//------------------------------// // 104 The Stormcaller, Part Two // Story: Continuity Disrupted // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// October 14th, 1000 Domina Solaria “Okay, Rarity,” Doug implores, standing next to Cherry Berry’s hot air balloon. He adjusts the parachute backpack on top of his light jacket and pants, still having trouble with the unfamiliar fabric. Nopony else has a parachute - something about trusting Twilight and the Pegasi on watch for falling objects and ponies. The rest of the herd is standing around as well, half still waiting to board. With Rainbow Dash flying two fillies, and Fluttershy one, they are barely within the accepted margins for the balloon, and a tight fit. “Enough with the suspense! Let’s see them!” “Oh, Doug,” Rarity coyly flutters her eyelashes, “You’re so easy to tease. You know that, right?” She shakes her flanks, her entire body covered in a specially designed smock from flank to front. “Besides, anticipation makes the final reveal all the sweeter, don’t you think?” “No,” Doug flatly states. His eyes trace up and down the smock, trying to intuit from the folds and creases what lies underneath. “This isn’t like what happened with Trixie, is it?” “I thought we agreed never to speak of that,” Trixie hisses in a low voice, glaring at Doug from the balloon. “Right, right.” Doug peers at Rarity again. “So, no extra appendages or anything?” “Weeelll,” Twilight drawls out. “Sort of?” “Okay, Rarity,” Doug circles his hand around the air a few times. “Out with it. I gotta see.” “Oh, fine. Ruin the surprise and everything I worked so hard for.” Rarity sniffs, her pout barely passing muster. “You worked so hard for?” Twilight deadpans. Rarity flicks her mane to the side, a petite ‘harumph’ escaping her lips. Her horn lights, the carefully sewn fabric ripping away to reveal pair of beautiful butterfly wings. The delicate purple is surrounded by pink, blue, and yellow accents, a dazzling effect when the sun’s rays trickle through. “Huh.” Doug stares at Rarity for a few seconds before he turns to Twilight. “Does this mean that Rarity is a princess now?” “No,” Twilight bluntly replies. Doug runs his hand along Rarity’s back, careful to avoid the gossamer wings. “But she has a horn and wings.” Twilight shakes her head. “Technically, that would make her a pegacorn. If she had pegasus magic on her own. She’d need earth pony magic as well to be an alicorn and a Princess. And you’re being deliberately obtuse.” Doug rolls his eyes. “Fine.” He pouts, folding his arms across his chest. “I can’t believe you didn’t let me watch you cast this spell. It sounds pretty busted.” “That’s because it is an extraordinarily complex work of magic and we were worried about you reacting poorly to it.” Twilight shrugs as she hops into the balloon. “Besides, it took a lot out of me, and that’s saying something. Not many unicorns would be able to pull off such a feat. And, they’re incredibly delicate.” Twilight turns to Rarity. “No hard maneuvers. You’ll be good for the climb, if you want to stretch your wings a little.” “Mm, that does sound like an absolutely wonderful initial display of my beauty and poise.” Rarity gives her wings a flutter. She hoofs her smock to Doug before taking to the air, a long, upwards glance to Cloudsdale. “I do hope this spell holds up like you said it would, Twilight.” “I’m certain it will.” Twilight nods as Spike double checks her checklist. “I cast it yesterday, and it should hold for three days.” At Doug’s cough she appends, “Yes, seventy two hours. Forty eight hours remaining.” She continues down the list, “And I cast the cloud walking spell on each of us. I thought it would be harder.” Twilight pauses for a second, a brief shudder rippling through her that gets everypony to glance at her. “Sorry. And that one should last for twenty four hours, but so many casts, even with Trixie helping, has been pretty draining on me.” Trixie nods, a small smile as she levitates Sweetie Belle into the balloon next to her. “Regardless, we’re all set for a full day of touring Cloudsdale and watching Rainbow blow the shoes off of everypony