//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Whatever Way the Wind Takes You // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// From the journal of Gloomy August— Having a job isn’t so bad. I was able to find one almost right away. Tall Tale became a place for refugees for the storm to come and it became my job to help keep track of them. For the past few days, I’ve been getting paid to fly around and get everypony in the relief camps to sign a little card of stiff paper and then I collect it and I turn them all into the director, and the director files it away for record keeping. I get a chance to meet new ponies, make them feel better, and let them know it is going to be okay. While this isn’t such a bad job, I already feel the need to move on. The wind beckons, I guess. I’ve been giving a lot of thought about what to do next. I think I’ll head north, find the frozen mountains, and then head east, in the direction of the Crystal Empire. I think I’ll fly until I reach the other coast and Manehattan, and then maybe I’ll travel down the coast. In preparation for the trip along the frozen northern mountains, I purchased a new blanket, just in case it’s needed. It is time to go though. The need to get a move on is getting worse and Tall Tale is filling up with ponies. I should give up my spot for somepony else, there is only so much room after all. The aid director has asked me to stay and I have been offered a job delivering food to ponies that needed it. As nice as that might be, I have declined the position. I really must be going. The storm, as awful as it was, has brought so many ponies together. Always look for the positive, so they say. In the past few days, I have seen so many kind acts done by good ponies. It makes me feel good, you know what I mean? I still believe that, for all of their faults, ponies are still good creatures, or at least try to be. I have bits now, a warmer blanket, and a strong desire to get moving. Once more, it is time to go wherever the wind takes me. The sky is calling and it is time to go. It’s strange, but I feel like a pegasus. I’ve always thought of myself as a pony, and I am a pegasus, but with all of the flying I’ve been doing lately, and this travel, I just feel… pegasusy. After the storm, I learned that just one pegasus can make a difference. And that pegasus was me. Grinning, Gloomy surveyed her packed gear. Her saddlebags were stuffed and she had learned a great deal about how to pack them, load distribution, and balance. She had received several helpful tips from a number of ponies she had bumped into. She had a small bag that looped around her neck now as well. Lifting her head, she looked northwards, wondering what she might find as she traveled to the distant horizon. The mountains would be an easy way to travel. She could head east, keeping the mountains under her left wing, and just keep going until she reached the coast. After that, she could visit Manehattan perhaps, but she wasn’t sure if she would even keep her current flight plan. The wind might beckon and she might fly to someplace else, but for right now, this just felt right. Reaching up with her foreleg, she tapped her pith helmet, the black bobby helmet that she was fond of wearing. Her helmet had become a familiar sight to many. A gust of wind blew between her hind legs, tugging her tail, and ruffling her pelt while tickling her belly. She felt like spreading her wings and catching the wind, but it wasn’t time to go quite yet. Tall Tale. Full of tourists, full of refugees, it was a city now packed with ponies. And Gloomy realised that she was going to miss it. She had come here, not knowing what to do, not certain about a job, and was now leaving, having found the job satisfying and her stay pleasant. But it was time to go. The director wished that she would reconsider, and Gloomy, a helpful sort if ever there was one, wanted to stay… but couldn’t. The area was recovering from the storm. She had done her part. She had not come here to settle, had she wanted to stay settled she would have remained in Ponyville, but this was just a place to stop and see. Spreading her wings, Gloomy threw herself into the wind and was borne upwards on an updraft. The sun was to her right, it was not quite morning but not quite noon, and the wind was at her backside and on her left. It was the perfect weather for easy flying. She was leaving it all behind her. Civilisation. The sights, sounds, and smells of the city. Vanhoover was off in the distance to her left. Below her were wide open meadows, patches of trees, and mountains. Ahead of her, past the mountains, would be the Galloping Gorge, the amazing canyon that sounded like a herd of stampeding ponies when the wind blew. Beyond the gorge, the Crystal Mountains awaited, the natural border to the frozen north. Gloomy did not know what was beyond the Crystal Mountains, she had never paid attention to that in school. She knew that the Crystal Empire was up there, and in the Crystal Empire were Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor. Maybe, just maybe, she would stop in for a visit. Like a kite with no string, Gloomy was taken upwards with an almost effortless ease, rising on updrafts, warm currents of wind rising up from the lush, verdant pastureland below. Down on the ground, there were boundaries. A fence meant that one pony’s property ended and another’s began. A tree and a boulder and the straight line between them might be the visual landmarks of a patch of property. But up here, it was all one land, a vast, beautiful land that stretched out in all directions below, with the farms forming a pretty patchwork quilt that covered the land like a blanket. A tree and a boulder, property markers for unicorns and earth ponies, were navigational landmarks for a flying pegasus. Everything had a sense of sameness up here. Evidence