//------------------------------// // Prologue: Gimme Shelter (The Bricklayer) // Story: Poison Whiskey // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// "Oh, a storm is threatening my very life today. If I don't get some shelter oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away..." Gimme Shelter: Rolling Stones, Let it Bleed, 1969 Equestria: The Year 1005 ANM Thunder rolled and rumbled outside as a late night spring thunderstorm brought its torrential, almost monsoon like rains over the land of Equestria. Lightning flashed in intricate dances of dazzling displays of powerful bolts striking the ground and flashing inside the clouds that generated them. The winds howled through the trees of the Everfree Forest as animals scattered to their hideaways for shelter and safety. In Ponyville, which for the most part was largely unnoticeable to most if it weren't for the rare occasion when some disaster of some sort struck and the fact that it was home to all six of Equestria's national heroes, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, two of which will be the focus of our little story we're about to tell, things were taking the brunt of the storm's fury. Safely snug inside their homes, the good ponies of the small hamlet were watching the pounding rains from the safety of being behind glass windows and thick brick and stone walls, impenetrable to the gusty winds and heavy rain that seemed to never let up and pounded upon their front doors. It was like Tartarus itself had it out for the small town. Now, storms in the kingdom of Equestria weren't like the storms you and I are used to. The storms of Equestria are created by the pegasus ponies at the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale, a city, as it's name implied, made entirely from clouds of all kinds and supposedly the grandest of all the pegasi built communities if you were to ask a pony from the city. Of course, if you were to ask a pony from Stratusberg they might say the same thing about their city. National pride really. But we're getting off topic here. To begin our tale, we must travel to a small farm outside of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, where the yearly production of most of the Apple Harvest for most of Ponyville, excluding imports from other towns like Appleloosa, comes from. There, in an older portion of the ginormous apple groves that made up the orchards, sat a tree house. It was here in this very tree house that the third main character of our story lies. Shivering under a small blanket and squeaking at each loud crack of thunder was a small pegasus filly, about thirteen or so years of age with an orange coat and a purple cropped mane cut in a tomboyish style. She had very tiny wings, far too tiny for what a pegasus her age should have. It was a sad fact of life for this filly that because her wings were so underdeveloped, she may never be able to fly and reach the skies like she wanted to and fly alongside her idol Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony alive today and the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. The rain pounded on the CMC Clubhouse's roof, only adding to the noise. KA-CRACK! Scootaloo shuddered. "Celestia... That last one was really loud! And close..." Scootaloo thought to herself as she shivered from the cold. "Maybe I made the wrong choice in staying here tonight..." Scootaloo then remembered why exactly she had chosen to stay in her friend's Clubhouse, their hideaway from the rest of the world, which was an appropriate term right now, considering what and whom she was hiding from. "NO! I can't go back there! Not after what HE did to me!" Scootaloo thought fearfully to herself as she remembered the pain, and the shouting and then felt a sharp pain in her side and turned her head, and even in the darkness, she could see the bruise that had formed on the right side of her body. Another rumble of thunder came. "I'll never get any sleep tonight, not with all that noise, and how afraid I am..." Scootaloo mused to herself and then she remembered something. A few weeks ago, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom's older sisters had given them permission for all three of the trio to have a sleepover (Scootaloo having snuck out of her house, she'd become a master of this. Not that it wasn't hard at the time, given how unconscious both of her "Parents", if she could call them that, were from the combination of the booze and the sleeping pills.) and during that time, Sweetie Belle had confessed she was afraid of the dark and Apple Bloom had snuggled up to her to show her that everything would be fine, just like her older sister did whenever she had a really bad nightmare. "Oh, how I wish I had Rainbow here to cuddle up to me and tell me everything will be alright. But nothing will ever be alright, not for me. Nothing ever is." Scootaloo thought to herself and got up off the wooden floor and out of the blanket and looked out the window to the pouring rain. No stars were