01 - An Introduction, of shorts
01 - An Introduction, of shorts
Scheduling Conflicts
It was raining outside, she reflected, again. Rainbow Dash had thoughtfully provided her the weather schedule two full weeks in advance so she could plan her latest experiment so as not to disrupt anyone in town, and in turn have good conditions for her observation. She had checked again only two days ago... or at least she thought she had checked two days ago, glancing over at a list floating in a magenta glow a few hooves away, she confirmed she had... and yet here it was, most definitely, once more RAINING on her requested and thrice confirmed WARM SUNNY DAY. To say that the lavender alicorn was upset could be likened to saying Pinkie Pie was occasionally energetic.
So, when there was the soft clicking of claws on the steps to the library basement, it was a somewhat agitated Twilight Sparkle who responded to Spike as he cleared the last few steps and walked over toting a set of saddlebags and an umbrella.
"So," he began, "it's....um.... still raining outside Twilight. Didn't you say it was supposed to be sunny?" He set the saddle bags down and began loading them up almost on reflex.
"And warm," the alicorn muttered under her breath. Taking a moment to adjust her mental checklist, she plastered a smile on her face as she addressed her number one assistant, "Right! Ok, so, we'll need coats, an umbrella, some waterproof ink, extra notebooks, a hygrometer, a polarized filter for the camera, and two large rubies."
Spike, having anticipated the change of plans, held up each of the items in turn until he came to the end. Blinking quickly before glancing into the saddle bags again just to check if a pair of rubies had somehow manifested without his noticing, he looked back up at Twilight only to see her smirking with a real smile finally on her face. "What?" he managed, trying to wrap his head around the subtle but significant change.
"Well, since you planned ahead so well that I didn't even have to tell you how important this experiment was, I was going to drop you off at Rarity's with a snack for lunch so you wouldn't have to get cold," Twilight put on a concerned frown for a moment, trying desperately to keep from laughing at the young dragon's excited reaction, "buuuuuuut if you really wanted to go out in the ra-"
Twilight was cut off mid sentence by the excited waving of the little dragon's arms as he quickly tried to keep her from thinking up any reason not to let him stay at Rarity's. "No, no. That's ok Twilight! I'll, uh, just go grab those gems and be right back!" Twilight couldn't help but smile as she watched him dart up the stairs, deftly avoiding the tangled cables and assorted piles of books that her basement/lab tended to become while she worked.
Taking a moment to make last minute calculations and adjustments to her checklist to account for rain, she trotted over to a nearby alcove and pulled out a camera and tripod that she had been using to document the strange patch of field west of Fluttershy's cottage that the butter colored pegasus had mentioned offhoofedly a few weeks back.
Thinking back on it, there was really no better way to describe the patch of tall, dark green, grass other than strange. Despite the long autumn nights with progressively colder and colder temperatures, the patch of field had refused to lighten, dry, or even appear to start the period of rest that plants normally endured through winter. Indeed, once winter had set in, Twilight was simply beside herself as she had hovered unsteadily over the patch of deep green, vibrantly living grasses clearly visible in a hole nearly shoulder deep in a snow bank. While Twilight had gaped, Fluttershy had quietly told her that the patch was something she had found when she first moved to Ponyville many years before and, while strange, didn't seem to be unusual in any other way. Fluttershy had even mentioned that she sometimes brought out little dishes of fruit or nuts for the wildlife when the winter storms were particularly fierce because the patch of field seemed to repel snow, leading to no fewer than three resident families of mice.
Twilight had been, and still was, beyond confused. Clearly there was magic at work, but she could find no evidence of any enchantment. She had drifted around the area, after shaking herself out of her shock induced paralysis, for nearly an hour searching for a hidden unicorn or perhaps some other creature from the Everfree. Having found none, she had carefully marked its location and dutifully come back to study the patch over the last few weeks as the season continued on.
It was only now, just after Winter Wrap Up, that she would be able to examine the surrounding area to see what could be causing such an unusual effect that may have been previously hidden by the thick blanket of snow. A task that would become monumentally more difficult with the icy, unscheduled, and wholly unappreciated rain that was currently falling outside.
Rainbow Dash's Morning
Rainbow Dash was beside herself. Not only had she spent the ENTIRE day yesterday clearing clouds and making sure there was juuuuuuuust enough sun to melt the snow and ice at the right speed, not only had she had to work with a fill-in crew from Baltimare since almost half of her normal crew was out with the feather flu, not only had she missed breakfast to keep a stray cloud bank from surging past Cloudy Nights, but she had missed her nap...and she was not happy about it.
It had all started with that little breeze that sent a tingle across her wings earlier that morning. Nothing too out of the ordinary for Ponyville's fastest and most awesome flier, but it had been enough to make her want to peek outside to see what was up - after all, she had promised Twilight that the day would be sunny and warm and she didn't want to disappoint. So, shrugging off the blanket and yawning momentarily, she had stepped past her kitchen and instead walked right over to her front window to see what was going on.
It had only taken her a second to notice the huge gray wall of cloud pressing in on Ponyville with a desperate, lone, pegasus flitting two and fro trying to stop it. Admittedly, he was doing a pretty good job, strafing back and forth whipping off kicks and snaps, knocking tufts of cloud back a good ways before trying to intercept other intruding clumps from catching him off guard. Diving and weaving, even going so far as to snag a thermal to try and redirect a portion of the bank in an effort to stall for time. She hated to admit it, but he was actually pulling off some pretty clever little tricks to keep that massive wall from simply washing over Ponyville.
For a moment, she simply stared, watching as the pegasus pulled off a mid-air fishtail so quickly she lost track of him, before she realized why he was working so feverishly to stall the cloud bank: Twilight had requested a sunny day.
Princess Twilight Sparkle had requested, in whatever-plicate that meant "a lot", a sunny day weeks ago.
"Oh hayseed," she hissed as she glanced woefully back toward her bed before darting out the window to help the surprisingly attracti....er... agile pegasus who had been filling in for Thunderlane.
An Interrupted Picnic
"...when de Baron come a knockin' you open da doar, 'cuz de Baron don't knock second times, E jus pull ya tru de floor..." a scratchy voice with a thick accent droned bassily from under a very large, battered, rubber umbrella some four paces from the grapefruit colored unicorn who sat juuuuust out of the shadow of the protective sheet with a bored look of worn humor on his face.
He was soaked - absolutely, dunked in a tank and hosed down, soaked. His red and yellow mane hung limply in bedraggled wedges down his neck and face while his tangled mass of a tail lay almost an inch deep in the churning muck of mud and downpour. He looked wistfully at the picnic blanket set with an assortment of snacks and two pitchers of drinks that was still pristinely dry just inches from his hooves, once more impressed with the zebra's talent for somehow keeping everything dry under his umbrella.
