Storm of the Century
IMPORTANT: Please note that the character 'Milky Way' in this story is NOT the Milkmare. When I use the name Milky Way, it's in reference to the white-coated, black-haired Pegasus stallion with a telescope cutie mark seen in Hurricane Fluttershy, and as Wild Flower's wingpony in Wonderbolt Academy. He's sometimes referred to as Stargazer, but the wiki lists his community-voted name as Milky Way.
Cloudchaser pulled Flitter closer to herself as their cramped sanctuary creaked under the wind’s ferocious assault. Outside, a storm was raging like nothing Ponyville had ever seen, tearing through the town like a rabid creature escaped from captivity and forcing everypony to take shelter or risk being carried away by the constant gusting. The sky was a roiling mass of ominous thunderheads, which frequently discharged their raucous payload, seeming to shake the very foundation of Equestria.
It had come from nowhere; the day had been proceeding as any other, a pleasantly warm summer afternoon, when a lone Pegasus pony had come tearing into town, exhausted, spouting off warnings of a massive thunderstorm heading towards them, ripping up everything in its path. They had taken her for a lunatic, at first, as there weren’t any storms planned for at least another week, and the weather factory very rarely made mistakes with their forecasts. Not five minutes later, however, the trees had begun to rustle, dark clouds forced their way into the sky, and thunderclaps could be heard resounding in the distance. The tempest reached Ponyville in full form, forcing the Mayor to declare an emergency situation, urging everypony to take refuge in their homes and wait for the weather to clear up.
That had been nearly two hours ago, and the force of the mighty storm hadn’t let up at all; on the contrary, it only seemed to gain power for every minute it continued to rage through the town. Cloudchaser and Flitter, who had been performing a flight exercise when the storm arrived, had barely made it indoors in time. They had practically dive-bombed into the first they house they recognized, which belonged to their mutual friend Raindrops, before the forceful winds rendered it nearly impossible to walk, let alone fly.
They hadn’t been the only ones to take shelter with her, though. Blossomforth, Silverspeed, and Milky Way had all turned to Raindrops as their storm protector, which only served to extrapolate the situation; Raindrops lived by herself in a cozy one-story, two-room little building, which could hardly accommodate six ponies. It would have to do, however, as there was no way any of them were going to brave the terrible calamity going on outside. As it was, they were beginning to wonder whether the little house could hold up to the weather. The constant creaking of its walls sent nervous chills through each of them.
“I don’t understand this,” said Cloudchaser, staring mournfully at the dismal state of Ponyville though the window, which they had attempted to board up to the best of their ability. Several small trees had come uprooted, and whacked against the buildings as they blew past. “There’s no way Cloudsdale would create something like this on purpose, especially without telling anypony.”
“Do you think there was an accident?” asked Flitter, who was shaking in Cloudchaser’s embrace. The two of them were curled up on an armchair, Cloudchaser with her front legs around Flitter, whose head rested against her partner’s chest. A brief flash of light flooded momentarily into the room, followed less than a second later by a cacophonous crack of thunder, causing Flitter to squeak with fear and bury her face deeper into Cloudchaser’s comforting arms.
“I’ve never heard of something this bad,” said Blossomforth. She was pacing nervously in the center of the room, trying desperately to calm herself down, but only succeeding in increasing the paranoia of herself and those around her. “If there was an accident, it must have been a big one.”
“Where’s the weather control team?” piped up Silverspeed, failing to mask the panic in her voice. “Where’s the emergency aid from Canterlot, where are the Wonderbolts?” Her face was slick with tears and cold sweat, matting one side of her mane against her cheek. She looked from one of her friends to the next, silently pleading for somepony to have an answer, anything that could assuage her anxiety.
Raindrops locked eyes with her, and saw her own fear mirrored in Silverspeed’s expression. Turning her head to face Milky Way, who sat beside her on her bed, she asked, “Did the Mayor send anypony for help?”, though she knew he had about as much knowledge of the situation as any of them did.
“I don’t see how she could have,” he said. “No Pegasus could possibly fly in this.” His comment only deepened the depressed atmosphere, which prompted him to follow quickly with, “Princess Celestia should be able to see what’s happening from her tower in Canterlot, though. I’m sure help is arriving as we speak.” He offered Raindrops a weak smile, which she forced herself to return, despite the knot forming in her stomach.
Her emotions seizing control of her, Silverspeed suddenly flared up in anger, pressing her face against Milky Way’s and shouting, “Well, if nopony can fly in this, then what help can they be!?” Milky Way couldn’t help recoiling under the force of her stare, which burned with a passion kindled by her own terror.
