//------------------------------// // 1-17 // Story: The Sparrow in the Storm // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// “Boiling Springs is not built around natural hot springs. At least, not naturally formed through the mundane means of nature.” Typhoon sat on a stony hillside overlooking Boiling Springs, Deep Blue standing in front of her on a rocky outcropping. A cool, damp breeze rustled the prairie grasses around them and teased with the tip of Typhoon’s right ear, causing her to flick it in irritation. A few tiny pinpricks of rain dotted the old soldier’s nose; the gray skies above seemed to confirm that her morning prediction about the day’s weather was about to come true. Yet if Deep Blue showed any indication that the incoming weather bothered him, Typhoon certainly couldn’t see it. When Typhoon had asked him to elaborate on why he wanted to catch a fey, and how in the world she was supposed to help him with it, the mage had simply stated that it would be easier to show Typhoon. A spell and a flash of his horn, and the two ponies had left his hideaway behind, much to the discomfort of Typhoon’s stomach. While she sat behind him and let the queasiness in her gut dissipate, Deep Blue looked out over the sprawling town beneath them and a note of passion crept into his voice. “There’s not enough tectonic activity in this part of the frontier for there to be hot springs. The only time anypony out here felt an earthquake was right before the spiders collapsed a village into one of their barrows. Yet Boiling Springs wouldn’t be here if there weren’t nearly a hundred hot springs dotted around the hills and plains. And the reason is simple: this is a kelpie’s playground.” Typhoon cocked her head at that. “I think I’ve heard of those before,” she said. “Platinum’s Landing had one or two in the harbor that plagued shipping during storms. But Boiling Springs doesn’t seem like it has a kelpie problem.” “Sea kelpies are a nuisance at best,” Deep Blue said with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “They only hold sway over briny water. If anything, sailors have far more to fear from sirens than sea kelpies. Here, though, a freshwater kelpie lives in the springs. My guess is she was carried here during a storm and got deposited into the lake one or two thousand years ago. Over time, she’s shaped this place to her liking.” “Kelpies can move through storms?” Typhon asked him. “And one or two thousand years? She’s been here for that long?” “To your first question: yes. That’s one of the reasons why freshwater kelpies are more powerful than sea kelpies. They have control over any clean, fresh water. That includes rain, and by extension, clouds and storms. I’m sure you as a pegasus understand that.” “I did my fair share of tours with the Weather Legion when I was a filly,” Typhoon said with a shrug and a nod. That made Deep Blue pause. “How old were you?” “Ten or eleven. I did my mandatory year and then started training for a centurion’s post in the Eighth Legion.” At the mage’s concerned look, Typhoon crossed her forelegs. “Every pegasus had to give to Cirra after the Exodus. Even the foals. The Weather Legion was a good way to build muscle for long flights and expose us to a legionary’s lifestyle before we reached conscription age. And being Hurricane’s daughter, it was expected I dedicate my life to the Legion like him. I didn’t mind it all that much. Foals like playing with clouds.” After a moment, she cleared her throat and prompted, “And the second question?” “If she liked where she ended up, why would she leave?” Deep Blue asked. “Kelpies prey on unsuspecting travelers by luring them into the water so they can drown them and eat them. These lands used to belong to the buffalo before the Legion drove them away. If she had a steady supply of victims, then she would see no need to move. And over time, as she shaped the land to her liking, the hot springs drew in more travelers. Boiling Springs may only be a few decades old, but the city wouldn’t be here without the springs.” “And nopony noticed that ponies are disappearing?” “If one pony disappears a month, would a town of hundreds notice?” Deep Blue shook his head. “I’ve been investigating the kelpie here for three years. Tracking her movements and behaviors, her tendencies. She’s very careful, and hunts only when she needs to. She picks ponies at isolated springs or conjures storms to give her cover to hunt. She doesn’t want ponies to know that she’s here, otherwise she risks being driven out of the home she’s made for herself. She’s unlikely to find another place as good as this one to hunt.” Typhoon nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. So Boiling Springs has a kelpie living in its waters, and she’s eating ponies. Not a lot, but enough to matter,” she summarized. “And you want to stop her from menacing the town?” To her surprise, the mage