Entry number eight
I think it's been a month since my last entry now. Things seem to have balanced out a bit.
Tornado got used to his new wing.
The Storm Wings returned to their usual work and I think I worried about nothing regarding Mystic.
Him joining the Storm Wings in return for helping Tornado fly again was a little strange and since he was a Unicorn, traveling through Equestria and helping us with missions was a little hard due to the lack of wings. We decided to let him stay in the fortress to let him help with organizing or accepting the missions. This way he would always be close to me so that I can keep a close look on him. He did do a pretty decent job so far and he also hasn't done anything suspicious so maybe my first impression was wrong.
But enough about him...
Even though Tornado has a new wing and is able to fly again, I could tell that flying with this thing on his back must have been pretty exhausting. The materials that Tinker used for it must have been really heavy, making flying probably a little awkward with one wing being heavier than the other. But Tornado doesn't show any exhaustion.
Of course, he doesn't.
He may look fragile and weak from the outside but deep down, he is probably stronger than anypony else.
However, I decided I would not send my brothers to any missions anymore for a while. The last mission they were sent to was when Tornado lost his wing after all...
I couldn't let them go, risking that something like that happens again...especially since both of them have something that could get them in trouble.
Hurricane had his sickness and Tornado his wing.
When I was in danger. Hurricane's sickness appeared and put him in danger.
And flying was way too exhausting after a while for Tornado, making the risk that he could fall from the sky raise with every second.
Letting them stay inside of the fortress was the perfect solution.
While Hurricane didn't seem to bother too much about it, Tornado Wing confronted me on this matter several times and wasn't happy at all.
This eventually drove him to do something really unexpected.
A change...
I don't know where this change came from all of this sudden but...
It's hard to explain...and I don't know how to feel about it.
Cyclone Wing and Tornado Wing had another conversation about Cyclone Wing keeping his brothers inside of the fortress most of the time. This became a recurring matter recently. Tornado Wing would complain about him staying inside the fortress while Cyclone Wing would not allow it out of worry. Unfortunately, the conversation would always end with both of them being upset.
“What is the point of me having a new wing if I can't use it!?” Tornado Wing exclaimed frustrated.
“I just don't want something like this to happen again...” Cyclone Wing replied with a frown on his face, making his brother understand that he is only worried about his safety.
“It won't!“ Tornado Wing returned stomping his hoof on the ground angrily.
“How can you be so sure!?” Cyclone Wing replied, returning his little brother's anger with some anger himself.
Tornado Wing didn't know what to reply to this, mainly because he noticed some frustration in his brother's voice. Cyclone Wing looked at his little brother, feeling bad for his outburst but no taking it back. Both of them knew how the other one felt but they couldn't come to a solution that would both satisfy them so Tornado Wing dropped the conversation and left.
“I'm in our room...” Tornado Wing before he walked away from his big brother who could only release a frustrated and apologizing sigh.
Tornado Wing returned to his and his brother's room where Hurricane Wing was already waiting. He noticed the frown on his little brother's face.
“Same conversation as last time?” Hurricane Wing guessed by Tornado's expression.
“Yeah...” Tornado replied as he planted himself in his bed.
Maybe it was because Hurricane Wing was relieved to get some free time but he wasn't bothered to stay inside the fortress at all. Still, Tornado felt the need to ask him how he felt in this situation.
“What about you!? He keeps you inside the fortress as well! Aren't you mad abut that too, Hurricane!?”
Hurricane took a moment to think about the question but he decided to calm Tornado Wing down.
“...I think he is just worried about us,”
Tornado Wing knew that already so there was not much he could answer to that but that didn't change the fact that he was keeping locked in like that
While sitting there in silence, another pony felt the need to join the conversation. “Maybe he doesn't want you two to get in the way...” Mystic said as he stood in the door entrance with a smug smile on his face.
The two brothers were surprised to see him in their room and needless to say, they were not excited to see him at all. “He would never think something like that!” Tornado Wing said with his eyebrows narrowed in concern and some anger towards Mystic.
“Hey, you don't have to convince me! I don't care. Personally, I think it's better than putting you in danger and risking that you loose your other wing as well,” Mystic returned amused, purposely provoking Tornado Wing.
