Cloudwalker Chronicles

by krafty

Lesson 13: Seeing or Believing

As the grass gently swayed in the slight breeze, four ponies stood in the middle of the Mountainside school’s courtyard. Two cloudwalkers in the group were in the heat of battle. Their eyes locked and their bodies stiffened as the two engaged in an epic staring contest. Time stopped around them. The only thing that mattered now, was superior concentration and strong eye muscles.

After what seemed like an eternity, the mare cracked a smile. “You’re pretty good, but I think I see your right eye getting tired. You might as well give up right now.” The mare’s scarf started to blow furiously in the breeze, so she wrapped it tighter around herself to keep it from getting in the way.

“Not a chance,” Her stallion opponent quipped, “I can’t be beaten by you. We’ve known each other too long. It’s like we’re rivals.”

Soon, a small crowd of onlookers gathered around them. They whispered in hushed tones to each other. “Who would win?” “I put 5 bits on the blue one.” “This is weird, let’s get out of here.” Some of them left after only a few seconds, but a few stayed to see the outcome.

“What are they doing?” Shadowstorm whispered to Grand Prix who were both watching the spectacle.

“Not sure,” Grand Prix replied, “Looks like a staring contest though.”

“Welp, this is pretty boring. Let’s get going guys.” Shadowstorm spun around, nearly batting Copper Head in the face with his tail.

Spot turned slowly away from the contest, hoping to see who would win. Absentmindedly, she asked, “Where are we going exactly?”

“To my house.” Shadowstorm and Grand Prix responded in unison. After the action had registered in their mind, they both glared at each other.

“When did we decide that we were going to Shade Manor? That decrepit old house doesn’t even deserve to be a royal residence.”

“If we’re spending half the day at your place, then it’ll be dark by the time we head to my house. Do you really want to walk through the woods in the dark?”

“Not really,” Grand Prix hesitated for a moment to contemplate Shadowstorm’s argument. “Fine, we’ll go to Shade Manor first.”

“You too mentioned something about a ‘Royal Residence’?” Spot chimed in, “What is that exactly?”

“C’mon I’ll explain on the way.” Shadowstorm motioned for the others to follow. The four walked away from the gathering of ponies and towards the exit of the school grounds. “Alright. So. A royal residence in Cloudwalker Kingdom is sort of like. Well it’s sort of like.” Shadowstorm thought carefully over his words staring up into the sky as if the answer would be written in the clouds. “Well, I really don’t know how to explain it.” He finally admitted.

“I can explain it better,” Grand Prix interrupted, bumping into Shadowstorm. “The royal residences of Cloudwalker Kingdom are a lot like… wow. It really is hard to explain!” Grand Prix laughed at herself. “A very long time ago,” she started to chose her words more carefully, thinking through her sentences before speaking them. “The king owned multiple residences; not just the castle at the top of the mountain.” The castle she was referring to was actually in sight. The four ponies were walking down a narrow mountain road that was very open and offered a good view. At the top of the largest peak, one could spy the spires of that majestic marble-like castle that blended in so well with the snow.

“Then during the reign of one king, the great hero Scar, saved the kingdom from a griffin army almost by herself. This was one of the first heros in Cloudwalker history, so the king was hard pressed to find a suitable reward for her. After much debate, the king finally decided to give her one of the royal residences. I believe the one given to her was… Gemhold?” She looked to Shadowstorm for confirmation.

“Pretty sure.” He replied, “Honestly, you probably know more than me.”

Copper Head, who was unusually quiet up to this point, asked, “Where do you two come in? Are you related to one of these… heros?”

“Why would you think otherwise?!?” Shadowstorm said while feigning injury. “My great great great great great grandpa Featherstorm was amazing! He brought life-saving medicine to an isolated city during a blizzard AND a hurricane!”

“Woah! That does sound very impressive. What about your family Grand Prix?”

“My family is kind of… a special case.”

Shadowstorm snickered, “Yeah, no real heroes in her family.”

Grand Prix smacked Shadowstorm upside the head before continuing, “My great great grandmother started the Cloudwalker Grand Prix, the biggest racing event for the Cloudwalker Kingdom. Our family is the newest to join the royal families, and many of the other families don’t think that we should be royals at all.”

