1. Stormy Weather
I hurt somepony once. Bad. It was the worst day of my life.
The funny thing is – ha, ‘funny,’ it isn’t really funny, it’s horrifying – is that I don’t even remember what made me do it all that well. I’d always been so good at just keeping everything inside, and this didn’t really seem all that different. It was summer flight camp, I was just a filly and he was just a colt, and I flubbed a turn or a aileron roll or something and got the lowest score in the camp, or near the lowest. And the colt – his name was Hoops – said something about my name, ‘Raindrops,’ being good ‘cause dropping like rain was all I was good at.
Ha. Ha ha. It was nothing I hadn’t heard before. Nothing I hadn’t dealt with and kept all bottled up inside before. But the next thing I was aware of, I was seeing red, and there was screaming, his and mine – him in pain, me in rage that had finally just boiled over and to the surface. And it was taking two coaches to pull me off of him and stop me from just continuing to pound into him. Then there were sirens, and police…
…long story short, I was still just a filly, and the judge decided that it was a ‘heat of the moment’ thing, that Hoops was at least partially to blame for goading me and harassing me. There were some court-ordered therapy sessions for me and community service and I had to switch schools. But Hoops…
Hoops’ right hind leg was broken in three places. His shank was essentially dust. They had to bring special unicorn doctors and surgeons up to Cloudsdale to fix him, and to this day he still walks with a limp. Still has a restraining order on me, too.
I could have broken his wings the same way I broke his leg – nothing would be worse for a pegasus than wings that didn’t work right. I could have really crippled him, for life. I could have killed him. A part of me knows that no matter how bad what I did was, it could have been worse. I tell that part of me to shut up. I know what I did wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was still horrible. Still the worst thing I have ever done to anypony – worse than anything that anypony else I know has done to anypony else. But even worse than that happy fact? Worse than anything? I know I could do it again. Easily.
I don’t know why I’m angry, but I am, all the time. It’s always there, just beneath the surface. Everything makes me angry. The way my father takes forever to say or do anything. The way my mother is so hyperactive. My little brother’s bug collection. My boss. My co-workers. My friends. Everything.
Me.
I’m angry at myself, all the time. I’m angry at what I did. I’m angry that I could do it again. Sometimes I get so angry that I fly into Whitetail Wood and find this clearing and just fill it full of rocks and then spend hours, hours, just breaking the stones apart with my bare hooves, imagining that it helps, imagining that physical destruction somehow helps me and my anger issues. But it doesn’t.
There’s only one thing I know that calms me down. One thing that’s somehow able to wash away everything I feel just beneath the surface, douse out the fire and cool the embers and just expose what I think, what I hope, deep down inside, is the real me…
---
The virga – precipitation that would never actually reach the ground as it would evaporate too fast – was thick as Raindrops flew through the clouds that had gathered over the Everfree, three thousand feet in the air, wings spread wide and hooves spread out as she focused on the feelings in the sky around her: the pressure, the moisture, the wind speeds. Tingling sensations ran all along her feathers and to special sensory organs contained in the alulae of her wings and the near the frogs in her hooves, sensory organs that all pegasi possessed.
She liked what she was feeling through them as the virga ran across her coat, through her main, and soaked her feathers. Here, in the skies over the Everfree Forest, weather was allowed to run wild and free. Well, not so much allowed, as it insisted: the weather-magic of pegasus ponies was almost entirely negated by the strange, ancient magic that permeated the boughs of the forest and stretched high into its skies, higher than any pegasus pony could fly. However, the Everfree didn’t rob pegasi of their ability to sense weather and the atmosphere around them.
At length – after feeling her way through the storm and letting the virga render her completely soaked – Raindrops supposed that it was time to head back, and so started heading east, back to the edge of the Everfree Forest where Ponyville’s on-duty weather patrol had set up a cloud platform to keep an eye on the burgeoning Everfree storm. After several long minutes she dipped low, under the cumulus congesti that floated over the Everfree, and spotted the cloud platform where several pegasi were already waiting for her: Sunlight, Airheart, and Thunderlane, who had been part of this forecast patrol into the Everfree and had arrived back before her; Blue Skies, who had simply been on-duty and had organized the forecast team’s routes; Cloud Kicker, the second-in-command of Ponyville’s weather patrol and who was actually managing to look calm and collected for once. This was probably because of the last pegasus on the cloud platform: Rainbow Dash, manager of the Ponyville weather patrol and the self-proclaimed (but, Raindrops had to admit, probably correct) fastest flier in Equestria. The cyan-blue pegasus with a polychromatic mane and tail kept pacing around on the cloud, or taking to the air and flying a few loops and circles around it, or landing on it with a poomf and just lying in place, staring into the Everfree.
Raindrops, for her part, did her best to ignore her boss’ antics as she alighed on the cloud platform and shook herself dry (or at least moderately less wet), pleased that at least she was here – it was far too common an occurrence for the weather manager to flake out or put off jobs like this. A part of Raindrops wondered exactly what had dragged the Rainbow Dash from her cloud-home this morning, as it certainly wasn’t the storm building over the Everfree Forest. However, Raindrops decided that whatever it was, she liked it, as it had meant that her boss couldn’t think up an excuse to fly off when Raindrops and Blue Skies had glided on up to her, resting in the branches of an apple tree, and explained the situation with the Everfree storm.
Hence, the forecast ponies that Rainbow Dash had sent in – brave pegasi who would travel into the air over the Everfree and attempt to ascertain the nature of gathering storms, the threat they posed to Ponyville’s weather, and, in sum, how much work everypony was about to have for the next several hours.
