The Cloudsdale Chronicles

by Boltstrike58

Trouble on the Horizon

Now that Swift was back at work, the next big project for the weather factory was the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. This one was especially important, as it would be the final one before Celestia and Luna retired. Canterlot needed very specific weather for the day, so the weather team was tasked with making sure the city got plenty of rain in the time leading up to it. Swift had been busting his flank making rain clouds for the past week, and he was exhausted. Thankfully, he hadn't been scheduled to work on the day of the celebration. Now, with the day itself upon them, he was looking forward to a relaxing break at the event itself. He wasn't expecting the chance to speak to Twilight or any of the Mane Six, considering they were probably busy with the organization, but it would be nice to see, anyway. He'd seen Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy a couple of times, as they were coordinating the weather, but that was it.

With Cloudsdale moved closer to the mountain, and Canterlot itself, Swift could move between the two quickly, as could any pegasus that could fly decently. At the current moment, Swift was strolling through the streets of Canterlot itself, with the celebration itself due in a little while. Thunder Snow had come with him just to hang out, and the two were enjoying the sights in the time they had.

"I've actually never been to Canterlot," remarked Thunder. "Outside of, you know, that time King Sombra brainwashed us all to attack it."

"Same here," said Swift. "I've seen pictures of the city in a lot of books, but never in person." He'd wanted to visit Canterlot since he'd arrived in Equestria, considering how important it was to the series, but the time hadn't seemed right until now.

"To be honest, I'm kinda surprised the princesses are retiring," admitted Thunder. "I mean, sure, Princess Twilight is great. She's saved Equestria a hundred times over. But Celestia's been around so long, and Luna's only technically been on the throne for a few years. I wonder what made them decide to just hoof it over to her. What do you think, Swift?"

Swift was silent for a minute. He didn't know for certain, but this sounded like a series finale to him. Like this was going to be the final season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. He supposed it made sense. Celestia had certainly been grooming Twilight for something all those years. He didn't know why they decided to completely give up the throne so soon, but he supposed he wasn't in any position to judge.

"I don't know what to feel," he finally admitted. "I'm sure Princess Twilight will be a good ruler. I just wonder what the others will do with all of their new free time."

"Good point," replied Thunder. "I don't know how anypony who retires ever manages to find enough things to do. If I didn't have some sort of job, or obligation, I'd go crazy."

Swift opened his mouth to continue the conversation, but the two were interrupted. That interruption took the form of a blast of lightning in the skies above, followed by a thunderclap. Swift and Thunder slammed their forehooves over their ears, just in time for rain to begin pouring down upon them.

"I thought they ordered clear skies for the Summer Sun Celebration!" shouted Swift above the noise.

"They did!" Thunder yelled back. "Feather Flatterfly was supposed to have his team clearing out all the clouds by now!"

"Maybe we should check on him!"

Another bolt of lightning struck, this time hitting the ground right next to the two pegasi.

"Or maybe we should find some cover!" Swift shouted again.

Swift and Thunder charged through the now pounding rain, rushing towards Canterlot Castle. On the way, they passed the food stand, and noticed several earth ponies with dulled eyes lying on the ground and looking weakened. Swift's brain began racing, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't good.

Eventually, they made it to the castle entrance, diving under the archway in the front to get out of the rain. Both pegasi shook themselves free of the water clinging to their coats. The two Royal Guards stationed at the door didn't seem to mind them.

"Well, this is a fine mess we're in," complained Thunder, as another lightning strike lit up the sky.

"I know, right?" said Swift. "Seriously, did somepony open the emergency storm vault at the factory? Because I can't think of any other way this could've happened."

"I don't know. Feather Flatterfly is always compulsively checking the weather schedule, and he's always focused on getting things right, so I highly doubt he would have made a mistake this big."

Before Swift could reply, the front door swung open. Swift and Thunder turned around to find Princess Twilight, as well as the rest of the Mane Six, Spike, Celestia, Luna, and Discord, coming out the door.

"Excuse us, we're in a bit of a hurry—Swift?!" exclaimed Twilight as she noticed him. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't scheduled to be part of today's weather team."

Internally, Swift groaned. He'd really hoped that this wouldn't come up today, not while he was with Thunder.

"Princess Twilight?" said Thunder. "You know him?" He turned back to Swift. "You never said you knew her personally."

"Oh, we all know Swift! He—" Pinkie Pie began, before Applejack shoved a hoof into her mouth as nonchalantly as possible. Realization rose into the party pony's eyes, and she looked down, as though she were ashamed.

Thunder was giving Swift an odd look, and he didn't like it. He could feel himself starting to sweat, and Discord certainly wasn't helping by whipping out a camera and photographing the whole incident.

