Brewing Storms

The sound of thunder echoed though the streets, causing Avan to jump as he looked up from the book that was stretched across his hooves. Lighting flashed in the sky above the town as rain pelted down; a downpour outside of the window of his house. However, even as hard as the storm was over Ponyville, it was even worse in the Everfree due to the fact that there was no pegsi to take care of the worse of the thunder clouds...His wings flared as he turned his attention toward where the Everfree sat in the distance, frowning softly.

He was safe; staying inside with a nice book as the storm raged outside...He even wasn't wearing his cloak as he could now do so without a worry as Tuli finally knew of his secret. However, the fact that he was relaxing caused guilt to eat away at him. He had to make sure he was okay, mostly with the storm outside... "I can't just sit here!" he muttered to himself as he flickered the book that rested on his hooves closed and climbed off of the couch.

His horn lit up as he grabbed his cloak and wrapped around him, heading into the entrance way. His gaze lingered toward the door, before he glanced at the desk that sat there and pulled it open, removing a piece of paper and a pen from it and setting it on the desk. He started to jot down something, before reviewing what he had wrote. He flinched at how horrible the writing was, but it would have to do...He floated the letter over to his book and set it gently on top of it before raised a hoof and pulled up the hood of his cloak and opened up the door and stepped into the storm.

The cold rain pelted his cloaked body as he closed the door, but he barely paid any heed to it as he started to force himself through the pouring rain and toward the Everfree. As thunder echoed above him, his ears flickered down under the hood of his cloak. It was a horrible storm just over Ponyville...It would be much worse in the Everfree, but he couldn’t let himself sit around as he trotted through the empty streets.

It seemed like forever, but he finally reached the border of the Everfree and came to a stop. The clouds seemed to be ever more darker over the wild forest, but as he stared up at it, he took a deep breath and stepped into the shadows of the trees. As the darkness surrounded him, the sound of the rain seemed to grow louder and thunder rang though the sky every other minute or so.

"Matthew!" he finally called out, coming to stop in a small gap between some trees. "Matthew, where are you? Please be safe..." Panic filled in his stomach at the idea that he could be stuck out in the storm or worse...Matthew was so young, he would hate if anything happened to him. As he forced himself to move forward, the sound of thunder seemed to grow louder and louder, becoming more deafening every time it shook the air.

As he moved through the forest, he kept calling the name of his friend, but it seemed only the thunder replied. Finally he came to a stop, his whole body shaking. Even his cloak couldn't repel all this rain, and the branches above him didn't stop the rain from pouring down on him. Perhaps Matthew was safe, but even the slightest idea that he wasn't caused Avan to want to keep moving forward. He had to keep Matthew safe, he had promised him...

Boom.

The sound of thunder shocked the sky once more, but it was close. A bright light off to the side of Avan almost blinded him as he stumbled backwards, shielding his eyes using his cloak. The lightning was soon gone, and Avan's heart raced as he attempted to catch his breath from the sudden shock that had startled him. "Wha..." he gasped, becoming aware of a creaking sound. He turned where the lightning had stuck, only to find a tree looming over him. Its truck cried out as it started to lean to the side, and Avan barely had time to realize what had happened before it was too late.

Lightning had stuck the tree...And it was crashing down upon him. His eyes widen as the shadow of the tree and everything seemed to slow down. The tree was falling toward him, the trunk had shattered from the lightning hitting it and he had happened to be on the path. He knew that he couldn't dodge out of the way in time, but he attempted anyways. He stumbled to the side, but the last thing he could remember was pain flashed through his right side, and the sound of rain coming to a stop.

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The sun peaked over the clouds as the storm broke. The rain slowly stopped pouring and life was crawling out of their hiding place and enjoying the sunlight that had appeared. In the Everfree, there was a fallen tree. Blood stained the underside of it, but the alicorn it had stuck was gone. What was left was blood that hadn't be washed away from the rain, and blood-soaked feathers, but also signs of something large being dragged away...

And in the alicorn's house, sat a short, and poorly written letter on a book. The letter was poorly written for two reasons. One; the author had been in a panic and a hurry went it was written. Two; the author barely knew how to write in Equestrian but had attempted his best at least. He didn't want his housemate to be worry about him of course.

Dear Tuli

The storm had caused the white mare to stay within her room, staying confined for her own purpose. It was honestly easier to keep to herself in these storms... The slight, er, well... phobia of such a horrid storm seemed to make for a bit of an awkward time. Embarrasing for the more part, but it was still rather awkward. Having been sitting upon her bed shaking, after having fallen asleep she'd felt much better.

