“Now then, how many of you three have been this way before?” Doctor Dramatico asked as the four began their trek to the western school boundaries, a sunny and clear morning sky hanging over their heads.

After a bit of silence, none but Windchaser made any motion in the affirmative. The doctor, still not used to the shyness, wrinkled his nose at the students’ lack of verbal expression.

“Right then – Windchaser, was it? – I'm counting on you to lead the way,” the doctor said. “In the meantime, everypony keep an eye on the sky, understood?”

“Why?” Seven Seas asked. “I don’t see no point in it.”

The doctor laughed. “Oh you... students. So silly, really.” He nearly tripped over himself upon realizing the student’s seriousness, then tried to laugh it off. “Ah ha ha, yes! Of course, of course. You see, the sky... well, Princess Luna has said that it is most urgent. We need to keep an eye out for storms.”

“Storms?” Seven Seas asked, baffled. “Arr, ye mean like the one that struck a few days ago? Gar, ‘twas a rather nasty event, wasn’t it?”

Windchaser thought it peculiar himself; the air had grown slightly warmer, as though spring were approaching – it was, in fact, only a few weeks away. Still, winter had left its mark on the grounds, with ice and snow lightly piled up on the path's edges and frost covering the standing surfaces of the gateway they approached. Snowstorms were apparently still striking. Whether it was due to the island’s strange climate or because of something else; he hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Despite the changing conditions and strange sound of watching for a storm on a clear day, Windchaser’s eyes followed Seven Seas for a bit as he gazed into the deep blue as though the sailor’s life depended on it. The azure color in his own eyes made it look as though his stare had turned into a deep, reflective gaze of the empty atmosphere. Meanwhile, Bonfire let an eye slip across the great span of blue, only to click her tongue and shake her head apathetically.

Typical Bonfire. Not a care in the world, in the bad sense.

“Should any kind of danger, any cloud or even a sound of lightning, come along, tell me straightaway and we'll rush back to the grounds in the clap of a hoof,” Dramatico declared as the four stepped hoof outside the very boundaries of which he mentioned. “In the blink of an eye we'll be back thanks to teleportation magic. Nothing to worry about, I assure you.”

That's what they all say.

Really, there was some safety in the sound of it, but the assurance mostly relied upon the content. The tone and the one saying it, though, did not give the young stallion complete peace of mind. Not a second after thinking this, Windchaser swiftly scolded himself for his judgmental thoughts. Still, he felt he could hardly blame himself; it was hard when the older gentlecolt carried himself with such a strange swagger, as though he were king of Equestria, speaking as though an actor off stage who still acted in character.

“My, what a beautiful day!” Dramatico went on, worsening Windchaser's suspicions. “Not many mornings are this clear anymore. It's been all doom and dreary lately. I did notice it all, you know, before that whole ice storm-” His speech paused as his hooves faltered, but after a skip he gathered himself again. “Well, let's just settle and say it's a lovely day, yes?”

“If ye don't mind me askin',” Seven Seas began, “shouldn't we be in session?”

The doctor laughed heartily. “You'll be caught up on things later this evening when we get back. Have no fear, your professors know exactly what is happening at the moment (I hope). Princess Luna arranged everything herself, after all. You three are with me, and we are all en route to this west-facing cavern, and once there we'll take note of anything strange we can find. Spying for clues is somewhat like making a diagnosis; I suppose that's why I was given the task.”

“You mean it wasn't because you're the only professor not teaching anything at the moment?” Bonfire jeered.

The doctor's light-heartedness turned slightly grim, but Dramatico kept his skippiness in tact for the time being with a forced chuckle. “Of course not... that's not as important. You're quite a joker, aren't you, Miss Bonfire?”

The mare looked to Windchaser as she laughed to herself, but the stallion she looked to had nothing of the sort to show in return. He simply looked away and hid the oncoming snarl.

She still talks back all the time. I shouldn't even be surprised.

Doctor Dramatico inhaled a chilly bit of fresh air and began once more. “So, then, how do you all know each other? Same class, same towns or districts, same school?”

Oh, of course, that's the ice breaker.

“Elemental track,” Windchaser quickly answered.

But, to his dismay, it didn't keep the others from talking, one in particular.

“Windy and I have been well-acquainted,” Bonfire added, but this time there was no sneering or smartness; at least, none that Windchaser could see.

