Tales of the Rainmaker

by BleedingRaindrops

Chasing a storm

There’s probably nothing more frustrating and disheartening than discovering that you have no skill whatsoever in the one thing you’re supposed to be good at. Rainstream couldn’t decide if she loved or hated this. On the one hoof, she was surrounded by rain. It soaked into her mane and ran soothingly through her fur. It smelled fresher and cleaner than the finest cloud pillows, and the sound sent tingles up and down her small frame. She wanted to be nowhere else.

But her wings, lungs, and heart thought otherwise. Flames of exhaustion crackled and burned through all three, and threatened to spread to her whole body. Rainstream had lost count of how many times she’d fallen straight to the cloud floor below her, only to look back up with fierce determination and beat her wings even more furiously than before. Fleetfoot’s comment after her first attempt kept repeating in her head every time.

”If you can’t fly in the rain, forget about making rain for a living, never mind for fun. If you can’t do this, you’ll never be a weather pony."

Never be a weather pony? Forget about making rain? She had rain for a cutie mark for Celestia’s sake! What else was she supposed to do? And she’d known ever since that day—the day she’d left home—that this was what she had to do. Rain had helped her then. Rain had been her friend, and she’d known it would always be her friend, so she had to learn to make it.

But right now it was not being helpful in the slightest. Rainstream coughed up another lungful of wet air, unsure if there was saliva mixed with it. Each wingbeat felt as though she were moving the whole sky and earth with it. The air was thick and heavy and cold. Not like the warm, light air she’d learned to fly on.

But she’d chosen this. The edge of the rainstorm they’d built was just to her right. Rainstream turned to look at it. Not thirty feet in front of her was the edge of the rain, and beyond it lay bright—dry—sunny skies. It would be so easy to just fly over there, and rest on the drier clouds—maybe even glide a little on warm air currents.

But there would be no gliding for her today. Rainstream had come out here to learn to make rain, and darn it, she was going to learn if it killed her—which it nearly had an hour ago. Rainstream gave a snort and turned back into the center of the rain field.

The act of turning lost her a lot of lift, and Rainstream barely pulled up in time before smacking into the cloud floor. But she couldn’t get back up. She screamed as she willed her wings to work harder, but they simply wouldn’t. The burning had spread so much she couldn’t even feel them anymore, and her wingbeats grew slower, causing her hooves to touch down on the cloud beneath her. ver

You’ll never be a weather pony.

Rainstream hung her head and let her wings drop. She didn’t even bother folding them, so they hung loosely on the cloud. What if Fleetfoot was right? What if she couldn’t do this? All weather ponies had to fly in the rain sometimes, so how could she do this if she fell every time she went through rain? Thunder rolled by underneath her hooves, complementing the rain over her head.

No. She’d gotten all the way to the school on her own. She’d been assigned a private tutor. She’d just learned cloud molding in record time. She could do this. She just had to try harder. She glanced up, squinting her eyes against the rain at the very small bit of light, high above her where Fleetfoot was watching from, directly in the center of the cloud. If she could just fly through that opening, she could go home. Rainstream narrowed her eyes, lifted her wings and drove them down with as much force as she could. The resulting wet slap against the cloud beneath her told her just how useless that notion was right now. Despite her best efforts, Rainstream was grounded.

She wanted to cry. Nopony would notice right? It was raining. Something that had been building up for the past hour burst forth, and fresh tears mixed with the raindrops streaming down Rainstream’s face. She clenched her eyes shut and tucked her head into her shoulder.

“Hey, kid!”

Rainstream could barely hear her tutor’s voice through the rain. She didn’t even bother to look up. Rainstream folded her wings, ignoring their protests, and sat down hard on the wet cloud beneath her.

Forget about making rain.

“Kid! Hey, Rainstream!”

Her voice was much clearer this time. Rainstream heard a splash, and a felt brief gust of wind against her back. She opened her eyes and turned around. Fleetfoot stood behind her with one hoof raised slightly, as though she wasn’t sure whether to step forward or not.

"Hey what’s wrong? You give up or something?”