“Those meanies!” Spot said with a large frown, “You can be royal if you want to, Grand Prix!”

“Haha! Thanks Spot,” Grand Prix sighed, “It really doesn’t matter to me. I think my family is great either way.”

The group fell silent. The rest of the way, Spot and Copper Head enjoyed the sights while Shadowstorm and Grand Prix took turns explaining what they were. It was hard for the two non-Cloudwalkers to comprehend a Cloudwalker Kingdom outside of the walls of the school. Of course it had to exist, but they had never actually seen it. This off-week was turning out to be more of a learning experience than class itself. Most of the shops and residences were built into the side of the mountain itself, although there were plenty of plateaus sprawling with buildings of all shapes and sizes. There were the usual things that you would find in any city of reputable size. Horseshoe-makers, clothing stores, restaurants, repair shops, pawn shops, and even music stores. On the way to Shade Manor, the four stopped by a candy shop that specialized in rock candy, the grade school that Shadowstorm and Grand Prix grew up in, and a dog park that surprisingly had more diamond dogs wandering about than domestic dogs.

Around midday, the four finally found their way to the treeline of the mountain range. Tall, majestic trees stood in such a neat rank and file that their presence was almost overbearing. It was like staring down a giant wooden army. As they made their way through the lines of trees, their surroundings changed drastically. The sky almost disappeared under the canopy of foliage and the seemingly omnipresent breeze ceased, as if those were the two things that the army of trees were meant to protect against.

“This place is amazing!” Copper Head said aloud. He was completely entranced by this new atmosphere that the forest imposed on those who entered. “It feels a lot like home.”

“No kidding?” Shadowstorm said with a smile, “A lot of the earth ponies that live in Cloudwalker Kingdom live here. I guess they are drawn to these kinds of places. Most cloudwalkers like to live out in the open on clouds and mountainsides, but I prefer this place to any of that.”

“I always thought Cloudwalker Kingdom had mostly, well, cloudwalkers. I only noticed a handful of different species back on the mountain.”

“That's because the other species sort of segregate themselves.” Grand Prix responded. “Pegasi like to live in the cloud formations far from the mountain, earth ponies like to live near the forests, unicorns and zebra seem to like the towns. The only other non-cloudwalkers I can think of that like the mountain tops like we do are griffins, although they prefer the snowier peaks.”

Spot rubbed her head in thought, trying to remember something, “How did they all get here? Most of the ponies I knew have never heard of Cloudwalker Kingdom. Even the extensive books in the libraries of Neigh Jing have no references to this place.” Spot continued to think, but eventually gave up the thought, “Can either of you explain that?”

“Sure, can.” Grand Prix replied, “It all started with the cloudwalker’s relationship with the griffins. Cloudwalker Kingdom has had a long history of being at war with the griffin kingdom. At the end of the last griffin war which was a hundred or so years ago, Queen Kindred and her best scholars did their best to think of a solution to end the bloodshed. The solution they came up with was to erase any traces of the Cloudwalker Kingdom from the memories of all the griffins. That way, they would forget all past animosity they harbored against us. Their plan worked, but many years later, the queen decided to take the spell one step further. With further testing, they were able to erase knowledge of our kind from the entire world. Not even written materials were immune from the effects.”

“Wow, a spell that erases memories.” Spot started calculating something in her head, “The amount of magic needed to erase the memory of one creature is substantial, but to erase the memory of the entire world? It's almost unfathomable... How did they accomplish that? Especially since, from what I've noticed, Cloudwalkers can only perform specific spells and those spells aren't nearly powerful enough to bring about what you claim.”

Grand Prix shrugged, “Beats me. I know there are ways to cast spells without having magic yourself. Maybe they used an artifact?”

“That still doesn't explain how all of the other races got here.” Copper Head interrupted, “How long has Cloudwalker Kingdom been kidnapping ponies?!” His words came off a little too harsh, which startled Grand Prix and caused Shadowstorm to furrow his brow.

“Hey, we didn't do anything!” Shadowstorm growled as he got up in Copper Head's face, “You would have to take that up with the dead bastard King Koal!”