Honestly, the storm had made the land surrounding so dark, she had lit one of the lamps in her room to illuminate the area. Having fallen asleep with it on though... The light of it in her face had been enough to wake her up. Personally, Tuli was surprised that the bulb hadn't burnt out, seeing that it was about the fifth time she had done so.

The sound of soft hooves echoed down the somewhat lifeless and empty hall as she had gone down the stairs, towards the living room. It wasn't odd for Avan to be out, most likely in the garden. She shrugged it off, until a piece of parchment had caught her eye. On top of a book, ink and a quill set beside it. Hmm, that's odd.

The thought had crept into her mind as she walked over. It wasn't often that Avan ever wrote, and when he did she never really bothered to wonder what it was. But, seeing that it had been left out, surely she would be able to?

Reading the rather poorly written words, worry crept under the mare's skin. The Everfree Forest wasn't the safest of places, she knew that especially. There were so many things there that were bad, and most of all...

A gasp could be heard clearly as Tuli couldn't help but think for the worst. Avan had gone out during that storm, and she knew that the Everfree's weather couldn't be contained like Ponyville's. Pacing around nervously, she decided that she had to go out and see where he was. Tossing a glance back over towards the back door, it was confirmed he wasn't out in the garden. She had a plan in motion, and she'd go through with it.

