//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: The Storm 
// by The_Last_Centurion 
//------------------------------//

This story is a fan-fiction of MLP:FiM. I don't own any of it. It belongs to Hasbro, etc, etc.
Don't sue. Seriously. That would be so uncouth.


Part Two: Accumulation

I rubbed my face against the warm and soft thing that was cushioning my head and I sighed contentedly. It was so comfortable, and I just wanted to go back to sleep, but something was nagging me from the back of my mind. I stretched my limbs and yawned loudly without opining my eyes. Now what was I trying to remember?  ‘Whatever, I’ll just get up then’ I thought to myself as I opened my eyes and all the blood rushed from my face. 
My eyes grew wide and I started to freak out as I realized I was sitting on a cloud. No, lying on a bed made of clouds. And now I was going to fall a million feet to my death. I gasped and closed my eyes. When nothing happened, I poked one eye open. How was I not falling through the clouds? Where was I? And what happened yesterday? Was it all just a dream? My head spun with questions as I gingerly climbed out of the bed. I tip-hoofed on the clouds, expecting them to give out at any moment, but they never did. 
Eventually I reached the walls of this cloud-bedroom, but I saw no door out. I leaned onto the cloud walls to think, and I almost fell to my death. The walls ‘pooofed’ away when I touched them and I had to steady myself so I could fall onto a sturdier cloud material. I panted feeling my heart race at a million miles an hour in my chest. I felt so heavy from the fact I almost died, I could actually feel the weight on my shoulders.
I rubbed my forehead, laughing worriedly, and I felt something strange. Something was scratching my forehead while I rubbed it. I took my hoof away from my head the scratching thing went away with it. 
‘Strange’ I thought ‘I could have sworn I filed my hooves just a few days ago.’ I started to look at my hoof, but then I started to scream. My hoof, and coat in general, had changed from a nice brown to a deep-dark blue, like that of the sky around thunderheads. But more importantly, my hoof had large talons coming out of it. I looked at my other hoof and saw it was the same. I jumped up and inspected my back hooves. Talons all around. I started to walk back and I forgot that I was on a cloud.
My screaming increased as I felt myself hurtling head over hooves towards the menacing ground. My fear that weighed down my shoulders was definitely not helping this either. 
‘What?’ I told myself as I looked over my shoulder. There, flapping in the wind, sat two pristine wings. They were dark-blue just like the rest of my coat now and they sat there like I was born with them. I started to cry because I finally had wings….and also because I was going to die in all of five minutes. I saw the ground through bleary eyes and grimaced at my luck. But wait, I had wings now. I could fly!
I spread my wings as far as I could and I tried to level out. I drifted for a few amazing seconds before the wind took me and battered me around. Luckily, I had managed to level out about ten feet above the lake, so I fell straight into the murky waters. I swam to the surface and took in a mouthful of water before I swam straight. When I reached the shore, I looked back at the limp, wet wings and hissed under my breath. Sure they were pretty to look at, but they just weighed me down in the water and were next to useless since I didn’t know how to fly. And now, they clung to my back obnoxiously, slowly drying in the sun. 
I started to walk towards Ponyville, but the wings kept slowing me down. “Dry off already!” I yelled at them in anger. Immediately, my wings felt dry and lighter. I looked back at them and saw that they were dry. How’d I do that? I stood there transfixed for a second, before I realized something terrible. How would I be recognized in Ponyville? They would think I was a monster! I needed the wings and talons to disappear! I started to pace around. What would I do! I looked over to the rocks of the lake and gulped. I couldn’t cut them off! But then I saw the mud. At least I could cover the talons.
I plunged a hoof into the mud and was surprised to find that my talons were gone. I looked at all hooves and all the talons had disappeared. Then I glanced over my shoulder and saw that my wings were gone too!
“But I’ll still be different! My coat was a light brown not….” I said aloud as I stood by the shore of the lake. My eyes grew big as I saw my reflection. There was my face, surrounded by the dark blue coat and a shock of lightning-white mane. But as I looked at my reflection, I saw my coat change, slowly lightening and changing in color. It turned back to my original coat color, and light brown.
“What about my…” I said as I saw my mane turn back to black. I smiled at my reflection and stood up, head held high. I was a totally new pony, and I was going into Ponyville. I swaggered down the road, and went towards my town.
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“Alright girls,” Twilight said “Princess Celestia sent me a letter this morning about last night’s storm.”
“Weren’t that ‘un a doozie!” said Applejack “We had tah batter down all the hatches at Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Yeah it was all like WOOHSH, and the lighting was like FLASH, and the thunder was all like BOOOOOM!” Pinkie pie said bouncing off the walls of the library. Twilight caught her with her magic before she could topple a bookcase. 
“I understand that it was a big storm, but that’s not what Princess Celestia said in her letter. She wanted to know what we thought of it.” Twilight explained.
“If that’s all, just tell her it was an uncommonly big storm. Move the mirror just a little to the right Spike. No, my right. Good.” said Rarity as she brushed her mane with Spike’s help.
“Well I think it was just dreadful.” Fluttershy said. “All my cute little animal friends insisted on staying outside; and when the storm became its strongest, they all bowed towards the Everfree forest. It was all very strange. But now I have 15 sick animals back at my house the poor things.”
“Bowed?” Twilight asked.
“Why yes. It was very strange.”
“Yeah but that ain’t all of it….” Rainbow Dash said uncharacteristically lost in thought. “We get a storm like that off of the Everfree every so often, but that one…it was different.”
“How so Rainbow?” Twilight asked.
“Well first off, the storm felt like somepony was controlling it. We weather-pegasi could feel it from the directional shifts of the winds and the rain and……well it felt like another storm made by us pegasi. And then it increased in strength. No “natural” storm from the Everfree ever has done that. More importantly, I thought…no never mind.”
“What RD?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash was quiet for a moment and then rubbed her head with a hoof. “Well, I thought I saw somepony in the storm. But it didn’t look exactly like a pony, and nopony else saw it.” she said. “It was probably just a trick of the light or something.” she continued quickly.
Twilight nodded and was quiet for a moment. “Thanks girls, but we have one more thing to do. In the letter Princess Celestia asked me to investigate something in the Everfree forest. She says it was the source of the storm and we should all go together. When we find it, we’re supposed to leave the letter with it.”
The rest of Twilight’s friends looked at her quietly and then all nodded. “Meet up at the entry in ten minutes.”

