Chapter 1 - Landing
The rain pounded a staccato beat against his goggles as he flew through the afternoon’s storm. It had been hot and humid the last couple days, so even though his coat and mane were thoroughly soaked, he enjoyed the relief from the stifling heat that had plagued him earlier. The young pegasus was brimming with excitement for his first big storm as a part of the Severe Weather Squad. His nerves getting the better of him, a few mid-air somersaults seemed to be the best answer to blow off some extra energy. A strong gust caught him midway through the third one, causing him to momentarily lose control. The slightly startled colt stretched out his royal blue wings and stabilized himself.
“Whoops... rookie mistakes already?” he snickered, thankful that the rest of the squad had their attention elsewhere monitoring the clouds. “Don’t want mom to be right about me hurting myself, not on the first day at least.”
Nimbus had worked for the weather division of Cloudsdale for only a half a year, but with his recent win at the Best Young Fliers’ competition last month, he had been promoted to this prestigious, if not somewhat dangerous position in Cloudsdale’s weather team. His father had been beaming with pride this morning while his mother could only work up a meek smile that barely hid her worry as they saw their son off that morning.
A flash of lighting all too close severed the colt from the memories of that morning and brought his full attention to the task at hoof as the rumbling roar shook his bones. Scanning the surrounding weather, he noticed a small rotation starting up north of his position. Though, it seemed to dissipate before he could get a good look at it. Nimbus collected himself and his thoughts as he kept his course towards the eastern edge of the storm. The rain, as heavy as it was before, began to fall with such ferocity that the young colt felt as though he was swimming through the sky.
“I don’t remember the Captain mentioning this much rain this fast...” the now-waterlogged colt muttered as a nagging feeling began to eat at him, “something's not right.”
The howling wind was making it harder to fly and he thought he heard the others yelling out. He strained himself to try to confirm what it was, but the wall of rain coupled with the ever increasing wind drowned out everything except the deep bass of thunder. Then suddenly everything stopped, as the storm seemed to take a break from the perpetual rage it had been building. The pegasus stallion was briefly thankful for the gift of sight the lack of rain provided, but the eerie silence that engulfed him was only feeding the unease that had been growing in the back of his head. The worried colt performed a midair spin to survey his surroundings in a hope to find the source of his mental assailant. Just a couple miles from him, a young earth filly ran for some non-existent cover in the large flat field. The panic that was consuming her was evident from the hysteric pace she was setting.
Tearing his eyes away to finish his survey, he felt his stomach drop to the ground, all six hundred feet. The small rotation he had noticed earlier had grown up, and did not seem happy. Nimbus watched breathlessly as a sickly green tinge mixed with the dark grey of angry clouds as blackness filled in the gaps of the spinning wall of a nightmare come for a visit. In what seemed like hours, but must have been only seconds, the monstrous mass of wind snaked downed to the ground and began to eat hungrily from the earth. The sky borne terror set its path for the earthbound filly, its howling reminiscent of a thousand bloodthirsty manticores.
The colt watching from above made straight for filly as fast as his wings could take him. He pumped the air behind him with such fury that his wings ached, fatigued already from the rough flying in the rain. Shifting his focus from his falling stamina, he quickly ran through all the options he had to save the filly now only a mile away from him.
I could carry her out of there, he thought but quickly threw that idea out, with his current condition and the speed of the tornado closing in on her that he would only get them both caught up in the tornado. Then an idea clicked in his head, it wasn’t any safer than the one he had just thrown away but at least he would be the only one he put in danger. Shifting his weight, he banked hard into his new course, directly for the tornado. The plan was simple, if he could change the air pressures around the tornado he could, in theory, change its course or even better yet it would dissipate from instability.
Easy, he mused, now only a quarter of a mile away from the spinning death staring him in the face. With a dark grin he let out a laugh, “Well they don’t call me Nimbus Buster for nothin.”
The colt, with a strong stroke of his wings, took off vertically as he climbed through the storm. The gale force winds were unforgiving as Nimbus struggled just to stay on course. Mustering up every last bit of energy, he focused it into his wings and began to fly a circular pattern just far enough away from the twister as to not get immediately sucked in, creating a small vortex of his own.
While small in comparison to the one nature had summoned, Nimbus’ cyclone was doing what he had hoped. The low pressures were pulling on each other as the air sought to balance out. Nature’s tornado was exponentially stronger than his artificial one, but as long as he was careful of his positioning, he could keep it up. Little by little, the natural disaster began to change its course slowly, agonizingly slow. The young flier grimmaced as his wings felt as though they might fall off if he kept this up any longer. Driven by exhaustion and curiosity, he chanced a quick look at his progress.
“Well horse apples,” he said with mild shock, “it actually worked.”
The tornado had made an almost ninety degree turn chasing after the pegasus’ cyclone. After a small, all too brief feeling of triumph, a chilling realization came to him. His wings were fading fast, he knew he couldn’t fly much longer and as soon as he stopped he would be swallowed by the whirling destructive force now right behind him. His mind quickly went into overdrive, frantically listing and discarding one plan after another. He never even got a chance to come up with an escape plan before
CRACK!
………
The blue colt woke up on the floor next to his bed in a tangled wad of bedding and pony, grumbling about missing his old cloud built house. He lifted himself up off the hardwood floor and rubbed the sore spot on his head, pushing back his dark blue and light grey mane that matched his tail. After tossing his blanket back onto the bed, he walked over towards his closet passing in front of the mirror in his room. He wished he hadn’t, and always wondered why he never got rid of the thing.
Staring back at him was an athletic pegasus stallion, still in his prime or, rather, would have been. His gaze drifted down his right side of his royal blue torso and he let the large scar behind his right shoulder sink in. It had been a couple years since the incident and he had finally come terms with his new life, but it didn’t make it any easier. He had lost a lot that day: his career, his dreams, and… his wing. His eyes drifted further down his side and rested on his cutie mark. He remember the day he got it and the joy it brought him but now, it seemed like nothing but a bad joke meant to torment him. A cloud with a vortex emerging from it, the irony wasn’t lost on him as he let out a dark chuckle.
Shaking his head, he took a couple steps to his closet and pulled out his jumpsuit. Normally ponies don’t wear clothes except for special occasions but Nimbus preferred people thinking he was a little off rather than pitying him. Celestia, how he hated the pity ponies threw at him, all it ever did was make him feel worse; that's why he left Cloudsdale. As soon as anypony saw him they would start with their forced compassion or whispered behind his back. It was maddening.
He slipped his jumpsuit on quickly and made his way to the kitchen, hungry now and wanting to shake the memories; a full stomach always made him feel better. Trotting up next to the refrigerator he opened the door and looked intently at the lack of food.
“Let’s see… I’ve got some lettuce, leftover soup, a tomato, and some milk.” Grabbing the milk with his fore hoof he brought it up to his nose and gave it a sniff, immediately regretting the decision.
“Bllarrrggg.... Okay, no milk,” he gagged, hastily closing the spoiled beverage and setting it on the table to throw out later. Just then, a knock at the door brought his quest for sustenance to an abrupt halt. Nimbus walked over to the door, put on his best neighborly smile, and opened it.
“Hello. Oh Ditzy, got a delivery for me?” he said recognizing the town mail pony. Nodding her head yes, Ditzy pointed a hoof towards the clipboard hanging from her mouth.
“Sigmm hewr pwease.”
Nimbus took the clipboard from her and laughed, “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to speak with your mouth full?”
“Har Har, just sign the delivery notice.” Ditzy said, trying not to laugh herself. “Anyway, why does an earth pony get so many packages from Cloudsdale?”
“Oh?..” Nimbus sighed, “Well I’ve got some family there and they like to send me stuff from time to time.” He had been getting unsettling good at telling partial truths to hide his identity from others but it was easier than sharing everything.
“Ah, I see. Sorry, I was just curious,” Ditzy apologized.
“Nah, no worries. My grandpa was an earth pony and my grandma was a pegasus, so my family is pretty evenly split between the two.” Again, more half-truths, the voice in his head chastised him.
