Chewing on a tasty sapphire, Spike opened the door to the Ponyville library and stepped inside. He immediately stopped and gasped, the half-eaten gem falling from his mouth. The interior of the library was filled with a terrible mess. Books lay scattered across the floor, piled on the tables, and shoved haphazardly onto shelves all out of order. Spike looked on in horror at the disorganized mess, which he knew he would end up cleaning himself.
A trio of books, bathed in a bright purple aura, floated through the air towards the lone pony in the center of the room. The lavender pony watched the books fly past her one at a time, reading each title as it passed. She let out a frustrated groan.
"No, no NO!" Twilight Sparkle said, flinging the books away with her telekinesis, "Where is it? I know it was here last week!"
Spike cleared his throat, looking around the room uncertainly, "Uhm, Twilight? What's going on?"
Twilight jumped when she heard her name, "Spike! Uh..." she looked around the room sheepishly, "I'm looking for a particular book. I guess I got a little out of hand."
"A little?" Spike looked around the room.
"Maybe a lot."
"What are you looking for?" Spike said, picking up a nearby book and studying the title.
"'A Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics', and I know I saw it here just a few days ago."
"What do you need a book like that for?" Spike asked.
Twilight grinned with excitement, "I'm doing a special report for the Princess on Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom! She said the Wonderbolts want to better understand how it works so they can try to replicate it. Oooh, isn't it so exciting?"
Spike watched Twilight bounce in place for a few seconds before clearing his throat again, "Well, 'A Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics' has been checked out."
"Checked out?" Twilight stopped bouncing, her eyes laying down and the corners of her mouth turning down.
"This is a library, Twilight," Spike said.
"Who would check out a book on aerodynamics?"
"Some orange pegasus filly. A friend of Rarity's sister, I think."
"Ooh, this is a disaster Spike! How can I finish my report on the sonic rainboom without that book? I knew I should have studied aerodynamics before."
"You could always try asking Rainbow Dash about it," Spike said, turning and closing the door, "Now, let's start picking up this mess."
As soon as Spike pushed the door closed, it burst open again. Sent sailing through the air, Spike managed to glimpse a flash of pink speeding through the doorway. He landed heavily on a pile of books, getting the wind knocked out of him. Looking up, he saw Pinkie Pie standing next to Twilight. Pinkie turned this way and that, seemingly trying to take in the entire room at one.
"Oooh, what are you doing?" Pinkie Pie asked, with a huge gasp, "Are you playing a game?"
Twilight's eyes narrowed, "Pinkie-"
"What are the rules?" Pinkie asked, picking up a book and throwing it at a nearby pile, "Are we supposed to see who can make the biggest pile? Oh, oh! Or are we trying to tear the piles down?"
Pinkie Pie bounced around the room, throwing books and stacking books and pulling books out of the bottom of stacks to throw them. Twilight grumbled under her breath, then took a few steps towards her friend.
"Pinkie pie-" Twilight started to say, but she was cut off again by the excitable pink pony.
"You know, Twilight, this isn't a very fun game," Pinkie said, as though explaining to a filly, "Maybe you should stick to Go Fish."
Sighing, Twilight gave in, "You're right Pinkie, I will."
Before Twilight could say more, Pinkie Pie leaped up with an excited shout, "Ooh, yay! I love Go Fish! We should play right now!"
Twilight looked around that the mess she had made, "I don't really have time-" she was cut off again.
"Do you have any books?" Pinkie asked, "I know you do, because we're in a library! Yay! Do I win?"
"Pinkie Pie, is there some reason you came to see me? I really don't have time right now-"
"Oh, of course you don't have time, silly!" Pinkie Pie said, "You need to go help Rainbow Dash with that big huge ugly storm brewing over Cloudsdale!"
Twilight stopped and blinked, "What?"
"Oh yeah, didn't I tell you?"
"No, you didn't tell me! What's happening to Cloudsdale?"
"Nopony knows! There's a big storm over Cloudsdale, and all the pegasuseses are trying to blow it away, but they can't! Even the Wonderbolts are helping! Isn't that great, Rainbow Dash gets to work with the Wonderbolts, I bet she's so excited! Do you think she's excited? Do you? Huh huh huh?"
