How did the Underground Rhythm begin? A prequel to Artsofallkinds Eyes of a Musician story. Enjoy :)
You've heard by now of an Underground... an Underground where those ponies born with Bright Eyes and a gift for music can hide and live in safety from the laws of Equestria and its Princesses.
But how did it begin? How did it even start?
A single journal holds some if not all these answers... do you wish to read on? And if you do... what will you choose to do with this knowledge?
A/N: This is a prequel to Artsofallkinds Eyes of a Musician story which he has given me permission to write up and put out for all of you to enjoy and read. NOTE! This is NOT a choose your adventure style story despite how it may sound in the description.
A brown coated unicorn mare with a black mane and tail done up in a bun looked down at a book on her desk. Her cutie mark was a quill and judges gavel. It had recently been taken from the former residence of a traitor pony to the Equestrian Royalty.
“To think… he and I had enjoyed a cup of coffee once a few weeks back discussing a new sculpture for the upcoming ball…” she mused before adjusting the light with her horn. The book was leather bound and locked with what pegasi called a Wing Lock. In theory only a Pegasus with the same wing type as the books owner could open it. However, for a ranking investigator like herself, a lock like this could easily be broken with some magic. Which she easily did, adjusting her monocle.
“Foal’s play.” She said as she opened the book. The front page was decorated in what was known in forbidden tomes as a treble clef. “So… I had hoped the report was false… but you really were working with the Underground Tempest… so sad…” she muttered as she turned the page.
The next page looked as though it had been ripped from the back and then reattached to the front of the book… almost as if he had expected somepony to find this and read it soon.
If you’re reading this, then I’m probably either dead or in prison. Given my choices, I think I’m the former. Sorry but there is no way that I was going to let somepony lock me up.
“Stubborn as ever…” the pony muttered before continuing reading.
If you’re one of the Government’s pony officials who handles cases of Bright Eyes reading this, then don’t bother wasting your time. I have not included in here any instances of a location, description or identity of where the Underground is. You won’t find it by going through these pages. Sorry to disappoint you.
“Clever Storm… as usual. But let’s see if I can’t wriggle some secrets out of you if not the location…”
If however one of the Underground has found this… then I am sorry. Sorry I couldn’t be of any more help to you all when I had the chances. No doubt Quick Step’s making some quip or something about that. Jokes on you, that hat makes you look stupid. And Inert. Orange.
“Quick Step and Inert… your first mistake Tempest, names of your conspirators. Now then… what’s this about oranges?” she asked the tome bemused.
In seriousness though… I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of more help earlier… the last few years have been the best of my life, even with all the danger you lot put me through, all the aggravation, frustration and just general annoyance. But hey, whose friends don’t tick each other off now and then right?
Ikuze… if you’re reading this then I am truly sorry. I had hoped to take you to the Underground myself but I guess that that plan kinda flew out the window.
“Ikuze… must be the filly unicorn that the guards reported to have escaped…”
If not and this really is in the hooves of a government official, then welcome to my journal. Oh, and about the names thing? You really expect somepony to use their real names outside the Underground? Come on… you’re smarter than that or at least you led me to believe you are.
“How did… of course… Of course he’d figure out I’d be the Investigating Mare for this case.” She stated, allowing herself a small chuckle before gathering herself and reading on.
I’m Tempest Storm, a Dull Eyed Pegasus Sculptor that has defied you and helped out Bright Eyes under your nose for a few years now.
“Years? Well now... maybe you’ll shed some light on how you managed to do this Storm… We can’t have any more evasions of the law now can we?”
Wasn’t always like that though… heck it wasn’t until a certain mare turned up on my doorstep that – well, I’ll let you read and figure it out. Got to go… sounds like the patrol’s finally here… Time to do what I should have done a long time ago…
You can burn the land and boil the seas, but you can’t take the skies from me.
“Burn the land and boil the seas, but you can’t take the skies from me…” the mare mused. “That’s what the guards reported him saying before he fought against them… and all for the sake of one Bright Eyed filly… No.” she amended. “Not just the filly… this entire Underground of theirs… and he knew that a patrol was coming to his house that day… How? And he was completely prepared to throw away his life for these… criminals and aberrations under Celestia’s gaze… Storm, who were you?” she asked herself as she turned over the pages of the journal, reading each one carefully and with great detail.
All in an attempt to understand why in a world where the Bright Eyed are hunted and suspected, why somepony not of their own would give their life to help them… and hopefully find a way to bring down the Underground.
Well this has certainly been an unusual day. Started out as a normal day out here in the city, I got up, had a bath, got breakfast and got started on a sculpture for a client.
