After the Storm

by Jay911

Expanding the Flock

SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

"Hey, Stormy."

I put a hoof to my ear to shield the earbud from the wind noise. "Go ahead," I answered.

"Where are you?" Swift asked.

"Over the lake," I said. I adopted a Western twang. "Clouuud-russlin'."

"Oh god, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

"What?"

"First of all, it was a horrible accent, and second of all, I still don't think you should be interfering with nature like that."

"Says the unicorn! I'm in total control," I insisted. "Just lining things up for a nice shower this afternoon."

"You're insane, you know that?"

"Thanks for noticing!" I answered with a grin.

"I swear, you're becoming impossible to deal with. Anyway, there's a message for you on the tablet when you finish defying physics."

"Thank youuuu!" I sang out, and flew back to grab another wayward puff of vapor, gathering it up with its brethren and parking it over the middle of Lake Ontario.

Twenty minutes later, I dropped down onto the roof of Ponytown, stumbling only a few dozen steps before I came to a stop. At least I wasn't doing somersaults in the gravel any more, but it still needed work.

Once I got downstairs, I found most of the place quiet and still. Our gardening couple were tending to their field, and Swift and Rich were out doing whatever they were doing. I heard noises from the auto bay, and presumed Serge was working on one of the generators, or preventative maintenance on the cars, or whatever he was up to these days to keep himself busy.

Over to my platform I went, climbing the stairs and glancing at the clock. Eleven sixteen - I had a radio broadcast to do in under 45 minutes. I needed to come up with something to say, but that would wait until I saw what the HPI wanted.

We were communicating with them via satphone on occasion, but tablet mostly - email and/or instant message was easier, when who you were calling wasn't always guaranteed to be lugging a phone around with them. So we've come full circle, I mused, thinking of the time before cell phones were so ubiquitous that some people carried two or three.

I stepped on the tablet's surface while I was picking up the stylus, and indeed, it winked on with the little red "1" beside the bell icon indicating I had a pending message. With the stylus in my teeth, I tapped on the icon and waited for the message to load.

My eyebrows lifted as I saw the document, consisting of only a short silent video, looping over and over. Somepony sent me a repost from the GIFs subreddit? I wondered.

It was far clearer than your average imageboard fare, though. The fifteen-second-long video was an aerial shot taken at a significantly long distance, and finally I realized it was from one of the HPI's aircraft, or maybe a drone. Probably an aircraft based on how far away from the subjects of the video it was staying.

The video seemed to be of Highway 401 west of the Rouge River valley, closer to Toronto (actually inside the city, truth be told). In the center of the frame, appearing quite small despite how far the camera was zoomed in, were two ponies pulling a large cart. It was hard to tell from that distance, but it looked like one was an Earth pony Serge's size, and the other was a smaller one whose race I couldn't discern. The cart was piled ridiculously high with goods, which explained why the bigger pony wasn't handling it on their own.

And they were walking towards us.

After a few more moments of studying the image, I flipped open my laptop and hooked a mic up to it. Setting up the recording feature, I spoke:

"Hi folks, it's Stormy here again, and it's noon on September 19. Well, it is when you're hearing this, but I'm recording it a little early because I have to go out and meet some guests, so it seems. So today's news for lunch is going to be light on detail, but I promise to make up for it at six. See you then!"

I played back the recording to make sure it was suitable for broadcast, then hooked a patch cord up to the radio stack and a timer to release the audio at the right time. The jerry-rigged setup would work, but one of these days I wanted to put something together which would allow for a lot more flexibility. Basically, I wanted a full broadcast studio. While I was dreaming, I might as well ask for an endless supply of chocolate milk and fresh carrots. I'd be more likely to have the latter.

Evidently the magical duo were just coming in at that moment and heard me speaking. They showed up at the foot of the stairs (should that be 'hoof of the stairs' now?) as I finished up.

"Did you say guests?" Swift perked up.

"Here," I answered, lobbing the tablet at her. She deftly caught it in her magic, feigning surprise at the maneuver - even though I knew she was skilled enough to do it virtually in her sleep. The tablet righted itself in mid-air and hovered there before the two of them, while I came down the stairs.

"Whoa!" Rich said. "Is this real time?"

"I didn't see a timestamp on it, but the sunlight and cloud cover seem to match today," I said. "I'm going out for a fly. You two care to follow in a car?"

