The Unexpected Storm
Chapter One – The Unexpected Storm
The world of Equestria. Home to many races, of which the most prominent is the pony race. But even then there are a few pony tribes that are unknown to the rest.
Far to the north, even further than The Crystal Empire, lie the Frozen Wilds. There, far away from the rest of the pony civilizations, live the tribe that call themselves the Mountain Ponies. They are a hearty people that use special stones called Sun Crystals to bring sunlight into the caves they live in to grow food safely away from the harsh winds that breed in the skies above the mountain peaks.
A few things you need to know about Mountain Ponies. They are big. Really big. The colts and fillies alone are as big as Big Macintosh, with the adult mares as tall as Princess Celestia and the stallions about a head taller, more or less.
Like pegasi, they have wings to fly, but have grown two sets of wings in order to control their flights through the mountains. They also have shaggier coats and thicker manes and tails for warmth.
For many centuries the Mountain Ponies have lived separate from the rest of pony kind. In fact, no one from the other tribes even know of them, for they have been self-sufficient and at peace since their tribe first started. They had to be, for living in those mountains is deadly enough without fighting all the time.
This story begins on what started out as a nice, somewhat calm day. Stormbreaker, a blue, green-eyed Mountain Pony stallion with a brownish-red mane and tail and a cutie mark of a cloud with crossed lightning bolts, was teaching his little brother, a stone-gray pony with silver eyes and bluish-black mane and tail (and no cutie mark yet) named Stonedust, how to judge the winds while flying.
“Alright Stonedust, I want you to just spread your wings out and feel the wind as they flow across them,” said Stormbreaker as he watched his little brother follow his instructions.
Now, pegasi control the weather across most of Equestria, but even then, nature tends to spring up surprises now and then. More so out in the wilds, as a sudden snow storm sprung up out of nowhere, with a howling wind heading straight for the brothers.
“What the?!” exclaimed Stormbreaker as he turned around to see what was happening. “Stonedust! Close your wings and get down!” he shouted to his brother, but it was too late. The wind lifted Stonedust straight up and started carrying him south past the ridges that separated their home from the lower plains below.
“Stormbreaker!” cried Stonedust before he was carried out of sight.
“Blast it!” swore Stormbreaker before heading into the tunnel that led into the home caves. “I better go tell mom, dad and the elders what happened. Of all the times for that storm to blow in.” The parents of these two brothers are the leaders of the tribe, Cyclone Racer and Windweaver. Stormbreaker takes after his mother in coat and mane and tail colors, but has his father’s eyes, while Stonedust takes after their paternal and maternal grandmothers, for some reason.
It wasn’t long before Stormbreaker was in front of his parents and the elders in the council chambers.
“Stormbreaker, what has happened? Where is your brother?” asked Windweaver, worried for her little colt.
“A storm appeared out of nowhere, mother. Just as I issued a warning, he was lifted up and blown south,” the eldest replied. “I came to tell you of this before I got supplies and went to search for him.”
“Thank you for informing us, both of what happened and your decision,” said Cyclone Racer. “I remember almost losing you the same way when I was teaching you to read the winds.”
“Do you know how far young Stonedust was carried?” asked one of the elders.
“From how strong the winds are, very far,” said Stormbreaker solemnly. “That storm is going to travel very far before it bleeds out. I just have to hope there are other civilizations I can come across to trade for supplies if needed.”
“One can only hope,” said Cyclone as he placed a hoof across his son’s shoulders. “Wait for the storm to pass, then go find your brother and bring him home.” Stormbreaker nodded as he left to make preparations for his journey.
Meanwhile, the storm pushed Stonedust far to the south, farther than anypony from the Mountain Ponies have ever been. For three days the winds rapidly drove the young colt farther and farther from his home before finally weakening enough for him to break free. Tiredly, he drifted down until he came across a small building build into a tree near a large grove of apple trees. Stumbling, he managed to find a couple of loose apples on the ground and ate them to ease his hunger before walking into the building to fall asleep on the floor, where he slept until the next afternoon.
