New Winds on the Horizonby Atomic VortexChaptersPeaceful Shower Interrupted...OC Guide (Pictures to be fixed)The Prize Pony of Ponyville AwardTraining Part 1: Dark and ZephThe Dream WorldTraining Part 2: Rhino and JanvierPeaceful Shower Interrupted...Hey guys! Well here we are again! For those new to my writings a single warning really: I tend to write a lot of fighting. And this is also needed: DISCLAIMER: KillJoy came up with the idea of separate consciences. Not me. On another note, I've decided to tone down the human swears and replace them with pony swears (ie "Horse apples." or "Pony feathers.") Finally, the most important bit: If you haven't read Moving with the Wind, stop here. Go read that first or nothing will make sense. Now let's get to the story! Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these.~ +Proton speaks in these.+ / I respond to them in these. \ [These are author notes.] ----------------9 months after Moving with the Wind---------------- The only thing better than the morning breeze through your mane is a late night shower. The warmth, the peace, the time to ponder freely...that does mean about some other "stuff" as well... The cascade of water washed over me instantly filling my mind with these sensations. Of course I'd taken off my shades and vest, leaving them outside the room. I sighed contentedly. The foals were due anytime soon and the shower washed away any anxieties I had about it. I was still struggling with names, which peeved me a little, but being the Element of Determination I don't give up. Applejack had said I could name the filly and she would name the colt. ~A long day means a long shower...~ +We totally deserve this after looking after a pregnant mare all day...+ / I hear ya...my head still hurt from when she dropped that rock on us. \ I was just about ready to doze off when a furious knocking hit the door, "ATOM!", AJ's voice. Still completely absorbed by the bliss and serenity in the heat of the water, I replied with an extremely calm manner compared to my usual reaction to this tone of voice from her, "Yes Apples? I'm enjoying the water." "Ferget that water! Mine jus' broke!" My mind stumbled for a few seconds before collecting itself again, "OH SWEET CELESTIA!!!", turning the water off, I rushed out of the shower, slipping on the tiled bathroom floor. Bursting out of the door Applejack laughed through the obvious pain, "Ya know...I never realized how good ya look with a wet mane.", her eyes widened and she groaned in pain, clutching her bulge. "We'll worry about that later. Come on, let's get you to the hospital." "Well that's kinda' what I was hopin' ya'd do." I chuckled and put an hoof around her, leading her out of the room. In the hallway, Dark Lightning, my brother, left his own room and stopped in his tracks seeing AJ. "Oh crap! Do you want me to go get the others?", he asked. "Sure. Meet us at the hospital.", he nodded and raced down the stairs flying out of the door and heading to our friends' respective homes. 5 minutes of walking were easy for me, but judging by Applejack's increasingly frequent cries of pain, it must have been excruciating for her. At least the hospital was relatively close. I threw open the doors and instantly called out to a passing nurse, "My wife is giving birth!", the nurse's eye widened and she dropped her clipboard, rushing to the desk and speaking into the intercom, summoning a doctor. The nurse quickly came over and helped me get Applejack into a wheelchair. [Ok, things get hard for me here, as being 15 usually means you don't know much about the birth process...and I know nothing.] I galloped along side as the nurse wheeled AJ through the corridors. ~Keep it together! KEEP IT THE HELL TOGETHER!!~ +Dude! You're doing what you did at the wedding...AGAIN!+ ~Oh yeah...~ +You crack under pressure really easy. Ha!+ ~Shut up! It's perfectly natural!~ +For a pussy like you, yeah.+ ~Alright, that's it! I'M GONNA BUCKING KILL YOU!~ / NOT IF AJ DOES FIRST! SWEET CELESTIA THIS HURTS! \ During Cyclone and Proton's "discussion" the nurse had set Applejack on the bed, her hindlegs spread. [Ok, you guys have no idea how awkward that was to write. Seriously I'm going a bit red just reading it again...heh, I'm so immature.] The orange mare had her hoof wrapped firmly...no that's an understatement; vice like around my hoof. For what seemed like hours on end the only sounds heard was Applejack screaming. By the time the doctor started telling the mare to push, my hoof was numb beyond reckoning. "I BLAME YOU FER THIS!!!!", AJ screamed at me. My chuckle was cut off as her death grip on my hoof tightened still. I swear I even heard a snap as the bone broke in 2. By the time the doctor said to give the final push, and Applejack's screams reached their peak, my vision was fading and my eyes rolling back in my head from the pain in my hoof. The only thing that stopped me was a loud crying, that drowned out Applejack's continued screams. "Congratulations, it's colt! And he's a pegasus!", the doctor exclaimed, wrapping the newborn foal in a light blue blanket and passing the bundle to me. The colt was a deep sapphire blue, with a turquoise and bright red mane that was much like Vinyl Scratch's. He opened his eyes to reveal them as sparkling azure. The foal took one second to look at me before screwing his eyes shut again and resuming crying at the top of his lungs, matching Applejack's screams. [Picture coming up, just keeping reading.] The doctor turned from me back to Applejack as her cries rose in pitch further, and high enough to split ears. Another crying joined the colt's as the doctor spoke again, "It's a unicorn filly!" He handed me another bundle, wrapped in a pink blanket. Taking the bundle in my other arm, I looked into it to see a teal unicorn, her mane light green and blonde. When her eyes opened, my heart melted at the sight of the dazzling gold they were. Bellow her eyes were a set of white freckles. The filly seemed to have picked up a mixture of mine and AJ's characteristics, whereas the colt appeared to have only picked up the pegasi gene from me. The sound in the room was now dominated by the combined crying of the foals, Applejack's pain gone. I looked up at her as she smiled, panting hard and holding her hooves out to me. I handed her the colt and moved closer to the bed with the filly to show AJ. She slowly rocked the colt as I did too. An hour later, my friends and the Mane 6 were gathered around, the foals blissfully sleeping. [If you haven't seen the description, my friends consist of: Rhino, Naga, Janvier "Sapiunt" Novum, Red Glare, Fragment, Blue Breeze and Zephyr. All these are other Bronies, and are on this site.] "Have you decided on names yet?", Twilight asked. "Eeeyup.", we said in unison, mimicking everyone's favorite red stallion. "I remember you said, Atom would name the filly, and AJ would name the colt, right?", Dash asked. "Yes. Do you want to go first AJ?", I asked. She looked deeply at the sleeping colt for a moment before asking, "How does Gusty sound? Gusty Blade." Everyone nodded in silent agreement, "With a name like that, you know he'll be getting into as many fights as we do.", Naga joked. We all shared a small laugh, remembering a few years back when getting into fights seemed to be the only thing we ever did. "What about you Atom?", Rhino said. The filly lay in the blanket gently sucking on her hoof, and I watched the steady rise and fall of her chest. "Mistral. Mistral Jade." "Gusty Blade and Mistral Jade. Sounds perfect.", Applejack said, nodding contently. "Well now Spectrum has a playmate!", Pinkie said bouncing up. Rainbow Dash turned to let Dark take out the playful filly of her harness and setting her on his back. The filly started to play with Dark's wings as he moved them around, causing the her to descend into a fit of giggles. [This is Dark's foal, and I had nothing to do with the creation, name or anything really to do with her.] I looked up from Mistral, "Hey, can we speak with Rhino privately for a minute? You don't mind do you guys?" "Yeah, that's cool.", they said, before turning and leaving the Big Mac sized stallion on his own. "So what's this about?", he asked. "We've been talking this over, and AJ agrees me when I ask: Would you be the godfather?", the expression on his face after was indescribable. "I- I- I- Of course!", he stammered out. A shrill cry hit the room as his exclamation awoke Mistral. I gave him a withering stare and cuffed him round the back of the head for bringing back the crying we'd worked for an hour to stop. "I suggest ya'll get outta here while ya still can.", Applejack said sternly to the stallion as he smiled sheepishly. "Yer most likely right. Thankin' ya kindly Atom.", Rhino said in AJ's accent...wait, what? Not wearing my shades because of the mad dash out of the house, he saw as my eyes widened. I'd made it specifically clear for him not to slip into his habit of imitating somepony's accent when it came to Applejack, lest she take offence... He shot out of the door before I could hand Mistral over to AJ and begin beating him...lucky son of a whore. [No offence in real time dude.] I decided against chasing him, and proceeded to spend the next hour calming Mistral. Once she was asleep again, I made my way over to the bed and laid down next to AJ who was pretty much asleep herself. Her eyes fluttered open slightly, "So why did Rhino run?", she asked sleepily. By this time it was about 3 in the morning, and the toll of the last few hours had finally caught up with the mare. "Nothing important." Her eyebrow raised fractionally. It's not easy to lie to the Element of Honesty. Then again the Element of Determination will always try. "I don't really care right now. We're never doin' this again, ya hear me?" "If my hoof feels like this every time, I agree with you.", I chuckled. I laid Mistral, still in her bundle, between me and AJ, next to Gusty. Applejack turned over and nuzzled me over the foals. A few moments later and a soft snoring emanated from the mare. Not long after, my own eyes dimmed, and I fell into a peaceful slumber, with Gusty and Mistral the last image imprinted into my mind. [The bundles of D'aww were made by Rhino, and I put them in the same image that you now see!] Yes! We have our first chapter! For those who are thinking: "Hey, Gusty looks nothing like you or AJ!", I direct you to this link. So to any new readers: I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time! Bye! OC Guide (Pictures to be fixed)Hey guys! Ok, this is a guide to all the OC that are featured in this story. This'll just be names, pics of them and small summaries. So without further a due, I present to you: THE CAST! Atomic Vortex (Atom): Atom comes from (as you'd expect) myself, and the story is from his point of view, unless otherwise stated. He is married to Applejack and also has the ability to control the wind. Rhino: Rhino plays Atom's best friend, he tends to use 2 spells: Res, that allows him to control friction levels; and Blink, a teleport spell that takes a toll only in large doses. When he get's mad the last place you'd want to be is in his way, but other than that he tries not to get in fights...it's just Atom usually drags him into them...He is currently engaged to Fluttershy, and he comes from: Rhino Dark Lightning: Dark plays Atom younger brother, has the ability to control lightning and is married to Rainbow Dash. His usually brash nature means he gets into quite a bit of trouble. He comes from: Dark Lightning Blue Breeze: Blue is one of Atom's newest friends, but is one of the ones Atom is more friendly with, as he also shares the ability to control the wind. Blue does not currently have a ship. He comes from (as you'd expect): Blue Breeze Naga: This alicorn is what makes the group unique, I mean, how many times do you get to meet the son of Princess Luna? He's dating Vinyl Scratch and holds a grudge against Janvier (He's coming up.). Coming from: Naga Zephyr: Zephyr is the eternal best friend of Blue Breeze. He is more likely to run rather than fight, but even when he does, he prefers to use his speed and maneuverability to outsmart his opponents. This delightful fellow comes from: Zephyr Fragment: This badass motherbucker is an Immortal. Once he takes enough damage that would kill him, instead of passing into the void, he is transferred to the next dimension. He has the ability to do numerous tricks, like controlling neon blue flames. He is dating Twilight Sparkle. Frag come's from: Fragment12 Red Glare: This is where things get a little ugly. Glare is a psychopath that was aligned with the griffons during the war all these put a stop to. Atom is friendly with Glare, but still allows a volcano of anger to build up, for when Glare killed Atom's mother. Atom just wants Glare to slip up once before the unicorn loses his horn under Atom's hooves. This S.O.B comes from: Red Glare Janvier "Sapiunt" Novum: This devoted stallion is loyal, and one hell of a badass. Leader of the elite military group known as the Draco-Knights, Janvier is deadly in a fight and knows his guns. 1 hint if you have to take him on: Don't blink. He'll have his hooves around your neck before you knew he'd moved. Janvier comes from: Sapiunt Violet Supernova: Violet is a relatively shy psychiatrist who prevented Atom's suicide attempt, and helped Applejack to pull him out of the depression that followed. What is most surprising about this mare though, is actually Atom's sister, a secret kept from him for years. The fact that she bears a very close resemblance to Atom's mother, he holds her close in the remaining family he has. Violet is another creation of mine, and you know where to find my page! Thanks guys! All of these OC I consider to be great friends, and I'll always hold them in high regard. Bye! The Prize Pony of Ponyville AwardHey guys! Ok, before we start, I want to say something to the dislikers: I'm not here to please, I'm here to write. (pleasing is a bonus) So deal with it. Sorry this chapter has taken so long to get out, I've been having a lot of technical difficulties lately. Anyway! Onto the chapter! We're getting straight into it! Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] ---------------------1 Month after the birth of the foals------------------- "STAMPEDE!!!" Rainbow Dash's cry caught the attention of the crowded street below, turning their pleasantly calm manner into that of undignified terror. Flowerpots were knocked over and ignored, tables and chairs overturned in the blind panic for safety. The pegasi took to the skies. The unicorns teleported themselves away. The earth ponies just ran. A cloud of dust rose over a hill near the town. Everypony was running...all except a certain pink earth pony. "H-e-y! T-h-i-s m-a-k-e-s m-y v-o-i-c-e s-o-u-n-d s-i-l-l-y!", Pinkie laughed Twilight saw the careless party pony, "Pinkie Pie! Are you crazy?! RUN!!!" "Everypony calm down!", the Mayor called to no avail, "There is no need to panic!" Rarity ran up to the sand colored earth pony, "But Mayor! Whatever shall we do?!", she exclaimed with a hint of melodrama. "Look there!", came Rainbow Dash's yell from above. She pointed in the direction of the cloud of dust as it came ever closer. Next to the stampeding cows ran everyone's favorite orange cowpony. "YEEHAW!!", AJ exclaimed, Winnona running alongside, "Other side Winnona!" The dog barked in response and skirting in between the cows to the other side of the stampede. "Herd 'em up girl!", at AJ's command the small dog turned into the cows, making them bunch closer as they neared the town. Rarity looked away as opposed to Pinkie who watched with interest, "This is the best rodeo show I've ever seen!", she said before diving her head into a bag of popcorn...wait...where'd she get that? "C'mon 'lil doggy!", AJ shouted at one of the lead cows, "Turn!" When the cows failed to heed here warning, she whistled loudly. "Winnona! Put 'em up!", Winonna obeyed, jumping upward on to the backs of the cows. AJ quickly followed, balancing carefully on the cow's back as they moved ever closer to the town. "Gotcha'!" Pulling a rope from, I guess under her hat, she twirled it in a lasso and threw it over the lead cow's head. She jumped off the cow's back and resumed galloping alongside them. She began to pull on the rope with all her might, turning the cows away from the town, not a moment too soon. The crowd of ponies in the town cheered, Pinkie pulling a yellow flag with an apple embroidered onto it from thin air. AJ removed the rope from the cow's head, "Phew. Now what was that all about?", she asked the lead cow. "Mooo-", the cow cleared it's throat, "Oh my, begging your pardon Applejack, but Mooooriella here saw one of those nasty snakes!" The herd of cows did a collective gasp. "And it just gave us all the willies don't you know?", the cow continued. "I completely understand.", AJ replied, "Just next time, try and steer clear of Ponyville." "We certainly will Applejack.", the herd began to move off, "So long Winnona!" Winnona gave a happy bark in reply. AJ and Winnona made their way back into town accepting the praise gratefully. I glided down from above, unaware of what had transpired. "What's going on?", I asked walking over to Applejack. Pinkie jumped in my field of view, "ATOM! Youshould'veseenit! ThegroundstartedvibratingandmademyvoicesoundsillyandthenApplejackwasnexttothecowsandjumpedononeandlassoed-" She was cut off by a merciful hoof from Twilight. "What Pinkie is trying to say is that AJ saved the town from a stampede.", Twi brow furrowed, "How did you not know? The whole town was shaking." "I was trying to get Mistral and Gusty to sleep.", I looked pointedly at AJ, "On my own." "I knew ya could handle it.", she joked. "Very funny. Hey, where's Jet? Wasn't she with you?" Applejack scratched her head, "I saw her at the orchard, but she went into the trees." On cue the serpent slithered out from between 2 buildings and coiled herself comfortably around my middle. "There you are girl. Where were you?", I asked. "She just came from the direction the cows came from....", Rarity observed. "Jet.", I said sternly, "Did you scare those cows?" She smiled smugly giving me a look that said "'Cos I could." "Seems legit." We jumped as Blue's voice sounded from above. He chuckled as I clutched my chest, "Where'd you come from?" "I tend to pop out of the blue." Everyone groaned simultaneously at his pun. "I love making puns. Sue me.", Blue laughed. "Even Dark only makes puns ever now and then." "I bet they're shocking." The group groaned louder. "Please stop.", I begged. "Ok. I'm done for now.", he said, chuckling still. "So what's up?" "Oh, I wanted to say I'm gonna be in Cloudsdale for a few days.", he said with a small hint of sadness. "NO!!!", Pinkie exclaimed, throwing herself at the stallion and clinging onto him, "DON'T LEAVE US BREEZEY!!! DON'T LEAVE US!!!" Blue extracted himself from Pinkie's embrace, "It's only for a few days Pinkie. I'll be back." The pink party pony instantly livened up again, "Okie dokie lokie! I'll have a big party for you when you get back!" "Sure thing.", Blue said. "So why are you going to Cloudsdale?", I asked. "Ugh. My parents need to talk to me. On the bright side they said they'd get me a ticket to the next Wonderbolts show to make up for it." "DID SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE WONDERBOLTS?!" / I wonder who said that. \ ~It was Rainbow Dash! Idiot.~ +He was being sarcastic...+ ~Oh...~ / That's what I thought. Now be quiet. \ Dash landed in front of us and zipped next to the group beaming. "Uh, I did.", Blue said, answering her question, "I'm going to Cloudsdale for a bit, and while I'm there I'm going to see one of their shows." "AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!", Dash exclaimed, "Me and Dark have been trying to earn enough money on the weather team, but we've still gotta' take care of Spectrum." Blue rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I'd pay for you guys gladly, but my parents only have enough for the one ticket. Sorry." Rainbow looked saddened, but regained her usual cocky composure, "I-It's ok. We can go next time." She shot off back into the sky, quickly disappearing as her coat camouflaged with the sky. With that over, Blue resumed, "Anyway, I have to head off now. I'm late already. See you guys soon.", with not a word more he took off soaring toward Cloudsdale, us waving him off. "So now what?", Twilight asked once Blue had vanished. "Well, I think Applejack has once again earned the title of Prize Pony of Ponyville award.", the Mayor said peering over here glasses, "Pinkie Pie? Would you like to start organizing the-" The party pony cut her off, "PARTY!!!" ------------------The Next Day------------------ Rarity hummed to herself as she adjusted a bow on the tree in front of her. "Everything all set?", Twilight asked, walking up from behind. [Get your head out of the gutter sir!] Rarity nodded, "Just one last thing.", her horn glowed as she lifted a huge banner with the same insignia that had been on Pinkie's flag from yesterday, hanging it on the front of the town hall. Floating down from the cloud I'd been napping on, I looked around and landed next to the 2 mares. "Wow guys. This is awesome.", I complimented. "It was mostly Pinkie Pie.", Twilight said blushing slightly. "It's just cool you helped out. Oh, have you seen AJ? She should have Mistral and Gusty with her.", I asked. "She was in the town hall last time I saw.", Rarity said. "Thanks. I'll see you later.", I called to them, already trotting away. When I ascended the steps of the town hall, I quickly spotted the orange mare with the foals on her back. "Hey!", I said walking over, "Where have you been?" She smiled at me as I picked Mistral up and put her on my own back, where she began to play with my wings. "Well, I have t' prepare in some way.", she answered. I smirked, "I think your making excuses to get away from the crowd while you can." AJ laughed a little, "That's some o' the reason.", she peered over my shoulder, "What's wrong with Jet?" I turned to see Jet snaking [And you say Blue was bad.] up to us with quite a speed. She wrapped herself around me, getting straight into my vision. "What's up Jet?", I asked the most obvious question. She pointed with her tail out toward the Everfree, where a large bunch of clouds tossed and turned. "The clouds?", she nodded. I took a closer look at the clouds. A flash of light signaled lightning, the clap of thunder following quickly. As the flash occurred, my blood ran cold. [AH SHEET!!! INCOMING!!!] The silhouette of a huge tornado loomed, headed in the direction of Ponyville. I sprang into action handing Mistral back to AJ, "Take the foals and get underground, somewhere safe!", I ran from the town hall without another word. "TORNADO!!!", I shouted at the top of my lungs. Everypony took a moment before another thunder clap drew their attention to the tornado as it drew closer. Pandemonium broke out as I ran head on to the tornado. "Why did you choose to take a break now Blue?", I muttered to myself. The tornado breached the edge of the Everfree as I neared the edge of town. / GUYS! \ ~+On it!+~ I felt a rush of power as my wings shrouded over. Checking they were fully reformed, I slid to a halt. The tornado rushed ever closer to the town. Channeling the energy from my power into my wings, i spread them wide using them to grip the wind and take a hold of the swirling mass of air currents. The tornado slowed, but only partly, still making it's destructive path towards Ponyville. A determined scowl set across my face, I strained against the tornado as it pushed toward the town, me directly between the 2. I began to slide backward against the force of the wind, my hooves digging into the dirt. Growling, I pushed harder against the vortex, slowing it to a crawl. Beads of sweat poured out on my forehead as the tornado grinded to a halt, still spinning and still picking up debris. I allowed myself a small smile in victory. "Atom look out!", a voice warned me all to late. I looked to my left just as a nearby bench was picked up and thrown toward me like paper in a summer breeze. The bench slammed into m side, knocking the wind from my lungs and sweeping me into the tornado with a cry for help. With me out of the way the tornado continued on it's previously set course. As I was thrown around inside the damn thing, pieces of debris collided with me, making me spin faster and leaving welts that would show up badly tomorrow morning. A shrill cry reached my ears past the howling of the wind. It was Mistral's. I could never forget that cry. The reminder my foals were in danger pulled me from the lull of pain and my senses re-fired, sharpened and became alive. Twisting my wings, I shot into the eye of the tornado, removing the sword hilt from my hoof and charging the energy it needed. The wind curled around the hilt, twisting and turning into a solid double helix. The Whispering Breeze fully formed, I angled myself down again, aiming for the center of the tornado. From the outside of the tornado, a small wave of energy expelled from the destructive force as I landed, Breeze stabbed into the earth. The tornado's own natural energy began to get drained into the sword, making it vibrate with the immense amount. As more of the tornado began to disappear into the blade, the vibrations became more violent, making it harder to hold onto. When the last of the tornado was absorbed into Breeze, I took the blade out of the ground seeing it glow with an intense white aura, like that of Blue's wings when he charged them with his ability. Ponies began to trickle out of their houses seeing the threat under control, thanking and congratulating me. The sword began to tremor uncontrollably, threatening to tear itself from my grasp. The aura intensified and my eyes widened behind my shades. "EVERYPONY GET DOWN!!!", I yelled. On command everyone hit the deck as Breeze discharged and enormous amount of energy in a beam toward the Everfree twisting and winding it's way around the trees. When Breeze stopped it's erratic shaking, I allowed the remaining energy to dissipate. "What in the world was that?!", Twilight asked, galloping over. "I have no clue...", I said. I studied Breeze looking for a hint to why it had blasted the energy away. "Well it doesn't matter to me!", an old stallion yelled, grabbing everyone's attention, "I think Atom here deserves The Prize Pony of Ponyville Award for saving the town." Lyra and Bon Bon nodded in a agreement, along with half of the crowd that surrounded the town hall. "But what about AJ?", I asked. Everyone's attention now fell to the Mayor as she held the most authority. "Well Mayor?", a voice floated from somewhere in the crowd, "Who get's the the award?" The earth pony stood still for a moment thinking, "I- I guess, since both Atom and Applejack have performed amazing feats in saving the town, we could hold a competition." A roar of approval exploded from the crowd. "A competition it is then.", the Mayor continued, "Atom's friends shall train him, and the other Elements shall train Applejack. You 2 shall compete in a series of events starting in 1 week!" The crowd parted as Applejack made her way toward me. "So.", she said, "Ya think ya can beat yer wife in a 'friendly' competition?", her tone was smug. "Oh, it. Is! ON!", my eyes narrowed at her and I smiled confidently. Behind all this there was a secret dread. My friends were going to be the ones training me? This is gonna be the most grueling week of my life. Well, I finally got the chapter out! Sorry again for the delay, but I have just started an entire new arc on this whole training and then the competition, so I will be trying my best to pump out chapters with more frequency. I also see that this chapter is a bit sloppy, and I know, but I've been very stressed out lately. (Excuse) So you'll have to bear with me. See ya! Training Part 1: Dark and ZephHey guys! Now, as soon as technical difficulties stop bugging me, I'll be posting chapters more frequently, but life is against me on that, so I'll try my best! :D Also, screw what I said in the first chapter! I'm gonna swear to my hearts content! XD Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] ~...The way they're all looking at us...~ +...this training is going to be hell...~ ........................................ ~+/ Fuck. +~ "C'mon Atom!", Glare exclaimed, "Hop to it!" Dark looked at Jet who slide up next to the group, "Jet. How would you like to be our motivational expert?" The snake smirked, understanding something I didn't. She snaked [See what I did there? XD] around behind me, and before I could turn... *WHISH, CRACK!* She snapped her tail with a loud crack over my rump. I yelped, leaping into the air. "OW!!!", I exclaimed, rubbing my sore cheek. "Get moving and she won't need to do it again.", Naga said, stifling laughter at my pain. "Get moving where?", I asked. *SLAP* "DUDE!" "What?", Blue asked. "Why'd you slap me?!?!" "You broke Rule 1.", he retorted. "Rule 1?" "Never question The Blue, The Rhino, The Zeph, The Naga, The Frag, The Janvier, The Red or The Dark." "That's a very long list." "Yeah..." *WHISH, CRACK!* "OK! I'm moving!" Rubbing my even sorer cheek I began a jog toward my house, guessing that's where they wanted me to go. Blue flew over me, "Oh, and you can find the rest of the rules in your handbook." "Yeah, I didn't get a hand-" *WHACK* "-book." We arrived at my house, seemingly calm. ~But in reality, I'm about to break somepony's neck.~ +I'm wishing we'd stayed in bed this morning.+ / And I'm hoping for this training to be less painful than what I anticipate. \ "So Atom.", Rhino said walking in front of me, "We're going to start with speed training! Dark. Zeph. If you will." Both ponies stepped forward smirking. ~Great.