"Just give us a couple seconds," Swift said, hurriedly putting the tablet down and turning to dash for her bedroom.

"I'll wait with her," Rich said, smiling at me. "See you out there. Be careful."

"I'll be fine," I said, smiling back. "I can get plenty of range on 'em if I need to. Failing that, I have a few tricks up my non-existent sleeves."

As soon as I got up off the roof and got even just a few meters high, I could tell the picture had been as close to realtime as possible. In the eastbound express lanes of the highway, just east of White's Road, I could see the two ponies and their cart.

Okay, how do I do this? I wondered. Fly right at them and shout 'hello' from 25 meters away? Orbit them a few times at high altitude to get their attention and then drop in? No, scratch that - dropping in is still a bad idea for me. Fly to close the distance and then land and approach on hoof?

In the end I decided that the first idea was usually the best, though I didn't zip right up on top of them all of a sudden. I flew at streetlight level, facing off with them about halfway between the train bridge and White's Road.

"Hello," I called out, pushing my goggles up and hovering in place.

The big grey earth pony - a little lighter grey than me - was female. Her pulling partner was a unicorn, male, and had a black coat and greyish-silver mane and tail. They almost seemed to be polar opposites, what with her jet-black hair.

The cart was like the Clampett's car turned up to 11. No, 21. Everything they could possibly carry was lashed into a rust-red truck box - I'm sure you've seen that kind of makeshift trailer before, where somebody cuts a pickup in half and welds a trailer tongue to it. The tongue of this trailer had a complicated-looking rope and cargo-strap affair which led to harnesses that each pony was attached to.

"Hello!" the male called back to me. "Are you... are we close to Ponytown by chance?"

I nodded and gestured with my hoof. "It's a couple of miles that way," I said. "Hold on just a second." I clicked my radio on, fumbling for the earpiece. "Hey, you guys there?"

"We're about a minute out," I heard Rich say.

I could tell from the background noise, or lack thereof, that they were in one of the electric cars. "Is the pickup working? If so, bring it. With the trailer hitch on."

"Okay," came the answer after a pause. I looked over my shoulder to see the Prius, halfway down the next ramp to the east, make a three-point turn and go back the way it came.

"Sorry about that," I said, slowly reducing my hover level and approaching cautiously (so as to not run into the cart ponies). "Getting my friends to switch vehicles. Give you a bit of a rest for the last bit."

"Vehicles?" they stereoed, in surprise.

"We have a few creature comforts left," I smiled. It dawned on me that if I kept gradually lowering my hover, I could eventually touch down without looking like I was attempting to make a crater. Trying to do that without it being obvious, I said, "Have you come far?"

"Near Petrolia," the male said. "I don't know if you know where that is, but-"

"I do," I said, the little pony in my head cheering and waving celebratory flags as my hooves met pavement. Outwardly, it was my turn to be surprised. "Damn. That's out by Sarnia."

"Sarnia's home... or was," the female chimed in. "We were on our way there when this craziness happened. We managed to get back there, but..." She shook her head.

"There's nothing left there," the male finished for her. "We haven't seen another soul, at all. But we've heard plenty."

"Oh, that'd be me," I said with a smile and a blush and a hoof behind the head in the typical abashed expression pose. "I-"

"Mrrm? Jenn? Greg? Why'd we stop?" their cart asked. I blinked and stared, and the load shifted until a tiny yellow colt poked his head out from under a bundle. "Are we ther..." His eyes got genuinely huge, even bigger than our gigantic eyes were normally. "Is that her??"

"She was about to tell us, kiddo," 'Jenn' said, smiling back and down at the child in her cart.

"Uhhh..." I said, wide-eyed myself.

"Are you Sudden Storm??" the colt blurted out, popping free of the pile of belongings and hopping down - first onto a bunch of stuff lashed to the trailer tongue, which I noticed included an FM radio strapped to the top of two large water jugs - and then to the tongue itself, and then down to the ground. He scampered over and stood two feet in front of me, looking straight up. "Is it really you??"

"Uhm... hi?" I said with a sheepish grin.

"Randy's a huge fan," Jenn laughed. "Randy, take it easy, give her room to breathe."

He's not a huge anything, I resisted blurting out. He barely comes up to my chin, and I barely come up to my old chin. "Hi, buddy," I finally managed to get out. "Yes, I'm Sudden Storm."