Dramatico cheered, “Ah! Childhood friends, lovely, lovely. You've even got nicknames! ‘Windy’, nice ring, really!” He rambled on, “Ah, yes, the beauty of years past and friendships that last across the ages. Was it mere coincidence (or fate?) that you two landed here at the academy during the same first year?”

“Well, Windy's a bit of an admirer,” Bonfire stated with a wink.

“Don't flatter yourself,” the stallion growled. “It was just a coincidence.”

Bonfire's eyes dropped to the ground. Windchaser held his breath, bracing for backlash. But nothing came.

… That's it?

With a deep breath through his nostrils Doctor Dramatico continued the march. He hastened his pace to walk right in front of Windchaser, who was still actually leading the way, and looked off into the distance, at the sea that began to form the horizon over the hump of the hill they climbed.

“Let's just enjoy this walk while we can, hmm? Let's not put a damper on things.” His horn glowed a quick light blue hue, and for a second Windchaser thought he felt a tap on his forehead. The professor continued, “Why don't we move onto a topic that's a bit more fun and entertaining? Seven Seas! You’re a peculiar character: do you have any good stories..?”

His voice, though colorful, started to drown out of Windchaser's hearing. The young stallion had just about mastered the ability after eating a number of meals with Bonfire over the past few days, after all. It was strange: for so long he had learned to train his hearing, even to decipher the strength of wind just by its sound. Now, though, he had found a way to do the opposite, to not hear anything. He didn't dislike conversation or talking, only if it came from one mouth in particular.

I'd be enjoying this much more if it weren't for her...

“Then get over your grudge and loosen up for this trip while you still can,” came a voice inside the stallion's head. Windchaser stopped upon realizing it was Dramatico’s. “With this mess we're in, we can't let the small things get to us. That's how the enemy will win.”

As Windchaser subconsciously slowed his pace to ponder, the others passed by. For a split second he could spot a strange look in Bonfire's eye, one that observed him but also let him observe her. Her cockiness seemed to have disappeared for a moment. The burning in her eyes and overconfident smile were nowhere to be seen in the glance he caught. Something else strange was lingering.

Is it... grief? Pssh, who am I kidding? This is Bonfire... the stuck-up. The slacker. The troublemaker. The one who ruined...

---

“Ah, what a wonderful cavern!” Doctor Dramatico exclaimed.

The black hole in the canyon's wall was hardly amazing, at least not to Windchaser, even if it did carry the professor's voice several times with a surprising clarity. The young stallion sighed at the sight of the mouth of the grotto and recalled his past expedition there and the trouble that had been caused. He remembered being dragged in, escaping, and finding the chase to be a hoax.

Wonderful indeed...

“Stay positive, you.”

The voice of Dramatico struck again, this time as the professor was talking to Seven Seas. Somehow he was observing Windchaser's thoughts even when occupied with other things like giving instructions. The student tried to clear his mind of the awkward sensation of being listened to, and so turned his attention to the blank sky to clear his mind.

It was a beautiful sky indeed. He hadn't seen such a clear sky for a long time, though they were quite common back home, in Ponyville and in Bloomburg. The pegasi in each town had a fondness for the open sky, and Windchaser had certainly inherited that admiration, obviously from his parents. One that shared the adulation in the group was most likely Bonfire, but Windchaser didn't care to let his eyes slip over to her.

“Ah, yes, Windchaser, that's exactly what I'll need you to do,” Dramatico said aloud this time as he approached the student. “Keep an eye on the sky, and Bonfire and I will be searching the cave for clues. Should you see anything, anything, out here, warn us. Holler. Scream! Do whatever you think stallion-like, I suppose. Give a hearty tell, or a pirate-y...”

“Sailor, matey,” Seven Seas remarked, a strange darkness swarming his eyes.

Dramatico backed away, his fright emerging in the form of a squeaky laughter, “Sailor, yes, whatever sailors do. Now, remember, you’ll have to reach both myself and Bonfire-”

“Are you sure about her... going with you?” Windchaser asked, or rather let slip; the mare didn't hear it, and to his luck Dramatico only laughed.

