//------------------------------// // The Storm and the Cage. // Story: The cage inside. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ______*Sugarcube corner 9:21 AM*_______ Pinkie's eyes snapped open as she sat up incredibly fast and was breathing heavily. "Just a dream, just a dream." She told herself. She managed to get her breathing under control and slowly stood up, Pinkie walked over to the bathroom and went inside. Pinkie walked up to the mirror and looked at her reflection, to her relief she looked normal, nothing was wrong with her thankfully, she sighed in relief and continued to do her business. After Pinkie had finished going to the toilet she stepped into the shower, she turned on the shower and let the water soak her. As Pinkie showered she thought more on last night, she didn't know why but Storm's words got to her, deeply, she sighed and continued her thinking, Storm had said that he respected her for how well she held herself together from the sorrow. Pinkie shoved these thoughts out of her head as she continued her shower, she had work to do after all. A few minutes passed and Pinkie exited the shower, she dried herself off and walked back to her bedroom, she heard a groaning and immediately became wary, she cautiously entered her room and looked around, Pinkie gasped at the sight she saw in the bedroom corner. In the corner was Storm, but he was tied up with rope, Pinkie rushed over to undo the ropes. "No, I don't want to leave." He said without opening his eyes. Pinkie was confused as she undid the ropes. "But you've got to leave." She replied. Storm giggled awkwardly. "No, stop it!, uncle! uncle!" He said as he laughed. Pinkie got it, he was asleep, but regardless she shook Storm's head rapidly. "Huh, whoa whoa whoa, you can stop it I'm awake!" He shouted. Storm shook his head and looked at Pinkie. "Oh hey Pinkie, what are you doing in my room?, wait a minute, why am I in your room?" He asked. Pinkie shrugged. "I don't know but you have to go." She ordered as she pointed at the window. Storm rubbed his head. "Ugh, what did I do last night?" He asked as he flew out the window, or as he slammed into it. "Ouch." He said as he fell to the floor. Pinkie sighed and opened the window. "Before you go, what DO you remember from last night?" She asked. Storm slowly stood up. "All I remember is helping you clean up and going home, I went to sleep and that's it." He replied as he flew outside. Pinkie nodded as she closed the window, she then walked downstairs. "Good thing the Cake's aren't here to have seen that." She said under her breath. Pinkie knew that the bakery would not open until the Cake's returned, so she decided to wander the town, he walked up to the door to leave the building but a thought occurred to her. "Why was Storm in my room?" This thought clung to Pinkie's mind even as she left the bakery two minutes later, but then again, how could it not? _____*Ponyville park ten minutes later*_____ Storm leaned back next to the pond as he pondered what he would do next, he had already ran out of things to do, he didn't feel like sparring with Dash because it would be far to easy, he didn't have work this month because a mistake in the weather plans had set it to far behind, he didn't go to school for he felt he was smart enough, even his favorite pastime which was sharpening Demise did not satisfy him, he knew what he needed, he wanted excitement, this town had made him dull, he sighed and closed his eyes. Normally if Storm was bored and nothing he could do would cure him of his boredom he would chant, but he couldn't find a reason to do so. "This town is so dull, give me something to do already." Storm said to himself. A chuckling came from behind him. "Don't worry, with this town something will happen eventually." The voice said. Storm chuckled and turned around to see Pinkie. "Last person I would've expected to see today." He replied. Pinkie smiled softly and looked at the sky. "Shame there isn't any clouds out today." She said. Storm smirked. "Might as well get used to that, there wont be any weather for the rest of the month." He replied. Pinkie sat down next to him and watched the ducks in the pond. "That's going to hurt Applejack's farm drastically." She said. Storm put a hoof to his chin. "I'll see if I can swipe some clouds for that, I'm sure the weather department wont mind." He replied teasingly. Pinkie smiled again as Storm sat up. "I cant stop thinking about what you said to me last night." She said plainly. Storm looked at his friend and grinned. "Really?, I didn't say much at all." He replied. Pinkie chuckled. "That's what I told myself, but I cant help but wonder about it, so Storm, what is it that makes you smile?" She asked. Storm looked up at the sky and laughed. "At this point?, just about anything, there isn't anything to do anymore, well, not exactly but I'm not in the mood for a slaughter." He replied. Pinkie looked at Storm in shock. "Would you really do that?" She asked worryingly. Storm shook his head. "Nah, that isn't my style, I prefer to have a reason for that kind of stuff." He replied. Pinkie sighed in relief. "Well I better get going, see you later." She said while bouncing away. Storm watched the party mare leave the park and chuckled. "What did I get myself into now?" He asked