When Two Clouds Meet

by Ardent Wing

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Original Character, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 11608

Join Cloudy Night and Cloud Charmer as they have adventures in a land before the land you know.

NOTE: The sequel to this story, "A circus at Cliffside" is now up on my channel.

If you liked this one, check it out.

Some years have passed since Luna and Celestia defeated Discord with the Elements of Harmony. The royal sisters have returned to their castle in a mountainous valley, and have begun their rule from there. As time passed, a settlement of ponies seeking protection from the sisters has grown in the mountains by the royal castle.

The settlement is named Cliffside, and two very special fillies are having a hard time living there.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter 1 is fully edited, tell me what you think. Chapter 2 will come in its time.

If you like the improvements, tell me what you think, I do honestly love to hear feedback, don't be put off by some appearance that I don't.

Published 2014-08-21 02:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-08-21 02:10:02 UTC

Lonely Sky

It was a moonlit night that Cloudy Night decided to sit and think upon her cloud. To anypony looking, she would seem a dark shape atop a small puff in a relatively cloudless sky. But such a thing was not likely to happen, as most ponies in the town of Cliffside could not see this edge of the mountain from their vantage point miles below.

But Cloudy could. She could see her little town, sitting upon the very edge of a cliff and surrounded by trees, she could see the dense forest stretching all the way to the horizon, and she could see the pale light of the moon reflecting on other clouds that floated with her in the starlit sky. All of this was encompassed in the colossal valley that spanned between the great mounds of rock that made up most of northern Equestria, a beautiful sight for anyone as high up as Cloudy.

It was also cold… and she was lonely.

That was all Cloudy ever felt. It was as if there was a hole in her chest, unending and unfulfilled, and no matter how she tried to fill it; neither reading, family, nor the stars and the moon weren't enough. The hole in her wanted more, constantly begging to be satisfied, to be filled with the one thing she had never had. She had always felt this way. Since her earliest memory the pain in her chest had never subsided, and it always called her back.

Finally, on a night not so long ago, the pain had taken the shape of two words, and they had tormented her ever since.

So lonely…

It wasn’t all that bad. Cloudy had a family, which is more than some others could claim. Her mother and father loved her, and that always felt good. It was just that she lacked purpose. She had knowledge, but no one to share it with. She had magic, but nopony to show it to. What was life without purpose? All she had were things, but without meaning those things became worthless.

So lonely…

Cloudy poked a floating puff of cloud with her hoof. Such a small thing, sitting away from large pillow that she was sitting on. It was a lot like herself; floating alone, right next to the crowd but never attached. She wanted to become part of the whole, but she had no connection, no life line to bind her to the rest of the world.

This was because she lacked the one thing in this world that everypony else seemed to have: a friend. Not having one was just… horrible. Many a night Cloudy would come out here to dream of friends, and what it would be like to have them. She dreamed of what it would be like to not be alone. Even surrounded by her family she was alone. It was not their fault, it was hers… it had to be. Why else did nopony even talk to her?

Even her parents could not seem to spend time with Cloudy Night. Her mother was the local librarian and was either at the library, organizing Cliffside’s large collection of the written word there, or at home, archiving and writing what historical information that she could into her own library. As for Cloudy’s father, he was a merchant, and spent most of the time selling his wares to the locals. They just... didn't have the time.

At least, that’s how she felt. In truth it was probably because she was somewhat of an introvert. She didn't put herself out enough for her to love, or for others to love her. Though it is not so hopeless as it seems, she knew that the one thing she needed was a friend, and that would make everything better. A friend would give purpose, meaning. Deep down inside, she knew that this one thing could correct her whole life.

So lonely…

Cloudy Night swayed a bit on her cloud, which forced it to drift back towards the cliff, which sat nearby. She had to make sure that she didn’t become too distracted, or she’d find herself floating a hundred miles above the forests which sat in the valleys below her town. There were other means by which she could move the cloud, but she felt much more in control by doing it this way.

Cloudy Night began to breathe heavily. It felt like she was surrounded by her loneliness, as though it had taken the form of a cramped room. She needed to escape, so she looked up at the sky.

Tonight the sky was not black, filled by blazing pinpoints of light, but blue. The stars were being overwhelmed by the brilliant light of the moon, hanging large in the sky. The light from the moon merged with the lights of the stars, creating an aura of brightness for the world. The colours of the sky mixing to create beautiful contrast in shades. Deep night blue casually became light blue and then white, then transitioned back, and so-on.

The whole sky seemed to focus on the moon, as if the whole world was anchored to Luna’s blazing light. This was beyond beautiful, it was magnificence brought into raw physicality. However, even this amazing sight had become tainted by Cloudy’s feelings.

So lonely…

What was the point of a beautiful sky if she had nopony to share the view with… there was none. What did the moon matter if nopony could see its brilliance with her?

Cloudy could not see the joy of life when there was no other set of eyes that could be there to see it with her. Her knowledge, her magic, even the world did not matter without a friend. Just one, that was all she needed! Just one friend would give everything vibrancy. A single pony could change her world, she knew it inside. If only she could know that she knew it!

So lonely…

The thought grew louder, carrying with it all of Cloudy’s weaknesses. She knew why she didn't have a friend: Because she was weak. Because crowds made her nervous! Because ponies made her nervous! Her parents weren’t too busy for her, she just ran out the door of her cottage before they could even speak to her! She didn’t interact with others! What would she even say to a friend? She would spend the whole time cowering when she could be talking! She was so pathetic!

The world was spinning around Cloudy Night. She couldn’t even hear the beat, a beat which could never be heard. A pulse that she COULD hear, but didn’t. It was feeding into her, and she was too busy attacking herself to notice.

So lonely…

The thought had formed a thundering crescendo in her mind. The thought boomed like the crash of thunder, each letter a lightning strike. The one thing in all this world that Cloudy lacked had become her greatest enemy.

Still the thought grew stronger.

So lonely… so lonely… so lonely… so lonely… So lonely… so lonely… so lonely… so lonely… So lonely… so lonely… so lonely… so lonely… So lonely… so lonely… so lonely… so lonely… So lonely… so lonely… so lonely… so lonely… SO LONELY! SO LONELY! SO-LONELY!

Why was she shouting at her? Did it matter? she probably deserved it anyway.

SO LON-

“I hear your sad song, child. It echoes throughout my nightly domain and fills me with that which could only be familiar to this ashen heart of mine.”