"E break yo bones, E spill yo blood, E pull you tru de cracks, Un when he done -"
"You know, that's pretty grim right, Mojo?" the unicorn interrupted his zebra friend who was reciting from under the umbrella.
"You know it true..." the scratchy voice replied from where the basket rested, the shadow from the umbrella making it a bit hard to actually spot the black and gray striped zebra currently pouring himself a drink with a mischievous grin and half closed eyes. "...E trow you in a sack."
"Seriously, where do you get this stuff? I mean, that's got to be one of the ... " the unicorn frowned and looked skyward for just a moment before sighing and muttering softly, "here we go again" as his constantly glowing horn suddenly arced blue-white lances, contrasting with the normal ruby/lilac glow.
With an almighty crack the world went white. Rain vaporized, the shrieking hiss of steam lost in the ear shattering boom while the zebra, lifting a bone white cup, could be seen as nothing more than a stark silhouette against the furious white background, apparently toasting the unicorn as he was struck by lightning.
After a few seconds the zebra stood, tipping back his cup and swallowing the whole of its contents in one go. Dropping it, he took a few light steps forwards, hooves making a dry rustle against the smoldering fabric of the picnic blanket before he knelt down with a grin. Tilting his head, he pulled the second pitcher over and placed a second, empty, glass before it. He mused quietly to himself, marveling at the still resounding echos of the thunder bouncing first from the Everfree and then, a moment later, back from Ponyville as he waited.
A soft groan and the weak shifting of the unicorn before him sent the zebra back into verse, while he poured the stallion a drink. "Dat sack he trow into da grave, un when you wake agin, de darkness n de coffin, dey'll be yo lonely fren."
The unicorn responded with a weak glare, as he struggled to sit back up, managing after only a few false starts. "Your timing was a bit off there Mojo," he said reaching for the proffered cup and gingerly sipping while the ground around him continued to hiss softly in the rain.
"Ey! Not my fa'lt dat yu not plan yo hoodoo ta be timely. One deez days, you goan geddit rii, un I'm goan be split time perfect." the zebra said with a wide smile and no attempt at rhyming even being imagined. " B'sides, you take too long geddinup, I start ta worry I be needin' to take numbers for de box if you dongeddup."
The unicorn smiled weakly, "I'm not dead yet you nut, but that one hit harder than usual.... I still can't see right." He gestured with a hoof in the general direction of the zebra, "Everything's black and white...well, except you.... you're just gray on black" he chuckled softly at the amused look on the zebra's face.
"Ah see you be dun bettralready. Come in an hava seat now dat de fire be past." The zebra gestured towards the still smoking blanket as he turned to flip his black silk top hat on from where it had been resting next to the umbrella pole. He smiled back over his shoulder with a slight flourish, before snapping his face toward Ponyville with a scowl. "On secun taught, I think it time for me to go, princess Sparkle comes you know."
The unicorn nodded wordlessly. Even after all these years, he still couldn't understand why his zebra friend didn't like the princesses. After having asked numerous times, all met with uncustomary silence from the normally jovial, if grim, zebra, he had just come to accept that if a princess was near, the zebra wouldn't be. He was likewise, unsuprised that when he looked up from his cup both his friend and the large rubber umbrella were gone. He shook his head slowly, trying to get the ringing in his ears to stop and the color to come back to his vision while he mused upon the skill to seemingly vanish that some zebra seemed to possess.
The Edge of the Neverfree
From the shadows of a large elm at the edge of the Everfree forest, DeBaron (Mojo to his few friends), watched as Storm Dancer slowly stood up from the ruined picnic.
He hadn't wanted to leave like that, it wasn't flashy or showy, or even clever... in short, it was a cheap parlor trick that he felt a little dirty for even knowing, let alone using, but it was necessary. The moment he had seen her winging her way towards them, he had needed to get out of view before she recognized him. Well, he mused, not necessarily her specifically. Twilight Sparkle was new to the whole 'Princess of Equestria' alicorn .... thing.... and he didn't know her limits or talents personally. What he did know was that in the short time since she had shown up in Ponyville, there had been more monster attacks, natural disasters, invasions, infestations, and general chaos than in the last two decades combined.
There was also a rather blatant attack by an elder god....spirit....being that put just about everything he knew of magic to shame in an instant.
And she and her friends had utterly conquered them all, often within minutes of their arrival. Admittedly, it took them a few hours to disable Discord... but Discord was the aforementioned elder god, spirit, being... so that couldn't really be counted against their effectiveness. And to make things even more confusing, they somehow even convinced Discord to play nice-ish in the end.
That being said, he didn't want to chance what would happen if he were to get into a confrontation with her royal highness. He knew Celestia and Luna would likely as not have no ill will towards him (indeed, they might even be interested in speaking with him), but he knew he didn't have anything to say that they would want to hear. Besides, walking up to an immortal ponysonification of the sun and moon, guiding figures of the land for time immemorial, possessing power to level mountains, boil oceans, and stop the very motion of the heavens....and telling them he didn't like their work probably wouldn't go over very well. And if they found out what his talents were, he was fairly certain there would be some very VERY uncomfortable questions asked.
Twilight Sparkle was a wild card though, one which he was not willing to gamble with until he'd seen how she played her cards a bit more. Sure, he knew she was studious (something he deeply admired), brilliant, kind, caring, and the element of magic (whatever that meant since the Elements themselves had been returned), but he also knew she was a bit fanatical, predisposed to hysteria, prone to jumping to conclusions, and capable of more different types of magic than most schools of magic could boast of their faculty...combined. He had seen her teleport, use mind control, bring objects to life, transform living creatures, and even copy the magics of the other pony races. In fact, about the only thing he hadn't seen her capable of mimicking in full were the magics of his own people, the zebra, and he had heard rumors that she had tried with some small success.
All this gave him a strange mix of curiosity and trepidation. On one hoof, she could be a wonderful ally and friend, as she had to Zecora and countless others. On the other hoof, she could be even more unstable and prone to hostility than even Celestia and Luna combined, and with her friends' tendencies, well, there was really no way to control the situation if things were to get out of hoof. So, that left hiding and watching - which, at the moment, meant losing his lunch and time to chat with his unicorn friend. A sad thing that; the unicorn did make a passable soup and a berry pie that his own mother still might crawl out of the grave to discover the recipe for.