himself. As the two friends went their separate ways a dark figure sat in a nearby tree watching the whole time. "Soon, soon they will know their role in the grand scheme, soon, but for now I shall keep my distance, enjoy what time you have left." The figure said before it teleported away. _____*Golden Oaks Library 10:21 AM*_____ Twilight was reading on the Elements of harmony again, she was attempting to find any reference to the Elements of chaos, but sadly found nothing, she turned the page and found something interesting, it was a description of the Elements of harmony defeating an ancient evil, but it wasn't Discord, it was something that was smudged out from the picture, Twilight concluded that whatever happened to the book was no accident. Twilight had a good feeling that it was intentional, whoever did this wanted to remove all mention of these Elements of chaos, but Twilight was curious as to why, normally Twilight would ask her mentor about this but she had a feeling that Princess Celestia would just dodge the question. She needed more information but the only one that she knew that could make any sense of these smudges was not the sanest of pony's, Twilight knew that if she wanted information she would need to ask Storm for help, even if she held a grudge against him. Twilight sighed and set the book down on her desk, a knock at the door startled Twilight. She took a deep breath and walked up to the door, she slowly opened it to reveal Pinkie Pie. Pinkie smiled brightly at Twilight. "Hey Twilight what's up?" Pinkie asked. Twilight allowed Pinkie inside and closed the door. "I'm doing some research, apparently there's something called the Elements of chaos." She replied. Pinkie giggled. "Silly filly, that's Discord, I thought you knew that?" She asked. Twilight sighed. "No Pinkie, I'm sure its not Discord, its something else entirely, come over here a moment." She said as she walked up to her desk. Pinkie bounced up to Twilight who showed her a smudge on the page. "Oh no!, Twilight someone smudged the page!" She said frantically. Twilight giggled. "No Pinkie, that's not it, this smudge is just like the one on the last page in the book, I was going to ask Storm for help on it, he seems to be able to see through the smudge." She replied. Pinkie calmed down and stopped bouncing. "I can go ask him if he could help." She suggested. Twilight gasped and frantically shook Pinkie's hoof. "Thank you thank you thank you, I owe you one for this Pinkie." She replied happily. Pinkie began bouncing. "No problem at all, I'll ask Storm the next time I see him." She said. Twilight let go of Pinkie's hoof and smiled. "I've got to get to work now, see you Pinkie." She stated as she walked back to her books. Pinkie smiled and bounced away. "See you later Twilight!" She shouted from outside. Twilight noticed that one of her books were out of place and levitated it over, she looked at the name, Chaos and Harmony, this name made Twilight curious, she opened it and immediately was shocked. _____*Sweet Apple Acres 2:31 PM*_____ Applejack was in the orchard working, she was currently grabbing baskets of apples and taking them to the barn. As she worked Applejack couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right, she felt that somepony was watching her, but whenever she turned around there was nothing. Applejack sighed and continued walking. "Something isn't right." She said quietly while she walked. The orchard was very quiet today, and while this may have been a good thing to most, to Applejack recently it felt wrong. Applejack heard a twig snap behind her and she quickly turned around to see nothing. "What in tarnation?" She asked herself. "Ah, the Element of Honesty, to be honest I expected someone, I don't know, bigger." A dark voice said behind Applejack. Applejack froze as the voice behind her chuckled darkly. "What do you want?" She demanded. "Ooh, feisty, at least you have a sense of humor, unlike the last bearer." The voice teased. Applejack went to turn around but was flung into one of the many apple trees causing the baskets she was carrying to fall, she looked up to see an Earth pony stallion with a gray coat and a white mane and tail, she stood up shakily. The stallion showed a bit of surprise at Applejack's endurance. "Well I see that you have strength." He said. Applejack chuckled. "Going to take a lot more then that." She replied mockingly. The stallion chuckled. "I see that you have the endurance of the last Element of Honesty, perhaps more." He praised. Applejack wasn't amused. "You had best give up boy, I barely felt that." She replied as she got into a battle stance. The stallion laughed. "Please, you don't have any real power, you need your friends for any real strength." He mocked. Applejack charged and the stallion did the same, she saw him make an early uppercut and turned around to deliver a double kick. The stallion predicted this and ducked to avoid the attack, but soon met Applejacks hoof in his face. Applejack jumped backwards to get some distance between the stallion and herself. "Told you it wouldn't be easy." She stated. The stallion laughed manically. "Oh yea, this will be fun!" He joked as he stood up shakily. Applejack prepared herself for another fight but soon found herself shocked. The stallion brought his right