//------------------------------// // 05 // Story: Raising a Storm // by WonderboltWing //------------------------------// 05 "A'ight, so lemme get this straight," Umbra began through a mouthful of delicious pancakes. "Don't talk with your mouth full," Hail cut in from the kitchen. Dusk laughed quietly at his sister's misfortune, dodging the cushion thrown at him from point blank. Somehow. "Anyway, as I was saying," Umbra continued with no longer a mouthful. "You found this foal in the storm a few days ago and now you both adopted him?" "Actually Hail adopted him, I was just along with them." a grin cut across his face. "And good thing too, Hail could barely get a few words out without stuttering like crazy." The sound of a raspberry came from the kitchen. The two siblings snickered before their attention was turned to the hallway, where Cloudburst had exited from. "Morning!" Dusk greeted, waving at him. "Morning, Dusk," he mumbled tiredly, wandering over to him and jumping up onto the couch next to Dusk, resting against his side. "You a bit tired there buddy?" He asked softly, one of his ears flicking for no good reason. "You snore." Umbra snickered at this, only to have to dodge another point blank cushion, failing to do so. She let out a yelp that was muffled by the cushion, glaring at her brother as it slid down her face. He laughed at her quietly, even as she prepared to throw it back at him. "Dusk, Cloud, pancakes!" Hail's announcement was a saving grace for him, as he didn't particularly want to get pummeled with pillows. Cloudburst shot up and off the couch with a surprising amount of haste, considering how he was naught a moment ago. The siblings watched him go, the expression of "huh, that was something" on their faces. "Huh, that was something," Umbra remarked with a small amount of amusement. "Indeed," Dusk nodded in agreeance. "Either way, Umb, pancakes await," he said, got up off the couch, and trotted into the kitchen. Just as he reached the door, Cloudburst exited through it, a plate balanced carefully on his wings. Dusk dodged around him carefully. The foal glanced up at him for a moment before continuing on his path back to the couch. Umbra watched the exchange with a strange look on her face before shrugging it off. "And get me a plate Dusky, will ya?" "But of course, your majesty," came his sarcasm-imbued reply. "My thanks, oh civil servant of mine," she shot back with a grin. "...you two are weird," Hail commented, causing Dusk to chuckle. "She has a point," Cloudburst said through a mouthful of his fifth pancake. Hail snickered quietly at the foal's response. "That she does, Cloudy," Umbra grinned. "That she does." Dusk returned to the lounge room after a half a minute or so, three plates floating behind him in his magical grip. Umbra turned to him, and immediately after spotting the plates of pancakes, her eyes lit up. Hail laughed quietly, leaning against the doorframe heavily. "Here you are, Umb," Dusk said, floating a plate to her, then sitting down next to her. The remaining two plates floated down next to him, one of them settling down directly in front of Cloudburst. He took the plate and murdered the pancakes with his mouth. Umbra peeked around the front of Dusk to check what all the commotion was before leaning back, a look of faint horror in her eyes. "That foal is terrifying," she mumbled, before snuggling into Dusk's side, eating her pancakes at a more sedate pace. "Only if you think about it," Hail said from behind the two siblings, before she fluttered over the top of the couch, landing next to Dusk with a quiet thump. "...I guess," Dusk said, making a 'so-so' gesture with his free hoof, the other holding his plate. Hail chuckled softly, and leant against Dusk's right side, moving a wing to wrap around his back. A smile spread across his face and he quickly leant down and nuzzled Hail. "'Get a room', as the cool kids say," Umbra grinned at the two, much to their displeasure. Hail blew a raspberry at the mare, while Dusk just rolled his eyes. The sound of plates clanking together made all of the adults look over to Cloudburst, who was surrounded by crumbs, yet, by some miracle, was spotless. Even his mane was brushed. "That was... quick," Dusk said after a few awkward moments of staring. The foal nodded once, sat up, flared his wings out, and began to preen them. Hail shrugged after a few moments, and promptly returned to pancake consumption, the rest following suit. Breakfast was finished quickly, with Hail, once again, doing the dishes. Not that she minded. "Come on, let me do them for you," Umbra said