The wind howled over the landscape like a banshee. Swirling black clouds flowed over the once-quiet village of Seaward Shoals, blanketing it in an oppressive darkness. Twilight and Rainbow Dash appeared in a brilliant flash of light a few miles outside the village, nearly falling prone as the wind slammed into them.
“It should be right over this hill!” Twilight shouted. Her horn flared as the nearly-horizontal rain plinked against a hasty barrier spell, sending ripples over its surface. Sweat trickled down her brow as she strained, leaning into the wind as she summoned stabilization magic into her barrier to keep it from peeling away.
“I haven’t seen wind this bad in a long time!” Rainbow Dash yelled. She held her wings in front of her face, shielding herself as specks of rain managed to penetrate the barrier. She trudged alongside Twilight, her mane whipping in the wind.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Twilight, straining to keep the spell up against the storm. “We just need to keep our eyes out for any—” A sudden crack alerted her and she dropped her barrier with a shout, flying a dozen feet into the air. Magic surged from her horn as an infinitely-tight hexagonal latticework wove into existence, spreading outward into a massive protective barrier. It shimmered with completion just as a massive tree hurtled through the air toward them. With a thunderous shockwave, the tree crashed into Twilight’s spell and splintered into fragments. The shield rippled with the impact, but the tight framework of her spell held fast. Twilight returned to the ground, dismissing all but the smallest elements of the spell, re-weaving them into a smaller barrier once more.
Twilight sighed with relief, placing her hoof on her chest as her heartbeat roared in her ears. “That was way too close,” she muttered.
“No kidding!” Rainbow said, a tiny waver in her voice belying her bravado.
The pair crested the final hilltop; lightning danced through the sky above them and illuminated the landscape in an eerie, stark light. Seaward Shoals lay nestled along the shore, only a tad smaller than Ponyville. The sea churned, spewing rough waves that slammed against the shoreline while a lone lighthouse beamed weakly into the distance.
Out over the water, the sky blackened as if night had begun to fall. A massive arm of the cloud ceiling sagged downward, moving slowly in a funnel vortex. The clouds immediately above the village were much more stable: still a dull grey, but Twilight couldn’t see any active precipitation from this distance. She squinted and spotted a small group of pegasi tearing through the grey cloud belly, arcing upward, and disappearing back into the cloud cover.
“They must be keeping the storm at bay,” Twilight said, pointing up where the pegasi re-entered the clouds. She looked back down at the village. “The streets are fogged up, but otherwise the town seems to be safe.” Sure enough, aside from roof damage, all of the buildings were intact.
“Forget the fog, we gotta help ‘em!” Rainbow shouted, zooming off into the sky with a rainbow trail.
“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight cried, taking off after her friend. “We need a plan!” The four pegasi broke through the clouds once again and paused when they noticed Rainbow. One of them, who was wearing a familiar blue-and-yellow jumpsuit, broke off and approached. A blue stallion saluted Rainbow Dash as they met.
“Airpony First Class Stormspark of the Wonderbolts Weather Reserve, reporting,” he said between haggard breaths. “You came just in time, Captain Dash!”
“Yeah, yeah, save the formalities,” Rainbow said, waving him off. He fell at ease, then gasped and promptly saluted again as Twilight joined them. “Just what in the hay is going on out here?” Rainbow demanded.
“We were anticipating a storm, ma’am, but this one’s getting out of control,” Stormspark said, motioning downward. “It was snowing an hour ago, if you can believe it, but now it’s all melted and flooding the town… not to mention the fog! It’s taking everything we’ve got just to keep the winds out.”
“Is this your entire team?” Rainbow asked, a mix of worry and disbelief crossing her face.
Stormspark nodded slowly, his eyes sullen. “There’re a few other pegasi who live here, but they’re all fisherponies. They don’t have the training to handle a storm this big!”
“Well, now you’ve got us here to help!” Rainbow boasted, playfully ribbing Twilight. “So, what’s the plan, Princess?”
