Family of Chaos (4) (Patreon)

Hurricane ignored the train ticket home the princess had provided for her. As badly as she wanted to get out of the city, part of her knew she wouldn't find her solution anywhere else. To fly away from Canterlot was to admit defeat, and consign herself to more nights of torment.

Hurricane didn't have anywhere to go, exactly. All her old spots in Canterlot were long gone, or else converted into historical sites with regular tours throughout the day.

Maybe she could slip into the Royal Library and see if there was anything about repeating dreams. Princess Luna couldn't be the only one to know anything about the unconscious world.

Hurricane wasn't really watching where she went, so she barely even noticed as her path took her squarely into another pony. Not until they collided, causing the pony to drop everything she'd been carrying in her magic.

Hurricane recognized the little pony instantly—she'd already seen the mare once today. Twilight Sparkle scrambled backward, muttering something under her breath. It took her a few seconds to realize who she was looking at. "Hurricane?" She glanced down, then shoved several scrolls away into the open pouch. "How'd the court go? Did Princess Luna figure out what was wrong?"

Hurricane barely even heard her at first. The truth didn't matter—when ponies asked about the princesses, they expected only one kind of answer. Obviously the diarchs could do no wrong. There was no problem they couldn't solve, no mystery too complex

"Sure, yeah. Princess of dreams... of course she could figure it out." She waved Twilight away with a hoof, stepping sidelong from her path. “Sorry about running into you."

She made it a few steps, but Twilight didn't let her walk away. Instead, the mare trailed after her, gathering up discarded scrolls and books into a little cloud of magic. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Hurricane looked back, running one hoof through her wild mane. She didn't feel confident lying to this mare, not after all the help she'd given. But most ponies didn't actually want the truth. They only wanted to think their help had gone to good use, so they could go back to their own life.

She wasn't fast enough with her answer, it seemed. The mare tucked her scrolls away, looking her over. "Princess Luna couldn't figure it out? That's strange. I've never heard of her being unable to answer a dream question."

Hurricane glanced nervously to either side. Not that ponies were paying her much mind. But if she told Twilight what she really thought about Luna's efforts, ponies might not like what she had to say. "It didn't go well."

Twilight took a step back. She would walk away, like so many others. If a pony got into a disagreement with the rulers of Equestria, it was obviously their fault. Luna couldn't make a mistake!

Instead, she tucked her scrolls into the saddlebag, then touched Hurricane's shoulder. "I know a great doughnut shop a few blocks from here. Come on, it always makes me feel better."

The smart move was refusing and flying off, of course. Instead she nodded, and followed the mare through Canterlot. If her fears were simpler, if the danger was less pressing, she'd deal with it herself, the same way she dealt with everything. But if Discord and chaos magic were involved, she might not be the only pony in danger.

So a half hour later she sat down with Twilight, across a table of pastries and sweet tea. The mare set a single notebook down between them, and lifted a pen up into the air. "What did Princess Luna say about your dream, exactly? What couldn't she figure out?"

Hurricane occupied herself with a sweet roll, taking nice slow bites. Slow enough to give her a few more seconds to think. “Princess Luna seemed to think it was regular nightmares."

She shook her head forcefully. "I don't get nightmares, Twilight. Especially not nightmares timed exactly with Discord getting released, then captured again. Regular dreams don't happen the same way, night after night. There's something more happening here, I just don't know what."

Twilight scribbled a few notes on her pad. If she thought Hurricane was just crazy, or she doubted her some other way, she did a good job hiding it. Her expression remained neutral and attentive, tone never changing. "It's possible the princess is right about the nightmare, but... not about the details around it. You're right about magic—coincidences aren't usually the way it works. A connection means a link. And the best way to study it would be... coming with me to Ponyville."

Hurricane set the plate down, raising an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I'm serious. There are maybe... half a dozen ponies in Equestria with the training to study novel magical phenomena. Celestia's school has a few of them in Canterlot. But everything they do takes royal approval. That really slows it down."

More importantly, waiting for Royal Approval meant that Hurricane Force would end up with her case on Luna's desk again, sooner or later. What would the princess do if she found out Hurricane had ignored her advice?

She might discover that from Twilight Sparkle too, though. This was one of the Elements of Harmony, one of the same ponies who had helped defeat Discord. She knew the right ponies to get Hurricane straight in to see the princess, without going through the usual red tape around the court.

Hurricane stood up. "That's very kind of you. But I should probably get back to Wingapore. Princess Luna thought it would all go away on its own—maybe she's right? It can't be that bad."

Twilight watched her, without getting up. "She probably is right... she's the princess of dreams, after all. But if she's wrong, if you need more help, feel free to stop by. Just look for the library in the huge tree, can't miss it."

"Maybe I will." She stood up, then tossed a few bits onto the table to cover the breakfast. "Thanks for your time. I know you're a busy mare."

She scampered back out onto the streets of Canterlot. Her heart raced, breathing short and shallow. There were so many ponies here, pressing into every open space.