"I listen to you every day!" Randy enthused, running around in a circle, as if chasing his orange-and-white tail. "I want you to teach me!"

"Teach..." I said, not understanding, until I noticed the small feathered appendages at his sides. Oh, great.

Luckily, the howl of the pickup approaching saved me from further conversation. "It's my friends," I said, as the truck drove down the off-ramp to approach us going the wrong direction in the eastbound lanes. "It's a noisy thing, but it'll pull that trailer easy and you guys can ride."

"Thank you," the male - Greg perhaps? - said. "Thank you very much."

"Can we fly back??" Randy begged me, bouncing up and down on all four hooves.

"I'm still learning," I said, thinking quick on my hooves. "I don't wanna risk dropping you. Let's all ride in the truck."

"Awww," he began to sulk, but looked up in awe at the truck, with Serge, Rich, and Swift aboard.

That's right - Serge is better at stick than anypony else, I recalled. "Hi guys," I said, waving with a wing. "This is Jenn and Greg and Randy. And this is Serge and Rich and Swift."

"Can you fly?" Randy looked up at the mountain of pegasus before him.

"I'm more of a driver," Serge said with a low rumbling voice, playing the big tough guy.

"Sorry," Greg said, shrugging out of his harness and coming forward to offer a hoof. "Greg Somerset. This is my wife Jennifer."

"Family?" Swift said, eyebrows rising.

"Some of us," Jenn said quietly, eyeing Randy. He was preoccupied sizing up Serge, and nothing more needed to be said for the moment.

"Well," I said, "If you'd like to step aside, Serge will back up the truck to your cart, and once we're hooked up, we'll all get in the back for the ride back to Ponytown."

"We get to ride in the back?" Randy said, suddenly picking up on the conversation.

"Yup, just like you've been doing, little guy," Greg smiled. He reached down with his mouth and tried to pile the tow strap harness onto the tongue of the trailer.

"Let me help," Swift said. She stepped up and took the straps in her magic, folding them and tucking them away.

Greg blinked and looked impressed. "I'm nowhere near that adept yet," he said, "but I can tie my booties." He lifted up a hoof, and like Jeff when he'd first arrived, both adults were wearing makeshift hoof protection.

"We'll teach ya'," Swift said with a smirk. "I should be letting my protégé show off." The chocolate brown unicorn behind her blushed.

Serge was backing the truck up, so I hopped up into the sky to guide him into position. After the hitch was latched, I swooped down and decided to be a good sport for a moment, and snatched up Randy, wrapping my forelegs around his barrel as tight as I dared. He screeched in delight as I quickly flitted over to the truck bed and set him down.

"More! More!"

"Let me get my courage up," I advised him. As I turned to look, Jenn crouched down to let Greg climb on her back and then up into the box of the truck. Then she stepped up easily on her own. I blinked, watching them make use of their size differences to their advantage.

Swift and Rich climbed into the cab with Serge, and we were off - slowly, so as to not throw anything loose out of their cart.

"How is this thing still running?" Greg wanted to know, shouting over the din of the motor.

"We have a very good repairman," I said, nodding towards Serge. "And a bunch of us are mechanically inclined or have engineering backgrounds. Wait 'til you see our electrical solutions."

"I'm very interested," Greg nodded. "We've been scrounging batteries for our radio and that's about all the power we've had."

"You're in for a treat," I smiled back.

I had an idea I'd wanted to suggest to Serge, but forgot to mention it before we got in the truck, and the sunroof was replaced by a chunk of plywood so it was incredibly difficult to talk through it. Hopefully we'd eventually find a compatible piece of glass or plastic to replace what was lost in the hail storm.

Luckily, it seemed he had the same idea as me. The auto bays were at the near end of the mall, and the farming field was at the far end. I wanted him to drive around the mall's perimeter road so that we were showing off all our stuff. (It was a little too far to take them up past the cows, though.)

As I expected, the field and chicken coop were met with incredulous reactions. It was all Greg and Jenn could do to keep Randy from leaping right out of the truck. That made me wonder what exactly they'd found to eat on their long hike. Were they well-nourished? Would they become ill from taking in lots of water and fresh foods?

Serge pulled the truck and trailer into the main driveway of the mall, and Randy laughed at the Ponytown sign. I was beginning to like this kid - he represented the positive attitude that the world was in danger of losing.

