//------------------------------// // The Storm // Story: Chaotic Neutral // by C-Puff //------------------------------// Chapter 7 “Are we there yet?” “No.” “Are we there yet?” “No.” “Are we there yet?” “Discord....” “Are we there yet?!” “Pinkie, don't encourage him!!” The group trudged on through the forest, heading for Rainbow Falls. The day had been going well, but as it grew late and things became darker, Discord was making more of an effort to get on Twilight's nerves. For the past half hour it'd been nothing but the same repeated phrase over and over again. She had a sneaking suspicion that despite his whining, he knew exactly how far they had left to the waterfall. Even if he didn't, she doubted him asking had anything to do with how far they had left to go and had more to do with driving her crazy. Pinkie Pie wasn't helping matters either. “Are we gonna be there in five minutes from now?” She blinked at Twilight innocently. Behind her, Discord snorted into his paws. “No Pinkie. We're not gonna be there in five minutes from now.” Twilight grumbled. “Ooh! How about six? Are we gonna be there six minutes from now?” “No.” “Hmmm.” Pinkie rubbed her chin, sticking her tongue out in thought. “What about ten minutes? Ask her if we're going to be there in ten minutes.” Discord urged, giving her a grin in encouragement. “Ooh! Yeah!” Pinkie nodded eagerly. “Twilight, What about ten minut-” “Look!” Twilight spun around to face them. “How about until I say, 'we're here', you just assume we're not there yet and keep quiet, ok?” They stared at her for a few minutes before she turned to the front again to stomp onwards. “Easy sugarcube.” Applejack patted her shoulder, picking up the pace to walk beside her. “If I hear one more 'are we there yet', Applejack, I swear I'm gonna lose it.” Twilight muttered. “She's not very polite, is she?” Discord whispered somewhere behind her. She had no idea why he bothered since so far, Discord's 'whisper' had almost always gone heard by everypony around him. “Fluttershyyyyy!” Twilight came to a halt. “Oh... um... yes?” Fluttershy trotted to stand on her other side. “Can't you do something about him?” Twilight waved a hoof at Discord who gave her a wide-eyed stare, doing a pretty good impression of a kicked puppy. “Um... well....” Fluttershy gave a sheepish smile. “I don't think he's being that bad. He's been a lot better lately. I think maybe we're all just a little tired after walking the whole day... Or maybe... I mean.... not to say you're tired or anything...” “Ugh! Ok I get it! Nevermind! Just... try to get him to shut up, ok?” Twilight said. “I am rather tired, if I may add my two bits.” Rarity said. She'd taken the opportunity to sit down for a few moments, fanning herself with a hoof. “It isn't that much further is it, darling?” “No, we've only got about an hour to go until we reach the falls.” Twilight said with sympathy. Rarity had actually complained the least so far which, to be honest, was pretty shocking. “Yeah! C'mon guys!” Rainbow Dash swooped down. “Last push and we're there!” “You know, I am rather impressed with your energy reserves Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said as she got up to keep moving again. “Hah! If I can't handle a day of leisurely flying I'm gonna make a pretty lame Wonderbolt!” Rainbow boasted as she weaved in the air above them. “We can eat my cookies when we get to the water!” Pinkie said as she bounced happily after them. Apparently the day's walk didn't have much effect on her either, despite her whining. “Good idea, Pinkie Pie.” Discord commented nonchalantly. “Let's get there first, ok?” Fluttershy said gently, slowing in pace beside him. “It won't be much longer. Twilight knows what she's doing.” Discord mumbled something but didn't say anything out loud. Twilight sighed to herself. It was better than more whining, she supposed. They moved onwards and after a while they heard the sound of rushing water somewhere in the near distance. “Finally!” Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she broke into a trot. “Almost there guys! Rainbow Falls is just up ahead!” “Thank goodness,” Rarity smiled, following suit. “It's almost dark.” “It's 'cause the clouds rolled in.” Applejack said as she turned to peer at the sky through the trees. “Ya sure about what the weather team said, Dash?” “Of course I'm sure!” Rainbow Dash scoffed at her. “The Canterlot weather team is the highest ranked weather team in all Equestria! They've been handling the weather around these parts longer than Ponyville's existed! They know what they're doing, don't worry!” “I would still prefer if we can get to the waterfall before it gets completely dark.” Rairty repeated. “Me too!” Twilight nodded. “I wanna see the waterfall in the light.” She turned to talk to the others over her shoulder as she trotted. “Did you know Rainbow Falls is one of the very few waterfalls in Equestria that actually has real rainbows in it? They say that somewhere in the Canterlot Mountains where the peaks go over the cloud-cover, rainbows spill out from the clouds and get mixed in with the water. Even this far down you can still see the different colours when the water rushes fast enough! I read all about it last night when I was planning our route!” “That sounds nice.” Fluttershy said politely. “I can smell the stream. We ain't far now.” Applejack