//------------------------------// // Prologue: The Flood // Story: Flash Flood // by Brony757live //------------------------------// The Flood Prologue The sheriff was making his rounds, and naturally that meant that sometimes he had to check on the status of the Ponyville dam. At night It has only ever been staffed with one employee at a time, the ever-vigilant dam watch ...who was currently napping underneath the visitors desk. These damn colts wouldn't know hard work if it hit them in the face. Jack-wagon probably wouldn't even notice if I did happen to hit him in the face with a little "hard work"... The sheriff thought as he eyed a large board sitting in the far corner, a remnant of the renovations the building had undergone recently. Then, a shadow passed over the wall. The sheriff turned to glance behind him, but only ended up with a brick to the face... Through the loud booms of the lightning storm above the alarms of Ponyville blared! The Elements of Harmony gathered in the streets to confront the agitator that had put the town of Ponyville in such a state of unrest. "My eyes kept circling so bad I had vertigo, and my arms are still shaking, and my hooves were like 'Where are you putting me!?', and my tail kept flailing all over the place, is it still? I mean, I could barely get here without falling all over myself.. and!" The pink mare squealed in frustration. "What does 'at all mean, Pinkie!?" Applejack yelled, cutting her off. "I don't even know! But whatever it is, it's an even bigger doozy than when Twilight believed in my Pinkie sense!" All of the mares gasped! "Wait... I feel something coming!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'll see what it is!" Rainbow Dash soared above to get a better view. She instantly dove back down and grabbed onto Twilight in a vice-like grip. "Twi-t-t... F-ff-f..." Rainbow spluttered. "Wha-?" "Flood!" Wind whipped through the trees, lightning cracked the sky, and the dam over Ponyville burst forth in a sea of swirling debris. Ponies screamed in horror as a tidal wave of turmoil flooded Ponyville, leaving destruction in its wake. The sickening screeches of furry creatures that had inhabited the nearby forests could barely be heard over the thunder of the flash flood that forced its way through the small town, buckling houses under its massive weight. Half the town was already engulfed when a wall of purple magic smashed into the blur of swirling, icy-cold water. "I-I can't hold it!" Twilight heaved. "Let me help!" Rarity used her magic to push into the surf. Both Ponies struggled to stop the water, but to no avail, it continued to push into Ponyville! Just as it was about to engulf the two mares, their magical essences were joined by a bright veil of fair gold as vibrant as the sun, and a dark haze of blue as deep and unnerving as the water behind it. The barrier slowly pushed the water back to the edges of Ponyville, pulling drowning ponies inside of it's sheltering glow as it passed. The flood ceased and pooled around the sides of the barrier that had formed around all of Ponyville. There was a deathly silence inside the barrier. No birds sang, no ponies spoke, and the storm that had flung itself upon Ponyville, causing so much devastation, quietly brewed in the distance. As she came to, Twilight could hear three authoritative voices yelling out commands to the Ponyville citizens that clambered about the town. Two of the voices had a booming, but silken quality to them. The third voice sounded all to familiarly bewildered. Suddenly one of the voices stopped and sweetly woke Twilight from her slumber. "Twilight, we need your help. I know you're tired, but I know you're strong. You can do this, you need to help your fellow ponies." Celestia spoke in a very reasonable tone that appealed to Twilight's bewildered mind. She tried to get up, and succeeded on the second attempt, albeit groggily. "What's happening?" Twilight finally managed to mutter. Celestia answered in a more urgent tone now. "Half of the town was submerged in the flood created by the disjunction of the Ponyville dam. Twilight, Mayor Mare is overwhelmed with the number of crises that need attending to. We need you to sort out priorities, I have ponies already dealing with the most important details, but I need you to help remedy the smaller ones. Do you understand?" Celestia's commanding tone bolstered Twilight's brain into action. "Okay, what needs doing?" Twilight asked. "Mayor Mare will tell you all you need to know." Was all Celestia said. Behind her beloved teacher Twilight could see Luna lifting rubble and debris with her magic, carefully placing it in a pile nearby. Twilight remembered the cold embrace she'd felt as their magical essences entwined in the wall of energy that pushed against the tidal wave that threatened the rest of Ponyville. Then, Twilight's attention focused back on Celestia, whom she'd noticed wasn't moving. Rather, she was concentrating very deeply. Then Twilight saw the fair golden magic's glow out of the corner of her vision. Celestia was currently focusing on keeping the wave and subsequent river out of Ponyville, the water rushing around her arc of magic and meandering toward what looked like the direction of Foggy Bottom Bog... "Mayor Mare, what's the status of Ponyville?" Twilight asked