Three young fillies were hurrying to their clubhouse on Sweet Apple Acres after school. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, also known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were going to do their homework in the clubhouse before going out to help others either find or figure out their cutie marks.
Just as Apple Bloom was about to open the door, the three heard soft snoring coming from within. Slowly opening the door, they saw what looked like a large fuzzy pony with two sets of wings sleeping on the floor of the clubhouse. They also noticed he had no cutie mark.
“Sweet Celestia, where did he come from?” whispered Sweetie Belle to the others.
“I don’t know. I never heard of a pony with two sets of wings before,” whispered Apple Bloom back as she took a look at Scootaloo’s face before turning away quickly. Scootaloo was steamed at the fact that her wings didn’t work right while somepony else had two sets.
“You two stay here and watch him. I’m gonna go get A.J. and Big Mac,” said Apple Bloom as she quickly left the clubhouse.
Applejack and Big Macintosh were tending to the vegetable garden when their youngest sibling ran up.
“Sis! Big Mac! We need your help!” yelled Apple Bloom before coming to a halt in front of them.
“What’s wrong Apple Bloom?” asked Applejack, wondering what was going on.
“The Crusaders and I were going to do our homework in the clubhouse, but when we got there, we found a large pony asleep inside,” replied Apple Bloom, having caught her breath from her run.
“Whoa, nelly. We haven’t been near there all day, so we wouldn’t have known. Come on, Big Mac. Let’s go check this out,” said Applejack as she and Apple Bloom headed back to the clubhouse.
“Eyup,” said Big Mac as he grabbed a pitchfork and followed.
The three returned to the clubhouse to see Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo still looking at the sleeping intruder.
“He must have been really tired if he’s still sleeping,” said Sweetie Belle, understating the moment.
“Judging by those wings and how tired he is, I think he got blown in from very far away by that storm that passed through last night,” said Applejack quietly.
“I thought pegasi controlled the weather?” asked a confused Scootaloo.
“They do, for the most part. But the occasional storm still comes in from the Wilds. The pegasi have to let some in to help keep things in balance, and last night was one of them,” said Applejack. “The shagginess of his coat tells me he’s from the Frozen Wilds, but as far as anypony knows, nopony lives up that far.
“You mean he could be from an undiscovered tribe?!” asked Apple Bloom, getting excited at the idea.
“SHHHHHH! You’ll wake him!” harshly whispered Applejack, but it was enough, for the young colt was starting to stir.
Stonedust was slowly returning to conscience when he felt that he had an audience. Rolling back onto his feet, he quickly backed away from the others in the room.
Sweetie Belle was the first one to react. Looking up at the colt, she blurted out, “Sweet Celestia! Just what do they feed you where you’re from?”
A leaf drifted passed the window as everyone looked at each other in silence before Stonedust let out a small snort. This sets everyone off in laughter.
“Sweetie Belle, it’s not polite to ask such questions, especially to somepony you haven’t met yet,” said Applejack after she calmed down.
“I’m sorry,” said Sweetie.
“It’s alright. From the looks of it, you’re about as old as I am. You just beat me to asking about the horn. My name is Stonedust, and to answer the question hanging in the air, I’m a Mountain Pony,” said the young colt.
“Well, howdy-do, young Stonedust, a pleasure makin’ your acquaintance,” said Applejack, reaching out a hoof to shake. Stonedust took it, and Applejack did a repeat of when she first met Twilight… only in reverse. “Whoa, now I know how Twilight felt. Anyway, I’m Applejack. This here’s Big Macintosh, Big Mac for short, our youngest sister Apple Bloom, and her two friends Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. Also, I recon I can answer the question you’re about to ask. The three of us are Earth Ponies, Sweetie is a Unicorn, and Scootaloo is a Pegasus.”
“Yeah, but I can’t fly,” griped Scootaloo. “Why do you have two sets of wings while mine don’t even work right?!”
