Defender

Rainbow Dash was flying above Ponyville, bucking clouds and trying to clear the skies. Her prismatic mane was stuck to her neck and face from the sheets of rain that bombarded her, but the quick buzzing of her wings ensured that her wings were not clogged by water. Her rainbow trail was bright against the almost pitch black clouds, sticking out to the ponies below as she shot past. Eyes followed her from behind windows, in the safety and warmth that their houses offered.

Rainbow grunted as she kicked another cloud, but it refused to give. Her back hooves were throbbing at this point, after an hour of trying to clear these clouds she was beginning to wonder if she even had a shot. These were Everfree Clouds, significantly more dense than the clouds the Weather Factory made and more wild. Her teeth bared and she snarled ferociously, releasing another powerful buck that only managed to send stinging pain through her hind legs. She let out a cry of frustration and whipped around, starting to beat the cloud with her forehooves.

Now under normal circumstances, Rainbow would've thought before doing this. Everfree Clouds were different from the clouds she was used to, and she knew that one wrong hit could create an explosion of lightning. But all she could feel was an intense frustration, and everything was covered with a haze of red. This storm was wreaking havoc on Ponyville, the only reason her home hadn't caught fire was because of the rain. Her hoof connected with the centre of the cloud, going right through.

And then she was screaming.

Electricity snaked up her leg and coursed through her body. Her wings locked up, and she was held up by the lightning paralyzing her form. The edges of her bright fur and the tips of her feathers were charred black and her mane darkened a few shades as the heat tore through her. Her entire body was burning, screaming in pain. She felt the electricity run out, then the cold rain slapped against her burns. She was falling and screaming, screaming and falling. She closed her wings to her sides to protect them, and covered her head with her forelegs. She curled herself into a ball, trying to protect her limbs and head from damaged.

Crash!

Rainbow Dash let out another shriek as her small body was forcefully slammed into the dirt and pain ripped up her right foreleg. She uncurled and lay on her side, gasping for breath as tears trailed down her already wet cheeks. She'd landed on her side, and her limbs had protected her right wing from damage. She couldn't say the same about that shoulder, the force of the impact seemed to have dislocated it. She quickly checked her wings, knowing beforehand that they were too burnt for flight. Without the use of her foreleg, she knew she couldn't walk, not with the way her other legs were beaten up.

Rainbow, despite knowing that she shouldn't move, forced her injured foreleg closer to her body and tried to stand up. Her legs shook violently, and a gust of wind sent her tumbling. He stopped and skidded on her back, scraping her wings before stopping entirely. She bit back a scream as she pushed herself up with her good leg. Bright specks dove through the clouds, kicking and clearing as they fought to control the storm. But they apparently hadn't seen her, or heard her over the roar of the storm.

Snap!

The mare's head snapped in the direction of the noise, and she let out a loud gasp when she saw the wind swirling around, breaking tree branches and snaring roofs in its powerful gust. Lightning flashed in the sky, and the loud booming of thunder made her press her ears flat to her skull. Her wide, magenta eyes watched as the wind caught the clouds and brought them to earth, creating a tornado.

Rainbow used her back hooves to push herself away, but it was no use. The force was whipping her mane around, and she felt herself starting to be pried from the ground. Unable to close her eyes or move away, she could only watch as her doom came closer and closer.

Flash!

A streak of what seemed to be liquid magenta suddenly appeared before her, dripping to the ground. There was a flash of purple above her head, and then two hooves connected with the barrier, holding it in place.

"T-Twilight!?"

Twilight Sparkle saw the rainbow crash into the ground through her window. Her eyes widened and she waited for the cerulean Pegasus on the ground to get back up, to do anything.

No movement.

"Spike I'll be right back!"

When the little dragon came to ask where Twilight was going, the front door was open and she was gone.

Outside, Twilight charged towards her Pegasus friend. The wind and rain tore at her coat, soaking her to the bone. Her horn came to life, magical energy surrounding it as the clouds ahead swirled. She watched Rainbow look at the tornado with wide eyes, and her eyes started to pale to a white color. She swept her head and a streak of her magic formed in the sky, before expanding to create a magical barrier.

Nothing was going to touch Rainbow Dash, not if she could help it.

Her violet wings snapped out and she leapt into the air, pumping them for all she was worth. She shot over her friend and slammed her hooves into the barrier, sending magic to her hooves to lend them strength.

