Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

24.2--Something in the Water

In times of war, it pays for a country to build shelters in a safe place for civilians to flee to in the event of an attack from hostile foreign powers. Canterlot had tunnels bored into the mountain leading to such shelters, which were caves furbished to make those who escaped the crossfire as comfortable as possible as they waited out the attacks. Food and water and simple bedding were commodities stored within, leaving the possibility of one such crisis lasting days. Clocks to keep time, maps of the tunnel system, books and pamphlets about handling crises, paper for important notes, and more were stored in desks within in case of emergency, and some thoughtful pony thought of the foals and stored coloring books so they wouldn't get antsy.

One tunnel lead from the Rune Manor, where Silk Shimmer and her two companions led the party of their eight rescuees, albeit having to brush away more vampires and werewolves along the way. They barreled on down to the basement, where the secret door was hidden, and went through it. Silk made sure to reseal it with the magic signature lock--which was only to be opened by a Rune family member such as her--and then, they all were led down the tunnel to the shelter.

They entered into the chamber, atop a set of stairs that overlooked the ponies below. It was lit up by colorful crystals and with space enough for the few dozen ponies inside. Some laid on cots or sleeping bags, some were talking over bottles of water, some foals were coloring in coloring books or playing quiet games, and some were discussing the crisis and what they should do about it. There was a sizable portion of the ponies complaining to the latter group, wondering when they could get out of the cave and back into their comfy homes.

Braeburn scanned the mine and whistled. "Golly, this hidin' spot's a whole lot bigger than I imagined!"

"They certainly took 'hiding in the mountains' literally," Little Strongheart said.

"This feels like the mine," Tomato said, shrinking into himself.

"At least it doesn't smell like wet barbecue," Rainbow said.

"Y'know, it's a miracle that these ponies escaped both enchanted water and a whole city of ponies gone varmint," Applejack said.

"Bah, it was more Iron Will's preparation and skill in fighting off those monsters!" Iron Will gloated, striking a pose and flexing his muscles. "I carried many defenseless, innocent ponies to escape the horrible fate of their neighbors!"

Fluttershy gave him a look. "You didn't kill anypony, did you?"

"No, but I knocked plenty of teeth out!"

Tomato cringed. "Ouch..."

Rarity shivered. "Well, it's a fairly decent cave that no vampire and werewolf can get in--but I wouldn't want to be stuck in here to wait things out for... who knows how long? Oh, and I hate that I'm dreading the feeling of thirst more than I should!"

Silk Shimmer glanced at a shelf at a faraway wall, and levitated a bottle from said shelf across the room. Giving it to Rarity, she said, "If you're thirsty, the bottled water isn't enchanted. Believe it or not, some of these ponies escaped because they refuse to drink from the tap."

Rarity sadly took the bottle in her magic. "Then how did Sassy transform? I know she prefers bottled water." Rarity looked at the label and gasped. "Like the AquaShimmer Spring brand! I hear that it's some of the finest vitamin-and-mineral enhanced water in all of Equestria!" She unscrewed the cap and guzzled it down.

Rainbow Dash gave her an incredulous look. "It's water."

Fluttershy shrugged. "I guess as long as it's not enchanted..."

Twilight went down the steps, hanging her head. "My parents don't object to drinking from the tap... and there's no doubt they would have on a hot summer day. And my old friends... they just wanted a get together and were just unfortunate enough to get thirsty! And... Celestia and Luna..." Twilight paused to swallow a lump in her throat. "I can't believe this spell got to them, and I wasn't here to stop it!"

Tomato held the necklace in his hoof, and looked at Twilight somberly. "Yeah, welcome to the club."

Twilight sighed. "Well, even more reason to reverse this spell. This shelter is the only place where we can rest, and figure out where our villain is. And maybe formulate a better plan than just poofing around everywhere and fighting off everything that attacks us."

She made it to the ground, where ponies started to notice her and gasp at the sight of one of the princesses. Reaching the bottom of the stairs and spreading out a little, the others sat down and pulled first aid kits from their saddlebags to treat each others' cuts and bruises. Iron Will marched off to the shelf to grab some water of his own, and then to a gym bag in the corner to apparently take care of himself. Twilight approached the circle of ponies discussing the crisis. She swept her eyes between the ponies bickering over plans and the ponies brushing up on the books to figure out what to do next. Then, she caught their attention with the clearing of her throat.

"Princess Twilight?" one cornflower blue stallion said, lowering his book. "Thank heavens, a princess managed to escape!"

Twilight grinned sheepishly. "Actually, I wasn't here when the whole thing started. I had a little business elsewhere."

