//------------------------------// // Plans // Story: Some Redemption // by Cupzy //------------------------------// In the long grass of the hills near Ponyville, Storm opened his eyes. He sat up before steadily rising to his hooves. He let out a large yawn and looked down at Ponyville, the sun was shining and most of the ponies had come outside to enjoy the weather. Storm looked up into the sky, judging by the sun's ascend, he assumed the time to be around 11 o clock. He decided to go to Canterlot tomorrow, he would have to plan everything tonight. He thought back to Twilight, and how he continuously shattered her heart with his bold statements. "She'll find a better colt than me... Something tells me that I won't leave Canterlot unscathed." Storm thought to himself. He started making his way down the hill. He wondered if there was a local blacksmith, maybe he could top up his weapon for him. He still had a fair few bits left, he had no idea where to start looking. He could ask one of his... "Friends" if they knew somewhere that could help him. Fluttershy's innocent nature made it nearly impossible to assume that she would own anything that required a blacksmith. Rarity was more suited to a clothing store than a blacksmith. Rainbow Dash seemed to be a perfect candidate, only she would never truly hurt anypony. Pinkie Pie... Storm thought for a moment, he imagined the scenario of Pinkie Pie with a knife. In the right mind, she should be banned from sharp objects in general. Applejack... Well, she worked on a farm, so surely she had tools that needed topping up every so often, or just buying new tools in general. Storm set out for Sweet Apple Acres. After a short walk through Ponyville, Storm came to the familiar farm. He walked up to the house and gave the door a knock. He waited for a few moments before finally being answered by Applejack. "Hello there partner! What's yer name?" Applejack asked with a large grin. "My name is Shadow Storm, I believe your brother introduced us a few nights ago." Storm replied. Applejack put a hoof to her chin and looked around for a few seconds. Eventually, she pulled the hoof away from her chin and looked at Storm with a smile. "Oh yeah! Now ah remember ya! Ya'll saved that poor young colt from bein' Changeling food!" Applejack said. Storm breathed a sigh of relief, at least the other rumors hadn't spread to the farm. "So, what can ah do fer ya?" Applejack asked. "I wondered if you knew of a blacksmith in Ponyville, I assume that you always have to keep tools in check so I came to you in hopes of finding one." Storm explained. "Ah see. But what would a nice colt like yourself need tah go to a blacksmith?" Applejack asked curiously. Storm sighed and clapped his hooves, a large long sword appeared on the floor in between him and Applejack, she took a few steps back when seeing the large weapon. "Mah stars! I think ya'll have a more exciting life than ya let on!" Applejack exclaimed, not taking her eyes off of the sword. Storm made the sword return to his possession again. "That sword looked like it was in mighty fine condition tah me, why would ya want to waste bits on a perfectly good weapon?" Applejack asked. "I will be leaving Ponyville in a few days to go about some business. Some VERY important business." Storm replied. "What are yah? Some kinda bounty hunter?" Applejack asked. "I'm more of a soldier." Storm replied. Applejack looked at him curiously. "Well the blacksmith's a few houses left o' Sugercube Corner, but might I say that you don't look like no soldier tah me..." Applejack said. Storm bowed in return. "I thank you for the information." Storm said. Applejack had a small blush on her face from the sudden gentlemanly behavior. She gave a wave to him as he walked back outside of the barn, towards Sugercube Corner, Applejack was about to step inside when she stepped on a piece of paper. "What in tarnation?" Applejack asked herself as she picked the piece of paper up. It turned out to be a letter addressed to her. She removed the seal and opened the letter. Dear Applejack I've called you and the rest of the girls over tonight to talk to you all about something extremely important, something that could result in the downfall of Equestria itself. If you could come to the library in a few hours, I'd very much appreciate it. Twilight Sparkle "Hmm... Sounds important. Ah'd better ask Big Mac if he can watch over the farm duty until ah get back." Applejack said to herself as she walked back inside of her house. Meanwhile, Storm was walking to Sugercube Corner. He needed to see if his weapon needed repaired in the slightest, he couldn't take any chances for tomorrow night. After a few more minutes of walking, he eventually came to the bakery. He looked to the left of the building, one of them looked significantly like a blacksmith. He opened the door, the inside of the building had an old feel to it, almost like it had been standing for hundreds of years, there was a counter at the front and behind it lay an anvil and a foundry. The corners of the room were covered in cobwebs and the area had a creepy atmosphere around it. He saw a pony at the counter, it was a chocolate color with a slightly red mane, he had a hammer and a sword crossing with each other as his cutie mark. He was an earth pony. "Hello sir! My name is Bright Spark, How may I help you?" He asked. "I was hoping that you could check a weapon for me and see if it needs any repairs." Storm replied. "It's been a while since I looked at a weapon, but certainly! But... Where exactly is this weapon of yours?" Bright Spark