//------------------------------// // Chapter Six // Story: Quantum Twist // by knaggsy //------------------------------// "Wake up. Twister will be home soon." I slowly open my eyes and I see Lyra lying next to me, she's awake looking at me. "You've got beautiful blue eyes." Lyra says. I blush a little. "Thanks. You have lovely golden eyes." I say returning the compliment. We smile at each other. "How long were we asleep for?" "A few hours, how are you feeling?" "Better, thanks." I start to lift my wing from Lyra. "Please hold me for a bit longer." "Sure." I then place my wing back on her. "I was worried about you when you got hurt, I'm glad you're okay." "What was you doing outside during the storm?" "I heard a loud crack and a flash so I looked outside and I saw you on the ground so I ran out to see if you were okay." "Good job you did, I could have been there for ages before someone noticed. Does Twister know about what happened to me last night?" "No, I didn't want to upset her. Bon Bon watched her for me while I was with you at the hospital." "That's fine. I don't think she needs to know about it." The front door then opens. "Mum, dad. I'm home." It's Twister, she has come with her friends. "How was school, dear?" Says Lyra. "It was awesome, Cloudburner got his cutie mark." "That's great, sweetie." Replies Lyra. "Wish I had my cutie mark." Twister says sadly. "Don't worry, that's why you're with us!" Shouts Apple Bloom as she comes through the door followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Scootaloo looks over to Lyra and I and sees us cuddling. "Ewwwww." She says. "Would you like a hug, Scootaloo?" Says Sweetie Belle? "No thanks!" "Are you sure?" Injects Apple Bloom. "Yes I'm sure! Come on, let's get crusading - no time to waste." Says Scootaloo. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, go!" Shouts all of the members of the CMC as they all leave. "Be careful." Lyra shouts. "We will." Twister replies as she closes the door. "Well... That was quick." I say. Not sure what to make of that. "Don't worry she'll be back before you know it." "Want to continue my tour of Ponyville?" "Sure." We both then get up and head out of the house. "So where shall we start?" I say to Lyra. "I think it would be a good idea to remind you on how you got your cutie mark." "Sounds good, let's go." As we trot towards our destination I see a familiar face from one of photographs, it's Time Turner. "Hey, Time Turner." I shout. "Oh hey, Storm. How are you doing?" He replies. "Been better, took a little tumble yesterday." "What happened?" "Not quite sure, but I apparently fell onto the ground during my duties last night. My left wing is sprained and I'm suffering from a little memory loss." Time Turner then looks a little worried almost suspicious. "You don't know how it happened?" He questions in a slightly nervous tone. "No, I don't I'm afraid. Lyra is helping me get my memory back, piece by piece. She's doing well so far." "In that case, I won't keep you two much longer. I'll come by your house and see you later on. Goodbye." He then leaves. Odd, seems like he didn't want to talk to me. Perhaps he's busy? "So, where are we heading?" I ask Lyra. "We're going to the apple orchard." She says while pointing in the distance. I have a look where Lyra is pointing and I can see acres of apples trees with two large buildings, one looks like a red barn and the other is an orange structure. "Let's go." I say. We both head towards the orchard. A few minutes later we arrive at the entrance of the apple orchard, I take a look around and I can see an orange pony bucking apples from the trees nearby. There's also a large fire-damaged tree which Lyra heads towards. "Here we are." She says. "Does this ring any bells?" I take a closer look at the tree, the fire was caused by a direct lightning strike. Looks like the bolt ripped straight through it and tore it to shreds. I rub one of my hooves on the bark of the tree, the bark crumbled off - I think it's dead. I then looked at Lyra. "I remember!" I say to her as the memory comes flooding back: - It's night time, the thunderstorm has arrived on time just as the pegasi from the weather factory said so. "Come on, let's go!" I shout to my team members. Cloud Kicker, Derpy, Airheart, and I then take off from the ground. "This storm is going to a big one, we need to monitor it to ensure it doesn't get out of hand." I say to the others. "Why are we having such a big storm now?" Cloud Kicker asks. "There's some excess energy left over from the season, we need to use it all up before winter arrives. A thunderstorm is the best way to use