//------------------------------// // Storms of Black Lightning // Story: The Nightmare Chronicles // by Maxypony //------------------------------// The Nightmare Chronicles Chapter III Storms of Black Lightning Meanwhile, Back in Canterlot... While setting her waxing charge into it ritual track in the rapidly darkening dusky starsteeked  sky, Luna felt a quite unusual tremor from the glistening first rays of moonlight softly shining from the silvery orb drifting just above the horizon. Such a tremor troubled Luna, something about it reminded the royal alicorn of her dark, and troubling past. Luna's keen eyes lighted upon her dusky celestial orb, with a remorseful gaze panged  with old regets. She deftly tossed her mane into the gentile breeze, and turning aside, Luna returned to her inner sanctum. Shrugging off the strange chills that ran from ethe foremost tuft of her mane to the longest hairs of her tail, brushing along the cold smooth expanse of the marble hall. /)(\ Flying was hard work, gliding was easy. Scootaloo hopped down from her perch, wings wide spread she glided softly down to dash, the branching crabapple leaves now no longer obscuring her view of the western sky. "Dashie, you... Wha... Huh. How did that Gigantic  storm get there. " scootaloo mused. "There isnt any storm planned for to day so what aare you talking about!?!" Was dashies retort, to which scootaloo merely stuck a hoof out. "OOhhh you mean that storm, well that would explain the gigantic." Dash replied. "Nope, don't know why that is there." Dash looked back at the torbid cloud bank marching toward them, catching the last glimmer of light bouncing off the flat underside of the aproaching stormhead. Darkness enveloped Dash and Scootaloo. /)(\ Throughout ponyville, awe swiftly morphed into unbridled terror as the billowing storm clouds built up into a towering wall of menacing darkness. The last rays of the suns warmth, dwindling into nothingness cast the whole of ponyville into a chilling darkness. To many a ponies suprise the golden sun rays were swiftly replaced by a new source of light eminating from the cloud in sharp flashes. Each flash  was followed seconds later by an sinister crackle. The shocking part of the storm burst was their color, instead of the classical silvery yellow of normal lightning, these poles of light were black. How black could be a form of light is hard to comprehend if you've never seen it yourself. Shadows were blasted away, replaced instead with a uncannily visable, yet eerily monochromatic darkness. In between the flashes nopony could see a hoofs breadth in front of their muzzle. Even the bravest of foals began to whimper as everypony rushed to get indoors. This was no storm to be outside in, or even fought, corralled or redirected. Everypegisii dashed for shelter. All ecept Dash and Scootaloo, they were cought out in the middle of a crabapple orchard, more than a hop, skip and a jump from anyponies sheltering abode. They hunkered down beneath what shelter could be gleaned from the nearest crabapple tree. Waiting for the full force of the storm to hit. /)(\ Sweet Apple Orchards was a hive of activity. Everypony from Grannysmith down to little apple bloom was bustling getting everything ready to weather the approaching storm. Twilight raced toward the orchard's Stables, rushing past Applejack and Big Mac. Twi paused, turned and blurted out hurriedly. "You are going to have to take care of spike during the storm. I need to teleport back to the library to lock up. I have TONs of research to do, all I know is that This Storm is very magical and extremely dangerous. Everpony be as careful as possible." Applejack asked. "Sugarcube, y'all look out of sorts, what in the hay is going on?" "I DONT KNOW! Ok, I don't know, and im scared. This is bad, very bad..." Her voice trailed off, and she took a deep breath. "I need to go Now." With a bright flash of purple magic twilight disappeared. "By Granny Smiths wrinkles, I Ain't ever seen Twilight actin' that way before." Applejack commented, before herding everypony and a dragon into the shelter of Sweet Apple Orchards. /)(\ 2 Chapter 3: Storms of Black Lightning (Part 2) The hollow crackle of black lightning smootly accompanied the pop of purple magic that announced Twilight's arival to the empty library. Twilight arrived upside down and several feet above the ground, the mystic energies of the storm already playing tricks on her spellcasting. She landed with a dull thud, legs akimbo, for a moment looking like a dead spider. Rolling onto her Hooves Twilight called out for her Owl night assistant. "Whoo." Was his only reply. Fearing to use magic again, Twilight begain franticlly browsed the lower shelves for any books might hold a refrence to the Last Darkness. This was the only referable term Twi had found in the old Tome. Realizing the monumental imposability of the task before her, Twilight prepared a spell to help narrow the