By Celestia I was bored out of my skull. Day in and day out… every client wants the exact same statue as everypony else. The same alicorn statue with the legs raised just so, and the neck ever so positioned and the wings in such a manner… But, as monotonous as it is it pays the bills. Besides a true sculpture requires inspiration… and well that’s been in short supply I must say.
That is until that mare showed up at my door. I was just finishing up on the more delicate features on the wings when I heard a sudden banging on my front door.
“Oh for the love of… Rolly if this is another of your surprise inspections so soon I am going to buck you to the moon!” I yelled as I made my way to the door, and opened it my wings flaring. They immediately dropped as soon as I saw the pony outside.
For one thing it definitely wasn’t that jackass of a guard pony Rolly Polly. No, it was a unicorn mare with a pure white coat, purple mane, and… Bright blue eyes. She looked up at me locking eyes for a moment before uttering three words. Just three words.
“Help me please.”
Now I’ll admit here and now… I cannot resist a mare in trouble. I just can’t. I’ve pretty much had honour, integrity and other stuff like that ingrained into me since I was a foal. So what do I do despite her being a Bright Eye and all such ponies to be brought to the guards for suspicion?
“Get inside. Hurry.” I replied standing aside so she can get in through the door. That’s right… I be the White Knight… Celestia I just can’t stop myself sometimes. Although she was kinda cute…
“Thank you!” she says as she dashes inside and I close the door. “Oh my… I hope I didn’t interrupt any work sir…”
“Well-“ I started before looking at her examining my work. Nopony’s actually looked at it properly like she was. Usually the client gives it a brief look over and takes it after paying… but this mare looked as if she knew exactly what she was looking at. “Well not really… truth be told I could probably make this sculpture in my sleep. Every pony that comes in here keeps wanting the exact same thing as every pony else…”
“Oh how utterly stifling! An artist should be allowed to express themselves through their work… not just-“ she started before a quick bang on my door sounded. This one sounded a lot more familiar.
“Open up Storm! We have reports that a Bright Eye was seen running into your shop!” a brutish voice bellowed. I rolled my eyes and then looked around for somewhere to hide her, before glancing at an unused alcove with a mound of clay at the ready.
“Miss, I need you to trust me on this…. Go into that alcove there and cover yourself in the clay. Close your mouth and close your eyes. Got it?” I asked her quietly. She took a look at the clay and cringed slightly before the door banged again. She quickly ran over, used her magic and did as I asked. She’d left some holes for her nose to breathe through. I walked over and started to act as if I was sculpting the clay as my door was broken down. I glared over in the direction of the door and the rotund guard standing there.
“Storm I have ord-“ the Earth Pony started.
“Rolly, if you say you have orders to bash down my door when you perfectly know very well that I leave my door unlocked whenever I’m in the middle of creating for a client then I will be wanting a word with your superiors. This falls under your replacement pay. Not mine.” I growled at him.
“Regardless, a Bright Eyed mare was seen running into your shop not a moment ago. I have orders to search the place.” He replied already sending guards through my shop looking around.
“Very well then. But I’m the only pony here, aside from your guards. OH for the love of Celestia, be careful with that! That is a genuine antique! If you break it I’ll see to it that the cost comes out of your salary.”
The pony in question looks at me then back at the vase he was about to shove aside.
“For the next fifty years.” I added. The guard blanched at the thought and put it down gently instead of simply shoving it aside. After an hour of searching my home the guards left. “Guess your informant was wrong Rolly.” The guard simply snorted and left. I sighed as I went over and slammed my door back into place and used some nearby planks to hold it in place. “That’s going to need to get fixed soon…”
I walked back over to the clay covered mare and pretended to do more sculpting giving her a quick shake of the head when she peeked her eye open. After a few more minutes I tapped her on the shoulder signalling she could move again. The clay quickly lifted off of her and she shook her fur clear.
“As much as I love a mud bath darling at the spa, I must protest at being covered in clay… but thank you… I thought for a moment you were going to…” she left the thought hanging in the air between us.
“No matter the eyes, I won’t just hand over a mare in need. Especially if it’s to the “tender” mercies of guards like Rolly Polly there.” I said nodding my head at the busted door.
“That’s… very noble of you mister… oh! I don’t even know your name, and you don’t know mine, oh how utterly rude of me.” She exclaimed.
“Perfectly reasonable. You needed help fast. Introductions could wait… and still can. Listen, as much as I’d like to help… I’ve got a life to think about. It’s boring as heck, but it pays the bills and keeps food on the table.” I said looking out the window. The sun was beginning to set. “You can stay the night here if you don’t have anywhere else to go…”
“But at least allow me to-“ she started before I gave her a stern look.
“Right now, it’s best if we just remain strangers alright? If I don’t know your name and you don’t know mine then if one of us is caught, then nothing can happen to the other. Got it miss?”
She nodded at my logic and sighed heading for the couch.