~ "Ok Atom!", Dark announced, "There will more than likely be a race during this competition, and since you'll be racing AJ, you won't be allowed to use your wings." "So we're going to drill you in endurance runs, just like in Boot Camp.", Zeph said taking over from Dark. "You were in Boot Camp?" *SLAP* "Oh come on!!!" "In answer to your question, yes. I did a while as a Royal Guard, but...", he trailed off, leaving the rest of us a little puzzled. Well not Blue. +He'll tell us when he's ready.+ "ANYWAY,", Dark said loudly, regaining attention and dispelling the awkward moment, "Atom start running." "Whe-" *SLAP* "Mother of Celestia I hate you." "Around the whole town. FOUR TIMES! Gogogogogogogo!!!", Dark exclaimed. -----------A Few Hours Later----------- *BZZZTT!* "OW!!! Dude, I thought Jet was the motivational expert!" "Oh yeah...", Dark studied the snake for a moment, "Jet stick your tail out." She looked at him quizzically before complying. Dark charged a small amount of lightning in his hoof and maneuvered it around Jet's tail...and...charging it with the lightning... The serpent smiled evilly at me. ~+Oh shit...RUN!!!+~ Seeing the danger and needing no more encouragement, I shot off like a rocket for the last few hundred meters. Since it was already late in the day when the training had begun, it was now about early evening and the nearby Everfree's tall trees blocked most of the remaining sun. I collapsed down on the ground in front of the rest of the group, where they sat, joyfully talking about...I don't know what. Mostly likely how they are going to torture the shit out of me. *WHISH, CRACK, BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!* "FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" -----------Meanwhile at Sweet Apple Ares 3rd Person POV----------- "-CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Was that Atom?", a certain small yellow filly asked her big sister. "Eeyup.", AJ said, rearing up again to buck the sandbag hanging from the rafters of the barn. "I bet they're all putting him through hell and back.", Big Mac stated with a slight chuckle. The rest of the Mane 6 had already packed up and left for the day, leaving AJ with her siblings alone in the barn. "Well,", AJ grunted as she bucked the sandbag again, "In any case ya'll know how he goes." "Eeyup. He ain't gonna let ya win either.", Mac replied. Before AJ could answer, a spine chilling scream rang out, loud enough to carry across the entire orchard, but not as far as the rest of the town, nor Atom's house. "What in Equestria was that?", Applebloom asked, jumping to her hooves at the sound. "Sounds like somepony's in trouble! Stay here Applebloom!" Applejack and her brother dashed out of the barn and looked around, spotting a commotion along the path that lead to the Everfree. "HEY!", Big Mac yelled, seeing a group of ponies holding down another, startlingly white stallion. The Apples ran down the path as the group of cloaked ponies began to drag the white stallion back to the forest. "No! HELP!!! PLEASE!!!", he screamed. A cloaked pony broke from the group and met AJ and Big Mac. With a swish of his hoof, he took down the massive stallion sending him to the ground. AJ swerved around his hoof and bucked him in the side, but something just swallowed her hooves up, holding her in place as the pony turned, flipping her onto her back and driving the wind from her lungs. He followed up with a quick punch to the side of the mare's head. "NO!!! Nononononononononono!!! Let me go! Fuck all of you!", the white stallion's cries for help touched AJ's ears, but she was helpless as he was taken deep into the forest. The cloaked pony stood over Applejack. It raised it's hoof, and in the dim light it appeared to materialize into some type of blade. The pony's hoof began it's descent. *SHING!* The cloaked pony looked up from it's blade, now crossed by another, straight into Atom's snarling face. "Get away from my wife you motherfucker!", Atom put his other hoof around the back of the other pony's neck and pulled his head down, dislodging the two blades and severing the pony's neck as Breeze swung upwards. The pony's body dropped to the floor and Atom helped AJ to her hooves. As Atom's friends galloped up from the end of the path, the corpse began to be surrounded in a swirling black substance. It grew until the body was absorbed into the ground and the substance dissipated. Atom held AJ, puzzled by the events of the last few moments. Thank Celestia his friends had decided to let him go for the day when they did. And were it not for Applebloom warning him of what had happened to AJ as he arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, he dreaded to think of the outcome of that scenario. "DAMN IT MYSTIC!!!" "I'm sorry sir, h-he managed to-" "I DON'T CARE!!!", the large pony's horn glowed with a deep red aura as he struggled to contain his anger. "High Priest.", a soft mare's voice sounded, "We have apprehended the subject. But we lost Shroud." The High Priest sighed in relief, "Good work Veil. How did you lose Shroud though? He was one of our best fencers." Veil shifted nervously on her hooves, "Th...The subject strayed onto the path heading to Ponyville and a mare and stallion heard his screams. Shroud stayed back to give us some time to escape. The mare was Atomic Vortex's wife." The High Priest's eyes widened. After a long pause he spoke, "Did he utilize the demon again?" "No sir.", Veil replied. "Good. If he comes even remotely close to gaining that power again...", The High Priest stood, flaring his wings and using his horn to write one final thing on the paper before him, "...kill him." Ok, so this is gonna be the chapter for me to leave you for a small amount of time as my laptop gets repaired! Don't worry I'll be using my backup computer, so I will still be around. :D As a final note, any of the OCs that weren't in this chapter, don't worry. Every OC will get their shot during this arc! Until next time! See ya! The Dream WorldHey guys! Long time no update eh? Anyway, I just want to get straight into this, next chapter has a little surprise in store for you! Enough of my rambling! ENJOY! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] The soft lapping of water against velvet sand was the first thing I heard. To most it would puzzle at first. But I’ve been here before... The Dream World. As the name states, I’m asleep right now. This world was beyond possibility. Defying every rule of physics and reality all at the same time. I stood in a void. A gap between two opposites. To my left was colour. Vivid, alive and bright colour. The colour was over the water, a luminous turquoise reflecting both the sky and the water. To my right sat nothing. Dull, grey and boring nothing. Like always, I stood frozen in spot by the tranquility that held this realm in suspense. Both opposites existing side-by-side, yet neither reacted in any way. They co-existed. Working in tandem. What were they working towards you ask? I couldn’t tell you. One flowed into the other without any repercussions. Simply nothing happened here. Besides the waves of the water as they washed over my hooves. At least... Until this visit... It startled me. A slight movement out in the water, the side of colour. For the first time in this world I moved, turning to face the water. There, in the middle of the ocean was a spire of rock, protruding out of the waves. Atop the spire stood a silhouette of a cloaked pony. The cloak was being thrown around, as for the first time I felt wind against my coat, the speed picking up. The wind seemed to be drawn into the figure, swirling around him like a whirlpool. Terrifyingly, the water around the spire of rock blackened, spreading outward, it’s tendrils blackening more and more of the serene calm as it turned to turmoil and chaos. I tried calling out to the pony, but my voice failed me, and just a breath left my lips. More and more of the water blackened, gaining momentum and spreading further towards the shore. When the black void reached me, it diverted around, surrounding me. The last thing in the nightmare this realm had become that I wanted to do was touch the tar-coloured substance around me. My adamancy was annihilated however, as the water swirled, tendrils snapped out of it, grabbing each of my legs before I could acknowledge they were there. Again, I tried to vocalize, but nothing happened. The tendrils tightened, a wave of the jet-black water rose up, enveloping me with the tendrils, some of it entering my mouth and nostrils. I felt my chest tighten. I was going to drown! Suffocating in a dream! I struggled against the tendrils, thrashing blindly, desperate to escape this terrifying ordeal. My chest tightened further, my lungs aching for air! I stopped my struggling. If this was a dream, why had I not woken up? Was I going to die? Die in a world that shouldn’t exist but only in my subconscious? My heartbeat slowed, my eyelids drooped, and my senses ceased to function... “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”, I awoke with a huge gasp, dragging the air into my lungs, desperate for the oxygen. I threw off the sheets, finding myself covered in a cold sweat. +Woah! Atom, what’s up?!+ ~Ugh, who woke me up?~ / I...I don’t know what happened... \ ~Just go downstairs, get a glass of milk, come back up here and GO BACK TO FUCKING SLEEP!~ / I like the sound of that plan... \ I stumbled out of the door, when a thought occurred to me. Where was AJ? I checked the kids’ room and saw the orange mare, resting against Gusty’s cot sleeping quietly. Through the panting of my laboured breaths, I smiled slightly at the sight. Her Stetson was placed on the chest of drawers behind her, and her mane fluttered around her snout as her breathing lifted it up and down. I decided not to alert her of what had transpired, closing the door with a soft click and making my way down the stairs, trying not to fall, as dizziness from the lack of air took hold. I made it into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge. Reaching inside and letting the light flood out, I moved to the cabinet and grabbed a glass. As soon as the first glass was poured I wasted no time in downing it before pouring more and putting it down on the table. “Thanks.” At first the voice frightened me, but it was a regular occurance as of late. “Again?”, I replied. “Yup.” Rhino replied. I turned on the light switch seeing his eyes quite bloodshot. “Ah. I’m sure this’ll pass buddy. Trust me.” “B-but, I don’t get it. Did I do something wrong?”, he stammered, “Is she getting bored of me?” “Rhino, Shy isn’t that sort of mare. You know that.” He picked up the glass of milk and took a small sip, grimacing. “I just want things to be back to normal with me and Shy. Ever since that incident with the griffons where I lost my cool...she...she’s never looked at me the same...” I rolled my eyes, “Dude, you’re getting too worked up about this. Trust me-”, I stopped, suddenly feeling my chest convulse. Rhino saw this and raised an eyebrow, “Atom?” I threw a chair out of the way as I ran for the sink, feeling something work it’s way up from my stomach, before black goo burst from my mouth into the basin. “Woah!”, I felt Rhino put his hooves on my shoulders as I hunched over the sink puking violently, “Atom, what did you eat?” When I gained control over my insides, I tried a response, “I-I don’t know...I was in the dream world again earlier.” “How does that relate to you puking up black stuff?” “Something different happened.”, I replied. Rhino had been the guy that I’d been keeping in the loop about the dream world. “What do you mean?” I felt another convulsion and more of the liquid poured out. I tried talking through it, “There was another pony there...he was just standing on this rock...the water turned black and fucking grabbed me...I swear I would have died if I’d stayed there a second longer.” “Wow...that’s very different to the norm.” “You’re telling me...” “Well, try and get back to sleep. No matter what we still have training tomorrow.”, I nodded in agreement, “You don’t mind if I sleep on the couch again, do you?” “Go for it.” He smiled gratefully at me, walking into the living room as I made my wake back upstairs, struggling to keep a hold of my raging stomach. Laying back down in bed, I barely had 5 minutes time to think before sleep enveloped me. Did I dream again? No. Just pure black was all there was the rest of the night, before my shrill alarm woke me. Well there we go guys! It’s good to be back! And I hope I can stay this way for a while to come! Anyway, I have nothing else to say for now. So... See ya next time!!! Training Part 2: Rhino and JanvierJust to start, I want to say I thought Season 3 was EPIC! But enough of that! On to the story! Let's see if all this waiting has made me lose my touch. Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] “...” “...” ~...~ +...+ “Naga, thi-” “SHHHHHH!!!” I pressed my lips firmly together. The alicorn’s scythe was easily within his reach, and even with his eyes closed, there was still that inkling which said he would know if I tried to just get up and leave. +This is stupid.+ ~I can agree with that. Just leave.~ / Did you not hear my monologue? \ +Monologue?+ / ...Never mind... \ “Just keep your eyes closed and allow your mind to drift.”, Naga said, his voice carrying an almost dreamy echo to it, as though he were half asleep. I rolled my eyes slightly and kept them open. There was no way he could tell behind my shades. “I said closed, Atom.” Son of a... “Ugh, fine. I just don’t see a point to this.” “To put it without all of the so-called wisdom, it helps you keep a lid on your emotions.”, he said, tapping his hoof against my head to emphasise his point. “Now shut up and meditate.” I tried it. Best I humour him. With my eyes closed, I didn’t see as ,after a minute, he opened his eyes and picked up the scythe. The bottom of the handle had dissipated into a writhing tendril of shadows, sliding back and forth silently. The alicorn slipped around behind me and readied the scythe. The first I knew was the whistle as the shadowed half of the handle slid into the back of my skull writhing through my very being and grabbing at different thoughts that raced around. The presence of something else besides Cyclone and Proton was overwhelmingly painful and it burned through all three of our collective minds. Through my screams I heard Naga speak, “What have you got distracting you so bad huh?” My muscles clenched with the intense pain rendering me totally unable to fight back. +ATOM! DO SOMETHING!!!+ ~FUCK THIS HURTS!!! GAH!!!