Turmoil Rising

by JFT

Chapter 74: A Respite for Some

KRAKOOOM!!!

Thunder echoed above the city of Musa as the Storm King’s massive cloud-shaped head zoomed about and rained lightning down upon the populace beneath him, striking at anything that moved. His storm guards were unaffected since they were clad in magic-resistant armor, but the same could not be said for the local populace and their city’s defenders, who ironically were also named the same as the satyr warriors, yet were lacking their protection. But there was one saving grace on their side: Their king, Abraxas. Empowered by lightning, he zapped through the city at ludicrous speed, intercepting each and every strike that the Pillar of Fear had rained down from above, dispelling it. That, however, was all he could do. His whole city was covered by a lightning field, which prevented the populace from escaping, as well as leaving him open to vulnerability if he tried to break through it to reach for the animated cloud above. With the entirety of the city’s productivity being shut down, the thick smoke that once covered the sky cleared, leaving the sun to be the sole provider of the light source throughout the day, even with the living cloud obscuring it.

But as the day started to come to a close and the last rays of light peeked over the mountain range that bordered the western side of the valley in which the city stood, it became clear that the night was about to fall. Not that the satyr king cared; whether in day or night, he had no intention of stopping, or rather, he had no reason to stop. The battle had been going on for hours now, and yet he felt no fatigue whatsoever, not surprising since he was literally a consciousness living inside a rock, which meant physical exhaustion was non-existent for him, and so was the risk of him running out of power. He had become a deity in every possible way, whatever would burden the lesser races below him, he was immune. The fact that his soldiers were one of them, escaped him, however. As he was flying about, he began to take notice that his storm guards were beginning to retreat through the portals, even though no order was given.

“HEY!” his voice boomed. “WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING? GET BACK IN HERE RIGHT NOW!”

“They can’t, Your Omnipotence!”

That known voice was coming from his airships, and it was echoing. And that’s where he saw his satyrs exiting through the portals and collapsing on the decks, all the while, at the very front of the flagship, a pintsized creature stood, holding a megaphone in his hands.

The cloud flew to meet him face to face, its mouth opening, revealing the controller inside. “Guppy, what’s the meaning of this? I didn’t give permission to retreat.”

“With very great respect, Your Great Thunderness, the soldiers are exhausted,” the hedgehog defended. “They’ve been fighting all day and they’re tired.”

“I’ve been doing my part the whole day as well, and I’m not one bit tired! Don’t make excuses on their behalf!”

“But Your Unparallelance, you wield great power beyond the comprehension of any of us, and they’re… well, don’t. They’re small and feeble compared to you. And…” He paused as if he was thinking for a moment. “And they’re not the only ones. Even if they rest, our enemies below will have to rest as well. Don’t you think that things weigh out in our favor one way or another?”

The second-in-command waited nervously for his superior’s response, hoping that he had said things in a way as to not insult him in any way.

“Well… I supposed that’s true,” the animated statue finally answered in a calm tone. “Fine, they’re free to rest. But at the crack of dawn they’re going down there again, is that clear?”

“Yes, yes, of course, sir!” he eagerly nodded.

The mouth of the giant cloud closed, and the satyr lord’s voice became booming again. “IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY THE EVENING PERFORMANCE.”

He cackled and flew back above the city, where the mouth opened again to enhance the vocalization before the Storm King used his magically enhanced hand to summon forth an electric guitar made from lighting tendrils. He ran his hand across the strings, generating an electrifying sound. Before he could continue though, a sudden bright flash caught the corner of his eye, and he noticed that the decks were covered in a dome of dark light.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?! You can’t just drop out of my concert like that! It’s gonna be at least eight hours before the dawn comes!” he complained.

Then another bright flash caught his attention, and this one was coming from below, continuously sparking, as King Abraxas was charging against the electric barrier.

“Oh no you don’t!” he immediately knew what his enemy was trying to do, and he had no intention of letting him break through the barrier he erected to keep the natives trapped. “Stay inside the thunder dome!”

“Phew…” the hedgehog sighed in relief. “Thanks for that, Mister Grogar.”

