//------------------------------// // Flashback: Storm's Childhood // Story: Hello Again // by Flaring Dawn //------------------------------// A calm wind blew through the calm streets of Cloudsdale. A stallion with a sky blue body and green mane was running franticly towards the hospital. He was smiling the entire time he was running. He was going to be a father soon. The stallion spread his wings and took off into the hospital's waiting room. An elderly mare was sitting at the front desk and she smiled as the stallion landed in front of her. "Here for your son I presume Mr. Cyclone?" Cyclone Thunder, a royal guard nodded furiously as the mare pointed him in the direction of the room. When he opened the door Cyclone saw His wife, Nighttime Rain and his new born son sleeping on the bed. Nighttime smiled and chuckled. "You are late Cyclone....." Cyclone walked closer and kissed his wife and son on the forehead. Cyclone looked down on his son and smiled. "Hey there little guy... I am your daddy... Welcome to the world..." The little colt opened his eyes and looked up at Cyclone and smiled. A faint giggle was heard coming from the colt. Cyclone turned to his wife and smiled. "He has your eyes. And my mane... Oh dear I do hope he takes after your side of the family..." Nighttime giggled and held the baby closer as he giggled softly and cooed at his mother. Nighttime thought very hard for a moment. "You know dear we have yet to name him..." Cyclone thought as well and realized that she was right. "Well what should we name him then? I haven't the faintest idea on what to name him." Nighttime thought and then smiled. "Why don't we name him after your grandfather, Storm Heart? How about the name... Stormdrift..." The little colt looked up at them and giggled and pulled on his daddies beard. Cyclone smiled and picked the little guy up. "It is settled. His name is Stormdrift..." A few days later they left the hospital. Little did they know that a dark figure was looking at them from the distance. I awoke from the spell and shot up like a rocket. I turned to Mystic and glared. "Who in the living hell was that?!" I yelled a bit. Mystic frowned and thought for a second. "I am not sure... I have never seen him before... He could very well be a key moment that we need to further investigate..." I growled a bit and stood up. "My parents were killed by a pony in a cloak when I was a teenager... I found the pony and killed him myself... He has nothing to do with my dreams..." Mystic gave a scared look and backed away. Celestia and the others glared at me as if I did something wrong. I Sighed and teared up. I looked at Mystic and spoke. "I'm sorry for scaring you.... I really am... But that man is dead and far away from my memory... How it the hell did he get there...." Mystic walked towards me and placed a hoof around my shoulder and spoke. "The only way to find out is if we dig deeper into your memories and see if he pops up again okay Storm... And don't worry about snapping like that.... I provoked you and that was wrong..." Twilight thought for a moment and then spoke up. "It is very strange though... If you did cast him from your memory then why is he making a comeback?" I simply shook my head and looked to the ground. "I have no idea Twilight... I think it would be wise to do what Mystic said. Look for him in my memories... " Pinkie chimed in again. "Oh maaan this is soooo confusing!!" Applejack sighed. "Oh brother...." Rainbow Dash glared at Mystic and spoke up. "One thing before you continue.... That is my brother... If anything happens to him... I will hurt you..." Mystic rolled her eyes and picked Dashie up and placed her next to Celestia. "I assure you Rainbow Dash nothing will happen to him..." Rarity also chimed in. "So you say. This is the first I have ever heard of this kind of magic, let alone seen it in use. I hope you are right darling..." Applejack groaned. "For goodness sakes, If she says it will not hurt him then Ah trust her." Nyte fire also spoke up. "If she says he will be fine then let her work!!" Stargazer flinched a bit and hid behind Twilight. The other simply shut up and allowed Mystic to close the distance between me and her. I smiled. "And hear I thought you were going to put me back to sleep... Isn't this a bit rushed?" She smacked my nose and glared at me as her face turned red. "I was NOT going to kiss you idiot..." Storm chuckled a bit. "How is the taste of your own flirtatious medicine then?" Mystic simply smiled and poked my nose. "Just get ready you big fool..." Her horn fired up and I drifted back into sleep. The sun rose on the horizon of Cloudsdale. A small little colt ran by another stallion as they played tag. "Your it daddy!! I bet you can't catch me!!" The stallion was right in front of his son and was smiling. The colt frowned as his father picked him up and noogied him. "HEEEEYYYY NOOOO FAIIIIRR!!!!" The father smiled and let the little colt go. "All is fair in war