As she cleaned off Rarity's cuts, Glimmerdust snidely stated, "I bet those werewolves and vampires caught you off guard, huh, princess? You're lucky that we were around to save your butts."

"Don't be so rude!" Silk Shimmer scolded after looking over Tomato. She stood up, trotted over to the circle, and looked to the blue stallion. "Well, Dad, we didn't get the counterspell, but Princess Twilight might just be better."

"Wait, that's your father?" Tomato asked, to which Silk Shimmer nodded.

"I also recognize him as a teacher at Celestia's school," Twilight added.

"My name's Quasar Rune," Silk's father said. "And I do hope that you still remember the vampire cure from when you had to clean up..." He sagged and looked away in shame. "...my son's mess. And perhaps could modify it for this situation."

Twilight sat down. "I'm sorry about Kazam, Quasar. It must be hard knowing that somepony you love has done something so terrible."

Quasar sighed. "I've tried to deny that he had done something that awful, but to do so now..." Quasar looked at Tomato, who just furrowed his brow. "That would be an utter insult to the victims who went through that disaster. It's not the first time anypony in my family has done something horrible, but those were before I was born. In this instance, I feel like I could have prevented it."

"Oh, it's a sad case of somepony who thinks his special talent puts him above everypony else," Glimmerdust grumbled, putting a white band-aid on Rarity's foreleg.

It wasn't loud enough to leave her and Rarity's small space, but Tomato picked up on it, and turned to her with a sharp glare, snorting hotly. He took several steps to accost her. "Please, keep using Kazam's victims as your soapbox; I dare you to say it loud enough for his dad to hear."

Rarity wrinkled her nose. "That certainly was in poor taste; you almost sound like Starlight Glimmer."

Glimmerdust glared at her like she was barely repressing a vicious attack, down to her horn sparking. "Well... whoever enchanted the water to turn ponies into monsters is definitely much worse than her. For starters, there isn't even a good point to it!"

Twilight turned to them and asked, "Um, her?"

Glimmerdust blinked, realizing that Twilight didn't hear the exchange. "Oh... him, I mean him, Mr. Rune's son." She looked to Tomato and Rarity, who still glared at her, and shuffled away from them.

Quasar Rune sighed. "That much is obvious, but right now, the villain contest is not important, it's cleaning up the current mess."

Glimmerdust huffed. "Yeah, of course. I do have to say, it was a devious move."

"No doubt about that," Twilight said. Then, her eyes lit up. "Of course, if he can enchant the water to spread the curse, why can't we do it to spread the cure? It'll at least lighten up the attacks until we can get to the root of the problem." Twilight pulled a blank page from somepony's notepad and a pencil from another pony, and then scribbled it down. She turned to Quasar. "Can you go to the water plant and fix this?"

Quasar frowned. "I'd like to, but unfortunate, my magic power only goes so far--transmogrification magics are not my strong suit. But perhaps Glimmerdust could do it--she has proven herself quite powerful."

Glimmerdust sighed. "All right, I'll go along with your idea--I just want these stupid vampires and werewolves out of the way so I can get back to my plans."

Tomato piped up, "What plans?"

Glimmerdust paused for a moment to think, and then answered, "Furthering my education."

Twilight levitated the note to her with a grin. "Oh! What are you studying?"

"Uh..." Glimmerdust turned around and made her way to the exit. "Magic and stuff. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fix the water system. I'm sure we're all sick of being cooped up in here and worrying that we'd run out of the non-enchanted water."

Before Glimmerdust went too far, Twilight asked, "But how did you come to the conclusion that it was the water?"

Glimmerdust groaned and rolled her eyes. "Was leaving the library after late-night research, saw hooligans playing in the water fountain, and I watched half of them turn into werewolves and the other half into vampires. Ask the others for their stories, the common theme confirmed my suspicions."

And with that, she practically floated up the stairs and out of the chamber.

Tomato pouted at her, and turned to Rarity. "You know, I don't like her very much."

"Agreed," Rarity said.

Twilight turned to them. "I don't think it matters if we like her at this point."

"She's at least powerful enough to defend herself." Quasar frowned, looking down at the ground and displacing his glasses with a rub of his eye. "But, yes, it seemed pretty obvious after going through our stories. My wife Merry and I were helping Silk pack to go back to Halterside when Merry grew thirsty and went to the kitchen for a drink. We heard her pained cries, and ran to her to find that she had transformed into a vampire and could not recognize us. We managed to fight her off and escape but..." He swallowed a lump in his throat and exhaled. "Thinking of my wife in that state just compounds the anguish I already felt this past week."

