Rushing his way to his home, the gray pegasus could barely breathe. He knew this would happen eventually, it was just a matter of time. When he got to his house, the door was open and the place was empty. Seeing that he had gotten there, one of the neighbours had the task to inform him what had happened.
His mother tried to kill herself.
"Rain Dasher is fine, Crasher." The mare said, whose name Thunder Crasher had never bothered to learn. "She was taken to the hospital and she is fine, now. How about you, dearie?"
The pegasus was barely paying attention, looking at the ground, where his mother probably was. There was nothing anywhere that would cause somepony to think a pony almost died in there.
"...what?" He said, almost a full minute after the neighbour had stopped talking.
"Well, you haven't talked much since- ...the accident. And my sister passed through something similar, you are probably not okay. Between your weather duties and coming back to check on your mother from time to time... I'm just worried you haven't stopped yet. You need to stop and to feel. Bottling everything up is not a good idea."
"Well, I need the bits. And my mother can't work anymore. And she can't even care of herself." He said, defensive. "Let me just... she's in the hospital, right? I need a minute alone. I'll be there soon. I just... need to be alone right now."
"We're all here to help you, dearie. Your mother used to tell me how alone you always were, but... we are here if you need anything. We are all very sorry for your loss." Without another word, the mare left the house, leaving Thunder Crasher alone with his thoughts.
He thought about how his mother could even attempt die in a spotless living room. He already knew the answer. He looked at the table next to him. There was a painting. He always liked to look at it when he felt sad or lost.
Three colorful and cheerful pegasi. A young gray colt, with a big smile and dark gray mane, with a hint of blue on the tips. Completed with a pair of sparkling blue eyes and a dark gray cloud with three lighning bolts coming out of it adorning his flank. The cutie mark was still shining and new.
By his left side, a blue mare, with a very big gray mane and pink eyes, with the expression of a proud parent. her cutie mark, barely visible in the painting, was a very bright blue thunder.
By his right side, a yellow stallion with hazelnut mane, and eyes as pink as the mare's. His expression however, was much calmer than the mare's, with his eyes resting on the colt, looking very happy and serene. His cutie mark was of a blazing comet. He was bigger than the mare, and sturdier.
Both of the older ponies were wearing silver armor with bright red cloth.
It was obviously a somewhat old family painting. Thunder Crasher is one of the lucky kids who could hit it off with their parents, even after the Pegasus Flock Academy. Which he hated every second. An endless line of ponies telling him what to do, in a place where he wouldn't even get to grow some steps because they only give real power to the mares.
Thunder Crasher was having none of that. He decided to go work on a weather factory. Which he was good at, given his special talent to manipulate lightning better than most pegasi. There, he grew quickly, becoming responsible for scheduling lightning storms, which was a job he loved.
But that was worth nothing right now; His life was in pieces.
Thunder went further into the house, looking at a set of shiny armor neatly put on one corner. Some ponies, wearing the same armor, had already tried to take it back, but it was still too soon and the reception they got was the one of a very angry pegasus. Thunder Crasher still remembers every sound he heard at his father's funeral. Some ponies paying respect. A priest saying a couple of words Thunder was not listening to. The only corner of that funeral that was completely silent was where he and his mother stood. Not a tear. Not a sob. Not a sound came from either of them.
After his father's body was cremated, as all pegasi bodies are, the gray pegasus moved on the best he could.
His mother didn't. She just stopped. She didn't say anything. Or moved. For days, now. Thunder Crasher was the one who would have to wash her, feed her, and put her to bed.
What he didn't count on was the fact that she would just stop breathing. He was very lucky his parents knew their neighbours and they helped out when they did.
Thunder Crasher still wasn't going to learn their names, though.
While looking back at the painting, Thunder Crasher sighed, with a weak smile. "...a dragon attack. Because how else would you go out, eh dad?"
So now with his father dead and his mother gone insane with trauma, Thunder Crasher decides to do what he had planned to do, but didn't have the courage to do, or the opportunity, that now appeared since his mother would be in the care of others. He goes to his parent's room, finding a leather barding his father used to use. Strapping on a saddlebag and filling it with some supplies, a map, and a hunting knife, he leaves the home he grew up in. But he would be back. Or so he thought.
Below on the ground, a couple of days away, was the Wild Lands. The land of nobody, between the Pegasus Kingdom and the Unicorn Kingdom. Where the weather works on its own and all sorts of creatures lives.
Legends say a pony comes out of there changed forever.
Legends say anything is possible in those forests.
So Thunder Crasher decides to do whatever he needs to do to bring his father back to life.
“Even the air here is different.” Said Thunder Crasher, looking around the Wild Lands. Every fiber in the pegasus’ body was warning him on how dangerous that place was. He tried to not think about the thousands of ways he could die in those forests. He even tried to map out a plan. Just now he realized that he didn’t even know where to go, he just brashly decided to go and whatever happens, happens.
