The Bridge Between Worlds

by Artemis Orion

Chapter 44: Cloudsdale's Destruction

Cloudsdale's Destruction

Crap, crap, crap...!

Those words running through my mind were a much more composed reaction to free falling than what I showed on the outside.

In one long breath, an unending yell flowed like a constant stream from my mouth. The stretch of the few seconds since I was knocked off my cloud had to be the longest plunge I'd ever experienced. Longer than the vertical drop of that iconic roller coaster at Six Flags. At least now I knew how recreational skydivers felt, and I didn't care how many times they would tell you to stay calm. The fear may as well have quadrupled in my situation, due to the lack of a parachute.

I was scared, and I knew that wholeheartedly. What made it worse was that this time, no rainbow-maned female pegasus was anywhere in sight. Even if there was, I could neither see nor hear it. The only sound within earshot were the shrieks of the pegasi, and the strangely comical poof sounds of equally uncomical boulders colliding with the harmless clouds. It was a perfect panic situation from what I could tell.

But I had been through worse. As different as the life-threatening circumstances were from before, it was the same feeling. The same gear that had kicked in before; a mental sense that I had yet to control. A sense that, when your life was on the line, activates itself. And because of the events of the past year, I had come to know and remember that feeling. It wouldn't let me panic freely. Every split second of that fall, I looked at the odds, the surroundings, and a way out.

However, sometimes it didn't depend entirely on your skill, or experience, or whatever supernatural and magical enhancement that was capable of kicking you into overdrive. Sometimes, you just needed luck.

"Oof!" I exclaimed as air was forcefully pushed out of my system.

"Ah!" The other voice squeaked in shock.

A speeding figure zipped right under me. Unluckily enough for the pegasus, she wasn't fast enough.

The landing wasn't as graceful either. The front of my body slammed right into the upper body of the passing pegasus. This unnatural shift of weight caused the pegasus to dip down unstably. She darted downwards with a frightened neigh, and as she did, the little grip that I had managed turned to nothing, and I slipped off the pony's neck. Just before I could continue falling, my hands reached up in desperation, barely gripping the hoof of the same falling pegasus. Now that I was no longer daunting her weight as much, she manage to stabilize herself better, grunting with the mass at her one leg.

That moment was enough for me to gasp for a breath, and take in the destruction all around me. In the whole circular stadium, pegasi flew in every direction, crying out in fear as giant rock after giant rock bombarded the Cloudoseum. In the wide circle of the top of the stadium, it looked like it was raining grey dots.

"I'm so sorry, Madam!" I shouted up to the slightly scratched up pegasus. "But thank you!"

"Get off of me, you freak!" She responded with less kindness, frantically shaking her leg in an attempt to remove her unwanted passenger.

I hung on with both hands, not wanting to return to the long fall to my death. But I couldn't hold on for long. I had to find a way to ground... or cloud.

Sure enough, the raining destruction had unraveled a few pieces of water vapour. I found that, as long as the fall felt, I had only dropped from the sixth floor to the first. One broken cloud drifted not far off, and I didn't want to inconvenience this pegasus any further.

"Thanks again!" I shouted. Releasing my hands from that stranger of a pegasus. As soon as I did, she took off back into the higher altitudes of the sky. I caught her disgusted gaze for just a split second, reminding myself that, to them, I was still a strange creature.

I flailed forward for the small floating cloud. My heart skipped a scared beat as only one hand managed to grip it. It was tiny, just big and dense enough for me to stand on. Heaving myself carefully onto the cloud, I thanked Celestia out loud for my luck.

If only that was the end of my troubles. I couldn't even begin to rest as, with every moment, more of the stadium's structure was destroyed. Stands and seats were smashed to nothing as enormous boulders took their place, sinking for a few seconds before the dense vapours could no longer hold the heavy weight. Arches and Pillars collapsed, some dispersed into thin air immediately while others toppled over, fighting to maintain their form. On top of it all, Pegasi of every colour darted in every direction, screaming, shouting names and neighing in fear.

