One pastoral morning in Ponyville, Rarity the unicorn was hard at work, sewing and stitching together colorful fabrics in her inspiration room. Her clothing store, the Carousel Boutique would be open in a few hours, and she wanted her newest designs ready for all of Equestria to see. If asked about the success of her clothing lines, Rarity would be modest, and talk only of how much higher she needed to climb in society's ranks. But in truth, the young mare had amassed a great deal of fame as of late. Indeed, ever since she began designing for the royals living in the capital city of Canterlot, her business had soared, and her clients began to flock in from every corner of Equestria. So anxious was fair Rarity for the start of the day, that she failed to notice her sewing machine had shut off.
“Just a few more stitches here and then, wait what?” Rarity lifted up her dress to examine it, only to find a long, un-stitched seam running down the side. She tried to turn on the machine again, rapidly flicking the on switch to no avail. Finally, she gave up, shamefaced.
“Good heavens, what am I supposed to do about this?” she wailed, waving a gleaming white hoof melodramatically over her head. “I have to open up shop soon, but I simply don't have the time to stitch all of these dresses by hoof! Celestia above, what am I going to do?” she moaned.
“I dunno, but you don't have to do it alone, my lady.” an eager voice intoned.
Rarity turned about, quickly rising from her work desk, and was only mildly surprised to find a small bipedal reptile with purple scales and green spines gazing up at her amorously. The creature was no simple lizard however, but a young dragon who could normally be found in Ponyville's library, tending to the needs of one of Rarity's best friends, the unicorn Twilight Sparkle.
“Oh Spike, I wasn't expecting you! When did you get here, and why are you up so early?” She was glad to see the little dragon, but it was highly unusual for Spike to venture anywhere without Twilight. In fact, more often than not, he usually ended up following the purple pony everywhere.
“Eh, I couldn't sleep,” the dragon shrugged sheepishly. “Besides, Twilight's been up all night busy with some major studying cram-session, so she kinda gave me the day off.” he beamed. When he noticed that the object of his affection was still glaring uneasily at him, he lowered his head, shamefaced, and elaborated further.
“Some nights, there are times when I really just can't get to sleep. When it happens, I usually go outside and take a walk around Ponyville until I start to feel tired. Tonight, I passed by the Boutique on the way home, and noticed all of the lights were on. Guess I figured I'd say hello if you were still up.” Rarity's gaze had finally softened, but somehow that only made the little dragon feel worse.
“I'm sorry. I did knock, but no one answered. And when the door just swung open, I thought I'd see if you were alright, y'know? And, I, Well-”
“Spike, I've very glad that you came into check up on me, and I'm sorry that I wasn't the only one who didn't get any sleep tonight.” she said sweetly, nuzzling the little dragon's cheek.
Spike gazed up expectantly at Rarity, and the slightly flustered pony instantly got the gist of what he was getting at. She knew that Spike didn't get very much time to himself, and now that he had come see her, she was going to have to disappoint him. Rarity knew all too well what the little dragon thought about her, he liked her a lot, maybe even loved her. She was touched to know that he felt this way, even if she wasn't quite certain how she felt about him. Nevertheless, she cared for Spike dearly, and could not bear the thought of hurting him, even if she really was very busy today.
“Alright Spike, you should really use that time to get some more rest.” she chided gently. “A growing dragon ought to be asleep at four in the morning.”
“Maybe, but what about you? Why are you up so early?” said Spike. Rarity quickly gazed downward, scuffing her hoof in the ground.
“Well, you see, I'm just a little bit behind on one of my newest commissions, and my sewing machine quit on me just now, so- ” Rarity stopped when she was the look on Spike's face. Before he managed to recover a strained smile, he looked absolutely crestfallen.
“Hey it's fine. I get it, you're busy and I'll be keeping you from work. It's cool, I'll see you another time, Rarity.” he was just about to turn and leave, when a shiny hoof planted itself on his shoulder.
“Spike, wait! Please, I need your help with something.”
“Really?! What is it? I'm at your service, m'lady!”
“Can you go into town later and get me some supplies I need if I make you a list?”
“Sure, no problem! In fact, I'll also head on over to Sweet Apple Acres to see if Applejack'll lend you her sewing machine.” the little dragon was positively beaming now. Lady Rarity needed his help, and he would not disappoint.
“Goodness, Spike! You don't need to go and do that.”
“I know. But I want to. Uh, Rarity?” The marshmallow colored mare cradled him in a warm hug and nuzzled his cheeks again. Spike was in heaven, he was so close to her, he could catch the scent of her royal purple mane, an aroma of wild-berries and grapes.
“Oh, My little Spikey-Wikey! When did you become such a gentlemen?” she set him back down before turning back to her desk. Lighting the tip of her horn with magic, she telekinetically tore off a small piece of parchment from a roll overhead, before summoning an inkwell and quill to her side. At the insistence of her will, the quill rose up, dipped itself in the ink, and began to write an organized list of everything Rarity believed she needed. She'd finished in less than a minute.
“Alright, I think I've got everything here. Thank you so much again, Spike!” leaving Spike with a final peck on the cheek, Rarity returned to her desk, already sketching the outline of an new design.
The dragon floated out of the boutique, still rubbing the cheek she kissed when he noticed something distinctly odd.
“What in the world? Why is everything so dark?”
Spike looked up into the sky, and could only see clouds as black as the night sky, he shuddered as a could breeze went right through his scales, he knew he had to make haste, or risk being caught in the storm that was clearly on it's way. Spike didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but he also could not help feeling that there was something not quite right with those clouds. He furrowed his brow, grimacing. No use worrying himself over nothing, after all. Since when did a little rain hurt anyone, right?
“Hey! What are ya doing out here, little Spike?”
Spike looked up, and noticed a rainbow-colored contrail in the sky that hadn't been there before. It was slowly fading, but it grew brighter as he followed it down, until the colorful trail led him directly to a light-blue pegasus with a rainbow mane gazing contentedly down from above on a small white cloud.
“Hi, Rainbow Dash! Say, do you know what's up with the sky today?”
Rainbow Dash looked up into the sky, slightly perplexed, as if she had just noticed how dark and foreboding it looked up there, then she simply shrugged her shoulders.
“Beats me, dude. I'm off-duty today, so I can only guess that one of the higher-ups in weather patrol decided we were overdue for a downpour.” she stated simply. Spike looked up at the clouds again, genuine worry etched in his face.
“I dunno, Rainbow. We've had heavy rain before in Ponyville, but I don't think I like the look of those clouds.”
Rainbow Dash's cloud descended until it was just hovering over the ground, and she leaned closer to Spike, looking concerned.
“What are you saying, Spike? I mean, they're just clouds.”
“I don't know, Dash. It's just, whenever we notice something out of the ordinary, bad stuff usually happens not long after.”
“Very true, but we've never met anything we couldn't handle!” the cocky pegasus jeered, flaring her wings proudly. “Just bring it on! I bet if we're lucky we'll get a hailstorm of Windigoes, or Dragons, or-”
“Z-zombies?!” Spike questioned. Rainbow Dash, fell back on to her cloud, laughing.
“Yeah, zombie ponies, that's a good one, Spike! Man, where did a little dragon like you get such a huge imagination?” At this remark, Spike crossed his arms and turned away from Rainbow Dash.
“Don't call me little.” he pouted.
“Aw, c'mon, I didn't mean anything by it! What were you doing here at the Carousel Boutique anyway? Visiting Rarity?”
“Huh?! No way! Well, I mean yes, but, ugh! How did you know?”
“Why else would you be here?”
“Well, she looked pretty busy, so I offered to help her. Now, I've got a list of things that I need to-”
“Oh, I can give you a hoof with that!” Rainbow chirruped, hopping down from the cloud, and leaning down on her haunches.
“Here, get on. I'll give you a lift to the market.”
“Really? Thanks Rainbow, I owe ya one!”
“Hey, I don't have anything better to do today. Besides, I can't let my buddy get caught in the rain. Let's fly!”
The Rainbow colored pegasus tore threw the air at mach speed, making her way to Sweet Apple Acres with Spike in tow as the clouds swirled, slowing expanding and steadily swallowing the light in the sky.