~ Suddenly the pain and presence within my mind was relieved, leaving my ears ringing and me, hooves splayed out, face-first on the ground. Beyond the ringing, I could hear the sounds of a scuffle, and struggled to turn myself over and lean up. Hooves on my shoulders forced me to open my eyes to see Rhino, his mouth moving, yet the sounds passing through my mind without registering. Behind him, Naga struggled to throw the others off him as they held him away from me. “Atom? You ok?”, Rhino’s voice felt harsh against my ears as they recovered, making me wince, but I nodded. He helped me to my hooves as the rest of me restarted. The first thing I noticed in this scene was that the bags on Rhino’s eyes had gained another layer. The poor guy still must not have been able to sleep. My attention quickly shifted as I recovered, the pain turning into a seething anger. My friend attacked me!!! “What the flying fuck was that Naga?!?!?!”, I exclaimed at the alicorn as he shook the others off. “You wanted me to teach you how to meditate. I can’t do that if you’re distracted by something.” My scowl hardened, “You attacked me!” “Hah! I was merely searching through your mind to extract what was bothering you.” My teeth ground against each other as my anger simmered at his arrogance. “Whether or not something it bothering me is MY business and not your’s!” “Do you want to meditate or not?! Maybe it would help to cool all three of your idiotically furious minds!”, he retorted. +SAY WHAT?!+ ~Can I buck his teeth in now?~ / Hell. Yes. \ Without a word Cyclone took over and shot out a hoof, crashing it into Naga’s chin, the force of it catapulting him back a few yards. The alicorn quickly recovered and readied himself, his eyes ablaze. “Say somethin’ about us again! I dare ya!”, taunted Cyclone. Naga’s eyes flashed with annoyance, “You dare to strike the son of Luna?! Friend or not, I’ll grind you into the earth!!”, he bellowed. Cyclone roared at the challenge and cannoned toward Naga. The alicorn stood still as Cyclone raced closer, until the last second when he dodged left and grabbed Cyclone’s wing. Naga yanked Cyclone closer and held him by the throat. Naga turned using the momentum to slam Cyclone down into the ground harder and pin him there as he struggled. “HEY!” Before anyone could react to the voice, a teal aura engulfed both of us. “What do you two think you’re doing? Disturbing the peace!?”, the voice demanded. The others just stared in awe at us since they still hadn’t gotten over how both me and Naga had so quickly busted off at each other. I could gather from the voice that it was a mare. Either that or an oddly high pitched stallion, but that wasn’t very likely...right? Also, she seemed to hold a high amount of authority in her voice. “Listen lady,”, I replied, Cyclone finally relinquishing control of my body, yet I still couldn’t see the mare as she held me both upside-down and facing the opposite direction, “I don’t know about you, but I’m rather uncomfortable up here.” I heard her huff in response and she released her ma- “OW!” Did I mention I was upside-down still when she dropped me? Yeah. Good. “I’m only going to ask one more time, what were you two doing?!”, her tone had a hard edge of anger. Have I heard this somewhere before? I got up and turned to the mare, only to start and pull down my shades. “Sharp?” I was looking at a unicorn mare I’d known for years. We were childhood friends. She had a slim build, but stood firm and proud. She had a split sapphire and light blue mane, with a cyan coat. She kept a silver pinstripe vest across her chest, and matching glasses set on her snout. Her cutie mark was of a simple cobalt-handled magnifying glass. [Holy crap, for once I did a descriptive paragraph instead of just a picture. I’m proud of myself! XD] Her eyes darted across me as she ticked off a mental checklist with amazing speed, “Oh my Celestia! Atom!”, she beamed, grabbing me in a hug. I chuckled and returned the embrace. +You cooled down yet?+ ~Hell no! I’m gonna smash Naga into the next dimension given half the chance.~ She broke away and took a good serious look at me, “You look so different! Even your cutie mark has changed! How is that even possible? Did you get married? Was it you who helped stop the griffons taking Ponyville?” “Woah, Sharp. Easy with all the questions.”, I smiled, “I’ll answer them quickly.”, I took a deep breath for this, “My cutie mark did change, don’t know how, I did get married to a lovely mare named Applejack, also the Element of Honesty, I may have gone a tiny bit stir crazy, no fault of mine, when stopping the griffons taking Ponyville, but yes I did stop them of course with the help of all the new friends I’ve acquired here.”, inhaling again, I allowed her a small amount of time to comprehend it all. After a moment of thought, “So I’m guessing all my chances with you are blown now?”, she said chuckling. “Fortunately for me, yes.”, I said smirking at my own joke. She laughed, punching me playfully in the shoulder, “You’re still the same crazy bastard as ten years ago.”, she peered behind me, “So are you going to introduce me to your friends?” I turned to them, “Oh right, uh...guys, this is a very old friend of mine.”, she stepped toward them with a pleasant smile. “Sharp Vigil. Forensic detective for the Royal Guard based in Canterlot.”, Sharp stated proudly and shaking each of their hooves. Zeph chuckled slightly, “With an introduction and title like that, you must have lots of friends.”, the sarcasm dripping from his playful tone. Sharp turned her head with a deadpan look staring at the tan stallion. “And with a mouth like that you must get all the mares.” ~Snap!~ +Zeph, you just got burned by a mare.+ The others snickered as Zeph searched for a counter, and when none came Sharp turned back to me. “Anyway, Atom. As lovely as it is seeing you again after so long, I must continue with my duty.” Something clicked in my head, “Wait are you the one they sent down from Canterlot?” Earlier this morning I’d decided to alert Canterlot of yesterday’s incident near the Everfree by having Spike grudgingly send a letter. “Yup. Got the order straight from the Princesses.”, she replied with a proud smirk. At this my brow furrowed. Why would the Princesses be dealing with such a small matter? However, I quickly dismissed it. “I’ll let you continue then. Don’t be afraid to come and find me sometime later and we’ll catch up eh?” “Sure thing!”, she embraced me again with a beaming smile that would make Pinkie Pie jealous. She detached and made her way out toward the Everfree. “Back to training!”, Frag exclaimed, turning back clearing that had become our training ground. As Frag walked back with the rest of the group, Rhino hung back a moment as a beep came from his watch. “Frag!” The pegasus in question turned back to the green unicorn, “Yeah?” Rhino showed his watch, “It’s 1pm, didn’t Twilight say she needed you at the library for then?” Frag sighed, but turned back to clearing ignoring Rhino’s reminder. Rhino joined us again with a disapproving look, “Ok Atom. Today it’s your d-” *BEEP* *BEEP* “Rhino, you can stop your watch now.”, Glare said, well...glaring at Rhino. The unicorn frowned as he looked at his watch, “It’s not me...” *BEEP* *BEEP* We all turned to the source of the sound. *BEEP* *BEEP* +Frag?+ The dark pegasus’ eyes pointed upwards as we noticed a flashing in his mane. Blue reached into Frag’s mane, pulling out a circular device barely an inch wide in diameter, with a small red light flashing on and off to the sound of the beeping. Frag’s pupils dilated and he gulped, “Is that what I think it is?” ~TRACKER!!!~ “FRAGMENT!!!!” +Flaming mare inbound! TAKE COVER!+ As Frag stood frozen to the spot, we all dived behind the nearest thing that would give us the slightest protection against the raging unicorn that was barreling towards us. Me, Glare, Rhino and Naga dived behind a nearby bench, while Janvier, Dark, Blue and Zeph ducked behind the nearest tree. As we peeked out a blur of smoke shot past us and tackled the stunned pegasus to the floor. "HOW DARE YOU TRY AND SKIP OUT ON ME!!!" Frag was already sweating visibly as he stuttered his reply, "I-I, um...had to do some laundry?", he lied. The rest of us backed up a few feet as Twilight shook above Frag...but Cyclone had other ideas... ~Time for revenge!~ Before I had time to register his exclamation, he stole control and grabbed Naga. "Hey!", the alicorn protested. Cyclone ignored his struggles however and launched Naga toward Frag, and the time-bomb unicorn. The alicorn collided with Frag underneath Twilight and both cowered... Right before the mare above them exploded in flames. +Ouch...+ ~That'll teach 'im.~ As Twilight regained herself, she dragged a singed and smoking Frag by his ear toward the library, ignoring his cries of pain. ~...~ +...+ "..." "So, back to training?", I asked, attempting to break the stunned silence, and turning away from our smoldering alicorn friend. "Uh...sure...", Rhino replied, shaking himself out of his daze, "So like I was saying, today we're on dexterity and maneuverability." "Why not just say agility?" *SLAP* "Son of a-!" "Remember rule 1 Atom.", Blue reprimanded after slapping me with wind...that's just putting extra humiliation into it...why me? Rhino ignored my bemused frown and continued, "This part of training is going to be particularly fun for the rest of us." +I don't like the sound of this...+ Janvier finally spoke up, "We need you to stand in front of the conveniently placed target over there.", a smirk slid it's way across his features as he finished. +I REALLY don't like the sound of this... ~Stop being a wuss. What's the worse that could happen?~ / DON'T SAY THAT!!! \ ~Oh yeah... jinxing...crap, this gonna turn out really bad for us now isn't it?~ +Yes...+ *SPLAT* "HOLY MOTHER OF-" I recoiled as a red sphere shot past my face, impacting the target. "Oh come on Dark, I thought you were a good shot." "Quiet Glare. I haven't exactly had a good chance to practice throwing things at Atom's head in a while." I turned from the target to see my friends a good few meters away standing next to crates of...tomatoes...bollocks...bollocks to it all... +We only have you to blame Cyclone.+ ~And I will still deny all responsibility.~ They stood there, just bouncing the tomatoes in their hooves, or holding it with their magic. "The test is to dodge the tomatoes. Simple really.", Janvier called out. "I see what you mean about it being particularly fun for you lot.", I called back. "Yeah...we're gonna feel absolutely zero regret about this." "How lovely...", the sarcasm dripping from my tone. The white unicorn smirked as he initiated the test, the next crimson ball of fruit flying toward me faster than I could have hoped to react. *SPLAT* I recoiled at the force of the direct hit to my face, "MOTHER OF-" *SPLAT* "GODDAMMIT!" With two hits to the head, I made a silent vow not to let anymore headshots arise to the satisfaction of my friends. Quickly wiping the tomato residue from my shades, I had enough warning to sidestep a shot from Rhino, the projectile crashing into the target behind me. ~We're gonna keep score.~ +2 - 1 to the guys at the moment.+ / Can you shut up and let me focus? \ ~Hell no, this is hilarious to watch, even if we do share the same body!~ I ducked down as another round of tomatoes headed toward me, 2 striking me in the side and the rest passing harmlessly over my head. ~4 - 5 to you.~ +They'll run out of tomatoes eventually.+ ------------------10 minutes later------------------ +HOW ARE THEY STILL THROWING?!?!+ *SPLAT* ~52 - 50 to them Atom. And they've only got 3 more tomatoes.~ / Thank Celestia for that. \ "Hey Atom!", Glare was calling. "Are you gonna gloat?", I replied. "Nah. We were wondering if you wanted to make a bet." "A bet?", I inquired. Zeph took over, "If we beat you, you have to pay for the tomatoes and clean up the mess after." "And if I win?" "Hmmmm...what do you want us to do?" I thought about if for only a moment before smirking. "You all have to wear dresses for a whole day!" All of their eyes widened at the thought and they grouped together, discussing my terms. After their little deliberation, Rhino stood forward. "How about if 2 of us wear dresses for a whole week?" ~Do it.~ +It'll be so worth it.+ / Oh hell yeah. \ "Alright! But I choose who." They huddle together again. "Deal!" Without hesitation, "Dark. And Blue." Both of them looked at each other, then back at me. "Shit.", simultaneous talking is common around here. Rhino stepped forward with 1 of the last 3 tomatoes. "Please don't miss!", Dark pleaded. The green unicorn's face became a tight line of concentration as he lined up his shot. *SPLAT* "WOAH!" While my attention had been fixed on Rhino, Sapiunt tried to blindside me. But the shot was sloppy and sailed over my head, hitting the top of the target. "Dude!", Blue and Dark exclaimed. "Oops..." +52 - 51!+ As I turned away from those idiots and returned my attention to Rhino, I had barely enough time to drop to my stomach, legs splayed out to dodge his shot. ~52 - 52!!!~ "GODDAMMIT!! I DON'T WANT TO WEAR A DRESS!!!" "That's it!", Dark jumped forward and grabbed the final tomato, his right hoof starting to crackle with energy. ~Looks like rules are out the window.~ / Way ahead o' ya. \ Dark's hoof launched forward, lightning charging through the fruit [Yes, a tomato is a fruit. Look it up.] and propelling it like a bullet. Dark had thrown quicker than I'd thought, leaving me with miliseconds to pull Breeze and form the blade...but something odd happened... In the time I had, there was no way the blade would form right, and it didn't. Knowing this, I tried hiding behind the hilt, as though it would give me some kind of protection. *SPLAT* "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!" The shout came from Dark. What happened? I opened my eyes, and behind my shades I saw nothing. Until I looked at Breeze's hilt. A disc of wind, much to the size of a Cyclone Trap, was spinning in front of the blade, the centre aligned with the hilt. It was a shield. +Well that's new.+ ~Wicked.~ / Guess this hilt has more to show us than we thought. \ Releasing the energy from the hilt and letting the new formation dissipate, I surveyed the area around me, littered with wrecked tomatoes. I couldn't say much more for myself either, my coat and mane were practically all red from tomato blood. The others were looking at me with a rather bewildered silence. "He cheated so I did too.", I said quickly, "Also, score's 52 - 53. I win. Dark, Blue. You guys might want to start looking for dresses." "What the heck was that shield?!", Rhino exclaimed, incredulous. "Beats the heck outta me.", I replied with an unknowing smile, "But are we done for today?" "I...I guess...", the unicorn still looked as though he was trying to work it out, and not doing very well at it. "Alright, I need to wash this tomato out of my coat. AJ doesn't like tomatoes. She says they're a disgrace to fruit.", and without another word, I took off for Sweet Apple Acres, grinning in victory. YES! AFTER MONTHS OF BEING DEAD! Sorry it took me so long to get this out but, I hope the length makes up for it! Thank you all for being so patient and more importantly, OVER 20,000 VIEWS ON MOVING WITH THE WIND! As always! SEE YA!