search. However, before she could cast the spell, a tattered scroll landed onto the table beside her. A Owl followed moments after, pointing a talon at the venerable papyrus. It was a aged zebera scroll, full of archaic zebra nursery rhymes, Twilight was barrowing it from Zecora to practice translating the oldest know zebra dialect. Although the subject matter was simple and familiar, the archaic lingua combined with the foreign, confusing script, meant Twi's progressed at a snails pace. Several day's before, Twilight quit in rage, at which the point the library's night Owl tried his talon at deciphering the coptic phrases. Twilight found the segment underlined with a talon. However, the letters were so aged and faded it was nearly impossible make out, much less comprehend. Twilight glanced up at her companion who shrugged his wings in frustration, pointing his talon at the only decipherable portion. After a few minutes of struggle, Twilight was finally able to make out a truncated phrase. /'...afore yon sun did light cast, twixt Darkness antiquity  doth Last.'/ Realizing there was nothing more to be deciphered until she could take the scroll back to Zecora, Twilight raced to batten down the library before the storm could get in and ruin her precious collection. /)(\ The guard hairs bristled along her Spine as Rainbow Dash spread out her wing to help shelter scootaloo from the worst of the storm. Rain began to pour down in icy sheets as the dark clouds blotted out the world around them. The nightmarish Storm was just beginning. The trees around them began transforming into spooky monsters, set off by lucid flashes of near blinding darkness. Inside the storm, flashes of lightning became packet of terror, turning everything in Dashie's field of vision into something she knew couldn't be there. The black lightning struck especially close to their shabby tree-shelter, causing scootaloo to snuggle tightly up under dashie's protecting wing. A nearby branch snapped in the escalating wind as Scootaloo let out what she wanted to be a brave sounding squeek. Instead, scootaloo hit a pitch normally reserved for classroom chockboards. "I'm pretty sure tha- AAAAHH!!" Dash screamed in the middle of trying to reassure scootaloo. Every hair on end as the dark lightning blasted into the tree they were huddled under. "-Sure we should move, and NOW!" Dash finished as she jumped into the sky and sped off in the direction of ponyville. "WAIT!" Cried Scootaloo as Dash shot into the sky. "I can't fly! Come back!" Dash did an intricate spin looping back and scooping scootaloo up on her  forehooves. Dash sprinted skyward, there was no way Dash could carry scootaloo all the way back to ponyville in the raging gale that was brewing. Years of storm flying, however, had lent valuable knowledge to the swift Pegasus. If you couldn't fly through a storm, you could always fly above it. Flying through storm clouds was more than a uphill battle, and Dash, burden clutched tightly to her chest, had never faced a storm to compare with this one. /)(\ The scene at Sweet Apple Orchards was hushed silence, everypony waiting for the thundering storm to brake around them. It did. Barn peppered with pounding sheet of rain, gale force wing tearing around the buildings with ferocious abandon. The wind howled around the chimney mimicking the baying of timberwolves during Zap Apple season. The terrifying flashes of luminous darkness bursting from the cloud bank in rapid succession. Powerful and dangerous, yes, but also somehow also interwoven with a rare beauty; or so thought a certain apple bucking expert. Safe in the sturdy shelter of their barn, everypony took turns looking through windows and the strange storm washing around them. "By Celestia's mane, this storm tickles my tail somethin' fierce." Applejack exclaimed. "Its terrifying and beautiful all at once." A head or two bobbed in timid agreement. /)(\ While Sweet Apple Orchards, give its more remote location, was built to take a beating; Ponyville was in no such shape. One building in particular took a hefty beating. Scaffoldings still up in someplace to assist in the repair of onepony's cross-eyed mishaps. Scaffoldings collapsed, newly repaired boards were ripped away, tearing freshly laid nail work from it new home. Throughout the town shingles tore from rooftops, windows broke as the blustering wings scooped loose objects off the ground and swung them around with tremendous strength. Rain soaked the hard packed ground, turning streets into mud-walks and creating streams of turbid water racing toward every hollow in the ground. Ponies were soaked to the bone in their once dry homes by torrents of icy rain. The curtain of water droplets enveloped the small town in a downpour so thick, a knife could be used to cut through it. The residents were hunkered down for hour after hour as the storm continued its wonton rampage.There would be no relief for anypony until the storm passed.