Chapter 5
“A Song of Thunder and Lightening”
Arashi set the blade down in front of me. I blinked after what he just said. “So,” I began, “You’re saying your family are some kind of special pegasi?” I asked.
“In a sense, yes we are.” Arashi said, “It all began about fifty years before the Hearth’s Warming Eve story. Back then, the tribes were still divided and the land was starting to show the influence of the windegoes.”
I nodded and let him continue.
“Around that time there was a pegasus stallion named Olympus, a general in what would become Commander Hurricane’s regiment. He was a stallion who wasn’t afraid to use unorthodox techniques to take down dragons that would invade the tribe’s lands. Olympus was frustrated by the bigotry and close mindedness of his tribe, and was fascinated by unicorns, beings of magic and wonder. His contemporaries ostracized him for his views and threatened to have him dishonorably discharged from the army.”
“They would kick him out because of that?” I asked.
“You have to remember it was a far different time,” Arashi explained. “To even consider working with another tribe was practically heresy among the divided tribes.”
“So, he didn’t take this sitting down I imagined,” I guessed.
“No, not at all,” Arashi said, shaking his head. “He sought to prove that ponykind could benefit from an alliance with the other tribes. So, he got his best friend, a unicorn stallion named Weaver, to see if pegasi could be enhanced by magic. Everything was going fine, until a stray lightning bolt struck Weaver during the ritual. Olympus was hit by the lightning and it entwined with his very being. He became the first Narukami.”
“What is a Narukami exactly?” I asked.
“In Neighpanese, it means lightning god.” Arashi explained, “A Narukami is a pegasi who cannot be hurt by lightning or electricity. They also have the ability to harness lightning to some extent.”
“So, when Raiden said he had conductors in his wings…” I said.
“He lied,” Arashi said frankly. “He took steps to keep the Narukami line a secret.”
“Why keep it a secret?” I asked.
“Because of what happened after Olympus discovered his power,” Arashi said. “Once high command found out about what happened, they banished Olympus. They saw him as an abomination and a taint on the purity of their people. They would not suffer a pegasi touched by unicorn magic in their ranks.”
I’m starting to get flashbacks of Lunard’s ideals here...no wonder the Windigos came…
Arashi went on, “After that, he took his wife and fled towards the island that would one day be called Neighpan. There, he used his power to unite the warring natives under one banner and crowned himself Shogun of the Thunder.”
“So, you guys are royalty in a sense,” I said, blinking.
“In a sense yes,” Arashi said, nodding. “The ponies of Neighpan survived the Windigo incident, and lived in a culture all their own. The power of Olympus passed down to his child, and to his child’s child. The Narukami ruled the land for centuries, their power keeping them on the throne. Until it reached Raiugami, the last emperor.”
“How’d he get dethroned?” I asked.
“Celestia,” Arashi answered.
“She kicked him off?” I asked, a little shocked.
“Raiugami kicked himself off to be honest,” He replied. “Celestia was uniting the tribes at that point in history. Uniting all the different small nations under one banner of Equestria. But when Celestia came to Neighpan, Raiugami foolishly challenged the princess to a duel. He was a brash and overconfident stallion, since none have managed to topple a Narukami, the people believed Celestia had no chance.”
“She proved him wrong, obviously,” I said.
“Yes,” He replied. “She used his own hubris against him. Dodging and weaving around his lightning strikes, forcing him to enter a war of attrition. He lost, spent of energy because Celestia simply refused to take a hit. Although Celestia was merciful to the emperor, his people weren’t. Suddenly it was a possibility that the Narukami could be killed. They were no longer gods, just obstacles in the way of Neighpan’s progress. Raiugami was killed by an assassin in his sleep.”
“But, that wasn’t the end of the Narukami wasn’t it?” I guessed.
“Not by a long shot,” Arashi explained. “His son managed to escape the riots and assassins and lived a life of solitude in Neighpan. Hidden away in the mountains his descendents lived. Until my father left Neighpan and came here seeking opportunity.”