Stormdrift..." Storm glowered a bit then saw his mother and ran to her. He jumped into her hooves and giggled as he was swung around the air. The mare smiled warmly as the colt smiled up at her. She looked up to her husband and smiled. "Isn't he just precious Cyclone. He really is full of energy. Just like his daddy." Cyclone sighed and stroked the young colt's mane and smiled brightly. "Yes he is Nighttime. But I am pretty sure that his energy comes from you." Cyclone said with a sly grin. Nighttime Rain simply rolled her eyes and kissed Cyclone deeply. Storm's nose crinkled and he stuck his tongue out and smiled. "Ewwwwww Mama and Dada are kissing~" Storm said with a giggle. Cyclone looked over to his son and smiled. "Now now Storm you will be doing the same thing when you get older." Storm raised his nose and his ears went down. "Nuh-uh!! Girls are icky!!" Just then a little filly began to cry from inside the house. Storm's ears perked up and ran to his sister Sky Shower's room and picked her up. Storm's mom and dad raised an eyebrow. Storm glared a bit. "This girl is different. This is my sissy and I will protect her when I am old enough to become a royal guard!!"Cyclone smiled and sat by his son. His mother also sat down near him. The little filly looked up from Storms hooves and giggled and sucked on his hoof. Storm nuzzled the little filly and set her back down in her crib. "I'll protect you Sky Shower... I will never let anypony ever hurt you... I love you sissy... Sleep well." Storm kissed the filly on the forehead and covered her up. Cyclone smiled and picked Storm up; carrying him to his bed. He laid his son down and his mother then entered the room. "While that is a wonderful dream son all little guards need their sleep..." Nighttime smiled and kissed Storm on the forehead. Storm smiled up at his mother and spoke. "I'll make you proud mommy and daddy.... Just watch me!! I will become the strongest Royal Guard ever!!!! Cyclone looked down at his son and smiled. "Yes we know son... We will always be proud of you no matter what happens... Even if you somehow didn't become a guard we would still love and be proud of you. You are our son Storm..." Storm thought for a moment and spoke softly. "Mommy... Daddy... Will we always be together?" Nighttime smiled and held her son close to her as she spoke. "Remember these words well Storm. No matter where we are and no matter what happens to us... We will always be with you. Whether the sun falls from the sky and the moon falls from the stars; We will be with you...If you ever feel alone Storm just remember that no matter what we will always be in your heart to chase the dark away..." Storm smiled and hugged his mother warmly and nuzzled into her chest and looked up. "I love you mommy.... I love you daddy...." The little colt then started to fall asleep and as he did Nighttime sang a lullaby to him. "Hush now my dear Rest your head upon my heart Always remember We will never be apart And when the wind begins to howl And you begin to cry Just wash away your tears And feel my loving light We love you our son So small yet so strong Now sleep and dream That one day we will be Home...." Storm then fell asleep upon his mothers chest and smiled as he slept. Cyclone covered the little colt up and smiled at his wife. Nighttime smiled back and just let her son sleep. Cyclone crawled into the bed with Storm and Nighttime and held his wife and son as they slept. He heard Sky Shower begin to cry so he got up quick and grabbed her. He then lay down next to his family and smiled as he too drifted into a deep sleep. Outside a cloaked figure looked on and growled a bit. "Enjoy your happiness Cyclone.... You won't have it for long..." I woke up again with tears falling down his face. I sat up and buried his face in my hooves and wept. "Mom....Dad.... I love you both.... Why couldn't I save you from that awful man..." Pinkie Pie's mane flattened a bit as she rushed to my side and embraced me in a hug. I hugged her back and wept into her chest. Mystic frowned and walked over to me as well. I just glared at her. She flinched back as I looked at her. "You... you are ripping my memories apart.... That was one of the happiest memories I have in my mind... That was private!!" Pinkie held me closer and nuzzled me as if she was trying to calm me down. It worked. Then again it WAS Pinkie. I looked back at Mystic who was now frightened. I sighed and walked over to her; hugging her and holding her to me as I spoke. "I am so sorry for always yelling at you Mystic... I really am.... It's just... I always thought that if I kept that memory from people then I would have that one piece of happiness that others only dream of... Sort of selfish of me though isn't it? Please... Don't be scared of me. I may be a grump but I would never hurt a female." She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and she spoke. "I am sorry as well Storm. I hate to say it but I think we have