//------------------------------// // Movie Theater // Story: The Storm // by Brony_Headbanger //------------------------------// June 8th. It has been a long, hard few days between Lyra and Bon Bon. The two best friends cannot get over what they went through. The memories burnt into their minds, forever. Both of their houses are destroyed by the tornado, but at least their loved ones are ok. Now in the process of remodeling, the two would have to stay at another guardians house until both of their houses have been remodeled, but the worst of this outbreak is still nowhere near over. After that night, just a few more tornadoes touched down much further south, and the highest ranking was an EF-4 on the enhanced fajita scale. As of right now, there have been more than one hundred tornadoes that touched down in Equestria, and over two hundred lives have been claimed, but the death toll will still rise the more this outbreak goes on, but it does look like it’s heading out to sea. Lyra and Bon Bon are on the edge of the east coast of Equestria, and they’re both roommates as well. Living with Lyra’s grandmother until the house gets remodeled. Bon Bon’s grandmother passed away the previous year due to cancer, and Bon Bon’s parents suggested that it’s a good idea to stay with Lyra until further notice. The two are at Lyra’s grandmother’s, staying in the guest bedroom. The sun is shining, but the radar says some bad storms are coming in from the outbreak. Bon Bon sits at the window and just looks out as if there are things floating around in her head as to why something like this can happen. Especially in her town. Lyra lays in the bed on her phone scrolling through the Internet. Looking for memes, maybe go someplace to eat, anything to get their mind of things. “So...found anything you wanna do?” Bon Bon asks Lyra as the sun beams in the bedroom. “Nothing yet. I was actually thinking we can go see a movie tonight in a drive-in theater.” Lyra suggested. “Really? How far is that from here?” Bon Bon asks. “The closest one is nearly an hour away from here. I just wanna get out of the house for a little while to get my mind off things.” Lyra says, scrolling through her phone. “Yeah, me too.” Bon Bon replies. “So what movies are playing at the drive-in?” “Well, they don’t have that many choices comparing how one movie theater can bring out a bunch of movies. How about a horror movie? There’s this new one called “Shark Infest”. Maybe we can go see it?” Lyra suggests? “A horror movie about sharks, huh?” Bon Bon asks. She thinks of it for a second until she finally speaks. “Ok, let’s do it.” “Alright, it comes on at 9:00 PM tonight.” Lyra sits up and puts her phone away. “And right now it’s...three o’clock.” Bon Bon looks at the time on her phone. “What can we do for six hours?” “I don’t know, we can probably think of something to pass us some time.” Lyra says. This one might be a long six hours. Lyra pulls up the weather radar on her phone as she sees the outbreak has gotten worse in the past few days. She pulls up the location of the drive-in movie theater and sees that there’s some green over it tonight. Any location that is in red or darker can bring in tornadoes, but it looks like they may be ok. However, that is not always the case. “Should we go? We might be able to get some rain.” Lyra asks. “I don’t care, I just wanna get my mind off of things that happened a few days ago.” Bon Bon replied. “If it says we’re gonna get rain, then we should be ok.” “Ok, let’s do this.” Lyra puts away her phone as the two girls begin to get ready for tonight. *** 8:30 PM. *Bang* Thunder roars across the sky as lightning illuminated the night sky. However, there is no rain. Lyra drives herself, and Bon Bon to the drive in theater. The storm has just arrived, but not a drop of rain has hit the windshield, nor has it gone through here. The roads are dry as a bone, and the air is really warm. Bon Bon rolls down her passenger window as she lets the wind from the moving car cool her down a bit while she watches lighting flash and touch the ground from a great distance. “Looks like the radar was wrong, wasn’t it?” Lyra asks. “It said we’d be in the green, but it looks like it would’ve been a bit worse than that.” “Could this rainless storm mean that, too?” Bon Bon asks. Lyra thinks for a moment while she still has her eyes on the road. “Yeah, you got a point there.” “The weather radar’s a piece of junk anyway. They won’t tell you anything.” Bon Bon said. “They never told us that tornado was coming this way.” Lyra goes quiet for a second while Bon Bon rests her head on the passenger door, and just looks out the window. The two go quiet for the rest of the trip to the movie theater, until they finally arrive. Lyra drives