Cloudburst

by Xaigatomon

3 - Enter the party pony

Author's Note:

Okay guys so as I discovered with another one of my stories, "Made ya smile", it had taken out a heap of lines and paragraphs from the story, which must have been throwing all you guys off while reading it. I'm just ashamed it took me so long to notice.
if any of you guys find anything missing from here too, PLEASE let me know :3
here is the Gdocs file for comparison https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c_5tBXBa9jHincodwlxBpK2UPjGJrZwWb833rSxmXvk/edit?usp=sharing
just in case anything starts to sound suspiciously confusing, like something is missing.
--
Sorry it took me so long to get this one proof read. CH 4 is ready and I'll upload that too anywhere between a few days and a week, just to make up for this one taking so long :3
It had been written AAAAGES ago I just had trouble with my regular proof readers having life problems in the way, which is understandable. I fixed the spacing myself but there is bound to still be errors as I can't really go over it in great depth.
--

Proof read by Dartrunner

The blue pegasus just gawked at Rainbow Dash, overcome with confusion.
"Wh... what did you just say, Rainbow Dash?" Cloudburst looked at the mare inquisitively

She looked at him over her shoulder with a smirk that said "just roll with it and follow my lead."

Pinkie Pie grinned and brushed past Rainbow , once again invading the stallion's personal space. "OOH! that's a cool, awesome pega-riffic name! So you're new to ponyville? Omigosh you have to have a party! Wait here!"

Rainbow sighed and shook her head as if to say "what are we gonna do with her?", surprised as always by Pinkie's ability to squawk a bunch of sentences off without even leaving a second for a response.
She stuck her hoof out just as Pinkie tried to dart away and caught her.

"Whoa, easy there Pinkie Pie. No need for a huge party, we just want a snack."

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, yes, sure! Hehe! Come on in, I'll get you set up," she said as she bounced inside.

There was a brief pause before the stallion began to laugh. "Wow, is she always like that?"

Rainbow laughed. "Yeah pretty much. She's the most hyper, silly, and completely random pony you'll ever meet, Pinkie Pie."

He laughed a little and then intentionally let a silence fall in for a moment before walking a few steps closer.
"So..." he began, watching Rainbow's ears drop slightly. "Cloudburst?"

"Eheh... y-yeah, I kinda just came up with that just now... hope it's okay..." she scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

He thought for a moment and then grinned. "Sounds good to me! Cloudburst it is!" He smiled widely.

"Hehe, nice to meetcha, Cloudburst!" Rainbow lifted up her hoof and held it at mid height in front of her.

The newly appointed Cloudburst looked at it curiously, but then his ears perked up and he grinned a little. He didn't have to have ever seen a hoof-bump before to know what she wanted, and happily bumped his own hoof against hers, earning a friendly grin from the mare.

Pinkie suddenly poked out from the open top half of the door to sugar cube corner. "Guuuuys! C'mon, time is candy!"

Rainbow chuckled. "Okay Pinkie Pie, coming!"

After a brief glance and nod exchanged with Cloudburst, they trotted inside.
The innards of the shop were a welcoming experience to say the least. They found themselves surrounded by warm, welcoming colours, smooth plastic tables and chairs, and displays showing a huge array of different home-made sweets. Cloudburst could feel his mouth watering just looking at all the different snacks. The tables were placed along the back wall in a line. The two ponies went and sat at the one closest to them.

"So do you come here often?" He asked as they both took a seat. Cloudburst seemed like he was still not completely used to his body, which resulted in him awkwardly trying to figure out how to sit properly.

"Eh" Rainbow shrugged, "quite often but not too much. Still, the Cakes make amazing...cakes."

Cloudburst chuckled. He assumed 'the Cakes' referred to a couple or family.
His suspicions were justified when a stump mare with a sapphire blue coat and pink mane that surprisingly resembled icing, and a lanky stallion with a yellow coat and brown mane entered from the kitchen in the back.

"Oh hello there dearies. Sorry about the wait, we had to feed the twins." The mare spoke first, while the stallion trotted behind the counter. "But Pinkie can watch them for a minute. Anywho, what can I get ya?" She smiled at the couple in front of her.

Rainbow Dash spoke first, knowing her friend would still be too new here to know what to say. "Hey Mrs. Cake! This is my new friend Cloudburst, and he's kinda new here, so how about a cupcake and milkshake?"

"Oh, you mean you two aren't... y'know~?" she giggled.

Rainbow Dash and Cloudburst both blushed. "N-no, nothing like that!" She protested

Mrs. Cake giggled again. "Alright, what flavour?"

"Banana frosting aaaand chocolate milkshake for me" Rainbow smiled. "What about you dude?"

