//------------------------------// // The Greeting (Rewritten) // Story: The Storm Tamer: Rewrite // by Partizanne //------------------------------// Word of Wind Whipper's arrival had spread like wild fire, faster than the rainbow maned pegasus could manage. Pegasi all over town were excited to meet the famed weather colt, but the other non-pegasi were confused. Weather colt? Like... From the weather patrol? What was so special about that? To them, weather was a tool, a means to an end. Water for their crops and plumbing and nothing else. What else would it be for? Entirely forgetting that the weather had existed for as long as the sky had covered the earth. Only the pegasi understood the true difficulty of controlling the weather. Even then, most pegasi took their gift for granted. It was true. Any fool could kick a cloud into vapor or walk on it, but Wind Whipper was not your average pegasus. He was an accomplished athlete, comparable to the Wonderbolts. While he wasn't as fast --not many were-- he was an expert in his chosen field and he had dedicated just as much time in perfecting and refining his abilities. However, while he was an athlete, he was no meat head jock. Those who had seen the stallion work, knew he had a keen discerning eye, and was his own harshest critic. Every job he'd ever finished had to be perfect, and he was often seen making adjustments to his clouds. Small tweaks here and there to make sure that everything worked as efficiently as possible. It was this eye for perfection that cause even the most athletically inclined pegasus to consider Wind Whipper and artist. Non-pegasi simply didn't realize how uncontrollable weather actually was. If one were to handle a cloud poorly, they could easily find them self struck with lightning. If handled to roughly, a clouds supply of rain would fall before reaching important farmland, leaving a starving populace. If handled to carelessly, a cloud could become just as volatile as those floating black menaces from the Everfree. Every pony who joined the weather team had to be specially trained, even those whose special talent was weather. If weather were to be left in the hands of untrained pegasi, even the windigos wouldn't be able to conjure up such a perfect storm. ------------------------------------------------- "And that's why Wind Whipper is so awesome!" Rainbow Dash explained. Twilight was sitting next to her, quill scraping furiously against the parchment. It had been three days since the news had arrived, and Whipper Wind was finally arriving in Ponyville. Twilight knew nothing of the struggles of cloud control, but she was certainly eager to learn as ever. "Oh this is so exciting, I can't wait to meet him." Fluttershy chirped. All the pegasus ponies in town had gathered in the skies just above Ponyville. , wanting to greet the pegasus colt to their little town. There were even a few ponies from Cloudsdale who wanted to greet the Storm Tamer as well. Rainbow looked out over the crowd, spotting a few that she recognized. Bulk Biceps, Thunderlane, The Wonderbolts, Strawberry Sun- wait... "The Wonderbolts?!" Rainbow cried as she lept up from the ground, quickly flapping over to them. She only just stopped in time, right in the face of the leader of the famed flight crew. "Spitfire, you're so awsome! I can't forget the time you did the Thunder Cracking Corkscrew at Fillydelphia! And then the Zig Zag Zapper over in Mineighapolis! So awesome!!!" Rainbow Dash spewed. Spitfire was taken aback before quickly regaining her composure. "Gee, thanks kid." She said as she looked over her fan. As she pondered over it, she realized she recognized this mare. "Hey, did you by any chance apply to the Wonderbolts Academy?" This caught the attention of one of the other Wonderbolts. A stallion with a navy blue mane and a much lighter blue coat turned towards the two. Upon seeing the alleged fan, he immediately recognized her. "Oh yeah, your that Rainbow Dash chick!" He said, sticking his nose into the conversation as he trotted up beside his co-worker. "You're the one who did the whole Buccaneer Blaze!" "Oh yeah, I remember you!" Spitfire said, suddenly remembering Rainbow Dash and her awe inspiring act. It was very hard for anyone who was present at the time to forget. "Y-You remember me?" Rainbow said as she began fangirling all over the place, but then she suddenly stopped. "Wait, what are you guys doing here anyway?" Soarin spoke up first. "We're here to meet Whipper Wind. We were thinking of adding a new branch to the Wonderbolts, and we wanted him to be in charge." Rainbow Dash's face suddenly went entirely blank, as a certain thought went through her mind. This caught Spitfire off guard, thinking she had done something to offend Rainbow. Slowly she waved a hoof in front of her muzzle, trying to get a reaction. "Hello? Equus to..." "Rainbow Dash." Soarin said helpfully. "Equus to Rainbow Dash." Spitfire finished. "I..." Rainbow started. "I'm... I'm talking to Spitfire... A-and I'm going... G-Going to meet Whipper... Whipper Wind..." Rainbow's face stayed totally blank, putting bot professional athletes on edge. "Hey uh... Are you ok?" Soarin asked. Rainbow gave no response as she fell face first into the dirt path. The sheer awesomeness of meeting her two idols in one day being to much for her little pony body to take, and causing her to pass out. "Well... that happened." Soarin said. It was then that cries from various ponies were heard, one that everyone had been waiting for. "I think I see him!" "Could it be?" "Is it him?" "I'm up!" Rainbow cried as she looked frantically around, hoping she hadn't missed Whipper Wind. ------------------------------------------------- Whipper Wind was flying over green plains on his way to the next town. He heard Ponyville was having some problems with clouds coming in from the Everfree, so he decided to lend his support. Perhaps he could also do a a few airshows or take some odds jobs to rustle up a few more bits. Then again, an air show might seem kinda greedy... Screw it, I'll take some odd jobs. Eventually he saw the small town on the horizon, a place that seemed so peaceful, yet was somehow the epicenter of chaos for all of Equestria. As he got closer, the clear outline of ponies were gathered around. They probably came out to greet me. Guess I should give them a show. He looked across the sky, spotting a cloud right in his path. He snatched it out of the sky, giving it a once over as he approached the town. This should do just fine. He held the cloud close to his