Jeff and Karin had seen us drive around and noticed the extra folks, so they galloped out of the fields to meet us, even though they were both filthy almost up to their barrels.

"How did you build that?" Jennifer wanted to know, indicating the field.

"Got a little help breaking through the asphalt, but the actual field is the work of our excellent earth ponies, Jeff and Karin. Here they are now. Jeff, Karin, meet Jennifer, Greg, and young Randy."

"Hello!" Jeff said brightly. "Sorry for the mess, perhaps we can forego the hoofbump for now."

"'Hoofbump'?" Greg and Jenn stereoed.

Several of us smirked, giggled, and/or laughed politely. "You'll find new terminology popping up in our speech," I said. "Even I was giving them the hairy eyeball at first, but it grows on you."

"Of course," Greg said with realization, nodding. By now, Serge and the others had dismounted from the truck.

"Are you hungry?" Swift asked. "It's kind of lunchtime anyway, so we can make something up."

"Does it have a plastic wrapper? No? Then we'll take it," Jennifer smirked. "We've subsisted on snack-foods and other heavy-preservative things for weeks."

Serge stepped forward. "Then I think you need a break," he smiled. "Somebody will take you inside and show you around while we get lunch ready."

As usual, I was 'voluntold' to be the tour guide while lunch was being prepared. The trio were suitably impressed with what we'd done with our resources, explaining that they'd spent their time crossing the province sleeping and sheltering in stores and the occasional broken-open motel - reluctant to venture into abandoned houses, saying it didn't 'feel right' to intrude on someone else's property.

"I can understand that," I nodded. "I remember the scene from the end of The Day After."

"Exactly," Greg said, pointing a hoof at me. "You... well, forgive me, but you must be older than you look."

I smiled slightly. "Let's just say Ponification did a lot more to some of us than it did others," I told him.

"'Ponification'?" Jenn echoed. "Does that mean you know what happened, since you have a name for it?"

"Not really," I said, shaking my head. "We have some information, but not a lot. We have an idea of what happened, but not why. Obviously, we all got turned into ponies. The people that vanished, we don't know what happened to them. We also know that some people lost time in between the day of Ponification and when they 'woke up'. One of our group was driving home at night one moment and losing control of her car in broad daylight the next."

"That's... weird," Greg contributed.

"I know," I agreed. "Anyway, we can discuss all that later on, with the whole group." We were walking along through the back room, having shown off our storage of supplies, and were going towards the auto bays, with Randy darting ahead. I continued talking as we walked. "In here is our-"

"Aaahh!! It's a dog!!!" the young colt ahead of us screamed, rushing back and cowering underneath Jenn, peeking out from behind her forelegs.

"It's okay, little guy," Greg tried to calm the hysterical youngster, as I stared on in surprise.

"We had some issues with feral dog packs," Jenn explained, reaching down to try to comfort Randy with a hoof stroking his head.

"Ohh," I said softly. "Hey, Randy? Buddy's a good guy. He's my friend." I raised my voice. "Buddy, you in there?"

The Dalmatian came out of the auto bays slowly and carefully, ears pinned back at the young pegasus' whimpering. I held out a hoof and let Buddy walk to it, letting me pet him. "See?" I said to Randy. "He's friendly."

Buddy crept forward a few steps low to the ground, then flopped onto his side and rolled over, exposing his belly.

Greg and Jenn chuckled, and I smirked. "See?" Jenn said. "He wants a rub."

"You big suck," I said accusingly, and Buddy thumped his tail a few times on the floor.

Randy tentatively edged out from under his protection and crept closer to the dog. Buddy stayed rock-still, his left legs up in the air, exposing his belly to the young pony. Finally, Randy reached out a hoof and touched Buddy's ribcage, then stroked it, letting out a giggle as Buddy wagged his tail into the tile floor again.

"That's a good boy," I complimented Buddy. To the adults, I said, "He's sca... I mean, really smart. One of the family, so to speak. He's been a big help to us in so many ways."

"Randy's had a rough time," Jenn said quietly while the boy was distracted greeting Buddy. "He's... not our child."

"I kind of gathered that from what you said earlier," I said.

