Chapter 5- Conduit of Storms
Unknown Location, San Diego
BOOM!! CRACK!! BZZT!!! The Sounds of Lightning and Thunder disturbed Princess Celestia and woke her almost immediately from her slumber. She and Luna were taking refuge in an old hotel that was closed for future remodeling. The sounds of a possible storm though caused the princess to toss and turn in the bed she was sleeping in. That and Luna trying to wake her up with everything else going on. The constant noise was not helping her get some much needed rest.
“Celestia? Sister, please wake up.” She heard her little sister beg like a young filly by her bedside. After a little while, Celestia opened her tired eyes. Seeing her sister and rising up from her laid position on the bed she was resting on, the solar princess tried to speak despite being really tired.
“L-luna? I-it’s way t-too early to wake me up.”
“Celestia, that’s not why I needed you up.” The Moon Princess was going to tell her about Shawn’s phone call, but this did not happen. Instead, Luna’s phone rang a melodic tune of a violin. When she saw the caller ID, everything she was going to say before was soon forgotten. Luna answered the call immediately and (after a few seconds of trial and error) put it on speaker for both her and Celestia to hear.
It was Shawn and he was in trouble.
“Luna!! ”
“I need your help like, like right now-WOAH!!”
The Snow Conduit on the other end of the line was in a fight for his life as he tried to contact the princess of the night while being bombarded with attacks from Rainbow Dash. Shawn was constantly having to dodge and roll out of the way of her lightning strikes and sometimes counter attack with shots of hail in order to protect himself. But there was one detail that was too his advantage. The cool early morning temperatures had soaked the synthetic field, allowing the Conduit to create frozen barriers of ice to serve as shields to protect himself. Doing so helped him communicate easier with the sisters the moment he caught his breath.
“W-what’s going on, Shawn!?” He heard Luna stutter over the phone as she tried to contact him.
“It’s Rainbow Dash and Soarin. I found them-.” The moment he finished his sentence, another bolt of lightning melted the shield that he made. Trying to counter-attack, Shawn now tossed a winter grenade to try and blind the Rainbow-haired girl. However, this only led to her running at full speed and becoming a multi colored blur so she could get up close and personal with hand-to-hand combat. The snow conduit had no choice but to dash backwards so his opponent couldn’t break his phone and disrupt his call with the sisters.
“That’s great news!” Luna answered to Shawn’s question.
“Not really,” Shawn countered her statement “They don’t trust me and Rainbow thinks I’m with the DUP. She is trying to electrocute me with lightning bolts right now!!”
The two sisters were startled by the news. They both knew that Rainbow at times was stubborn and couldn’t trust anypony. But they never thought that it would get to this point. By now, Celestia was fully awake and on alert. They needed to get to him and fast.
“Shawn, where are you?”
The Snow conduit now recognized Celestia’s voice as he used his powers to create a frozen strip of jagged icicles along the ground, catching Rainbow off guard. “At a practice field nearby Qualcomm Stadium. Look’s like a huge arena or a coliseum.”
“I don’t know the area in which you speak of. You need to help us in order for us to find you.” He heard her say over the speaker on his phone. Shawn sighed and then asked a follow us question.
“Do you know what a GPS is?”
"A GP… what?” came the response. Now wasn’t the time though to be giving Celestia and Luna tech support. Especially with Rainbow Dash trying to cook Shawn with her Electrical Powers.
“Never mind that! Celestia, do you see an icon on your phone that looks like a compass? If so, thats a map application. I’m leaving my phone on so you can see my signal and follow it to my location.”
“And how exactly does that work-?” BZZT! Another lightning bolt, barely missing Shawn’s left cheek. He needed to focus.
“Just trust me. I’m using myself as a tracking device for both of you.” The Conduit immediately hung up and now plugged in his headphones. Music helped the teenager focus and move in synch while fighting. The song that began to play now was one that he wanted to hear.
