Tempest and Discord stayed up all through the night chatting about O&O, magic, history, and whatever else came to mind. They frequently checked to see if the bird was around, but it never showed up.
“Maybe it just happened to come by and it doesn't care to return,” Tempest said, yawning as the Sun finally began to rise.
“Maybe. Or maybe it's back at its nest plotting how to further wreck the place!”
“We don't even know if it's intelligent or not,” Tempest pointed out. “It could just be some bird that buzzed us because it was feeling territorial but will promptly forget about us.”
“Yeah, but specifically taking down the fishing hut? Taking the tilapia? I think it's fairly intelligent.”
“Hm, maybe.” Tempest flopped onto her back. “I just wish I knew what exactly the bird is. Some kind of thunderbird? Though I guess there would have been lightning involved with that. I don't know.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I wish Twilight was here. She knows everything. But she's too far away to really help us.”
“True, she's quite the egghead,” Discord said. He touched her shoulder. “But I think you're just as smart as she is. You'll figure this out.”
Tempest smiled gratefully at him.
They continued to not see the bird for the rest of the day, and decided that it really was gone. Reparations were finished and Discord made the fish farm even better than before. They started breeding the fish so they could have a steady food source, and once that was taken care of, they moved along to helping build a playground. It will be some time before it really gets used, but in the meantime, the tennis and volleyball courts should see use.
“We should probably test the court,” Discord commented as Tempest finished tapping down the tennis net.
She conjured a ball and racket. “I was hoping you'd say that.”
He beamed and created a racket for himself, while also poofing up a nice pink polo shirt with a racket emblazoned on the pocket. “Just don't be upset when I beat you.”
“Heh.” Tempest gave the ball a few bounces. “Big words for a guy who's not even holding his racket correctly.”
“I'm more about creating a racket than using a racket,” Discord said, smoothly brushing his mane back.
“Alright, enough talk.” Tempest threw the ball up. “Serve!” She swung the racket and smacked the ball across the court. It bounced on the other side of the net, and Discord ran forward to hit it back. They exchanged volleys for several seconds, but finally Discord hit the ball so hard that when it bounced back at Tempest, she swung and missed. It flew off behind her, and she groaned and went to get it. That was when she noticed that a few storm creatures had gathered to watch, and they cheered.
“15-love,” Discord called.
Tempest snorted and lifted the ball with magic, carrying it back to the court. “Alright, that was a warm-up.” She served the ball across.
It was a close match. Tempest had fast reflexes, but Discord was strong, sending the ball flying almost too fast to track. He won the game, and they played a few more, to the amusement of the watching storm creatures. Most of them cheered Tempest on, but the rest were more than happy to root for Discord.
They finally decided to stop after about thirty minutes, and declared the tennis court open. They went over to the locker set up nearby, placing the rackets in along with several balls, for public use. Then they headed back home for lunch.
Tempest was sweating from all the running back and forth, and she told Discord to just make whatever while she took a shower. He agreed, and she went to wash the sweat off and clean dirt out of her hooves. She reflected on the work they've gotten done lately. Sunny Oasis was looking great, and in a few weeks they would likely get started on the bowling alley. In the meantime they would likely head down the road to build a rest stop between here and Klugetown.
People were already traveling from Klugetown to visit, bringing their money and visiting the convenience store, often buying crops and other supplies from the storm creatures. The pond became a popular fishing spot and the storm creatures were making plenty of friends. Tempest was happy for them.
It's been a week since the strange bird trashed the town. Dusty decided they should have a small banquet to celebrate how well things were going, and many storm creatures contributed food from their gardens. Tempest got with Discord to cook vegetarian eggrolls, which was fun, as he had very unorthodox methods of cutting the cabbage.
“Seriously, we have knives for a reason,” Tempest said, offering one to him.
“I think spoons make it much more interesting,” Discord replied.
Tempest just chuckled and shook her head.
Once the eggrolls were done, they took them out to the banquet, which was set up near the fishing pier. There was plenty of delicious food to choose from, and they both helped themselves. Everyone who tried the eggrolls said they were delicious.
