Chapter 1

I had to land now; I had no choice. The wind was pushing at my body mercilessly and pulling me off course. I had to keep fighting to continue flying in the right direction and my wings were exhausted. I wasn't even sure I was still headed the right way, the rain made everything seem blurry and I only vaguely knew where Ponyville was. I could barely see my hooves stretched out in front of me. I was silently cursing myself. I was just in Cloudsdale, why in tarnation why I hadn't asked somepony what the weather schedule was? Stupid weather. I made a mental note that I would always pay attention to that sort of thing from now on. My wings were now aching unbearably. I had to find a good place to land, quick. Squinting through the downpour, I could see brown peaking between the dark green of the forest trees. A road. Thank Celestia.

I cautiously began maneuvering myself down, still fighting against the wind that was struggling to push me to the right. I was almost to the ground when a sudden strong gust threw me to the side, flinging me against a nearby tree limb. I bounced off it and landed on the road with tremendous force. I sat there, dazed, my vision blurring a bit with tears of pain. Carefully picking myself up off the ground, I limped to the semi-shelter the tree offered. Rain was still falling through the gaps between the leaves, but it wasn't so bad. At least I could see better now. I began inspecting myself for injuries. I stretched, looked at my hooves, my body, and my wings. All seemed okay. The pain in my side and wings was already fading. I breathed a sigh of relief. It could have been much worse.

I curled up underneath the tree, gazing out in front of me where the road stretched on. It crossed my mind that I could just stay here for the night, but the ground was hard and I was really hoping for a soft bed. I decided that when the rain slowed down a bit, I would continue on. The road might not lead to Ponyville, but it would lead somewhere.

My mane was already beginning to dry. I absentmindedly ran a hoof through it. I liked my mane. It was my favorite feature, the only part of me I physically liked. It was pure white, with streaks of cyan twisting through it. It had the perfect amounts of volume to it; when it wasn't damp with rainwater, of course. I wished the rest of me was pretty too. I glanced down at my body. Slate gray, but when it fully dried it would return to the light/medium gray it normally was. My eyes focused on my flank. My blank flank. I blew a sigh and looked away, back towards the road. What did I expect, to get my cutie mark flying through rainstorms?

I closed my eyes, the old familiar pain threatening to return. I was a young adult mare, most little fillies had their cutie marks. Would I ever find out who I really was, what I was meant to do? All my life I seemed to be lost. Maybe that was my special talent. Being lost. I chuckled a little.

About twenty minutes went by before I realized that the storm wasn't going to die down any time soon. On the contrary, it seemed to be gathering strength. The rain was beginning to cascade down even heavier through the partial shelter of the leaves. I gathered up my resolve and stood. Hopefully there was a town, or at least an inn, nearby.

I mentally braced myself and took off down the road. The water was cold, and lightning was flashing through the sky. If there was any thunder, I didn't hear it. The wind was howling through the trees, my blood was pumping in my ears, and the thundering of my hooves on the road was loud. My body began to ache again and it was getting hard to catch my breath. I wasn't lazy by any means, but neither was I exactly an athlete.

After about ten minutes or so I squinted my eyes. I saw right. There was a light glimmering ahead through the downpour. I smiled with relief. Probably not a town, as there wasn't that much light, but at least a house. Maybe I could at least find out if I was on the right path to Ponyville.

My sides heaving, I finally reached the path leading up to the dwelling. I slowed to a walk and began making my way to the entrance. Not really a house, but a cottage of sorts. It looked cozy even in the storm, with lots of windows. Brightly painted wooden bird houses hung everywhere, and from where I stood I could see a stream, a chicken coop, and a garden surrounding the cottage. Obviously animal friendly. I smiled a bit. I liked that in a pony; I was an animal lover myself. I decided that if I was ever able to settle down, I would want a little cottage like this one.

I reached the door. I thought that whoever owned this house, they might invite me in, and I quickly shook the water off myself. I knocked on the door and waited. There was no answer. I caught movement out of the corner of my eyes and saw somepony peeking out of the left-side window through the curtains. I smiled and waved. The big blue-green eyes grew even wider, and the pony ducked down out of sight. I waited patiently for an answer, or for the door to be opened. Nothing. Slightly annoyed, I knocked again.

"Hello!" I called. "Is anypony home?" Even though I already knew the answer, I knew it was only polite. There was still no response, even though I could hear shallow, frantic breathing behind the door. My annoyance was quickly replaced by disappointment, and the old familiar sadness. Why had I expected any different? Nopony had ever really wanted me around. Except for..no. I immediately squashed the memories that were threatening to well back up.

If it weren't for the weather I would have left then and there. But the wind was gaining strength, and I could finally hear the thunder booming in the sky. I didn't want to risk getting back in the road, and I didn't want to sleep under a tree.

"Hello?" I shouted again. "Please, if anypony's there,I think I'm lost, it's storming, and I need a place to sleep!" Still no answer. I growled a bit in frustration. "I saw you in the window!" I yelled.