“Well I’ve got to get going, more deliveries to make. So long.” Ditzy waved as she took off, her load considerably lighter after dropping off the large package.
Nimbus waved back and then turned his attention to the box in front of him. He sighed with a smirk on his face, oh mom... more food huh?
He knew his parents worried about him and that they wished he would have stayed with them longer but Nimbus had enough of everyone treating him like a foal. The box made a satisfying plop as Nimbus dropped it onto the kitchen table and opened it to reveal an enormous amount of oatmeal cookies and granola bars. Spying a letter tucked away in the treats, he bit onto the paper and pulled it out. As he turned it over and read it, a sad mask painted his face.
Hey Nimbi,
Nimbus was glad no one else was reading this note, he hated when his mom called him that.
I thought you might miss some of my cooking so I threw together a little care package. Everyone here misses you, so you should visit soon. If you would like we could get a sky chariot to pick you up. Anyway, I hope you’re doing well and you’re taking care of yourself.
Love,
Mom
I swear that mare knows exactly when I’m out of food. With a growl of his stomach, he tossed the letter to the side.
“Oatmeal cookies, breakfast of champions,” he snorted as he took a mouthful of cookies and began chewing happily. Realizing that maybe he had taken one too many cookies than his mouth could handle, he began to cough as he choked on the oatmeal goodness. Frantic, he looked for something to wash it down and spotting the beverage on the table, he took a big drink to clear the killer cookie stuck in his throat.
“BWAAARGGG!!” Nimbus retched as the spoiled milk made contact with his tongue. He quickly spat out the sour semi-solid liquid along with what remained of his would be assassin.
………
Nimbus made his way down the path towards Ponyville, his mouth feeling extra minty today after brushing his teeth more than a couple times trying to get that Celestia awful taste out. He wasn’t in much of a hurry, his shift at the repair shop didn’t start until 8 and, by his judgment of the sun overhead, there was plenty of time. Looking up at the sky, he noticed a multi-chromatic blur race past. Nimbus stopped and watched the cyan blue filly practicing what seemed to be a performance routine.
She is good, I’ll give her that, though she always seems to rush her technique. Not to mention a tendency to be exceptionally reckless. She should at least try a move out half speed first instead of going full tilt right off the get go. There would probably be a lot less Rainbow Dash shaped craters and holes throughout town.
As if on cue, the rainbow mane filly lost control as she tried to go from a downward spiral into an inverted loop and was hurled into a nearby lake. She skipped across the surface a couple times before her forward momentum stopped and she sunk beneath the water. Nimbus felt a twinge of worry and began to trot towards the crash zone. Before the colt could make it halfway there, a soggy rainbow mass popped out of the water as the filly pulled herself onto shore, swearing at no one in particular. When he saw that she was unhurt, Nimbus decided not to damage her pride and turned around to make his way towards work before she could notice that there had been a witness.
“That kid is just like how I use to be,” he laughed as he entered the town. Kid huh? I’m probably only a couple years older. Deciding not to be a gloomy goat today, Nimbus shook himself of his thoughts once again and opened the door to the repair shop. What greeted him was an all too familiar sight.
“What do you mean you lost all the nails?!!” Nimbus’ boss, Splint Sawhoof, bellowed at the cowering employee in front him.
“I-t--it was an accident… I was bringing in the new shipment and they... kinda fell in the well...” Caramel said meekly.
“Well if they’re in the well, go get them,” Sawhoof hissed through his clenched jaw. “NOW!” he added. Caramel winced and made his way to the door as quickly as he could, knocking into Nimbus as he scurried past.
“Morning, Mr. Sawhoof,” Nimbus said brightly, unfazed by the verbal abuse he had just walked in on.
“Oh, Nimbus. G’ morning. That damn Caramel is out to ruin me again,” Mr. Sawhoof huffed, his mood becoming considerably lighter as the source of his frustration was out of sight. “This is the third supply shipment this month and I swear if I didn’t know any better, that colt is doing it on purpose.”