******
Fluttershy was busy leading her chickens into her cottage, and out of the storm. The daisy colored pegasus didn't fear for the squirrels, bunnies, and birds who knew well enough to take shelter, but the chickens needed to be moved in the event that the coop was flooded. Fluttershy didn't really think the rain would get that bad, but when it came to her little animals, she didn't like to take any chances. The winds had begun to pick up as well, fiercely blowing about loose debris. She didn't like the way her chicken coup creaked precariously, and the cold gales were now chilling her to the bone. Gently nudging the last few of them along with her muzzle, she spoke to them her most soothing, motherly voice.
“It's okay, little hens. I know you were having a good nights sleep, but you'll be safe from the storm in here with me. We don't want any big nasty surprises, after all. I mean, some surprises can be nice, but any surprise this storm has in store for us will probably be v-v-very,” Fluttershy stopped, and looked furtively around her cottage for a few seconds, “V-very startling.”
“SURPRISE!!!” a jovial voice erupted from behind the poor mare like a thunderclap.
“Oh my, Pinkie Pie! You startled me.” Fluttershy whispered meekly. Her unexpected guest, a pastel-pink earth pony with an unbelievably fluffy cotton candy-like mane, entered her little cottage with a jubilant bounce, and helped her back up. Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's resident party-planning pony, was ever excitable and friendly, and well known throughout the land for her incredible zeal, near limitless energy, and uncanny kindness. All of these qualities made her quite a handful for a shy pegasus like Fluttershy, yet in spite of this odd dynamic, the two were undeniably the best of friends.
“Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, Fluttershy. I just saw this HUGE storm cloud over well, everywhere, while I was checking on the twins, and I came over to make sure you were alright! Well, I didn't leave right away 'cause I needed to give Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake their bottles after they woke up. Also, they were pretty cranky when they woke up, so I made funny faces at them for a while and sang them a lullaby before I put them back to bed. But anyway, when you didn't see me coming, I couldn't help but surprise you!” said Pinkie, literally bouncing on the balls of her hooves.
“Oh, I'm okay, really! I'm just relieved that I managed to get all of the animals to safety in time. Would you like to stay for tea? I was about to make some, it's no trouble.” she smiled warmly.
“Sure, sounds great! Specially since I'm still not even completely awake, y'know? Oh Fluttershy, I almost forgot. Did you notice anything odd about that thundercloud?”
“Odd? How do you mean, Pinkie?”
Well, it's just, for example; it's a really, really, REALLY big cloud. I mean, that thing is almost all one cloud! Blotting out the entire sky! Not to mention that terrible wind, I could hardly stand, let alone walk here! It's as if something were about to bring down a twister or a hurricane on poor little us!” Pinkie trilled dramatically.
“Goodness!” Fluttershy gasped.
“I know, right?! But that's just the thing, this cloud's been hanging over the entire town for over an hour, and I haven't seen even a single drop of rain. Not a drop, I tells ya!” Pinkie declared,
“That does sound a little strange,” Fluttershy agreed “Oh, dear! Maybe there's a really huge downpour building up! What should we do?”
“We gotta go warn the others, find a place to hole up before things really get hairy.”
“Find a place? D'you, do you think my cottage isn't safe?”
“I'm sure your animals are going to be fine, but I'm worried about everypony else! With all of our friends spread out over town, and my pinkie sense going absolutely coco-nutty, I can't help but be concerned! I mean, Rainbow Dash could flying around up there right now for all we know.”
“Your right! Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, what about Twilight and Rarity? What if they're all on their own? We need to go find them, too!” Fluttershy declared with unusual firmness.
“Absolutly-tutly!” trilled Pinkie Pie, giggling and snorting, “Let's head on over to Twilight's place first, okay?”
“So we can pass by Sweet Apple Acres and get Applejack?” Fluttershy queried.
“I actually didn't think of that, but now that you mention it, that sounds like a great idea. Let's go!”
The two ponies galloped down the well trodden path at full speed, making haste to find their friends as the blackening sky swirled above them balefully.