Cloudburst thought for a moment before answering hesitantly. "Umm... strawberry for both?"

"Coming right up!" The stallion behind the counter answered.

They began preparing things behind the counter and before much time at all, they were presented with a small plate each with a freshly made and frosted cake as well as a tall glass with a frothy milkshake.

"Wow, these look good." Cloudburst commented.

"That's because they are good" Rainbow Dash replied. They both dug into their snacks and before long, they were done and, with satisfied bellies they prepared to leave.
They were suddenly pounced on from behind, causing everything to blend together in a spinning mess of colours. When they finally stopped, they found themselves upside down on the floor.

"Guh! Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash complained. "What are you doing?"

Cloudburst just looked up into the pink pony's blue eyes.
"Wait!" Pinkie Pie started with her usual chipper tone. "You can't leave yet! You only just GOT here! We absolutely positupely HAVE to have a party!"

Cloudburst quirked an eyebrow. "Posi...what?"

"Pinkie Pie, we told you, no pa-" Rainbow Dash tried to speak before she was interrupted.
"No, I WON'T take no for an answer." She smiled.

"Um... could you let us UP first?" Cloudburst asked.

Pinkie Pie let out a snorty giggle and got up. “Oops, hehe, sorry," Pinkie said as she helped both ponies to their hooves.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes a little. "So you're really insisting on this huh?"

Pinkie gave only a fast couple of nods in return.
Cloudburst rubbed the back of his head a little. "Really, you don't need to go to all that trouble."

"Oh it's no trouble at all! It'll be fun-a-fun-fun!" She beamed and bounced up and down a few times.

Cloudburst couldn't hide a light chuckle, he found this pony's attitude to be unrealistically silly, but it was a welcoming shade of fun. He had admittedly still been feeling rather confused and disoriented, and he found her bright-eyed hyperactivity to be somewhat relieving.
"Well then, in that case, thank you Pinkie Pie." He gave the most polite smile he could manage.

"You can just call me Pinkie" the fluffy maned pony responded with a snortle, "all my FRIENDS do~"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and let slip an amused smirk. "Aaaaanyway... I should probably get back to the weather team. I've been gone long enough, they're gonna be wondering what happened to the clouds when you uh... arrived."

"Ooh didja burst through all the clouds on your way to ponyville?" Pinkie Pie asked with a chipper tone.

"Heh, something like that" Cloudburst answered. It was just then that something hit him, and his eyes shrank suddenly. "Uh-oh"

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked, a slightly concerned look on her face.

He looked to Rainbow Dash with a slight look of dread in his eyes. "I just had a thought... where am I gonna sleep tonight?"

"Oh snap," she responded, "I didn't think about that." Rainbow Dash stared into space with a guilty look on her face. as the one who found him she felt it was her responsibility, and she failed.

Cloudburst looked like he was back to being distressed. Pinkie noticed the lamenting of the two of them and looked like she couldn't bear to see it. She jumped in front of him suddenly with a smile on her face. "HAY~ why don't you stay here?" She grinned.

A modest blush tinged his face. "U-um I dunno... I wouldn't wanna impose... I mean they have kids to take care of and everything..."

"That's true." Rainbow added. "They already got their hooves full with you, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake"

"Oh, you live here Pinkie Pie?" Cloudburst turned his focus pack to Pinkie.

"Yep." She nodded. "But they're not my real parents, just close friends. I help them with their shop in return."

Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof to her chin. "I dunno whether Twi has any space... but you could stay with Applejack, or maybe Fluttershy has room."

Cloudburst couldn't help but tilt his head. "Who?"

"O-oh..." Rainbow snapped out of her daydream, "Nevermind, just some friends of ours."

"Oooh I bet Applejack has plenty of room for guests~ with that big house of theirs.” Pinkie Pie realised Cloudburst must still be feeling out of the loop, and looked to him to continue elaborating. “Applejack is a friend of ours who works on an apple farm. And then there's Fluttershy who takes care of animals, if barnyard chores aren't your thing."

"There's also Rarity" Rainbow pointed out. "Pretty pony fashion designer, but she can barely take care of her sister, Sweetiebelle, as it is." Pinkie nodded in agreement.

"W-well I'm not sure..." Cloudburst kicked the ground with one of his front hooves anxiously.

Rainbow thought for a moment. "Tell ya what... come with me while I see the weather team, then we'll go meet them. It'll give Pinkie space to get ready for the party too."

Cloudburst and Pinkie both smiled simultaneously.
"That sounds great!" The young stallion answered.