“The day that pony puts together any type of plan is the day we’re all doomed,” Nimbus said jokingly. Knowing his boss was just blowing off steam, he added, “Besides, he always finds what he loses eventually.”
“Yeah, I know, but if that foal wasn’t such a good worker when he isn’t losing my property, I would have fired him long ago.” Taking a deep breath, the aging repair shop owner composed himself and switched into business mode, “Well speaking of work, I’ve got a list of things I need ya to do.”
……
It was getting late in the work day as Nimbus wiped the sweat off his brow with the sleeve of his jumpsuit. He had fixed the plow from Sweet Apple Acres before his mid-morning break and had gotten a jump on the delivery wagon from the Ponyville Post Office, though it was proving to be a bigger hassle than he first thought. The old and abused wagon had a crack in the undercarriage, and the Post Office, being as cheap as a government-funded facility tends to be, wanted to get it patched up instead of replacing it. Honestly it wasn’t very difficult, just replacing a few cross-section beams here and there along with a couple floorboards. The latch holding the door shut, on the other hoof, refused to cooperate so he had to build a whole new one from scratch. Staring intently at his creation, Nimbus inspected it for any flaws and after a thorough once-over, he screwed the new latch in place.
It was times like this he was grateful for his earth pony grandpa. He had been the one that taught Nimbus how to work with his hooves and he actually enjoyed building new things or even just tinkering with machines in general. As long as he was busy working on a problem, Nimbus’ head was calm and his worries seemed to fade away into the background noise of the workshop. Then the hair on the back of his neck began to stand on end, as if somepony was watching him. Breaking his concentration to check the room, he noticed a familiar pink filly with a darker pink, curly mane and tail. A mischievous grin covered her face while she played with a rolled up piece of paper.
“Hello, Miss Pinkie Pie,” Nimbus said grinning while he wondered what the unpredictable ball of energy before him had in store. “What can I help you with?”
“Oh silly, I told you just to call me Pinkie,” she reprimanded. “I’ve got something really superdy duperdy fun for you to make for me today!” She bounced up and down, clearing the distance between the two of them with astonishing speed.
“Well now, before you get ahead of yourself, you know my consultation fee,” the colt said with his best businesspony impersonation.
“Duh, how could I forget?!” she laughed and out of nowhere, produced a sizable platter of cupcakes and set it on the work bench. “So Nimbles, how about we talk shop?”
“I thought I told you not to call me that?” Nimbus rolled his eyes but quickly brushed it off, “So you have something for me to build? Well let’s see what you came up with now.”
Despite her seemingly air head personality, Pinkie did come up with some of the most brilliant ideas and he had a feeling that this one was going to be extra challenging judging from the amount of excitement she was radiating.
“Well, you know my friend Rainbow Dash? She’s a pegasus pony and she’s the best flier in all of Ponyville, no in all of Equestria!” Pinkie gushed animatedly. Nimbus chuckled to himself, remembering the spectacular crash he watched on his way to work this morning.
Pinkie continued, not acknowledging the colt laughing to himself, “She’s always like WOOO, WOOOO, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO as she loops through the air, going so fast like VRROOOMM!”
“Yes, Pinkie, I think you may have mentioned her before,” Nimbus stated, holding up a hoof and trying to think of a time Pinkie didn’t bring up the daredevil pony when they talked. “Besides, Ponyville isn’t that big a place and Rainbow Dash isn’t the kind of pony to go unnoticed for long.” The pink filly in front of him looked a bit dejected and seemed to deflate at being stopped mid story but she snapped herself out of it with such speed that the colt doubted he had seen anything at all.
“I guess you’re right,” she giggled. “Well anyway I was thinking, since Dash is always so busy with work for the weather team and practicing to get into the Wonderbolts, we never have enough time to hang out and I would really like to hang out with her because she is soooo cool. So a thought came to my head and I was like ‘HEY! Why don’t I fly with her?’ so I stayed up all night for the last couple days thinking of ideas until POP!” She held up the rolled up paper and shoved it into the colt’s face, “I thought of this!”