dismissively snorted. “The ponies of this town are not my concern. I don’t care whether she eats one or two a month. If I really wanted to help solve Boiling Springs’ mortality issues, I’d burn down those camps of pegasus bandits along the roads.” He cast his gaze at Typhoon, sapphire eyes meeting ruby. “I suppose you might have missed the point. A kelpie can control water. That means she can control the weather. If I can capture her, then I can control her. Do you know how many problems I could solve if I could control the climate?” “All this… to do what a weather team can do?” Typhoon cocked her head, her eyebrow climbing up in confusion. “Pegasi can move clouds. Put enough clouds together and give them a kick, and you’ve got a storm. The farms around Everfree enjoy regularly scheduled rain and sunshine, and they’re incredibly prosperous.” As she finished saying it, however, she winced. “Or… well, they used to. The Royal Guard still tries, but they’re not as good at it.” “Are you seeing the cracks?” Deep Blue asked her. “Weather teams require cooperation and skill. A kelpie’s magic only needs her will. And you pegasi can only change the weather. She can do much more than move clouds.” He gestured up to one of the tall hills overlooking Boiling Springs, and after a moment, Typhoon recognized it as Eagle Springs. “Remember when I said that freshwater kelpies can control all clean, fresh water? That includes the water in the ground, not just what evaporates and condenses into clouds. There is more water beneath the earth than the average pony could possibly imagine. Entire lakes and river systems flow beneath rock and stone. The driest desert might have a lake of clean water under a mile of sand. She can control that, redirect it as she wills. She can make any land, anywhere, arable. All she needs is a little water.” The wizard gazed back out at the large lake that dominated the center of the town, his eyes narrowing as if he was searching through the wind-waved waters for his elusive fey—and Typhoon knew that he was. “If I can capture her, bend her to my will, then I will not just be one of the greatest wizards who ever lived. I will be one of the greatest ponies who ever lived. I can use her magic to create a world of plenty. What need will there be to kill and steal when everypony has enough to eat and drink? How many problems can we solve if ponies aren’t desperate to find their next meal?” Typhoon frowned, feeling alarm bells clattering in her skull. “Too many ponies with great abilities think that they can change the world for the better,” she warned. “They don’t see what might happen to the little ponies caught in the middle.” Deep Blue looked back at her with one eye over his shoulder. “Did you think you were changing the world for the better when you dissolved the Legion, Commander Typhoon? Did you think being an accomplice to the murder of the last piece of your beloved Cirran identity was for the greater good? Did you stop to think about the little ponies caught in the middle when you used your power to tear down one of the cornerstones of Equestria over a disagreement with your sister, or did you act out of petty anger? How many ponies in this country suffer because of what you did?” Anger flashed in Typhoon, but in Deep Blue’s unwavering look, it turned to shame. And ultimately, the last commander of the Equestrian Legion turned her head away, unable to meet the wizard’s eye. After a moment of horrible silence, Deep Blue gave his head a shake and turned back to watching over the lake. “Don’t lecture me on morality, Commander. I have thought about the little ponies. I’ve known famine and death. I was a colt in the Compact Lands when Crystal barbarians burned down my small town’s farmlands, and the onset of the Windigo winter followed immediately after. My mother starved to make sure I had enough to eat when we made the long trek to Equestria. She died on the ice of the frozen seas between our old homelands and Platinum’s Landing when our caravan ran out of food. Forty years later, I can finally make things right for her. No foal will have to watch their mother become a skeleton just to make sure they have enough to eat.” Slowly, the wizard’s features set into a hardened frown. “But that doesn’t concern you. What does concern you is that you’re going to help me capture her if you want me to fix your dreamcatcher. What you do after that is up to you, but having you here now simplifies things.” Typhoon raised her head to look at him, and found sapphire eyes looking back at her. Ruby met them for a moment, and then the aging mare sighed and stood up. “Alright,” she said, walking up to Deep Blue’s side and casting a wary glance down at the increasingly choppy waters below as the wind from the incoming storm picked up and larger and larger raindrops began to pepper her face. “Fine. Maybe the kelpie will eat you for all I know. But I’m