Spitfire collapsed into a cloud bank. Her entire body was worn out. She looked around and saw that the rest of the rescue party had landed around her. All were resting, regaining strength for a few minutes. After much difficulty they had finally reached the center of Cloudsdale, and she felt that they deserved a rest.
Still, they were here for a reason. After a few moments she pushed herself up onto her hooves, forcing her legs to remain steady even though they wanted to shake. She sighed, giving herself a few more seconds before inhaling deeply and speaking to her fellow pegasi.
"Ok everypony," she said, getting the attention of all the pegasi around her, "We came here for a reason. Break up into teams and begin searching around Cloudsdale for the lost ponies. When you find somepony, bring them here."
The gathered pegasi nodded and murmured agreement. They quickly split up into groups of three or four and began flying off into the city. Spitfire stayed in the center of the city to organize the refugees.
The next couple of hours involved teams bringing in dozens of pegasi, shaken refugees who kept staring at the storm with apprehension. Spitfire spent her time calming the refugees and preparing them for the flight out. Eventually, when a large crowd of refugees had gathered, she flagged down Soarin.
"Hey, how are we doing?" Spitfire asked, "I haven't seen the teams bring anypony back in a while."
Soarin frowned, "There are still three ponies that haven't been brought in."
"Any idea where they are?"
"They were hiding out in a building on the edge of town," Soarin said, pointing, "They went inside when the storm started getting bad, and nopony has heard from them since."
"Ok, let's see if we can get to them," Spitfire turned to a pair of her Wonderbolts nearby, "Rapidfire, stay here and keep getting these ponies ready. Fleetfoot, you and Soarin come with me."
Spitfire took off in the indicated direction. Looking back, she saw Soarin and Fleetfoot exchange an uncertain glance before following. That worried her, they had never doubted her orders before, even when doing the most dangerous of tricks. Still, as long as they followed her orders she would be happy.
Reaching the edge of the storm, Spitfire peered through the thick clouds and rain. She could see several buildings, some damaged by the storm, some still intact. She was not sure which one the missing ponies were supposed to be in. Soarin and Fleetfoot caught up while she looked.
"Soarin," Spitfire said, "Which one of these buildings were they in?"
Soarin pointed to a two story building with a very steep roof, "That one, with the pointy roof."
Spitfire dove into the storm, her two Wonderbolts close behind. Her wings burned with the exertion of driving through the wind again. They made slow progress, but reached the pointy-roofed building soon enough. Spitfire flew in through a second floor window. Inside the walls of the building, even with the open window, the winds were much lower. As Soarin and Fleetfoot landed behind her, Spitfire looked around the room.
"Hello?" she called out, "Is anypony here?"
"We've come to help!" Soarin shouted.
Fleetfoot elbowed Soarin with a grin, "I think they can figure that out on their own."
Soarin's cheeks flushed red, and Spitfire turned to stare at the two, "Stay focused guys," she said, then stuck her head through the open doorway that led out of the room, "Hello?"
A soft voice called from the distance, "Hello?"
"Hello!" Spitfire shouted, jumping up in excitement, "We've come to get you out, is anypony hurt?"
Hoofsteps clattered up stairs somewhere nearby. After a moment, a light blue pegasus with a brown mane appeared in the doorway. Two other pegasi stood in the hallway behind her.
"Oh thank goodness!" the blue pegasus said, "We've been so worried! The storm just kept getting stronger and stronger and the walls started cracking and we thought the whole building was going to come down-"
"Are you all ok?" Spitfire asked, cutting off the stream of words from the excitable pegasus.
"Wait, you said the walls are cracking?" Fleetfoot asked.
"Oh yes!" the blue pegasus bounced, "There's a great big crack in the windward wall on the first floor. We noticed it this morning, and it's been getting bigger and bigger!"
Spitfire did not even stop to think, "Then we'd better get going. Are you three the only ponies here? Can you all fly?"
"We're the only ponies here. I'm Deep Blue, by the way. Is everypony else ok? Oooh, this is a terrible storm, just terrible. I only came to Cloudsdale to visit my brother, and now I don't even know where he is. Is he ok? Please tell me he's ok!"
Spitfire tried to calm the excitable pony, "Try not to worry. As far as I know, you three are the only ponies unaccounted for. I'm sure your brother is fine."
Deep Blue immediately lost all semblance of worry, and bounced cheerfully, "Oh, goody. I'm sure glad to hear he's ok!"
"Right..." Spitfire was not sure how seriously to take Deep Blue, "Well then, we need to get out of here before-"
Spitfire's sentence was cut off by a loud rumbling noise in the floor below. Debris could be heard crashing around in the rooms below. Spitfire's mane blew in the strong wind that came up the stairs.
