welcome in my city are you not?"
"Yes we are Princess. Thank you." Nora said as Raptor was a little surprised that Luna was talking to them directly.
Morgan looked at them with a slightly confused look on her face
"You two just don't want to offend her do you?"
"No really we're enjoying this."
"Alright, there anything else you two want to see while we're here?"
"What is there to do Morgan?"
"Other than window shop? Eat about 5 gallons of ice cream." Morgan said with a smile as she began to trot towards her favorite spot in Canterlot, a smaller shop near the castle which happened to have a very good view of the night sky.
"How have you not put on any weight Morgan?"
"Raptor! Don't ask that!"
"What? Rex hounds Sasha for all her sitting around while she's pregnant eating all those odd things. Why can't I ask Morgan how she doesn't gain any weight from constantly eating ice cream?"
"That's impolite before a Princess." Nora said as Morgan was slightly offended and Luna is slightly amused by their fighting.
"Well can I ask it or not?"
"Raptor, I do fly a lot, that much sugar intake is nothing to me. You're lucky you somehow haven't developed diabetus."
"What?"
"You're so damned lazy. You hear that Blue had apparently developed bearing grease in her fuel lines?"
"I didn't need to know that." Raptor said as she shuddered at the thought of that.
"Huh, how'd that happen?"
"An awful lot of fried foods. Dad was pretty freaked about it and cut back our fried food intake. Sorry Luna, this probably isn't very interesting to you." Morgan said as she turned to address Luna.
"No continue, it's interesting to hear what the ponies of the night have to say." Luna said encouraging them to talk, as it does give her a little more insight into the lives of the plane ponies. Even if Nora and Raptor are the two oddballs, outside of the Experimental designation
"Well I don't know how you'd find clogged up fuel lines interesting but whatever."
"Nora, it's just a thing that happened. Something that might happen to Raptor because she sits around so much. You do know we are meant to fly and not sit on the ground right?" Morgan said slightly scolding Raptor for being such an idle pony.
"Oh I've flown so much I think I can sit for a while."
"Yea and during that while you lose power on those engines of yours. Which if I remember right my dad upgraded for you. Don't destroy them."
"Ugh you sound just like your father."
"And that's a bad thing?" Morgan asked again scolding Raptor for being lazy.
"No it's not a bad thing Morgan, wow, the sky, it's almost as clear as Avalon's Shadow."
"Tis nothing, atop Avalon Dam it is much clearer. Actually I'm rather looking forward to heading out there with Morgan due to the better view of the sky."
"You really think Avalon's sky is better Princess?"
"Yes there is nowhere near as much ambient light as there is here." Luna said getting Morgan to smile as they got to their ice cream shop.
The girls got their ice cream and sat outside and ate. Then again, that's about the only space where Morgan can fit anyways let alone two more large ponies.
"You come here all the time?"
"Well, when I can get away but yea. I don't always eat ice cream when I come to Canterlot you know. You really should get out more Raptor."
"Yea, but this is really good. I'm surprised you haven't tried to live here." Raptor said a little sheepishly, as that's probably what she would have tried to do if she was in Morgan's position.
"Oh I couldn't. I'd be too much of a burden on Luna and I'd miss my parents. So I don't think that I could move away let alone out of the hangar. Falken on the other hoof, well he hardly spends any time at home." Morgan said as she kind of went gossipy.
"And why does your brother not spend much time at home? Is it the reason I am thinking of?"
"Unfortunately yes. Also not to ruin your plans Luna, but the reason I asked if you were able to come over in a few days was because of Falken and that insufferable purple smart."
"Ah yes, the one he lovingly calls Purple."
"Stop reminding me, just wait until you hear her nickname for him. You'll love it." Morgan said with a huge sense of sarcasm filling her voice.
"And what is that nickname?"
"Copper."
"Copper?"
"Yea, his color." Morgan said
"That's kind of cute, but rather annoying."
"Yea, and I'm going to hear that a ton when she's over."
"Oh that shall be wonderful." Luna said as she shared some of Morgan's enthusiasm.
"Yea it's going to be annoying."
"Wait who are we talking about here?"
"My brother." Morgan said as Raptor inquired about what was going on.
"What about him?"
"His not girlfriend is coming over for a week. I'm really not happy about Twilight being here."
"That nosy purple pony?"
"Yes her."
"Oh how do you live with her?" Raptor asked.
"I try not to. Twilight's really bothersome when she's trying to find out things about us. I mean I don't mind Luna's questions but Twilight, well, she over analyses things."
"Oh, sounds awful."
"Yea, like are you ready to be an aunt Raptor?"
"Huh?"
"Lightning's kid. You wanna know what she is?"
"She?" Raptor asked as Morgan was more than happy to confuse her with information.
"Doesn't he tell you anything?"
