//------------------------------// // September 2 – 12:19 PM // Story: Flash Fog // by Kwakerjak //------------------------------// The Cutie Mark Crusaders had known the fog was dangerous. They’d heard all the adults explain how bitterly cold it was, how easy it was to get lost in it, and how pegasi risked getting tossed around like horseshoes; but none of these warnings had greatly concerned them. At the time, it had seemed perfectly obvious that the fog only posed a risk to those ponies unfortunate enough get trapped inside of it, and they certainly wouldn’t let that happen to them. After all, at the end of the day, it was still a fog; outrunning it should have been simple. However, that was before two of them had gotten ensnared in a net covered in pine tar. Now, the trio’s backup plans were crumbling almost as fast as they could formulate them. Digging a pit for a new trap gave way to getting Apple Bloom and Scootaloo out of the net right now, and getting them out right now soon devolved into getting them out as soon as possible. This last downgrade occurred because Sweetie Belle was worried that if she tried to pull the net off, she’d just get tangled up herself—a worry supported by the large apple branch that had gotten stuck in the mass when she’d tried to pry her friends apart. And yet, soon enough, even the plans to escape the net were superseded by more pressing matters as the fog grew thicker and colder. Sweetie Belle managed to retrieve Mr. Shnookums’ cage with its space heater, but the little battery-powered device was really only intended to heat an area the size of a hamster cage, and thus, even in combination with the pillows that had been muffling the jackhammer as insulation, it brought little comfort to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo as they continued to struggle against the sticky mass of the net. Although they’d had some success dissolving pine sap with water in the past, the moisture of the fog didn’t seem to be wet enough to do the trick, or maybe the process of boiling sap down to pine tar had changed it somehow—none of the fillies really had the time to worry about such matters. The three of them were desperately trying to think of some way to cut the net that didn’t involve Sweetie Belle wandering off into the muted silver gloom to search for a machete when Scootaloo’s breathing suddenly became extremely labored. “Maybe... you could... tie some rope around your barrel... so you can find your way back,” the pegasus said, wincing with each pause in her sentence. “What’s wrong, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked. “I don’t know...” Scootaloo replied between shuddering gasps. “It feels like... everything’s just... pushing in on me.” “Well, you are a pegasus, and we are in the middle of a cloud,” Sweetie Belle said. Whatever reply Scootaloo had intended to make to this comment was replaced with a raspy wheeze as her shivering grew more violent. Apple Bloom pushed her friend closer to the space heater as she looked around at the amorphous grey mass that had obscured nearly all of the orchard’s trees from view. “This ain’t good,” she said. “We gotta get Scootaloo somewhere safe as soon as possible.” “Yeah,” agreed Sweetie Belle as she stamped her hooves to maintain her circulation in the chilly air, “but how?” Apple Bloom sighed. “I got nuthin’.” And throughout all of this, there was one, undeniable fact hovering between the three of them, left unsaid for fear that speech might be enough to make it reality: the humans were coming. September 2 – 12:23 PM “Sweet Celestia, this stuff is creepy.” Like most unicorns, Lyra had never really paid much attention to nuances of atmospheric phenomena; as far as she was concerned, the weather was little more than “the stuff pegasi take care of.” But this fog... it just felt wrong, and not merely due to the fact that it was way too cold and impenetrably thick. Perhaps it was the speed with which the fog had rolled into town—it felt like Lyra had just enough time to notice that it looked like a grey sandstorm before it was on top of her, and now, the crystal-clear view of the town square had been completely covered by an ashy haze. “Of course it’s creepy. The humans made it, after all.” Lyra turned her neck towards the sound of the voice, but even though Bon-Bon couldn’t have been much more than a trot behind her, all she could see through the fog was the beam from the heavy-duty flashlight mounted on the earth pony’s body armor. The unicorn pulled her scarf tighter around her neck as she thought of a proper response; it was odd to think that minutes ago she had been sweltering in her winter coat. “I’m sure they didn’t intend it to be creepy. It’s probably just the result of using science instead of magic, or something like that.” “Yeah, well, I doubt Roseluck here is going to care much for their science when she regains consciousness.” Lyra glanced back at the earth pony sprawled on the stretcher she and Bon-Bon were carrying to the hospital. Apparently, the flower salespony had been trying to maximize her sales during her shortened workday and got taken by surprise by the fog’s speed. It seemed she had promptly panicked and galloped straight into the side of the town hall, knocking herself out. Roseluck’s face was close enough to Lyra’s end of the stretcher that she could make out the bruise forming on her muzzle, but the rest of her body was an indistinct blur. “The humans didn’t force her to panic,” Lyra said. “Last I checked, nopony actually chooses to have a panic attack.” “Given how often they happen to Rose and her friends, I think they just might be choosing it. I mean, bunnies? Really?” The beam from Bon-Bon’s flashlight quivered as