02 An untitled chapter
“...so...“ Dusk started, only to trail off.
“So?” Hail repeated, glancing to him, then back to Cloudburst, who was wandering a few steps in front of the two.
“...I forgot?” He frowned, then looked down at the cobbles beneath them for a few moments, before back up to her.
She shrugged slightly, continuing to walk down the mostly barren street.
The trio were on the way to the Canterlot Palace to set about adopting Cloudburst. Well, Hail Storm was, Dusk was just there to keep the two company.
The foal in question was having a ball running amuck in the street ahead of them, splashing into every possible puddle, giggling manically most of the time.
Hail smiled faintly as she watched him do so, a strange, warm feeling fluttering up in her chest. It felt nice though, so she wasn’t complaining.
Dusk sighed gently, looking around. It had cleared up significantly since the morning, and there was little rain to be seen.
In the distance there was a stallion running towards them. He had a brown coat with a slightly darker brown mane, and a green tie on.
Hail Storm’s face turned into a slight frown as he kept running towards them.
“Dusk?” She said to get his attention, half looking at him.
“Hmm?” He looked up, spotting the stallion in a moment. “Oh.”
The stallion began to slow down, coming to a near halt a few metres away from them.
“Which one of you is Cloudburst?” He asked hurriedly, glancing behind him. A grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane was half running half trotting toward him.
“Wh-wha? H-how do you know h-his name?” Hail Storm stuttered out, feeling panic bloom in her chest.
There was a moment of silence as the grey mare caught up to the group and exchanged looks with everyone.
Cloudburst took a step out from behind Hail’s legs where he was taking refuge a few moments ago tentatively.
“...hi?”
The other mare let out an “aww” softly at the cute foal, smiling softly.
The stallion looked down at him and regarded him carefully, before pulling something out of his pocket.
“This is yours,” he said evenly, and gave him a small pocket watch with a strange design on it.
Cloudburst hesitantly took it from the stranger. “...thanks,” he murmured softly, looking over the watch.
Both Dusk and Hail frowned slightly, confused.
“Let’s go Ditzy,” The stallion said before walking past the other two adults.
‘Ditzy’ watched him go for a grand total of three seconds, before looking to the three. “...Listen, I’m sorry about him,” she began softly, glancing at the retreating stallion. “But just take good care of this one, okay? It’ll all work out.”
After that, she walked away quickly, catching up to the brown stallion, then disappearing out of sight a few moments later.
“...what just happened…?” Hail turned to Dusk, very muchly confused.
“...not a clue,” he responded with simply, looking down at the watch that Cloudburst was rolling over in his hooves. “What’s that?”
“Broken,” he said quietly, poking the front of it for emphasis. “Won’t open.”
“...why would somepony give you a broken watch?” Hail murmured, a gentle frown on her face.
“Again, not a clue.”
“Don’t know,” Cloud said, and put the watch into his mane gently, it somehow staying in there. “Go?”
Hail blinked, then nodded, slowly returning to her previous pace.
Dusk took a few moments to glance back at where the strange duo had just been, before turning back and hurriedly catching back up to Hail and Cloud.
The walk was rather uneventful, with the exception of what Cloud had dubbed the "the watch stallion and the other nice mare" event.
As the three neared the outer gates, a guard called out to them. "Halt! What business do you have here?"
Cloudburst, once again, hid behind Hail, a squeak of fear emanating from him.
"u-um, i-we're h-here to... u-um..." Hail stuttered out nervously while taking a half step backward, her ears folding back.
"Here to see if this foal is in the system and potentially adopt him," Dusk filled in smoothly, his calm manner making Hail feel a little bit better.
The guard looked over the three before nodding. "Alright, go on through," he said, before channeling a spell through his horn, causing the gate to open.
"Private Sword here will show you where to go," he said as the three passed through the gates, said gates closing behind them a few moments later.
Cloudburst looked around the interior gardens in foalish wonderment, his eyes following the path of two butterflies, one light blue and the other dark green.
"This way," a voice said, disrupting the foal's train of thought. He trotted back over to Dusk and Hail, leaving the butterflies alone.
Dusk glanced at him before following the guard, with Hail doing the same but with a small and encouraging smile.
Soon enough, the sound of hooves impacting marble echoed into the ears of everypony present.
The foal looked around the hall boredly for a minute before focusing his attention on the two adults.
A moment passed before he looked around again, and sighed. He grabbed the watch out of his mane again and began fiddling with it using a wing.
Hail glanced down at him before looking back to where she was going, humming something softly as she did.
“There yet?” Cloudburst asked, having gotten tired of looking at the rather boring walls, ceiling and floor.
“We’re here,” The guard said, coming to a stop.
Hail stumbled, then stopped. “Huh, we are,” she murmured, then shook her head to get rid of the fog.
Dusk stepped through the open doorway, and gestured with his head for the two to go inside.
So they did.
