Cloudy Atmosphere

Celestia’s sun rose the next morning and the group got out of bed and out the hotel quickly, thanks to Scarlet Aura.

“Alright, time to get up!” she announced.

She used her magic to levitate the still sleeping Cloudy out of his covers, only to drop him hard on the ground. The impact was more than enough to wake him up.

“OW! What the hay?” he shouted.

“It’s morning,” she replied.

Cloudy got up and stretched his wings. With a big yawn, he turned and faced back at Scarlet.

“You know, you could’ve woken me up in a more pleasant manner,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, I could’ve.” She turned and faced Little Swift, who was still cuddling with the blanket.

“You too, lazy bum, get up,” she said, but to no avail. Little Swift was sound asleep. She levitated Little Swift’s body and dropped her on the ground as well. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t budge a bit. Little Swift was always the heavy sleeper.

“Really? You should know how to wake her up by now,” said Cloudy.

He walked up and bent over to Swift’s sleeping body. He leaned his muzzle to her ear and slightly opened his mouth. At first, Scarlet thought he was going to whisper something to wake her up. Instead, he slithered his tongue into Little Swift’s ear.

"Aah!” she screamed. She flew high in shock and disgust and hit her head on the ceiling, and landed back on the ground.

She rubbed her ear while making a disgusted look.

“Gross!” she shouted, “Dammit, Cloudy, you know I hate it when you wake me up like that!”

“But it’s the only way to wake you,” he laughed.

“That’s just vulgar. But at least it works,” added Scarlet. “Now that we’re all up, we should get going.”

“Uuuuuuuuhhhhhh!” Swift moaned, “Why couldn’t we just take an afternoon train?”

“Because then we would have less time to see Gray,” answered Cloudy.

“You can sleep more on the train,” suggested Scarlet, “That is, if we make it in time. C’mon.”

The trio checked out of the hotel and made their way back to the station. There were only a few ponies waiting and the train hadn’t arrived yet. They all purchased tickets and waited on the platform.

As they were all waiting, Cloudy started to pace around losing his patience. Swift, however, had trouble staying awake and dozed off. Suddenly, Cloudy felt a hoof on his shoulder. He turned around to see a familiar face.

“Hey, it’s you again,” she greeted.

“Twilight,” Cloudy responded, “Hey.”

“Hey. Looks like we’ll be riding together after all.”

“Y-yeah,” he stuttered. Then he noticed the other five mares and baby dragon by her side. A blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, an orange earth pony with a blonde mane and tail and a cowboy hat, a white unicorn with a swirly purple mane and tail, a yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane and tail, and the same pink earth pony mare they met yesterday.

“These your friends?” he asked.

“Yeah.” One by one, each of the mares and dragon introduced themselves, until it was time for Cloudy to introduce himself and his sisters.

“So it’s Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike?” he asked, seeing if he remembered all of the names.

“That’s right,” Twilight answered.

“Alright. I’m Cloudy Crescent,” he said to them, “and this is my sister, Scarlet Aura.”

“Hey,” she greeted.

“And my other sister, Little Swift.”

They were all expecting a “hello” or “hey”, but when Cloudy looked over to see why she hasn’t responded, he wasn’t really surprised.

“Seriously?” he said. Little Swift was nearly asleep standing up with her head tilting. Scarlet gave her a nudge before she could fully fall asleep and she woke up.

“Huh, what?” she groaned. She adjusted her eyes and stared at the group. “What’s happening, is the train here yet?”

“Not yet,” Scarlet answered.

“So yeah, this is our group,” said Cloudy.

“I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you, Cloudy,” Rarity said, who was scooting in a little too closely to Cloudy while fluttering her eyes. “Twilight has told us so much about you.”

“Uhhh……” Cloudy said nervously.

“U-um, excuse me,” muttered Fluttershy.

“Yeah?”

“Um, why are your teeth so sharp?” she asked, sounding slightly afraid of them.

“Oh, I’m half bat-pony, so I have my dad’s fangs,” he answered.

“I see. I remember when I was a bat-pony.”

“What?” he asked.

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

“So, where is the train already? I’m tired of waiting,” complained Rainbow Dash.

“You and me both,” agreed Scarlet.

Just then the train to the Crystal Empire pulled into the station. Steam let out as passengers disembarked the train. As soon as it was clear, the group made their approach.

“About time!” exclaimed Cloudy.

They all began to board the train, Little Swift blinking her eyes. She let out a big yawn and opened her eyes. When she did, she caught a glimpse of both Rarity and Fluttershy walking past her.