Twilight flushed deeply, looking up at the sky. The cloud cover directly over the village was lighter than the swirling blackness around them, but this safe zone was steadily inching closed as the storm encroached back over the space. “We need to create a localized high pressure system. That should keep the storm over the village at bay for a while.”
“Got it! It might be a little tough with just the six of us, but with you and me here that should make up the difference!” Rainbow said, flicking her mane back proudly.
Twilight nodded and flew along the barrier between storm and calm, the other ponies falling into formation behind her. The rainfall and high winds steadily encircled the town as they took position. “On your mark, Rainbow!”
“Three!” All six ponies took position, falling into a rough diagonal formation behind Rainbow. Twilight fell into a wingpony position opposite the other four.
“Two!” The clouds continued to inch closer. Thunder rumbled overhead as rain began to sprinkle against them.
“One!” The group tensed up, their wings folding against their backs. For but a moment, Twilight caught a glimpse of magic welling within the folds of Rainbow Dash’s feathers. A dense cluster of latent airborne magic fed into her wings in preparation for the sprint. Twilight shuddered, feeling the same sensation against her sides—or perhaps she had always felt it, and just never noticed?
“Mark!” Rainbow Dash rocketed forward, leaving a multi-colored trail of magic in her wake. Twilight followed suit, her own wings leaving behind a trail of deep lavender wisps. She glanced across to Stormspark, acting element leader, and noted yellow bolts of energy flowing from his wingtips. Twilight banked tightly around the storm system as Rainbow Dash led the way through the clouds.
The formation maintained their speed as they circled around the perimeter of the village. Twilight watched in awe as the pegasus magic fought back against the roiling storm around them. The clouds above the village parted, sunlight streaming through and pushing the darkness back. The dark fog enveloping Seaward Shoals grew thin, evaporating under the warm radiance.
“Keep going!” Rainbow yelled. “We’ve almost got it!”
Once, twice, thrice more, the group circled the village, forcing the cloud barrier back further. As they completed their final lap, Twilight found herself needing to shield her eyes as the light poured in from above.
“There,” Rainbow panted, sweat slicking her mane against her body. “We should be good for now.”
Twilight hovered next to her friend, body slumped over as she gasped for breath. Stormspark slung a hoof over Rainbow's shoulders, struggling to stay airborne. “Yeah,” Twilight said between breaths, “That should buy… buy us some time.”
The group descended onto the nearest rooftop. As their hooves clattered against the clay shingles, Stormspark and the other three pegasi promptly collapsed from exhaustion. Twilight managed to keep herself propped up on a chimney, though her head spun. Rainbow hovered above them, seemingly unfazed. I’ll bet she could clear this weather a thousand times over, thought Twilight with admiration.
Twilight gazed across the sea toward the horizon. Her breath caught as she spotted the funnel cyclone—it seemed to have grown larger. Intermittent lightning cascaded around its body. She also noted flashes of magic surrounding the storm, though was unable to make out any details. The magic drifted away from the storm system, cresting in waves as it crashed along the distant shorelines before making its way deeper into Equestria.
“I can’t tell you how grateful we are, Princess Twilight,” Stormspark wheezed, struggling to his hooves. “How did you know to come here?”
Twilight sighed, flicking her bangs out of her eyes. “The weather has been out of control all over Equestria and I’ve personally seen freak accidents in Ponyville and Canterlot! My—our—research led us out here, and I have reason to believe that Seaward Shoals is the closest settlement to an erratic, abandoned weather factory out there in the South Luna Sea.” She pointed to the vortex.
The pegasi let out a collective gasp, glancing nervously between each other. They whisper among themselves as they trembled with fear.
“What?” Twilight asked, bewildered. “What’s wrong?”
Stormspark’s legs wobbled as he spoke. “Princess Twilight… that’s no weather factory.” he said. He glanced back at his friends, their faces frozen in terror as they looked across the sea to the darkening sky. “That’s…” He gulped loudly, taking a careful step away from edge of the roof. “That’s the Cloudsbane.” He shook his head. “We’d better go to the lighthouse. There’s something you’ll want to see.”