"No, he's too busy running errands for Sasha."
"Oh, well it's going to be a filly." Morgan said peaking everyone's interest in the subject.
"Wow, Lightning's going to be a dad, that makes me feel really old. And Mobius and I aren't that much older than him."
"Yea, though what her designation is doesn't really make sense to me."
"And that is?"
"She's going to be another 141."
"A Yakovlev?" Raptor asked to which Morgan just nodded as she ate a spoonful of ice cream.
"How?"
"Dunno, dad said it was because their designs are so similar that it was a 50/50 shot of it being either one of them. Though dad did note that their internal workings are kind of similar, so it sounds like Sasha's genes are the dominant ones."
"Matches her personality."
"That's just the pregnancy talking. Sasha's actually really nice." Morgan said as she checked the time.
"Oh shoot, I need to be getting home before dad has a fit about me being out late."
"You go ahead, we'll find our way back."
"You two sure? I mean I don't want to have to cut your trip short."
"Go, we'll just explore." Nora said as Morgan was running off to get Luna back home and then herself back to Avalon's Shadow
 
"So you're going to be an aunt?"
"That's so odd"
"You're telling me. Is Lightning even ready to be a dad?"
"I hope so. I mean sure this kind of wasn't planed by him, but he should have known."
"Wow sounds like you've got faith in your own family"
"More than you have in the Northrup Grumman"
"You're not allowed to go there, not after what you did with your own family Raptor." Nora said trying to set things straight
"Sure, like being abandoned by your family is any different than what happened to me."
"It's completely different! You don't understand!" Nora said as she ran away from Raptor as she pulled up the very bad memory of being abandoned due to her failure to get the defense contract for the Northrup Grumman family.
"Nora wait!" Raptor called out as she went to chase her down, but it didn't help her any, Nora had already taken to the skies and was probably heading home.
"Why do I always hurt the ones I love?" Raptor asked as she kicked a small rock down the streets of Canterlot.
0200 Hrs. Airspace near Canterlot.
You're flying to an unofficial meeting with Luna. Nice thing is you're wondering why she couldn't have waited until either really early morning or the late evening. This was ridiculous. Though as you're flying you notice a blip about ten miles away on your radar and it's a familiar IFF.
"Nora? What are you doing out here?"
"I'd ask the same of you Rex."
"Come here would you? There's no reason for you to be flyin that low."
"There is."
"You go through with that and Raptor will be next." You say as you know Nora's hurting emotionally.
"I really don't want to talk about it."
"Then don't just come up here and fly with me. I'll have a talk with Raptor when I get back."
"Don't, please, she's got to figure it out herself." Nora said over her radio as she approached you.
You circle about waiting for Nora to catch up and when she does the two of you fly towards Canterlot.
"She's really bad at expressing how she feels isn't she?"
"Yea. She can do nice things I've seen her do that, but it seems like for every nice thing she does, she's got to ruin things for others."
"That's not a good way to be going about things." You say as you look up at the sky, more specifically the moon.
"I know, but she's soo stubborn. she hates to change her ways for anyone. Even me."
"Yea, and she really should be more sensitive with how she treats you."
"Yea."
"Because I know what you were thinking of doing, and that would not have helped anything."
"I know, but I just want to end my pain."
"Find an outlet, paint, write, hell do something somewhat constructive, you can't be self destructive, it's just going to hurt the ones who care about you."
"You've always got a view on everything don't you Rex?"
"Not always. I'm not perfect you know." You say laughing a little.
"Yea, but you're still a pretty good leader."
"So says the one who's almost spent as much time in my shop talking as Osprey."
"You're not being offensive are you?"
"No, just making a statement. If I was trying to offend you I would have already." You say as you can now see the lights of Canterlot in the distance.
"Well, gotta go talk to Luna. Wonder what she wants."
"At this time of night?"
"It's like mid day for her, I wouldn't mind if it was earlier, but I'm not one to complain."
"Sure you're not. I heard that Blue had bearing grease in her fuel lines."
"Yea, don't eat as much fried foods as she does, that was disgusting."
"I'm sure it was." Nora said as you chuckle a little and set up to land.
"Hey can I come with you?"
"Why?"
"Because Raptor's kind of being a bitch."
"Why am I not surprised. I guess, just don't say anything unless Princess Luna talks to you." You say as the two of you set down in the streets and head towards the castle.
As you and Nora are walking towards the castle you have to ask,
"You think Raptor's going to run into us out here?"
"No, she knows I probably went home. She's probably freaking out right now."
"For a fighter she's pretty dense."
"Yea, thinking on her hooves is not a strong suit of hers." Nora said with a twinge of sadness in her voice.
"I've noticed, her brothers can think on their feet, and she's basically sitting there with her thumb up her ass."
"Huh?"
