//------------------------------//
// Light Showers 
// Story: Friendship is Magic: The Rain of Fury 
// by MisterMuntjac 
//------------------------------//

	Applejack surveyed the great open expanse of the Apple Family Fields with a good measure of sound confusion. The roosters had crowed not ten minutes ago, to signal the dawn of a new day, just as they always had. In spite of their wake up call, the sky was nearly pitch black, tinged with the slightest hint of a deep purple, the missing horizon making it nearly impossible to make out the Crystal Mountain Range in the distance. She cantered down the first few rows of cornstalks, making her way to the south fields as she mulled over the probable causes of this strange sight. It was possible, though not likely, that Celestia was simply late with raising the sun. Then again, if that were the case, the roosters would most likely be late, too. Applejack eventually decided that this explanation would not satisfy, because it didn't account for the cloud that obscured the sky.
If you could even call it a cloud. She thought with some veneration. It looks more like some kinda huge blanket, big enough to cover Equestria. Big enough to smother everything in its folds. There would be nothing left if it fell down to the ground. It would swallow everything up, and that would be the end of that.
She shuddered at these thoughts, trying physically to shake them away, then realized that the wind had picked up, blistering cold gales assaulted her face and mane, buffeting through the fields, rippling waves though the cornstalks. Applejack sighed and trudged back up to the house, the wind now pushing at her back, her breath visible as wisps of vapor.
“I don't know why, but I got a real bad feelin' about this odd weather.” she muttered quietly, 	“I need to wake the others, maybe get down to the cellar, where we can be safe.”
Safe? Safe from what? A little wind and some clouds? Yer talkin' crazy, gettin' all worked up over a bad feeling.
A bad feeling sounded like a poor reason to stir herself up, but Applejack knew well enough to pay attention to her instincts. Right now, her instincts were telling her that temperatures just didn't drop below freezing near the beginning of Autumn. More importantly, the last time the weather acted up, an ancient spirit of chaos named Discord nearly succeeded in taking over Equestria. As of now, her feelings were justified. First, she would make sure that her family was safe, then, she'd do the same for her friends.
“Big Mac an' the others'll be up any minute now. I'll tell 'em to go into the cellar, where they'll be all right if'n they stay inside the house, and I'll be right back when I find my-”
“Applejack! Hey, Applejack, up here!” a voice called out from the blackened skies. Applejack looked up in time to see Rainbow Dash dive, making a beeline for her with a rather nauseous Spike in tow. The moment they landed, the little dragon toppled off the pegasus’s backside in an undignified heap. Picking himself up, Spike stumbled over to Applejack in a daze, finding it necessary to lean against her for support.
“Ugh, sweet horse apples, I think I'm gonna be sick!” he groaned, clutching his stomach. Applejack carefully eased herself out of firing range before placing a comforting hoof on his shoulder.
“Not on me, yer not.” she said firmly, but kindly. She then turned her attention to Rainbow Dash, who wilted under the accusatory stare of her best friend.
“Rainbow, were you showin' off more of yer fancy moves while you had Spike up there?” Applejack asked sternly.
“Well, just some of my basic flying techniques, that's all.” Rainbow Dash shrugged sheepishly.
Spike chose that particular moment to let out monstrous belch, mixed with another groan. The dragon muttered something about needing to go to the bathroom while quickly storming into Applejack's house before the girls could ask if he was alright. Applejack turned back to Rainbow Dash, her gaze hardening considerably. This time, the chromatic colored pegusus responded in kind.
“What?!” she huffed, “I didn't do anything extreme. Heck, I didn't even fly in any loops this time! Spike's just got a weak stomach, that's all. Anyway, that's not important. We came here to borrow-”
A piercing shriek cut through the air before Rainbow could finish, followed by another longer, more pronounced scream. The two ponies regarded the dirt road uneasily as they heard two simultaneous cries for help getting louder and louder.
“AJ, that sounds like Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie! We gotta hurry!” Rainbow shouted, taking off once more.
“What in tarnation?” asked the beleaguered farmer. Without waiting for an answer, Applejack charged after her tow-headed friend, only to behold Pinkie and Fluttershy closing in on them. They were covered from head to toe in small cuts and bruises, and their coats were absolutely caked with mud and leaves. Their faces glistened with sweat and their breaths labored as they showed no signs of slowing their breakneck pace. However, none of these distressing details disturbed Applejack and Rainbow Dash more than the looks of sheer terror burned into the two ponies' faces. They had never seen their friends look so frightened of anything. Rainbow Dash could feel her blood boiling, the familiar sensation of adrenaline coursing through her, she didn't know what was coming, but she new that when the time came, she would be ready to bust some flanks, or cut and run.
“You guys, slow down! What's wrong?” she implored. Directly below her, Applejack planted her hooves in the ground, ready to intercept the two panicked mares.