Stormspark plodded up the creaking steps of the lighthouse while Twilight and Rainbow Dash followed close behind. He threw open a rickety wooden door and stepped aside to let them in. “This is my home. Don’t mind the mess.” He said with a weak chuckle. Maps, papers, books, and charts were scattered all over the floor, desk, and walls. A lone bed rested in the corner, with a simple kitchen and bathroom tucked away off to the side. With all of the research and notes strewn about, Twilight felt right at home.
“What is all this?” Twilight asked, beaming with excitement.
“This,” he said, ruffling through some papers, “is everything we’ve compiled on the Cloudsbane over the last few years. Some of this stuff goes back centuries.”
Twilight trotted up to the desk and smiled, taking in all of the knowledge spread out before her. Even with a quick glance she could see there was so much to go through: nautical maps, precipitation charts, average wind speeds over time, tidal patterns… It’s amazing just how much information there can be for one tiny part of Equestria.
“So the million-bit question is, just what is this Cloudsbane thing?” Rainbow piped up. She stared at a random chart on the wall, struggling to make heads or tails of the ancient text.
Stormspark sighed in exasperation. Putting a hoof to his temple, his eyes closed as he shook his head. “That’s the problem,” he said. Without looking, he leaned over the desk and pointed to a map of the area. A large scrawled X indicating the Cloudsbane mirrored Twilight’s own research. “We don’t know. Nopony in all of recorded history seems to know.”
Twilight tapped a hoof against her chin as she examined the map. “What can you tell us about it? I’ve been researching sources of pegasus magic, and it seems to me that the Cloudsbane might hold the key to understanding it.”
“Nopony can get close to it, for starters.” Stormspark pulled down a detailed local map, unrolling it over the clutter. It stretched nearly from one side of the desk to the other, and Twilight bit her lip as she examined the parchment. “The Cloudsbane is the largest atmospheric formation on record,” he continued. “We’ve tried to penetrate the cloud layer surrounding it, but it’s too dangerous. The pegasi we’ve sent in come out soaking wet and singed. The last thing we want is somepony to go in… and not come back.” A muscle in his jaw worked as he grimaced.
He flipped open a notebook with a sigh, handing it to Twilight. “This is a log of the Cloudsbane’s radius, measured at noon every day for the last year. They’re just estimates done on fly-bys; Everypony’s too scared to get close.” Twilight took the book and skimmed the entries.
“This is…” Twilight said, her voice faltering. She flipped page after page, hoping against hope she misread. “It’s larger than Cloudsdale.”
“Well, yeah. I thought we already figured that out?” Rainbow said, scratching her head.
“No, I thought it could be potentially larger than Cloudsdale’s weather factory. This is larger than Cloudsdale itself. The entire city!” Twilight exclaimed, reading through the pages frantically. She glanced at the map, and her heart sank as she realized the average recorded sizes lined up with the scale of the map. Each month the Cloudsbane waxed and waned, as if on a cycle. Her blood ran cold as she arrived at the most recent entries. Three days ago the entries stopped, replaced with the sentence Immeasurable; merged with upper clouds. The following entries were merely question marks.
Twilight groaned. “Stormspark, you said nopony can get close to it, right?” she asked. He nodded. “In other words, if it is a weather factory, then it’s safe to assume no maintenance has ever been done on it?”
“Like I said, anypony who gets close is pelted by rain and lightning. Sometimes it sends storm clouds out over the town, but they’re usually small enough to bust pretty quickly.” He gestured to one of the small porthole windows above the desk. “We’ve been working almost non-stop for the last three days just to keep things at bay. Take a look.”
Twilight looked out at the shoreline. The waves crashed ever higher as sheets of rain poured over the sea. The storm was very, very slowly creeping inland—closer to Seaward Shoals. The clouds above were the same dark grey, with streaks of a sickly green fading in and out of the cloud barrier. The black vortex hanging down from the clouds flashed with lightning, particles of free-flowing magic emanating from the monolithic cloud. A thin stream of dark blue wisps wove its way skyward, sparking lightning in the surrounding clouds as the torrent grew stronger.
