//------------------------------// // The Storm // Story: Twist's Loss // by Biker_Dash //------------------------------// The Earth pony filly looked out the window for a moment as she heard the distant sound of thunder. That's a big storm, she thought to herself, staring at the massive wall of cloud heading towards town. She didn't think much else of it, where as the Ponyville weathercrew was usually pretty good about keeping storms under control. Still, she glances out the window again, shuddering slightly. She does not like thundershowers. Brushing a stray locke of her curly, red hair brom between her glasses and eyes, she sets the crayon back in her hoof and resumes coloring. "You're doing good Twist," says her mother. Hooves were not designed for holding stuff, and developing the dexterity to do so takes practice. Smiling at her daughter's determination to learn, she adds more praise. "Soon, you'll be able to write and everything with your hooves. I'm so proud of you." And she had all the reason in the world to do so. Twist did well in school, always gave everything she did her all, was very caring towards everypony, and has become quite skilled at making candies. Especially the candy canes which match her cutie mark. "You know, she got all her wonderful traits from you," says Handy Hoof from the stove, where he stirs the vegetable stew. He too was immensely proud of the young filly, and thankful to have the two of them in his life. Lemon Tart blew her husband a kiss. "She got just as many from you dear, and you know it." Outside, they could hear the wind picking up. It was strong enough to erratically ring the bell within the clock tower. Looking out the window, Lemon Tart notices numerous ponies quickly running for shelter. Up in the sky, she can see quite a few Pegasi flying towards the storm. Something did not feel right, and she decided she should check it out. * * * * * Fluttershy was terrified beyond words. She scrambled to rush every animal she could inside. She had to, because they depended on her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw what was coming, and scrambled into her house, bolting the door behind her. Running as fast as her legs would carry her, she dove under the table, shivering in fear as the roaring wind outside got louder. The terror became worse as power dies, plunging the place into darkness. The first object to enter her home was a fence post. It flew through the window with enough force to go through her couch. This was followed by other wind blown objects as the roar outside intensified. They came in through all windows, and even the door, which was blown out of its frame. One such object just missed Angel as he scrambled to Fluttershy's side, hiding under her wing. Things came to a cresendo as a large tree limb crashed through the wall, coming to rest just a couple of feet from her. Within a few more moments, it was over. The winds died down, and debris no longer flew towards her. The canary colored Pegasus did not notice. She remained there shivering in fright as tears ran down her face. * * * * * Lemon Tart rushes back inside in a panic. "Handy!" she yells, "Grab Twist and get into the cellar NOW!" Handy can hear the roaring of the wind now. He knows that sound. He had heard it when living in Apploosa as a young colt. It had terrified him then, and it did so now. "Come on Twist! We have to get downstairs now!" he tells her, trying to sound calm for her. The filly starts putting the crayons away and her father grabs her, pushing her towards the hall leading to the cellar. "NOW Twist! Don't worry about those!" He follows Twist down the hall with his wife right behind them. They almost make it to the door when something slams into the side of their home, buckling the wall inward. Slammed into the opposite wall, he feels his shoulder snap and he collapses in blinding pain. He hears his wife call out his name as he falls. Twist turns around to see what happened, just in time to witness the two by four slam through the wall like a out of control missile. It catches her mother just behind her ear, snapping her neck. Twists screams as she sees her mother collapse lifeless. "MOMMMMMM!!!" She scrambles to get to her, only to have her father wrap his one good foreleg around her torso, hugging her tight to him. The hall become pitch black as the power is cut. Handy Hoof feels a pain even worse than his broken shoulder as a length of metal sign post flies through the wall, piercing his side. Hugging the red maned filly tighter to him, he tells her, "I love you Twist. Always remember that." Just then, the roaring winds outside slam something big against the house, and the last thing he hears is the cries of his daughter. * * * * * The storm is over. It took a lot of effort on the part of nearly all the Pegasi in Ponyville to disrupt the tornado enough so it would dissapate, allowing them to take care of the stormcloud itself. Several Pegasi were injured, but none seriously, and now they all helped with recovery efforts within the town. There was a lot of recovering to do. Twilight Sparkle stands outside the Town Hall, or, more accurately, the remains of the Town Hall. She directs the efforts of all the residents helping with the recovery efforts. Right now, she has several search and rescue teams carefully checking damaged and destroyed buildings for injured ponies. The local Fire Brigade is divided with helping search, and actively trying to recover those they find. So far, things have not been good. It had taken almost an hour to get any heavy equipment in that could be used in the search efforts. This was needed in cases such as the Town Hall, which had collapsed. So far, they had managed to find three survivors from the wreckage. Two other ponies were not so lucky. Mayor Mare was among the still unaccounted for. The loss of the Town Hall also meant that a lot of disaster gear was buried. That made things difficult for helping those who were without a home. Blankets, emergency shelters, extra first-aid supplies, flashlights, and tons of other things that were kept for emergencies suddenly became inaccessable with the building's collapse. Thank Celestia that there were a lot of ponies in this town willing to help out with donations. They will be needed. So will the supplies