The Alicorn's eyes glowed brilliant white, and her horn was sparking and cracking with powerful magic. The tornado connected with her magical barrier, and she felt it pushing against it. Her wings beat frantically as she pushed against it, then she was pushing off. Her magic alone blocked it, then she wrapped the barrier around the wind and held it in her magical aura. The magenta glow from her horn was blinding as she struggled to hold the wind, her hooves in the air as she tried to manipulate it. Tears of frustration slid down her cheeks as the rain plastered her normally styled mane to her face and shoulders, her tail stuck to her hindlegs and dripping with the heavy water.

Rainbow watched in awe as her friend controlled the powerful force. Above the roaring blood in her ears, she could hear the shrill screaming as Twilight fought for power.

Twilight tensed herself further, eyes squinting against the rain as white trails seemed to bleed from them. "Cease!" She commanded loudly, her voice booming as loud as the very thunder around them. But the tornado would not wield, and she was starting to lose power. She flared up another blast, a bright laser shooting from the tip of her horn and connecting with the barrier, adding more power.

"I. SAID. CEASE!"

White flashed from her horn, making Rainbow slam her eyes shut as light poured from the Alicorn. When it darkened behind her eyelids once more, she opened her eyes hesitantly and saw Twilight touch down again, sopping wet and gasping for breath. "T-Twilight!? When'd you learn to do that?" She demanded, feeling completely in awe at the display of power she'd just witnessed.

Twilight Sparkle turned around. "Nevermind that right now, I need to get you inside!" She lit up her horn, but it only sparked a few times before the magical aura around it popped. "Darn it!" She exclaimed, stomping her hoof. She ran up to her fallen friend and slid a wing underneath her, careful not to jostle her injured shoulder. She helped her to her hooves and allowed her to fall against her side, her support making up for her injured leg.

Rainbow let out a sharp breath as she fell against Twilight. A damp wing slid underneath her belly to hold her up, and with Twilight's help she managed to limp inside the library. She quickly figured out that Twilight had seen her through the window, but in her own haze of pain and fear she hadn't noticed the large tree structure not too far from her position. Warmth wrapped around her battered body and she let out a dreamy sigh, before her eyes closed and her legs crumpled beneath her.

Twilight groaned as she was nearly toppled over, but managed to catch herself. She slid underneath Rainbow and lifted her onto her back in one quick motion. She trotted over to the couch and gingerly rested her friend on it, resting her injured foreleg on a small stool that she pulled up. She left the room to quickly get the first aid kit, and then set to work.

The first thing the Princess took care of was Dash's dislocated shoulder. Without the use of her magic, coupled with her exhaustion from using so much power, it took a lot of effort to force the joint back into place. She was glad that Dash was unconscious for that part, she wasn't sure if she would've been able to handle it if she screamed. She bandaged the foreleg and rested it back down.

Next were the wings. Twilight took a damp cloth and started cleaning various cuts and scrapes, not liking the watery red stain that was spreading on the white surface. She did the same with the other wing, but this time she used the other side as to not get the dirt and blood into the wounds. She repeated this process with other minor injuries, and had to get a whole new cloth entirely for a deep cut on her flank. She checked he rover again for any serious injuries, and was glad to find none. "Not even a concussion. I don't know how she does it." She mused to herself, smiling softly. She bandaged her wings and pressed a bandaid against the cut on her cutie mark.

Rainbow stirred and opened her eyes. "Mmph... Twi?" She asked quietly, raising her head and blinking groggily. She was aware of dull throbbing in her wings, flank and shoulder, and her vision was a bit fuzzy, but she didn't feel like she'd collapse again. Her cheeks heated up as she realized that she'd fainted against her friend, and that she was currently lying on her couch with bandages that the Alicorn had most likely applied herself. "Um..."

Twilight waved a hoof dismissively. "Don't worry about it, I would've been more surprised if you hadn't passed out. What's going on with the weather? Shouldn't the Weather Team be controlling it?" She asked, sneaking a glance out the window at the black sky.

Rainbow pushed herself into a sitting position, tucking her bandaged foreleg to her chest. Her eyes followed Twilight's and she sighed, shaking her head. "Those are Everfree Clouds, and my guess is that they're magical. Normal clouds would've been broken up by now, even Everfree Clouds despite the fact that they're much more dense than the clouds we make back in Cloudsdale." She explained.

Twilight nodded. She trotted out of the room for a moment before returning with a fluffy white towel held in her mouth. She sat down beside the couch and started to dry Rainbow off. "I didn't know there could be magical clouds. Care to explain?" She asked.

Rainbow smiled dreamily as the towel dried her damp fur. "This is something taught to Pegasi in my department. My job is clearing the skies, I work with Cloud Kicker. Ponies like Thunderlane and Raindrops work with storms. Each department ranges from two to ten ponies, and for storms like this one we work together. There's a special department, called the Everfree Cloud Busters. Two Pegasi named April Showers and Blossomforth work there. April Showers has been out with a broken wing, so it's been up to Blossomforth to break all the clouds and - sweet Celestia Twilight this feels amazing..." She practically purred.