The voice reverberated through her mind, leaving the screeching words of her loneliness as nothing more than an echoing cry. All feelings of despair were pushed away by the pulsing that the voice seemed to leave in her head. It wasn't necessarily a soothing pulse, nor an uncomfortable one. It simply... numbed. Her heart stopped, and then started again a moment later. Cloudy Night gasped, and anxiously glanced around for the source of the voice. "W-who's there?" She waited a moment for a response, straining her ears for the slightest sound, but heard nothing.

Had she really just heard a voice? Impossible. She was alone up here, of this she was certain.

“Fear not, fret not child. I am a kindred spirit, fated to wander this world alone and forgotten. Until I heard your pain, calling to me like a melody on the wind. So here I am, to find a greater prize than I had ever imagined.”

With every word the voice spoke Cloudy contemplated less. Her tensed muscles relaxed, Her heart slowed, even a smile came across her face. Cloudy decided to lie down on a pillowy surface that had all of a sudden felt so much softer.

Why? Why did she feel so relaxed? What was that voice? She tried to ask herself these questions but every time she tried to focus it was as if her thoughts just ran from her head, leaving her alone with the voice.

Surely she could trust the voice... right?

The thought fought against its prison, why was the voice speaking to her?

“I come for all of those who linger upon the edge. The pain of the heart sings to my ears, and allows me to find those lost ones. Truly I am the queen of the lost, the forgotten… the dead.” The voice sounded bitter; angry at its loss. It had had something once, and, perhaps it could again, given time.

Of course, none of this reached exactly reached Cloudy Night. She could hear what the voice was saying, but it was like the words fled from her as soon as they reached her. She was still sitting there, trapped by the inescapable prison of the voice. Enthralled by the alluring voice much like a moth was enticed by a flickering flame, Cloudy found that she could not move. She kept trying to create some coherent thought, her mind skipping and slipping on the icy surface of the voice, as if it were falling into the domain of nothing.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of struggle, the last coherent thought fled from her mind. She merely sat there, her brain empty of everything, her life had become nothing more than a fog; capable of sense and nothing more.

She was ready.

The mysterious voice spoke again, but Cloudy could not remember what it had said. It was as if every statement slipped into her mind and was subsequently slotted away for later use. Time seemed to stretch on as the voice became a blur, the words themselves lost to her as was the rest of the world. Everything became a dark cloud of unknowable thought that drifted along on the breeze like a leaf in the fall, and she lost all notion of reality.

For a time, at least...

But just as a boat, set out on open water, one day returns to shore, so did Cloudy begin to resurface from the fog. She blinked and looked around, but the voice still weighed on her mind.

The sky was now a tansition between the purple of ending night and the orange or the rising sun in the distance. Had morning truly come? Where had the night gone? Orange light had begun to creep into her vision, and it left the pony feeling... strange.

One last time the voice entered her mind. Now it was urgent… and weak, but still held Cloudy as strongly as it had before.

"My time runs short. The sun and day now creep into the land to mark my passing. Be steadfast, child. Today will bring a friend, and with it the key to release from this cage of woe, hold fast!"

A friend? What did it mean a friend? She had no friends. Before she could ponder this statement the voice returned, only now as the soft sung words of some far greater melody. It entered Cloudy's mind again; its tone guiding her eyes shut as it sang its verse.

"The light is rising in dark of night

Coming to bring you home

And I will wait till morrow’s night

To with my sorrow roam"

She could feel herself sinking deeper into sleep as she heard these lines. She didn't want to sleep, so why was she? She could see the orange light of morning creeping in through her eyelids, but she could not open her eyes.

Maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe the voice wasn't lying. Wait, where?... well, she supposed that a little sleep would be good for her. Cloudy would rest her eyes for a few hours before coming down. The calm nature of the sleeping world overtook her, and she began to doze on her pillow. Yet, as she fell asleep she felt surprisingly optimistic. Today would bring a friend… or maybe… just a glimpse of a friend…

It would be enough…

Boring Ground!

Bored… so bored…

Mornings often move slowly. The sun was streaking across the sky, patient and crushing, and pushing forward the day at the same pace as the day before, as the next day will be. Time is a funny thing, it always moves so slowly, grudgingly, and it travels with the foreboding knowledge that no matter what any pony does, it will not be defeated.

Today, though... Of all days it was quite apparent that the whole world had decided to move at the pace of a snail; the wind blowing through the grass in a leisurely manner, leaving the stems of the grass to collide like tiny, green, bending towers. A hummingbird flew up from this very grass to proceed along its daily schedule of collecting nectar. Or maybe it had gone to meet other hummingbirds, or maybe it wanted to soar as high into the sky as it could; to go off and have adventures on the other side of the world. Whatever it was doing, it made Cloud Charmer dreadfully sad.

High above, in the great passes and valleys of the mountains, rocks groaned. They too had to wake and perform their morning rituals to prepare for the coming day, did they not? Rocks have just about exciting days as anypony else in this world; they wake, they stretch, and then they sleep until next morning. Yes, they were as boring as any of the ground walkers in this world. Wait, that was mean, it was not that those who walked on the ground were boring, but how could anyone love the ground when the sky was just sitting there above them.

This was how Cloud Charmer saw the world; slow, boring, and unadventurous... most of the time. She wanted more. Deep in her heart she wanted adventure. It was part of her, it was in her bones. She wanted to rush headlong into the dark, and the high, and the dangerous and she wanted to drink in the excitement. To feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she faced the unknown, the unimaginable.

But instead, she had to settle for boring. Slow… and boring.

Cloud Charmer never meant to be up this early, but as the cart lurched across the dusty path along its upward climb it had somehow managed to awaken her from her deep slumber. It was unfair! Why did the motion of the cart have to be so... jarring.

Cloud and her family were moving to their new home on the side of the mountains. Some town that had situated itself on the mountains above the forest where the royal pony sisters had placed their castle. The castle was fairly new, depending on how you look at it; because while several decades may seem a long time to a pony, to an immortal like the sisters a decade was not much more then a pit stop along the road of life. The town itself was only half the age of the castle, as it had taken a while to for ponies to remember where the castle had been before Discord's takeover of Equestria. Ponies had been moving there in large groups since they remembered that their home had returned and there was a castle of their saviors make , who now were considered the greatest protection from harm that the kingdom had to offer.

Cloud Charmer’s family had decided to move there for different reasons.

Cloud stared up at the sky, her stormy grey eyes seeming to brighten as they reflected the light. Cloud was a Pegasus, with a dark grey coat, similar eyes, and an unkempt light blue mane with dark blue highlights.