not exactly in a position to argue.” She sighed, long and heavy. “What’s your plan? And where do I fit in?” Deep Blue, seemingly satisfied, turned back toward the ledge and pointed at the dark clouds overhead. “I’ve seen her use this pattern many times before. Clouds gather and it rains, first lightly, and then heavily for two to four days. One time she made it last five days, but that was likely because she couldn’t find a victim to drown.” His attention turned to the town below, and the hot steam rising from many of the lower-level springs surrounding it. “The rain makes it harder to see, harder to hear. It gives her cover to hunt. And every so often, some fool decides that they’ve been without a dip in the springs for too long because of the foul weather, and ventures out alone to one. Then the storm gets worse, making it harder to see or hear. That’s when she strikes.” Typhoon felt her gut clench and her wings twitched in response. “You’re planning on using me as bait, aren’t you?” she asked him. “A lure,” Deep Blue corrected with a huff. “Forgive me for not seeing the difference.” “All you need to do is draw her out,” the wizard said. “Lure her out of hiding. To put it bluntly, you’re aged. There’s gray in your mane and white on your muzzle. If you go in without your armor and without your sword, she’ll see you as easy prey.” Typhoon drew herself up, and her left wing idly stroked the scabbard of her sword. “You want me to not only be alone, but unarmed? Against a fey? Weren’t you warning me about how dangerous they are?” Deep Blue rolled his eyes and let out a little irritated huff. “I would prefer if you didn’t play dumb with me, Commander. Or maybe senility is getting the best of you. But forgive me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you regarded as the strongest ice empath who has ever lived?” The soldier’s eyes fell down to her metal hoof, and she raised it off the ground. In the warm and humid air, a faint fog wisped off of the perpetually-frigid metal, and when a raindrop struck the polished surface, it froze in a splatter of ice. “The pegasi only rediscovered empatha fifty-some odd years ago,” Typhoon said. “There hasn’t been a lot of time for competition since the Exodus.” “Disingenuous.” Deep Blue’s magic seized Typhoon’s leg and pulled it straight out, catching the soldier by surprise and making her own her wings for balance. “You can freeze water at will. That makes you more dangerous to the kelpie than she is to you. When she shows her true form, she’ll be at her most vulnerable. Freeze her, and I’ll take care of the rest.” “You make it sound simpler than it is,” Typhoon muttered. “You simplified my plan greatly,” Deep Blue said with a shrug. Typhoon squinted at him. “And what was your original plan?” “Apart from wait for ponies to fall victim to her traps and hope to be in the right place at the right time?” Deep Blue tapped his hoof against the breast of his robe, where he had tucked away Typhoon’s sapphires earlier. “Sapphires are blue for a reason. Their magical frequencies resonate closely with the innate properties of water. I’ve been charging them with magic and using them to line that pool in my cavern as a cage for her. It’s separated from the rest of the water she draws her magic from, and warded in about a dozen different enchantments to make sure she’s unaware of it. When I had enough, I would connect it to the river that flows beneath Boiling Springs and trap her there once she saw fit to investigate. Then it would just be a simple matter of binding her and acquiring a token to make sure she cannot raise a hoof against me.” He shrugged. “I would succeed in my endeavors inevitably. But with how long it has taken me to acquire an appreciable number of quality sapphires and aquamarines, I would be waiting years before I finally had enough to feel confident that I could successfully lure and contain her. Your presence speeds things up considerably.” “Happy to help,” Typhoon grumbled. Then her eyes turned to the skies, though more warily now that she knew that the clouds and the rain were under the influence of something far more ancient than she. “So, when do we begin?” “Tomorrow,” Deep Blue said. “I will find you and we’ll go over the plan. What inn were you staying at?” “Warbler’s Roost was the last one I rented a room in,” Typhoon informed him. “I guess I’ll be there again tonight.” “Then I’ll find you there,” Deep Blue said. And without so much as another word, his horn lit up with a magical glow, and he disappeared in a flash of light that left Typhoon wincing. Moments later the sky opened up, and a hard and heavy rain beat down on the aging mare. Typhoon’s lips curled downwards in a frown, and she blew a tuft of wet mane away from her eye as the heavy downpour fouled the feathers on her wings. “I hate wizards,” she muttered to herself, and began the long trudge back to Boiling Springs.