One teary-eyed mare in the circle piped up, "My husband was taking a shower when the spell affected him. He became a werewolf and clawed himself out of the bathroom just to try to eat me and our foals!"

Another mare said, "Me and a coworker were helping a fellow waitress clean up in the bathroom after she took a tumble, and the waitress suddenly grew bat wings! I escaped... the other girl didn't."

"My wife was giving our little son a bath!" one stallion shouted. "And both turned werewolf and tried to kill me, no matter how hard I tried to remind them that I was their husband and father!"

"Sure, my mare runs through the sprinklers to be goofy, and then she comes running back as a werewolf, ready to pounce!" a younger stallion complained, curled up in a ball, holding back tears. "And I was planning to propose to her, too!"

Fluttershy gasped, breaking out of her focus on cleaning Rainbow's cuts. "Oh, you poor ponies! I can't imagine how awful that must have been."

Twilight's gaze fell to the floor and she pursed her lips, taking a moment to dislodge her next words from her throat, before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop this before it got this far." She glanced at Tomato, who stood up, and mirrored her apology with just his expressions. "We thought we were dealing with somepony sabotaging a witness testimony, but it turned out that it was something much more sinister."

"Sabotaging a witness testimony?" one pony asked. "How in the blazing hay did that lead to vampires and werewolves overrunning the city?!"

Quasar Rune narrowed his eyes. "Sabotaging a... are you saying that the pony who stole Cheese Sandwich's memories is behind this?"

Now having band-aids scattered around her body, Rainbow hovered above them. "Uh, how do you know that?"

"I was at my son's trial, and I didn't miss that part." Quasar stroked his purple goatee. "So, it really wasn't somepony sabotaging the trial, huh? Instead, it's part of a plot to overrun Equestria with vampires and werewolves that have no memory of who they are? Either Wayer Rune has returned, or somepony out there is taking a page from his book. Pray tell, Princess... which one is it?"

Twilight pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, Quasar, but it is Wayer Rune."

The others gasped, while Quasar remained stone-faced. Not able to look Twilight in the eyes, he simply looked down. "I see." He ran a hoof through his two-toned hair and sighed. "Ever since Tirek escaped Tartarus, I started wondering if my ancestor could have done the same, and if he did, stop and appreciate how much progress we've made in Equestria... or simply use the time to plan on a better way to destroy it. Seems like his time in Tartarus has only embittered him more."

Tomato trotted forth to the circle and asked, "All right, so why take it out on us? We had nothing to do with that stupid war!"

"Yes, but I don't doubt that he just wants to destroy everything that Celestia built."

Twilight levitated Wayer Rune's journal out of her saddlebag and gave it to Quasar. "I read this to try to understand his mindset, and from what I've read... yes, that does seem to be the case. I stopped before he started removing soldiers' memories, and the wolf plague started causing massacres and spreading to the surviving innocents. A couple of my friends wouldn't have been able to handle the details."

Fluttershy slumped forward. "The war was depressing enough."

Quasar flipped through the journal. "Well, he certainly described a lot, especially since he was on the front lines of those attacks, causing a lot of the bloodshed. And well, from what he says here, his wife's sixth sense picked up on it, thus she knew a lot more than she let on. He simply threatened her and the rest of the family into silence, and she complied by falling into denial and hiding her anguish behind a smile. It took a lot of bravery for Silver Rune to inform Celestia about the source of the wolf plague."

"Okay, I think we got the backstory down," Rainbow said. "Right now, we need to actually find Wayer Rune and kick his butt! Twilight, don't you have the magic tracker spell thing? We were looking for a safe place for you to do that!"

"Oh, right, we'll see if he's still in Canterlot," Twilight said. She took a deep breath, and her horn glowed. She created a magic bubble which expanded outward throughout the entire chamber, then through the walls. She held her breath for a few seconds more, reading every square of the mountain that Canterlot resided on.

She sighed. "No, he's not here. I can only detect my friends and the memories."

The others, who had managed to listen enough while patching each other up, snapped their heads toward her and groaned. Rainbow threw her hooves up and yelled, "Really?! Where the hay did he go?!"

"On vacation," Tomato deadpanned.

Quasar gave Tomato an odd look, but then turned back to Twilight. "Wait, you have Wayer Rune's magic signature?"

Twilight shook her head. "Cheese Sandwich's, actually. As the linchpin of this plot, I don't think Wayer's going to let him out of his sight." She beckoned Tomato to draw closer, and once he did, she pointed to the necklace he wore. "We need to return these to Cheese so that not only he will regain his memories, but every other werewolf and vampire will as well. Once they remember who they are, Wayer will have no power over them."

"Uh, actually, we'd also need to take away his dog whistle," Tomato said. "He kind of made that his siren call."