"See, Pinkie here threw me a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party back when I first arrived," said Swift, his brain kicking into overdrive to come up with a story. "That's when I met them. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to name names, or seem like I was bragging, like 'I know the Princess of Friendship,' you know what I mean?" He turned back to Twilight. "I was going to attend the Summer Sun Celebration, but it looks like that might fall through."

Thunder still looked a little skeptical, but he nodded anyway. He turned back to the Mane Six. "Can any of you tell us what's going on?"

"The earth ponies are getting sick. We don't think it's the food, but we don't know what else could've caused it," said Applejack.

"The unicorn firework brigade we hired now think this is beneath them, for some reason," added Rarity.

"We're not sure what's going on with the weather. All we know is that somepony mixed up the order," said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, you'd have to be doing an intentionally bad job to botch it this badly," said Swift, looking up at the raging storm. "Is there anything the two of us can do to help? We're both trained weather ponies."

"Yeah, but I'm guessing neither of you have a lot of practice wrangling rogue storms," replied Rainbow. "That's best left to me and the rest of the Wonderbolts."

"Are you sure you don't need us?" asked Thunder. "We do know how to bust storm clouds. We could focus on those while you take on the big stuff."

"I suppose that could work," said Celestia. "But you'd still be taking a bit of a risk. Are you certain you want to help? There's no shame if you don't want to put yourself in danger."

Swift did have to admit, that storm looked pretty intense. He hadn't had to dismantle anything more dangerous than a rain shower so far. Still, it would be pretty rude to ignore ponies in trouble. From the look on Thunder's face, he guessed his friend had come to a similar conclusion.

"We'll do what we can," he insisted.

Celestia studied him for a minute, but she apparently overcame any doubts she had. "Alright then, my little ponies. We'll accept your assistance."

"Excellent! I don't have to lift a finger!" cheered Discord. "Or a talon. Whichever you prefer."

"Discord..." Fluttershy admonished him.

"I know, I know. It's just that nice nobody's asking me to snap everything away." He gave Swift a small wink, sending a shiver down the crimson pegasus’ spine.

---

Busting a storm cloud was not like busting a normal cloud. While a pegasus could simply buck a normal cloud to break it apart, bucking a storm cloud would make it discharge a lightning bolt. The only ways to safely break a storm cloud up was to either wait for it to dissipate naturally, or tie something around it and squeeze until it popped. The latter method was dangerous, especially in a raging storm, where there was always the possibility of being struck by lightning, but a trained pegasus, or group of them, could pull it off.

Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Wonderbolts were currently performing that particular move, constricting one of the larger clouds and making it swell. More and more raindrops were squeezed out of the cloud, until, with a burst of sound, it broke.

Swift and Thunder took their hooves off their ears. "I suppose I should be glad we don't have to do those clouds," said Swift. "Imagine getting zapped in midair, then plummeting."

"I know," replied Thunder. "I have an older sibling who used to bust storms that blow in from the Everfree, and they told me all their horror stories."

"And yet, you still decided to become a weather pony."

Thunder glared at Swift for a second, but he clearly knew it was all in good fun.

"Let's get to work," he continued.

When the two pegasi, alongside Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, had reached Feather Flatterfly, they'd found a sobbing wreck of a pony freaking out about the disastrous weather mismanagement. Fluttershy had opted to stay with him to try and get some answers as to what happened, while Rainbow ordered Swift, Thunder, and some other volunteering pegasi to collect the smaller storm clouds.

"So, Swift," Thunder began, as he scooped another cloud up, "like I said, you never mentioned you knew all the Elements of Harmony bearers."

"It didn't seem important," Swift replied. He felt sweat drip down the back of his neck, and he was pretty sure it didn't have to do with the workout he was getting. "And like I said, I didn't want to brag."

"Yeah, I guess I can understand that," said Thunder. "How'd you end up meeting them all, anyway?"

Swift flinched, though he tried not to show it. Thunder was prying, and it was unsettling. But Swift couldn't just tell him to drop it, that would only arouse more suspicions.

"As I told you before, I saw them all at Pinkie Pie's party. We talked a little, but we weren't really close. They knew I existed, and knew my name, but that's about it." Swift grunted as he crammed another cloud into his bucket.

"Still, they seemed to recognize you pretty fast," Thunder continued. "Why'd you move away from Ponyville, anyway? You said it wasn't for you, but what exactly did you mean?"

Swift had to fight to keep from grinding his teeth. "Well...to be honest, there was a problem with somepony back there. But it's all in the past. Doesn't matter anymore."

"What kinda problem? With whom?"

Swift would've had to be an idiot to miss the eagerness in Thunder's voice. This was getting out of hoof.