What was that beautiful blue dome that ponies called "sky"? Why was it so enchanting? What did things look like from up there? She had heard many stories, mostly from her uncle. Perhaps the sky ended, eventually stopping at some point that her uncle called; the atmosphere. Or maybe the sky just kept going on forever. Even now, as her family trekked through the mountains, she found that while the clouds here were closer than she had ever seen them, the roof of the sky was still far out of reach.

As she stared up in the sky she could feel only wonder. She wished she could fly already! The clouds were so close! she felt that she could reach them if she could just fly.Well, she could hover a little, but that was it.

So now she was stuck down here, too old not to be flying and too weak to actually fly. Cloud Charmer was stuck here on the stupid, boring ground, with all these boring rocks and trees, and the world was so exciting, just above her... Out of reach... Being a pegasi stuck on the ground was not fair.

Cloud looked at her parents. Her father, Stormflight, was a Pegasus like her, and was currently pulling the cart towards their new home. Despite his small stature he was actually very strong. He was a fun dad, and often played with Cloud Charmer and told her stories while on the road. Her mother, Oak Leaf sat on the passenger seat, humming to herself. Cloud wondered why they had decided to move at all.

In truth, it was because of family that they were moving. Stormflight came from a very wealthy Pegasus family in the south. Such families as this arose in great number after the return of harmony to the land, and Stormflight's family had major success running a weather pony operation in the south. The family was very pompous, and Stormflight had left to see the world as early as he could. When he returned, he returned a soldier, and he brought back with him a new bride. Oak Leaf, an Earth pony. The family had prided themselves on being pure Pegasus, and the backlash of Stormflight's marriage struck hard.

His own family had shunned and ostracized him. How could he have betrayed them so deeply? They had refused to even acknowledge him, and even considered officially removing him from the family... at first. But the younger generations of the family, including Stormflight's brother, Far Flung, quickly grew to love Oak Leaf's kind and caring nature. They eventually welcomed her as part of the family, and were even more delighted when Cloud Charmer was born.

Yet the good times, it seemed, were not fated to last, and after several threats from the older members of the family Stormflight was forced to take his new family and flee the south. Far Flung had offered a home for them up here, under jurisdiction of the two sisters. Stormflight, left with no other options, accepted Far Flung's offer, and the family had begun its long and arduous journey here.

A journey that had lead Cloud Charmer to be sitting on the back of a cart, heading towards a new home, wishing that she could fly.

The world continued to pass by along from the back of the cart, looking at the horizon left Cloud seeing the sky as ground from her lying position. It was all so... empty. In fact it completely lacked in any non-monotonous activity whatsoever. She wanted, no, she NEEDED something new to take her mind off the unending road that lay both before and behind her.

“Moooom! Are we there yet? I don’t think I can take much more of this!” said Cloud Charmer, who then proceeded to release a sigh loud enough to wake the dead from their slumber.

Cloud’s father chuckled, “you've asked that every five minutes since you woke up.” In truth, Stormflight didn't mind the whining. He had been constantly amused by the antics that had come from his daughter's impatient nature.

“She’s just bored.” Said Oak Leaf in her pleasantly deep voice, “why don’t you look at the scenery, Cloud? We’ll be there soon, I’m sure of it.”

“I’ve been looking at the scenery all day!”

“It’s only been a couple of hours since dawn.” Stormflight said in a very lighthearted tone. “I’m sure you can wait a little longer.”

“Funny, I seem to remember hearing those words from you, husband. Long ago. ” Her mother chided, also amused by the conversation.

“But can’t we go faster? Maybe the world would move faster if we did!” Cloud said as she let herself fall onto her back in the cart. It was a possibility, whenever she ran it felt like the world sped up around her, so maybe the same principle applied here.

“The world will move when it does. You need not bother trying to rush it, besides, I am sure you will have the best of times when we get there.” Oak Leaf said.

Cloud didn’t even bother responding to that; it was too obvious of a statement. She knew she would have fun there, that’s what made the wait so unbearable! The pain of waiting to see just what lay ahead for her at a new home was so much to think about that the idea of taking so long to get there was crippling. They had been on the road so long that she couldn't even remember when they had left. That, or... she just hadn't bothered to find out when they had left.

It was all so little to take. It was unexciting, and, ultimately, too time consuming for her to bother focusing on all the fun she had missed while travelling. So she stared at the sky and sighed again,this time loud enough that creatures scampering in the long grass on the side of the upward ascending road turned to look at the passing cart.

The world stayed like that for a long time, nothing existing but the crunching of dirt as the cart made its slow journey across the land. Cliffs passed by... deer ran between a few trees in the hills higher up the mountains. The sighing wind blew across the grass, turning the ground into a moving green carpet. All was quiet.

Until something quite curious occurred.

Though Cloud Charmer did not understand what had happened at the time, she heard the resounding click of two peices of the universe sliding together. A grumbling sound rapidly grew in volume inside of her head, until a sound like cymbals crashing together brought the original sound to a halt. The world began to move; not just slowly, but speeding up, as if the wind had picked up and began turning a windmills fans faster and faster.

Motion surrounded Cloud like a twister, threatening to pull her in. Grass started rustling like thunder, rocks jumped and danced to an unheard beat in the world. The universe was now in full force, pushing the cart faster and faster down the road. The wind blasting around her, in tune to a music that simply could not be heard, Cloud looked ahead of the motion, and was swept up with relief, then excitement.

They had arrived at Cliffside.

A New Home

Forces from outside of her control seemed to rush Cloud Charmer towards her goal. She couldn't even grasp how she was so excited, she just knew that it was. Faster and faster the cart seemed to go, and Cloud Charmer could feel a her heart beating out a song of its own. All because just over this last rise was... nothing.

Well, not nothing, exactly... There were ponies, it just was not what she expected.

There were no houses! Instead there were rows and rows of generic green colored tents; all slightly pale and faded, old from a lack of use. The tents themselves were relatively large, and of course while there weren't a HUGE amount of tents, they continued on through the dip in the ground to the edge of the next few hills that sat on this higher set of ground. In the back of the rows, obscured by many of the surrounding tents was a commotion. Cloud Charmer couldn't see clearly but it sounded like some ponies shouting wares and selling items to each other. Pockmarked near the edge of the high hill ahead sat a few squat foundations, the makings of some small, future buildings, whose purpose Cloud Charmer could not divine.

This whole place was weird; with all the shouting and strange tents, and the weird buildings at the edge of the hill. Why was it all so... off? She held these thoughts in her mind, until she actually looked at the ponies.

These ponies were strangely colored; very pale and faded like the tents that they were staying in. Their eyes were oddly shaped and their hair looked slightly poofy, with many having their manes bound by some gold or silver bindings. As an even stranger property, some of these ponies seemed to sparkle in the light, like a shiny piece of metal or glass. Cloud Charmer had never seen ponies look like that before, and she had never seen ponies act like they did.