"Right, that too," Twilight said. She looked back at Quasar. "Is there a map of Equestria around here? That might help us determine where he has likely struck, and where he will strike next."

"Perhaps somewhere around here," Quasar said. "We were a little too focused on our city to bring one out."

Silk scoffed, taking off her hat and pulling a map out. "I have one in my hat; I did use to travel around a bit." She spread the map in the circle, which grew larger as she, Tomato, Twilight, Twilight's entourage, and the two allies of the southern desert scooted in.

Little Strongheart blinked at the scale of the map. "Is Equestria really that big?"

"Yep," Braeburn said, staring as well. "Most ponies don't even trot every inch of it."

"I was traveling around this country all summer," Tomato said, his eyes trailing to each city he visited in order. "Seen a lot of neat sights, met different kinds of ponies, did a lot of amazing things... makes me sad to think that any one of those places could be next."

"Not just any one," Twilight said. "We need to figure out which is the best target for his type of attack."

"Which, frankly, would be a major city," Quasar suggested.

Tomato felt his stomach drop. The term "major city" brought to mind his hometown of Manehattan. Towering skyscrapers and a large population were tempting for any warmonger wanting to spread death and fear, and after Canterlot, was more than likely to be next.

But Manehattan being next was not a guarantee when Rainbow Dash gasped, and pointed to a cloud city on the map. "Cloudsdale! Remember what the crazy jester ghost said? What if he went after the weather factory there?! If he gets that, then Equestria's royally screwed!"

"Oh, dear!" Rarity said. "You mean ponies getting transformed by enchanted rain? Oh, the equinity!"

Twilight thought for a moment, and her eyes widened. She stood up. "You're right, Rainbow! Jamberry did mention Cloudsdale! He must have attacked that city, too!"

Rainbow was in her face. "What are you waiting for?! My hometown's in trouble!"

Fluttershy gasped. "And our families!"

For Tomato, there was only a tiny bit of relief that it wasn't Manehattan; but, that was swiftly replaced with the knowledge that Cloudsdale was Cirrus' and Nimbus' hometown, and the horrifying images of Cirrus and Nimbus undergoing the painful transformations he and Cheese did. Imagining them as either monster was just as wrong as seeing Cheese as a werewolf.

"All right, calm down!" Twilight said. "Let's take a minute to think of a plan before popping over there."

Rainbow crossed her front legs and rolled her eyes. "We need to get to the factory and zap the weather junk with the cure, now let's go!"

Twilight groaned. "How about a fight plan?"

"Encase yourselves in a bubble, and run them over like a hamster in a ball," Silk Shimmer suggested.

"Okay, okay, we'll go with that!" Twilight looked among the group, reading each nervous face. "It's simple enough, and we wouldn't waste time punching and kicking them until they end up overpowering us like the changelings did. However, I just need a small group to come with me. I know Rainbow Dash is up for it..." She looked to her other pegasus friend. "What about you, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy was twisting her mane in her hooves. "Well... I will admit, I'm still very scared about all this..." She glanced down at the blue necklace she wore, and then stood up. "But, my fear is nothing compared to all the suffering that's going on right now, and I'll help any way I can."

"Okay, that's two," Twilight said. She looked at Tomato. "He maybe could still be there..."

"Uh, doubt it," Tomato said. "It's been a 'few days', remember? He'd have moved on to some other city." He still internally begged that Manehattan wasn't a target--as mad as he was at his parents, they didn't deserve that fate, and if Bluejinx had returned home from Nickerlite, he'd be in danger. He then found himself praying that the Salt Lick Valley was spared, so that Flora would be; as well as Seaddle, Applewood, and Aura Springs, where his extended family lived.

Still, there were still two friends whose home was hit. He looked up, and pulled his wallet out of his jacket. "I am worried about a couple of friends of mine, though." He opened it, letting a row of pictures fall out. He pointed to a picture of two certain gray pegasi and asked, "If you see monsters resembling these two... don't be afraid to tell me the bad news."

Twilight nodded. "I understand."

And then Silk stood up. "Excuse me, but could I come as some extra muscle? I've got a little experience with cloud spells and fighting vampires."

Quasar looked up at her, his eyes wide. "Silk Shimmer! Are you sure about this?"

"Dad, I was fighting werewolves and vampires the past few days, I'll be fine."

"Yes, I know, but you'll be in the sky, and at risk from falling."

Rainbow smirked. "Hey, don't worry! If she falls, I can catch her long before she hits the ground!"

Rarity nodded. "Believe me, she can."

"We won't let your daughter get hurt, Mr. Rune," Twilight said. "I think she might be a little help."