“Hey! Settle down!” Spot intervened using her magic to pull Shadowstorm away from Copper Head, “Who is King Koal? And why do you speak about him so harshly?”

Shadowstorm breathed heavily and sighed, speaking only after he had calmed down, “King Koal is probably the worst king in cloudwalker history. He was cruel, greedy, shallow, fat, the list goes on!”

Grand Prix patted Shadowstorm on the shoulder, “Maybe I should take it from here.” Shadowstorm nodded without looking at her. He became sullen and unwilling to talk for quite some time afterwards. “King Koal,” Grand Prix continued as they walked between the trees, “like Shadowstorm said, was indeed probably the worst king in cloudwalker history. He was the one who started the trend of kidnapping from other kingdoms. His reasoning was that the cloudwalkers were superior to everypony else and that cloudwalkers were above doing such menial tasks as disposing of garbage, maintaining the gardens and cloud formations, etc.”

“So he kidnapped others to do those things?” Copper Head said after he started to catch on.

“Right, but there were mixed feelings about this. Most of the royalty and some others were ecstatic, but the rest of the population was appalled. Riots started and eventually a civil war broke out between the factions that were with and against the policy. Koal won however, and that's why... well I'm not sure if I should say.”

“I'll tell them.” Shadowstorm who had been in the front, had been able to hide his face, but as he turned to talk they could tell he had been crying. “W-when he defeated those who opposed him, h-he publicly decapitated my father. I had to watch him die! When I was just a kid too! I've had nightmares about it ever since that day.” Spot audibly gasped and Grand Prix shook her head.

“Wait, so that means this didn't happen that long ago?”

“Right,” Grand Prix replied for Shadowstorm who had become silent again. “He's King Krafty and our former king, Kindle's father. He was known for his greed and insatiable lust. Kindle and Krafty actually have different mothers. No one knows who Kindle's mother was, but many think she was a unicorn slave since Kindle was a cloudwalker alicorn.”

Copper Head fell silent. He thought of Soul Glow, the other cloudwalker alicorn, and decided whether or not to say anything about it. Spot was still terrified that Shadowstorm had to watch his own father die, so she kept her mouth shut.

Noticing the two's silence, Grand Prix smiled lightly, “It's a touchy subject for us cloudwalkers so it must be for you as well, huh?” She motioned with her head to Shadowstorm who was still silently leading the group, “We should probably change the subject.”

They rest of the way was filled with silence as the dread and awkwardness of the previous conversation soaked into their minds. As Copper Head and Spot became more aware of their surroundings, they noticed that what Grand Prix said earlier about the forest's inhabitants were true. There was a noticeable increase in the number of earth ponies in the area. Copper Head could have easily forgotten that they weren't in Equestria, but the occasional cloudwalker broke the illusion.

The group found themselves nearing a clearing where the dense forest was either cleared out or refused to grow. In the middle of that clearing, stood an enormous mansion. The house was made of an impossibly dark wood that was oddly unnatural. It wasn't made from the trees that grew in the forest around it as the wood from those trees was considerably lighter. The way that the plant life gave the house a wide berth also indicated something was different about it, as if the trees would catch some incurable disease if they grew too close to it. The only thing that grew between the forests and the house was sickly, brown grass.

The style of the house was old Equestrian, perhaps a strange homage to a past when Cloudwalker Kingdom wasn't isolated. The mansion was dotted with windows on all sides and one very large window took up space right next to the porch. As they neared the house, they could notice roots growing out of the house. They gave off a dark pulse that was eerily similar to the dark wood of the house. On the porch stood a stoic earth pony, who looked like he was waiting for them to arrive. He broke his statue-like appearance when Shadowstorm stepped onto the first step of the porch.

“Welcome home, master Shadowstorm. It has been quite a while since I have seen the young master.” The earth pony barely moved his mouth which, along with his grey coat and mane, kept up his monolithic appearance. “Do you require assistance?”

“No thanks, Stonewall. I was just going to show my friends around the old stomping ground.” 'Stonewall', this pony was definitely an animated statue.