“Stupid pegasus, doesn’t even think before doing anything.” Beat. “Oh great, now I’m talking to myself.”
“Well, pegasus do what pegasus do, I guess.” Replied the forest.
.
..
…
..
.
Thunder suddenly jumped, doing a 360º on the air, looking around.
“Who’s there?!”
No answer.
Was the forest already making him mad?
Thunder decided to just get out of there and continued to trot. And trotting he did. For a lot of hours. He saw nothing except for… the boring forest. It was so mystical from the outside, but absolutely nothing happened to Thunder Crasher while he was in the forest itself. Not a creature attack, not even the trees attacked him, like the stories said.
And out of nothing, he hits a solid building.
“….Holy Goddess, what…?” He looks up, looking at the weird building that wasn’t there five seconds ago.
It was tall. At least three stories tall, with vines all over it. The stone bricks were visibly old, cracking, and moss and vines were all over it. He takes a full circle around and yep, there is no door.
“There is no door.” He said.
“I also noticed that.” Replied the forest, again.
Oh wait, it’s a tall white unicorn also looking at the building.
Thunder Crasher looks at her now, with a look of mild annoyance. She was big. Not only bigger than him, since everypony is bigger than him. She was taller and bigger than a normal pony. Even the normal big pony is not like that. With that port, she should be from the griffon mountains. Every pony that hails from the villages there needs to be handle the freezing cold. The griffons are luck, with all of their feathers, but the pony villages don’t have that advantage.
“Are you done looking at me? I’d even think you’re interested, but you’re not enough pony for me.” She said, after a full minute of silence.
“Excuse me? What are you even talking about?” Said Thunder Crasher, now in full annoyance, bordering on anger. “You’re full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Calm down, little buddy. I was just messing with you”, she said, laughing softly and completely changing her posture, appearing somewhat smaller now. Still gigantic from Thunder’s point of view.
And he wasn’t laughing.
“What do you want following me anyway?” said Thunder, turning his gaze back to the building, looking up.
“The same as you, I think.” The unicorn shrugged. “I want stuff. I wouldn’t be in this forest if I could help it.” Beat. “My husband has been missing. No one has seen him. My name is White Porcelain.”
“How long were you waiting to be polite about this introduction, White Porcelain?” he said, still looking up.
“A bit. I’ve been training it- “
“It didn’t work. I didn’t ask.” Still not looking at her. “There is a window up there.”
In fact, there was an opening to the solid building. An open window, on the third floor. It almost didn’t look like a window. It almost didn’t look like anything, the vines completely covering it.
Thunder was already flying to it, when-
“Lift me up there!”
Thunder looks down at Porcelain, not believing what he just heard.
“…you realize you are twice my size and three times my weight, yes?”
“No need to be so clear about that.” She said, almost offended. “I’m really light. Come on, try.”
Pondering about it, he decides why the hell not. He gets on top of White Porcelain and tries lifting her. No success, because of course. He does feel some tingling on his hooves. Looking down, he sees her entire body with a soft red glow.
“What are you doing…?”
“Helping. Levitating.” She replies.
He does feel in his wings that he’s going up. Slowly, but surely. Sweating, because he was doing like, 60% of the job.
5 minutes later, Thunder Crasher is panting on a concrete floor.
“Ooooh my Goddess, this was the worst thing I’ve ever done. My entire body is on fire.”
“I don’t know, I feel fine.” She said, with a little smirk. Which disappears when she looks at Thunder Crasher’s gaze, that has escalated to almost murder.
He slowly gets up, looking around. Which was now what White Porcelain was also doing.
The air there was eerie, and the place was full of tables, and weird glowy jars. “Not pegasus magic. We don’t store lights in jars. Lightning, yes, but that’s different.”
“Don’t look at me, unicorns don’t do that either.” Beat. “…well, not where I’m from. In the Unicorn Kingdom? Eh, I still don’t see why they would. With horns and all.”
After some examination, looking at the feeling in the air, the lights and the smoke, Thunder shook in realization, his eyes turning into pinpricks as he feels dizzy and light.
“…alchemy… this is… zebra magic… son of a- “
THUD
His body hits the floor, and his consciousness goes away while he feels White Porcelain’s hooves stomping on the floor in his direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still felling dizzy, he feels the same eerie magic in the air, telling him he still was where he was when he passed out. Deciding to keep a low profile, he keeps still while his other senses light up, looking around the place, that still didn’t change. Except for the big white unicorn body, laying in front of him. On the side, in a corner, something gray. Thunder couldn’t make out what it was, with the light so dim.
“I can sense you awake, pegasus.” Said a voice behind him, in a very thick and weird accent. “You are smallest than others. Up get.”
Grunting in annoyance, Thunder gets up, looking behind him. He sees exactly what he thought he would: a zebra.
