//------------------------------// // Chapter 28: Down The Rabbit Hole // Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// It had been a few months since The Grand Galloping Gala, and Shining Armor, Twilight, and their friends had pretty much gone back to living like they always did. In the time since, things had been rather peaceful in Equestria. No more threats emerged from The Everfree Forest, no more misunderstandings threatened to bring war, and the pegasi had no trouble keeping the weather under control. But that was all about to change. One fine morning, Soarin was dozing happily on a cloud without a care in the world. Spitfire, his captain and childhood friend, had told him he deserved some time off to relax and unwind. And of course, Soarin agreed with her. "Sometimes" he thought to himself "it's really hard to be a Wonderbolt. One does have to keep up appearances, and all that extreme flying can wear you down quite a bit." Suddenly, his peace and quiet was interrupted by a familiar whooshing sound. Soarin woke up with a start. "What's going on?!" he said to himself "It was so quiet and now suddenly, somepony comes whooshing right past me!" Wiping the sand out of his eyes, Soarin took off, to find out who or what, was responsible for interrupting him in the middle of a relaxing power nap. It didn't take him long to find the answer. Within seconds he noticed a strange batch of clouds. They seemed to be pink in color, and Soarin knew he had never seen such clouds before. Then, he saw Rainbow Dash, who was apparently trying to drive the clouds away. Thinking that she would know what was going on, Soarin flew over to her. "Hey, Rainbow Dash." he called "What's with the pink clouds?" "I wish I knew Soarin." Rainbow Dash replied "These clouds are made of cotton candy, and are pouring down chocolate milk rain. The weather factory has no idea where they're coming from, and Cloudsdale's being battered by a cola storm." "Well, shouldn't you be heading up there to deal with it?" Soarin asked. "As Ponyville's Weather Manager it's my job to get the weather under control in Ponyville first." Rainbow Dash stated "I owe it to my friends." Just then, another cotton candy cloud zipped past, and Rainbow Dash chased after it. Hoping that Big Macintosh would know what to do, Soarin flew down to Sweet Apple Acres. Only to find that Big Macintosh and Applejack were facing their own problems. "If I didn't see it myself I wouldn't believe it." Big Macintosh muttered "This just ain't natural." "I hear ya Big Macintosh." Applejack replied "First all our corn turns into popcorn, then the apples on our tress grow to colossal size, and now the animals start sprouting gaint legs and go crazy. How can this be happening?" "Your guess is as good as mine." Soarin said, flying down to his friends "Rainbow Dash is working herself to the bone just trying to get the bizzare weather under control. From the looks of things, I'd say all of Equestria is going crazy. Lucky for you, I'm here to lend a helping hoof." "What about your teammates? Won't they be worried?" Applejack asked. "Spitfire's taught the team well, I'm sure they can manage without me." Soarin replied "Besides, I'd never turn my back on my friends when they need me most." "We'd appreciate any help you can provide Soarin." Big Macintosh said with a smile "By the way, Thunderlane and cousin Braeburn are here too." "I was on my way to Fluttershy's when I saw all these strange animals converging onto Sweet Apple Acres." Thunderlane explained "I knew I had to help." "You think I'd miss out on this chocolate rain?" Braeburn asked. "Aren't you suppose to be helping?" Soarin asked Braeburn. "I am helping." Braeburn replied "I'm chowin' down on any cotton candy clouds I can sink my teeth into. I just need something to help wash em down, cotton candy is very sticky." "It seems to be working." Big Macintosh added "So don't let up now cousin Braeburn!" "Don't worry, I ain't gonna stop now!" Braeburn said eagerly "I just hope Pinkie Pie isn't missing out on this. She'd love some chocolate rain right about now." "Why can't I help Braeburn?" Rumble complained. "You're just a colt Rumble." Thunderlane replied "All that sugar is not good for you. Braeburn can manage, he burns up a lot of energy through his work. You, on the other hoof, would get a sugar rush and that would never do." "Ah, you're no fun at all big brother." Rumble complained, as he helped Thunderlane round up the out of control animals. Just then, Fancy Pants arrived, carrying an umbrella with his magic. "Hello Big Macintosh." he called "I've come to help. I was just wondering if there's