Storm of the Century

by Cavalier753

Chapter Three: Books and Breakouts

I came back to my senses as I was being hauled into a room that was very familiar to me. I was lying on the back of another pony, my jacket rubbing on their polished, shining, silver armor. I recognized the room I was now in instantly. I had spent much time here during my life at the Academy. I was surrounded by massive bookshelves practically over-flowing with books. I was in the library. Beside the guard carrying me were two other guards. I tried to see where I was being taken, but a swift smack to the snout by ugly guard #1 kept my curiosity in check. After a few more seconds of being jounced around on the back of ugly #2, I was dropped rudely to the floor via ugly #2 shrugging me off. I hit the floor, but the landing jostled my senses back in place, so I could at least make better sense of what was going on. Right, library. Check. Angry guards, check. Escape attempt foiled? Check. Now, compiling all those facts together leaves me with... Uh oh.

"Ah, A2-753, how kind of you to join us."

Aw buck.

"Maelstrom, you didn't really think you would be able to just leave, did you?" the Principal asked. "After all, why would you want to leave? This is your home, the only place you've ever known. What in Equestria would make you want to leave us so badly?"

"You know damn well why," I spat back, glaring at the guards on either side of me. They didn't even give me the courtesy of glaring back, merely grunting ambiguously.

"Actually, I don't. You've never tried to leave before, why would you now?" she asked, not even looking at me. The Principal stared out the window, her attention drawn off to something in the distance. Nothing made me angrier than when people ignored me when I was talking to them. I intended on letting her know that. I lifted a hoof to take a step towards her, but ugly #3 took the chance to give me a good smack across the face with the butt of her spear. The Principal shot the guard mare a venomous look. "There's no need for that." The guard looked as if she was the one who had just taken the butt of a spear to the face. I stepped forward to stand next to the Principal at the window. I started drawing upon the ley lines of magic that connected everything, and channeling them into myself. If I could just get close enough, I might have a chance... "Is it because of your little pegasus friend?"

My heart stopped. She knew about Aurelia? Of course she knew about Aurelia, she knew about everything else.

"No, it's not," I replied blankly, not betraying any emotion.

"Oh, don't play coy with me, Maelstrom. I know everything you're up to, how else do you think I knew of your little escape attempt? I've got eyes everywhere, my little unicorn friend. There's no hiding from me."

"Even so, she's not the reason I was trying to esc- leave."

"Oh, what then?" I smiled gruesomely.

"Besides wanting to get out of this prison, I was looking for an excuse to do this." I then released almost all of the mana I was storing, focusing it into a bubble-like shockwave, propelling everyone else in the room back about twenty feet. The blast somehow shredded the cyan gown I was wearing to bits, but my jacket was surprisingly intact. I looked over to where the Principal was sprawled on the ground and shot her a smile that probably didn't look friendly at all, and turned my attention to the large window overlooking the entrance. I could practically hear the Principal's eyes widen as she realized what I was doing.

"Stop him! Stop him before he-"

Too late. I focused a portion of mana I had stored, directly into my horn, willing the pure energy into a particular shape. I lowered my head so that my horn was aimed directly at the window, and released the pent-up energy. A blue laser shot out of my horn and through the glass, shattering it, and continued directly into a billboard in the distance, burning a hole straight through it. I didn't hesitate for the life of me. I jumped out the destroyed window, landing five feet down onto the lush grass. I ran full speed for the front gate.

"Stop him, somepony stop him!" I heard the Principal yelling behind me. I turned my head back to see the three guards with her raise their spears to throw. I focused more magic into forming a shield around me, hoping that I had studied enough to make it trustworthy in deflecting a spear. In a fraction of a second, my shield popped into place, and not a moment too soon, as I looked back and saw a pair of spears bouncing off the hardened shell I had created. I turned back to face the on-coming gate manned by two guards, when I remembered my saddlebags. Surely enough, when I turned my gaze over to where I had dropped them, they were right there, waiting for me to retrieve them. I didn't have the time to run over and grab the two bags, so I used my teleportation spell to get the saddlebags onto my back.