Though ponies were milling about among the tents and beside the road, none of them actually seemed to be doing anything. Some-pony was talking there, some-pony was walking here, but every-pony seemed to be acting aimlessly... automatically. Apart from that they seemed angry, like they wanted to pick a fight with some-pony, and some of them marched by with such angry scowls on their faces. There was some thing wrong here. Cloud Charmer felt filled with the feeling of loss, and the aggressive need to escape from being lost. Though she didn't quite understand the feeling at the time, ponies would one day refer to this mood as the rage of a nation.

“Mom, what’s wrong with these ponies? They feel, different.” With a visible shudder, Cloud sank back into the wagon a little.

“Child, these are not townsfolk they are travelers.” Oak Leaf looked at the ponies with her head tilted to the side.

"What?" Cloud Charmer asked.

“These ponies are refugees, Cloud. They’ve come here from the north.” Stormflight said. “This isn’t actually a part of the town, it’s a camp for refugees seeking the protection of the princesses from some civil war in the north."

"What Civil war would this one be?" Cloud Charmer asked as her father pulled the cart up the next hill past the camp.

"I'm not sure about that one, child. But I'm sure you could find out in town, which speaking of..."

Cloud Charmer's father trailed off, and looking ahead Cloud lost track of the thoughts she had just been holding; letting them fall to some black corner of her mind to be remembered later. It wasn't that she didn't care, but the view before her overpowered her mind with the excitement and anticipation of her new home.

In the many hills below her there sat a forest of oak and cedar trees, which carried across the rolling hills right to the wall of rock coming from a giant mountain, poking sharply into the sky like some vast claw. the forest ended just past a wide river that stretched all the way to the edge of this giant cliff that the town sat on, falling as a waterfall to form some pool far below. However, the sight that entranced Cloud Charmer most was the actual view of the town itself.

To try and give the exact dimensions of Cliffside would be impossible, but to Cloud Charmer it had certainly lived up to its name. The sprawling mass of buildings stretched from the very edge of the large mountainside cliff all the way to the forest directly beside the mountain. Right at the edge of this cliff sat a large wall, obviously designed simply to keep ponies from walking off the cliff as the wall did not completely surround the town. Occasionally there was drifting smoke coming from a chimney now and again, though for such a large town it seemed surprisingly inactive on this day.

Cloud Charmer could not have felt happier than she had ever before until this moment. She had finally made it to Cliffside! At long last she would be able to see just what amazing fun awaited her in her new home!

But Wait! There was something else... she could hear a noise. It was like a... beat, a pulse. The sound washed over Cloud Charmer, seeming to come from the direction of the town. She shook her head for a moment, a fog beginning to fill her mind, for a moment. When the fog left her mind Cloud found that she could clearly hear a beat coming from Cliffside. What was that? Some sort of music? Who was playing it?

Cloud Charmer was not scared, though. Nothing had managed to scare her yet! At least, that was what she told herself. The more she listened, the more unsettling the beat had become. She needed to find out what it was! She needed- CLICK!

Such was the audible, yet unheard noise that was made when another piece of the universe slotted, only this time it slotted into Cloud Charmer's head. All thoughts about what the beat was fled from her mind, to be replaced by excitement at her new home. Finally here, and now there was obviously something cool to investigate when she got into town. Oh, she could barely contain her excitement!

But even as the town’s pulse pulled at her, excitement turned to annoyance when she saw that her parents were turning the cart away from the village.

“What are you doing? Dad? The town is that way!” Cloud Charmer was exasperated; her parents were completely ignoring the excitement, the beat, of the town!

“We don’t live in the town, Cloud, we live in a house in the woods nearby.” Oak Leaf sounded slightly unhappy as well, maybe she wanted to live in town.

“I know it’s hard, dear, but Far Flung insisted that we move into this house. He had it built just for us!” Stormflight didn’t sound too enthusiastic, despite what he was saying.

“But I wanted to see the town!” Cloud’s whine rang in her parents ears.

“Don’t worry, you will.” Her father said.

“In fact, we will let you go into town all on your own!” Cloud’s mother added.

"Really? You would allow that?" Cloud Charmer asked quickly.

"Why of course, you're hardly a tiny little filly any more, Cloud. As long as you promise to stay out of trouble then you can act as you wish."

Oak Leaf's words brought a pang of shame to Cloud Charmer's heart. Why did they have to mention her age? It was so unfair, and her parents just did not get why it shamed her. Regardless, Cloud Charmer said her words fast, and without hesitation. "I promise."

Having gotten that little bit out of the way, Cloud Charmer's ears pricked up at the sound of the beat coming from town. What was that? She had never heard anything like this before. To a greater extent, why couldn't her parents seem to hear the beat at all. She had to find out exactly what was happening in town.

“Are we there yet?” she anxiously asked. She was missing stuff, whatever that stuff happened to be.

“Yes, Cloud, we are.” Her father said.

At that very moment, the path they had been following had turned up a tree covered hill. Pulling up, ever so slowly, Cloud Charmer was given a view of her new home.

The first thing that Cloud noticed about their new home was that it was a tree! That was definitely new for her. Though the whole hill, though all of the hills were covered in trees, this one stood out among the others. It was the largest, a great red oak that reaching high above the smaller surrounding trees. Its arms were gigantic limbs that stretched out over the clearing it sat in, and it had so many leaves that it looked like a floating ocean of deep green being pierced by red-brown branches, the wooden oars of a great boat pushing across the surface of the water. Though it looked like a tree, Cloud also noticed the front door and various windows and balcony that were spread out over the trunk of the great tree. It was probably the largest tree that Cloud Charmer had ever seen, and it was her new home!

“Do you two like it? My brother told me that it was magically grown and hollowed out. It’s also enchanted so that rain, wind, or even lightning can’t damage it or pass through its leaves. I’m told that one day this style of home will be all the rage!” Stormflight sounded very pleased with this new home.

“It’s a bit, isolated, don’t you think.” The house sat out of view of the town and did appear to be on its own.

“Don’t worry, Oak Leaf, we are still very safe here, safer here than anywhere else. Plus there will be plenty of room for Cloud to play! Right Cloud? Cloud?”

Her name drifted towards Cloud along the wind as she ran for the house. This place had its own heartbeat too! It was strange, all today she had been hearing these sounds in everything. Why was this place so different from the estate?