She turned to the friends who were staying. "The rest of you guys, stay here and try to figure out where else Wayer Rune will strike. There are plenty of options, so you have to narrow things down based on each town's relative importance."

"Will do, Twi," Applejack said.

"Good luck up there!" Rarity said.

Quasar stood up and walked to Silk. "Silk, do be careful on this mission. Right now, you're the only family I have."

Silk smiled at him. "Dad, I'll be fine. And hey, if there's any good for our family right now, it's that Party Favor is safe from this madness." She gave him a stink eye. "If we make it through this alive, we need to talk about visiting him sometime. At the very least, we should spend Hearth's Warming with him!"

Quasar pursed his lips. "Yes... of course."

Twilight gathered the team several steps away from the circle. Once everypony in the small group was ready, with Silk Shimmer making sure to cast a cloud-walking spell on herself, the princess lit up her horn, and they disappeared in a flash of light.

---

They dropped on a cloud just outside of Cloudsdale's city limits. Rainbow and Fluttershy hovered above it, while Twilight and Silk gracefully landed on their feet. The latter stared at her hooves, and bounced a little, giggling.

"Oh, that never gets old," she said.

After the other three smiled at her, they turned to gaze at the city, which looked like giant, ugly brown swirls held up by pillars, looming over them like a giant. Against the dark sky, it looked less like a cloud and more like a monster, with the shining rainbow falls appearing as multiple luminescent eyes and glowing, colorful drool. Rain clouds rapidly pumped out of various exit pipes, heading in every direction possible. Their ears picked up the screeching of bats and howls of wolves and came from within, confirming the citizens' fate.

Fluttershy had her hooves to her mouth. "Oh, no! I don't know if our families escaped!"

Rainbow's slack jaw closed with a growl. "Oh, you just made it even more personal, Rooney! We'll kick your butt until it falls off!"

While the pegasi had taken in the sight, Twilight cast the tracking spell to make absolutely sure that leaving Tomato behind wasn't a bad idea. She pursed her lips. "Well, we'll have to go somewhere else for that, because I don't detect his main attack dog, and, well, he's not letting that boy out of his sight."

"I'm still reeling from the fact that he used Cheese instead of Trixie," Silk muttered.

Twilight beckoned Silk Shimmer over, and said, "All right, let's create a double-layered shield, and we'll roll it through town straight to the factory."

"Gotcha," Silk Shimmer said, already forming a shield around the cloud.

Twilight created the second around Silk's, and floated the group to the main cloud platform of the city. Once there, the four mares galloped forward, and the bubble began to roll down the cloud paths of the city, like a bowling ball thrown by a pro.

Many of the half-pegasus monsters had barely any time to react before being mowed down or knocked aside by a giant hamster ball. Of those that were lucky enough to be already out of the way, seeing fresh pony meat running down the street, foolishly hopped upon it to try to break into the orb. Some werewolves tried to bite through, while vampires divebombed the orb in an attempt to shatter it. Silk's shield gained some cracks and scratches, but the monsters didn't go very far until nearly flattened, saved only by soft cloud.

Rainbow had to direct them to the factory, swerving right and left through around every cloudy hill and ramp. It was easy for somepony to lose their step and slip, caught in a spinning ride until the others tripped on the first tripper. It was easy for another to stumble, and send the ball spinning like a top, leaving the passengers green and dizzy. It was easy for the ball to get airborne when running too fast toward a hill, prompting Rainbow to fly it back down to Cloudsdale and continue on their way. And it was also too easy to make a wrong turn, and suddenly plummet to the ground. For that one, both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had to lift the ball back up to Cloudsdale, and then continue the run.

They continued to bowl over every monster, with Fluttershy crying "I'm sorry!" to each one of them. They rolled on forward, until Rainbow pointed to a spacious, multi-leveled building, decorated with cloud pillars, domes, and arches, with pipes that either drained rainbow, or shot clouds into the sky. "There's the factory!"

They rolled across the bridge to the factory, with Rainbow hovering and knocking the walls of the ball side to side to keep them from falling. They rolled to the steps, where Twilight allowed Rainbow to exit the sphere, and then kick it through the door.

When she followed, her need to duck five seconds later made it apparent that the ball was pinballing through the factory, which bounced off various lab equipment, and she had to give chase. Room after room, machine after machine, and water tank after water tank, the shield bounced, enough that Rainbow inwardly cringed at a memory of some mischief in this very building under a year ago.