“And that’s why you guys are here in Manehatten,” I concluded. “But what is with the sword?”
“The Daichi was Olympus’ sword,” Arashi explained, “to be used by the emperor and to be passed down to the most worthy son in the family.”
“I noticed you didn’t say eldest,” I added.
Arashi closed his eyes, and said sorrowfully, “Sometimes, a family is hit by tragedy, and we have no choice but to make decisions we regret later.”
“Is Raiden one of them?” I asked.
He was quiet for a while, looking down at the blade as if it were an indecipherable manuscript. He finally spoke after about a minute, “He, told you about Raiun I trust?”
“That he’s essentially a clone of his eldest brother?” I asked. “Who right now is little more than a hollow shell?”
“Yes,” Arashi said.
“Why did you do it?” I asked.
“Because, we...no...I couldn’t let go,” He said. “Raiun was the greatest of my sons. Intelligent, strong, brilliant with his lightning abilities. He was the one I was going to give the Daichi to.”
“But an accident changed that.” I said.
“Yes,” He said, his voice showcasing sorrow. “An electric surge hit him, his powers of lightning resistance were weakened because he was using them to build his suit. His lightning was inside the machine and it backfired, hitting him and damaging his brain and bodily functions beyond repair.”
“So you created Raiun 2.0,” I said.
“My second son, Soyokaze,” Arashi said, “helped with the process. He’s a doctor, specializing in genetics. It was his doing that helped my wife give birth to my son again.”
“Did you ever think about how Raiden would feel?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t,” Arashi admitted. “I only wanted my son back. That was what tore apart this family.”
“But instead of a perfect copy of your perfect boy you got Raiden,” I said. “Who rebelled every step of the way against being Raiun.”
“I did everything for Raiden!” Arashi yelled. “I treated him with the same love and care I would any one of my children! But what did he do? He spat back at me! I wanted the best for him!”
“No, you wanted Raiun. You wanted Raiden to be Raiun,” I said, simply.
Arashi was silent after that.
“I think I know why Raiden never invited me for sleepovers at his house,” I said.
Arashi looked down after that, “It seems all has come to light.”
“Not entirely,” I said. “I still need to know, do you know where everypony in your family that looks like Raiden has been?”
“Why is that important?” Arashi said with a raised eyebrow.
“Because,” I said. “There’s only two possibilities, either one of the family is the killer, or somepony is growing Raiuns too…”
___________________________________________________________
I stepped outside the house, leaving behind the Daichi where it belongs. I saw a rainbow colored blur zooming across the sky. I waved and the blur stopped. I saw Rainbow, she didn’t look happy at all as she flew down towards me.
She landed in front of me, with a look that could kill. “That no good jerk just left! Just flew off to who knows where! Not willing to tell me anything! Of all the jerks I could’ve gotten why’d I have to get the one that knows the city?”
“Rainbow,” I walked to her and put a hoof on her shoulder, “We need to talk.”
I spent the next ten minutes explaining everything. I even told her about Raiden being a clone. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at that revelation but she was quiet throughout. When I finished, she finally said, “I guess, it puts his showing off into perspective huh?”
“He just wanted to be, unique I guess.” I said.
“It’s still dumb that he didn’t tell me any of this!” Rainbow ranted.
“Would you have honestly believed him?” I asked.
“Private, we live in a world where you use magic, Twilight has a dragon assistant, I sleep on a cloud, and have officially done a Sonic Rainboom twice for Celestia’s sake! I would’ve understood! I would’ve tried to help! All this shows is that he doesn’t trust me!” Rainbow groaned. “Stallions are so dumb!”
“Ahem?” I said, giving her a look.
“Twilight would agree with me,” Rainbow said. “We all still remember how you acted before the coronation.”
Sad but true.
“Thing is, he still said that he wasn’t there at the Academy,” Rainbow said.
“How did he answer when you asked?”
“He was shocked, asked me if I was okay before taking off when I asked him where he was again,” Rainbow groaned again.