“Scootaloo!” yelled Applejack as Stonedust stepped back from the jealous pony. “I can tell a touchy subject when I see it,” he started, “but we’ve had problems with non-functioning wings before, I just don’t know what it is, though, or if it will work for a pegasus. As for why I have two sets, my people live in the high mountains. The winds are very treacherous, so the wings and our large size help us to stabilize and control our flights, though I was just starting to learn when I was blown down here.”
“I figured as much,” said Applejack. “Come on, you’re probably hungry still,” a loud growl came from Stonedust’s stomach, who blushed at the sound, “and we can feed you up before we head to Twilight’s castle.” She pointed to the large building that looked to be made of crystal in the shape of a tree in the distance. “She can contact Princess Celestia to help out with your problem.”
“Thank you, but… who is Princess Celestia?” asked Stonedust. Everypony turned and looked at him questioningly before remembering just who he was. “That’s right, with you growing up in the wilds, you wouldn’t know. Princess Celestia is one of the four Alicorn Princesses. She’s the one in charge of raising the sun. Her sister, Princess Luna, raises the moon. Princess Cadence rules the Crystal Empire up north, and our own Twilight Sparkle is the Princess of Friendship.”
“Something tells me there’s a few stories in there, but for right now, let’s eat,” said Stonedust as he and the others headed back to the farmhouse.
“Wow,” said Stonedust as they pulled into the yard. “I didn’t know you could build outside a cave.”
“You… oh, wait. Right. High winds. That would make sense,” said Apple Bloom with a small blush.
“You’re learnin’” drawled Big Mac. Just then, an elderly mare came out of the house.
“Now, who do we have here?” asked the mare.
“Granny Smith, this here is Stonedust, a Mountain Pony colt blown in from the far north by that big storm we had last night. Stonedust, this is Granny Smith, our Grandmother and the Apple Family matriarch,” said Applejack proudly.
“My, you are a biggun,” said Granny, looking up at Stonedust. “Good thing we fix a huge supper. You never know just who’s gonna drop by.” Granny stopped for a moment to smile at her own joke before turning to the house. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“I sure am,” said Stonedust. “All I had last night were two loose apples that were on the ground.”
“Lucky for you, we consider loose apples on the ground fair game,” smiled Applejack. “Come on in. The vegetable stew is just about ready. All I need to do is boil the noodles.”
After supper and the dishes were cleaned up, Applejack talked with Granny and the others. “I’m gonna take Stonedust over to the castle. The Princesses need to know what is going on.”
“Sure thing, Applejack. In fact, you better stay over, as I don’t think you’ll make it back before it gets too dark to see,” said Granny, looking out the window.
“Makes sense. Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Follow me, Stonedust,” she said to the young colt, and the two of them headed towards Twilight’s castle.
As they entered Ponyville, the citizens all started to gather around the new arrival that was with Applejack.
“Hold up now, folks!” called Applejack to the townsfolk. “Me and my guest here have important business over at the castle. Introductions will have to wait until tomorrow for we need to talk with Princess Twilight tonight.” The townsfolk all nodded and went back to their business.
“Come on, the castle’s not too far from here,” said Applejack.
“Good. That crowd was starting to make me nervous,” said Stonedust. “Is it just me, or does the castle seem a bit out of place for this town?”
“I recon it does, but that’s what you get when it’s grown from a magical seed created by the Tree of Harmony,” replied Applejack.
“Question #139. Hope I remember all of them. I really should have brought a notebook,” grumbled Stonedust as they reached the front doors of the castle. Opening them, the pair entered the foyer. “Twilight! Starlight! Spike! Any of you three around?” called Applejack into the building. Within moments two ponies and… a… small, lizard-like being entered.
“Hey Applejack. What’s up? Whoa, who’s your new friend?” asked Twilight. Applejack explained what has been happening so far as they moved into the map room.
“WOW! A completely undiscovered pony tribe! Celestia and Luna are gonna freak!” exclaimed Twilight as she hopped up and down. “Spike, take a...”
“Already done, Twilight,” said Spike as he handed over the letter for her perusal.
“Yikes! Um, I don’t mean to offend, but… what are you?” asked a nervous Stonedust.
