A Storm For the Ages

by DmitriTheWriter

Chapter 7: The Pendant of Magic

It was six in the morning. The sun had barely begun to rise over the horizon, causing the stars to fade for the day. Cheerilee raised the key to the lock on the schoolhouse door and pushed open the door.

The classroom was empty. Students weren't supposed to show up for another hour. Yet, there was a piece of jewelery on Cheerilee's desk, with a little note attached to it. Cheerilee sat down at her desk. The note read:

For the most worthy.

~Wayland

Attached to the note was a violet pendant, complete with a golden chain necklace. The pendant was in the shape of a perfect kite, an unnaturally perfect kite. Cheerilee could feel its ambient magic from where she sat. Who was this Wayland guy anyways? Was he a secret admirer? If he was, then why would he describe Cheerilee as 'worthy' rather than more poetic descriptions? Anyways, the pendant would complement her coat very well, and she felt somewhere inside of her that she would benefit from wearing it in other ways than that, but would she, really? Cheerilee just placed the pendant inside one of her drawers. She had to prepare her lesson for today.

"Good morning class," Cheerilee said. All of her students had their eyes half-closed, and a few had their heads slumped on their desks. It was seven in the morning, what did you expect? "Today, we're going to..." Suddenly, Cheerilee had a desire to show off her necklace to her class. After all, it was Show-and-Tell today, conveniently enough. "...start our Show-and-Tell right now. I'll go first." Cheerilee walked back over to her desk and pulled her pendant out.

"Whoa! Who gave you that, Miss Cheerilee?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"Somepony named Wayland," Cheerilee replied. "It's strange, I've never even heard of anypony being called that. I didn't even know it was a real name," Cheerilee hung her necklace around her neck, and suddenly, the back wall of the classroom was filled with stars. The students began to glow pure white until they were amorphous blobs of pure light. The walls, floor and roof fell into the endless void that everyone now floated in. Rivers of light pulsed across the sky as one amorphous blob raised something analogous to a hoof.

"Um, Miss Cheerilee," A blob of light that sounded exactly like Apple Bloom began. "Why are you floating?"

Cheerilee blinked and saw that she was indeed floating, now back in her classroom. Her students were definitely all awake now. "I don't know, but I feel as if I could be doing...more than this,"

"Miss Cheerilee, are you okay?" Scootaloo asked worriedly.

"Yes, I feel fantastic," Cheerilee's hooves began to glow a deep crimson, and her irises shrank until her eyes were a pure white.

"Hit the dirt!" Apple Bloom yelled. As all of the other students leaped out of their seats, Cheerilee tossed crimson orbs of energy at the back of her classroom, igniting three desks and the schoolhouse floor. Diamond Tiara led her classmates out of the schoolhouse, which was now on fire, while Cheerilee was too busy cackling to stop them.

"YES! I HAVE THE POWER!" Cheerilee savored the high her new powers gave her.

On the streets of Ponyville, the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried finding each other.

"Apple Bloom! Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle called out. Beside Sweetie Belle, a laser beam struck a house, which promptly exploded.

"Sweetie Belle! Is that you?!" Apple Bloom called from the nearest intersection.

Sweetie Belle galloped towards Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom! Where's Scootaloo?!" Cheerilee's silhouette rose in the distance.

One stallion lowered his newspaper to gaze at the spectacle around him. "Again?! That's the fifth time this month!"

"Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo called from the town square, standing beside Pipsqueak. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle trotted to meet with their friend, and they embraced each other in a hug.

"Uh, you may want to look behind you!" Pipsqueak shouted as he pointed towards Cheerilee levitating a hundred feet away from them, causing mayhem. "Shall we depart?"

"Yes!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted at once.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pipsqueak galloped at full speed towards the train station. Problem was, Cheerilee was flying towards them faster than they could gallop, and in another few feet they would be within frying range. As Cheerilee was about to barbecue her quarry, who not even an hour ago were her students, a bolt of lightning struck her in her abdomen, and she lost control over her levitation powers and crashed into the ground. Her attacker, a griffon armed with a spearhead shot further bolts of lightning from his position flying above Cheerilee, while Cheerilee countered with powerful magic shields. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pipsqueak watched the ensuing battle from the windows of the train station.

When the Mane Six departed their train into Ponyville at half past seven in the morning, they were not expecting a fight between a lightning shooting griffon and a schoolteacher drunk on power. Nonetheless, that was what they were greeted to.

"Whoa! Check this out!" Rainbow Dash called. The rest of her friends crowded around the window she was in. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pipsqueak spotted the Mane Six from the window to the left of them.

"Twilight!" Apple Bloom called. "Miss Cheerilee has gone nuts! Can't you do something about this?!"

"We can try," Twilight answered. "But I'm not so sure," Cheerliee's fireballs and the griffon's lightning were deflecting each other so that no one in the battle could get a hit in.

Rarity noticed the pendant that Cheerilee was wearing. "You think that's the Pendant of Magic?" she asked.

"It's gotta be," Applejack replied. "I don't know what else could give an earth pony that much magic power,"

"Alright girls, time to move out," Twilight said.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash cried out.

"Do you know who I am?!" The griffon shouted.

"It doesn't even matter!" Cheerilee answered. "You shall fry like the rest!"

"I am Wolksfeuer!" Wolksfeuer shouted. "Emperor of all griffons, commander of the Legions of Odin, and owner of the Relics of Wayland BY RIGHT!!!" As he shouted, Wolksfeuer's lightning fired from his Spearhead became more powerful, and he got a good hit in on Cheerilee. As she writhed in agony on the ground, the magic from the Pendant fired shock waves powerful enough to shake the buildings near Cheerilee violently. Yet Wolksfeuer still stood his ground, or air I guess. At least until he was hit by a blast of magic from the train station entrance.

"Who dares-" Wolksfeuer was interrupted by a kick to the face traveling at Mach 2, knocking him all the way back to the fountain at town square.

Rarity trotted over to the half-conscious Cheerilee and removed the Pendant from her neck. She studied it, thinking about what color of dress would complement this stunning piece of jewelry, when Applejack snatched it from her hoof.

"I can see what you're thinking there, Rarity," Applejack said. "And we ain't havin' it,"

Cheerilee's irises came back into view, and she rose clutching her head with one hoof. "Uuugh, what happened?" she asked.

"YOU THINK THAT WILL STOP ME?!" Wolksfeuer bellowed as he zoomed back into battle. He shot a bolt of lightning at Applejack, only for her to be barely saved by Twilight casting a magic shield. Rainbow Dash flew underneath Wolksfeuer and kicked him in the face at Mach 2 again, this time at an upwards angle, so that he almost flew over the horizon. Wolksfeuer could see that this was getting him nowhere, so he retreated.

"Well then," Applejack said. "Maybe we should keep this here Pendant in a safe place,"

"Yeah," Fluttershy agreed.

"But where are we going to keep it?" Twilight asked. "I mean, what if that Wolksfeuer guy tries to take it again?"

"Well we'll just have to keep it with us for now," Applejack said.

Author's Note:

For the six people who actually follow this story, here is Chapter Seven. *halfhearted fanfare*