And in all of the fright, nobody noticed me as I was stranded on one cloud, and the side of the cloudoseum was just an inch more than my arm's reach. I dare not jump, in fear that if I did, the cloud beneath me would give way.

Where's Fluttershy?

It was impossible to spot her shade of yellow and pink in the entire winged frenzy. Even Rainbow Dash was nowhere in sight. What I didn't count on was the fact that I was much easier to spot than them.

"Keith!"

An all too familiar voice called from among the cries. I spun round to see Fluttershy, the fear painfully obvious in her face, flying as fast as she could to save me.

"C'mon, we have to find- LOOK OUT!!"

Her wings instantly flapped in reverse, bringing her to a halt. She gaped and pointed hoof above me. In that same time, I noticed my shadow was enlarging, just like when the first boulder hit.

"Oh, god no..." I was bracing myself to risk it all and jump, but just as I tensed my legs, I caught a glimpse of what was actually falling. From the second level, a white pillar had broken, and the whole thing was descending fast.

It was an uncertain relief that I knew what was coming. The clouds were like endless beds, soundless and soft, even in their destruction. I imagined the falling pillar to be a massive mattress just about to crush me. I maintained that mental image until the second it touched me.

*POOMF*

It definitely was like a mattress. Just a lot heavier than what I had expected. The volume of the panicked exclamations became muffled as the side of the pillar fell diagonally onto me. From all sides, the white vapours surrounded and clasped onto my body, leaving the smallest hole for this heavier and denser mass.

I had to act quickly. Using a theory I hoped would work, I pushed upward, in spite of the pillar being directly on top of me. It had never come to my mind that clouds were this heavy, or that clouds would even make me break a sweat. I was hoping that, with enough effort, I could get from beneath the pillar to the top of it. And fortunately, I was right.

The feeling was... unique. With every handful of heavily compressed cloud I pushed aside, I pulled myself up inch by inch. It was like a heavy slime. A dry, soft, drinkable heavy slime. It was crushing, but not enough to kill, yet stronger than any pool water I'd swam in before. Grunting and straining to swim upwards, specks of light began to poke through the surface. With a final effort, I thrust a hand upwards, breaking a small gap in the pillar. Gasping for air, I proceeded to pull myself out of the pillar, like a worker pulling himself from a manhole. Only then did it strike me that the pillar wasn't falling to the ground a few thousand feet away.

"Fluttershy!" I yelled through the madness. Cold sweat was running down my face, and droplets of it seeped through the details of the fallen pillar as I tried to get to my feet.

Fluttershy wasn't far away. She was wildly darting back and forth, avoiding the rain of ballistic projectiles. She swung around when I called her, relieved and surprised that I hadn't been suffocated or thrown off again.

"Where's Rainbow Dash?!" I yelled.

"I don't know! I can't find her!" She replied. Her eyes kept darting between me and the falling debris. And for the second time, she cried out. "LOOK OUT!"

"Please be another cloud...?" I muttered to myself. Focusing against the sun, I made out the round grey object seconds away. "... shit!"

I then found out why I hadn't fallen yet. The beam was caught between another cloud and the edge of the first level. Holding my breath, I leapt to my feet and made a mad dash for the stands, balancing on the pillar. I didn't dare look up to see how close the projectile was. I was just concentrating to get to safer ground. What I did know was that it was coming in fast, and the end of the beam was a fraction of a second too far.

Recklessly jumping for it, I launched myself as far as I could, bounding just in time. The boulder was barely phased by the pillar, and it turned into mist as the much heavier rock continued its descent. With the little strength I had left in that one breath, I stumbled into an archway of the first floor, out of the raining madness in the air. Still, it was quite dangerous under a roof. Here, I couldn't see if anything else was trying to crush me or send me falling to my death.

"'Shy?!" I called again, fumbling to get onto my knees.

"Oh my gosh, Keith! Are you alright!" Fluttershy was still in the open. Just as she was about to join me in shelter, a boulder whizzed passed, almost knocking her out of the sky. She squealed and dodged, fighting her fear and from shutting her wings in fear.