The sheep in question still sat in front of his arimaspi and gazing into his eye. “Grogar is enough, Grubber. And it’s no bother.”

“But even so, I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate you sparing us from listening to the “concert”. His Majesty’s been running us ragged the whole way here, and we could really use a break.” And the satyrs surrounding him nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I’m all too familiar with the construct’s… tendencies. That’s why I decided to erect the barrier in the first place just so I could have some peace. Now then, if you and your fellows are planning to rest, feel free to do so. But do not disturb my concentration.”

“You’ve heard him, guys! Lights out!” He then stared, as the soldiers looked at one another in confusion. “I meant “you can go to sleep”, not literally turning them off… since we can’t.”

In a matter of moments, the satyrs dropped their weapons and immediately fell to the ground, and soon enough snoring sound began to cover all of the airships.

“You’re being surprisingly supportive of them, Shaper,” the green-eyed shadow slithered around him. “Is there a reason?”

“It pays off to be on the good side of servants, especially the mistreated ones. They tend to be more… persuasive if you decide to throw them a bone every now and then.”

“And you’re not bothered by the noise that they’re making?”

The ram wasn’t bothered by it, the racket that they were making was tolerable compared to what their leader was doing, and he managed to block it off. After listening to the sound of battle throughout the day he needed that concentration to make sure that the target that he was now observing through the arimaspi’s eye didn’t get away from him.

Night had already fallen upon the desert by now. There was no moon in the sky that would light the dark, only the stars shimmered in the distance. It was a good thing because certain individuals were desperately trying to ensure they weren’t being followed. But some of the group was lagging.

FUP!

The white unicorn flopped on her belly on the sand under her, weighed down by an elder zebra mare that she had carried. “Twilight… darling,” she gasped for air, “I think we’ve made enough… distance… Can… can we rest… please?”

“Yeah, Ah’m with Rarity, Twi,” Applejack agreed. “Ah don’t think anycreature will be able to follow us in the middle of the night. Ah mean, if it were Chrysalis Ah’d have reasons to be concerned, but with Tirek, Ah think we can take five…”

Twilight halted, turning to the younger zebra who she was following the entire time. “Sanaa, how long before we reach the kelpie kingdom?”

“If I’m right, we should be reaching first waterways as soon as the sun rises beyond the horizon.”

“Waterways?”

“The kelpie kingdom is actually huge, princess. It’s the largest of the three kingdoms of Farasi, and it has to be because it’s home to other beings of the land who do not have their own. The capital of Carthage stands in the middle of the lake that borders the sea to the far western shores. So, let’s hope we’re lucky enough that one of Queen Watami’s offspring will be able to take us there.”

A snort followed, coming from the pink puffy pony. “Queen Water-me? That’s a funny name.”

“Pinkie! Show some respect!” the alicorn scolded her.

“It’s fine, princess. She’s not the first to make that observation,” the zebra calmed her.

“In any case,” the eldest in the group approached them, “I think our newcomers have earned their rest, Sanaa.”

“Agreed. Feel free to tell your friends to rest,” she gave the pony the permission.

The alicorn walked back a bit and waited for the rest of the group to come together. As she counted them, she noticed that not all were present. The kirin was the absent one, and she was sitting atop the small sandy hill, facing in the direction from which they had come.

She approached her. “Autumn Blaze, what’s wrong?”

Meanwhile, the group had come together by now, and even though they would finally get to rest, another problem arose.

“W-w-w-what the hay is up with this c-c-c-c-cold…?” Rainbow Dash shivered, and she wasn’t the only one displaying it.

“During the day, blistering heat beats down on the desert, but because sand can’t absorb it when night falls, all that daily heat disappears,” Zeg’us answered. “One would think that you girls have never been in the desert before.”

“N-n-n-n-not during n-n-n-n-n-n-night…” Fluttershy jittered.

“Well, doesn’t matter now anyway.” The field manager joined them. “Seeing as we had little choice we’re stuck here now. No cover from the elements or heat source to ward off this cold.” She shivered a little.

“No heat source? I think you’re forgetting something,” Spike proudly directed the attention to himself. “I’m a dragon.”