If there was any good thing about the ricocheting, it was that it was taking care of most of the vampires and werewolves inside the factory. There were some that escaped the sphere, but Rainbow was more than willing to knock aside when they tried to attack. She kept up with the pinball shield while knocking out as many monsters as she could, until finally, sometime when most of the monsters who hadn't attacked or been knocked out had fled the building, Twilight popped the bubble, and she and the other two mares were on the factory floor, catching their breath.

Rainbow hovered down to the floor. "You okay?"

Twilight sat up and rubbed her injured wing. "Yeah... but I don't want to do that again."

Fluttershy got up on wobbly legs. "At least we made it."

Silk rubbed her head. "And at least we don't have to worry about any vampires or werewolves jumping us."

Fluttershy looked around at all the unconscious half-pony monsters around the water tanks. "Oh, dear, I'm not sure I can write that many apology notes."

Rainbow crept closely to one of the werewolves. "Does anypony else think that werewolves with feathered wings look silly?"

Twilight was now on her hooves. "Yeah, they kind of do. But, we do have business to attend to." She trotted to one of the water tanks and climbed the stairs. "Thankfully, we're already in the water storage room. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, could you shut off the big cloud machine? I'd like to stop this cursed weather before it goes too far, and only after I put the cure in should you turn it back on."

The two pegasi nodded, and went off to the other room. Twilight then turned to Silk. "You think you can help me open these water tanks?"

"All right." Silk turned and trotted up another water tank's steps. She opened a hatch at the same time as Twilight, exposing the water to any magical influence that Twilight could give.

Silk looked at Twilight's wing. "Um, Princess? Is it all right to ask what happened to your wing?"

Twilight glanced at her casted appendage. "Oh... well, when the Sandwiches tumbled on a train to Appleloosa, we had to catch a train to get there so we could cure Cheese. But a certain somepony didn't want us to get to him before the next night, and caused a train wreck miles from our destination, which injured my wing."

"Oh, I see." Silk trotted down the steps, and moved to the next tank, her head hanging a little.

Twilight moved to the parallel tank. "You're not happy having him as an ancestor, are you?"

Silk was already climbing the steps. "No. Once ponies learn about the 'Werewolf Guy', it feels like we have this stigma, like one of us is going to go off the deep end and destroy Equestria, just because we're descended from him. Doesn't help that my older brother did exactly that earlier this summer. And knowing that our ancestor is causing trouble right now... I can't help but feel a little guilty about it."

"I see. Well, I don't hold your ancestor's actions against you; they're his actions, and you have absolutely nothing to do with what he did. I'm judging you by your actions, Silk Shimmer, and your actions tell me that you're brave and kind, and I'm glad that you're willing to help us fix things."

Silk blushed. "I never really saw myself as brave... I always felt that I was a bit of a pushover. But, I appreciate such kind words--especially from a princess!" She opened the hatch, and slid down the railing to the floor. She looked up at the top of the tank. "I hope opening these things doesn't take too long."

Then, the door to the other room opened, and Rainbow Dash poked her head in. "Twilight, I think we have a problem!"

The two horned ladies looked at each other and galloped off into the cloud room. Once inside, they went past the two rows of smaller cloud machines, which all continued to belch clouds, and under many tubes that sucked the clouds outside and sent them to different cities. They made it to the main machine, and Rainbow Dash presented them with a machine that only buzzed when Fluttershy pushed its buttons, and valves and levers broken off of it.

Fluttershy pushed another wrong button, and an alarm just buzzed in her ear. She covered her ears and wailed in frustration, crying, "Even if it wasn't half-broken, I don't know how to work this thing!"

Silk grimaced. "Oh... that is a problem."

"Yeah, the obvious ones are broken, and we can't figure out the dumb buttons!" Rainbow exclaimed. Another buzzer sounded in her ear, and she growled, reeling her body back in a prepared attack. "That's it, I'm smashing this thing!"

"Rainbow, don't!" Twilight said, snagging Rainbow's tail with her magic before she went too far. "For all we know, that could cause the machine to explode with steam! If we don't die from it, we'll turn into monsters!"

She trotted forward, and peered closely at the controls, pursing her lips while she searched for labels. She instead found the remnants of half-ripped stickers and groaned. "Well, somepony realized that most ponies these days are literate." She looked back at the funnels continuing to pump out clouds. "Guess those new automatic water pumps bit Cloudsdale in the flank, huh?"

"My dad would know the controls," Fluttershy said, slumping and swallowing a lump in her throat. "But what are the chances that he escaped the enchanted water?"

"There's gotta be an instruction manual somewhere..." Twilight murmured.

