//------------------------------//
// Snowflakes of Shimmering Hues 
// Story: Survivor Shy 
// by Mattatatta 
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A gut-wrenching screech pierced through the howling storm winds. A crash of thunder boomed nearby, rattling my bones and forcing me under the captain’s desk. Gingerly I peeked out from the safety of the cedar furniture, and chanced a glance toward one of the port holes. Outside I could see the suffocating clouds enveloping the ship, and the specks of hail and snow streaking past the glass. But now there was something else joining the view outside; there was a distinct glow of orange.
 
Curious, I stood back up to find out what the cause of the glow was, only to quickly lunge to catch my lantern as a stray gale swung the airship wildly to and fro. The lantern hopped and bounced on my flailing hooves, crashing to the floor and plunging the room in darkness.
 
Only… There was still light – from outside. Every nerve in my body twitched as a ripple of fear tore through them. In seconds I had rushed through the dimly-lit room and thrown open the door – revealing a massive orange blaze engulfing the entire ship.
 
Beating the urge to stare and cower in place, I rushed back into the captain’s quarters and hastily gathered my belongings – throwing them all into my saddlebags with little concern over damaging them. Moments later I came out onto the deck in full gallop, heading directly for the nearest railing to soon abandon the flying inferno.  My right hoof planted itself on the railing, just as a gigantic serpent darted out from the clouds and flew directly upward – filling my vision with its gleaming, ebony abdomen. In the same moment, even falling overboard became far more frightening than going down with the ship, and my panic-stricken legs shared the same feeling. I scrambled backwards and stopped in the center of the deck, searching through stinging eyes and blazing ash for the serpent. I could hear its grating screech echo among the clouds, drowning out even the explosions of thunder. I tried to fight the urge to freeze a second, but crippling fear tethered me in place – locking my eyes into a wide-eyed stare. All four of my hooves planted themselves on the floorboards, refusing to budge even while my knees shook and ached to flee. Every muscle in my body was in turmoil, and couldn’t decide what to do. My lungs couldn’t decide to breathe in or out, my wings were clamped shut against my flanks, and my heart screamed to get off the ship quickly.
 
The ship was burning down into its charred skeleton, leaving a tiny circle of untouched wood for me to stand on. I looked up into the fiery red sky – now visible through the framework of the long-gone balloon – and saw ash and molten liquid rain down from above. The ship carried on sailing deeper and deeper into the storm, and with each passing second the screeches grew louder, frequent, and from different directions at once. The sea of clouds raged like flood water, their dull, dark grey now an endless, inky black that caused light to simply cease to be the moment it touched its gloomy mass.
 
I brought my head down, shutting my eyes and trying to block out the awful sounds scraping away inside my skull: Wood creaking and groaning, serpents taunting with cacophonic cries, and the cackling laughter of reckless fire. It was too much to bear, too much to process and react.
 
The planks could hold me no longer, and with only an absent gasp I plummeted deep into the abyss of the storm. I blinked once, twice, finally realising that I was falling. Desperately I tried to fly, but the murderous winds tossed and shoved me about at dizzying speeds. I didn’t know which was up anymore, and in the dark depths of the cloud cover, I didn’t know how much longer I had until the ground would reach me.  Sore from the endless fury of the storm, my wings gave up completely, leaving me falling faster and faster to the floor.
 
Blindly I stared in front of me, watching the world beneath emerge through the dark clouds and smoke. The earth was cracked and dry, burnt, jagged corpses of forests clawed up into the sky – reaching for salvation from the firestorms sweeping and consuming the land. Tears were ripped from my face, screams never made it over the roar of wind, and my heart was torn apart. Slowly, I turned my head upwards, twisting my body around so I couldn’t see the ground rushing up to me. My wings waved uselessly in the wind, just like the rest of me; just like the hope spilling from my chest.  
 
Two emerald eyes gleamed through the blanket of smoke, revealing the ebony serpent who owned them just before he ripped through the shroud – diving down after me with the golden glow of flames in his mouth.
 
In moments the beast had closed the distance between us, coming almost close enough to breathe his flames over me. Pulling my glassy eyes away from the creature’s cold stare, I stole a glance at the ground behind me. Only a few hundred feet left until the end. The serpent’s maw opened wide, searing heat already beating away at my tiny form, and he exhaled.
 
There was a crash, an explosion like thunder, and I bolted upright in my seat without an ounce of air in my lungs. In a split-second the afterimage of flames had been replaced by the far wall and door of the captain’s cabin. I darted my eyes to window, seeing nothing but dull grey and water droplets on the other side. There was no hail, only silent, sleepy snowfall drifting in and out of view.
 
My head flopped forwards, banging onto the cedar desk. I winced but didn’t move, giving myself a moment to feel. The pain was real - thank goodness it was real.
 
“Nightmares can’t hurt me,” I sputtered. The truth in those words came over me in waves, the echo of my mother’s voice in my own brought comfort, but also an albatross circling over my head: Nightmares couldn’t hurt me, but reality could. And reality had taken my parents away along with everypony else.
 
I sat myself up and tilted my head back, drying my eyes with my bandaged leg. I sniffed at the air and scanned over the yellowed map spread over the desk. It was the same map that Twilight had been using to coordinate the search before she and the rest of the ponies had vanished. It was the map I had taken from Canterlot moments before Diamond Dogs stormed the room to catch me. Memories of the chase throughout the castle drove chills up my spine, perking my ears and gripping my lungs.  My hoof smoothed out the creases in the parchment, ink smudged where tears or drool had collected. I frowned and wiped my mouth and cheek dry - as if it would make a difference now.  My eyes drifted over to the tiny pinholes in the parchment, relieving me only slightly from responsibility. I had no desire to go to those towns. Not with the knowledge that each of my friends were apart from each other when the Event happened, not with the ghastly thought that an unassuming road could be the same place where one of my friends disappeared.
 
There was once place however, that I did have some desire, maybe more a duty, to go to. Circled with a piece of black charcoal I had found in the captain’s drawer was a place far outside of Equestria, nestled comfortably within a land only known to me as The Fang: Kinsmeer. The two Dragons I had heard talking in Canterlot were going there while the winter storm raged through most of Equestria. One of them had my Element of Harmony, and I had to somehow get it back. I didn’t know how long the Element of Kindness would be there for, but it was the only one I knew the location of for sure – besides the Element of Magic sitting on the desk and holding down one corner of the map.
 
I stretched and yawned, climbing out of my seat to stretch. Shakily standing on all fours, I sluggishly walked over to a porthole on the right side of the ship. It was still night outside, but the sky was clearer now that the air yacht had risen above most of the storm clouds. Perhaps some fresh air would help right now? I pondered as I peeled away from the glass, making for the door to the deck outside. The stars are out too; maybe I can work out which way I’m heading.
 
No sooner had the latch to the door been lifted did the cold night air rush indoors to greet me. I stood in the doorway, forgetting all the pain in my chest for a moment as I imagined opening the front door of my cottage on the first day of winter. The first breaths of cold air always chased away any drowsiness from the previous night, and this was no exception. Scarce flakes of falling snow melted on my nose and settled in the tangles of my mane, the chilly breeze ruffled my feathers and ran its fingers through my fur, and the air, though thinner this high up, was crisp and pure. With the warmth of the room behind me, the sensation was a lovely way to wake up.
 
Dreamily, I opened my eyes, staring beyond the bow of the ship, into the depths of the night. I held my gaze there, clinging onto the illusion that everything was fine and beautiful, and that nothing could possibly go wrong. It was no use; a few matted strands of my mane fell over my eyes, and my bandaged foreleg rose up to push them aside, shattering the lie I wanted to believe in.
 
I sighed and pulled the door shut after me. I looked up at the balloon keeping the ship aloft, quickly blinking back the vision of fire consuming it and the entire ship. Nightmares weren’t real. I hurried along, walked along the front of the captain’s quarters and walking up one of the sets of stairs leading to the poop deck. I swivelled around at the top of the stairs, feeling relieved to see a large wheel and a small collection of instruments right beside it. There was a wheel after all - I wasn’t completely at the mercy of the breeze.
 
I trotted over and stood beside the controls, and looked over the collection of instruments and levers on a wooden panel on either side of the steering wheel. The compass’ rose glowed softly in the dark, indicating that the ship was facing North-West. Similarly, the needles on the dials all carried a teal glow in the dark. The yacht was drifting along at about five knots, had “normal” pressure in the balloon, and had drifted up to nearly twelve-thousand feet in the air and levelled off – much higher than what most ponies would be used to, but not too difficult for a Pegasus to manage. I smiled for a moment; Flight Camp may have been years ago, but I still remembered a little bit of it.
 
“Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!” acidic jeers crept from the back of my mind, making me flinch and clamp my eyes shut. I hadn’t forgotten all of it, either. Bullies never leaving me alone, impatient coaches pushing me off clouds, lunches eaten in the restroom away from judging eyes… Gilda being… the way she was. Some things were not in a hurry to be forgotten.
 
There were good things though, truly wonderful, happy moments in my life that happened while away at camp. I found my special talent; I found my Cutie Mark. I became friends with Rainbow Dash. I even got better at flying – and first aid – thanks to her.
 
A tiny grin started to shine through – the first of its kind in a long time. Rainbow Dash was never much into the academics and theories, she was, and is, more into the emotional side of flying - or as she put it, the "heart-racing, impulsive, and totally awesome" side. Rainbow flew very often, and very riskily. What she didn't learn about safety in class she learnt through getting back up from each accident she wound up in. She didn’t think there was any better to learn. Maybe it was true. Even years later and I was still afraid of what could go wrong, so much so that I didn’t want to take a risk unless I had no choice.
 
Eventually, when the teasing became too much for me, I begged for Rainbow to help me become a better flier. Rainbow Dash made time to help me. She didn’t give up on me – even when I wanted her to, even when I wanted to just be left on the ground to never bother anypony again.
 
“You gotta let it go, Fluttershy,” Rainbow’s voice cracked, worsened by countless lectures and commands throughout the afternoon. “We set up down here so that nopony could pick on you, and you even got all these animals here for support.”
 
I peeked out through the leaves of the bush I had fallen into the fourth time that afternoon. She was right, a small gathering of badgers, rabbits, birds, and squirrels were watching. Some of them were waving tiny flags with my Cutie Mark on them. How they had those flags was a mystery to me, but it warmed my heart to see the animals there for me.
 
A pair on magenta eyes moved inches from mine, staring into me. “Fluttershy! Are you listening?”
 
“Eeek!” I leapt up into the air, my wings flailing around in a panic. Rainbow followed me up, gripping me firmly by the shoulders and steadied me.
 
“Whoa, take it easy!” Rainbow forced her raspy voice to be gentle, but I could hear her impatience. Slowly, my friend took her hooves away from my shoulders and hovered backwards. “There,” she muttered, her voice quickly matching the grin spreading on her face. “You see? You’re hovering like a pro!”
 
I looked to my wings. They were buzzing almost as fast as a hummingbird’s, but they were in sync. I looked up and down, checking for any ropes or supports holding me up. When no such thing appeared, my gaze levelled with Rainbow Dash and a giddy laugh escaped me. I was doing okay! I was in control and doing fine! And nopony was laughing at me yet.
 
My ears shot downwards and I stared up at where Flight Camp was. No pony was laughing at me yet. They would laugh at me anyway. They’d find a reason to tease me. I… I was bound to fail again! And all the fillies and colts would be waiting right there to point and laugh, and the grown-ups would shake their heads and mutter to themselves. I’d be kicked out of camp forever! Locked away so nopony would risk seeing a Pegasus who couldn’t fly!
 
“Fluttershy! Keep your wings going! Fluttershy?” I heard Rainbow call out to me. I didn’t hear her until I realised I was tilting very sharply to the right. With a yelp I scrambled to keep myself level, steering into a tree branch. I kicked and bucked my legs in the breeze, trying to push myself clear while my wings failed to work with me. Sneers and cruel laughter snaked through my ears, growing louder as dozens of imaginary ponies joined in at laughing at the circus act.
 
Rainbow Dash darted in front of me, blocking the crash course I was making to the branch. She held out her forelegs towards me, her eyes wide and worried. “Hold on to my hooves, let’s take it easy and – hey! Slow down!”
 
I couldn’t help it, it was like I was drowning and Rainbow had thrown out a life-preserver. I banked sharply towards her, flailing my legs and crashing into her in a bundle. The smaller pony wasn’t able to stay aloft, and we both swung and weaved through the trees as we both tried to regain control. A familiar prickly rosebush rushed up to greet us, and in the last second Rainbow’s wings whipped and tore into the air, pulling the pair of us away from the bush – and right into an oak tree.
 
I blinked a few times, not quite seeing anything more than blurs and bright lights. Little cries and whimpers surrounded me, and tiny claws and feet poked and pushed against me until I sat up. The animals were looking at me, the faces relieved to see me upright. I pushed a few strands of my mane from my face, my cheeks burning up in an instant, and ran my hoof over a lump on my head.
 
Something struggled and groaned underneath me, and before I could look down to see what it was, Rainbow Dash pushed herself up and shook me off of her. She spun around, narrowing a furious glare and fresh nosebleed at me.
 
“S-sorry, Rainbow Dash,” I squeaked. “I… I didn’t mean… I couldn’t…”
 
Rainbow said nothing. Instead she huffed and turned away, grumbling to herself and checking her wings and the blood on her face.
 
That was it, she hates me now. I thought to myself. I ruined everything. Everypony knew that I would. She doesn’t want to even look at me right now, I embarrass her so much. I rose onto my hooves, making a small note of the numb throbs spreading along the right side of my body.  Maybe it would be a good idea to leave her alone, let her be friends with ponies and griffins that can fly. I bowed my head and turned away silently, mouthing a ‘thank you’ to the little critters just before they started to disperse. A sniffle betrayed me in the last second.
 
Rainbow Dash let out an exasperated sigh. “Hold it. Get back over here.”
 
I didn’t dare ignore her, and quietly I walked over to Rainbow Dash and sat down on my haunches, eyes cast downward to the nearest daisy. For a moment nothing else happened. Rainbow Dash kept her back to me while she rubbed her nose and growled at herself, and I started watching a few ants scurry around and climb along the blades of grass.
 
“We need to talk.” Rainbow finally said with an even tone. She turned around to say more, but I didn’t look up. “We’ve been doing this for nearly three weeks now. I’ve blown off Gilda several times for you, and I’ve skipped a couple of classes too. I want results, Fluttershy! Not a bruise or two – or a few thorns sticking into us from that malevolent weed you won’t let me cut down!”
 
I lifted my head and opened my mouth to defend the rosebush, but the words died before they could become more than just a few mumbles. Rainbow looked down and shook her head. “I know you can do this, Fluttershy, and it drives me nuts when you get so close but lose it. I thought you had it this time! You were fine for at least ten seconds!”
 
“Twig would’ve bet that…” I whimpered, rubbing my eyes dry.
 
Rainbow rolled her eyes up at the sky and muttered to herself. She brought her eyes back to mine and thumped the ground with her hoof. “Forget that lump of sweat-batter! Flying isn’t about impressing other ponies!”
 
I raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. Her eyes softened for a moment, and she leant back - rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.
 
“Okay, maybe it is a little bit. But the most important thing about flying is to trust your wings to catch you.” Rainbow paused, her mind searching for a way to make her point. I looked at her patiently, and watched as her eyes twinkled. “It’s like this, Fluttershy: Wherever we are, I've got your back, you know that, right?”
 
I nodded, and Rainbow twisted around so that I could see her wings. “I’ve got your back, but your wings are... like, on your back." Dash’s wings wiggled and shook for emphasis, and Dash tried to bend her foreleg around to point at the base of her wings. It looked a little silly, and Dash must’ve noticed the corners of my mouth twitch, because she put on a grin of her own and began twirling around in mid-air – acting like a dog chasing their tail.
 
I covered my mouth to stifle a tiny little giggle, and Rainbow stopped spinning and shot me a grin. I smiled back – a real smile – and felt like nothing bad had just happened between us.
 
Rainbow gently landed beside me, hooking a leg around me and pulling me into a sideways hug. “Like I said, I got your back. Now all you gotta do is trust your wings do too, and learn to not care what could happen – or what a cloud-sinker like Twig says. Just focus on what you gotta do right now. Act on a whim like a breeze in a storm, and roll with the crosswinds, you know?”
 
I nodded slowly, carefully remembering what Rainbow was saying. Rainbow patted my back and leapt into the air with a whoosh, instantly puffing her chest up and shooting a grin my way. “All right, that’s a long enough break! You feel up for another round in phase one?”
 
“Yes,” I whispered. Rainbow Dash leant towards me and pretended to clear wax out of her ear.
 
“What’s that? I didn’t quite catch that,” She chuckled.
 
I frowned, Rainbow knew I didn’t like shouting, but she wasn’t going to let it slide this time. I cleared my throat, and raised my voice a little more. “Yes, I’m ready.”
 
Rainbow laughed. “Great, come on! This way!” In a flash she was gone, leading a colourful vapour trail through the trees. I unfurled my wings and looked back at them. I stretched and waved them, and dutifully they did what I asked them to do.
 
“I just have to trust you, that’s what Rainbow said. Well, here goes.” I shut my eyes and hopped up, my wings buzzing and struggling to stay in sync. I concentrated on flapping my wings, and brought them into rhythm. My hooves didn’t touch the ground for three seconds, five, and then ten. My eyelids sneaked open, revealing the forest floor a few feet beneath my hooves. The animals still watching me hopped and cheered with sweet little squeaks, and I smiled back to them in gratitude. With a shaky path, I weaved the trees after Rainbow Dash. My wings took over, guiding me over and under each branch with care. Eventually I broke into the field, just in time to see Rainbow start another move of hers, the “Filly Flash”.
 
Lightning flashed in my eyes, but it was not from Rainbow. I blinked a few times, finally focusing on the rolling greys and blacks of storm clouds. My head tilted to the side and I sniffed at the air. There was something vague lingering, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I moved away from the railing on the side of the air ship, and wandered over to the piloting controls. That was when white flicker lit me up, quickly followed by deep grumbles of thunder.
 
I turned my head towards the bow of the ship, and looked out into the vast sky beyond the end of the yacht. I rubbed my eyes, checking that I wasn’t still dreaming. Straight ahead, a handful of forks and flashes of lightning revealed a massive collection of thunderclouds looming in the distance. Wind started to howl in my ears, and I felt the yacht kick up in speed and drift closer to the storm. Without a second of thought, I grabbed hold of the wheel and spun it clockwise, banking the yacht sharply to the right. The clouds ran along the port side of the yacht, the bright white beams of lightning dazzling me and the thunder resonating in my lungs. The yacht continued to turn and swung around until the storm was to the stern. The ship stalled as the wind caught it once more, and pushed it backwards into the thunderheads, letting the storm swallow the ship whole with me aboard.
 
Instantly tiny spears stabbed and pinched at my face; horrible howls filled my ears, topped only by crashes and booms of thunder; and ozone and humid air hung heavily in my lungs. The ship lurched and swung helplessly, throwing barrels and debris from the decks. I clung onto the wheel for dear life, swinging and slamming into the floor as the wheel spun and tried to wrestle free from my grasp. There was a deafening clamour that was quickly silenced by ringing. Just as a bright, white fork arced and struck one of the cables tying the yacht to the balloon, a deep red device among the dials flared up and shattered. I shot a look at the object, learning that it was a gemstone embedded among the instruments – but not just any gemstone. With another flash of lightning, I could read what the purpose of the stone was; it was an enchanted stone for lightning absorption – and in one strike it had been destroyed.
 
I swallowed down my heart and drew in a sharp breath. Oh no… Oh no no no! This isn’t good. What do I do? What do I do?!
 
I started to flick levers and switches. Something had to make this airship go down! There had to be!  I had to get out of the storm, and if I couldn’t steer the ship out, I had to bring it down until I could! Images of the ship crashing as a towering inferno clouded my mind. I yanked and pulled at every lever my hooves fumbled over, terrified of the worst coming true. Somewhere I managed to get the yacht to start its descent.
 
Another ear-cracking boom chased up my spine, but instead of being plunged back into darkness, I was bathed in jittery and erratic flickers of orange. I spun around to look, and instantly backed away from the flames spreading from the corner on the left side of the yacht. Fire had broken out the balloon and ship, tracing the path the undeterred lightning took. Quickly the flames rose, wasting no time to burn wildly out of control in spite of the hail and rain. My worst nightmare was coming true, and soon the ship was going to come crashing down in flames.
 
I leapt off the front railing and landed on the deck below. I wobbled and slid as the yacht rocked and lurched back and forth with the wind, and quickly burst into the captain’s cabin – where the fire was already spreading into.
 
Dragging my saddlebags over to the desk, I scrambled to pack everything into them. The map was carelessly crumpled and squashed into storage, along with my lantern. In the other satchel I stashed the Element of Magic before throwing the bags over myself. The crackles and growls or burning wood grew louder and the smoke thicker, and in a hurry I threw my canteen on and stumbled outside sputtering on ash.
 
I craned my neck around to secure my saddlebags, just as the ship’s support cables snapped. The ship fell away from me, sending me sliding downwards and almost completely over the rail on the port side. I curled my forelegs over the railing, struggling to unfurl my wings and get them to work properly through the nightmarish sounds and terrible shakes wrecking my nerves. I kicked and kicked at the air with my hind legs, trying to climb back up, and slowly my saddlebags began to slide off.
 
Alarmed, I tried to stop moving, but that was not enough. The wind and rocking of the now-sideways airship yanked the saddlebags from me, sending them tumbling down until I couldn’t see them anymore.
 
I looked down after them. My grip tightened on the ship, and I closed my eyes and whimpered. I can’t go after them! My wings are stuck! I… I’ll crash! Something horrible will happen!
 
“You gotta let it go, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash reminded me.
 
I shook my head. This is different! It’s too dangerous!
 
“I know you can do this, Fluttershy,” echoed her voice. “All you gotta do is trust your wings.”
 
I peered down into the storm clouds. The Element of Magic was falling further and further away from me. After everything I went through to get it, I couldn’t risk losing it now. I slid off the railing until I was dangling by my ankles, and looked up at the rest of the failing airship. I closed my eyes, imagining Rainbow in front of me. “…Like a breeze in a storm, y-you know?” I whispered. Rainbow’s face lit up with a smile and she nodded, not saying another word before the harshness the wind whisked her away.
 
My forelegs unhooked from the ship, and I arched backwards to fall into a dive. For a moment, all I could hear were my ragged breaths and my heart pounding in my chest, but all too quickly were they lost in the roar of wind rushing over my ears. Without a thought, my wings threw themselves open, catching me and swooping back to reduce drag and pointing me straight into a nosedive. If I was going to get my saddlebags back, I had to catch up to them first.
 

 
I pumped my wings to go faster. The strong winds pushed back harder, and the pain liquefied into molten agony instantly. I grunted through clenched teeth and folded my wings up, pulling them to my sides. Stretching my legs out as far as I could, I sliced through the atmosphere, blindly zooming through the dark clouds. Ozone, lightning, and ferocious thunder overwhelmed my senses. Crashes and snarls chased after me, and for a few seconds I thought I had fallen into a nightmare before lightning struck again, recreating the paralysing sounds. I fell further into the worst of the storm, the weight of the air growing and pushing me down, the darkness swallowing me up where starlight couldn’t reach.
 
Through the dark haze of clouds and thickening snowfall, my saddlebags drifted into view. By luck they hadn’t been torn open, and I hoped and hoped that nothing had fallen out of them. Straining every muscle in my body, I reached forward, slowly inching myself closer and closer. My hoof was almost in reach, but a bump sent it infuriatingly further away. My heartbeat was in my throat, and my stomach swirled as if it knew the countdown to the ground. I flailed uselessly in the air, trying to push myself the last few inches to my bags.
 
Through a space between the flaps and the rest of the saddlebag, the magenta crystal of the Element of Magic flickered in sight, almost urgently. With only one last chance, I reached forwards once more, narrowing my eyes on just the Element peeking through the saddlebags. A haze settled around the edges of my vision, and the saddlebags began to drift into my reach. I held on a moment, waiting until the saddlebags had reached my knees and wrapped my forelegs around them.
 
Laughter juddered in my chest. Fits of foalish giggles bubbled in my throat, and a relieved smile broke through the dirt on my face. I did it, Rainbow! Look! I did it!
 
Rainbow Dash floated down from behind me, arms crossed behind her head as she shot me a smug grin, “I knew you had it in ya!”  Rainbow twisted around and peeled away, shouting behind her, “Now for phase two!”
 
“Phase two?” I blinked. The tiny speck Dash had become had vanished from view. No, she… she was never there to begin with. I tilted my head back, still clinging onto my saddlebags tightly. Nothing but powder and frozen wind faced me, but gravity was on my tail – not my back. I tried to gasp, but my lungs were wrapped in panic.
 
Pull up! Pull up!
 
There couldn’t have been much time left. Dutifully, my wings swung open and extended outwards. The wind roared and pulled at the tips of my primaries, but I forced them to stay steady and spread with. The drag spun me wildly in a corkscrew, and my eyes closed as my legs pulled my saddlebags in tightly. I twisted my wings slightly, ending the dizzying tumble, and leant back. Slowly, I felt the attitude of my descent change, and the weight of gravity moved to my back. The vicious screech of air whistling around me spoke of my speed, but it quickly lowered once I let my hind legs droop and carve into the airstream.
 
I opened my eyes, immediately looking down. Nothing but blankets of falling snow for a few dozen yards passed beneath me. I looked ahead, squinting through the icy powder, and saw nothing more than snow and fog.
 
I dipped downwards, still gliding much faster than I was used to, and began searching for the ground. There was no going back now. The airship wasn’t going to stay in the air much longer, and with the raging storm high up in the atmosphere, flying back up to search for it – or even to seek refuge on top of the clouds – was not a choice I could make. I looked up at the sky. I could see the faint arcs or lightning peeking through the cloud cover, and the occasional rumble still managed to find the ground, but closer to the ground, there was mainly an eerie stillness maintained by the thick, falling snow.
 
My hind legs drummed against the tops of some trees, and I quickly flapped my wings to rise up over them. A powerful stream of air caught my wings and blew me aside, guiding me into a much taller tree. I dove down under the branches, and veered clumsily in the dark – narrowly missing the faint shapes of branches of trees against a thin veil of snowfall. I brought myself down to land, but misjudged the distance and my speed completely. I tripped and tumbled forwards, the numbness from adrenaline numbing some of the pain. Eventually I came to rest with my face buried in a snow flurry. Brain freeze encased my skull, and I pulled away from the mound of snow, taking a moment to nurse the lump on my head and shake the snow-beard off my face.
 
I sat up onto my haunches, still holding my saddlebags against my chest, and glanced around, straining my ears to hear anything through the silencing weight of the snow. I let out a sigh of relief, and put my saddlebags onto the snowy ground. Carefully, I unpacked my belongings and put my lantern and matches to use. Now with a bright, fiery light beside me, I felt a little safer. I eased the Element of Magic out and held it in front of me, letting out a sigh as the binds around my ribs eased. Everything had survived the fall. I quickly tidied my belongings away – leaving the lantern out to guide me through the night.
 
I stood up, picked up my saddlebags and buckled them on securely. The wind picked up and whistled in my ears and blew frozen powder in my face. I ducked my head down and squinted into the veil of snow, searching for anything to head towards. In the warm glow of my lantern and the dim, ambient light of the night, there was nothing but snow and trees for as far as I could see. I had no clue where I was.
 
Lost.
 
My head shook quickly. No, not lost, last time I checked the map, I… The ship was…  Oh No. My hooves quivered in place, the cold starting to gnaw at my ankles. I whirled around, scanning for anything that could tell me where I was, which way I was going – anything! Snow, trees, ground, and leaves everywhere. Which way? Which way?!
 
Thunder rumbled overhead, and the winds picked up again, the whistling turning into a howl. I grit my teeth, biting down on the handle on my lantern, and pushed into the denser part of the woods – out of the brunt of the chilling wind.
 
My hooves hurried along, not wanting to linger in the snow and ice any longer than they had to. My lantern led the way, revealing patches of grass where the snow hadn’t buried it, as well as bushes and shrubs rustling and shrivelling in the icy breeze. Winter had come far too early. What about the animals? What about Angel?
 
“Just focus on what you gotta do right now.” a faint, raspy voice said to me.
 
“Rainbow Dash? Rainbow!” my eyes darted from tree to tree, but there was only snowflakes and waving branches. “Where are you?”
 
“I’ve got your back, you know that, right?” Rainbow assured me. I spun around, shining the lantern over bushes and up to tree branches. I couldn’t see her.
 
Is she even here? I wondered. My eyes kept searching, but everything blurred. I blinked, ignoring the wetness pinching my cheeks as it fell. I faced toward the wind, and my eyes blurred again, revealing dozens of little sparkles and shines. I wiped my eyes dry, and stared into the blizzard. “R-Rainbow Dash?” my voice wobbled out. There was no reply. Instead, lots and lots of snowflakes drifted by, each of them seeming to carry a glint with them. I focused on one of them, and gasped. My eyes widened, flicking from snowflake to snowflake. Each and every flake that caught the lantern’s light shone and glimmered with dozens of different colours. Reds, greens, and blues all shifting endlessly through the spectrum.  Rainbow is here. She’s here!
 
“I’ve got your back,” my old friend repeated. “You know that, right?”
 
“I-I know you do.” I whispered, looking at every snowflake that drifted by. “I know you do.”
 
There was a pause, but during that pause the blizzard seemed to lose its strength, making it easier to see straight ahead. Rainbow’s voice carried itself with the breeze, sailing in my mind. “Come on, this way.”
 
There was nothing to say I was going the right way, or where we were going, anyway. I followed what felt right, and it felt more than right, it felt like… somewhere familiar. A few minutes later, and the woods disappeared in the snowfall behind me, but I kept on walking in what felt like the right way to go, right into what first looked like very thick fog. That made no sense; fog in a blizzard? That wasn’t how it worked.
 
I raised a hoof up to the fog, and pressed the sole into the mass. My hoof didn’t pass through, and the fog pushed back. This wasn’t fog at all, it was a dense cloud – the sort that either carried a lot of water, or was used in building cities like Cloudsdale.
 
Building. My brain noted, and I frowned at myself. Another prismatic snowflake drifted into view, and somehow an idea burst in my head.
 
Setting my lantern down, I quickly got to work, pushing my hooves into a part of the cloud and pulling a tear open. Quickly I packed and patted the inside down, compressing it to create a space. I made the gap big enough the fit through, and sculpted a space inside the cloud with ‘walls’ thick enough with moisture that they began to harden and freeze in the cold temperatures. With a big enough room to be comfortable, I picked up my lantern and squeezed inside. A few moments later, and the entry was almost completely closed, leaving a little space at the top for daylight to come through when morning came.
 
My saddlebags found a spot on the grass in the shelter, and my lantern took a spot next to them. Gently, I lowered myself down and sighed when I felt pressure leave my legs. Outside, the blizzard had picked up again, and the howls of wind raced over the tiny hole I had left to the outside world, letting the occasional snowflake find its way inside.
 
I gave myself a few minutes, letting a tiny spark of pride ignite. I had turned the space into a cozy little hideaway, and made a safe place from the cold. My lantern bathed the small cloud igloo with light and gradually the chill in the air lost its edge; the packed walls and ceiling worked wonders in keeping the cold outside. Lying on the damp grass, I pulled out Zecora’s copy of Supernaturals and tried to pick up where I had left off. The page I settled on was about how to protect from fire and treat burns, which didn’t seem to be useful in a blizzard. Soon enough, though, the words started to blur and swirl around the page, and I decided to just quietly watch the snowflakes lazily drifting in until I could fall asleep. My mind started to wander.
 
Did I really hear her? Or was I imagining it?  I thought to myself. A shimmer caught my eye, and my nose wrinkled as it settled on it with a chilly tingle. Are those snowflakes really that… colourful?
 
I watched them for a moment, following a flake until it caught the lantern’s glow just right, and shone with a different colour each time. Dozens of snowflakes of shimmering hues, all drifting inside and melting on the first thing they touched. I stuck my tongue out and caught one of the sparkling shreds of ice. It gave a dull tingle when it melted, similar to a normal snowflake, but also with a flavour. My face twisted into a confused look, and I caught a few more. They were all the same; cold for a moment, but then a little twang would fizzle out. It was almost… spicy?
 
I shrugged and lowered my head onto my hooves, and dimmed the lantern’s flame. Hopefully the blizzard would end in a few hours, and I could begin to work out where I had landed in Equestria. I couldn’t have gone too far away, could I?
 
I closed my eyes, and mumbled to worry about it later. Sleep was tugging at me impatiently, and I didn’t want to put it off any longer.
 

 
My eyelids flew open, just as every muscle in my body jerked and tore me away from another nightmare. I gasped, trying to catch my breath, but it seemed like there wasn’t enough air in the room. I muttered between breaths, repeating my mantra until I finally started to believe it, and my heart stopped trying to burst out.
 
I gulped at the dry air, and fumbled about in the dark as I tried to stand up and reach the tiny hole letting the only light inside. My hoof carved out an opening in the top of the cloud igloo, and I pulled it open so that the crisp air of morning could flow inside.
 
I poked my head outside, and glanced around. The land was covered in a fresh blanket of snow. The forest I had stumbled through had snow and ice clinging to the sides of tree trunks where the wind had packed it. I tried to look behind me, but the fallen cloud was much, much bigger than I expected, and had created a tall mound in the landscape. Straight above a vast and blue sky opened up to me, almost tricking me into thinking that an ice storm hadn’t ravaged the land overnight.
 
My attention turned to my belongings, Zecora’s book still lay open with Philomena’s feather acting as a bookmark, my lantern had ran out of oil whilst I slept, and my saddlebags stood lazily on the floor, loaded with supplies and important belongings. I adjusted my canteen’s strap, and pulled the container up for the last gulp of water it had. I left the cap off, and gently flew out from my shelter to fill the canteen with a little snow.
 
The breeze greeted me with an icy embrace, bringing a couple of shivers out of my legs. I set myself down by the treeline, and scooped some snow up into the metal container. My ears swivelled about, keeping alert for anything wandering nearby. The light wind made little noise, and every snapped twig or branch came from a tree that couldn’t hold the ice weighing it down. No birds were singing, no insects buzzing. The storm had forced them away, along with any hint that it was supposed to still be summer.
 
With some snow melting in my canteen, I flitted back to my saddlebags and gathered up my belongings. The wind kicked up a gust, sending shivers up and down my neck. I flipped open one of my saddlebags, and dug around inside until I found my scarf buried underneath a couple of potions. I wrapped up warm, wishing I had enough time to grab a hat from my home. It was panic that made me grab my scarf in the middle of summer, but I was thankful I had it now. It didn’t change how wrong everything was, though.
 
Slipping my bags on and securing them, I peered over to the top of the cloud. Maybe I can work out where I am from there. I thought. Or maybe I’ll work out why this cloud is on the ground instead of in the sky.
 
I unfurled my wings and hovered a few feet off of the ground, checking that my saddlebags were not going to slide off, and started to ascend to the top of the cloud. The edges glowed brightly in the sunlight, lining the shadow I was in with a golden border. I could hear running water and hissing steam on the other side. I picked up speed, wanting to get into the sunlight as quickly as possible. At last, I settled on the top of the cloud, staring into the distance where a bundle of clouds were climbing over the horizon. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the bright light reflecting off the snow, and gazed at what lay beneath me. My heart locked up.
 
For miles all around lay clumps and clusters of clouds. Each of them loosely resembled a building or a wall, some even still retaining their details after falling apart. Columns prickled the landscape, hulking pieces of cloud lay scattered on the ground and slowly losing their form, and tiny streams of water with oily stains flowed between the larger pieces of debris, and washed away belongings and personal treasures. Off to the left lay giant boilers from a factory, billowing steam that formed into clouds. Beyond that rested the Cloudiseum, Cloudsdale’s sports arena.
 
I stared at the twisted ruins of Cloudsdale. I stared and blinked and rubbed my eyes, refusing to believe it was real. The decaying clouds still lay contorted among the streams of leaking rainbow and scattered debris. Steam continued to billow into the sky from the last few functioning boilers. And the surviving architecture and crumbling remains of the Cloudiseum proved that this was what was left of Cloudsdale. It was all still there. It was all real.
 
Somewhere in my mind, I made the connection: Without Cloudsdale’s factory or the ponies working on the weather teams, the weather went out of control and the city couldn’t stay in the sky. It had collapsed without anypony there to save it. The extreme weather was the result of dozens of weather stations failing all over Equestria. The rainbow snowflakes were created when Cloudsdale fell, and the rainbow vats tainted the stored winter weather. The entire weather system that Equestria depended on was gone.
 
My gaze cast downwards, tracing a path to the cloud I was stood upon - the cloud I had dug a tiny shelter inside of. In front of me, peeking out of the fresh snow on the ground were dressers and other furniture. Among them was a mirror, still with dozens of little photographs wedged in the frame. They were of a small family of four. A little colt was in almost all of them, pictures of him playing sports, bringing home trophies, and sitting with his parents and baby sister on a beach.
 
My eyes drifted to the tattered mare in the middle of the mirror. I had survived, and I had burrowed into the side of the decaying city like a parasite.
 
Screams tore out of me. I screamed at the reflection, at the city, and at the thought of countless families being torn apart. I set my lungs and throat on fire, hoping it would spread and burn everything away. It wasn’t fair! It shouldn’t have been me to get away! It should have been the families!
 
“You gotta let it go, Fluttershy!” Rainbow said. It was the worst time for that phrase to be spoken.
 
I cringed at her voice. “They were too young for this, Rainbow Dash!”
 
Her advice was automatic. “Just focus on what you gotta do right now.”
 
My legs bent and dropped into the snow. It felt like my heart was pouring out. I stared up at the family photos of the Pegasus family, bowing my head towards the pictures. “It-It’s wrong! They couldn’t have… they had to have got away! They had to!”
 
Rainbow Dash said nothing. Only a solitary breeze nipped at my ears. I took a deep breath, and tried to stand. My knees wobbled and shivered in the wind, and a warm tingle trickled from my chest and down my legs. I glanced down, seeing my legs and belly discoloured and soaked in red warmth. I screamed and flailed backwards, falling into the side of a cloud. I stared at my hoofprints and where I had stumbled, and watched an oily mixture of several colours flow inside them from underneath the snow. I held my hooves up, seeing blues and greens dribble along the backs of my forelegs, mixing with the bold red on the front.
 
“R-rainbow…” My gut churned with different shades of dread. I lowered my hooves down, and took a breath. The warm substance dripped from me, splashing and staining the snow with colours that flickered in the sunlight. I gently set myself down, and wiped as much of the rainbow liquid off as possible. My coat was left damp and glistened in strange colours; I couldn’t wash the stains off.
 
Shuddering from unsteady breaths, I reached behind me and pulled my map out, and slowly unrolled it. I had to get away – hundreds of miles away. I had to get to Kinsmeer. Cloudsdale was known to be moved around when the factory needed water. But the last I had heard, the weather factory had more than enough water to produce a needed storm, and so the floating city was in its usual place to the West of Canterlot. Ponyville had to have been about two dozen miles to the South-East, and that put me on the best path for Kinsmeer.
 
A bright orange smudge circled the dragon landmark, along with a blue snail trail tracing a rough route I wanted to take. One side of my face curled up at the mess, but the guilt was swallowed up by a larger monster. Without another word I packed the map away and took wing, heading towards home, or where it used to be. I tucked my legs in to pick up speed, and the congealed mix stuck to my coat, twisting my imagination to make it something much, much worse.
 
The ground was littered with all kinds of furniture and belongings, and I forced myself to look straight into the horizon. The pictures attached to the mirror lingered in my mind, but I imagined a blizzard in front of them. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. There was only one thing I wanted to do, only one thing I wanted to focus on: Finding the Elements of Harmony and reuniting them, before something happened to me.