"Y'know you could've got me sooner?!" I shouted in a short burst of anger.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked.

"It's too late!" I yelled above the boom. "It's too dangerous here! Is there an open area you can pick me up from?"

"It's too far away!" She retorted.

"I'll get there! Trust me!"

With a moment's hesitation, and another projectile that just missed her, she replied, "Head for the weather factory!"

"Got it! You see if you can find Rainbow Dash first! Stay safe!"

"Wait! But-!"

I took to my heels and turned to find the exit of the falling cloudoseum. Ignoring Fluttershy's warnings.

========================================================================================

Wish I brought a weapon!

The exit of the cloudoseum was not far off. Not many pegasi were in the way either, with most of them out on their wings. Turning the corner of the cloudoseums main entrance, I was greeted with a greater sight of destruction.

The magnificent greek buildings were obliterated, and ruins were in their place. Clouds that were broken turned to mist or broke off into greater chunks of cloud. Even out here, pegasi were hysterical. Some were already injured. I shuddered as I ran past a crying pegasus, with a distorted wing. The ponies continued to help each other, herds of them were flying away, away from all the chaos and leaving Cloudsdale to its fate.

Damn, which way was it to the weather factory?!

Unarmed and flightless, I ran onto a bridge, leaning onto the side for the tiny moment of rest. I scanned the falling skyscape for a sign or colour of the factory.

There!

In the distance, no more than an estimated kilometer away, a flowing liquid rainbow fell like a waterfall to earth. And when there was a stream of rainbows, the weather factory wasn't far off.

I shook off the doubt of not being able to make it. The sound of my own heartbeat resounded in my ears, above the chaotic sounds. Among the madness, I couldn't help but wonder who would do this. And with greater curiousity, why the enemy wasn't showing itself. There were only these boulders, but that was all. No opposing figures, no armed soldiers. It was purely landscape destruction without a care for the inhabitants.

Lightly bouncing off the compressed clouds, I made for safety. Pegasi only took a second to glimpse at me before considering me as part of the madness. For all they knew, I was hostile, and I had nothing to prove otherwise.

I hadn't gotten very far before I was stopped again. Not because of the rain of projectiles, but by my own conscience.

"Help! Somebody! Mommy?!" A cry, too high-pitched to be an adult, came from the next path. Turning in mid-run, my eyes caught sight of a small foal, with tears streaming down his light yellow face. He was lying on his back, struggling with his hooves in the air. I then saw the reason why he was crying out. He was trapped.

In his whimpers, he kicked weakly at the beam that had fallen, and was restricting his leg. It was too dense to disperse with his own strength, and where we were, there were no other pegasi in sight.

Aw hell, why not?

I abruptly turned the next corner to help the small colt. The second I approached, he shut his eyes with a shriek and covered his face.

"P-Please don't hurt me...?" He whimpered.

"Hey... I'm not the bad guy. Now let's get you out of there." I assured him. I ducked down, in paranoia of another passing projectile. Behind me, it sank for another few second before it turned into another gaping hole in the path.

"You're not going to be much safer out here either! No c'mon tough guy, I can't do this alone!"

With my added strength, the cloud would budge. I just never knew clouds were that heavy. Without the cloudwalking spell, these billows of heavy weight would be featherweight and untouchable. It was so far the only downside of the spell, though.

With our combined effort, the beam began to roll off, and bits of it began to break away and disperse to make it lighter. With a final straining heave, beam rolled off, and half off it turned into thin air. The little colt was free!

I couldn't rejoice yet, a third shadow came from above us, and like before, it grew larger by the second. Without delay, I snatched up the little horse and pulled him aside as I leapt backwards. Both of us yelped as yet another boulder landed in the clouds. The spot where the beam lay was flattened, and soon it was another enormous hole.

"You... alright, kid?" I gasped between breaths. To my side, the foal was wincing, but he nodded. "Are you hurt, little guy?"

