After a Storm Comes a Rainbow

by Lucy the Cyclone Light

A Dawn and a suprise

Author's Note:

This is a novelized fairy tale. By which I mean that I prolonged an originaly one-chapter story. The main characters are supermanish. They are morally perfect and Thunderstorm is powerful, but they face even stronger enemies. Anyway, this story is more like a chronicle. It just shows the origin of the prince...
ah, buck, I screwed up.
Quarter-sunhour= quarter of a normal hour

Riverstone was awakened by a soft sound of a bell. The good old servant Rocky, despite being so old, still knows when it's time to raise the sun. He definitely needs to give him a raise. Riverstone streched and got up in a sitting position. Right in front of him was a mirror. He gazed into his reflection, seeing if he is tidy enough to get out and start the day. He lit up his horn.

His purple eyes were alright, a bit red, but that's not a problem. Riverstone quickly combed his messy black mane and shiny green coat. He put on the old, dark grey crown and opened the balcony doors. When you think of it, was it a balcony or just a small marble bump on the castle? Before he got to the throne, those things didn't even have fences! But anyway, he shook his head and began the job.

He looked down on his small, but wonderful kingdom, lit by the silver moon. Riverstone smiled, his orchid aura pulsed as the moon slowly moved across the sky, pulling the stars and the darkness along. It was heading to the western horizon, and the sea, the blue jewel of Durachia. When it was almost setting, Riverstone concentrated his magic on another celestial body, and a soft, warm palette of colours appeared on the eastern hills. The Woods were the first thing the sun would touch, mixing the green with orange, red, and yellow. Almost a whole rainbow. He spread his wings in fervor, to him each morning was a new experience and a had a different beginning.

The kingdom was now bathing in the rays of a morning sun, Riverstone yawned, immediately went to his room and jumped on his soft bed. Maybe he could get some sleep before breakfast.....

Knock, knock-knock

.....or maybe not.

"Your majesty? Please come to the dining room, there are some very important news you need to hear."

He sighed. Why can't I have, like, a quarter-sunhour of sleep? He quickly took his necklace, shoed , once again checked if he's tidy enough, and went out of the room. It have been two houndred years of this now, and Riverstone still couldn't get used to it.

"It's a great job, being a king. Oh, yes, you rule the country, oh, yes, everypony has to listen to you. But in the morning, after you raise the sun and nopony thanks you, you can't even get some sleep", he said to himself.

He went down the whole long stairway. He could just as easily teleport himself to the dining room, but what's the fun in that? He'll let them wait.

His castle might've seemed big and complicated, but in reality, it was just an old building with one hallway, three towers and lots of rooms, all shaped in an obtuse angle. His tower was the middle one, and the dining room was.... The ninth door on the left. Two years after his coronation, Riverstone got tired of constantly forgetting which door was which and made a map, which stood framed at the bottom of his tower. His servants disagreed in the beginning because they thought the king must know his castle.

And because of that, he couldn't decide whether does he like tradition, or not.

Riverstone opened the oak, simple doors of the dining room. There was just a big table, ten meters long and three wide, with many chairs Riverstone didn't feel like counting now. At a chair next to the one for the king, sat Cloudsweeper, a light blue pegasus with a grey mane, and next to him, BlueCliff, a brown unicorn. Riverstone knew them, they were guardians of the kingdom's prison..

He took a seat. The breakfast was already served, peaches and apples along with some orange juice. BlueCliff and Cloudsweeper haven't even touched their meal, they must've been waiting for him. Though, Riverstone couldn't find a reason why would they.

"These news are of great urgency-- ", started BlueCliff.

"Let's just skip the boring part and tell me what happened", said Riverstone. He felt a bit more tired this morning than usual. He could get some coffee.

This time Cloudsweeper spoke: ''Ahem, your Majesty, we have found something very interesting in the woods."

"Actually we found somepony", said BlueCliff, "It's a mare, a mare alicorn. And she isn't from any of the families"

"Alicorn with no royal family? You've got to be kidding me", Riverstone said.

"We are keeping her in the prison, she might be dangerous!'' Cloudsweeper was always too aware, yet, his family came from Zagacera, so that could be understandable.

Riverstone laughed to that assumption. Surely, she probably was a full grown alicorn, but the prison was only for criminals like serial psychopath killers.