Sanaa gave him a confused look. “And that means…?”

“Oh… you guys don’t have dragons here, do you?” Spike’s ears dropped in mild disappointment. “Okay, dragons one-oh-one: We can breathe fire. That should be enough.”

“I see. And you can breathe through the entire night then?”

And once again his ears flopped. “Well… when you put it like that… no.”

“Hey, no biggie, Spike,” the workhorse tried to cheer him up. “Even if ya can’t blow it all night, remember, we’ve got a perpetual heat source with us.”

“We do?”

She pointed to the alicorn and the kirin who were standing on the nearby sandy hill, looking away. “Autumn Blaze can transform into a nirik and keep the fire going for us throughout the night.”

“Good thinking, Applejack!” the animal caretaker praised her. “We just need to wait for her and Twilight to come back and we’ll be fine."

“W-w-w-w-well, I won’t be f-f-f-f-f-fine!” the wonderbolt uttered between her clattering teeth. “I need something warm, like, right now!”

The dragon rolled his eyes. “Alright alright, I guess I can keep the fire going for just a little. Everypony stand back!”

The equines cleared away in front of him. The dragon took in a deep breath and prepared himself to push the built-up heat that was congregating in his throat. And then, just as he was about to, his mouth was closed shut by a pair of purple hooves.

“Spike, don’t!” his older sister cried out.

She zapped to their side so fast they didn’t even get a chance to react, but the one most prone to complaining responded first. “Twilight, what the hay?! We’re freezing over here!”

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but we can’t do that,” she answered.

“No problem, Twilight. If Spikey-wikey’s fire’s too dangerous to use as a heat source, I’m sure Autumn Blaze can provide an alternative,” Rarity suggested.

“No!” she denied. “Not her either. No lights whatsoever! Do you understand?”

“What? Why?”

“It’s best you all come and see.” She motioned to follow.

They all did, and they noticed that the kirin had not moved from her spot atop the sandy hill where they were now going. Once they came to the top, they spotted a light source in the far distance – that was undoubtedly the abada village, and it seemed that they still hadn’t managed to douse the fire. But then they noticed the second light source, one that was far closer to them… and it was red and blue at the same time.

“What’s that weird colored fire?” Sanaa inquired as she stood by their side.

“He’s following us,” Twilight answered. “Tirek's has been one our tails this whole time, along with his army. He’s looking for us.”

Spike quickly realized it. “You mean… if we turned on the lights in any way…”

“We’d be found, Spikey-wikey,” Rarity finished.

“Exactly.” The alicorn descended the hill again. “And for that reason, we cannot light any fire or create any sort of light source whatsoever.”

“You. Have got. To be. Kidding me.” The blue pegasus immediately made her displeasure known.

“I’m with Dashy on this one!” Pinkie joined.

As did the fashionista. “I agree, Twilight. We’ve no blankets or covers. There’s no way for us to ward off the cold. And now we can’t even have a heat source.”

“In other words,” the wonderbolt resumed, “how the hay are we then supposed to survive the night?! We’re all gonna freeze!”

The princess stopped and sat down, and they could tell she was also shivering. “Gather around, everypony.”

They heeded her request and came to her side.

“Come closer,” she said when they were a few hooves away, and they approached. “A bit more.” And they moved to a leg length. “There’s only one thing we can do now: We huddle together.”

“’Scuse me?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“True, we don’t have anything that could provide heat, except for our own bodies. So, I’m suggesting we get together and share warmth with one another for the night.”

“No offense, Twi, but are we really that desperate?” the orange earth pony asked.

“If you have got a better idea, Applejack, please, be my guest - share,” an annoyed voice spoke, as the draconequus climbed out of his shelter.

“WHAT IS THAT THING?!”

They all got taken by surprise by the loud yell that came from the curly-maned zebra, who pointed at the former Lord of Chaos as he cowered behind his carrier’s mane.

“That’s Discord, he’s our friend,” the animal caretaker explained.

“It’s not a serpent, is it?” she inquired.