“Relax, dude. I’m a baby dragon. You’ve probably never seen one before as we’ve never gone into very cold climates,” said Spike.
“Questions subsection D1 – 40… I really need that notebook,” sighed Stonedust as Twilight magically rolled up the letter and gave it to Spike… who flamed it away.
“Here, you can have one of my spares,” said Starlight Glimmer, sending a notebook over with her magic.
“Oh, wow. That was Unicorn magic?” asked Stonedust quietly. “And what Spike did with his dragon breath, sending that letter away...”
“You don’t have Unicorns where you live?” asked Twilight.
“It’s only been our tribe up in the Frozen Wilds. The closest thing we have to magic is the Sun Crystals,” said Stonedust.
“What do these Sun Crystals do?” asked Starlight, curiosity in her eyes.
“The Sun Crystals absorb sunlight that we then carry into our caves. Freshly charged crystals last for two months. The first month we use them to cast full sunlight onto our crops. After the first month, we move newer crystals in and use those from the crop caves as general lighting. They are also used to charge smaller home crystals. Those don’t need much to fully charge,” said Stonedust.
“Ingenious!” said Twilight happily. “One last question, then I think we better turn in for tonight. How many Mountain Ponies are there?”
Stonedust looked down. “Our caves are vast, and multi-leveled. If I have to guess by the map here, probably enough to cover two-thirds of it.”
The other three ponies and the baby dragon just stared at the map. “That’s quite the population you have there,” said the Princess of Friendship, winning the ‘Understatement of the Year’ award.
“That’s enough for tonight, let’s go to bed. Twilight, I’m gonna put Stonedust in the guest room next to mine,” said Applejack as they headed out of the map room and upstairs.
“That’s a good idea. Goodnight,” said Twilight, and all the ponies, and dragon, went off to get some sleep.
Three days have passed before the storm blew out, but Stormbreaker took that time to really prepare for his journey into the lowlands.
“Stonedust is either going out of his mind in panic about where he is, and is more than likely being chased by something (I still remember the Ursa Major picnic event) *shudders*, or has been found by a group, hopefully sentient, and is being taken care of,” he thought to himself as he headed out of the tunnel into the open air, only to turn around as somepony called to him.
“Stormbreaker! Wait up!” called the pony as he rushed over. Said pony had an orange coat, his mane and tail were gold and he had red eyes and a firecracker exploding as a cutie mark. He was also carrying a backpack.
“Flashbang, what are you doing here?” asked Stormbreaker, annoyed at the interruption.
“What else? I’m gonna help you find your little bro!” exclaimed the pony.
Stormbreaker sighed. “I’m not gonna waste time with arguments,” he said sternly. “Stay with me at all times, and curb your enthusiasm. Where we’re going we might run into beings who would take offense to your… usual hobbies.”
“Yes, sir!” said Flashbang with a salute.
“Oh, I hope I don’t regret this,” muttered Stormbreaker as the two took off.
The pair of stallions flew south, and it wasn’t long before they started down into the low lands.
“Hey, Stormbreaker, what’s that over there?” asked Flashbang pointing to their left. Stormbreaker looked over, and saw a large city with a huge crystal structure in the center.
“A city! Let’s go. We can stop and get some information about these low lands.” With that the pair banked left and headed to The Crystal Empire.
As the city came closer into view, it wasn’t long before they could see the citizens.
“By the Herd, are those… ponies?!” exclaimed Flashbang as they reached the edge of the city.
“They’re smaller than us, but yes, they are ponies. Let’s wait here at the edge for someone from their government to bring us in, so we don’t spook them,” said Stormbreaker as he headed down, soon followed by Flashbang. As they landed, they saw a group of guards heading their way, with two running to the central structure.
“Halt!” said one of the guards. “Who are you? What are you? And why are you here?”
“I am Stormbreaker, and this is Flashbang. We are Mountain Ponies from the Frozen Wilds, and we have come here to search for my little brother, who was blown down here from our lands by that big storm that passed through,” said the calm, but worried older brother.