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The sun was shining, the center of Ponyville was empty of Golden Harvest, and today was a great day. I walked home quickly to grab my bit-bag since I noticed that Sweet Apple Acres was selling their wares today. To top it off, Granny Smith was there selling with Applebloom and Big Mac, and everypony knew she always brought homemade pie with her when she came to sell the wares. I raced back to the square, noticing that a long line was apparent at the stall and I sighed under my breath.
“Bad luck huh?” said a voice from above me.
“Good morning RD.” I replied, looking up mare who was lounging on a cloud, a pie in hoof and saddlebags on her back.
“What’s gotten to you?” she said with a raised eyebrow. “You’re all happy today.”
I shrugged. “It’s a brand new day and a beautiful mare-ning.” 
Both her eyebrows went up as I started to feel the heat from a blush. “I meant morning. A beautiful morning.” 
She started to laugh. “You should see your face.” she replied, her laughter cheering me up. She smiled down upon me and I could feel my heart start to race.
“Here.” she said tossing the pie in her hoof towards me. I caught it quickly. “You own me though. Maybe a few more ‘beautiful mare’ s will do it.” she said giggling as she pulled another pie out of her saddle bag. She took a bite out of it.
“Sho where’d ya go yesterday?” she asked, mouth full.
“I went off to the Everfree. I always tend to go there when I’m upset.” I said, taking a small bite out of the pie.
“Really!” she squealed, almost choking on her pie for a second. She threw the rest of her pie into her saddlebag and swooped down, picking me up around my front hooves. She flew off towards the Everfree. 
“This is great!” she said. “Twilight said we were going into the Everfree to find out what caused the storm last night! I bet you know where to go!”
“Wah…what? No it’s not like I…” I stuttered.
“Don’t be modest LW! You go into the Everfree all the time! I bet you know it like the back of your hoof. We could really use your help…” she said, nuzzling her face next to mine. I started to blush, but I just took a large bite out of my pie so I wouldn’t say anything and ruin this moment. 
We landed near the entrance to the forest and all of Rainbow’s friends were there. Everypony knew who they were, but I never really knew them personally. I had never really introduced myself to them, and now I really didn’t need to.
“Hey girls, this is Little Wing. He’s gonna be our guide today.” Rainbow explained as she let me down. I gave everyone a small wave and equally small smile. 
“I’m Pinkie Pie!” said a pink blur in front of my vision. I stepped back and snatched a breath.
“I know that. Everypony knows who you six are. You’re Pinkie Pie” I said pointing to the pink puff of a pony, “you’re Applejack” I said pointing to her.
“Howdy.” she replied with a tilt of the hat. 
“You’re Rarity.”
“Charmed darling. Now you make sure you don’t lead us into any places where I could get muddy.”
I ignored the comment and continued. “You’re Fluttershy.”
“Hello.”
“And everypony knows that you’re Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s favorite student.”
“I don’t know about FAVORITE, but…..”
“Let’s get going!” Rainbow Dash said, pushing me into the forest at the lead of the group. 
“Ok then girls! Let’s go!” Twilight said right behind me. 
We started down the path and after a few minutes the forest got really dark.
“This is why I never go down this way. It’s always so dark and deceiving. The forest isn’t really like that.” I said aloud to myself before I remembered that I was with company.
“So which way do we go down?” Twilight asked “I don’t really see any other path.”
I walked over to the side of the path which was surrounded by trees. “That’s because there isn’t any other path.” I said as I entered the true forest. “Come on!” I called behind as I kept walking. I heard the rest of them follow me and the forest started to become bright again. We kept walking and the trees and brambles got thinner and more spaced out so we were walking in relative comfort through the forest. 