“Finally,” Rainbow Dash said as Raindrops finished shaking herself off. “We’ve only been waiting here forever, Dropsy.”
Any other day, Raindrops would have, at the very least, shot a lethal death-glare Dash’s direction for calling her ‘Dropsy’ – a nickname she made no secret about hating. Currently, however, the jasmine-coated pegasus was soaked to the bone with rainwater, which for Raindrops translated into being basically in a good mood, good enough that all she did was flutter her wings a few times, sending some water droplets Rainbow Dash’s way.
The weather manager of Ponyville didn’t seem to notice, or care. “So?” Rainbow Dash asked, scuffing a hoof on the cloud. “Was it worth waking me up for this? I was having a great nap, you know.”
The four forecast ponies looked between each other, before Sunlight, a white stallion with a blond mane, slowly shook his head. “Well, that depends. The storm is large. Near as I can tell it stretches from one end of the Everfree to the other. And the virga is thick.”
“…but…?” Rainbow Dash asked, leaning in.
“Well, it’s not really all that much of a storm,” Airheart said, looking back at it. “I mean, it’s huge, but only in the area it’s covering. Otherwise there isn’t really thunder or lightning or even much strong winds. Just incoming praecipitatio, and not even hard.” Praecipitatio was the technical term for any kind of precipitation that actually reached the ground, as opposed to virga; in this case, it was referring to what unicorns and earth ponies would simply call ‘rain.’
“Barely worth calling cumulus congesti,” Thunderlane added, referring to the most basic kind of raincloud: tall, dark, bursting with water, but easy to make and direct and rarely having any kind of nasty surprises in the form of lightning or ice. “If we were making those for praecipitatio, you’d probably chew us out and bust us down to patrolling the Whitetail Wood.”
Rainbow Dash leaned back, sitting on her haunches with one hoof to her mouth as she considered, taking a map and planner from Cloud Kicker as she did and looking over the weather schedule for the next month.
Inwardly, Raindrops sighed as she settled down onto her stomach and turned her attention to her two front hooves. From the sound of things, she was about to have a long, boring day on the job playing what amounted to sky-janitor. The Everfree ‘storm’ would try to roll over Ponyville in the next few hours, and she, along with the rest of the on-duty weather patrol, would be stationed at the edges of the Everfree and basically spend their time bucking clouds away once they crossed out of the forest’s airspace. Wait, buck, wait, buck, wait, buck…it would be monotonous, boring, soul-draining, and that was saying something since Raindrops loved the rain, as exemplified by her cutie mark of three falling water droplets. Still, she supposed not every storm could be laden with cumulonimbi.
“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said after a moment. “Show of hooves: who wants to just let this storm do its thing?”
Raindrops looked up at that, blinking several times and ears perked up. Everypony else seemed surprised as well. “Huh?” Blue Skies asked.
“Well, look,” Rainbow Dash said, turning the weather schedule for the next month around. “We were planning on doing a big storm next week, right? Why don’t we just let this storm do its thing and then have next week’s storm be smaller? I don’t think it’s worth the effort of breaking this one up.”
“I dunno, boss,” Sunlight said, fidgeting. “A lot of ponies might have had plans today.”
“Yeah, and some of those ponies were named Rainbow Dash,” the weather patrol leader countered. “I dunno about you guys, but I don’t want to spend the next five or six hours hovering and bucking clouds that aren’t going to do anything but get a few ponies a little wet.”
“Plus it’ll make things easier down the line,” Cloud Kicker observed. “And the entire reason we have the storm scheduled next week is because the Farmer’s Union asked for more rain since the last few weeks have been too hot. Next Tuesday was the only day we could get the pony power to build up a storm that was big enough, but if we just let this thing roll over…”
“This isn’t just so that you can sleep the day away, is it?” Thunderlane asked Rainbow Dash.
She shook her head. “I’d never leave Ponyville hangin’!” she declared, though Raindrops knew from experience that this was not entirely true. “Look, like I said, show of hooves. It’s a vote, okay? Who wants to spend their day bucking away at some clouds just ‘cause a little praecipitatio that we need anyway is showing up early?” Sunlight, Thunderlane, and Blue Skies all raised their hooves. “Okay,” Rainbow Dash added, “and the ponies who actually want to do something with their day?”
She, Cloud Kicker, and Airheart raised their own hooves. Sunlight looked to Airheart like she was some kind of traitor, though the pink mare’s only response was a bright grin. “Hey, I have a date tonight,” she said.
“Three against three?” Blue Skies asked, then looked to Raindrops. “Hey, you didn’t vote.”
“Yeah, no abstaining,” Rainbow Dash added. “’Specially not since we’ve got a tie otherwise.”
Raindrops considered for a few moments, before standing on the cloud and grinning brightly, something which startled everypony else – Raindrops was not the most emotive of ponies normally, or at least didn’t show positive emotion much. “A little rain never hurt anypony,” she observed.
Thunderlane rolled his eyes. “Yeah, big surprise; it’d rain every day if you were in charge.”