“A serpent?” Discord raised his eyebrow, before laying on his back and wiggling his toes. “Do serpents have legs maybe?”

“Oh… Sorry. I just have bad experiences with serpents,” the zebra apologized.

He attached himself to the side of the shy pegasus’ face. “Anyway, while you lot are figuring out some other way to warm yourselves, in the meantime, I’ll make sure that sweet little Fluttershy is kept nice and warm during the long night.” She smiled, held him with her hooves, and snuggled him.

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash made a gagging expression in response.

“You know what? So will I!” The little dragon proudly waddled over to his pony sibling and nestled himself between her hooves, and she quickly wrapped him in an embrace. “Come on, Rarity. There’s room for one more,” he offered.

“Oh, well aren’t you a gentleman,” she smiled and pressed herself against him, close to the alicorn.

“If this is how we’re going to survive the night, then scoot over a bit, young lady,” the elder zebra ordered. “Elders first.” And she sat down next to the fashionista.

Soon enough, the rest joined in, with Pinkie Pie leaping at them, her puffy pink mane acting as an added protection against the cold for whoever was going to sit by her side. At that point, Fluttershy and Discord pressed against them, and without uttering a word, so did the younger zebra. In the end, only the wonderbolt and the workhorse were left.

“This is gonna feel awkward…” the orange pony said.

“Yeah… But if I don’t end up freezing, that’s good enough for me,” added the blue one.

They finally joined the rest of the group, with both of them sitting on each side of the local field manager. The temperature dropped considerably by now, and the cold was unrelenting, yet surprisingly, for the most part, the method seemed to have worked, as the ones closer to the center were warm enough, while those on the other rim only managed to fend off the cold partially, some of them beginning to regret on not acting sooner.

“So,” Applejack broke the long silence, “how about you tell us the story, Miss Sanaa?”

The curly-mane zebra gave her a confused look. “Story? Does your kind need a bedtime story so they can go to sleep?”

“Emmm, rude much?” Rainbow Dash quickly responded. “She was talking about what you said earlier when we mentioned Zecora.”

“I agree,” Rarity joined in, “I thought you said she was your little sister, one you’ve not seen for several moons. How can you hate her?”

She scoffed. “I don’t expect you to understand that selfish kid.”

“Selfish?” Fluttershy expressed her shock. “Zecora’s the kindest zebra I’ve ever known. She’s selfless, always willing to help everypony else, and never wanting for anything in return. She’s helped us so many times!”

“Well, technically she’s also the ONLY zebra we’ve known up until now,” Discord commented as he curled around her neck.

“Discord, you’re not helping,” Spike glared at him.

“But seriously, Sanaa, why do you hold a grudge against Zecora?” the princess wondered.

The field manager sighed. “She’s never told you what she did, did she?”

“Well, to make a long story short,” Pinkie Pie unloaded her knowledge, “she told us she accidentally released an ancient evil from its prison and then ran away out of guilt, and that’s how she’s got to Equestria in the first place.”

“And now, her time has come,” the elder zebra added. “She’s returned to finally live up to her mark.”

The younger one though, scoffed. “Sure, make it all rainbows and sunshine. Who cares about hundreds upon hundreds of days of turmoil that our tribe had to suffer because of it.”

“So, what happened?” the workhorse asked.

“All our troubles began the day when all our harvest was devoured by some sort of pestilence that was alien to our homeland. I asked some time later in the city of Musa about it, and it was revealed that it was brought here from a foreign land, by one of your kind no less.”

“Is she talking about Seaspray?” the wonderbolt whispered to the alicorn.

“He was the ONLY pony to have ever come to Farasi, Rainbow Dash. And if I’m to guess, the pestilence she’s talking about may have been a parasprite.”

“Ouch, that’s harsh.”

