Rise of the Paladinsby Icarus720Chapterschapter 1chapter 2chapter 3: the stormchapter 1“So when are you going to tell us what's so interesting about this cave you found, Tim," Shar asked, “or are you just going to let us wonder what could be in the Seara Nevada mountains." “No, it's just we got here a little early, so we have to wait a few minutes for the solar zenith, but no harm in telling you three now," I respond “Tell us what?" Harley asked. “Last week, when I was up here I found a cave, since it had rained the day before I could see nothing came or went. I, being me, decided that it was safe to enter. When I did I noticed the walls start to glow. Here's where it gets fun, ya know Tinia from Revelations, he materialized in front of me. He told me that me and three others were The Paladins, the people the Swords of Eden were designed for. They weren't of First Civ design, you see when they created the Eye they saw what they would create and that if they didn't, the world would collapse around them. They saw that if there civilization did not create them, their efforts to save the planet would be in vain. “Juno was the first to try to weild them. The effort drove her to the brink of inanity. That's why they made the Gate. To send the originals from this world until their true weilders acquired them. Naturally they made copies, like Excalibur, Durendel and Attila the Hun's Mars," I said. Nobody spoke. We just stood there, exchanging glances. Mark was the first to speak “How do you know it's us?" he asked. “You have to be joking," Shar exclaimed, “this is unbelievable!" “I know it's crazy, to think this is true, and to think that were so special. I'm not screwing around, if I was I'd be on Facebook or kik. But I'm right in front of you, each of you know me well enough to know that this is legit. You can doubt your the other three Paladins, I know I'm right. Do you trust me?" They nod. “Lets do this then." We get to the cave as the solar zenith arrives. Outside the cave stand Tinia. “Welcome," he says, “I see you have gathered the others." Shar hands Harley a twenty and Harley does her little victory dance. I just shake my head and walk into the cave. The cave glowed brightly when we entered so we had to shield our eyes til they adjusted to the light. We continued with mild conversation. At one point we decided that when we got back we would look into Ubisoft and see their connection to this stuff. When we meet an unnaturally smooth dead end, we redirected our focus to the matter at hand. “Step forward and place your hand on the wall." Tinia instructs. As I step twards the wall I suddenly get this tingly feeling. The feeling gets stronger as each of us place our hands on the wall. The tingling dies suddenly and the wall opens to reveal a large echoy room empty for all but an arch to nowhere in the middle of the room. “I cannot enter, it is meant for you alone," Tinia said. We nod in understanding, then begin the walk to the Gate. growl “Da fuck was that?" Harley asked. “My stomach," I grin. “Now I'm hungry," Mark complained. “I am too, now shut up," Shar said. When we arrive at the Gate, the three of them look at me expectantly. “It could be open for all we know," I say as I stick my foot through. When it disappears I bring it back. “I'll go first, then Shar, Harley, and Mark." I don't wait for a response and dash through the Gate. I see the cave and a forest at the same time before I blackout. _______________________________________ When I wake I see that I'm in someone's room. My head hurt. I slowly get of bed and examine my surroundings. I see that it was some sort of guest room that hadn't been uses in a while. I could see the footprints of a girl and a ... bear? I ponder this as I stretch, but I stop when I mentally find muscles that hadn't been there . When I stretch them I see wings out of the corner of my eyes. I stare in wonder as I twist then to examine each feather and don't even notice that someone entered until I heard a quiet eep. When I turn I see a girl about my age with light pink hair carrying a tray with a bowl of soup. “Oh, um, sorry if I looked like some kind of crazy there, but uh, it's gonna take some time to explain my confusion so I think I should start with my name, Tim. Uh, yours?" I say nervously. She just hides behind her hair. “Hello?" Nothing. I noticed that she had wings too. I decided to take a leap of faith and asked, “ Your wouldn't happen to be Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, would you?" I get some thing but I couldn't quite hear it. “I'm sorry but can you speak up," I said. “Yes, I am," she whispers. “Hello, Fluttershy, if I scared you earlier, I am incredibly sorry for that, I never had wings before, you see, I'm from some place similar to where Twilight went when she went through the mirror in the Crystal Empire." “Y-you are?" “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," I say going through the motions of a Pinkie promise. She seemed happier because of this. “You gonna be alright?" I ask. “Yes, b-but maybe we should go to Twilight, if you want to of course." “That would be wonderful." We leave her cottage and head into town. I just try to act like a normal person, or is it pony? This anthro shit is weird. If you know me - but you don't - you'd know how hard that is for me, I ended up dancing out of sheer bordom. I collect myself and resist the urge to do the worm by the time we get to the Golden Oaks library. I, being me, knock. "It's a library, just come in!" a voice calls. I chuckle as we enter tibrary/house. “Fluttershy, its you! And who is this?" Twilight asks. “Timothy, miss Twilight, we are here for you expetees." “How do you know my name?" “Alicorn, lives in a tree that's also a library, simple deductive reasoning." “Well I'm not a miss, but thank you. Why are here." “I'm here to talk about alternate worlds." Author's Note This is my first story ever so I need an editor to critique my work. chapter 2“Interesting story," Twilight said after I finish the edited version of my story, “But what do you want me to do? Given what you said I don't think the mirror in the Crystal Empire will get you home, and you don't know how you got here so we can't reverse engineer the phenomena, so I'm drawing a blank on what to do. Maybe we should tell Celestia about this." “If she hasn't senced that I had arrived - and because she hasn't sent you a letter, I doubt she has - I think there's a reason for that and my gut says to look for my friends first." and after a pause I add, “And to ask for food." “Why should we trust your gut?" She demanded, and after a pause added “And how can you think of food at a time like this?" “I'll answer your questions with multiple answers.