visible, but she knew they were there, hidden behind the walls of dark cloud. Scootaloo had heard of an old legend, dating back to even before Nightmare Moon about how if you wished on any star, didn't matter which one, that Princess Luna would hear you and grant you one single wish. "Doubt it's true, but well... here goes nothing I guess..." Scootaloo mused to herself and put her front two hooves together in a praying motion. "Star light, star bright, how I wish tonight... I wish for a family, a real one, one to hold and caress me, and give me shelter from the storm." Scootaloo waited for what seemed like an eternity, but nothing seemed to happen. "Guess it was all just a load of bupkis anyhow..." Scootaloo muttered before she heard a mental voice in her head, one she had heard many times before whenever she got scared or lost. "Oh my dear Scootaloo, I know of your problems, and do not fear, they will be solved very shortly." Luna's soft and caring tone said to her mentally. "By you?" Scootaloo desperately pleaded and Luna chuckled. "No, not by I, although I will be involved with events when necessary as I do not like seeing one of my favorite little ones abused by anypony, (Here Luna's voice turned into a snarl but quickly softened itself again) but somepony very close to you, closer than you actually know will be there for you, always. She'll always be there for you, and her loving wife as well." Luna reassured. "Who?" Scootaloo asked. "You'll find out soon enough." Luna giggled before her voice turned into one of fear as she suddenly sensed something coming towards Scootaloo. "Scootaloo, run!" Luna yelled in fright. "W-Why...?" Scootaloo asked, frightened by how afraid Luna seemed. "Just run, dear child, NOW! RUN!" Luna yelled, and Scootaloo took the hint and dashed down the Clubhouse plank that led to the ground just as the mighty winds tossed a tree right where Scootaloo had been sitting just a few moments earlier, the tree piercing entirely through the Clubhouse windows and out the other side of the structure sending glass shards and splinters flying everywhere. Scootaloo's eyes widened in shock, if she hadn't moved, that tree would have struck her small and frail form and surely have sent her to Sky Haven, the place where all... (Here Scootaloo swallowed) dead ponies went. "Get to safety child, go to Fluttershy's home, she'll take you in for the night." Luna said kindly, but with a hint of urgency as Scootaloo, in the darkness and thanks to a lightning flash saw a swirling funnel of clouds cutting through the apple orchards ripping up trees and sending them flying everywhere before it quickly dissipated and went back up into the swirling mass of clouds from whence it came. And so Scootaloo ran, as fast as her little legs could carry her towards the direction of Fluttershy's cottage and safety... Meanwhile... Rainbow moaned in pleasure just as she pulled away from a passionate kiss from her loving wife of five blissful years, Fluttershy. They'd always been there for each other, ever since childhood at the Junior Speedster's Flight Camp and so it was only natural, as their friendship grew it would only progress into something more. Fluttershy smiled as she snuggled up to Rainbow under the covers of their shared bed and wrapped her wings around her. "Dunno where I'd be without you Flutters." Rainbow said in a loving tone after she gave her wife another quick but passionate kiss and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. "You saved me, from... Well, you know." Fluttershy nodded, but was surprised somewhat. Rainbow almost never brought up THAT subject, and for her to bring it up, even for just a second was definitely something out of the ordinary for her. Thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning flashed outside their window as rain pounded on its glass. "Y-You sure it was a good idea to make this storm so strong?" Fluttershy whimpered in fear. "I-I mean, it's so powerful." "Relax Flutters, I gave the weather team explicit instructions not to make this thunderstorm too strong (Although inwardly Rainbow was having grave doubts about her friends listening to her orders, espically with Cloud Kicker, that idiot of a wild and crazy sex loving mare, leading the team for the night.) and just make a lot of rain and noise." Rainbow reassured. "Although I wish the damn thing didn't have to be on our anniversary night. I just planned for you and me to spend a calming night together." "A-And we can still do that, actually w-we already have, given that we danced together to keep our minds off the storm and rather on each other." Fluttershy responded nervously. "Believe you me, my mind is thoroughly on YOU..." Rainbow said seductively and leaned in for another kiss but was interrupted by a rapid knocking on the door and somepony shouting fearfully to let her in. Cursing to herself softly, Rainbow walked all the way through the darkened house to the front door and opened up only to find a shivering and very frightened... "Scootaloo?"