Ode of Silver

by Twilight Genesis

Chapter 2: Ponies in the Rain

“OH NO HE'S PASSING OUT!” Junebug shouted above the wind, hoping Spike could still hear her. He seemed to be having some trouble staying on the ground, grasping at the roots of bushes and weeds in order to prevent himself from being blown across Ponyville.

“Spike!” Junebug span around in time to grab hold of the small dragon by the tail as he finally lost his grip. The wind roared as it was denied it's victim and started to pick up in speed, growing stronger by the moment.

“Thanks Junebug, I thought I was a goner. Now, LET'S SAVE THAT STALLION!” Spike announced, curling up on his tail in order to climb onto Junebug's back. Once he was safely holding onto her mane the chartreuse mare turned back to her original target. He wasn't too far away from them now, but he was clearly unconscious. Panic and worry started to well up inside Junebug as the idea that this stallion had just died due to her decision to save Spike.

“What's wrong Junebug? He's right there!” Spike urged, clearly more concerned about getting them all back inside as soon as possible. Junebug grit her teeth and took a step forward, shaking the problematic thoughts from her mind. There would be time for guilt later. Pressing on she felt the wind's strength grow and wane, like waves at the beach. It was like it was trying to stop her from helping the stranger, but afraid to really do it. Lightning flashed overhead as she finally reached the mud covered pony.

“Spike, help me carry him back to the library.”
“But what if I start to get blown away again?”
“With his extra weight, you should be ok. I think.”
“If you say so.”

Spike slid off of Junebug's back, spluttering a bit as he pushed strands of orange hair out of his face. With a bit of effort they managed to get the stranger upright, and flung over Junebug's back. After finally making sure that he was safely balanced on Junebug's back so he wouldn't fall off Spike went to remove the bush that was attached to him.

“Um, Junebug?”
“Yes Spike?”
“I don't think this guy is a normal stallion.”
“What do you mean Spike?”

“Oh” Junebug exclaimed in calm surprise as she looked over her shoulder to see Spike holding up the now bush-free tail. In his claws was a long tail like a dragon's, but covered in the same hair as the rest of his body. It was then that Junebug noticed something even more concerning.

“Oh my Celestia. Spike, this guy is bleeding!” she cried out, eyes going wide as she quickly wiped a patch of mud off her passenger's side. Beneath the dirt and hair was a large gash in the stallion's side. Blood slowly oozed out of it, staining his coat despite the rain.

“Yikes, that wound looks pretty bad. What do you think happened to him?”
“I don't know Spike, but I'm sure when he wakes up he can tell us, but first we really should get back inside.”

Spike nodded in agreement as thunder rolled over the village, making him jump a little. Holding the strangers tail in his arms the little dragon ran alongside the mare back towards the library.

---

“Come on Two-P, we're going to be late.”
“Oh, but Shockie! Can't we just take a little break? It's exhausting to keep this weather shield up and push through all this wind and rain at the same time.”
“Really P? You want to take a break now? Ponyville is right there, we can't stop now that we're so close.”

“Fine,” sighed the khaki coloured unicorn, her mane's lava red curls bouncing around her face. Plot Point had been looking forward to spending time in Ponyville, but this storm had put a damper on her enthusiasm quite thoroughly. Her best friend, Shocking Twist, however seemed to not be affected in even the slightest. The dark brown pegasus flapped her wings excitedly, no doubt starting to feel a little stiff from being grounded for the last few hours, standing right up against the protective bubble Plot Point was maintaining about them. In the distance they could see Ponyville. The small town seemed to stand strong against the storms brutal assault. The buildings leaned with the wind slightly, but showed no signs of having been damaged. Lightning flashed in the sky far above the quiet town, a brilliant mix of blue and silver against the dark greys and black of the clouds.

“Then again, it's not THAT close, but there isn't any shelter out here. Even if we did stop to rest, we'd just get soaked,” Shocking Twist said, casually trotting over to her friends side. Plot Point puffed up her cheeks and pouted angrily. Shockie couldn't help but giggle at her friends adorable attempt at looking upset. Point's bright blue eyes, framed by her red curls, though glinted with moisture. Shockie knew that if her best friend started the water works then she would feel bad for the rest of the day, and maybe the week.

“Fine, fine. Give me some room to fly up and look about. There might be something nearby, but I can't really see too far from here on the ground,” Shockie sighed, brushing the bangs of her short orange mane out of her soft lavender eyes. The two friends smiled at each other for a moment before Plot Point focused her magic, raising the top of her barrier as high into the air as she could. Shockie wasted no time in flying up and scouting around as best she could. There wasn't too much around them this far from town. It was mostly just small patches of flowers and the occasional bush and tree.

“I think I see a cottage just over to your right, Two-P. It's still a bit of a distance but it's definitely closer to us than Ponyville is.”

