//------------------------------// // 2 - Cloudburst // Story: Cloudburst // by Xaigatomon //------------------------------// The four pairs of hooves belonging to the two pegasi clopped along the pavement of Ponyville contently, as Rainbow Dash walked with the strange blue pegasus who so far didn't even have a name. "So..." Rainbow began, her voice a level lower than her normal volume "... you're... from a different world?" She was having a hard time believing his story, even though she had plainly seen him coming out of nowhere. "I... think so... I definitely didn't used to be a pony anyway." "Well that would explain why you don't seem to know anything about ponies..." Rainbow contemplated. "I just can't get over the fact that I have wings." He once again propped one open with a hoof and then gave it a little flap. "Heh, alright dude take it easy." She grinned. "Let's just see if Twilight has any advice." They continued their walk around Ponyville and the stallion looked around in wonder as they went, his eyes scanning across all the different coloured residents, there were ones with wings like he and his rainbow-maned escort, ones with no wings and even ones with horns! He had certainly never been anywhere quite as energetic and warm as this. "This place is so... lively!" Rainbow smiled. "Glad you like it. If this place was even half as homely as it is I'd have hightailed it back to Cloudsdale ages ago- oh, Cloudsdale is my home, pegasus central of the world! Heh..." she explained proudly. "Wooow, sounds awesome!" He smiled and gave another flap of his wings, trying to get used to the feel of them. "Anyway..." she continued, "I've made some awesome friends here and have a lot of memories... so I'd never even THINK about leaving them now... I'm always loyal to my friends." "That's... really admirable" he smiled sincerely. He got a brief look at various different places as they walked passed, he secretly hoped they'd get a better tour later. Eventually they headed for a huge tree in the middle of town with a house built into it. "Whoooa" he gazed in admiration at it. "That's the library, the home of Twilight Sparkle the unicorn!" She announced with almost as much pride as she did Cloudsdale or her own name. Without further delay they trotted inside. The stallion was getting a bit more fluent on his hooves now. When he first started walking he was a little shaky and clumsy, but now he could walk, trot and even canter with ease. They entered through a large door at the base of the tree. The scent that greeted them was one of a tidy home mixed with tree trunk, with a hint of dust. Standing at the back was a purple coated pony with a dark violet mane with pink streaks in it. She appeared to be reading the contents of a book... which appeared to be floating in the air in front of her! The stallion stared at the floating book, slightly jaw-dropped, while Rainbow walked ahead of him. "Hey Twilight!... ...Twiiiiilight! Hey! Twi! Twiiiliiiiiiiii-" "-Ah!" Came a voice from the unicorn as she jumped around, her book dropping to the floor. "Oh! Rainbow Dash! I didn't see you there!" "Engrossed in a book eh?" She grinned. "Yep" the purple mare smiled. "It's a mystery novel. You might like this sorta thing. It may not have QUITE as many action scenes as Daring Do but it's surprisingly just as exciting." Rainbow contemplated "hmmmmm nah those things tend to hurt my brain... eh, I'll think about it." "Anyway..." Twilight continued with a chuckle, "what brings you here today? Who's this?" "This is-" Rainbow started, waving a hoof next to her companion, but then stopped and lowered it again as she continued "-we... don't know." "You don't know your name? Do you have amnesia?" "Yes." He replied with a nod. After all, it was sorta true. "But that's not all..." The two pegasi sat there and explained the story to Twilight, Rainbow in particular described the strange magic circles she saw. Twilight had become more and more jaw-dropped with every line of the story. Especially the whole 'being from another world' part. "Wh- but this makes no sense! Another world?" "All I know is I woke up laying in the middle of nowhere with Rainbow Dash here next to me." The stallion explained. Twilight rubbed her head as if to try and massage away a headache. "Alright alright, I need to make sense of this..." "What's so confusing about it?" Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow. "I mean, YOU went to another world remember?" She pointed out, ignoring her companion's bewildered face, knowing it would be a long, long story. Twilight sighed "I suppose you're right. At any rate, before we figure this out you need a name. We can't just keep referring to you as 'him' or 'that stallion' forever!" "We'll... have a think about it. I wanna show him around Ponyville sommore" "Okay, I'll stay here and have a think about this situation and maybe do some investigating. Spike! Spiiiike!" There were footsteps coming from upstairs and a purple skinned baby dragon came trotting down. "Yes Twilight?" "Coool is that a dragon?" Rainbow's friend whispered. "Yeah" she whispered back. "He's a bit of a klutz" she giggled. Twilight picked up some books with her magic. "We're going out to do some investigation, bring my quills!" "Yes ma'am!" He saluted and scurried off to get some things from a set of drawers. Rainbow dash grinned at Twilight. "Nothing that the world's coolest unicorn can't handle!" Twilight rolled her eyes a little, a slight blush staining her cheeks. "Rainbow Dash, I'm not a unicorn any more remember, I'm an alicorn!" She spread a set of very elegant looking wings from her side. "Oh, right, I keep forgetting to call you that.” "Wow, a unicorn AND a pegasus?" The stallion admired. "Yeah, she's called an Alicorn" Rainbow explained. "There are only a few of them in the world and they are all princesses! Including my gal here" Rainbow trotted over to Twilight and draped a wing over her back. The stallion dropped his jaw. "A- a princess!?" Twilight giggled. "I suppose it's hard to tell when I don't