"I think I sprained it..." he murmured, looking at his hind leg.

"Can you walk?" I got to my knees, crouching by the frightened foal.

The foal got up on his front two legs first, placing the free hind leg second, but he flinched when he tried to place the one that was trapped on the ground. "Oh, I don't think so..."

"Can you fly?" I asked in desperation.

"I haven't learned it yet!"

Before I could amuse myself with the fact that somepony actually got hurt from a cloud, I couldn't leave the foal behind. I knew it would slow me down, but I wasn't going to do nothing about it.

"Alright, little foal, where's your mom?" I scooped up the little horse into my arms. He squeaked in fear of this unknown being.

"I-I don't know!... Y-You're not going to hurt me, are you, m-mister?"

"Don't worry, kid, I'm just bringing you somewhere safe... well, safer."

Lugging the small pony over my shoulder, I inched my way around the cavity left by the debris. I planned to drop him off along the way to the weather factory.

Huffing with every step I took, I felt the sweat soaking through my shirt. Everywhere on the cloud surface, the paths were deserted, as most of them were off in the air. I could hear my scared passenger still crying out for his mother on my shoulder.

It wasn't long before we came across more ponies. By a great chance, these looked more authoritative. They were civil blue uniforms, helping other injured pegasi from the destruction. I rushed up to meet them.

"Stop, you monster!" one colt shouted roughly. Another pegasi to his side produced a short, mouth-gripped short sword.

"I come in peace!" I said repeatedly. Raising the one hand that was free into the air, while the other was holding the foal. I slowed down, coming to a stop a few meters from the guards. Crouching down and setting the foal back down onto the ground.

"You alright, kid?"

"I'm fine, mister..."

Rising to my feet, I addressed the guards, "Just make sure he gets to his parents."

"Are you the one causing all of this?!" The pegasus with the sword darted forward, pointing the edge of it at my neck.

"I have nothing to do with this attack!" I raised both my arms. "I'm on your side, trust me! I'm unarmed!"

I could see that this young colt was also unsure of his judgement. He couldn't openly arrest an unarmed being, no matter what the strange creature was.

"Just... take care of him." I backed away from both of them, and the third watched in confusion and amazement.

Before I could be delayed any further, I turned and continued my way to the weather factory.

Cloudsdale had no real roads, junctions. Theere were only paths that curved and turned in strange forms of architecture. Every second, more and more of it was decimated by the assault. It agitated me further that the enemy still hadn't shown themselves.

On the brink of breathlessness, I stepped over another fallen beam to be greeted by an enormous open area. It was a stretch of white, with one strip of it stretched out. It ran across the open air, and my gaze followed it to the entrance of...

... the weather factory.

Isolated from the rest of Cloudsdale, a greater number of pegasi were busying themselves around the titanic factory. I could understand why. The only source of Equestria's weather had to be protected.

More pegasi flew in from all sides, some donning hard hats and helmets, some with various equipment. I only caught a few words as they flew past.

"Initiate emergency protocol!" commanded one.

"You mean...?" gasped another.

"Detach it, quickly!"

Detach the weather factory?

With the rest of the energy i had, I continued up to the beginning of the long link to the weather factory.

"Fluttershy?! Rainbow Dash?!" My voice echoed across through the open air. I was sick of running, and sick of narrowly dodging boulders. I forced the joke about Tom's revenge out of my head. Now was no time for jokes.

My friends were nowhere in sight. Instead, my sight caught onto something much more extraordinary.

One lone pegasus zoomed out of the bustle of the factory. His front was strangely shielded by metal plates, and he approached the long bridge at a constant acceleration. Like a speeding bullet, the pony crashed into the thin bridge, the only passage of crossing to the weather factory without having to fly. That part of the bridge was broken off, and the speeding pegasi turned back to the factory.The factory was less damaged than most of Cloudsdale, being on the far end of the city, but it did suffer some damage.