commented. Sure enough, after passing a line of willows they came upon the waterfall in question. The waterfall itself wasn't really spectacularly high, maybe the same height as a two story house. The water cascaded down large granite boulders, its path marked black on the grey stone as it showered down into a sizeable pool before running off again through the trees. Even this late in the evening they could see a few insects buzz around its surface. Every now and then a swift would torpedo down from one of the trees to catch its supper before disappearing into the darkening woods. “Yay! We're here!” Pinkie cheered as she broke into a run and jumped into the ankle deep water at the pool's edge. “Ahhhhh...” She sighed. “Wait for me, darling!” Rarity trotted over, eager to soak her own hooves in the cool water. “Don't go too deep, you two!” Applejack called as she and Twilight removed their saddlebags. “Ya'll don't know if there's anythin' in that water!” “Aw, I'm sure they'll be fine.” Twilight smiled, her mood having brightened considerably. “Do you know how to get a fire started, Applejack?” “Sure do!” She smiled proudly. “We'll need some wood though. Ya think you and Rainbow Dash can handle that, Fluttershy?” “Huh? Oh, yes.” Fluttershy smiled. “A fire sounds nice.” “Too bad we don't have any marshmallows, huh?” Rainbow said as she landed beside her fellow pegasus. “We got cookies though!” Pinkie called from the pool. “I guess that's better than nothing.” Twilight giggled. “Discord, do you want to help us find some firewood?” Fluttershy asked, turning to him. She blinked when she noticed he was looking at the waterfall with a strange expression. There was a light frown on his face as he seemed to be concentrating on something. It didn't look natural on him. “Discord?” In an instant the spell broke as he turned to her, breaking into a smile. “Looking in a forest for wood? Do you think we'll find any??” She gave a laugh but it was a little half-hearted. “Get it together chuckle-head,” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she trotted past in the direction of the trees, “Else we're gonna be cold tonight!” “Oh, well, we wouldn't want the great Wonderbolt to be cold now, would we?” Discord mocked, but he followed her all the same. “I do hope you're not too disappointed though, Twilight Sparkle.” “Huh?” Twilight looked up from her bag. She'd been pulling out her snack reserves along with her travel blanket. “Weeeell...” He drew out the word, a curved smile on his face. “I knew how much you were looking forward to seeing the rainbow in the falls. Bad luck isn't it?” “What are you talking about?” She gave him a hard frown. “What bad luck is-” she stopped when she turned to give the waterfall a second look. She'd only given it a passing glance when they got there, and in the fading light hadn't really paid much attention to the details, but giving it proper attention now she noticed that things weren't right. The waterfall ran healthily over the rocks and threw up a thick spray as it hit the bottom, as all normal waterfalls did. But that was all. In the white water pouring down and in the dark pool it ran into there wasn't a single trace of colour out of place. There was no rainbow sheen, nothing that made it different to any other waterfall. “...That can't be right.” Twilight frowned as she trotted closer to get a better look. “There's suppose to be a rainbow in the water.” “Maybe it's too dark to see it?” Applejack said as she unrolled her blanket. Twilight gave her head a hard shake. “No no no! It's not like a normal waterfall's rainbow! It's the water itself that's suppose to be different colours!” “Are you sure we have the right place?” Rarity asked from her spot on the water's edge. “I'm positive!” Twilight said as she trotted back to her bag and pulled out her map. “I've been following the route just like I planned it! There aren't even any other waterfalls in this forest!” “Maybe it's new?” Pinkie smiled, trotting over. “Waterfalls don't just come out of nowhere, Pinkie.” She said, not looking up from her map. “I beg to differ.” Discord said, watching the scene in front of him with amusement. “However our fearless leader is right. This is Rainbow Falls.” “So where's the rainbow, smart guy?” Dash shot him a frown. Discord gave a shrug. “Don't look at me! I don't have any real powers at the moment, remember?” “Powers...” Twilight looked up from her map and back at the waterfall. There was a short pause before Applejack walked closer to her. “Whatcha thinkin' Twilight?” Twilight frowned as she rolled up her map, still staring at the water. “I think this magic problem is getting worse.” “It broke the rainbow?” Pinkie asked. “Yeah. Yeah I think it did.” Twilight said. There was another pause. “Well.... hey! It's not so bad!” Rainbow Dash eventually broke the silence, giving Twilight a sideways smile. “That's why we're gonna fix it right? Besides, it's just a rainbow in some water. It's not something that's gonna hurt anypony.” “Yeah,” Twilight gave her a halfhearted smile in response, “I guess you're right.” The moment was disrupted when something in the willows started to rustle, soon followed by the other trees and shrubs shaking. The surface of the pond threw up small ripples as its surface became unsettled. Within a few seconds the entire area shook with the low hiss of