With a giant strobe of sheet lightning, the storm ended its hiatus, a wall of water slamming down and flattening Maple's mane and ears. "Arrrgh!" she hissed, barely audible above the noise. "Ugh! This is... way more than I thought would..."
Howe drooped, his mane gelled so heavily that it retained its shape perfectly beneath the downpour. "Eheheh... I guess the cloud cover wasn't just for drama after all, heh? Never fear, though! This is just a sprinkle!"
"Shut up," Maple sneered, staggering beneath the weight of the water, hooves slipping and sliding on the muddy ground. "That's not helping! We need to get back... get somewhere safe..."
"Maple!" Starlight cried, puddles visibly expanding around them. "There was a warehouse in the graveyard! It's probably got a roof! We can hide there until it stops raining enough to make it back to Gnarlbough! The road is too muddy to make it otherwise!"
"What!?" Howe squawked, jaw dropping. "Are you nutso? This pegasus likes thrills and chills, but that warning sounded like there might be something seriously bad in there!"
"As bad as this rain?" Maple struggled to raise an eyebrow, Starlight plastered against the back of her neck. "Because you'll get chilled, all right, standing around out here in this weather. And it won't be very thrilling! I've got a pretty good idea what's in this graveyard, and me and Starlight will be perfectly fine. You can go back to Gnarlbough yourself!"
Howe pouted. "But I am sworn to accompany you until the bitter end!"
"Tough." Maple coughed, the mountain rain's chill already worming its way into her core and reminding her that the strength she had gained from abandoning the crystal orb wasn't nearly as infinite as it had felt. "We're going this way. We'll be fine. Do what you want."
Swooosh! Somehow flying amid the beating rain, Howe landed in front of them, wings spread. "No!"
"No?" Maple furrowed her brow even harder than it already was. "Get out of our way! We are not staying out in this!"
"You saw that sign!" Howe vehemently shook his head. "You are not setting hoof in this graveyard until the Howenator is certain it is safe! As your officially-hired bodyguard, I won't allow it!"
"Starlight?" Maple looked up, only to get a facefull of water. "Can you get him out of our way?"
"Do I have to...?" Starlight croaked, huddled tightly against her. "I've used my horn for light and stuff too much and it hurts... And it's raining... Sorry..."
Maple gave an iron frown. "Howe, get out of my way or I will fight you. This weather is terrible and the graveyard won't hurt us!"
"Why not?" Howe countered, wings somehow flared against the beating rain. "Do you ladies know something about this place you're not telling me? You never mentioned why you wanted to come here, either! What's with that, huh!?"
Maple swallowed, feeling her tail dragging in the mud. "...Yes," she admitted. "We do. Now let us through. We'll be back to Gnarlbough for you when it's dry, or in the morning."
"Then I'm coming with you," Howe stated resolutely, dropping his guard and turning to walk into the graveyard.
"...It's not safe for you."
"Oh yeah?" Howe didn't even give them a second look. "Well, too bad! So long as you possess my orb, with you I stay!"
With that, he vanished into the cascading rain, trudging in the general direction of the warehouse.
Maple wasted no time in following, ears splayed flat by the weight of the weather. She staggered along, the ancient, cracked concrete underhoof granting marginal traction against the rising puddles. The downpour was so thick that she could barely see two pony-lengths in front of her... but pressed on, trusting her memory as to the location of the warehouse that might offer shelter.
Starlight shivered violently against her back, forelegs wrapped tightly around her neck, the filly's contact the only spot of dryness anywhere on her body. Gritting her teeth, Maple pushed onward, silently berating herself for not paying more attention to the road's conditions, or expecting the ferocity an Ironridge storm could bring. The rain was rawer, colder than what fell at Riverfall, as if something primal far up in the mountains was jealous of the valley's heat and wanted it extinguished forever.
Right as she began to expect she had missed the warehouse alltogether and was about to plummet into the dried lakebed, the storm broke. Maple sighed in relief as the static in her ears lessened and the visibility slowly increased; it had only been an opening squall... but the damage was done, and the rain was still coming. Rivulets of water pouring from her coat, she sighted the warehouse's dark silhouette, corrected her course, and continued trudging forward through the rain.
"L-Look," Starlight chattered as they drew close, shifting a hoof limply against Maple's side. "There's a d-dark spot..."