(1)Haven't you not really known what to do, but your instinct was what got you to succeed.(2)I'm a guy, my metabolism is high (3)I was hungry before I got here, your lucky I can do anything but eat." “A-are we done arguing?"Fluttershy asked. “Yes we are. I'm gonna raid the kitchen while you tell Twilight what you saw when you found me, don't leave anything out, after that we'll check around town for the others," I say. brrrrrrrrpp A green flame comes from the kitchen. We look at each other and rush into the kitchen. Fluttershy and Twilight go to Spike and I rummage through cabinets. “Who's the message from, Spike" Twilight asked. “Princess Luna," Spike said, “Why is he looking through our cabinets?" “Food," I said grabbing an onion. “What does it saysay Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. “It's not addressed to me." “Ten bits says I know what it's about," I say as I grab a carrot. “What?" Spike asked. “My arrival, duh." “Who's it to," Fluttershy asked. “A group of ponies call the Paladins, I don't know who they are but they certainly seem important." Start to respond when a heavy feeling in my gut arrives and I'm washed with the same tingly feeling that I got back at the cave. I look out the window and I swear that I just saw the Apple Family farm. I lock my jaw, steel my mind, throw up my hood and say: “I know where one of my friends are." They give me a confused look. “Just tell Twilight what you saw, I'll be back, okay Flutters?" She nods. “Good." _____________________________ It takes me an hour just to find where the farm is so I imagine Fluttershy was worried sick. As I walk to the main house I think my situation. I could tell nopony - thanks to Twilight on the pony/person confusion - and calling just try to lie through my teeth while at the same time looking for a powerful artifact, tell one or two and Run the risk of them telling, not worried about that for Flutters but the rest I am, or tell everyone and almost certainly be hunted. I personaly like door number two the best. I see middle school aged kids run to the house. Yep someone landed nearby. I start running and calling but only get there attention for a moment before someone opens the door to the house. We reach it at about the same time but they start talking first. Each talking loudly fast and over each other so we only get bits and pieces. It went something like; “... Orchard...wind and a big flash..unconscious...get you!" I take the opportunity to say “I think one of my friends ended up in your apple orchard, can I check it out" “Your friend?" “How did he do that stuff if he's an earth pony?" “Now hold just an apple pickin' second," the girl at the door shouted, “What in tarnation are ya'll talkin' about? Start from the beginning, okay gals?" “We were walking in the orcha trying figure out how to get our cutie marks...." The unicorn girl said. “...when a HUGE gust of wind came and then there was this flash of light..." The pegasus said excitedly. “...and then there was some guy was on the ground -what was the ya used Sweety Bell? Unconscious right? Thanks,- he was so we ran sto get you." The one with the bow finished. “And your story, mister," asked the girl. “Magical portals, the one in the Crystal Empire won't work, the guy in the orchard probably is the friend I'm looking for, Twilight'll fill in the blanks." “What?" “I haven't the time to explain it all, either come with me now and then speak to Twilight or talk to her now and let me wander your orchard." “Fine, Applebloom, where'd ya say ya saw this?" “Follow us," Applebloom responded. _____________________________ Along the way I “learn" each of their names, Scootaloo, Applejack, Sweety Bell, and Applebloom. Maybe I a seudo-name for myself. But then again Twilight and Fluttershy already know my real name so there's point, so I tell them my name. “So where ya from, Tim," she asks, futilly trying to get a read on me “That accent certainly ain't from around here" “My accent is French-African, not British mind you, and I am a born and raised New Mexican. Of course that's probably meaningless to you," I respond. She starts to answer when Scootaloo shouts: “Over there!" We run to a figure laying on the ground. It was Shar. That's strange, he should have followed me in a few minutes after me, if the three of them argued, but its been hours. I must investigate this. Dammit, now I'm Sherlock Holmes. I pull the onion out of my pocket and club him with it. “groan. What was that for?" He asks. “Your late," I answered. “What are you talking about, I spent like thirty seconds laughing at Mark and Harley's reaction to your brashness. They tossed me in." I smile, “Wanna split this onion?" “Sure." We break it and as we eat Shar asks; “Does that chick have a unicorn horn?" “Yep," I said nonchalantly. “And the one to the right has wings?" I hit his head with my wing. “Dumbass, the one to the left has wings." “What just hit me?" “My wing." “If ya'll are done chitchatn'," Applejack said with annoyance, “Maybe we should go see Twilight?" “My thoughts exactly." “Are we in Equestria?" “Hold on," I said as I pretend to twist something behind his ear. “Lose screw." Everypony