"Before that happens!" Spitfire said, then she turned to the three pegasi that had been hiding in the building, "You three stay close to us, we'll get you through the storm."
Spitfire jumped out through the window, with the others close behind. She and her Wonderbolts took up positions around the three refugees. They made even slower progress this time. Spitfire was not sure if the three refugees were slowing them down, or if the storm was blowing even harder now. Eventually, they worked their way back into the eye of the storm. Spitfire turned to the others.
"I'm glad we got you out of there in time," she said, "Sorry about your house."
Deep Blue smiled, "Oh, it wasn't my house," she said, bouncing cheerfully away among the clouds.
Spitfire watched the odd blue pegasus bounce towards the center of town, where the crowd of refugees was gathered. She turned to the other four pegasi.
"Okay then, let's go see how Rapidfire is doing, we need to get out of here as soon as possible."
She let Soarin, Fleetfoot, and the other two refugees lead the way. She hung back, staring at the wall of the storm behind them, worry about how they would get back through.
***
Rarity placed a brightly burning candle on the table next to Twilight. Twilight nodded a thank you, not taking her eyes off of the book in front of her. Evening had fallen now, and her eyes were strained from hours of reading. The candle would help immensely in the dimming light of evening.
She had nearly finished the book, anyway. It was very informative. Several times the temptation to run off and tell some important fact to Princess Celestia had been nearly overwhelming, but she knew the importance of being thorough.
What was more, she was hoping further reading would help her make more sense of the book. Several passages were entirely unclear. Finishing the last few pages did nothing to clear these troublesome spots up. She groaned in frustration, pushing the book away.
Rarity started from a light doze, "What? What's wrong Twilight?"
"This book doesn't make sense."
"Whatever do you mean?" Rarity asked.
Twilight flipped through the pages, finding a specific passage and pointing at it, "Like right here. It walks about ponies having problems with the weather. Droughts and floods that ruin crops and destroy whole towns! And the pegasi are just as helpless as everypony else! Why can't they control these weather patterns?"
"Isn't that what we're trying to find out?"
"Yes, it is!" Twilight said, "And this book isn't explaining why. It just goes on and on about weather that pegasi couldn't control, and doesn't give any clue about why or how they solved the problem."
"Does it say what started the problem?" Rarity asked, "Maybe we can figure out a solution from there."
Twilight scanned the page again, "No, it doesn't. That's what doesn't make any sense. It makes no mention of the problem starting, as if the pegasi never could control the weather. It's ridiculous!"
"Maybe you should take a break, Twilight," Rarity said, placing a gentle hoof on her friend's shoulder, "You've been working hard all afternoon. Let's get something to eat."
"There's no time! According to the book, these problems were happening all over. However it gets started, it looks like it will spread all over Equestria!"
Rarity sighed, "Twilight, you'll be no good to us frustrated and half-starved. You need to rest so you'll be able to think clearly."
Twilight hated to admit it, but maybe Rarity was right. She sighed, looking away from her friend. She wanted to figure this out, but she was rather tired. Maybe a break would help her think more clearly.
"Ok," Twilight said, "I have been feeling pretty frazzled. Maybe a dinner break would do me good."
"Excellent. I'll go find Spike, and we can all go out and get some solid food in us."
A few minutes later, Twilight found herself following an excited Spike to Pony Joe's doughnut shop. Twilight knew how much Spike loved to visit that doughnut shop, so she had agreed to have their meal there. She inhaled deeply as they entered the store, savoring the delicious scent of donuts.
"Well hello," Pony Joe said, "It's been a while since I've seen you ponies in here."
"Hello Joe, how have you been?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, I've been doing good. Lots of ponies buying donuts, can't complain. What can I get for you?"
"I'll take a raspberry jelly," Twilight said.
Rarity smiled, "I'll have a chocolate glazed, please."
"And I'll have three frosted sprinkles!" Spike said.
"Spike," Twilight said with a warning growl.
"Oh all right," Spike said, "Just one frosted sprinkle."
"Coming right up!" Pony Joe said with a smile.
A few moments later, and a few bits poorer, Twilight was carrying a tray of donuts to an empty corner table. Rarity and Spike sat with her, and all three eagerly ate their donuts.
"I'm still confused by that book," Twilight said between bites.
Rarity carefully finished chewing her mouthful of doughnut before responding, "Twilight, we're on break. We shouldn't be talking about this right now."
"This is important!"
"I understand that, dear, I just think you're pushing yourself too hard."
The bell over the front door rang, and Princess Celestia walked in. The tall alicorn looked around until she spotted Twilight Sparkle, ignoring the reverent bows of the other customers in the shop.
"Twilight Sparkle, I was looking for you in the library," Celestia said.
Twilight jumped, her eyes wide, "P-princess Celestia! I'm so sorry, we'll get right back to work!"