That was another thing, his friend really was an odd unicorn. He could swear that the unicorn was constantly working on some massive spell, but nothing ever came of it. For as long as he had known the stallion, his horn had been alight with a never ending glow of spell casting. Sure, he levitated objects and occasionally lit his horn brightly in dark places, but for the life of him Mojo couldn't tell exactly what he was doing. He could feel the magic twisting around the unicorn, a veritable torrent of thaumaturgic force, but despite years of observation, the stallion never seemed to have any explanation other than "I got struck by lightning when I was younger and it hasn't stopped glowing since."
Oddly, even with the amount of twisting the unicorn's magic was constantly going through, there never really seemed to be much magic that was actually used for anything. When he had posed that question to the unicorn, he had been met with only a blank look and a shrug.
That was one of the reasons the two had gotten along so well and been friends for so long. Neither one seemed terribly worried about the others activities. Mojo could sense the unicorn's magic and could tell when a surge was about to occur (giving Mojo time to find cover or at least prepare) and Storm Dancer simply didn't seem concerned with Mojo's own, peculiar, brand of zebra magic. It was a friendship based on curiosity and neutral understanding, trust, and aid. Mojo had helped to make the unicorn's life a little easier and the unicorn had offered up companionship where others had fled or turned openly hostile.
It was one of the reasons that Mojo was still there waiting in the shadows at the edge of the Everfree, despite the rapidly approaching princess Sparkle: he was worried about his friend who was still recovering from his most recent lightning strike.
Induce Positive Leader
After the initial rough start, Twilight Sparkle had found one of the many thermals that seemed to litter the skies around Ponyville and rode it to a comfortable altitude. It wasn't that she was unskilled at flying (as she had been repeatedly assured by practically every pegasus who saw her unique skills), but rather the abject terror of falling to a painful and messy end that tended to come with living the vast majority of her life as a unicorn preventing her from relaxing enough to smooth things out. There was simply something in her that practically screamed terrifying doom whenever she first took to the air without something solid under her hooves. Thankfully, between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, Twilight had built enough confidence to try flying high enough to glide and learn how things felt without the immediate punishment of gravity for any slight error. Indeed, between her two friends (and the careful ministrations of a remarkably well timed use of an enormous banana cream pie come crash pit), Twilight had developed enough skill to fly in what approached a casual skill level. She had no allusions to winning any races or competitions now or anywhere in the near future, but she at least felt sure enough to use her wings to avoid things like crowded streets or to cross bridge-less chasms.
And, to be perfectly honest, she did understand why Dash loved flying so much... if at just a bit more of a relaxed pace. There were just so many things that couldn't be seen the same way from the ground. The layout of Ponyville made more sense, resembling the numerous maps that were scattered about for visitors, and the placement of certain businesses in relation to their suppliers made much more sense to her now that she could spot the shortcuts that walking along at ground level made difficult. She could gaze out over the rooftops and see the fields and surrounding land so much easier and to such a great distance that she felt somehow....smaller... when she landed and her perception shrank back to a vastly closer horizon. She had spent her first day truly flying to do little more than work on hovering over Ponyville, simply so she could absorb everything with the cataloging eye of a scholar turned librarian.
So it would have come as no surprise that, high above Ponyville, Equestria's youngest princess saw the strange black smudge out past the outskirts of the village under what appeared to be a particularly violent storm cell in what should have been her warm sunny day.
Crinkling her nose and squinting against the occasional flash of lightning, she angled herself just a bit from her planned course to get a closer look at the unexplained smudge. With a few quick adjustments, she slid off the thermal and started the somewhat less graceful task of flying, rather than gliding, through the rain towards her new mystery as houses and businesses slid past her far below.
As she flew, she idly considered how smart it really was to be flying in a storm as she currently was. True, between the winds, rain, and risk of lightning strikes, there didn't seem to be a particularly good reason to engage in her present choice of travel, but at the same time she knew that pegasus ponies flew in worse weather all the time. She knew from personal experience that pegasus ponies were somewhat numb to both the cold and the sapping effects of weather, something that had raised a few rather personal questions that she couldn't seem to find answers to in her multitudes of literature on the subject, but besides that as both a princess and one of the brightest magical minds of the current generation, she had cast a simple insulation spell before taking off. After all, better safe than sorry, and she simply couldn't fit a hospital trip in her list of things to do today.
So it was with a certain level of confidence that she winged her way towards the mysterious black thing under the storm. She guessed that at her current rate of speed, given wind resistance, allowing for variance in flight vs glide dynamics, and the estimated distance, that she had somewhere around two minutes of travel before she could physically inspect the thing up close.
Taking a deep breath, she settled into a rhythm while she once more went over her mental checklist. She had just considered moving "thank Rarity for watching Spike" up on her list (offsetting "discover method of determining nutritional value of gems") when a massive bolt of blue-white lightning seemed to snake out of the cloud bank and plunge into the black spot with a cacophonous blast so loud that she nearly struck the rooftops before regaining control. Eyes wide and list forgotten, Twilight hovered for just a moment before casting a series of spells over the immediate area to dampen the building electrical charge. Ponyville was not known for its lightning rods after all, it had a dedicated weather team to contend with storms and a decent number of unicorns to respond to more mundane damage, which left the vast majority of structures as likely targets for a rogue bolt. After a moments further consideration, she reinforced her own protective spell before redoubling her efforts to find out what could attract such a blast. Whatever it was, she didn't want it anywhere near Ponyville.
Odd field forgotten, Twilight glanced back up to re-orient herself before staring, mouth agape, at the smudge-less field under a storm cell. Her mind cycling through hypothesis after unlikely hypothesis until she simply shook her head and resumed flying. It would be more prudent to find out for sure than to endlessly debate the possible causes while those self-same causes could very well be planning a repeat performance.
Whisking past the last few streets of Ponyville proper, Twilight pumped her wings to fight the growing winds just as she caught a faint glint of multicolored light streaming from the north. Glancing quickly just to be sure, she smiled and waved to a determined looking Rainbow Dash just as she streaked past, causing her own flight to wobble dangerously from the sudden turbulence. Twilight frowned as she considered what might be so important that Dash would completely ignore her - that particular list was a rather short one given her friend's interests. Twilight knew it couldn't be the Wonderbolts, they were currently off performing in Los Pegasus, and it certainly wasn't a Daring Do signing, she would have known about that months in advance, which left "apocalyptic danger", "monster from the Everfree", "Lightning Dust just hurt somepony", "Gilda's back and still being uncool", "Trixie", or "I missed my nap and didn't see you."
Of the six, Twilight really hoped it was that Rainbow was just tired... there really wasn't any room in her schedule for saving Equestria again today.