hoof up to his face, and bit his hoof causing it to bleed. "Strength, that's what this fight is about, not endurance." He countered. Applejack watched in horror as the stallion began to glow white, the stallion then grew in size until it was double the size of one of the apple trees. The Stallion laughed evilly. "NOW YOU FACE THE TRUE POWER OF INSANITY!" He proclaimed. Applejack was horrified to say the least, but as Insanity advanced upon Applejack she had an idea, she would use his size to her advantage. Insanity slowly advanced on Applejack with the intention to kill. "DO NOT RESIST!" He demanded. Applejack chuckled. "Not a chance." She countered. Insanity growled. "Your choice." He said quietly as he moved at a speed that was amazing for his size, Insanity slid in front of Applejack and slammed his hoof into the ground causing it to shake, all of the trees in the area fell down forcing Applejack to dodge. Applejack dodged the trees but wasn't able to dodge Insanity's swipe, she was flung backwards and slammed into an apple tree. "I need some rope, or I'm done for." Applejack said to herself as she stood back up. Insanity charged again and went to swipe Applejack again, but she managed to dodge and he tripped. Applejack ran up to him and climbed onto Insanity's back as he stood back up. "WHERE DID YOU GO!" Insanity shouted. Applejack climbed up to Insanity's head and slammed her hoof into his head multiple times causing him to scream in pain. Insanity may have been large and powerful, but he wasn't the brightest mind out there, he cursed himself for letting this happen as he fell to the ground. Applejack jumped off her enormous opponent and looked at him with confusion. "How did somepony so big go down so easily?" She asked herself. Insanity began shrinking down to normal but stopped when he was as tall as one of the trees. Applejack got the idea, she would have to shrink him until he was on the level with her, she smirked and charged. Insanity shakily stood up and looked over at Applejack, he saw her charging and swiped clumsily, which she just dodged. Applejack flipped around quickly and delivered a powerful kick to Insanity's leg. Insanity held his leg as it thumped in pain, as he held his leg Applejack kicked his other leg causing him to fall over. Applejack watched as Insanity shrunk even more until he was the same size as she was. Insanity could feel his power leaving him. "I should have waited, damn it!" He shouted as he held in the pain. Applejack rushed to her barn to get some rope. Insanity decided to leave before she returned. "I'm not at full strength, but I should have been able to deal with the Element of Honesty, its bearer is much stronger then the last one that's for sure, either that or I'm weaker then I once was, YES THAT MUST BE IT!" He said quietly. Applejack came out of the barn to see Insanity attempting to escape, she rushed over with the rope in hoof. Insanity felt something on his back legs and looked to see that Applejack was tying him up. "Damn" He swore as he gave up. Applejack tied up Insanity and began to drag him towards the library. "Don't I get a say in this?" He asked. "Nope." Applejack replied. The two had remained silent as they passed through the orchard. _____*Ponyville ten minutes later*_____ Applejack dragged Insanity through the town getting surprised gasps from the townspony's but Applejack paid them no mind. "Your going to talk or you'll regret it." Applejack said to her prisoner. Insanity laughed manically. "Go ahead, torture me, kill me, I don't care, I've spent a few thousand years as a flame, I can handle it." He replied. Applejack smirked. "He isn't the brightest is he?" She asked herself. As Applejack dragged Insanity through the town headed to the library Applejack noticed somepony familiar. She walked up to the pony. "Hey Storm, what you doing? Applejack asked. Storm shrugged. "Pinkie asked me to meet her in the library, why is that guy tied up?" He asked. Applejack looked at Insanity. "He attacked me." She said simply. Storm chuckled. "You didn't even invite me, oh well, I'll see you at the library." He said flying off towards the library. Applejack continued to drag Insanity through town until she reached the library, she walked up to the door and knocked. The door creaked open to reveal a very annoyed Twilight. "Oh thank Celestia!, Applejack can you help me get those two under control?" Twilight requested. Applejack dragged Insanity into the library causing him to shout in pain, she saw Pinkie and Storm playing what seemed to be charades, Pinkie was currently posing as something odd. "Sorry Twilight, I don't think I can help." Applejack replied. Pinkie and Storm stopped what they were doing and looked at Twilight and Applejack. "So what did you want me here for Twilight?" Storm asked. Twilight nodded and grabbed the Elements of Harmony book. "I need you to see if you can make sense of this page." She said pointing at the smudged page. Storm's eyes turned green as he examined the page. "It shows a battle between the Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Chaos, at least five of them anyway." He replied. Twilight's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" She asked. Storm continued to examine the page. "It details that five of the Elements of Chaos battle one