up to the window. “Hi, two for Shark Infest, please?” Lyra asks the lady at the window. She pays for the tickets and thanks her after telling Lyra where to park. Finding the spot, Lyra turns off the car as trailers for the movie start playing. The screen is still visible as lightning flickers from above. Bon Bon checks her phone to see the weather radar and sees three thunderstorms lurking above them. One being a very big one that is right on top of them, the second being far out southeast where the beach would be, the third being another system located north or northwest of them which is a similar size as this storm cloud above them right now. This outbreak is moving off into the ocean where it can finally be over. Bon Bon puts her phone away, and watches the trailers of other movies while lighting lights up the sky followed by loud roars of thunder. “I’ll be right back. I’m getting something from the snack bar.” Bon Bon says, stepping out of the car. “Ok, Bon Bon. I’ll be right behind you.” Lyra replies. They both get out of the car, with Lyra locking the car doors. They both go to the snack bar and order something as the movie starts playing. Bon Bon sits at a picnic table, hearing the movie from other cars as everyone is laying on their car, or inside it while the film rolls. *** About an hour has passed and the storm has gotten larger. Thunder gets louder, and lighting more brighter. The two continue to sit at the picnic table while the film still plays. Bon Bon looks up at the sky as a giant bolt of lighting shoots across the sky at speed, followed by yet another loud roar of thunder. Bon Bon stands up, and heads to the snack bar again. “Excuse me, can I have a soda to go, please?” Bon Bon asks the lady in the snack bar. She fixes her one, and Bon Bon pays her for it after thanking her. She stands beside it and starts sipping away. “Hey, you alright?” Lyra asks, standing beside her. “To be honest, Lyra? I dunno. I know I said it earlier today, but this storm just keeps making me think about that night. I can’t stop thinking about it.” Bon Bon says. “It’s just bothering me so much.” “Hey, it’s okay.” Lyra replied after she orders herself a soda as well. “Look, if it makes you feel any better. It’s starting to haunt me, too.” Bon Bon looks at her best friend after she pays for the soda after thanking the lady handing it to her. “It was a scary moment, even when the house was crumbling down on us. I still get nightmares about all that.” Lyra speaks as she looks inside the snack bar. A TV plays as she can see it’s the weather. She can only make out what looks like a big storm above their location, but she turns to Bon Bon the second she speaks. “Yeah, it was dumb of me to say I need to get home when it was happening, was it?” Bon Bon asks. “Well...yeah, but you were just scared. I was, too, like I said. Next time when another tornado happens, we just have to take cover. We can’t really be outside when one strikes, it’s too dangerous.” Lyra explains. She looks up at the sky and can see from the distance that lightning has struck the ground from a big distance with thunder roaring behind it. “Yeah, you’re right.” Bon Bon replies sipping her cup as the thunder clapped above them. The two stayed quiet and watched the film from where they’re standing as a shark gets a hold of its victim. “How do they happen?” Bon Bon asks. “Huh?” “How do tornadoes happen, or why do they happen?” Bon Bon’s question made Lyra cock an eyebrow. “Well...” Lyra begins to explain as the two finish their soda. “They just...happen. Once they happen, there’s nothing you can do, but how they happen, I did some research after it hit our houses. I read that warm humid air, and cold dry air come into contact. All the warm air starts to rise into those clouds which causes an updraft. That’s the number one ingredient for tornadoes. Once a funnel cloud forms, all that hot air is getting sucked into that vortex, and when it touches the ground, it becomes a tornado.” Lyra explains. “They just happen, Bon Bon. That’s the way nature works.