“No. You take my room upstairs. I’ll take the couch. You’re my guest, so you take the bed. First door up the stairs.” I said looking at her. To her credit she didn’t protest, just smiled, nodded and trotted upstairs.
The next morning I woke up to the smell of her making waffles. I didn’t even remember having the stuff to make waffles. I peered over the couch into the kitchen and just looked at her. She was even humming as she made them… Humming! I got a knot in my stomach thinking about what would happen if some nosey neighbour or guard could hear the inside of my house right now…
“Oh, morning. I thought that I should at least repay your kindness in helping me… so I made breakfast. I hope that’s not too much trouble?”
I grumble and adjust my glasses. “No… although trying to say so at this stage would just be stupid since the waffles are already made…”
We sat down and ate in silence. Afterwards I went to the door, did a quick check and let her out once I was certain the coast was clear.
“Thank you again sir… Oh I wish I could do more to repay you…” she said.
“Just keep yourself out of trouble all right?” I mutter as I start to close the door. She nods and walks away from my shop.
I thought that would be the last I saw of her… buck me I was wrong.
--------------
The mare adjusted her monocle as she finished the entry.
“Hmm… note to make. Investigate Officer Rolly Polly later for… oh that’s right. He was the subordinate who fell in the struggle to subdue Mister Storm…”
She re-read the part where Tempest had let the unicorn into his house.
“Nobility… honour… valued traits, although woefully misused in this situation I’m afraid…”
It was a month later that I met that mare again. I could not stop thinking about her for some reason… why?
She was a Bright Eye. By all rights I should have just handed her over, or refused aid… but my own damn sense of honour forbade me from doing so… or was it something else? Since I was a foal I’d been treated… awkwardly since I’ve got green eyes. True I don’t have Bright Eyes, but in a world where every other Dull Eyed ponies eyes were brown… any different colour was viewed with nearly the same level of suspicion. Not enough to get you thrown into prison like the Bright Eyes… but enough to make making a living very difficult.
But here she was… a mare who didn’t… who seemed to appreciate my talent, and wanted to see it… expand. Bah, get a grip Storm. She was desperate for a hiding place from the guards, that’s all it was. Just a mare pulling the right strings to get you to help her… that’s all.
Right?
Damn it why do I have to be so damned nice?
I was heading into the woods to go to this cave I used to gather my clay from. What? Like I’m going to pay somepony to do the job of collecting clay for me when I can do it myself, and hope that the clay they bring is proper quality? Get stuffed.
As I approached the cave I heard a shrill scream from my right. Yeah, you guessed it. I dove right for the scream. A pony was being cornered by a lone timberwolf. Now I’ve tangled with them before in this neck of the woods and the trick I’ve learned with them is to show them who’s in charge. That I own this territory. How do you do that? By doing something they can’t.
Now I’ve got this little trick I can do with my wings. If I vibrate the feathers in my wings I can create a static charge of lightning and then discharge it on impact with whatever or whoever I need to. And right now this wolf was needing a good old zapping. I charged in wings already crackling and slammed my right into the creature’s side before landing in between it and the pony.
“Stay back.” I said not looking at the pony behind me, only hearing her hoofs as she shuffled into a more safe position behind me. I locked eyes with the wolf and flared my wings making myself look bigger than I was, and to get a more intimidating light show going with the lightning in my wings. The wolf took one look at its smoking side, then at me, yelped and ran off deeper into the woods.
“Rarity! Are ye all right girl?” I heard a pony say behind me in a southern drawl. I discharged my wings into the ground and turned around to see if the pony whom I’m guessing was called Rarity was alright. As I turned around I just stared at her before pointing a hoof.
“You again!” I exclaimed. It was the same mare from a month ago, and stood next to her was an orange earth pony with a yellow mane and a Stetson on her head. Her eyes were a Bright green. She looked at my own eyes and then took up a fighting stance between me and the mare.
“Rarity, get outta here! Ah’ll hold him off!” she intoned.
“Applejack, stop. This is the stallion I told you and the girls about earlier… the one who helped me.” She explained. Both myself and Applejack looked at one another carefully before slowly leaving our attack poses.
“I thought I told you not to get into trouble again miss?” I asked of the unicorn. Now that I could get a better look at her, I could see that her cutie mark was a trio of diamonds, and Applejacks was a trio of apples. Big surprise there given her name.
“Well I haven’t until that beast showed up and tried to eat me. Seems I owe you again for saving me once more.” Rarity replied. I just harrumphed and started to walk off. The sooner I left these mares the better. I felt a pair of teeth grab onto my tail and drag me back.
“Oi! Let go of me!” I demanded as I saw Applejack dragging me off somewhere.