So deep in her mental gymnastics was Twilight that she nearly overshot her target, only narrowly missing colliding with somepony because she was shocked out of her focus by the surprise of what felt like her coat and mane suddenly deciding to crawl off her skin. Eyes snapping open, she desperately tried to slow down, adjust her course, teleport, yell out a warning, and yelp in surprise all at once, the result being a strangled bark and a tumble through the air before the botched teleportation deposited her unceremoniously, at high speed, upon a sopping wet blanket covered in various snacks.
The impact and subsequent tumble tugged the picnic blanket hard enough that the stunned unicorn completely lost his footing, falling plot first into a rather large mud puddle while the young alicorn dug a noticeable trench with what could only, tactfully, be called her face.
Not How One Imagines a Princess
The speed at which Storm Dancer found his rear striking the ground was startling. He had just managed to stand up again after Mojo's hasty disappearance when the world suddenly seemed to lurch under him and introduce his already aching anatomy to the equivalent of a drive by clotheslining. Where before he had been shaky and sore, he now felt the jarring throb of the sudden impact lancing down his legs and up his back. He was quite sure that if he didn't already have a migraine, he would have just acquired one.
Grunting with the effort, he started the process of once more rising to his hooves. This was turning out to be a slightly more unpleasant day than normal, after all, he normally would be able to say he had a chance to eat lunch before being blindsided by debris or crippled by the witty repartee of Equestria's electrically changed weather systems. That being said, he instinctively dropped back to his knees, muffling a yelp of pain, when he saw the upside down form of the source of his stumble.
Not ten paces away, tangled up in what had previously been his picnic blanket, was Princess Twilight Sparkle herself.
Head bowed, he waited patiently to be given permission to rise. After the first few seconds, the shock bled way to concern, and then worry. Not only had he not been acknowledged, but he didn't hear anything over the soft hiss from the ground and the storm above. Tentatively, he opened one, and then both eyes as he looked up from his bow. She was still there, upside down, tail in the air, tangled in his blanket and getting more and more soaked by the moment. What she wasn't, he suddenly realized, was conscious.
Glancing around quickly to make sure there wasn't a troop of royal guards waiting to pounce him, he slowly stood back up and approached her carefully. "Um, P-princess? Princess Sparkle? Are you alright?" He waited with growing concern. From everything he'd heard, alicorns were incredibly tough immortal beings on the level of gods and goddesses. He had seen some of what she had personally had to deal with, the most obvious cases being Discord and the Changeling invasion, and knew she wasn't a pushover. He also knew that, for whatever reason, she had seen it necessary to knock him down and attack his picnic lunch. Thankfully, she had also apparently seen fit to let her tail drop as it became wet. It was simply indecent to see a pony like that, let alone a princess.
Still wary of the upside down princess, he shook out his mane and took a moment to find his cup which had been flung some distance in her unexpected arrival. Floating it back over, he rinsed it out with the water that remained in one of the pitchers laying on its side, thankful that it had enough of a curve to save some of the drink from spilling after rolling away. A few more moments of concentration and he had found the bottle of raspberry juice he had planned to share with Mojo. Floating them both over towards the princess, he carefully sat down to wait until she woke up.
Looking out over the field, he sighed softly. It really was a nice little storm that had rolled in from the Everfree all things considered. The rain wasn't too cold this time of year and the snow had all been cleared up yesterday, much to his delight. For the first time in weeks he had been able to find a spot to lay down that wasn't frozen over with ice or snow, and he had taken an inordinate amount of pleasure in simply stretching out on the relatively warm grass. It had still been cold, but that was nothing new for him. He had even managed to get a few hours of sleep before waking up in a fog bank and stumbling around until he got his bearings. It had been around that time that he'd run into Mojo gathering his herbs and... other things... for whatever it was he used them for. They'd chatted for a while before he'd asked if the zebra would like to join him for lunch. the two had parted shortly thereafter, Mojo complaining that he had to keep moving until the sun came up due to the cold.
A sudden thought popped into the unicorn's head as he recalled Mojo's words. Turning slowly, he approached the princess again and started to carefully levitate both her and the tangled mess of his picnic blanket before turning her upright and trying desperately to untangle her unconscious form from the now soaking, and most likely frigid, blanket. Setting her down gently, he was gingerly making little tugs on his blanket when a hard thump behind him and the sound of rapid hooves approaching gave him only a moments notice before being tackled.
"WHAT THE HAY DID YOU DO TO TWILIGHT?!?" screamed the pegasus on his back.
"mrphlr mmmm pbr pmrblr" was the inspired response, unfortunately lost to the world due to the proximity of his muzzle being buried an inch deep in muck. Thankfully, at about that moment, he felt the pressure on his face decrease as the pegasus unexpectedly hopped off his back. Pushing himself up for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, he coughed out a breath and turned to face what was undoubtedly a very angry royal guard.
When he saw a blue coated rainbow maned pegasus stumbling unsteadily before dropping face first onto the ground, he was both shocked and confused. He recognized her as Rainbow Dash ... who wouldn't, but then why was she here, let alone apparently in the act of passing out after having plowed him into the ground? Sitting up and glancing around again, he carefully floated the pegasus out of the puddle she was attempting to breathe and placed her over near the princess, careful not to let her touch the royalty. He knew they were friends but without having really known the princess personally, he didn't want to offend either of them. Rainbow Dash however, that was a mare he knew. He knew she really didn't like him, and he couldn't really blame her for it either.
After all, she was on the weather team and he.... well he kind of played, as a draft pick, for the Everfree.
Finally free to think for a few moments, he rolled his neck out and popped a crick in his back before looking over towards the tree line and calling out, "Hey, Mojo, she's ok. It's just Rainbow Dash... she's always like that with me. And...the Princess is knocked out so you can come out now."
It was a tense few moments before the bassy voice echoed out from wherever it was the zebra was hiding in the tree line. It was an eerie thing that he still hadn't managed to discover how the zebra did, but it was thankfully a pretty clear sign that it was Mojo and not some unexpected attack on the princess. " 'S nawt hoppnin mon, despite de day, she 'n I don't see de same way. If you be good, I be taken my leave, her seein' me here...'s'no good I believe."
He sighed again, knowing that if Mojo didn't want to be found, he wasn't likely to be found. So, with another bit of concentration, he set about fetching a few branches from the tree line and planting them in the ground, using the picnic blanket to act as a tent top over the two unconscious ponies. The one pony and a princess, he amended to himself. It wouldn't be a good idea to get comfortable thinking of her as just another pony, the last thing he would need would be to slip up and say the wrong thing if she awoke.
