The Winter Breeze

by Terranaut

Chapter 5: The Spirit of the Sky

The last of Celestia's sun finally slipped below the horizon, and all that illuminated the land was the scarlet glow that served as a hint that there still was a sun. As this happened, two ponies tromped through the thick jungle.

"Are we almost there?" Twilight asked impatiently.

"Yes."

"You've been saying that every time I ask you for the past three hours! How do you even know we're going in the right direction?!"

Direct turned to face her and grinned. "See for yourself!"

Behind him was a large fort, its presence punctuated by the abundance of burning torches at the perimeter. The encampment was encircled by a fence made of vertical logs with sharpened tips placed flush with one another.

Twilight marveled at the structure, not sure whether she was more astonished by the amazing construction that went into building the fort, or the fact that she hadn't spent the past three hours walking in circles.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Twilight gushed.

Direct quickly shushed her, and brought her up against the fence. "Be quiet, Twilight Sparkle. If anyone finds out we're here, the results could be catastrophic for you, me, and your friend."

Twilight nodded, remembering Rainbow was trapped somewhere at this camp. The two of them silently moved along the fence, being mindful to stay among the brush. Direct signaled to halt, as they had reached the front entrance to the fort.

"Now, Twilight. What we're about to do is going to test you on many levels. It's going to be very time-sensitive, and for that reason, you need to be prepared. For this to work, you are going to need to do what I say, when I say it. No questions asked. Got that?"

Twilight nodded. She took note of how calm he was in their current situation.

"Alright. You see those two guards up there?" He gestured towards the two guards commandeering the guard posts at the front gate. "They might appear lazy, but underestimating them just might be the last thing we do. So, we need to create a distraction, and I think I have just the thing. When I give you the signal, sneak behind that hut over there," he explained, pointing to a thatched-roof cottage inside the fort's perimeter. "While you're doing that, I'll be creating a distraction, and when I'm done, I'll meet up with you and we'll execute the next part of the plan."

Twilight wasn't sure whether to be amazed that he had already come up with a plan, or worried that he had the nerve to call winging it a plan.

Direct glanced around him to make sure everything was in place. Without warning, he grabbed one of the torches on the fence and threw it at a tent outside the guard post. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the whole tent was engulfed in fire within seconds. It was time to execute the next step of his plan. Direct waved Twilight towards the hut that they had discussed.

She arrived behind the hut just in time to see a rush of hysteria and panic come pouring out of the burning tent. Several ponies came running out of the enclosure as it slowly deflated in tendrils of fire. Her gaze was torn away from the display when a hoof tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around to meet Direct's warm grin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said stifling a chuckle. "Come on. We need to start checking the huts for your friend before my distraction dies down."

The two ponies rushed stealthily to another hut. Direct shushed Twilight, then began inching up to the edge of the entrance. He slowly peeked in. After giving a few glances around the interior of the hut, he turned back to Twilight and nodded, and they ducked into the hut. The interior was rather simple, with a dirt floor, a few tables, some leather hides hanging from the ceiling, and some straw beds on the ground.

"Let's start searching," Direct suggested, and then began looking around. Twilight looked behind a stack of crates, but Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. Twilight sighed, prepared to leave, until her eye caught a metallic glint buried in the hay on the ground. She shifted the hay around, trying to locate the source of the glint. Finally, she uncovered a small skeleton key. Upon closer examination, a small paper tag revealed itself, boasting the letters DML.

"DML!!!" Twilight shouted with excitement. She couldn't believe her luck.

"What was that, Twilight? Did you find her?" Direct called from the other end of the hut.

"Um... no! I just slipped, that's all," Twilight lied, dropping the key into her saddlebag.

Since their first search yielded no results, aside from the key, Direct suggested searching a larger structure. If Rainbow was being held prisoner, she would probably be held in a more secure building. They traveled to a long, log building. There was still a good deal of commotion at the tent, but some other ponies were running off for help. They were going to need to stay as hidden as possible if they wanted to leave unseen.

The inside of the building was completely unexpected. There were no prison cells or chains. Instead, the building resembled a church more than anything, filled with rows of seats and a large curly insignia on the back wall. The insignia, however was not what caught Twilight's attention.

"Rainbow!!!" Twilight cried. Rainbow Dash's hooves were bound to the insignia, and she was blindfolded.

"Twilight?! Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to hear that voice!" Rainbow said, her voice wobbling a little. Twilight galloped towards her friend, only to be stopped by a tall mare with a fire-orange coat across the room.