“Never heard of Mountain Ponies before, but then again, there’s much of this world that hasn’t been explored,” said the guard. “I am Flash Century, Royal Guard for The Crystal Empire. Follow us, and we shall take you to see Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, our ruler. The two Mountain Ponies nodded and quickly formed up behind the guards.
Meanwhile, Princess Cadence was talking with the two guards that were sent to the palace.
“I wonder who these ponies are and what they have come for,” said Princess Cadence, mostly to herself as the two guards left to return to patrol.
“All we have to do is talk with them to find out,” said her husband Shining Armor, with their daughter Flurryheart babbling happily in the carrier on his back.
It wasn’t long before the Mountain Ponies, lead by the Royal Guards, entered the throne room.
“Presenting Stormbreaker and his friend Flashbang,” called Flash Century before stepping aside to let the pair in.
Before anyone could speak, Flurryheart looked up, saw a large, orange, fuzzy pony, and quickly teleported onto his head, snuggling into him for all she’s worth.
*sigh* “It’s alright, your highness,” said Flashbang as Shining Armor was about to retrieve their child, “I’m used to it. I have a little niece who does the same thing.”
“I have to admit, when you first came in, I almost went into little girl mode myself,” said Cadence. “Also, please, call me Cadence. This is my husband, Shining Armor, and our daughter, Flurryheart. Now, please tell us why you two are here.”
Stormbreaker quickly went over what has happened and what they were planning to do.
“Then I suggest the two of you rest here a couple of days so that you can study our maps and learn of the different areas. I’ll send a message to my aunt, Princess Celestia. Luckily, Philomena, her phoenix companion, had brought a letter from her and Aunt Luna and decided to rest here before heading back,” said Cadence.
“Thank you for the offer, your highness. That information is just what we needed,” said Stormbreaker.
“It’s getting late. We should all turn in, and we can pick this up tomorrow,” said Shining Armor, seeing the darkening sky out the window. “Rooms have been prepared for the two of you. Alright now, Flurryheart, time for beddie-bye.” Using his magic, he carefully lifted his now sleeping daughter from Flashbang’s head and carried her to her nursery.
The next morning, the Royal Family and the two Mountain Ponies were having breakfast in one of the smaller dining rooms when Philomena flamed in with a letter.
“Philomena! I didn’t expect you back so soon,” said a startled Cadence. Opening the scroll, she quickly read the letter from her aunt. “Good news. Your brother was found yesterday afternoon at Sweet Apple Acres, an apple farm just outside Ponyville which is further south from here. We can easily take the royal train from here and be there sometime after lunch.”
“That’s great and all, but… what’s a train?” asked Stormbreaker, sharing a confused look with Flashbang.
“You didn’t see the tracks as you flew in?” asked Shining Armor.
“We were more interested in making sure we didn’t land on anypony. We are big enough to land someone with the healers,” said Flashbang.
“True enough,” said Shining Armor with a grin.
“Let’s go, the train’s all set for departure,” said Cadence as she got up from the table.
Morning came to Twilight’s Castle with a few bangs and a shout.
“YAHHHH!” shouted Stonedust as he tripped on the stairs leading down to the dining hall for breakfast.
“Ya’ alright there, Stonedust,” asked Applejack as she helped the colt to his feet.
“Yeah. Still not used to the idea of stairs,” said Stonedust, remembering tripping on his way up to bed. “Mountain Ponies are more used to the inclined plane.”
“It just takes practice. All of us start out clumsy when we're doing something new to us,” said Spike before he got a pained look on his face.
“Spike, what’s…?” was all Stonedust could say before Applejack pulled him back as Spike let out a large belch of flame with a letter appearing from it.
“Twilight, you’ve got mail,” said a slightly drained Spike.
“Thanks, Spike,” said Twilight as she read the scroll while the others ate breakfast.
“Great news!” shouted Twilight, getting everypony’s attention. “Your brother and a friend of his appeared at The Crystal Empire yesterday afternoon. Cadence will be bringing them down on the Crystal Express and will be here this afternoon!”
“Alright!” shouted Stonedust. “Wait, what’s the Crystal Express?”
