//------------------------------// // Night // Story: The Darkest Storm // by TheReaderAndWriter //------------------------------// 2. Night. A restless night was the least Ivanhoe needed right now. It had started out nicely, calm, nothing disturbing him but the faint drops of water on the window. The bed was wonderfully soft, cool and warm in all the right places. He wondered if Windy had tried to make them akin to sleeping on clouds, because if he would try to imagine it, this would be the best he could come up with. However, as the night dragged on the more restless he got. And then, at around midnight, he started to hear something. "Come on...come on..." the voice was nondescript. He could not recognize it, he could not properly hear it, he wasn't even sure if he actually heard it or if he was just dreaming. "Come on, wake up!" yelled the voice with authority. Ivanhoe instantly got up, he was a bit confused but he was up. He looked around the room. "You have been chosen." There it was again, but where was it coming from? Ivanhoe walked around the dark room, listening. "I would not have expected someone like you, somepony so...lacking, a pony that is basically still just a colt." "I'm legally an adult," said Ivanhoe, very wary of the voice. Where is that coming from? "Keep telling yourself that. Still, your age is irrelevant. What matters is that you are here." "What are you talking about?" "Simple. You are going to save the world, my boy. You are going to make sure it stays the way it should." "Where are you?" "Far, far away. I can't stay here long. You are here because I needed you to be here. You have been chosen to carry out the will of something much more than yourself, to do wonders bigger than yourself! All you have to do is listen to me." "I might not have a choice. Who are you?" "I am a prince, no, a king. Where the princesses represent the sun and the moon respectively, I speak for the world itself. I do not rule any part of the world, I am it, something the princesses' glory can not quite match. Yet I need your help." "Right," said Ivanhoe skeptically. "You doubt. No matter. I need you to do something very important. I need you to get three artifacts. One is in Cloudsdale, the second in the Everfree Forest and the last one is beyond." "Beyond? Beyond what?" asked Ivanhoe. It was pretty obvious where the voice was coming from now, inside his head. The thought scared the living daylights out of him. "You'll find out. Let's just say it's impossible to find right now because nopony knows where to look." Ivanhoe was silent for a short moment, waiting for the strange voice to speak again. It didn't say anything else. Ivanhoe's curiosity was piqued. "Where were the things again? I'm not from around here." "Cloudsdale, Everfree Forest and beyond. I have made sure that you'll recognize these artifacts when you have them in your sight. Now, of course you don't have to do this, but if you don't, the world will be a terrible place to be in. Are you really ready to take that risk? The options aren't great either way, you can either listen to the voice in your head or just shrug your head, sit back and enjoy the fireworks." "But I-" "Sleep on it." "What is...what is your name?" "I have no name. I am merely the king of the world." "Could you tell me more? What's going on? And why me?" asked Ivanhoe but there was no voice to answer him. It was gone. The room was silent again. "Sleep on it, right," said Ivanhoe, realizing he was talking to himself, and that he'd been doing that for several minutes. He just shut up and tried to go back to sleep, which at this stage seemed impossible. There was absolutely no way he was going to- he fell asleep. *** Sometimes dreaming is like theater, you can't control what happens on stage, sometimes you love it, other times you loathe it. But no matter how much you boo or cheer, those actors, one of which is you, will always carry out their directions. Fortunately, this current dream was one of the good ones. Not great, but not bad either. "Mother, I'd prefer not to leave my home right now," said Ivanhoe to his mother. Her caring face blurred out, forgotten in this dream. "Come on now, Son. It's not like Equestria is a bad place, it's quite lovely. Just go if you want to. It will be great fun. A note might just be a good thing to follow. It's like an adventure. Take this opportunity." "Father, what do you think?" said Ivanhoe to his father who was reading the newspaper. "Do whatever you want, Son. Don't forget to get back soon. The farm will always be here, needing your help. Although, be a little wild, enjoy yourself as much as you can," said his father with a little chuckle. His face obscured by the paper. Why were their voices getting so blurry? "Will your girlfriend be coming with you?" asked his mother. "I don't have a girlfriend, Mother." "Oh, that's right. Silly me," said his mother and laughed. "I get the hint, but stop pestering me about that." "She'll never stop pestering you, Son. Believe