//------------------------------// // Flight of the Raindrop // Story: Tales of the Rainmaker // by BleedingRaindrops //------------------------------// “That’s amazing,” List said.   “Hmm?” Rainstream looked over to see List staring at her open mouthed and wide eyed. Cripes, he was actually on the edge of his seat. Oh no, how much had she told him?   “You carried him all the way to the hospital?   “I… yeah.” Somehow she smiled.     ~   ~  ~     Rainstream squeezed her way past the crowd of ponies piling into Stormfeather’s room, her eyes fixed on the Hostpital’s exit. The competition was in just a few hours, and she needed some extra practice time. Plus, her stomach was tied up in a huge knot. There were way too many ponies here.   At last she escaped the suffocating confines of Cloudsdale Hospital and dove from the edge of the cloud without even checking to see if anypony was there. Her stomach leapt up into her throat as she pulled herself into a very steep dive.   The next few hours went by in a blur. Small dips, big loops, long twirls, steep dives, and wide graceful spirals.  Rainstream forgot if it had been raining when she’d started, or if she’d made it rain at some point, but it didn’t really matter. She was out of time, and still felt just as sick to her stomach.   She needed to get to the arena.   It was an hour before the competition was supposed to start when Rainstream touched down and headed straight for the nearest restroom. She almost didn’t make it to the toilet before depositing her entire breakfast of hospital vending machine snacks into the once glistening bowl.   “Nervous, huh?” Somepony called from the sink. Rainstream couldn't look up. “Yeah, me too. My coltfriend came all the way from Trottingham to watch me fly. I just know I’m going to screw this up somehow.”   Rainstream wiped her mouth, tried not to add to what was in the bowl just by looking at it, and quickly flushed the toilet. She staggered her way over to the sink, and ran water over her face, still just as nauseous. She tried drinking some of the water, but it tasted really metallic. She turned it off and just rubbed her head.   “I shouldn’t even be here,” Rainstream groaned.   “Let me guess, you were press ganged into this by a friend too?” The other mare, an auburn pegasus with a light magenta mane asked.   Rainstream nodded, clutching her stomach.   “Oh I’ll bet he’s just ravishing. Don’t worry. Just relax and be yourself. I’m sure he’ll notice you.”   She left Rainstream alone in the bathroom after that. Rainstream slumped onto the wet countertop.   Ugh. So her best friend who was supposed to be her coltfriend but couldn’t remember their first real kiss because she was a total idiot and led him through a tight maneuver she knew he wasn’t ready for because she thought he was totally hot and stupidly let him follow her, was in the hospital and couldn’t fly, or come watch her fly for him, all because of her stupid flank.   Rainstream bonked her head on the countertop once, then stopped because it made her head spin.   And then, she had agreed to fly for him because it was totally her fault in the first place and she didn’t even want to fly and now she was about to fly in front of a crowd of ponies which she had never done before, ever, who would all be watching and judging her and… and…   Rainstream slumped onto the cloudy floor of the bathroom and clutched at her chest, which was currently trying to collapse under its own weight. Her breathing started accelerating out of control as she just stared at the opposite wall and tried not to hear the entire cloud crumbling into dust. Was it possible to have an earthquake in the sky? Her skin felt really clammy and there was so much pressure on her head she had to clutch it to keep it from bursting. She laid back on the ground and prayed this would not last long.   It did. Rainstream definitely actually died several times before the rumbling finally stopped. As her brain started working again, she noticed somepony was shaking her. A sea green pegasus, with a teal mane. She was shouting something, but Rainstream couldn’t hear yet. She blinked, and suddenly the sound was back on.   “Rainstream! Hey! Come on are you alright? Oh, whew, there you are. It’s the last call for sign in. You’re one of the contests, right? Rainstream?”   Rainstream nodded slowly. “Well come on, we’ve got ten minutes before the competition starts. Are you okay to fly?   NO!   Rainstream nodded again.   Feather brain!   With the other pony’s help, Rainstream got to her hooves and slowly shuffled outside into the hallway. It wasn’t really a hallway, more of a… half covered walkway? One side was open to the arena, and there were a lot of ponies out there. Rainstream could already feel her lungs clamping up again, but her attention was thankfully directed elsewhere by the mare helping her.   “Come on, sign in is just over here.”   Rainstream followed the other mare toward a crowd of pegasi with numbers taped to them.   “Rainstream, hey!” Stormfeather’s voice called out.   Rainstream’s ears, eyes, face and entire body really, snapped toward the dark blue pony with the bandaged wings who looked really happy to see her. He was in a wheelchair for some reason, but he was here.   “Stormy!”   Her hooves found new energy, and she quickly outpaced the pony who had just been dragging her along. Her hooves weren't fast enough, so she opened her wings and closed the remaining distance in a single bound.   She very nearly tackled him, but when she saw his cast she pulled up. His wing was fully encased in bandages, and held perfectly still by a frame and some strings which mounted on the chair he rode in.   “Stormy, oh my gosh. How are you here? I thought you couldn't leave the hospital.”   “Whoa slow down, hold up there. Go sign in. I'll tell you about it it afterward.”   Signing in was a very simple process. Rainstream had signed up the two weeks prior, so they simply needed to confirm that she would indeed be flying. She did her best to ignore the annoyed look on the registration pony’s face as she stamped her hoof on the sign in sheet. Her hoof had barely left the paper when she turned and bolted back to Stormfeather.   She wanted to leap at him, but he looked so fragile. Her legs tensed and twitched in indecision as she fought with her instincts. Eventually she leaned forward into the most awkward hug ever conceived, before rolling back onto her hooves. She released a satisfied hum.   He laughed. “I wasn’t going to miss you flying. I’m here for you, Rain. Since, you know, you’re sort of here for me. Eheh!” It was a twisted sideways smile but somehow it still melted her heart.   “Plus I can't wait to see your amazing routine. I'll never get tired of watching you fly.”   Rainstream blinked.   Fly.   Oh.   Oh no.   Rainstream still hadn't thought of a routine. She'd been too busy worrying about how she was going to fly… in front of… everypony.   “Rain?”   The concern in his voice could have shattered a cloud.   “Are you alright?”   No. She was not alright. She couldn't breathe, and if she couldn't stop thinking about everypony watching her fly—oh hello ground.   “Rain?! Hey, she needs help!”   Somepony was trying to help her up but she couldn't find the ground. Stormfeather’s soft, strong voice called out to her from across the void.   “Rain, hey, Rainstream. Listen to my voice. Rain. Think of the rain, rain drops falling down. Listen to the sound of raindrops falling on a cloud. You always liked the rain, right?”   Rain.   Rainstream closed her eyes as tightly as she could and imagined rain.   Everything stopped. There was no movement. She was hovering above a vast field of dark gray clouds. The rain fell heavy on her back and through her wings. She moved them slowly, like she didn't need much lift.   There was no sound either. No wind. Just the rain. It was like the world had been turned off and she left alone with the rain, so it could carry her like it always had.   “Rain?”   Rainstream opened her eyes. She was sitting on the cloud floor in the hallway, Stormfeather was right in front of her, and they were both smiling.   “Well I guess that worked,” he laughed. “Glad to have you back. I guess this means you'll be flying after all?” He smiled warmly at her.   Yes. Rainstream nodded.   She knew exactly what her routine would be now. The same as it had always been.   ~   ~   ~   There were a few rules to keep the competition standard, but since it was a display of flying ability, contestants were given the freedom to tailor their routine to their strengths. Each contestant had five minutes to perform. If you wanted music with your routine (which was recommened) you had to provide it yourself. You could rearrange the provided clouds in the arena if you wanted to, but they had to be incorporated into the routine in some way, so you couldn’t remove them entirely, and you couldn’t modify the arena itself. Judges would be scoring based on creativity, style, use of provided cloud material, and difficulty of technique. Points would be taken away for damaging the stadium, failing to use the provided clouds, or messing up a technique. Stormfeather pointed out, however, that since the routine could be kept secret until the actual performance, Rainstream could hide any mistakes by twirling or adding flair to them in some way, and the judges would not know the difference.   