rain. “Maybe the missin' rainbow won't, but that will!” Applejack said, pushing her hat down tighter. “Huh? But that ain't right!” Rainbow Dash said, turning her eyes upward. “There's not suppose to be any rain for another two weeks! The weather team said!” There was a flash and after a moment or so thunder rumbled loudly over their heads. Rarity immediately pulled her hooves out from the pond and ran to the rest of the group, pulling Applejack's hat off her head and pinning it down over her own mane. The rain grew harder, turning from a decent shower into an absolute torrent. Fluttershy whimpered as another flash lit up the sky. “Quite a nice display. It's been far too long since I've seen some proper rain.” Discord commented, grinning happily to himself as he strolled to Fluttershy, arching himself over her like a bridge. “I'm telling ya, this isn't suppose to happen!” Rainbow Dash insisted. “Well, if it's suppose to or not, it's happening.” Twilight said, quickly scooping up the hooffull of things she'd unpacked and stuffing them back in her bag. “We gotta get away from the water and find somewhere to hide until it blows over!” The group grabbed their belongings and quickly ran back into the cover of the trees, the rain tormenting them the entire way. “Where exactly are we going?” Applejack called as they trotted. “We have to take shelter,” Twilight called back. “Rarity, can you try and detect somewhere with a large concentration of gems?” “Whatever for?” “Well if there's gems there's probably a cave or something too right?” “Twilight, I haven't been able to find anything for days now! You know that!” Rarity replied in dismay. “We're looking for a cave? I know where there's a cave!” Pinkie yelled happily, bouncing from puddle to puddle as they ran. “Huh? Where?” Twilight slid to a stop to turn to her. “Uhmmm....” Pinkie rubbed her chin, looking around the area before pointing a hoof. “This way! It was this way!” “Alright everypony! Follow Pinkie!” Twilight yelled as the changed direction. “Discord, c'mon!” “Oh alright.” Discord rolled his eyes as he picked up the pace. He'd been watching the lightning, applauding it every time a bolt struck ground somewhere in the distance or made a deafening bang, scaring everypony else out of their wits. “You sure ya know where you're going Pinkie?” Applejack asked as she ran to keep up with her. “Yup! You'll see!” Pinkie insisted. She wasn't wrong either. After a brisk run she led them right to what looked like a pretty decently sized cave. Its mouth was perfectly round, jutting out from a rock face where the forest met the foot of the Canterlot mountains. Its sides were cut straight into the rock, the entranceway slanted to prevent rain from pouring in. The group ran inside, standing away from the door to prevent the spray and wind from hitting them. Various complaints and moans were muttered whilst each pony wrung out their mane and tail, wiped their faces clear or, in Pinkie's case, shook themselves dry. “Ok, we're all here, right?” Twilight looked over the group which gave a nod in return. “And I was worried this night'd be boring.” Discord grinned as he stood beside Rarity who was fussing over her mane. As soon as he was sure she was getting it under control he shook himself, sending a fresh shower of water over her. “Where are we?” Fluttershy asked nervously, looking around what turned out to be a tunnel going deeper into the mountain. “I'm not really sure.” Twilight said, frowning to herself before, reluctantly, turning to Discord. “Hey! You have any idea what this place is?” He pulled his attention away from the distraught Rarity, his grin widening. “Is the great Princess of Equestria really asking for the help and advice of a disreputable person like myself?” “Cut the theatrics and just tell me if you know what this place is.” Twilight brushed him off as she pulled out her map again. “I wasn't expecting to find a cave with actual passages. I was just looking for a rock-hollow of some kind. These formations look kinda weird too.” “Of course, just the fact that you're out of the rain isn't good enough.” He sneered at her. “You have to properly dissect and understand every little piece of something before you're satisfied.” “Please Discord?” Fluttershy interrupted, trotting over to him. He groaned in response as he put a paw over his face, already knowing he wasn't going to be able to reject her. “It might be dangerous if we don't know where we are.” “Fiiiiine.” He grumbled, turning and looking over the area with a bored expression. “I never heard of a cave being around here. It doesn't even really look like one, however it reminds me of those buzzy, changelings' home town. Really unpleasant place I might add. They have no sense of humour in those parts. Even less than ponies.” “Ya mean this is like a hive or somethin'?” Applejack gave a hard frown. “Ain't that bad? A hive for what?” “No idea.” He yawned. “Thanks.” Rainbow Dash muttered darkly from where she sat at the entrance. “It's ok.” Fluttershy said, turning to Twilight. “Whatever made this place probably isn't here anymore or they'd have chased us away by now.” “Are you sure Fluttershy? As in.. absolutely sure?” Rarity asked with a shudder, giving paranoid glances back and forth. “What if they're just hiding? What if they decide to attack us when we don't expect it? With legs and