“Ah, f-friends.” The word seemed foreign to him. He muttered them almost with confusion. He turned and eyed the three other ponies. “I see the young miss Grand Prix is among them. Have you considered my suggestion to marry the young mistress?”

Grand Prix and Shadowstorm blushed simultaneously. “No Stonewall!” Shadowstorm blurted, “I mean I have... Just, ugh!” Shadowstorm rushed past Stonewall into the house.

Stonewall turned to the others and winked, “It is almost too easy to embarrass the young master. You all have fun, oh and miss Grand Prix? Please tell Shadowstorm his sister has decided to stay the day here as well, and would be delighted to see him.”

Shadowstorm led the others inside. Unfortunately, it was incredibly dark and Copper Head and Spot found it hard to follow the two Cloudwalkers. “Um, Shadowstorm? What's going on?” Copper Head called out to the darkness. He could feel Spot press against his side. “We can't see a thing!”

“Oh, sorry about that.” Shadowstorm replied with a laugh. “I forgot you guys can't see in here yet. Let me just find the stuff real quick.” The two stood completely still, unable to move in fear of the complete dark. They heard somepony walk past them and open a door to their right. After some rustling, the door was closed and Shadowstorm's voice return, “Here, eat these.”

Something was placed close to Copper Head's face. He gingerly took it and bit a piece off of it. He almost gagged from the incredibly bitter, dry taste. He didn't finish the rest of whatever it was, opting to drop it on the floor instead. A small squeak from beside him confirmed that Spot was given the same substance.

Shadowstorm laughed at their plight, “That's everypony's reaction the first time they eat it! Don't worry, you don't have to eat anymore if you don't want to.”

Spot stuck her tongue out as if maybe the air would get that horrid taste out of her mouth. “What was that nasty stuff?”

“A piece of the bark from the same type of tree that this house was built with. It'll let you see while you're inside.”

True to his word, both Spot and Copper Head slowly regained their sight. However, there was still no light, instead, everything was illuminated by strange pulsating veins that ran along the walls. It was sort of like a black light.

“Cloudwalkers have the weirdest stuff.” Copper Head commented. He was beginning to feel that this land was trying its best to be the strangest it could be.

After regaining their vision, Copper Head and Spot found themselves in a large entryway with several doors along the perimeter and a staircase straight ahead. “Oh, Shadowstorm, Stonewall said your sister was here and that she probably wanted to see you.” Grand Prix moved towards one of the doorways as she spoke, “If I know her, she's probably in the courtyard don't you think?”

“Brainstorm? Sure, she's probably sitting there admiring the flowers.” Shadowstorm, Copper Head, and Spot followed Grand Prix through the doorway she selected. They were met with a regal hallway lined with art that mixed with the ever-present veins flowing in the wall. Some of the art was so integrated with the wall, that it was hard to tell if they were part of the wall or separate. Opposite the art, the wall was populated by windows out into a courtyard. In the center of the courtyard, a mare slightly older than the four was sitting on a bench set next to a fountain. Her gaze was focused on the flowers along the perimeter of the courtyard.

Shadowstorm ran ahead of the others and burst into the courtyard. Shadowstorm's sister was unshaken by the sudden action. As Shadowstorm embraced her, the mare only then seemed to notice his presence. “Shadowstorm...” she whispered, “I did not expect you. This is a pleasant surprise.” The others filed in not soon after. “And you brought Grand Prix, but who is your friend?”

“These are my friends Spot and Copper Head. We met at the Academy.”

“F-friends? I only see one, Shadowstorm.” She turned her head towards Copper Head and Spot. What they saw shocked the two. Brainstorm was a beautiful mare, that was unmistakable, but what was more surprising were her large, glazed-over, white eyes. She was blind. “I do not like to be tricked, Shadowstorm. Now, who is this friend really?”

“Um,” Shadowstorm looked about as confused as his sister. “There really are two other ponies here. Spot and Copper Head. I'm not trying to trick you.”

Brainstorm seemed a little unnerved at this, “Please, Shadowstorm. I thought you grew out of this terrible habit.”

“He's telling the truth.” Grand Prix spoke up, “We can do a little test. Which one can you see?”

