//------------------------------// // 6. Heading South // Story: Like Fireworks in the Sky // by SpyroForLife //------------------------------// Tempest was up early the next morning as requested. She finished packing and took her saddlebags down to the dining room. Twilight was wide awake, talking excitedly to a very tired-looking Starlight. Twilight perked when Tempest walked in. “Good morning! I made waffles and set out a fruit tray for you so you can have a well-balanced breakfast!” “Heh, thanks,” Tempest replied with a yawn. She sat and grabbed a stem covered in grapes. “So, heading down to Abyssinia today?” Starlight asked. “Yep. It's gonna be a long trip,” Tempest said. She finished off her grapes and helped herself to some waffles. Twilight began setting out her notes, and Discord showed up a few minutes later. He didn't have any luggage with him, but Tempest wasn't surprised. He could just conjure whatever he needed. “Good, you're here,” Twilight said. “Help yourself to some breakfast while I tell you two the plan.” “Sounds good, Twilie.” Discord sank into a chair and picked up an orange, slowly peeling it. Twilight's nose twitched. Then she focused on her notes. “Alright, so, here's the plan. You'll be taking the train down to Klugetown.” She slid them a map. “We've been working on fixing up Klugetown, and some storm creatures have decided to live there, in their own village right outside. I want you to first help them out with whatever they need. Last I heard they want to get involved at the airship docks but there's some tension between them and the locals. See if you can smooth that out. But otherwise they've got a pretty good start there. Where you're really needed is northeast of there, back across the Bone Dry Desert and near the edge of the Forbidden Jungle. They're trying to get their own town started but could really use your help with the organization. Remember, they spent years listening to you and the Storm King. They aren't very good at leading themselves.” Tempest chuckled. “Don't I know it. But I know there are leaders among them. I'll have to reach out to my old lieutenants.” “Your friend Grubber is gonna be in Klugetown waiting for you,” Twilight added. Tempest grinned. “Oh good! It'll be nice seeing him again.” “What's he doing there?” Discord asked, discarding the orange slices and eating the peels. “He wanted to go back to Abyssinia with the storm creatures after the Storm King was defeated,” Tempest explained. “I told him to look out for them for me. Now I get to see how he's been doing.” “I'm sure he'll be happy to see you,” Twilight said. “So, the town you'll have to help is located right... here.” She tapped a small circle on the map. “It's not visible on this map but there's a decently-sized oasis here that they've settled at. They'll be able to give you better directions from Klugetown and they're in the process of building a road connecting the two towns. You could help them with that as well. It's rather far so they'll need all the help they can get.” Tempest nodded, and accepted the map from her. “Got it. We can do that.” “The storm creatures will likely stand up more towns too,” Twilight said. “They'll let you know their locations and invite you to help as time passes. You may be gone for months. You and Discord are both okay with that, right?” Discord smiled. “It's not like we can't teleport back to visit. We'll be alright. I'll enjoy getting away from Equestria! No offense but dealing with you pony folk gets tiring, the storm creatures seem far more interesting.” “They can be a bit rough, for sure,” Tempest said. “They're skilled fighters and now that they're not in an army, they might fight with each other to relieve their boredom. I'll need to make sure they aren't hurting each other. Also they like to swear. A lot.” Twilight made a disgruntled noise but Discord just perked right up. “Oh fuck yeah!” Tempest snorted into her drink and Starlight knocked over hers in shock. Twilight just sighed and rolled her eyes. “And you'll get to swear all you want... once you're out of Equestria. We avoid such language around here, you know.” “Yeah because you're prissy,” Discord replied. “It's almost as if you literally can't swear, for some... strange reason.” Twilight gathered up her notes and passed them over. “Well, I think I've told you both everything you need to know. Your train leaves in twenty minutes, you should probably head to the station now in case it's busy.” Tempest stored everything away in a bag and got up, using her magic to lift the bags and place them over her back. “Sounds good. Thank you Twilight, and we won't let you down. We'll help the storm creatures with everything they need.” “Be careful out there,” Starlight warned. “Not many ponies have traveled that far south. We don't know what sort of dangerous creatures could be lurking down there among the dunes and in the jungle that have never been studied. With no known weaknesses.” “I'll be careful,” Tempest assured them. “I've spent plenty of time in Abyssinia and the storm creatures are familiar with the local wildlife. I'll be able to handle anything we find out there.” “Okay. If you need anything, don't hesitate to send me a letter,” Twilight said as she walked them out. She offered an arm, and Tempest hugged her. “Don't I get a hug?” Discord asked. Twilight gave him an exasperated look as she separated from Tempest. Then she smiled and held a hoof out to him too. He swept her off the ground as he hugged her. “Don't get into too much trouble without me, princess!” Discord sang, spinning her in a circle. “Watch after our friends while I'm gone and make sure Fluttershy doesn't get too lonely!” “Yes, of course,” Twilight said, muffled. She struggled to get away from him. He set her down and ruffled up her mane. “Alright, time to go. Goodbye Twi, goodbye Glim Glam!” Starlight chuckled from several paces behind them. “See you later. Now I'm going back to bed.” Discord and Tempest headed for the train station. “I'm gonna miss Ponyville,” Tempest admitted. “I will too,” Discord said. “But it'll be refreshing to get away for a while. It's been a long time since I've traveled beyond Equestria. Time to see how things have changed down south.” They were soon boarding the train and settling down in their coach. The trip to Klugetown will take several hours. “Since we won't have anything better to do, how do you feel about finally designing your Ogres & Oubliettes character?” Discord asked. “Alright, I'm down for that,” she replied, and he conjured up a guidebook and