“Twilight and the others can show you the train station, as well as the rest of Ponyville, after breakfast while I head back to Sweet Apple Acres to get started on my chores for the day,” said Applejack.
“Thanks for everything, Applejack,” said Stonedust.
“No problem, Stonedust. You all enjoy your day, now, you hear?” said Applejack before heading off to Sweet Apple Acres.
“So, shall we go explore Ponyville?” asked Twilight, and Stonedust nodded.
Entering the town, Stonedust looked around excitedly at what he saw.
“Oh, wow. There’s so much to learn about the world outside the High Mountains,” said Stonedust as he looked at the market square and all the shop tents that were there. The other ponies heard him and, remembering last night, started to gather around.
“I think we better have you do a little talk at Town Hall,” said Twilight, looking at the gathering crowd.
“Good idea,” said Stonedust.
“Everypony, we’re going to have a quick meeting with our new friend here at Town Hall. Gather all the citizens so everypony can hear about Stonedust and his tribe,” said Twilight in a commanding voice. The other ponies all nodded and went to gather the townsfolk.
“Alright, let’s go get this over with,” said Stonedust as the group headed to Town Hall.
An hour later, Stonedust introduced himself to the townsfolk and began explaining his tribe, where they live, and why nopony has ever heard of them before.
“As a self-sustaining society, there was no need for us to travel to other places and meet the other tribes, but now that I was blown down here and met everypony, I think we can come to grips that there’s more to this world than just our section of it. I’m not the leader of our tribe, that’s my father, and my older brother is next in line, but I believe that even they can see that it’s time for us to join with the rest of Equestria,” said Stonedust, ending the speech.
“Nice speech,” said Starlight, clapping along with the rest of the crowd.
“Practice. I may not be the next leader, but I’ll probably be taking my brother’s current position when he becomes leader, as he’s the one that gets sent out to deal with problems among the tribe members,” said Stonedust.
“Speaking of your brother, Cadence’s train should be here soon,” said Twilight. “Let’s head over to the station and wait for them.” The others nodded and headed towards the station.
Sure enough, the group arrived just in time for them to hear the screeching wail of the Crystal Express’ brakes as it pulled into the station.
“They really need to get those brake pads checked,” deadpanned Twilight.
Within moments the train came to a full stop and opened its doors. Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurryheart soon came out, followed by the biggest ponies Twilight, or anypony for that matter, had ever seen.
“Sweet Celestia! I didn’t think any pony could get so big!” exclaimed Twilight.
"Party CANNON!" shouted Pinkie Pie, jumping into the scene by firing off her cannon full of confetti and streamers.
“And there’s our Pinkie bit for today,” sighed Twilight. “I thought you went back to Sugarcube Corner to help the Cakes?”
“I got done early, and since there’s no festivals or anything happening right now, I got the afternoon off,” said Pinkie happily. “So these three are from that tribe that got introduced to us by that storm?” Pinkie looked over the three Mountain Ponies, with her eyes slowly going over Flashbang. Cadence, looking at the scene, got a worried look in her eyes and called Twilight and Stormbreaker over.
“What’s wrong, Cadence?” asked Twilight.
“I think we just doomed Equestria. Pinkie Pie likes surprises, right, Twilight?” asked Cadence hurriedly.
“Yeah,” said Twilight, starting to get the same worried look.
“And so does Flashbang,” said Stormbreaker, completing the trio.
Looking back over at the pair, the three said, “Those two are to never have foals together.”
“Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich are alright together, as she’s a better planner, while he can execute those plans to their fullest potential,” said Twilight. “As for her and Party Favor, he mostly just sticks to balloon art.”
“Anyway, let’s head up to Canterlot,” said Cadence, looking over at Stormbreaker. “Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna want to meet the three of you.”
“And I her,” said Stormbreaker, as the three rejoined the others.
“Starlight, can you and the others keep an eye on the town?” asked Twilight. “I have a feeling more than just Stonedust blew in from the Frozen Wilds." Starlight nodded, and the group heading to Canterlot boarded the train.