“Her name should say it all, really; she's a living torch. She’ll be able to check the cave walls faster than any of us, or so I’ve assumed,” the doctor admitted. “I’ve sensed the general shape of the cave after a quick spell; I detected the rough shape of the earth through vibrations in the ground. There's a split not very far in, and I'll only be able to go one way for a while. To save time in case a storm is already on the way, I need another student, one not watching the sky or the sea, to check the second route while I check the first. Understand?”

Windchaser nodded.

“Good,” Doctor Dramatico said. “Seven Seas, eyes on the sea for any activity, and Windchaser, eyes on the sky for anything strange as well. Let's see if we can't get this over with quickly and not get caught in anything tricky, all right?”

The two nodded and without another word, the professor and Bonfire were off in the cavern. Windchaser let slide one last glance of the two before they submerged into the darkness of the cave. Doctor Dramatico shouted something ridiculous before a light came sparkling from his horn, while Bonfire's body seemed suddenly consumed by flame. The brilliance was familiar, though; Windchaser knew it was just the magic-induced gold color on the mare's coat glowing like a lantern. She really did look like a glowing torch all on her own.

It reminded him of the past, the adventures they had gone on. He had been the younger one following the older troublemaker through abandoned homes, through the evening streets, into the teeny-tiny caves outside town. But those flames had grown until they were weapons, a harmful glow that turned into a burst of rage. He had seen it all unfold, and after one incident, he never saw her in the same light again.

“Got perty heated there, no pun intended,” Seven Seas suddenly smirked as he elbowed his friend in the side.

Windchaser, shaken from his memories, looked to Seven Seas, whose eyes then watched the calm, rolling waves. The silver stallion took his cue and cast his spell, emitting a silvery light, and hovered into the air as though he were climbing a nimble set of invisible stairs. The eastern sky and the top of the academy buildings emerged from the treetops near the cliff’s side and with great attention he watched for any sign of clouds, cirrus or cumulus or anything besides.

“By ‘heated’, do you mean back on the trail?” Windchaser asked after a minute of collecting himself.

“Arr, ye know what was meant,” the blue stallion replied. “If ye don't mind me askin', what's the matter 'tween you two?”

Windchaser had already opened the bottle of the memories, the ones from many years ago. He couldn't quite put the lid back on yet.

“Like she's said, we've known each other for a long time,” Windchaser stated.

“But have ye always been so hostile? I've seen ye these past few days; ye never seem to catch a break 'round her. Is it some kind of riv'lry?”

“Didn't used to be.”

Seven Seas chuckled, as though he had had a similar experience. “Well then, what released the Kraken? When?”

Windchaser wanted to pause, but couldn't help himself. “The last year I saw her, in Bloomburg.”

“Bloomburg? Gar, but ain't that a city of pegasi?” Seven Seas asked, for the first time turning his head to look up at his hovering acquaintance.

Windchaser, however, kept his eyes on the horizon, the division of dark and light blue. “It is. My parents were both pegasi, as you've probably heard. So were hers.”

But I forget that you forget... everything about your fellow male peers.

“Ye both were outcasts, then?”

“More like idols,” Windchaser uttered. “Unicorns aren't supposed to fly, and yet Bonfire and I were racing our pegasus peers. We almost made it into flight camp.”

“Gar, sailing's much better,” Seven Seas remarked with gruff. “No crazy storms or weather worries, ye know?”

… Not really.

“Of course.”

For a moment, the air fell free of speech as the waves continued to sweep the shore and the upper winds calmly breezed by. Easy winds meant low changes in pressure, and little changes in pressure meant no approaching systems. For all he knew, Windchaser couldn't detect a single storm moving in. He looked down at Seven Seas for confirmation, and the blue eyes and ears were just as void of any surprise as his own.

After a long enough pause, though, Seven Seas turned and looked into the cave.

“In quite a ways, they are. Never could do it meself,” he said with a shiver. “So, what happened? Between you and her? Ye never did say, matey.”

“I'd rather not go that far,” Windchaser replied. “Unpleasant memories.”

Seven Seas ha-yucked. “Aww, competitive love int'rest?”

“No, nothing like that involved,” Windchaser mumbled. “She was an older sister to me.”

Which is why what she did to mother...

“Actually, now that I think ‘bout it, that once-sister of yers hasn't made progress in that there cavern,” Seven Seas said. “I reckon she's struck gold.”

“Or more likely she's taking a nap.”

