//------------------------------// // Skyfall // Story: Fire & Rain // by Ruirik //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash awoke with a yawn, dimly aware of Spitfire’s hooves wrapped loosely around her waist. Glancing at the clock sitting on the nightstand, she couldn’t help but frown. Six-thirty in the morning was too early to get out of bed. Unfortunately for Rainbow, the weather team wouldn’t manage itself, and she needed to supervise the new lightning wranglers for their first time working with a live storm engine. Rainbow sighed and gave the clock a death glare. No matter how much she wanted to sleep in, there was work to be done, and it wasn’t likely to take care of itself. Unless, of course, the storm shipment from the weather factory was late again, in that case everypony on the weather team got a surprise day off. Rainbow was surprisingly good with that idea. Sighing again, Rainbow rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she built up the willpower to get out of bed. It proved to be no easy task, especially given the hooves wrapped around her waist. Resigning herself to her duty, Rainbow did her best to try and wiggle out of Spitfire’s grip without waking her. She was unsuccessful in that particular endeavor. Spitfire’s grip tightened around Rainbow as she snuggled into Dash’s mane. “Mm, five more minutes,” she mumbled in a half-sleeping daze. A soft giggle escaped Rainbow’s lips. “Come on Spitfire, I gotta get ready for work.” “It can wait five more minutes.” Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes, still she couldn’t help but smile. “Not on a storm day, it can’t.” Spitfire grumbled something incoherent and gave Rainbow a gentle squeeze before releasing her. Rainbow let out a big yawn as she sat up and stretched her wings, savoring the pleasant ache that accompanied the act. “Mind if I hop in the shower?” She asked as she crawled out of the bed. Spitfire’s answer was momentarily stalled by a yawn of her own. “Help yourself.” “Thanks, I’ll be out in a minute.” Rainbow said as she made her way to the bathroom. Spitfire yawned again and lifted her head from the pillows just enough to get a look at the clock. Groaning at the time, she fought back the urge to bury her head in the pillows and sleep in. She was letting herself get far too soft in her off time, which meant when she inevitably got back to duty it would be a royal kick in the flank. With some effort (and about ten or fifteen minutes of procrastination) Spitfire got up and began the arduous march to the kitchen. Her objective was a very simple two-step plan. Step one: make a pot of coffee, step two: drink the pot of coffee. What could possibly go wrong? Spitfire hesitated for a moment by the bathroom door. Aside from the telltale sound of the shower, she could hear Rainbow quietly singing to herself. A wide grin broke out of Spitfire’s face. “Sing it, girlfriend!” She called, laughing when she heard Rainbow let out a startled curse. “Shut up!” Rainbow called, her voice almost squeaking. Spitfire laughed again and continued to the kitchen. Much as she would have loved to see the look on Rainbow’s face, she wasn’t about to sneak into another pony’s shower. At least, not without getting invited first. Experience taught her that entering a shower uninvited was less of a romantic moment and more of a good way to get smacked. She never would have guessed that Zephyr could have hit that hard. Spitfire hummed as she put a fresh coffee filter into the pot and added enough grounds for a strong, Royal Guard style brew. She remembered how Soarin’ noted that the coffee in the Guard was purposely made to taste like a punch in the mouth. Spitfire also fondly recalled calling herself more of a stallion than Soarin’ was since she loved Guard style coffee and he could hardly stand the smell. Filling the back of the pot with water, Spitfire started the brew and trotted over to the radio. She liked having something to listen to before she got her day rolling. Flipping it on, she moved to the sink to wash the previous morning’s coffee cup as the stallion on the radio talked. “…. And that’s today’s weather schedule. Just as a reminder to all our listeners, tune in Friday for our interview with Sylvester Stallione, whose role as Roscherk Krovyu in the hit radio drama From Stalliongrad With Love is all the rage these days. Sly will be answering questions mailed in by you the listeners and talking candidly about his character’s arc, acting, and perhaps even a few fun stories from behind the scenes. “That’s all for now, we’ll be back after a few songs for the morning’s news report. Talk to you soon, Manehattan.” The host’s voice disappeared as an acoustic guitar strummed several times, the singer beginning his verse in earnest. Spitfire hummed along with the melody, having heard the song before, and liking it well enough. “Finally I figured out But it took a long, long time Now there's a turnabout Maybe 'cause I'm trying” Spitfire began swaying in time with the song, her smile growing ever wider as the music flooded her with energy. “There's been times, I'm so confused All my roads, well they lead to you I just can't turn and walk away” Rainbow emerged from the bathroom, her mane and coat still damp from the shower. Spitfire wasted no time in catching Rainbow in her grasp and pulling her along in an impromptu dance. “It's hard to say what it is I see in you Wonder if I'll always be with you But words can't say, And I can't do Enough to prove, It's all for you” Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh as she danced with Spitfire. “Somepony’s in a mood all of the sudden.” “Hey, I got a good night's sleep with my favorite mare in the world, and now I get to dance with her in the kitchen. I can’t think of a nicer way to start the day.” Rainbow giggled. “How about like this?” she asked before pressing her lips to Spitfire’s in a passionate kiss. Spitfire made a happy moan, perfectly happy to let Rainbow’s tongue slip into her mouth. Perhaps it was the endorphins flooding her brain, the music induced energy flowing through her muscles, or just random happenstance, but the aftertaste of Rainbow’s minty toothpaste made Spitfire giggle like a filly. “Rain comes pouring down Falling from blue skies Words without a sound Coming from your eyes” “That’d do the trick too,” Spitfire noted when their lips inevitably parted. Rainbow chuckled and gave Spitfire a second, though brief, kiss. “This song’s gonna be stuck in my head all day now.” “Oh, I’m sure we can think of worse songs,” Spitfire mused. “Let's not and say we did,” Rainbow said, smiling as she slipped past Spitfire and made her way to the fridge. “Can I have one of these apples?” “Have as many as you like, Dash,” Spitfire answered as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “You want some of this?” “Nah, I’m good, thanks though!” Rainbow said, trotting over to sit beside Spitfire as she bit into the apple. “So, Dash, what are you up to today?” “The weather team has to set up the city-wide storm, but as soon as that’s done I’ve got nothing to do,” Rainbow answered between bites of her apple. “You guys can just leave it on its own? I mean, don’t you have to keep an eye on it incase anything goes wrong?” Spitfire asked, genuinely curious about the details of weather work. “Well first what we do is hook up a thunderhead to a bunch of rainclouds. Those clouds form a storm engine. Put a few of those together, and we build a storm system. Once it’s ready, all we’re there for is to make sure the startup goes smoothly. After that the storm is self-sustaining and it rains itself out in a few hours. Something to do with the way the thunderheads interact with the rain clouds. My dad could tell you all the boring details way better than I could, to be honest.” “About how long does that take to set up?” Spitfire asked, scooting closer to Rainbow. “That’s gonna depend on the trainees,” Rainbow said with a weary sigh. “If I’ve done my job right, then it shouldn’t take more than a couple hours to set up the storm. If I didn’t, then it’s gonna be a long, sucky, day.” Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around Rainbow’s shoulders and pulled her into a sidelong hug. “I’m sure you did a great job, Rainbow.” “I hope so,” Rainbow said, staring at her apple core. “Hey, come on,” Spitfire gave Rainbow a gentle nudge. “You’re gonna have a great day, and when you’re done head on back here and we’ll make it a great night.” Rainbow snorted in amusement and gently kissed Spitfire’s cheek. “Well then, I guess I better get to work.” Spitfire smiled and nuzzled Rainbow tenderly. “I’ll be here.” “Well then,” Rainbow began as she stood up and stretched out her back, “I’d better get to work.” Spitfire wrapped her hooves around Rainbow’s waist and pulled the weather manager into her lap. “Not so fast there, missy.” “Whaaat?” Rainbow whined as she squirmed like a filly. “You are not leaving this room till you’ve been preened, young lady,” Spitfire said with a sagely nod. “You’re only, like, four years older than me!” “Oh shush and spread your wings.” “I will have revenge,” Rainbow promised, even as she did as requested. “Sounds like fun,” Spitfire shot back, smiling as she got to work. Rainbow really wanted to hit Spitfire with a witty reply, however she couldn’t seem to think of one while Spitfire expertly preened her wings. With a soft moan of pleasure Rainbow surrendered herself for the time being. All too soon, it was over, and Spitfire released Rainbow from her grasp. “Preened up and good to go,” Spitfire said with a proud smile. Rainbow turned and gave her marefriend a tight hug. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” “Sounds like a plan to me.” Rainbow pulled back slightly, not entirely willing to fully let go of the embrace. Spitfire spotted the subtle frown on her lips. “What’s up, Dash?” she asked, a hoof brushing Rainbow’s cheek. “I was just thinking, about what we talked about yesterday.” “Yeah?” “I… I uh…” Rainbow sighed and pressed her hoof to her head. “Damn it, why is this so hard?” Spitfire smiled and cupped Rainbow’s cheeks in her hooves. “You don’t need to say anything, Rainbow. What’s important is what’s in here,” Spitfire pressed her right hoof against Rainbow’s chest, “and here,” she placed her hoof over her own heart. “The words will come in their own time, Dash, and don’t you worry about those for a second.” Rainbow managed a nod, pulling Spitfire into a tight hug that the Wonderbolt eagerly returned. “I’ll be back soon.” Rainbow promised. “I’ll be here.” Spitfire answered. Almost reluctantly, the two pulled apart from their embrace. Rainbow had to force herself to turn to the window and leap into the waiting skies. Spitfire felt her posture sink as Rainbow left. She hated being alone. Rainbow flew as fast as her wings would carry her towards the weather office. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. Thoughts of work were superseded by her relationship with Spitfire. Rainbow knew how she felt in her heart, but part of her was terrified to give voice to those feelings. Still, every time she thought about her and Spitfire she got butterflies in her stomach. She felt strange when they weren’t together, she felt good when they were. So why, she wondered, was it so hard to say three simple words? Rubbing her face with a hoof, Rainbow struggled to push those thoughts from her head, at least for the moment. She had a job to do, and she needed to focus on it in order to get everything done to her own high standards. With renewed effort, Rainbow flew to the weather office so she could get the city’s water distribution chart. It wouldn’t do for her first major storm to place the clouds wrong. Arriving at the weather office, Rainbow was immediately surprised to see Headwind already there. More concerning though was the wide-eyed panic on his face as he tore through the papers in search of something. Rainbow quickly flew over to him and firmly gripped his shoulder. Headwind jumped in surprise from the touch. “Whoa, easy there, Headwind. What’s the fuss about?” she asked. “We got a problem, ma’am! Big, big problem!” “Headwind, take a breath, calm down, and tell me what’s wrong,” Rainbow said as calmly as she could manage. “Just, just follow me!” he said as he took a running dive out of the window and flew towards the staging area. Rainbow cursed under her breath as she chased after him. Leaping back into the sky, she spread her wings. The wind and thermals caught in her feathers held her aloft. Even though Headwind had a sizeable lead on her, it was foals play for Rainbow to close the distance in a few strong wing beats. “Headwind, what the heck is the matter?” Rainbow demanded. “The shipment got messed up!” he shouted over the wind, “we got mostly thunderheads and very few rain clouds.” “What?” Rainbow balked. “We got all fifteen tanker clouds just like we ordered, and the lightning wranglers took three that were labeled thunderheads, and the rain team just started unpacking the rest assuming they were rain