"Look, it's private," he said. "Could we please drop this subject?"

"Aw, come on, dude!" Thunder protested, giving Swift a gentle poke in the ribs with one hoof. "I bet it's an awesome story! Just tell me and—"

Swift turned his head, looking Thunder right in the eye. "No," he said, his voice firm. This was his last resort. He didn't want to push Thunder away quite so roughly, but his friend wouldn't stop.

Thunder looked a little shocked, and for a second, Swift worried he'd gone too hard. But the other pegasus soon relaxed, smiling again.

"Alright. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried so much," he said.

Swift gave a nervous grin in return. The situation had been defused, but he knew he'd aroused Thunder's curiosity. Fear began to grip Swift's heart, and worst-case scenarios began to play out in his head. What if Thunder told their bosses about it at the weather factory, and it prompted an investigation into Swift's background? Would Twilight and the others cover for him, or would they spill all his secrets?

Then he took a deep breath, and released it slowly. Rational thought began to take place once again inside his brain. Thunder was interested in what he'd been through in Ponyville, sure, but nothing suggested he'd become suspicious of Swift. Swift had committed no crime simply by knowing Twilight, so Thunder had no reason to go to the authorities. Besides, the Mane Six hadn't said anything about him back at the castle, and they'd promised to keep his true nature to themselves. Everything would be fine.

Swift and Thunder dived downwards, carrying their loads of storm clouds, which would be sent back to Cloudsdale for proper disposal. The two landed next to Fluttershy and Feather Flatterfly, who'd calmed down considerably since the last time they saw him. Fluttershy was patting him on the back with one wing.

"It's alright," she said. "There's nothing to worry about, see? The weather will be all cleared up in time for the celebration."

"Thanks. And thank you two for your help," said Feather. "Oh, why did I trust her, though? What was I thinking?"

"Her? Who?" asked Swift. "What happened to cause this weather?"

"There was this salmon-colored pegasus filly," Feather explained. "I was panicking about last-minute changes to the weather, and she came up to me and said she'd take care of it. I was feeling desperate, and I agreed." He groaned. "Guess I should have the word gullible as a Cutie Mark."

"Salmon-colored pegasus filly..." Swift repeated, scratching at his chin with one hoof. He couldn't figure out how, but that sounded awfully familiar.

---

About an hour later, Rarity had re-convinced the fireworks unicorns to put on the show, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had helped the earth ponies get back on their hooves, and Rainbow Dash's team had fixed the problematic weather. With everything back to normal, the Summer Sun Celebration

proceeded.

Swift and Thunder, as a reward for their assistance, were given front-row seats. They watched as Celestia spoke about how it was the end of the Summer Sun Celebration, only for Twilight to step in and announce how the holiday would be reworked into the Festival of the Two Sisters, honoring Celestia and Luna. Swift applauded with everypony else.

With the ceremony complete, ponies began filing out. Swift got up to leave as well, but he and Thunder were suddenly cut off by the appearance of Pinkie Pie. While Thunder leaped about a foot in the air at the sight, Swift didn't react aside from a smile. He supposed he'd gotten used to the party pony's antics.

"You sure you two don't want to hang around?" she asked. "There's plenty of tasty food left!" She produced a tray of cupcakes.

"Thanks for the offer, but I've had my fill," Swift politely insisted.

"Suit yourself," replied Pinkie. She immediately began shoveling food into her mouth.

"Are you sure that's safe?" asked Thunder. "I thought some of the earth ponies got sick from the food."

"It can't have been the food," Swift pointed out. "They told us she was eating tons of it during the preparations. If it were contaminated or something, she would've been the first pony to be affected."

"Oh, right. I forgot."

"What Pinkie was trying to say," began Twilight, as she and the rest of the Mane Six approached, "is we're grateful for your help."

"You're welcome," replied Swift. "We were just doing our civic duty."

Twilight smiled in response, but in his head, Swift felt conflicted. There were too many unanswered questions. What made the earth ponies sick? Who convinced the fireworks unicorns that they were above everypony else? And who was the filly that messed up the weather? Swift didn't know, but he had a growing suspicion that this wouldn't be the end.

Comments

[harts fire]

and the filly cozy glow shows up for the final.

a grate chapter,

[mustangdrew4]

Oh boy, come on Swift buddy, you chose to get away from being in the limelight. Don't go throwing yourself in without thinking it through.

Although, it might help with his self worth issues if he did help save the day. Interesting... can't wait to see how it'll work out.

Thanks for the free entertainment

[Theresa hall]

How is it that thunder gets the word no but the elements can't. He made it clear he didn't want to go back and yet they kept pestering him till he yelled at them to let him go.