They heard a bang from the water storage room, which made all their hearts stop. They had little time to relax until another loud bang echoed through the factory, making them wonder what it was, and if it was coming to get them. With the thought that perhaps there was a vampire that was bumping objects with its large wings, or a werewolf so focused on sniffing the ponies out that it bumped into a water tank, there came the thought that they should get ready for a fight. Horns charging with magic and a prismatic pegasus rolling up nonexistent sleeves steeled themselves to keep more monsters away, or perhaps pin it down to cure a hapless factory worker that could help.

The door opened, and Rainbow tackled the two figures that attempted to enter.

And then she stopped, realizing that these two factory workers were still normal ponies.

The stallion of the pair shivered, trying to hide under his helmet. "Oh, please don't hurt us! We don't mean any harm!"

Rainbow blinked at the teal stallion with a pale pink mustache. "Wait... Mr. Shy?"

The stallion's co-worker gave them funny looks. "Do they seriously call you that, Gentle Breeze?"

"Oh, I don't mind, Raincloud," Gentle Breeze said. "I... do find it a little meaningful, to be honest."

The other three appeared behind Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy gasped, a relieved smile gracing her face. "Dad! You're okay!"

Rainbow Dash hopped off them, and helped them up. Gentle Breeze went to his daughter for a hug. "Oh, Fluttershy! It's so good to see you!"

Rainbow turned to Raincloud, and her eyes widened. "Wait... you're Raincloud!" She gasped and squealed. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! One of the best of the retired Wonderbolts! I remember seeing the one time, when you, Blazing Silver, Wind Rider, Thunder Zoom, and other retirees did that big Wonderbolts anniversary show! Even a few years out of practice, you were still awesome!"

"Who said I was out of practice?" Raincloud laughed. She put a hoof on her heart. "But, still, it never fails to amaze me that years after I resigned I still meet fans!" She scrunched her nose. "Though... I didn't expect to meet one here... during an ongoing disaster..."

Twilight stepped forward. "Can you tell me what happened here? How did you manage to avoid transforming?"

Raincloud grimaced and rubbed the back of her head. She slipped past a water tank to the window, beckoning the group. She pointed to the dim landscape, overseen by the black sun. "Well... it started when that eclipse happened one morning... not sure how long it was, that morning felt forever ago. Still, when I was starting my shift and checking the water levels, it went dark, and we all stopped just to see what was going on.

"After a few minutes, we were just going back to work... and then some creepy unicorn pops in. Security tried to tackle him, but he had these big... attack animal things. Some looked like dogs, some looked like bats... but he sicced them on us, and it was a madhouse in here. I was fully expecting to see a lot of death... I was not expecting seeing ponies actually transform into the attack animals. Thanks to mad flying skills, I was able to avoid getting bitten like most of my co-workers. But with those animals everywhere, nopony could apprehend the unicorn and stop him from casting some spell on the water!"

Gentle Breeze held a somber expression. "I was in the cloud room when it happened. In the chaos, I bumped into Raincloud, and she seemed relieved that she found a pony that didn't turn into a monster. She grabbed me, and we spent some time dodging monsters until she found the break room and locked us in--or, rather, tipped the refrigerator to block the door. She was telling me that an intruder had done something to the water, and she needed to get the authorities, but... how could we when we were trapped?"

"We only came out after we noticed that it got eerily quiet," Raincloud said. "We pushed the fridge aside, and flew around to find all these guys knocked out." She gestured to the unconscious werewolves and vampires scattered all around the tanks. "I guess you did it, huh?"

Twilight and Silk grinned sheepishly, the latter murmuring, "Bouncy bubbles make for a wild pinball ride..."

Twilight furrowed her brow. "Well, you deserve an explanation on why that happened. You see, that unicorn's spell on the water is the same one he used to turn innocent ponies into his 'attack animals'. He's enchanting water so that whoever drinks it or gets wet turns into either a vampire or a werewolf."

Gentle Breeze gasped. "Oh no! Why would he do that?"

"Let's... just say he's mad at Celestia and wants to destroy everything she built."

"Well, no wonder he attacked the factory!" Raincloud exclaimed, stomping a hoof and snorting. "And this place isn't just weather--it's also a water plant for the city of Cloudsdale! Which means my husband could have drank it and... and..." She sat down, grinding her teeth. "I wish I could have stopped him..."

Fluttershy and Gentle Breeze looked at each other sadly, both being near tears. The former took a sharp breath and said, "It must also mean that Mom and Zephyr..."

Gentle Breeze's lip trembled. "I don't even want to imagine my dear sweet Posey that way..."

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "Not even Zephyr deserved that."

Raincloud just stared out the window, watching the small, colorful dots buzz around like flies and tear into cloud structures. "I suppose if there's a silver lining on this cloud, it's that my kids left town for Manehattan; they have a semester coming up."