of life and claims of property persisted though. While Gloomy had trouble seeing some fences, others stood out. The low stone wall fence she flew over left a long, curving, wavy line that formed a rough box shape below. A creek ran down along one side of it. In the top right corner, there was a large yellow barn, which really stood out because barns were supposed to be red. Gloomy didn’t know why barns had to be red, but she was sure there was a good reason. Perhaps it was so pegasi flying overhead didn’t become confused by the sudden appearance of a yellow barn. Off in the distance, to the east, Gloomy could see Cloudsdale drifting low in the sky, no doubt to help with the relief and cleanup efforts after the storm. With the way the sun was hitting it, it turned some of the clouds pink, some gold, and some remained white and fluffy. For a moment, Gloomy considered turning and paying Cloudsdale a visit, but realised that the city would be a very busy place if they were going to help. A flying city. That was the legacy of the pegasi. There had been many flying cities for the pegasi, and Cloudsdale was the last one that Gloomy knew about. She tried to recall her schooling as she flew and slipped into a glide as her mind turned to deep thought. There was Timbucktu and King Orion, a cloud city that had been destroyed by Queen Chrysalis. She remembered something about Cloudopolis, and after trying to coax her brain into working, she could remember nothing else. Cloud cities were difficult to maintain. It took a great deal of support to keep them thriving, it took magic from unicorns to keep items from falling through the clouds and it took a great deal of food grown by the earth ponies to keep everypony fed. If relations between the tribes soured for whatever reason, cloud cities tended to fall apart in very much the same way that the clouds they were made from would. Cloudsdale was founded not long after Equestria, when the tribes had come together. That was all that Gloomy could remember. In school, she had spent far too much time staring out the window—at clouds no less—and had trouble remembering the lessons of history. Ahead, the chasm known as the Galloping Gorge yawned open and Gloomy swooped down to have a closer look. It was later in the day now, and the sun was starting to dip down near the tops of the mountains on her left. She still had not reached the Crystal Mountains, but she was getting closer. Nearer to the ground, Gloomy saw a welcome sight. Ponies! She saw a pony pulling a two wheeled cart and another pony with heavy looking saddlebags. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the cart puller was an earth pony and the pony with the saddlebags was… it was… the pony was odd. Almost… translucent. Almost as if it were a gemstone. Gloomy zoomed in for a closer look, swooping down until she was just yards off of the ground. The two ponies were walking along a narrow road that had deep ruts carved in by the many wheels that had traveled upon it. “Hi!” Gloomy waved as she hovered overhead. “I’m Gloomy.” “Hmph,” the earth pony grunted in reply while rolling his eyes. The strange pony stepped forwards, a faint smile upon his lips. “You must forgive my companion. He is an unbearably cranky fellow by the name of Jasper Picklesworth. My name is Gleamgood and I am from the Crystal Empire. I’m trying to return home and Mister Picklesworth is looking for a place to set up shop and sell pickles.” “Ooooh.” Gloomy’s eyes went wide as she made the connection. “You’re a crystal pony. Neat!” “I am.” Gleamgood bowed his head. “I was moved to adventure after reading about the adventures of others. I wanted to see the road.” “Oh, me too, me too… except, well, I fly, so I’m seeing the road from above.” Gloomy landed with a thump, her hooves causing little puffs of dust to come up from the road. “Excuse me, but would you happen to know this area at all? I don’t have a map… but it is my understanding that north of us, beyond the Galloping Gorge, there is a pass through the mountains where there are train tracks.” Gleamgood gave Gloomy a hopeful look. Shrugging, Gloomy shook her head. “I have no idea. I remember seeing tracks way off in the distance off to the west, on the other side of the forest over there. Those tracks headed north.” “I’m sure we’ll find our way. We were just talking about finding a spot to settle down for the night. Would you like to join us, Miss Gloomy?” Gleamgood gave the pegasus a charming smile. “I’d love to join you,” Gloomy replied. “Wonderful!” Gleamgood turned to look at his companion. “Cheer up, Picklesworth, our fortunes are changing. Now we can have pleasant dinner conversation. Isn’t that nice?” “No.” The earth pony, who looked very cross, let out a huff. “Let’s just find a spot to make camp, okay?” “My friend is a bit… out of sorts because we’ve had trouble finding water,” Gleamgood explained, turning his gaze back upon Gloomy. “We still have some, but we are getting very low. This is a bit of a dry place, which surprises me.” “I could fetch you a cloud,” Gloomy offered. “Every cloud I touch becomes a raincloud.” “That… that would be splendid.” Gleamgood heaved a satisfied sigh. “See, Picklesworth, it’s just like I told you, something would work out. And now, everything is okay.” “Hmph.” The earth pony scowled and shook his head. “You can’t count on pegasi coming down off of their clouds and saving us. They’re flighty.” “Please, excuse my friend.” Gleamgood’s smile broadened and he kicked his right front hoof along the dusty road. “Miss, if you could fetch us some water, I would be forever in your debt.” “I’d be glad to help.” Spreading her wings, Gloomy kicked off from the ground, flapped a few times, and took to the air. “Just stay on the road while looking for a place to camp. I’ll be right back. I should be able to spot you from the air.” “Thank you, Miss!”