“Don't talk like you know how it feels to have an older sibling with whom you spent your whole life with,” Hurricane Wing interrupted, trying to quieten Mystic before he would say something to make the situation worse. However, Mystic didn't seem to like hearing that. In fact, he looked a little angry about those words.
“Maybe I know about it than you think...” Mystic returned in a surprisingly serious tone, staring at Hurricane Wing because of this statement.
Mystic did calm himself down again relatively quickly and decided to end this conversation with some last words.
“I wouldn't worry about it...It's not your fault that you're weak after all...
And there is no way for you to change it...”
Those words seem to had an impact on Tornado Wing as he began to look at the ground with a frown on his face. He knew that part of Mystic's words was true and he felt helpless because of that. If he was weak, then how was he supposed to help out the Storm Wings? How was he supposed to help make Equestria a better place? He was also part of the Storm Wings. And he wants to help out too.
This was no longer about his dream but rather about his responsibility as one of three brothers who was living through any obstacle that was put in their way together. But with him and Hurricane pushed to the side like this, there was no longer this feeling of being together and that is what made Tornado Wing feel bad.
But he was not about to give up. If he was too weak to do anything now, then he just had to get stronger. And he had an idea how to do that.
“Hurricane...” Tornado Wing said quietly, getting the attention from his older brother. “Can you keep a secret for a while?” He said before he revealed his plan.
A few days later...
“A mission?” Cyclone Wing asked towards Tornado Wing, who was standing in front of him along with Featherbrain and Cloud Head.
“Featherbrain and Cloud Head are accompanying me so don't worry.
Mystic said it was a simple delivery so there is nothing dangerous that could harm me,” Tornado Wing assured with a smile on his face while pointing to a saddlebag that he was wearing.
“Even so...” Cyclone Wing replied still with doubts in his mind.
It confused Cyclone Wing that Tornado Wing was so openly speaking about this matter, even though he knew how Cyclone would react to it. It also worried him that Mystic was assigning him this mission, making it all the more suspicious.
“Canterlot is not too far away...” Hurricane Wing pointed out as he walked towards the group. “There is no rush about the delivery so they can take their time with the package...” he pointed out.
“You know about this mission too?” Cyclone Wing wondered, feeling as if he was the only one who didn't know about it.
It took some more convincing until Cyclone Wing finally agreed to let the three go with some doubts in his mind. Eventually, he let his brother go to this mission.
“You will be okay...right?” Cyclone Wing said before he put one hoof on his brother's shoulder.
“I'll will...” Tornado Wing assured, moving Cyclone Wing's hoof away before he turned around to take off.
Cyclone Wing followed the three with his eyes and prayed that they would be careful on their mission. Meanwhile, Tornado looked back with a smile before he eventually turned his head again, mumbling to himself a few words.
“When I return, I will be more than okay...”
Later in Canterlot...
The three Pegasi landed on the streets of Canterlot. They all followed the main street and Tornado Wing looked for something. Both Featherbrain and Cloud Head were following him but had some worried expressions on their faces which became not unnoticed by Tornado Wing.
“Thanks for helping me with this, guys...” he said in order to calm them both down.
“No problem, boss!” Featherbrain said while saluting but still with some worries on his mind.
“It's the least we can do!” Cloud Head added with the same expression.
“But...are you really sure about this?”
“I am...” Tornado Wing replied.
“If Cyclone thinks that he can lock me up because he fears that hurt myself again, then I have to become stronger for him...no...for everypony!” Tornado Wing said with some great determination in his voice as he stopped in front of a door before he knocked on it a few times.
From inside he could hear some noises, indicating that something shattered as someone was walking to the door. When it opened, a familiar pony stood before them with a bothered expression on his face.
“Hey! It's you! Having some problems with that wing of yours!? There should be any of course...It was made by me after all!” Tinker said a little surprised by Tornado's visit. “So what do you want?” He asked curiously.
Tornado Wing opened his bag and dropped some pieces of metal and screws on the ground while giving Tinker a serious look. From then, Tinker had a slight guess what he wanted from him but he waited until Tornado Wing would eventually explain what he was supposed to do with those.
Later in the Storm Fortress...
“What do you mean you didn't assign him to any mission!?” Cyclone Wing asked Mystic with a shocked tone in his voice.
“Well, what part of I didn't gave him any mission did you not understand?” Mystic replied, annoyed by Cyclone Wing's sudden outburst.
