A full week had passed since I had gotten a job delivering produce. If I kept at it another week, I could pay for my own home. The sky was a bright blue, and there was still an ominous black dot up there. Usually, I ignored it, but every morning I'd stare at it for minutes before I did anything else.
The first delivery was large. I needed to take some tomatoes from the farmer's market to some place called "Dodge City", and was told how to get there. Apparently, these tomatoes were needed urgently, and the train had a derailment.
I was flying over the tracks in order to get there, although I couldn't go full speed or the tomatoes would fall out of the satchel. The bright green hue of grass soon faded to a sea of beige, with herds of buffalo off near a mountain range, and mesas jutting upward nearby. The cerulean sky lacked any specks of white, and the sun shone brightest here.
Suddenly, like a tree in a desert, Dodge City creeped up from the horizon. More of it came into view as I got closer. There was a swamp just past it, and a cherry orchard just north of the city, although I assumed that was part of it.
I touched down at the train station, where quite a few ponies had gathered and were discussing something. Since I was in a bit of a hurry, I asked, "Someone call for some tomatoes?"
They all looked at me, and one said, "Yes, put them down there, I need somepony's help for a minute."
I agreed. "Sure, I have time," I promised. I'd rather not let him down.
We approached the edge of a cliff. "Our mine's collapsed," he told me, "and that train was supposed to bring help."
"I'm guessing they went faster than normal, and that's why they derailed?" I was concerned for the lives of whoever was in the cave.
"Yes. Well, there is air going into the cave," he said, pointing out an opening near the top, "but it ain't much."
"I'll see what I can do," I told him, and flew to the opening. I was able to push one rock off, but the other ones were wedged tightly. "There a unicorn around these parts?"
"Only one," the miner said, "But she ain't strong enough to move those boulders."
I didn't want to argue. Further, I didn't expect my job to put me in such a position. I pushed at anothe rock, and it came down. Now, if I tried, I could squeeze through the opening. I should just move the boulders, I thought.
Anothrer rock became loose, and I kicked it off. I could then knock off two more, until the opening was close to the ground.
"That's enough," the miner declared, and I stopped. "Y'all okay in there?"
No answer. He yelled it again.
"Yeah! We struck a vein!" Cheers of excitement echoed from deep in the cave.
"Well," he said, "Ain't that good. Thanks!"
"No problem," I told him, flying away.
--(%)--
The beige expanse turned back into green as I passed the derailed train and landed in Ponyville.
"I'm finished," I said as I entered the delivery station.
The manager gave me a look. "You passed your deadline," she said, "Now tell me why."
"Some miners were trapped in a cave, and one asked me to help," I told her.
"Oh?" She lost her scornful attitude. "That's what the train was headed there for! How nice of you to do that!"
"Someone had to," I said. Someone meant me, I told myself.
"Well, just for that, I'm not deducting your pay. If I'm right, there's just one more delivery today. A bushel of celery for the weather factory in Cloudsdale." She dumped them in the satchel, and I sped out the door.
--(&)--
I landed just outside the factory doors, which luckily were open.
Trotting in, I was approached and asked if I had the celery. "Yes," I replied, and emptied the satchel into a bag the worker held out.
I then approached a pony, who was looking at a drop of water under a large microscope. Nudging him, I suggested, "You know, looking at a cloud with that might be a lot more interesting."
She looked at me.
"Look, I'll show you," I said, positioning a chunk of cloud under the lens. "It's just like the water, I be-"
Woah.
Instead of condensed water molecules, whatever I was seeing looked nothing like water at all. "Quick, come!" The scientist rushed up.
"What is it?" She looked through the eyepiece, stepped back, and gave me a look of confusion. "What was that?"
"I haven't got a clue," I told her, "But it's weird."
The other scientists started approaching, asking what the matter was, what had we seen. I allowed them all to view the piece of cloud.
"Now, let me explain something," I announced.
"Normally, clouds are evaporated water molecules that have condensed in the air. However, if the clouds we are stepping on, moving through the sky, and manipulating were condensed water, they wouldn't have this consistency or resilience."
"Whatever this is," I continued, "This odd mish-mosh of miniature structures, this unnatural formation, it isn't a cloud, but it sure wants to be one."
--(&)--
Following my declaration concerning the small, interconnected devices that comprised the clouds I observed, I returned to Ponyville to confirm my delivery and receive my pay, which should have been 250 bits.
After being paid, I quickly went to Twilight to relate my findings. She seemed fascinated, and I gave her a full description of what I saw.
"Hmm. That could explain a lot," she said, sifting through her library, "but I swear somepony discovered that already, and it never got spread around enough to be taught. Aha!" She procured a book titled Studies of Lens, the "inventor of the microscope".
Twilight flipped to a page. In there lay full sketches and descriptions of what I'd seen, but there was nothing along the lines of an explanation.
"Well," I told her, "We'll have to see. Say, do you have any books here about conflict?"