I stopped at a fallen tree to take a rest for lunch, as I could hear various grumbling stomachs from my group following me. I cleared a spot around the tree and laid some rocks about that we could use as plates. When that was all set, Twilight magicked a picnic blanket from her saddle bags. Soon everypony was pulling sandwiches and other goodies out and snacking down upon them. I didn’t have anything so I went and lounged on the fallen tree and looked up at the sky. It was so clear and blue. I was surprised such a storm could come in just a day, and even more so that I could make one. More importantly, why wasn’t I telling them that I made the storm. Was it because they would think I was crazy? I glanced over to Rainbow Dash who was finishing off her other pie and goofing around with Pinkie Pie. I smiled and felt guilty because I knew the true reason I wasn’t telling them. 
“So, um, do you, come to the forest often?” asked a quiet voice from behind me. I jumped and fell off the tree and I hit the ground face first. I could hear Rainbow laughing extremely hard and I felt gentle hooves on my shoulders.
“I’m so so sorry. Are you alright.” asked the same gentle voice. I rolled over and the sun was blotted out by a concerned mare’s face. Her butter yellow coat and brilliant green eyes filled my view for an eternity of seconds. She was very pretty and had that kind of pristine charm and she was very quiet and caring. I looked into her eye for a moment, apparently a moment too long according to Rainbow Dash who was making kissing noises from somewhere above us. She helped me up, and we quickly separated, blushing from the closeness. 
“Who would have thought it?” asked Rainbow Dash smugly as she stood in between us, laying a wing on both of our backs “To think old ‘Shy over here would be so aggressive.” She said, biting her teeth and then breaking out into a chorus of laughter.
“I just wanted to ask about how he got such an interesting cutie mark.” she said quietly, with a beet-red face. 
“WHAT!?!?”  Rainbow and I shouted at the same time, making Fluttershy jump away from us and hide behind the fallen tree. 
“YOU HAVE A CUTIE MARK?” Rainbow yelled as she pushed me happily.
“I HAVE A CUTIE MARK?” I asked excitedly as I spun around to get a glimpse of my flank. There indeed was a cutie mark, but it was different than any other mark I had ever seen. It seemed more of a print on my flank, a series of bolded black lines that curved around it what seemed like circles. Rainbow Dash stopped my spinning and held me there gaping at my flank.
“YOU HAVE A CUTIE MARK!” she said pulling me into a tight hug. “Now what the hay is it?” she said as she let me go.
“It’s an eagle.” Fluttershy answered for me from behind the tree.
‘Not exactly’ I thought, but this would probably be easier to follow along with.
“An eagle?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Um, yeah,” I said thinking quickly. “I got it after I finally flew with my glider wings yesterday.” I said feeling guilty that it was such a big lie. 
Rainbow punched me playfully on the shoulder.  “That’s great! So what does that mean your talent is?”
“Gliding?” offered Pinkie Pie.
“Yeah! Sure……” 
“Ok girls, and Little Wing, sorry for ruining your happy moment, but we need to keep moving.” Said Twilight as she magicked the picnic blanket into her saddlebags and everyone got up and stretched. “Princess Celestia wants my return letter by sundown, and I want to find the place where the storm originated.”
I shrugged my shoulders and started off. The group of the six mares followed me, but eventually I felt something strange. 
“Go on that way.” I said, pointing them toward my clearing while I feigned stepping on something. “I’ll be there in a minute; I just need to pull this stone from my hoof.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes at me, “little filly” I heard her mutter. Fluttershy looked at me concerned, but hurried along before anypony noticed. When they had gotten fairly far away, I looked around. For some reason, I felt something that I had never felt in the Everfree: Apprehension. I glanced around one last time, and then followed the mares. As I left our snacking spot, I thought I heard something slither away under the brush.

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In the badlands outside of Equestria’s border, in the shadow of the mountains of doom, what remains of a well can be seen. This well once meant that there was a chance for life in the badlands. Not because you could have water, but because the most terrible of creatures were trapped under the earth, sealed by the well. But now the well lay in ruins. However, if you were to put your head to the ground, or even more foolishly, into the hole, you would hear the whole world hiss at you before you die. And as the creatures ate your flesh you would notice that the badlands are a place without rain, without the storm. And you would realize that these creatures are the reasons for that.