rolls their eyes except Shar, who rattles off pi to eight places. Things are getting better by the moment. _____________________________ When we reach the Golden Oaks Library we find Rainbow Dash trying to convince Fluttershy or Twilight to help her with the afternoon whether. “Dash, we're always willing to help," Twilight glances to us, “and maybe Tim can help?" “Never flown before, but sure," I said happily. Dash, on the other hand, was undeniably shocked. “You've never flown before!?!" “That is correct." “This is a joke!" “No, but I might make an attempt to change that if you stop gawking and give me a second." I extend my wings and give a powerful downward flap. I rocket into the air. Another flap. And another, and soon I hover in the air. Two crashes, three near misses, an epic fail at trying to be a humming bird I master the art. “Well," I said, “Lets make some rain." chapter 3: the stormWe weren't going to make it rain. We were actually trying to push back and disperse a severe thunder head. As we flew, I could sense the changes in the wind, the thermals, the subtle pressure changes, moments before they came, and reacted before the rest. They were adapting while I was prepping for the next change, so despite the high winds, I was equal to Dash. "This is awesome!" I exclaim joyously. "You sure you've never flown before?" Twilight questions me. "Never. Didn't we go over this before we left your place?" "Yea, but the way your flying, it's better than most pegasi, and certainly better than what you'd expect from a first time flyer." "I'll explain later," I say firmly, "Let's deal with that storm right now." No one argued, and it was obvious why. The thunder head was incredible, a thousand feet high and a mile wide at narrowest, it was big, black like a starless, moonless, night, the cloud looked like an anvil of darkness. Ominous was an understatement that wanted to curl up and die somewhere secluded. But that was just the look. I could sense the real danger, it wouldn't just flood, and thunder, and go away, it would cause a tornado that would tear the town apart, there would be cinder block sized hail, lightning strikes that would take out about half of a block; I could sense the signature hook pattern in the clouds, the high winds that held the hail in the air, the pent up electricity in the cloud. Over the intense howling of the wind I heard... something. I look around and see about a hundred pegasi in the air coming from all directions, and on the ground I saw the same for the unicorns, yet I couldn't hind the source. "What's that sound?" I ask. It reminded me of a fighter jet. "The Wonderbolts," Dash said. That didn't help my confidence. Stuntfliers?! I thought. Their using stuntguys! "Tim?" Fluttershy asked, snapping me out of my shock. "A-are you okay?" "No," I admit, "we need to stop this thing, now." "Ha! You don't know a tenth of it." Dash remarked. "I probably know more about this cloud, and the threat it caused, than most do!" "Prove it." "The number of pegasi and unicorns here mean this is some pretty big shit that's going on here and its happened at least once or twice before, the fact that there are stunt guys here adds another encounter to the list and I'm pretty sure that Twilight's not here for the hell of it. No doubt Rarity is down there with the other unicorns, I know you told Applejack to keep them organized and I'm going to guess that boom and cheer was Pinkie boosting moral." "And the cloud?" Twilight worriedly asked. I think I said it a little to eagerly. "Tartarus." Fluttershy breathed. The winds kicked it up a notch and it started to rain. It wasn't much better on the ground given the fact that a full cart just rolled onto its back. I guess that the ponies down there would be magically held to the ground. "How..." "I could, well, sense it. I knew that feeling would be important, I didn't know how important, but now I do," I notice Dash got very quiet and very pale. " What's eatin' you?" "It's what you said... It was dead on. This is the sixth time we've seen this cloud hit a city, first Cloudsdale, then Fillydelphia, then Hoffington, then Manehatton, then Whinnyamsburg. It was devastating. At first we thought it was Discord's doing, but there was a pattern to it, and Discord's not a pattern kind of guy. It went from thunderstorm to tornado in one town, then tornado to hailstorm in the other, then hailstorm to thunderstorm in the next. We have Twi to thank for that. The spell that's keeping the unicorns on the ground is only so strong and they can't strengthen it if they have to deal with hail, lightning and a tornado, it's too much!" "Actually...!" I shout, the wind and rain apparently wanted to test how tough we were and got even harder. "Its turned into two tornados and the cinder block hail got 50% bigger! As for the lightning, is being dispersed throughout the cloud, and I have a feeling that I've missed something on that subject!" We were all silent, or at least I was they could have been muttering a string of swear words for all I knew and the wind was just overpowering the words. The second proved true for Fluttershy when a change in the wind brought part of what she said to me: "... gonna get butt fucked." I glance at Flutters then the others. Fluttershy blushes but the others don't seem to hear what she said. We continue to the cloud until we were within half a mile of it and the lightning starts to strike at us. "Holy shit!" I shout. "Disperse, now! Now now now n-!" That's when we nearly got struck by lightning and when I found the thing that I missed in the lightning. It was systematic, concentrating on the pegasi, extremely so on us. Now, here's where my memory gets a little muddled. I remember shouting orders of some sort, get zapped and mauled at the same time, the words "Your efforts are pointless," and passing out on Fluttershy's couch, so I'm relying on the others information on the next happenings and