to look at the night when your mom and dad were killed..." Nightfire looked at her and whimpered. " No offense ma'am but that is very personnel for my dad..." Mystic smiled over to her as she let me go from the hug. "I promise you that he will be fine dear." Mystic said with a small smile. She then looked at me and nodded. I nodded back and brought my friends and kids in for a big hug. "I will be just fine guys... I promise. Mystic come here and kiss me again." Mystic growled and threw a book at me as her face went red. I ducked and snickered. "That will never get old." Mystic smiled and shot back at me with a comeback that made everypony in the room burst out laughing. "Unlike you Storm." I frowned and gave her the meanest look ever. She just giggled and actually kissed me. My face went beat red and then I fell asleep. As I fell back asleep I had the strength to mutter one sentence. "You little flirtatious demon....." Then everything went black as more memories began to pour out of me. "Don't you dare touch my son!!!" Cyclone raced towards the dark, cloaked figure and struck him down as Storm ran for his sisters room. Still a filly whimpering under her bed. Storm grabbed her and held her to his chest. He growled as he ran past the dark figure and as he did he tripped him and made him fall to the ground. "Leave my family alone you piece of crap!!" He set Sky Shower down where she was safe and ran back in the house. Storm's mother lay limp in the middle of the floor. A knife was protruding from her side. Storm grabbed her and stood over her protectively. The figure smiled as Cyclone was thrown to the side by magic. He glared at Storm with hatred in his eyes. "How cute... Just like your father... So brave and yet so annoyingly persistent..." Storm was grabbed by a very painful aura and flung into a wall. Storm growled as he hit he wall. He glared at the pony and spoke. "So what... I'm persistent... I will protect them... I won't let you hurt them... you'll have to kill me." Storm struggled to stand as he continued to speak to this pony trying to kill him and his family. "I will not let you hurt them!!!!!" Storm ran for the pony but was overwhelmed and thrown again. This time he was held down as his mother was held up by an aura. Storm's eye's widened. "N-no!! Don't hurt my mom!!" His cries were ignored as a magical blade shot through his mothers chest. Nighttime's face clouded over and she looked at her son with tears falling down her face. " I love you.... Storm...." With that his mother was dead; the crimson rain falling from her body like rose petals off a dying rose. Storm growled a bit and tried to break free as he then held up his father cyclone and sneered at Stormdrift. " I wonder if your sister will also scream as your pathetic father will...." He then began to rip Cyclones wings off in front of Storm. Storm screamed as this was going on. He tried to break free from the grasp of the magic. Finally he did and tried to run to his father... Only to watch as Cyclone was stabbed in the heart and killed instantly. Storm's face contorted as he held his father in his hooves. "D-d-Dad....?" No words came from his father's lifeless body. The pony in the cloak smiled as he walked towards the door. "Such a shame... You and your sister are not worth my time.... Foals..." With that the pony vanished as Storm cried into his father's chest and screamed in pain as the realization hit him that he and Sky Shower were now alone. Sky Shower came in and saw the scene and ran over to her mother and held her. "Mommy? Mommy wake up.... Please wake up..... Mommy......" Tears began to fall from her eyes as Storm ran to her and held her as she cried into his chest. Storm just sat there as Sky Shower cried into his chest and grasped him for dear life. Storm stroked her mane and held her closer to him and whispered his mothers lullaby in her ear. She quickly fell asleep and Storm wrote a letter to Celestia. After they cleaned up the place Storm and Sky Shower were sent to the local orphanage. "Storm...Why do we have to be here? The ponies are so mean to us..." Storm looked at his sister and sighed as they were laying by each other. She grabbed her big brother and teared up as she continued to speak. "I wish mommy was here... She wouldn't hit us or punish us for stupid reasons..." Storm again looked at his sister and held her as she cried into his chest. "We are here because of the cruelty of this world sis... Because mom and dad were killed by that pony in black.... I want them back more then the world sis but we can't have them back... We just have to remember that they re always in our hearts and they will always be watching over us. Also remember sis that I am here for you no matter what. I made a promise to dad that I would protect you..." Sky Shower smiled a bit and snuggled into Storm's chest and fell asleep. Storm looked out to the dark sky and frowned. "I will find you... I will find you who hurt me and my