After about half an hour of preparations, checking their flight suit's were working properly, discussing positions and strategies, Soarin's team stood ready at the rooftops to fight against the storm cumulonimbus.
Hearing the rumbling thunder from the now visible cloud in the distance, Blossomforth shivered violently in fear. Just imagining that monstrosity looming right above Manehattan...it was enough to make her knees buckle. But Blossomforth forced herself upright despite her fear, not wanting to let the city and herself down.
Feeling a hoof on her shoulder, she turned and saw Thunderlane giving her a comforting smile. Smiling back, she nodded gratefully. Blossomforth wasn't alone, there were many other ponies risking themselves to confront this huge storm. All she had to do was follow their lead and everything will be okay, right?
Meanwhile, Soarin was currently observing the gigantic cloud with binoculars, looking over it from left to right. "That's odd. Where's Spitfire and her team?" he wondered aloud. "Are they on the other side of the cloud? But I don't think that was part of the plan. Something's not right here..."
Soarin stared suspiciously at the cloud. Although a possibility, he highly doubted that they could have been blown away so easily by the storm. Although he knew that something seriously wrong was going on, he also knew that he had a job to do.
With a sigh, Soarin put away his binoculars and faced his team. "All right everypony, listen up! In about ten minutes, that cloud will be right over us. I want everyone here to take extreme caution against that. And remember to always stay near somepony else to keep them and yourselves safe, so I'd better see at least pairs flying up there! Understood?"
"Yes sir!" they all shouted in unison.
Soarin nodded in approval. "Good. Stand by for now. We take off on my signal."
Twilight was worried. Not just because of the storm, but for Blossomforth as well. She knew that she had to trust her friend in this crisis, but her phobia of lightning, from what she heard from Honey, would be a great obstacle for her to overcome. One, Twilight hoped, that Blossomforth wouldn't have to face by herself.
Spike shivered from her upon seeing the black cloud, flashing from thunder at times, so close. It looked so fearsome, edging closer and closer to them. He truly hoped that everypony in the city prepared well enough for this kind of monstrosity.
Trixie, walking alongside Twilight, was smiling confidently as if the coming storm didn't faze her, but on the inside she was scared. Scared by what the storm could do, scared at the possibility of anyone getting hurt and scared at just how much this storm will affect the entire city. But Trixie couldn't show that she was scared, not now.
Honey, in her Daring Do garb to help raise morale, is waiting alongside Fleetfoot to fly up at the cumulonimbus while Fleetfoot was studying the huge cloud to decide where exactly they should strike.
"Okay...I think I got it." Fleetfoot grinned, turning to her team of not just pegasus but unicorn volunteers as well. "All right, so here's what we're gonna do: I'll take half of the pegasus with while Daring here leads the other with both of us flying up to right about beneath the center of that cloud." Fleetfoot motioned to the center of the black cloud. "My squad goes to the center-left while Daring's goes to the center-right. We then pull the cloud apart, giving the cloud less resistance against magic so the unicorns, led by Twilight Sparkle here, with their combined strength, can shoot away at the weak spot and separate the cloud into two. We rinse and repeat until the clouds pose no more threat. Everypony got that?"
"Yes,ma'm!" they all shouted.
Nodding, Honey adjusted her goggles over her eyes. "All right everyone! On Fleetfoot's command, we take off!"
Twilight walked in front of her team of volunteers, ready to lead them. "Everypony get closer to one another! Our magic will be stronger if we stick together!" she advised.
As the cloud drew closer it soon began to rain, a downpour falling on the city and everyone outside. Twilight grimaced, knowing just how dangerous this will get. But still, she was willing to risk skin and teeth to protect the place where she made her first friends. But first, she had something important to do...
"Spike, please go back inside." Twilight told her assistant. "This is about to get really dangerous."
"But Twilight, I don't want to leave you behind!" Spike protested.
"I know you don't, but this is something clearly out of your league. And if you got hurt being out here..." Twilight looked scared at the thought. "I would never forgive myself for it. So please listen and go inside, I don't want anything to happen to you!"
Spike paused, looking between the volunteers, the door and Twilight. He wanted to do everything to help with defending against the storm no matter what, but it looked like he had done his job now. Try as he might, Spike couldn't think of anything to do to fight against the storm cloud. Spike realized that Twilight was right, he had to stay out of this one.
"Okay. I'll go back inside." Spike agreed. He walked to the door and opened it but before going in, he turned to Twilight one more time. "But you have to promise me that nothing will happen to you! Promise to me that you won't get hurt!"
Twilight opened her mouth to assure him, only to be interrupted by Trixie. "Worry not, Dragonly Spike! For as long as the Great and Powerful Trixie is here, these raindrops of glumness shall soon turn into tears of laughter, leaving this to be nothing more than a harmless drizzle!"
"What Trixie is saying is that as long as we're here, nothing will happen to Twilight." Honey added, joining the group. "We promise you that."
Spike smiled, assured that Twilight wouldn't be alone and would be facing the storm with her friends by her side.
"All right. You guys be careful." he said, stepping inside and closing the door.