at the Best Young Flyer competition!” Rainbow nervously grins, waving a hoof. “Oh. Yeah! It’ll be great!” She bends down, letting Scootaloo and Apple Bloom hop into her custom saddlebags. “Sure you don’t want to join us, Sweetie Belle? Plenty of room!” “No, thanks. I’m okay.” Sweetie Belle shudders next to Trixie. “I got enough flying when I helped Scootaloo try to make it to Cloudsdale.” “Hey, I nearly made it! Just another four thousand, five hundred and seventy three more feet and I would have!” Scootaloo huffs, poking her head above Rainbow Dash. “We just needed a bigger slingshot!” “Or a rocket.” Doug looks at Twilight and Rainbow as they glare at him. Scootaloo, however, merely looks intrigued. Worriedly so. “What?” “One, rockets explode,” Twilight snarks. “Two, there are much safer ways to get to Cloudsdale.” She consults her checklists, a happy smile at the long lines of checked off items, and undoes the moorings with her horn. Applejack grunts as she drops off a few of the sandbags, everypony smiling as the balloon starts rising into the air. “Like a pegasus chariot,” Apple Bloom says with a smile and tap against Rainbow Dash as they take to the air. Fluttershy follows after her, Hedge peeking up from her own set of saddlebags. “Or a hot air balloon,” Sweetie Belle adds, tapping the hot air balloon. “And three, should you really be giving them ideas?” Twilight sighs, “It’s bad enough keeping a lid on just what they think up.” Doug groans dejectedly. “Okay, girls, you heard Twilight. No riding things that belch flames and occasionally explode.” “That actually sounds a lot like Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo interjects. “Hmm.” Doug rubs his chin. “That propel gas away from them in order to go really fast?” Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes as Apple Bloom shakes her head. “Still Rainbow Dash.” Doug’s eye squints as he stares off into the distance. “They make colorful patterns in the sky?” “That’s really more like a firework thing,” Twilight remarks. Doug shrugs, “Still a kind of rocket. Just smaller and prettier.” Sweetie Belle snorts. “And it sounds even more like Rainbow Dash.” Doug throws his hands up, “Okay, fine. Scootaloo, you can ride anything that resembles Rainbow Dash.” “Sweet,” Scootaloo says with a nuzzle to her dam. “I’d much rather ride you than a rocket any day.” “You and Doug both,” Rainbow smirks, sticking her tongue out at Applejack, the earth pony rolling her eyes. “And I’m not pretty. That sounds like frou-frou Rarity nonsense.” “Hey!” Rarity shouts, crossing her forelegs in front of her body. “Would you prefer ‘cute’?” Doug asks with a wink. Rainbow menacingly points a hoof at him, and then her own eye. Rarity’s frown quickly turns to a smile, “Hey, Twilight! This is very nice, being able to cross my forelegs in front of me without having to counterbalance on my hind legs. Can you do this more often?” “No,” Twilight grunts out, “And I’m resting.” Several minutes pass as the ponies in the balloon, many of whom had never seen an aerial view of Ponyville except from Canterlot, ooh and aah at the sights. Rainbow flies away from the balloon, giving Scootaloo and Apple Bloom a closer tour as the winds begin picking up. Doug quietly remarks to Fluttershy as she stays close to the balloon, “So, you think Rainbow can do it? The Sonic Rainboom?” Fluttershy goes quiet, her wings still beating. “Well, um, she’s tried really hard. And the rest of her routine is great! I’m sure she’ll get it!” “Let’s hope so,” Doug says, though his voice isn’t as confident. “Ugh,” he moans, rubbing his head, a bit of a shiver as he huddles against his jacket. He looks over at Twilight, trying to distract himself from the sharp burst of pain. “So, what kind of things will we be doing?” “Touring the weather factory is on the top of my list. They’re still a month away from bringing Winter, so we probably won’t be able to see them making snowflakes. But we might!” Twilight nuzzles Spike as he pulls out yet another list. “Let’s see. Seeing Rainbow’s parents and Fluttershy’s parents, since they both live in Cloudsdale.” She glances out