Twilight tried to jump out of her seat, but Rarity's hoof restrained her.
"We're taking a much-needed break," Rarity said, forcing Twilight to sit back down, "Twilight has been working herself hard all afternoon and she needs to rest."
"Yes, I know how she can overwork herself," Celestia said with a slight smile, "I was just wondering if you've made any progress yet?"
"Not much, Princess," Twilight admitted, "We found the book that Starswirl the Bearded referenced, but it doesn't make any sense."
"What doesn't make sense about it?"
"It's just wrong," Twilight said, "It has ponies acting and thinking in ways that they shouldn't. I mean, unless..."
"Unless what?" Celestia asked.
"...unless..." Twilight said slowly, her mind racing, and idea slowly taking form, "I need to get to the library!"
Twilight galloped back to the library. She could hear the others following behind her, their hoofsteps echoing her own. She saw the guards snapping to attention when they saw Celestia running behind her, and they opened the doors for her, bowing as they did. She made her way back down to the library and leaped onto the table with the book she had been reading earlier.
She flipped through the pages, muttering inaudibly under her breath. The book was very long, an she had failed to cross-reference a number of passages that might be relevant to each other. But she needed to check them to be sure. As she read, her lips turned up in a smile. The more she read, the broader her smile grew.
"Have you found something?" Rarity asked after several minutes.
Twilight nodded, "I've got it."
"You have?" Celestia asked.
"Yes," Twilight said, nodding again, "I've figured out why the pegasi in this book didn't think it strange when they couldn't control the weather."
Rarity smacked her hoof into her face, "Uhm, Twilight... forgive me but aren't we supposed to be finding a solution to the storm over Cloudsdale?"
"Right, and we have."
"I'm afraid I don't follow," Rarity said.
"It's all right here, I just didn't realize it because it's spread out across the book," Twilight said, "The pegasi in this book aren't worried about controlling the weather because, when this book was written, the pegasi couldn't control the weather!"
"What?" Rarity said, her eyes wide, "I thought the pegasi always could control the weather."
"So did I, that's why I was so confused," Twilight turned to Celestia, "What about you, Princess?"
"In my long years I have never known a time when the pegasi could not control the weather," Celestia said, "Although long ago, when I was young, I heard rumors of legends of a time when the pegasi had no control over the weather. I never paid any heed to the rumors, though. What makes you think our present troubles are related?"
"The book isn't entirely clear on this point, but it seems as if the pegasi learned to control the weather from a powerful weather spirit named Ponawk," Twilight said, scanning the book quickly, "Apparently she wanted the pegasi to thrive and be happy. But wherever Ponawk went storms would follow that the pegasi could not control. And if she was angry, the storms would grow more powerful."
Princess Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, "Are you saying this storm is caused by some sort of ancient weather spirit?"
"I don't want to believe it," Twilight said, "But it's the only answer that makes sense of all the information we have. The storm around Cloudsdale perfectly fits the description of the storm that follows Ponawk."
"How can we be sure this is true?" Celestia asked.
Twilight was unsure how the other ponies would react to her next suggestion, "Well, I've been thinking about it, and I think the best way would be to try to talk to her."
"She sounds very powerful," Celestia said, "If we're going to try to communicate, we should proceed with caution."
Twilight nodded, "A lot of caution. According to this book, the storm around her grows stronger as she gets more angry. If the storm around Cloudsdale is any indication, she is very angry."
"Very well then, we will spend this evening preparing and attempt to verify Ponawk's presence in the morning. If she is there, we need to discover why she is so angry and how to convince her to leave.
Twilight cleared her throat with some trepidation, sending an apologetic look at Rarity and Spike, "Could you two excuse us? I'd like to ask Princess Celestia something."
"Of course, Twilight," Rarity said, leading Spike out of the room. Twilight watched them go before turning back to Celestia.
Celestia looked down at her curiously, "What is it, Twilight Sparkle?"
"I was thinking," she said, pausing until Celestia nodded for her to continue, "Ponawk is very powerful. We might need to be prepared for the worst case scenario."
"Indeed," Celestia nodded, "I will arrange to have the Elements of Harmony brought with us tomorrow."
"And one more thing."
"Yes?"
Twilight checked to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "I didn't want to worry Rarity and Spike. The book also says that Ponawk is an ethereal form, and to access her full power she needs a body. She can possess a pony and use its body as her own."
"And you think she will do this?"
"She has to to access her full power," Twilight said, "Princess... Rainbow Dash is in that storm. She's one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Ponawk may be able to see that. If she possesses Rainbow Dash..."
"Then the Elements are useless to us," Celestia finished for her, nodding, "We'll have to be very careful."
"I hope Rainbow Dash is ok," Twilight said, "I'm so worried."
"She'll be fine, Twilight," Celestia said, smiling, "We'll make sure of it."