it all up during summer." I answer. "Try not to land on any of these clouds, they are charged up more than your average storm cloud. Be careful." I add. My team and I then stop to take look around. There's a lightning strike at least one a second more often twice per second - the storms intensity is rising, that wasn't intended. "Airheart!" I shout. "Yes, Storm." She replies. "Get a message to Cloudsdale and tell them the storm is getting more intense, then return to me." I say. "Right away!" She says and then flies off. "What is that!?" Cloud Kicker shouts. We all have a look and there's a funnel cloud starting to form on the south-west of Ponyville, that isn't possible. Only pegasi directly can create a tornado. "That isn't good." I say. "How's that possible?" Airheart asks. "I don't know, but we don't have time to find out." I reply. The winds start to get stronger and less stable, the rain is getting heavier - we're struggling to stay in the air. "Woah! Derpy, get down there and warn the Mayor there's a tornado forming. We may need to evacuate or get under ground." I shout. "Okay." She says as she flies towards the town hall. "Airheart, stay close we need to keep an eye on that tornado." I say. We start moving towards the forming tornado, the wind is picking up even more. I then start to feel something, my fur starts to stand on end, my head starts to hurt. Then a bolt of lightning arcs across the sky in a magnificent display of cloud-to-cloud (CC) discharges. My head then stops hurting. "Are you okay?" Airhearts asks. "Yeah... I'm fine." I say. My head starts to hurt again. "Argh!" I shout as I close my eyes. I open them back up, things seem a little different. Time seems to slow down, as I look over towards Town Hall a lightning bolt comes down and strikes the tower. Time then appeared to return to normal. "You sure you're okay?" Airheart asks. "I'm not sure." I reply. I take a look around, looks like Derpy has got the word out - ponies are evacuating and are heading for cover. Where would the best cover be around here? No-one in this part of town has a cellar or a basement. Ah! They'll be heading to Applejack's barn, she has a large cellar. Then it dawned on me, to get to the barn you have to go through the orchard - plenty of very tall trees, not a good place to be around in weather like this. Somepony could get hurt! "Airheart, change of plan - I'm heading over to the orchard. You keep an eye on the tornado, let me know if it heads in my direction." I say. "No problem." I then fly towards the orchard, the wind is really starting to pick up. I'm almost going backwards at times, this storm is far too intense something has gone wrong. As a battle through the wind I see Derpy who is also struggling. "Derpy!" I shout. "Yeah?" She answers. "Come with me to the orchard, stay close." We're almost at the orchard, I look back to where the funnel cloud was forming - thankfully, it hasn't reached the ground. My head starts to hurt, much worse than before. I closed my eyes for a second then I opened them. Time appeared to slow all the way down. I could see each individual raindrop falling in slow motion. It seemed almost peaceful. Then I see a streamer starting to form from one of the treetops near the entrance, I look at the bottom of the tree - No! There's somepony there running by, they could get hurt! There's no time to shout, I enter a nosedive towards the pony. As I dart towards the ground gaining speed I look up and see the streamer getting higher and brighter forming the leader stroke, the main strike is getting close. I start to gain even more speed, I've almost made it. I take another look up, the leader stroke has made it - the main strike is now starting to fall down. I've got fractions of a second left to make it. "Arrrrggghhhhhhh!" I shout as I collide with the passing pony knocking them away from the tree. *FLASH* *BOOM* The lightning bolt hits the tree with enormous force blowing it to hundreds of pieces as its insides were evaporated setting what's remaining on fire. I awoke a few moments later, time had returned to normal. I looked around for the pony who I saved, she was green unicorn who was unfortunately unconscious. I need to get to her to the hospital, it's too dangerous to fly her there. Where's Derpy? I can't see her. "Derpy!?" I shout. "Where are you?" No reply. I pick the green unicorn up and place her on my back, I then gallop my way to the hospital through the heavy rain and winds. I look round to see if I can see anyone from my team to get a message back to Cloudsdale but there isn't a single pegasus in the sky. I arrive at the hospital. "Somepony