to Hail. "I insist!" She laughed softly, and shook her head. "If you really want to help, the tea towels are in that drawer," She pointed out said drawer with her back leg. "Sure," Umbra said, her horn's aura wrapping around the handle, pulling it open. Now armed with a tea towel, Umbra joined the other mare, drying the dishes. "Must be thrilling," Dusk remarked, poking his head through the doorway. "Quite," Umbra responded blankly, not even turning to look at him. Hail giggled quietly, grabbing the last plate, dipping it into the water, then scrubbing it down and finally giving it to Umbra. "...you're pretty fast at drying," She commented, gesturing to the empty drying rack, then to where the rest of the dishes were cleanly stacked, all dry. Umbra grinned. "Magic has its perks." "That it does!" Dusk called from the other room, then in a quieter voice asking Cloud something. Hail's ear flicked at the barely incomprehensible sound. "So, H, you don't mind if I steal him for the day, yeah?" Umbra asked, searching through the cupboards to look for where exactly the clean dishes went. Hail’s wings fluffed up by her sides, then settled down. "Um, sure, I guess." "Neat," Umbra said simply, figuring out where the plates were supposed to go. "...U-umbra? Come here, please," Dusk's voice sounded slightly strained, with a hint of underlying fear. She immediately put down everything and speed walked over to him. "What's wrong?" She asked swiftly. Hail followed closely behind, worry evident on her face. Dusk was standing in the middle of the room, Cloudburst sitting in front of him. In his magic grip was the foal's watch. "I had forgotten about that," Hail murmured. It floated over to Umbra, and all Dusk said was, "Read it." A few moments of tense silence followed. "By Luna's sweet flanks," Umbra uttered, her stare turning to the foal. "Where did you get this?" "Um, a stallion on the street stopped us a-and gave it to Cloud. He knew his n-name though," Hail said in a low voice, glancing between the other three nervously. "W-why?" "Brown coat, different brown mane and a tie?" Hail took a step back. "...y-yes?" "You know him?" Dusk asked, his head cocked. "I-i've got to go, and I'll be taking this," Umbra said, her ears pinned back. "Wh-what? Why?" Hail cut in. "...royal business," she said simply. "My apologies." Her horn charged up, and she disappeared in a muted flash of light, the watch going with her. Hail stared, dumbfounded. "...Dusk?" "...Yeah?" His voice was slightly shaky. "Your sister is weird." He laughed at that. "Agreed," Cloudburst said simply, then standing up. "Can we go to the park?" Hail blinked. "Uh, sure," she said after a moment. Dusk shook his head to clear it, before shrugging. "Uh, I should probably go check on her. It... It was probably something important." Hail nodded after a few moments. "It's fine, you do that." He took a half step towards the door, before looking over his shoulder back to her. "...sure?" He asked. She laughed softly, and pushed him gently towards the door with a wing. "Go." He nodded once, then walked the rest of the way to the door, opened it, and stepped through. Then he turned around quickly, "Bye Cloudburst! Cya Hail!" And then he shut the door behind him, his hoofsteps fading away. "...bye Dusk," she murmured, before turning to Cloudburst, who was sitting on the ground and looking up to her. "Can we go now?" He asked, his wings flicking restlessly by his sides. She nodded after a moment. "Y-yeah." "Can we fly there?" He asked, looking up at her hopefully. She thought about it for a few good seconds. "Hmm... Let's head outside, then I'll be able to see how well you can fly, alright?" "Yay!" A smile spread across his face, and he jumped up, heading towards the door. She smiled, and quickly shut the apartment down, following him immediately afterwards. The trip down the stairwell was a quick one, as Cloudburst decided on gliding down all of the steps, probably to show off that he could, in fact, fly. Upon exiting the building, the two came to a halt to observe the skies. "Blue box," the smaller of the two commented, pointing to a, well, blue box. In the sky. "Huh," was her reply. It faded away moments later, not reappearing. "...maybe one of the college students playing a prank or something," Hail reasoned to herself, shrugging. "I dunno," Cloudburst added helpfully. She shook her head, then looked to the foal. “So, you want to fly there, yes?” He nodded rapidly. “Let’s go, then,” the mare grinned, and flapped her wings a few times. “Stay close to me.” The two shot off at a moderate pace towards the park.