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right, there.” Bon Bon replies. “Hey, let’s just finish this movie and head back home, okay?” Lyra punches her best friend, playfully. At least getting a smile from her. “Yeah, you’re right.” Bon Bon replies, chuckling a bit. However, from the corner of her eye, the television starts to glitch out. Bon Bon gets suspicious. She taps Lyra’s shoulder and points at the glitching TV. It glitches to a point where they can no longer see what is going on, and the TV eventually reads “No Signal”. Lyra and Bon Bon are now suspicious about this. “What the heck?” Bon Bon mutters under her breath. Followed by a slight breeze of wind blowing in the direction the leads behind the big screen. Behind it is a flat acre of land with some trees. They start to wave around at the wind. Small flashes of lighting starts to flicker followed by rumbles of thunder. The wind slowly starts picking up. Lyra and Bon Bon just stare at what’s going on. They look at each other, than back up at the sky. Bolts of lighting flash across the sky. The two can only make out a circulation that is now happening just above them in the landscape. Streaks of lighting flash around the rotation, continuously, with very loud roars of thunder as the wind starts picking up, violently. “Lyra? What’s happening?” Bon Bon gets scared. Lyra squints her eyes as lighting stops flashing for only a few seconds. She can only make out a vortex forming. “Oh my gosh! It’s coming isn’t it? Is it headed for us?” Bon Bon asks, scared out of her mind. Lyra can only just see that the vortex is forming bigger, and is on its way to touch the ground much faster. “No. It’s already here!” Lyra replies as the wind picks up even stronger. Sirens have been signaled, and dust from the dirt path is being flown around. People getting suspicious from where they’re sitting as they talk to each other and race out of their cars towards a building. Bon Bon starts panicking. “OhmygoshOhmygosh! Not again! Not now!” Bon Bon starts panting franticly. Lyra grabs her best friend and looks at her. “Bon Bon! Bon Bon, look at me! Listen! We’ve been threw this before! We can get threw this again, okay? There’s a bunker just across the parking lot from here, just go in there and I’ll meet you there, okay?” Lyra speaks to Bon Bon. She can only nod to her as Lyra screams at her through the harsh wind. “Go! Run as fast as you can, go!” Lyra screams as Bon Bon runs as fast as her legs will take her. Bolts of lighting now light up the parking lot as Lyra looks behind her, and sees a giant tornado right before her eyes. She only just slowly steps back as this monster tornado sores across the land heading straight for her. Lyra watches it for only a second in awe at the size of it as she realizes there is no time to be wasted. She has to take cover, now. The tornado is now heading straight to the drive in theater as Lyra bangs on the glass in the snack bar, getting the employee’s attention. “Get underground! Take cover, right now! Tornado!” Lyra screams as they start running for their lives, and so does she. More people now gets out of their cars as the tornado is now ripping apart some trees as it makes its way to the big screen, tearing it apart. Everyone starts running towards the bunker as this giant half a mile wide EF-4 tornado rips apart the big screen, and tossing cars around as if they’re toys. Lyra runs as fast as she can to the bunker. The big doors close, but Bon Bon opens a little one to wait on her best friend. Lightning brightens the parking lot as Bon Bon screams for her. “Lyra! Hurry!” “I’m coming!” Lyra screams right back. She only just made it with a car landing behind her. “Get inside! Go!” Lyra tells Bon Bon. She gets one last look of the tornado before slamming the door shut, and locking it. Her and Bon Bon hurry down to the little pit. Everyone telling each other to go and get down. Lyra and Bon Bon find a spot for themselves while everyone holds each other close and hope for the best. The roaring sound of a freight train can be heard from the monster as all the windows from one side of the building explode. Everyone ducks their heads as glass falls on top of them. The two can only hug each other close to protect each other as does everyone else as the harsh wind rips apart the building with debris flying around as well as the lights from the building flickering. Bon Bon screams in fright as Lyra tries her best to comfort her best friend. More windows break as well as a car smashing through the roof, and landing beside the pit. Everyone screams in fear as they can only wait for this tornado to pass. With the behemoth being half a mile wide, and nearly two hundred mile an hour winds, there will be no telling when this thing will end. “Lyra! How much longer?!?” “It’s ok, it’ll be over soon!” Lyra and Bon Bon speak to each other through the harsh wind as another car tumbles on top of the first one. Pushing it towards the pit when the railing just stops it. Not long after that, sparks fly off the big drive in theater sign as the winds rip it off of its stand, and into the building. Sparks fly everywhere as everyone screams in deep fear. “It’s okay, Bon Bon! It’s gonna be okay!” Lyra says to her best friend as the wind starts to die down, but only leaving a breeze. Finally, it stops, but has it dissipated? Everyone pants and is shaken up in fear after what everyone has just went through. The