She wanted to know why she could hear a strange pulse coming from the tree, but for the moment she had a much more momentous place to explore. She had run towards the home the moment they had arrived. The rooms were spacious and well connected, but she didn’t care about that. Instead, she ran straight up the stairs to the absolute highest room in the house, threw her adventuring bag on the floor, claimed the room for her own, and ran back outside.

As Cloud burst through the front door and ran for the road she shouted, “Bye Mom! Bye Dad! I’m going into town! I promise to stay out of trouble!” For the most part, she thought.

“Just be careful dear!” Oak Leaf shouted back. “Oh that child! Always rushing!”

“One day she’ll learn how to sit still, honey” her husband comforted.

Cloud fluttered in the air for one moment, she was so excited! While the treehouse had its own heartbeat, it was the beat of the town that was calling her. Who was she not to answer? So she ran, and fluttered, towards the pulse that she could feel in her bones.

***

The town moved in slow motion, and cloud saw everything. Ponies everywhere! More that she had ever seen before in her life! She wandered through a frozen tableau of ponies of all colors and types. Ponies chatting, ponies playing, ponies dancing, so exciting! There was so much to do, so much to see! The town was alive with the joy of celebration all around her!

So why was it all moving in slow motion?

It made no sense, but none of this interested Cloud. Colours and shapes blending all around her made an aura of undiscovered greatness, yet even then faded into obscurity. It all just seemed so... irrelevant. Why didn’t she care about any of this? It made no sense.

The beat still called to Cloud Charmer, louder now than it was before. It pulled Cloud towards it, promising adventure, promising glory, promising greater things to come, and she followed. Walking down side streets and alleyways, constantly coming closer to an ever increasing beat.

As she walked through the streets of this amazing new place, she notice ponies partying everywhere. Cloth streamers hued in oranges and reds hung down from open windows and lay on the grounds of the narrow, winding streets of Cliffside. Ponies everywhere were laughing and playing, and dancing with one another, right in the middle of the street! What could be happening that could create such excitement? Cloud Charmer didn't know, but she became more and more excited as she traversed the streets, following a mysterious beat towards its source.

It was then that she came upon the town square. The celebration here was turned to the max. Ponies dancing and laughing and playing instruments, all enjoying the company of each other as they lived life to the fullest in this little town square.

A crowd of fillies and foals burst past Cloud, caught up in chasing a rabbit around the town. But none of this reached Cloud Charmer, as all she could notice was the pounding beat in her head, growing louder with each moment.

Da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum,da dum, da dum da dum.

It was rising in volume, beating louder and louder!

Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum!

What was it? Why had it brought her here? It hurt her head, it felt like something was trying to burst its way out of her head.

It was becoming too loud… Cloud Charmer couldn’t focus. Everything had frozen in place, and her head began to reel; spinning in place as she stood where she was frozen.

The beat had forced itself into her brain had risen to a crescendo, and it hurt so much.

DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM!DADUM!DADUM! DADUM!DADUM!DADUM!DADUM!DA-

A resounding crash filled her head, but she didn’t care. Her stormy grey eyes focused completely on the sight before her. Anther filly, her age but a unicorn, with deep blue eyes, a dark blue coat and a light blue mane, curved in a war that it covered the right half of her face. Cloud’s mind recorded these details as she locked onto the filly, who was also staring right at her! The universe sped up, dancing ponies whizzing by, but the filly stayed in the same place, staring.

Suddenly the dark pony turned, fleeing from the town square. Cloud Charmer watched her, she could feel the adrenaline in her veins, feel her heart pumping. Who was that pony?

She fully intended to find out.

“I have to follow her!”

A Chase and a Hangout Spot

“I have to follow her!”

Even before the dark unicorn had made it out of the town square Cloud Charmer was moving. The universe was swinging around her but each step she took seemed to emanate its own beat, now she was the drummer! So she did what any drummer would do; she played her own beat.

The hunt was on! She could feel her blood pounding, hear her heart beating. The world slipped by her as she dodged the dancing ponies and dashed out of the town square after the unicorn. She just saw the pony’s tail slipping around the corner she had just run into, she was moving fast!

“Man, what’s got her so jumpy?”

No time to think about it. She had to run! Moving at top speed Cloud hurled herself around the corner behind the mysterious pony, who was blasting down the street, knocking other ponies over as she ran. She was fast! But Cloud Charmer was faster.

Cloud shot down the street, leaving a cloud of dust and coughing ponies in her wake. This is exactly what she wanted! Excitement, exhilaration, the whole universe seemed to pound with the beat of her hooves touching the ground. She was so happy that she had decided to follow that mysterious sound. Everything was moving, everything was chaos, she was loving this adventure!

The dark filly was sprinting ahead, her mane flying in the wind as she ran, but the pony didn’t seem to notice. She just ran, ignoring all of her surroundings as she went. Cloud was about to shout a warning when the pony smashed into a cart in the middle of the road, that had to hurt! Yet the pony didn’t slow, she just kept running as fast as she could, not stopping or pausing but rushing out of the town. Cloud Charmer kept up the chase and left the last buildings behind just in time to see the pony disappearing into the woods in front of the mountain.

Without stopping, Cloud ran behind her into the woods. It was now sunset, and though there was still light the shadow of the mountain loomed over the forest, creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere in what otherwise would have been just a bright and gloomy forest.

Cloud followed the unicorn more slowly now, one wrong step could get her hurt. Climbing slowly and quietly through the bushes and branches that lay out before her she managed to follow the pony without her noticing, no easy task, as the woods were getting darker and following such a trail would have been almost impossible in the low light. Not impossible enough for Cloud Charmer!

She thought she was right behind the unicorn until she turned around a tree and found herself face to face with a sheer wall of collapsed rock. There was nowhere the pony could have gone, she had followed her perfectly! Yet now Cloud faced a cliff wall and felt nothing but confusion, until she looked up.

The unicorn had already climbed almost to the top of the rock wall. Where was she going? For that matter, how did she know how to get there? Cloud had no idea of where she was going, but she was sure of one thing and one thing only: she liked this pony!

With that thought in her mind she hurled herself at the cliff wall, and began laboriously climbing to the top. The thoughts raced through her mind as she climbed. How did that pony do this so fast? I wish I could fly already! None of that matters, come on Cloud, climb!

So she climbed, if a bit slowly, and after a few slips and even more scrapes Cloud Charmer found herself peering at the pony over the edge of the top of the cliff.

The filly was just sitting there, staring over the edge of the cliff, doing nothing. Had she really climbed all the way up here just to look at the view? Cloud pulled herself onto the ledge, standing up and turning to approach the unicorn. But as she did she saw the pony throw herself over the edge of the cliff!

