HURRICANE TRINITY
An MLP Extended-Universe Story
Written by M.J. Hopper
CHAPTER SEVEN
The night sky in Klugetown, the locals knew, was always best seen from the airship docks, as the stars were the brightest there due to the lack of light from the town itself. This was where Storm was, as his rib was feeling slightly better—merely slightly, but enough to properly move at least—and he had wanted some time to contemplate. Capper had told him the news yesterday, and, although he could barely contain his excitement that they were finally going to Mount Aris to get what they needed…
…Something…felt off.
The stars above flickered in the royal purple sky and almost seemed to dance, as the goat-creature cast his gaze upward. Another memory surfaced within his psyche, and he shut his eyes for a moment as he remembered the pale yellow eyes of what had once stood before him in his time of need. Echoes gently murmured in the darkness, echoes of past events and possible events yet to come. He sighed and opened his eyes toward the stars.
Is this really right…what I’m doing…
“Storm.”
The goat-being turned his head away for a moment to look at Capper and Grubber, who had appeared near the dock where he was currently sitting; the cat-being gave an almost timid smile and stepped forward in his direction.
“Mind if we join you? It’s…well, it’s a nice night, after all. Wouldn’t wanna miss it.”
“You don’t need to beat around the bush, Capper.” Storm sighed and shook his head. “Go ahead. I can’t stop you…not anymore.” He turned his gaze back toward the stars, falling silent; the young cat-being lowered his ears slightly and began to step toward him, walking down along the dock as Grubber scurried after the cat, mildly confused but choosing not to say anything for the moment. Capper took a seat at the edge of the dock next to Storm, looking down at the desert that lay before them.
“It’s a big place, isn’t it?” The Abyssinian leaned forward slightly to get a better view of the vast expanse of sand and stone. “Hard to believe, that Klugetown came to be here, of all places…y’know? Like, you wouldn’t normally expect a desert to be a trade district and all.” When the goat-being did not respond, Capper sighed and lowered his head a bit, swinging one hind leg off the edge of the dock.
“Storm…listen. I know we have a big, long journey ahead of us, and there’s a lot more to come yet. Mount Aris…is probably only gonna be our first stop, honestly. And, even though I was mad at y’all at first, called ya crazy, I still—“
“First stop?” Storm repeated the words as if he had absolutely no idea what the young cat-being was talking about, and raised an eyebrow slightly. “I thought we were just going there to get info for you…you said you didn’t want to go to Tambelon in the first place…claimed we’d be—“ He held up his fingers in quotation and gave an unamused expression—“’Risking our lives.’”
Capper furrowed his brow slightly. “Yeah, well…look. Those daggers back there…I don’t know why or how, but they somehow hold some kinda significance towards me, like, me as a whole. And yeah, Tambelon is still a living hell, like really literally, but something in me is just…sayin’, I need to go there. I need to find out more…about myself, and the weapons I chose to wield a few days ago.” Suddenly becoming a bit flustered at Storm’s apparent apathy, he shook his head and raised up his paws in a rapid gesture. “’Sides, a guy can change his mind, can’t he?! Gods.”
“So primarily we’re going there because you found a strange pair of daggers out of nowhere, and want to go to its source to get the info.” Storm’s summary of the cat-being’s intentions came off as sounding rather bland in nature as he looked up at the sky. He shrugged a shoulder. “Works for me.”
Capper rested his elbows on his knees. “I expected you to be more excited.”
“Yeah, what gives?” Grubber piped up, settling himself in-between where Capper and Storm currently sat at the edge of the dock. He looked up at his former master. “I thought you really, really wanted to go to Tambelon. Isn’t that what we were doing in the first place anyway?”
“We were…I mean, we are. I just…” The goat-creature’s gaze traveled to the side, as if he were nervous or embarrassed. “I really…was not expecting us to actually GO to Tambelon after Capper, well, kinda blew up the first time.” He smiled at the young Abyssinian warily. “You have to admit, you were some kind of crazy mad about that situation when I first brought it up.”