The song’s tense and rhythmic feeling coursed through Shawn and felt like it was flowing like blood in his veins. The introduction of the song help him prepare for what came next. His hands were loose, muscles were stretched, no pain so far. “Alright. It’s time that I kick it up a notch!”
Then the bass dropped. “IT’S BLACK MAGIC!”
That was Shawn’s cue to accelerate forward for an offensive counter attack. It took both his opponent (and her companion) by surprise. They thought that whoever he was talking to just now must’ve been important if he is fighting back like this. Dodging Rainbow’s lightning and using his hands and feet to fight back against the Storm Conduit, Combining fast paced attacks with heavier strikes, moving gracefully like a Wonderbolt in flight? It seems as if the boy they say before was now starting to get serious.
Rainbow, on the other hand, liked it when her opponent began to fight back against her powers. It was a sign for her not to be playing around either. She now focused her powers so she can match her attackers blows with some of her own, emitting small electrical shocks in most of her strikes and a typhoon of wind around her right leg in a strong kick to Shawn’s chest to push him back a few feet.
The response of the blow from him was… not what Rainbow was expecting. After getting kicked back like you felt a direct blow from Pinkie’s party cannon (Or in a humans case, a shotgun), she would think that this boy would be knocked out cold. Possibly moaning in pain. However, what happened was the opposite. What he did was get up, use his powers to heal himself, and then proceeded to brush the dirt off his shoulders and unzip his jacket.
“You are not giving that easy now, are you?” Rainbow taunted, entertained by this boy’s persistence.
“Always fight for what’s right, fight to the end, and never back down from a challenge.” Shawn answered his opponent’s question as he stretched his neck muscles. “That’s my motto.”
“Well, I guess that’s something you and I have in common. I’m not backing down from this fight either!!”
Shawn grinned. He hadn’t had this much fun with his powers in a LONG time (excluding the fight with Pablo because that was more of a rescue a hostage situation that a “Duke it out” style brawl). As the current song came to an end, the next one began to play. Again, another one of his personal favorites.
A mixture of Electronic beats, guitar, and symphonic chords merged together to create this track. The bass was beginning to rise when Shawn clashed with Rainbow once again. There was one trick that he thought of just now and couldn’t wait to try. His chance came at the 0:58 second mark of the song where the mood of the melody began to shift.
Using his powers, Shawn conjured and shot out a straightforward beam of snow that was going towards Rainbow Dash. “This again,” the disappointed conduit said. Seeing the attack as a high speed piece of hail and feeling confident in her abilities, she stuck out her hand like she was going to catch it. However, it wasn’t until it was inches away from her hand that her companion saw something off.
“Rainbow, DON’T-!!”
By the time Soarin’s plea came across, the line dispersed into multiple threads and wrapped itself around Rainbow’s left arm like rope. She was shocked by the tactic as well as caught off guard. Her overconfidence had now lead her to being tricked!!
“Gotcha!!” Shawn commented, glad that his plan was a success. “You must have overlooked the fact that my snow abilities could do more than just make hail and freeze the ground. I can also replicate objects by using a bit more power than I normally would.”
By now, Rainbow was extremely angry. Matter of fact, downright ticked! “That was a dirty trick!! You cheater!!!”
“Not quite. You never placed any rules on this fight. So right now, this is a free for all. No rules, no limits, nothing to hold you back.”
Rainbow growled a little at the boy’s statement. He was right on that point. But, out of all this, there was one mistake that he made. Not to get the other hand. With a blast of wind from her right arm, Rainbow broke free of Shawn’s grip by making him lose focus on the restraint and more on protecting himself. With breaking free, she flew forward in a counter attack. Her attack combination started with two kicks, then a right hook across Shawn’s jawline, too damn close to breaking it.
The Snow conduit was thankful for his rapid healing. That and his headphones and phone weren’t smashed to bits. Now though, would be a good time for him to pause what he was listening to. His senses kicked in, feeling both Celestia and Luna not far from where he was currently at. Best guess would be that they needed five minutes to be able to reach him, give or take. So, now Shawn tried a new approach.
