"Three thousand years ago, the leaders of the three tribes. Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorn were forced to leave their homeland. The reason? A mysterious snowstorm that seemed to feed off their hatred. They ventured into the unknown, separately, each with their own tribe. But fate had a plan in motion, they each found each other in the new land that they wanted to claim for themselves and such they clashed once more. The snowstorm appeared and their new paradise was thrown into an icy hell." - Starswirl The Bearded
It was a cloudy day in Canterlot. The sky was grey and the clouds were puffed and looked ready to bursting. The wind was blowing, sending a chill into the city. The few ponies that were out wore winter clothing. It would be normal but it's not since it's the month of April there shouldn't be any cold winds or dark clouds.
This was the problem Celestia was discussing with her council this council included the leaders of the Wonderbolt's, Spitfire and Soarin, Princess's Luna, Cadence and Twilight Sparkle, her brother Prince Shining Armor and the captains of the four royal guards. Captain Dusk Wing of Princess Luna's Royal Shadow Guard. Captain Dawn Guard of Princess Celestia's Royal Guard. Captain Storm Heart of Twilight Sparkles Royal Harmony Guard. Captain K. Rystal of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's Royal Crystal Guard and last but not least Discord who has been made the Headmaster of the Canterlot Academy of The Arcane Arts.
Princess Celestia sat at the front of the round table, her mane gently flowing to the right, she had her sister and Twilight by her right. Cadence and Shining by her left. Discord, who had turned into a brown unicorn pony, sat at the end of the table looking out the window with a bored expression.
"So the bad weather reaches the Crystal Empire as well,are there any other reports Captain Rystal?" Celestia inquired as she turned her gaze to the captain. A stallion with a dark grey coat, dark eyes that held a steely gaze. His mane was white with a touch of grey, it was short and cut just like that of any colt in the military.
"No your highness, other than the strange weather nothing else is a miss." He said with a serious yet calm tone of voice. He was the oldest of the guard captains. Once he served as the captain for the rulers of the Crystal Empire before King Sombra's rule. He was ripped of his rank and his tittle and sent into the dungeons along with those guards who denied to serve the shadow king. But thanks to the heroics of Twilight and her friends, they were freed from their prison. Princess Cadence gave him back his tittle.
Captain Rystal swore to protect her and the kingdom and to never fail like he did all those years ago. "I have maintained the empire on high alert." He finished giving her his report on the subject and settled himself back on his seat.
"I see...Spitfire and Soarin, I know you are thinking as to why I asked the both of you to come here, seeing as how you and the Wonderbolts are the best fliers of Equestria I would like to know why the pegasi have not been able to clear the skies." She asked the mare and stallion. They both gave each other a quick glance.
"Your highness we have tried our best to clear the skies but no matter what we try the clouds just keep coming back. It's like they just- Soarin cut in to finish her sentence "It's like they regenerate, like a wound, but faster. Rainbow Dash of Ponyville even pulled off a Sonic Rainboom, to clear the skies at a larger scale. We thought it would work but the clouds just…spread back and blocked the sky."
Spitfire nodded "Yes…we apologize for our failure, we will keep trying to find a way to resolve this problem. Also…there has been rumors going around Cloudsdale…rumors of Windigos." Everypony in the room looked at Soarin.
Captain Dusk Wing, a pegasus with a navy blue coat, yellow eyes and a cut black mane looked puzzled.
"Windigos? But those are just old legends; nopony has seen them in 3,000 years." His voice was deep and melodic, the sort of voice that everypony couldn't ignore.
Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat "To be precise captain, the reason Windigos have not been seen is because the three races of ponies have been in harmony. As mentioned in Starswirl's personal journal Windigos are spirits that feed off the bitterness and hatred of living beings." She settled in her seat, adjusting her wings a bit.Twilight has been princess for only five years but in her short time she has accomplished much. To mention her greatest achievement was her discovery that pegasi and earth ponies could use magic in their own special ways. "I will do further research after the meeting is over, maybe there is something else causing these weather problems." She gave the captain an assuring smile which made him blush a little bit. Twilight did have that effect on most stallions.
Discord stood up and walked to the stained-glass window. "It could be Windigos." Princess Luna looked towards Discord, with a careful look. "And how does though inquire that the culprits behind these abnormal weather conditions are the windigos Discord?" She has been giving Discord a careful study ever since he has turned over a new leaf, she still did not trust him completely.