“Wasn’t that crazy…” Capper muttered, obviously disgruntled, but Storm could easily sense the harmless intent behind his tone of voice. The side of his mouth opened a bit into a sideways grin.
“Like, yeah, I was really intent on going at first, and I even went so far as to venture out into the desert to go there, where…well…you kinda saved my tail,” Storm admitted, looking at Capper like a dog that had just been scolded. He sheepishly rubbed at one shoulder. “I, uh…I still need to…er…like, wh-what I mean to say is, actually—”
Capper smiled and held up a paw. “Y’all are welcome.” His smile split into a grin then, and, for the first time in awhile, Storm felt…a sense of warmth. The cat-being looked up toward the night sky, swinging his hind legs in a carefree manner. “Look, I know the feelin’ all too well about when something you don’t expect to happen, happens. But, even then…it’s something you, like…always wanted in the first place, right?”
The goat-creature blinked in response, as if this was something he had not considered. “I…I suppose so.”
“So why be nervous? Why fight the fact that, on the inside and all, you’re really excited?” Capper’s eyes seemed to glitter for a moment, as if reflecting the stars. “I know, that I was apprehensive before. But, on the inside n’ all, I’m super-excited to be goin’ to Tambelon with y’all. Just think of the new adventure that awaits, around every corner…with everyone who stands beside you.”
“Yeah!” Grubber agreed, leaning up against Storm’s side and grinning. “You may not have anything else right now, but, you’ve got two friends who will follow you anywhere. That has to mean something, right?”
Storm looked down at the little hedgehog with a mixture of disbelief and compassion. “Grubber…” He shut his eyes and his head dropped slightly as he turned his gaze away. “I…I don’t know why you follow me, or why you even chose to revive me in the first place. But, no matter what the reasoning behind it may be…I…” His throat closed up for a brief moment and he had to stop. “Your loyalty has always been something I have greatly admired all these years. I’m glad…that I can count on you.”
“Hey, it’s no problem. I thought, you know, you deserved another chance to prove yourself, after learning that…well, sometimes it’s not all about being selfish.” He looked up at Storm and smiled, snuggling against his side slightly. “And I wouldn’t say that…if I didn’t see anything…right?”
Storm made a strange noise that sounded like a mix between a hiccup and a sob; he opened his eyes and looked at the little hedgehog. “You really are a sappy little puffball, you know that?” he stated; when Grubber’s ears lowered slightly he raised a hand and tousled the mohawk fluff upon his head. “Can’t say I have any right to complain though. It’s part of what makes you fun.”
Grubber gave a tiny squeal of glee and wrapped both stubby arms around Storm’s waist, attempting to draw him in to a hug. Storm jumped a bit at this and attempted to pry him off slightly. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn’t mean THAT far—“
“Ha ha ha!” Capper threw back his head and laughed, before dropping onto his back and putting his paws behind his head, looking toward the stars once more. He couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. “This is gonna be a fun time with y’all, I can already tell.” He flicked his gaze over toward Storm for a moment. “Feathers is gonna give the signal for us all to depart in the morning. We should probably meet her at the usual dock she uses…you know, the ol’ rickety one down on the far side of here.”
“Got it—“ Storm began to speak but Grubber leapt into his lap, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting towards the sky.
“We’re COMING, Tambelon!!” His little tail wagged slightly; he could obviously not contain his excitement. “You hear us?! We’re coming for you, and we won’t hold anything back!!!”
“YEAH, Tambelon!!” Capper joined in, shouting toward the stars, his eyes alight with excitement as well. “Y’all had best get the greatest dangers EVER ready, ‘cause we ain’t playin’ like no nice guys!!”