Cyclone Wing became nervous. If Tornado Wing wasn't given a mission then there was another reason for him to leave. Furthermore, he could be somewhere else then Canterlot, making it impossible to find out where he was right now. Realizing this, the first thing he planned to do was heading to Canterlot to confirm that he was there. However, Hurricane appeared right in time to stop his brother, much to Cyclone Wing's dislike.
“Get away, Hurricane! I need to find Tornado!” He said trying to force Hurricane out of the way.
But Hurricane Wing was right in front of him in the air, blocking his brother. “He will be fine, don't worry. He should be back soon,”
“How do you know?” Cyclone Wing asked before he realized that Hurricane Wing perhaps knew some more. “Did you know about this?”
“I did. And I promised him to not tell anypony,” Hurricane Wing said while flying in front of his big brother, blocking his path.
“Hurricane, we are brothers! You have to tell me!” Cyclone Wing pointed out trying to convince that Hurricane would spill the beans.
“Exactly. We are brothers. That is why Tornado is doing this,” Hurricane Wing replied.
“What!?” Cyclone Wing replied confused.
Suddenly, the attention of the two was drawn towards a crowd of ponies that was starting to grow in front of the gate of the Storm Fortress. Both of them wondered what it was all about until they heard some ponies saying the name Tornado Wing, making them realize that their brother returned.
They quickly flew towards the crowd as well and spotted Featherbrain and Cloud Head first.
Tornado Wing walked through the mass of ponies while not bothering to look back at them and focusing his eyes on the front. As soon as Cyclone Wing and Hurricane Wing spotted him, their faces were colored in surprise or rather shock in Cyclone Wing's case.
"Tornado!?" Cyclone Wing exclaimed after he saw his brother walking up to him.
Tornado Wing's mane looked different. Instead of his rather long straight mane, he now had a short and spikier looking one. The next difference was that not only his right but also his left wing was now made out of steel. They both looked exactly alike now. There was also a really determined and serious expression on his face. It was like looking at an entirely different pony.
"What happened? Why is your other wing covered in metal too?" Cyclone Wing asked in confusion as he walked up to his brother.
"Looks good doesn't it?" Tornado Wing replied in a really bold and direct tone which was very unlike him. “Don't worry, I didn't lose my other wing too. I just let this one be surrounded by steel. My left wing is perfectly fine!” Tornado Wing assured with a smile on his face.
“But why would you do that? That doesn't make any sense!” Cyclone Wing replied, trying to find out the logic behind Tornado's action. Now both his wings must make it harder to fly because of their weight.
“Having two of those babies will help me out a lot in the next mission!” He replied, avoiding his brother's question and presenting his wings.
“Next mission?” Cyclone Wing replied confused with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah. We want to help as many ponies in Equestria as possible so we need as many members as we can,” Tornado Wing explained, still without breaking his confident smile.
“But-” Cyclone Wing tried to say but Cloud Head interrupted him as he walked out of the crowd.
“Hey, Cyclone! Did you saw Tornado's new wing!?” Cloud Head asked in excitement.
“Doesn't Tornado look cool now?” Featherbrain added as he appeared next to Cloud Wing all of the sudden.
Tornado Wing became really quiet all of the sudden. His expression also changed from happy to angry in a second. “What did I told you?” Tornado Wing said in an angered voice.
The two Pegasi turned around confused and realized the mad expression on Tornado's face, making them both feel a little afraid.
“I told you to call me Steel Wing from now on!” He exclaimed angrily at them, making them both flinch and bow down in front of him.
“Sorry, boss!” They both apologized in unison.
All this new behavior was confusing Cyclone Wing to no end. Where did it all come from and why now?
Before Cyclone Wing could even ask his brother anything, Tornado Wing walked away and approached the Fortress, going inside of it while Cyclone Wing followed him with his eyes.
Hurricane Wing walked up to his confused older brother, sharing his thoughts on this situation.
“I think that's his way of telling you that he wants to help too,”
Cyclone Wing turned to his brother, listening carefully to his words. “He wants to help you with your dream...locking him inside here must have felt like as if you don't want him to be part of it...”
Cyclone Wing was not realizing that he was hurting his brother this deeply. He knew that Tornado was upset but not because of this reason. He never wanted to make him feel like as if he was left out or anything.
