//------------------------------// // Back at Ponyville. // Story: The cage inside. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ____*two weeks later, Ponyville, 10:00 AM*____ Storm sighed as he looked at the town, they had parted ways with Trixie, and Storm's injuries hadn't healed, the headache was gone, but he couldn't use his wing or his left hoof, everyone else had mostly healed up, and had rushed into town, eager to put this behind them. The only one that made Storm sad, was Pinkie Pie, she had absolutely no memory of anything that happened as Pinkamena, no memory of the nightmares, or even the last week before she became Pinkamena, which saddened Storm as he had grown fond of the quiet version of the party mare. Vinyl, the only one who stayed, looked back at her son, who was riding on her back. "Will you be alright?" She asked with concern. Storm nodded wordlessly, he would still remember this, but even Vengeance was quiet, which was bad as he was always talking to Storm. Vinyl sighed and looked at the town and then back at her son. "Storm, I know I don't say this a lot....but I'm sorry." She said genuinely. Storm looked at his mother silently, but he soon spoke. "You have nothing to be sorry for, it wasn't your fault, but thank you." He said before going back to his blank stare. Vinyl started walking down to the town, but as she did, she talked to Storm. "You know how I told you I was moving here?" She asked. "Yea." Storm replied as he blinked. "Well, i have a place in town now, and seeing as you can't fly, i would love to have you there, if your ok with it." Vinyl continued. "Ok." Storm answered calmly. Vinyl watched as she saw Warp confuse a stall vendor with a vanishing act. "You have some strange friends.....if you'd like, I can offer them a place to stay?" She wondered. "Whatever works." Storm answered blankly, clearly lost in thought. Vinyl sighed and soon they found a park bench, she then sat him down on the bench and sat down next to him, he looked down at the ground while she looked at him. "Listen Storm.....I get it, you lost a friend, and that's horrible, but you can't let this keep you down, I know you." She got off the bench and raised his face to look her in the eye. "Your strong.....strongest person I know, and I know you had a crappy hand dealt to you, but you need to make it count." She said calmly. Storm closes his eyes and looked back down at the ground. "I know that." He replied. Vinyl gave Storm a gentle hug, being careful not to touch his wing or hoof. "You'll see, one day, you just might be able to start over, maybe even move on, but not today, and certainly not tomorrow." She raised his head again, and his eyes opened, purple this time. "One day, alright?" She said with a small smile. Storm closed his eyes and Vinyl picked him up again. "M-mom?" He asked, as though he wasn't used to saying the words. "How did you handle it?.....being away from Prowler?" He asked. Vinyl smiled and walked around town. "It's tough with us both traveling so much, but we made a pact you see." She answered. "Pact?" Storm wondered curiously. Vinyl chuckled. "Yep, a pact.....one that kept us both going." She replied. Storm wanted to know more, but for now, he would let it rest. "Ok." She said quietly. ____*later, Sugarcube Corner.*____ Vinyl and Storm sat down together as they waited on their order. "You know I don't have a big sweet tooth, right?" Storm wondered. Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Believe me, something sweet usually helps to keep your mind off things, it might not be good for you, but it's better than being depressed all of the time.....while its good to get those negative thoughts out of your system, it's better to hold off until you are more focused, at least in my experience." She explained. Storm changed his eyes to white for a moment and quickly changed them back. "Still having difficulties?" Vinyl asked. Storm nodded, ever since the temple, he hadn't been able to use any of his powers, and he felt much weaker than when he normally drained himself, In fact, he was drained right now, so when Rainbow Dash walked over and saw Storm grayed out, she was surprised. "What happened to you bud?" She asked. Storm chuckled, seemingly back to his old self for a while. "Got into a bad fight, overdid it, drained myself right out, now I'm a cripple." He replied.....only to get lightly whacked by a magic.....spoon? "What the?" He wondered. Vinyl dispelled the spoon. "Sorry about that, what he actually meant to say was.....he screwed up, and now he's lying to cover it up." She said, going with the ruse. Storm sighed and rubbed his forehead. "That'll do it." He added. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but then her gaze turned to Vinyl. "You look familiar." She said. Vinyl grinned. "Normally I have purple shades, and are playing music." She replied. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened slightly, she put her arm around Storm and whispered. "How did you get to know Dj-Pon3 personally!....it's crazy!" She whispered. Storm chuckled and lowered his voice. "Uh......I'll tell you later In a not so public place." He answered. "Anyway, I hear you two are like siblings, that true?" Vinyl asked. Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yep, for a pretty long time too, oh well, I got to go, see you!" She then walked out. Soon enough, their order was done, and Vinyl was getting up. "Wait here, I'll get our order." She said as she headed to the counter. Storm narrowed his eyes at his mischievous mother. 'As if I could leave.' He thought. "You know, when you two talk, it makes me want to vomit!" Storm heard Vengeance say. Storm closed his eyes. 'Shut up, it's none of your business!' He snapped back. Vinyl soon returned with their order, a couple of muffins for them both, but as they went to leave, Storm couldn't help but wonder something. 'Where are the others?' He wondered. ____*later that day, 12:23 PM.*____ Warp laid back on a hill, simply watching the clouds go by slowly, she chuckled as she remembered the clouds back home. 'Artic clouds, impossible to control or contain, even more so to predict.' She closed her eyes and simply dozed off, content to lay there in the grass. Eventually, she heard footsteps approaching and she opened her eyes and sat up, she looked over at the source of the footsteps and saw Scootaloo in her Pegasus form. "You weren't kidding, you are tiny." She pointed out. Scootaloo sighed and shifted to her tiger form, her arms now crossed. "I just talked with Quartz, she wants to meet you here later around three, that's all I have to say." She said before shifting forms and flying off. Warp blinked and shrugged. "Why not, it'll be better than waiting around doing nothing." She muttered. ____*later that day, 3:00 PM*____ Warp looked around the hill area, it was still populated by people, but even more so now that there were kids out of school, which made her chuckled because Scootaloo technically missed a LOT of school. She walked around more and eventually found Quartz.....and someone who had a near identical appearance, the only reason you could tell the actual difference between them was that Quartz apparently had a haircut, as her hair now barely reached her shoulder. Warp approached and sat down. "Hey Quartz." She greeted. Quartz smiled. "Hey Warp." She replied, she then looked at the other mare. "Fluttershy, this is my best friend Warp, Warp, this is Fluttershy......my daughter." She introduced. Warp reached her hoof out, Fluttershy slowly shook it. "Um...hello." The mare said quietly, Warp blinked. "You know something odd, if you were just an inch taller, you would pretty much be the exact same way that Quartz was when I first met her." She said randomly. The three then got into a long talk, with one shy one, a reckless one, and a semi-patient one, it made for an interesting talk. ____*Later that day, Vinyl's new home, 4:00 PM*____ Storm looked around the house, it was a simple one story house with three rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room, the walls were a light brown, but he didn't mind, thankfully, he was glad to be out of the clouds. He had told Rainbow Dash what his relationship with Vinyl was, and it had taken a full four minutes just to calm her down, he had also explained he would be staying with Vinyl now, and the situation with the wing and hoof, and that he would get his stuff down to Vinyl's when he could. Rainbow had taken it rather well, but warned them about Pinkie, that she would somehow surprise them with a 'welcome to Ponyville' party for Vinyl. Storm couldn't move still but he was still surprised when he saw his old nemesis.......the wheelchair, his eyes twitched as Vengeance laughed. "Why the wheelchair?" He asked. Vinyl looked back at him and picked him up in her magic. "I can't carry you everywhere, and you need a form of transportation until your hoof heals, which in case you forgot.....the Manehattan Doctor told us would not heal for, let's see, Three weeks and two days." She looked triumphantly at Storm. Storm sighed and grumbled as he was placed in the wheelchair. "You have no idea how much grief one of these things caused me and Sift after she had our daughter." He pointed out. Vinyl looked at Storm. "Ok look, the idea of kids being able to work and join the army at the age of ten was pretty unbelievable by itself, add the ability to marry legally at that age?....also unbelievable, but having a kid at that age?....impossible!" She countered. Storm grinned and got settled in. "Strong words from one who's seen proof of it." He teased as he wheeled himself to one of the rooms. Vinyl sighed, if anything was a saving grace, it was that the furniture from one of her other places was already here, so she had that, but she still needed to get a bed for two rooms, all she had was one bed and a cot, which was old and uncomfortable. 'Better if I have the cot, don't need to risk Storm's wing or hoof getting worse.' Sadly, the Manehattan Doctor had been unable to properly examine Storm's wing, so they need to take him to the Ponyville Doctor, unless Storm had some magical cure hidden in his metaphorical pants. Vinyl rubbed her eyes and sat down on the couch, she was just fine until now, as she realized something horrific......she was a parent, and now she would be expected to act like one. "This should be annoying." She muttered. But even though it would be rough, Vinyl still smiled at one thing as she heard Storm complain about wheelchairs. She had a son, she had Prowler, and now she could be there for them, when she couldn't before.