Raindrops opened her mouth to object, then thought a moment before closing it and nodding fervently. The three water droplets on her flank weren’t for nothing, after all. A cutie mark wasn’t simply what you were good at, it was what made a pony happy. And Raindrops loved the rain. The smell of it, the feel of it running through her coat and along her primaries, the weight of it in her mane, the sound it made – oh the sounds it made as is struck wood or glass or stone or leaves. Running up in puddles, turning boring dirt into wet muck…
And this. This was a special treat – an uncontrolled storm. A rain shower that nopony was going to try and direct or contain or shape. It was simply going to run its course, go where it willed, wet what it wanted…maybe one rain shower in a decade was allowed such freedom. And Raindrops intended to enjoy every moment of it.
---
My little pony, My little pony
Ahh ahh ahh ahhh...
My little pony
Friendship never meant that much to me
My little pony
But you're all here and now I can see
Stormy weather; Lots to share
A musical bond; With love and care
Teaching laughter; It's an easy feat,
And magic makes it all complete!
You have my little ponies
How'd I ever make so many true friends?
---
As Raindrops flew home a few hours later, after having finished up the rest of her normal patrol shift, she kept glancing behind her, looking at the Everfree storm to make sure that it was still there, still coming. And it was, drifting east from the Everfree Forest and towards Ponyville in a slow, inexorable way. It wouldn’t be long now – fifteen minutes at most, and then the first drops of rain would begin to fall. Already, she could feel the air around her wings and hooves moistening, clamming up as if in anticipation as the storm pushed the air ahead of it forward, heralding its arrival.
She was – she was giddy with anticipation. There was absolutely nothing that could ruin her good mood right now, not with a wild, free rainstorm on its way. Some things could come close, though. Like, for example, the sight of her little brother, Snails, sitting on the roof of her home.
Raindrops blinked a few times as she landed on thatched roof herself, as quietly as possible behind him – Snails seemed to be focusing intensely on something. Leaning to the side slightly to get a better look, she saw that he was looking into an glass jar, the cover of which he had poked holes into. Inside the jar was a large insect, though one Raindrops recognized quickly as a harmless cicada. Snails’ special talent, which he had earned last year, seemed to relate to what Raindrops could only term as ‘creepy crawlies’ – he was certainly always interested in them, digging up larvae and examining them, spending hours staring at spiders spinning webs, drawing comparative pictures of the different patterns on the shells of snails, and so on.
Of course, if he wanted to study a captured cicada, there were better places to do it than the roof, especially seeing as he didn’t have wings the way Raindrops or their parents did. There was a guard rail surrounding the roof, but that didn’t change that it was dangerous.
“Hi, sis,” Snails said after a few seconds. Raindrops wasn’t surprised that her had heard her – he was fairly perceptive, and Raindrops was, to put it mildly, heavy-hooved. He looked back at her, a smile on his face. “Look at what I found!”
Raindrops trotted along the roof to join her brother, looking in at the cicada. The insect inside was crawling around, looking for a way out, but its legs couldn’t find any purchase on the smooth glass interior of the jar. Snails had a small bug collection in his room of the house – a bug collection that was, fortunately or unfortunately, subsidized by their mother, Shutterbug, a photographer by profession but also an amateur entomologist who had always encouraged Snails’ love of all things creepy and crawly. The bugs were all kept alive and well-fed, and Snails had a tendency to release them after about a week or two, anyway, in order to make room for new bugs.
“You gonna keep it?” she asked.
Snails considered his sister’s question for a long while, before shaking his head. Even as he did, he took the jar in his mouth and opened it, turning it over and pouring out the cicada. It landed on its back, but quickly righted itself, turned over, and flew off, its gossamer wings buzzing rapidly as it did so.
Raindrops and Snails watched it go, before she turned back to her little brother. “Okay, what’s wrong?” she asked.
Snails sat up, not immediately answering as he scuffed a hoof on the thatch roof beneath him. “Today in school Silver Spoon called me dumb,” he said at length.
Raindrops scowled. Her good mood wasn’t gone, now, but it was put on hold at that. “What did you do?”
“I called her dumb too.”
Raindrops suppressed the urge to compliment her brother on that. “You…should have gone to get your teacher, if she was bothering you,” she said. She felt like she was almost betraying her own foalhood when she said that – but then again, the fact that she had not been one to do that had caused her no end of grief back in Cloudsdale.
Snails looked dejected. “Silver Spoon said that she wasn’t dumb because she didn’t have a sister who hit her in the head and made her dumb – ”
“What?” Raindrops demanded, wings flaring. Good mood – gone now. Snails looked up at Raindrops’ exclamation. The pegasus retained enough presence of mind to not be focusing her glare on her little brother – instead, she was looking around Ponyville, trying to remember if she knew where Silver Spoon lived. “I can’t believe that she’d…that…she’s a…I’ve never hit you!”
Raindrops had anger problems. She knew she had anger problems. She was also unusually strong for a pegasus – indeed, she was unusually strong by earth pony standards as well. These two in combination had not always ended well in the past. More than one random stone, or innocent tree, or other harmless, inanimate object, had broken under one of her hooves as she tried to physically work out her anger on something. And she hadn’t always been the best at keeping it in private, in the gym or Whitetail Wood, where nopony would see her rage.
But she had only once struck a pony in anger, and that was years ago, back in Cloudsdale, when the pony in question had decided to spend a day tormenting her about her unusually slow, clumsy flying abilities – and to this day walked with a limp in his right hind leg.
Raindrops hated herself for that. She always would. In an instant she had gone from being a clumsy flier in school with a few acquaintances – not even real friends – to being pegasus non grata, to be avoided at all costs lest she flip out again and cripple somepony again. Even switching schools hadn’t helped at all; her reputation had followed her. Only after Snails had been born – a unicorn, not a pegasus, and so incapable of living in Cloudsdale – and her family had moved to Ponyville, had she at last finally escaped what she had done.
Snails was watching Raindrops closely. “I told Silver Spoon that,” he said, “but she just said that you hit me in the head so hard that I don’t remember, then I said that all you’ve ever given me was noogies, and she said that that was how I got brain-damaged.”
Raindrops’ right eye twitched, and she had to struggle to remind herself that Silver Spoon was a little, spoiled rotten filly who, while probably deserving of her anger, did not deserve to have Raindrops burst in on her home and shout at her. “You are not brain damaged,” she insisted.
“I am dumb, though…”
“You’re…you take a little longer to figure things out,” Raindrops said. “That doesn’t make you dumb. A dumb pony wouldn’t know about thoraxes and…um, elly-tones…”
“Elytron,” Snails said. “Um…elytra for more than one…” He smiled a little as he said that, though it dropped quickly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not dumb…nopony cares about bugs other than mom and Snips, and mom just likes to take pictures of them, and Snips just likes to look at them…”
Raindrops stared at her little brother. “You’re not dumb,” she insisted. “I promise you, Snails. You’re not. Silver Spoon is just trying to make you feel bad.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s a b…not a very nice pony,” Raindrops responded, catching herself before she could say a bad word around her foal-aged brother. “You see things a little differently, take a little longer, but that does not make you dumb. Okay?”
Snails considered Raindrops’ encouragement for several moments before nodding slowly. Even as he did, Raindrops’ ears twitched, as she heard the first drops of praecipitatio – rain, in this case – begin to fall. On particular drop, a fairly large one, landed right on her snout, splashing her eyes a little. She smiled widely, looking to Snails. “It’s gonna rain,” she told him. “You better get back inside.”
Snails nodded, not asking if Raindrops would be coming in as well – she never came in during the rain. Before heading downstairs through the trap door built into their home’s roof, though, he took a few steps forward and nuzzled Raindrops. “Thanks, sis,” he said.
Raindrops couldn’t help but smile, as she used a hoof to squeeze him close. “No problem,” she assured him.
---
Raindrops had been hoping to grab a quick bite to eat before the rain began, but her talk with Snails had taken up too much time. Not that she regretted it in the slightest, and besides, that would just make dinner, when she finally got around to it, all the more satisfying.
She flew from her house, and from the center of Ponyville, for that matter, towards the fields that surrounded the (admittedly large) farming community. At a guess, when she at last settled down, on a rock in the middle of a wheat field, she was probably on the property of Sweet Apple Acres. The Apples made their fortune with their namesake product, of course, but they were wealthy enough, and savvy enough, to know better than to rely on a single crop. Then again, they were also wealthy enough to afford to move any rocks, no matter how big, that sat in the middle of their fields, so she supposed that the rock she had alighted upon was probably proof that this wasn’t an Apple family field.
It didn’t much matter to Raindrops, though. It was quiet, it was out of the way, and there was nopony around to watch as she spread her wings wide, staring up at the sky as the thick, gray cumulus congesti began to float overhead in earnest, and burst open.
One drop, then two. Three. Four. For a moment, Raindrops deluded herself into thinking that she could count all the drops that would fall on her – but then five and six and seven all touched down at nearly the same time, and eight, or maybe nine, splashed right into her eye, distracting her for a moment, and she lost count as the cumulus congesti simply burst open.
Raindrops allowed herself a full, bright smile as the rain came falling down onto her, cupping her wings so that rain would soak her thoroughly. Even as most of the drops of water became lost in the general storm, she could feel a few trickling down her primaries, down the length of her wings, getting under her feathers. Her wings were angled in such a way that soon streams of water were flowing along them, getting under all her feathers before finally leaving her wings, flowing down her barrel and her flanks before joining in a sluice that was running down the rock.
The rain flowed across her face, too, down along her snout and under her eyes, across her scalp and through her mane, or down under her jaw and along her throat and chest as she continued to stare up and just watch the water fall all around her. Her ears were perked, as she listened to the white noise all around her, the rain catching on sheaves of wheat, or hitting the dirt below, or the rock underneath her, or just her.
She stood slowly, beating her wings a few times, sending the water off of them and in every direction, only to cup her wings and get them as soaked as possible, just to repeat the process again, and then a third time. On the fourth try, she instead angled her wings over her so that the rain would flow from her extended primaries down to her alulae, and then off of them and, in small but constant streams, into her open, waiting mouth.
It probably looked utterly ridiculous, if anypony had seen her, and she was grateful that nopony could – she felt no need to have to explain anything she chose to do right now to somepony. The rain flowing across her feathers and her coat, soaking her skin concealed beneath both, felt like it was stripping away everything – her exasperation at her boss, her desire to find Silver Spoon and teach her a lesson in manners. Her concern for her brother was washed away, too, along with everything else. The rain didn’t distinguish between her loves and hates, her good side and bad sides. The runoff that flowed from her and onto the rock, gathering in puddles and soaking into the earth underneath Raindrops, was made from equal parts water, hopes, and fears. At length, it even took away the heat in her chest, at the back of her throat and the base of her skull, the tension in her muscles, always pulled taut, always ready to snap and spring and shout and shove and hurt…
…the rain washed over her, and soon all that was left was just her. Just Raindrops, a young pegasus mare staring at the sky in wonder. Water could fall, would fall, inevitably found its way to the ground and the muck and the oceans…but it could rise, too. It could soar through the sky…
She laughed. The laugh came from nowhere and returned just as quickly, but the smile that it brought with it remained. She shook her mane, sending water droplets flying everywhere, and looked to the rock beneath her. It’s top had a kind of bowl in it, a hollow where rain water was gathering. Raindrops put her hoof in it, swirled the water around, withdrew, then stomped, sending the water flying.