Reason.
“So… How was that?” He asked his question, looking at Soarin. The Navy haired conduit was surprised to have this question be for him. Nevertheless, hear the question. After all, he had been fighting Rainbow Dash for the past ten minutes and he was even able to keep up with her. Never mind the fact that the kid also caught Rainbow off guard too.
“I’m impressed by your skills, kid. But I am not entirely convinced.”
“Oh? Did I do something wrong?” Shawn asked the Wonderbolt.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Soarin replied “But you didn’t do what I asked you to do. You were suppose to beat Rainbow in a fight. Right now, she looks like she can be able to go another few rounds and tire you out.”
“Well, I didn’t beat her because their wasn’t a need.” came Shawn’s quick remark. “In addition, I’m not the kind of guy to be going around and punching girls right in the face. Shows a little respect.”
"Well, tell me then. Why isn’t there a need to finish what you started?” Soarin asked. He made a good point. Not many things are good if left unfinished. But Shawn had a valid reason. Now… if he can only say the words right.
“There isn’t a need because I know two friends that can explain everything to help settle things down. They should be arriving-.”
“Wait, so your call earlier was to call for backup!!?” Rainbow interjected, thinking the first thought that came inside her head.
“No no no!! It’s not like that!! They’re coming to help you-!”
“I think the only help I need is shutting you up!!” With that, Rainbow Dash used her blinding speed to charge at Shawn. She was about to give him a good solid smack to the face… Until something landed in between them.
“What the hay-!?”
“Rainbow Dash, STAND DOWN!! ”
The booming voice startled both Rainbow and Soarin, almost having them fall on the ground at the fifty yard line due to how loud the voice was. They saw another conduit touch down nearby Shawn’s current position at the forty yard line heading west. As the dust cleared, both of them (after about 10 seconds) were completely shocked by who it was. It was no other than Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna.
“P-princess!!?” The two of them stuttered. Speechless by what just happened.
“Easy now, young ones.” Luna assured them as both she and Shawn walked over to help them off of the ground. “Shawn here is an important ally, a friend, and also, on our side-.” Unexpectedly, Luna was hugged tightly by an overjoyed Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, it feels good to see you again!!” she told the Night Princess. Despite being caught off guard, Luna returned the kind gesture with one of her own hugs. One that did not involve shaking the living daylights out of Fluttershy or the typical Pinkie Pie hug of feeling like you're getting squeezed to death. Celestia herself also did the same gesture with the storm conduit. Right now, it felt like a small family reunion for them. “Oh I have so many things to ask both of you-!”
“Uh, excuse me for interrupting, but we got to go!” Shawn interjected, draining the ice creations that he conjured so nothing remained. “DUP convoys are just passing the parking checkpoints. We need to run before they get here!!”
“I told you not to use the Royal Canterlot voice, Sister.” Celestia commented. “This is the reason why.”
“DUP? Do you mean the Soldiers that were in the city?” Soarin asked frantically.
Shawn’s only response was a nod as the five of them made it to the chain link fence in the back of the lot, in which Rainbow and Soarin flew over using their flight abilities and the princesses performed a short range teleport. Shawn on the other hand, dispersed into Snow and reformed himself on the other side. Now, over fifty or so troops were swarming the area and searching everywhere for signs. As they continued to run (and thankfully not get noticed), Shawn looked over his shoulder at both Soarin and Rainbow Dash.
“We’ll give you a proper explanation once we’re somewhere safe.” He assured them. “Follow me, I know where to go.”
“Where to?” Came the question. This time from Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t really a fan of the fact that the guy she tried to beat up was suppose to help them. Nevertheless, if the princesses trust him, she should too.
“My house.” Shawn answered. Pausing for a minute, he saw a look on Celestia that read Why? in the language of facial expressions. “It’s got a lot of space and it should be a good place for you guys to be. Additionally, I think it’s around the time my father knew about the situation at hand here.”