The two of them laughed over this, and Storm, although he did not join in, merely gave them a smile and shook his head, as Grubber leapt over toward Capper and the two began to roughhouse a bit to burn some excess energy. The stars above glittered and shone brightly, as, from overhead, a small white light passed by…
*
“Let’s see here…hmm…”
The parrot-creature known as Mullet squinted his one good eye at the crates in front of him before turning his attention back down to the list he currently held in one claw, tapping the tip of his beak in thought. Even though he had been technically serving as a “delivery-boy” for the past several years and had only just gotten his sea legs again—or, sky legs, rather—he had to admit that he had become incredibly rusty with handling inventory on shipments as of late, and that was causing a few problems since Capper was partially relying on them to make the deliveries to the more…”uncharted” areas happen. He cast his glance back up at the stack of crates, then down to the list, then back up at the crates again.
“Uhhh…okay. We got a ton of precious jewels, obviously…then there’s the feed supply from southern Equestria, the metal ingots smelted in the Dragonlands, and then there’s, uh…right, right, those relics we were delivering back to Mount Aris after that one mix-up a few months ago—“
“Ahoy!”
“GAH!” Mullet was so startled by the cry behind him that he could have sworn he felt his skin jump. He tore his gaze off of the inventory and looked over to see the beautiful gaze of Captain Celaeno, who appeared to be looking a bit happier today than usual…and she most certainly sounded like it. “Oh…oh, it’s just you, Captain. You scared me.”
“You need to be on your toes more often, Mullet,” Celaeno chided him, although she was smiling as she did so. She folded her arms. “Even when we’re doing cruddy inventory work.”
“It’s not ‘cruddy’…well, at least not as cruddy as it was back in the day.” The male parrot sighed and ran a hand over the shock of red feathers that covered his head. “Can’t believe it’s been that long, huh. Still been getting used to the fact that we’re back to exploring again…though, admittedly it’s been kinda boring with no enemy airships to loot.”
“I’d take boring over cruddy any day of the week, Mullet.” Celaeno shook her head. “Besides, it’s not like ALL the novelty has gone out of it. It’s a big world out there, and there are many places yet to be explored and discovered…”
“Speaking of which, what were you discussing with Capper the other day?” Mullet tilted his head slightly, curious. “I didn’t catch much of the conversation; granted I was trying to stay the heck out of it because I know how you get when discussing business orders, but…”
“Mullet, there wasn’t anything wrong,” Celaeno reassured him. She placed a claw on one hip. “Capper just wants to tag along on our delivery route to Mount Aris, is all. He said that he needed to ‘gather information’ on something, or whatever.” She looked off to the side, as if contemplating something. “Weird thing is, he also said that he needed us to ‘do him a favor’ after we made the delivery. He didn’t say what it was…and, knowing Capper, that kinda bothers me.”
“He probably just wants to take you out on a date,” Mullet joked; Celaeno rolled her eyes and lightly punched him in the shoulder.
“Get real...you know full well I only consider him a friend. A good friend, but still.” She heard the dinging of the ship’s bell and looked toward the doorway entrance. “Oh, that’s Murdock…we must have made it into Klugetown. You stay here and make sure that everything’s secured; I’m going to dock the ship.”
Mullet smiled and gave a salute. “Aye-aye, Captain.”
The beautiful parrot woman left the storage cabin and walked over toward the bow of the ship, keeping a lookout for the approaching docks of Klugetown’s trade port; a gust of wind passed by and nearly blew off the prized hat she wore, but she steadied it with one hand and leaned against the edge, turning her attention toward Boyle, who was attempting to pull the ship in toward the usual docking spot. “Steady as she goes! Remember, we don’t want any repetitions of what happened last time. I had to give up some of my best gems in order to pay that one off.”
“Aye-aye,” Boyle replied, nodding. “T’won’t happen again, Captain. I’ll dock ‘er nice n’ steady.”