Fleetfoot almost looked scared, but Rainstream couldn’t imagine why; the roar of the rain had dropped to just a loud pattering on the saturated cloud floor. Rainstream lowered her head and stared down at the floor. She could taste her own tears on her lips, and was glad that the rain could hide it from Fleetfoot. She didn’t seem the sympathetic type.

“You know, I was actually starting to be impressed.”

Rainstream looked up.

“Yeah, really. I’ve never seen a filly try so hard after failing that many times. It was almost inspiring.”

Rainstream’s lips parted in a small gasp.

“I mean, you still suck. But it was better than I expected.”

Any joy that had been building in Rainstream’s chest was quickly extinguished.

“Anyway, we need to head back. If you keep going you won’t be able to fly on your own in hot, dry air, and I’m not really in the mood to carry you. Plus the storm was supposed to end a half hour ago. Weather Chief’s shut us down.”

The pattering of the rain died to a trickle, silent except for a few drops here and there. The cloud overhead was already separating, so that the sun grew warm again on Rainstream’s back. Rain sighed, too tired to feel miserable. It turned into somewhat of a groan, and Fleetfoot laughed.

“Don’t beat yourself up. You’ve made amazing progress for the short time you’ve been working on this. Honestly I never expected you to get this far. I am so getting extra points for this.”

Fleetfoot did a few loops in celebration, then sped off toward the school. Rainstream followed her, but at a much slower pace. Her wings flapped lazily and her head drooped the whole way. She was definitely looking forward to her bed, but she had a diary entry to complete first.

~ ~ ~

Dear Diary,
I did it. I made it rain on my own today! Fleetfoot finally showed me and for once something she taught me was actually easy. I love flying in the rain now, and I’m doing a lot better at it. I don’t get as tired anymore, and today I didn’t even touch down once before the weather chief said we had to stop. Fleetfoot says I shouldn’t be too proud, because she’s still way better than me, but she also tells me I’ve progressed a lot in the last few weeks. I don’t think she likes me very much. She teaches me stuff so she can get credit for it, but every time I ask her if we’re going to make rain today she whines about missing her nap. I still don’t understand how napping makes you a better flyer but Fleetfoot never wastes an opportunity to lie down.

I miss the class. I haven’t seen Stormfeather in weeks. I still get nervous around everypony, but maybe if it was raining it wouldn’t be so bad. I wish it could rain every day, but I don’t think Fleetfoot would like that. I think I’m going to just make my own rain behind the school where nopony can complain from now on. I like the rain. It makes me feel better about myself, and I feel like I can do things I couldn’t otherwise. I like it a lot.

~ ~ ~

The whistle of the wind spoke to Rainstream as she raced through the sky.

Almost got it. Just a bit closer.

Blood pounded through Rainstream’s head as her muscles screamed at her to let up. Her back ached as she held it in a tight arch, her partly folded wings strained from pressing against the air around her. Hooves were tucked against her barrel, eyes squeezed shut beneath the whipping of her wet mane, ears perked for any sounds on the wind, and her nose wrinkled at the scent of the cloud at her back.

Almost there.

High in the upper stratosphere, not half a click from Cloudsdale Flight School, Rainstream twisted tightly around a medium sized cumulus group.

It’s working!

Guided by the magical manipulations of a young orange pegasus, the clouds pressed together, forming one big cloud. Rainstream pumped her wings, causing the surrounding sky to blur as she sped around the cloud in a very tight pattern. She could feel the tingle on her wingtips reaching into the cloud behind her, influencing its shape and movement. Her windstream cut into the cloud, and made a long trough that twirled around the cloud like a candy cane.

Was that how Fleetfoot had done it? Rainstream tried to remember. It was so long ago. She had definitely flown around the cloud a lot, and squeezed it like… puddy. Rainstream’s head began to ache as her eyebrows pressed together. Her lungs burned from pumping so much air, wrenching Rainstream’s attention away from what she was doing.

With an exasperated groan, Rainstream pulled out of her tight maneuver, barrel rolling off to the side until her speed dissipated. It was easier to hold these tight loops now that her wing muscles had matured, but she still lacked the incredible stamina her old tutor had possessed. She spread her wings to their full span and glided on whatever air currents were in the area, and then took a look around.