the candymaker let out a snort. “Hmph. Clearly, you’ve never had to deal with that little monster Fluttershy calls a pet. And will you please pay attention to the lanterns so we don’t miss our turn? I don’t care how warm this quilt is; the sooner we get Roseluck inside the hospital, the better.” Lyra turned her head in front of her, and much to her chagrin, she had indeed nearly missed the point where the lanterns that now lined the side of the road turned right to lead ponies towards the local hospital. “Oh... right. Um, maybe we should continue this conversation after we drop her off. Now’s not the time for distractions.” “Fine with me,” Bon-Bon said. “I still need to figure out how to convince the doctors to let me use their medical waste for a decent human trap anyway.” September 2 – 12:29 PM The Crusaders were starting to wish they hadn’t put off their attempt to earn cutie marks in wilderness survival, because right now, even rudimentary knowledge would have been preferable to their complete lack of ideas. At the moment, all they had to go on was half-remembered advice they’d received while in the abortive planning stages of as-yet unfulfilled camping trips. “I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to stay put if we’re lost,” Sweetie Belle said as she continued to pace anxiously. “We ain’t lost,” Apple Bloom said. “We know exactly where we are... we just ain’t sure how to get Scootaloo to the clubhouse, that’s all.” “I don’t want to stay here,” Scootaloo managed to force out. “We’ll be easy targets for...” Her voice trailed off as she was interrupted by another bout of shivers. “Are you sure you can’t stand up, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle said. “Well, I guess I can try.... Just let me get my leg... untangled,” replied Scootaloo as she managed to wrench one of her forelegs out of the net, letting out a sharp cry of pain as she left behind a small tuft of her coat on the sticky rope. “Okay,” she said as she slowly inhaled and rose to her feet. “That hurt a little more than I expected, but at least it’s a little bit easier to breathe now that I’m not all twisted around like that.” Still, this was a good sign, especially once Scootaloo found that she could now walk with only minor difficulty. Thus, after confirming that Mr. Shnookums was still relatively comfortable in his heated cage, the three of them surrounded him with pillows and set out towards their clubhouse. At least, they were pretty sure they were headed in the right direction. Thus, despite the fact that she had a mild limp in the foreleg with a missing swatch of her coat, Scootaloo seemed to be feeling very optimistic. “You know, this fog really isn’t that bad. I mean, it’s like walking through deep snow, or maybe really cold mud, but it could be a lot w—” As if on cue, an unusually dense blob of fog slammed into Scootaloo from above, knocking her into the ground. Before either of her friends could figure out what was going on, the blob had bounced back into the air again, with one of the pegasus’ wings caught inside of it. It pulled Scootaloo off the ground, and proceeded to jerk around wildly, dragging the net and Apple Bloom behind it as Sweetie Belle struggled to keep up. It was only when Apple Bloom had the prescience of mind to dig her hooves into the earth and resist the fog’s pull with all the strength an earth pony filly could muster that the wayward clump of cloud broke away from Scootaloo, who unceremoniously dropped to the ground near a small ditch. “Scootaloo! Are ya alright?” Apple Bloom asked in a clearly worried tone. The pegasus filly didn’t reply so much as moan indistinctly. “You guys? Where are you?” Sweetie Belle called from the gloom. “Over here!” Apple Bloom called back. A few seconds later, the unicorn emerged from the silvery haze. She gasped when she saw Scootaloo lying on the ground. “Is she okay?” The argument that had seemed on the verge of destroying their friendship seemed infinitely remote now; at the moment, Sweetie Belle’s main concern was her friend’s safety. “I’m not sure,” Apple Bloom said as Scootaloo let out another wordless groan. “I mean, if she can make noises like that, I’m pretty sure she’s conscious, but who knows if she’s got any injuries.” Anything else that Apple Bloom might have wanted to add was cut short when Scootaloo began shivering even more violently than before. Without another word, Apple Bloom began pushing her friend into the ditch. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to move somepony who might be injured,” Sweetie Belle said. “Yeah, I know,” replied Apple Bloom, “but I can’t just leave her completely out in the open where this fog can push her around.” “But is a ditch going to help with that?” asked Sweetie Belle as Apple Bloom finished positioning Scootaloo. “It will if I get on top of her to keep her pinned down,” Apple Bloom said. “Plus, holdin’ Scoots down will make it easier for the two of us to keep warm while you get help.” “But... but I don’t want to leave you here! I’ll get lost in that fog, and I could freeze to death!” Sweetie Belle said. Apple Bloom shook her head. “Sweetie Belle, I’m pretty sure we’ll all get killed if nopony goes lookin’ for help. They don’t know we’re out here, do they?” Sweetie Belle kept hesitating, though. “But... I’m scared.” “Ya think I ain’t? C’mon, Sweetie Belle, you’re the only one who can do it. I’m still too tangled up in this net to go anywhere.” Scootaloo finally managed to stop groaning long enough to form an intelligible word. “Please....” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. I’ll send help as soon as I can. Goodb— I mean, I’ll see you later.” With that, the unicorn filly trotted off into the miasma.