Windchaser knew his peer to be a rather lazy character. Upon hearing Doctor Dramatico's proposition, he had wanted to voice his concern about Bonfire's general demeanor, but had figured that the doctor might have spoken with her in her mind, too. Hearing the lazy mood it appeared Bonfire was apparently getting away with, though, Windchaser figured his professor had simply misjudged her.

With one last look at the sky, Windchaser lowered his altitude until his hooves were pretty much on the ground.

“I'm going in,” Windchaser said.

“If yer not on the best terms, ye'd best not be the one-”

“I have every right to get to the bottom of it,” Windchaser snarled. “Watch the sky for me. I'll be back in a minute.”

“But, I forgot why we're watchin' the sea and-”

“Just watch for clouds or tsunamis,” Windchaser replied coldly.

He couldn't help his tone. Windchaser was forming exactly what he'd say to her, and upon seeing the burning flame in the cave to the right, he had already started preparing his chilling words. He knew it scared some and gave him the 'lone ranger' persona, and as a result he rarely ever used it. This time, however, it felt appropriate.

She wants me to stop avoiding her? Fine. Here goes.

The light drew closer as he made his way. Once the sound of his hooves echoed loud enough, the flame moved slightly and the brightest point in the emanating redness pointed at him.

“W-What are you doing in here?” Bonfire asked, stunned. “Shouldn't you be-?”

“Unlike you, I actually care about us getting this clue and getting back to the academy safely,” Windchaser growled. “I've come to tell you to stop being your usual lazy self and keep looking around unless you've found something.”

Which I doubt.

He turned and began walking away, feeling he had expressed his anger enough to tell her off, but Bonfire's voice came back in a strange tone.

“You were going to tell them.”

The stallion slowly turned around. “Tell who, what?”

“Your friends,” Bonfire continued. No smugness. No smart tone. “You were going to tell the story of me and... your mom.”

Windchaser felt his spirits beginning to dim, not because they grew calm but because the remaining heat in his heart was leaving. A cold chill of memory started working an icy sensation down to his bone.

“Yeah. I was.”

“Is that why you're still angry? Even after, what, five years-?”

Windchaser turned around to face Bonfire again. This time, however, the innocent and desperate look had returned. He had hardly ever seen it before, with his friend being such a confident and snobby mare since they first met as filly and colt. It started to melt his heart, but the massive iceberg wasn’t going to be done in by a single candle, or rather a tiny bonfire.

“I was afraid you were still mad,” Bonfire said. “That’s why I didn’t try and talk with you until recently. When we were in the same group, I figured I would change my approach and tell some stories from the past to see where you were on things. Act like I used to when we knew each other. I mean, you were acting like your same old self every meal, expressionless and quiet; I still couldn't read you, so I kept going on to see when you'd say something. When you brought that... thing, up, I knew you still hated me.”

Hate’s... a bit strong, maybe.

“That’s a nice story,” was all Windchaser could get out, and very sarcastically, hoping to change the topic and make the point he had intended to make from the start, “but you need to keep looking for that clue.”

“I searched this entire part of the cave,” Bonfire replied, getting a bit of her snap back. “It's a dead end with rocks piled to the ceiling. Go see for yourself.”

If that's so, then why hasn't-?

“AHA! Found it!”

The echo rang through the cavern, traveling out of the tunnel but with a volume great enough to travel clearly to the ears of the two students. Bonfire, without another word, rose and headed for the split in the tunnel.

Without pause Bonfire said, “Sounds like somepony’s hit the jackpot.”

But her words weren't filled with any excitement. Really, Windchaser had expected some kind of snideness, but there wasn't any of that either. Just another hint of sadness, almost like the grief he had thought he spotted earlier. Unable to say anything about it, he simply followed behind Bonfire, whose pace was strangely slow.

She's probably faking it all. Wouldn't be the first time. Nothing’s changed.

The two made their way around the bend in the tunnel and to the dim light of Doctor Dramatico, who moved the beam about rather frantically. His breaths were short but loud, and from what Windchaser could tell the professor’s eyes were larger than a pair of ripe apples. In front of him floated a magic notepad he summoned, complete with a white quill that scribbled madly at the white surface, all of it surrounded by a light blue aura.

“Amazing, simply amazing,” Doctor Dramatico uttered, trembling.