sister and took our family away... and I will kill you... Storm then held his sister and fell asleep holding her to his heart. Two years later Storm and Sky Shower were separated due to adoption. Sky Shower held her brother close and didn't let go. "I love you so much Storm... Be safe..." With those words Sky Shower was taken and Storm was set out on his own. As he was walking a dark figure caught him off guard and threw him into a wall. Storm growled loudly as he stood up and tackled the pony against a wall. "you....." The pony under the cloak smiled and spoke. "My name is Nerith..... I heard you were going to kill me?" Storm's eyes narrowed and he grabbed Nerith by the throat and slammed him to the ground. All the anger and rage was fueling him to do so. Nerith just laughed and threw Storm to the side. Only Storm was quicker. He pulled out his knife and threw it at Nerith; hitting him right between the eyes. Nerith howled in pain and fell to the ground. Storm then stabbed him again and again. Then Nerith was dead. Storm's eyes filled with tears and he ran for the nearest place to be alone. Something he was all too familiar with. I woke up again grabbing my head in pain. Mystic ran to me and held me as I got woozy. I looked around and groaned. "Oh my aching head...." Mystic giggled and shook her head. The others walked over to me and hugged me tightly. I looked at Mystic and sighed. I then spoke to her. "See... Like I said he is dead.... He hasn't been around since that day... So what do you think these freaking dreams mean? That's all I want to know..." Mystic nodded and looked towards my family and friends. "I am sorry but I must speak to him in private." Rainbow Dash glared a bit and got in her face. "Any harm comes to him you are dealing with me..." Mystic's eyebrow raised and she lifted Dash with magic and set her down lightly outside of the room. My daughters giggled at her and walked out of the room. The remaining elements did the same and closed the door. Mystic looked at me with sadness in her eyes. I frowned a bit as she ran to me and hugged me. She then spoke to me with tears falling out of her eyes. "I am so sorry Storm.... I really truly am.... Please don't hate me..." Her words made me wrap her in a hug as she continued to cry. Her tears fell upon me like a waterfall of sorrow. I lifted her head and spoke to her as if I was speaking to a child who was in pain. I spoke with a soft smile. " No matter what kid I won't hate you... Just tell me what's wrong....." She looked down and blushed a bit as she spoke to me; Her eyes glued to the ground beneath me. What she said shook me to the core. "You're going to get your hello very soon...." I froze in my place as she continued to speak. "Those dreams of yours... They speak to you from beyond our plane of existence... Maybe just maybe you will see them again but the truth of it is... I hope I am wrong Storm... You have such a loving family and such loving friends.... Why would this world take you away from them?" I Sighed and held her tightly and the words I spoke made her smile. "If my time comes it comes... Simple as that... My family will always hold me in their hearts no matter what happens to me I am always there for them and nothing will change that." She smiled at me and released the hug and walked towards the door. she stopped and turned to me with a semi flirty smile. "Flutter sure was a lucky pony... To have someone like you to love her... She must have been really happy..." I smiled back and sighed. "Summerset was the lucky one... I never really got the chance to share my love with Fluttershy.... But yeah.... I guess you are right." Mystic smiled and then she was gone. Only her words stuck with me and they left an impression. What was going to happen to me? I still needed some information. So I went to Twilight. Lull and behold she didn't know anything concerning Mystic's words. Maybe this was something I needed to find out myself. With that in mind I Was now walking Pinkie home. She looked at me with a slight frown and spoke. "are you going to go away forever Storm? Because I really don't want to lose my favorite brother in the whole wide world!!" She then hugged me tightly and I hugged back. I chuckled a bit and held her closer to me. She buried her muzzle into my chest and I felt tears falling onto my chest. I stroked her mane and spoke. "No I am not Pinkie... I will always be with you no matter what. If I am to die or if something happens always remember I am always here with you. Not in body but in spirit. I will always be right there in your heart. " I placed a hoof on her chest and smiled. "I will never be gone forever." Pinkie smiled and hugged me with a signature crush hug and kissed me on the cheek. She Smiled widely and went into her home. Instead of me going home I had to make one more visit to the Graveyard. So I walk towards the final resting place of heroes and loved ones with my own questions gnawing a my thoughts.