wings and feelers OH! I don't even want to think about it!” “It's either that or the storm.” Applejack commented, turning to look back out at it again. “We're really between a rock and a hard place ain't we?” “No, they'd have come to see what all the noise we're making is.” Fluttershy said confidently. “I think it'll be ok if we stay here for a while.” “Well, ok.” Twilight nodded as she put away her map again. “If you say so Fluttershy, it's probably true.” She slung her saddlebags on her back again. “I think we should go deeper into this thing and away from this door or we're all gonna get sick. If it's a hive there's probably a turn up ahead somewhere. We can bunk down there so we're out of the wind and wait for it to stop raining.” “Well, if you're sure there ain't any bugs in this place.” Applejack nodded. “Please don't say 'bugs'.” Rarity shivered as she trotted after Twilight. “My nerves can only stand so much in one day!” “What kinda hive is this, huh Fluttershy?” Pinkie smiled widely. “It's pretty big! Is it for something giant? Are there giant things that live in hives?” “I don't really know much about the hives that aren't bees.” Fluttershy admitted as they all made their way deeper down the tunnel. “Oh, I suspect it was made by antlions.” Discord interrupted as he pushed himself under her and scooped her up to ride on top of his head. “They like digging through straight rock and they like eating ponies. Being so close to Canterlot, they'd have a real buffet if they got hungry enough.” “Oh....” Fluttershy shrank on her perch, looking nervously around them. “Raindow Dash, are you coming?” Rarity asked, coming to a stop as she noticed the pegasus trailing behind. Rainbow was watching the torrent through the hive's entrance as she skulked after the others. She turned back to the front when Rarity spoke to her, glowering to herself. “Yeah yeah...” “Are you alright, darling?” Rarity asked, walking beside her. “I'm fine.” Rainbow said shortly. Rarity blinked at her but took the hint and dropped the issue. After taking the first turn and walking only so far as to be out of the wind, the group settled down for the night. Finally bags could be unpacked, blankets set down and food be passed around as the day's travel was officially behind them. There was no fire since there was nothing resembling wood inside the cavernous hive and the rain refused to let up outside. Luckily the hive itself was dry and due to how it was dug, avoided the draft from outside as best as physically possible. This coupled with each pony's blanket and they could at least avoid catching pneumonia. After Twilight made some changes to her map to mark they way they'd travelled and they'd pretended to listen as she explained tomorrow's plans, they hunkered down. Tired wishes of 'goodnight' floated around the tunnel as each pony pulled their blanket over themselves and curled up. Rarity had also sneaked in her sleep-mask into her luggage, Twilight noticed. Applejack pulled her hat over her eyes and Pinkie sprawled herself out on the floor, using Rainbow Dash as a pillow. Fluttershy curled up, tucking herself in under her own turquoise travel blanket before closing her eyes with a sigh, trying to get some sleep. She was still clammy from the brief run in the rain and tried to keep as much of herself under the blanket as she could. She lay silently for a few minutes, listening as her friends fell asleep one by one. Something shifted and she heard somepony get up and move. A moment later the culprit lay down beside her and she felt it wrap around her. She leaned into it with a small sigh, grateful for the extra heat as she fell asleep. It felt far too early when she was woken up again. At first she wasn't completely sure why she was awake, until Applejack's voice echoed around the tunnel a second time. Discord grumbled irritably and shifted against her as he turned his head in the other direction. “Twilight! Rainbow Dash, wake up! Everypony up!” Her voice was hushed but urgent. The others woke up, some of them complaining sleepily. “What's wrong Applejack?” Twilight blinked at her through her hair. “Will ya'll keep it down!” She hissed at them, effectively shutting them up. They stared at her, waiting to hear what was wrong. Fluttershy prodded Discord's side until he eventually pulled his head up to give her a dirty look before he noticed Applejack standing in the centre of the tunnel, her ears pushed forward as she frowned to herself, listening intently. “Applejack, what is it?” Rainbow Dash whispered when she couldn't take it any more. “There's something in here with us.” She whispered back, her eyes locked on the darkness ahead of them. “Are you sure?” Twilight said with a frown, getting up to stand beside her and follow her gaze. “Positive.” She replied. There was silence again as the group waited and listened, not daring to move. Somewhere, echoing from deeper within the hive, they heard something call. Its voice was a mix of a reptilian hiss and a low rumble. The noise was joined by a slow, rhythmic thump of a heavy mass moving in the darkness. Where it was coming from wasn't clear, but it was getting louder, its step sounding focused and with purpose. “That's no antlion.” Twilight said, backing away. Behind them, booming through the empty tunnels, a thunder strike cracked loudly from outside as the storm raged on.