He had never seen one before, being a weather pegasus. They looked… like ponies. In anatomy. Four limbs, a torso, and a head. Thunder Crasher was almost disappointed.
And that was all in what they had in common. It had dark, weird looking stripes all over it’s body and mane and tail. Its hooves had some symbols glowing. Runes? The pegasus can’t make it, and he doesn’t even have the time to do so.
Stomping and a growl of hate comes from before him.
“RAAAAARGH!”
White Porcelain comes from behind Thunder Crasher, knocking him down to one side and charging straight to the zebra, that didn’t even react to being pushed into a wall.
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?” Boomed her voice.
“Holy Bird, you can scream.” Said a voice from a corner.
Looking again, now Thunder Crasher could make it out: it was a griffon. A gray, male griffon. With a look of almost anger when he looks at the pegasus, mirroring his own.
“YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!” boomed White Porcelain, reminding him of the situation he’s in.
“Bad idea, pony. Would not hurt me. It would hurt you.” Replied the zebra, still in that way too calm voice.
“Really? Because even I have half the mind to punch you right now.” Said Thunder, moving to the side when the griffon stepped up.
“I put a curse on you. And me.” Saying this, the zebra rubbed his hooves, where the weird runes were. They were now glowing in green, instead of the yellow from before.
And looking down on his own front hooves, he could see the runes there too. In fact, the hooves of everyone in the room, including the griffon. And they all noticed it.
“What. Is this?” The griffon asked, now getting closer and angrier.
“The curse that connects. If one dies, all dies. Our lives are one. If you kill me, you kill you, and partners.”
“Well, zebra, I’m sorry. I don’t quite understand that last word. What makes you think I’ll partner up with a unicorn? And a g… a… a griffon, for Goddess sake.” Thunder Crasher interjected, irate. “You better take that back! Working with a zebra would be bad enough, but these brutes murder my kind every chance they’ve got!”
“Well, you try to claim all of the skies for your selfish kind.” The griffon in the room moves over to Thunder Crasher, who doesn’t flinch at the intimidation.
“Your chest floof does not scare me.”
“Ponies.” The zebra claimed back their attention. “I will reverse the curse.”
“Oh.” Said all three.
“As soon as unicorn lets me go.” She pointed at the white unicorn who was still pressing her entire body against the wall. “And when you do what I need you to.”
Thunder Crasher poked White Porcelain, as she was already moving away from the zebra.
“Now. You need to find a witch. Burn her library. Is all. Do nothing and curse stays forever.”
“And if we kill you, we kill ourselves.” Said the griffon.
“Yes.”
“Ok.” Said White Porcelain, being the first to agree.
“Is not all.” Continued the zebra. “Each of you comes to the forest with a wish. Do my command and I grant you a wish.”
That shuts Thunder Crash up. He thinks back on his mother. And on his father. How happy he was a month ago.
Burning a witch’s library? Yes, totally worth it. The pegasus doesn’t even think twice about it.
“Where is it?” He asked.
“Just walk. It is best way to find witch.”
The griffon interjects Thunder. “Now, stop that. You’d stoop as low as burning an innocent’s property?”
“You are here for a reason, griffon.” Replied Thunder Crasher. “Picture whatever you were here to get. Decide how badly you want it.”
The gray griffon doesn’t answer that. He just gets out of the way.
And after a full minute of silence, Thunder Crasher simply leaves without saying any other word.
“Where are you going?” asked White Porcelain, following him.
“To find a witch’s library and burn it. Where else?”
“Are you sure we should just obey that crazy zebra? She did curse us.”
“And to break the curse, I just need to burn a library. I don’t even need to kill anypony. As soon as I do that, my family goes back to the way it was and I’m not chained to the race who declared war on my kind 30 years ago.”
“We are now in a state of conflict. The war barely lasted 10 of those years.” So, the griffon was also following him. “And what are you doing?”
“Walking. If the zebra is true to its word, we will just find the library sooner than later.”
“Do you even think we have any other alternatives? It seems you are jumping to the first conclusion you can.”
“Yes, griffon. Nicely done. My first conclusion. What is yours? What should we do?” Said Thunder, stopping and turning to the other two.
“Bwah?”
“Come on, what should we do? Go home? Kill the zebra? Try to find an anti-curse? Is there even such a thing?”
“…so you did think about it.”
“Of course I did.” Thunder said, continuing walking.
“…also, being the polite griffon in the place – my name is Feeth Salam.”
“…what even is this name?”
“I do agree with Thunder Crasher. This name sucks. Mine is White Porcelain, by the way.”
“Now you waited long enough to introduce yourself.” Said Thunder. “…Thunder Crasher. Since we’re in this stage, apparently.”
“So, we have names.” Said White Porcelain. “Now – when can we share dreams and wishes and life stories?”
A groan was the only reaction coming from Thunder Chraser.