barrel, as he began to descend close to the ground. He flapped his wings, gaining speed as he began to preform a barrel role. Just as he crossed the town limits, he squeezed the cloud, causing a small trail of mist to trail behind him. He could hear the pegasi give gasps, and awe in his talent. The trail of mist refracted the suns rays, leaving a trail of rainbows, not unlike a certain mare. The beauty of this simple trick was enough to empress all of the ponies, not just the pegasi. Eventually he reach the town squared, where he suddenly pulled up. He was rapidly spinning over the fountain, until he squeezed the cloud with all his might, causing it to dissipate. The water that was trapped within exploded into more mist, painting the town square in a heavenly veil, with a rainbow cast over the center piece. The center piece was none other than Whipper Wind himself, who stood on the head of the fountain with his massive wings extended. The misty explosion had caused droplets to form on his coat, mane, and wings. His eyes were closed, since he knew that it would take a few moment for the crowd to break out of their stupor to cheer for him, and he was willing to wait. ------------------------------------------------- That wing span... Fluttershy thought to herself, mesmerized by the very handsome stallion on top of the fountain. Easily taller than Luna, with huge wings to compensate for his lack of flight magic. The magic that would normally be reserved for flight in pegasi was mutated into more weather magic, which explained his special talent. Look at how long and stiff those primaries are... Rainbow was also mesmerized, as the droplets on his coat seemed to accentuate all the best parts of him. That was amazing! Twilight was absolutely unaffected by the sight before her, being a unicorn with no perception of what made pegasus stallions attractive. Eventually the clopping of hooves could be heard as Strawberry Sunrise stomped the ground in approval. Several others joined in, with only the blushing mares (and a few select stallions) left ram rod still. "Thanks, thank you." Whipper Wind said as he waved to various ponies, breaking out of his pose. He shook himself dry before jumping off the statue and gliding down. "Please you're to kind. You'll make me blush." True to his word, his a light blue blush showed through his navy blue cheeks. As he touched down, many pegasi came up to meet him, each eager to get a word in with the celebrity. His display as he entered town was certainly enough for a few of the more suspicious ponies to give some respect to the well established pegasus. There were so many ponies, that the Wonderbolt's couldn't get past the crowd. Try as they might, it seemed like the attempt to get Whipper Wind to join their ranks would have to wait for another day. Whipper Wind was no where near as fast as the acrobatic group of pegasus ponies, but they had heard of his amazing tricks and how weather played a major part in them. Having witnessed one of said tricks today, they were eager to present him their offer, yet the crowd still stood in their way, and would probably stay like that until tomorrow. Not wanting to waste their time, they soon flew off to find a place to stay, not willing to leave with out at least presenting their offer. Whipper Wind was currently talking to the crowd, or at the very least, to the crowds leader. Thunderlane seemed to know the questions buzzing in everyone's mind as he fired them off one after the other. Eventually though, he brings up the most important question. "Whipper Wind, why'd you decide to come here?" He asked, hoping to get first dibs on a ticket to a possible airshow. "Well, I got a letter that said the weather team was having trouble with some clouds from the Everfree, so I decided to come over and help." He reached back and undid the tornado shaped clip on his saddle bag, which matched his own cutie mark. He pulled out a scroll and presented it to the ebony stallion who quickly took it and unrolled it. Several pegasi peeked over Thunderlane's shoulder as he read over the letter. Dear Whipper Wind, I've recently heard of your extreme talent with weather manipulation, and was hoping to make a request. You see, Ponyville is a small town on the edge of the Everfree forest, which can spawn truly unruly and volatile clouds. We've had to hold back many storms and it's becoming to taxing on our resident weather team. As the situation is dire, I would most appreciate it if you could visit for and extended time and help. I'm sure you can take care of the storms with minimal effort. I look forward to a response from you. Signed, The rest of the letter seemed to be damaged, leaving the name of the sender unknown, but Thunderlane couldn't help but notice a blatant lie in the letter. "We haven't had any storms." He said as he rolled the parchment back up and gave it to Whipper Wind. "What? Have there really not been any out of control storms?" He asked as he gave the letter a once over. "Sorry, no storms" Damn it, must've been another crazy obsessed fan. Whipper Wind thought. He had already gone through the trouble of clearing his schedule for the next few months with the purpose of helping the town, but now without a job he was promised, the bits he brought with him were sure to run out. Sure, he could simply turn back around and go home, but in all honesty, he was far to tired. Besides, he did want to take a vacation anyway, even if he would have to help out around town to make some bits. Guess I'll have to do some airshows after all. Wait, where am I going to stay? Maybe I could ask?" "Um, I'm sorry, Thunderlane was it?" The stallion gave a curt nod. "Um, since I'll be here with a smaller budget than I thought, I was wondering if i could stay with you." "OF COURSE YOU CAN!!!" Thunderlane grabbed Whipper Wind and flew off with him, or at least tried to considering the the stallion was twice his weight, resulting in him dragging Whipper Wind along the ground as he flew just above. The crowd tried to keep up, but in his excitement, he managed to reach speeds rivaling Rainbow Dash on his way home. Speaking of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow and Fluttershy were still at the town square, trying to keep their wings down. Seeing such a tall powerful stallion had gotten them hot under the collar, and they were to mesmerized to try chasing after him and Thunderlane. "Wow, you were right Rainbow, he was something else." Twilight said from beside the blue mare, completely unaware of her's and Fluttershy's plight.