of their own, apparently the Elements of Chaos had made a deal with the Elements of Harmony, the sixth bearer of the Elements of Chaos had betrayed them. Twilight was curious now. "Can you tell me all of the names that are mentioned?" She asked. Storm nodded. "The names are, Magic, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Insanity, Greed, Rage, Deception, Vengeance and Betrayal." He replied. Twilight looked at the stallion that Applejack captured. "Who are you anyway?" She asked. Insanity laughed like a madpony. "Insanity, you wont win against us all, Element of Magic, we are in hiding, biding our time until the right moment, you cant beat us all, not if your missing one of your Elements." He teased evilly. Twilight grabbed him in her magic. "And you wont have the chance to do anything, when I alert the Princesses about you they will, what's so funny?" She asked as Insanity began laughing mid sentence. "The fact that you would alert those weaklings means nothing to me, only one nation ever wounded me and my kin, and your Princesses banished them for eternity." Insanity mocked. Twilight looked at Storm who was looking at the floor. "What's wrong?" She asked. Storm looked up. "The Artic, we were the only nation to ever wound the Elements of Chaos, I just remembered why." He replied. Pinkie wrapped a hoof around her friend and Applejack glared at Insanity. "What do you mean that the Princesses are weak?" Applejack asked. Insanity laughed. "Out of all of the Elements of Chaos, I'm the weakest one, and even I could defeat those two, even at their full power." He boasted. Applejack smirked. "I can tell your the weakest, after all you went down easily enough." She teased. Insanity laughed even harder. "I wasn't at full strength, I only recently got this host." He replied as he coughed up blood. Applejack's eyes widened. "Wait you mean that I?" She asked. Insanity chuckled. "Yep, the Elements of Chaos lost their real body's a long time ago, so we use hosts, just like those damn Elements of Harmony, so in short, you almost killed an innocent." He mocked. Applejack began to cry softly. "Yep, all of the Elements of Chaos have hosts, but I'm not saying which one I helped kill, that's for you to find out." He continued. Twilight levitated a strip of tape and gagged Insanity. "You need to be quiet." She ordered. Storm bit his lip. "I know which one is dead." He said. Twilight rushed up to him. "You do?" She asked frantically, Storm nodded and looked at the smudged page. "Its obviously Betrayal, its the only one that makes sense." He replied. Twilight turned to face Insanity, she removed the tape. "Tell us the ability's of the Elements of Chaos." She ordered. Insanity laughed. "For one we don't have the weakness that the Elements of Harmony have, we don't need each other for our powers, but when we work together we are invincible, unlike you." He paused. "Me for instance, I get strength by slaying the insane, or as your friend saw I can make myself bleed to increase in size and power, oh I forgot, I can also bring the hidden sides of people out, like your pink friend, and the Pegasus there." He added. Insanity spat at Pinkie and Storm causing two small barbs to come out, Pinkie and Storm went to dodge. One barb missed Storm, but the other hit Pinkie right in the neck. Pinkie gasped in pain and surprise, she removed the barb but found herself feeling off, she shrugged it off. Storm charged at Insanity and slashed his throat with Demise. Twilight and Applejack were shocked and appalled by Storm's actions. "Storm!, he was our only link to the Elements of Chaos!" Twilight scolded. Storm had a blank stare on his face. "Do you really think we need him alive?" He asked blankly. Twilight couldn't believe his emotionless face, she just walked away in frustration. Applejack decided to leave so she opened the door and left towards her home. Twilight walked up to Pinkie with concern. "Pinkie are you alright?" She asked with worry. Pinkie shook her head rapidly and looked at Twilight. "Yea I'm fine, just tired is all." She said reassuringly. Storm walked up to Pinkie and looked at Twilight. "I'll make sure she gets home safe." He said as he led Pinkie outside. Twilight looked at Insanity's body and almost threw up. "Don't worry about the body, I'll clean it up." Storm said before continuing. _____*Sugarcube corner four 7:21 PM*______ Storm stood in the lobby of the bakery and sighed, for some odd reason Pinkie had insisted on him coming back after disposing of Insanity's body, he had done so but he was still unsure, when he had asked her why she wanted him to stay she had said, "I don't feel like being alone right now." If there was one thing Storm understood it was loneliness, so he obliged but was beginning to wonder on how long he would be stuck here, but there was an upside to the day for Storm, something had happened, and it was helping him to calm down. Pinkie was in her bedroom pondering what that barb was, she still felt off and it was getting worse, she sighed and looked out the window. It was nighttime now and Storm had made a big fuss about it for some reason, Pinkie turned around and her eyes widened, it was a sack of flour and a rock, Pinkie knew what that was, she shook her head and the two objects disappeared. Pinkie was hallucinating, she