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Heart of the Storm
by Sebbaa
If anything can go wrong, it will.
“Are you sure about this Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked reluctantly. “I have never even heard of a paragliding cutie mark!”
“Nether have I, but my buddy Longstride says it's super awesome!” the orange pegasus filly answered with an eager grin.
“On three” she exclaimed and made herself ready to start. The other two crusaders exchanged unsure glances, but followed suit.
“Three!”
With that Scootaloo galloped down a gentle slope that inevitably ended in a sheer cliff. Her friends were dragged along for the ride. They were all strapped to the rigging of a big rainbow-colored paraglider and there was no stopping the fuchsia maned pegasus. Luckily the glide took to the air and produced enough uplift by the time they ran out of runway.
Apple Bloom had closed her eyes when she had felt the ground give away and was holding on for dear life, but after a few moment of flight, she heard Sweetie Belle gasp in awe.
“Wow! I can see our headquarters from here. And look, there is your house over there Apple Bloom!”
Slowly the young earth pony pried her eyes open. When she got the first glimpse of them flying and not burning and crashing to the ground, she eagerly looked around. They were high up in the sky, gliding down from a small mountain slope near their HQ at Sweet Apple Acres. The sight was astonishing. She could see miles and miles. Hilly farm and woodland dominated the scenery this side of Ponyville, large part of which were apple orchards.
She looked at her friends. Sweetie Belle was watching the scene yaw agape, while Scootaloo was steering the para with her hooves, giving them some extra boost with her small wings.
“I told you it would be awesome!” she exclaimed grinning widely. Tugging one of the steering lines, she pulled them into a wide left turn.
With this they were sure to finally get their cutie marks. Well at least one of them, they would surely not all get the same cutie mark now, would they? But before any of them could check, disaster struck once again.
“Is there a storm scheduled today?” Sweetie Belle asked worried, pointing her hoof at a big dark cloud, it hung right in the direction they were headed. The cloud rose and grew as they watched.
“Not that I know of.” Scootaloo answered hesitant.
Apple Bloom was shading her eyes with her hoof and looked intently.
“I see no pegasi. The cloud is moving on it's own!” she announced surprised.
The trio stared dumbstruck at the growing Storm, when they realized that something was very wrong.
“We better turn and land immediately!” Scootaloo declared and pulled at the steering. The para glider leaned into a sharp turn and began descending. But it was too late. As the Storm grew even further, the wind picked up and took hold of the three fillies in their glider. They shrieked in terror as they got blown into the its core.
The clouds blocked out the sun, rain poured upon them and gusts of wind whirled the glider around violently. By know it was completely out of control and the crusaders could do nothing but hold onto each other for dear life.
All of a sudden lightning flashed and a roar of deafening thunder shook them to their very bones. They stared in wide-eyed terror at a pair of giant wings made out of lighting. They flashed brightly right in the middle of the storm. It was way too close for comfort.
“Thu... Thun... THUNDERBIRD!” Apple Bloom yelled in alarm. She was certain the wings belonged to a malign spirit of storms. Granny Smith had told her stories about them. Giant ghostly birds, who could control wind and lightning. They brought death and destruction upon ponykind. She had never believed the stories to be true, until now.
“Applejack, Rainbow Dash, ANYPONY! HELP!” the last word they all screamed in union.
No longer able to withstand the storms onslaught, several cords of the glider tore. It lost it's structure. Unable to keep afloat, it started plummeting to the ground. The three pony now all entangled in it.
They screamed in terror and waved their legs in panic. But not even the young pegasus was able to fly. Her wings were yet to small and weak to support her weight.
Out of nowhere a blue pony crashed into them and managed to hold onto the panicked fillies with his fore legs. He got hit by hooves and wings flaying widely, but he did not let go.
“Stop struggling and hold onto me!” he yelled at them.
Instinctively they stopped and grabbed onto his legs and body as hard as they could. They clamped their eyes shut.
He spread his wings and tried to stabilize their wild descent. But alas, while his wings were big, he was still no fully grown pony and did not have the strength to carry three fillies at once. The rain, howling winds and turbulence didn't make it any easier. He barely managed to slow down their descent.
The ground came nearer and nearer. With one last effort he pumped his wings using all his remaining strength. Then he rolled onto his back and curled up into a ball, shielding the three fillies with his body.
With a splash they hit the soaked muddy ground. Sliding and tumbling several meters. Neither of them had the power to hold on. They were separated, thrown all over the place. Finally they all came to a dead stop.
Apple Bloom slowly rose to her hooves, shaking miserably. She was bruised, tired, cold and covered in mud and grass, but otherwise unharmed.
“Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? You OK?” she inquired worried.
When she looked around, she found her two friends just gaining their hooves. They untangled themselves from the remains of the glider, none of them seemed seriously injured.
“Yea.” the orange pegasus answered, “we sure got lucky this time. If that pony had not come out of the blue, we would be flat as pancakes now.”
“Right...” remarked Sweetie Belle, stretching the I. She shook her head to clear it of the gruesome image. Then made a mental note to never again fly in any contraption Scootaloo might come up with.
“Where is he anyway?” the little unicorn asked and glanced around the clearing they had crashed on.
Sure enough the sky blue pegasus lay only a few meters away, sprawled out on his back and unmoving. Sweetie Belle gasped and galloped over to him. Her friends followed close behind.
They came to a halt, the three of them gathered around the stranger who had come to their aid. He was still a colt who could not yet have finished flight school. His coat was of sky blue color, his unruly mane and tail dark gray. His cutie mark showed a black cloud which shot out a single bolt of yellow lightning. Yet most noticeable were his wings. They were unusually large, certainly too big for his not yet fully grown body.
Hesitant Scootaloo poked him in the side, hoping he was still alive.
“Are you OK?” she asked worried.
Slowly he opened his eyes, revealing them to be red.
With great effort he lifted his head and looked at the worried faces of the three fillies.
“You are alright!” he said, his voice raw and strained by pain.
“I'm glad.” he managed to press out, before darkness took him and his head sank back to the mud.
Somewhere, in a remote mountain range high up north, where the snow never melts. Ancient spirits stirred in their slumber. After centuries of sleep they had been called again. Bound by powerful magic, they had to head the call. A rumbling thunder shook the mountains, marking their awakening.
Authors notes: I hope you have at least half as much fun reading this story, as I had writing it. This story is a lot of firsts for me. First story written in English since school, first fan fiction, first FIM fan fiction. It is the longest story I have written yet too. I am not a native English speaker, so if you find any errors or mistakes, please point them out to me. I would appreciate your help.
Thanks for reading.