“Well I guess that's where we're going then Shockie,” Plot Point called up as the pegasus quickly made her way back down to the ground. The duo gave each other a high-hoof before proceeding on their way.

---

“So, what do you think he is?” Junebug asked as she heard Spike rummaging through a pile of books. Beside her the mystery pony lay on a pile of pillows and towels. Between his weight and the wound on his side it had been deemed too dangerous and difficult to carry him up the two flights of stairs to put him into Twilight's bed. At least they had managed to dry him off and clean him up without any issues. They had ended up using most of the bandages in the libraries medical kit though in an attempt to dress all of his injuries.

“I have no idea Junebug. He looks like a pony... well mostly anyway, but for some reason he smells like a dragon. On top of that I can't find a book that mentions any creature that even remotely resembles him,” Spike replied, angrily tossing aside another book. Looking up he saw Junebug giving him a strange quizzical look.

“What?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He smells like a dragon?” Junebug returned his facial expression.

“What? Us dragons have a great sense of smell, and most creatures have their own unique scent to them. Heck, I've spent so much time around Twilight that I could pick her out of a crowd blind-folded just with my nose to guide me,” Spike boasted as he approached the sleeping stallion, ignoring the continued expression he was receiving from the pony, “and this guy definitely smells like a dragon to me.”

“Well, regardless of what he smells like, he certainly doesn't LOOK like a dragon,” Junebug said, deciding to just accept Spike's supposed olfactory sensitivity rather than argue about it. After all, he was the dragon here, not her, and she definitely didn't know enough about the giant reptiles to make or dispute any claims about them. Though she felt confident enough about this pony-like creature. With the exception of the unusually long and narrow ears, and the long, thick tail, the rest of him looked enough like a regular pony. There was also the issue of his size. Although not quite as striking as his other features, Junebug couldn't help but notice it now that she was looking at him carefully. At first she had just thought he had just slipped forward when his hooves started to dragged along the ground when she had carried him into the library, but now it was clear that he was actually quite tall and lean. Her best guess was that he stood at least as tall as Big Mac, if not taller.

“He doesn't seem to have a cutiemark either,” Junebug pointed out after realising what else had been bugging her about the strangers appearance.

“You think that's weird then check this out!” Spike seemed to boast about his recent discovery. Looking over to the small dragon, Junebug noticed Spike had pulled apart the creatures lips to reveal a set of large fangs.

“Believe me when I say he's some kind of dragon now?” Spike asked smugly as he let the slips fall back into place, “His breath also reeks of smoke. My guess is that he either was in a fire recently or breaths it. Considering the weather I'm betting the latter.”

“If you say so Spike. Are you sure you couldn't find anything in one of these books?” Junebug asked, pulling a few spare pillows over for herself to lay on. Spike sighed as he looked at the few piles of books he had gone through already. Compared to the sheer amount of books the library contained he had gone through a mere fraction of them. Unfortunately there wasn't any books that stood out to him, unlike that one time with the Poison Joke flower.

“Well I've gone through both the most obscure and the thickest books on animals, monsters, and wild beasts that we have. Nothing about a dragon that looks like a pony in them. There might be a book in the library Twilight and I used to live in, or in the Canterlot library, but even then we would need Twilight to find it otherwise we would be searching for days,” Spike scratched his chin as he contemplated the idea. There was always the option of sending a message to Princess Celestia to ask for help but that would mean interrupting whatever urgent thing it was that the Princess had called Twilight away for. Before he could bring up the idea for discussion with Junebug his attention was caught by the sound of coughing and spluttering. He span around, noticing that Junebug had jumped up in alarm also, to see the pony dragon spitting up blood and growling. His eyes were partly open, blindly glaring at the far wall. Junebug backed away a little, taking her pillows with her, but relaxed a little as the creatures fit quickly ended. It fell back onto the pile of pillows, appearing to slip back into unconsciousness.

“Ugh,” it groaned with a twitch of his tail. Sluggishly he attempted to stand, lazily looking around the room as his eyes tried to focus.

“Where am I?” he spoke, his gaze settling on Junebug, “and who are you?”

---

BANG BANG BANG.

Shocking Twist knocked on the cottage door as she threw a worried glance over her shoulder at Plot Point. Plot was visibly tired now, with sweat beading her face and her eyes struggling to remain open. Somehow the storm winds had picked up force during their travel over to the cottage. Plot's shield had to be doubled in strength in order to withstand them, thus draining her of energy at an accelerated rate.

“Come on, come on. We're gonna die out here,” Shockie growled under her breath.

“Um... Hello?” a small voice piped up from behind the door. The owner of the voice opened the door just enough to peak out from behind it. Shockie could make out her teal eyes, yellow coat, and long pink mane. For some reason Shockie felt like she should know who this mare was, but couldn't put a name to a face.

“Um... Is there something I can help you with? Maybe? No?” the mare asked sheepishly, giving the impression that she hoped the duo didn't need her help.