"Everypony, in position!"
Fleetfoot's command snapped everyone in focus as they stared up at the cloud.
"On my mark!"
Every pegasus spread their wings open while the unicorns stood prepared to fire their magic.
"Wonderbolts...let's fly!"
The pegasi flew up with one half following Fleetfoot and the other half following Honey. As they ascended to the cloud lighting began to strike down, which made things a bit harder for them since lightning is known to strike whatever is highest in altitude so it was getting more and more dangerous every feet that they rose. It would also be dangerous for the unicorns on top of the buildings that would be supporting the pegasi above. They all knew they risks however, and volunteered despite that to protect their city.
While the pegasi were dodging the lightning strikes above, Twilight looked up in concern at the phenomenon. 'Strange...why are there so many consecutive lightning strikes back-to-back?' she thought. 'This isn't normal at all..'
"Twilight, pay attention! They reached the cloud!" Trixie's shout snapped Twilight out of her thoughts and assumed her leadership role for the team.
"Okay everyone, get ready!" Twilight exclaimed as they all charged up their magic from their horns.
Honey flew up to the base of the cloud and put the hooves on it to stretch it out. She shivered upon feeling the static and electricity coursing through it but did not let go.
"All right, are you guys ready?" Fleetfoot shouted from the other side.
"Ready!" Honey answered.
"All right then...pull!"
The pegasi all grunted as they slowly pulled the mass of cloud open, leaving a cloudy hole between them.
Back on the rooftop, Twilight held her breath, waiting for the best time to strike at the cloud.
"Now!?" one of the unicorns shouted.
"Not yet! Wait for it to get wider!" Twilight shouted back.
All of the pegasi up in the cloud began struggling as they pulled the cloud wider and wider, feeling the strain of such heavy cloud mass apart. Some even got shocked from pulling the cloud, but their shock suits protected them from any lasting damages.
Twilight gritted her teeth through the rain, doing her best to see through the falling raindrops. Seeing a flash from the middle of the hole, Twilight saw their opportunity.
"Okay, fire now!!"
The unicorns complied and they all fired their combined charged beam of magic at the hole the pegasi have created.
"All right, stop! Don't waste your magic all at once!"
With Twilight's command, the unicorns ceased firing. When looking back up at the cloud however, shock and confusion struck all of them.
"Wait, what!?"
"What's going on!? This doesn't make sense!"
"Why didn't our magic work!?"
"Yeah, why is the cloud still in one piece!?"
Indeed, the storm cloud did not look as if it was struck by magic at all. Not one wisp of cloud was blown away.
"Twilight? Why didn't the cloud separate...?" Trixie whispered, now showing fear and uncertainty.
"I-I...I don't know! It was...we...I don't understand this at all!!" Twilight panicked.
The scared unicorns on the rooftop also shared the same shock with the pegasi who were clinging onto the cloud above them.
"W-What!? But how!?" Fleetfoot exclaimed in shock. "It should have worked!"
Honey, who was struggling to keep the cloud apart, saw sparks of electricity rapidly coursing to the center of the cloud. Her eyes widened, fearing what would come next.
"EVERYPONY SCATTER NOW!"
Immediately listening to the tan pegasus, everyone instantly flew away from the cumulonimbus cloud, the hole they have made putting itself back together, just in time to avoid the electrical discharge the storm cloud emitted. The danger didn't stop there as it struck thunder and lightning down on the streets and rooftops. In fact, one of the rogue lightning strikes was headed straight at the unicorns!
Thinking quickly, Twilight's horn glowed and formed a barrier big enough to cover the panicking unicorns, just in time to shield them all from the lightning strike. Twilight buckled from the sheer force that struck the barrier and collapsed to the ground afterwards.
"Twilight!" Trixie ran over to her friend and carefully helped her up, letting the purple mare lean on her for support. "Are you all right!?"
"First...the cloud won't split from our magic....and then...that lightning strike..." Twilight groaned. "It was so powerful...just what is this storm cloud!?"
"EVERYONE!"
Everyone turned to see Spitfire flying towards them with her team right behind her.
"Spitfire! Just who we needed!" Fleetfoot grinned in relief. "Maybe you can help us out with-"
"We need to change our course of action! This one won't work to deal with the storm!" Spitfire interrupted as she landed on the roof.
"What are you talking about? Did something happen?" Honey asked in concern.
The Wonderbolt captain answered by giving them the report she had received earlier, which Twilight began to read. "I just got new Intel from the Cloudsdale weather factory! Their updated analysis reveals that this is no ordinary storm cloud!"
"Th-this..." Twilight gasped, double checking to make sure she read the report right. "This says that the storm cloud has chemical components from the Everfree Forest!"
"You mean that cursed forest near Ponyville!?" Trixie visibly blanched.
"But this doesn't make sense!" Honey cried out. "Even if that cloud does have components to that of the Everfree Forest, it still shouldn't be possible for it to be this dangerous!"
"That would be the case...if it didn't have long-lingering traces of Chaos Magic!" Twilight replied grimly.
