Thing a Day

by Rennoc215

Heart of the Storm

Thing a day: Heart of the Storm

The thrumming noise, a humm as the air grew excited, pressed upon my ears. I could feel it in my body, too: there was something majestic about to

heppen. I listened, and closed my eyes, and waited. Slowly, I tuned out the soft crackling and i found it. A loud rumble was racing closer. I smiled, and

thrust my head skyward as the built up energy exploded around me, golden-white energy arcing through the gray sky above.

Then, the clouds released their energy, and the bolt of lightning struck the ground, not fourty feet from me. I frowned, and lowered my head again,

waiting for the build-up to begin again. This was a superstorm, the Eye of Destiny, they called it. A raging storm which never mooved, never quieted down,

and spanned innumerable miles beneath it's immense cloudscape.

And to me, it was paradise. I felt the pressure build again, and waited for just the right moment, before I shot my head up, in time with the blast

of energy. This time, it was closer: 15 paces, easy. I closed my eyes again, lowered my head, and waited again. From fourty to fifteen. I got a tingle as

the hairs running down my neck stood on end. This is it, I told myself. The pressure mounted, and in a cathartic release, blasted me as I thrust my

horn skyward.

Kra-koom, The sky shouted, blasting the lightning bolt straight down into my horn, racing down into the threaded core. I felt the

sizzling as the bolt touched my horn, and then, as I let the energy in, I trapped it there. My weapon of the gods. Smirking, I threw my head forward,

releasing it back into the storm, re-energizing the clouds. In anger, ther unleashed two.

Now, the real duel begins, thought. I dodged the first and caught the second, slinging my head and throwing it into the un-missable cloud

above. The storm blasted me, caging me into a ring of lightning, and then it barraged the tiny field it had left me. As nimbly as I could, I dodged most of

them, while returning a few labelled "return to sender."

This is when I could feel the storm truly get angry. In the briefest of seconds, it went from nothing to a torrential downpour. Had I not picked my

location just right, I would have easily been knocked downhill, into the soon-to-be-flooded lowlands. The storm was not happy with me, realizing I might

just be the stormtamer to beat it.

For the Eye got it's name when it broke each tamer sent to beat it into submission. Pegasus after Pegasus tried to beat it, only to be shocked into

a landing, where they were easy target practice for a storm this size. But I was a curveball. It thought I would be simple, after all, I didn't need to be

blasted down, only squashed on the ground.

That's when I fought back. This was probably the first time anything like this had happened to the goliath storm, but it realized it didn't like

something that fought back. So now, it's throwing every trick in the book. Rain and lightning were common among storms, so I decided to goad it, slightly.

"Come on!" I shouted to the sky, water flowing into my mouth, spraying out when I spoke. "This is foal's play! And I thought you were a god among storms!"

A deep rumble was my only reply, before the rain cut back. I laughed, and stood still, waiting for my opponent to make the next move. I waited, and

paid attention to everything. A bolt in the background, but I knew it was only a distraction. I felt the rain slowly grow colder, and soon felt ice forming

on my coat. "Here we go," I whispered under my breath, before dodging a bolt sent my way.

The storm only grew angrier, the freezing rain shifting into hail, and then the hailstones began to grow in size. I could feel as the tennis-ball

sized chunks of ice slammed into my body, but I had trained for this. "A little snow can't stop me!" I shouted triumphantly, before I felt the hail grow

larger. The ground began to shake, and the storm was doing everything in it's power to ground me.

But like a cat, I easily maintained my balance, even against insurmountable odds. The storm sought my soul, but I would not give it. I dodged

another bolt, and watched it punch through numerous hailstones on it's way down, blowing them apart like a ant hill struck by a soccer ball. But I would

not falter. I danced like this was some strangely rehearsed duel, the ice and electricity trying to bring me to my knees.

Slowly, I began to slow down. It was just by the most minute of moments, but I noticed that the last bolt did singe my mane. "No matter," I

challenged. "I look phenominal in black!" Another bolt was my response, this one closer than the last.

That's when the unthinkable happened. The storm had learned my dance, and it struck me when I was the most off guard: mid-jump. The bolt raced

through my body, and it stung unimaginably, but all I could do was laugh. "Yes!" I cried. "Let me feel your might!"