“Which is?” Nimbus inquired, leaning to the side to avoid the paper being put through his nostril.
“It’s a flying thingamabob!” Pinkie squealed, her excitement now on maximum overdrive. “If I have this, me and Dashy can fly around Equestria together! We will have so much flying all over doing tricks and hanging out! Oh! Think of all the parties we could have in the sky if I got everyone one of these!”
At her own mention of parties, Nimbus could have sworn the room began to glow a faint shade of pink as the filly in front of him bounced on all four hooves in a way that made him question if she was really a pony, well one without unicorn powers that is.
“Alright, Alright. I’ll give it a look and see what I can do. Just leave the plans on the table over there,” Nimbus motioned his hoof towards the bench where the platter of cupcakes sat, which seemed oddly emptier than the last time he checked. Looking back to Pinkie, he spotted a bit of frosting on her chin. “Now you know if you eat all of my pay, I can’t build you anything, right?”
Pinkie smiled slyly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But, I just remembered I have a party to throw for somepony! So I’ll see you later!” With that, the pink mass of joy bounded out the door.
“Right… Party for somepony huh?” he scoffed. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her, it was more than likely true, but sometimes the timing was too good for a mere coincidence. Well with mom’s care package and Pinkie’s cupcakes, I won’t be going hungry anytime soon.
“You’re not taking side jobs while still on the clock are you?” came the gruff voice of Sawhoof from behind.
Nimbus turned to face the old stallion with his most innocent face on. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Pinkie only stopped by to drop off my dinner.”
“S’that so,” balked Sawhoof. “How’s that wagon from the Post Office coming along?”
“Almost done boss. I just have to grease the wheels and she’ll be ready to go.”
“So you’re telling me you need more things to do, is that it?” a dangerous edge worked its way into the old bosspony’s voice causing Nimbus to choose his next words carefully.
“Uhmm... If I said no, would you believe me?” The rapier wit of Nimbus was lost on the weathered stallion in front of him. The sweat and dirt burned the worker’s skin, but not as much as the look his employer was giving him. A fresh line of perspiration traced a path down his face and Nimbus was sure he felt it turn into steam as the Sawhoof’s glare threatened to incinerate him on the spot.
“I got the nails back boss!!” As if Celestia herself had sent the hapless stallion, Caramel burst through the doors. Completely ignorant of the atmosphere, he continued “It took forever to get them and I got stuck in the well for a bit, but I got every single one.” With a low mutter he added, “I think…“
“Well here I was beginning to think you did the merciful thing and finally quit,” Sawhoof said with a barely hidden layer of disappointment. With the tension broken and not finding anything to complain about, he turned and took look at the clock above one of the workbenches, “Well before you two put me in an early grave, why don’t we just call it a day?” With that he turned and headed for his office, shutting the door hard enough behind him to shake the thin workshop wall.
“Thanks for the save there Caramel,” Nimbus let out with the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “That old grump has been wound way too tight lately.”
“Really? I haven’t noticed,” Caramel said pensively, lifting a hoof to scratch his chin. Forgetting what he was thinking about, he continued, “You finished duct-taping that piece of junk cart back together? Splint wanted me to drop it off at the Post Office when you were done and after that I was going to head home.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just give me a second and I’ll gift wrap her nice and pretty for you,” Nimbus replied aloofly, turning to finish up his work.
“Alright, but I want a big red bow this time!” Caramel added while he made his way to the supply room to drop off the semi soggy bag of nails on his back.
With the idea of opening up his own sweet shop with the amount of free baked goods he got so often bouncing around his head, the blue and gray mane pegasus trotted his way over to the work bench to grab some grease. Sitting next to the cupcakes was the rolled up plans the party pony had left. Nimbus unfurled the paper and was surprised by the level of detail Pinkie could draw with no magic, though this was quickly overshadowed by his curiosity as he delved further into the plans. Before he could get too engrossed into Pinkie’s plans, the sharp snap of the storage room door closing signaled the sound of his coworker returning. Nimbus, remembering what he was doing, grabbed the tube of grease and went about finishing his work for the day.