“I can count on you,” Celaeno replied, smiling, before turning her full attention back to the docks; even though they were still only pulling in, she could see Capper rushing toward the end dock she normally used…along with two other figures, one about Capper’s height, or at least she estimated anyway, and a tiny, stubby one that had to run on all fours in order to keep up with them. She raised an eyebrow, her head leaning to the side slightly in puzzlement. “Odd…didn’t know he was bringing friends with…”
As the ship pulled itself up steadily next to the dock, Celaeno lowered the passenger ramp and stepped onto it, heading down toward Capper, who had just approached the end of the dock; he exhaled heavily and placed his paws on his knees, panting a bit. The parrot woman gave a coy grin.
“You’re certainly in a hurry,” she commented; Capper looked up at her and returned the smile.
“We got a lot to do,” he responded; he then looked behind him as the other two figures approached and finally came into full viewable detail; naturally, Celaeno recognized one of them almost immediately. Her pupils narrowed a bit and she withdrew her hand, first in utter disbelief and shock, for she could not believe what she was seeing.
“Y…you…”
Storm had been approaching Capper eagerly up until that exact point; upon his gaze meeting Celaeno’s, he froze as if time had suddenly stopped. Bringing one hoof down into a screeching halt, he looked up at the parrot woman, his eyes wide. His heartbeat, for some reason or another, began to quicken and tighten within his chest. There was a long, uncomfortable silence before anyone dared to speak; then…
“Oh, hey! Storm, look, it’s your girlfriend.”
Though Grubber’s statement was made in pure naïve innocence, neither side seemed too happy about it, Celaeno especially. “’Girlfriend’?!” she repeated, almost shouting the word in anger; the goat-creature could do nothing but stare in utter stupor, his face flushing heavily. Capper, sensing that there was probably going to be serious trouble if he did not interject, stepped between the two.
“Whoa, whoa, hold up now, there’s no need to—”
“You owe me a serious explanation, Capper,” Celaeno growled, her eyes narrowed to practical slits in loathing. She jabbed a talon in Storm’s direction. “So EXPLAIN. Why is he here, and how in the skies is he still alive after what happened in Equestria MONTHS ago!?”
“Feathers, listen to me.” Capper tried to pronounce each word heavily in the dim hope that she would possibly understand if he did. “Look, I know it seems really weird, but…I’ve spent the past few days with Storm and his buddy, and—“
“Storm?” Celaeno shook her head in disbelief as she eyed him. “You’re calling that monster by a nickname now?”
“He’s not a monster…not anymore, at least.” Capper shook his head. “Look, Feathers. I know, that months ago, you and I…we both fought to protect and take back what we once had. And, well, we have it now. The land has been re-taken, the Storm Guards left him, and there’s nothing left in his empire anymore. He…doesn’t have anything.”
This seemed to stir something within the parrot female’s psyche, but she continued to be adamant regardless. “Capper, why are you protecting him? He’s committed terrible crimes, not just towards the people of the southern areas, but towards both you AND me. He’s not worth the effort of reasoning with.”
“But what about ME, Feathers?” Capper looked her directly in the eyes, although his gaze seemed to quiver slightly with emotion. “Was I not worth the effort? Or did you take me in solely because y’all felt way too sorry to do anything else?” When Celaeno fell silent, the young Abyssinian continued:
“When Chummer and I were on board that ship, way back when…don’t think I heard y’all talkin’ with Strife that time. You said, that you cared for us, because we didn’t have a friend in the world. Y’all wanted to look after us…because that was who you WERE.” His voice broke slightly at the last word, and even he was surprised at just how seriously he was taking this; he took a moment to re-gather himself. “And…and I know, that…that’s who you still ARE, Feathers.”
“Capper…” Celaeno’s own eyes seemed to shimmer slightly; she looked over at Storm and Grubber, who had been merely standing there, primarily out of caution that interference would result in more issues. Storm’s eyes met her gaze for a moment before he looked away, fidgeting slightly in discomfort.
“Y’all have learned to teach me…that, in a time when one needs it most…you need to learn to look past their previous deeds, and care for who they all aim to be,” Capper told her, placing his paws on her shoulders. “Right now, Storm here has no resources, no home, and nothing to go back to. He needs others to help him, Feathers.” He eyed her gently. “Others…like you and me.”