“Do you feel this way too?” Cyclone Wing asked towards Hurricane.
His brother did not react surprised by this question and rather avoided it.
“I will start going on missions as well...”He replied to which Cyclone Wing did no longer react in surprise.
“It's not like you can stop me anyway...I am faster flyer than you,” he said with a confident grin on his face.
Hurricane Wing then walked up to the fortress as well and left Cyclone Wing staying on the court. He could only smile. It was a mix of frustration and happiness, however. Seeing his brothers hurt, whether it was physically or mentally was something that he wanted to avoid at all cost but he had to accept that he can't control them just like that.
“What am I gonna do with you two?” He said with a happy smile on his face as he also walked inside of the fortress slowly.
Inside of the fortress...
Tornado Wing was inside of his and his brother's room laying on his bed and resting for the rest of the day. His rest, however, was interrupted by Mystic who stood in the entrance watching him. Tornado Wing, of course, was wondering what he wanted from him and asked away.
“Do you need something?”
Mystic stared at Tornado Wing for a while with a disapproving look on his face.
"You went to Tinker for this wing, right?” Mystic figured after inspecting Tornado Wing's wing.
“Sure did! He was really happy to work on it!” He replied.
“By the way...If Cyclone is still refusing to give me any mission, then you would have to give me one...” Steel Wing said with some hesitancy in his voice as if he didn't like depending on Mystic that much.
Needless to say, Mystic felt a little annoyed by this new behavior, mainly because he thought that this change of appearance would actually change his character. There were not exactly friendly to each other before but this change seemed to not help this at all.
“You think that you a big shot now? That you can change your name, your mane or your wing and then you'll turn into somepony completely different?
Because let me tell you...you don't!” Mystic flat out said what was in his mind, not caring what Tornado Wing would reply to that.
“You are still the weak little pony that you were before...And you will still be a burden to your brothers and everypony around you,” he added, this time with a more sinister smile on his face.
Mystic was most likely trying to intimidate Tornado Wing but it didn't work. Tornado Wing stared back at him and formed a smile on himself as well.
“The only one who is a burden to everyone around him...is you,”
These words angered Mystic. Out of the blue, he fired a beam of magic at Tornado Wing.
Instead of dodging, Tornado Wing stood still and covered himself with one of his wings, blocking the attack and even deflecting it with his wing.
The beam flew right back at Mystic, hitting him directly and throwing him to the ground. When he tried to stand up again, he saw Tornado Wing standing over him with an almost threatening expression on his face.
Imagining that this was the same pony from before that was now pinning him down was almost shocking for Mystic. But while still shocked, anger was also rising inside of him. However, he was curious of what Tornado Wing was doing next to him.
“Listen closely, Mystic...” Tornado Wing began. “You think I don't know what you are up to? I know that you want something from Cyclone or the Storm Wings. That is why you wanted to join us in the first place. So let me tell you one thing. If you hurt my brothers or the Storm Wings, then I will never forgive you!” He said directly to Mystic's face with an angry expression on his face which Mystic returned with one angry expression himself.
Tornado Wing then released Mystic and walked away from the room, leaving the Unicorn on the ground. He remained there for a moment and looked at the ceiling. A smile was forming on his face before he slowly got up from the ground.
“You don't want me to hurt your brothers or the Storm Wings?” He quietly mumbled to himself.
“Heh, that's too bad for you...
Because it is already too late to prevent that...
I already made sure that this little group of yours will sooner or later be mine.
And it is exactly that love that you three have for each other, that will help me accomplish that,” Mystic mumbled to himself confidently accompanied by an evil smile on his face, already declaring his victory over the Storm Wings.
After that day, Tornado Wing's personality completely changed. The pony who was always hiding behind my back when confronting other ponies was now full of confidence and strength. He gained much more trust from every member. They were even admiring his confidence and strength.
It's almost scary.
I always thought that I had to show strength for them in order to keep up the morale but now Tornado Wing is taking that job.
It still bothers me that flying with two metallic wings must be more than exhausting. But he isn't showing any of it. He and Hurricane are both attending missions again and the work that the Storm Wing's accomplish right now is probably better than ever.
I guess there nothing that I can complain about anymore. Things seemed to turn to the best again.
I just hope that it will stay like that...