……..
“Well… It’s possible. I’m going to have to make some changes to the original design, but the concept should work,” he said aloud to himself. It was late afternoon, almost sun down. Mr. Sawhoof and Caramel had long since headed home, leaving Nimbus to work late as he so often did.
“As usual she skimmed over the finer details. The airfoil of the propeller blades are all off and even if she did get off the ground, there’s no compensation for the torque produce and she’ll end up spinning like a top. Not to mention she never even thought of the gearing ratio needed to transfer the relatively slow speed of the pedals into the rotation needed to produce enough lift,” he noted. Murmuring equations and aerodynamic theories to himself as he feverishly worked out the new specifications on Pinkie’s contraption, a random thought popped into his head.
And here I thought I would never use any of that junk I learned in those advanced flight theory classes dad pushed me into. A smile worked its way across his otherwise placid face as he continued working.
A few more hours passed and the tired colt strained to see the plans in the light of the small candle next to him, its faint, flickering light only barely puncturing the dark of the room.
“I really need to talk Mr. Sawhoof into installing those electric lights…” Nimbus griped knowing full well that the old gruff would never spend a bit unless he needed too. It didn’t help much that his boss had a deep mistrust of any technology, which at times put him at ends with the evolving world around him. Deciding that it was late enough and any more strain on his eyes would only give him a headache, Nimbus began to pack away everything on the desk. He slowly sat up and after a good stretch of his back, shoved the papers he had been working on into the pockets of his jumpsuit. Then tossed the platter of cupcakes on top of his saddle bags. The young stallion yawned as he trotted towards the exit, he couldn’t help but feel unaccomplished. He had worked out many of the major flaws in the original design, except one minor, well actually, major problem.
“How am I going to get this thing to maneuver?” he groaned as he locked the shop behind him. “Pegasus use their wingtips and tails as control surfaces, but this whirly-bird,” Pinkie had never actually named it and Nimbus didn’t want to keep calling it a thingamabob, “can’t have any extra weight without the darn thing being reduced to a giant pony powered fan.” The exasperated former flier let his thoughts drift about different ways he could tackle this challenge as he made his way down the dirt path home.
Covered in grease and dirt from the day’s work, Nimbus got a whiff of himself as he got near his house.Uhhgg, I need a bath. Well maybe that’ll help with this mental block I’ve got. Opening the door to his home, Nimbus slid off his saddle bags, carefully balancing Pinkie’s cupcakes, and removed the grimy jumpsuit throwing it into the hamper next to the bathroom. He looked around his cozy home, though cramped was a better word, and sighed while making his way into the kitchen. Once inside, he devoured a few granola bars, a couple cookies, and a cupcake for dessert then headed towards the bathroom to gather his things to go wash himself.
The small house had one bathroom but no bathtub, only a sink and a toilet, so every night Nimbus had to sneak his way towards the lake, trying to avoid any pony that might be out. This wasn’t too difficult in this rural area and with his house lying far on the outskirts of town. He barely saw any pony during the day let alone in the dead of night. After he flipped his towel over his shoulder and strategically placed it to hide his scar and remaining wing, Nimbus grabbed the small basket full of cheap coat soap and mane shampoo in his mouth and made his way outside. He was glad it was still summer time since his outdoor baths were more enjoyable when the lake wasn’t frozen.
Part way through his trot down towards his favorite spot, a slight breeze picked up and blew through the night. Nimbus naturally loved the wind, as do all pegasi, but he was never more aware of it after he was permanently grounded. If he closed his eyes he could still feel the rush as though he was flying through the clouds again. Stretching out his wing, he immersed himself in the familiar sensation of the air tickling his feathers. He began to lose himself in his imagination, giving his solo wing a strong flap down. Closing his eyes, he felt the tingle at the base of his severed limb, as though it too was remembering its former glory. Though, with the good comes the bad.