Honey looked over the report in disbelief. "B-But how!? For it to have that much-" She then straightened her eyes in realization. "Of course! It must have been from the Renaissance Era of Colonel Steelmane, where there were riots and protests from taxes and property rights! Chaos magic was used to neutralize the protesters, but their constant use of it caused the Chaos Magic to escape from the unicorns' magic storage and spread throughout the city, which is now the Everfree Forest, meaning-"
"May we save the history lesson for later!? We have a HUGE disaster upon us at the moment!!" Trixie shouted, interrupting Honey.
"What do we do, ma'm!?" Fleetfoot desperately asked Spitfire. "I don't think we were ever prepared for something like this!"
Spitfire paused, wanting to calm down and recollect her thoughts. A magical storm cloud was a first for ponies to deal with in a long time. A magical storm cloud...perhaps there is one pony who could help them...
"Twilight Sparkle, magic is your area of expertise, correct? What are your thoughts?"
Caught a bit off guard by Spitfire's reply, Twilight racked her thoughts on any possible solutions to deal with the storm above them. Repeating the original plan was out of the question, an attempt to speed up the process of the storm would do more harm than good, manually extracting the Chaos Magic by herself was impossible since the cloud is too high...
'Wait. Extracting, Chaos Magic and chemical components....I wonder...'
"Please tell me you've thought of something!" Fleetfoot pleaded.
"Perhaps...but it's very dangerous..." Twilight warned them.
"I understand." Spitfire nodded. "Tell me what you have in mind and I'll see what I can do."
Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Chaos magic, when set free, is known to absorb itself in the more dangerous elements such as fire, unsteady terrain...or lightning."
"So you're saying that the lightning in that cloud is literally Chaos Magic!?" Trixie asked incredulously.
"It's just a theory, so I could be wrong...but the possibility is high."
"But what do we do!? That's what we need to know!!" Fleetfoot snapped impatiently.
"Settle down and let her explain, Fleetfoot." Spitfire sternly ordered. Fleetfoot quietly obliged.
"I believe that if we can force the chemical components of Chaos Magic, that is, the lightning, out of the cumulonimbus, then this storm cloud will turn into just a rain cloud." Twilight theorized. "Your shock suits should help make that possible, not to mention protect you as well."
"Are you serious!? This is lightning we're talking about!" Fleetfoot protested against Twilight. "And you're telling me that we should fry ourselves to stop the storm!?"
"Well, do you have any better suggestions!?" Trixie snapped back, defending her friend. "If we do nothing, Manehattan will be devastated!"
"You're only saying that because you're a unicorn!"
"Fleetfoot, enough!" Spitfire shouted, silencing her. "It's our duty to protect the ponies of Equestria from these disasters. If you're unwilling to assist, feel free to stay out of this!"
Fleetfoot lowered her head in shame. "...apologies Captain. I panicked and lost control of myself. But I'm not leaving this fight. I'll help everyone out, whatever it takes."
"Good." Spitfire nodded in approval. "Now, I want only the most experienced volunteers against that cloud! I don't want anypony to be seriously hurt from that storm cloud!"
"And what of us? What are we supposed to do!?" Trixie demanded.
"All the unicorns should go back in and reinforce the shields. If Chaos Magic is involved, those barriers need all the strength they can get!"
As if to prove her point, a stray lightning bolt suddenly struck one of the windows with a barrier on its surface. It held up but just barely, frightening the ponies taking shelter near it.
Recovering from the chaotic thunder strike, Spitfire turned to the purple unicorn. "Sparkle, you take point! Keep the damages to a minimum!"
Nodding,Twilight took Trixie and the other unicorns to the rooftop's door and was about to turn the doorknob when...
"CAPTAIN SPITFIRE!!"
Looking to the direction of the shout, the group saw two pegasi, a grey male and a green female, flying to their direction in a big hurry. When they managed to make it to the rooftop, they fell in an exhausted heap.
Spitfire immediately went over to check on them. "Are you hurt? Do you need treatment?"
"No ma'm, we're fine. Well, things considering and all..." replied the stallion.
"Hold on a minute..." the amber pegasus looked around for a moment and then narrowed her eyes at the recent arrivals. "Where is Soarin and his team!? I told you to warn them of the report!"
"We tried to get to their location captain, but a strong rogue wind kept us from going any further!" explained the mare. "And the lightning strikes didn't make things easy for us either. We had no choice but to turn back!"
"Wait!" Honey intervened. "So if you couldn't warn them, then that means..."
Her eyes widened in realization and horror. Blossomforth and the other pegasi were about to unknowingly plunge headfirst into an out of control thunderstorm. They had no idea of what they were getting into. And along with Blossomforth's fear of lightning, she would most likely be seriously hurt. She wouldn't stand a chance against something this dangerous...
"BLOSSOMFORTH!"
Not wasting anymore time, Honey took flight, leaving behind the cries of her name, to the outer parts of Manehattan to where the last group of Wonderbolts remains to save her friend.
'Blossom, please wait for me...!' Honey thought desperately. 'I have to make it in time!'