Other colors drifted through the air, spreading out in all directions as they reached the shore. Many of them were muted in color, slowly fading between deep shades of red and green. Twilight followed a dark-green band of magic as it spun off to mix with a swirling air current. It wove into itself, spiralling faster and faster as it pulled in the air around it and adding to a growing magical charge. The ocean below shimmered as an inky tendril rose up to meet it. As the two merged, a swirling, violent column of wind screamed to life.
“Oh no,” Twilight stammered. “Oh no, no, no, no, no.”
“Let me see!” Rainbow said, pushing Twilight aside. She gasped loudly. “Twister!”
“W-what?” Stormspark stammered, his wings snapping open in surprise. “It’s never done that before!”
“Stormspark, are there cellars or underground spaces nearby?” Twilight asked, shooting him a look of concern.
He stumbled over his words, fear gripping his voice. “Well, I… uh, there’s a small cave just outside town, but it might be flooded.”
“Perfect,” Twilight said with a firm nod, “I need you to gather the villagers and get them to that cave, now. Rainbow Dash and I will take care of the waterspout and then head into the Cloudsbane ourselves.”
“But you can’t!” He yelped. “It’s too dangerous, nopony’s been inside for centuries!”
“Hah!” Rainbow barked. “Who do you think you’re dealing with? The fastest flyer in Equestria and the most powerful Princess? We’re not scared of some dumb old factory!”
Stormspark’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two. Rainbow wore her signature cocky grin, and a slight frown of determination tinted Twilight’s face. He grimaced, but slowly nodded in response.
Twilight and Rainbow exchanged a look and a nod. Twilight’s horn sparked, and with a flash, the trio appeared outside at the base of the lighthouse. The waterspout had formed some distance away, but was quickly making its way to shore.
“Go, Stormspark, go! Get everypony to safety!” Rainbow directed.
“Yes, ma’am!” he replied with a salute, flying in a wide arc toward the town center. Twilight and Rainbow Dash took off in the opposite direction toward the looming storm. Visibility worsened and the wind howled more ferociously as they approached the waterspout.
“It’s rain-wrapped!” Rainbow shouted over the noise. “If we get too close, it’ll blow us off balance! But if we’re too far, we can’t break it up!”
Twilight squinted, traces of pegasus magic flashing before her. Azure wisps surrounded their wings as the rain continued to pick up, but Twilight ignored these to stare at the swirling cerulean tempest picking up speed as they approached. Twilight rubbed her eyes. The magic signatures were incomplete and chaotic, but she could still spot the same familiar magical frequencies.
“That’s it,” she muttered to herself. “Rainbow! I can see the magic that makes up the waterspout’s base. Come on, I think I know what to do!” she called back through the rain.
“On your six!” Rainbow said as Twilight banked to one side, flying against the winds. Rainbow stayed tight, blinking the rain from her eyes. “Why didn’t I bring my goggles?” she grumbled. Lightning cracked around them, the rain soaking through their feathers. Twilight and Rainbow held their wings firm against the vortex, circling the perimeter.
Twilight watched as razor-thin lines of magic coated their wings, slicing through the air. They tumbled through the air, colliding into the dozens—no, hundreds—of chaotic magical arcs. Their unique magic signatures coursed through the energy, forcing order upon the energy locking it into place like cogs of a massive machine. Just like the stormcloud over Ponyville, portions of the magic neutralized and faded away into the aether. In time, the azure bolts peeled away to reveal the swirling, impossibly-dark core of the vortex.
“Keep going, just a bit more!” Twilight shouted. She strained, pushing her wings to their limit as they encircled the tornado over and over. Each pass stabilized the magic further, calming the winds as it was shaped and controlled. A huge swath of the formless magic structure was cut away, like the final strike of an axe against a tree. With the conduit between the water and cloud belly above finally severed, the spout started to break apart.
“Almost… There…!” Twilight grunted. “Rainbow, now!”