“No can do. Ye’ve seen us and now we need to figure out what to do with ye.” She said through her teeth. I roughly pulled my tail out of her mouth and hovered in the air.
“Problem there little miss. I can fly.”
“So can I!” another voice sounded from above me. Before I could get a good look or even react, this cyan ball of fur and feathers crashed into me and slammed me into the dirt. I then felt a rope being quickly tied around my legs. I glared up at the trio of ponies. The new one was a cyan Pegasus, with a rainbow coloured mane and tail. She had Bright violet eyes. “Now then, what are we going to do with this spy?” she asked.
“Rainbow, Applejack… he’s not a spy.” Rarity tried to explain.
“Then what’s he doing all the way out here?” the Earth pony demanded.
“If you’ll let me talk, I’ll explain you crazy mare!” I growled. “I came out here to grab some more clay from a nearby cave. I then heard her,” nodding my head towards Rarity, “shriek and so I came over to help. The rest you know.”
The orange pony looked me square in my eyes and I held her gaze. She then slowly nodded.
“He’s telling the truth.” She said before untying my legs. The one Rarity called Rainbow didn’t seem to completely believe her friend but shrugged as if that was the end of the matter.
“To be honest with you ladies, I don’t give a flying horse-apple if you think I’m a spy or not. I just want to be left alone… hard enough with these damned eyes of mine without some Bright Eyes jumping into my life.” I grumble as I stand up giving my wings a quick check in case that crazy Pegasus had damaged them in the crash. All three ponies looked at each other then took a hard look at my own features. I’ll admit it was a little disconcerting having three mares staring at your face at once.
“Ya know, I never noticed it before… his eyes aren’t brown… they’re still Dull as a rock, but they ain’t brown…” Applejack said.
I grumble to myself as I start checking my pockets in my jacket to make sure that all the tools were still intact. Thankfully they were.
“How’d you beat back that wolf anyways? I didn’t think a Dull Eye could do anything like that.” Rainbow bluntly asked. I responded my zapping up my wings as I liked to call it. The Pegasus seemed to have a look on her face that could easily be translated as “Wow”. I’ll admit, I took some satisfaction in showing off.
“Like that. I’ve met the timberwolves in these parts before whenever I had to grab some more clay. They learned pretty quickly to leave me alone, or else they get burned.” I said as the Pegasus walked around me checking out the lightning wings.
“I have GOT to learn that move… it would be awesome for when I put on my next performance back at the-“ Rainbow Dash started.
“Rainbow!” Applejack interrupted looking sharply at the cyan pony who immediately cringed at her voice.
“Sorry sorry sorry AJ… got kinda caught up in the moment there for a bit… But we still don’t know what we’re going to do with this guy… I mean, even with what Rarity’s said about him we can’t just let him walk away. He knows who we are.”
“And this is why when I last bumped into you I said no names.” I grumbled at Rarity who had the good grace to look somewhat sheepish.
“Well, since ye know our names, only fair that we know yers.” Applejack responded. I sigh and shrug.
“Fine, since I’m in this boat that’s going up the creek. I’m Tempest Storm.” I replied with a little bow to the ladies. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just looked at me oddly.
“Um, what’s with the bowing dude?” Rainbow asked.
“I was taught to always treat a lady like royalty. Good manners and all that.” I answered with a shrug. The fact that I was prepared to smack the cowpony around a moment ago didn’t come up.
“Well I find it quite a relief to encounter some good old fashioned chivalry in this age darlings.” Rarity replied smiling and dipping her head towards me. The other mares simply rolled their eyes at this little exchange.
“So… clay ye said?” Applejack asked tilting her head.
“Yes, clay. Kind of need it for my sculpting. And to be blunt, I don’t exactly trust the usual suppliers. Last time I bought some clay from another pony, it turned out to be sub-standard dirt. Barely usable.” I replied with a shrug. The cowpony sighed and shook her head.
“Ah know the feeling. For mah farm Ah have to get mah own fertiliser.” The cowpony said, sounding sincere.
“The pains we go through for our talents.” I muse.
“You usually this chatty with fugitives?” the Pegasus asked me, before getting a stern look from the other two. “What? It’s a fair question guys!”
“No Miss Rainbow, I’m not. But given that you seem to be debating on what to do with me, given your status within Equestria, and I’m already up the creek since I know your names and haven’t handed in Miss Rarity when she first showed up on my doorstep…” I shrug as if that answered everything. She seemed to shrug in reply and started eying up my wings as if trying to figure out how to pull off my Storm Wings as I called them.
Yes, I call the technique Storm Wings. What? Creative license. So sue me.
“Hmm… maybe… he would know best what to do with our guest?” Rarity suggested. Applejack looked at her as if she’d suggested hoofing a foal over to a pack of hungry timberwolves. Rainbow just kept inspecting my wings.