“I…” Celaeno fell silent for a few moments, her gaze drifting away from Capper’s as she eyed the ground with uncertainty. Yes, it was true that, indeed, those words were what she truly believed. But, at the same time, she could not forgive that easily, especially considering the past deeds that had been committed.
Still…
Was the past…really that important now?
She made her decision; taking a deep breath, she looked back up towards her friend. “Capper. You know, that I cannot forgive others that easily for their crimes. But, at the same time…your words are all too true. I can’t simply leave someone to fend for themselves when they have nothing.” She looked toward Storm and Grubber, and nodded. “They are allowed to board my ship, and come with us to Mount Aris, if that’s what you desire, Capper. But, heed my words…if they try anything stupid, I’m decking them overboard with no hesitation.”
Storm smiled weakly and Grubber squealed and jumped up and down, holding his paws to his face in excitement; Capper eyed the parrot woman gratefully and gave a weary smile as well.
“Feathers…thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Celaeno turned around and began to walk up the ramp. “Come on, let’s get on board. We don’t want to keep my crew waiting longer than they should for this.” Capper began to follow her; she turned her head toward Storm and Grubber. “Well, don’t just stand there, you dolts. Pick up the pace!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Grubber declared excitedly, bounding forward and following them up the ramp; Storm remained still for a few moments as he eyed the parrot woman, his heart fluttering in his chest. Celaeno, admittedly, was far too headstrong for her own good, and she had straight-up gotten in his way several times, but regardless, he admired that in her for some strange reason.
Why was he feeling this way, right now…?
“Stop gawking like an idiot and follow!” Celaeno’s words snapped him out of his apparent trance, and he shook his head to clear himself of the remaining fog in his mind. Despite the fact his racing heart still would not steady, he exhaled and forced himself to be calm and collective as he began to tread up the ramp.
Upon reaching the top, the small party could see the rest of the crew waiting for them; they were smiling at first but upon seeing Storm their eyes went wide and they backed up a bit, looking at each other in confusion and uncertainty. Celaeno stepped forward, standing up straight, and placed her claws upon her hips.
“Ahoy!” she declared to her crew; they stood at her attention. “All of you know this full well…you have all been my loyal crew for as long as I can remember. You followed me to the brinks of Hell and back again. Now…” She motioned her head toward the three standing behind her. “We have a few new members on board our ship. Despite the fact ONE of them is a bit of a scurvy sea-dog—“ She eyed Storm with an unamused expression—“I expect ye to treat them all with courtesy. It’s our morals, after all, that define us.”
Although the crew still looked uncertain, they nodded and saluted Celaeno. “AYE!”
“That’s what I like to hear!” Celaeno declared. She saluted them in response, then raised her hand up. “Now then, let us set sail, to Mount Aris! Everyone back to their posts; we’ve got a long journey ahead!”
As the crew headed back to their posts, the others began to make themselves comfortable. Storm took a few steps forward, toward Celaeno; she turned around and folded her arms, glowering a bit.
“I meant what I said,” she told him, sounding captious in her tone. “I’m only letting you on board because it’s what Capper wants, primarily. I’m giving you a chance, but only once. If you DARE attempt anything towards me or my crew…”
She raised a talon and ran it along her neck in a horizontal motion slowly to emphasize her point.
“…You won’t get away with it easily this time.”
The goat-creature grimaced slightly, and Celaeno smiled a bit before walking away. He could do nothing for a moment but stand there yet again in utter stupor as the ramp was lifted and the ship prepared to disengage from the docks and set sail. Did Celaeno, his former delivery girl, just threaten him? This was far too strange for him to process…regardless, he knew that her even letting him on board in the first place was a blessing. He had to dismiss it for now.
“I’m coming, Tambelon,” he murmured to himself, placing a fist upon his chest. He looked toward the sky with determination.
“…I’m coming home.”