She laughed again. She pranced in place, hooves landing on rock with no intention of breaking it, instead simply to hear the sound of her wet hooves striking wet stone, simply to see the water flow and splash as she did so.
At length, she beat her wings, this time taking to the air. The rain water that was soaking her through didn’t seem to weigh her down at all as she flew. If anything, she felt lighter when soaked. Everything that had been weighing her down had flowed off of her and run into the earth. Sure, the water should have made her heavier, but compared to the burdens she normally carried…
The song came from the same place as her laugh, but it stuck around longer. Music was something that came naturally to many ponies at many points in their lives, but it had rarely visited Raindrops. Still, she was a pony, at the end of the day – and if now was the right time for music, she was going to indulge it.
“And I tried to keep it all in
“Never show the blazing rage I was in
“If I hurt somepony when I didn’t mean to,
“I didn’t know what I was gonna do,”
“Then the rain would come pouring down
“And wash away any lingering frown
“Douse the fire in my heart that was tearing me apart
“And it gave me the words to this song:”
Raindrops soared through the sky, twisting, turning, sending rain in every direction as she flew. She laughed between verses as she flew upside down beneath the cumulus congesti, tapping her hooves against it. This would send water flowing out in great streams that soaked her thoroughly, which was exactly what she was hoping for.
She didn’t just fly, though. As she soared, she spotted puddles, and would let herself fall from the sky and into them, sending water everywhere. Completely unaware of the world around her, Raindrops would roll over in the puddles, wings and legs flailing as she soaked herself completely. She would be covered in mud within moments, of course, but then she would take to the sky again, crash through some clouds and soak herself, getting the mud off of her and sending it back to the earth.
It was glorious.
“Though I’ve bungled all my bangles,
“Left my life twisted and mangled,
“The rain helps me to untangle
“All the things that trouble me!”
“Sure my temper’s always rising,
“Sure they find me terrifying,
“But the rain’s reenergizing
“Lifts me up and sets me free!”
“Hahahahaha!” Raindrops cried out in sheer jubilation as the song finished, performing an aileron roll as she soared through the praecipitatio-laden sky. She didn’t care that she was a slow flier; at the moment, it felt like she was going a million miles an hour. Up, down, left, right, forward and backwards, stomping in mud puddles, cleaning herself in clouds, just to fall back down and repeat the process over and over again.
What the hay, she thought. Encore.
“Though I’ve bungled all my bangles,
“Left my life twisted and mangled,
“The rain helps me to untangle
“All the things that trouble me!”
“Sure my temper’s always rising,
“Sure they find me terrifying,
“But the rain’s reenergizing
“Lifts me up and…”
Her song drifted off when she saw it: the puddle, the puddle to end all puddles. The ultimate puddle, which even from her height of five hundred feet, she could tell was perfect, the perfect blend of mud and water, the perfect depth, a nice grassy bottom…it looked like it was in somepony’s backyard, but Raindrops was sure that they wouldn’t mind if she went crashing down for a quick soak. She tucked her wings against her barrel and let herself fall to the ground.
Four hundred feet…three hundred feet…the puddle was so enticing…two hundred feet…it was six inches deep…one hundred feet, fifty…
Splash. Raindrops landed perfectly, on all four hooves, sending rain flying up in all directions, but she didn’t remain that way for long as she let herself fall onto her side, wings flapping as she splashed around in this puddle, mud soaking her, covering her in grit, or trying to, but water in the puddle would soak her through just was quickly. She covered herself in it, dunked her head in the puddle and swished her mane about, did the same with her tail, stood, and simply began prancing in place.
I love rain, she thought. I love rain, I love rain, I love rain!
"I love rain!"
“What are you doing?”
Raindrops froze at the voice. Glancing, she suddenly realized that she recognized this back yard – this house – and the blue-coated, silver-maned unicorn pony, levitating a cup of coffee in front her mouth, that the garden belonged to.
Raindrops stared at Trixie Lulamoon.
Trixie stared back, one eyebrow raised.
----
...you know what? I don't even care. It's raining. I'm soaked to the bone. I'm covered in mud. And I couldn't be happier right now. So I don't even care that Trixie just caught me splashing around like a little filly.
I've seen her drunk. So that probably makes us even. And besides which - I really do think that, when I'm like this, when the rain has soaked through my coat and my feathers and down into my skin, and my bones, and my heart, that it leaves behind nothing but the real me.
And how could I not want my friends to see that?
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Still only getting started here, but this line, this line right here, it helped me start to push through this bad spot I've suddenly found myself in.
I'm glad I managed to pull myself together enough to actually read (or even do) anything, and at the risk of putting myself out on a limb, thanks for posting this when you did. I needed this.
Yay! Happy Raindrops is best Raindrops!
Wow....what a great little story! Nice to see what makes Raindrops tick...scary as it is. Girl has issues. Like, serious issues. She's still likeable, for all her flaws.
The scene with Snails was adorable, I always felt he deserves more love. And the ending was great. I can just imagine Trixie being obnoxious about this in a future story, like she is about her misconceptions with Lyra's financial situation.