lights flicker from above them with debris piled all over the place. No one is hurt, nor buried alive. “Is that it?” “Is it over?” “Where is it?” Everyone keeps asking themselves. No one can move due to being frozen up in fear. Lyra and Bon Bon look at each other as they can only hope this storm has passed. *** Help has finally arrived not ten minutes after the tornado hit. The police, fire fighters, and ambulances have all come to the rescue to help everyone out of the half collapsed building. Lyra and Bon Bon look around as they see everything before their eyes. “Oh my goodness.” Lyra mumbles. She can’t believe it, and neither can Bon Bon. Half of the cars that are in the parking lot has survived this violent storm with only a few chunks of debris on them, and so has theirs, very luckily. They look above them as the storm hasn’t fully passed. The clouds are still right over their heads, however, only very light flickers of lightning can be seen with tiny rumbles of thunder as this storm moves northeast. Lyra turns around, and she can see the EF-4 from a very good distance away. This tornado has not yet dissipated, it is still traveling strong. Everyone watches in fear as this thing moves off into the distance where it eventually is no longer visible as far as the eye can see. Unknown whether it finally passed or not, but it is still moving northeast. “Should we leave?” Bon Bon asks Lyra, but Lyra shakes her head. “No, I don’t think it’s safe. I’d rather stay here and make sure they give the all clear.” Lyra replies. “I’m not getting picked up by that thing.” The news van has arrived along with a storm chaser. He makes sure everyone is ok, while the news reports that a tornado had just passed through this location not too long ago. Ten more minutes have went by as everyone gathers around as well as Lyra and Bon Bon as they listen to the storm chaser make reports about where this storm is. “As a matter of fact, the tornado that struck this location was considered an EF-4, even though this storm is pretty much almost over, we still have around at least one, two, maybe three hundred miles of this storm left before it heads out to sea.” The storm chaser replies. “Is the worst over, sir?” The news man asks him. “As far as I’m aware, I cannot promise that the worst has passed. However, just five minutes ago I’ve been reported one tornado. Not the one that just passed this place, that one is now long gone. There is one tornado just a hundred miles north of here, they said this one has ranked an EF-5 on the enhanced fajita scale.” Everyone gasped from hearing that. “It’s not headed this way, but I’ve gotten reports from dispatch that they’ve never seen any outbreak like this in their lives. This has been the scariest one we’ve seen by far. The tornado that has been reported by dispatch is moving northeast, traveling at forty miles per hour, but the wind speed is right at three hundred miles per hour, and the width of this thing is unbelievable. They said it may only just surpassed a mile wide. That’s the strongest tornado we’ve seen in this outbreak by far, and it’s almost over.” The storm chaser replies. “Is there anything you can predict before this storm ends?” The news man asks the storm chaser. “All I can say is this storm is an absolute monster, it’s not behaving like any other supercell that I’ve seen. Predicting a tornado can be close to impossible. They can strike without warning. You could be sitting in your house all nice and quiet. Next thing you know, your house is falling apart by this thing much faster before you even have time to react. It’s a scary thing to experience, but at least we have more warning systems.” Was all he can reply. The news man shakes his hand and thanks him while Lyra and Bon Bon go to there nearly survived car. They go in the cab but look at the weather radar really quick before they even think about driving home. “Ok, looks like the storm has passed us. Yeah. He’s right, there’s defiantly something above us.” Bon Bon replies, pointing at the dark red area that is far away from them. “Must be that EF-5 he’s been talking about.” Lyra replies, cranking the car up. “Let’s try and get home safely.” Lyra gets out of the parking lot, and onto the road as she drives both her, and her best friend home as fast as she can. The nightmare that the two have already went through has scared them for dear life, but at least the two best friends have survived two terrifying nights of deadly tornadoes ripping apart everything in their paths. Now it is all just memories. One day they’ll both look back, but still remember the terrifying moments when the tornado would rip through the houses, and movie theater. They hope to never experience a thing like that again. They hope.