//------------------------------// // Book 3 - Chapter XLV // Story: The Sunset Trilogy // by ocalhoun //------------------------------// Book 3: Equestria Abides Chapter 11 The nail quivered in its little crack in the stone again as Apollo Dawn carefully lined up his next shot. He paused for a moment, wiping the sweat from his forelock before taking the swing... only to see yet another one snap and fall spiraling down to the castle courtyard far below. He let out a curse, muffled by the hammer in his mouth, though he doubted it would have been coherent even if the hammer wasn't blocking its path. “Brilliant, featherbrain!” Splints's voice called out from inside the window, her Trottingham accent coming through thickly. “A few more of those and we'll be out of nails and then we can call it a day!” Apollo growled in frustration. Installing these new shutters on the castle's windows would help keep them all warm this winter, but though they had gotten off to a good start, fasteners meant to attach to stone had quickly become scarce... leaving Apollo with the infuriating task of trying to attach them with these wimpy nails. They weren't designed for piercing stone; that much was obvious... these nails were intended for the hobbyists of Las Pegasus to mount things on their mostly cloud-made walls. Still, it needed to be done. “We can't just call it a day!” He shouted back into the window, a bit tersely. “When winter comes, we'll need these in place already, and there won't be time then.” “When what winter comes?” Splints's sardonic voice wafted out, “Las Pegasus hasn't seen snow in fifty years!” He took the next nail from midair as Shimmer Spell floated it out to him. “Another bit of supplies successfully delivered! Was there ever any doubt?” He hung his head low for a moment, shaking it in frustration before smashing in the next nail with what was probably too much force. Why, again, had he chosen the two most annoying ponies on his team to do this with him? At any rate, the weight behind his frustration seemed to have driven the nail home... fifth try's the charm, right? Tossing the hammer back into his saddlebag, he hovered over to better talk to the ponies inside the window. “First of all, no there was never any doubt. It's just a nail, okay.” Shimmer only seemed to laugh inside at him, her face growing mirthful... even she had learned to humor herself, why couldn't he? “Second, the pegasus ponies aren't in control of the weather anymore, and with the sun acting all weird, we could be in for some strange weather, so that's why we're doing this!” “Or maybe it's just going to be bloody hot all winter,” Splints called out, “ever think of that?” “Quartermaster thinks it's going to get really bad here.” he growled back. “And you're going to trust that old goat?” Splints asked with faux incredulity. “Never thought I'd see a pegasus asking a senile old earth pony about the weather!” Why did he even bother arguing with that one? “Look you two, this is the last one on this floor, just meet me up at the next level, okay?” He fluttered up to the next window in line, taking a well-deserved break on the generous windowsill: from his companions' banter as much as from flying... he wasn't Albatross, after all. He couldn't fly all day without getting worn out. He peeked upwards, and immediately wished he hadn't. He was less than halfway up the fortress's side. Even though Albatross, Twilight and Needle Point were working their way up the other two sides, it still seemed like a daunting task. He just couldn't shake the feeling though... feeling that the wellbeing of his crew depended on the preparations he made now. With his nature being what it was, of course, he couldn't ignore it either. He would do anything to protect his crew... even fight his way to mounting yet another of the infuriating window shutters. The window next to him opened, swiveling inside and giving him a view of who were by now the last two ponies in the world he wanted to see. He heaved a heavy sigh, grabbing a nail from Shimmer before flying out, the next shutter quickly following him, enveloped in a blue glow. “Back to work... again.” * * * Sunny Daze noticed Twilight watching her come through the door, so she carefully – and theatrically – shook the snow from her feet before coming in further, even though she had the most important of all possible messages. “Twilight! You've got to–” She was interrupted by the purple unicorn almost immediately though. “Now, have you gotten your bath yet?” “But Twilight, there's–” “Have you?” she said, giving Sunny the look. “Well, no, but,” Sunny stuttered. “Well then get to it young filly!” Twilight stepped up from where she had been reading a book near the entrance hall's fireplace. Sunny seethed in frustration. “But Twilight!” “No buts!” The unicorn replied, hefting Sunny up in a field of magic. “I won't have you missing bedtime again, not for any silly excuses you think up.” “Twi-Liiiiight!” The filly shouted as she found herself floating in front of her unicorn friend as she trotted towards their suite. “It's important! The weather!” “I know, right?” she replied happily, “Now that there's a little dusting of snow on the ground, Apollo's preparations are going so much faster! I mean just look at how well that fireplace is working now that we cleared out those chimneys – you should really thank your friend Trigger for that, he was a huge help by the way! – and the stockpiles of food and supplies are more than big enough now, and we haven't even brought in the last load yet... Don't even get me started on–” “SHUT UP!” Sunny screamed out in desperation as they entered the door to their suite. Twilight dropped the filly onto the hard stone floor out of shock, but she didn't let it faze her, getting right back up and running over to the unicorn before she could be grabbed in another magical aura. Having given up on getting a word in edgewise, she began physically shoving her friend towards the window, simply shouting, “Look!” * * * Exasperated at the filly's poor behavior, Twilight turned to look out the window. If Sunny was just trying to think up another excuse to avoid bath time, she would be in for it now! She had gotten fed up over the last few days from the young mare's excuses, and her behavior this time was completely out of line... she looked out the window – and completely forgot about her brewing plans for Sunny's punishment. Out of the window, she could see a horizon now quickly filling with roiling black clouds. They were moving towards her. She still found it creepy to see clouds moving around without pegasi to drive them... and at such an alarming rate! Leaving Sunny Daze forgotten, she raced further upstairs to where she remembered Apollo working. * * * Apollo looked up from his inventory as the door burst open, promptly losing count again... he hoped it would be worth it this time. “No, we still don't have any, Shimmer. You'll have to make due without fireworks this time... Oh, wait, Twilight... I thought it was Shimmer Spell again.” “Storm!” The out-of-breath unicorn called out. Apollo didn't need any further prompting. They had been planning for this for weeks now. “On it!” he replied, “Spread the word out and then get to your position!” Twilight's 'position' was to teleport to the very top of the fortress, closing up the top entrances and closing the protective slabs that went over them... slabs that annoyingly enough could only be moved from outside, up on the flight deck. Only Twilight, with her ability to teleport would be able to do it; the pegasi on the team would be busy flying around the outside closing shutters... doubly busy, Apollo realized, since Albatross was still in town gathering up one last supply run. Cursing his luck, he saved time by exiting through the window, slamming the shutters closed behind him. For a moment he stopped to look in awe at the approaching storm front. Despite how distant it was, the winds were already picking up, and he felt the occasional snowflake hit him as he hovered in place. This was definitely the storm they had been preparing for. He could only hope that their preparations would turn out to be enough. * * *