Greg took up the conversation. "We were in our car and experienced something a lot like what you mentioned earlier - we were driving home and suddenly all the traffic disappeared, and we seemed to lose some time, based on a clock we found at the rest stop we made it to. Where we found Randy. He said he'd been out of his parents' car using the bathroom in the rest stop, and he changed - and when he got out of the bathroom, everybody was gone. His parents and sister, the staff at the rest stop, other customers... everybody. And he says he was there alone for a week... even though we'd only been a kilometer or two up the road when we changed."

"Good god," I whispered, looking over at the little colt now playing with a friendly Dalmatian.

"Yeah," Jenn said. "He's recovered well, but it took some time. And to be honest, miss Storm?" She fixed me with a stare and a smile. "Your little radio show has really picked up his spirits. Your tales of life in Ponytown? It's given him something to shoot for. I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I honestly believe you saved this child."

I blinked and watched Randy give chase to Buddy, apparently launching into a game of tag. I'd been responsible for this kid's survival? That was a kind of a big deal to be saddled with, if you'll excuse the pun.

Lunch was fresh salad today with fresh milk. Naturally, our guests were thrilled by the fare.

"How are you managing to grow such healthy crops?" Greg asked.

Swift gave a nod. "Our gardening wizards over there," she said, indicating Karin and Jeff on the other end of the table.

"It's not like that," Jeff began, but Swift cut him off.

"It is like that, and you know it," she said. "You two act so humble and bashful about it, but everypony knows you can do things that shouldn't be possible when it comes to stuff that grows out of the ground."

"Actually," Karin said with a smile, looking at Jenn, "that's probably true of you, too. Come with us after lunch if you like."

"Oh, no," she said with a dismissive but polite laugh. "I'm just a homemaker. I have no skills like that."

"You'd be surprised," I said, smiling as well. "You think Swifty and Rich got where they are from spending their human lives dabbling in magic? Or I was flapping around in the sky before I became a pony?"

"You were?" Randy gaped.

Serge just about choked on his broccoli. Swift laughed. "You walked into that one," she said.

"No, I wasn't," I smiled at the colt. "I was trying to say that Jenn is probably going to be good at farming."

"I wanna be good at flying, like you."

"Has he seen you 'land' yet?" Swift fake-asided to me at a normal volume.

"Hush," I shot back.

"So, um, what did you do before the Event?" Jeff asked Greg.

"Oh," Greg said, smiling. "Something that I think is going to be very irrelevant for a long time to come. Land titles lawyer. Useful, huh?"

Several of us smiled. Greg looked confused until Swift raised a hoof. "O&G lab tech," she said.

"Database admin," I supplied.

"Video game designer," Rich chimed in. "We find other things to occupy ourselves with."

"Actually," Karin said, "your cutie mark kind of indicates your top proficiency, it seems. I'm betting Stormy didn't mention that."

"...No," Greg said, looking over to me.

I blushed, looking away, ears folded back. "I hate that term," I muttered.

Jenn looked over her shoulder towards her rump. "Are you saying I'm supposed to be good at something to do with houses?" she asked, eyeing the cartoony image of a one-story dwelling on her side.

"It's probably more like you'll be good at keeping this place together, like a proper home," Jeff suggested. "Maybe you'll be our housemother."

Greg was looking at his own backside. "That doesn't much explain me," he said. On his hindquarters was a trio of opened books - one with squiggles that probably indicated 'writing', one with complex-looking diagrams, and one with splashes of color probably representing art.

"What did you do for hobbies?" Swift asked.

"I was in a paintball league," he shrugged. "Spent almost every weekend either having a campaign with my team, or golfing."

"Hmm."

"Any side jobs?" Serge questioned. As an afterthought, he added, "Librarian?"

"No," Greg said, "but I did teach the occasional class at the community college, on law as it pertained to oil and gas and mineral leases."

"I think you might be expanding your curriculum soon, teach," Karin quipped.

"I don't got one," Randy pouted, turning around in circles as he tried to see his rear end.

"Don't sweat it, kiddo," I said. "I didn't get mine until about a month ago."

He instantly rushed over to me. "For real? How did you know what to get?"

I backed up a little to regain some personal space. "Ehem, well, I didn't, really. I just did something I had to do, and had to do right - and there it was."

"What she's saying is your mark will come when the time is right, little guy," Greg explained. "It might not be something you're consciously working at being good at. It could be that something just happens one day."

"I don't wanna have to wait," he grumped, flopping down on his belly on the floor.

