//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Rising Thunder // Story: Elements of Discord // by Inky Scrolls //------------------------------// Twilight slammed the door of her bedroom behind her. She felt tired after all the flying she'd done, and a little ashamed at the way she'd stormed off. It wasn't fair to take out Rainbow's insolence on the others, after all. A soft 'knock' on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Twilight?” came a familiar voice. “Can I come in?” “Of course, Spike.” The baby dragon opened the door slowly, stepped inside and went and sat down by the big, arched window. “It's getting cloudy out there.” The Princess made a noncommittal noise of agreement. “Hmm.” She hadn't really thought about it, but now that Spike mentioned it, it did seem to be getting darker outside. “Perhaps it was a good time to leave anyway.” Spike didn't say anything, but looked down at the floor. Twilight sighed. “I know you didn't like the way I spoke to the others. And I know I shouldn't have taken it out on them, it's just... Rainbow was being so annoying!” Spike looked up inquisitively. “Yeah Twilight, what was that all about?” “It's nothing Spike, really. She was asking me things I didn't want to answer and refusing to accept my replies. It's none of her business, anyway.” The purple dragon, curious as he was, knew better than to inquire further. Instead, he turned back to the window, unable to let out a small gasp of surprise at what he saw. Twilight went over to see what it was that had interested him so much. It was the sky. It had been almost clear blue when they left the park, and had clouded over slightly by the time they got back. But now it had completely changed. Storm clouds were gathering in the distance, and a wuthering wind could be heard through the thin glass. Mist seemed to be rolling in towards Canterlot in the distance, and thunder was audible over the moors. “Wow, Spike, it looks like we left at the right time.” At this, he nodded in agreement. Instead of watching the weather any longer, Twilight suddenly got up and headed towards the door. “I'm off to do more studying, Spike. I don't want to get behind, that would be...” She left the sentence unfinished, hanging in the air like a tiding of evil. He may have only been a young dragon, but Spike knew when something was wrong with his best friend. Something had bothered Twilight, and he wanted to know what it was. But how to find out without directly asking her? “I know,” he thought. “I'll ask Rainbow Dash.” * * * Meanwhile, the rainbow-maned pegasus in question had not been having a good time. Though she'd left the park after the argument in relatively clear skies, she found that before long it was becoming increasingly difficult to fly straight. The wind kept buffetting her to the side, and the fog which seemed to have formed was making it dangerous to fly with any speed. “This is getting weird,” she muttered to herself, swerving to avoid a wind-tossed paper bag. “I don't remember the weather team scheduling a storm for today...” She hovered in the air for a moment. Should she go straight home and stay indoors till the storm passed? Or go and find the weather ponies to find out what was happening? In the end, her curiosity won her over, and she winged off towards the Ponyville Weather Board's headquarters. On her arrival, however, she found the building all but deserted. Only a single grey, yellow-maned pegasus could be seen, darting skittishly around the area. Rainbow landed nearby and called over. “Hey, Derpy!” The friendly postmare turned round in surprise. “Oh, hi Rainbow!” “What's going on, Derpy? I didn't know there was a storm scheduled for today.” Derpy looked even more surprised. “Oh, is that what it is? I did wonder...” She shrugged. “I don't know where anypony else is. I have a message for you though, from Scootaloo.” After taking the note from her, Rainbow read it through. The grey postmare had hoped she might read it out loud, but Dash ignored her hopeful glances, reading it to herself. “What did it say?” asked Derpy. “Oh, nothing to worry about.” Dash tucked the message in her left pannier with some of the things she'd taken to the picnic, and promptly forgot about it. Derpy was concerned; it was well known that Rainbow was like a sister to Scootaloo, and would never ignore a message in such a way. The postmare knew it had been important, because of the hurried way in which Scootaloo had written the note. Still, hers was not to reason why, hers was but to deliver the post and not ask questions. The cyan pegasus seemed lost in thought. Derpy was anxious to continue her rounds, but wasn't sure if it would seem rude to fly away. As it happened, however, Rainbow flapped her wings and disappeared almost as quickly as she'd come, without another word. “Oh,” said Derpy to nopony in particular. She blinked in surprise again, and flew off to finish her rounds. * * * On the outskirts of Ponyville, an orange earth pony gazed wearily out into the rain. Applejack had been walking slowly through the village centre when the heavens had opened, and she had galloped from there to the farm without stopping. The rain had come at a particularly bad time for her, just as the apple-bucking season was approaching. She and her family had planned on beginning the bucking on the morrow, but if the rain kept up through the night it would be impossible to do so. Just then, the door leading to the sodden outside world opened, and Applejack's elder brother, Big Macintosh, lumbered inside. He was carrying on his back their