Clousdale's Dark Heart

"...u..p. Wake up." a female voice faintly called out.

"W...What? Where am I? Mist asked slowly returning to consciousness.

"Hell." the voice said bluntly.

"But I'm still alive... that makes no sense."

"Trust me. You're in Hell... well the closest thing we have in the world of the living anyway."

"And that is where exactly?"

"The Rainbow Factory" she said, fear evident in her trembling voice.

I feel it necessary to wind the clocks back a bit so as to avoid any confusion. Let's try a few hours shall we? It was a typical Ponyville night, most ponies were sound asleep by now, but not Mist Chaser. No you see his job is (in case the name didn't give it away) to create and regulate foggy/misty weather. And that's where his story begins.

Mist Chaser is a pegasus with gray fur and a spiky black mane with dark blue highlights. His eyes are a deep saphire matching the mane and tail. His cutie mark is a purple kite shield with two swords behind it. On the shield is a gray cloud with a light blue lightning bolt.

"Luna has truely outdone herself." Mist thought as he finished his nightly work clearing up the fog covering Ponyville that eavening. "Now that that's taken care of..now what? Think Mist think..ugh. I work too fast." with a sigh of frustration he decided to take a short flight until a beautiful sound made his ears twitch. "Wait.. is that.. music? Meh I've got nothing better to do." with a shrug he set off to find the source of the alluring music. He reached a massive willow tree where he found two mares. One was a very bright blue/green unicorn with a white streak in her mane. She was playing the lyre with unrivaled talant. "It fits" Mist thought, "I mean her name IS Lyra Heartstrings." He glanced over at the other mare. She was a pale green pegasus with a bright yellow/ green mane and tail. "Hmm never seen her around before" Mist thought as he landed to greet the two of them. "Hi Lyra." she stopped and smiled, "please don't stop on my account" she continued playing. Mist turned to face the other mare, "I haven't seen you around before. I'm Mist Chaser. What's your name?" She gave Mist a look that sent shivers down his spine, "Name's Woodentoaster but call me Glaze."

We both sat and listened to Lyra's music for an hour or so, "So Glaze, what do you do?" Mist asked

"I'm a musician from Cloudsdale."

"What kind of music?"

"Hmm how best to describe it... well I guess you could call me a DJ. I make remixes as well as my own pieces."

"That's cool."

"So what do YOU do hmm?"

"Remember the fog that was around here?"

"Ye...Wait. Where did it go?"

"I got rid of it."

"That was you?"

"Eeyup."

"I didn't even notice it disappearing."

"It's a talent"

"Heh I bet"

"So what're you doing here in Ponyville?"

"I have a few friends here. Isn't that right Lyra?"

Lyra laughed, but didn't stop playing, "We just met, but yes. I consider you a friend.".

"I haven't been to Cloudsdale since my final flight test" Mist said feeling nostalgic.

"Really? You pass?" Glaze asked curiously.

"Obviously. Best in my  class actually" Mist said with pride.

Glaze whistled "Impressive"

"Thanks. Cloudsdale's always churning out better fliers. I haven't heard of a single failure in at least three years." Glaze smiled "I know. Isn't it great?"

"Yeah. It is."

The conversation continued on for another half-hour or so until Lyra stopped playing.

"It's kinda late isn't it?" Glaze said.

"Or early depending on how you look at it." Mist remarked.

Glaze and Lyra both laughed as they bid eachother farewell. Glaze stayed behind and turned to Mist.

"So...where DO you live?" she asked.

"Hmm.. not sure how to answer that.. I don't exactly OWN a home. I guess you could think of me as something of a nomad."

"In that case.. would you like to stay at my place in Cloudsdale?"

Mist shrugged, "Sure. I don't have anything better to do."

At that moment something hit mist up-side his head, knocking him out. Cold.