even that has a fair sized gap. In other words I'll be showing you some of the other perspectives. The four of us dodge the bolt and come out more than a little burned and slightly darker skinned, but all in all fine. I flip onto my back to look at the group, "Twilight, I need you to go to strengthen the spell that keeps those ponies on the ground!" I shout. "We can't lose them! Once that's done, find Fluttershy and help her with dispersing the cloud! Flutters, round up some ponies and continue dispersing! Dash, gather as some smart, fast, and endurent ponies but leave some for Flutters! Report back to me A.S.A.P.! Now move!" Dash finds them quick and comes bake to me in three minutes. "How many?" I ask. "Twenty-six!" Dash shouted. "Good, half of you go with Dash, the rest with me, we're going to counteract the tornados! Dash yours is about a mile and a half north-by-northeast from hear! Move in a V formation and fly in a counterclockwise rotation to stop them! Well?! MOVE!" While our groups departed immediantly through the insane winds and rains to our near suicidal missions Fluttershy was fairing pretty well considering her situation. Of the 28 ponies she found four remained with her and the rest - on her orders - were orginizing the rest of the pegasi to attempt to separate the thunderhead into more manageable parts. Now this naturaly was expected to be easier said than done especialy since it took six tries to get half of what she wanted to say across, but this proved to be at least 10 times harder than expected. The lightning was not cutting her any slack, the ridiculously sized hail were chucking themselves at ponies heads, and every pony was half deaf and half blind. Fortunatly after the first 15 minutes they all got fairly used to such things and on guard for them. Fluttershy was very thankful for the steady rush of adrenaline because without it she would be cowering in her bed, jumping at every squeak she inadvertedly makes. But now she had the bodies natural reaction to stress and reasonable things for her to jump at. The first problem she ran into was dodging the lightning it self; if they clustered together, a large blast forces them to separate and crash into the hail, and if they flew alone the wind would wreak their flying and make them vulnerable to the hail and lightning. Fluttershy tried to counter this by having her ponies break formation for thirty seconds, get into smaller groups, then alter their formations every thirty seconds for two minutes before they return to the large group in a different formation for ten seconds. It was very successful. For about twelve minutes. The second problem was hidden behind the first on seamingly back with a vengeance. The storm was anticipating their movements, making it so that you had to move quickly or die. Two of Fluttershy's ponies met that fate already and she wasn't about to lose another. She tried to change the pattern twice more, each time the the same thing happened in less time than the last. As Fluttershy was trying to puzzle out the solution, the answer came tearing through the sky, screaming at the top of their lungs and flying like they'd all gone mad. As she watched in horror as a group ponies flew by, she noticed that they flew with a vague sense of pattern at all times, but every time she almost found it it changed into some thing even more confusing.... And it was working! Her horror turned to excitement as she told her ponies to follow their lead to the thunderhead. As Fluttershy was, in my book, having a blast and Rainbow Dash was in hell with the tornados, Twilight was somewhere in between, having to hold ponies down in one place while placing shielding to others in another was a challenge but the unicorns were kept in line to Applejack and most of the ponies didn't have to worry about getting crushed by hail thanks to... BANG! CRACK! ...Pinkie Pie and her partycannon. "That one was close, be a bit more careful Pinkie!" Twilight called to the trigger-happy mare. "Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie called firing another shot. BANG! CRACK CRACK! "Oooooh! Two for one!" Twilight shook her head and looked around the area. Nopony was in need of her help. That wasn't expected but it was okay since she needed to get to Fluttershy. She looked to the sky to try to see where she was and something caught her eye. It was a mass of shifting colors that were twisting, bending, warping, shaping itself around everything the storm threw at it all while ripping chunks out of cloud. She tore her eyes way from the mass to look at the cloud itself. She saw the multicolored glows of unicorn magic causing areas of the thunderhead to condence into water, the beginings of a tornado swirling steadily downward twards them, and lastly what looked like a whirlpool in the bottom of the cloud. "Applejack!" She called out. "Applejack!" "Twilight," the blonde mare shouted back, pointing to the mass, "what in tarnation is that?!". "I don't know, but I want to find out. Think you can handle without me?" "Sure." Twilight then spread her wings and alighted on the wind, making her way to the mass. Dash was starting to dislike her job. She had made it to her tornado without getting everypony killed and successfully countered the tornados spin. Unfortunetly the momentum that they had built up was to much to have them stop, so they just kept on going until they were tumbling in a tornado inside the cloud; I was the epitime of her hatred. "GAHHHH!" She wanted to look around but from expirence told her better of it. She saw a flash of white a second before she felt and heard the bones in her wing get crushed. Her scream was followed by those of the others until it was all just one cry of agony, so powerful that she barely noticed her momentum slow, or the purple glow around her and the other ponies, steadily taking them to the ground as she drifted from consiousness....But there's still work to be done... and drifted into dreamless sleep.