Peaceful Shower Interrupted...Hey guys! Well here we are again! For those new to my writings a single warning really: I tend to write a lot of fighting. And this is also needed: DISCLAIMER: KillJoy came up with the idea of separate consciences. Not me. On another note, I've decided to tone down the human swears and replace them with pony swears (ie "Horse apples." or "Pony feathers.") Finally, the most important bit: If you haven't read Moving with the Wind, stop here. Go read that first or nothing will make sense. Now let's get to the story! Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these.~ +Proton speaks in these.+ / I respond to them in these. \ [These are author notes.] ----------------9 months after Moving with the Wind---------------- The only thing better than the morning breeze through your mane is a late night shower. The warmth, the peace, the time to ponder freely...that does mean about some other "stuff" as well... The cascade of water washed over me instantly filling my mind with these sensations. Of course I'd taken off my shades and vest, leaving them outside the room. I sighed contentedly. The foals were due anytime soon and the shower washed away any anxieties I had about it. I was still struggling with names, which peeved me a little, but being the Element of Determination I don't give up. Applejack had said I could name the filly and she would name the colt. ~A long day means a long shower...~ +We totally deserve this after looking after a pregnant mare all day...+ / I hear ya...my head still hurt from when she dropped that rock on us. \ I was just about ready to doze off when a furious knocking hit the door, "ATOM!", AJ's voice. Still completely absorbed by the bliss and serenity in the heat of the water, I replied with an extremely calm manner compared to my usual reaction to this tone of voice from her, "Yes Apples? I'm enjoying the water." "Ferget that water! Mine jus' broke!" My mind stumbled for a few seconds before collecting itself again, "OH SWEET CELESTIA!!!", turning the water off, I rushed out of the shower, slipping on the tiled bathroom floor. Bursting out of the door Applejack laughed through the obvious pain, "Ya know...I never realized how good ya look with a wet mane.", her eyes widened and she groaned in pain, clutching her bulge. "We'll worry about that later. Come on, let's get you to the hospital." "Well that's kinda' what I was hopin' ya'd do." I chuckled and put an hoof around her, leading her out of the room. In the hallway, Dark Lightning, my brother, left his own room and stopped in his tracks seeing AJ. "Oh crap! Do you want me to go get the others?", he asked. "Sure. Meet us at the hospital.", he nodded and raced down the stairs flying out of the door and heading to our friends' respective homes. 5 minutes of walking were easy for me, but judging by Applejack's increasingly frequent cries of pain, it must have been excruciating for her. At least the hospital was relatively close. I threw open the doors and instantly called out to a passing nurse, "My wife is giving birth!", the nurse's eye widened and she dropped her clipboard, rushing to the desk and speaking into the intercom, summoning a doctor. The nurse quickly came over and helped me get Applejack into a wheelchair. [Ok, things get hard for me here, as being 15 usually means you don't know much about the birth process...and I know nothing.] I galloped along side as the nurse wheeled AJ through the corridors. ~Keep it together! KEEP IT THE HELL TOGETHER!!~ +Dude! You're doing what you did at the wedding...AGAIN!+ ~Oh yeah...~ +You crack under pressure really easy. Ha!+ ~Shut up! It's perfectly natural!~ +For a pussy like you, yeah.+ ~Alright, that's it! I'M GONNA BUCKING KILL YOU!~ / NOT IF AJ DOES FIRST! SWEET CELESTIA THIS HURTS! \ During Cyclone and Proton's "discussion" the nurse had set Applejack on the bed, her hindlegs spread. [Ok, you guys have no idea how awkward that was to write. Seriously I'm going a bit red just reading it again...heh, I'm so immature.] The orange mare had her hoof wrapped firmly...no that's an understatement; vice like around my hoof. For what seemed like hours on end the only sounds heard was Applejack screaming. By the time the doctor started telling the mare to push, my hoof was numb beyond reckoning. "I BLAME YOU FER THIS!!!!", AJ screamed at me. My chuckle was cut off as her death grip on my hoof tightened still. I swear I even heard a snap as the bone broke in 2. By the time the doctor said to give the final push, and Applejack's screams reached their peak, my vision was fading and my eyes rolling back in my head from the pain in my hoof. The only thing that stopped me was a loud crying, that drowned out Applejack's continued screams. "Congratulations, it's colt! And he's a pegasus!", the doctor exclaimed, wrapping the newborn foal in a light blue blanket and passing the bundle to me. The colt was a deep sapphire blue, with a turquoise and bright red mane that was much like Vinyl Scratch's. He opened his eyes to reveal them as sparkling azure. The foal took one second to look at me before screwing his eyes shut again and resuming crying at the top of his lungs, matching Applejack's screams. [Picture coming up, just keeping reading.] The doctor turned from me back to Applejack as her cries rose in pitch further, and high enough to split ears. Another crying joined the colt's as the doctor spoke again, "It's a unicorn filly!" He handed me another bundle, wrapped in a pink blanket. Taking the bundle in my other arm, I looked into it to see a teal unicorn, her mane light green and blonde. When her eyes opened, my heart melted at the sight of the dazzling gold they were. Bellow her eyes were a set of white freckles. The filly seemed to have picked up a mixture of mine and AJ's characteristics, whereas the colt appeared to have only picked up the pegasi gene from me. The sound in the room was now dominated by the combined crying of the foals, Applejack's pain gone. I looked up at her as she smiled, panting hard and holding her hooves out to me. I handed her the colt and moved closer to the bed with the filly to show AJ. She slowly rocked the colt as I did too. An hour later, my friends and the Mane 6 were gathered around, the foals blissfully sleeping. [If you haven't seen the description, my friends consist of: Rhino, Naga, Janvier "Sapiunt" Novum, Red Glare, Fragment, Blue Breeze and Zephyr. All these are other Bronies, and are on this site.] "Have you decided on names yet?", Twilight asked. "Eeeyup.", we said in unison, mimicking everyone's favorite red stallion. "I remember you said, Atom would name the filly, and AJ would name the colt, right?", Dash asked. "Yes. Do you want to go first AJ?", I asked. She looked deeply at the sleeping colt for a moment before asking, "How does Gusty sound? Gusty Blade." Everyone nodded in silent agreement, "With a name like that, you know he'll be getting into as many fights as we do.", Naga joked. We all shared a small laugh, remembering a few years back when getting into fights seemed to be the only thing we ever did. "What about you Atom?", Rhino said. The filly lay in the blanket gently sucking on her hoof, and I watched the steady rise and fall of her chest. "Mistral. Mistral Jade." "Gusty Blade and Mistral Jade. Sounds perfect.", Applejack said, nodding contently. "Well now Spectrum has a playmate!", Pinkie said bouncing up. Rainbow Dash turned to let Dark take out the playful filly of her harness and setting her on his back. The filly started to play with Dark's wings as he moved them around, causing the her to descend into a fit of giggles. [This is Dark's foal, and I had nothing to do with the creation, name or anything really to do with her.] I looked up from Mistral, "Hey, can we speak with Rhino privately for a minute? You don't mind do you guys?" "Yeah, that's cool.", they said, before turning and leaving the Big Mac sized stallion on his own. "So what's this about?", he asked. "We've been talking this over, and AJ agrees me when I ask: Would you be the godfather?", the expression on his face after was indescribable. "I- I- I- Of course!", he stammered out. A shrill cry hit the room as his exclamation awoke Mistral. I gave him a withering stare and cuffed him round the back of the head for bringing back the crying we'd worked for an hour to stop. "I suggest ya'll get outta here while ya still can.", Applejack said sternly to the stallion as he smiled sheepishly. "Yer most likely right. Thankin' ya kindly Atom.", Rhino said in AJ's accent...wait, what? Not wearing my shades because of the mad dash out of the house, he saw as my eyes widened. I'd made it specifically clear for him not to slip into his habit of imitating somepony's accent when it came to Applejack, lest she take offence... He shot out of the door before I could hand Mistral over to AJ and begin beating him...lucky son of a whore. [No offence in real time dude.] I decided against chasing him, and proceeded to spend the next hour calming Mistral. Once she was asleep again, I made my way over to the bed and laid down next to AJ who was pretty much asleep herself. Her eyes fluttered open slightly, "So why did Rhino run?", she asked sleepily. By this time it was about 3 in the morning, and the toll of the last few hours had finally caught up with the mare. "Nothing important." Her eyebrow raised fractionally. It's not easy to lie to the Element of Honesty. Then again the Element of Determination will always try. "I don't really care right now. We're never doin' this again, ya hear me?" "If my hoof feels like this every time, I agree with you.", I chuckled. I laid Mistral, still in her bundle, between me and AJ, next to Gusty. Applejack turned over and nuzzled me over the foals. A few moments later and a soft snoring emanated from the mare. Not long after, my own eyes dimmed, and I fell into a peaceful slumber, with Gusty and Mistral the last image imprinted into my mind. [The bundles of D'aww were made by Rhino, and I put them in the same image that you now see!] Yes! We have our first chapter! For those who are thinking: "Hey, Gusty looks nothing like you or AJ!", I direct you to this link. So to any new readers: I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time! Bye!
OC Guide (Pictures to be fixed)Hey guys! Ok, this is a guide to all the OC that are featured in this story. This'll just be names, pics of them and small summaries. So without further a due, I present to you: THE CAST! Atomic Vortex (Atom): Atom comes from (as you'd expect) myself, and the story is from his point of view, unless otherwise stated. He is married to Applejack and also has the ability to control the wind. Rhino: Rhino plays Atom's best friend, he tends to use 2 spells: Res, that allows him to control friction levels; and Blink, a teleport spell that takes a toll only in large doses. When he get's mad the last place you'd want to be is in his way, but other than that he tries not to get in fights...it's just Atom usually drags him into them...He is currently engaged to Fluttershy, and he comes from: Rhino Dark Lightning: Dark plays Atom younger brother, has the ability to control lightning and is married to Rainbow Dash. His usually brash nature means he gets into quite a bit of trouble. He comes from: Dark Lightning Blue Breeze: Blue is one of Atom's newest friends, but is one of the ones Atom is more friendly with, as he also shares the ability to control the wind. Blue does not currently have a ship. He comes from (as you'd expect): Blue Breeze Naga: This alicorn is what makes the group unique, I mean, how many times do you get to meet the son of Princess Luna? He's dating Vinyl Scratch and holds a grudge against Janvier (He's coming up.). Coming from: Naga Zephyr: Zephyr is the eternal best friend of Blue Breeze. He is more likely to run rather than fight, but even when he does, he prefers to use his speed and maneuverability to outsmart his opponents. This delightful fellow comes from: Zephyr Fragment: This badass motherbucker is an Immortal. Once he takes enough damage that would kill him, instead of passing into the void, he is transferred to the next dimension. He has the ability to do numerous tricks, like controlling neon blue flames. He is dating Twilight Sparkle. Frag come's from: Fragment12 Red Glare: This is where things get a little ugly. Glare is a psychopath that was aligned with the griffons during the war all these put a stop to. Atom is friendly with Glare, but still allows a volcano of anger to build up, for when Glare killed Atom's mother. Atom just wants Glare to slip up once before the unicorn loses his horn under Atom's hooves. This S.O.B comes from: Red Glare Janvier "Sapiunt" Novum: This devoted stallion is loyal, and one hell of a badass. Leader of the elite military group known as the Draco-Knights, Janvier is deadly in a fight and knows his guns. 1 hint if you have to take him on: Don't blink. He'll have his hooves around your neck before you knew he'd moved. Janvier comes from: Sapiunt Violet Supernova: Violet is a relatively shy psychiatrist who prevented Atom's suicide attempt, and helped Applejack to pull him out of the depression that followed. What is most surprising about this mare though, is actually Atom's sister, a secret kept from him for years. The fact that she bears a very close resemblance to Atom's mother, he holds her close in the remaining family he has. Violet is another creation of mine, and you know where to find my page! Thanks guys! All of these OC I consider to be great friends, and I'll always hold them in high regard. Bye!