Of course, her own cloak was wrapped around her. Celestia only knew how could it'd be outdoors, and she didn't. It was better to be prepared, anyways.

~~~~~~~

Hooves galloping at a fast pace could be heard easily as she bolted, not minding any tire to her energy at this point. She was worried, and wanted to know where in Celestia's beard the stallion was. Having reached the forest, there was no thought of fear in her mind as she continued through the Everfree.

The various twists and turns surely didn't seem to be much of a shocker to her, having walked to the old sisters' castle many times the way was just about imprinted into her mind. But what had caused her to stop, was the wreckage from the storm that had cast a slight bit of fear into her mind.

Tree trunks had been hit, some having even burned from the weather. Lightning she knew was lethal to some ponies, pegasi having some immunity with their ability to control the weather system. Tuli had slowed down at this for a few reasons; to investigate, she was curious, and that she had an odd feeling. If this was only the start, then what could ever lie ahead?

Having to jump over rather large trunks of somewhat burnt wood and piles of ash, the fumes from some of the still-living smoke seemed to burn her lungs. Having to breathe somewhat quickly to keep most of the debris out, it did make things a little harder.

Her gait had picked up to a trot after studying the trunks scattered about closely, and somewhat farther into the forest, a rather large trunk that had been struck caught her attention. More so, what seemed to be around it.

The violet gaze of hers widened with concern, horror, and shock. The bloodstained wood and earth, as well as the feathers. She delicately picked one of the scattered earth-colored feathers off the Everfree forest floor, looking at it. Tears threatened to coat her eyes after determining, and confirming, that they belonged to Avan.

Most of all, what stunned her was the indentation within the soft ground. It appeared as if something large had carried a body away, particularly in a direction she did not know. As weird as it was she took to sniffing the ground, trying to pick up any scents that may be lingering. Blood seemed to be the main factor, but there was surely some detection of Avan.

There wasn't much that she could do otherwise but follow the trail, she needed to see where he was. What trouble he had gotten himself into, or worse. That fear pricked at her the most, and she didn't want to see any of it.

Her hooves carried her much farther into the forest then she had wished, and soon she found herself using her magic to light her path. That was the thing about the Everfree forest, you were lucky if you could see in the place.

The path seemed to lead her to somewhere that she never wanted to encounter, the tales of the land being something that still petrified her. The Everfree Caverns... She shuddered at the thought of them. But if it meant seeing whether or not Avan was alright, she'd throw herself in.

Inside on of the caverns was indeed Avan. He was lying unmoving in the shadows of the cave, lying in a strange matter, having been dragged into that spot. His chest gently rose and fell, his cloak which was acting more like a blanket for him, pulsed in time with his heartbeat. While was lying on his left wing in a strange manner, his right wing was stretched out. Part of his wing stuck out from under his cloak. While the damage to the wing was hidden by the cloak, the blood that stained the cloak showed that it was no small injury that it had.

However, Avan was not alone in the darkness of the cave. Tucked underneath his right wing was a manticore cub, who seemed content in his spot. He shifted as he flickered open one of his eyes to stare at Avan before closing it again. Silence drifted within the cavern until the sound of something outside of it; hoof steps, caught the small manticore's attention. His eyes flashed open as his ears perked. He wormed his way out from under Avan in a hurry and trotted toward the entrance of the cavern and peeked out. When he saw the white unicorn, his blood-soaked fur from sleeping under Avan's wing started to prickle as he darted out with a small roar as he spread open his wings in an a attempt to look fearsome to drive Tuli off.

The roar from the manticore was enough to wake Avan up. He jolted awake just in time to see the manticore dart off, causing him to frown as he attempted to recall what had happened. He forced himself to his hooves as his horn fixed his cloak and he stumbled forward. He didn't seem to take notice that his right wing hung limply at his side. As he reached the entrance, his eyes narrowed against the sharp light of morning but was able to make out the manticore cub racing at Tuli. His eyes widen as he took in a sharp breath as he stepped from the cave entrance and into the blinding sunlight. "Stop! Leave her alone!"

His shout echoed across the clearing and caused the manticore cub to come to a stop. He spun around, happiness flicking in his eyes for a few seconds at the sight of Avan before he glanced behind him at Tuli. He waved his scorpion tail at her, growling something at Avan but a cold and simple "No." from the Alicorn caused the manticore to frown with a huff, before darting at Avan. Once he reached the Alicorn, he ducked under him and the cloak, then turning so he could watch Tuli from a 'safe' place.

The ears of the mare had flattened at the sight of the cub charging at her, the roar surely startling the unicorn. But when the origin of the noise had been seen, her fears seemed to get a bit worse. If a cub manticore was charging at her... The mother was surely around somewhere. That was the last thing she wanted to know about. But at the sime time, Avan had to be around here! She wanted to know where he was, and the path distinctly lead from where she'd found his feathers!

Tuli's mind had been made up, if it meant getting to Avan she'd fight. Scraping the ground with her hoof, her horn started to glow until she heard the familiar voice. Her head instantly lifted, the violet eyes widening in that direction. "Avan?"

Once more directing her attention towards the cub, the sudden stop making her question what was going on. W-Was this the friend he had mentioned? What in Celestia's name was Avan doing taking care of a Manticore? She stopped at the sight of his tail seeming to thrash at her, that was the last thing she wanted to mess with her. Magic started to surround her horn, a shield starting to go around her. But it was cut off when Avan gave another signal to it, and she looked puzzled.