at Rainbow, “The Wonderbolt Academy might be close enough, but I somewhat doubt we’ll be able to make it. Oh.” Twilight looks up at Cloudsdale, a heavy sigh as the cloud city gets closer and closer. “Each different section of Cloudsdale is on a different, well, cloud. So if we want to split up, we either need to get a ride from somepony, or take the balloon.” She looks down at Lemon and Sweetie Belle, “I’m trusting you two to keep an eye on Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, okay?” The two fillies nod. Twilight turns to Meringue and Pomarbo. “Do I need to go over our safety rules again?” “No, Twilight,” the four chorus. The rest of the hour long flight passes quietly. Fluttershy and Rarity trade off on resting their wings, especially as they get higher, the winds picking up and getting chillier. Most of the ponies are content to watch the ground get farther and farther away. Applejack in particular finds herself sitting in the middle and either staring at her hooves, focusing on keeping her breath nice and steady. “So,” Doug says to Applejack as the balloon rises next to the main Cloudsdale landing zone. “Think that Big Mac or Granny Smith would have wanted to come along?” Applejack snorts, a bit of her glower fading. “There aren’t enough apples in Equestria to get Big Mac to do something as crazy as this.” She shudders as she looks at the cloud just out of reach, a few pegasi flying around to help secure the balloon. "Apparently something's wrong with me." "Yeah, we knew that years ago," Doug says, lightly punching her in the withers, Applejack grinning back. “Alright, you two, out you go!” Rainbow lands on the cloud, shaking her saddlebags. Scootaloo briefly steels herself before she hops out, the cloud sinking under her hooves before springing back up. “Come, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo shouts, eagerly watching as her sister follows. Applejack trembles, her teeth chattering against her hooves as Apple Bloom lands on the cloud. The filly bounces back up, just like Scootaloo, Applejack letting loose a huge sigh of relief. “Well, if’n they can do it,” Applejack says reluctantly, clambering to the edge of the balloon. Her breath catches in her throat as she jumps off, a smile breaking out as she lands. “Hey, just like on the ground!” “Told ya!” Rainbow grins as the rest of the ponies hop out of the balloon, one by one. “Nothing to it! Pretty awesome, am I right?” “Got that right,” Doug says, reaching a hand to bump Rainbow’s hoof. He hops out of the balloon, “So-” Doug disappears from sight, leaving a small, circular hole through the white, fluffy cloud. “DOUG!!” Rainbow shouts at the top of her lungs, zipping around the side of the cloud rather than follow through the tight tunnel the human left. “PONY OVERBOARD!!” Doug sighs to himself as he slips through the cloud, barely able to see in front of him. He bursts through the bottom barely a second later, wisps of white trailing behind him as he reorients himself, cold wind rushing against his face. His arms stretch out, hands cupped, debating how long to wait until he reaches for his ripcord. He doesn't have to wait even one second before two blue forelegs wrap around his chest, hind legs hooking next to his crotch. The wind dies down as Rainbow grunts, wings straining against the heavy load. Doug glances up as Rainbow levels off, Cloudsdale a thousand feet above them. “Thanks,” he says, reaching behind him to scratch Rainbow’s side. “Heh, no problem, big guy,” Rainbow says with a cheeky grin. “Didn’t want to have to fly you all the way back up, you know?” She nods at the other two pegasi flying next to her. “Alright, Doug, you’re pretty heavy, so just grab onto these ropes and hold on tight, okay?” “Sure,” Doug says, looping the offered ropes around his shoulders. The three pegasi are then able to haul him back up, depositing him back into the balloon. Rainbow salutes the two pegasi; both take a long look at the dragon, human, and fourteen ponies - only four of which are pegasi - before shaking their heads and muttering something about unicorns. Twilight stops her frantic pacing