have my crown on." "Howcome you're living in a library and not a castle?" "Well I WAS staying in Canterlot castle when I became an alicorn, after my coronation." she blushed slightly feeling overwhelmed by the important role she now had. "But I love it here in Ponyville, and I have too much responsibility here to just move somewhere else. Plus, I couldn't leave my friends." He smiled again. "Is everyone around here as warm and friendly as you guys?" Twilight giggled slightly. "Pretty much." "Alright, we should get going. I need to check in with the weather team. That anomaly whatsit probably messed up the clouds a little." "Okay, see you guys." Twilight waved her hoof. The two pegasi once again made their way through Ponyville, basking in the gentle weather. "Everyone here is so friendly" he commented as they walked around. He was surprised to see Rainbow Dash tilt her head. "Everyone? You mean everypony?" He looked confused too. "Um... I guess so..." "Anyway..." Rainbow began. "You need a name! And I should also teach you how to use your wings! Heheh" "Wow! That'd be so cool! He grinned. "So, you really don't know where you're from? The way you talk is like they do over in Trottingham." "Trottingham?" "It's a place quite a ways away from here. The ponies there talk like you do. Anyway, how about we take to the skies?" She left the ground with her wings and hovered in front of him. "Yeah! Sure." He smiled. He cautiously looked at his wings and stretched them both out and gave them a flap. "C'mon, just beat those wings~" Dash encouraged. He flapped them harder and left the ground. "WhoOaAa!" He wobbled about before falling, stopping his fall with a hoof before he regained his balance in the air. "There ya go" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Getting the hang of it.” It took him a while to properly balance and be able to move smoothly around. Even then he was a little shaky and whenever he tried to turn, he ended up crashing or going the wrong way. He could arc to the sides but was unable to do sharp turns. After a while, one thing he had picked up on was he seemed to be good at gliding. Rainbow was impressed with how gracefully and skilfully he landed when he was doing it on purpose and not crashing. After a few more hours of practising flying he was able to soar in and out of clouds fairly enough, flying up and dropping down, being able to level himself after. Rainbow Dash landed on a cloud to rest and invited him over. "You're getting so good! You're a quick learner" He cautiously touched hooves to the clouds as though he thought he was about to fall through. After settling he smiled triumphantly at Rainbow, which earned him a giggle from the weather mare. "Maybe I'll be as good as you soon!" "Heh, not likely!" Rainbow grinned. "I'm probably the best flier in all of Equestria!" He felt compelled by her confidence and smiled a bit. "Thanks for um... for teaching me to fly, Rainbow Dash..." a faint warmth built in his cheeks. "Heh, no problem!" She rubbed the back of her head modestly. "Are there any other places to see in Ponyville?" He asked to move the conversation before an awkward modest pause could sink in. "Hay yeah!" She grinned, but was broken off by her stomach growling. "Okay, there's an idea. I GOTTA show you Sugarcube Corner!" "Just the name sounds tasty" he chuckled. Rainbow smiled again and then beaconed him to follow her with one hoof and took off, gliding down towards the floor. The stallion flapped his wings and began to rise higher. Rainbow landed on the floor and looked up to see if he was behind her, but she could only see the cloud. Her confused face was broken into a quick gasp as her new friend broke through the cloud suddenly and dropped straight down. He flapped his wings furiously as he neared the ground and pulled his head up sharply, his eyes glued shut. When he felt the world stop moving, he carefully opened one eye to see that he was floating a few hooves above the ground. He glanced nervously over at Rainbow. Her jaw was hanging open for a long moment before it slowly spread into a wide eyed beaming grin. "That was so cool! That was... just.... AWESOME!" He blushed "r-really? I..." "You just burst through that cloud so magnificently! Coming out of a drop like that is not easy! You've got potential!" He blushed modestly and rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. "Thanks Rainbow, I-" he was interrupted by his stomach taking its turn to growl. "... cake?" "Cake." Rainbow nodded and they flew off into the vicinity of Ponyville. They hadn't been in the air for long before they landed outside a building that looked like it was made out of sweets. "Whoa, this the place?" The newcomer asked. "Sure is!" Rainbow answered. She could hear hoofsteps behind her but paid them no heed. "Anyway, you're getting really good with your wings, I-" A huge gasp erupted from behind her. "OMIGOSH!" cried a high pitched voice. Rainbow spun around and her friend tilted his head to peer around her. Standing there was a cute and bouncy pony. She had a fluffy mane and tail like candy floss and a soft strawberry pink coat. "Oh, Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow smiled seeing her lively friend. Pinkie looked ecstatic. "Omigosh! Who's this Rainbow Dash? Is he your friend? Is he new? If he is new in Ponyville then I just gotta throw a welcome party! Oh I'm so excited~♪" "Slow down Pinkie" Rainbow grinned. Her friend waved briefly to Pinkie Pie, finding her energy entertaining. Pinkie suddenly jumped up in front of him and grinned as she stared right in his face. "What's your name? Hm?" She smiled excitedly. He blushed a little at the invasion of personal space, he could smell her scent from this distance and see right into her blue eyes. She smelled lightly of cupcake frosting. "Uhh, well, I uhh..." Rainbow interjected, and pulled Pinkie back a little and landed in between them. "You wanna know his name, huh?" Rainbow Dash smirked. Her companion looked at her curiously. "His name..." she continued "is... Cloudburst."