“What is it?” Windchaser asked as he tried to make out whatever split-second sights he could gather from the frantically-moving light.

The doctor paused as his breaths only grew shorter. “I... I... I don't know!”

“Well, what's it say?” Bonfire inquired, though rather uninterested.

“Read for yourselves,” the doctor said, holding up his notepad for the two to read.

Despite his perceptive eyes, Windchaser couldn't make any sense of the scribbling. He looked up at the doctor, whose eyes were shifting between the two in some kind of worry.

“Well?” he asked urgently.

Bonfire, as usual, spoke up first, “Can't read a thing. Are you a..?” She stopped as the doctor looked confused. “Nevermind. Let me just light things up myself.”

The gold on her coat began to glow again, this time with greater power. The dark walls faded away as a yellow glow began to reveal the scratches on the cavern wall. Once Windchaser began reading, however, he gradually began to wish more and more that he hadn't.

The words, carved roughly in as though done by a knife or thin instrument, read:

The students shivered, as did the doctor, but Dramatico gathered himself enough to point off to the right where larger letters were carved into the wall, this time by a larger instrument.

“Prince Platinum?” Windchaser wondered aloud. “Tempest?”

“Yes, yes, shocking news! We must return to the academy and tell the headmare at once,” Doctor Dramatico said, nodding. “Seeing as we haven't heard from the two outside, perhaps we won’t need any fancy spells to-” He paused and looked Windchaser dead in the eye. “Windchaser, my student... why aren't you outside? Watching the skies?”

The student stumbled, looking at Bonfire, then stuttered over his own words to make matters worse.

“I-I was checking on things-”

“It was only a few minutes! Things are just peachy keen here, can’t you see?” the doctor remarked. “What about things out-!?”

Lightning. Thunder. The flash and subsequent roll made a combined flash and boom that never had meant anything but a show for Windchaser. As he turned and looked outside, however, the darkness that shrouded the beach that hadn't been there a few minutes ago signaled that more than a show may have just arrived.

“Yar, storm's a-coming from the east!” came a cry from Seven Seas, who then was the last one to enter into the cave. “The waters couldn't tell me properly in advance, professor.”

The student bowed his head humbly – something which Windchaser knew he should have done, but in his shock he felt too stupefied to react himself.

“We'll just have to teleport back then,” Doctor Dramatico said, keeping his calm with a brush of his frizzled mane and tail. “Students, gather closely. I'll be able to get all four of us back, but we have to gather close for my magic to reach. Are we ready?”

The four indeed gathered close together; they were pretty much forehead-to-forehead in a circle of four. Windchaser didn't care anymore that he was standing with Bonfire and two others – but more noticeably Bonfire – so close together in a cave out in a storm. Really, he felt stupid just thinking about the detail. Bonfire couldn't seem to leave his mind, even when he was thinking about his own shortcomings.

I just had to watch the skies. Was that so hard?

“W-Where's he gone to?”

Windchaser opened an eye as Seven Seas began to tremble.

“Stand close,” Windchaser growled, pulling his peer’s head back into the circle. “The spell might not work-”

“It already went wrong,” Bonfire said.

And when Windchaser opened his own eyes, his worst fear had come true: Doctor Dramatico had vanished, leaving Seven Seas, Bonfire and the silver stallion standing on their own.

“I'm here, I'm here!” came a familiar cry. “Fear not, my students. It seems a magic barrier has limited my teleportation to only myself-” The students turned and saw a light start up a few paces away. “-and to moving only a meter in the right direction. No matter, we'll just wait out this storm and contact Princess Luna in the meantime. Perhaps it’s a normal-”

“D-D-Doctor Dramatico...” Seven Seas stuttered.

“What now, are you going to tell me you’re afraid of thunderstorms?”

Windchaser looked to his friend, then to the professor. Upon lifting his eyes, he could see more than one light hovering in the air. They were faint, red, and quite tiny compared to the light blue glowing from the doctor's horn. But the little gleams weren't just little lights of their own.

“Are those... eyes?” Bonfire shrieked.

The doctor laughed and turned around. “Eyes? Nonsense, what a preposterous-”

But when he turned around, his mind seemed to quickly change.

“RUN!”

Next Chapter: Chapter 39 (Episode 10): Returning to Abnormal Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes