Forged in Fire, Tempered by Time

With the arrival of her reading buddy, Twilight had quite thoroughly forgotten about Spike and his earlier misdeeds. The two ponies were deeply engrossed in their story, and had been trying to theatrically out-do each other with each successive reading.

It was currently Rainbow Dash’s turn and she was in the middle of acting out a particularly action-packed fight scene. Her wildly exaggerated ducks and punches, as well as the absurd faces she was pulling, was sending Twilight into convulsive fits of giggles. In the confined space of the alcove, Rainbow’s swirling hooves and flying wingtips nearly knocked over candles and spilled hot cocoa. The gusts of wind her enthusiastic movements produced made the candlelight flicker, sending shadows dancing across the walls. It was only when Spike popped his head in did Twilight remember what had happened earlier, and that she was supposed to be cross with him.

“Yes, Spike?” Twilight questioned, her voice carried a harsher tone than she had intended. Spike ducked back a little before answering.

“I was wondering if you ladies would like to take a break, you’ve been in here for over three hours already. It’s lunchtime!”

Rainbow had frozen mid-pose when Spike had appeared. She was currently balanced on her hind legs, wings flared and forelegs thrown up in front of her to fend off imaginary blows. However, at the mention of food she immediately began to salivate. She hadn’t eaten for hours, having got up early to get into position, and her extremely active pegasus metabolism was screaming for some fuel. As if in conformation of this fact, her stomach let out a long shuddering growl. Smiling sheepishly, she dropped down to all four hooves and neatly folded her wings back into place.

“Hehe...yeah Twi, let’s get some food. I’m starving now that you mention it.”

“But, I don’t know if we have anything,” Twilight began, “we might have to go out to get something.”

“Do you really think your number one assistant would leave you hangin’, Twilight?” Spike asked nonchalantly. He repositioned himself as he spoke and was now leaning coolly against the door frame, pretending to examine the nails of one hand. “I’ve got you covered on the lunch front, don’t you worry about that. All you have to do is come and sit down!”

Raising a questioning eyebrow at the dragon, Twilight extinguished those candles that Rainbow’s theatrics hadn’t already blown out before advancing out into the libraries main room after her assistant. Suppressing a snicker at Spike’s suave manner, Dash followed suit, trotting behind Twilight as they made their way to the dining room.

As they exited the reading cubby and moved through the libraries main room, Twilight was pleasantly surprised to find that the books Rainbow Dash had scattered everywhere, with her exuberant entrance that morning, were been picked up and neatly stacked up on a table. The bookcase still remained where it had fallen, Spike lacking the strength to raise the heavy piece of oak furniture back to its proper position.

As they entered the dining area, their noses were engulfed by a tidal wave of mouth-watering smells.

“Wow Spike, have you been cooking and cleaning all morning?” inquired Twilight.

“I’ve been keeping busy. I cooked a few of your favourites and did a bit of tidying up!” He replied, trying to keep his smooth demeanour and downplay the effort he had put in. Rainbow bore a pleased smile; Spike had saved her the trouble of having to help Twilight tidy up later.

Twilight, well aware of the thought process behind her assistant’s actions, was nonetheless impressed with how much he had managed to accomplish in such a short time frame.

“Maybe I should make you feel guilty more often if it results in...” she sniffed the air before guessing, "...your famous dandelion and wild rocket quiche?"

"Got it in one!"

"Forget the quiche! I smell cookies!" exclaimed Dash as she rushed ahead, "er - no offense to the quiche." She added quickly, looking apologetically over her shoulder at Spike.

"It's cool, I cooked a batch of my patented triple-decker-nut-crazy-vanilla-cream-cookies! I know you love them Rainbow!" he exclaimed, gesturing with a claw towards the table as they all entered the kitchen.

Arrayed before them was a lunch that wouldn’t have been out of place at the Canterlot Garden Party. Alongside the quiche and cookies was a salad so fresh, the leaves and flowers looked liked they were still growing. There was also a stack of sumptuously filled sandwiches, a bowl of crispy hay fries, a wild rice risotto and a pot of gently steaming tea. The two awestruck ponies just stood in the doorway, gaping. Rainbow's tongue lolled rather inelegantly out of her mouth.

"Um...exactly how many ponies are you expecting for lunch, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"You know one of the ponies that we'll be sharing lunch with is Rainbow Dash, right?" Spike replied, "I've never seen any pony eat quite as much in one sitting as she does. Honestly, I don't understand where she puts it all."

"Well duh, I'm a pegasus; we need plenty of food!" the pony in question replied. "These babies take a lot to power, y' know." She briefly shuffled her wings to indicate what she meant.

"Besides,” Spike continued as the trio sat down at the table, “she must have had breakfast ages ago. Ditzy Doo said she'd been hiding in a cloud over the library all morning." As Spike let this piece of information slip, Rainbow Dash blushed guiltily.

"Oh, reeeally?" Twilight inquired, directing her gaze towards her friend and raising her eyebrow for the second time in as many minutes.

“Heh...” was all Dash could manage.

“You’re not still embarrassed about being an ‘egg head’ are you?” Twilight asked, sounding slightly hurt.

“I don’t mind that ponies know I - how did AJ put it?” she thought briefly, “oh yeah, ‘read a bang-up tale every once in a while’, but not even you camp out the post box waiting for a book. How lame is that!?”

“Actually, I have done that before...once or twice...”

Rainbow clamped a hoof over her mouth as she realised she had managed to insult her friend.

“It’s not so bad for you though!” she hastily reassured, waving her forehooves back and forth. “Everypony expects YOU to do stuff like that. If they knew I did it as well...they – they’d just make fun of me! Remember what happened when the cutie mark crusaders did that article about me getting a hooficure?” She shuddered slightly as she remembered the incident.