Stormfeather sat with her while the rest of the contestants ran through their routines. Despite the rules, most of them managed to remain creative and unique. Several ponies crashed a few times. Rainstream winced at each impact, but Stormfeather reminded her that they were clouds, and couldn’t actually damage pegasi. Rainstream even saw the Auburn mare from earlier. Her act involved pulling rain from the little clouds she was given, and her music was a beautiful orchestra piece that perfectly complemented her surprisingly athletic aerial acrobatics.   Rainstream sat down hard. She couldn’t follow that. It would look the same. It would—   “Nervous, Rain?” Stormfeather’s voice broke her panic before it started. Rainstream looked up at him. He smiled back. “Tough act to follow, huh?’   Rainstream nodded slowly, a small whine replacing her words.   “You can do it.” He said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “That was nothing compared to what I’ve seen you do. I say go big. Go REALLY big.” He cast her a wicked grin that she couldn’t help but match. Of course. Nopony knew rain better than her. All she needed was a little boost. Rainstream stood and shook out her wings.   A few more routines went by, and then finally it was Rainstream’s turn. Her bold stance had left her, but she held on to Stormfeather’s advice.   I just need to make it rain, and rain hard.   She took in a breath, closed her eyes, and leapt from the platform.   The arena was silent. Rainstream’s ears trained hard on the wind, and it became her eyes. She flew to the first little cloud, and gave it a push. Already ponies were whispering.   "Is she flying blind?"   "How can she see?"   "No music? What’s she thinking?"   "Why is she gathering all the clouds together?"   "Maybe she just needs to set up first?"   "Well she’d better hurry up, she’s only got five minutes."   Having made one large cloud from the many smaller ones, Rainstream flew under it and pushed it up hard and fast. She started spinning about halfway up, then released the cloud about a hundred or so feet above the arena. As fast as her wings would carry her, Rainstream flew out to the surrounding clouds in the area. Her wings protested, but she didn’t have time to worry. She needed rain, and a lot of it, and she didn’t have much time.   She picked a 100 yard radius and gathered all of her pegasi magic to her wingtips, drawing every bit of moisture from the surrounding air as she could, and pushed herself onward. The arena spun beneath her as she flew circle after circle, as fast as a bullet. Finally, the air started to form into cloud. It trailed behind her at first, but as she caught up to her own trail, she started pushing it toward the center, still listening on the wind to know where it was.   After two minutes it was complete, and Rainstream gave her enormous cloud a massive kick before speeding back down under it. She gave it another one from beneath just to add a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder to her performance, then folded her wings and fell.   She gathered some clouds as she fell, forming little puffs so she could use them in a moment. She could feel the rain beside her, and a large smile formed on her face. Showtime.   Finally, as she reached the arena floor, she opened her wings, and was met with an instant shower of rain. The wind howled above her from the massive swirling stormcloud she’d made. She opened her eyes and looked up. It was perfect. It covered the arena and then some, but didn’t entirely block out the sun, which still shone around the side of it.   Several ponies cried out in protest of the sudden downpour, but Rainstream ignored them. She had maybe two minutes left to wow the judges, and she still needed her music.   Rainstream quickly positioned the little puffs of cloud at seemingly random points throughout the arena, then climbed just a bit so she could start the show. Probably should have just used the given ones and then made the big cloud, but whatever, it’s done now   She gave her highest cloud a kick, and it let loose a lightning bolt straight up into her large stormcloud. Twirling as she arced away, Rainstream kicked the next two in rapid succession. A thunderclap accompanied each lightning flash, and she began a rythym. One flash, aerial tecnique, two quick flashes, check the wind. One flash, aerial technique, two quick flashes, check the wind. Twists, loops, flips, rolls, stalls and falls. Rainstream showed off every aerial maneuver she’d ever learned, even pulling out of a dive upside down (a massively difficult feat without lots of practice.).   Slowly, the whispers and murmurs turned from confusion to awe.   "Celestia’s mane, she’s using the weather to make music."   "That is one special filly"   "Did you see how fast she made that huge raincloud?"   "Did you see how fast she flew to make that huge raincloud?"   "Look at all those flips and loops! Flawless."   Rainstream smiled. It was time for the finale. She gave a massive push with her wings and kicked off of her lowest cloud, shattering it to mist, as she pushed upward. She hit them all in perfect rythym, one after the other until the whole arena was filled with a long wispy trail of mist. She placed her hooves onto the edge of the stormcloud and pulled away, twirling as she pulled a long trail of cloud with her. Rainstream kept her wings tucked as she fell in a super tight spiral, twisting the cloud in her hooves like a long piece of taffy. Above her, the cloud unraveled as she continued pulling it in a long trail behind her.   "I taught her that." Rainstream actually recognized her old tutor’s voice, but she smirked as she remembered that Fleetfoot hadn’t quite taught her this. No, this was her own design, and it was just about to be brilliant.   Rainstream closed her eyes and used the remaining wind and rain to guide her now as she turned her twirling form into a tight spiral, which slowly grew wider. Gasps rang out from the crowd, which Rainstream ignored. Finally, it was time to pull her spiral tighter and tighter. Her wings strained as she reached the end of her descent and released the cloud. She pulled one tight loop and then slammed into the end of the cloud and delivered a massive kick, then kept on kicking. A bell sounded just as she connected, but Rainstream kept going. Lighting shot through the whole thing, spiraling up and up and illuminating her creation through the mist: a massive raindrop, drawn using cloud, now made of lightning. The lighting trailed all the way up to the now considerably smaller raincloud and arced out in all directions, creating a spinning disc of lighting, accompanied by a long roll of thunder that sounded the end of her routine.   As her legs grew tired, Rainstream let the lighting die away, revealing a completely clear arena, save for one exhausted pegasus. She looked over to the judges, who simply stared slack jawed at her. For a full minute, the arena was silent. Then somepony clapped. Then another, and then another, and the whole stadium erupted into roars and cheers.   As the rain died down, Rainstream noticed once again just how many ponies were watching her. Her chest grew tight and she searched frantically for the platform Stormfeather was standing on. Her stomach’s protests from the last five minutes caught up to her, and Rainstream fled the arena without even glancing at the judges’ final score.   Ten minutes of dry-heaving into the same toilet later, Stormfeather met her outside the little fillies’ room.   “Never make me do that again!” She exclaimed as she stumbled out into the hallway. She leaned on his wheelchair to steady herself. He chuckled “Oh come on, don’t tell me you enjoyed it?” Rainstream responded by planting a hoof behind one of the wheels of his chair, then hauling backward on the handles. “Whoa, Rain—hey!”   She held him at a 45 for a few seconds, then put him back down. She gave him a playful glare, then went in for a nuzzle.   “How bad was it?” she groaned.   Stormfeather sucked in a breath. “Well, I mean, you lost points for going over the time limit…”   Rainstream hung her head and let out a small whine.   “Buuuut, you pretty much got top marks on everything else, so…”   No way. Rainstream looked up and stared at him, eyes wide.   “I mean having a friend on the judging panel may have had something to do with it…”   Rainstream gave him a light shove and raised an eyebrow.   “You won,” he laughed. “They’re calling you to the judges’ stand so they can present the trophy.”   Rainstream’s ears drooped. Oh no. She looked over at the arena again. There were still lots of ponies in the stands. She took a few steps back and shook her head.   “Do you want me to tell them to give it to you in private?”   Rainstream nodded slowly. Her stomach felt all queezy again.   Stormfeather smiled. “Alright, wait here. I’ll let them know.”   ~  ~  ~   The rain outside had nearly stopped. There was now just the soft drip of it running off the trees. Rainstream sat down and got to work on finishing her oatmeal.   “So… you won?”   Rainstream looked up at List, then nodded. “Yeah. Apparently Fleetfoot was on the judging panel, and she was so floored by my ability she convinced the other judges that despite going over the time limit, I still deserved to win. I guess I did fly better than the others. My head still spins when I think about that tight spiral I did.”   Rainstream put a hoof to her head and went back to her oatmeal.   List looked at the golden cup in his hooves for a bit longer, then set it down.   “So what happened after that?”   Rainstream choked on her oatmeal.