Maple squinted. Low against the ground, where the corrugated walls touched the concrete, a metal, grated staircase to nowhere sagged from the building's side... and beneath it, a triangular shadow stood, like part of the walling had peeled back in an appealing niche.
Appealing to rain-soaked ponies seeking shelter, at least. To anyone else, it would have looked downright sinister, like a place something far more dangerous would already have claimed as its own. But Maple was drenched past the point of reservations, so she set her jaw and marched swiftly over.
It was, indeed, a hole, the staircase overhead providing just enough cover that she could stop to examine it without immediately rushing in. Maple peered forward, her gloom-adjusting eyes making out the beginnings of an eroded tile floor... and then nothing but shadow. "Howe?"
No response.
Maple frowned. "Where is he? He said he was going on ahead..."
"It d-doesn't matter!" Starlight shivered, clinging tightly. "I h-h-hate rain! Get us inside!"
"Okay..." Warily, Maple stepped through.
The interior, she realized upon stumbling into a rotting desk, was some kind of office... likely not a director's, but a lower-level manager's. She kept standing, unwilling to relinquish Starlight's warmth when nothing good to sit or lay on was available, listening to the water running off her fur and striking the stone ground beneath. There was a door, she noticed as her eyes focused further. It sat slightly ajar.
Beyond the door, a sapphire-blue light flicked on.
Maple's breath caught in her throat. Weren't most manalights orange, or yellow, or sometimes teal? The glow illuminated what she could see of the corridor beyond unevenly, sending deep shadows along the corners and partially revealing a trail of water on the ground.
Starlight sneezed, causing Maple to wince. The shimmer of magic registered in her ears, though it was deeper and more buzzing than the shiny, sparkly noise made by most horns. Moving of its own accord, swung by the cold breeze from the crack in the wall, the door creaked open... leaving them standing face to face with a tall, winged suit of golden armor, horn glowing with magic and forehoof resting on Howe's unconscious body.
"My little ponies."
Commander Braen stood perfectly immobile, eyeless lenses watching Maple and Starlight with no emotion. If she was breathing, her armor didn't leave room to show it. Her golden wings rested at her sides, and the shadow cast by her head obscured the triangular motif etched into her flanks.
"Who is this pegasus?" Braen asked, her broad, rocket-fitted sabaton resting on Howe's side. "He isn't a Sosan, nor is he from Riverfall, like you."
"You... know...?" Maple stood as defensively as she could, which was hard when she had Starlight clinging to her back and was losing feeling in her legs.
"We know a lot about you," Braen said. "I'm not your enemy. But I want to know about this pegasus. Please, tell me."
Maple stared.
Braen stared back. "A day ago, when you were in trouble in the Defense Force base, I went myself to rescue you. I had to retreat, but it doesn't matter. I'm not your foe."
"He's..." Maple gulped. "Following us. We don't know much about him."
"Really." Braen's lenses rotated.
Maple nodded. "Really. He says he wants to help us, but has done nothing useful or trustworthy. And I don't know what he could have done, but he was the only one around when Valey left, and she was helping us."
"I don't like Valey."
"Oh..." Maple's ears folded. "But, still-"
"You've told me what I need to know." At last, Braen moved, taking her weight off Howe and lifting him with a single hoof. "He will be sedated and dealt with later."
"So..." Maple shuffled uneasily. "We're very cold, and..."
Braen nodded. "I understand. I summoned Shinespark when this pegasus was detected. We will take care of you."
Smirking wryly, Maple glanced around, giving closer inspection to her surroundings. "With a storm like that, she'll need taking care of herself. It must be at least an hour's walk here from..." She blinked, spotting a glimmer from the floor. "Oh?"
Braen looked down at what she had sighted: Howe's sound stone, pulsing with freshly imbued magic. "That fell out when I subdued him," she said. "It isn't explosive or poisonous, but I can't figure out its function. Do you recognize it?"
"It's ours," Starlight hastily managed. "Maple, get it!"
Apparently sensing no deceit, Braen turned and continued walking, Howe dangling from her back. "All right. Follow me."
"Well... okay..." Discreetly scooping up the sound stone and pocketing it with her cutie mark, Maple forced her iced legs to work, following Braen deeper into the warehouse.