"Pinkie Pie, focus!" Twilight said, shouting over her friend, "What about all of the ponies that live in Cloudsdale? Are they ok?"
Pinkie Pie looked pensive for a moment, "I don't know, I didn't think to ask. Do you think the storm could be dangerous?"
"I don't know. Rainbow Dash is one of the best weatherponies I know. If she can't get this storm under control, it has to be something unnatural. And an unnatural weather pattern is unpredictable. Unpredictable! Anything could happen!"
"Oooh, do you think we'll get more chocolate rain?" Pinkie asked, her eyes growing wide and a broad smile on her face.
Twilight narrowed her eyes again, "...let's just get to Cloudsdale and see what we can do to help."
"Ok, let's go!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing towards the door.
"Just a minute, Pinkie, I need to find a book that might help us with this situation," Twilight scanned the books laying around near her.
Pinkie stopped bouncing and looked back at Twilight, "What was it called?"
"It is called 'Weird Weather and Sinister Storms: a Guide to Magical and Unnatural Weather Patterns in Equestria' and I know it's here somewhere."
Pinkie Pie buried her face in a pile of books, coming back out with a thick volume clamped in her mouth, "Here it is!" she shouted excitedly, tossing the book to Twilight.
Twilight caught the book with her magic, staring at the cover with widened eyes, "How did you- nevermind, I won't ask. Let's find the others and go!"
Twilight dashed out of the room, kicking up a few books in her wake. Pinkie Pie bounced out happily behind her, humming to herself. Spike clambered out of the pile of books he had landed in, looking around with a sigh.
"I suppose it was too much to hope for Twilight to stay and help clean up," he said, picking up a book and placing it on a nearby shelf.
***
Scootaloo sat in the shade of a large tree near the edge of the playground. The orange filly was currently sitting alone. She brushed her purple mane out of her eyes and looked across the playground. School had just let out, and many of the other fillies were still hanging around. Her own two friends, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, were chasing each other around the swingset in an impromptu game of tag.
Scootaloo was not in the mood to play, but she had told her friends that she was tired instead of admitting she was upset. Just because she was having a bad day did not mean her friends had to as well. She sighed.
Either Sweetie Belle or Applebloom must have seen the sad expression on her face, because the next thing Scootaloo knew both of her friends were standing next to her.
"What's wrong Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Y'all ain't really tired, are ya?" Applebloom said, narrowing her eyes.
Scootaloo shuffled her hooves awkwardly, staring at the ground, "It's nothing, guys."
"If it were nothin', you wouldn't be sitting here all by yerself, lookin' all sad," Applebloom said.
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle said, "Something is wrong. You can tell us, we're your friends."
"It's just, uh," Scootaloo trailed off, mumbling something inaudible.
"What was that?" Applebloom asked.
"I just, I, uhm," Scootaloo trailed off again.
"Stop sounding like Fluttershy," Sweetie Belle said, poking Scootaloo on the top of her head.
Scootaloo took a deep breath and said, all in a rush, "I can't fly."
Scootaloo looked away from her friends, her cheeks growing warm. She had never admitted to her friends that she could not fly. She could feel the eyes of the two fillies on her, staring, judging.
"Well of course ya can't," Applebloom said, "Ya think we didn't notice?"
Scootaloo was confused, "What?"
Sweetie Belle laughed, but it wasn't the harsh laugh that Scootaloo had feared.
"We know you can't fly," Sweetie Belle said, "We are your best friends after all."
Applebloom put a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder, "Don't feel too bad about it, ah can't fly either."
"You aren't a pegasus," Sweetie Belle said, narrowing her eyes, "You aren't supposed to fly."
"I could if I wanted to!"
"You could probably fly better than I can," Scootaloo sighed. She lay on the ground, her legs tucked underneath her, her eyes staring downward but unseeing. She refused to cry in front of her friends, no matter how badly she wanted to.
Sweetie Belle took a step towards Scootaloo and patted her on the back. The gesture did not comfort the orange filly very much, but Scootaloo forced a smile anyways, although she could not keep the sadness from her eyes.
Then Sweetie Belle's face light up with inspiration, "I know!" the young filly shouted in excitement, "We can help you learn how to fly!"