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"Future story" here being defined as "the next chapter." Each chapter in "Tales" is going to flow directly into the next, but we'll have a different "lead character" each time.
Each chapter is probably going to follow this same formula, too: start with a little first-person introspection; then get to the actual chapter; then close with some first-person resolution.
The order we're going in is also shown right on the cover, and chapter titles should be easy, too:
1. Stormy Weather
2. Makes it all Complete
3. Teaching Laughter
4. A Musical Bond
5. Lots to Share
6. With Love and Care
1104658
Glad I helped, in whatever small way that I was able to.
Broken italics tag, man. But great tale.
1104741
I fixed that...or I thought I had fixed that...the first part and last part are supposed to be all in italics.
This is really awesome. I love how well you portrayed Raindrops. Her sheer glee at the rain really comes through, and is extremely well done. The bit with Snails was neat too.
I might quibble that I don't think even Silver Spoon would be that much of a jerk, but eh. It works well in the scene.
1104763
I briefly considered Diamond Tiara, but then I remembered that the two are supposed to be a duo in making fun of foals, but Diamond Tiara always seems to be the go-to when you need a schoolyard bully.
Her song drifted off when she saw it: the perfect puddle, the puddle to end all puddles. The ultimate puddle, which even from her height of five hundred feet, she could tell was perfect, the perfect blend of mud and watter, the
Needs one less t
I love this. Finally get to see in Raindrops head, and she actually has a pretty deep and somewhat tragic character
. Makes me hope that the magic of friendship can help her to overcome the anger that tears at her life. If not all the stress will put her in an early grave...
Finished now. Had to loop around and reread a few passages for pure pleasure.
I can still remember suggesting the form must be part of Raindrops past. This surpassed all my expectations some warped mixture of pride and abject horror. I can also remember saying the latter accusation was an offense punishable by MURDER. Well, sorry to say sweet little Spoony, but it looks like your number just came up.
Raindrops is not the only one. Now where did I put those knives?
This fic, or at least this chapter is now my all time, retroactively and forevermore, favorite Lunaverse fic (maybe pony fic period). Not necessarily because of this part, but this is where I realized it to be true.
Dead serious, I love this fic. I love EVERYTHIG about this fic. I wish it could just go on and on forever. As a writer, It both inspires and shames me. As a human being, it just makes me feel almost like I was reading a reflection of myself. I've never lost it quite so bad, but that kind of always right there at the edge anger is something I'm all too personally familiar with. Rain isn't my primary relief of choice, but I'll admit that the right kind can be truly calming (I'm almost sad now that today is bright and sunny)
Again, thank you, thank you so very much.
.1104712
Hmm... looking at that chapter list, I guess I'd better hurry up and finish up the last two introductory Elements of Insantity.
1104763 1104779
I'm glad it's Silver Spoon, too many fics make Diamond Tiara out to be the only mean one of the pair. I've read my fair share of such, maybe even let it color my headcanon, but I for one am glad to see SS get her fair share of the antagonist spotlight.
Plus this way I don't have to put an abrupt and permanent end to Scootiare. Now if you'll all excuse me I've got some work to do in the basement.
This is fantastic. Raindrops has always been my favorite Lunaverse character, she always reminded me a bit of myself. Though I'm not quite as angry as she is... and I don't have a ultimate relaxation tool like she has rain.
This makes me smile.
this is so...hmm wow i cant explain how this makes me feel. its um...cute and beautifully well written?
eh whatever great chapter! 
Absolutely smashing. You've really made Raindrops a proper character!
It is good to see her happy. Thunderlane seems to be onto something, doesn't he? Could be that the fact that it doesn't rain all the time is what's got her out of sorts. Nopony can really be happy not following their talent and the dry weather only serves to perturb Dropsy.
Great story. While not much happened, I'm totally in love with the immense level of detail!
But how come Trixie's window is still in one piece?
1104779>>1104976
There's a reason that Diamond Tiara is the go-to bully, though. Watch 'Family Appreciation Day', and there are hints that Spoon hangs out with Tiara because she's desperate for her acceptance, not because she's a mean pony herself.
Of course, canon characterization isn't really binding for an alternate-universe fic, though.
1105525
Make way for Nightmare Raindrops!
Reaction to the first 1/3-1/2
Reaction to the rest:
On a very minor note...Why is CK second in command? That kind of job probably requires a back bone...Something Ck definitely doesn't have. I know it's not something that would ever be elaborated on (She is, after all, an very minor character), but... It's just kind of silly how little of a back bone she has.
nice to see her happy.
1105635
That's certainly one interpretation, but there really isn't enough tangible evidence to prove it conclusively one way or the other; as a character SS is just to underexposed. DT is undoubtedly the lead alpha bitch of their little clique, but there are plenty of instance off SS taking the initiative to tease and ridicule without any prior promoting by DT. By the time we get to Family Appreciation Day we even have the marketplace scene, where DT takes a total backseat and SS is lead antagonist.
I think the best one could say with any canon certainty is that SS MIGHT be less overtly cruel than DT, but that's still leaves her a far cry from actually being anything much resembling nice.
1105858
I like to think that sometimes SS goes a bit overboard at times because she wants DT's approval.
Well, I saw this on the front page and had nothing better to do with my waste of a life, so here goes. (Stupid Lunaverse! Every time I get out, you pull me back in!
