[FFML] [fanfic][MLP:FiM] The Alicorn Foal, Chapter 4

[Mythril Moth]

The usual disclaimers still apply. C&C welcome.

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Chapter 4: Hot And Horny

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For the first three days, there were surprisingly few problems. Velvet's 
magical outbursts mainly confined themselves to whatever room she happened 
to be in and were relatively mild; the worst incident during that time was a 
heavy downpour of pee whose only victim was Pinkie Pie.

"That was really RUDE," the pink mare had complained as her mane dripped all 
over the floor. "How would you like it if I peed all over YOU?"

"Pinkie Pie, please don't pee on the foal," Cadence had said, facehoofing.

"Huh? I wasn't gonna pee on her," Pinkie had replied, confused.

"Oh, good. I...honestly wasn't sure if you were serious or not."

It had taken Cadence and Twilight an hour to clean up the mess while Pinkie 
took a very long bath. After that, Velvet had been fed and changed--with no 
accompanying meteorological trauma--and put to bed. She stayed asleep until 
the next morning.

Then came the fourth day, and with it: crisis.

"You...lost...her blankie," Twilight said.

Pinkie's ears drooped. "Not exactly LOST it, I just...don't know where it 
is."

"How could you LOSE a blankie?" the purple unicorn demanded.

"I just hung it outside to dry!" Pinkie wailed. "When I went back out, it 
was gone!"

"So...somepony STOLE Velvet's blankie?" Twilight asked.

"I dunno, maybe?" Pinkie offered, a forehoof raised.

Twilight sighed. "When she doesn't have her blankie, she gets cranky."

"Hey, that rhymed!" Pinkie chirped. "Are you taking lessons from Zecora?"

The unicorn facehoofed. "Pinkie, this is serious," she tried to explain. 
"The last time we had to wash that blankie, Velvet wouldn't calm down until 
she had it back. Cadence tried to give her another one, but she wanted HER 
blankie. It got so windy in the nursery we almost got blown clear to 
Cloudsdale!"

"I'm really sorry...it isn't my fault, I Pinkie-promise!" the pink party 
pony professed. "I'll try really really hard to find it, okay?"

"Please do. Because if that blankie isn't found, there's no telling--"

There was a knock at the door.

Twilight answered it, and found a sweat-drenched, drooping Rainbow Dash 
hovering miserably at the door. "What's wrong, Rainbow Dash?" she asked.

"Wrong? Oh, nothing's wrong," Rainbow replied. "Just that it's like a 
hundred degrees out here!"

Twilight frowned. "It's really that hot? I haven't been outside since 
yesterday..."

"It wasn't hot like this until about an hour ago," Rainbow said. "And we 
can't figure out why, so..."

The unicorn's eyes widened in realization. "Velvet," she said.

"Ya think?" the pegasus retorted crossly.

"I'm...really sorry, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. "Velvet's favorite 
blankie's gone missing on us, and...well..."

"Her...blankie."

"Yeah."


"I'm sweatin' outta places I didn't know could sweat...because a foal's 
missin' her blankie?"

Twilight's ears drooped. "We're working on finding it, honest! Just..." She 
pressed her forehooves together plaintively. "Help maybe?"

Rainbow snorted, blowing dripping multihued hair out of her eyes. "FINE, 
anything to put a stop to this heat wave." She looked around. "Hey, why 
isn't your big brother doin' anything about this, anyway?"

Twilight backed away nervously, ears twitching. "Umm...well...you see..."

>From upstairs, the two mares heard a loud crash and a strange-sounding 
whinny.

"What the hay was THAT?" Rainbow cried, eyes wide and mane standing on end.

Twilight winced. "Um...well...my brother and Cadence...kinda needed some 
couple time..."

"Oh. ...OH. ...you're KIDDING. HERE?!" Rainbow exclaimed, turning faintly 
green.

The purple unicorn flushed. "He was SUPPOSED to soundproof their room," she 
muttered. "They didn't want to go off and abandon their duties here, but 
they did need to...um...be together, you know, and..."

"Nevermind, I really don't wanna know," Rainbow said, waving a hoof and 
backing away. "Look, just...find the stupid blankie already, okay? I'll do 
what I can to help."

"Right. Um...sorry. Really."

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

"I'm sorry, Twilight. My shield's just not working against this heat," 
Shining Armor said later that day.

Twilight sighed. "I was afraid of that."

"Sooo...any ideas?"

"The only thing we can do is find that blankie," Twilight said, shaking her 
head. "But it could be anywhere. I mean, who just runs off with a blankie?"

"Are you SURE Pinkie Pie didn't just forget where it is?"

"She stuck three cupcakes in her eye," Twilight said. At Armor's confused 
look, she rolled her eyes. "Pinkie didn't forget where it is. It's just 
gone."

"Great," Armor said, pawing the floor with a hoof. "We've only got all of 
Equestria to search for one stupid blanket in order to stop Ponyville from 
baking..."