Rainbow let out a whoop as she and Twilight flared their wings wide. They hummed with energy as aether crackled along their flight feathers, a deafening thunderclap sounding behind Twilight as they surged forward on one mighty wingbeat. A brilliant rainbow-colored shockwave filled her peripheral vision, a familiar sight dancing outward as they accelerated. Rainbow rocketed out from behind, a cyan blur against what remained of the storm. The expanding rings of the Sonic Rainboom overpowered the waterspout and shattered it, the trailing swells of magic rumbling as they retreated. Twilight followed Rainbow away from the storm as the Sonic Rainboom stretched outward and made its way toward the Cloudsbane.
Twilight and Rainbow both came to a halt over the shoreline, looking on as the Sonic Rainboom collided with the cloud barrier surrounding the Cloudsbane and tore a ragged hole through its side. Lightning erupted from the clouds, almost seeming to attack the rainbow aura left behind. It was too far away for Twilight to make out the details, but she could see the effects of Rainbow Dash’s magic disrupting the storm clouds. Thick layers of disrupted clouds broke apart and faded away into nothing. The remnants were still impossibly large—easily surpassing Cloudsdale—but Twilight knew this was their one and only opportunity. Swirling tufts of grey condensation started to coalesce toward the central cloud formation, closing the opening.
“There’s no time to waste! If we don’t hurry, it’ll rebuild itself. Come on!” Twilight yelled as she took off toward the Cloudsbane.
“You don’t gotta tell me twice!” Rainbow said, flying after Twilight. The two careened through the air, their wings straining against the storm. Though exhausted, they blazed a path toward the opening. Despite the damage done, the hole was incomplete and Twilight’s hooves collided with the dark clouds with a deafening crack of thunder as lightning discharged around her. Her hooves illuminated with a burst of deep indigo as her magic cut through the obstacle before her, steadily chipping through into the barrier. Rainbow slammed into the wall below her, carving a wider path through.
The resistance of the Cloudsbane’s walls pushed against Twilight away, and the deeper she burrowed, the more intense the force grew. She couldn’t spare the time throw a shield spell out to divert the lightning—she knew manifesting unicorn magic could prevent her hooves from breaking the clouds apart. She cried out with pain as lightning struck, dancing across her wings.
“Twilight!” Rainbow yelled out.
“I… I’ve got this…” Twilight grunted through gritted teeth. Her vision blurred as a burning sensation spread across her back, making each wingbeat agony. She screamed desperately as magic flashed from her hooves and the clouds before her were violently sundered. The tunnel of clouds surrounding them suddenly gave way to open air as they shot forward, crashing into a white cloud platform and tumbling among the fluff. They landed in a heap, groaning dizzily.
“Did we do it?” Twilight panted as she rolled onto her back, wincing as her wing’s shoulder twinged. Her faded vision could just pick out the skyscape above her. A long column of pitch black clouds hung overhead, slowly revolving around each other.
“I think so… I’ve never been through a storm cloud that intense before.” Rainbow said as she came to her hooves, flexing her wings. “Ow! How’re you holding up, Twi? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
Twilight’s wings splayed out under her. She weakly moved them, grimacing as she felt a grinding on one side. “I’ll be fine. I’m just exhausted.”
Twilight could hear the soft crunching of the cloud as Rainbow walked off, peering over the side. “Uhh, Twilight? You might wanna come look at this,” she said, her voice trailing.
Twilight struggled to her hooves and tucked her wings in. She stood by Rainbow and her jaw fell open, awestruck. Vast brass structures stood tall on cloud platforms that peppered the air, their high arches connecting a few nearby tinged with green. A central platform stretched out for miles before them, disappearing into the distance. The buildings were in severe disrepair, their hardened cloud components crumbling away like aged concrete. Several tall structures loomed over the platform, a weblike network of bridges interconnecting at every conceivable angle. The style of towering columns and imposing hard angles reminded Twilight of the architecture in the older parts of Cloudsdale. Smaller buildings, the size of homes, made up another side of the main thoroughfare.
“I don’t think this Cloudsbane thing is just a weather factory,” Rainbow said, gulping.
“You’re right,” Twilight said nervously. “It’s an entire city.”