To her left was the open sky, with some scattered clouds here and there, but mostly untouched. Below was an open plain stretching wide with open meadows, breaking into trees in the north, and farmed fields in the south. Due west to the horizon was a mountain range Rainstream was unfamiliar with.

To her right was the school. The sky was clear over the school for most of the day, but now that evening was settling in the weather team was thickening the clouds. Rainstream watched them for a few minutes, remembering what Fleetfoot had taught her about gathering clouds out of open air. It wasn’t easy, and you couldn’t just make the whole sky out of nothing or there would be no need for the weather factory. But there was always enough cloud dust in the air around Cloudsdale that adding to what clouds were already in the sky was doable for any competent weatherpony.

She glanced down. The school was empty of most activity. The odd instructor or two were rounding up the clouds they used to ferry new students to teaching arenas with, but the school was otherwise dark. A gentle rain fell on the surrounding area, adding to the growing shadows. Lights flickered on over the whole campus as the clouds overhead cast a shadow over the school. They were preparing for the sun to go down.

Rainstream tilted her wings and glided down in a slow gentle arc toward the dormitories. Fleetfoot had gone back to her room to nap hours ago, but Rainstream was content to fly until her wings hurt. Flying was just the most amazing feeling. Complete freedom. No obstacles, nothing holding you down. You could fall nearly forever, and climbing? That was simply the limit of your own body. Rainstream had no interest in climbing higher than the clouds. It was cold up there, and very hard to breathe, and there was never any rain.

Rainstream pulled up with a few quick flaps of her wings, landing lightly on the cloud ledge at the end of her dorm building. She flicked her wings to clear them of any remaining droplets before folding them tightly against her body, then let out a long sigh. She would have to thank the weather team for this rain. It was especially nice this evening.

“That was amazing.”

Rainstream’s entire body tensed. Eyes snapped all the way open, ears strained to pick up signs of what the rain had not told them about. Terrified of what she knew she would find, but compelled to look all the same, Rainstream swiveled her head painfully slowly toward the voice.

Twenty feet from her position, slack-jawed and gawking, muscular shoulders rippling over his lowered head, dark grey coat shining in the rain, stood the pony who always made her heart flutter. Rainstream couldn’t decide if she wanted him there or not. Her mouth opened and closed several times, and her whole body trembled as her mind fought to make a decision. Then he stepped closer, speaking once again.

“I’ve never seen anypony fly like that. You’re really amaz—hey, come back.”

Run! Fly! Hide! Rainstream’s body and mind had reached an agreement, and her legs kicked off powerfully as she dove straight down over the cloud edge and under the building, arching up through the courtyard, on the other side. Rainstream flipped onto her back to halt her vertical ascent, then flipped back over and landed on her feet. She gave a quick search of the area, then rushed into her room, locking the door behind her.

Rainstream hoof slipped the bolt into place with a loud click, and at last she let out a long breath. She strode toward the center of the room, coat dripping. Her breath came in heavy gasps as the last two minutes caught up to her.

She’d been flying, practicing a cloud-shaping technique Fleetfoot had shown her. Then, she’d flown closer to the school, and somepony had seen her. But not just anypony. Stormfeather. And he’d spoken. To her.

Rainstream’s cheeks drew up into a large smile at the thought of Stormfeather’s soft smooth baritone voice. His lethal smile, and the way his eyes sparkled in the twilight.

And she’d run away from that. Rainstream let out a huff of air through her nostrills as her smile instantly switched to a glower. She sat back on the ground and threw her forehooves over her head. Ugh that was so stupid, why did she run away? She’d always wanted him to talk to her, and she’d run away.

Rainstream sunk completely to the floor. Crawling toward her bed in the corner. Her fur felt very hot and her breathing quickened. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster, but the more she willed it to slow down, the faster it got, until it felt as though it were about to explode. Daggers pierced her skull and a roar filled her ears that seemed to have no source. Her entire body began to shake, and she could do nothing but hold on to the floor and hope she didn’t die.

