Act II: The Storm of the Century

“The Storm seems to be getting worse…” Stella stated as they were walking through the station. The pegasus was wrapped up in a coat that she bought from one of the stores in the train station as she trotted alongside Katy. “If this keeps up, we’ll be getting nowhere.”

“Well… From the looks of it, I doubt we’ll be going to Baltimare today due to how bad the storm is getting. So for now, I think spending the night here at the station should be fine, and with the authorities taking Tock away, we should be able to relax for a little bit.” Katy explained as she grabbed her luggage and began to make her way into the station with Stella following behind her. However by the time they entered inside, all Katy could do was watch as the snow continued to fall, covering the ground in cold frozen specks of water. Despite being here in Equestria for a couple of months now, she hasn’t seen snow for a very, very long time.

Seeing it snow made Katy smile under her helmet as she set her luggage down and took a seat at a nearby bench. However Stella didn’t seem too happy about their current situation as she laid down next to Katy on the opposite end of the bench. “We could just go to a hotel instead of waiting here you know? I’m sure I have some bits that can cover for it-”

“It’s better for us to just spend the night here instead of going through the trouble of renting a hotel room for a single night. And I’d feel pretty guilty if we ended up using the bits that you earned.” Katy explained, but she couldn’t help but get a chill from the cold atmosphere, despite the two of them being indoors. “Still, I’m sure we’re doing better without Dyspo around… I wonder how he’s doing?”

“Well, based on what he told me at our last stop, he’s working on gathering some intel from some old friends of his about the pink girl that attacked us. And speaking of that girl, something was definitely off about her.” Stella mentioned, which caused Katy to raise a brow under her helmet.

“Was it the ‘I’m Evil’ vibe? Or ‘I’m a murderer’ vibe?” Katy gestered, taking the opportunity to open her bag and pull out a delicious bag of salted banana chips.

“If you honestly want my opinion, she is more of the ‘Evil, but likes to play around with her food’ type. You know, the kind of individuals who enjoy watching the hero struggle to face them because of overwhelming odds. But, you do bring up one valid point,” Stella looked back at her. “Besides, she just gives me the same kind of vibes as that masked creep that attacked Dyspo, Lance and I.”

“Maybe, but who the hell is she then?” Katy asked. “She’s definitely not like any Dragon Ball Character I’ve seen before… So what gives?”

There were many questions, but few answers and it had frustrated Katy. Crossing her arms and legs, she sat still, thinking to herself as she began to shiver a bit from the cold indoors. Even though they were inside, it didn’t stop them from feeling the cold weather from outside.

Though, Stella did have one thing that she wanted to ask. And something that might’ve been a good start. But first, she had to ask Katy a bit of a… personal question. “Hmm… Hey Katy, how long have you been in Equestria for?”

“Well… I believe I arrived here four months ago now… Why?” Katy asked, looking at the pegasus as she got up and stretched her wings.

“And you said that she’s not like any character you’ve seen before?” Stella’s question just lead to a nod from Katy as the Pegasus was going to speak, only to cough a small bit as she looked back at her. “I’m sorry, I just had a weird thought. Something about if this was a character that was introduced after you left your world, but now that I think about it, it just sounds a bit stupid.”

“Maybe… but you never really know… Anyways I think it’ll be for the best if we at least tried and get some sleep. It won’t do us any good if we are tired tomorrow.” Katy replied.

“Nor would it be any good if we are too sick to do our job.” Stella coughed again, before looking back at her.

“I know… But it’s not like we have many options… The nearest hotel or motel from here is two miles from here. The cold is affecting both my equipment and our health. We have only enough bits to get us to Baltimare and probably a place to stay for a little while. You’re the one that did the math if I recall… So if anything it’s kinda your fault.” Katy explained, shivering from the cold as she felt Stella curl up beside her. “I… D-did t-tell you that we should… have brought more bits.”

“K-katy…” She heard Stella’s voice sound… different now. Lighter and weaker than before. “D-don’t push it…”

“S-Something… Wrong?” Katy asked.

“C-can’t take… too much… cold…” Stella muttered back. “N-nullifies powers… L-lowers my body temp r-rapidly…”

“S-Sorry… S-Still… Things should be...Better tomorrow. Let’s just try and get some sleep okay.” Katy said, pulling out a blanket and wrapping it over Stella as she laid her head atop of the pegasus. “Y-you can have the blanket… But your my pillow for the night kay?”

All Stella could do was nod. Too cold to speak as she just looked back at Katy and closed her eyes. And soon the two were fast asleep, shivering from the cold as the huddled closer together to try and stay warm. Eventually hours had passed, but Katy just couldn’t fall asleep, not entirely at least even with her arms wrapped around the little pony. She was only able to sleep for a little bit, but it felt as though it was only getting colder. “G-geez… Is there something wrong with the heaters in this place?” She whispered to herself so she doesn’t wake up Stella. Taking a quick glance around the room, she thought about heading to the front desk and ask them to turn up the heat a little. Releasing Stella from her grasp, she slowly creeped off the bench and began to make her way to the counter to find somepony to turn up the heat or at the very least find the thermostat herself.