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

"Ice-cold apple juice! Gitcher ice-cold apple juice here!" Applejack 
hollered as she and Big Macintosh trotted around town square, the latter 
hauling a cart laden with coolers full of ice and several five-gallon 
bottles of Sweet Apple Acres' finest apple juice.

In this heat, they were making a small fortune, but Applejack still wished 
the heat would die down soon. After all, it was bad for the apples.

She wasn't particularly fond of it either.

"Apple juice! C'mon, y'all, git it while it's ice-cold!" she called out 
again.

"I'll take a glass!" a slightly slurred voice called out from above. A gray 
pegasus crashed into Big Mac's wagon, sending ice flying everywhere and 
nearly sending one full bottle of juice rolling out into the street.

"Hey now, pay first, then wait till we fill 'er up fer ya!" Applejack 
berated the clumsy mare.

Derpy's head popped up out of the mess in the wagon, amber eyes spinning. 
"Sooorr-ry, Applejack," she said. She dug around in her saddlebag for a 
couple of bits and flipped them to the orange mare, who stashed them in the 
cashbox.

"Fill 'er up, Mac."

"Eeyup," her brother replied, pressing down on a tap plugged into one of the 
bottles and filling a tall paper cup with juice. "Here y'go, ma'am," he 
said.

"Thanks so much!" Derpy said cheerfully. She drank half the cup of juice, 
then produced a muffin from her saddlebag, gulping it down in one bite 
before finishing her juice. As she did so, Applejack noticed something 
peculiar...

"Hey, uh...that some kinda cape y'got on there?"

Derpy had a green wool garment tied in a knot around her neck, covering half 
her back, nestled neatly between her wings. It was too small to be a saddle 
blanket, and indeed looked like one of the short half-capes she'd seen 
adorning the ponyquins in Rarity's boutique.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I found it down by Sugarcube Corner, and I thought 'oh hey, 
what a neat cape', and I've been wearing it ever since! I feel super!" She 
whooped and waved, taking off into the sky.

"Super dippy, y'mean," Applejack said, shaking her head.

"Eeyup."

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

Two more days of intense heat passed. Everypony was getting cranky.

In desperation, Twilight Sparkle assembled all her friends, determined to 
scour every inch of Ponyville for the missing blankie.

"Ah can't believe we're makin' all this ruckus over a foal's blankie," 
Applejack said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well, if we don't find it, this heat wave won't stop," Twilight said. 
She was clearly exhausted; there were heavy bags under her eyes, and sweat 
ran in rivulets.

"She can't possibly still be this cranky over her blankie," Rainbow 
complained.

"Hey, now Rainbow Dash is taking lessons from Zecora!" Pinkie, the only pony 
not affected by the heat, cheered.

"Oh, cork it," Rainbow muttered.

"I had hoped she'd settle down, but..." Twilight shook her head. "She's 
REALLY attached to that blankie."

"I think it's because it smells like her mother," Cadence said. "And 
Lavender Rose hasn't been around lately..."

"That makes sense," Fluttershy said. "It's her mother's smell she's 
missing."

"Okay so...whut's this blankie look like?" Applejack asked.

"Well, it's green, it's wool..." Twilight explained. "It's..."

Applejack's eyes shrank to dots. "'Bout this big, kinda fuzzy, has little 
blue dots on it?" she asked, demonstrating with her hooves.

"Yes, that's it exactly," Twilight said, eyes widening. "You've seen it?"

"Yeah, Ah reckon Ah know whut varmint's runnoft with it..."

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

Velvet Frost cooed happily as she snuggled up under her precious blankie. 
Immediately, the temperature outside dropped ten degrees.


"Whew, glad that's over with," Twilight said.

"Sorr-ry," Derpy said sheepishly, pawing the floor with a hoof. "I didn't 
know it was somepony's blankie..."

"It's okay, Derpy. Thanks for being reasonable about this."

"Sure thing!" the wall-eyed pegasus replied cheerfully. She waved with a 
hoof and left through the window--after crashing into the wall twice.

Twilight shook her head. "Two more weeks until Lavender and Sable get 
back..." she sighed.

"We'll make it," Shining Armor assured her. "We got through THIS crisis, 
didn't we?"

"Yeah..."

In her sleep, Velvet passed gas.

"Eww," Twilight complained, waving a hoof in front of her nose. "That foal 
sure can make a stink..."

The two unicorns left the nursery...

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

"Sweetie Bell?" Rarity asked as her younger sister and her friends trotted 
into the boutique the following morning. "Why aren't you in school?"

"Miss Cheerilee cancelled school," Sweetie Bell replied. "The schoolhouse 
was destroyed."

"DESTROYED?!" Rarity exclaimed, a dainty hoof pressed to her mouth.

"Some kinda freaky tornado," Apple Bloom said. "Durnedest thing..."



TO BE CONTINUED...
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Mythril Moth
www.mythrilmoth.net