anything I can do that won't require my suit having to get really dirty. Not that I would mind it, but Fleur and Miss. Rarity would be complaining about stains for days on end." "Why don't you just change out of that suit then?" Soarin asked. "Because this suit was a wedding present from my dear wife Fleur." Fancy Pants explained "She could've afforded to buy me anything I wanted, but she wanted to help Miss. Rarity's struggling business. So she recruited her to make the suit. I've worn it with dignity ever since." "Hey, look's who coming!" Rumble shouted excitedly. Applejack looked out to the horizon, and spotted a trio of familiar figures "Well, looks like they got here just in time." she said happily. "Yeah, if anypony can figure up a way to get out of this mess, it's those three." Big Macintosh chimed in. "Oh my, this is worse than I thought." Shining Armor exclaimed, when he saw just how much things were out of control. "Don't worry everypony." Twilight said calmly "I've been studying a failsafe spell that should be able to return things to the way they're suppose to be." "You might wanna stand back a bit." Spike encouraged the others "Twilight's just gotten the hang of this spell, and I have no idea what it could do." Everyone did so, and with a spark of her horn, Twilight cast her spell. There was a blinding flash of purple light, but when it had faded things were no better. Twilight was in a state of disbelief "My failsafe spell, failed." she said with shock "I thought for sure that it would fix things." "Just great." Soarin said sarcastically "Now what are we suppose to do?" Shining Armor quicky took charge of the situation. He had come to learn over the past year that even the best of plans could fail, and that it never hurt to have a backup one in place. "Alright, listen up everyone." he said firmly "Here's what we're gonna do. Soarin, round up all the clouds you can find and bring them down to the ground." "Right!" Soarin replied, and took off into the skies. "Big Macintosh, I want you and Applejack to lasso the cotton candy clouds together." Shining Armor continued. "You got it!" Big Macintosh nodded. "About time, I've been itching to practice my rodeo skills again." Applejack said, and went to fetch her rope. "Thunderlane, you, Rumble, and Braeburn will be in charge of bringing the animals over here." Shining Armor went on "With a little luck, that should take care of the cotton candy clouds and chocolate milk rain." "Okay." Thunderlane replied. "Hey, I could eat all those clouds by myself!" Braeburn complained, but he still agreed to help. In no time at all, Shining Armor's plan was being put into action. Fancy Pants found that his magic served as a great tool to guide Soarin from cloud to cloud. and pull him free if he got stuck. Once Soarin was convinced he had gotten all the cotton candy clouds, he guided them close enough to be lassoed by Big Macintosh and Applejack. When all the clouds were tied up as snug as possible, Shining Armor gave Thunderlane the signal. "Oh gosh, I sure hope none of the animals find out about this delicious pile of cotton candy." Thunderlane said, trying his best not to sound too unsincere. "You and me both brother." Braeburn added "These clouds are delicious." "They're taking the bait!" Rumble shouted, and he was right. "Well, I must say Shining Armor, that plan of yours worked perfectly." Fancy Pants smiled. "Oh shucks, it was nothing really." Shining Armor replied "Anyone in my horseshoes would've done the same thing." "Even so, you saved Sweet Apple Acres." Big Macintosh said happily "And for that, Applejack and I will always be grateful." "Princess Celestia made the right choice when she made you captain of The Royal Guard." Soarin added. "Yeah, without you, who knows where we'd be right now?" Braeburn asked. "I hope we never have to find out." Thunderlane said nervously. "I think you guys could manage on your own if you had to." Shining Armor admitted, though in his mind he wasn't so sure. "Maybe, but with you as a friend, we've got nothing to worry about." Rumble replied "Three cheers for Shining Armor!" Just as everyone began to shout "Hip, hip, hooray!" Spike belched out a mesage. "It's for you Shining Armor." he explained, as he handed the scroll to him. "Thank you Spike." Shining Armor replied, and used his magic to open the scroll "A letter from the princess. Huh, wonder what she wants?" Shining Armor proceeded to read it, and by the time he was done, his mood change from one of happiness, to one of worry "What? Oh no!" he gasped, and turned to his friends, Twilight, and Spike. "Guys, I've got some very bad news."