This lasted for several minutes, obscuring Rainstream’s perception of how much time had actually passed. At last the roar quieted until it became the breeze outside, and Rainstream’s shivering slowed to she point that she could make out the room around her. She looked up, rubbing her eyes and realizing that she’d been crying.

She blinked the tears away and studied her room, mostly to distract herself. Her bed was covered by a thick light blue blanket, and pressed against the northern wall of her room. The lamp to her left was unlit, but unbroken. She reached with a hoof and switched it on. There were three posters on the wall, one of lightning, one of rain, and one of a sunset. The last one had a full spectrum of color, even green near the horizon. The west wall was mostly blank, except for a window with the blinds drawn. Her desk was pressed neatly against the opposite wall, crumpled papers spread across its surface. An inkwell held three quills, and a fourth one lay dripping on the desk.

Rainstream continued scanning, and her eyes fell upon a paper near the door that hadn’t been there before. She rushed to pick it up. Somepony must have slipped it under her door. She snatched it up and examined it, then threw it away just as quickly, backpedaling with a short squeak.

The note said very little but it was from…

Rainstream.

I saw you flying, but you ran away before I could talk to you. Could I meet you by the Candy Cloud tomorrow at 6:00?

Stormfeather

Stormfeather.

And he wanted to meet her. Like, on a date.

Rainstream tensed as realization struck. A date! He’d wanted to ask her out on a date, and she’d totally blown it by running way.

Rainstream could feel her earlier panic returning as she struggled to make sense of what was happening. The Candy Cloud was a popular spot in Cloudsdale for students who had passed their junior flying test to hang out. It was a short flight, and could be seen from the far east edge of the school. They mostly sold sugary sweets, but there were drinks as well, and nearly everypony went there on Hearts and Hooves day for dates or to buy something for their date.

She stumbled over to her writing desk. This was definitely the worst day ever. Her chest throbbed as she settled herself in front of the desk and plucked a quill from the inkwell with her teeth and flipped open the little book she kept next to it.

Dear Diary.

I’ve died. Stormfeather just asked me out on a date. I didn’t even know he liked me! I was just practicing a cloud shaping move Fleetfoot taught me and then he was there and I totally ran away. That was so stupid. I can’t believe I did that. He even wrote me a little note. I have no idea what I’m going to do about this. I can’t go on a date! I can’t even go out in public! This is such a disaster. How am I going to do this?

She tossed the quill aside. It was a good question. A colt had just asked her out on a date. How was she supposed to respond?

HOW was she supposed to respond? The last time she’d tried to speak to him she’d nearly fallen out of the sky out of sheer embarrassment. There was no way she’d be able to meet him at all even to tell him no. It was an impossible situation.

The throbbing in her chest grew to a sharp twinge, and her lungs heaved raspy breaths. Her head suddenly felt very heavy, and she barely had time to notice how dark the room had gotten before everything went black.

~ ~ ~

She never made it to the cafe. She couldn’t. There were too many ponies over there. She wasn’t made for the city. And it reminded her too much of home.

Casting a glance southward, then snorting sharply, Rainstream had fled back toward the school after getting only halfway to Cloudsdale proper.

When she drifted into the courtyard on autopilot and touched down, she discovered that she had not flown to her own room, but rather had ended up near Stormfeather’s. She blinked, trying to formulate thoughts.

She hadn’t wanted to see him, had she? He would be at the Candy Cloud by now, certainly. Why would she come here?

But she had wanted to see him, just not for him to see her. Not yet. She placed a hoof on the door. Would he be in there? No. It didn’t matter. She hung her head and turned away from the door, then trotted a few steps to the edge of the cloud.

She stopped. Turned around. She couldn’t just leave like that. What if he never spoke to her again? This could be her one chance to let him know how she felt, and she knew he would feel the same way, because he had already said it. But… She couldn’t.

Rainstream stood parallel to the cloud’s edge, her gaze shifting between the door and the open sky. This was impossible. Rainstream slumped into a sitting position and let her head hang. She didn’t want to leave a note. It was embarrassing, the thought of him actually reading something she wrote down. Her thoughts, laid out for him to pick apart. She shivered as a breeze passed.