Brainstorm pointed to Spot who stepped closer. Spot stared into Brainstorm's lifeless eyes, “How can you see me?” Spot questioned.

“I can see... your life.” Brainstorm sighed, “I do not know how, nor does anypony know.”

“Can you see my aura? Like an auramancer? Or heat like a viper does?”

The blind mare shook her head, “It is not like that. Now please, bring forward this 'other' pony you claim is here.”

Spot reclaimed her previous position as Copper Head stepped in front of Brainstorm. They all grew silent. Copper Head and Brainstorm stared at each other for a minute, making the stallion feel very awkward.

“Well?” Copper Head said to break the silence.

Brainstorm flinched when she heard his voice. “Somepony really is there!” She struck out with her hoof, grabbing hold of Copper Head to solidify his existence. She felt his mane and his face. She lingered for a while, contemplating something in her mind. “No!” She said defiantly. “This is still just a trick!” She got up off the bench in a haste and made a beeline to Shadowstorm. “I don’t know what you did, but I don’t trust it for a second.”

“Believe me sis!” Shadowstorm replied with a bit of heartache in his tone. “I don’t do those things anymore!”

“You’ve always been a bad liar, Shadowstorm.” She sighed heavily, “You’ve gone to great lengths to trick me before. For all I know, you could have bought a mannequin and thrown your voice.” She sidestepped her brother and headed for the door. “Come Spot, I will be glad to show you the rest of the house. Alone.” She added, giving Shadowstorm a mean look.

Spot warily took off after Brainstorm, looking back at the others. “You should probably go too.” Grand Prix suggested to Copper Head. “I don’t know why, but she can’t see you. No one really knows how her magic works, but… just go with them. Spot will definitely be glad you did. Copper Head nodded and took off after the two. They hadn’t gone far, so he was able to find them quickly. Spot had seen him and her whole body seemed less tense now that she knew she wasn’t alone.

They followed Brainstorm through many rooms of the house, each one either decorated differently, or used for some other purpose. She never once mentioned Copper Head or her brother, but constantly droned on about the history of the house and its inhabitants. Spot was completely absorbed in the onslaught of facts and dates, but Brainstorm’s words might as well have been a lullaby to Copper Head. The earth pony constantly slipped in and out of sleep even while standing up or following the two mares.

“How do you know you’re way around the house?” Spot questioned Brainstorm. “Do you remember where everything is?”

“No,” Brainstorm said bluntly, “Shade Manor is a living being. Since it is alive, I can see it.” The blind mare moved to the wall and traced with her hoof one of the pulsating lines snaking its way across the surface. “I can see its life force flowing. In intricate shapes that allow me to navigate it’s walls with ease.”

“A living house, I’ve heard of these things before.” Spot said matter-of-factly, “The most common of these houses are made from the lumber of magic-bearing trees.”

“That is right, this house was made many centuries ago by a tree that has since gone extinct. It was called simply the shade pine in earlier days, but I believe it has a different, more scientific name.” She knocked on the wall before continuing, “This house is the last building built from that wood. Sad really.” The group kept moving. After climbing a flight of stairs, they arrived in a large room with a long table centered in front of a grand fireplace. It looked like the dining room. Paintings of regal ponies lined the room, but the most impressive of the lot was the one that rested above the fireplace. The picture depicted a green stallion battling against a grey, tyrant-looking character. There was quite a bit going on in the painting, but an ominous guillotine shone bright in the background.

“Who is the picture of?” Spot inquired.

“Which one dear? I can see the house, but not the pictures.”

“Oh,” Spot softly replied, “The one above the fireplace. It probably isn’t the best question to ask.”

“It is quite alright, most don’t get used to my ‘slight’ blindness.” She cleared her throat before continuing, “Is it the picture with the green and the grey stallion?”

“It is.”

“Well, that is the picture of my father, Sylvan Frenzy. I’m told it depicts him battling against King Koal. The guillotine he was beheaded on is shown in the background.”

“Wow, your father must have been a really great pony for someone to paint this about him. There’s one thing I’m wondering though. How come he doesn’t have ‘storm’ in his name like the rest of you seem to have?”