the Princess was sending. Its been three hours since the town got ravaged, and already, what little they had was spread thin. Her thoughts are thankfully interrupted when a cyan Pegasus lands in front of her, with close to a hundred more. "I came as soon as I got the word! I brought help too," Rainbow Dash says hurriedly. She had been at a monthly manager's meeting in Cloudsdale when word of the tornado reached her. "Where do you need us?" "Take a crew over to the school and start clearing it out. It looks like we'll need the building as a temporary shelter. Send any with first aid training to the Fire Chief to help with the S&R teams, and the rest to the hospital to help. All others not assigned need to see Rarity and Applejack to help them." She turns to check her clipboard, then calls out to Rainbow. "And could you go check on Fluttershy. Nopony has seen her, and I'm getting worried. Thanks Rainbow!" she yells to the departing mare. "Twilight!" yells Spike as he runs up to her. "I just received a message. The train in on its way, and should be here within three hours, and both Princesses are coming as well." She breaths a sigh of relief. It looks as if they will have what they need. "Thank you, Princess," she whispers to herself. * * * * * Pinkie Pie, Cheerliee, a Unicorn firefighter named Blaze, and a Pegasus named Quickwing are searching for survivors. The last building they had checked had a family of four inside. Fortunately, all had come out relatively unscathed. They were lucky. Already, eleven ponies have been found dead, and dozens were injured, some critically. Both Cheerliee and Pinkie had to bite back a panic which threatened to take ahold. Their next assigned home to check was personal. A filly both of them cared for lived there. A filly named Twist. A large delivery cart was imbedded in the side of the house. Other than that, and all the windows being shattered and the loss of half its siding, it looked safe from coming down. Still, one could never tell, so caution was needed. After checking things over, Blaze decides its safe enough to move the cart. An orange glow envelops both his Horn and the cart, and with as much magic that he could muster, he managesto safely remove the cart from where it was embedded. Upon its removal, the first thing they notice is Lemon Tart. Quickwing rushes in to check on her, then sadly shakes her head. "The neck is broken. There's nothing we can do for her." Cheerliee feels the panic she had been fighting grip her heart twice as hard. Twist is one of her students, and her students are her family. Her and Pinkie trot up to the collapsed section of wall, and start lifting. Quickwing joins in, as well as Blaze with his magic. The wall is soon removed, reveiling two more ponies. One of them has been impaled by a signpost that had gone through the wall, and had not made it. In his arms was Twist. Quickwing bends down to check, and finds the young pony is still living, though injured. "Blaze! Get a team here now! We have an injured filly!" She yells. Cheerliee breaks down, as Pinkie helps pull her out of the way of the rescue team. * * * * * Dawn rose at the Princess's beckoning thhe next morning to a town that was devistated physically and emotionally. With all the help from Cloudsdale and Canterlot, they had finally found everyone amongst the wreckage. Sadly, the body count was too high for any of those alive still to fathom. Seventeen dead. Seventeen smiles that will be forever missing. Friends and family, forever gone from everyone's lives. It was all Twilight could do to not break down. They had finally found Mayor Mare around midnight. She rests now amongst the ones departed. Her assistant, Time Turner, was found alive but unconscious. He never did wake up. And so many others gone as well. Amongst them was Scootaloo. She had been heading to Sweet Apple Acres for a sleepover with her friends. When the tornado reached the orchard, she took refuge with the clubhouse. It took a direct hit. They had to sedate Rainbow Dash after she saw the body. Though not related, Rainbow had looked upon the Pegasus filly as her own sister. Twilight could not imagine how devistated Sweetie Belle and Applebloom would be. Another filly who is going to suffer tremendously is Twist. She was in the hospital now, and the nurses said she should recover completely. Recover my flank, thinks the purple Unicorn bitterly. How in the name of Tartarros does somepony recover from losing the ones you love? Twilight cannot hold back her tears. Sitting in the shadow of the Library that she calls home, she softly sheds tears for those who have lost so much. Her beloved teacher, mentor and friend sits by her side, wrapping a wing gently around her in a hug. This is all it takes for the dam inside to break, and Twilight cries in sorrow with Her Princess. * * * * * Pinkie Pie sits in a chair next to a small bed in a hospital room. Resting in the bed is Twist. She had received a blow to the head, knocking her unconcious, but other than that, she was uninjured. At least physically. Cheerlie sort of sits in another chair. Her soft snores are the only sounds other than the background noise of a busy hospital. They had come to the hospital to sit with the filly, so that she would not be alone when she woke. Cheerlie had finally passed out from exhaustion about an hour ago. Several of her students had ended up here with various injuries, and she had visited each one. Except one. The loss of Scootaloo was too much of a blow to the teacher, and she had broken down. It tore Pinkie apart inside as well, but she could not let it show. Too many depended on her to bring smiles to their faces. To be the shining beacon of happiness they could turn to. How will she be able to bring smiles to the faces of all those who had lost loved ones though? How do you bring a smile to the face of someone who lost their mom and dad? Looking down at Twist's sleeping form, she can feel the tears trying to break free. Taking a small hoof into her's, she makes a decision. No matter what happens, she would not let this adorable filly suffer alone. After a little more time, the red maned filly wakes, calling out for her mom and dad. All Pinkie could do is hold her tightly, trying to offer some sort of comfort for the one who was now alone.