“So, he wasn’t at the academy,” I said. “He didn’t know where the murder took place. That leaves the possibility.”
“That what?” Rainbow interjected. “That another clone of Raiden is running around?”
I nodded, “I think I know where to start looking.”
___________________________________________________________
The lab itself wasn’t hard to find. In fact it was pretty easy since Soyokaze is actually a well published geneticist. The guy was in the medical journals, health magazines, he even had a couple books that Twilight had in her library on the subject of genetics. The place was nothing spectacular: A simple square building in midtown that sat among the smaller buildings of Manehatten. Inside there was the simple, flowing lines of Neighpanese architecture, but done with modern materials, like aluminium, and plexiglass making use of the Bolt colors of black with yellow highlights. The overall feel of the lobby, at least, was clean, and very modern.
Rainbow and I walked up to the secretary, a twenty something pegasus stallion with a short blond mane and a bright red coat. He looked up at us, “Do you have an appointment with Dr. Bolt?”
“We need to see him right now.” Rainbow said, “It’s an emergency!”
“What kind of emergency?” The secretary asked.
“The kind where you could lose your job for denying the royal consort and his accomplice entrance.” I said. I hated to pull rank but it was necessary for us to get in.
The secretary blinked and his eyes widened in recognition “You’re Private Eye! The guy who’s married to the princess!”
“That’s kind of what a consort is, dude,” Rainbow snarked.
“I’ll contact Dr. Bolt right away sir!” The secretary said, “His personal lab is on the third floor! To your right, you can’t miss it!”
“Thank you good sir.” I said, in a imitation of a posh canterlot tone. That got a chuckle out of Rainbow as we made our way towards the elevator.
We made our way through the building until we found the door we were looking for. We knocked and a voice called on the outside. “Come in! But don’t touch any of the beakers!”
Rainbow and I looked at each other and stepped in. It was a typical lab, filled with various machines for decoding genetic codes. Including a mass spectrometer, and the light boards to examine genetic codes. Petri dishes, test tubes and other various scientific tools lined the counters of the lab. Papers dotted the walls and journals were strewn here and there on the tables.
At one of these counters was a thirty something year old pegasus stallion with a long black mane that came to his shoulders. His white lab coat stuck out against his black coat and his equally dark wings stuck out as well. When we came in, he looked at us with slightly annoyed yellow eyes. “I told Copy Paste to not let ponies i-” He stopped when he saw who I was.
“Soyokaze?” I said.
“Private, I’ve not seen you in years,” Soyokaze said, adjusting a pair of glasses on his muzzle. “What can I do for you and your friend here?”
“You’re the guy who cloned Raiun?” Rainbow asked.
“How the hell do you know about that?” Soyokaze said, zooming over to the door, sticking his head out, and then coming back in.
“Arashi told us,” I answered firmly.
“Right, dear father was always sentimental,” Soyokaze said, rolling his eyes. “What can I help you with?”
I spent the next few minutes explaining the case to him. Soyokaze’s face never wavered as he listened. He was a little shocked when I suggested another clone could have done it.
“That would be impossible,” Soyokaze said.
“How would it be impossible?” Rainbow asked, “Can’t you make a test tube clone or something?”
“That’s the stuff of science fiction novels.” Soyokaze said, adjusting his glasses. “A real clone still needs a birth mother to carry the baby. Since mother is beyond the age of childbirth, she cannot make another clone of Raiun.”
“So Raiden doesn’t have a twin brother or something?” Rainbow asked.
“No my dear, I’m afraid Raiden’s got himself into quite the pickle this time.” Soyokaze said, I couldn’t help but notice a slight glint in his eye.
“Since Raiden’s got DNA on the sword…” Rainbow said slowly.
“Raiden is sadly still the prime suspect I would imagine,” Soyokaze answered.
I spoke up, “So, where were you during the murder?”
“I was attending a business meeting at another company.” Soyokaze answered, “I learned that they were interested in my research so I spent the day over there. My secretary can tell you I was there the whole time.”