Glancing around at the feeble remains of his picnic, he floated a few small wrapped snacks over, under the shelter, before floating a markedly taller branch from the tree line. With a grunt of effort, he planted it firmly in the ground about 20 paces away, checking to make sure it was still considerably taller than the shelter, before turning to go. It wouldn't be a good idea for him to remain close by, especially if they were unconscious. They would be safe enough. Not even the creatures from the Everfree would be out in a storm this unpleasant.... only weather pegasi, princesses on their royal whatever-they-felt-likes, and misfits like himself and Mojo. Besides, he knew of just the place to stretch out and relax in a storm like this.
As he turned to leave, he noticed a familiar dark brown box a few paces away and popped the top off to reveal the pie he had brought for desert. It probably wouldn't compare to whatever the royal chefs were likely gracing the princess' table with, but it might be a decent apology to Rainbow Dash at least. With a nod, he re-covered the pie and floated it over to the makeshift shelter as he turned to leave, the rain letting up slightly. "Wonderful" he thought, "just in time for me not to be able to get away unnoticed." He shook his mane out again, trotting across the field as the clouds overhead began to finally lighten. A few moments later, the storm cloud that had been sitting at the edge of the Everfree started to drift along behind him like a particularly large, and noisy, puppy.
Reparations and Requisitions
Twilight awoke to two very disturbing sensations. The first was an almost overwhelming cold that seemed to have sunk into every muscle and bone in her body. The second was a sound somewhat reminiscent of a pony stuffing her face and making a horrible mess in an attempt to disgust her friends so she could get back to reading Daring Do without anypony knowing it. Both sensations were things Twilight Sparkle was familiar with. With a shiver and a sniffle, she opened her eyes and tried to make sense of the scene before her.
The first thing she noticed was that it was indeed Rainbow Dash stuffing her face with ... something. There was a collection of brown paper wrappers crumpled up and scattered around the area, some smeared with dark colored goo, others with what appeared to be crumbs or grains of some sort. The pegasus was busily rooting through what looked like the remains of a picnic basket, though why she would have brought a picnic basket out on a cold and rainy day Twilight couldn't figure out. Especially since it was supposed to be warm and sunny.
The second thing she was able to put together was that she was still outside, albeit in some kind of primitive shelter. It wasn't quite a lean-to and it certainly didn't qualify as a tent, lacking walls as it did, but it did have vertical tresses and a canopy roof. Perhaps a ramshackle gazebo was the best way to technically classify it, though at the moment she was more likely to consider it woefully inadequate against the elements.
Third, she realized that she was sitting upright in front of a sealed wooden box of some sort, with a simple, though well crafted, cup and what looked like a wine bottle of dark red liquid. Reaching out a hoof, she tentatively tapped the bottle and was rewarded with a quiet 'tink' which drew Rainbow Dash's attention instantly.
The blue pegasus's head snapped up as soon as she noticed the sound and gave a nervous laugh before trying to play it down with a quick shake of her head to toss the crumbs off. Without a moment's hesitation she trotted over and gave Twilight her best "I'm innocent" grin which did little more than highlight the obvious. "Hiya Twilight! Glad to see you finally woke up." She glanced swiftly to the side before coughing softly and turning back with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "Um. I met your coltfriend while you were out...and I think I might have scared him off" she said sheepishly.
For a very brief moment, Twilight Sparkle's world froze. To the outside world, it would have looked like her eyes became tiny little pinpricks and her face locked in a rictus of confused terror, but thankfully the outside world only consisted of a rather apologetic and clueless Rainbow Dash who seemed oblivious to the whole thing. Blundering on, Rainbow scratched behind her head with a hoof, looking everywhere but at Twilight as she continued."So, yheah....sorry about that. I was just flying by and saw the two of you all tangled up in that blanket, and the next thing I know, I see him floating you up and I thought he was trying to kidnap you or something so I pounded into him." She chuckled ruefully for a moment, "Gotta admit though, I should have known you'd go for a guy that could knock me out while I was on top of him.... I didn't even see him cast the spell."
Through it all, Twilight's mind was racing through possibilities and scenarios which would lead to herself losing time, having Rainbow Dash think she needed to be rescued, Rainbow herself being knocked out, and then the both of them waking up in a field, under a shelter, with what looked to be gifts from their assailant. None of them seemed to be very good.
"Didn't think you had it in you girl... but hey, I can respect that. I mean, it's not everyday a princess gets to have so much fun she passes out I suppos....er.... Twilight? You ok?"
Instead of an answer, Twilight's horn lit up as everything in the immediate area became enveloped in a magenta glow. Rainbow's eyes tracked Twilight as she got the her hooves, seemed to check herself over and start looking around with very little expression on her face.
"Um... Twilight, look, I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to mess up your date with your coltfri-" Rainbow Dash's sentence was cut off as Twilight glanced her way and simply stated "Don't know him. Not my coltfriend."
Rainbow's eyes snapped wide open as the possibilities slammed into her like a botched buccaneer blitz. First the surprise, then the concern, and then the anger. "Oh Heck no. I know that bastard alright, and I'm gonna go buck his bastard head in!" she shouted, though it was a bit difficult to seem as intimidating as she was trying to, seeing as she was still stuck frozen in Twilight's magic, not even quite looking at her friend.
Twilight seemed to snap out of her focus at the shout and looked over at Rainbow with a mix of confusion and concern on her face. "Um, Rainbow? Why are you going to go maul whoever it was?"
"Why? WHY? Because that bastard raped you! I'm going to beat him until he bleeds happy thoughts... which won't happen because I'll be beating his face in so he can't HAVE happy thoughts!" she snarled.
Twilight flinched before clearing her throat. "Uh, how about we don't plan on mauling somepony who I nearly killed because I wasn't watching where I was going...who DID NOT rape me?" Twilight said with just a slight hint of uncertainty. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I'd know and I don't think anypony would be foolish enough to try something like that to anyone in Ponyville, let alone...well...me."
It took a few seconds before Rainbow could quite unravel the thoughts that were flying, rapid fire, through her head about how she was going to end that backstabbing unicorn, but when she finally did manage Twilight could swear she felt the gears in Rainbow's head grinding to a halt. She waited a few extra seconds to be certain before letting the spell fade, letting everything fall back to the ground.
Rainbow looked around before blushing furiously. "Um.... sorry about that. I just kinda thought..."
"No."
"Well, it looked like you two had been going at ..."
"No."
"But, the picnic! And...and the trough!"
"No."
"And you were all bundled up in that blanket and he was..."
"No Rainbow Dash. Just... No. No no no no no no no and no."
"So.... you crashed... again."
Twilight's ears swivelled backwards sheepishly as she nodded. Rainbow, to her credit, simply rolled her eyes and smiled at her friend. "Hey, it takes pegasi months to get it right... you've had....what, a few weeks? At least you're ok. Right?"