grandmother, Granny Smith. “Dearie me!” she groaned as Big Mac lowered her gently to the floor. “This is the worst time for rain to come! Still,” she smiled, “the pastureland was looking a bit dry. I reckon the rain may do more good than bad, wouldn't you say, Applejack?” Unwilling to dash her grandmare's hopes, the orange farmer silently nodded in agreement, before turning away, shocked at herself. This wasn't like her at all! Normally she would never tell a lie, not even a 'white' one. But it was for a good cause, after all... so that probably made it alright. Didn't it? She turned to Big Mac, who hadn't said a word since coming in. “Does it look lahk it's set in for the naht?” He replied with but a single word: “Yyyep.” Despite the unfortunate news, Applejack couldn't help smiling to herself. Big Macintosh was such a peculiar stallion. He hardly ever said a word, and yet managed to pack such feeling into the few things he did say. She spun round at the sound of breaking glass. A guilty yellow muzzle greeted her gaze as she peered into the kitchen; her sister, Applebloom, was staring down at a smashed drinking glass. “Ah'm sorry Applejack! Ah didn't mean it, really ah didn't!” “Ah know you didn't, sugarcube. Just be more careful next tahm, okay?” She bent down to pick up the broken fragments and put them in the bin, cutting her hoof in the process. “Youch!” “Are you okay, Applejack?” Granny Smith had wandered in from admonishing her youngest grandfilly in the lounge and stood, looking down at the mess. Applebloom took the opportunity afforded to her and disappeared upstairs. “Er, yes Granny, ah sure am! Nothing wrong with me!” Again, the orange mare was shocked at herself. Now she was lying without thinking about it, for no real reason! What was making her do this? “Say, ah think ah'm gonna go upstairs for bit when ah've finished here, alraht?” “Sure thing, honey.” After clearing away the rest of the glass, and being more careful not to cut herself again, Applejack went up to her room and sat down on the bed. She felt alright, but she knew she wasn't. Something was making her act unusually... still, it was probably nothing that wouldn't go away after forty winks. She shut the door and lay down in bed. The pitter-pat of the rain on the barrels outside her window, coupled with the soft rumble of thunder in the distance, was too much for her tired mind to withstand, and she drifted gently off to sleep. * * * Right on the far side of Ponyville from the farm, on the very edge of the Everfree Forest, the yellow pegasus who was Fluttershy flew slowly along. She didn't normally like flying, but it was quicker than walking everywhere, and the increasingly heavy rain had convinced her that this was a good time to get indoors in a hurry. Angel bunny, huddled inside his carer's right pannier, peeped out for a moment. Unlike most bunnies outside of the Forest he was actually highly intelligent, and swift to realise when something was wrong with Fluttershy. He knew her better than anypony else, and was aware now that something had happened to upset her. He didn't think it was just the arguments in the park. She never reacted that way unless something else had been bothering her beforehand. But, being unable to speak, he was not likely to find out what it was. Instead of worrying about it, he settled himself deeper down inside the warm pannier, and enjoyed the journey. On their arrival at the cottage, Fluttershy was surprised to find the front door already open, with a familiar and welcome figure standing in the doorway. She called out a greeting as they approached. “Discord!” “Why, hello there, sweet Fluttershy!” He was dressed in a fluffy pink dressing gown and was holding a steaming mug of tea in his left claw. “It's good to know you're alright.” Although he rarely admitted it to anypony, Discord was in reality immensely fond of the calm, pale pegasus, and regarded her in high esteem. The sudden downpour had worried him about Fluttershy's whereabouts somewhat, and he was more than glad to see her return safely. He gestured to the open door as she shook herself down and stepped inside. “I hope you don't mind me being her, Fluttershy, but the door was unlocked, and...” Fully expecting an obliging answer, he was not prepared for how she replied. “I wish you'd asked me first, Discord, this is my house after all.” “Why yes, of course, Fluttershy! It's just that you don't normally mind, and-” “Well I mind now! And the door wasn't unlocked – how did you get in?” This seemed rather odd of a pony who, under normal circumstances, was perfectly willing to allow anypony into her house at any time but, not wanting to upset her further, Discord tried to soothe her. “I just teleported in from the rain and thought I'd get-” Once again, he was cut off. Fluttershy seemed really quite cross now. “Oh, I see! If the door is locked you don't take that as a sign that I want to be left alone, oh no! Instead you think it is alright to just barge in here like you own the place! And you have the audacity to welcome me in!” Discord blinked; this was most unusual. He had not seen Fluttershy like this since his reformation, and goodness knows how long ago that was. “Well, er... I think I'll be going now, and-” “Yes, you do that!” She stared unblinkingly at him as he hovered in the doorway. “Well go on! Don't let all the heat out!” Still reeling with shock, the former Master of Chaos made his retreat. He closed the door and teleported to above the clouds, where he was free to think in peace upon what could have caused such a drastic change. * * * Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, was considering similar tactics. Her elder sister, Rarity, had come home to the Carousel Boutique shortly before, and was beginning to get rather wearing. Since her arrival she had done nothing but moan about how her “dress had been completely ruined” and how she would “probably never be able to make another one quite like it.” Sweetie Belle groaned. She loved her sister dearly, despite their frequent differences of opinion, and it pained her to see her so put out. But to get so worked up, over a dress... it did seem a little extreme. She sighed again, and Rarity looked up sharply. “Don't be like that, Sweetie! You know how long it took to make this dress, and now look at it! It's been destroyed!” She threw herself onto a fainting couch and began bawling. Her younger sister was used to the occasional emotional meltdown, but not on this scale. She'd not seen her like this since... since ever, actually, especially over something so relatively trivial. Rarity managed to pause her tears long enough to squeeze out a sentence. “Do – hhuh – do be a dear and get me some ice cream, please, Sweetie darling?” She blinked. Sweetie Belle turned and sauntered off towards the scullery, rolling her eyes. She wished she could be at the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse instead, planning the next cutie mark gaining effort. But no. She had to be here, an unwilling shoulder for her sister to cry on. Again. And the rain would mean that the meeting would have been cancelled anyway... she sighed, yet again, and carried the tub of ice cream back through to Rarity. “Oh, th-thank you, S-Sweetie.” She gulped down a few mouthfuls between sobs and spoke again. “Y-you're always – so kind to me, S-Sweetie... not like those, hhuh, ponies who call them – themselves my f-friends! Who do they think they, huh, are?” She started moaning away at herself about how unfair almost everything was, from Pinkie Pie in particular to Equestria in general. This was most unlike her. Rarity, the Element of Generosity, speaking about her friends like this? Something was wrong with her and, rain or no, Sweetie Belle was adamant that she'd find out what it was. After pulling on her wellington boots and tying a cape round her shoulders, she took a deep breath and disappeared into the wet, leaving a still-sobbing sister behind her. * * * And what of Pinkie Pie herself, the ultimate cause of Rarity's discomfiture? She was curled up tightly into a ball, crying softly to herself, alone. Alone in the attic of someone else's shop, in the place she called 'home'. She'd lived there almost as long as she could remember. After a terrible accident had claimed the life of her elder sister, she had been sent away from the rock farm to live with her mother's cousins, the Cakes. Pinkie had come to regard the Cakes almost like family, but still she lived on her own in a tiny little space above the counter where she worked. Although she loved the Cake family dearly, they had never treated her as anything more than a benign, somewhat overexcitable employee, and she felt that deeply. “What am I doing here?”, she asked herself. It was not unusual for her to ask such questions, but as she was the only one who ever heard, and as she herself was unable to answer, the questions kept pestering her, gnawing away at her mind. She could speak to Twilight, of course. Equestria's newest Princess, the famous 'egg-head', would surely be able to help. But Pinkie wasn't sure she'd like the answer Twilight could give her. It would be complicated, probably, maybe too complicated for Pinkie to understand. And she didn't like things she didn't understand, because how could they be fun if she didn't understand them? Which confused her even more, because she hadn't been fun earlier either. She had splashed one of her oldest friends and ruined a lovely frock into the bargain. Would Rarity ever forgive her? Could she? What if she couldn't? But Rarity was always so generous; Pinkie was sure she'd forgive her eventually. But all her friends were acting strange at the moment... what if Rarity never went back to being generous? What if Fluttershy always stayed grumpy and mean? What if Rainbow never came back to see Pinkie, and they were never friends again? What if... “Stop it!” Pinkie could be very firm with herself when she needed to be, which wasn't often. “You know that worrying about it is no use... it's just that there's so much to worry about!” She stood up, almost banging her head on the low ceiling of the loft. It was always dark in her room, no matter how many pink things she crammed in. Her only sources of light were a lavalamp on her bedside table and a tiny little skylight, which she could barely reach to see out of. Standing on tiphoof she endeavoured to see look outside. Unable to do so, she moved her cabinet to beneath the 'light, stood on it, and tried again. The sight that met her was unbelievable, and at first she was certain her eyes must be deceiving her: the rain which had begun whilst she and Rarity were by the river had become a true deluge, covering everything as far as she could see with thick, heavy rain. Visibility was minimal, but from what she was able to see it appeared that several fields on the outskirts of the village were already becoming flooded. “Oh dear,” she moaned to herself. “I do hope Applejack is alright!” She stepped down from the cabinet, unsure of what to do for the best. Eventually the exhaustion brought on by fear overwhelmed her, and she drifted into a fitful, disturbed sleep.