Everything slowed for her. She could see their manes flowing with the breeze and their shining coats. Swift tried to take in as much as she could of those two, her eyes widening as much as they could. It felt like there were countless sparkles and stars floating around each of them with every step.

She breathed heavily, each gasp of air pushing against her tightening chest. She smiled as they passed.

So beautiful, she thought to herself. She sighed wistfully.

Both mares heard her exhale and turned towards her with concerned looks.

“Is there something the matter dear?” Rarity asked.

Swift was still in her trance, unable to hear a word they said.

“Hey Swift!” shouted Scarlet from a distance. Swift snapped out of her trance.

“Huh? Who, what when where huh?!?!” she panicked and shook her head.

“Those two are talking to you,” said Scarlet as she boarded the train.

Swift turned back at the two and stared with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, but what was your name again?” asked Fluttershy.

“I-I’m Little Swift,” she hesitated.

“Oh, um, is there something wrong? You looked like you were having difficulty breathing,” Fluttershy asked nervously. Swift caught herself staring again.

“Huh? No, it’s just that,” she started, her face began to turn red, redder than her coat. She also avoided eye contact in an attempt to speak clearly.

“It’s just, your manes, l-look really nice,” she muttered. She gave a nervous laugh as the two mares looked at her.

“Oh, why thank you. Your mane looks, um, very nice as well,” replied Fluttershy as she boarded the train.

“Come along now, darling. We wouldn’t want to miss our train,” said Rarity as she went on as well.

"Darling?"

“Hey, Swift! You coming?” shouted Cloudy.

“Huh? Oh yeah, coming!” She ran onto the train and gave her ticket to the waiting pony.

They all found their seats just as the train was about to pull out of the station. Cloudy and Rainbow Dash sat in one row, Twilight and Spike across from them. Rarity and Fluttershy sat together in another row, with AJ and Pinkie sitting in the seats across from them. Behind them were Scarlet, who was taking out a deck of playing cards, and Little Swift, who tried to get comfortable for her nap.

The train began to move and pretty soon, they left Ponyville. The trip took a while, though; but the group managed to kill time. AJ, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity huddled together, immersed in their discussion. Scarlet was playing a game of Solitaire. Spike, Dash, and Little Swift were all fast asleep. Cloudy leaned on the window as he looked out and watched the scenery pass by. Twilight decided that she needed to break the awkward silence.

“So…” she said.

“So.” he replied.

“How’s….life?” she asked.

“Pretty good, I guess. Just wishing that this train would go faster,” he moaned, “Seriously, it’s like this train is being tugged by an army of turtles.”

“Well, we can’t really control the speed of the train, Cloudy.”

“I know, I guess I’m just impatient.”

“You got that right,” Scarlet said from behind them.

Twilight let out a small laugh. “Seeing how we have a while, why don’t you tell me more about this friend of yours?”

“You mean Gray Diamond?”

“Is he the one you’re seeing?”

“Yeah. He’s been our friend since foalhood, and he’s usually the one to always take part in every competition or challenge. We would sometimes call him ‘Challenger’, just to annoy him. He always was a little reckless and prideful, but he did look out for us.”

“I see. What was it like?  What did you do when you were foals?”

“Well…..”

______________________________________________________________________________

Rubble Town was a small village near the border of Equestria. It was an average village, not too rich and not too poor. One thing it was known for was its half-destroyed homes and dusky sky. The houses weren’t horrible; they were fit to live in, but they lacked locked doors and windows. Home security was strict and specific. There was a school with a playground, countless shops, a crystal clear lake to swim in, and public transportation. It was the kind of town that struggled to let go of the past and embrace the present.

There was a small brown house, where a young Cloudy, Scarlet, and Swift played outside. None of them had any marks or knew how to use magic or fly just yet.

“So, what do you guys want to do today?” asked Cloudy.

“Hmmm, we could go to Old Shady’s for an ice cream cone,” suggested Swift.

“Nah, I don’t feel like ice cream today,” replied Cloudy.

“We could play a card game,” said Scarlet, holding a deck of cards.

“No way! Besides, you always win! It’s no fun that way,” Cloudy retorted.

“Not my fault you lack card skills.”

“C’mon, guys, there’s gotta be something exciting we can do. I’m so bored!”

“I have an idea,” said another voice.

They all turned and saw it was Gray Diamond. Like the rest, he was young and had no  cuite mark yet. His long black mane and tail fluttered in the breeze, and his grey fur shone in the sunlight. He pulled a wagon filled with scooters behind him.

“Gray!” they all greeted.