Twilight looked up but sighed as she put a hoof to her forehead and turned around to start cleaning up the remains of the stallion's picnic. She should get the blanket repaired and cleaned and the basket and foods replaced at the very least. She really should thank him as well for his help, even if he did leave her out in the weather without taking her back to Ponyville. She paused to think for a moment on that. Why would a pony stop to help someone, provide them with food and shelter, but then leave when help was quite literally in sight? Especially a princess? It didn't make sense.
"Um, Rainbow.... you said you knew the guy?"
There was a brief pause while Rainbow's eyes flicked briefly to frustration before she nodded. "Yheah, I know him. Why? Did you figure out he did something after all, 'cuz I'll still jump right up there an give him a -"
"No Rainbow Dash. I need to get these back to him." She gestured at the blanket/canopy, the basket and the remains of what looked to have been a private lunch for two, though she couldn't recall seeing anypony else. Oh No, she thought, I interrupted his picnic with his marefriend! The Princess is going to be so upset wit.... no....no. I can fix this, it's just a matter of making things right and showing a heartfelt apology. There's nothing that an honest and heartfelt apology can't fix. That's what the magic of friendship is all about!
With a curt nod Twilight continued. "I nearly killed him, I'm sure he was injured, and if not, I need to at least apologize for ruining his picnic. Though I can't figure out why anypony would be out having a picnic on a day like this."
"Yheah, that's kind of his thing. Drives the whole team nuts."
Twilight looked up, confused. "What?"
"He's kind of a weather nut.... likes to ignore the weather schedule and all that."
"Oh Rainbow, lots of ponies like the rain. That's no reason to -"
"No. He doesn't like the rain. Well, maybe he does. I don't know....but, what I meant was that he's a walking disaster! It drives the weather team nuts! Didn't you see his cutie mark?"
"Well, between the high speed, the teleport, and waking up after he left....No. Why?"
"It's a freaking storm-cloud with a tornado. He's a unicorn with a weather talent!"
Twilight's eyes lit up. "Seriously?!? That's amazing! I mean, weather spells aren't new or anything, but unicorns who can cast them are pretty rare. Why haven't I heard of him before?"
"Um, because he's bad luck? I mean, I just kind of assumed you knew. Everyone knows. Heck, I'm pretty sure the Everfree Forest knows he's bad luck."
"Rainbow, that's not very nice. And besides, I'm sure that he's a perfectly nice stallion. I mean, he didn't have to do anything after I nearly killed him, and if he was able to knock you out with a spell but left us both with food and shelter, I doubt that he's a bad pony."
It was Rainbow's turn to roll her eyes. "You don't get it Twilight, he's bad luck! He's a unicorn doing weather magic...but that's not even the weirdest part..." she paused for a moment, hopping into the air and hovering as she dropped her head and front legs to within inches of Twilight's face. "His weather stuff won't listen to other pegasi. He's a jinx!"
Twilight blinked at that. It was one thing to be able to use weather magic, but it was quite another to prevent a pegasi from influencing a cloud. That would be like if Applejack suddenly started casting spells and as a side effect, Rarity could no longer sew or Twilight herself suddenly couldn't pick the apples from Sweet Apple Acres. Things like that didn't happen.
Well, Discord happened, but there was simply no way that a pony could be wandering around preventing other ponies' own native magic and NOT cause an uproar.
After a moment's thought, she'd made up her mind. "Rainbow, who is he and where does he live."
The pegasus gaped for a second before hovering backwards and holding her own forehead with a hoof. "Seriously? Gah....fine. His name's Storm Dancer and he lives....um.... somewhere over there.....ish."
Twilight looked in the direction that Rainbow was gesturing towards." Over there.....ish?"
"Well, he doesn't really have a house or anything..."
"He's HOMELESS?!? In Ponyville?"
Rainbow scratched the back of her head before dropping down to the ground again. "Look Twi, he's bad news and no one wants him in the town. Besides, I don't think he even likes the town, he always got twitchy when he used to come to the market for stuff.... it's not like anyone's kicked him out or anything."
"I'm sure he'd be welcomed with open hearths and a smile wherever he went..." Twilight said with dry sarcasm.
"Look, it's not like that Twilight. It's just...." Rainbow Dash gave an exasperated sigh, "look, I'll fly around and see if I spot him alright?"
Twilight nodded with a slight smile. "Alright. I'll see about getting this all cleaned up and back to him then. Oh, and Rainbow..."
"mmm?"
"You still owe me that sunny day."
Raincheck
Though it had taken a few minutes longer than he would have liked, Storm Dancer finally made it over to his favorite spot in Ponyville. Just a bit outside of the village itself and a touch closer to the Everfree Forest than most ponies were comfortable getting, he settled down in a patch of overgrown grass. Even with the rain, at this exact spot, he always felt better, no matter what was going on around him. He smiled at the thought of just being able to lay back and watch the sky, content in his life, with just the gently swaying grasses and a warm wind causing the surrounding leaves to drift lazily across the heavens. It wouldn't matter if Discord himself were tap dancing on fireworks a few paces from his head, something about this spot was just so relaxing that he was simply positive that nothing bad could possibly happen.
He had just stretched out and closed his eyes, listening to the rain and thunder around him when he heard the faint sound of wing beats approaching. With a resigned sigh, he cracked one eye open, scanning what he could see of the sky for the owner of the wings while hoping it was just some bird lost in the storm. When, after a moment's searching, he saw the cyan pegasus who had just plowed into him not a half hour before, he covered his face with a hoof and cursed himself for tempting fate with thoughts like "nothing bad could possibly happen" just moments before.
Exhaling loudly, he levered himself up and prepared for another lecture about causing a disturbance, making a mess, being thoughtless, causing property damage, existing, eating pie, or whatever it was she was going to unload on him this time. Taking just a moment longer to gather himself, he finally looked upward, raised his hoof and brightened the glow on his horn to get her attention.
Rainbow Dash, apparently spotting him only a moment later, zipped down from the storm and was about to land when she flinched back out of reflex as a blue-white glow started to form on her wingtips. A moment later, a small discharge of electricity arced nearby, thankfully not catching her in the flash of lightning that pounded the ground only a few dozen yards away.
Gaping at the bolt, far more potent than the storms she was accustomed to dealing with, Rainbow bumped into the ground as she drifted downwards. He had seen that look too many times to find it funny anymore. It spoke of the pony wondering if he had somehow targeted them with some monstrous bolt of lightning in a show of force. It was a quiet reminder that, even if they knew better, most ponies really didn't instinctively trust him. It was a reminder that he didn't fit in with the rest of them... at least in their eyes. Unicorns were meant to cast spells, not play with the the sky - that was a pegasus' job.