He chuckled and turned, his eyes showing a spark of mischief as always. "My dear Luna, we all know that just because something has not been seen in 3 millennium does not mean they no longer exist, I mean, look at me! I have been imprisoned in stone for over 2,000 years and I exist, don't I?" He walked over behind Celestia. "Now Celestia, I have turned over a new leaf and all, if you send me out there I could find you an answer but it will take me some time and I will need someone to take over my duties at the academy.If you trust me that is." He said as he poofed up a hot tea kettle and poured it into a cup.
Celestia smiled a bit. "Alright, I trust you, you may go to investigate but please, try not to turn the world upside down or make it rain chocolate no matter how much Pinkie Pie loves it." She still found it amusing how the pink party pony loved it so much.
Discord smiled brightly and appeared at the door wearing a traveling outfit; he looked like he was going on a safari. "Very well! I will try my best! Now then, au revoir!" He disappeared in a yellow flash that left behind confetti.
Luna sighed and placed her hoof on her forehead "Always looking to make a fool's exit, Tia...are you sure he can be trusted with this task?" Celestia looked towards her sister and smiled. "I trust him, and I think he is our best chance of finding an answer. Now, Captain Storm Heart, you are the youngest of the captains, I hope everything is well, you look as though you don't want to be here."
She asked the unicorn stallion, he indeed was the youngest; he had a deep honey gold coat, teal blue eyes and a dark brown mane that unlike the rest of the guards his was loose and well kept. He blushed a bit. "I uh, no your highness I am just fine, just...a bit nervous is all. Nothing to worry about." Twilight smiled and giggled slightly. "He is doing just fine Princess; I have to report that nothing odd is happening in Ponyville at the moment. Captain Storm Heart has made sure everyone is safe and sound."
This only made the young captain blush harder, the other captains getting a chuckle from the scene. Princess Cadence giggled. "Aww he's blushing come on now everypony let's ease off the young captain. I remember when a certain stallion got his position as youngest captain of the royal guard, he was so nervous he couldn't stop shaking." She looked at Shining Armor who blushed slightly. "Guilty as charged, don't worry, you will get used to the job. Now then, your highness, is the meeting done? Me, Cadence and the captain must return to Empire"
Celestia nodded. "Yes I have other matters to attend to as well." She stood along with Luna, everyone else resumed seated until she and Luna left. Everypony then stood and left the meeting room.
After the meeting, Twilight Sparkle along with her Captain, walked down the long white marbled hall, it was decorated with lavish silks on the ceiling and huge stained glass windows. Gold lined the columns of the hall. Storm Heart still looked baffled at the size of the Royal Palace.
"Still impressed I see. I know when I first walked down these halls; I had the very same look as you do now." Storm Heart only blushed again, making the princess giggle. "You are very shy, you sort of remind me of Fluttershy. But you are also very well organized although you and Spike share the trait of loving to sleep and eat snacks."
That made the captain chuckled nervously. "I uh…well I can't deny I have a lazy side. I…do have to ask again…why did you choose me to be the captain of your royal guard. I mean, you could have chosen someone older with more experience."
He always asked this to her, Storm Heart was a good pony but very doubtful of himself.
"I chose you because I know you can do the job right and because you have a good heart. So no more doubting yourself alright? That's an order captain." Storm Heart blushed again but nodded. "Yes ma'am, now uh do you have anything for me to do?"
Twilight stopped for a moment "I have to find Clover the Clever's journal.Captain, I need your help to find it in the Canterlot Historical Vault." Storm Heart nodded but was a bit confused "If you don't mind me asking your highness, why do you need the book?" He asked as he followed Twilight by her side.
She looked at him with a soft smile but there was some worry in her look...as if she was hoping that the answer she had in mind was not true. "To review some cold history captain." And with that she and Storm Heart walked down the corridor of the castle and stood at the doors of the Canterlot Historical Vault.
Twilight and Storm Heart stood before the giant stone doors of the library. The door had the symbol of Equestria. The two sisters, Celestia and Luna, flying around each other in a circle. Lines of gold streamed outwards from Celestia, while lines of silver swirled outwards from Luna, the lines formed on each sisters side their respectful symbol. The sun for Celestia and the moon for Luna. There was no keyhole or any sort of guards in front of the door. Which was odd since a place as important as this should have some sort of security.
Twilight saw the look on her captains face and giggled. "The door is sealed with a spell by both Celestia and Luna, luckily I know how to "unlock" the doors. So if you could give me a little bit of space and back away I would appreciate it captain."
Captain Storm Heart bowed his head and moved back giving the princess some space.