me." "Maybe I should go, just so I can get away from you two a bit. You're a bit much for me right now." "Well, whatever you want to do, we'll be here when you get back," said his mother. "Just like always. So, will you be doing writing or chores today? And...oh, is that your breakfast?" asked his father. "Huh?" "Grass pancakes? Smells lovely," said his mother, but nopony was cooking. So where did that smell come from? Suddenly there was a knock on the door, a door far away. "Mr. Ivanhoe? Breakfast!" "Just a moment, Father. I need to wake up," said Ivanhoe like it was a simple formality. He opened his eyes and looked towards the door. It was morning. He could barely remember what he had heard yesterday. Maybe that was a dream too? His dream-father had to unfortunately wait a lot longer before they could discuss the daily chores. What a funny way for a dream to end. "Eh, come in, Miss Stables, I mean, Windy." The door opened and Windy walked in carrying a tray on her wings. "Did you have a good night's rest?" "Yes," he lied to her. It was hardly her fault he couldn't sleep, so why bother telling her otherwise? "The flowers you planted has already started growing, by the way. You earth ponies certainly have a way with plants." "Great. Oh, this smells good." "My own recipe. With grass from our garden." "Do you have any sugar?" "Indeed I do," said Windy and opened a little box on the tray. "Great. Oh, juice too. Fantastic. I'm starving." "I managed to find a lot of time to prepare your breakfast. You are literately the only guest here right now. This season is even more off than usual." "What can you do?" Ivanhoe asked and shrugged. "Windy, by the way. Do you know of a place called Cloudsdale?" "My mother's from there." "It's a town?" "A pegasus town. Not that far away from Ponyville. Why do you ask?" "I want to visit it." "You'll never get to visit it if you don't have wings. Unless you're planning on making it a very short visit followed by a 7000 feet drop." "Alright, how about the 'Everfree' Forest?" "You're not planning on going in there are you? It's dangerous. Then again, if you just want to see the outskirts it's right on the edge of Ponyville, toward the mountains," said Windy. "Thanks, I might do that." "Is there anything else I can help you with?" "No, Windy. That's all. Thank you for the breakfast." "Just leave the tray when you're done, Ivanhoe." *** The dish had tasted as good as its smell would have had one believe. Afterwards when Ivanhoe walked down the stairs he was remembering the night vividly. That voice without a name... 'The voice without a name', huh, sounded like a good name for a depressing rock band. Still, insane or not, the voice Ivanhoe had heard made him feel uneasy, mostly because it was right. From his point of view it was either right or wrong, and in the off chance it was right...catastrophe. Ivanhoe walked out of the inn, thinking to himself that he had an easy way to check if this was real or not: finding one of the artifacts. Then he could prove to himself he was not insane. "Yeah, follow the voice in my head to prove I'm not crazy. Seems about right," said Ivanhoe. He noticed that his sudden comment made three mares with flower cutie marks hastily turn around and walk away from him. Ivanhoe didn't bother explaining and kept walking. He didn't really have anything to do. He ended up walking around for almost half an hour before arriving at a park. He decided to sit down on a bench, he needed to relax a bit. Two other mares were there already. "So, anyway, I sat down in a weird way once, and now I never hear the end of it," said the mare. She had a mint-green coat and light-green mane. "Please, I drank from a punch bowl without using a cup once and now everyone assume I have a drinking problem!" said the purple mare next to her. "I thought you did. You did drink a lot of cider a few weeks ago." "It was an annual thing. Pinkie Pie drank almost ten times more than me!" "Really?" Ivanhoe asked. They both gave him a really mean look that instantly told Ivanhoe he got here at a bad time. He quickly got out of there. He kept walking. He tried to keep his mind off the fact he heard a voice in his head. For the moment he just enjoyed seeing the town. He stopped by a little pond. He took a deep breath. This town didn't seem to have any flaws at all. Seems like his grandfather just had a thing against ponies from Equestria, though he often had a thing against everyone that wasn't him. What other reason could there be that he had constantly badmouthed everything about Equestria? "So, what do you think?" asked a familiar voice. The voice of a young dragon. "Spike, a cape is a look that is really difficult to actually pull off. You would be required to be a knight, or in the least nobility. I see you as noble at times, but that does not mean you would look good in a cape. Frankly it would look more like a security blanket on you. You are technically a baby after all," said a very elegant voice. Ivanhoe