Maybe Hurricane didn't need to find a solution after all. She had spent a long time in Wingapore. What she felt might just be her subconscious telling her it was time to pull up her roots and start over again. The longer she spent living in one place, the more suspicious ponies would become.

Frostline would do a good job running the factory. She just needed a few weeks to get all the paperwork signed, get the bits flowing into a new account, and a fresh pseudonym to add to the list.

The ride back began much like any other—a stamp for her ticket, a comfortable seat in the middle of the train, where she could blend with the crowd and not attract attention. She watched Canterlot fade into the distance. Her exhaustion weighed on her, not quite heavy enough to let her sleep. She saw Princess Luna's urgency and panic when she arrived, then her cold answers. Was there some meaning she had missed?

Then the train jerked, jostling her sharply to alertness. Ponies yelled, shrill enough that her ears pressed flat. A few darted away down the car, running from...

She saw it a second too late. Something huge came rolling at them from the mountain, a boulder so large the train's metal side could barely even slow it down. Hurricane lifted her wings to shield her face, not that it would help—then it struck.

The train shuddered, metal groaning and glass shattering. She tensed, preparing for the awful pain that would bring her death—but it never came.

Cold air and sudden wind jostled her, enough that Hurricane lowered her wings again. She was still in her seat, perfectly situated in the center of the car.

What was left of it, anyway. The walls to either side had been wrenched off, right along with the ceiling. Broken glass and squashed foam littered the floor, along with the luggage ponies had left behind.

A few ponies lingered near the far side, where the car remained intact. A conductor poked out from the other section, staring directly at Hurricane. "Are you... alright, miss?" he yelled over the rushing wind.

She rose from her seat, shaking bits of glass and scraps of fabric from her hooves.

The train still moved, somehow structurally intact despite the damage. They rolled along a suspended bridge, another line of the switchback leading down from Canterlot's lofty perch in the mountains. If she squinted sideways, she could barely make out the boulder, still rolling down to the depths below.

The conductor reached her another second later, urging her back into an intact car. "Come on, miss. It's not safe here any longer..."

She followed, conscious of the many eyes on her.

"What are the odds?" somepony whispered, just out of sight. "Luckiest mare in Equestria right there."

The train continued down the mountain at reduced speed, turning what should've been an hour long journey into three bumping, agonizing hours. Hurricane hunched into her seat in the back car, giving her statement to a representative of the railroad.

"No, I'm not interested in compensation. It's fine. I'm okay… just let me off the train."

But they didn't let her off the train. Not until they stopped in Ponyville. Everypony emptied onto the platform, where they would spend the next few hours waiting for a replacement train.

Not Hurricane, though. Almost as soon as the last set of hooves had made it onto the platform, she was up in the air, flying faster than the shouts of protest could follow.

Thunder rolled through the sky behind her, along with the pressure of moisture against her wings. As if the accident wasn't bad enough, those ponies were going to get caught in the rain.

Soon enough she'd left Ponyville behind, oversized tree library, dirt roads and all. She flew with no particular urgency, drifting from one comfortable air-current to the next. She let the wind do most of the work, guiding her along familiar rivers and over valleys. At least these landmarks didn't change much as the years wore on. She could still find her way.

A lonely flight had its own problems—it meant she was alone with her thoughts, alone with the distant laughter and the memory. Why do you even care about me? Who am I to you?

But Discord couldn't answer. For the safety of all Equestria, he was again contained in his stony prison. Not as impregnable as we all thought. He escaped once.

Hurricane could've pushed herself, and reached Wingapore before nightfall. But the factory didn't need her one day sooner. Frostline would probably do a better job without her sticking around.

As the sky gradually dimmed, she searched the ground beneath for any sign of civilization, and found it. Nestled along the mountains were a series of humble wooden houses, oil lamps already lit against the dark. One building near the top looked very much like an inn—perfect!

She glided down to the front, joining a small crowd of locals making their way in. They were earth ponies all, with a strong scent of oil and dirt about them. A few looked up from their tables, but quickly went back to what they were doing.

The ground floor was more of a bar than anything, albeit with a large communal pot on the fire and several fresh loaves of bread coming out of the oven every hour or so.

"Not many travelers up this high," said the proprietor, taking her gold. "Even pegasus travelers usually glide over without stopping."

Hurricane accepted her key in return. "Some can't get used to sleeping on the ground when they've had clouds," she answered. "Felt like being grounded tonight."

The old unicorn scratched the ragged edge of his broken horn, then tucked the gold away. "Aye, miss. We ain't be serving any of those... fine Canterlot drinks here. It's ale and whisky, and hot soup to fill a miner's stomach. If you're carrying weapons or tools, see they stay stowed. Disagreements get settled outside the establishment."

She nodded. "Just want a warm meal and a warm bed. I'll be out of your mane by morning."

"Glad to hear it, miss. Hope Motherlode is kind to you."