Gales of Fate

by Gamer Script

Chapter 2: A Name On The Wind

"Alright, so how are we gonna figure out who this stallion is?" Pipp said curiously as she checked her make-up using her phone as a mirror. Hitch and Sunny both looked at one another curiously as well before turning their inquisitive glances over to Zipp.

"Well, first things first, we gotta pin down what each of us remember of the pony we recall. Anything at all from our pasts that we can recollect will be detrimental to our success in cracking this case. So, who's gonna go first?" Zipp said expectantly looking around the room at those present.

Sunny, Hitch and Pipp all peered around at one another as if wordlessly asking each other who would go first. It was then that Hitch groaned and rose his hand, "Alright, I'll start. I remember first seeing the stallion back when Sunny and I were kids," he said as he gazed off and recollected the events.

---

'It was after a playdate with Sunny. Sprout's mom picked us up and walked us back into town. She asked if I needed to be walked all the way to the station but I told her I'd be fine and went ahead with Sprout. On my way there, I saw him. Or rather, I felt him as he nearly ran me over, a blue colt no taller than me with an aquamarine mane and tail, his legs shifting to a snow white shade. When the two of us went tumbling and finally stopped, I got up to give him a piece of my mind! But before I could even look up, there was this strong gust of wind... And he was gone in a flash.'

---

"When I told my dad, he said he'd thought he saw something blue run by, but passed it off as a trick of the light. Admittedly, my dad's eyes were pretty bad without his glasses. And he was just finishing up a long day complete with a short nap when I'd come in." He finished with a nervous chuckle before giving a sigh.

"Alright, good stuff! So we've got a physical description of when he was a colt and can probably pair that up to now! Anything else?" Zipp said with great enthusiasm as Sunny rose her hand, "Go on, Sunny."

"Well, all I can really give is my personal account. I never met him directly, but I do remember..."

---

'One day while my dad was out and I was playing at the top of the lighthouse, I remember a really heavy breeze blowing by and making me lose one of my Mane 6 figures over the edge. I think it was my Rainbow Dash. A-Anyway, I got worried it was lost for good or got broken, but when I got down to the front door, it was sitting right on my doorstep in perfect condition and that same breeze came through. I could just make out a blue trail heading into town.'

---

"Thinking about it now, that was maybe five or so minutes after you and Sprout had left, Hitch!" She said in a shocked realization as Hitch quickly turned to her.

"No way, really?! Wait, which way was he coming from do you think? Y'know, for my current working theory." Zipp said as she continued writing on her whiteboard.

"Hmm... If I were to guess he'd come from my door. But it wouldn't have made sense for him to run back in to town, so... He could've come from the same direction as the breeze, so from behind the Lighthouse." She said as she seemed to be calculating the possibility a bit more.

"Good, good! So we've got those down. Now, Pipp? You got anything for me?" Zipp inquired hastily to Pipp, obviously trying to keep the train of thought on track.

"Oh! Uh... Let me think." She said as she crossed her arms and bowed her head in thought before her eyes opened wide with a gasp, "Wait, yeah! Zipp, remember when we were fillies? That one day after our 'flying' practice?" She said suddenly.

---

'I was totally exhausted an begged mom if we could get smoothies! She agreed and sent us with a pair of guards while she hung back when some ponies came to get some royal stuff figured out. While we were walking I was streaming to the Pipsqueaks at the time about the first song I'd started writing! They were so over the moon to hear it and I remember the adoration it got when it came out, so totally worth it!'

"Sis!"

'Right, right, sorry! Anyway, on our way back, there was that ridiculous rogue wind that blew past us and I felt someone bump into me and made me drop my smoothie! I was so in shock and upset that the guards ran off to go get me a new one. But you shouted 'Hey, come back here and apologize, jerk!' before you ran off after them. I remember... A pair of emerald green eyes. And then they were gone and you were running after them.'

---

"After that, the guards came back with my new smoothie and after they dropped me back off, a bunch more went to go find you." She said pointing to Zipp as the other two followed her gaze at the confused look on their winged friend's face as she crossed her arms.

"Wait... Yeah, that does sound pretty familiar... Yeah! I remember now!" She said with a growing tone of realization as she punched into her open palm.

---

'Like you said, sis, it was after practice with Mom. The guards took us out to get the smoothies you begged for, it was knocked outta your hands by that colt and I went after him. Since we couldn't actually fly yet, I could only race after him and was gaining. I went to tackle him and just barely managed to get him down, but before I could get a good look at him, there was a freak burst of wind that knocked me off him. When I looked again he was outta sight. The only thing he left behind was a cerulean feather.'

---

"That's so wild... How could I have forgotten that?" she said in a disappointed tone as Pipp pat her shoulder reassuringly.

"To be fair, we both did. But it's super weird that we all have some kinda memory of this colt... But there's no way it's the exact same one." She said looking back at them before pausing, "... Right?"

"Though it's definitely unlikely given the state of affairs between the different races until very recently, we can't rule anything out." Sunny stated as she looked around at them, "Maybe if we can find this stallion we can all ask him what's going on here. Even if it is the same one, he's obviously made his home somewhere around here, so all we have to do is figure out where he's staying and ask him--"

"Interrogate him to find out why he's on the run from the law/Zephyr Heights!" Hitch and Zipp said in unison as Sunny groaned.

"No! No interrogating, no accusing! We're going to calmly and politely ask him who he is and why he's here. He's a pony just like the rest of us!" She said decisively before giving a sigh of minor annoyance as she took a slow breath, "So, any ideas on how to locate this mystery stallion?" At the inquiry of how they would find him, the three of them looked at one another and then to her, all with sheepish looks on their faces as she groaned, "Perfect... Oh, maybe Misty or Izzy have an idea? Izzy's always so creative in how to track down ponies and items." She said hopefully as she looked around with a curious gaze, "... Huh. Where're Izzy and Misty anyway?"