back and forth as Doug crests the cloud, only barely stopping herself from leaping off the cloud to hug him. “I’m so sorry,” she gushes out, reaching into the balloon to wrap Doug in a tight embrace, as if afraid to ever lose him again. “I’m so sorry! I don’t know what happened! The spell should have lasted twenty four hours!” “Twilight,” Doug says, reassuringly rubbing her head. “There’s no way it should have ended so soon! And it worked before! And earlier today when we tested against the cloud!” Twilight shudders, “You did fine then!” “Twilight,” Doug calmly says, his ear scratching more forceful. “The spell should have latched itself to your magic core, setting up a sympathetic resonance that feeds the spell, letting it last so long without being a drain on me!” Twilight stops as the words leave her mouth, sheepishly looking up at Doug. “Um.” She offers a small smile. “Well, I guess we figured out the problem.” Doug glances to the fillies. “Do you think they’ll have the same problem?” Twilight’s eyes glow white as she looks over each pony, shaking her head. “No, their spell is holding fine, normal rate of decay.” She turns back to Doug, a raspberry glow surrounding her horn as she recasts her cloudwalking spell. She stares at Doug for several long seconds, muttering as she calculates. “So?” Doug asks, the rest of the ponies exchanging nervous looks. “If it’s not safe, I can just stay in the balloon. Hey, maybe I can even fly us from cloud to cloud when we need to move.” “We can have that as our backup plan,” Twilight says. “So, because you don’t have a magic core, the spell burns itself out fairly quickly. I estimate it will last an hour, but I trust that about as far as I can throw it.” Doug glances off the edge of the cloud, “Well, I bet you can throw something pretty far from up here.” Twilight slugs Doug in the shoulder, “I’m serious. The decay is accelerating, and I can’t exactly pinpoint how long it will last. And I don’t want to be recasting this spell every ten minutes.” She looks up to Rarity, a thin smile creeping over her face. “No, I’ve got something better in mind. Rarity, can you come here?” “Sure,” Rarity says, touching down on the cloud to walk over to the balloon. “What do you need?” “Just get next to Doug.” Twilight’s horn glows bright as she explains, wisps of ethereal energy flowing between Doug and Rarity. “So, the reason the spell I cast on Rarity is so difficult is because it temporarily mimics a pegasus’ magic core, and all that entails. It actually should be harder for me to cast, as it isn’t my specialty and I only read it in a book, I didn't observe another pony casting, but I’m chalking it down to being the Element of Magic, and being able to quickly grasp any spell.” Rarity rolls her eyes, “Okay, Great and Powerful Twilight.” “I’m right here,” Trixie grunts out, glaring at Rarity. Twilight continues regardless, “This gives her moderate control when she flies, as well as the ability to walk on clouds. However, by linking the flight spell that I cast on Rarity with the cloudwalking spell I'm casting on you, Doug, we should be able to let the cloudwalking spell draw its power from that instead of, well, nothing.” “Why not link to one of you?” Doug asks. Twilight shudders, “I don’t think linking a pony’s core to you is a good idea, Doug. Not after what happened with Rainbow. This way, there is only a set amount of magic that your potentially bottomless well can draw in. If that was attached to a pony?” Her voice drops to a bare whisper, “That could kill them.” “Oh.” Doug looks to Rarity. “Never mind.” “It’s okay!” Twilight says with a grin, shaking off the gloom. “The extra draw on Rarity’s flight spell means that it will only last another forty hours, give or take, instead of forty eight. Doug, your spell will only last eight hours, but that should be plenty long enough.” She looks around, ending on Rainbow. “Ready to test again?” “Sure,” Doug says hesitantly. He holds onto the balloon as he tentatively steps onto the cloud, smiling at the springiness. “Whew! We ready to go?” “Let’s do this,” Rainbow says, pointing ahead. “To the weather factory!”