chapter 1“So when are you going to tell us what's so interesting about this cave you found, Tim," Shar asked, “or are you just going to let us wonder what could be in the Seara Nevada mountains." “No, it's just we got here a little early, so we have to wait a few minutes for the solar zenith, but no harm in telling you three now," I respond “Tell us what?" Harley asked. “Last week, when I was up here I found a cave, since it had rained the day before I could see nothing came or went. I, being me, decided that it was safe to enter. When I did I noticed the walls start to glow. Here's where it gets fun, ya know Tinia from Revelations, he materialized in front of me. He told me that me and three others were The Paladins, the people the Swords of Eden were designed for. They weren't of First Civ design, you see when they created the Eye they saw what they would create and that if they didn't, the world would collapse around them. They saw that if there civilization did not create them, their efforts to save the planet would be in vain. “Juno was the first to try to weild them. The effort drove her to the brink of inanity. That's why they made the Gate. To send the originals from this world until their true weilders acquired them. Naturally they made copies, like Excalibur, Durendel and Attila the Hun's Mars," I said. Nobody spoke. We just stood there, exchanging glances. Mark was the first to speak “How do you know it's us?" he asked. “You have to be joking," Shar exclaimed, “this is unbelievable!" “I know it's crazy, to think this is true, and to think that were so special. I'm not screwing around, if I was I'd be on Facebook or kik. But I'm right in front of you, each of you know me well enough to know that this is legit. You can doubt your the other three Paladins, I know I'm right. Do you trust me?" They nod. “Lets do this then." We get to the cave as the solar zenith arrives. Outside the cave stand Tinia. “Welcome," he says, “I see you have gathered the others." Shar hands Harley a twenty and Harley does her little victory dance. I just shake my head and walk into the cave. The cave glowed brightly when we entered so we had to shield our eyes til they adjusted to the light. We continued with mild conversation. At one point we decided that when we got back we would look into Ubisoft and see their connection to this stuff. When we meet an unnaturally smooth dead end, we redirected our focus to the matter at hand. “Step forward and place your hand on the wall." Tinia instructs. As I step twards the wall I suddenly get this tingly feeling. The feeling gets stronger as each of us place our hands on the wall. The tingling dies suddenly and the wall opens to reveal a large echoy room empty for all but an arch to nowhere in the middle of the room. “I cannot enter, it is meant for you alone," Tinia said. We nod in understanding, then begin the walk to the Gate. growl “Da fuck was that?" Harley asked. “My stomach," I grin. “Now I'm hungry," Mark complained. “I am too, now shut up," Shar said. When we arrive at the Gate, the three of them look at me expectantly. “It could be open for all we know," I say as I stick my foot through. When it disappears I bring it back. “I'll go first, then Shar, Harley, and Mark." I don't wait for a response and dash through the Gate. I see the cave and a forest at the same time before I blackout. _______________________________________ When I wake I see that I'm in someone's room. My head hurt. I slowly get of bed and examine my surroundings. I see that it was some sort of guest room that hadn't been uses in a while. I could see the footprints of a girl and a ... bear? I ponder this as I stretch, but I stop when I mentally find muscles that hadn't been there . When I stretch them I see wings out of the corner of my eyes. I stare in wonder as I twist then to examine each feather and don't even notice that someone entered until I heard a quiet eep. When I turn I see a girl about my age with light pink hair carrying a tray with a bowl of soup. “Oh, um, sorry if I looked like some kind of crazy there, but uh, it's gonna take some time to explain my confusion so I think I should start with my name, Tim. Uh, yours?" I say nervously. She just hides behind her hair. “Hello?" Nothing. I noticed that she had wings too. I decided to take a leap of faith and asked, “ Your wouldn't happen to be Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, would you?" I get some thing but I couldn't quite hear it. “I'm sorry but can you speak up," I said. “Yes, I am," she whispers. “Hello, Fluttershy, if I scared you earlier, I am incredibly sorry for that, I never had wings before, you see, I'm from some place similar to where Twilight went when she went through the mirror in the Crystal Empire." “Y-you are?" “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," I say going through the motions of a Pinkie promise. She seemed happier because of this. “You gonna be alright?" I ask. “Yes, b-but maybe we should go to Twilight, if you want to of course." “That would be wonderful." We leave her cottage and head into town. I just try to act like a normal person, or is it pony? This anthro shit is weird. If you know me - but you don't - you'd know how hard that is for me, I ended up dancing out of sheer bordom. I collect myself and resist the urge to do the worm by the time we get to the Golden Oaks library. I, being me, knock. "It's a library, just come in!" a voice calls. I chuckle as we enter tibrary/house. “Fluttershy, its you! And who is this?" Twilight asks. “Timothy, miss Twilight, we are here for you expetees." “How do you know my name?" “Alicorn, lives in a tree that's also a library, simple deductive reasoning." “Well I'm not a miss, but thank you. Why are here." “I'm here to talk about alternate worlds." Author's Note This is my first story ever so I need an editor to critique my work.