asked. Storm made his long sword appear on the counter in front of him, causing Bright Spark to jump back. "I see, never seen a Pegasus use magic before." Bright Spark said as he looked at the weapon with interest. He started mumbling to himself, the only words that Storm could make out were "Hilt" and "Magic" Bright Spark eventually raised his head, looking at Storm with a smile. "I must say, I've never seen a weapon quite like her." Bright Spark remarked as he pointed towards the long sword. "It was crafted out of the best steel available" Storm replied. "Well, it appears to be in pristine condition, but I could sharpen it a little, maybe give the handle a bit of a polish." Bright Spark said. "That would be much appreciated, Applejack informed me that you were the only blacksmith availab-" Shadow Storm said before he was cut off. "Oh you're friends with Applejack are you? She regularly comes here. I'm always telling her to bring that mess of a plow that her brother keeps using." Bright Spark commented. "Well, thank you for the help, how much is this going to cost me?" Storm asked. "Well, considering that you're a friend with Applejack, I would be willing to cut the deal in half, I'd say this would probably cost you around... twenty bits." Bright Spark said. Storm had fifty bits on him, he was glad that the blacksmith was willing to half the price for him. "Thank you for the help." Storm said as he put the necessary bits onto the counter. "No problem, come back tomorrow to pick it up!" Bright Spark said as Storm left the blacksmiths. Meanwhile, at Twilight's library. Applejack had just arrived and Twilight had gotten them to sit in a circle. "Alright girls. I brought you here today to discuss something very important." Twilight said, straining her voice on the word "very" "Oh! Are we planning a surprise part for someone?" Pinkie said excitedly, standing up on her chair, Rainbow Dash managed to get her to sit back down again. "Unfortunately no, this is something that holds the fate of Equestria in it's hands." Twilight said, provoking a gasp from some of the ponies. "Have any of you seen or talked to the colt named Shadow Storm?" Twilight asked. "Yes, I do say that I have. Oh, he was such a gentlecolt." Rarity said. "Yes, he stopped Angel running away from home." Fluttershy responded, as quiet as a mouse. "Yeah! He came to Sugercube Corner and bought a cupcake! We haven't seen each other since then! He was asking a lot of questions about Celestia!" Pinkie said. "Yeah. I met him when he was going to his hotel. He was asking me a lot about the princess as well." Rainbow Dash said. "Well speak o' the devil! I got your letter right after ah was talkin' tah him! He said he was goin' tah Canterlot in a few days to go about his business. I told him where the blacksmith was and then he left. That's when I saw yer letter." Applejack said. Twilight looked at her in disbelief. "He's... Leaving for Canterlot?" Twilight asked, her mouth agape in a traditional cartoon-like fashion. "Uh yeah... Oh! And he had this huuuuuuge sword on 'im, said that he was a guard o' some sort." Applejack continued. Twilight shook her head and continued talking. "Listen girls, this colt is much more dangerous than you think! He tried to assassinate Celestia a few days back! He lost and I saved him in the forest." Twilight said, she felt sorry betraying Storm like this, but she didn't want to see either him or Celestia dead. Everypony's mouths were agape. They looked at Twilight in shock. "Is... Is that true? But he seemed so nice!" Rarity said. "How'dya know all about this Twi?" Applejack asked. That brought back painful memories that Twilight didn't really want to discuss. "I-I think that I... Delved too deep into his origins, and he just explained everything then left, he said he wouldn't die but..." Twilight said. "Wait a minute, sugercube. Why are ya so concerned that HE'LL die? We got the princess to worry about!" Applejack said. Twilight let out a short gasp, she was showing a little more care about Storm than she wanted to. "Yeah I know... But he's a pony like the rest of us right? He doesn't deserve to die." Twilight said. "Darling, he's a criminal. An outlaw. Crime happens so little here in Equestria and It's punishable by death!" Rarity said. Twilight was hurt, those words, Criminal, outlaw. She was acting as if Storm's life didn't matter. She shook it off. "Well anyway, we need to stop him! Does anyone know when he's going to Canterlot?" Twilight asked her friends. "Well, Ah'd imagine that he's goin' tomorrow, considerin' that the train station's closed for the rest of the week after tomorrow." Applejack said. "Alright. We can meet at the train station tomorrow at twelve. Hopefully he won't take the train until after then." Twilight said. The five ponies left their chairs and exited the library. Rainbow Dash had a look of almost pleasure on her face. "This is so cool! We get to take out an outlaw!" Rainbow said, her words still harming Twilight as she closed the door. She looked at the time. eleven o clock. It was late, she made her way to her room, where Spike was already fast asleep. She smiled at the sight before crawling into bed herself. "Will he be executed if he gets captured? I don't want him to die..." Twilight thought as she dozed off. Meanwhile, Storm had returned to the hill, he preferred sleeping up there, as nopony actually came up here without good reason. He rested his back against the same tree and closed his eyes. "Tomorrow night will be a day for the books. For the good or bad." Storm said to himself as he slowly drifted to sleep.