Chapter VII: Troubled skies
Fourteen years ago
"Leave her alone!" the cyan filly said, placing herself in between the two boys and the yellow filly.
"Ohh, what're you gonna do, Rainbow *Crash*?" The boys sneered.
"Keep makin' fun of her and find out!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"You think you're such a big shot? Why don't you prove it?" one of the boys said.
"What do you have in mind?" Rainbow asked. The boy grinned.
Thirty-five minutes later
"Uh-uhm.. Thank you…" Fluttershy mumbled, barely audible.
"Hey, no problem! You can count on me!" Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy winced.
"Th-thank you…" she whispered.
"Sorry, what? Didn't quite catch that." The speedster said.
"I… thanks…" Fluttershy mumbled, a bit louder this time.
"Don't mention it! But uh – what's your name?"
"I'm… Flut…"
"You're gonna have to speak up."
"Flut…y…"
"Come on, try again, you can do it."
"Fluttershy." The cream-coloured filly wheezed.
"Better." the cyan filly noted.
"My name's Rainbow Dash, and I'm gonna be the best flyer in all of Equestria and leader of the Wonderbolts!" she said, flying fast laps around Fluttershy.
"That's… nice." Fluttershy said, wincing again.
"Come on, you don't have to be scared of me! I just helped you out, remember? Come on, I'll buy you lunch." Rainbow Dash offered.
"We're at summer camp, the meals are free…" Fluttershy muttered. This time, Rainbow expected it.
"Well, I didn't say we'd be eating here, did I?" Rainbow Dash said, a mischievous grin on her face.
Present day
Fluttershy sat down in the sofa. She'd just gotten home from taking the boys to school, whilst Rainbow Dash was arranging some clouds for a big storm that was scheduled the next day. It had been two days since they'd gone to Twilight, and she was still resolved to have the filly. Fluttershy still agreed to go on with it as long as Rainbow did. She sighed. Rainbow had admitted the Wonderbolts wouldn't ask her to join anymore, which was a big step forward. A knock on their front door tore her away from her thoughts, and forced her back into the world. She got up, and opened the door to reveal a tired Applejack.
"Applejack! I wasn't expecting you, come in."
"Nah, that's okay. Ah'm just sayin' goodbye anyway."
"You're… saying goodbye?" Fluttershy asked, amazed. Applejack nodded.
"That's right. Ah'm leavin' Ponyville for a while, and ah don't know when ah'll be back."
"Where are you going?"
"Ah can't tell ya, sorry. Ah just know it'll be a long time, ah might not even come back at all."
"But… What about Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Carrot Bits is helpin' out, she's got nothin' else to do anyway."
"I…" Fluttershy started, but before she could go any further, Applejack interrupted her.
"Ah don't have any time left, sugarcube. Is Rainbow Dash home?"
"No, she's on weather duty at the moment – you could tell me, I'll make sure she gets the message."
"That's alright sugarcube, if ya could just give her this letter." Applejack said, digging through her saddlebags and pulling out an envelope to Rainbow Dash's name. Fluttershy took it and flew inside to put it on the table. When she came back, Applejack was already gone.
"What was that all about?" she pondered out loud.
Fluttershy awoke to an empty bed once more. She sighed and hugged Rainbow Dash's pillow, something she'd been doing far too often lately, she realised with discontent. She missed Rainbow – not the rash, uninhibited Rainbow, but the caring, loving Rainbow she'd known when they'd first started dating. She hugged the pillow harder, hoping to catch a subtle hint of her lovers' scent. Her nostrils flared when the sweet-scented aroma of Rainbow Dash invaded them.
"Oh Rainbow..." she sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"I love you."
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was out with her squad attacking a rogue storm cloud. She was the squad captain, while Iron Wings was second in command. The twins, Cloudburster and Cloudchaser were young, just out of training, but full of promise.
"Look out below!" Rainbow yelled, right before a giant lightning bolt struck a tree and set it ablaze. The fire cast dancing shadows over the Harmony Square as it consumed the tree. Ponies darted in all directions, looking for safety.
"Cloudchaser, douse that fire!" Rainbow shouted. The dark-blue Pegasus rushed down to break some of the trees' branches so the fire wouldn't jump to other trees or buildings, and then rushed off towards the fire station.
"Iron Wings, make sure there's nopony still down there! Cloudburster, help me get this thing out of here!" Iron Wings darted through the streets surrounding the square, telling anypony he saw to get inside quickly. Mere moments later, the gray-and-white Pegasus shot back up into the skies and nodded at Rainbow Dash.
"Good to go, Cap!' he shouted. Rainbow Dash nodded at him and looked at Cloudburster, who thrust his left hoof in the air twice – their unofficial let's-do-this-sign. Rainbow flew underneath the cloud and started circling top to bottom, while her pale-blue companion circled from side to side. When Iron Wings whistled one long and two short notes, they started to manoeuvre the cloud down to earth.
"Get out of there, it's gonna strike again!" Iron Wings shouted. Rainbow Dash flew up to the skies the second she could.
"Cloudburster, get out of there!"
"No can do, boss! It'd do too much damage!" Cloudburster answered, driving the cloud further down.
"You idiot, the earth will absorb the lightning, that's why we're moving it down in the first place!" Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. When Cloudburster refused to leave the cloud alone, Rainbow decided she'd get him out herself. She flew back down, and broke the first and second rule of weather control: You do not fly through storm clouds, and you do NOT fly through storm clouds. But Rainbow Dash did exactly that, reappearing unscathed on the other side. Cloudburster continued pushing the cloud further down and saw Rainbow Dash. He gave the cloud one more push and catapulted himself in her direction, sending her spinning, after which he darted off as fast as he could too.
"Cloudburster, what in the name of Celestia do you think you're –" Rainbow Dash started, but she was interrupted by the dying cries of mother nature herself. The cloud burst open, and at least six lightning bolts raced down to the ground, each leaving nothing but a charred patch of soil the size of a six-year old pony in its wake. Another bolt narrowly shot past Cloudburster and Rainbow Dash, who looked at Cloudburster in amazement.
"Thank me later, let's clear this thing first." He said. Rainbow Dash nodded, and they released what little charge the cloud had left harmlessly into the air, after which Cloudburster did his name justice and got rid of the cloud. Rainbow flew up to her squadmate.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"Don't be. You only did as you were taught. There's nothing wrong with that." He said.
"You followed the same classes, yet you knew something was wrong. Somepony could've gotten hurt, or worse." Rainbow responded.
"My name is Cloudburster for a reason, ma'am. I'm better attuned to the skies than most Pegasi, like my brother. I can't explain it, it's just a feeling I get. I trust my gut, ma'am. That's all." He explained.
"I'll file you for a promotion, or at least a raise."
"Please don't, ma'am. I'm happy in this team, and I earn enough to support my family and set a little something aside every month."
"Well, you saved my life, and probably some others along the way. The least I can do is invite you and your family over for dinner Saturday night." She said. A smile decorated Cloudchasers' face.
"I'd be happy to, ma'am."
A/N: Well, there you have it! The winner of the contest is included in this story, and his OC, Cloudchaser, is featured! Although he wished to remain anonymous, this won't be the last you've seen of him. And no, this isn't the background pony Cloudchaser.
Personally, I'm not too sure about this chapter, I feel like I missed something, but I couldn't find it, no matter how hard I tried. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it!
As for the rest of the story, I've got a couple of great ideas I think you guys are going to love. More on that later though!
As always, R&R & I'll love you forever ;)
-A.S.