"You! I knew you'd stick your nose where it didn't belong!" the mare shouted pointing an accusing hoof at Direct. "And you got some sorry fool to do your bidding, I see," she said, nodding towards Twilight.

"Hey! I'll have you know this was my-" Twilight was interrupted yet again.

For the second time that day, a torch was thrown without warning. A wall of flame came up between Twilight and the fiery mare, and began spreading about the building.

"What the..." Twilight backed away from the flaming mass.

"Twilight! Cut your friend loose and get out of here!" Direct shouted from the other side of the room.

"Direct! What about you?!"

"Don't worry about me! I can take care of myself! After all, I've lived in this jungle for quite some time! Well, we had some good times here, Twilight Sparkle! It was nice knowing ya!" Direct smiled and waved her off. Just then, a flaming wooden strut fell down and separated the two. Twilight pondered the mysterious Direct for a few more moments, before galloping over to Rainbow to free her. She cast a spell that made the ropes holding Rainbow captive disappear in a puff. Rainbow fell to the floor abruptly.

"Ow!" Rainbow squeaked, picking herself up off the wooden planked floor and dusting herself off. Twilight carefully removed the blindfold from Rainbow, then promptly squeezed her into a tight hug.

"Woah, hey, we're alright, everyone's happy, everything's fine... Could you please let go?" Rainbow whined. Twilight giggled, then let go of her friend.

"Alright! Let's blow this apple cart!" Rainbow said, grabbing Twilight by the forehooves and darting out the door and into the sky. Twilight looked back and watched as the fort and the billowing black smoke grew ever smaller as they departed at the speed of sound.

"What was that place?" Twilight wondered out loud.

Rainbow chuckled. "Heh, funny story, that is. Apparently, I'm the Spirit of the Sky. From what I could piece together, those tribal freaks were going to execute me since I'm the 'Spirit of the Sky' and I'm taking away their ability to control the weather... or some garbage like that."

Twilight contemplated Rainbow's story. "Hmm... I'm going to have to look into this 'Spirit of the Sky'. When we get back to the library, I'll see if I have any books on the subject," Twilight determined.

"Sounds like a plan!" Rainbow proclaimed, banking towards the library.

---

~ The Next Morning ~

"Spirit of the Sky... None of my books seem to have any information about this!" Twilight groaned, dumping another book on the tower of books Spike was holding, causing him to stumble. He eventually lost his balance and tumbled to the floor in a heap of books. His annoyed face popped out of the top, a book resting on his head.

"What are you guys trying to find, anyway?" Spike said, kind of annoyed that they were keeping him out of the loop.

"Umm..." Twilight had to think a moment just to recall how this had all started, but in the process, she recalled a vital piece of information.

"Rainbow! I forgot! I have something to show you." She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small key.

"It's alright, I didn't expect an actual answer..." Spike grumbled as he began to gather the books.

"What is that?" Rainbow asked leaning in.

Twilight tossed her the key. "Have a look."

Rainbow turned the key around a bit before noticing the tag. "Hey, DML! Isn't that the password to that door?"

"Yep! And I'll bet my lucky horseshoes that that's the key we need to open that door!"

"Great! Let's go!" Rainbow said, once again scooping up Twilight and jetting out the door.

Spike watched as the door flapped about wildly from the gust of wind. "...and there you go again, off on another adventure... without me..." He returned to solemnly organizing books.

---

~ At the Vault Door ~

The key slid easily into the keyhole. Twilight turned the key expecting something to unlock, but instead, the door split into two parts, which slid left and right into the walls, leaving behind the panel with the three-letter combination and the keyhole for a moment, before retracting into the floor as well.

"What is this place?" Rainbow marveled.

Behind the door was a dimly lit room with metal walls, floor, and ceiling. A wide control panel spanned across the back wall. The control panel was covered in flashing lights of many colors, and lots of levers and buttons. Twilight looked closer at the control panel to see that the buttons and levers were labelled with various cloud, lightning bolt, snowflake, and rain drop symbols.

"Well, judging by these symbols, I'd say it's some kind of weather control station," Twilight guessed.

"...and right you are, Twilight Sparkle," came a voice from the door.

The silhouette of a pony stood in the door, grinning as he twirled the key on one hoof, before placing it in his saddlebag.

"Direct?"

Author's Note:

Hopefully I can get back in the groove as far as updating this story regularly. I need to make a commitment to working on my fics in little bits daily. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Comments

[chrono dash]

[Terranaut]

2507489 Thanks for the comments! It's been a while since I got some of those.

[SimpleAlternative]

Hmm, now where will this take us? +3 moustache points for the cliffhanger