Then, with a rumble that echoed throughout the ruined city, twin blades slowly emerged from the lower levels of the gigantic factory. The propellers were also made of condensed vapours. They begin to slowly turn, with a low rumble that caused the nearby structures to shake. I gawked at the big propellers that revolved around a cloudy pivot, going faster and faster with each turn. Clouds stopped coming out of the funnel at the side of the weather factory, rainbows ceased to flow down the edges and production of all weather came to a halt as slowly, ever so slowly, the weather factory floated away.

"Keith we're here!"

A voice broke me out of my gawking state. It was Rainbow Dash, sided by Fluttershy.

"Where were you, Dash?!" I painfully jogged up to both of them.

"After I saw the first hit, I went looking for you!" She responded in anger.

"And I was looking for you..." Fluttershy said to Rainbow Dash.

"Let's just get out of here." I climbed onto Fluttershy back, exhausted.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both reluctantly took flight. Another boulder landed in place of where we were a second ago, but I was too tired to care.

"That... was too close." I panted. As we flew away from the unknown demolition.

"Close?" Rainbow Dash turned around. "CLOSE?!"

The rainbow-maned pegasus grabbed my shoulders and turned me back to Cloudsdale. "Take a good long look, and tell me again how 'close' that was!!"

"... Holy shit..." I muttered at the sight.

Cloudsdale was no more. All that remained were scattered puffs of clouds, some still in the shape they were formed. The Cloudoseum became a shadow of its former glory within that hour, and every other building was either a flatland or a hole. In the distance, the weather factory was hastily floating away from it all, and pegasi still fled from the city that was still being bombarded. The devastation made my heart sink, mourning for the city I had only begun to know.

"Let's get home..." I slowly turned away from it all, drenched in my own sweat and short-breathed.

"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash sighed. "And whoever did this is gonna pay..."

Comments

[Artemis Orion]

Why am I writing longer and longer? It's mind-numbing to do it in one sitting! Am I too long-winded? Just asking...

Please excuse me for any scientific or physical errors in what I have written. I'll correct minor ones if any of you can point some out.

As for who's attacking, well you already know.

[Anubis Nox]

839122 Well your writing longer because your starting to run out of ideas? Idk good chapter nonetheless and maybe your bored so your doing this making it longer

[shadowless_night]

839122 hmm if your writing longer it could be your imaganation is getting more vivid exspecialy with the destruction of cloudsdale. i allways find battles or arcs in a story the easiest as the ideas seem to come easier. for example a guy arrives in ponyville i could easily come up with how the mane 6 react and the obvious meeting with the princess's that would occur and so forth and maybe he is going to war in a year against the griffons and id be able to write about that with relitive ease.but then what happens in that year? it becomes difficult to make somthing interesting if hes ''just living his life'' for that year so id have to make somthing happen. but coming up with that somthing can be difficult as alot of ideas have been done so you dont want to copy while somthing you might think off is too unrealistic or would go against the canon wich so many bronys/pegasisters seem to reference (i just assume there talking about general facts about the show... maybe i should check) and you just get stuck in writer block's.

but dont worry writting large chapters is allways good. ive never found a chapter too long and ive read a 56k chapter.
hope i answered your question without mindbucking you

now that thats out the way.... WWHHHHHHHHYYY NOT CLOUDSDALE cloudsdale is my favorite place in equestria ... i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab113/mitsubomber/mlp__sad_pony_by_inferno111-d4s9ckf.jpg
now i need a hug
chzbronies.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-she-cant-be-that-bad.jpg

[Psycho-genius brony]

what the heck?

[Worthsim]

Wait wait wait. Is it the griffon army? Also, it k that you're writing longer. It just shows that you are, you know, writing more?

[blazikenking]

839926 56k word chapter? I'm intrigued. Was it here on fimfiction?

[Jirodyne]

I think for once, I can use this picture for one of these stories

29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljcrfb8rLv1qitf3lo1_500.png

[TheEnemyCube]

839926 I'd hug that luna...

[The_Blazer]

Well written as usual, but so sad!

Why do people like so much destroying Cloudsdale in their fics?