"Really?" Scootaloo asked, leaping to her feet and grinning broadly in genuine happiness, "You'd really help me learn how to fly?"
"Of course we would," Applebloom said, "Yer our friend, what're friends for?"
"We'd be glad to help you, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said.
Scootaloo bounced with happiness, "You guys are the best friends ever. With your help, I bet I'll be flying by the end of the week!"
"Oh, and one more thing Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said with a wry smile.
"What's that?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie Belle reached out and touched Scootaloo lightly on the shoulder, "Tag, you're it!"
Scootaloo chased after her two friends, who ran away laughing. Scootaloo laughed too, her heart light with joy. This was the best day ever. The only thing better would be flying with Rainbow Dash herself.
***
Flying with Rainbow Dash would be a difficult prospect at the moment. The cyan mare was currently fighting her way through a heavy headwind, her powerful wings struggling against the harsh weather. She was exploring the edge of the unnatural storm around Cloudsdale, searching for any signs of its origin.
Thick back clouds roiled to her left. Flashes of light danced among the clouds, fueling the occasional rumble of thunder. She had flown all the way around the storm, and it completely surrounded Cloudsdale. It was like some sort of inland hurricane, except hurricans were not supposed to have so much lightning.
"Ow!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew through a pocket of hail. She had been dealing with tiny chunks of ice all afternoon, carried this far out by the unnaturally strong winds of the storm. She rubbed at the stinging in her face, turning and angling down towards a large gathering of ponies on the ground.
The camp had sprung up very quickly. Sturdy tents, secured with extra ropes against the wind, housed several hundred ponies. At first it had been for refugees from Cloudsdale, but the refugees had been evacuated to Canterlot. Now Princess Celestia was using it as a base of operations for the emergency response teams.
Rainbow Dash zoomed above the camp, heading for the large pavilion near the center of the camp. She could see the glowing, colorful mane of Princess Celestia flowing underneath the the thick pavilion. Next to the leader of Equestria stood a smaller lavender pony, the Princess's student, and Rainbow's friend, Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow Dash landed heavily next to the pavilion, the strong wind nearly unbalancing her, and walked up to the Princess.
"We may need to move the camp soon, if this storm keeps getting bigger," Rainbow Dash said, shaking to get the ice and water of the storm out of her coat and mane.
"I hope it does not come to that, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said, looking up the table in the center of the pavilion. There was a piece of thick parchment on the table, currently weighed down by several large rocks, "What do you have to report?"
Rainbow Dash's heart caught in her throat. An actual report to the actual princess who actually ruled all of Equestria. She privately admitted to being a little nervous. She stood a little straighter, trying to put a more official tone into her voice while reporting to the princess, "The storm surrounds all of Cloudsdale, as we already knew. It's rotating much like a hurricane, but other than that it's nature is unlike any hurricane I've ever seen.
"Lightning is very frequent in this storm. Entering the storm itself would be very dangerous. I had a few close calls just flying around the edges of the storm. The winds are very strong and the rains are very heavy, with some sleet and hail mixed in. Any attempt to enter the storm should be approached with the utmost caution."
Twilight Sparkle chuckled, leaning towards the princess with a grin, "If Rainbow Dash is recommending caution, it must be incredibly dangerous."
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash said, dropping her official tone, "I just don't want anypony to get hurt! It's not like I'm scared or something."
Princess Celestia smiled and said in a calming tone, "I understand, Ms. Dash. It is very commendable to worry about the safety of your fellow ponies. Please continue."
"Yes, of course Princess Celestia," Rainbow Dash said, clearing her throat and resuming her previous tone, "In addition to the dangers within the storm, it seems to be growing, although at an increasingly slow pace. It spread out over all of Cloudsdale in only a few hours, and several more miles after that through the night. Since last night, however, it has only spread a few dozen feet."
"Is it going to stop spreading?" Celestia asked.
Rainbow Dash shrugged, "No way to be sure. It might stop, or it might just keep expanding slower until it's over."
"And when will it be over?"
Rainbow Dash hesitated, unsure of what to say, "Well... I don't really know. In the time I studied it, the storm didn't get any weaker. In fact, it may have gotten stronger."
"Stronger?"