looked over and saw Spike and a unicorn walk in his general direction. The unicorn's mane was very well kept. She was completely white with a very purple mane and she walked with grace. "I don't like it that everypony call me a baby. I'm just as old as most colts around here." "If that's the case then you are still just a child. A child can not pull off wearing a cape." "Aw, come on!" "No means no, Spike. Although, I might be able to make you a hat. Wouldn't that be lovely?" "I guess," said Spike, visibly disappointed. "Don't look so glum, Spike. It's not like... Oh, hello," said the unicorn when she noticed Ivanhoe looking at them. She did seem to have some sort of interest in him, oddly enough. She had a look in her eye, a sort of creative spark. "Oh, it's you," said Spike. "You know him, Spike?" "Not really." "Well, he might be able to pull off wearing a cape. He would have to remove those particular pants, however." "Him?" "Well, the color of his coat and mane would help in his case. Do you any idea how hard it is for green and purple to complement each other in fashion?" she said as she seemed to more carefully inspect Ivanhoe's body with her eyes. Ideas seemed to be forming in her head. "Did you need something?" asked Ivanhoe. "Oh, well. I was wondering if you could help me with a problem, you are just right for it." "Him?" "Me?" "Oh yes. I need to work on a tuxedo for a client. You have the same slightly taller build that he does." "He's not that tall," said Spike. "Hush, Spike. Well, Sir, my name is Rarity. If I may be so bold I wonder if I could ask you for your kind assistance," she said and let her eyes flutter. At first Ivanhoe got the impression she was just trying to use her feminine charms to use him but that thought quickly vanished. She did give him the feeling she had a genuine need for help. Ivanhoe simply shrugged. He didn't have anything better to do today anyway. "Well sure, I guess." "Fabulous! This way please. I'll see you tomorrow, Spike," said Rarity and started walking. She was barely able to contain her joy. Ivanhoe started following her, but suddenly he lost his grasp of the ground. He was suddenly levitating, covered in a glow that dragged him with her like he was a balloon. He did not enjoy the experience but he kept himself silent. *** A while later they approached her house, it was a tower just as extravagant as she was. She opened the front door and dragged him inside. Ivanhoe wasn't prepared when she finally let him go, making him stumble on the ground. "Just step right over there, Sir. I am very grateful you're doing this for me." "No, no problem, Miss," said Ivanhoe as he walked up on a little platform. "Please, call me Rarity. I didn't catch your name." "It's Ivanhoe Mane." "That's a lovely name," said Rarity while she was getting out some equipment. "So, into a lot of fashion?" said Ivanhoe as he did a quick scan of the rooms, with its many mirrors and outfits. "Oh yes." "That's sort of...girly, isn't it?" asked Ivanhoe. Rarity glared at him for a second before continuing. "Not enough ponies understand that fashion is so much more than just making and wearing clothes. It might be seen as feminine, but it is nothing short of art! Capturing an impression and showing it to the world along with emotions. Constantly flowing, changing every year. There is nothing quite like it." "Aha. Well, I like writing myself." "Just like a good book is timeless, so is a dress when made by a master. It's difficult, however, and makes writing a book seem like a, well, a much easier task. I wish ponies would see the hard work I put into my work. Inspiration that takes months to fully realize!" "Don't let her kid you, I made a 'mess' in her room once and she made an entire line of outfits in less than a day," said a small voice suddenly behind him. Ivanhoe turned around. A young filly, probably a relative, looked up at him. "Sweetie Belle! Don't play in here while I'm working!" said Rarity. "But you said that..." "I know what I said, but I'm busy." "Just like always." "Hey, I promised you we'd go out and play and I'm going to keep that promise. Just not right now. Now, go on. The sooner I can work the sooner we can have some fun," said Rarity with a caring voice. "Well, okay..." "Great, now. Please stand still, Sir," said Rarity. A bunch of needles suddenly floated into view, there were some fabric there too, but Ivanhoe could not keep his sight away from the needles. *** It took just short of an hour before Rarity was done with her work. "You are very patient. Do you often pretend to be a statue?" she asked jokingly while removing the half-finished garment. "No, but I don't mind waiting." "Thank you very much for all your help." "I don't think standing around doing nothing really counts as 'help'." "Nonsense. Sweetie Belle! I'm done, could you get that returned order?!" Rarity yelled up the stairs. "Coming!" Sweetie Belle yelled back. "I think you deserve a little something, I recently had a failed order. The