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” not even thinking Cloud Charmer threw herself over the edge behind the unicorn. She had t save that pony!

Then she plummeted, she forgot that she couldn’t fly! Now cloud was spinning through the air, on a nose dive towards her doom. Mountain, sky, nothing stopped moving as she fell, the wind blasting her mane all around her.

Falling…

Falling…

Falling…

Falling…

Stop!

She had stopped! Was she dead? She opened her eyes, she was floating! The air seemed to shimmer around her, what was going on? She sat there, in the air, for a few more moments before she was lifted up to the cloud above her, and into the concerned gaze of two dark blue eyes.

It was the unicorn! Sitting on a cloud!

“Oh my, are you okay?” the worry coming off the pony was palpable.

“Ugh! How are we alive right now?” then she remembered that they were sitting on a cloud and jumped to her hooves. “How are you doing that?”

“What do you mean?” the unicorn asked, still looking worried. Her voice sounded weak, like she didn’t talk a lot.

“What do YOU mean? You’re walking on a cloud! Only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds!”

“So can I.”

“That’s it, you just can? That is… that is… awesome! I’ve never seen this before, this is so exciting! I love seeing new things! What’s your name by the way? So can you fly or just walk on clouds? Where did you learn…”

The flurry of questions was overwhelming the unicorn. She shrunk back against the cloud with a whimper. Cloud Charmer noticed this, so she slowed down.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I’m Cloud Charmer! What’s your name?”

“I'm… Cloudy Night” the unicorn spoke softly.

“That’s cool! Cloud and Cloud, that’s us! I like that! So how did you do it? Walk on a cloud I mean?” Cloud Charmer was full of questions, but she knew she had to take it slow with Cloudy.

“I’ve been walking on clouds since I was a newborn.” She answered. “You see, my family goes up to the high mountain for winter solstice each year-“

“Winter what?” Cloud had never heard that word before.

“Solstice, it is the longest night of the year. My family and I go there-“

“Wow, you sure know some fancy words! That's good, Though I might know a few words that you don't. How do you know all this? What-“

“Are you going to let me finish?” Cloudy asked.

“Oh, sorry! Continue.” Cloud was momentarily put out, but quickly recovered

“Ok, so my family and I go up the high mountain every solstice. So do a lot of the ponies around here. Every year they go up the mountain bringing gifts to pay tribute to Princess Luna, who raises the moon. Then they have a big festival at the summit which goes on the whole night, all just to entertain the Princess.

When I was just a newborn I wasn’t allowed to go up the mountain, so my parents left me with a foal sitter. I wanted to go so I snuck onto a fruit cart carrying food for the celebration. When I arrived I was amazed by the sky, the stars were out, and the moon was high, but you couldn’t see the ground. Instead there was just a sea of clouds as far as the horizon, and the celebration was in full swing! Ponies were laughing and dancing, and my father was entertaining the crowds with his magic tricks. I’ve always hated crowds, so I decided to hang around the edge of the cliff instead. I got too close, and when ponies noticed me on the edge there was a panic, they all rushed to save me, but I walked off of the edge.

You can imagine the terror my parents felt, and then the amazement when they saw me walking on a cloud instead of falling to my death. I probably scared every-pony with my fall, but I also learned that I could walk on clouds like a pegasus. So I’ve walked on them ever since.”

As she finished her story, Cloudy Night realized something. She had never talked this long to any-pony in her whole life! She could talk around this pony. She felt comfortable around this pony. She wanted to spend more time with this pony.

“That’s an awesome story. So you’ve been walking on clouds ever since, huh? So that’s what you were doing out here?” Cloud was having fun hanging with Cloudy.

“Well, yes, but mainly I came to think, and to look.” Even as she said it Cloudy looked up at the blazing blue brilliance of the night sky.

“Look at what, I don’t see anything!” Cloud Charmer was confused by what Cloudy had said. What was she looking at?

Rather than answer, Cloudy grabbed Cloud’s hoof and pulled her onto her back, to look up at the sky.

Cloud was startled when Cloudy pulled them both to be lying down on the cloud. What was she doing? She was so confused, but then she…

“Woah…”

The night was in full effect, the stars were bastions of light in the dark blues surrounding them. The colours all seemed to mix together, and suddenly it wasn’t points of lights in a dark backdrop, but hues of colour colliding on the canvas known as the sky. Blue turned to white, white to blue, the transition being slow and carful. But in other places the sky seemed to combat itself, distant lights smashing against their dark surroundings, creating flashing points of white. The whole sky had become a glittering veil, calling Cloud to it, to enter the void and float amongst the stars. But the moon! Oh, the moon was a glowing ball, gigantic in size, and she could see every detail of its surface, the rises and falls, the scratches, like roads criss-crossing along the whole thing. The moon had never felt so close before as it did at that moment. The light from the moon made it into a gleaming plate in the sky, and its light shone down on Cloud and Cloudy, turning the cloud they were lying on into a ghostly ship in the sky.

The two fillies just lay there, staring up at the sky for the rest of the night.

Home By Morning

“Uh, Cloudy? How do we get down?” Cloud was anxious now. She had been gone all night! Her parents would be furious!

Cloudy Night was still laying back against their floating pillow when she heard this, and she opened her one of her eyes to peek at this new pony that had, quite literally, fallen into her world.

Cloud Charmer looked scared; all signs of her previous relaxedness had gone. She was hopping on her hooves and staring at the ground, far below. It was almost enough to make Cloudy laugh right there. She liked this energetic filly.

Yet how long would it last? Was this even real? Immediately the doubt began to gnaw at the back of her mind. How could this possibly be real? Dreams don't just, come true, especially for her. So why did this feel so much like all of her hopes, her wants being fulfilled in a single day! This was so unexpected, no! She would not let this pony leave when they had just met, she would not lose everything in just one moment!

In the back of her mind, Cloudy Night heard a little voice speak to her," They always leave... you can't stop them... just fall to the side and be forgotten already."

She stood, she would just help this pony, and hope for herself.

“I have an idea” Cloudy answered. Standing up, she focused herself, and imagined their cloud to be moving. Cloud Charmer saw her friend's horn begin to glow and sparkle, and suddenly the cloud was moving.

“That’s a cool spell. Is that what you always do?” Cloud’s fear of her parents was momentarily overcome by interest in her friend’s ability.

“Where do you live?” Cloudy asked.

“In a treehouse on the hills outside of town. I just moved here you know!” This was great! Cloud could already feel the world speeding up. The race home had begun!