Seeing the cub just about dart underneath her friend, she rose an eyebrow in question. She stayed some bit away though, she didn't want to come close to that thing at the moment. Inspecting Avan himself though, Tuli's eyes noticed a bit of a change in his silhouette. A few of his brown feathers could be seen peeking out from his cloak on his right side, and his cloaks' pulsing seemed to be a bit faster. "Avan... Are you hurt?"

As the manticore, none other than Matthew, ducked under Avan, the alicorn let out a sigh. His gaze flickered up to Tuli, before frowning as she spoke. Hurt? A confused look spread across his face, until a dull pain flashed in his right wing for a few moments before disappearing. He glanced at his side, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the blood that had soaked though his cloak. How had...Oh, the storm and the tree. But why hadn't he noticed he was hurt?

Suddenly, Avan's head shot up as his eyes widen. Panic spread across his face for a few seconds as his ear flickered, but it soon dulled as he turned his attention to Tuli. He took a deep breath after a few moments, before giving Tuli a small sheepish look. "Yeah...It seems I am. I didn't realize until now...I think my body is blocking out the pain." He could feel how much damage was done to his wing, but he decided that perhaps telling Tuli wouldn't be helpful as she would only panic more...

A small growl rose from Matthew as he peaked out from under Avan, his tail lashing for a few moments. Avan frowned as he stared down at the cub. "Don't be like that, she is a friend." As Matthew hissed, Avan rolled his eyes with a sigh. "She is not a 'dirty hoof-walker', Matthew. Like I said, she is a friend and I want you to treat her like such." There was a few seconds of silence from Matthew, before he let out another meow. "No 'buts', Matthew. I raised you better that this!" Another short hiss escaped from the manticore, but it seemed to have been one of defeat, as Avan said no more toward the cub. Instead, he looked at Tuli with a soft smile. "I'm sorry about him...He isn't fond of ponies at all. He really only has a liking toward me."

Tuli looked rather disappointed at Avan, the fact that he hadn't noticed his wing most likely being broken or fractured making her a little upset with him. But then again, she herself was a bit of a worrysome pony when it came to health. It was mainly out of her best interests though, she wanted to make sure that all of the ponies she knew were alright if she could help it.

Sighing and shaking her head slightly at his words, she looked at him with a once more concerned gaze. "Well, at least you're not trying to use it. By the way it's being held, it looks broken." You need to take care of yourself better, Avan. The thought projected within the mare's mind, before she looked away from the rather unsettling sight.

Looking at the little manticore cub seeming to growl in distaste at her, a slightly annoyed huff of her own came from the mare. She'd shake it off later, but for now her bit of annoyance was being fueled. There was so much that she'd gotten to see now, but most of it she could've gone without. The fright of the possibility of Avan being dead... The thought of it made her shudder.

Listening to the bit about the insult she'd been thrown, an angered glare had been pointed at the cub. She may not be exactly liked by the thing, but that didn't call for anything rude. "It's... Fine. I'd imagine him to like you better anyways... He's pretty young so I'd imagine he'd prefer you anyways." She tried to hide her bit of annoyance from Avan, giving a bit of a false smile. She'd figure more about the thing later. "I don't suppose you could return home so that wing can be taken care of? If blood's gone through your cloak it's bound to be bad."

Avan nodded, letting out a soft sigh. "Yeah...I'm pretty sure it is broken," he stated, his ears flicking as he glanced behind him for a few seconds before looking back at his cloak. The blood that stained his cloak caused his stomach to roll, disgusted by the scent and look of it. He was sure while his wing was broken, whatever Matthew had done to get him into this part of the forest had made it worst. Being dragged didn't do wonder for the wings. He carefully stepped away from Matthew, who stared up at him with surprise and fear now that he was uncovered. He let out a pitiful meow, causing Avan to pause as he stared at him. "Don't be like that, Matthew. I'll be back later, but Tuli has a point."

Matthew's ears flickered on the back of his head as he charged forward, coming to a stop as he rubbed his head against Avan's cloak as he let out another sad meow. Avan frowned as he couched down as gently rubbed the top of the manticore cub's head. "I'm sorry for worrying you...The both of you," he stated as he glanced at Tuli for a few seconds. "But I really should get this wing taken care of. I'll be alright, Matthew. I had only come into the storm to make sure you were alright." Matthew's eyes flickered as he pulled his head away from Avan's hooves and sat on his back paws, placing his front paws on Avan's hoof as he stared up at him, letting out a soft meow. "Yes, yes, I did really come out here last night for you. I told you I would take care of you, and I wasn't lying."

Matthew frowned as his scorpion tail flickered back and forth, his bat-like wings ruffling at his side. He let out another long meow, but he drew away from Avan's hoof and let the stallion stand up. He spared a glance at Tuli, before adding another short meow in there, causing Avan to smile softly. "I've already told you, Matthew, you can't come into Ponyville with me. I might be your caretaker, but nopony would be happy to have a manticore in Ponyville, and besides, you don't even like ponies other than for me. Stay here and stay out of trouble. I'll be back once my wing is fully healed and we can play some more, alright?"

That promise seemed to be enough for Matthew who nodded softly, his gaze falling to his paws as he shuffled them. He paused for a few seconds before he started to lick his coat, attempting to clean off the blood that had gotten stuck on it. Avan sighed softly as he moved away from the manticore and headed toward Tuli, sparing an annoyed glance off to his side for a quick second before he came to a stop next to Tuli. "I am truly sorry for worrying you...I'm just the only one that Matthew has and I promised I would take care of him...The Everfree is a dangrous place now-a-days, mostly for a poor little manticore on his own. The idea that he could get hurt in that storm was to much for me to take so I had to make sure he was alright...But I made you worry for my sake instead and I never meant to hurt you."