"You seem to have done just fine without one so far," I told him. "I did too." However, I didn't admit, now that the weather was my plaything, it was often what I wanted to do the most each and every day.

"I guess," he sulked.

Serge was done his lunch, and cleared his throat. "I hate to change the subject, but there's something I need to ask, so I can prepare to take care of it, depending on what the answer is. And forgive me for being blunt, but it's the way I work." He fixed his gaze on Greg and Jenn. "Are you staying with us or just stopping over?"

Both ponies' eyes widened. Randy, behind them, got to his hooves, sensing something important was going on.

"We... can stay?" Jenn asked. "There's a choice?"

"I think we considered this a way station," Greg explained in a quiet voice, eyes wide with surprise. "We thought of it more as a place to rest and trade and resupply."

"Where were you heading?" Jeff asked.

"Someplace that would take us in," Greg admitted. "A place with room for us to try to rebuild our lives."

"You're sitting in it," Swift said softly, smiling at them.

I slipped the headphones over my ears, hoping the sounds of construction and demolition on the far side of the store - actually outside the store in the mall, truth be told - wouldn't interfere with the broadcast.

At the appropriate time, I punched all the transmit buttons and began to speak.

"Evening, folks. I should put some music on here as an opening theme one of these days, so it's not just me talking all of a sudden. Anyway, it's Stormy here with your six PM broadcast for September 19. Well, I know at least the eighty-eight-point-nine broadcast is working, 'cause I've just spent a half a day with a group of ponies who have been listening to it for the past two weeks or more. They're all new settlers to Ponytown, which means our message is getting out to you. We will survive this better as a group, people. You don't have to rummage around in abandoned buildings for food scraps or places to sleep. We've got all of that and more. And if you're worried about freeloading, don't. We'll find something for you to do, too, and I'm not talking about putting you into hard labor or something like that. Folks, we have a civilization to rebuild, and so far nine of us to do it with. Nine isn't enough. I know some of you may have questions before you commit to traveling here, especially if you'd be coming from a long way away. That's why I say after every broadcast to answer back if you care to. Just hit that transmit button and say your piece. I listen for at least a half an hour after each 'cast to make sure I don't miss any replies. I'm here, Ponytown's here, and we're waiting for you."

Comments

[Celefin]

I don't want to set the world on fire... oh wait. Wrong DJ.

"You're insane, you know that?"
"Thanks for noticing!"

Welcome back Stormy, true to form!
Off to a great start.

[Posted]

"We... can stay?" Jenn asked. "There's a choice?"

No, I was kidding, nopony leaves Ponytown, nopony. Bwhahahahaha.

+3 population to the Kingdom of Storms.

[Jay911]

6441071 Yes, wrong DJ. Stormy might more be a Three Dog-ish character. Heeey, maybe she can play old tunes while she's not talking. But instead of Danny Kaye and the Andrews Sisters, we get Van Halen. I'm all for it.

6441186 You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. *guitar solo*

Hey, both comments are musically slanted. Interesting.

[Seeking Dusk]

Gah! Read this and totally forgot to like/comment/fav! *quickly remedies*

I like Randy's character. Well, the little family unit as a whole. Heart warming how they pretty much adopted Randy as their own in lieu of what happened.

[Goldfur]

Good to see Ponytown growing again. I am looking forward to seeing who else joins up in the future. I must admit to being curious how my OC would fit in (she's a professional fiction writer!) Anyway, I'm happy to see more of Stormy and company. Keep up the good work!

[Celefin]

6441186
No one leaves the Kingdom of Storms. Stormy Croft the reboot, 2013.

6441220
That was Van Halen with Lighting Up The Sky...
And this is Sudden Storm, your favourite DJ coming to you loud and proud from Ponytown!
Now listen up ponies...

[StarzGecko]

Can we have some dragons?

[Gale Singer]

I'm not usually one for unofficial sequels and/or side stories, but this is something that stands well enough on its own, and while it doesn't go so far in detail as Starscribe's did/does, that doesn't detract from this, as this is more character-based and driven story. Instead of being adventure, and having a defined plot that leads somewhere, with a well-defined villain and high stakes, this is more slice-of-lifey. And I mean that in a good way! After finishing off Founders of Alexandria, and pulling myself back off the edge of my seat, it's refreshing to see something that takes a slower pace. Congratulations, you're writing a good character-driven slice of life story, with a well-defined niche in the original's following.
I really like Storm as a character, she strikes me as your typical, reckless, thrill-seeking pegasus, but without making her come off as uncaring, or overly prideful. I find she's quite similar to Rainbow Dash in that respect (boastfulness notwithstanding) in that she like to have a thrill and a good time, but knows her responsibilities and answers for them admirably.
And now she has her personal Scootaloo... I like, I like...