Some rain would be really nice right about now.

Rainstream blinked. Rain! She looked up. It wasn’t scheduled to rain tonight, but… maybe a small cloud? She closed her eyes and listened. It was a calm night, with a gentle breeze. Nopony was moving around much. They probably wouldn’t notice. A spark ignited in her chest, spreading warmth through her body and, as it reached her face, pushed her cheeks up into a wide smile.

Yes, this would definitely work! He wouldn’t have to read her thoughts and he would definitely know it was from her. Rainstream almost giggled aloud as excitement welled up in her. She spread her wings and leapt sideways off the platform, twirling downward away from the courtyard.

There were a few stray clouds below that nopony had bothered to clean up. Perfect. She tilted her wings and arced off to the side, swooping in from the side and snatching up the little cloud puffs. They were small, but very wet. Yes these would do nicely. She packed them together as they flew, collecting a growing puff of wet cloud.

The air was very saturated, and a fine mist collected on her coat as she flew back upward to position her cloud. Rain. She’d made it so many times it was second nature to her now. She let her thoughts drift back to yesterday as she’d been molding the cloud.

Her hooves pushed and pulled at the soft cottony vapor, painting it like a brush across the sky. Her windswept aerial canvas, now to be the host of her masterpiece. She could hear thunder roll through gathering clouds overhead. The rumbles sent tremors and tingles through her body. She wriggled in delight as the waves of sound tickled her fur. Tufts of cloud brushed her under her wings, delicately caressing her coverts—almost like the touch of another pony.

Rainstream bit her lip.

~ ~ ~

The soft hiss of hundreds of raindrops pierced her daydream as Rainstream gave her newly formed cloud a soft kick. She was finished. A small pang of regret wound its way through her chest as she realized she had to stop. It was getting dark, and Stormfeather would probably be heading back now, realizing she’d stood him up.

She rolled off the cloud and drifted under it. Hanging on the heavy air. The familiar embrace of the soft rain cooled her thoughts, letting her breathe easier. She found a gentle rhythm with her wings to keep her airborne while she thought about what to do.

She should just leave the cloud and run, and hope he figured it out. Oh of course he would. Nopony else would make something like this. But what if she stayed?

Rainstream looked up toward his door. Her whole body shook. What if she just waited for him to come back, and hid under a cloud? She could watch him discover her gift, and see his reaction. Yes that would be nice. She’d wait for him, and watch to see if he liked it or hated it. And she’d never have to let him see her.

Rainstream put more strength into her wingbeats to gain altitude, flying up out from under her cloud formation. Turning toward Cloudsdale, she floated out toward it and scanned the sky for the silhouette of a pegasus. Her heart fluttered as she searched for him. She had little hope of catching his dark grey coat against the darkening sky but she hoped perhaps…

The click of a door latch opening behind her nearly made Rainstream’s wings lock up. Her whole body tensed as she whirled around to face the noise, and found Stormfeather standing outside his door, staring at her gift with a look of awe.

The sight of him made her squeak, and her wings really did lock up this time. They gave a few jerky flutters and then stopped providing lift at all. He turned at the sudden noise, and his face switched instantly to alarm. He took a few running steps toward her before she fell beneath the cloud floor.

Rainstream’s heart beat so fast it was painful. Terror gripped her as she fought to reclaim her wings from their sudden mutiny. If she could just get her wings back open she would be fine, but they were stuck. She screamed as she fell, but the sound was torn away by the rushing wind.

Wait. The wind! Rainstream stopped screaming, closed her eyes and focused on listening to the wind. Her breathing was hard, but that didn’t matter. She could hear the swirls in the wind. She could hear it swirling around the rain near her. And she could hear something getting closer to her. Very close.

Rainstream stopped falling nearly all at once as a pair of soft hooves wrapped around her chest. She opened her eyes, and found that she was looking down at the night covered earth below. Somepony was holding her up, because her own wings hung limply at her sides.

“Gotcha,” a soft, masculine voice said just behind her.