“Oh yeah, sorry. My name's Shocking Twist, this is my friend Plot Point. We were heading for ponyville but the storm has hindered our efforts. My friend hasn't been able to rest in quite a while and we were hoping you could offer us shelter for a while, if not until the storm ends,” Shockie blurted out rather bluntly, concern for her friend's condition clear upon her face. The yellow mare nervously looked past Shocking Twist and gasped in shock at the state of Plot Point.

“Oh my, you look terrible. Yes, yes, please come in. Quickly now,” she threw the door open and ushered the two travellers inside, “oh, and please forgive me for not giving my name. I am Fluttershy. Please do mind the animals.”

Shockie stepped inside and looked around in awe. The cottage wasn't terribly big, giving off a feeling of quaintness, yet still managed to easily house a flurry of creatures. Birds, bunnies, and even a bear, made up the other residences of the home. Plot Point wasted no time in pushing past Shockie and making a beeline for the couch, collapsing onto it and falling asleep in an instant.

“Wow... Wait, hold the phone. Did you say your name was Fluttershy? THE Fluttershy? Element of Kindness?” Shockie suddenly realised the reason behind her earlier feeling of recognition. Heck, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were part of the reason she and Plot had travelled to Ponyville to begin with.

“Yes, that's me. I guess. Is, is your friend going to be okay?” Fluttershy shrank away from the brown pegasus, who's wings had begun to flap in excitement. She moved around the room, keeping up a fair distance from Shockie, to take a closer look at Plot Point. The unicorn was fast asleep and the weariness had already begun to drain from her face. Still she was covered in sweat.

“Oh, Two-P? She should be fine. She might not be the strongest of magic users but she isn't a push over either. I'm sure she will be fine after she naps for a couple hours,” Shockie brushed off Fluttershy's question. Although Shockie had been concerned for her friend moments ago, having being granted shelter had relieved her of the majority of the sensation. Fluttershy did not appear to be entirely convinced and had begun to instruct her animal companions to help her in looking after the sleeping Plot Point.

“Though, I guess, we can make sure she is completely okay,” Shockie rolled her eyes a little as a small grin spread across her muzzle.

“Not just her, but you too. This storm has been terrible, you must be tired also,” Fluttershy said as she patted a moist towel against Plot's forehead. Shockie giggled a little, feeling more or less fine having been protected from the storm by Plot's magic.

“I'm fine, but thank you. Now, what can I do to help. It's only right since you're giving us shelter,” Shockie grinned, causing Fluttershy to smile kindly in response. The two pegasi began to combine their efforts to look after the slumbering unicorn.

---

Twilight sighed heavily as she slumped down onto her seat as a whistle sounded. With a jerk the train started to pull out of the station. It had taken quite some time to reach the next town over, but at least the storm didn't make it all the way out to it. Sadly Twilight had not been able to teleport out beyond the reach of the storm when she originally left the library in Ponyville. As a result she had gotten somewhat wet in the brief moment between the teleportation spell ending and her being able to throw up a small weather shield bubble.

“Thankfully my books didn't get damaged. Saddlebags are a little wet but oh well, can't win them all,” she spoke to herself as she levitated said books out of her saddlebags and settled each one on the chair opposite her after giving them a quick examination for any water damage. Thankfully they were just fine, as she had thought, and after the few hours of travel through the warm sunlight between the edge of the storm and the station the saddlebags had also dried out nicely.

As Twilight started to replace her books into the bags the sound of approaching hoof-steps caught her attention. She had caught a rather empty train with only a few carriages for passengers, so there wasn't really any reason for anypony to come all the way to the back carriage to find a seat. She hurried her task and gently dropped her luggage in the overhead trays before standing to see who was in the carriage with her. Her jaw dropped when she say her.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle,” a soft voice greeted the purple unicorn. Before Twilight stood the last pony she had expected to see. Tall and lean, with the grace and air only royalty could put out. She had a pure white coat and an ethereal multicoloured mane and tail and seemed to wave in a wind that didn't exist.

“Princess Celestia?! But, why are you here? I don't understand?” Twilight exclaimed, her surprise blatantly splashed across her face.

“Calm down Twilight. I will explain every in time, but first you must tell me everything you know about this storm that has engulfed Ponyville,” Celestia smiled as she sat on the seat across to Twilight as her young student followed suit, nodding in agreement to the Princess's terms. During her trip to the station Twilight had begun to wonder if she had over-reacted to the summons back in the library. Now she believed she had under-reacted and wished she had brought more books.

Author's Note:

Finally finished the first canonical update for Ode of Silver in 3 years.

Feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments (this applies to all chapters before and after this one).

This chapter has yet to be thoroughly proof-read. Comments about spelling mistakes and grammatical errors will see said errors corrected ASAP and whoever makes the original comment will be credited as a Proof-Reader in the Author's Note for the chapter. Thank you.