chapter 2“Interesting story," Twilight said after I finish the edited version of my story, “But what do you want me to do? Given what you said I don't think the mirror in the Crystal Empire will get you home, and you don't know how you got here so we can't reverse engineer the phenomena, so I'm drawing a blank on what to do. Maybe we should tell Celestia about this." “If she hasn't senced that I had arrived - and because she hasn't sent you a letter, I doubt she has - I think there's a reason for that and my gut says to look for my friends first." and after a pause I add, “And to ask for food." “Why should we trust your gut?" She demanded, and after a pause added “And how can you think of food at a time like this?" “I'll answer your questions with multiple answers.(1)Haven't you not really known what to do, but your instinct was what got you to succeed.(2)I'm a guy, my metabolism is high (3)I was hungry before I got here, your lucky I can do anything but eat." “A-are we done arguing?"Fluttershy asked. “Yes we are. I'm gonna raid the kitchen while you tell Twilight what you saw when you found me, don't leave anything out, after that we'll check around town for the others," I say. brrrrrrrrpp A green flame comes from the kitchen. We look at each other and rush into the kitchen. Fluttershy and Twilight go to Spike and I rummage through cabinets. “Who's the message from, Spike" Twilight asked. “Princess Luna," Spike said, “Why is he looking through our cabinets?" “Food," I said grabbing an onion. “What does it saysay Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. “It's not addressed to me." “Ten bits says I know what it's about," I say as I grab a carrot. “What?" Spike asked. “My arrival, duh." “Who's it to," Fluttershy asked. “A group of ponies call the Paladins, I don't know who they are but they certainly seem important." Start to respond when a heavy feeling in my gut arrives and I'm washed with the same tingly feeling that I got back at the cave. I look out the window and I swear that I just saw the Apple Family farm. I lock my jaw, steel my mind, throw up my hood and say: “I know where one of my friends are." They give me a confused look. “Just tell Twilight what you saw, I'll be back, okay Flutters?" She nods. “Good." _____________________________ It takes me an hour just to find where the farm is so I imagine Fluttershy was worried sick. As I walk to the main house I think my situation. I could tell nopony - thanks to Twilight on the pony/person confusion - and calling just try to lie through my teeth while at the same time looking for a powerful artifact, tell one or two and Run the risk of them telling, not worried about that for Flutters but the rest I am, or tell everyone and almost certainly be hunted. I personaly like door number two the best. I see middle school aged kids run to the house. Yep someone landed nearby. I start running and calling but only get there attention for a moment before someone opens the door to the house. We reach it at about the same time but they start talking first. Each talking loudly fast and over each other so we only get bits and pieces. It went something like; “... Orchard...wind and a big flash..unconscious...get you!" I take the opportunity to say “I think one of my friends ended up in your apple orchard, can I check it out" “Your friend?" “How did he do that stuff if he's an earth pony?" “Now hold just an apple pickin' second," the girl at the door shouted, “What in tarnation are ya'll talkin' about? Start from the beginning, okay gals?" “We were walking in the orcha trying figure out how to get our cutie marks...." The unicorn girl said. “...when a HUGE gust of wind came and then there was this flash of light..." The pegasus said excitedly. “...and then there was some guy was on the ground -what was the ya used Sweety Bell? Unconscious right? Thanks,- he was so we ran sto get you." The one with the bow finished. “And your story, mister," asked the girl. “Magical portals, the one in the Crystal Empire won't work, the guy in the orchard probably is the friend I'm looking for, Twilight'll fill in the blanks." “What?" “I haven't the time to explain it all, either come with me now and then speak to Twilight or talk to her now and let me wander your orchard." “Fine, Applebloom, where'd ya say ya saw this?" “Follow us," Applebloom responded. _____________________________ Along the way I “learn" each of their names, Scootaloo, Applejack, Sweety Bell, and Applebloom. Maybe I a seudo-name for myself. But then again Twilight and Fluttershy already know my real name so there's point, so I tell them my name. “So where ya from, Tim," she asks, futilly trying to get a read on me “That accent certainly ain't from around here" “My accent is French-African, not British mind you, and I am a born and raised New Mexican. Of course that's probably meaningless to you," I respond. She starts to answer when Scootaloo shouts: “Over there!" We run to a figure laying on the ground. It was Shar. That's strange, he should have followed me in a few minutes after me, if the three of them argued, but its been hours. I must investigate this. Dammit, now I'm Sherlock Holmes. I pull the onion out of my pocket and club him with it. “groan. What was that for?" He asks. “Your late," I answered. “What are you talking about, I spent like thirty seconds laughing at Mark and Harley's reaction to your brashness. They tossed me in." I smile, “Wanna split this onion?" “Sure." We break it and as we eat Shar asks; “Does that chick have a unicorn horn?" “Yep," I said nonchalantly. “And the one to the right has wings?" I hit his head with my wing. “Dumbass, the one to the left has wings." “What just hit me?" “My wing." “If ya'll are done chitchatn'," Applejack said with annoyance, “Maybe we should go see Twilight?" “My thoughts exactly." “Are we in Equestria?" “Hold on," I said as I pretend to twist something behind his ear. “Lose screw." Everypony rolls their eyes except Shar, who rattles off pi to eight places. Things are getting better by the moment. _____________________________ When we reach the Golden Oaks Library we find Rainbow Dash trying to convince Fluttershy or Twilight to help her with the afternoon whether. “Dash, we're always willing to help," Twilight glances to us, “and maybe Tim can help?" “Never flown before, but sure," I said happily. Dash, on the other hand, was undeniably shocked. “You've never flown before!?!" “That is correct." “This is a joke!" “No, but I might make an attempt to change that if you stop gawking and give me a second." I extend my wings and give a powerful downward flap. I rocket into the air. Another flap. And another, and soon I hover in the air. Two crashes, three near misses, an epic fail at trying to be a humming bird I master the art. “Well," I said, “Lets make some rain."