Mojo didn't ever look at him that way. The zebra may occasionally chuckle nervously when the surges hit particularly strong or quickly, but he never looked at him with fear or apprehension. If anything, his friend would look at him with concern or even a bit of apology. So when Rainbow turned back to face him with a look of discomfort, rather than fear or accusation, he was completely unprepared.
He watched as she took a second to glance back at the sky before trotting over and gesturing back at the clouds. "This one of yours again?"
He raised an eyebrow before giving a tightlipped smile. "If you mean is this something I cooked up... then no. If you mean is that blob of lightning rich cloud following me again... then yes." He tried not to chuckle at the odd look that crossed her face, but gave her credit when she didn't launch into a tirade about how we was messing up her schedule or whatever.
"Look," she shook her head quickly and batted at the air with one hoof, "I wanted to say sorry for jumping on you before. I thought you were doing... something... that you weren't, to Twilight. I, uh, guess I should say 'thanks' too.... you know.... for the tent-thingy and stuff."
He guessed from the way she kept looking around that she was both unaccustomed to giving apologies and also that doing so now was somewhat against her will. None the less, he nodded slightly before asking "And?"
The pegasus' face went through a few expressions quickly before she paused long enough to glance at him again, apparently trying to decide if just getting it over with was the easiest way to go. "And," she said with only a small hint of annoyance, "she wanted me to find you so she could get you your stuff back."
He raised an eyebrow again. "Um, you're welcome, I guess. But why would she want to ..."
"Because she's an egghead. She's like, the biggest, most egg heady, egghead there is and she probably wants to stick you in a jar and figure out why your magic is weird and stuff, but she won't 'cuz she's Twilight so she probably wants to talk to you and learn magic ... stuff... and....." She gestured for a few moments before apparently deciding that her masterful use of language would clear things right up, "you know, diplomancy... to make things good since she's a princess."
He sat for a few moments before giving her a dry stare. "Diplomancy?"
She nodded. "Yheah.... I think she's trying to be diplomantic about the whole thing."
"As in, she's trying to be professional and officially make amends?"
"Yheah, I guess."
He couldn't help but break into a grin that quickly shifted into a chuckle.
For a moment, Rainbow Dash just stood there, confused before she finally barked, "What's so funny? This is serious! This is a PRINCESS we're talking about!"
He struggled to keep his tone even, despite still choking back a few laughs that tried desperately to escape him. "Then please, do tell her royal highness that I will subject myself to her diplomantic entreaties." He flared his front legs out in an exaggerated bow before raising his head like a dignitary, "Did she happen to mention where or when?"
Second Chances at Second First Impressions
It had taken a bit of work to adjust schedules, but Storm Dancer had finally agreed to a meeting with her. Oddly, he had elected to send a rather formal looking 'writ of acceptance and attendance' via insured mail from 'the sovereign district of Over-there-near-the-patch-of-dirt-at-the-edge-of-that-field-where-the-starlings-nest of our great and merciful Equestria' to which she had stared for perhaps entirely too long. She would never admit it to her friends, but she had actually gone to the town registry and discovered that a petition had been entered for such a location to be named only that afternoon and, by a loophole, had been made official. It seemed this Storm Dancer was now officially recognized as a dignitary of an absurdly small province of the 'empire, conquest, village under directorate per se, chancellor supreme: Her Royal Highness Princess (the 18th degree) Crepuscular Sparkle - Ponyville'. Besides the bizarre naming scheme of the mayoral declaration, she recognized its meaning: somehow, he had filed to have PONYVILLE annex its own field and declare him a dignitary by means of the 'use-fallow' law.
Perhaps even more bizarre was that Ponyville's laws actually provided for a legally binding naming scheme for ascendant princesses which, to her organizational horror, meant she would now have to relabel absolutely every official possession to include her honorific "the 18th degree, Crepuscular" wherever "Twilight" could be used. At least she found that he had used the appropriate degree for her status, she reflected... a 6th or 12th degree might have caused a political incident in Canterlot.
Suddenly finding herself playing host to who appeared to be a political mastermind (and very minor dignitary), Twilight was starting to panic. She was rushing around the library, a small cloud of books chasing her in a way that remarkably mirrored the flight patterns of the common fruit fly, not that it was her intention. Far from it, Twilight was currently trying to make her home presentable to someone whom she was deeply worried was on the verge on writing to the Princess in an official manner to demand her removal from office... or in this case: tree. A dust rag darted around, frantically swiping at shadows while Spike dutifully chased after it, trying to right books and pick up flower vases that were tipping in its wake.
"Twilight... it's ok! The Princess isn't going to kick you out and he's not going to care if 'Neighzine's Cornucopia of Unfathomables' is on an end table or the shelf. You're just getting worked up ag-" Spike had stopped abruptly when his friend, and only real family figure, had rounded on him with a panic stricken look on her face.
"You can't know that! He could be Furious! He could have already called the guard about my flying! I'll be sent back to pegasus school! Correction! I'll be sent TO pegasus school and then sent BACK to pegasus school again! Rainbow Dash is going to ignore me because I'll not be 'cool' enough to be near her! And Fluttershy... I just can't imagine what she'll do when she -" Twilight stammered as her eyes focused on her assistant lightly tapping the feather duster in his claws.
For a moment, she just stared at him, wondering what exactly he was thinking, before he suddenly turned and walked over to the podium that stood in the center of the room, sliding the green visor he occasionally used (when copying dictation) over his head. Wordlessly, he pulled a stool over, climbed up, leaned across the podium, took the feather quill from the ink well and began scribbling something down. Twilight watched as he held up the sheet of parchment, looked it over quickly and then rolled it up, sealing it with a small red ribbon he pulled from behind his back somewhere. At which point, Twilight's eyes nearly exploded as the little dragon looked her dead in the eyes before sending the scroll off in a tiny whiff of faintly glowing smoke.
"What did you JUST DO?!?!?" Twilight nearly screamed, a few strands of her mane springing up like broken guitar strings.
"Oh nothing. Just, you know, sent a letter." Spike replied with a weary tone.
Though he tried to look nonchalant about the whole thing, a bright magenta flash and the suddenly VERY close face of Twilight Sparkle knocked his visor off and made him nearly topple from his stool.
"What did you DO?" she poured, a mix of panic and confusion warring with betrayal and anger on her face.
"Um, I just sent a le-"
There was a soft knock at the door, to which both heads snapped. Twilight's features ended their battle, a truce ... no, an armistice, being hastily agreed upon as panic overpowered confusion, betrayal, and anger. Spike was infinitely grateful that he was the first to recover as he quickly darted down the stool and over towards the door.