In response to Silverspeed’s outburst, Blossomforth finally ceased her pacing and collapsed weakly to the floor, as if accepting her fate. She seemed to be saying something, but with her muzzle pressed against the ground, it was impossible to tell whether she was simply blathering to herself.
Cloudchaser’s heart sank even lower as those around her descended into hysterics: Raindrops had her nose thrust against Silverspeed’s in defense of Milky Way, the two of them hurling empty remarks at each other, Blossomforth was crying out uncontrollably, and she could feel Flitter’s tears flow with increasing vigor down her front. At this rate, it wouldn’t be much longer before she, too, gave into her feelings of helplessness, at which point all would truly be lost. Mustering up what remained of her passion, she rose to her feet, startling Flitter, who barely managed to prevent herself from tumbling out of the chair.
“All right, listen up, everypony!” she said, trying to adopt the commanding tone of Spitfire she had observed during her time at the Wonderbolt Academy. They all turned to face her, surprised by her sudden outburst, forcing her to scramble to find words of inspiration. “I know things look grim, but… um…” she faltered for a moment, having acted too quickly to consider what she would say to them. “Princess Celestia would never allow any part of her kingdom to fall like this. She has access to the most powerful magic in Equestria! A natural disaster like this is nothing to her. She’ll probably clear up the sky with one wave of her horn.”
Her friends seemed to be calming down, much to Cloudchaser’s relief. Her logic was sound enough to renew their hope, though she knew that wouldn’t last long unless somepony came to assist them.
Flitter, wiping at her eyes, put her front leg over Cloudchaser’s shoulders, giving her a light squeeze. “She’s right,” she said, sniffling, “Plus, as long as we stay inside, we should be safe until help gets here.”
As soon as she said it, the house was racked by a horrible boom, accompanied by the sound of glass shattering and the ferocious winds no longer being muffled. The force of the impact knocked Flitter to the ground on top of Cloudchaser, the two of them landing with a thud at Blossomforth’s hooves. She quickly rushed to help them up, but found herself forced back by the incessant wind forcing itself into the house. Wiping rainwater and tears from her eyes, she saw that the window next to the door had been smashed to pieces, along with the boards sealing it off, by the branches of what appeared to be a full-sized tree, the trunk of which had created a deep indent in the wall. A moment later, the door flew open, its lock giving out. The torrential weather now flowed unimpeded into the tiny shelter, accompanied by a deafening racket that made it impossible to discern any attempt at speech.
Jumping to her hooves, Raindrops grabbed the bookshelf propped up against the wall, motioning for Milky Way to help her. As they began pushing it towards the hole in the wall, Silverspeed attempted to force her way through the incessant gusting to reach her collapsed friends. Each time she spread her wings, the wind caught them and carried her back, no matter how hard she tried to resist it. Folding them up in resignation, she instead began crawling slowly along the floor, making steady progress as the worst of the weather passed over her head.
Cloudchaser’s eyes fluttered open, taking in the forms of the other Pegasi gradually growing closer. Her head was spinning, but she was otherwise unharmed; Flitter, on the other hand, wasn’t rousing, no matter how hard Cloudchaser shook her. She checked her body all over, and was alarmed to see at least a dozen fragments of broken glass embedded in her friend’s back, plus several lacerations where the shards had whisked by too quickly to become stuck. Blood flowed feely from the largest of her cuts, sending Cloudchaser into a panicked frenzy.
Blossomforth could see Cloudchaser going berserk, frantically attempting to remove the fragments of window from Flitter, but with each shaky attempt to pry out a glass chunk, she only succeeded in forcing it in deeper. Before long, she had collapsed by her friend’s side, her cries inaudible over the howling winds and explosive thunder. Extending her right hoof, Blossomforth was able to just barely grasp the leg of a heavy table that was resisting the wind’s force, using it to pull herself closer to the window and her friends.
After pushing the bookcase halfway to the window, Milky Way encountered a massive resistance from the wind, muscles burning as he put every bit of power he had into moving the shelf. Raindrops looked ready to collapse; her legs slackened for a moment, and she shelf jerked backwards, the two of them barely managing to keep it from collapsing on them. This would be simple if they had a Unicorn to levitate the shelf, or at least a strong-backed Earth pony to offer their strength, but as it was, the six Pegasi were at the thunderstorm’s complete mercy.
Forcing herself forward inch by inch, Silverspeed kept her eyes locked on her target: the front door, swinging wildly on its hinges, needed to be shut if they had any hope of enduring the storm. Glancing briefly behind herself, she was relieved to notice that she had made significant progress, never imagining that crossing a living room would be a task that required her full physical ability. When her eyes darted back to the door, however, she was alarmed to see that it was rushing towards her, having ripped completely off the wall. Throwing herself to the side, the door only managed to clip her left wing before slamming onto the wall behind her. A moment later, she became aware of a terrible stinging sensation all over her right side. Checking for the source of her pain, she saw that she had thrown herself onto a pile of glass window shards, which had shredded some of her skin and clung to her like biting insects.
By the time Blossomforth reached Cloudchaser and Flitter, their situation had turned dire. Despite the fact that Flitter had begun to come around, Cloudchaser showed no sign of calming, instead whispering assurances in her best friend’s ear, their tears mixing on Flitter’s face. Blossomforth had no idea what to do; with the door completely gone, there was no way to seal the whole wall, and the bookcase pushed by Milky Way and Raindrops had begun to slide back the way it had came, the two of them too exhausted to keep it moving forward.
Enduring the weather when it was forcing itself upon them like this seemed like a long shot, especially given that it showed no signs of letting up, and two of the Pegasi were already injured. Resigning to the futility of the situation, Blossomforth simply buried her head amongst those of Flitter and Cloudchaser, ready to face whatever would come from outside.
The last thing she had expected to come flying in, however, was Rainbow Dash. Seemingly unfettered by the forceful wind, Rainbow glided though the hole where the door had been, taking notice of the six Pegasi, all of whom were stunned to see her. “Twilight!” she called behind her, “There’s still some ponies in here!”
A moment later, to their amazement, the force of the storm came to a complete stop, allowing them a moment to relax. Cloudchaser quickly attempted to stifle her tears, clutching Flitter closer to herself and inadvertently causing her to wince from her injuries. By the bookshelf, Raindrops and Milky Way dropped to their knees, panting.
The Pegasi all slowly rose to their hooves, taking stock of each other’s physical condition. A second later, Twilight Sparkle entered the building, face scrunched up from exertion and horn glowing brightly. A glance outside revealed that she was keeping the weather at bay with a large, bubble-shaped force field, which surrounded the house.
“Everypony all right?” asked Rainbow Dash, which was met with an underwhelming collective groan from the Pegasi.
“Where’s Princess Celestia?” demanded Silverspeed, tenderly plucking pieces of glass from her side. Cloudchaser quickly set to work doing the same for Flitter, to the latter’s mixed reaction, as her enthusiasm bordered on hastiness.
“I had Spike send a letter to the Princess,” said Twilight, “But so far, I haven’t gotten a reply, or anything that would suggest it reached her.”
“For all we know, Canterlot is having the same problem as us,” said Rainbow, her voice rather militaristic. “Nopony can get through the storm to reach her, and the whole thing has left us without any other means of communication.”
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems,” said Twilight, attempting to clear up the doubt that was forming on their faces, though she, herself sounded unsure of her own assertion.
“More importantly,” continued Rainbow, “There are ponies here in Ponyville that are getting destroyed by this weather, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. I don’t know where this storm came from, but if we want it to go away, it looks like we’re gonna have to do it ourselves.”
The Pegasi exchanged glances. “You want us to fly out there in this?” said Raindrops, incredulously. “That’s impossible. No Pegasus can fly in a storm this heavy.”
Rainbow lowered herself to the floor, them began to pace, looking from one distraught face to the next. “That’s not true,” she said. “You’re some of the finest Pegasi I know. I’ve worked with all of you before, and I’ve seen you handle horrible weather conditions. Like you, Cloudchaser, remember when you helped me bust up that giant tornado? That took guts, and you pulled through it!” Cloudchaser didn’t look convinced. A tornado was hardly comparable to what they were facing now.
“And Raindrops, there was the time we had to clear that mass of thunderheads. You took them on, no problem, and emerged without a scratch!” Raindrops remained doubtful saying, “That’s not even close to what’s going on out there, Rainbow Dash! If we go out there, we could get killed!”
At this, Rainbow changed her tone. “I know it’s asking a lot,” she said, “But if we don’t try to clear this up, it could mean the end of Ponyville! We can’t just sit back and do nothing while that storm rips up our home into little pieces. If there’s anything we can do to help, we need to give it our one-hundred percent, for everypony’s sake.”