clouds.” “Oh no, is anypony hurt?” Rainbow asked, her heart starting to race. “At least a dozen rain ponies got zapped pretty good, Dewdrop got the worst of it. They should all be at the hospital by now.” Headwind said, a grim look on his face. “What’s the damage?” “Mostly electrical burns, though Dewdrop damn near fell out of the sky she got shocked so bad.” Rainbow cursed and gritted her teeth in frustration. “How the buck did this happen?” “I think it’s my fault, ma’am,” Headwind said. “How do you figure that?” Rainbow asked. “The weather factory doesn’t make mistakes like this, and I’m the one who filled out the order. So it stands to reason I bucked up the paperwork and didn’t notice.” “Headwind—“ “If that’s the case, then you’ll have my resignation as soon as we’ve fixed this mess,” he promised. “We’ll talk about that later,” Rainbow growled, “how many lightning wranglers are on the scene?” “Maybe a dozen when I left, most weren’t scheduled to arrive until nine.” “Alright, let's get a move on. I need to see what’s going on myself.” “Yes ma’am.” A few minutes of hard flying later, Rainbow and Headwind arrived in the weather staging area. Whatever hopes Rainbow had for an early day vanished as the scale of her problem became apparent. Hovering silently over the main platform cloud were a dozen tanker clouds. Each cloud, over a hundred feet long and thirty feet tall held hundreds of tightly packed storm clouds. If they had all remained sealed, the problem would have been nothing more than a mild annoyance, unfortunately Rainbow could see three of the tanker clouds had been opened, their contents now flooding the tagging area with a mixture of benign rainclouds and dangerous thunderheads. “This is bad,” Rainbow mumbled as she got closer. “Oh, thank Celestia you got here!” called Flash as he flew over to Rainbow and Headwind. “What do we got, Flash?” Rainbow asked. “Way too many Thunderheads, and nineteen lightning wranglers, including you and me,” he answered. “Damn it,” Rainbow bit her bottom lip as she quickly thought of a plan. “Okay, how many of the tanker clouds were opened?” “Only three,” Flash answered, “the first one was rain clouds, the other two were thunderheads. We didn’t realize it until we heard the screaming, and by then it was too late to close the tanker clouds.” “Great,” Rainbow growled. “Okay, Headwind, I want you to get the closed tanker clouds away from the city. Keep them low to the ground so we don’t risk a tanker full of thunderheads going missing. Have the rest of the cloud pushers form two teams, the first team will form a perimeter and keep curious ponies out of the way, the second team will gather every lightning certified pony in Manehattan and get them here.” “I don’t have enough cloud pushers to do all that!” Headwind argued. “Take Dewdrop’s rain teams too, they need to get away from here anyway. Now get to it!” Rainbow ordered. Headwind offered Rainbow a terse nod before he flew away to carry out his orders. “What about us?” Flash asked. “Break whoever you’ve got into teams of two or three and start taking thunderheads outside of the city. We’ll have to manually discharge them one-by-one, otherwise we’re gonna have a nasty electrical storm on our hooves.” Rainbow said as she ran her hoof through her mane. “I’ll stay here so I can direct any rain ponies or cloud pushers away and organize the lightning wranglers as they come in. Got it?” “Got it, boss lady.” “Awesome, now get going!” In a different part of town in her lonely apartment, Fleetfoot was curled up in her bed. Her faithful teddy bear having been clutched to her breast all night as she replayed her encounter with Spitfire and Rainbow in her mind. The things she had said, how Rainbow had reacted, and her ‘fight’ with Spitfire. Sadness and hurt had given way to anger, and that anger had at some point in the night shifted to simple depression. Fleetfoot sucked in a deep breath and nuzzled her teddy bear, wishing with all her heart she could just fall asleep and forget the last twenty-four hours of her life. Sleep, however, continued to elude her. As upset as she was with Spitfire, Fleetfoot felt nothing but shame for what she had said to Rainbow. The look in the young mare’s eyes before she stormed off was what had kept Fleetfoot awake all night long. The idea that she had thought of Fleetfoot as a hero