Romp

Sewn deep within the genetic composition of every pegasus is the ability to craft and control weather. A form of inherent magic only found in the winged race of ponies, the hooves and wings of pegasi are capable of manipulating vaporous moisture – namely, atmospheric precipitation. While some pegasi have more innate finesse over clouds than others, each and every pegasus has, to some degree or another, the ability to influence one of the greatest forces of nature.

At least, that’s the way some of Rainbow’s old teachers had explained it.

To her, it was merely another way to demonstrate her awesomeness.

Flying far above the forests, rivers, and a giant lavender pony, Rainbow Dash sped around a few stray clouds, packing them together with merely a brush of hooves. Speeding off to another group, she repeated the motion, pushing the cloudstuff together into a tight lump.

Within the span of just a few seconds, she had done the same to several others, condensing together the thick clumps until they began to turn grey. Satisfied with the first step of her plan, Rainbow launched herself around the bands of clouds in a wide arc, bringing them close together to merge into one unified mass. After a moment, she cast a glance down at the mare below.

Twilight sat watching, waiting patiently with a content expression.

Rainbow furrowed her brow. As she continued compacting the greying cloudstuff, it occurred to her – a dumb realization she should’ve thought of earlier.

Twilight’s an alicorn. She has wings and a horn.

So why wasn’t she stopping her?

Something wasn’t right. Rainbow could feel it. Twilight was up to something, and given the current circumstances, it couldn’t be anything good.

Which made her all the more excited to see how things played out.

With a grin, she gave the now-solid cloud one last kick with her hooves, completing the second step. Next up was the most critical part of storm-crafting: disturbing the airmass.

Flying a short distance toward the horizon, she spun around the examine her progress. She nodded approvingly; within only a couple of minutes, she had managed to throw together a cloud that sat right above Twilight, nearly the same size as the alicorn. It was the perfect foundation to what would become something far more epic.

With a beat of her wings, Rainbow flew back toward the mass and began to spin around it in broken patterns. Slowly but surely, the cloud began to billow and rise – first from the center, then from its sides – straight toward the troposphere above. She could feel the static charge building in the air around her as her mane and tail whipped violently in the wind.

But even against the ever-decreasing temperature of her ascent with the cloud, her grin remained. It was the perfect combination of two pegasi instincts combining as one: of battle and weather. Never before had she built a storm specifically for the purpose of a fight. She knew the tales of Commander Hurricane and others, but never had she felt the rush that came with harmonizing the two instincts together.

Finally, cresting over the top of her finished product, Rainbow landed all four hooves gently into the damp matter. She tapped one against the surface. The beast of a cloud rumbled to life beneath her, polarizing the air. The ends of her mane and coat stood partially on end.

Oh yeah. This one’s a winner.

Pushing off the head of the storm, she flew over the leading edge and dove for the world far below. Once near the base, she pulled into a hover, skirting over to the side. She braced a foreleg against the cloud, hoof pressed firmly into the dark grey storm, and looked down with a smirk.

Twilight tilted her head with an arched eyebrow. “And what exactly do you plan to do with that?”

“Oh, you’ll see.” Lifting her hoof off the wall of the storm, she span around and reared her hind legs.

__________

Twilight watched as the pegasus kicked her tiny hooves against the massive cloud.

With a deep, low rumble, the storm shifted overhead. Light sheets of drizzle began to rain down upon her, spreading mist over her muzzle and mane. She squinted, waiting for the inevitable.

As expected, Rainbow had sped off once again, circling around the cloud to give the towering walls several well-aimed kicks. The storm groaned in protest, spiraling in a slow, menacing manner as the grey of the base grew darker still.

Only seconds passed before the drizzle turned into a downpour. Bands of lightning began to travel in lazy fashion across the bottom of the cloud, gaining in frequency and speed as Rainbow continued to disturb the storm.

Twilight took a step back, crunching under hoof several trees as she watched the pegasus high above suddenly dive into the top of the storm.

No… she isn’t.

Suddenly, the storm lurched toward her and the world below.

She is.

With a clap of thunder, Twilight was engulfed by the mammoth cloud.

Crouching low against the earth, Twilight squinted further as she stood against the swirling tempest now surrounding her. Sharp bands of freezing rain pelted against her coat from every direction, stinging her eyes. As the violent wind threatened to topple the giant, a single multicolor blur sped in front of her.

Twilight watched her friend shoot a triumphant grin her way, before plunging into the wall of the storm.

__________

Splitting through the thick layers of cloud matter, Rainbow dove out of the storm, her mane and tail trailing a line of dew into the evening sky.

Putting a couple miles between herself and the storm, she spun around and hovered. The cloud whirled atop the earth, tufts of grey cloudstuff ripping away at the base as the storm sheared itself against the trees and mare within.

She thought to smile once more at her accomplishment, but… something was still off. There was no reason she could think of why Twi wouldn’t have stopped her by this point. As far as she was aware, she was completely capable of using both her wings and magic in this world. So what was the deal? Why wasn’t she fighting back?

Rainbow groaned as she watched the spiraling storm with a frown. At this rate, Twilight was going to spoil the fun. It was already kind of hard to keep up the fight without having any real reason to fight in the first place. Delivering the first blows as a sign of commitment was fine the first couple rounds, but Twilight was the one who initiated this time. This was supposed to be for her enjoyment.

Had something happened to change her mind? It seemed like from the outset of this round, Twilight had freely taken her blows, returning little more than a grab of her tail and a single taunt. And from what she understood, Twilight was the one who wanted to take charge, not surrender. Had she taken what they talked about earlier the wrong way? Or maybe she just couldn’t get her head enough in the game?

“Ugh. This is taking too long.” With a flap of her wings, Rainbow began to speed toward the storm. But no sooner had she broke her hover than the storm suddenly swelled.

Rainbow stopped mid-air, blinking.

With a warbling roll of thunder, the storm shrank into itself. Then, with one last heave, the cloud-mass ruptured, a wall of steam and vapor spreading in every direction outward.

Rainbow lifted a foreleg to her eyes as sheets of dew wafted over her coat. When the sound of slow flapping wings met her ears, she looked forward.

Twilight’s massive form hovered over a leveled forest below, her wings thrashing against the air as she dispersed the remains of the storm.

“Cumulonimbus calvus,” Twilight began, her voice echoing softly across the land. “A type of storm cloud that normally sits beneath the tropopause, known as one of the most common forms of precipitation. Usually requires at least five pegasi to craft by hoof if not from the assembly line… I’m impressed.”

She dropped her hooves to the ground with a resounding thud.

Rainbow tilted her head.

With a glow of her horn, Twilight smirked.

“Now it’s my turn.”