)
One of the things I mentioned against the Lunaverse before was that, out of the entire new mane cast, Raindrops was the least differentiated from her baseline counterpart. There were differences, but they were mostly cosmetic, and her skill set was just swapping Dash's speed for strength. She never had the development others did, I had never even heard of her as a background pony, and she just struck me as "Rainbow Dash 2.0 - Now With Kung-Fu Grip." I loved Carrot Top, thought the others ranged from "okay" to "good," but Drops was always on the "meh" side of things.
This story finally fixed that. This is the first story where she really comes through as a completely independent character, with her own tragic backstory, strengths and foibles, and general attitude towards life. That last part where she's flying through the rainstorm was just beautiful. We get to see her not when she's about to beat someone to a pulp, but just as a pony having a great time with something she loves. And as someone who LOVES rain, this scene just filled me to the brim with pure, unadulterated joy. I even liked Trixie showing up at the end to totally kill the mood. Yep, that's what she's best at.
The song...well, so far I haven't exactly been super-captivated by the musical numbers, but it worked nice here. The writing here is just superb. I wasn't bothered at all by Dash's behavior in her brief cameo; then again, she never really super bugged me, at least when compared to Applejack and Twilight. This is an awesome story, regardless of my distaste for this alternate continuity. Heck, perhaps the Lunaverse as a whole has turned the corner and I can actually like it like I wanted to in the beginning, before LNLD killed it for me.
...Sorta like how I tried again after "Family Matters," only for that Carrot Top/AJ story to kill it again...I really need to do what I said in the review and stop looking at these. They only end in disappointment.
Once, I told a fellow writer that characters need flaws and weaknesses - because perfect people are unrealistic and uninteresting - but you also need to make the flaws match the character, and make them matter (as opposed to making up cliche flaws that just look cool and end up having no bearing on anything). I don't think I've ever tried "has anger issues" before, but it seems a very defining trait for Raindrops. And having her faced the consequences of it... very good. Would be too easy for her to devolve into a trite bully otherwise.
Slice of life stories are always good for character deepening, since you can have them act instead of just react.
And Trixie's reaction at the end was just priceless. I assume it's a segue into her chapter, next? If I could make a suggestion, it would be interesting if the last chapter ended with a faux-segue into the first, making a loop of sorts. Just an idea.
I LOVE Raindrops and it was really great having a chapter dedicated solely to her about something is, really and truly, her and her essence and what she does and why. As someone who feels much the same in the rain / the shower, I can totally sympathize with her. Also, on a kind of random side note, I like learning all the varieties of scientific terms for precipitation and cloudcover types. :D
Wow. I had definitely wanted to read this after your original reveal, but... Wow.
I was kind of unprepared for it. Incredibly descriptive, and we finally get a much more in-depth look at the inside of Raindrops' mind. Spectacular job, and now I really want to read Trixie's chapter! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Trixie_lolface_1.png
1106126 You will NEVER ESCAPE! HAHAHAHA! Though, with writers like RDD, is that necessarily a bad thing?
1106931
Given the laundry list of problems I still have with this universe? Yeah, it's kind of a bad thing.
1106953 Problems? Of what sort?
1106957
I already did a review of the universe a while ago and...
Um...look, let's just say I have issues with some of the decisions involved in the Lunaverse and leave it at that. For now, let us just bask in the glory of a good fanfic, shall we?
1106995 Sure.
And now that I've COMPLETELY read into your original comment (on this story), I think it's mostly that you don't like the... what was it, 'Lunaverse Burn'?
But I'd still like to read your original 'Review'. Where is it located, exactly?
1106061
There's also the possibility that Silver Spoon's matured a bit from Season One to Season Two. Of course it's hard to give much proof to any theories given her utter lack of screen time this season. I can't even remember if she had any actual lines.
Mind you either way I certainly wouldn't want to make Raindrops mad. We wouldn't like her when she's mad.
Although perhaps we'll be lucky enough to see her get her hooves on a still weakened Corona. "Puny god."
1106126
At the risk of ruining it again for you, have you read "Griffin Over the Line?" It features Raindrops as a main character, albeit she spends most of the time having lost her cool or on the verge of losing her cool. I think it does a good job of getting "angry" Raindrops across. This one is more about "introspective" Raindrops and "Happy" Raindrops.
Also, do give "Helping...Hands?" a try, if for nothing else than a laugh.
And anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed this, though I'm aware that I still have five chapters in which to screw things up.
1107262
Actually, I did read "Griffon Over the Line." I even put it as one of the recommended fics in the review. But it really didn't sell Raindrops as a completely separate entity yet. She still felt like a stronger-but-slower Dash in need of some serious therapy. She is brutally honest, just like Dash. She is prone to snapping and beating things down without thinking, just like Dash. In fact, if you just swapped things around (i.e. made Raindrops Gilda's cohort and had Rainbow Dash as the story's protagonist), Dash would have most likely behaved in exactly the same way as Raindrops by that point.
Really, she needed both GOtL and this story here to really gel. Now she isn't just a few moments away from snapping somepony's neck, but instead a genuine character with strengths, flaws, desires, and everything else that makes a character great. I like her a lot more now than I did back then, is all I'm saying.
1107479
I can get that. I feel bad that it's taken me this long to get to Raindrops, but "An Early Reunion" delayed that, as I wanted to establish what Cadence is in this universe.
This was absolutely excellent, until this fic Raindrops really didn't feel like a whole character to me even with Griffin over the line, but this, the detail the characterisation the overall excellent writing, (Applause) great chapter i can't wait to see the next few.