"Lead me to her, we'll see if she really is dangerous, then we'll think what to do," he said and looked at his plate , " I'm not so hungry now, so... Let's go."

The castle's exit was the second door left to the middle tower, a lot more decorated than the rest of the castle. As Riverstone usually said, the only part of the castle with unnecessary edits. One of them being the silver moon and the golden sun as doorknobs.

The prison was under one cliff, crafted in an enormous cave near the shore, and was connected to them by dirt paths. Some houses were in front of the castle, but those were the ones which belonged to the richest traders. Riverstone felt uncomfortable in their presence, from some reason.

If you weren't walking on the path, you'd be walking trough the fields of Durachia, or trough the soft grass. Actually, most ponies wouldn't use the path if they didn't have carriages, or if they weren't pulling wagons. So the three simply enjoyed the green carpet. BlueCliff started to annoy Riverstone with his stories of how they should've brought some royal guards too.

"Truly, it is my right to have royal guards with me now, but the "right" means that I can, not that I must. And besides, I simply can fly my way out of here if anything happens", he said.

When they finally got there, in front of the prison cave, there were ten guards in front of it. Riverstone knew there were another four inside, just in case. Along with Cloudsweeper and BlueCliff, that would make sixteen guards. Four ponies, six unicorns and six pegasi. BlueCliff told Riverstone to stand and wait, while he and Cloudsweeper talked to the guards. Riverstone was standing far enough not to hear them, but he could still see they were arguing. Then one of the guards, a brown pegasus with a black helmet, flew to him.

"I am sorry you had to wait, your Majesty. My name is Fireblast and I will be your guide and a guard in the prison.", he said. Riverstone walked after him. He noticed the guard had a long scar on his neck. He didn't want to ask where he got it. He probably knew it already.

As they approached, the guards moved out of their way, in a straight formation. Every guard except BlueCliff and Cloudsweeper had a black helmet and a spear. They all had an emotionless, strict face. Perfect discipline. The new trainer, Shabby Armour, was doing a great job.

It was very dark in the cave, Riverstone could hardly see anything, so he lit up his horn.

"Your Majesty! No!" Said Fireblast, and Riverstone exstinguished the light, "The prisoners here mustn't see any light, but don't worry, just walk in a straight line. You'll know when we're there, trust me."

They walked in a complete darkness for one sunhour sixth. Then, a pink light appeared, and grew bigger and bigger as they walked closer to it. Riverstone knew it was a magical cage, but he couldn't see what's inside. Then he heard a sound of something metal. The next thing he saw was Fireblast holding a lit up lamp.

"Here you are, your Majesty", he said.

Riverstone took the lamp with his magic and brought it closer to the cage, which was hanging from the ceiling of the cave. And then he saw the most beautiful creature in the world. Asleep. Around her long horn was a glowing wire, probably disabling her magic. Her wings were tied with a rope. She had a grey coat, and a dark purple moving and floating mane with blue and yellow stripes in it. It was obvious she was a Pureblood. Her cutiemark was a black star with seven curved tentacles, surrounded by three curved lines. One golden, one purple, and one pale blue.

"Where did you say you found her?" Asked Riverstone

"In the Eastern woods, your Mayesty. She knows spells and language, but she claims that she has no memories of her life."

"Release her", Riverstone said.

"Excuse me, your Majesty, I think I haven't heard you well."

"I said: release her."

"But, your Majesty...."

"You dare to disobey your king?" Riverstone lifted one eyebrow. He didn't say it as a threat, yet it always had the same effect. Fireblast sighed, bowed his head, and pulled out a key from his red mane. Silly place to hide a key, Riverstone thought.

Fireblast unlocked the cage, Riverstone lowered it down, and took the mare out of it. He untied the rope around her wings, and Fireblast said some weird words, after the wire around her horn disappeared. That thing also seemed to keep her in slumber.

The mare opened her deep, blue, wonderful eyes, and tried to stand up. Fireblast wanted to react, but Riverstone kept him in place with his hoof and a "shh". The mare stumbled and fell. Riverstone went to her.

"What if she attacks you?" Whispered Fireblast

"You are forgetting that I am an alicorn too."

Riverstone then spoke to the her: "Do you need help?"

He streched out his hoof to the weakened mare. She looked at him for a few moments, and accepted his help. She was still a bit unsure on her legs, but didn't fall this time. She was taller than him for a hoof, so big and powerful, but still looking as fragile as a porcelain toy. She streched her wings. "Thank you", she said.

"You are welcome. I am king Riverstone of Durachia. What's your name?" Riverstone asked

"My name is Thunderstorm, at least, that's what the letter says", her voice was calm, soft and warm. Then she gazed at him , "You are king Riverstone? This thing says I need to give it to you." And with that said, her horn flashed and a folded paper appeared out of nowhere. It looked old, and had a royal red seal. Riverstone never saw that decoration on any seal before, and he had opened a whole lot of letters during his reign.

"I am just so glad you didn't pull it out of your mane", Riverstone said and smiled , "but, I don't want to be reckless and open that letter myself. If anything would happen to me now, if it wouldn't kill me, BlueCliff surely would."

Thunderstorm blinked. She didn't know who is BlueCliff, but from Riverstone's words, it was somepony important. She then nodded, opened the letter, and started to read:

"Dear Thunderstorm,

I am truly sorry I left you alone there, but there is something that has to be done.

You remember I was working on that time travel spell lately? Well, it didn't work as well as it was supposed to, but I got a glimpse of the future.

Now, while I was working on a "time jump" Pyros has gone completely mad (that's why I spent it on you)! Luckily our mother succeded to stop him, but the victory came with a price. I don't know why, but she didn't want me to tell you any of this.

I was able to "stand" in the portal for a whole sunhour. This is what I found out:

-The name is Durachia

-The ruler is a half-alicorn named "River Stone"

Pyros was destroying it, but I don't know why...or how did he even get out of his prison! Anyway, you must take this letter to that king, and stop The Fire Nut. There's just not enough strong alicorns there. Actually, there are no "real" ones at all. I've calculated some stuff, and the possible side-effect of time travel is memory loss. Oh, I surely hope this doesn't happen to you, this land will be burned down to the ground.

P.S. You are 1200 years in the future."
She then folded the letter, shortly glanced at Riverstone and Fireblast, and lay down on the ground. When she first tried to explain why she was, well, wherever (or whenever) she is, the only thing that expected her was ropes and angry ponies.
Riverstone turned to Fireblast: "Have you ever heard about this pony - Pyros, is it?"
"No, your Majesty, yet there is a tale of an immense fire that burned all the lands and kingdoms, but it's an old mare's tale that is told to foals", He replied.
"Strange, I've never heard a thing about it", Riverstone rose his hoof to his chin ,"Oh, well, if it's a tale, we'll find it in the royal library."
"What about the mare?"
"She didn't do anything wrong, so I don't see a reason why she wouldn't come with us. And please, her name is Thunderstorm," then he lowered his head to Thunderstorm's ,"Why did you lie down? If you're tired or something, it won't be a problem to get a carrycot."
Thunderstorm then slowly rose on her legs. She streched her majestic wings again, which were too wide to be fully opened in the narrow cave.
"I am uninjured, so I guess I'll be able to walk, or fly, to the castle."
Then the three walked back to the cave's entrance, after Fireblast warned Thunderstorm about light and the prisoners. BlueCliff wasn't very happy about releasing the alicorn intruder, and he stayed there, while Cloudsweeper escorted them to the castle.

Comments

[DualKitsune]

ooh! interesting! Let's have more! Though I'm not too clear on the timeline here. The setting is before the events of hearth's warming or around that time? And Thunderstorm is from even farther back? Is that correct?

[Lucy the Cyclone Light]

6375741 yup. Thunderstorm is from ~5500-6000 yrs B.H.W.E.
( before hearts warming eve) riverstone' s rule started 3500 yrs bhwe

[DualKitsune]

6378029 Ah ok! Thanks. Welp, I look forward to more!

[Lucy the Cyclone Light]

6379440 chapter 2 will soon be done. I hope you don't mind gaps between publishing cause im gonna make future chapters longer

[DualKitsune]

6392494 Not at all. I just don't like those evil, evil words.... "hiatus" and that other, awful, awful word....'cancelled"! So scary!

So as long as the story goes on, I'm good! Can't wait to read more.