“Excuse me, will you let me finish?” Sanaa waited for the silence to be noticeable before she resumed. “Anyway, the seeds for the future crops survived, but we were low on water, so much so much so that we couldn’t even mount an expedition to get more. And so, famine struck our tribe, all we could do was sustain ourselves on what little was left, and hope that my father’s pleas to the spirits of the land were heard. And then, one day, it finally happened: Rain was falling. I thought our struggle had finally ended, but instead, it only got worse. Not only did the crops not grow, but the atmosphere became downright unbearable in our village. Doom and gloom, that’s how it could be described. Then one day Father didn’t come home, which wasn’t unusual considering the circumstances. But soon after that… Zecora disappeared as well. When she vanished without a trace we searched the whole village and its surroundings, and we couldn’t find her. Nobody knew where she went, but I had my suspicions. I knew how attached she was to our father, so I went to the only place I could think of, even though we’d all been told not to go there except for the High Shaman. And considering the state that the whole village was in any way, it’s not like I was going to be stopped. I went to the forbidden oasis, where the giant dead baobab tree towered. I searched everywhere, calling out for her, until I finally reached the base of the tree and found a large open stone doorway, judging by the wines that covered them, it was clear somebody had cut them recently. And inside… I saw it.”

“What did you see?” the shy pegasus asked.

“My father, trapped inside a magic bubble, surrounded by a large watery serpent…”

“That would explain the fear of serpents…” the party planner whispered to the fashionista.

The Elements of Harmony listened, and up to this point, the story pretty much matched with what they were told back on the airship. But that was going to change soon.

“I asked it what was going on, why was it holding my father trapped inside. And it told me that it was being trapped by him. For generations, it was locked away in that place… until SHE released it.” There was a tone of anger in her voice now. “My father had to sacrifice himself to fix HER mistake. And the serpent told me that, when she finally came here again and saw what had happened, it told her that the only way she could undo what was done, was by taking his place. AND SHE REFUSED! THE BRATTY KID TOOK HIS STUFF AND RAN AWAY!”

“Whoa, hold on!” Applejack stopped her. “Are you blaming your sister that she didn’t choose to sacrifice herself for her pops? Because from what Ah understand she was no older than my little sister is, so what makes you think that she’d be able to do what her parent was?”

“Because it was her destiny,” everybody’s attention was grabbed by the elder mare who hardly said anything up until now. “But it was not her time yet.”

“Stop making excuses for her, Grandma Zeg’us!” the younger one yelled. “After that, I went back to the village and told everybody what I saw and heard. Mom already wasn’t taking it too well because of dad’s absence, and this news certainly didn’t improve the mood. The same was true for the rest of the tribe when they heard the news. And as the days passed, others couldn’t take it anymore and decided to leave the village. I mean, after all: If the High Shaman’s own child ran away in despair, what hope was there for them? They took what little food and water they had and left for Mount Chinjaio, since it was the nearest habitable place. And so, little by little our village became deserted, until even I couldn’t take it anymore and left. After that arduous journey, my tribe spread across the tree kingdoms, never to be reunited again…”

Now it all began making sense to them. It didn’t seem like a big deal when they were in the city of Musa and they saw zebras that were distinct from one another, but after seeing them in the jungle area it became noticeable. The two kingdoms of Farasi they’ve been to so far, while having distinct cultures, housed those that resembled their local zebra. And if what they’ve just been told was true, it meant that the third kingdom was also housing them.

“So, they all just left? Your village is just abandoned now?” Fluttershy wondered.

“No,” the single word from the elder once again garnered everybody’s attention. “One… chose to stay behind.”

“When it became apparent that we wouldn’t be staying for much longer, I gave the order for the complete exodus. But mom…” the younger one elaborated, but now they could sense a tone of sorrow in her words. “She loved dad, she was devoted to him unconditionally. And even if he was now trapped inside the magic barrier that he erected to keep the darkness at bay, she wouldn’t part with him, even if the rest of the tribe left. I tried to convince her but…” She paused for a moment. “And she’s been there ever since, willingly subjugating herself to living in the land plagued by despair... alone. I visit every now and then to show her she’s not been forgotten, and that she doesn’t feel lonely. And yet…” The rest could hear a sniffling sound. “What I wish most, is to bring her suffering to an end… None of this needed to happen…”

“And yet it did, sadly,” Zeg’us said. “But in the end, it’s all come full circle now. Whether we like it or not, events have progressed to this moment, so that now we may have a chance to remove the plague of despair for good.”