“He wasn’t a ‘storm’,” Brainstorm said matter-of-factly, “He was a commoner who won my mother’s heart and married into our family. It’s actually a rather romantic story, I’ll have to tell you sometime.”

“Oh, I would love that!” Spot replied enthusiastically, “I love a good romance!”

Brainstorm smiled, “It’s a deal. Oh.” The entire group turned towards the door as another pony entered the room. It was Angelstorm, Brainstorm and Shadowstorm’s mother.

“Oh,” Angelstorm stopped where she was, surprised, “Why hello, I wasn’t expecting company.” Her eyes surveyed three ponies, before she addressed her daughter, “Brainstorm, i need to talk to you in private for a second.”

“Of course, mother.” Brainstorm obeyed and walked with her mother out of the room.

After a few minutes, Brainstorm returned to the room without her mother. “What was that all about?” Spot asked.

“Mother says you need to leave now.” Brainstorm replied with a straight face. “I cannot tell you why, but don’t worry. It’s not your fault.”

“Aw, we haven’t seen the rest of the house yet.” Spot whined. She was obviously having a better time than Copper Head was.

“I’m terribly sorry, maybe you can come visit another time.” With that, Copper Head and Spot were ushered outside. Not a minute later, Shadowstorm and Grand Prix appeared, prodded along by the butler, Stonewall.

“I’m sorry Master Shadowstorm, but the your mother has informed me that you have to leave as well. I know it is your home too, but I follow her orders.”

“What’s going on?” Shadowstorm demanded, “Why do we have to leave? I’m her son!”

Stonewall looked away from the stallion, “Visitors, master. They are very important. Even I must stand outside the house until they leave.” Stonewall shivered, “It’s supposed to be a cold night tonight.”

Shadowstorm sighed, “Alright. You stay safe Stonewall.”

“Thank you master. Will you be heading back to the school now?”

“Nah, I promised we’d show our friends Grand Prix’s house afterwards.”

“Ah, I’m sure your friends will enjoy the Raceway.”

“Of course they will!” Grand Prix butted in, “Come on guys. Let’s leave this dingy old place behind.” Grand Prix marched off without another word, forcing the others to immediately follow her back into the woods.

Little did they know that they were being watched. From the upper floor of the house, Angelstorm peered out of the window. “Did you really force my son’s teacher to send Shadowstorm to detention?” Angelstorm said with reserved anger to the pony standing next to her.

“I might have,” King Krafty said, “But I assure you, there was no way that I would allow him or Grand Prix to come to any harm.”

“Lies!” Angelstorm abruptly yelled. She checked herself and bowed, “I’m sorry, my King. It’s just, all of your staff has heard of Copper Head’s death. My son could have been caught in the crossfire.”

“Oh? And where might you have heard these rumors from?” King Krafty coolly replied.

“I’m not certain, sire. I must have overheard one of the guards…”

The King eyed her suspiciously, “Of course. However, Copper Head is alive and well; meaning that these rumors are obviously false. Now leave, I will call you in when I am ready to discuss my plans.”

The mare bowed and left quickly. As soon as she left, King Krafty tapped his hoof on the ground. Almost immediately, Skoll and Hati materialized out of the shadows. “Sire.” They said simultaneously while bowing.

“I need Hati to follow those four.” Krafty spun around and looked back out of the window. He could just catch a glimpse of them as they disappeared through the treeline. “Make sure you aren’t seen, and report anything interesting to me.”

“Of course! The very shadows will hide me.” The black wolf took his leave, disappearing back into the shadows.

“And you,” He said referring to Skoll, “The pieces are falling into place. You know what to do.”

“I have waited for this day, sire.” Skoll bowed and exited the same way his brother had.

King Krafty looked back out the window. “Soon enough, the world will wonder how they could ever forget about the Cloudwalker Kingdom.”

Author's Note:

Sorry, for the impossibly long delay :/ Constant re-reading and editing, along with real world issues have kept me from posting this. It is rather longer than my other chapters, so maybe there is some compensation that way. I hope you all enjoy~

Comments

[Aaron2424]

Finally! I can't get over how this is not popular. I swear this story should have been Featured multiple times now.

[krafty]

4762804
It is what it is friend

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