before that moment, it brought a wave of sadness over the Wonderbolt. “What do you think, buddy?” She asked her teddy bear. The stuffed toy, as usual, was mum on the issue. “Gee, a lot of help you are sometimes,” Fleetfoot grumbled. Fleetfoot sighed and slowly lifted herself into a sitting position. Setting her teddy bear on the couch, she yawned once and stretched out her wings. Deciding a good flight would clear her mind, she pulled open a window and leapt to the skies. Despite her body’s persistent ache, her emotional turmoil, and her general tiredness, Fleetfoot couldn’t help but smile as she flew over the city. The wind swept through her mane and over her coat, it carried her over the buildings and streets below, and it allowed her to forget her troubles, at least temporarily. Fleetfoot veered towards the edge of the city. Perhaps if she flew a lap or two around Manehattan, she could finally get a little sleep. If nothing else, it would at least give her something to do outside of her apartment. Half an hour into Fleetfoot’s flight, she came across the weather staging area. Normally, Fleetfoot passed it without a second thought on her semi-regular flyby. Today, however, nothing looked normal. Dozens of dark grey clouds littered the sky, several tanker clouds were pushed to the side awaiting whatever it was the weather team had planned for them, and in the middle of the mess, sitting on a small grey cloud, was a sky-blue mare with a rainbow mane. Fleetfoot stared at the mare for a long while, her tired mind almost unable to comprehend the situation she had stumbled into. She slowly looked to her left, then to her right. Not seeing any other pegasus around, her mind struggled to figure out what the situation was. Fleetfoot bit her lip anxiously, on one hoof she now had a chance to talk to Rainbow Dash alone, on the other hoof, well... Fleetfoot honestly couldn’t think of a reason not to fly over and at least apologize. Her decision made, Fleetfoot took a breath to calm her nerves and flew over. As she got closer, she noticed that Rainbow’s back was facing her. The young weather mare’s eyes focused on the grey clouds floating all around her. If she heard Fleetfoot’s approach, she didn’t react. Fleetfoot waited for a few moments before she spoke. “Um, hey, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow jumped in surprise, quickly turning to face the voice. “Fleetfoot? What are you doing here? Actually, never mind you’ve got to—” “Wait, Rainbow, please!” Fleetfoot interrupted, hovering just above the cloud. “Please, just-just hear me out okay? I promise it’ll only take a minute.” Rainbow sighed, rubbing her temple with a hoof. Rainbow was about to tell Fleetfoot she needed to get out of the area, however as Fleetfoot got closer Rainbow could see the swollen half of her face. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Rainbow asked with a gasp, covering her mouth with her hoof. “Huh? Oh, right…” Fleetfoot mumbled uncomfortably, her hoof gingerly touching her swollen cheek. “It’s nothing.” “It looks like you got beat up, I mean, what happened?” “It’s really nothing,” Fleetfoot lied, “I just tripped last night and landed face first.” “… Okay,” Rainbow anxiously relented, hoping that listening would be the easiest way to get Fleetfoot out of the area. “Look, Fleetfoot, I’m kinda in the middle of something important here, so what do you want?” “First of all, I wanted to say I’m sorry for the things I said yesterday. You guys surprised me and I was having a rough day, so I shot my mouth off without thinking. So I just wanted to say I am really, really, sorry.” Rainbow closed her eyes and slowly took a deep breath and gave Fleetfoot a cautious nod. “It’s just… well I’ve worked my whole life to be a Wonderbolt, you know? And then when I finally thought I had reached a plateau in my life, you came along and did the impossible. And... and I thought to myself, that’s the only thing left for me professionally. “We all worked our tails off trying to do it, and just when it seemed like there was no hope left, you show up in town like a blessing from Celestia. But then I find out there’s this whole thing with you and Spitfire…” Fleetfoot glanced up in time to see Rainbow blush heavily. “I guess I just thought this might be my chance.” Rainbow sighed and pressed a hoof to her forehead. “Fleetfoot—” “Please, just