[Doppler Effect]

"I listen for at least a half an hour after each 'cast to make sure I don't miss any replies. I'm here, Ponytown's here, and we're waiting for you."

Must have been getting pretty depressing for Stormy, listening for replies that weren't coming for the last month. Knowing that someone was listening and inspired by the transmissions must have really made all that effort seem worthwhile.

[Lionheartcartoon]

"Due to the highly intense and sinister nature of this program...." Nah.. that would freak out too many ponies :)

Def Lep - Promises might work as a happy and upbeat show starter :D

Loving this man!

[Jay911]

6442877
We'll have to see. It might come in handy; after all, winter is com- *Jay911 gets bludgeoned to within an inch of his life*

6443235

That's something I wondered if people liked or didn't about The Coming Storm - the lack of an actual, physical enemy. It's difficult to find a "bad guy" in a universe like this, in my opinion. I discussed this in the Skype chat yesterday. My theory - right or wrong - is that those who "come back as ponies" most soonest after the Event would tend to be good, based on the rules as I understood them. I wouldn't consider someone inherently "bad" to be "ready to come back". Now maybe that's not the way it was intended, but that's how I took it. So that limited my adversaries for the story. As for After The Storm, well, who knows?

And Stormy's attitude? It didn't occur to me that she was becoming a 'typical pegasus' but I can see that now. I was writing her as someone who had to discard all of their old life and was thus free to enjoy the new one, with its added bonuses like flight. And "her own personal Scootaloo", that's gold.

6443409

It'd be tempting to give up, or say "Are any of you listening out there? Come on, show me a sign!" Especially for someone who knows about radios and knows that by the very nature of the machine, it has to be reaching far enough for somebody to hear something, especially if they knew the ratio of how many people still exist (Stormy currently doesn't, but has a guess based on how many people have shown up at Ponytown).

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Oh man. I'm sorely tempted to try to cast a girl to record lines and make an audio recording or ten to make something like the Galaxy News Radio soundtrack.

For the others, what Lionheart is talking about is a clip that (used to) start off the morning show at 5am on my local radio station: here is a sample.

[GITPSilverbolt]

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I find she's quite similar to Rainbow Dash in that respect (boastfulness notwithstanding) in that she like to have a thrill and a good time, but knows her responsibilities and answers for them admirably.
And now she has her personal Scootaloo... I like, I like...

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Gale Singer]

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It's difficult to find a "bad guy" in a universe like this, in my opinion.

That's the thing really. In a universe like this, where there are so many tales told in a common area, you can't have too many world-threatening villains, because it just doesn't work. It starts raising questions like "Why don't they ever meet?", or "Why not work together?"

[Topaz Moon]

Nice start.

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Oh man. I'm sorely tempted to try to cast a girl to record lines and make an audio recording or ten to make something like the Galaxy News Radio soundtrack.

Sorry can't help you there. My mic sounds like crap, worse than a tincan on strings in a bathroom.

[Posted]

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I actually enjoy your stories quite a bit more than the what is apparently the original universe that these are spun off of. Disclaimer, I did find yours first so that may color my tastes. Honestly in what amounts to a Man Pony vs Environment setting having the Alexandria stuff just seems odd and pointless to me. If having evil cults and crazy super bads is your goal why even leave the already established canonish setting of Equestria. Bottom line keep on flying or trucking the way you are.

[Starscribe]

Been saving this story, think it's high time I get to enjoying it.

Was not disappointed. Only a month and the field is already growing well? Also was worried about ponies eating snacks found in human buildings... until I saw it's only been a month since the end of the last story. That helps give it some context.

Even if it does put the story well in the past of the timeline I'm writing in. Ponytown seems the perfect place for Alexandria to be in touch with; they've got the spirit right. Loving Randy too, he's adorable! Not sure what this story will be about now that they're stable and the adventures are over, but I'm excited to find out!