The Prize Pony of Ponyville AwardHey guys! Ok, before we start, I want to say something to the dislikers: I'm not here to please, I'm here to write. (pleasing is a bonus) So deal with it. Sorry this chapter has taken so long to get out, I've been having a lot of technical difficulties lately. Anyway! Onto the chapter! We're getting straight into it! Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] ---------------------1 Month after the birth of the foals------------------- "STAMPEDE!!!" Rainbow Dash's cry caught the attention of the crowded street below, turning their pleasantly calm manner into that of undignified terror. Flowerpots were knocked over and ignored, tables and chairs overturned in the blind panic for safety. The pegasi took to the skies. The unicorns teleported themselves away. The earth ponies just ran. A cloud of dust rose over a hill near the town. Everypony was running...all except a certain pink earth pony. "H-e-y! T-h-i-s m-a-k-e-s m-y v-o-i-c-e s-o-u-n-d s-i-l-l-y!", Pinkie laughed Twilight saw the careless party pony, "Pinkie Pie! Are you crazy?! RUN!!!" "Everypony calm down!", the Mayor called to no avail, "There is no need to panic!" Rarity ran up to the sand colored earth pony, "But Mayor! Whatever shall we do?!", she exclaimed with a hint of melodrama. "Look there!", came Rainbow Dash's yell from above. She pointed in the direction of the cloud of dust as it came ever closer. Next to the stampeding cows ran everyone's favorite orange cowpony. "YEEHAW!!", AJ exclaimed, Winnona running alongside, "Other side Winnona!" The dog barked in response and skirting in between the cows to the other side of the stampede. "Herd 'em up girl!", at AJ's command the small dog turned into the cows, making them bunch closer as they neared the town. Rarity looked away as opposed to Pinkie who watched with interest, "This is the best rodeo show I've ever seen!", she said before diving her head into a bag of popcorn...wait...where'd she get that? "C'mon 'lil doggy!", AJ shouted at one of the lead cows, "Turn!" When the cows failed to heed here warning, she whistled loudly. "Winnona! Put 'em up!", Winonna obeyed, jumping upward on to the backs of the cows. AJ quickly followed, balancing carefully on the cow's back as they moved ever closer to the town. "Gotcha'!" Pulling a rope from, I guess under her hat, she twirled it in a lasso and threw it over the lead cow's head. She jumped off the cow's back and resumed galloping alongside them. She began to pull on the rope with all her might, turning the cows away from the town, not a moment too soon. The crowd of ponies in the town cheered, Pinkie pulling a yellow flag with an apple embroidered onto it from thin air. AJ removed the rope from the cow's head, "Phew. Now what was that all about?", she asked the lead cow. "Mooo-", the cow cleared it's throat, "Oh my, begging your pardon Applejack, but Mooooriella here saw one of those nasty snakes!" The herd of cows did a collective gasp. "And it just gave us all the willies don't you know?", the cow continued. "I completely understand.", AJ replied, "Just next time, try and steer clear of Ponyville." "We certainly will Applejack.", the herd began to move off, "So long Winnona!" Winnona gave a happy bark in reply. AJ and Winnona made their way back into town accepting the praise gratefully. I glided down from above, unaware of what had transpired. "What's going on?", I asked walking over to Applejack. Pinkie jumped in my field of view, "ATOM! Youshould'veseenit! ThegroundstartedvibratingandmademyvoicesoundsillyandthenApplejackwasnexttothecowsandjumpedononeandlassoed-" She was cut off by a merciful hoof from Twilight. "What Pinkie is trying to say is that AJ saved the town from a stampede.", Twi brow furrowed, "How did you not know? The whole town was shaking." "I was trying to get Mistral and Gusty to sleep.", I looked pointedly at AJ, "On my own." "I knew ya could handle it.", she joked. "Very funny. Hey, where's Jet? Wasn't she with you?" Applejack scratched her head, "I saw her at the orchard, but she went into the trees." On cue the serpent slithered out from between 2 buildings and coiled herself comfortably around my middle. "There you are girl. Where were you?", I asked. "She just came from the direction the cows came from....", Rarity observed. "Jet.", I said sternly, "Did you scare those cows?" She smiled smugly giving me a look that said "'Cos I could." "Seems legit." We jumped as Blue's voice sounded from above. He chuckled as I clutched my chest, "Where'd you come from?" "I tend to pop out of the blue." Everyone groaned simultaneously at his pun. "I love making puns. Sue me.", Blue laughed. "Even Dark only makes puns ever now and then." "I bet they're shocking." The group groaned louder. "Please stop.", I begged. "Ok. I'm done for now.", he said, chuckling still. "So what's up?" "Oh, I wanted to say I'm gonna be in Cloudsdale for a few days.", he said with a small hint of sadness. "NO!!!", Pinkie exclaimed, throwing herself at the stallion and clinging onto him, "DON'T LEAVE US BREEZEY!!! DON'T LEAVE US!!!" Blue extracted himself from Pinkie's embrace, "It's only for a few days Pinkie. I'll be back." The pink party pony instantly livened up again, "Okie dokie lokie! I'll have a big party for you when you get back!" "Sure thing.", Blue said. "So why are you going to Cloudsdale?", I asked. "Ugh. My parents need to talk to me. On the bright side they said they'd get me a ticket to the next Wonderbolts show to make up for it." "DID SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE WONDERBOLTS?!" / I wonder who said that. \ ~It was Rainbow Dash! Idiot.~ +He was being sarcastic...+ ~Oh...~ / That's what I thought. Now be quiet. \ Dash landed in front of us and zipped next to the group beaming. "Uh, I did.", Blue said, answering her question, "I'm going to Cloudsdale for a bit, and while I'm there I'm going to see one of their shows." "AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!", Dash exclaimed, "Me and Dark have been trying to earn enough money on the weather team, but we've still gotta' take care of Spectrum." Blue rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I'd pay for you guys gladly, but my parents only have enough for the one ticket. Sorry." Rainbow looked saddened, but regained her usual cocky composure, "I-It's ok. We can go next time." She shot off back into the sky, quickly disappearing as her coat camouflaged with the sky. With that over, Blue resumed, "Anyway, I have to head off now. I'm late already. See you guys soon.", with not a word more he took off soaring toward Cloudsdale, us waving him off. "So now what?", Twilight asked once Blue had vanished. "Well, I think Applejack has once again earned the title of Prize Pony of Ponyville award.", the Mayor said peering over here glasses, "Pinkie Pie? Would you like to start organizing the-" The party pony cut her off, "PARTY!!!" ------------------The Next Day------------------ Rarity hummed to herself as she adjusted a bow on the tree in front of her. "Everything all set?", Twilight asked, walking up from behind. [Get your head out of the gutter sir!] Rarity nodded, "Just one last thing.", her horn glowed as she lifted a huge banner with the same insignia that had been on Pinkie's flag from yesterday, hanging it on the front of the town hall. Floating down from the cloud I'd been napping on, I looked around and landed next to the 2 mares. "Wow guys. This is awesome.", I complimented. "It was mostly Pinkie Pie.", Twilight said blushing slightly. "It's just cool you helped out. Oh, have you seen AJ? She should have Mistral and Gusty with her.", I asked. "She was in the town hall last time I saw.", Rarity said. "Thanks. I'll see you later.", I called to them, already trotting away. When I ascended the steps of the town hall, I quickly spotted the orange mare with the foals on her back. "Hey!", I said walking over, "Where have you been?" She smiled at me as I picked Mistral up and put her on my own back, where she began to play with my wings. "Well, I have t' prepare in some way.", she answered. I smirked, "I think your making excuses to get away from the crowd while you can." AJ laughed a little, "That's some o' the reason.", she peered over my shoulder, "What's wrong with Jet?" I turned to see Jet snaking [And you say Blue was bad.] up to us with quite a speed. She wrapped herself around me, getting straight into my vision. "What's up Jet?", I asked the most obvious question. She pointed with her tail out toward the Everfree, where a large bunch of clouds tossed and turned. "The clouds?", she nodded. I took a closer look at the clouds. A flash of light signaled lightning, the clap of thunder following quickly. As the flash occurred, my blood ran cold. [AH SHEET!!! INCOMING!!!] The silhouette of a huge tornado loomed, headed in the direction of Ponyville. I sprang into action handing Mistral back to AJ, "Take the foals and get underground, somewhere safe!", I ran from the town hall without another word. "TORNADO!!!", I shouted at the top of my lungs. Everypony took a moment before another thunder clap drew their attention to the tornado as it drew closer. Pandemonium broke out as I ran head on to the tornado. "Why did you choose to take a break now Blue?", I muttered to myself. The tornado breached the edge of the Everfree as I neared the edge of town. / GUYS! \ ~+On it!+~ I felt a rush of power as my wings shrouded over. Checking they were fully reformed, I slid to a halt. The tornado rushed ever closer to the town. Channeling the energy from my power into my wings, i spread them wide using them to grip the wind and take a hold of the swirling mass of air currents. The tornado slowed, but only partly, still making it's destructive path towards Ponyville. A determined scowl set across my face, I strained against the tornado as it pushed toward the town, me directly between the 2. I began to slide backward against the force of the wind, my hooves digging into the dirt. Growling, I pushed harder against the vortex, slowing it to a crawl. Beads of sweat poured out on my forehead as the tornado grinded to a halt, still spinning and still picking up debris. I allowed myself a small smile in victory. "Atom look out!", a voice warned me all to late. I looked to my left just as a nearby bench was picked up and thrown toward me like paper in a summer breeze. The bench slammed into m side, knocking the wind from my lungs and sweeping me into the tornado with a cry for help. With me out of the way the tornado continued on it's previously set course. As I was thrown around inside the damn thing, pieces of debris collided with me, making me spin faster and leaving welts that would show up badly tomorrow morning. A shrill cry reached my ears past the howling of the wind. It was Mistral's. I could never forget that cry. The reminder my foals were in danger pulled me from the lull of pain and my senses re-fired, sharpened and became alive. Twisting my wings, I shot into the eye of the tornado, removing the sword hilt from my hoof and charging the energy it needed. The wind curled around the hilt, twisting and turning into a solid double helix. The Whispering Breeze fully formed, I angled myself down again, aiming for the center of the tornado. From the outside of the tornado, a small wave of energy expelled from the destructive force as I landed, Breeze stabbed into the earth. The tornado's own natural energy began to get drained into the sword, making it vibrate with the immense amount. As more of the tornado began to disappear into the blade, the vibrations became more violent, making it harder to hold onto. When the last of the tornado was absorbed into Breeze, I took the blade out of the ground seeing it glow with an intense white aura, like that of Blue's wings when he charged them with his ability. Ponies began to trickle out of their houses seeing the threat under control, thanking and congratulating me. The sword began to tremor uncontrollably, threatening to tear itself from my grasp. The aura intensified and my eyes widened behind my shades. "EVERYPONY GET DOWN!!!", I yelled. On command everyone hit the deck as Breeze discharged and enormous amount of energy in a beam toward the Everfree twisting and winding it's way around the trees. When Breeze stopped it's erratic shaking, I allowed the remaining energy to dissipate. "What in the world was that?!", Twilight asked, galloping over. "I have no clue...", I said. I studied Breeze looking for a hint to why it had blasted the energy away. "Well it doesn't matter to me!", an old stallion yelled, grabbing everyone's attention, "I think Atom here deserves The Prize Pony of Ponyville Award for saving the town." Lyra and Bon Bon nodded in a agreement, along with half of the crowd that surrounded the town hall. "But what about AJ?", I asked. Everyone's attention now fell to the Mayor as she held the most authority. "Well Mayor?", a voice floated from somewhere in the crowd, "Who get's the the award?" The earth pony stood still for a moment thinking, "I- I guess, since both Atom and Applejack have performed amazing feats in saving the town, we could hold a competition." A roar of approval exploded from the crowd. "A competition it is then.", the Mayor continued, "Atom's friends shall train him, and the other Elements shall train Applejack. You 2 shall compete in a series of events starting in 1 week!" The crowd parted as Applejack made her way toward me. "So.", she said, "Ya think ya can beat yer wife in a 'friendly' competition?", her tone was smug. "Oh, it. Is! ON!", my eyes narrowed at her and I smiled confidently. Behind all this there was a secret dread. My friends were going to be the ones training me? This is gonna be the most grueling week of my life. Well, I finally got the chapter out! Sorry again for the delay, but I have just started an entire new arc on this whole training and then the competition, so I will be trying my best to pump out chapters with more frequency. I also see that this chapter is a bit sloppy, and I know, but I've been very stressed out lately. (Excuse) So you'll have to bear with me. See ya!