“Yeah, that’s why we came!” Twilight agreed. “We’ll do whatever we can to remove Despair from the land before Queen Chrysalis and others have a chance to get to it. And once your land is clear of it, your tribe will have a chance to come back together again and-”

“No it won’t,” the storyteller shot her down immediately. “Our tribe had scattered a long time ago. We had to leave the only home we’ve had, and some of the villagers have never gone outside of it even once in their lives. We had to get used to living in places that weren’t our own and intermingle with the locals. And now, an entire generation had passed, with those who had never once even thought about nor cared of the place where we’ve come from, ignorant of our roots and the purpose behind which our tribe’s existence stood. And even if by some miracle that wasn’t the case, the endless suffering that my tribe had to endure, nothing can take that away. All of us could’ve been spared. SHE could’ve ended everyone’s suffering… and she chose NOT TO. That’s why I hold nothing but spite for my little sister. THAT… is why I’ll never forgive her, no matter how much she will try to apologize.”

There were no words that could’ve been spoken to push back against this. The voice that told the tale, her words were heavy and true. And the mares were in no position to put themselves in the middle of a family dispute, especially because the zebra in question was not present. Nobody tried to speak back, and so the conversation flared away. On top of that, the current state of the climate finally began making everybody drowsy, and they started to nod off, some of them hoping that the slumber would finally clear the dourness of the atmosphere.

As they did though, the workhorse realized that somebody else was now not present as well. “Wait… Where’s Autumn Blaze?”

“She’s back where we left her,” Twilight whispered.

The orange pony looked back and saw her still sitting on the sandy hill, overlooking the south. “Ain’t she gonna join us?”

“She will when she’s ready,” the alicorn finished before resting her head against her little dragon so she could sleep, as did Applejack, who pulled her hat over her head.

The aforementioned kirin, however, stood on the hilltop, overlooking the blue and red fire that glowed in the distance. She didn’t wail or whimper, and yet, tears were streaming down her face. They were there, all of them. And yet she couldn’t do anything – she was completely powerless to help her people.

All she could do was sing. “Sometimes you've gotta let it… rain…”

He looked about. He saw them go this way, and yet now that he had gone this far he couldn’t locate them. He had hoped that by now, with the cold that had fallen upon the desert, they would be desperate enough to light a fire, and with his new improvised spyglass that he had invented just a few hours ago, it would been easy to spot them. But he was not that lucky. He’s been observing for a long time, and yet the horizon remained dark.

Tirek groaned. “Bad luck. Either they have nothing to keep the fire going through the night, or they know that turning on the light would be a mistake. Either way, there’s no chance for me to find them now, and if I continue to go on aimlessly I’ll just get lost.” He looked back on the jungle region that was still on fire. “And there’s no point of me going back and getting myself involved with her. Whelp, guess there’s only one thing for me to do. Alright, listen!” he addressed the nirik, who were standing still at the front to help improve visibility for their master. “You’ll continue to look from the north to northwest, and if something comes up, you’ll let me know!”

The mind-controlled servants didn’t respond, they didn’t have to; their master already knew they’d follow his commands without a question. In the meantime, the centaur piled up a mound of sand with his giant hands, before laying his flaming head on it to rest. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep as well – there was no noise in the air since the Changeling Queen’s battlefield was too far, and his servants didn’t even make a peep, nor did their ever-burning fire. But if Tirek was awake now, he would’ve noticed something odd with them. The tallest one, their leader, one who went by the name of Rain Shine, towered over the rest of her kind, she was stronger than any of them, her perception keener than the rest. And that is why she could hear a voice, a melody on the wind, but she couldn’t tell from which direction it was coming. Yet she recognized it: That elegant beautiful voice; even though she couldn’t act beyond the order of her new master, she was moved. A single tear slid down her cheek.

Comments

[nightshroud96]

Everybody needed a rest for sure.

[JFT]

11846747
And some get none...

[Wild Stallion]

Sweet addition to this story. You might want to break up that opening paragraph though.

[JFT]

11850838
Should be better now.