His breath tickled her mane. Her heart continued to beat furiously but she was not afraid. She heard his strong wingbeats and felt the subtle rise and fall as he pulled her back up toward the clouds. His chest fur felt warm on her back, and she could feel his heart beating against it.

Was this a dream?

Rainstream’s only thought as the two of them flew back up toward the school was utter disbelief. This couldn’t possibly be happening. She must have fallen asleep while flying and fallen to the ground and died. Stormfeather wasn’t supposed to be home. He was supposed to be in Cloudsdale. Had she even left her room?

He set her down on the cloudwalk outside his door and she let herself fall to a comfortable kneeling position. She let out a soft moan of dismay as his warm hooves left her, and turned to look after him.

His concern faded into a smile after seeing she was alright. “Glad I caught you,” he said.

It was the silliest line she’d ever heard, and yet it was so smooth, her heart thumped hard for a few beats. Rainstream put a hoof on her chest. This had to be a dream, but it wasn’t one Rainstream wanted to wake up from.

Stormfeather looked over at her raincloud, and she followed his gaze. Three separate clouds hung just a few feet beyond the cloud ledge, each formed into a teardrop, and each pouring out a gentle stream of rain.

“I never picked you for such an artist, but it really is beautiful.” he said in his soft, smooth voice that tickled her ears in the most amazing way. She shivered, but it felt good.

His eyes flicked to his door, then back to her. He blushed visibly, then opened his mouth to speak.

“Would.. Um… Would you like to come inside?” he asked, pointing toward the door.

Rainstream’s face grew hot as her eyes grew wide.

He recoiled, seeing her reaction. “It’s fine. You don’t have to I just… “ He sighed, and his shoulders drooped. He looked sadly toward the three raindrops next to them. “I like you. I saw you flying yesterday, and the way you reacted I just… wasn’t sure if you liked me too. I almost didn’t give you that letter, but I had to at least try, you know?”

He swallowed and looked back at her. Rainstream couldn’t move. Her mouth hung slightly open, unsure whether to close or not. All she could do was stare. All this time, he’d been watching her too.

He got up, and walked back toward the door. “Sorry I asked.”

What? No! Her jaw opened and closed rapidly. He was walking away. She had to stop him. This was her one chance and she was blowing it. She reached out a hoof toward him

“No. Wait.” It was barely audible. Rainstream wasn’t sure he would hear, but he stopped, and then turned. His face was stuck somewhere between hope and worry.

She wanted to follow him. She wanted to leap into his hooves and nuzzle up against his warm chest. But she was a coward. She’d come all this way, and he was right in front of her and she just couldn’t do it. She just wasn’t as strong without the rain.

Rainstream blinked. Rain. She looked back at her rainclouds, then back at Stormfeather. He stood sideways in the doorway, hope overtaking the worry on his face. She gave him a pleading look, then turned and leapt out onto the open air. Her wings worked faithfully this time, and she gave a few quick wingbeats to steady herself. She reached out and placed a hoof against one of the rainclouds, and pushed it gently over toward Stormfeather.

He raised an eyebrow, then flicked his eyes inside and back to the raincloud. Then he relaxed, and smiled. “Would you like to come inside?” he asked again, sounding more confident this time.

Warmth filled Rainstream’s chest, and she nodded with a smile.

He held the door open and gestured inside with one hoof. Rainstream stepped slowly and carefully so that she wouldn’t fall over from sheer disbelief, and pulled the little raincloud along behind her.

Comments

[albedoequals1]

”If you can’t fly in the rain, forget about making rain for a living, never mind for fun. If you can’t do this, you’ll never be a weather pony.

Missing end quote

Rainstream pumped her wings, causing the surrounding sky to blur as she sped around the cloud in a very tight formation.

pattern (It's not a formation unless you are doing something in a group)

His concern faded into a smile after seeing she was alright. “Glad I caught you,” he said.

Haha, in any other context, that would be a fairly neutral thing to say, but here it sounds like a pick-up line. (Pun intended. )

[BleedingRaindrops]

7390338
Well, it is intended to be a pick up line. He likes her.

Thanks for those other two.