Thunder pealed through the gray clouded sky, causing a small lamb to bleat in fear. The young sheep ran behind a yellow pegasus, nuzzling its gray tuft topped head into her back leg. The mare looked upon the frightened sheep with sympathy. She
“Shhh... its all right,” she cooed softly, “The storm will be over soon.”
“I sure hope you’re right, Fluttershy.”
An orange coated mare tipped her hat from over her eyes. The earth pony had hoped to sleep through the storm. Unfortunately, the flashes of lightning and rumbling of thunder kept her from a peaceful nap. Fluttershy gently stroked the head of the lamb with her hoof, hoping to soothe it.
“If only Rainbow hadn’t gone in over her head, tryin’ to make up for all the missed showers.”
“Oh, I’m sure that Rainbow Dash meant well, Applejack.” said Fluttershy, distracted by the frightened lamb. She had agreed to help nurse the lamb back to health when it became terribly ill. It had been a week since Applejack had brought it over. Fortunately, the little sheep had grown much healthier since then.
Another flash of lightning lit up the dark sky. Applejack glanced outside the window she sat next to. The rain began to come down harder; the quick pitter-patter of the raindrops against the roof of the cottage unified to become a torrential roar. She caught a glimpse of a multicolored streak diving in and out of the sea of storm clouds above. “It looks like Rainbow is tryin’ to bring the storm back under control,” she observed.
“I hope she’s being careful,” Fluttershy said in a worried tone, “She could get struck by lightning.” She knew that Rainbow Dash could easily survive a direct hit from a lightning bolt. The worst it would probably do was stun the pegasus and singe her fur a bit. However, it didn’t put her fears of the speedster getting injured to rest.
Fluttershy continued to stroke the lamb’s soft wool until it began doze off a bit. She smiled contently as she got off the couch and made her way to the kitchen. “Applejack, I’m going to make some warm milk for Cloudy so she could have a meal before she sleeps. Could you keep her calm in the mean time... um if you don’t mind.”
“No problem.”
Applejack got to her hooves and trotted over to the sleepy lamb. She put a hoof on the sheep’s back. The lamb looked up at the farmer with large, expressive, yet drowsy eyes. “Now don’t fall asleep just yet, youngin. Fluttershy’s gonna whip up a tasty meal for ya.” Cloudy bleated softly in response. She couldn’t make conversation just yet, but she could understand speech just fine.
Applejack looked back out at the downpour outside. She sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get back to Sweet Apple Acres any time soon. She hoped the patch job she gave the barn would hold up in this weather. Her thoughts of the apple orchard were suddenly interrupted as a blue blur crashed through the door of the once peaceful cottage.
“Whoa Nelly!” Applejack cried in surprise. Cloudy would have jumped out of the couch in panic if the orange mare wasn’t there to hold her still. Applejack shielded a very startled lamb from the shower of rain and splinters. Fluttershy galloped into the den with a startled look on her face. “What happened?!” She spotted her front door across the room from its normal position with a very dazed rainbow maned pegasus lying on top of it. “Rainbow Dash! are you okay?”
Rainbow stood up on unsure hooves, stubbornly refusing to fall. Her mane and fur were drenched and disheveled from the high speed flight she took in the storm. Her eyes rolled about in her head from the impact. “Must... keep... storm... under control,” she heaved in an exhausted voice. As her eyes refocused, she began to recognize the home she just crash landed in. “You can’t go back out there, sugarcube,” said a familiar voice over the sound of the storm outside and some frightened bleating, “Shhh! Its okay. Nopony gonna hurt you.” Rainbow recognized Applejack struggling to keep a ball of gray fur under control. “Let me take a look at your head,” Fluttershy said, “you might have injured it when you crashed into the door.” Rainbow Dash looked around to survey the damage. “Sorry about the door, Fluttershy,” she apologized quickly, “I promise to help fix it later, but I need to-” The roar of thunder ripped through the cottage. An already startled lamb jumped out of Applejack’s grasp and ran out the door. “Oh dear! Cloudy!” Fluttershy called after her. She galloped into the storm after the terrified sheep.