Tuli couldn't help but take a few steps back as he talked to the manticore cub. She'd give them some privacy, and she thought for a moment. Her horn lit up in the sunlight, and a few leaves and branches were pulled from some of the trees. She'd try and do something nice for the cub, at least until she'd let Avan go out.

The silver glow had seemed to craft a close resemblance to Avan, the best she could do with what she had. Magic wasn't all that hard to use to make replicated objects of things, but without a few tools it'd be hard. She would've made a small plush toy for the cub, but seeing what was around.. There was no luck.

Overhearing Avan's conversation to the cub about him going to Ponyville, she raised an eyebrow. But her magic was her main focus, the aura growing a bit brighter as she cast a small spell on it so the wings could move and it'd do a bit of a walk, mainly a spell to make it behave like a doll.

When Avan had came over to her, a slight surprised gasp could be heard as she had finished her little thing for the manticore. "I-It's fine... I get that you wanted to make sure he was alright, but for his sake... Try and find a safer path, even if it means teleporting yourself?" That motherly worry rung in her tone as she then took her little present for the cub over to him. The leaves were threaded to replicate Avan's mane and tail, and the bark to be his body.

She had been careful in approaching him, she didn't want to scare the thing. "M-Matthew? I made you a little something to remind you of Avan. I'll make sure he comes back, okay? But until then, here's something you can keep with you." She said softly, knowing he probably didn't understand her in any way. But when she revealed her attempt at a dool-like Avan, she set it before him with her magic, letting it do a little wave to the cub.

Avan gave Tuli a sheepish smile and a small laugh. "I suppose you are right, I should of done that but I suppose my worry clouded my judgement. I'll try to remeber that." He drifted off as Tuli headed toward Matthew with her make-shift doll. The moment Tuli walked past him, the smile that he had quickly faded as he glanced off into the trees with narrowed eyes. "Really?" He hissed under his breath, before he turned his attention back to Tuli as she appoched Matthew.

The manicore cub looked up in surprise when Tuli talked, jumping to his paws as he spread open his wings with a soft hiss, but cut off when he saw Avan shaking his head. His fur started to lie down as he fixed a curious gaze at Tuli and the strange thing she held in her magic. Matthew was unsure what to make of the gift, but understood Tuli's words. Manicores weren't that simpleminded. As she set it down, he crouched down and sniffed it as it waved. He slowly iched away to get a better look before an exicited look spread across his face and he started to bounce around the wooden Avan doll.

Avan smiled softly at the sight but when he was about to take a step forward, sharp agonizing pain flared in his broken wing. A sharp gasp of pain escaped from him as he stumbled to the side, barely managing to stand upright. The pain started to dull until it was simply a memory and glared ahead of him, gritting his teeth. His gaze flickered away as his left wing shifted with discomfort. Perhaps Tuli was right...He really needed to get this wing healed up.

Tuli'd taken a step back when the cub had started to defensively flare at her, but once she'd gotten the doll to him she felt relieved that for the most part he was interested in it. Most of all, it made her smile when he started to bounce around it as if it was something amazing. "Bye Matthew, stay safe, alright?" That caring voice said to the cub again, as her magic cut off. The spell would stay on the little wooden doll-figure for a rather long time, at least until she could make an actual plush toy of Avan that looked a lot more like him. She had taken into note that he liked to hide under the cloak of Avans, and it'd be a cute detail to add for the cub.

Turning away from the rather adorable Manticore, she had been able to see Avan sort of seize up in a temporary pain. She moved a bit quicker towards him, a bit of concern in her voice. "Alright you, time to get you taken care of now." She nuzzled his side gently, being wary of his wing. The blood still wasn't a very pretty sight, and it'd have to be taken care of. It was time for her to make use of more of the foliage from the Everfree, at least for now.

But then again, she'd have to inspect his wounds before she could even try to make a splint for his wing. If there had been that much blood, there'd be certainly a large wound that would need to be taken care of. Even with the healing powers Avan seemed to have with being an Alicorn, it would surely take some bit of time for this one to heal either way. Properly, too.

Matthew paused as Tuli stated her goodbyes and walked off. He glanced at his new toy before he pounced forward and wrapped his paws around it, chewing happily on the tip of toy Avan's horn. The real question wasn't how long the magic would last. It was how long the toy would last under the playful cub.

Avan gave Tuli a soft, but slightly pained smile as she trotted up to him. He nodded as he glanced at his wing. He knew how much pain he should of been in, that moment of pain was simply a taste of the true pain that wing was truly causing him. Just because he couldn't feel it didn't mean it wasn't there. His whole body seemed to ache with that thought, reminding him how tired and worn he was, but was being blocked from his mind. Part of him stated that this lack of pain was a gift, but he knew in truth it was just a bargaining chip of sorts. A wave of pain washed over him, causing him to shutter. He glared off to the side as he gritted his teeth from the pain before glancing at Tuli. "Yeah...I think that is a good idea."

Pain was one thing, agony was another. She could see that his body wasn't doing the best, the way he seemed to sway as he walked. Nodding in agreement to his words, Tuli watched him under a close eye as they had begun walking towards Ponyville, and most of all she was following the path that his body had indented.

ooc;

I believe, we are at a topic end.