“Excuse me, miss,” Katy turned around at the sound of the voice, only to see a young teenaged colt wrapped up in heavy clothes and looking over at them. The coat was one that showed that he worked for the Fillydelphia Train Station and he had an ID that supported that. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Actually… Y-yeah I was… W-Wondering if you could… turn up the heat in here?” She asked politely as she shivered in place, but the colt simply shook his head in response.

“We’ve been trying to get a few technicians in order to fix them, but so far, they’re not having much luck,” He replied, before noticing Stella as she shivered on the bench. “Hey, is your friend doing okay?”

“Well… It’s cold so, what do you think?” Katy asked bluntly as she rubbed her hands together to try and stay warm.

“I-i’m sorry, I just… it looked like she was freezing to death,” The colt stuttered, before looking around and trying to think of a solution. However before the young colt could say anything, the two heard a light cough coming behind them.

“I can probably help you out if you want?” The unicorn Stella had mentioned before trotted up to Katy and the teenage colt. “I know we’ve met before, but just in case you’ve forgotten my name’s Mystic and I’ve noticed that you two have been shivering on that bench for a while now, and I was wondering if you two needed a place to stay?”

“Y-Yeah… B-but aren’t you cold?” Katy asked, but was met with a light giggle from the mare, before feeling her hoof tug on her wrist.

“Nope, I’m actually used to this weather, but I think you should pick up your friend. She doesn’t seem as use to it as me.” Mystic said, using her magic to levitate the pegasus off the bench and wrapped up in the blanket from before. “The hotel I’m staying at isn’t far… It’s a twenty minute walk from here true, but I can use my magic to get us there a lot quicker.”

“This sounds too good to be true…” Katy stated bluntly as Mystic dropped the shivering pegasus in her arms. “T-There’s a catch… isn’t there?”

“Well… since you brought it up… I was hoping that you two could allow me to sketch you back at the hotel and answer a few of my questions? Does that sound fair?”

“If… that’s true… then why didn-”

“Didn’t teleport their earlier? Well due to how bad the storm was before, I wasn’t able to teleport to the hotel I had checked in ahead of time. My magic is limited, depending on my limitations and situations. I can explain once we get there, but we better hurry it’s going to start picking up again and from the looks of it… Stella seems to be getting paler.” Mystic explained, placing her hoof on Stella’s cheek, feeling how cold she was, stirring the pegasus from her sleep.

“N-ngh…” Stella groaned, her fur and skin feeling almost as cold as ice right now.

“Hey Sleepyhead? Don’t worry, I’m here to save the day~” Mystic giggled, trying to sound heroic as Katy just gave her a deadpan stare under her helmet as the pegasus groaned. “Anyways… we should get going.”

“You think?! Stella’s freezing!” Katy shouted as the unicorn nodded, still having that smile on her face as her horn began to glow and before they knew it. They were gone.

When Stella could finally open her eyes, she didn’t find herself on the cold bench back at the train station, but somewhere else entirely. And wherever she was, it was a lot warmer here then back at the station, but she couldn’t recall how she got here. The pegasus glanced around the room, taking note of the ceiling fan above her and noticed the two lamps on the opposite sides of the bed she laid in and the cute unicorn from before sitting next to her sketching her again-

“Hey, you’re finally awake! How do you feel?” Mystic asked, grinning as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

All Stella could do was groan, before slowly getting up as she looked back at Mystic. “Please don’t tell me that you were trying to sketch me while I was sleeping… Matter of fact, where am I? And where’s Katy?”

“Some greeting… No ‘thank you for saving me from the cold harsh weather?’ rude! But to answer your first question, yes and no… I finished my sketch of you sleeping a while ago, and I’m actually working on designing a dress for a friend in Baltimare.” Mystic replied, grinning at the pegasus for a moment before it disappeared and a more serious expression appeared. “You were very lucky my magic was on the fritz… Otherwise you’d have most likely freezed you feathers off.”

“Or froze to death.” Stella bluntly stated.

“And still no thank you? Man, your cruel~” She joked, setting her pen down on night stand where her sketchbook was and placed her hoof over Stella’s forehead. “You’re fur isn’t as cold from before, but you do have a fever. I probably wouldn’t be surprised if you catch a cold later on.”

“Geez… Thank you-” That was followed by a sneeze as she looked back at Mystic. “S-sorry about that.”