gulped and felt something coming up her throat, she held it in but instead her mouth opened and she coughed up blood. Storm opened the door and walked inside. "Pinkie I just came up to see if you needed any, WHOA." He shouted as he saw Pinkie coughing up blood. Pinkie wiped her mouth and looked at Storm. "What's happening to me?" She asked. Storm walked up to Pinkie and tasted the blood, he recoiled. "Wow, that blood is just, wow, you need to cut back on the sugar." He said as he shook his head rapidly. Pinkie felt Storm feel her forehead. "This isn't good." He said. "What isn't good?" Pinkie asked. Storm lifted Pinkie's chin to eye level with him. "Do you want it straight?" He asked. Pinkie nodded. "Yes, that sounds good." She replied. Storm sighed and stood up. "Your body is changing, it seems to be doing so at a rapid pace, it also seems to be rejecting your old blood and replacing it, at this rate you could end up completely different, or you will just end up with a different bone structure." He explained. "Was it the barb?" She asked as she coughed up more blood. Storm nodded silently. "I'm afraid so, I examined the barbs that Insanity spat at us and found that they could also end up changing personality's, like yours and even mine." He said sadly. Pinkie looked up at Storm and started to cry. "So I could end up as somepony that was me but not me?" She asked. Storm nodded again. "Yes, but they would have done it recently, for instance he would've had to hit you with one barb one day then again the next, did anything happen yesterday or last night before you woke up?" He asked. Pinkie sniffled. "Yea, I had an odd dream last night." She replied sadly. Storm kneeled in front of Pinkie and hugged her. "Then I am so sorry, there isn't anything I can do." He said sadly. Pinkie let her emotions out and cried in Storm's shoulder. "I don't want to go, please don't make me leave." She pleaded. Storm let her cry on him, while there wasn't anything he could do to cure Pinkie he could at least comfort her. That night Pinkie had cried until she passed out and Storm had left her in her bed, Storm had kept watch that night as well to ensure that Pinkie would be safe. ____*Sugarcube corner 9:41 AM*_____ Storm's eyes flew open as he woke up, he looked around and saw no signs of entry to the bedroom, he looked over at Pinkie's bed and saw that she was sleeping, he smiled and walked out of the room quietly as to not wake the sleeping mare. He quietly opened the bathroom door and walked inside, he stepped into the shower and turned it on, he sighed in pleasure as the water washed away the blood from last night. Storm began to wonder on what he would do next, he had a feeling in his gut that he should make sure Pinkie was alright before he returned to his business, but now that he thought on it he realized he didn't have a lot to do anymore, now that he parted with his team he realized that he was running out of things to do. He showered for a few more minutes before turning it off, he dried himself off and exited the bathroom, he quietly reentered Pinkie's room to wake her up but found that her bed was empty, Storm quickly activated his scanning eyes to find her, to his surprise Pinkie had found him and tackled him from behind. "Ouch!" He yelled. Storm expected to have to force Pinkie off of him but to his further shock instead of being attacked he was being hugged. "Uh, Pinkie?, what are you doing?" Storm asked with confusion. Pinkie let him go and stood up, she pulled Storm up. Storm got a better look at Pinkie and noticed she was different then last night, Pinkie's coat was darker then before and her mane and tail were now flat and had a darker shade, Pinkie's mark was different then before as well, it was now that of three balloons with cracks in them, Pinkie's eyes had changed the most however, instead of a bright blue they were now a bright red. "Wow, you changed." He said with genuine surprise. Pinkie gave him a soft smile. "Yea, I can feel my personality changing however, I'm not sure I'll like the new me though." She replied. Storm chuckled. "Well then, I guess I found something to do then, helping you adjust to the new you, but I think you'll need a new name though, Pinkie Pie is to happy for the new you I think." He suggested. Pinkie nodded and walked out of the room and into the bathroom. Storm followed his friend to find her looking in the mirror. "What's wrong?" He asked. Pinkie sighed. "Is this really what I was frightened of becoming?, it isn't that bad is it?" She asked. Storm shrugged. "I don't know, I don't judge on appearances anymore, haven't done that since I was seven, but I personally think it looks good on you." He replied. Pinkie smiled lightly. "I think my old name would fit the new me." She said. Storm raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?" He asked. Pinkie looked at him. "My name." She paused. She looked in the mirror and chuckled. "My name, is, Pinkamena Diane Pie." She said slowly. Storm smiled. "Well then Pinkamena, shall we?" He said as he leaned against the wall. Pinkamena nodded and walked out of the bathroom then down the stairs. Storm followed Pinkamena down the stairs and watched as she walked up to the door. Pinkamena looked outside and grinned. "I hope your ready for me Ponyville." She said happily.