//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Stormy Nights 2: In the Clouds // by Void Chicken //------------------------------// Stormy sat in what was destined to be her bedroom, eyeing the north wall. Hmm... another yard out? Or would the roof cave in? Could I put in a support column? It’d be annoying to have one. Maybe the wall can stay where it is; I’ll only ever need a twin-size bed after all. A knocking echoed up from the room below. Stormy poked her head downstairs to find a letter at her front doorstep. She looked at the name on the return address: Strawberry Blossom. Did she write this as soon as I left? Stormy opened the letter. Hi Stormy! I miss you already! I can just imagine you soaring all over the sky where you are, surrounded by your new friends all flying around and making weather magic and stuff! Make sure you show them how amazing you are! And write me back! -Strawberry If I don’t write her back, Stormy thought, she’ll think I died or something, I’m sure. Quill... She looked around her house. Quill... quill... do I even have one? Stormy looked at her wing. I’d still need ink and paper. She grabbed a saddlebag and took off over the town. Through the now-cleared sky Stormy got her first good view of Whinnypeg. Many buildings were incomplete, and three-quarters of a clock tower stood in the town square. Around them, the unicorns and earth ponies went about their daily business. A pale blue blur passed under her. “Hey Starry, can you help me move a nimbus... what are you looking for?” Wobbler asked. “You lose your glasses?” “It’s Stormy. Wait, I don’t wear... never mind. I’m just looking for somewhere to get a quill and some ink.” “Pssh, you don’t have to go down there; we have our own store up here in the clouds!” “Why?” “See that big cloud formation over there? Technically it’s the town’s warehouse. See, since Whinnypeg’s really new, they don’t have the brick and wood and stuff to hold all the stuff they have and all the town’s food. But since clouds are just water, hey! We get to store it all up here! Come on, I can show you.” “Well, if you insist, I guess...” “Let’s go!” Wobbler took off erratically in the direction of the warehouse. --- “Good morning, you two,” Mister Sky said. “Hi Cirrus! Starry needs some—” “Stormy.” “Stormy needs some writing stuff.” Stormy elaborated, “Some paper and ink, and a quill or two unless I’m supposed to pull out one of my feathers.” “Hehehe you don’t use your own feather to write with,” Wobbler said as Cirrus flew to the top of a nearby shelf. “If I had to pull out a feather every time I needed to write something, I’d never fly right!” So does she or— Stormy’s thought was interrupted by Cirrus’s return. “Here you go, Miss Nights, was it? That will be five bits.” Wobbler chimed in, “I can just remember it and take it off your pay, if you want!” She tapped her forehead. “Mind like a steel trap.” Stormy stared at her for a second. “I... I can pay cash.” “Hehe, if you say so. I don’t need anything from here today so I’ll see you around!” “Um, wasn’t there a nimbus you wanted moved?” “Oh yeah! It’s over on the other end of town! Come on!” --- “Here’s the clo—” Wobbler ran into it. “Here’s the cloud!” She giggled. “Nice and soft! Grab a chunk and follow me!” Wobbler peeled off a piece of the cloud and flew in an arc over the town. Stormy pushed down on the top of the cloud, splitting off the largest portion that she thought she could manage. She clamped onto the top of her piece and began dragging it across the sky. Stormy arrived at the other end of town, where Wobbler was waiting. “Wow-ee that’s a big one! Even my mom couldn’t move that much cloud at once! Where were you when we were putting together Upper Whinnypeg? Maybe you’re half earth pony!” “Half unicorn, actually.” “Unicorn? Really? Are you sure?” Stormy narrowed her eyes. “I’m sure.” A voice that Stormy didn’t recognize called up from below, “Miss Silver Lining! Excuse me, may I have a word with you for a moment?” “Oops,” Wobbler said, “the mayor wants to talk to me. Go ahead and bring the rest of the cloud over; this usually takes a while.” Wobbler spun down towards the ground. Stormy flew off to finish moving the