calmly. "Oh! Oh, Twilight... You scared me." The Mayor had been standing on a small pile of rubble, but had fallen off in her anxiety. Twilight would have felt awkward if it hadn't been for their situation. "Sorry, Mayor." Twilight responded apologetically. "Well then..." Mayor Mare continued. "Yes, well, okay. I sent the Wonderbolts to ward off the storm, so that's a non-issue, and I have Rainbow Dash surveying the area for injured ponies for the rescue teams. Now what we need are ponies to start building levees at the sides of the river and to direct the river around Ponyville. We also need to gather ponies to help rescue any trapped ponies in the rubble. Those are the two major issues right now. So, I need you to organize the levee teams while I direct the rescue teams. The hospital is being directed by Dr. Polio, so no need to worry about that..." Mayor Mare looked extremely frazzled. "So, just get the levees built so Celestia can focus on helping the rescue teams and we can relieve the hospital teams, okay?" Twilight immediately set to work. I have to find Applejack... She thought. Meanwhile... The Wonderbolts were leading the storm away from Ponyville and into Foggy Bottom Bog. The plan was to get it away from civilization and to try to rip it apart cloud by cloud. The storm raged, and lightning arced across the sky, accenting the heavy rainfall that tore at the Wonderbolts' feathers. The lightning lit up the bog and gave life to the dark shadows aimlessly sprinting below; animals scurrying away to their dens. But unbeknownst to the Wonderbolts, the lightning hadn't been what scared them. As the flash receded back to oblivion, the swamp's surface started to bulge and ripple. Two red eyes breached the water, then six, and then ten. With the booming of the thunder and the darkness of the night, it felt like the Wonderbolts surely stood at the threshold of Tartarus. And unfortunately for them, they had managed to awaken something worse than even Cerberus himself. Twilight carefully maneuvered her way through the street, which was riddled with detritus. "Twilight! You have to 'elp, Sweet Apple Acres is flooded and Granny Smith and Apple Bloom are trapped in the second floor of the 'ouse!" Applejack had found Twilight instead. "Applejack!" Twilight rushed to her. "Twilight please! I wasn't there to 'elp and now they're not gonna make it unless we hurry!" "What about Big Mac, what happened to him?" Twilight asked. "He was with me when we was passing through town. We was gettin' the family some take out, then the flood hit. Then I asked RD to check on Sweet Apple Acres, and she told me what 'appened!" Applejack whimpered. Twilight thought for a second... "Tell Rainbow Dash to get some other pegasi to help Granny Smith and Apple Bloom. But afterwards come back, I need your help stopping the river." "Okay!" Applejack ran off to find Rainbow Dash again. "Twilight, 'ave you seen Applejack?" Big Mac yelled after Twilight, who was currently flagging down a very large stallion. "Big Mac! I need you to get the strongest stallions you can find to meet me at the edge of the wreckage. Oh, and Applejack is fine, I sent her to find Rainbow Dash. Don't worry about Granny Smith and Apple Bloom, they'll be fine." With that said Big Mac galloped away. The stallion Twilight was flagging down trotted up just then. "Howdy miss, whatcha need?" "I need your help to build levees beside the river to direct it away from Ponyville, Celestia can't hold the barrier forever." Twilight said quickly and to the point. "Sure thing miss, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing, so I was jus' wanderin' the rubble. Name's Tex." "Twilight." He held out his hoof and Twilight quickly bumped it with hers, hurrying in the direction of the area where she came-to. Big Mac had arrived with the strongest stallions he could find a few hours ago, and the construction of the levees was in full force. Luckily, Tex happened to work for Ponyville Construction, so the struggle was a bit easier than it initially could have been. Twilight floated rubble and dirt from the pile Luna had created earlier over to help create the crude hills. Celestia remained unfazed, but continued to concentrate only on the barrier surrounding Ponyville. The Ponyville news crew pleaded at their cameras in the background, begging anypony watching to send aid. They were on emergency channels, but almost nopony would be awake this late at night... By the time the Ponies from nearby towns and cities had finally arrived, the makeshift levees had been built and Twilight Sparkle lay in her bed, completely exhausted. Applejack's family had been saved by "Your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash", and RD swelled with pride. The news crews from Fillydelphia had interviewed her and praised her heroism. But beneath her bragging facade lay a pony who had just lost half of her home, and who was heartbroken. And really, they didn't know the half of what she'd been through tonight.. But knowing that telling them anything more would keep her from precious sleep, she bit her tongue. The news crew finally let her go when the Wonderbolts came back from warding off the storm and slowly degenerating it once it was out of the way of any form of civilization. But it wasn't just their uniforms that had