"Human expression for doing absolutely fuck all."
"Oh, that's really weird."
"You're telling me. Some of your expressions I find extremely odd." You say as you reach the castle and walk past the guards still talking to Nora like there's absolutely nothing going on otherwise.
"It was pretty strange to see you for a while, a two legged little thing, taller than those ponies though, and definitely more useful."
"Imagine my shock when I saw all of you, walking talking planes, let alone ponies. I though I was high for a month."
"Drugs?"
"Pure exhaustion, I ran away from this place remember? On foot avoiding all sorts of transportation."
"Right." Nora said as the two of you finally catch up to Luna.
"Rex, thank you for coming on such a short notice."
"No problem Luna. What can I do for the Princess of the Night?"
"I'd like to have a talk about Falken."
"And this involves the purple one doesn't it?" You say though Nora is there, both you and Luna are ignoring her for the moment.
"Yes it does, I'm quite sorry but your companion shall have to wait just outside of the chambers while you and I talk."
"Oh right, Nora, you don't mind waiting for me do you?" You say as you turn to Nora to check with her.
"No, it won't take very long will it?"
"Unlikely that it shall take a significant amount of time. It is only a short chat." Luna said giving Nora her answer while you just smile and follow Luna into the separate room.
"Do you know what your son dreams of?"
"I have a clue, but I really don't want to know if I'm right."
"Shall I tell you anyways?"
"I know it involves Twilight, and I'd like you to leave it at that. I like giving them at least some privacy. Like if I absolutely wanted to know what was going on with Morgan I'd just connect to her and prod through her memories."
"That's very kind of you Rex, but there is more to this than just Falken."
"Huh?" you say as you're now confused to what the hell is going on, if there's more involved other than Falken.
"Twilight is conflicted on how she feels about him."
"Damned nerds."
"Excuse me?"
"They're both eggheads, they read too much and both seem to lack some common sense on occasion."
"You do not seem the slightest bit surprised about this."
"Because this was one of those things I worried about, and now for me and Thunder, it's hit the fan."
"Oh, so you two know about this?"
"Not as much as you know. I'm guessing there's a few letters to Celestia asking her for advice."
"Yes there are." Luna said as she pointed to a stack of unopened and partially read letters.
"Damn how much time does Twilight have to write those?" You ask as you stare at the stack of letters
"Most of those letters are actually requests for a reply to her original one which she sent the day she told Falken that he's more of a friend."
"Yea but that was like yesterday. How?"
"I do not ask, but my sister has been avoiding answering that letter like it is a plague of some sorts."
"For once I don't blame her for avoiding that." You say slightly shocked that all these managed to show up in less than a day.
"Morgan has asked if I would be able to spend a week with her while Twilight is with Falken at your home."
"This your way of saying no?"
"No, I am going, to keep an eye on those two. Cadence would love to try and push them together, but there's things that are in the way."
"Understand. Don't blame you. I guess I owe you now don't I?" You say to which Luna just shakes her head.
"No, as long as I can spend time with Morgan while I'm away that is all I ask."
"Morgan will make the time Luna, she always does." You say with a little bit of a laugh.
Your meeting with Luna ends shortly after you chat about Morgan's recent visit and the two that came with her. In the end you just smile and shrug before you leave and find Nora talking with some of the guards.
"Nora, I'm done here, we can go now."
"Oh, just a minute Rex."
"Sure. I'm in no hurry." You say as she wraps up the conversation with the guard and trots over to you.
"Ya know, I never really knew how you and Raptor met."
"Oh, that's a long and sad story."
"I've got the time and sympathy if you're willing to share."
"Well, we weren't always friends." Nora began as the two of you walked from the castle.
"Really?"
"Yea, we first met during the competition to see who'd take the air superiority contract. Her elder brother was busy doing tests for Lockheed elsewhere so she was brought in to compete. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her, the only thing that I didn't agree with was her attitude, so high and mighty. We pushed each other so hard during that competition, but in the end she won the contract for her family. I have a sister you know?"
"Another YF-23?"
"Yea, she just goes by that name and she's a hangar case." Nora said as she was clearly brought down by thinking about her sister.
"You're getting a little sidetracked here."
"Oh, sorry. It's just kind of depressing for me you know?"
"Yea, I know where you're coming from, but guess I've been lucky enough to not have to deal with that."
"Yea, lucky you, but anyways since Raptor won the competition my family abandoned me while I was in the process of understanding why I lost to Raptor. I was left there at the testing facility, with nowhere to go, no family to go to. So I stayed there with the X ponies. Glennis was my only friend then. She was the one who took care of me for a while." Nora said as you smile, Glennis, she probably meant Glamours Glennis, the Bell X-1.
"So you stayed way out at Edwards for a long time eh?"
"Yea, I was at Edwards until her little brother showed up."