cloud. --- Stormy rested on top of the reassembled nimbus, idly rubbing a piece of cloud the size of her hoof against the larger mass, watching the sparks jump between them. Wobbler and the mayor were discussing something below, but Stormy had learned to tune out arguments a long time ago, as one-sided as the one below sounded. Soon, Wobbler came back up. “Sorry about that. She sure likes to talk a lot.” “What did the mayor want?” “Oh, she says this cloud’s blocking her view of some mountain or another. But I think it’s just because she doesn’t like me.” “Should we move it again?” “No way! There’s a reason I’m the head of the weather team and not her.” “Because she’s an earth pony?” “Because I’m the best weatherpony in Equestria! This is my sky up here, and I know more about the right way to work the weather than anypony else! And one day, I’m going to be organizing the sky over Canterlot.” “Canterlot, huh? I hope you won’t forget us little ponies when you make it big.” “Of course not! I’ll still remember everypony here, Starry.” “Stormy.” --- Stormy finally returned home, tossing her saddlebags aside. She noticed that Strawberry’s letter was still laying on the floor. Oh, that’s right. Stormy fished the writing supplies out of her saddlebags. Dear Strawberry, I only just got here so I haven’t had much of a chance to show the team anything. But I’ve been doing fine. I’ve even gotten my own cloudhome up here. Stormy thought for a second. More of a cloudcave, really, but I’m working on it. My boss, Wobbler, is kind of funny; you’d like her. Anyways, she says there’s going to be a big storm soon that I can help with. I think She paused again. I think hope I can do it. Sincerely, Stormy --- Stormy tossed and turned in her bed. She squinted at the moonlight coming into her bedroom, trying to figure out what time it was. Have I even slept? Ugh. It’s only a little... a big storm... There was a dull thud and her cloudhouse swayed slightly. Stormy sat up in bed. A pale blue foreleg hooked itself around her window frame, and Wobbler pulled herself up. “Oh hey, you’re up!” “What’s the matter?” “The matter? It’s time to start your big storm, silly!” Stormy stood up. “What? Already?” “Well yeah! I planned your storm to start in the morning, and we need to get it put together early!” “Oh... okay. Just give me a minute or two to get ready.” “All righty! We’ll be waiting for you at the north edge of town!” Wobbler dropped out of sight. Stormy made her way to the bathroom and splashed some water from the sink onto her face. I can do this. It’s only a bunch of dark clouds. I’m good at dark clouds. Just a lot more than I’ve ever made, with the whole town watching. And the whole reason I’m here. What have I gotten myself into? --- Stormy was the last pegasus to arrive at the lake. The far shore was barely visible, even at altitude, and wilderness surrounded the area. Stormy panted lightly. It’s too cold out to be sweating like this. How in Equestria can all those other ponies move that quick? “There you are!” Wobbler called out. “I thought a pony with lightning on her rump would be fast!” “Sorry. I went as fast as I could.” “That’s okay! So what’s your big plan?” Wobbler looked expectantly at her. “Plan? What plan?” “Yeah! This is your big storm, so I’m letting you plan it all out!” “Oh... uh... I didn’t really have a plan...” “Oooh, you’re going to wing it! I’ve never seen an ad-lib storm before! Go on,” Wobbler said, nudging Stormy towards the lake, “get started!” Stormy looked out over the lake. All right, I can do this. I’ve done this plenty of times at the reservoir. Stormy flew just over the surface, pulling the water into the air behind her, and made a tight left turn. How can Wobbler turn so much tighter than I can? How can every other pegasus I’ve seen turn tighter than I can? What’s wrong with me? “Hey!” Wobbler had flown up beside her. “Are you all right? You’re not making many clouds.” Stormy looked behind her. The other pegasi on the team were gathering up the thin ribbon of clouds that she had made. “Oh. You, uh, need more?” “Well yeah!” Wobbler turned upside-down. “We have to cover the whole sky! We’ll be here all month at the rate you’re going. And