caught the reporters' eyes, it was their wounded teammates. Spitfire, under the arms of Soarin', waved to Rainbow with a sad expression on her face, but Dash was too tired to join the interview... RRRRAAAAaaagghghghh! The Wonderbolts clasped their heads at the earsplitting screech. Unfortunately for them, the sound hadn't come from the lightning... but from the very agitated hydra that the storm had perturbed during its sleep. The monster lashed at the Wonderbolts, who could barely see the hooves in front of their faces without light from the storm, and Blaze and High Winds fell to the darkness below. The rest of the Wonderbolts didn't know what hit them. The screams of the ponies that had faced a dragon, one of the fiercest monsters in all Equestria, told their fellow Wonderbolts that whatever it was, it wasn't good! It was Fleetfoot who first noticed the unnerving red glow moving towards her and the remaining Wonderbolts. Quickly, she shouted for them to scramble high into the storm. The other Wonderbolts shot into the sky, some more reluctant than others. The reluctant pegasi found all too late the importance of trusting your comrades. As Lightning Streak, Silver Lining and Surprise fell to the invisible aggressor there was a burst of lightning. The ponies gasped at the horror that faced them- a hydra, the most dangerous monster in all Equestria and beyond. Its body was plated with scales like shields, teeth like swords, claws like spears, and a tail that shook with tremendous power! And as if that weren't enough, it had five heads! Rapidfire shat his jumpsuit. The pegasi rounded the hydra, trying to make it disoriented by having to fight more than one opponent, and although they were fast, the hydra had five heads and easily managed to keep up with their movements. Luckily, none of them were gnashed by the enormous mouths that shot at them. They rounded again, this time flying in circles and doing aerial acrobatics that the hydra couldn't keep up with. Instead, the monster's heads wrapped around each other and in a sort of knot. The two heads that didn't get stuck looked at the others in disgust at their stupidity. Before they could finish their sluggish thoughts, the Wonderbolts had rounded again. But the last two heads had expected that and moved their claws in front of the fliers. Spears ripped away at Wonderbolt armor, and Firestreak and Wave Chill fell to the great beast, gravely wounded. Spitfire thought of circling around the hydra again, but remembering the monster's interception before, thought better of it. Besides, the other heads are too far apart to knot them up like the others... But before she could figure out what to do, one of the knotted up heads broke free and swatted at Spitfire and the Wonderbolts scattered. Rainbow Dash was on her way to Sweet Apple Acres when she heard a loud roaring in the distance above the lighting which streamed towards her. Oh no! The Wonderbolts must be in trouble! Rainbow zoomed towards the lightning-lit brawl in the distance, gaining speed. Then she saw the hydra. Only one thought came to her, but she wasn't sure it was a good one. She continued to zoom toward the beast, a mach cone forming around her head, and burst into a Sonic Rainboom! The explosion knocked the Wonderbolts out of the sky, out of the swooping of the hydra's heads. The after-wave knocked the beast to the ground, stunned. The last of the Wonderbolts lay on the ground below, some unconscious, others fighting the pain welling up in their bodies. Rainbow flew down to Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts, and held her head in her arms. Spitfire looked up to her. "I- where am I?" "Spitfire, are you okay? Can you walk?" Dash whispered. "Rainbow? Y-you saved us, thank you.. Tell Fleetfoot that sh-she's team captain now, I can't get us out of here, and I didn't do anything in the battle. I'm useless now, I-I can't go on.." "Don't say that Fire!" Dash shouted. Soarin' galloped nearby, yelling for Spitfire who was invisible in the dark fray that surrounded her and Rainbow. "Hey, I never told you this, but you're a really good flier. You're too good. I didn't accept you into the Wonderbolts because I didn't want you outshining me. I'm sorry for that." "No.. shut up! You're my hero and you're going to be fine!" "Spitfire!" Soarin' was getting close, following the sound of Dash's shouting. "I don't deserve to be your hero, and I don't deserve to be team captain, I can't do it anymore. I can feel my wing, it's broken.." Spitfire stopped, one of Dash's tears streaking down her face and into her ear. She looked irritated, and at first Rainbow thought she was only reacting to the uncomfortable position of her tear. But then she looked at Dash with an expression that held pain, confusion, and... something else. Looking deep into Rainbow's puffy eyes, Spitfire mustered the courage, and kissed her. Soarin' finally made it to Spitfire, but Rainbow was nowhere to be found... That kiss had stunned Rainbow, but she had a job to do, saving Applejack's family was her number one priority. She arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and found Granny Smith and Apple Bloom on the roof of the house where Applejack said they would be. Picking them up, she flew back to Ponyville, arriving safely at Applejack's grateful hooves.