"Alright then...just relax Twilight, you did this once...breathe in and breathe out...focus..." She said as her horn started glowing, the gem in her crown glowing as well. Her eyes glowed white as the aura around her horn intensified, her spell working the powerful magic that locked and protected the door.
Storm stood there with his eyes wide open in amazement, his jaw dropped. His magic was strong, but Twilight was on a whole new level. Some even say her magic can move the stars, making beautiful constellations and meteor shower's on some nights. With what he saw today, was just more proof that the princess he was "protecting" could very well handle herself in a fight. {Well duh..she is the element of Magic, of course she is powerful...maybe even more than Princess Celestia...} He said to himself.
The lines of gold and silver on the stone door glowed purple as they receded back into the symbol of the sisters, then they dissipated completely. Twilight's horn stopped glowing, her eyes returned to normal and the gem ceased to glow as well. She looked at Storm Heart. "Well captain what do you think?"
He blinked and cleared his throat "That was very very impressive princess...I don't think my magic could even match to your simplest spells."
"Captain, what did I say about undermining your abilities?" She looked at him with serious eyes, the same eyes that she used on Spike whenever she had to drill in a lesson or two in him. "You have abilities that I can't do, for example, I can't make gale force winds or lightning shoot out of my horn. And I certainly can't whip up a nasty mini storm. You have strong magic that others don't just as I have my own style of magic, that is what makes magic so special and fun! It all depends on the pony who uses it." She smiled as the stone doors parted, letting her in.
"It all...depends on the pony..." he repeated those words. They sounded an awful lot like the words his father used to say to him when he was sad," Right..I have to stop doubting myself." He smiled and walked into the library. As soon as he did the doors closed behind him. He then took a good look at the sight before him. Huge shelves filled with books as far as the eye can see, filled most of the front part of the library. There were some glass cases that had a book inside of them, he guessed that the books inside were very important and old. "This is...wow..." Then he had a though {How the buck are we supposed to find Clover the Clever's journal in this giant vault of dusty books and scrolls?!}
While the captain was distracted in his thoughts Twilight walked her way through the maze of bookshelves. She knew that the journal was in a glass box way in the back, where the records of the Deep Freeze were located and kept. She stopped for a moment and saw that the captain was a few rows behind her, he was looking everywhere. "Captain, over here, I found the case where the journal is but I will need you to get the case off, the spell for opening the door has me a bit tuckered out."
The princesses voice snapped Storm Heart out of his state of awe. "Oh, sorry princess I was sort of lost in my thoughts, this place is just amazing. I mean does it really contain ALL of the history of Equestria? As well as very powerful magic and stuff?" He asked as he followed her to the glass case that held Clover's journal. The journal it self was nothing impressive. It was a big book, the covers were black and very wrinkly, but they looked like polished wood. "This is it?"
Twilight giggled "Yes captain this is Clover the Clever's journal. What did you expect? A fancy book with lots of weird symbols and gilded lines or something?"
"Yeah something like that." He chuckled. "Now is there some kind of protective spell on the case?"
"Yes there is and I would tell you what it is BUT I am very sure that you can figure it out by yourself captain. Think of this as a little test, I want to see how much you believe in your abilities as much as I do." She smiled at him, taking a few steps back.
Storm Heart gulped as he approached the case, he was nervous. He closed his eyes and relaxed his breathing. He concentrated his magic on the case. He found that there was indeed a protective spell on it that prevented anypony from just opening the case. If somepony just put their hoof on the case it would vanish and wipe the ponie's memory of the journal clean from his or her mind temporarily.
{How the hay am I going to disable this spell?! Just....calm down Storm...analyze the workings of the spell, like knots on a rope, figure out how to untie the knot and just let it all drop...} He kept his mind clear as his horn glowed a soft gold color. An aura like beam of magic came from his horn and around the case, swirling around it as he worked the "knots" of the protective spell and when he found out how to break the spell the aura flashed and crackled and then everything stopped as he broke the protection spell. An orb around the case broke into pieces that vanished as they fell. He opened his eyes and cancelled his magic.
"That was very well done captain! See? You have great magic, you just have to believe in yourself." Twilight said as she approached the captain and placed her hoof on his shoulder giving him a re assuring smile. "Now then time for me to get to work on this journal, that would be all for now captain, if I find anything I will let you know." She made the journal float to her side as she vanished in a purple flash, leaving the captain alone.
"I...just need to believe in myself more...guess you were right dad...hehe...well I should get out of here, all this dust is going to- ACHOO!- ugh...make me sneeze..." He sniffled as he vanished in a gold crackling flash, leaving the library.