Twilight nodded as she started working on the prismatic mane. "I see. But that doesn't explain how clouds are magical." She replied.

"I was just getting to that. You see, deep in the Everfree Forest is a special pond. That pond has magical properties, and is known as Cloud Pond. Pegasus scientists have discovered that all Everfree Clouds come from this specific pond. You see, it is in a clearing that gets hit by just the right amount of sunlight, and these clouds tend to build up. That's where the Everfree Cloud Busters come in. They break up the clouds when they start to become a problem, but keep enough so that the forest itself doesn't dry up. But with April Showers being out, Blossomforth has had to handle it all by herself." She explained.

Twilight nodded. "Fascinating. That's why they move on their own!" She exclaimed, smiling brightly.

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the Alicorn's enthusiasm. "Well that's all fine and dandy, but Everfree Clouds are significantly more dense than Cloudsdale Clouds. The reason is the magical properties, and the fact that they're like a whole new species of cloud. April Showers and Blossomforth have incredibly powerful hooves, they're even stronger than me when it comes to this stuff! The strength in their hooves allows them to break the clouds up. But since Blossomforth has had to handle the load all by herself, she's been pushing herself too hard. You've seen the bandages on her hooves, right?" he aked.

Twilight paused her drying for a moment and thought back to the previous days and earlier today. A memory of speaking with Blossomforth came to mind, and she gasped when she remembered seeing her hooves wrapped. "Yeah, what happened?" She asked curiously.

"First I have to explain something. You Unicorns and Earth Ponies think that we Pegasi, to put it simply, buck clouds. Am I right?" A nod answered her, "Well you're wrong. We do buck them, and that works with smaller groups of clouds. But we also fly right into larger groups to break them all at once, if we have individual ones it's easier to just hit them with a good old fashioned punch and if you remember from Wonderbolt Academy, if we have to clear an entire sky we use a tornado. Using tornados is rare, because they've severely injured and killed Pegasi in the past." She continued.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "And this has to do with Blossomforth, how?" She questioned.

Rainbow looked out the window. "Because of how dense the clouds are, she's had to use all of her hooves. Because she's been staying up late and getting up early, the girl's exhausted. Because of exhaustion, she can't hit right and keeps twisting her hooves and she has to wear those bandages to stabilize herself. A few days ago she sprained her ankle real bad, so there's been nopony to do the job. We've sent Pegasi, but they don't have the powerful hooves that Blossomforth and April Showers have. So these clouds have built up, and now we're trying to calm the storm together because that's our only shot. Unleashing a tornado here would blow up all of Ponyville, and that tornado that nearly wiped us out proves that." She finished.

Twilight blink-blinked. "I never took you for a scientist, Rainbow Dash." She teased. She lifted the towel from the now dry cerulean fur, and giggled at how poofy her brightly colored mane was.

Dash rolled her eyes. "Whatever. They force you to learn this stuff in my department, in every department. Storm making and breaking is more complicated than it looks. If you hit the cloud wrong, you can go from a twisted hoof to electrocuting yourself. That's kind of how I... Um... Crashed." Her cheeks heated up.

Twilight pressed a hoof to her mouth as her eyes shimmered. "You... You were electrocuted...?" She knew about electrocution. Electrocution, depending on the amount of electricity, could severely injure or kill a pony. Pegasi were known for more resistance to lightning, but if it had been powerful enough to pitch Rainbow Dash out of the air...

Rainbow Dash suddenly found herself being wrapped in a pair of forelegs. Her cheeks flushed even deeper at the contact, but she wrapped her good foreleg around Twilight's waist and held her close. She could feel tears leaking down her back, and she pressed her nose into the navy blue mane. The scent of lilacs filled her nose and she sighed softly as Twilight cried. "It's ok... I'm still here, no need to worry..." She soothed. With a grunt of effort she moved her damaged leg to hug the Princess closer.

The fluffy strands of Rainbow's mane smelt like rain. Rain and dew and static. She breathed deeply, the thick hair tickling her nose as she inhaled the scent, as if memorizing it. She sobbed openly, not caring if Spike heard. "D-Dashie?" She asked after a moment, her voice breaking.

Rainbow looked back at the back of Twilight's head. "Yeah Twi?" She replied.

"I-I love you."

The Pegasus smiled softly and rested her chin on Twilight's shoulder, nuzzling her neck. "I love you too." She murmured softly.