Training Part 1: Dark and ZephHey guys! Now, as soon as technical difficulties stop bugging me, I'll be posting chapters more frequently, but life is against me on that, so I'll try my best! :D Also, screw what I said in the first chapter! I'm gonna swear to my hearts content! XD Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] ~...The way they're all looking at us...~ +...this training is going to be hell...~ ........................................ ~+/ Fuck. +~ "C'mon Atom!", Glare exclaimed, "Hop to it!" Dark looked at Jet who slide up next to the group, "Jet. How would you like to be our motivational expert?" The snake smirked, understanding something I didn't. She snaked [See what I did there? XD] around behind me, and before I could turn... *WHISH, CRACK!* She snapped her tail with a loud crack over my rump. I yelped, leaping into the air. "OW!!!", I exclaimed, rubbing my sore cheek. "Get moving and she won't need to do it again.", Naga said, stifling laughter at my pain. "Get moving where?", I asked. *SLAP* "DUDE!" "What?", Blue asked. "Why'd you slap me?!?!" "You broke Rule 1.", he retorted. "Rule 1?" "Never question The Blue, The Rhino, The Zeph, The Naga, The Frag, The Janvier, The Red or The Dark." "That's a very long list." "Yeah..." *WHISH, CRACK!* "OK! I'm moving!" Rubbing my even sorer cheek I began a jog toward my house, guessing that's where they wanted me to go. Blue flew over me, "Oh, and you can find the rest of the rules in your handbook." "Yeah, I didn't get a hand-" *WHACK* "-book." We arrived at my house, seemingly calm. ~But in reality, I'm about to break somepony's neck.~ +I'm wishing we'd stayed in bed this morning.+ / And I'm hoping for this training to be less painful than what I anticipate. \ "So Atom.", Rhino said walking in front of me, "We're going to start with speed training! Dark. Zeph. If you will." Both ponies stepped forward smirking. ~Great.~ "Ok Atom!", Dark announced, "There will more than likely be a race during this competition, and since you'll be racing AJ, you won't be allowed to use your wings." "So we're going to drill you in endurance runs, just like in Boot Camp.", Zeph said taking over from Dark. "You were in Boot Camp?" *SLAP* "Oh come on!!!" "In answer to your question, yes. I did a while as a Royal Guard, but...", he trailed off, leaving the rest of us a little puzzled. Well not Blue. +He'll tell us when he's ready.+ "ANYWAY,", Dark said loudly, regaining attention and dispelling the awkward moment, "Atom start running." "Whe-" *SLAP* "Mother of Celestia I hate you." "Around the whole town. FOUR TIMES! Gogogogogogogo!!!", Dark exclaimed. -----------A Few Hours Later----------- *BZZZTT!* "OW!!! Dude, I thought Jet was the motivational expert!" "Oh yeah...", Dark studied the snake for a moment, "Jet stick your tail out." She looked at him quizzically before complying. Dark charged a small amount of lightning in his hoof and maneuvered it around Jet's tail...and...charging it with the lightning... The serpent smiled evilly at me. ~+Oh shit...RUN!!!+~ Seeing the danger and needing no more encouragement, I shot off like a rocket for the last few hundred meters. Since it was already late in the day when the training had begun, it was now about early evening and the nearby Everfree's tall trees blocked most of the remaining sun. I collapsed down on the ground in front of the rest of the group, where they sat, joyfully talking about...I don't know what. Mostly likely how they are going to torture the shit out of me. *WHISH, CRACK, BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!* "FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" -----------Meanwhile at Sweet Apple Ares 3rd Person POV----------- "-CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Was that Atom?", a certain small yellow filly asked her big sister. "Eeyup.", AJ said, rearing up again to buck the sandbag hanging from the rafters of the barn. "I bet they're all putting him through hell and back.", Big Mac stated with a slight chuckle. The rest of the Mane 6 had already packed up and left for the day, leaving AJ with her siblings alone in the barn. "Well,", AJ grunted as she bucked the sandbag again, "In any case ya'll know how he goes." "Eeyup. He ain't gonna let ya win either.", Mac replied. Before AJ could answer, a spine chilling scream rang out, loud enough to carry across the entire orchard, but not as far as the rest of the town, nor Atom's house. "What in Equestria was that?", Applebloom asked, jumping to her hooves at the sound. "Sounds like somepony's in trouble! Stay here Applebloom!" Applejack and her brother dashed out of the barn and looked around, spotting a commotion along the path that lead to the Everfree. "HEY!", Big Mac yelled, seeing a group of ponies holding down another, startlingly white stallion. The Apples ran down the path as the group of cloaked ponies began to drag the white stallion back to the forest. "No! HELP!!! PLEASE!!!", he screamed. A cloaked pony broke from the group and met AJ and Big Mac. With a swish of his hoof, he took down the massive stallion sending him to the ground. AJ swerved around his hoof and bucked him in the side, but something just swallowed her hooves up, holding her in place as the pony turned, flipping her onto her back and driving the wind from her lungs. He followed up with a quick punch to the side of the mare's head. "NO!!! Nononononononononono!!! Let me go! Fuck all of you!", the white stallion's cries for help touched AJ's ears, but she was helpless as he was taken deep into the forest. The cloaked pony stood over Applejack. It raised it's hoof, and in the dim light it appeared to materialize into some type of blade. The pony's hoof began it's descent. *SHING!* The cloaked pony looked up from it's blade, now crossed by another, straight into Atom's snarling face. "Get away from my wife you motherfucker!", Atom put his other hoof around the back of the other pony's neck and pulled his head down, dislodging the two blades and severing the pony's neck as Breeze swung upwards. The pony's body dropped to the floor and Atom helped AJ to her hooves. As Atom's friends galloped up from the end of the path, the corpse began to be surrounded in a swirling black substance. It grew until the body was absorbed into the ground and the substance dissipated. Atom held AJ, puzzled by the events of the last few moments. Thank Celestia his friends had decided to let him go for the day when they did. And were it not for Applebloom warning him of what had happened to AJ as he arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, he dreaded to think of the outcome of that scenario. "DAMN IT MYSTIC!!!" "I'm sorry sir, h-he managed to-" "I DON'T CARE!!!", the large pony's horn glowed with a deep red aura as he struggled to contain his anger. "High Priest.", a soft mare's voice sounded, "We have apprehended the subject. But we lost Shroud." The High Priest sighed in relief, "Good work Veil. How did you lose Shroud though? He was one of our best fencers." Veil shifted nervously on her hooves, "Th...The subject strayed onto the path heading to Ponyville and a mare and stallion heard his screams. Shroud stayed back to give us some time to escape. The mare was Atomic Vortex's wife." The High Priest's eyes widened. After a long pause he spoke, "Did he utilize the demon again?" "No sir.", Veil replied. "Good. If he comes even remotely close to gaining that power again...", The High Priest stood, flaring his wings and using his horn to write one final thing on the paper before him, "...kill him." Ok, so this is gonna be the chapter for me to leave you for a small amount of time as my laptop gets repaired! Don't worry I'll be using my backup computer, so I will still be around. :D As a final note, any of the OCs that weren't in this chapter, don't worry. Every OC will get their shot during this arc! Until next time! See ya!
The Dream WorldHey guys! Long time no update eh? Anyway, I just want to get straight into this, next chapter has a little surprise in store for you! Enough of my rambling! ENJOY! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] The soft lapping of water against velvet sand was the first thing I heard. To most it would puzzle at first. But I’ve been here before... The Dream World. As the name states, I’m asleep right now. This world was beyond possibility. Defying every rule of physics and reality all at the same time. I stood in a void. A gap between two opposites. To my left was colour. Vivid, alive and bright colour. The colour was over the water, a luminous turquoise reflecting both the sky and the water. To my right sat nothing. Dull, grey and boring nothing. Like always, I stood frozen in spot by the tranquility that held this realm in suspense. Both opposites existing side-by-side, yet neither reacted in any way. They co-existed. Working in tandem. What were they working towards you ask? I couldn’t tell you. One flowed into the other without any repercussions. Simply nothing happened here. Besides the waves of the water as they washed over my hooves. At least... Until this visit... It startled me. A slight movement out in the water, the side of colour. For the first time in this world I moved, turning to face the water. There, in the middle of the ocean was a spire of rock, protruding out of the waves. Atop the spire stood a silhouette of a cloaked pony. The cloak was being thrown around, as for the first time I felt wind against my coat, the speed picking up. The wind seemed to be drawn into the figure, swirling around him like a whirlpool. Terrifyingly, the water around the spire of rock blackened, spreading outward, it’s tendrils blackening more and more of the serene calm as it turned to turmoil and chaos. I tried calling out to the pony, but my voice failed me, and just a breath left my lips. More and more of the water blackened, gaining momentum and spreading further towards the shore. When the black void reached me, it diverted around, surrounding me. The last thing in the nightmare this realm had become that I wanted to do was touch the tar-coloured substance around me. My adamancy was annihilated however, as the water swirled, tendrils snapped out of it, grabbing each of my legs before I could acknowledge they were there. Again, I tried to vocalize, but nothing happened. The tendrils tightened, a wave of the jet-black water rose up, enveloping me with the tendrils, some of it entering my mouth and nostrils. I felt my chest tighten. I was going to drown! Suffocating in a dream! I struggled against the tendrils, thrashing blindly, desperate to escape this terrifying ordeal. My chest tightened further, my lungs aching for air! I stopped my struggling. If this was a dream, why had I not woken up? Was I going to die? Die in a world that shouldn’t exist but only in my subconscious? My heartbeat slowed, my eyelids drooped, and my senses ceased to function... “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”, I awoke with a huge gasp, dragging the air into my lungs, desperate for the oxygen. I threw off the sheets, finding myself covered in a cold sweat. +Woah! Atom, what’s up?!+ ~Ugh, who woke me up?~ / I...I don’t know what happened... \ ~Just go downstairs, get a glass of milk, come back up here and GO BACK TO FUCKING SLEEP!~ / I like the sound of that plan... \ I stumbled out of the door, when a thought occurred to me. Where was AJ? I checked the kids’ room and saw the orange mare, resting against Gusty’s cot sleeping quietly. Through the panting of my laboured breaths, I smiled slightly at the sight. Her Stetson was placed on the chest of drawers behind her, and her mane fluttered around her snout as her breathing lifted it up and down. I decided not to alert her of what had transpired, closing the door with a soft click and making my way down the stairs, trying not to fall, as dizziness from the lack of air took hold. I made it into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge. Reaching inside and letting the light flood out, I moved to the cabinet and grabbed a glass. As soon as the first glass was poured I wasted no time in downing it before pouring more and putting it down on the table. “Thanks.” At first the voice frightened me, but it was a regular occurance as of late. “Again?”, I replied. “Yup.” Rhino replied. I turned on the light switch seeing his eyes quite bloodshot. “Ah. I’m sure this’ll pass buddy. Trust me.” “B-but, I don’t get it. Did I do something wrong?”, he stammered, “Is she getting bored of me?” “Rhino, Shy isn’t that sort of mare. You know that.” He picked up the glass of milk and took a small sip, grimacing. “I just want things to be back to normal with me and Shy. Ever since that incident with the griffons where I lost my cool...she...she’s never looked at me the same...” I rolled my eyes, “Dude, you’re getting too worked up about this. Trust me-”, I stopped, suddenly feeling my chest convulse. Rhino saw this and raised an eyebrow, “Atom?” I threw a chair out of the way as I ran for the sink, feeling something work it’s way up from my stomach, before black goo burst from my mouth into the basin. “Woah!”, I felt Rhino put his hooves on my shoulders as I hunched over the sink puking violently, “Atom, what did you eat?” When I gained control over my insides, I tried a response, “I-I don’t know...I was in the dream world again earlier.” “How does that relate to you puking up black stuff?” “Something different happened.”, I replied. Rhino had been the guy that I’d been keeping in the loop about the dream world. “What do you mean?” I felt another convulsion and more of the liquid poured out. I tried talking through it, “There was another pony there...he was just standing on this rock...the water turned black and fucking grabbed me...I swear I would have died if I’d stayed there a second longer.” “Wow...that’s very different to the norm.” “You’re telling me...” “Well, try and get back to sleep. No matter what we still have training tomorrow.”, I nodded in agreement, “You don’t mind if I sleep on the couch again, do you?” “Go for it.” He smiled gratefully at me, walking into the living room as I made my wake back upstairs, struggling to keep a hold of my raging stomach. Laying back down in bed, I barely had 5 minutes time to think before sleep enveloped me. Did I dream again? No. Just pure black was all there was the rest of the night, before my shrill alarm woke me. Well there we go guys! It’s good to be back! And I hope I can stay this way for a while to come! Anyway, I have nothing else to say for now. So... See ya next time!!!
Training Part 2: Rhino and JanvierJust to start, I want to say I thought Season 3 was EPIC! But enough of that! On to the story! Let's see if all this waiting has made me lose my touch. Enjoy! ~Cyclone speaks in these~ +Proton speaks in these+ / I respond to them in these \ [These are author notes] “...” “...” ~...~ +...+ “Naga, thi-” “SHHHHHH!!!” I pressed my lips firmly together. The alicorn’s scythe was easily within his reach, and even with his eyes closed, there was still that inkling which said he would know if I tried to just get up and leave. +This is stupid.+ ~I can agree with that. Just leave.~ / Did you not hear my monologue? \ +Monologue?+ / ...Never mind... \ “Just keep your eyes closed and allow your mind to drift.”, Naga said, his voice carrying an almost dreamy echo to it, as though he were half asleep. I rolled my eyes slightly and kept them open. There was no way he could tell behind my shades. “I said closed, Atom.” Son of a... “Ugh, fine. I just don’t see a point to this.” “To put it without all of the so-called wisdom, it helps you keep a lid on your emotions.”, he said, tapping his hoof against my head to emphasise his point. “Now shut up and meditate.” I tried it. Best I humour him. With my eyes closed, I didn’t see as ,after a minute, he opened his eyes and picked up the scythe. The bottom of the handle had dissipated into a writhing tendril of shadows, sliding back and forth silently. The alicorn slipped around behind me and readied the scythe. The first I knew was the whistle as the shadowed half of the handle slid into the back of my skull writhing through my very being and grabbing at different thoughts that raced around. The presence of something else besides Cyclone and Proton was overwhelmingly painful and it burned through all three of our collective minds. Through my screams I heard Naga speak, “What have you got distracting you so bad huh?” My muscles clenched with the intense pain rendering me totally unable to fight back. +ATOM! DO SOMETHING!!!+ ~FUCK THIS HURTS!!! GAH!!!