help me, she needs help!" I shout as I burst through the emergency room door. The orderlies spring into action and she is wheeled off to get taken care of, I follow close behind. "What happened?" The doctor asks me. "She was trying to reach cover in the barn when a bolt of lightning was about to strike the tree she was passing. I managed to swoop down and get her out of the way." I reply. "Okay, fill these forms out and leave them at reception." "I'm not leaving her alone, I want to ensure she's fine." "Really, there's no need." "I insist." "Fine." I stayed with her the whole night, I couldn't sleep. Just wanted to ensure she was okay. She woke up the following morning: - "Huh? Where am I?" She questions. "You're at hospital, I brought you here." I reply. "Oh my celestia." She shouts. "I nearly got struck by lightning!" "Nearly indeed." "You... You saved me. Thank you so much, you're my hero." "Come on, I'm no hero. Just doing what anypony else would do." "Maybe your talent saved me, you've got a lightning bolt on your cutie mark." "My cutie mark?!" I shout. "I don't have one!" I look at my flank and there it is - two snakes, one coloured blue and the other yellow forming a plus symbol with a lightning bolt through the centre. When did that appear? "You must have got after you saved me." She says. "I guess so. So, what's your name?" I ask. "Lyra. What's your name?" "I'm Storm, Storm Force." I reply. "Nice to meet you, thanks for saving me." "Come on now." I say slightly embarrassed. I'm not used to getting compliments. "Say, I better get back to Cloudsdale and let them know what went on last night." "Don't go, stay here with me." She says as she grabs hold of one of my hooves. I look into her lovely golden eyes while she looks back into mine. "...Sure, I'll stay." "I remember. I remember how I got my cutie mark." I say to Lyra as I looked at the charred remains of the tree. I turn to her and give her a hug and a little nuzzle. Another memory pops in my head, I'm going to purpose the question to Lyra on Hearts and Hooves day! Oh no, I can't remember where I put the ring! I think I've hidden it, don't worry there's still time - I've a got a couple of days to find it. Maybe Time Turner knows where I hid it? He's coming round later on, I'll ask him then. The sun begins to set. "We better be heading back home." I say. We started to head back to the house as the surroundings begin to turn into beautiful shades of red and orange. During our walk back Lyra spots Twister playing with Scootaloo, Lyra calls her over to join us on the walk home. "Mum, can Scootaloo stay over tonight?" Twister asks. "Only if her parents say it's fine." Lyra responds. "Quick, go home and ask!" Twister says to Scootaloo. "Race you." Scootaloo says. "Ready.... Go!" They both then zoom off. After a nice long slow walk we made it home. "You can play for another half hour then it's time for bed." Lyra says to Twister and Scootaloo. "Okay." They both say as they dashed upstairs. "What a day." I say to Lyra. "Yeah, I'm glad you're starting to remember." She replies. "Me too, it's all starting to come back piece by piece. But I still don't know what happened last night." "I'm sure you will either find out or remember, just give it time." "You're right." I say as I give a Lyra cuddle. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* What is it about that door when I cuddle Lyra? I go to the door and open it. "Oh, hi Time Turner." I say. "Hi Storm. Is now a good time to talk?" He says. "Sure, come in. Take a seat." I say as I let him in. "Hello Lyra." He says. "Hi Time Turner. Is Derpy with you?" She asks. "No she's in Cloudsdale at the moment, I'll be seeing her later on." He replies. "I've got that muffin recipe for her, I'll go get it before I forget." Lyra says, she then goes into the other room. "Thanks, Lyra. How have you been, Storm? I was in a little rush earlier." He says. "Not too bad I suppose, my memory is coming back. Lyra is helping me out, she's really helping." "How's your wing?" "A bit sore but I should be able to fly again soon. How are you doing?" I ask. "I'm doing fine, thanks." "Say... Can I ask you something?" I question. "Of course." "I've been have some strange dreams over the last few nights." "Oh?" "There's one I had when I got sedated at the hospital after taking last nights tumble - I dreamt that I was some kind of being, I wasn't a pony. I was in a foreign land which kind of looked like Equestria in some way but... Different." "Different?" "Yeah, it's hard to explain. I just don't understand, I know dreams don't always have to make sense but these last few recently seem