“Pinkie, Fluttershy, what's goin' on?” Applejack called out over the roaring wind. “Why are y'all so worked up?” she asked, hoping to quell the girls' fear. Her words had no effect; if anything, Pinkie and Fluttershy sped up, their gait infused with even more urgency.
“Applejack, we need to get into your house, right now!” Fluttershy nearly screamed, her voice unusually distinct.
“We gotta duck for cover! Hurry, before the sky starts falling again!” Pinkie Pie cried. Just then, Pinkie's fluffy, pink, cotton-candy like tail began to twitch and spasm erratically. She twisted her head around to look behind herself, then just as sharply corkscrewed it back to look ahead, her eyes wide with apprehension.
“Never mind! WE'RE TOO LATE!”
“Too late for what?” Rainbow Dash fumed.
*KA-BOOOM!*
A peal of thunder ripped through the air, and lightning forked across the sky in the distance. All of the ponies froze. Rainbow Dash and Applejack could finally get a look at what Pinkie and Fluttershy had been running from.
“I...I see it-” said Rainbow Dash uncertainly,
“But I don't believe it!” Applejack finished for her.
A great curtain of rainfall swept over Sweet Apple Acres, slowly and deliberately closing in on them. The shower drenched everything in its path, and within seconds, its immediate effect on the environment became horrifyingly apparent. The plants that had been coated were withering up and crumbling to dust in a matter of seconds, and the apple trees did not fare any better. All of the leaves and fruit fell, curling up on the way down, the trees themselves appeared to be rotting away right before their eyes. Strangely, instead of being absorbed into the ground or forming puddles of water, the rain was coalescing into little globs of some kind of jelly, and this gunk was piling up all around them. One of these piles of muck moved, rather suddenly, and appeared to crawl toward the closest living thing to it; a small brown rabbit grazing on the side of the road.
“No, no, no, no, NO!” Fluttershy suddenly freaked out, “No, little bunny, run! It's not safe, you need to get out of here, go!” She tried to gallop to the little animal's side, but a well-timed tail yank from Pinkie Pie held her in place. Pinkie stood on Fluttershy's tail for good measure, then tried to reason with her frantic friend.
“Fluttershy, you can't! It'll get you, too!”
“Um, P-P-Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash sputtered. “What do you mean by, it'll get you?!”
“Don't look!” Pinkie wailed.
But they stared, transfixed, as the rain washed over the little rabbit. Like a horrifying train wreck, they simply couldn't look away from the horror. The tiny mammal fell over, writhing and squeaking as the strange purple muck coated it's entire body. It continued to twitch periodically, even as the muck completely enveloped it. Applejack gritted her teeth, this was all happening too fast, but she was through sitting around and doing nothing.
“What're we waitin' for?!” she yelled furiously, “We gotta help that little varmint!”
“No, Applejack.” Pinkie stated solemnly, “I'm sorry to say it, but there isn't a thing we can do for that poor bunny. The rain is closing in, and we need to go inside before it reaches us.” Pinkie hung her head sadly. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were stunned. They had never seen Pinkie act so seriously in her life. Having finally calmed down, Fluttershy turned to her friends, and again spoke with uncanny clarity.
“Once we get inside, we'll tell you everything that happened. But we can't take our time, especially since that bunny could get back up at any moment.”
“What are you-, SWEET CELESTIA, WHAT IN THE NAME OF PONY IS THAT?!” Rainbow Dash nearly rasped.
Occupying the same spot that the rabbit had been in moments before, was a creature that looked only vaguely mammalian. It had a rabbit's long hind legs, floppy ears, and huge teeth, but the similarities ended there. The beast stood almost twice as tall as any of them, it's massive form matted with what something that looked like congealed jelly. The creature's beady red eyes locked onto them; it emitted a low growl, revealing incisors the looked more suitable for dining on ponies than carrots. The rabbit monster leaned back on its haunches, ready to leap at them and slice with claws that looked very much like steak knives.
“Every pony run!” Pinkie trilled. The rabbit lunged, missing them by inches. They bolted for the house, the door still hanging ajar. 
“Is everypony all right?” Applejack turned to find only Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie behind her. A furious roar erupted behind all of them, followed by an almost inaudible squeak.
“FLUTTERSHY!” they cried.
The beast was bearing down on the little pegusus, jaws inches from her throat, when suddenly, the monster was thrown back by a miniature controlled explosion. The smoke cleared, and the rabbit-thing howled in pain; half of the fur on its right arm had been singed away, leaving an ugly weal. Before it could attack again, it received another blast to the face. This time, however, the ponies easily found out who had saved them. Spike emerged from behind Applejack and Rainbow Dash, knocking over the creature with another well-aimed fireball to the chest.