That was incredible! I loved it! You've really captured Raindrops and you put anything I've done so far to shame!
I'm a rain nut. I love listening to rain and I love taking walks while it's raining. I have yet to throw myself into a puddle, but I can totally relate to your Raindrops. Needless to say you had my smiling through out the second half of this story. This made warm up to Raindrops, since I didn't care much for her in the previous stories. That has changed now.
Your Lunaverse continues to be amazing
1110399
I try. I don't always succeed, but I do try.
Finally got around to this and it just stopped raining outside. Heh.
This is entertaining and very relaxing to read so far, can't wait for Trixie's chapter next.
This is lovely! There's something really beautiful about seeing a character completely in her element, with something she loves being part of. I never really gave much thought to Raindrops's cutie mark before - I probably should have. She's just so relaxed and happy and carefree here, which is gorgeous.
This bothered me, though. In the show, ponies are pretty liberal with physical violence. The Crusaders got into a dustup in front of Discord's statue (possibly due to Discord's influence, we can't tell), and when Twilight was pushing Miss Smartypants on them (before she cast the Want It Need It spell). Applejack and Rainbow Dash get into a fight at the end of the Running of the Leaves. They do it even when they're not angry - Pinkie Pie bodyslams Fluttershy and Twilight into the wall at Gummy's birthday party, for example. I've always felt that social violence - teasing, bullying, shunning from the herd - are much worse sins in Equestria than physical violence. Obviously, what Raindrops did to Hoops was way over the line, and was highly unusual, but I can't help but think that she would have gotten into a fair few fights since then. Unless she's purposefully keeping herself out of fights for fear of seriously injuring somepony again, of course.
1115043
Raindrops didn't really have friends in Cloudsdale after the incident, and I can totally see her keeping herself out of fights for fear of seriously injuring someone again.
Besides, she does specify "in anger." We certainly know she's, at least, socked Trixie in the jaw.
1115641 1115043
Well, there was the incident with Gilda; that was certainly in anger. Fortunately though, it can get off with the technicality of her being a griffin, not a pony. Anyway, I can buy that she's always been careful to hold back on anger-fueled violence against other creatures, especially after hurting someone that bad. That's the kind of event that can leave some real emotional scars on both parties.
Now then though, I did sort of *imply* there had been at least a few other incidents in GOtL. Fortunately, technicality can come to the rescue again, and not just by abusing the not really a pony angle with donkeys, zebras, minotaurs, and such. She might hold back striking another creature in anger, but their property and possessions could be a whole other matter. I could see her having times when she got angry enough that she had to break something, in which case a door, a cart, or other such would be preferable to the face or limbs of the real target of her ire. Maybe even with some debris causing collateral damages (or even injuries), since I'd kind of been going for a theme of her anger all too often causing undue suffering to those that didn't deserve to get caught in the crossfire. Though of course after that first incident with Hops she might just be exceptionally hard on herself, and count even the most minor stuff as treading to close to crossing back over that line
...
*Well, or at least I'd intended to, but rereading what I actually wrote I guess it could be interpreted either way*
It's raining here - rather pleased. Excellent writing.
Gotta say, not only am I liking this story, but I'm loving your characterization of Snails and Raindrops, and of their relationship. In fact, I'm tempted to use something similar in a future story of my own... but that's complicated by the fact that I've already established Sticks, one of the two unicorn stallions that still bully Ditzy Doo, as Snails' older brother. I tried to hash out a way to integrate the two ideas into Snails, Sticks and Raindrops all being siblings, and posted about it in some detail on RPGnet (I'll just drop a link here, instead of filling up your comments section). I'd like to know what you think of it.
Also:
Was that, by any chance, a specific reference you were making? Or just independent invention?
Lastly, the in-character musical number? Explained as just a natural or cultural tendency of ponies? BUCKING. GENIUS.
Took a while but I finally found an mp3 of the gypsy bard song w/o lyrics so i can sing your lyrics and not hear the real lyrics. Also, a great chapter as well as a good look inside Raindrops head.
This was beautiful. I've enjoyed Raindrops in the Lunaverse fics before, but this is where she truly gets to shine, and to be her own pony.
And the descriptions of rain, and her palpable happiness as she lets it flow over her, as she plays with the clouds and jumps in the puddles... it makes one happy.
Happy Raindrops is good, in spite of Trixie's skills as a mood-assassin. I'm not normally big on musical numbers, but this one's pretty good. Just fits so well with her good mood. (And I like how you explain it as a cultural/natural aspect of pony psychology.) :3
Plus, as many others have said, it's good to see another side to Raindrops, not just 'Melee Pony' or 'Smut Barbarian Queen' or things like that. Raindrops has finally ascended to 'best Lunaverse pony.'
I half expected her to sing, 'Raindrops keep falling on my head', but the beat to that song doesn't cry, "How amazing it is to be alive!"
I'm gonna stand in for Relevant Metal.
\m/
I'm not even a little bit sure why this adjective is the one that feels most appropriate, but Raindrops was SO attractive in this chapter. Seriously, I don't even think that sentence is well constructed but I had to use the word "attractive" and couldn't figure out how to phrase it well.
As awesome as Badass Raindrops can be, I think this settles it: Happy Raindrops is Best Raindrops. Seriously, this whole thing was just a joy to read. You perfectly captured her love of the rain, and how much fun she had with it. Day = brightened.
Oh, and Snails is her brother! I always did like that idea. 'Entomologist' Snails, too. Nice to finally see someone use both ideas in the same fic.