give me some little hint! What is it that you do that we can’t? You don’t have to tell me the exact secret, but just please-please-please give me something to work with!” “Fleetfoot, there’s no secret, really!” Rainbow insisted. “There’s always a secret to unlocking every trick! The buccaneer blaze, the celestial starburst, the striking cobra, the super speed strut, the filly flash, all of them have some trick that unlocks the whole thing!” “I don’t have a secret trick!” Fleetfoot scowled, her frustration perfectly mirrored by Rainbow’s. “Just for grins, answer me this then.” “What?” Rainbow snapped. “If there was a secret, would you share it with us? Would you share it with Spitfire?” Rainbow faltered, her eyes breaking contact with Fleetfoot’s unyielding gaze. If Spitfire were to ask, Rainbow didn’t think she could say no. “...So that’s how it is,” Fleetfoot hissed, the bitter heartbreak plain in her expression. “Fine.” Spreading her wings, Fleetfoot gave the cloud a frustrated kick as she leapt into the air. Instantly, her world was washed away in a sea of white, and a deafening explosion sent her reeling out of control. Her training took over, and Fleetfoot instinctively tried to regain control of her body. However without being able to see and her equilibrium shattered, she had no idea what was happening, until a collision with the cold earth knocked the breath out of her lungs. She couldn’t tell how long she laid there gasping for breath as her vision slowly returned. She had no idea what had hit her, or how she had ended up on the ground. All Fleetfoot knew, was that her body ached, a constant ring filled her ears, and she couldn’t stop shaking. When her vision finally cleared, Fleetfoot realized she was staring up at a skyline full of dark grey clouds, all of which were dangerously arcing lightning in all directions. Fleetfoot groaned in pain as she rolled onto her belly. “R-Rainbow Dash? R-Rain... I can’t hear... I can’t hear, I can’t hear, I can’t hear!” Dry, hacking coughs escaped her throat. Fleetfoot tasted blood in her mouth as she gasped for breath. Looking around, her heart skipped a beat as she spotted Rainbow Dash. The weather manager lay in a crumpled heap facing Fleetfoot. Her eyes were closed and her mouth agape, her coat was charred and Fleetfoot saw blood trickling out from her mouth. “No, no-no-no-no. G-get help, g-gotta g-get h-h-h-help,” Fleetfoot told herself through the shivers that wracked her body. A quick attempt at flight resulted in nothing more than a face full of dirt. Fleetfoot dimly registered the sense of panic building in her gut from the realization her that whatever had hit her and Rainbow had at least temporarily crippled her flight capability. With no other options she could think of, Fleetfoot hobbled towards the city. Spitfire turned the page in the novel she was reading, humming a soft tune to herself as light music played on the radio. After showering and preening, she had settled down for a quiet morning. During the active season, it was rare that Spitfire found time to take it easy and read, this was an opportunity that she had missed. Spitfire reached for her coffee cup, only to be interrupted as a loud bang from outside drew her attention and a deep rumble shook the hotel. Spitfire dropped the book and darted to the window, her eyes scanning the horizon for the source of the disturbance. She could see it: flashes of light on the edge of the city. The sound of thunder sporadically reached her ears, though it seemed muted from the distance. Spitfire couldn’t be sure, but she was fairly certain that the problems seemed to be coming from the weather staging area. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought. She forced herself away from the windowsill and immediately began to pace around the coffee table. “Relax, Spitfire,” she told herself, “everything’s fine. It’s nothing Rainbow can’t handle with her team.” She glanced back out the window, the tiny sparks of lightning glimmering against the grey horizon. Spitfire tried to move back to the couch and resume her book, but she couldn’t escape the sinking feeling in her gut. Growling in frustration, she leapt out the window and spread her wings, the thermals and her weakened muscles carrying her to the source of the trouble. “Pull those clouds apart!” Flash shouted, “come