chapter 3: the stormWe weren't going to make it rain. We were actually trying to push back and disperse a severe thunder head. As we flew, I could sense the changes in the wind, the thermals, the subtle pressure changes, moments before they came, and reacted before the rest. They were adapting while I was prepping for the next change, so despite the high winds, I was equal to Dash. "This is awesome!" I exclaim joyously. "You sure you've never flown before?" Twilight questions me. "Never. Didn't we go over this before we left your place?" "Yea, but the way your flying, it's better than most pegasi, and certainly better than what you'd expect from a first time flyer." "I'll explain later," I say firmly, "Let's deal with that storm right now." No one argued, and it was obvious why. The thunder head was incredible, a thousand feet high and a mile wide at narrowest, it was big, black like a starless, moonless, night, the cloud looked like an anvil of darkness. Ominous was an understatement that wanted to curl up and die somewhere secluded. But that was just the look. I could sense the real danger, it wouldn't just flood, and thunder, and go away, it would cause a tornado that would tear the town apart, there would be cinder block sized hail, lightning strikes that would take out about half of a block; I could sense the signature hook pattern in the clouds, the high winds that held the hail in the air, the pent up electricity in the cloud. Over the intense howling of the wind I heard... something. I look around and see about a hundred pegasi in the air coming from all directions, and on the ground I saw the same for the unicorns, yet I couldn't hind the source. "What's that sound?" I ask. It reminded me of a fighter jet. "The Wonderbolts," Dash said. That didn't help my confidence. Stuntfliers?! I thought. Their using stuntguys! "Tim?" Fluttershy asked, snapping me out of my shock. "A-are you okay?" "No," I admit, "we need to stop this thing, now." "Ha! You don't know a tenth of it." Dash remarked. "I probably know more about this cloud, and the threat it caused, than most do!" "Prove it." "The number of pegasi and unicorns here mean this is some pretty big shit that's going on here and its happened at least once or twice before, the fact that there are stunt guys here adds another encounter to the list and I'm pretty sure that Twilight's not here for the hell of it. No doubt Rarity is down there with the other unicorns, I know you told Applejack to keep them organized and I'm going to guess that boom and cheer was Pinkie boosting moral." "And the cloud?" Twilight worriedly asked. I think I said it a little to eagerly. "Tartarus." Fluttershy breathed. The winds kicked it up a notch and it started to rain. It wasn't much better on the ground given the fact that a full cart just rolled onto its back. I guess that the ponies down there would be magically held to the ground. "How..." "I could, well, sense it. I knew that feeling would be important, I didn't know how important, but now I do," I notice Dash got very quiet and very pale. " What's eatin' you?" "It's what you said... It was dead on. This is the sixth time we've seen this cloud hit a city, first Cloudsdale, then Fillydelphia, then Hoffington, then Manehatton, then Whinnyamsburg. It was devastating. At first we thought it was Discord's doing, but there was a pattern to it, and Discord's not a pattern kind of guy. It went from thunderstorm to tornado in one town, then tornado to hailstorm in the other, then hailstorm to thunderstorm in the next. We have Twi to thank for that. The spell that's keeping the unicorns on the ground is only so strong and they can't strengthen it if they have to deal with hail, lightning and a tornado, it's too much!" "Actually...!" I shout, the wind and rain apparently wanted to test how tough we were and got even harder. "Its turned into two tornados and the cinder block hail got 50% bigger! As for the lightning, is being dispersed throughout the cloud, and I have a feeling that I've missed something on that subject!" We were all silent, or at least I was they could have been muttering a string of swear words for all I knew and the wind was just overpowering the words. The second proved true for Fluttershy when a change in the wind brought part of what she said to me: "... gonna get butt fucked." I glance at Flutters then the others. Fluttershy blushes but the others don't seem to hear what she said. We continue to the cloud until we were within half a mile of it and the lightning starts to strike at us. "Holy shit!" I shout. "Disperse, now! Now now now n-!" That's when we nearly got struck by lightning and when I found the thing that I missed in the lightning. It was systematic, concentrating on the pegasi, extremely so on us. Now, here's where my memory gets a little muddled. I remember shouting orders of some sort, get zapped and mauled at the same time, the words "Your efforts are pointless," and passing out on Fluttershy's couch, so I'm relying on the others information on the next happenings and even that has a fair sized gap. In other