“Since you’re whining about doing something thrilling, I was thinking we have ourselves a good old fashioned scooter race,” he said, pointing to the scooters behind him. There were four scooters all together; a grey one for Gray, a blue one for Cloudy, a red one for Swift, and a white one for Scarlet.

“A scooter race?” asked Swift.

“Why not? After all, it’s a better than playing Capture the Flag,” said Scarlet.

“I keep telling you, I just like to test my strength and agility. For when I join the royal guard at Canterlot,” he said proudly, pounding his chest with his right hoof.

“Yeah, keep dreaming,” laughed Scarlet.

“I like it. Besides, maybe now I’ll finally have something to beat you at!” exclaimed Cloudy in excitement.

“I doubt it, Cloudy. I’m not a total wimp like you,” Gray joked.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?”

“It just means, what it means shorty.”

“That’s it! Now I’m definitely winning! Let’s do this thing already!”

He’s got a colossal amount of spirit and fury. But he’ll need a lot more than that, if he ever wants to beat me. Or if he wants to become stronger, Gray thought to himself.

The four gathered at the edge of town on their scooters, and discussed where they should finish.

“So, where should we race to?” asked Swift.

“How ‘bout back to my place?” suggested Gray.

“Yeah, whatever, let’s just get this thing started!” yelled Cloudy.

“All pumped up to lose already?” Gray teased.

“As if! You’re going down!”

“Ready….” started Scarlet. All four of them got on their scooters and prepared to ride.

“Set…” Cloudy and Swift extended their wings while Gray and Scarlet had their hooves on the ground.

“GO!”

Just like that, they all rode as fast as they could. Both Gray and Cloudy jumped ahead of the girls. Cloudy used his wings as a fan motor while Gray just used his strong legs to push him faster.

The two zipped into a nearby forest speeding by any bystanders, and nearly knocking them all over. They knew where they were going. The forest was just outside of their village, and most everyone could safely navigate through it. The four kept on riding, occasionally spotting each other riding through the trees. They rode as fast as possible, and didn’t slow, even if they were about to run into a tree. As they were riding in the forest, Gray suddenly had an idea.

“Hey, Cloudy!” he shouted.

“What?”

“You know that dangling branch with only three leaves at the end of the forest?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s our checkpoint! It’ll get us closer to my house!”

“In that case, I’ll get it before you do!”

Gray gave a small smirk as he rode on, faster and faster by the minute. Cloudy did the same, flapping his wings as fast as possible. Gray quickly spotted a log in the way. He leaned forward, looked down, and started to channel his horn. He’d been practicing a lot of magic, and he always tried new ways to test himself.

The first seven times might’ve been blunders, but I know this won’t, he thought to himself.

He concentrated all of his magic into his horn, and prepared to fire. When he was just in front of the log, he pedaled faster and shot a beam onto the ground, causing the magic to throw himself and his scooter upwards.

The force was just enough for him to fly over the log and land safely. The landing gave him enough speed for his scooter to race on its own, going as fast as the wind. Just then, he spotted something. He saw his village, and the dangling branch he was going for.

“There it is,” he said.

He leaned forward and pedaled faster, ready to grab the branch. He gave himself a small confident laugh.

“Way to lead the way!”

“Huh?”

Gray felt a slight breeze zip past him. Before he knew it, Cloudy was in front of him and was also aiming for the branch.

“You don’t mind if I steal your thunder do ya?!” he shouted.

He was only meters away from the branch and was about to grab it with his mouth. Out of nowhere, a fast blur flew by and the branch was gone.

“What?” shouted Cloudy.

They all looked ahead, and noticed that Little Swift was in front of them and had the branch with her.

“Yahoo!” she cheered, “I got it! Hahahahahahahaha!”

Both young colts were surprised that they were bested by the youngest one in the group.

“I’d keep my focus if I were you two,” laughed Scarlet as she zoomed right past them.

She’s right. The race isn’t over yet, I can still win this! Cloudy thought to himself.

As they rocketed toward town, the paths diverged, splitting left and right. The girls took the left path while the boys took the right. Each group raced neck and neck, pushing themselves faster and faster. They rode rapidly, and the sound of the wind rushing by them drowned out their own heartbeats. Cloudy flapped his wings harder and harder giving him more speed. He saw Gray’s house in the distance. He was so confident he could win.

That is, until Gray raced past him at top speed, using a strange method.

“Seriously?” shouted Cloudy.

Gray’s head was turned around, facing backwards. His head was aimed towards the ground, and he used his own beams of magic to push himself insanely fast. Once Cloudy realized what Gray was doing, it was too late. Gray had already crossed the finish line and reached his house. Cloudy grunted in defeat.

“Dammit!” he hissed to himself.