customer ordered brown and white, but 'meant' purple and yellow. It would fit you, rather than those old things," said Rarity and pointed at Ivanhoe's old dirty pair of pants. "I can't accept something like that." "Please, it would be my pleasure," said Rarity as Sweetie Belle entered the room with a box on her back. Rarity opened it and took out a pair of pants. The top was brown in a similar hue as Ivanhoe's coat, but the lower half of the legs had a few stripes of white. "Please try it on, Ivan." "Ivanhoe," he corrected while she used her magic to change his pants. It happened in a flash. "They look great on you!" "They also look a bit odd, but I do find them comfortable." "Believe me, they suit you. The design is simple, but it fits you quite well. Which is impressive since they were literally originally designed to be part of a clown-costume." "What." "I didn't know that at the time, however. Did cause me to have a bit of a...well, in lack of better terms, a fit." "You flipped out?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Ladies do not 'flip out', sister dear." "Well, thank you." "No, thank you, Mr. Ivanhoe." *** Ivanhoe didn't expect anything like this today. It was a positive turn of events in an otherwise troubling day. But it was not over yet. Cloudsdale, or Everfree Forest. One or the other. Dangerous woods or walking on clouds? Both seemed like impossibilities. Should he even care? "So...what did you two do?" asked Spike right behind him. Ivanhoe turned around to look at him. "What is it with everyone in this town and sneaking up on me?" "So?" "So what?" "What did you do!? Did you help her out?! Did you talk to her or something? Oh, you did, didn't you?! You got really close to her and now she has asked you to be her boyfriend or something this is terrible oh no what am I gonna do this is just awfulstayawayfromheryousneaky...!" Spike was quickly losing his cool and started hyperventilating. "Calm down." "AndthenyouandherwillhavelikeamillionfoalsandI'lljustbethatreallyweirduncleobsessedwith-" "Calm down!" Ivanhoe yelled and gave him a slight smack across the face. "pineapples... Ouch." "Sorry, but you're overreacting, Kid. I don't even know her. She just needed help with some of her 'art'." "Oh, great," said Spike and a sigh of relief quickly followed. "Aren't you a little young to- you know what? I'd rather not think about the implications of that. I'm off. Have a nice day, young dragon," said Ivanhoe and walked away. "Hey, hey wait!" said Spike and hurried to keep up. "Something wrong?" "Well, no, but, who are you anyway?" "I told you yesterday, my name is-" "I know, but who are you? You sort of smell weird." "Well, I did just stay still on a single spot for about an hour in a boutique surrounded by needles and someone who kept using magic on me. Ugh, imagine how much I must've been sweating." "Well, where are you from?" "Ask your employer. I'm hungry again, I need to go eat something." "Twilight? She's not really my employer. More like, my big sister, I guess." "Her?" "Well, yeah. She even hatched me." "So she's also like your mother?" "No, my mom is my mom. Well, the princess was sort of like a mom. She raised me." "As in, Celestia?" "Yep." "You actually, actually seriously know the princess?" "Both of them. Twilight is a good friend of princess Luna." "Who's princess Luna?" asked Ivanhoe. Spike just glared at him like Ivanhoe was crazy. "Cool, I've never met a pony who was born in a cave before," said Spike and rolled his eyes. "Your 'sister' had a similar reaction." "You don't know her? Princess Luna? Nightmare Moon? Ring any bells? Seriously, it should ring so hard you should be going deaf." "I'm not from around here." "Or anywhere close for that matter." "Still, a second princess? It mentioned 'princesses' now when I think about it," said Ivanhoe and thought about last night. "How come you like pants?" "I wear pants because they have pockets." "You're weird, you know that?" "And you're purple." "And I'm out of here," said Spike and simply left. "He's not the only one," said Ivanhoe and continued on with his day. *** "Welcome back, Ivanhoe. Did you have a good day?" said Windy as Ivanhoe entered the inn. The night had arrived. "So so. I'm almost considering leaving." "Oh no, why?" "It's a very nice town, but not much seem to be going on in it." "You're just here in an off season. Believe me, a lot of things happen here, all the time. Dragons, chaotic gods, eternal nights, stampedes of bunnies. You're just lucky nothing interesting is going on right now." "I'm not that lucky." "Will you eat tonight?" "No, thank you. I already ate." "Alright. Oh, nice pants." "Thanks. I'm tired. Good night, Windy," said Ivanhoe and went up the stairs. "'Night. Will you be coming to the party?" "The party?" "A local pony is holding a party during the night of the summer sun celebration. She loves creating parties and they are often great." "I suppose I might as well come. When is the celebration?" "In two days."