Twilight stopped herself from saying that Manehattan was a likely target, and instead decided on a more positive idea. "Well, we're glad that you two are okay, because we need your help. I can enchant the water so that it can cure this curse, and perhaps we can engineer the weather to cure the citizens of Cloudsdale. Though, we need a little help with the cloud machine, it's going a little crazy."

Gentle Breeze blinked. "Oh, what kind of help?"

Raincloud turned. "What did the creep do?"

"Well..." Fluttershy said. "We'll have to show you."

---

And thus, they showed them the broken levers and valves of the cloud machine, with Fluttershy imploring her father on how it worked and if there were any buttons that could turn it off. There were merely straight faces from Raincloud and Gentle Breeze, as the former nudged the latter, sending him to a nearby closet, and pulling out spare rods and valves, and some duct tape.

"You can't be serious," Rainbow said.

"Well, we make do with duct tape until we get a replacement lever," Raincloud said. "You would not believe how often those things break."

Gentle Breeze taped the most prominent one, and shut down the machine. "I think this poor thing needs to cool down. It's been running quite awhile."

"But we need to make our own cure weather as fast as possible!" Rainbow said.

"Well, we could gather the clouds that were already sent out," Silk suggested.

"That's a problem," Twilight said. "If any pegasi touch them, then there's a big chance of them transforming."

"Oh, gee, if only we had full body suits in this factory like the ones we use in the first stage of rainbow brewing, or for when we have to handle lightning," Raincloud said. "But in all seriousness, there are suits like that in another room. I'm sure we can find a few your size."

"Well, I can't fly at the moment," Twilight said, pointing out her wing. "But, if you really do have these suits, we just have to send out our ex-Wonderbolt and our Wonderbolt Reserve; the rest of us can fix the water and draw up a weather plan."

"Sounds good to me." Raincloud turned to Rainbow. "And you're a Wonderbolt Reserve? Wow, I have a feeling this will be fun."

Rainbow squealed. "I'm gonna fly with Raincloud!"

---

Meanwhile, Glimmerdust had made her way uphill, blasting werewolves and vampires aside like nopony's business. Sometimes she just had to fire a blast at their feet, to effectively scare them off. Other times, she had to outright zap the animals away, hurting them so that they got the message. Fewer of the monsters bothered her when she cantered out of city limits, but there were still a few that attempted a surprise attack.

She was feeling a little winded by the time she made it to the water plant, which was guarded by more of the same two monsters. Realizing that she needed as much energy as she could to cast the curing spell on the water, she decided that one certain spell that she had been maintaining all day had to go, at least for a little while.

Her turquoise coat turned to lilac, and the lilac stripes in her purple hair turned turquoise. She let down the ponytail, though her mane still had a strange bounce to it. Her magical burden was lighter now, and thankfully, there was nopony around that could recognize her as the infamous Starlight Glimmer.

She peeked from the bushes, and tried to decide where the spell needed to be cast. Perhaps she should have gotten a book on the water system to know exactly where to cast; oh, well, she'll have to cast it in every tank possible.

"Stupid crazy sorcerer, turning ponies into these monsters," Starlight grumbled. "If I could find that guy, I'd remove his cutie mark."

She was certain that her frustration over this interruption of her magic research and plans could fuel her just enough to succeed in this goal. Then, back to figuring out a way to get back at Princess Twilight for ruining her cutie-markless sanctuary.

She readied herself to jump in and attack. "At least my revenge won't destroy Equestria."

Comments

[Featherfury]

She readied herself to jump in and attack. "At least my revenge won't destroy Equestria."

Starlight Glimmer, you have no idea just how wrong you are.

[Chromio]

9186165
I mean, who said that rewriting time would destroy the country?

[howard035]

I suspected it was her!

[Goldfinch142]

They continued to bowl over every monster, with Fluttershy crying "I'm sorry!" to each one of them.

Heheheh...
*WHACK* "God forgive me."
*WHACK* "God forgive me."
*WHACK* "God forgive me."
Internet cookie for anyone who gets the reference!

Ooh, a new challenger approaches! Can't wait to see what ol' Glim-Glam will do--hey, at least she's helping. Until she nearly screws over Equestria even worse than Wayer Rune, of course.

[Goldfinch142]

9186864
Yeah, my first thought was that Glimmerdust was Starlight's sister, but this does make a lot of sense.

[Godslittleprincess]

9186165
She figures it out...eventually.

[StarrySnails]

She readied herself to jump in and attack. "At least my revenge won't destroy Equestria."

Reads:
*snort*
*snicker*
Looks away
Reads again:
*pfff*

That's hilarious.