//------------------------------// // Come Hell or High Water (Church) // Story: Stuck in a Rainbow // by theRedBrony //------------------------------// Previously on Stuck… Church sulks on top of a castle tower, because he pissed off Celestia, and he just wants to go home. Spitfire finds him there by chance and talks to him, learning his whole crazy story up until that point. She encourages Church to go apologize to Celestia, and tags along while he looks for her and the rest of the gang. In their search, a mysterious cloud of purple smoke tries to stop them. Yet it only seems to be effective at night. Fortunate that Discord and Nightmare Moon seem to be fighting over raising the sun or the moon. It snatches a note left by Twilight, telling Church that they all went to Ponyville. Then it traps Church and Spitfire in a room as they try to fly out... "What did I do to deserve this crap?" I ask the darkness. "You wished for it, didn't you?" Spitfire responds. "What? No! I wished that I could live in a fantasy world. You know, with wizards and elves and stuff. And I'd go on an adventure! Fight the forces of evil!" "Look, Church. I'm a Wonderbolt. We live and breathe adventure, and let me tell you… it's not all it's cracked up to be. It can be dirty and bloody and… heartbreaking, sometimes. It's not like something you'd read in a fantasy book. Besides – well, ok, I get that you have something against ponies, for whatever reason, I don't know – but the point is: just take a look at yourself." "It's pitch black in here." She sighs. "No, you dumb monkey, I meant figuratively. Look, you have wings. You said you guys don't have 'em, right? You can fly now. C'mon, that's cool. You're living every ground-walker's dream. And… magic? You guys don't have that either. It's all over the place, here." Now I sigh. "What's the last one you said? Fight the forces of evil? You can't get much more evil than Nightmare Moon. I told you what she wants, yeah?" "Yeah… Nighttime forever." "You ever stop to think what that means? Nighttime. Eternal. She'd be condemning every stallion, mare, and foal, every living creature, and every plant down to the last blade of grass, to a horribly slow death of darkness, cold, and hunger." "Well when you put it that way…" I'd say it sounds kinda dark for a frickin' kids' show. "See? You even got the forces of evil. Every cloud has a silver lining, Church." She lightly punches me in the shoulder. "Yeah, but every silver lining's got a touch of gray." "Pfft. Ya got your wish, dude, just shut up and enjoy it." "I'd love to, but right now I'm trapped in a dark room with–" Sunlight starts seeping in from the closed curtains. Just enough light to see the smartass smirk Spitfire's giving me. "Let's blow this joint." Ah… flight. A spectacular feeling it is, to be seemingly suspended in mid air, with nothing beneath me. The ground is so far down that I wouldn't be able to tell how fast I'm going if it weren't for the wind rushing against my face. I look to my right to see Spitfire, flying gracefully and effortlessly, a duck in water compared to me, I can feel my sloppy rhythm and I'm pretty sure I'm not doing this right… ACK! CROSSWIND! CROSSWIND! I've lost control! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I feel a tugging on my tail (THAT totally doesn't feel weird in any way at all) and I stabilize. I look back and catch a glimpse of Spitfire with a mouthful of rainbow colored tail. "...Sorry," I apologize. "Hey, no problem!" "Got any tips on how to do this better?" I ask as she comes up next to me again. "Use your legs for balance!" She sticks her forelegs forward then back against her chest, stretches her hind legs back, then back in. I try it a little too fast and almost fall forward, but I correct it quick enough, and try again slowly. Yeah, I can see how that works, now I try my back legs. Hmm… might help. We're getting closer to Ponyville, I can make out the buildings now, they're not just a blur on the horizon anymore. It's starting to look like we'll actually make it there before– The sun dips below the horizon. "Oh god dammit!" "Stay close to me!" Spitfire shouts. I can't see anything! And no sooner than the sun fell, it starts raining. From where, I don't know, there were no clouds that I could see. "Church!" Spitfire shouts. I've lost sight of her. "Fly up!" "Ok!" I point myself up and flap harder. The rain gets worse. What started as a drizzle is turning into a monsoon. Oh, great, now the wind is kicking up, too. CA-CRACK Lighting strikes to my side, leaving my ears ringing, but with the flash I spot Spitfire not far in front of me. And a thick layer of black clouds a mile above us. The wind gains speed and starts to change direction. I'm losing my grip on the air! I try to use my legs to balance– ACK! DOWNDRAFT! "SPITFIRE! HELP!" I'm spinning out of control! I can't see in all this darkness! It's just like being underwater and not knowing which way is up! CA-CRACK Lightning and thunder crash down right beside me, I completely lose what little hold on the air that I had. And I'm falling. Definitely falling. I am so… utterly… boned right now. Then… Something grapples me, and I stop spinning. I look up. "Spitfire! You caught me!" "Yeah!" I think for a moment. "We're still falling!" "I know!" All I can do is look into her eyes as she struggles to keep us aloft in this storm. It only takes another second before we fall through a layer of tree branches and– THUD I don't want to open my eyes. "Am I dead?" Spitfire answers. "No… hurts too much," she pants. I look up and see the trees and the rain still pouring down, falling through the dense canopy. Some moonlight pokes through as well. "Thank you," I say to Spitfire, who's laying on top of me, panting her lungs out, and still holding onto me with a death grip. "Don't mention it…" POP We both turn to see Discord. Him and I both seem to realize at the exact same moment… that Spitfire is laying on top of me, breathing hard, and this all looks very… suggestive. He instantly looks away from us, and clears his throat awkwardly. "Ahem. I can see you two are busy. I'll just… come back later." He slowly walks backward then turns and steps through a door that just materialized. He closes it gently and it pops out of existence. "Hey Spitfire?" "Yeah?" "Think you could… I dunno, give me some personal space?" "Yep." She rolls off of me. I roll onto my hooves and stand up. All my legs are shaking. I stretch out, flex my wings, sore all over, but nothing broken. The rain seems to be easing up, but I'm still soaking wet. I wander over to a dry-ish spot next to a tree and shake myself dry, like a dog. It's strangely effective. My head turns instantly as I hear a twig snap. Spitfire hops up and dashes over to me, away from whatever hideous thing is approaching us. I can barely make out its silhouette in the scarce moonlight and shadows. It's big. Easily twice as tall as me. It lumbers closer on two feet… like bigfoot. It finally steps into our little clearing… "Morgan?!" "Hello Church."