“Whoa, Spike! When did you learn to make fireballs?” Rainbow asked, clearly impressed.
“Nice shootin' there, partner!” Applejack cheered, “But be careful, Spike. This critter is even more dangerous than it looks. Keep yer distance, and whatever you do, don't touch it's skin!”
“Thanks Applejack, I'll be careful.” said Spike, clenching his clawed fists, carefully closing the distance between him and the monster. Before it could fully recover, Spike inhaled deeply, then exhaled a great plume of green fire in a constant stream. The rabbit beast screeched again, slowly backing off from the little dragon. When the flames finally make contact, it let out a final yelp of pain before turning tail to flee. Spike let out a prolonged sigh of relief. He had never exerted so much energy at once, and felt that he might even be able to fall asleep right here in the dirt. Before he could do so, somepony seized him by the scruff of his neck, and tossed him headlong into Applejack's house. The door slammed shut, and no sooner than it did, the steady cascading pin-drops of rain against the roof could be heard. In the distance, he could also detect the sound of a dog barking and whimpering, and Applejack trying to calm it down.
That must be Winona. Spike thought, fondly remembering the friendly border collie I guess we got her all worked up with our fight. Spike got up slowly, groaning and rubbing the back of his neck.
“Ow, take it easy you guys!” he whined, “These scales might be thick, but I'm not indestructible, y'know?” 
Suddenly, Spiked found himself locked in a warm, fuzzy, yellow embrace.
“Spike, that was incredible.” Fluttershy nearly whispered, tears streaming down her face, “I'd have been a goner if it wasn't for you. You saved my life, Spike. Thank you!” She squeaked graciously, holding him even tighter.
“She's right, Spike!” Pinkie chimed in, joining in on the hug. “You really saved our bacon today, buddy!”
“The way you handled that monster! Hooboy, that was pretty amazing, sugarcube.” Applejack added affectionately.
“Amazing?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. “Try super-fantastically-awesomemazing! Especially when you brained that rabbit thing right in the face!” Rainbow cheered, completing the group hug. Spike began to blush from all the praise he had received, not to mention the joy of being embraced by four of his best friends at once. If Rarity were here, he could probably die perfectly happy. 	“No need to thank me, girls! You're my friends, of course I'd do anything to protect you.” he gushed, trying to be modest.
Just then, something occurred to Fluttershy made their current situation seem dire.
“Oh, Applejack! We just saw what that goop does to living things and plants. Do we know if we'll really be safe here for long? What if it eats through the wood of the house, just like it did to the trees!” she squealed.
“Hang on Fluttershy, if you're right, then we're in a whole heap of trouble!” Applejack grimaced, running to the front door. She peered out the window, looking carefully for something. After a minute had passed, the farmer pony breathed a sigh of relief.
“I think we're goin' to be fine everypony.” she breathed, “If the rain was gonna rot away the wood of the house, we woulda noticed by now. The fence surroundin' the house outside would be destroyed, or at least rotting like everythin' else, but it ain't. Whatever this stuff is, that came out of the sky, It only attacks living things.”
“Okay, so what else do we know about this freaky rain?” queried Rainbow Dash.
“Not much, except for the fact that it kills plants, but for some reason turns living animals into, well, things.” Fluttershy whispered, gesturing vaguely to the outside.
“We should plan out our next course of action while we have the time, ” said Applejack. “Our biggest priorities right now are to keep our families safe, to group up with Twilight and Rarity, and to get a letter to the Princess. After that, we might be able to find a way to save Ponyville from this Rain Monster.”
“Sounds like a plan AJ! I'll take care of that letter.” Rainbow affirmed.
“Applejack, is it okay if I make tea for everypony?” Fluttershy asked, “I was was actually going to earlier today, but it just sort of got away from me.”
“Oh, yeah!” chirruped Pinkie Pie, “You were about to make tea, but then, I dragged you out of the cottage, and then it started to drizzle, and after that there was some lighting, and before you know it, the sky is falling and all of the little woodland animals are turning into monsters!” she uttered in one breath.
“Boy, what a doozy that was! I can't believe I nearly forgot about it.” Pinkie beamed.
“Well, I don't have any tea girls, but as soon as I come back downstairs, I'll open up a barrel of cider for us. How's that sound?” Applejack asked.
“Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but my nerves are shot. I think a nice big glass of cider would definitely hit the spot!” Rainbow proclaimed. The others nodded in agreement.
Applejack cantered upstairs, pondering all the while everything that had happened so far. Try as she might, she could not stop herself from worrying about her two friends who weren't safe under her roof at the moment.
Jus' hang in there, Rarity, Twilight, she urged silently. We're comin' to get you, and together we're gonna find out who's behind this mess. Somehow, we'll make things right again.