Ever so slowly, the cloud wistfully floated towards and over town on the way to Cloud Charmers home. It was so… uneventful. She looked out over the edge and saw the town slowly passing below, a few tired ponies stretching outside as they woke up in the morning. This wasn't what she had hoped the race home would be. She had to find some way to kick this cloud ride up a notch.

“Booooooring!” Cloud shouted, then stopped for a moment. “I have an idea!” she shouted even louder.

Cloudy had been surprised by her new friend’s first shout, and she jumped at the second. The surprise continued to mount as Cloud Charmer put her hoof around Cloudy and told her to hold on tight. Then, before she could respond, Cloud started flapping her wings as hard as she could. At first there was no change, and then the cloud rocketed forward faster than an arrow!

Cloudy didn’t shout, she couldn’t. her mane was blowing in her face, Cloud was yelling excitedly while she held her hoof around her, she could do nothing. The world sped past her at high speed; it was chaotic, it was terrifying… Cloudy was scared… she was stunned… she… LOVED it!

“Wooooooooo!” she added her shout to Cloud’s as the two ponies shot across the sky on their floating ship.

She was actually having fun! Her! She was exhilarated, ecstatic. The whole world was just motion. She closed her eyes and let everything flow around her. Despite the fact that this was everything she hated, she loved it. It wasn’t like before, where the chaos seemed to surround her, now she was part of the chaos, part of the terrifying motion of the world. It felt very good. Until the ride stopped.

Cloudy opened her eyes; they had landed in the woods by one of the hills outside Cliffside, what she assumed was Cloud’s house sat on a clearing on the top of the hill. This pony was very good with her wings, if she was able to get their pillow to the ground without Cloudy noticing. For a moment Cloudy Night wondered if any-pony would notice a small patch of fog in the woods for the rest of the day.

Cloudy Night looked around and felt… disappointment. She wished the ride had kept going.

Cloud Charmer stepped onto the ground, “that was fun! I like you. Let’s hang out again tomorrow, okay? I’ll meet you at the bridge by the river outside of town.” Then she, continuing with her streak of surprising Cloudy, hugged her.

This was too good to be true, she took Cloud Charmer home, and now the pony wanted to hang out again! How could she be so daft! Who would want to hang out with Cloudy Night? Well, apparently, Cloud Charmer did.

“We’re gonna have so much fun! It’s gonna be so awesome!” then she was gone, bounding up the hill towards her home.

Cloudy watched her go before stepping back onto the cloud, she felt… something... like a sound, a beat, reverberating through the world as she left.

She wasn’t lonely anymore.

***

Cloud ran up the hill as fast as she could go. She knew her parents would be furious, but she had a plan. She couldn’t wait to hang out with Cloudy Night tomorrow!

She got to the front door, but before she could do anything else it burst open before her!

“Cloud Charmer! Where have you been? Your father and I were so worried! We told you not to get into trouble! Do you have any idea how long you’re grounded for?” her parent’s faces were thunderclouds, and she was about to be struck by lightning.

Suddenly Cloud’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m so sorry Mom and Dad. I was going to come home but I met a new friend and she…” she was full on sobbing and stabbing at the ground with her hoof.

Her parents faces seemed to melt, and they brought her in for a hug. “There, there, sweetie. We’re sorry we yelled at you, we were worried is all. As long as you tell us what you’re up to from now on, we won’t be angry.”

"But still. You broke your promise and you will be required to work the house chores for the rest of the week." Cloud Charmer's father intoned.

"Understood, Sir!" Cloud Charmer stated, while also saluting her father with her right hoof.

"In that case, come here Cloud" her parents said, reaching their hooves out to hug her.

As they brought Cloud Charmer in for the hug, she inwardly sighed. Whew! Worked like a charm.

After she finished talking to her parents Cloud ran upstairs to her room. Her entire room had been made for her last night while she was gone! But where was it? There! Her adventurers sack lay on the table where her dad had moved it.

Cloud ran over to the sack, pulled it open and rooted around for what she was looking for. Finding it, she pulled it out, got her quill and ink, and began to write.

Adventurers Journal
Day 1 in Cliffside

Last night was, in short, AWESOME! at first, the place seemed boring. Ponies were doing the normal thing, I think, and I couldn't see anything interesting around. Until I met Cloudy, that is. She's a unicorn that walks on clouds like a pegasus, in what way is that not cool? In fact, I think Cloudy Night is one of the coolest ponies ever! I cannot wait to hang out more with her more, because we are going to have the best adventures in the whole wide world! I just hope that we can start soon, waiting does kill me.

P.S. I feel like there's something I'm forgetting. Like something really big happened yesterday/today. Whatever it is, I guess I'll just have to remember it.

She did not hear the click that passed through her head the second time that day...

Cloud Charmer dropped the quill back in her ink pot, and proceeded to sit on her room floor with her back hooves splayed out beside her. What had she forgotten that was so important?

It was a beat, like a drum, coming from nowhere in particular that reminded her...

"Oh..."

All To Walk Off a Cliff

Cloudy night was confused. Why was she walking into town? Why was she away from home so early? Even now as she looked at the trees passing her by as she walked, she could not stop herself. What had happened? She should not be outside this early.

The sun was streaking towards the far and mountainous horizon to the west. This sight was not unfamiliar to Cloudy Night, but she had never come outside this far from sunset, and the brightly burning light was hurting her eyes. She once again tried to stop herself; she needed to go home! She didn't want to be out here!

Yet she kept walking towards town anyway.

This day had been so wrong for her. First she woke up half a mile away from home, hanging in a tree! She had rushed home to try to get in some more sleep, but her parents had left for the end of summer celebration and the front door to their cottage had been left locked. Cloudy had ended up climbing into a nearby tree and dropping onto her balcony window. Oh how she wished it had been as easy as it would sound! Suffice to say, it was the second time that day she had ended up hanging from a tree.

Then, to make the day just that much worse, she had been unable to sleep that day, as she kept hearing this noise; like a drumbeat, which kept her awake. Eventually she had just walked out of her home and through the woods, in the day! It was absurd, outrageous, and what was that noise she kept hearing? She couldn't take it, it was too much noise, plus the town itself would be crowded. Cloudy Night hated crowds; they were just too hustle and bustle for her to take. She did NOT want to go to town!

So why was she doing this?

It must be the sound, that beat. It was pulling her. No matter what she did she could not resist the temptation to follow the music. Yet she had only begun to hear these beats since she woke up this morning. Desperately, Cloudy tried to remember what had happened to her last night.

She remembered going to her nightly hangout spot, then she was lying down and looking at the sky, everything was fine until-

until she had heard a voice, a voice that came from nowhere...