I landed off, and my legs, beated and bruised by the ice, crumpled beneath me. I lay on my side, and I closed my eyes. They said this storm was

unbeatable, I scolded myself. I should have listened. Slowly, I felt the ice stop, and then the shaking ceased. It was only when I felt warmth

did I open my eyes. I looked up, into the towering cylinder that made up the eye of the storm.

And there, suspended in the middle of the strange silence, was a single, pale-blue colt. He walked up to me, and the storm moved with him. "Hello,

Mister." He said, as if this were something completely ordinary.

"Am I in heaven? Did the storm finish me off?" I asked, laying unmoving from my spot.

The colt laughed. "No, you just made it to the center. It's nice in here, isn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah," I groaned, slowly getting to my hooves. "What's your name, kid?"

He smiled. "I'm Mister!" He replied.

"Mister?" I asked, semi-incredulously. "As in the surname or as in actually Mister."

He laughed, a light, upbeat sound. "It's actually Mister. I got it because when I wasa born, when I cried, it came out as mist, and not tears."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Sure thing! And I've always cried like that ever since. The only problem is that when I cry, the mist never leaves. It doesn't

dissipate, it doesn't fade, it just stays there." He pointed to the storm "Right there."

I looked at him, an eyebrow raised with suspicion. "So you mean to tell me, that you cried out the largest storm in history."

"Well," he replied. "My parents told me I was always a pretty caring colt..." His mood darkened. "And then, when they passed away, I didn't have anypony to turn to..." His voice drifted off, and I could see he was about to cry. Sure enough, when the tears started flowing, mist began to pour out of his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey," I cooed, trying to calm him down. "Don't be like that." He looked at me, puzzled, and I laughed. "You just gotta smile." I offered. Sure enough, with a smile, the colt cheered right up, and stopped crying. "I hate to say this, but that storm you cried up is hurting others."

He gasped, and tears began forming again. "I didn't mean to!" He screeched, before nearing to the breaking point.

"No one blames you, though." I continued, trying to distract him. "I know what's going on. A storm spirit took pity on you, and inhabited the storm you created for it. Now, it's trying to protect you, and in the process, hurting others."

He looked thoughtfully at the clouds, before gasping. "Belzeneth!" He shouted, and started running about in a circle. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion, but then I saw the whisp-looking spirit emerge from the clouds.

"Yesss?" it asked, in a voice sounding like escaping steam, without the high piched whine.

"Tell me it isn't true!" Mister cried out, running to the storm spirit.

It's eyes widened, and then it sighed. "I caaan't." It replied, deflating slightly.

"But Belzeneth! You promised to protect me." He whined, running circles around the cloudy being.

"I keeept them awayyy so they couuuldn't hurt youuu."

Misted took a stand, and scolded the spirit. "Belzeneth. That isn't the only way. Some of them might have been coming to help me!"

"Sssorry."

"Hurting others isn't the only way to protect something. Neither is hiding it away." Mister continued. "Belzeneth, I wan't to go back to society. I want friends. Just being there for me when I need help is a better protection. If you let me get hurt, I can always come to you, and then you can help me heal. That way, I can learn, and you can protect me when I'm vulnerable."

"If you sayyy ssso."

Mister laughed, and Belzeneth looked at him, confused. "It's okay, Belzeneth. I forgive you." He smiled, for a while, and then gasped. "I almost forgot! Belzeneth, apologize to this nice stallion here." He said, pointing my way. "You gave him quite a beating."

Belzeneth floated up to me, looked me over, and his expression remained neutral. "You were a good adversary." He said, and then bowed.

I laughed. "So were you." I replied, returning the bow. "Now, can we get this colt back to civilization. He looks like he's in some dire need of family and friends." The colt turned to me, a wide smile on his face. "Aa-and" I added. "I'm looking for a lucky kid to take under my wing."

They both looked at me strangely. "But," Mister stated. "You're a unicorn."

I groaned. "It's an expression," I explained. "Never mind. Come on kid," I called, turning in the direction of the nearest town. "Looks like you need a father more than I expected."

Author's Note:

I got this one after my computer got zapped in a local thunderstorm, and I was reminded of the utter calm when our house was engulfed in the eye of a hurricane, where the bizarre calm mingled with the chaotic storm.

Hope you all enjoy!