Breaking his moment of nostalgia, the howling that haunts the darkest reaches mind pounced on Nimbus’ moment of weakness. Flashes of lightning painted the insides of his eyelids. Ghost like tendrils of imaginary water ran through his coat, causing him to tense and shiver. As the gust built to his apex, Nimbus snapped his wing back to his side almost fearful that he may lose it. Once the gust of wind died down, he freed himself of the memories, picked up the towel that had fallen off his back, and covered his secret once again.
He made it to the secluded lake shore without any more delays and, after a quick look around, he pulled his towel off and waded into the dark water of the lake. The blue color of his coat blended well into the water at night so he never worried if ponies might wander through when he bathed. Even if they did notice him, he doubted they would be able to see his body as long as he kept it submerged. Though the crisp water refreshed him, it did little to calm him. The remnants of memories still rattled around his brain and doing what all pegasi do, he flew. The water ran over him as he cut his way through, washing away the dirt, oil, and weariness built up from the day. After swimming across the lake and back a few times, the young stallion turned over and watched Luna’s moon for a while, his mind now churning with ideas of how to get the whirly-bird for Pinkie Pie to steer.
Thoroughly frustrated, the pegasus began to make his way towards his belongings to grab the soap to finish his late night bathe. Once he had finished scrubbing the grease and grime off himself, Nimbus gave one last check of his surroundings and being satisfied no one was around, stepped out onto dry land to grab his towel. He gingerly dried his wing, taking care not to ruffle the feathers out of place, and then wrung out his tail and mane. Flinging the now damp towel around his back, he began to trot eagerly home and finally to bed, unaware that he had an audience of one hiding in the bushes.
……..
“La lala lala lala” Pinkie sang happily to herself as she bounced down the street. She had finished her shift at Sugar Cube Corner and was now busy saving an alien prince from his treacherous, power hungry uncle. Thoroughly lost in her own imagination, Pinkie was too busy commanding her spaceship, the HMS Surprise Battle Cruiser of the Galactic Party Empire, to notice the sun setting until a lightning bug landed on her nose.
“Oh! Hello there,” Pinkie said happily to the little bright bug tickling her muzzle. “What can I do for yo-ooo ooo AAACHOO!” she sneezed, causing the little bug to fly off. “Oh wait, come back!” Pinkie called as she resumed her bounding, chasing after the floating speck of light into the trees.
After a few minutes of playing tag with the fireflies in the clearing she had wandered into, Pinkie thought she could hear something splashing. Curiosity got the better of her and she began to creep her way towards the sounds, doing her best cat impression as she assumed her stealth mode. Inching along through the bushes she came up to the edge, laying flat as to be unseen by whatever waited ahead. Ever so quietly, she poked the tip of her face through the sticks and leaves.
Disappointment was all that she found though. It turned out that, instead of the 2 headed bear racing against a karkinos she thought was there, it was only somepony swimming laps. Well I guess a two monsters having a swimming race would have been louder and why would a karkinos be aaaalllll the way out here? Maybe there’s a monster swimming competition coming up and they were training for it? I wonder if they sell tickets. Oh if there’s tickets, maybe they sell snacks there too. I wonder what kind of snacks they would sell at a monster swim meet...
Before she could get any further in planning a pre and after party for the World Monster Swimming Championships, Pinkie noticed the splashing had stop and the pony swimming was making his way out the water. From here point of view it looked like an earth pony stallion, but she couldn’t tell who with him being so far away at night. Flashes of movement on the far side of the stallion caught Pinkie’s attention and curiosity pushed her to get a better look.
Quickly and quietly, the pink filly crept through the shrubbery, staying as well hidden as her bright pink coat would let her. She was never one for subtlety, but something was keeping her from just jumping out and at the stallion, who was now only a few feet from her. Now that she could see the earth pony, she was even more confused as she noticed both an unfamiliar cutie mark and a large ugly scar on his side. The unknown stallion in front of her grabbed the towel off the ground and Pinkie finally got a good look at his familiar face. The moment of recognition Pinkie had was wiped aside as Nimbus spread his lone left wing up to dry.
“Oh no…,” Pinkie let out uncharacteristically solemn. “Nimbles, I…” and for once Pinkie Pie’s words failed her.