words I'll be showing you some of the other perspectives. The four of us dodge the bolt and come out more than a little burned and slightly darker skinned, but all in all fine. I flip onto my back to look at the group, "Twilight, I need you to go to strengthen the spell that keeps those ponies on the ground!" I shout. "We can't lose them! Once that's done, find Fluttershy and help her with dispersing the cloud! Flutters, round up some ponies and continue dispersing! Dash, gather as some smart, fast, and endurent ponies but leave some for Flutters! Report back to me A.S.A.P.! Now move!" Dash finds them quick and comes bake to me in three minutes. "How many?" I ask. "Twenty-six!" Dash shouted. "Good, half of you go with Dash, the rest with me, we're going to counteract the tornados! Dash yours is about a mile and a half north-by-northeast from hear! Move in a V formation and fly in a counterclockwise rotation to stop them! Well?! MOVE!" While our groups departed immediantly through the insane winds and rains to our near suicidal missions Fluttershy was fairing pretty well considering her situation. Of the 28 ponies she found four remained with her and the rest - on her orders - were orginizing the rest of the pegasi to attempt to separate the thunderhead into more manageable parts. Now this naturaly was expected to be easier said than done especialy since it took six tries to get half of what she wanted to say across, but this proved to be at least 10 times harder than expected. The lightning was not cutting her any slack, the ridiculously sized hail were chucking themselves at ponies heads, and every pony was half deaf and half blind. Fortunatly after the first 15 minutes they all got fairly used to such things and on guard for them. Fluttershy was very thankful for the steady rush of adrenaline because without it she would be cowering in her bed, jumping at every squeak she inadvertedly makes. But now she had the bodies natural reaction to stress and reasonable things for her to jump at. The first problem she ran into was dodging the lightning it self; if they clustered together, a large blast forces them to separate and crash into the hail, and if they flew alone the wind would wreak their flying and make them vulnerable to the hail and lightning. Fluttershy tried to counter this by having her ponies break formation for thirty seconds, get into smaller groups, then alter their formations every thirty seconds for two minutes before they return to the large group in a different formation for ten seconds. It was very successful. For about twelve minutes. The second problem was hidden behind the first on seamingly back with a vengeance. The storm was anticipating their movements, making it so that you had to move quickly or die. Two of Fluttershy's ponies met that fate already and she wasn't about to lose another. She tried to change the pattern twice more, each time the the same thing happened in less time than the last. As Fluttershy was trying to puzzle out the solution, the answer came tearing through the sky, screaming at the top of their lungs and flying like they'd all gone mad. As she watched in horror as a group ponies flew by, she noticed that they flew with a vague sense of pattern at all times, but every time she almost found it it changed into some thing even more confusing.... And it was working! Her horror turned to excitement as she told her ponies to follow their lead to the thunderhead. As Fluttershy was, in my book, having a blast and Rainbow Dash was in hell with the tornados, Twilight was somewhere in between, having to hold ponies down in one place while placing shielding to others in another was a challenge but the unicorns were kept in line to Applejack and most of the ponies didn't have to worry about getting crushed by hail thanks to... BANG! CRACK! ...Pinkie Pie and her partycannon. "That one was close, be a bit more careful Pinkie!" Twilight called to the trigger-happy mare. "Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie called firing another shot. BANG! CRACK CRACK! "Oooooh! Two for one!" Twilight shook her head and looked around the area. Nopony was in need of her help. That wasn't expected but it was okay since she needed to get to Fluttershy. She looked to the sky to try to see where she was and something caught her eye. It was a mass of shifting colors that were twisting, bending, warping, shaping itself around everything the storm threw at it all while ripping chunks out of cloud. She tore her eyes way from the mass to look at the cloud itself. She saw the multicolored glows of unicorn magic causing areas of the thunderhead to condence into water, the beginings of a tornado swirling steadily downward twards them, and lastly what looked like a whirlpool in the bottom of the cloud. "Applejack!" She called out. "Applejack!" "Twilight," the blonde mare shouted back, pointing to the mass, "what in tarnation is that?!". "I don't know, but I want to find out. Think you can handle without me?" "Sure." Twilight then spread her wings and alighted on the wind, making her way to the mass. Dash was starting to dislike her job. She had made it to her tornado without getting everypony killed and successfully countered the tornados spin. Unfortunetly the momentum that they had built up was to much to have them stop, so they just kept on going until they were tumbling in a tornado inside the cloud; I was the epitime of her hatred. "GAHHHH!" She wanted to look around but from expirence told her better of it. She saw a flash of white a second before she felt and heard the bones in her wing get crushed. Her scream was followed by those of the others until it was all just one cry of agony, so powerful that she barely noticed her momentum slow, or the purple glow around her and the other ponies, steadily taking them to the ground as she drifted from consiousness....But there's still work to be done... and drifted into dreamless sleep.