“Heh, no worries… Anyways to answer your questions from earlier. Well like I said, I was making something for a friend just now and as for where you are… You are in my hotel room for probably the next few nights. From what I’ve been hearing, the storm outside is getting worse so we were pretty lucky to get here safely while the storm died down for a bit. And as for Katy… Well right now she’s in a hot bath right now.” Mystic explained everything as she got up from the side of the bed and made her way towards the telephone on the large dresser. “I’ll see about ordering us some hot coco, and while I do that… Do check if Katy’s done with her bath… the door is unlock~ Just so you know~”

“I’m not going to try and go in on her while she’s taking a shower. That sounds like something Dyspo would do on accident.” Stella groaned, feeling a headache coming on as she tried to straighten up on the bed she was on.

“Try not to push yourself right now, I’m not kidding… you were really in bad shape. I mean the temperature was literally two degrees before we left the station.” Mystic explained, before turning towards the pegasus and glared at her for a moment. “So, lay down and try to relax, otherwise your gonna be hurting a lot more if you push yourself.”

“Yes mom.” Stella groaned sarcastically. Taking her advice and beginning to lie down on the bed now. And soon after Mystic had made the call for the hot coco, she went into the bathroom to check in on Katy, only to be met by a shout from the quarian.

“Haven’t you heard of knocking! Get out!” Stella heard, Katy yell as Mystic made her way back out laughing, noticing tears falling freely as the unicorn continued to laugh.

“Geez… it’s like you girls don’t know how to have a little fun~” Mystic stated, still chuckling as she made her way back to the bed and sat next to Stella. “Anyways, when was the last time you actually relaxed Stella? You and Katy are so uptight.”

“Well, we have our reasons. That and for our line of work, we can’t always catch a break.” Stella replied.

“Well, just because you guys are busy, doesn't mean you can't have a little fun~” Mystic said, winking at the bedridden mare as she began to levitate her sketchbook with her magic and began flipping through the pages until she eventually stopped and began showing Stella. “I figured I'd at least showed you what I had sketched while you slept.”

Rolling her eyes, Stella took a look at the sketch and for a brief moment she was surprised to see a drawing of her laying on the bed, and how well it was drawn. It was as if she didn't leave any details out. “Wow…” Was all the pegasus could say.

“I tried my best to keep it simple.” Mystic added as she gave her a grin with a slight blush on her cheeks. “I'm not as talented as other artists, but I think I did good.”

However, before Stella could reply, Katy had stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her as she used another to dry her hair. Mystic then took her sketchbook back and set it down on the nightstand before she turned to the quarian. “So Katy, did you enjoy your bath?”

“Yeah, I did actually, and Stella I highly recommend you take one when you get a bit better. It is amazing… just remember to lock the door cause, somepony here doesn't know how to knock!” She explained, glaring at the unicorn sitting next to her friend.

“I'll… K-keep that in mind.” Stella said, shivering as she pulled the covers tightly around her, before she started to cough.

“You okay?” Katy asked, setting the towel she was drying her hair with on the dresser across the large bed. Stella shook her head as she began to feel a chill coming.

“Don’t worry, once the attendant working here brings our hot coco she'll be good as new.” Mystic replied, smiling at the pegasus as she stood up from the bed and walked over to Katy. “Anyways, I believe you owe me an explanation to some of my questions?”

Groaning under her breath she looked down at the unicorn before rolling her eyes. “I know okay… The least you can do is let me change into my clothes alright!”

Chuckling under her breath Mystic simply nodded and began to make her way over to a sitting chair on the other side of the room and waited till Katy began to change, but the quarian thought ahead grabbed her change of clothes and made her way back to the bathroom. Katy didn’t want to change in front of the girls, but it's not because she didn't trust them or disliked them. She just wasn’t use to hanging out with other girls let alone change in front of them. Even during high school when they had to change for gym. She was use to always being insecure about her appearance.

Once she had changed into her nightgown, she made her way back out and sat down the bed across from where Mystic was sitting, drawing in her sketchbook. “Alright, I'll try my best to answer your questions, but before I do, let me make it clear that depending on your questions I'll only tell you what you need to know okay?”

“Very well… I suppose there are some things that must remain a mystery correct?” Mystic asked, setting her sketchbook on the arm rest of the chair.

“Your right about that, but seriously why do you want to know about me and Stella? It's not like what we're doing is too important.” Katy asked, taking the opportunity to stretch her limbs as turned to see her pegasus friend fast asleep.

“Well after seeing what you pulled off on the train with that Tock character and Stella making sure the passengers were safe. I got curious and… the info from you could be of use to something I have been working on as well.” Mystic explained, as her expression changed to that of a sly grin which sent shivers down Katy’s spine.

Something felt different about this mare that Katy couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but as long as she keeps quiet about the important information, she'll be fine.

“Alright then… Shoot?” Katy responded.

Author's Note

Edit: Also do point out any errors or improper grammer and I'll see what I can do to fix it :)