“Your Father?” Rainbow asked as the five of them began to walk on a sidewalk, following the Snow conduit.
“Yeah, he’s the chief of police for the county of San Diego.”
“He he… I’m sorry, did you say chef?” Soarin asked, a little bit confused.
“No, not chef. Chief.” Shawn explained, correcting Soarin’s blunder. “Like head of security or the captain of the guard.”
“Oh I see! Sorry for the Confusion.”
“No problem.” The Snow Conduit replied. They went down a few more blocks, moved down a street and across one and again moved down a few more blocks until Shawn stopped. He was standing in front of a two story home that had a front porch and a wooden light. Or as he would like to say it. “Home Sweet home.”
“Wait a second, you live here!?” Rainbow blurted before Shawn had to shush her. He pointed towards a slightly open window nearby the roof.
“Okay, I need you guys to be quiet. See that window? It’s near my dad’s room and your outburst could have woken him up.”
Rainbow quietly apologized and nodded. “So how exactly are we getting in?”
“Follow me.” The snow conduit told them. “We’re using the side gate to enter through the backyard and to the back patio.” Doing so, the group followed him to the back of the property where they were greeted by a backyard patio, enough space that made it look like two backyards combined into one and a well grown apple tree with fresh apples.
“Heh, Applejack would love to see that.” Rainbow said silently as they made their way onto the back patio where a outdoor table and a few chairs with cushions were. Shawn opened the door on the backside of the house using one of his keys, but told the others to take a seat and wait first. He wanted to check that the house was clear first before everyone started coming in.
Once the snow conduit entered the darkened house, he closed the door behind him slowly. Looking around, the Conduit didn’t see any movement in the shadows. But due to it being so dark, he had to get the mini light from his keys and click it on. Once that was done, it was easier for him to see anything that was off. But Shawn didn’t need to see anything to know that something was wrong.
All he needed to do was hear it. Hear the noises and footsteps from upstairs. Surely Rainbow’s outburst probably disturbed him. But with Shawn walking in the house, that could get the police chief to think that a burglar was in his home. The Conduits suspicions were right when he heard the familiar CLICK! of a handgun as his half-awake father was coming down the stairs.
“Alright, whoever you are, put your hands-.”
“Seriously dad? It’s just me.”
“Shawn?” The chief spoke, dumbfounded. “What the hell are you doing?” The human was surprised to see his son awake and fully dressed. He himself was wearing just a pair of Star Wars sleep pants and a “Route 66” t-shirt.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Don’t you know what time it is?”
Checking his watch on his left wrist, his son answered Nicholas’s question. “4:20.”
“And how long have you been up? Something is telling me that you didn’t fall asleep in those clothes.”
Sighing now, Shawn nodded. “I’ve been up since 3:30.”
“Heh… Son, I find that really hard to believe.”
“You don’t need to take my word for it.” Shawn told him. He was now looking out the door to the backyard and to his companions outside. “There is a few people that I would like you to meet as well as something we need to explain to you.” His father’s response was just a raised eyebrow.
It could’ve been early morning fatigue, but Nicholas had no idea what his son was talking about. At first, he didn’t see anything unusual with Shawn or his appearance. However, that was until he noticed the moist stains on his pants. Big enough to show that he didn’t spill a drink or anything. Like he had been rolling around in the backyard or-.
“You weren’t inside the house for the past fifty minutes, were you?”
‘Well that was quicker than expected.’ Shawn thought. ‘And he wouldn’t believe me if I said I was going for a walk.’
“It’s a lot to explain…” For a moment, the conduit tilted his head towards the door outside. Seeing as if his son was trying to tell him something, Nicholas looked out the sliding door that lead outside. From his current position, the chief of police could see four individuals. Two older women who looked like they were in their thirties given their appearance, a teenaged girl who looked a few years older than Shawn, and a teenaged boy that looked just as old as the girl. Also, their appearances looked… similar to something he had seen before. Especially since the girl’s hair had the colors of a Rainbow.