As the afternoon wore on, several storm creatures took up woodwind instruments and played soft tunes for everyone. A few people took to dancing, and Discord and Tempest joined in, waltzing slowly together.
“When we get back to Equestria, we need to go dancing every weekend,” Discord said. “Hit up different clubs, go to balls... It's so nice to have somepony to dance with that isn't intimidated by me being more than twice her height.”
“That just makes it interesting,” Tempest said. She spun Discord around and dipped him. He wrapped his arms around her and just flopped back, pulling her down to the ground with him. She laughed and threw her forelegs around his neck, nuzzling his snout.
Someone clearing their throat made them look up. Dusty grinned at them, resting a hand on his hip. “Sorry to intrude, but Mary made these excellent dumplings and I wanted to share some with you.”
“Sure,” Tempest said. She got up, and dipped a shoulder, letting Discord use her for support to get up too.
They greeted Mary over by one of the tables, accepting plates of food from her.
“It's so nice having everyone together,” she said, looking around at the festivities. “I'm glad we found the oasis, and have made it such a nice home.”
“It really is beautiful out here,” Tempest said, trying the dumplings. They were delicious. “I'm so happy for you all, you've come so far and I'm proud of what you've accomplished. And I'm glad you've let me help you.”
“Absolutely!” Mary grasped her shoulders. “You've done so much for us! You were a great commander while we served the Storm King, but you've learned to be a friend since and you continue to be a great leader, even without the whole commander label. Honestly, I don't know what you're gonna do after this, but you should keep on leading people.”
“Heh, well... maybe. I guess I am kinda good at it.”
“Mm, you really are,” Discord said, through a mouthful of food. “I can definitely see you being a leader, the only question is in what. Military might be an obvious choice, but there's also politics, or maybe-”
He was interrupted by an ear-splitting screech, one so loud that everyone dropped what they were holding and covered their ears.
“Rude!” Discord shouted, then turned toward the source of the noise. His eyes widened. “Duck!” He tackled Tempest, hitting the ground with her and shielding her as a massive blur passed overhead.
She looked past him. “That's not a duck, that's a...”
The blur slowed and landed, flaring its wings out and letting out an earthshaking shriek. It easily stood twenty feet tall, wings stretching out for fifty. It was shaped like an enormous hawk, just like Hook had described. Before anyone could make a move, it took off again, flying in a circle over them before crashing through buildings, talons coming down to tear up tables and send them flying. Everyone ran to take cover, though several people got thrown and smacked aside by those dangerous claws.
Discord got up, and Tempest swallowed as she saw that all the amusement had left his face. His lip raised in a snarl unlike any she's ever seen him make, and he faced the bird, magic flaring around his hands. He took off, and thrust his hands forward, his magic so powerful that Tempest saw the air ripple around it. She perked up, excited to see what he had planned for that bird-
Only for the creature to slam into the magic chest first and disperse it with no apparent effort. Discord gasped, jerking backward, but in his surprise the bird was able to catch up to him and slam him into the ground with one particularly hard flap of its wings.
Tempest growled and got up. “Okay, that does it!” She charged up her own magic and fired a concussive blast at the bird. It jolted, but otherwise didn't seem hurt, turning to face her. It landed with a rush of air, and she fired again. This time, it blocked the blast with its wing. She kept shooting spells at it, but none of it seemed to penetrate past the feathers. Finally she had to stop, panting. Discord crawled over to her, getting up and groaning as he wiped his mouth off.
Tempest stared as a bit of red came away. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Yes, I just bit my tongue when it slammed me down. I'm fine.”
She turned to the bird, deciding that if magic wouldn't work, she'd have to channel Twilight and do the diplomatic approach. “Who are you?” she called, hoping it could understand her. “And what do you want from us?”
The creature lowered its head, piercing her with its harsh glare. “I am the Roc,” it said. Its voice was rough, but feminine. “This is my territory, and this is your second warning. Get out. Don't make me return a third time, or it will no longer be a warning.”