"Yes Princess," Rainbow Dash nodded, "I can't be sure, but if the strength of the storm changed at all while I was out there, it grew stronger, not weaker."
The princess thought about this for a moment, "Well then, we will need to act quickly if we are going to send anypony into the storm."
"No offense, princess, but I don't think that's a good idea," Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head, "This is a powerful storm. Our best bet is to just keep everypony away until we figure out how to stop it."
Celestia nodded, "Unfortunately, we do not have that option. I have been looking over the lists of refugees that were evacuated, and at least fifty pegasi are unaccounted for."
"Fifty?" Rainbow Dash said, her ears laying down on her head.
"Yes. We can only assume that many of them are still trapped inside of Cloudsdale, with no way out of the storm."
"Rainbow, you said this storm is like a hurricane, right?" Twilight asked.
"Uh, yeah, I did."
"Hurricanes have a big clear spot in the middle of them," Twilight said, excited, "The 'eye of the storm', as they say."
"Yeah, that's right," the cyan pegasus nodded in agreement, then frowned, "But we'd still have to get through the storm to mount a rescue operation."
"Why not fly over?" Twilight Sparkle suggested.
Rainbow Dash shook her head, "The storm goes too high. I've never seen anything like it, but the storm goes way up into the sky. Even above the clouds, there is still frequent lightning to contend with. And that high up, the air gets so thin that it's hard to breath. A rescue operation requires hard flying, and without enough air pegasi just can't fly that hard."
Twilight's face fell, "Oh."
Celestia stepped forward, "Our highest priority is to save those ponies. We must act quickly. Rainbow Dash, I've had Spitfire of the Wonderbolts organizing a rescue flight, she's been preparing to go once we determine the best way to enter the storm. I want you to coordinate with her and get the rescue going as soon as possible."
Rainbow Dash's heart fluttered at the idea of working closely with the Wonderbolts, but her concern for the trapped ponies overshadowed her excitement.
Twilight Sparkle nodded, "Do you have any ideas on how to enter the storm, Rainbow?"
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment, until inspiration struck her. It would be dangerous, but with the Wonderbolts helping out she could pull it off.
"Well, the hardest part will be getting through the outer edges of the storm. The winds are most intense there, almost like a wall of air that pushes everything out. Beyond that it's just a really bad storm."
"And you have an idea on how to get through that outer wind?" Celestia asked.
Rainbow Dash nodded, "Of course. Me. If I can get the Wonderbolts to coordinate the other pegasi, they can form a funnel of wind to protect themselves as they pass through the storm."
"And breaking into the storm itself?" Twilight asked.
"Easy. I'll lead the way, and as we approach the storm, I'll blast it open with a sonic rainboom," Rainbow Dash was confident that a sonic rainboom could suppress the winds long enough for a team of fliers to get through.
"That sounds very dangerous," Twilight said, "Are you sure you're up to it?"
Rainbow, ignoring the creeping feeling of doubt that threatened to well up inside her, struck a confident pose, "Did you forget who you're talking to, Twilight? I'm the best flier in Equestria. I can handle it!"
"Even so, I think I should do some research, see if I can dig up any information about similar storms that could help us. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
"Worrying about your friend's safety is an excellent virtue," Princess Celestia said, "But we simply don't have the time. The storm is growing stronger, and any rescue attempt will only be harder the longer we wait."
"But princess..." Twilight started to say, but she was cut off by Celestia.
"But nothing, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash, "Your plan has my approval. Go coordinate with Spitfire and get off the ground at the earliest possible time."
Twilight Sparkle stamped her hooves in frustration.
"And you, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, turning to her student, "I want you to head to the Canterlot library and research everything you can about unusual weather patterns, especially weather that pegasi could not control. Rescuing the trapped ponies is only the beginning, we still need a way to stop this storm for good."
"Yes Princess Celestia," Twilight Sparkle said, bowing.
"Can do, Princess," Rainbow Dash gave the princess a quick salute before flying off through the camp, searching for the Wonderbolts and the rest of the rescue team. Saving fifty ponies and working with the Wonderbolts? This was going to be so awesome!
She kept telling herself that the fear welling up inside her was concern for the trapped ponies. She even managed to convince herself it was true.