This was enough, it seemed, to bring the Pegasi to action. Everypony in Ponyville was fiercely loyal to their home, and would gladly put themselves on the line to protect it. “I don’t think Flitter can fly,” said Cloudchaser, indicating the deep cuts on her friend’s back.
“I’m a little banged up, too,” said Silverspeed, suddenly realizing that her wing had gone numb where the door had collided with it.
“All right,” said Rainbow, “Blossomforth, you’ve had medical training, you stay here and look after Flitter and Silverspeed.” Blossomforth gave an affirmative nod of the head, immediately setting to work on her friends. “The rest of you, come with me. We’ve got some clouds to bust!” She bumped her hooves together, prompting the others to do the same, their morale drastically improved by the presence of who they all knew was easily the best flier in Ponyville.
Everypony, with the exception of the two injured and their caretaker, trotted outside to take a look at the situation, careful to remain within Twilight’s protective bubble. Before leaving, Cloudchaser turned to Flitter, drawing close enough that only she could hear her.
“In case I don’t come back,” she said, “I want you to know that I-” Flitter placed a silencing hoof over Cloudchaser’s mouth. “There’s no need for a goodbye,” she said. “You’re one of the best fliers I know, of course you’ll come back. I just wish I could be out there helping you.”
Cloudchaser playfully ruffled her friend’s mane. “Take it easy in here. I’ll be back before you know it.” Going to join the others, she added over her shoulder, “I’m gonna make you proud, Flitter.”
“We’ll be working in teams of two.” Rainbow Dash stood just on the edge of the force field, which was being battered by debris and the occasional lightning strike. Twilight was confident in her ability to maintain it, the only problem being that she couldn’t make it any bigger without the risk of it shattering, limiting its protective range to Raindrops’ house, plus about twenty feet in each direction. At times like this, she wished she had her brother’s talent for shielding magic.
“Cloudchaser, you’ll be flying with me. Raindrops, you’re with Milky Way.” Raindrops nodded, confident in her ability to work with the stallion who’d been her partner on plenty of occasions before.
“Twilight will be supporting us from the ground.” Turning to her friend, she added, with a coy smile, “Sorry, Twi, but I don’t think you’d be much use up there until you wings get a little stronger.”
Cloudchaser swallowed hard as she watched the shingles get torn off the roof of a neighboring house. She hadn't once, nor had she ever expected to ever, fly in conditions like this. This was the sort of stuff that made up old legends: regular Pegasus ponies who defied all odds by conquering massive natural disasters, saving their homes from certain destruction. It all felt surreal, like a nightmare... but one that could actually kill you.
She didn't have much time to focus on her doubts, though, as Rainbow Dash prepared to take off into the maelstrom. She donned her goggles, the others following suit, and crouched into a pre-flight pose. Cloudchaser, Raindrops, and Milky Way did the same, flapping their wings a few times to stretch the muscles.
"I attended the Wonderbolt Academy with each of you," said Rainbow, "And there's no doubt in my mind that you're all Wonderbolt material. We have the power to save our town, but it's gonna take all of us working together. On the count of three, we take off. One..."
Cloudchaser braced herself, breathing rapidly a few times, picturing Flitter's laughing face and thinking of how she would do anything to protect that mare.
"Two..."
Raindrops locked eyes with Milky Way, and the two exchanged a hopeful smile. There was a lot that had gone unsaid between the two, and they both hoped, more than anything else, that they would be able to confess to each other what they should have years ago, both making it their goal to emerge victorious from their endeavor so that they may do just that.
"Three!"
They were airborne in the blink of an eye, each physically bolstered by their own determination to succeed, to survive. Rainbow was the first to clear the barrier, leaving a multi-colored trail in her wake, and immediately veered off to the right, though whether intentionally or from the force of the storm, it was unclear. Raindrops and Milky Way were though next, followed shortly by Cloudchaser, experiencing a strange pressure as she passed through Twilight's protective barrier-
-and was immediately swept away by the massive winds. She flapped her wings desperately, trying to overpower this fierce abomination of weather, but only made herself spiral out of control even faster. Her vision became a blur, her hearing completely deadened by the surrounding chaos of elements. Forcing herself not to panic, she recalled a lesson from her early days of flight school about how to stay steady during a spin-out. Extending her left wing while tucking in her right one, she steadily began regaining control of her movement, suddenly believing that she could handle this storm if she just kept her head in the game.
Until her vision returned to her, that is, and revealed the fact that she was careening straight into the city hall, at far too much speed to avoid it.