With a well timed bow and grin, he pulled the door open and beckoned their guest in on reflex. However, after a moment, he blinked as he was met with an empty path and a decided absence of whomever had started knocking. More puzzling was the fact that the sunny day had been replaced with what looked like an eerily thick fog that cut visibility to about the mailbox.
A voice, only slightly strained with trying to sound normal, came from behind Spike as Twilight spurred herself to action. "Who is it Spike? Let's invite them in." She said in a polite manner, one Spike was certain she had been rehearsing all morning in her head.
"Noone's here Twilight" Spike replied, eying the strange conditions outside warily.
"Oh! It's wonderful to see you again No One, it's been so long!" Twilight repeated automatically, before stopping mid-stride to blink at the nonsensical comment. "Wait... no pony's at the door?"
Spike looked back at her over his shoulder, still holding the door open as the first tendrils of fog started to reach into the library. "Nope. Weird huh?"
Twilight closed her mouth and trotted over to Spike before leaning down to inspect the unusually thick and unseasonable fog. Blinking back confusion, she took a look out the empty door before casting a confused glance to the side window to confirm that the fog wasn't just some strange joke Rainbow Dash might be playing. After all, the pegasus wasn't exactly an angel, nor was she particularly well known for resisting the urge to prank her friends.
Despite her hopes, Twilight found that the window too showed only the thick white fog, meaning that it was unlikely to be a prank by Rainbow Dash. For all her cleverness, Rainbow tended to leave out important details in favor of doing things.
No, Twilight thought to herself, This isn't Rainbow Dash playing a prank. She'd never remember to cover the windows.
Twilight was in the middle of considering contacting the weather patrol when the temperature in the room suddenly began to drop. An odd moaning sound interspersed with muffled crackles, started to come from all around them as Spike yelped and dove behind Twilight, leaving a faint trail of breath to hang in the suddenly frigid air. Twilight frowned, setting her legs wide and preparing to intone a spell, intent on being prepared for anything as she noticed the windows starting to form lace-like frost.
"Whoever, or whatever, you are... Show yourself!" Twilight barked. For a moment, everything was still, the fog muffling sounds from outside while the low groaning sound seemed to ebb, then Twilight began to become aware of a strange feeling. She wasn't sure what it was exactly; it was almost like an itch in her teeth or the feeling that she had forgotten something important, disconcerting and alarming at the same time. It was slight at first, almost something that she'd dismissed, but within moments she started to feel the sensation becoming more and more evident.
She wondered if it was what Pinkie's Pinkie Sense felt like, though she quickly resolved never to ask. Trying to reconcile Pinkie was dangerous enough, but to think that Pinkie might be rubbing of on herself was a bit too much for Twilight to handle. Taking a moment to gather her wits, Twilight looked down at where Spike was hiding, peeking out from between her legs. Though she tended to forget it due to how much like her friends he normally acted, moments like these reminded her that Spike was only a baby dragon, a baby dragon that she was personally responsible for. One that looked to her for comfort and protection despite everything that she asked him to do.
Taking a calming breath to reign her emotions in, she whispered to Spike, "Spike, why don't you go make some tea for when our guest arrives hmmm?"
The sentence was immediately seen for what it was, a thinly veiled excuse for Spike to flee if things began to get out of hoof. Despite this, Spike only glanced at the door briefly before nodding and walking towards the kitchen with just a tiny bit more speed in his step than normal. Twilight nodded once the door to the kitchen had closed, thankful that whatever was outside was apparently in no hurry. She stood for a moment longer before the fog seemed to lurch violently as a rapid blast of arctic wind sent cords of opaque fog racing through the doorway, straight at Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Before she could do so much as utter a surprised yelp, a figure took shape and began to emerge from the fog. A dark silhouette striding purposefully through the doorway, wreathed in the unnatural fog, an unpleasant red halo lancing from it's head. A thunderous crash and blinding white light erupted at the same time making the figure seem to leap forward and blinding Twilight right as she fired off a spell to knock the frightful apparition out of the library.
She wasn't sure how long she stood there panting. Whatever it was that had tried to invade the library, she had hit it hard. The fog still clung to the floor and leaked in through the open doorway, but the eerie muffling of sound had departed, as had the fog from the windows even if the frost still clung to the panes. Though the doorway still showed little more than a white blur, Twilight was beginning to make out details as the fog thinned, apparently being pulled away by its master. Her mailbox was the first to become clear, followed shortly by the sign for the library itself. Finally the garden and road came into focus as a warm breeze seemed to dispel the arctic chill that had descended upon the library. Twilight waited, her horn glowing with the tension of holding a concussive spell just a thought from completion, as her breath began to change from the hurried clouds of frozen panic to the invisible puffs of a job well done.
The library groaned again and Twilight Sparkle reflexively released her spell, the thump knocking books off shelves and hurling her end table across the room. Outside, her mailbox tilted dangerously while the leaves dislodged the accumulated moisture from the sudden fog in a shower of icy shimmers. There was a strange sound somewhere just beyond the edge of the fog, a muted rustling and scraping that set her teeth on edge and her pulse racing.
Twilight Sparkle then gasped when a shape lurched up, clawing its way out of the soil of her garden, clumps falling to the ground, a faint form glowing with a sinister red haze visible through the remaining fog, with a moan ripped straight from a Nightmare night horror story.
Twilight Sparkle, one of the greatest magical minds of the current generation, librarian, bearer of the Element of Magic, Princess, scientist, and multi-time savior of Equestria (if not the world) jumped back and screamed "ZOMBIEPONY!" and fired a blast of magic that even Discord would have found respectable.
Meanwhile, Storm Dancer found himself flying backwards, across the street, trailing clods of soil and various plant matter as he was struck by the panic-induced spellcasting of the very Princess of Equestria who had entreated upon him to return his goods and offer her apologies, for the third time in less than a minute.
Maybe Mojo's got a point, he thought to himself as he watched the rapidly shrinking door disappear into the fog bank, Princesses can be trouble. He flinched as he collided with a wall of the building across the street from the library, falling into a garden for the second time in his brief visit to Ponyville. Moaning from the impact, he looked up to see the accumulating clouds starting to churn. As if on cue, it started raining again.
Idly, he noticed that the library had a lightning rod. Hmm, he thought, at least she knew I was coming.
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Well, having read all of a quarter of the chapter, I admit I am intrigued. Most people don't whip out Loa in these kind of stories. Does explain the urge for me to purchase a top hat... Nice job with Baron Samedi.