“Right, sorry to bother you.” Rainbow said.
“If you both will excuse me,” Soyokaze said, going back to his research, “I have more important matters than dealing with Raiden’s antics.”
With that, we walked back outside. But not before I used my magic to pull out a small book hanging out of Soyokaze’s pocket…
________________________________________________
Outside on the streets I saw a sight I didn’t expect to see...Raiden.
Raiden sat there on the sidewalk and just looked down. Rainbow was noticeably quiet and I said, “Raiden, what are you doing here?”
“I guess, word came out huh?” Raiden said.
“That you’re a clone?” Rainbow said, looking at Raiden. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What was I supposed to say?” Raiden began. “That I’m a clone? That I’m descended from some emperor who could shoot lightning? That I’m Raiun 2.0?”
“You could’ve just told me and I would’ve understood!” Rainbow yelled.
“No you wouldn’t have! You’re just saying that to try and make yourself right as usual!” Raiden spat at her.
“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Rainbow yelled.
“SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!” I yelled, glaring at them both. “You guys are fighting like kids! Raiden didn’t tell you Rainbow! Rainbow wants you to trust her Raiden! Somepony just get it before I smack you both!”
They were both quiet for a minute. Before Rainbow started slowly turning away. “Rainbow?” I said.
“I’m going back to the academy,” Rainbow said, walking away.
“But, Rainbow babe come on…” Raiden tried to say.
“No,” Rainbow said, looking back at Raiden. “If you wanna trust me again, you know where I’ll be…” She spread her wings and zoomed off into the sky before anypony could say anything.
Raiden’s wings drooped at that. “Well, I went and screwed it up now…” he said.
“Raiden...where were you really?” I said.
Raiden looked down at his hooves and said, “I was at the hospital. Where Raiun is…”
“You...were…?” I said, a little shocked.
“I visit him on the same day every year,” Raiden said, and then sighed, “My birthday.”
“You mean to tell me your dad had you born on the same day as Raiun?” I said, a little shocked and creeped out.
Raiden slowly just nodded.
“Raiden, we’ve known eachother since we got our cutie marks,” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I…” Raiden said, shaking his head, “None of us were supposed to talk about it anyways. I didn’t tell you because you were the first pony not in the know. You treated me like any normal pony and not Raiun 2.0.”
“You still could’ve invited me over when we were teenagers or something,” I said. “I would’ve tried to help.”
“No, and you know why?” Raiden said, suddenly getting in my face. “Because you’re freaking Private Phelps Eye! You are the kind of son my dad wanted! Every time I went to your place it was the same thing! Dad constantly telling your dad how well behaved and smart and great you are! I got sick of hearing it! I….” He closed his eyes. “I didn’t want you to come because I was jealous…”
“Me?” I said, blinking. “You were jealous of me?”
“Only, because you put a mirror to what I was doing,” Raiden said. “I hated the fact that you didn’t have to try to have a good relationship with your parents. You were you, and dad liked that.”
“Raiden, is that why you sold the Daichi?” I asked. “Because you wanted to get back at your dad?”
“Yeah…” He said, “I didn’t want to take up that sword. It belonged to Raiun, not me.”
“Yet you still visit him?” I asked, “Your brother.”
“The first time was when I was thirteen,” Raiden sighed. “I found out where he was being cared for and wanted to pull the plug. But, you should see him Private. He just sits there, so utterly peaceful. Nopony asks him to do anything. Nopony expects anything from him. In a way...he got the good deal…”
“Raiden,” I said. “You didn’t kill Skyline.”
“No, dude,” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t kill anypony. I’m not that messed up.”
“But,” I said, “if we’re going to find out how a lookalike of you showed up to do the deed. Then, we need to go to the stallion who started this.”
“Dude, I haven’t spoken to him in five years.”
“Then it’s about time you started reconciling with your father. Trust me, you’ll an easier time without worrying about a god of chaos screwing with you.”