we have the whole lake to play with, so go ahead and fly out there!” “I’ll try.” Stormy swallowed. Lots of clouds, pull lots of water up. As much as I can. She flew low, just above the water, concentrating on making her clouds. Stormy could feel the water beneath her being pulled up into the air. This feels pretty good, actually. Stormy’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice next to her. “Starry!” “St—” “What are you doing?!” Wobbler wasn’t smiling any more. “Look behind you!” Stormy turned around. She had indeed made an impressive amount of cloud mass behind her, but her creations floated far too low to the water. The pegasi that had been trailing Stormy struggled to get the clouds up before they drifted down into the lake’s surface below. Many were already melting back into the lake from whence they came. Stratus Sky tried to pull her husband out of the water that one of Stormy’s clouds had knocked him into, while avoiding the sparks that they were producing. “Didn’t anypony ever teach you the proper altitude for cloud creation?!” Wobbler jabbed a hoof at Stormy. “Starry, when you look bad, it makes ME look bad. I scheduled a storm this morning, and now it’s going to be late!” “I’m... I’m sorry...” Wobbler groaned and put her hoof on her face. “I don’t want apologies! I want clouds!” She rose several feet. “You need to be up here!” Her bobbing and swaying made it hard to tell where exactly she meant. “Now do it again and do it right!” “Sor—” Stormy caught herself. “I mean, all right, I’ll try.” Stormy flew over the lake again, higher this time. --- After half an hour’s work collecting clouds, a faint glow appeared on the eastern horizon. “Starry!” Wobbler’s voice called. “Hey Starry, come over here!” Stormy made her way back to the flock, where many of the pegasi were gingerly handling the inky black clouds. “Am I doing it wrong again?” “No way, you did great! Look at that lake!” Stormy saw that, despite its size, the lake’s water level had dropped noticeably. Wow. Pegasus magic, indeed. Stormy had long studied the mechanics behind cloud formation, but seeing it in action, on this scale... She couldn’t help but be moved. Wobbler continued, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen a pony make clouds faster than the rest of the team can put them together! Though that might be because...” Wobbler flipped over to face towards the weather team, “...SOME ponies are afraid of a little voltage!” She turned back to Stormy and grinned. “Looks like you’ll be helping to put it together, too.” Stormy smiled. “Fine with me, I love working with this stuff!” She flew forwards, closed her wings, and belly-flopped onto a large cloud. It crackled and flickered satisfyingly from the impact. Stormy then opened her wings and drove her cloud into the sky. Wobbler laughed and called to the rest of the flock, “Everypony grab a cloud and start putting together that storm! Let’s make some rain!” --- The growing light shining through Whinnypeg faded as the storm slid into position above the town, gently pushing the smaller cloud structures out of its way. The weather team hovered above the sheet of cumulus arcus, with Stormy and Wobbler standing atop the solitary cumulonimbus incus in the center. “All right, Starry!” “Stormy.” “All right, Stormy! Give the signal!” Stormy reared up, then slammed both front hooves into the cloud’s top. Bolts of electricity shot down the height of the anvil cloud and fanned out across the width of the storm. A wonderful harmony of booms echoed up and past the pegasus. As the sound faded, the weather team jumped onto the cloud sheet, sending a torrent of rain down into Whinnypeg. “So...” Stormy started, pacing back and forth on top of the cloud and ruffling her wings. “Anything else that needs to be done?” “Hmm...” Wobbler scratched her chin. “Just to keep an eye on it until it’s time to take the storm apart on Monday.” “So I have some free time then, to, say, head underneath?” Stormy peered over the edge of the cloud top, wings open. “Well sure, though I don’t see what’s so interesting under the cloud, Starry.” Wobbler paused for a few seconds, then looked around, but she found herself alone. “Starry?”