He crossed the finish line and reached Gray’s door, Little Swift and Scarlet soon followed.

“Looks like I’ve won,” boasted Gray. “Sorry shorty.”

“No fair! I want a rematch!” complained Cloudy.

There was a loud snickering heard nearby, and the group looked behind them, only disgusted to see it was the school bullies. There were three colts; the brown unicorn with the short blonde mane was Clasher, the leader. An earth pony with a really short black mane and yellow fur named Timber, and the other was a Pegasus that had green fur and a red cap, named Drift.

“Did the wimp lose again? How sad,” Clasher laughed.

Cloudy and the rest hated these colts. They made everyone in the school miserable and enjoyed doing it.

“What do you want Clasher?” asked Gray, readying himself.

“We just came by to watch the show. Doesn’t it get boring that you always defeat these losers?” he mocked, “A colt like you shouldn’t be hanging out with dweebs like them. You deserve a better group, one with acceptable and better looking friends, like us.”

“Clearly, you haven’t looked in the mirror,” remarked Scarlet, which caused her friends to laugh.

“You know, you don’t have to be here Clasher. No one really likes you anyway,” said Cloudy.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but what does the blank flank know about popularity? Haven’t you seen our marks?” Clasher pointed to his mark, which was a sledgehammer. His friends did the same, only their marks looked more like wood or nails or screws.

“Big deal, you’re talented in construction,” said Scarlet.

“Not construction, destruction,” correct Clasher.

“Whatever.”

"So anyway, you really shouldn’t be hanging out with these creeps, Gray. I mean looks at them; you’ve got four eyes, a blonde sloth, and a bat pony.”

“I keep telling you, I’m only half!” retorted Cloudy.

“Sure you are. Shouldn’t you wait ‘til night time to be awake?”

All of these remarks made Cloudy grit his teeth. He hated every word that came out of Clasher’s mouth.

“Hey, that’s enough,” warned Gray.

“I still don’t see what you’re talking about,” said Clasher.

“Will you just beat it!” shouted Cloudy.

“What are you going to do about it? It’s not like you’ll ever be strong enough to do anything. You’re so weak.”

That last comment made Cloudy snap, as he headed towards his scooter.

“Maybe you shouldn’t compete. After all, it’s obvious that you’ll never defeat Gray or anypony. You’re not capable of anything good. Just save your own breath-“

Bash!

Cloudy threw his scooter at Clasher, causing the bully to fall on the ground. He lunged at the prone colt and started throwing punches with his hooves, tears streaming down his face.

He landed on Clasher and just started punching his face repeatedly.

“I AM STRONG!” Cloudy yelled, “I’m Strong, I’m Strong, I’m Strong!”

Every time he shouted, his hoof connected with another punch. Clasher’s two friends quickly pulled Cloudy off and held him by his wings. Clasher then got up and started returning the favor, landing several punches on Cloudy.

When Crasher was about to punch again, Gray stepped in and blocked the punch. He then swung his arm towards the bully’s head and bucked him in the chest. Timber tried to throw a punch, but Gray quickly caught it, and used him as a bat to hit Drift with. Clasher got back up and lunged at Gray. When he jumped, Gray shot a beam of magic at Crasher, sending him flying.

Once he landed, Crasher and his goons got up and ran away. Gray turned around to assist the injured Cloudy. His face was bloodied and his eyes poured like waterfalls. His sisters just stood back in shock, unable to move and petrified at what just happened. Gray sat down in front of him.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked.

“H-h-h-h-he called me weak,” he muttered. “He said I couldn’t do anything. I wasn’t capable of anything. Am I weak?”

More tears started to form and fell from his face and hit the ground. Cloudy began to sob more in both defeat and regret. Gray put his right arm on his shoulder as Cloudy looked up.

“You’re not weak,” he said. “Don’t listen to those bastards. Ponies who call others weak or talentless are the weak ones. You’re tough.”

“But, look at you. You’re the strongest guy I know. Why would you say that to a weakling like me?”

“You’re not a weakling. I know you Cloudy, and I’ve seen that you’ve been improving. You have been getter stronger and stronger each day. You even managed to lose by a lot less this time.”

Cloudy let out a small chuckle and looked up at Gray again.

“The only one who thinks you’re not capable of being strong, is you.”

Cloudy sat motionless as he reflected on Gray’s words.

“Just keep exercising and think about how strong you really are. You’ll get there,” Gray said.

“Really?” asked Cloudy.

“Definitely. C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

With that, the group of friends returned to their homes. The injured Cloudy resolved that day to become as strong as his friend. Maybe even stronger.....