What had the voice said? To a greater extent, why would the voice talk to her? She was nothing! in a world full of important ponies she was just some worthless, friendless unicorn. She did not do anything important, it's not like she was related to king Bullion or anything. So why would some mysterious voice come out of the dark to her?

It had to be a lie, or some cruel trick, or even just her imagination. That must be what the beat was too, just her imagination, so she had no logical reason to be following the beat right now.

She kept trotting towards town.

The sun was dropping towards sunset, should she not go to the cliff before dark? Oh, why can’t she stop walking towards town?

Finally Cloudy came within sight of the first buildings, and began to feel true terror. Everything was moving too fast! Everywhere ponies were dancing and playing in the street. Some ponies were throwing streamers out from their upstairs windows. It was chaos! It was so confusing. She hated being surrounded by such a state of perpetual motion.

Cloudy kept walking through town.

Despite the disorientation she felt from seeing the world blasting by all around her, Cloudy Night could not stop herself. She was being pulled, against her will, through the endless sea of ponies towards the center of Cliffside. All the while the drumbeat was getting louder in her head.

The terror was starting to ebb away as she kept walking. She still felt dizzy from all the ponies rushing all around her, but now it was a good kind of dizzy. It felt like she was floating in air; not quite rising, not quite falling. Everything was moving so fast that the colors had merged into a single, strange blur. She couldn't even place why she didn't feel so bad anymore, she just... didn't.

If only she could have stayed in that state for longer.

The beat pulled Cloudy through alleys and back streets. Continually deafening her, continually enticing her to keep moving. Further and further she went, even managing to lose herself in the town that she had lived in all her life. She just floated along, trapped in her little bubble of peace, safe from all of the beats that seemed to wash over her from whatever opening in the street that she was now walking into. This bubble stayed with her until she walked into the town square, and realized something very odd about herself. For the first time Cloudy Night truly realized how much of a mistake she had made trotting into town today.

If she thought that what she saw before was dizzying and chaotic, then this was a truly terrifying piece of absolute lack of order.

Music was blaring from a band playing on stage, all trumpets and drums. Fillies and foals were running through the square chasing rabbits. Ponies everywhere were dancing and laughing. It was horrifying! Her ears went back; this was, well, a lot! There was too much noise, too much movement!

Yet the drumbeat was worse. On and on it went, rising until each beat crashed like thunder in her head. Each pound seeming to knock against the inside of her skull. It hurt tremendously... more so than any pain she had ever felt. She had to leave!

Everything was moving so fast, and she was frozen in place, desperately trying to hold on to some sense of awareness in the storm that had become her world. Her eyes scan the crowd, looking for something to hold onto. It was too much… she couldn’t take it!

A black spot had begun creeping into her vision. She had to hold on! Had to… so loud… too much… can’t hold…

Everything stopped.

Cloudy’s deep blue eyes had locked with another filly’s from across the square. As the dancers passed by in slow motion, Cloudy memorized every detail of that pony. She was a Pegasus, grey coat, stormy eyes, light blue mane and tail with dark blue highlights. The pony’s hair looked very unkempt, and, like Cloudy, she had no cutie mark.

She felt like it was. Entranced, she moved to take a step towards this new pony. Of course, then she looked at all of what had surrounded her.

Panic has this funny way of waiting right until the last moment to set in... and when it does hit, it hits hard.

Shapes whizzed by Cloudy, becoming blurs with the speed they were moving at. The world was spinning around her. The world was crushing her!

She had to get away!

Cloudy turned tail and bolted, running as fast as her hooves could take her. Her mane was blowing into her eyes and she couldn’t see where she was going. Through so many streets she just kept running, successfully managing to cover the same distance it had taken her minutes to cover walking into town in seconds. Until, CRASH! She had slammed into the side of a fruit cart, and it hurt! But she did not slow down, she ran as hard as she could out of the town, towards the woods and towards her cliff spot.

She could feel the burn in her lungs, the sting on her muzzle from the cart, the slight headache that she had gotten from being out in the now orange sunset on the horizon. She did not stop running. She WOULD not stop running! Even as she ran through the woods outside of town Cloudy continued to feel the sheer panic that she had felt in that square, though she could think a bit clearer now.

She wondered if maybe her parents had been dancing in that square?

It was nearly night when Cloudy arrived at the rock wall in the woods, the moon being higher in the sky than the sun. The purples of twilight helped to calm Cloudy Night from her panic. Breathing deeply, she sat there for a moment. This was calm, this was peace, this was her world as she wanted it to be.

Cloudy looked up at the wall of rocks and boulders that she had to climb to get to her spot on the cliff, it looked dangerous, occasional sharp and jagged edges poking out of the cliff wall. This had all been caused by and earthquake that had happened before she was even born, but then, most things had happened before she was born. The entire world had happened before she was born.

The wall beckoned Cloudy, it was very steep, very broken, and very easy for her to climb. Taking a deep breath, she shot up the wall, climbing it as she had a million times before. Just as she would climb it every night that she went to the cliff spot for the rest of her life. In no time at all she was standing at the ledge at the top of the rock wall. She had made it to her spot, just in time too.

Cloudy walked to the edge of the small outcropping that she sat on and looked out over the edge and into the void before her. The sun was beyond the horizon, its glow still giving the world its last bit of light before it leaves for the night. The stars were just coming out, twinkling from their positions so far away. She looked down, the town was below, and beyond that, endless forests all the way to the mountains in the west, where the sun was setting. In fact, if she looked close enough she could see lights coming from the fores in the huge valley below. As far as she could tell, the light was actually coming from the castle of the two sisters, which sat on the floor of this valley. It was beautiful... and lonely. She wished that she was not the only one to see this sight. As she had wished every night before, Cloudy Night wished for a friend.

So lonely…

Her old self had returned. That hollow emptiness, screaming at her the woe of a lack of being. The need of another to make itself whole, it was everything to her.

So lonely…

A nearby cloud was about to pass just under the cliff, it was the most hopeless sight in the world. She needed to jump! She needed that release! Despair crushed at Cloudy, what she needed was a friend. Sadness grew in her heart, just as the need to jump grew in her mind. She wanted some-pony beside her.

Oh well, nothing to be done for it. The sadness would remain with her for the rest of the night, but that cloud would not. Cloudy tensed her muscles, preparing for one of her favorite parts of the night, and leapt off of the edge of the cliff, falling through the air…

To land safely on the cloud below.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Cloudy was startled when she heard that shout from behind her, she was twice as startled when a grey shape plummeted past her, falling through thin air.

It was the Pegasus from before! And now she was falling to her doom!