//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: A Silver Lining after a Storm // by Juke Denton //------------------------------// Sky Beak went up to the door of his daughter’s room and knocked a few times. “Silverstream? I don’t know what’s upset you, but I’m sure it’s something we can talk about. Will you let me come in?” Silence. “Did something happen to you at school? Was there a quarrel of some kind? Please, I just want to know why you’re upset.” Still, no answer came from the other side of the door. “Silverstream? Are you there?” Sky Beak asked while knocking on the door a few more times. Having not received an answer he opened the door and immediately his eyes widened. “Silverstream?!? Silverstream!!!” The father hippogriff checked around the house but could not find a trace of his daughter anywhere. “Silverstream! Where are you?!?” Sky Beak asked loudly pacing back and forth, fearing she may have ran away. Sky Beak was about to head outside to look for his daughter, when suddenly the front door slammed open with a drenched Silverstream standing at the entrance. “DAD!” “Silverstream!” The father said as he went over and hugged the soaked hippogriff tightly. “Where we you? I was worried sick!” “I’ll tell you later.” Silverstream said breaking the hug. “But right now, there’s a creature that needs help!” “Creature? What sort of creature?” The father asked both in a worried and suspicious tone. “I don’t know, but it was unconscious when I found it! Please, we have to help it!” The younger hippogriff said as if it were the end of the world. Sky Beak looked away for a moment, before returning his attention back to his daughter, who was pleading with puppy dog eyes. “Alright then.” He said. “But if it tries to attack or harm you in any way, then you know what I’ll have to do.” The younger hippogriff understood her father’s concern as she nodded her head before saying, “Now let’s hurry! It’s still at the beach and could be trouble!” Silverstream quickly flew off with Sky Beak following close behind her, with rain droplets hitting down on them. It wasn’t long until the two hippogriffs landed in the beach area where Silverstream found the creature. “So where is this creature?” Sky Beak asked looking around finding nothing out of the ordinary. “Right over here!” Silverstream said aloud behind the tree where she hid the body. She dragged the creature out of hiding where her father could see it. Sky Beak gasped for a moment from the sight of it, before flying closer to get a better look at the figure. “Incredible…I’ve never seen anything like this.” The father hippogriff said as he brought a talon and felt the creature’s head. “Where did it come from?” “I don’t know. It just washed up on shore along with this bag.” Silverstream replied as she showed her father said bag. Sky Beak studied the bag along with the rest of the creature’s accessories. A lot of mixed reactions were running through his head ‘Could this creature have come from…no! This creature couldn’t have any affiliation! Or…could it?’ “Dad are you alright?” The younger hippogriff asked. “Yes, I was just thinking what would be the best course of action to do for our friend here.” Sky Beak said. “Should we take him to the emergency room?” Silverstream suggested. “I’m inclined to do so, however I don’t know if that’s a good idea. To have a new creature suddenly introduced to the public might create panic. Not to mention all the medical experts who would want to do tests and studies would probably terrify the poor thing.” “Then what should we do? We can’t just leave it!” Said Silverstream as she began to express anxiety. “Calm down.” Sky Beak replied putting a supportive talon on his daughter’s forelimb. “I know how much you want to help it and since it doesn’t look too beat up, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll take the creature into our home and wait until it wakes up. If it is in dire need of medical attention, we can take it to the emergency room. Okay?” “Okay.” Silverstream said feeling more at ease with her father’s suggestion. “That’s my girl.” Said Sky Beak giving Silverstream a couple pats on the head. “Now come on. Help me lift the creature onto my back.” The younger hippogriff nodded and moved the body on her father’s back to the best of her ability. When Sky Beak felt the creature’s form was on securely enough, he carefully took off into the air, but flew at a relatively slow pace as not to let the body slip and fall. Silverstream followed beside Sky Beak, with the creature’s bag in her arms. When the two hippogriffs landed at the entrance of their home, Sky Beak went in first and dropped the body next to the fireplace to help dry it from the rain, as well as himself after getting some towels. Silverstream put the creature’s bag over by the fireplace, but not too close so it wouldn’t burn, and grabbed one of the towels her dad brought into the room to both dry and warm herself with. “So what do we do when it wakes up?” Asked Silverstream. “The first thing we’ll find out is whether it has hostile intentions or not.” Sky Beak answered looking toward the creature’s unconscious form. “Though judging from the way it looks, it seems unlikely that it doesn’t pose any kind of threat.” ‘But, I’ve been wrong before.’ The elder hippogriff added silently in his head. After using other towels to help dry off some of the unconscious body, Sky Beak asked, “Wonder why it’s wearing all this stuff?” “Maybe he gets cold easily and can’t swim very well.” Silverstream theorized from noting the lack of fur on the creature’s body, except the head and the life vest it wore. “That could be it.” Sky Beak said rubbing an open talon under his chin in thought. “Silverstream, could you bring a pillow and some blankets? I think it’ll be best for our unconscious friend to lay on the couch.” Silverstream saluted and went to get the items her father requested. As she was collecting them, Sky Beak stared at the creature in deep thought. ‘I hope my initial fears about you are wrong. But if you aren’t what I think you are, then just what are you and where did you come from?’ Silverstream soon returned with a pillow and three spare blankets, placing them on the couch. “Here, let’s get our friend up on the couch.” Said Sky Beak grabbing the body with his forearms and using his wings to help gently lay the creature on the couch. He then unclipped the life vest and carefully removed it without hurting the creature and placed the jacket at the base of the couch. At that moment, Silverstream placed the blankets over the creature and stepped back to where her dad was. “I guess the only thing to do now is wait until our friend awakens.” Said Sky Beak. “Ooooh…I have so many questions to ask when it wakes up!” Silverstream said in her usual overexcited tone. “Like is it a he or a she? Where did he or she come from? Why is it wearing that thing above his or her claw?” “Have patience Silverstream.” The father said with a chuckle. “First we have to wait until our friend is up for talking. Though that does bring up a good question. Does its kind even speak our language?” Silverstream hadn’t taken that into account and started to worry if the creature woke up if it would not only be able to understand them, but also how it would react to them. “But in the meantime, there is something I want to discuss with you.” Sky Beak said, interrupting Silverstream’s train of thought. “About why you left the house earlier.” “Ohh…that.” The younger hippogriff said lower her head and ears in shame. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad I just want to know why. Come on, let’s go into the kitchen and talk about it while we let our friend recover.” The two hippogriffs went into the kitchen and situated themselves at the table. “So why did you sneak out earlier? You looked like you had something on your mind.” Silverstream let out a sigh before saying, “I was upset. I was upset because, at first I had hoped to spend time with my friends from Twilight’s School of Friendship this summer. But all of them have plans for the entire season, until school starts again. And I wouldn’t have minded spending time with my brother or cousin since they’re fun to be around, it’s just…” Sky Beak raised an eyebrow as he waited for his daughter to finish her thoughts. “I wanted to spend summer differently than with the usual hippogriffs and seaponies ever since The Storm King’s defeat. All I did though was get my hopes up too high with how I expected things to turn out.” “I’m sorry to hear about that. But, Silverstream. Something important to remember is sometimes life can’t always go the way you want it to. When I was your age, I went through a lot of disappointment as well. At the end of the day, all you can do is move on.” “Yeah…I guess.” The younger hippogriff said in a defeated tone. “But look at it this way. You’ll still be able to spend time with your brother when he returns before school starts again. The queen and your cousin will return around the same time as well. There’s also the matter of our unconscious friend in the other room.” The mention of the creature had Silverstream thinking about potential activities to do when it woke up. The more she thought about it, the more her spunky old self started to surface again with a surge of positive energy. “You’re right! I may not be able to see my friends from school, but perhaps when the creature wakes up it could be an opportunity in itself! Oooh, I have so many questions to ask it!” “Now there’s the Silverstream I know.” Sky Beak said with a hearty chuckle. “But don’t get too excited when it wakes up. We don’t know if it’s even seen a hippogriff before and could be easily startled.” “Oh, right.” The younger hippogriff said calming down a little. “Even so, if it’s able to understand us it would be fun to know where it comes from and what its hobbies are. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. But there is one thing I want you to promise me in the future.” “Yes father?” Silverstream asked giving Sky Beak her full attention. “If you’re ever dealing with emotional disappointments and concern about anything, promise me that you’ll come and talk to me about it, instead of running off again. Okay?” “I promise Dad.” Silverstream replied before her stomach growled in hunger. Her expression turned to sheepish as she said, “I guess I still need to eat.” “It’s alright. I’ll warm up the chowder. I still haven’t eaten myself.” Within a few minutes, Sky Beak heated up dinner and served it, with an eager Silverstream staring at the contents in the broth. She took a sip of the chowder before her face lit up with satisfaction. “Still good as always?” Sky Beak asked with an amusing look on his face. “Mmhmm!” The daughter replied as she continued eating the delicious meal. After the two had finished eating, they cleaned up the kitchen, put everything way, then returned back to the living room to check on the creature. “Looks like our friend is still out.” Said Sky Beak while bringing a talon over to the creature’s head. “Oooh…I hope it wakes up soon!” Silverstream said having a hard time containing her excitement. “It’s hard waiting just to find out about this creature! Imagine if…*GASP*…maybe if it stays around after summer’s over, I could introduce it to my friends at the School of Friendship!” “Well first things first, we should let our friend recover a bit more. Perhaps in the morning it’ll finally wake up.” “I hope so!” The rest of the evening was spent with Silverstream discussing with Sky Beak about stuff she learned throughout her time at the school and the lessons she and her friends learned from their various adventures. Soon enough, it was time for bed and Silverstream went over to the unconscious creature’s form and held one of its claws in her talon. “See you tomorrow. Hopefully by then you’ll wake up and we can both talk to each other.” Silverstream then said good night to her father, headed to her room and got ready for bed. She took a look outside and noticed that it was still raining outside, though not as much as before. She sighed to herself, then got under her covers and started to drift off to sleep. --- The next morning Silverstream woke up and quickly made her way to the living room couch, only to find the creature still in a state of unconsciousness. She let out a disappointing moan, but was quickly greeted to the sight of her father entering the room. “How’s our friend doing this morning?” Asked Sky Beak. “Still out.” Replied Silverstream. “I see.” The father hippogriff said bringing a talon under his chin and staring at the body for a moment. “Well it’s not going anywhere so c’mon. Let’s go to the kitchen and make some breakfast to pass the time.” Silverstream couldn’t argue with her father as she started to feel the morning hunger kicking in. The two got to work in the kitchen with Sky Beak making a fruit salad while Silverstream made scrambled eggs and a potato casserole. “Mmm! This certainly hits the spot!” Sky Beak complimented after trying some of the casserole. “Did you learn to make this from the school?” “Yep!” Said Silverstream digging into some of the scrambled eggs and chewing in satisfaction. “Professors Fluttershy and Applejack were the ones who taught us on how to make it! I added an extra ingredient to give it some extra flavor!” “You surely outdid yourself! Maybe when your brother returns home, you and h-“ Just then a loud groan came from the living room, causing Silverstream and Sky Beak to immediately stop eating and quickly turn their attention to where the sound came from. “Could it be?” Sky Beak asked under his breath. “IT’S WAKING UP!” Silverstream shouted as she quickly ran to the living room. “Silverstream, wait!” Said Sky Beak, following behind his daughter.