“But,” Tempest started, only for the Roc to spread her wings and take off, flying away.
They stared after her, but then their attention was drawn to the damage left in her wake, and they instead rushed to tend to their injured friends.
“I'm fine,” Dusty said as Tempest pulled him out from under a table. He rubbed a cut on his cheek. “Where's my wife?”
“Um, well...” Tempest looked around, unsure.
“I got her!” Discord called, standing up with Mary in his arms. “She's okay.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Dusty ran over, and Discord set her down, so they could embrace.
“Is anyone seriously injured?” Tempest called, looking around. Several people had gashes, some missing clumps of fur, but like before, no one seemed seriously hurt. She was glad storm creatures were so durable.
“I might have a broken wrist,” someone said, nudging her. She turned to look.
“Here, give me your hand,” she said, holding out her hoof. He held his hand out, and she carefully felt his wrist. He winced, but didn't pull away. “Hm... no, it's not broken, but it might be sprained. I'd recommend binding it and giving it a few days to rest. Go see a medic just in case.”
He nodded. “Will do, thanks.”
Tempest sighed and looked at Dusty. “I'm so sorry about all this.”
“There's nothing to be sorry for, you couldn't have known it would come back.” Dusty picked up a plate and sighed at the food scattered all over the grass. “Mm, so we're up against a Roc. Great.”
“I've heard of Rocs but don't know much about them,” Tempest said, levitating the food up and vanishing it.
“Neither do we. But I'll tell you what I do know. They're very rare and very territorial. They can live anywhere, but usually keep to themselves. If it happens someone is in their land, though... they get violent.” Dusty went around picking up tables and checking on his citizens. “And the most frustrating thing about them, at least for you ponies, is their magic-canceling ability. They can't use any magic themselves, but they can stop it from affecting them. If you catch them by surprise, you might be able to get a good hit in. But once they know you're there, they can stop any magic you can possibly throw at them.”
Tempest groaned. “So I'll need to find a different way to deal with this than just shooting magic at the Roc.”
“Exactly.” Dusty hurried away to go help someone pull some belongings out of their wrecked house, and Tempest turned to Discord, who had been following behind them.
“So, we're up against a giant bird who isn't hurt by magic,” she said. “Not even yours. What should we do?”
“First of all, I would just like to say that this is absolute bullshit,” Discord commented.
Tempest wanted to laugh at how disgruntled he was. “Yeah, I bet. Not even your magic can do anything to her.”
“I know, and I hate it! Ugh, of all the things we could be up against, it had to be a Roc! This is Chrysalis's throne all over again, I hate things that can resist my magic! But whatever. We can find another way.” Discord thought about it. “We'll either need to attack her physically, like with normal weapons, or do the cute pony thing and talk her into being friendly.”
Tempest trotted over to Dusty. “Do you know anything about getting rid of Rocs?”
He gave her a glum look. “Unfortunately, we don't really know a way to get rid of them. Only another Roc has ever been seen to kill one or chase them away. If you find yourself under attack of a Roc... you leave. You get away from its territory. There's not much you can do.”
“So, we'll need to leave?” the storm creature he was helping asked. “We've spent so long building this place into a home, and we can't stay?”
The others overheard him, and crowded around asking questions, demanding to know if they'll have to leave their home.
Dusty tried to calm them. “Now hold on, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm sure we can reason with this creature. I don't want any of you to have to leave either.”
“But you heard her, this was our second warning! Next time won't be a warning!”
“Was she threatening to kill us?”
“If we don't leave, she could easily destroy everything!”
Tempest stamped her hoof down. “Everyone, listen!” They stopped chattering and looked at her. She looked for something to stand on, only for Discord to lift her up so everyone could see her. “Oh, thanks. Okay! No, none of you will have to leave. I'm going to find a peaceful solution, one that works for both us, and the Roc!”
They were surprised, but clapped for her and wished her luck.
“I really hope you can,” Dusty said as Tempest was set down.
“Me too,” she replied.