Frankly, at this point, I was more tired than I had been in my entire life. The constant use of magic in the short expanse of time when I had little to no practice had drained me of almost all my energy. I had about enough for one more spell, but that was it. If I tried to do anymore than that, I would probably pass out from the exertion. Unfortunately, I would have to use that last spell right now. The two guards blocking the entrance had spotted me and were brandishing their spears. I dropped my shield in anticipation for the next thing I was about to do. I charged what was left of my stored mana and released another blast from my horn, but this one was more spread out and was designed to merely incapacitate, not wound. The two guarding the gate were thrown backwards into the street, opening the gate for me at the same time. I ran by them, swiftly checking to see if they were alright. They were fine, just unconscious. The most they'd have when they woke up would be bruised egos.

I galloped full steam away from that stinking pit of a school.

My first order of business was to find a safe place to wait until seven 'o clock, at which time I would make my way to Pony Joe's, where I would be meeting with Aurelia. After a few minutes of walking around the streets of Canterlot (my hood up obviously, to hide my horn from view), Ifound a quaint little bookstore, titled simply, "Bookworm's Books." I walked in quietly, the only sound made from my entrance was the sound of a bell ringing as I opened the door. The inside of the small store was rather cozy. The wood flooring mixed with the lit fireplace and crowded bookshelves made for a rather peaceful setting. I always liked books, despite what you may have heard of me. Books were a way of learning about anything and everything, and all you had to do were read the words on a page. I love to learn, but I hate being taught, if that makes any sense. Books were my way of learning everything I needed to know, but without the incessant screeching of a teacher. This is why I always took comfort in the library. In there, I always felt more at home than anywhere else on the campus, even in my own room. As I slowly cantered into the lovely bookstore, a small earth pony with a brown coat, scraggly red mane, and a pair of glasses stepped up to the large circular desk in the middle of the room. I shot a glance over at her and smiled politely. She smiled back.

"Hello there, I'm Bookworm, as I'm sure you already know. Welcome to my bookstore! Is there anything at all I can help you with?" she asked nicely.

"I suppose," I answered quietly. "I'm trying to find a book to pass the time with. If you wouldn't mind, could you point me to your fantasy section?"

Her ears perked up significantly at hearing this. I knew I had hit a soft spot. "Oh, of course! Right this way mr...."

"Snowdrift," I lied. "It's Snowdrift."

"Right this way mr. Snowdrift. I'm sure we can find you something to your liking," she said, leading me into the back-end of the bookstore. We stopped at a small section that looked as if no one had touched it in ages. Almost everything was coated in a fine layer of dust, and in the few spaces between some of the books were cobwebs that looked as if the spiders that made them had abandoned them a decade ago. I looked over to Bookworm to ask why this was, but she seemed to have read my mind. "Nopony really seems to like the fantasy section much," she said sadly. Her ears drooped a little at this. "Everytime somepony walks in, they never ask for the fantasy or science-fiction section, it's always 'where is your gardening section?' or 'do you know where I can find the fashion books?', and one pony even told me that they had heard Princess Celestia had once visited here, and when I told them no, they just left without even getting a book! You're actually the first pony in seven years to request a book from this section."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that Bookworm," I said, trying to console her. "Where I'm from, the fantasy section in my local library is my favorite. I never go there without paying a visit to that portion of it." This was actually the truth. I always did like to go to the fantasy section of the library at the school, which was why I had asked Bookworm to show me to this particular section.

"Oh really? That's great! Do you have a favorite book? Perhaps I have it in stock!"

And that's how I ended up spending my afternoon talking to Bookworm by the fireplace about the intricacies of a dragon's mind, or the mysterious nature of Starswirl the Bearded. Before I knew it, it was already 7:00, and I told Bookworm that I really needed to go. I bought a copy of the Elements of Harmony: a History, and gave Bookworm a fond farewell. It was time to go meet with Aurelia.

And it was time to meet with destiny.

AN: Yeah, sorry, this is a bit short for a chapter. But to make it up to you, the next one is going to be twice as long. I just needed to use this chapter as a quick go-between for the school and starting the main adventure. Seriously, the next one will be great. I hope. But yeah, sorry for the short chapter this time around.

Comments

[Brony1997]

great chapter can't wait till the next one comes out keep up the good work!