on, put your backs into it!” “It’s too late,” shouted one of the senior lightning wranglers, a brown pegasus with a two-toned grey blue mane. “There’s too much static, the network is activating too fast!” “Do what you can, Rainy, buy me some time!” Flash shouted. “We’re doing all we can already, boss!” “We gotta get the tanker clouds out of range, or an electrical storm is the least of our problems!” another lightning wrangler shouted. “Sweet Celestia,” Flash muttered, his body trembling. “Hey, you there!” a mare called from behind him. Turning sharply, Flash briefly considered the possibility that he was in a bizarre hallucination. After all, why else would Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts show up out of the blue. “Spitfire?” Flash balked, “what in the name of Luna’s blue balls are you doing here? You know what, never mind, are you lightning certified?” “I’ve never worked a day of weather in my life,” she answered quickly. “Then, all due respect ma’am, get out of here before you get hurt. We’ve got enough problems right now without having to keep an eye you too.” “I heard the explosion from my hotel, thought I could lend a hoof. Where’s Rainbow Dash? I thought she would’ve been here.” Spitfire asked. “I don’t know, I just got back here myself. Now please, get out of here, it’s not safe!” “Just, hold on a second, maybe I c—” “Hey, help! Somepony help!” a voice shouted from somewhere below them. Spitfire and Flash both looked below them and simultaneously recoiled in shock. Laid out in front of an amber pegasus stallion was Rainbow Dash. Spitfire reacted automatically, diving to the ground as fast as she could, her heart racing in her chest. Flash was right behind her, his wings splayed out to slow his descent. Spitfire’s stomach churned as she got a good look at Rainbow. Her coat was singed all over her body, some spots the sky-blue hairs were burned away entirely, blood trickled from her mouth, and her left wing was bent at an unnatural angle. Spitfire didn’t need a doctor to tell her the wing was badly broken. “Not good, not good.” Flash muttered. “How... how..." Spitfire whispered, her trembling hooves hovering millimeters over Rainbow’s still body, afraid to touch her for fear of what they may not feel. “We gotta get help!” The amber stallion said “Tell me something I didn’t know,” Flash growled, his mind whirring as he tried to figure out how a lightning specialist like Rainbow Dash would have been injured so badly. “Flash, Flash!” A chocolate colored stallion with a dark brown mane shouted from above them. “What, Malty?” Flash asked. “There’s a breach in one of the tanker clouds, we can’t get close enough to patch it without it frying us!” Flash’s eyes widened as his ears fell back. “Oh, no... no-no-no...” “What do we do? I mean, how—” “EVERYPONY GET AWAY FROM THE TANKER!” Flash shouted, roughly grabbing Malt and throwing him in the direction of the city. “COME ON, GO, GO GO!" The dozen or so pegasi fled as if Nightmare Moon herself was chasing them. Spitfire looked up to the tanker clouds, her eyes widening as she saw electricity arcing wildly out from the corner of one of the massive clouds. “GET DOWN!” Flash shouted, unceremoniously throwing himself over Spitfire and Rainbow. Spitfire’s shout was lost to the wind as the tanker cloud exploded, all the lightning clouds within discharging their energy in a single massive burst. The world turned silent and white. As color returned to Spitfire’s world, everything seemed to move in slow motion. Small fires burned around her like a million tiny candles. She saw pegasi, charred and ragged looking walking the ground in a shell shocked daze. Flash cloud was yelling something to her that she couldn’t hear over the ring in her ears. “WHAT?” she shouted back at him, her hearing slowly returning. “I SAID, ARE YOU OKAY?” he shouted again, his voice sounding like barely more than a whisper to her. “I THINK SO,” she shouted. Flash gave her a curt nod before he darted away from her to check on the rest of his haggard team. Spitfire’s focus slowly returned to Rainbow, who remained motionless on the ground. She gingerly slipped her hooves around Rainbow’s limp body and cradled the weather mare to her chest. “Come on, Dash, wake up,” Spitfire pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes as her voice cracked, “please wake up...”