"I remember Iz mentioning she was heading out to do her Unicycling thing, so she's probably already in town either collecting junk or on her way back and Misty... I... Huh, that is super weird... Where is Misty?" Pipp said, bewildered to the sudden disappearance of their newest friend.

"You don't think she went back to Opaline, do you?" HItch said in a concerned tone as the others looked over and began to share the same look of concern between them.

"I guess she does have to keep up her act... But she swore she's not on her side anymore, and I think we can believe her. She's our friend, after all." Sunny said as the others looked around and nodded.

As they continued talking among themselves on how they'd track the mysterious stallion, Misty was crouched by the stairs listening as her eyes widened and she looked at the friendship bracelet on her wrist, a soft sigh escaping her as she shuffled away before breaking into a sprint towards the town. 'It couldn't be... Right? Opaline told me that it was just a stupid dream that I had when I was a filly. An imaginary friend that I made up from loneliness! But... Opaline's lied to me before...' She thought as she looked around with an air of frantic worry, "There's only one way to tell though..." She said as she found herself at the shore, looking up and taking a deep breath before whistling a little melody, the waves calm enough to not drown it out.

She stood there for a time as she seemed to wait for something to happen. After a few minutes of waiting, she sighed in disappointment and turned to walk away. "I guess that was the one thing she didn't lie abou-- Oof!" she groaned as she seemed to run into something as her hand was grabbed to stop her from falling. Looking ahead at who caught her, she felt the air in her lungs escape as her eyes widened in disbelief, "N-No way... Y-Y-You're... You're real..."

---

After an hour or so of deliberation between the investigating party of Zipp, Pipp, Sunny and Hitch, the whiteboard had been brought downstairs and had the highlights of their stories written out at the top and multiple constantly changing plans, made evident by the eraser marks and scratching out of certain parts. Zipp, dropping her marker to the ground, began laughing excitedly. "Alright, finally! I think we got a solid plan here! Hitch, you start spreading the word that we're looking for this pony and to report to you if anything is found out about them. Sunny, you go find Izzy and figure out how you're gonna interr--" She paused at Sunny's stern glance as she chuckled, "I-I mean, what you wanna ask this guy when we find him. Meanwhile, Pipp will get the word out to her Pippsqueaks that we're looking for him and I'll go around town and look for any clues that might lead us to him or maybe even find him myself! Any questions? Please tell me there aren't any questions." She groaned as the others all looked around and shook their heads, "Good, now let's go, team!" She said before the sound of their door opening once again got their attention, "Oh thank hoofness, Izzy! We can fill you i--" Zipp stopped short as she saw that it was in fact not Izzy at the door, but Misty.

"Misty! We were worried you'd already gone back to Opaline! We'll need your help with the investigation!" Hitch said as he jumped up onto his hooves.

"W-Well... About that, actually..." She said as she turned and stepped aside as Hitch's eyes widened seeing somepony walk up the hill behind her, their emerald green eyes shimmering behind a cerulean blue mane, a white tank top and red and blue striped button-up on with a pair of faded blue jeans on, just barely cutting off above his white-furred hooves. The rest of them gasped and shot up looking over themselves as the stallion in question was by her side. As they watched him appear, he smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper to her as she nodded, "Y-Yeah... These are my new friends."

"Misty, you... You found him? How?" Sunny said in surprise as Zipp groaned and kicked her whiteboard away and into Izzy's storage area as the sound of clattering pens and the board itself could be heard crashing into the different boxes and such.

"W-Well, the thing is, uh..." She paused and froze for a moment as she felt her shoulder be patted as she seemed to take a moment and breathe, "... When I heard all of you talking about this 'mystery pony', each of your recollections sounded familiar. They reminded me of something from before Opaline found me." She said as she looked up at the stallion.

---

'It was when I was a filly. While I was wandering around lost, I remembered this oddly happy colt talking to me and helping me through the woods. Keeping me company, telling jokes, and more than anything... He kept me calm by teaching me to whistle a little song to keep me from panicking. Once we got to a point I recognized, he told me that if I ever needed him again to whistle and he'd be there in an instant before he ran off.'

---

"Once Opaline found me and I told her about it, she told me that it was just a silly little dream that my stupid filly brain came up with. An imaginary friend... That I didn't need stupid distractions." She said as she looked up at him with a sad smile. He smiled at her and pat her head, "I'm so glad it wasn't a dream." She said hugging him tight as he gave a big, toothy smile of his own.

"That's beautiful and all, Misty. Like, for real something out of a fairy tale, but like--"
"Who are you?!" Hitch and Zipp blurted out as Sunny groaned and facepalmed.

Misty paused in thought before looking at him, "I... Forgot your name too." She said as she groaned and pulled away from him, "Ugh, stupid Misty! Of course you'd forget the name of your first friend you ever had! Just like you forget everything else, stupid! Stupid! Stupi--"

"Swift Gale." He stated simply as she stopped and looked back at him as he put his hands behind his head with one leg behind the other, "My name's Swift Gale."

As everyone stared wordlessly at the now named stallion before them, the door at their side kicked in as Misty yiped and jumped to the other side of Swift as Izzy laughed excitedly, "I found a new wheel for my newest and greatest Unicycling project eve-- what're we looking at?" She said before looking to her side at the two startled ponies, "... Oh! Hi Misty, hi Swifty!" She said as she skipped along up the stairs before a gasp and clattering came from above and she rushed back down, "Swifty!?"