"Internal or external?"
I looked at her. "War," I stated.
"Not much of that's ever happened," she said, "But there is an account of the ancient pegasus invasions."
That sounded interesting, so I asked for it, and began to read the book. It stated how their army manipulated the weather and used air superiority for their own benefit.
I immersed myself in it.
The ability to fly seemed an endowment more valuable than magic, and the ability to move the clouds was just as grand. Their armies flew over the enemy, inflicting numerous snowstorms, famines, and other unpleasentries. However, when they signed the Cooperative Agreement, it was no longer profitable or honourable to attack the earth ponies, or even the unicorns. The Cooperation Agreement meant that they would protect them in the case of an invasion; the unicorns provided wealth, the earth ponies made food, and the pegasi made up the entirety of the army. Ever since the incident involving the formation of Equestria, pegasi have not ruled a sovereign nation comprised only of their race; rather, their cities have stood as exclusive areas unreachable without the aid of wings, machines, or magic, and as a symbol of power and a higher state among the rest.
I yawned. The author, a seemingly adamant pegasus supremacist, droned on about superiority. I quickly passed off his claims as arbitrary and put the book back on a shelf.
Suddenly, there was a noise from outside, as if something had exploded. Twilight and I rushed out the door to investigate.
"Where was this one?" She asked Rainbow Dash, who was in a cloud above.
"To the southeast, in dragon territory!" Dash had a look of sheer terror.
"Stormfront, I need your help," Twilight said.
"What's going on?"
"Go with Rainbow Dash and see if anypony needs help," I was told, "but be careful."
"Dragons are dangerous, Stormfront. Be very careful."
--(&)--
As I sped southwest, the geography changed. The ground rose from the marshes and plains, sharpening into a jagged ridgeline as it reached the ocean. Volcanoes dotted the rough, dark red mountains. If this is dragon land, I told myself, I'm dead.
Rainbow leaned herself to the left, falling out of formation and swerving to a landing point. I did the same.
A dark object lay, jutted into the rock. Its side was embellished with a symbol, a light blue P inside a circle. There didn't seem to be a hatch, or even a window. Dash seemed worried. "Is anypony in there?"
"What is this?" I looked at her.
"You were in one of these," she said, "Except it disappeared. This one didn't."
A green light shone in the middle of the P symbol. It got slightly larger, then small green lights started up, until the entire circle was covered in lights. When this happened, there was a clank, and the entire capsule seemed to eat itself away.
Inside the capsule lay an unconscious unicorn, along with an iron rod that survived the disappearance of the device. She had a blue mane, and a beige pelt.
Slowly, she started to wake up.
"Hello? Do you remember anything?" Dash and I stood over her, prepared to help.
"No..."
Another case of amnesia. My mind was racing, attempting to figure out who I could blame, when a deafening roar shook the cliffs around us.
"We gotta hightail it, there's a dragon coming!" Rainbow Dash had fear in her eyes. Most likely not for herself, I thought, but for the other pony. I carried her onto my back, told her to hold tight, and lifted myself skyward.
The weight caused a lot of drag, and I was unable to maintain my regular high speed. Thankfully, whatever dragon had roared decided not to encounter us.
Upon returning to Ponyville, I presented the unicorn to Twilight. "This can't be coincidence," she argued, and said she would "write to Celestia about it".
"Well," I inquired, "What would a letter from a mere citizen accomplish?"
"Excuse me, but I'm the princess' number one student!"
I hadn't been informed of that. "Sorry," I said.
"That's okay, I never told you before," Twilight told me.
If you had, I wouldn't have made you so aggravated, I thought.
The unicorn looked at me. "What's my name?" She looked pitiful.
"Hmm," I told her.
"You look like a Cerulean Wave," I blurted. How creative, I told myself.
"I guess that'll work," she stated, stretching her back.
"So, what do I need to know?"
I gave her a puzzled look, and noticed that everypony else had went elsewhere, thusly putting us in a private spot. The unicorn gave me a blank stare.
"I don't have amnesia," she told me, "but I have to say I do, or it'll blow my cover. Thanks for the name, I'll stick with it."
"Wait, what?" I was confused.
"Oh, you'll figure it out," she said, attempting to levitate a rock, "Just as I'll figure this out." Her horn would spark with a beige glow, as would the rock, but she couldn't get it to move.
"Go on, and pretend we never had this conversation," she demanded. I went to go speak with Twilight.
"Okay, Cerulean!" I waved at her from a distance.
--(&)--
Twilight was in the library, scrawling a letter down on a scroll, using a quill dipped in ink to write. I looked over her shoulder.
...these strange appearances, which consist of objects falling from the sky and disappearing, containing ponies afflicted with amnesia, seems to coincidential to just be freak accidents. I fear something larger than this is occurring...
I then stopped, and stood nonchalantly in the house.
Never was one for eavesdropping, even if it was just writing.