~ Suddenly the pain and presence within my mind was relieved, leaving my ears ringing and me, hooves splayed out, face-first on the ground. Beyond the ringing, I could hear the sounds of a scuffle, and struggled to turn myself over and lean up. Hooves on my shoulders forced me to open my eyes to see Rhino, his mouth moving, yet the sounds passing through my mind without registering. Behind him, Naga struggled to throw the others off him as they held him away from me. “Atom? You ok?”, Rhino’s voice felt harsh against my ears as they recovered, making me wince, but I nodded. He helped me to my hooves as the rest of me restarted. The first thing I noticed in this scene was that the bags on Rhino’s eyes had gained another layer. The poor guy still must not have been able to sleep. My attention quickly shifted as I recovered, the pain turning into a seething anger. My friend attacked me!!! “What the flying fuck was that Naga?!?!?!”, I exclaimed at the alicorn as he shook the others off. “You wanted me to teach you how to meditate. I can’t do that if you’re distracted by something.” My scowl hardened, “You attacked me!” “Hah! I was merely searching through your mind to extract what was bothering you.” My teeth ground against each other as my anger simmered at his arrogance. “Whether or not something it bothering me is MY business and not your’s!” “Do you want to meditate or not?! Maybe it would help to cool all three of your idiotically furious minds!”, he retorted. +SAY WHAT?!+ ~Can I buck his teeth in now?~ / Hell. Yes. \ Without a word Cyclone took over and shot out a hoof, crashing it into Naga’s chin, the force of it catapulting him back a few yards. The alicorn quickly recovered and readied himself, his eyes ablaze. “Say somethin’ about us again! I dare ya!”, taunted Cyclone. Naga’s eyes flashed with annoyance, “You dare to strike the son of Luna?! Friend or not, I’ll grind you into the earth!!”, he bellowed. Cyclone roared at the challenge and cannoned toward Naga. The alicorn stood still as Cyclone raced closer, until the last second when he dodged left and grabbed Cyclone’s wing. Naga yanked Cyclone closer and held him by the throat. Naga turned using the momentum to slam Cyclone down into the ground harder and pin him there as he struggled. “HEY!” Before anyone could react to the voice, a teal aura engulfed both of us. “What do you two think you’re doing? Disturbing the peace!?”, the voice demanded. The others just stared in awe at us since they still hadn’t gotten over how both me and Naga had so quickly busted off at each other. I could gather from the voice that it was a mare. Either that or an oddly high pitched stallion, but that wasn’t very likely...right? Also, she seemed to hold a high amount of authority in her voice. “Listen lady,”, I replied, Cyclone finally relinquishing control of my body, yet I still couldn’t see the mare as she held me both upside-down and facing the opposite direction, “I don’t know about you, but I’m rather uncomfortable up here.” I heard her huff in response and she released her ma- “OW!” Did I mention I was upside-down still when she dropped me? Yeah. Good. “I’m only going to ask one more time, what were you two doing?!”, her tone had a hard edge of anger. Have I heard this somewhere before? I got up and turned to the mare, only to start and pull down my shades. “Sharp?” I was looking at a unicorn mare I’d known for years. We were childhood friends. She had a slim build, but stood firm and proud. She had a split sapphire and light blue mane, with a cyan coat. She kept a silver pinstripe vest across her chest, and matching glasses set on her snout. Her cutie mark was of a simple cobalt-handled magnifying glass. [Holy crap, for once I did a descriptive paragraph instead of just a picture. I’m proud of myself! XD] Her eyes darted across me as she ticked off a mental checklist with amazing speed, “Oh my Celestia! Atom!”, she beamed, grabbing me in a hug. I chuckled and returned the embrace. +You cooled down yet?+ ~Hell no! I’m gonna smash Naga into the next dimension given half the chance.~ She broke away and took a good serious look at me, “You look so different! Even your cutie mark has changed! How is that even possible? Did you get married? Was it you who helped stop the griffons taking Ponyville?” “Woah, Sharp. Easy with all the questions.”, I smiled, “I’ll answer them quickly.”, I took a deep breath for this, “My cutie mark did change, don’t know how, I did get married to a lovely mare named Applejack, also the Element of Honesty, I may have gone a tiny bit stir crazy, no fault of mine, when stopping the griffons taking Ponyville, but yes I did stop them of course with the help of all the new friends I’ve acquired here.”, inhaling again, I allowed her a small amount of time to comprehend it all. After a moment of thought, “So I’m guessing all my chances with you are blown now?”, she said chuckling. “Fortunately for me, yes.”, I said smirking at my own joke. She laughed, punching me playfully in the shoulder, “You’re still the same crazy bastard as ten years ago.”, she peered behind me, “So are you going to introduce me to your friends?” I turned to them, “Oh right, uh...guys, this is a very old friend of mine.”, she stepped toward them with a pleasant smile. “Sharp Vigil. Forensic detective for the Royal Guard based in Canterlot.”, Sharp stated proudly and shaking each of their hooves. Zeph chuckled slightly, “With an introduction and title like that, you must have lots of friends.”, the sarcasm dripping from his playful tone. Sharp turned her head with a deadpan look staring at the tan stallion. “And with a mouth like that you must get all the mares.” ~Snap!~ +Zeph, you just got burned by a mare.+ The others snickered as Zeph searched for a counter, and when none came Sharp turned back to me. “Anyway, Atom. As lovely as it is seeing you again after so long, I must continue with my duty.” Something clicked in my head, “Wait are you the one they sent down from Canterlot?” Earlier this morning I’d decided to alert Canterlot of yesterday’s incident near the Everfree by having Spike grudgingly send a letter. “Yup. Got the order straight from the Princesses.”, she replied with a proud smirk. At this my brow furrowed. Why would the Princesses be dealing with such a small matter? However, I quickly dismissed it. “I’ll let you continue then. Don’t be afraid to come and find me sometime later and we’ll catch up eh?” “Sure thing!”, she embraced me again with a beaming smile that would make Pinkie Pie jealous. She detached and made her way out toward the Everfree. “Back to training!”, Frag exclaimed, turning back clearing that had become our training ground. As Frag walked back with the rest of the group, Rhino hung back a moment as a beep came from his watch. “Frag!” The pegasus in question turned back to the green unicorn, “Yeah?” Rhino showed his watch, “It’s 1pm, didn’t Twilight say she needed you at the library for then?” Frag sighed, but turned back to clearing ignoring Rhino’s reminder. Rhino joined us again with a disapproving look, “Ok Atom. Today it’s your d-” *BEEP* *BEEP* “Rhino, you can stop your watch now.”, Glare said, well...glaring at Rhino. The unicorn frowned as he looked at his watch, “It’s not me...” *BEEP* *BEEP* We all turned to the source of the sound. *BEEP* *BEEP* +Frag?+ The dark pegasus’ eyes pointed upwards as we noticed a flashing in his mane. Blue reached into Frag’s mane, pulling out a circular device barely an inch wide in diameter, with a small red light flashing on and off to the sound of the beeping. Frag’s pupils dilated and he gulped, “Is that what I think it is?” ~TRACKER!!!~ “FRAGMENT!!!!” +Flaming mare inbound! TAKE COVER!+ As Frag stood frozen to the spot, we all dived behind the nearest thing that would give us the slightest protection against the raging unicorn that was barreling towards us. Me, Glare, Rhino and Naga dived behind a nearby bench, while Janvier, Dark, Blue and Zeph ducked behind the nearest tree. As we peeked out a blur of smoke shot past us and tackled the stunned pegasus to the floor. "HOW DARE YOU TRY AND SKIP OUT ON ME!!!" Frag was already sweating visibly as he stuttered his reply, "I-I, um...had to do some laundry?", he lied. The rest of us backed up a few feet as Twilight shook above Frag...but Cyclone had other ideas... ~Time for revenge!~ Before I had time to register his exclamation, he stole control and grabbed Naga. "Hey!", the alicorn protested. Cyclone ignored his struggles however and launched Naga toward Frag, and the time-bomb unicorn. The alicorn collided with Frag underneath Twilight and both cowered... Right before the mare above them exploded in flames. +Ouch...+ ~That'll teach 'im.~ As Twilight regained herself, she dragged a singed and smoking Frag by his ear toward the library, ignoring his cries of pain. ~...~ +...+ "..." "So, back to training?", I asked, attempting to break the stunned silence, and turning away from our smoldering alicorn friend. "Uh...sure...", Rhino replied, shaking himself out of his daze, "So like I was saying, today we're on dexterity and maneuverability." "Why not just say agility?" *SLAP* "Son of a-!" "Remember rule 1 Atom.", Blue reprimanded after slapping me with wind...that's just putting extra humiliation into it...why me? Rhino ignored my bemused frown and continued, "This part of training is going to be particularly fun for the rest of us." +I don't like the sound of this...+ Janvier finally spoke up, "We need you to stand in front of the conveniently placed target over there.", a smirk slid it's way across his features as he finished. +I REALLY don't like the sound of this... ~Stop being a wuss. What's the worse that could happen?~ / DON'T SAY THAT!!! \ ~Oh yeah... jinxing...crap, this gonna turn out really bad for us now isn't it?~ +Yes...+ *SPLAT* "HOLY MOTHER OF-" I recoiled as a red sphere shot past my face, impacting the target. "Oh come on Dark, I thought you were a good shot." "Quiet Glare. I haven't exactly had a good chance to practice throwing things at Atom's head in a while." I turned from the target to see my friends a good few meters away standing next to crates of...tomatoes...bollocks...bollocks to it all... +We only have you to blame Cyclone.+ ~And I will still deny all responsibility.~ They stood there, just bouncing the tomatoes in their hooves, or holding it with their magic. "The test is to dodge the tomatoes. Simple really.", Janvier called out. "I see what you mean about it being particularly fun for you lot.", I called back. "Yeah...we're gonna feel absolutely zero regret about this." "How lovely...", the sarcasm dripping from my tone. The white unicorn smirked as he initiated the test, the next crimson ball of fruit flying toward me faster than I could have hoped to react. *SPLAT* I recoiled at the force of the direct hit to my face, "MOTHER OF-" *SPLAT* "GODDAMMIT!" With two hits to the head, I made a silent vow not to let anymore headshots arise to the satisfaction of my friends. Quickly wiping the tomato residue from my shades, I had enough warning to sidestep a shot from Rhino, the projectile crashing into the target behind me. ~We're gonna keep score.~ +2 - 1 to the guys at the moment.+ / Can you shut up and let me focus? \ ~Hell no, this is hilarious to watch, even if we do share the same body!~ I ducked down as another round of tomatoes headed toward me, 2 striking me in the side and the rest passing harmlessly over my head. ~4 - 5 to you.~ +They'll run out of tomatoes eventually.+ ------------------10 minutes later------------------ +HOW ARE THEY STILL THROWING?!?!+ *SPLAT* ~52 - 50 to them Atom. And they've only got 3 more tomatoes.~ / Thank Celestia for that. \ "Hey Atom!", Glare was calling. "Are you gonna gloat?", I replied. "Nah. We were wondering if you wanted to make a bet." "A bet?", I inquired. Zeph took over, "If we beat you, you have to pay for the tomatoes and clean up the mess after." "And if I win?" "Hmmmm...what do you want us to do?" I thought about if for only a moment before smirking. "You all have to wear dresses for a whole day!" All of their eyes widened at the thought and they grouped together, discussing my terms. After their little deliberation, Rhino stood forward. "How about if 2 of us wear dresses for a whole week?" ~Do it.~ +It'll be so worth it.+ / Oh hell yeah. \ "Alright! But I choose who." They huddle together again. "Deal!" Without hesitation, "Dark. And Blue." Both of them looked at each other, then back at me. "Shit.", simultaneous talking is common around here. Rhino stepped forward with 1 of the last 3 tomatoes. "Please don't miss!", Dark pleaded. The green unicorn's face became a tight line of concentration as he lined up his shot. *SPLAT* "WOAH!" While my attention had been fixed on Rhino, Sapiunt tried to blindside me. But the shot was sloppy and sailed over my head, hitting the top of the target. "Dude!", Blue and Dark exclaimed. "Oops..." +52 - 51!+ As I turned away from those idiots and returned my attention to Rhino, I had barely enough time to drop to my stomach, legs splayed out to dodge his shot. ~52 - 52!!!~ "GODDAMMIT!! I DON'T WANT TO WEAR A DRESS!!!" "That's it!", Dark jumped forward and grabbed the final tomato, his right hoof starting to crackle with energy. ~Looks like rules are out the window.~ / Way ahead o' ya. \ Dark's hoof launched forward, lightning charging through the fruit [Yes, a tomato is a fruit. Look it up.] and propelling it like a bullet. Dark had thrown quicker than I'd thought, leaving me with miliseconds to pull Breeze and form the blade...but something odd happened... In the time I had, there was no way the blade would form right, and it didn't. Knowing this, I tried hiding behind the hilt, as though it would give me some kind of protection. *SPLAT* "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!" The shout came from Dark. What happened? I opened my eyes, and behind my shades I saw nothing. Until I looked at Breeze's hilt. A disc of wind, much to the size of a Cyclone Trap, was spinning in front of the blade, the centre aligned with the hilt. It was a shield. +Well that's new.+ ~Wicked.~ / Guess this hilt has more to show us than we thought. \ Releasing the energy from the hilt and letting the new formation dissipate, I surveyed the area around me, littered with wrecked tomatoes. I couldn't say much more for myself either, my coat and mane were practically all red from tomato blood. The others were looking at me with a rather bewildered silence. "He cheated so I did too.", I said quickly, "Also, score's 52 - 53. I win. Dark, Blue. You guys might want to start looking for dresses." "What the heck was that shield?!", Rhino exclaimed, incredulous. "Beats the heck outta me.", I replied with an unknowing smile, "But are we done for today?" "I...I guess...", the unicorn still looked as though he was trying to work it out, and not doing very well at it. "Alright, I need to wash this tomato out of my coat. AJ doesn't like tomatoes. She says they're a disgrace to fruit.", and without another word, I took off for Sweet Apple Acres, grinning in victory. YES! AFTER MONTHS OF BEING DEAD! Sorry it took me so long to get this out but, I hope the length makes up for it! Thank you all for being so patient and more importantly, OVER 20,000 VIEWS ON MOVING WITH THE WIND! As always! SEE YA!