opened it, as well as passed her a piece of paper and a pen. “First off, choose your class, and we'll go from there,” Discord said. “You mentioned yesterday being a sorceress, but...” “Yeah, I choose sorceress,” Tempest decided. “I think that'd be a fun character to play.” “Wonderful, then logically you should choose to be a unicorn but you can get weird and creative and be a griffin, or a dragon...” “Plot twist, I'm an earth pony,” Tempest said. Discord laughed. “You can absolutely do that if you really want to! It's a game!” “Nah, I'll make it simple. I'll play as a unicorn.” “Excellent, now let's roll for your starting stats.” They probably spent an hour alone just designing Tempest's character. She used the paper he gave her to fill in information, and drew out her character, who she decided to name Dreadful Dusk. “So what's your character alignment gonna be?” Discord asked in response to that name. Tempest smirked. “I'm really feeling chaotic neutral.” “Oh, come on, I'm a chaotic neutral, we can't have two.” “Why not?” “Well, I suppose we could... but I like to mix things up. Pinkie is chaotic good, I'm chaotic neutral, Big Mac is this really chivalrous lawful good, Spike is more of a lawful neutral, and Rainbow is as close as we've got to true neutral. Her character is with us as a mercenary, she's a rogue who serves no one but herself. Which is hilarious to watch her play considering how she usually is.” “I see.” Tempest considered her options, then said, “Alright. I'm chaotic evil.” “Ohoho! Okay, now that will spice things up! Then tell me, what's an evil sorceress doing hanging out with my ragtag group of heroes?” Tempest began writing down a backstory. “I'm thinking she's just using you all to reach her own goals. You know this, but she has incredible power that will help you so you decide to allow it, and just keep a close eye on her. Might make for some interesting dynamics.” “Oh, certainly. I can understand the appeal of having a powerful villain around.” Discord nudged her. She chuckled and nudged him back. “Maybe one day the magic of friendship will change Dreadful for the better,” Tempest commented as she looked over her character sheet. She met Discord's eyes, and they both burst out laughing. “No, keep her evil for the entire campaign, I beg you. I want to see how goody two-shoes Sir McBiggun deals with you. You'll probably be butting heads constantly!” “Evil it is, and she will kick every puppy she sees,” Tempest agreed. “Okay, whoa, now that's going too far. What's wrong with you?” Tempest relented. “Okay, yeah, she's not gonna be that evil. Instead, that'll be her weakness. She just loves puppies.” “Inspirational. I am really looking forward to bringing you into the campaign. Too bad Spike and Big Mac will be carrying it on without me. But wherever they're at when we get back, we'll find a way to work you in. Perhaps we battle you, and then we just barely manage to beat you, but you're still a threat... and you say you'll stop fighting us if we let you join our team. And we don't really have a choice, and let you in. And then we can get into shenanigans.” “I like it.” Tempest set her sheet down and looked out the window. They were passing through a valley now. She knew the dragon badlands were somewhere to the east, but couldn't see them from here. They still had hours left on this train and it had at least one stop to make before going to Klugetown. “So, how long do you think it'll take for us to help out the Klugetown storm creatures?” Discord asked. “I don't know. It depends on what they want us to do. Theoretically you can just wave your hand and instantly make what they need, but... they're very proud people and they'll probably prefer to do things themselves. We can help, but we won't be able to just magic up everything. So it'll probably take weeks of work.” “Oh, great. Nothing like weeks of hard labor.” Tempest raised a brow. “You did agree to come along.” “I know, and I'll do it their way, it's just gonna be weird is all. But I'll find a way to make it fun.” He also looked out the window, then said, “Hey, keep looking out the window.” Tempest looked, and a flock of hummingbirds suddenly appeared outside, racing the train. Discord waved his fingers and they began diving elegantly around each other. Tempest smiled watching their antics. “You really have a way with magic,” she said enviously. “Gained from years and years of practice.” He let the birds disperse and settled back into his seat, waving over one of the train employees. “Yes, hi, could I get two croissants please?” He paid and received the croissants, and offered one to Tempest. She gladly accepted, and waited for the employee to walk away before saying, “Don't you usually just magic up food?” “Yes but it's kinda rude to do that somewhere that actually sells food. We use the train system, we should at least help fund them.” Discord fit nearly the entire piece of bread into his mouth at once. “Mm, these are so good, so buttery!” “Heh, yeah.” She took a bite of her own croissant. “I can't wait to get to Klugetown and get started. Seeing Grubber again, and talking to my old friends from the Storm King's army... well, I suppose I didn't think of them as friends back then. But they really are, and I hope to make things up to them. I'm not gonna boss them around and treat them as inferior anymore. I'm going to be better than that.” “Good to hear. I'm sure they forgive you for everything. You were doing what you had to do. So were they. Still, I think this mission will provide you the closure you need.” “That's a funny way of putting it, but yes, I suppose you're right. I'll make up for my past wrongdoing, I'll help the storm creatures turn things around, and I can be more content with myself afterward. I'll finally have done something good. And I can see the storm creatures thriving in Abyssinia, their lives getting back to how they were before they were ever forced into the Storm King's army, and they'll be a lot happier. Not to mention how strong they'll be as allies to Equestria.” “Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves.” Discord reached forward to pat her shoulder. “First let's just help them rebuild houses and stuff, alright?” “Right. Of course.” She nodded. “I just have so many ideas.” The train continued on, as their discussion turned to the storm creatures themselves and what they could expect them to be like once they got there, as Discord has never had extended interaction with them. Still, Tempest had a feeling he would get along with them just fine.