“What’s going on?” The chief asked his son. “Is this the Comic Con cosplay brigade?”
“No, not even close.” Shawn sighed.
“Then why do they look like a few of the characters on My Little Pony?” Nicholas then asked. Shawn was personally relieved by the fact that the door to the backyard was closed. That way, no one outside heard what his father said, including the princesses. Sighing, he responded to the question like this.
“Let’s just say this whole thing started when I rescued that girl two days ago from that Pablo Maniac in Mission Valley.”
Before the chief could respond, Shawn stepped outside and asked if both Celestia and Luna could come inside for a moment. Nodding their heads, they agreed to do so and when inside, Shawn whispered a request to Luna. The night princess nodded, using her powers to turn herself into the younger version that the Snow Conduit had saved.
“W-what the hell-!? What just happened?”
“One of the powers I have is illusion, Mr. Kingston.” Luna explained as she returned to normal a few seconds later. “I can make myself look like anyone. Including my younger self.”
“So my son saved you while you were in that form?” The officer said, recalling the day that the whole Mission Valley Incident occurred. “Hold on. If you could change forms, then why didn’t you-?”
“Uh dad… I think you forgot about the handcuffs that were on her wrists.” Shawn reminded him. Upon realizing this, the chief responded with a change in tone based on his lack of focus, putting his gun away in a nearby safe.
“Oh yeah… I forgot about that. My apologies.”
“It’s alright sir. Mistakes happen.”
“With those powers of yours, I’m guessing you're a conduit like my son?”
Both Celestia and Luna looked at Shawn before all three of them looked at his father. All three of them almost sighed in Unison given that this was a lot harder than it looks. “It’s quite a lot to explain.”
“Well I am up and today is my day off so I’m all ears.” The statement from Nicholas had Celestia and Luna looking at Shawn with an expression on their face. An expression in the dictionary of emotions that was saying “May we…?” and Shawn had an idea of where they are probably going to go with this.
“I think my friends here can help you out with that. They might be better explaining the situation to you better than I can.”
“Alright. Fine by-.”
“Quick word of warning though… you might want to close your eyes. This can get very-.”
Before Shawn could even finish, both Celestia and Luna nodded and casted the same ability they did on Shawn yesterday. A bright flash of light occurred in the living room and they were gone. The flash also caught Rainbow and Soarin’s attention outside as he let them inside and offered them a seat by the kitchen bar near the door. They were just as surprised as Shawn was the first time this happened.
“Where did Celestia and Luna go?” Rainbow asked the teenager as they sat down. His response was a shrug and a reply, looking for something in the nearby refrigerator unit.
“Personally, Celestia never told me a name for where she took me there last time. I just call it the Astral Horizon since it looks like the night sky or a galaxy in space.”
“O......kay, how long would they be there for?” came the follow-up question.
“That could be a while.” Shawn explained carefully. “There is a difference in how time flows. Every nine minutes that passes here is only one minute where they are.”
“How long were you there for when they brought you there?”
“Twenty minutes. Turns out, two and a hours passed when I came back.” As he found some cold drinks in the fridge, it dawned on him that Rainbow and Soarin have probably not eaten either in a while… or at all. “Would you guys like anything to eat? Maybe Drink? My assumption is that they might be a while.”
“You think?” Rainbow sarcastically smirked.
Soarin himself shrugged, trying to peak over from where he sat so he could look in the fridge. “Alright, what do you have?”
“Well I got some apples, carrots, lettuce, salad, bread, some apple pie-.”
“Shut up… Are you serious!?” The Wonderbolt remarked, his instincts kicking in once he heard the words “Apple Pie.”
“Yeah, I have two slices left if you want to have a piece each.” The Snow conduit offered. Both Rainbow and Soarin looked at each other, smiling to each other as they responded.
“Sure.”
“Yes please!”
End Chapter 5