This time there was a response of sorts. I heard a small squeak behind the door. But I heard nothing else. Resigning myself, I turned around. Then I caught sight of the chicken coop behind the cottage, behind a small fence. It looked small, but comfortable and dry enough. Worth a shot. "Can I at least sleep in your chicken coop, please?" I called.

I heard the squeak again. Close enough. If there were any repercussions, so be it. I needed to get out of this rain. I began to run again as thunder crashed loudly in my ears and the rain fell harder than ever. I galloped through the grass, quickly opened the gate, and rushed into the coop.

I was worried about it being too small or dirty or cold, but to my surprise it was very comfortable. There was a little lantern hanging from the ceiling. It gave off just enough light. It was warm, and the roof didn't leak at all. There was plenty of room to move around. The chickens were all sleeping peacefully in their nests. I glanced around and saw a little pallet at the back of the building. Apparently whoever owned these chickens sometimes slept in here with them. I smiled. I couldn't be mad at somepony who apparently took such good care of their animals.

I curled up on the blankets, thankful for the pallet. It wasn't exactly a warm bed, but it was close enough. I closed my weary eyes, which immediately flew open again as I felt something kick my side. I gasped in surprise and quickly drew back. I didn't see anypony standing there and looked down instead. There was a little white bunny standing on his hind legs, with his front legs perched on the edge of the blankets. There was open hostility in his little black eyes.

I cleared my throat and tried to smile. "Um..hi there, little bunny. I hope you don't mind me sleeping here for tonight." The bunny cocked his head and looked at me. The hostility was slowly leaving his eyes, but he didn't look away, and it was obvious he wasn't in the least bit afraid.

"Am I in your spot or something?" I asked. I didn't find it weird that I was talking to a rabbit. I was always speaking to animals. They didn't exactly understand me, but it was still comforting. Animals usually didn't judge, the way ponies did.

The bunny came a little closer, and he seemed to be sniffing me. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he took off and disappeared through the doorway and into the rain. I lowered my head back on the blankets again, resigning myself to a lonely night. Even though he startled me a bit, I was kind of looking forward to the bunny's company. I wasn't a very social pony, but neither did I like to be alone for long periods of time.

I closed my eyes again, hoping it was for the last time tonight. My mind began to drift and take on that strange dancing quality of half-sleep. I was imagining my mother, whom I loved dearly but had always seemed strange to me, constantly preoccupied, like she was half-dreaming herself. I knew why she was the way she was, of course. I sighed a bit. I really hoped that I would be able to find a solution in Ponyville.

I wearily opened my eyes again as a noise lifted me out of my thoughts. Probably the bunny again, although he hadn't made any noise when he came in the first time. I lifted my head, and I saw that it was the bunny, although he hadn't made the noise. He was accompanied by a slender, light yellow colored pegasus mare. Her long pink mane was soaked with rainwater. She was shaking slightly, though with the cold or with something else I couldn't tell. Her eyes were glued to the ground, and right away I could tell she was extremely nervous. She whispered something and then cringed a little as the bunny kicked her hoof. She cleared her throat and slowly brought her eyes to mine.

"Hello," I said gently. She squeaked, then mumbled something again. The bunny glared at her and she swallowed. "Um..hi," The pegasus said quietly. "Um..I'm sorry I didn't answer you before. You..startled me." "It's fine. I didn't mean to bother you. It's just, I'm lost and this storm is pretty bad," I added. "Yes, it is," the yellow pony agreed. "It's okay if you sleep in here, but Angel Bunny told me that he checked on you and you seemed very nice." "Did he now?"

"Oh yes," She said quietly. She smiled as she gently patted Angel. Her eyes softened a bit. "He's very good at knowing if a pony is nice or not. I trust him." She turned her head back to me. She was still nervous, but this time she smiled a little. "Um..I have a sofa you can sleep on in my cottage, if you think that would be a bit more comfortable. And some food, if you want.."

She squeaked a bit and backed up as I stood. She was obviously terrified of strangers. I decided I had to be a bit more gentle around her. "That would be great. Thank you so much. I'm headed towards Ponyville, is that near here?"

"Oh yes," she replied with a small smile. She seemed to be relaxing slightly. "It's not far from here at all. About a ten minute's walk." "That's great!" I said enthusiastically. "I guess I'm not too lost after all." She turned and began to make her way to the doorway. I saw her flank and noticed her cutie mark was three pink and blue butterflies. I wondered if she had noticed my blank flank and decided it didn't matter. I began to follow her. "Oh!" she gasped. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. My name's Fluttershy. What's your's?"

"Rayne Cloud. But you can just call me Rayne," I answered. Her name really suits her, I thought. "It's..it's nice to meet you, Rayne." She smiled through the curtain of her mane. "It's nice to meet you too." She walked out of the doorway and I followed her back into the rain.