Content with that plan, the two pegasi left Ponyville's party pony behind to plan and get ready for a sudden impromptu party that was scheduled for tonight. Cloudburst didn't quite believe she was able to do it, but she seemed to know what she was doing. He guessed she was probably just going to buy, or make, a bunch of snacks and invite a bunch of friends. Well, that was still more than enough for the day-old stallion, and he let out an unwinding breath as he walked next to his Rainbow -maned friend.

"This is all still so strange to me. I still have so many things I'm wondering about... like, how old am I? What else can pegasi- or even ponies in general do? And, and I'm not even used to my body yet..." he blushed slightly.

"Hay, you know how to use your hooves and your wings, that's enough," she grinned in return.

"Don't sweat the small stuff. You'll get used to things. Anyway, you wanna know what pagasi can do? Follow ME!"

She suddenly darted upwards, leaving Cloudburst disoriented. He flapped his wings hard, his face scrunching up as he exerted as much effort as he could. He finally felt his hooves leave the ground once again; it was an exhilarating feeling that he welcomed.

He flew up higher, looking up to see where Rainbow had gone and saw her poking over the edge of a cloud and smiling at him.
He flew up to her level with relative ease. She greeted him with a friendly smile and took off again herself. He watched how she moved her wings and her body and copied, able to keep up with her this time as she flew away.
Rainbow Dash made sure not to fly too far or too fast for him, making a note to stop on a cloud every now and then so he could catch his breath and let his wings recuperate. Flying is never easy at first, she remember what it was like as a filly. Although, she couldn't help but wonder what it was like to be learning as an adult. It was a similar circumstance to when Twilight first became an alicorn

Her companion panted a little as he rested. "So..." he steadied his breath. "Only pegasi can walk on clouds?"

"Yup. But we do a whole lot more than just sittin' on them." She paused to watch her new friend tilt his head in confusion. "Just take a look~" she raised her leg to wave her hoof in the air above her.

Cloudburst looked up to see a handful of pegasi flying around overhead. They would fly into clouds and begin to push them about through the air, positioning them in certain ways and places.

"Oooh, what are they doing?" Cloudburst asked as his eyes remained curiously locked on the flying ponies.

"As pegasi, one of our duties is to oversee the weather. We move the clouds, set up showers and storms, clear the sky, make the snow fall, etc." She explained. "Pegasi have been controlling the weather for centuries. In fact even longer than that"

"Wow... that's so cool!" he said as he gazed at them, awestruck by the colourful equines flying above him.

"Earth ponies are known for keeping the land beautiful and unicorns have their magic. They used to raise the moon and sun in ancient times but the Princesses do that now."

"Princesses? Y-you mean Twilight Sparkle?"

"Mm, nah not her. Although now she does have a part in the raising of the sun ceremony, it's our benevolent rulers: Princess Celestia, who controls the sun, and Princess Luna who controls the moon and stars.

"Wow, this is a lot to take in... but, they sound magnificent... to be able to do something like that."

Rainbow nodded. "They're both very beautiful and kind. Although..." she thought about explaining Nightmare Moon, but realised she might be overloading him with information. "Actually, nevermind."

A pegasus mare with a pale cream coat and ocean blue mane approached the pair of pegasi sitting on the cloud, and landed next to them. She looked to be about the same age as Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash, you're back" she smiled. "Good."

"Yep. Sorry I was gone, I had a few errands to run," She said as she rubbed the back of her head.

The mare briefly glanced at Dash's companion before she continued. "Hi. Anyway, some of us are a bit confused... there seems to be several clouds missing from the north roads. We searched everywhere but we can't find any sign of them, so they haven't drifted away.
Rainbow knew why the clouds were missing, they dissipated when Cloudburst appeared.

"Um.... m-maybe some pegasus cleared them for the hell of it."

"I don't know why anypony would do that. It wasn't any of our weather team. And the clouds were there earlier on."

"Look, don't worry about it Sea Breeze. It's only a few clouds, okay?" Rainbow Dash consoled as she extended a hoof and placed it on her shoulder.

"Kay." The pegasus smiled back. "It's just a little weird y'know?"

"Yeah I know. Let's just get some more out here and prepare for the overnight shower."
The young mare nodded and flew off.

"So..." Rainbow turned to her male friend. "Like what ya see?"

"It's so cool!" He answered happily. "I may not be able to remember anything from before I came here, but I'm pretty sure people couldn't do this."

Rainbow Dash smiled. "And you seem like you'd be pretty good at cloudbusting too. Why not help me out sometime?"

"Sure, I'd love to give it a try." He grinned.

"Cool~ anywho, I think it's time to take you to see my other friends. I just gotta finish this up first."

"Sure, sounds cool!" He smiled

And so Rainbow Dash took off from the cloud in order to fly up to a small group of multi-coloured pegasi where she began to converse with them. Cloudburst watched her and couldn't help but get a feeling of admiration growing in his chest.