more unusual than the others." "I wouldn't think anymore about it, they're just dreams." *CRASH* That came from upstairs. Lyra comes back into the room. "I'll go check up on them." She says as she heads upstairs to check on Twister and Scootaloo. "Okay." I say. "It's getting late, I better be heading back." "No problem my friend. I'll see you later. Oh, wait!" I shout. "Yeah?" "I can't remember where I hid the ring." I whisper. "Oh, you asked me to look after it. It's in the Tar... Ta... Errrrr, teapot - yeah, I've hidden it in one my teapots." I look at him a little strangely. "The teapot?" I question. Wait, did he say one of his teapots? How many does he have? "Yeah, why not?" "That's fine, as long as you don't drink it!" I say while laughing. "Ha ha." He chuckles nervously. "Anyway, best be off - see you later." "See you later." I say. He then leaves and heads back to his house, I decide to hit the hay myself so I head to the bedroom. Lyra has tucked in both Twister and Scootaloo and is now also going to bed. I walk over to the mirror on the wall and take a look at myself. I don't think I want that bandage on anymore, I removed it and give my wing a little stretch. Bit stiff but certainly better, I dispose of the bandage in the bin near the window - don't think I'll be needing them any longer. As I looked up from the bin I see Time Turner just going in to his house... "Tardis journal entry: 161940371-C Delta It would appear that an experiment myself and my assistant was doing last night during the thunderstorm had a side effect. We were testing the new quantum jump drive which allows us to jump between different dimensions or timelines when it appeared to malfunction. We turned on the drive and set the coordinates for the dimension we required but after a few seconds the drive exploded hurling the Tardis to the ground - the drive is severely damaged but repairable. I'm not sure if the drive suffered damaged from the unusual amount of static electricity that was occurring during the time. However, my best friend got caught in the shockwave from the explosion - this unfortunately knocked him out in mid-flight and he hit the ground. Thankfully he's okay and only suffered a slight concussion and memory loss. I should have known better then to do the jump in that region during the thunderstorm especially since the drive has never been tested before - he's always out in thunderstorms performing his duties for Cloudsdale and of course for the whole of Equestria. His ability from which is what his cutie mark is from, is very unique. He's able to detect where a bolt of lightning with very high accuracy within a fraction of second before it strikes. No other pony I know has this ability, his cutie mark is made from two snakes and a lightning bolt. I can see why the lightning bolt is there but I'm not sure about the snakes, I've seen a yellow snake before but not a blue one - very strange. Using this ability is how he met his special somepony, Lyra, which he's told me he intends to marry very soon, he's asked me to be his best man. He intends to propose the question on Hearts and Hooves day, which is in two days time. He's going to propose the question while at the apple orchard with all his friends there. I find the memory loss my friend suffers from a little unusual. I've spoke to him and he says he couldn't remember anything about himself or others straight after the accident but could recall those memories if given a strong visual reference. He's told me that he had a some strange dreams recently, I'm not sure they are related to the accident. They include being on a different planet which resembles Earth but he isn't a pony but couldn't describe what he was. The only explanation for this I can come up with it that somehow the quantum jump drive when it malfunctioned merged two or more timelines together, twisted perhaps causing his being able to move and maybe even exist between them. I am sorry about the accident. But now I'm faced with a decision whether to tell him or to keep things secret preventing further damage to himself and everyone he's connected to. He doesn't even know that I'm a timelord or even who I really am, so I would have to explain everything to him. I think for now the best thing to do is to not tell him that I'm responsible for the accident, at least until I find out more about what's going on. I will continue repairing the drive and then I'll see if I can work out what's going on for certain. DW." "I've brought you a muffin - it's a new recipe. Oh, you look a little troubled." "Thanks Derpy, I'm just filling in the journal nothing to worry about."