Rainbow Dash had been one of the unfortunate ponies to fall prey to ‘Gabby Gums’, the alias the three mischievous fillies - Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell - had used while writing a gossip column for their school paper.

“You did get teased quite a lot for that,” mused Twilight.

“HAH, that’s the understatement of the year,” Dash groused, “it was merciless! And it went on for weeks!”

“Fine, fine. I can understand your want to avoid that sort of thing again; it’s never nice to be made fun of like that.” Twilight accepted, seeing the logic behind her friend’s actions. “Although, next time you decide to go all ‘Wonderbolts fan girl’ over a book, why don’t you just wait inside the library with me? I’d appreciate your company,” Twilight suggested, “and there’d be even less chance of you being outed as the egg head you truly are,” she teased.

Dash opened her mouth to object, but closed it again when she realised that Twilight was right. She WAS an egghead, at least a little anyways.

“Hey, I may be an egg head, but I’ve got nothing on you!” she joked, “you’ll always be ‘Queen Egg Head’. I’ll just have to accept that this is the one thing you’ve got me beat in.” This statement elicited a giggle and a roll of the eyes from Twilight.

“Now can we PLEASE eat some of Spike’s awesome cooking?” the pegasus pleaded, “I’m wasting away here!”

“Good idea!” said Twilight, as she proceeded to levitate food onto their plates.

***

The on-duty weather pegasi were watching a wild storm burgeon over the Everfree Forest with a growing sense of unease. It had been steadily swelling in size for the last twenty four hours; starting off as a small, inoffensive gathering of cloud, which quickly coalesced into something far more worrisome. The wind had really picked up in the last few hours.

Although, it hadn't yet strayed in the direction of Ponyville, the possibility was always there. Consequently, a contingency plan was in place should just such a scenario occur. Everypony was rather hoping they wouldn’t have to put it into action; dealing with a wild storm, rather than a pegasi created one, was dangerous and unpredictable.

The dark clouds boiled angrily as the storm continued to mount, illuminating itself with internal flashes of lighting. The accompanying rumbles of thunder rolled outward, announcing its growing power.

In a building on the edge of Ponyville that functioned as a field office for the local weather team, a strong looking pegasus by the name of Cloudburst, was addressing the small gathering assembled before him. He had asked the best endurance fliers to meet him there.

“Now listen up,” he began in curt voice, “that storm’s getting bigger by the minute and it could start moving towards Ponyville at any time. We’ve been observing it closely, but we still have no idea what we’re really dealing with. That’s why I’ve called you gentlecolts here. You five are the best endurance fliers we have, and we’re going to need that.” Cloudburst looked pointedly into each face as he talked.

The listening pegasi shifted and fidgeted with a mixture of pride and apprehension.

“We need to get a better idea of what we’re dealing with,” he continued, looking around seriously. “That means somepony’s going to have to do a flyby...”

The small gathering now stood stock still, the silence broken only by a distant rumble of thunder. The storm was not going to let its presence be forgotten.

“There’s a lot of wind’s coming off that thing, so it’s going to be a real struggle all the way. It being a wild storm means it’s also unpredictable...it could get dangerous. I’m not going to order any of you do it, but we need proper readings.”

There was a pregnant pause once Cloudburst finished his explanation.

“...I well understand your reluctance in this matter. If no one volunteers, I’ll go mysel–”

“I’ll go,” a dark blue, almost black, Pegasus cut him off abruptly.

With a sigh of relief the Cloudburst replied, “Thank you, Midnight. Now, you four,” he indicated the remaining pegasi with his hoof, “get him suited up.”

***

The food had been decimated. Only a few sandwiches, some hay fries, and a couple of lonely looking salad leaves remained. The table was littered with the remnants of a thoroughly enjoyed meal. Two extraordinarily full ponies, and a small dragon that felt like he was bursting at the seams, lay dozing on sofas in front of the cosy fire Twilight Sparkle had managed to light before she collapsed.

“I think I might fall into a food coma,” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Uh-huh,” was all Twilight could manage by way of a response.

Spike failed to reply, having already fallen asleep.

“I think I might just...sleep here,” mumbled Dash, burying her face further into the soft cushion she was using as a pillow.

“Good...idea,” Twilight answered lazily, “you don’t want to fly on such a full stomach in this weather.”

A crack of thunder vibrated the library tree slightly and the wind seemed to redouble its efforts to penetrate the windows. Glancing up, Twilight half-expected to see the glass bulging inward under the pressure.

“How long is this scheduled to last anyways?”

“I dunno...I took the week off so I don’t know what they’ve got planned,” this reply was muffled slightly by the pillow, “I don’t pay much attention to the weather when I’m not working.”

A half formed response failed to make the trip from Twilight’s brain to her mouth; replaced instead with dreams of Dash valiantly fighting off a group of henchponies, as she drifted off into a relaxed sleep.

***

Midnight shrugged his shoulders, trying to get the harness to sit more comfortably on his well-muscled frame. It had not been designed with comfort in mind; the thick canvas was rough and utilitarian with wire woven through it for added support and strength. Various complicated looking pieces of meteorological equipment were also attached wherever it wouldn't interfere with his wings. The machines were covered in blinking lights and readouts that lit him up like a Hearths Warming Eve decoration, making him feel slightly ridiculous. Then he remembered what he was about to do and sobered up almost immediately.

Cloudburst moved around him, poking and prodding at the machines, checking they were working and calibrated. He also inspected the harness, making sure it had been fitted properly. After a few experimental tugs, he proclaimed it ready.

“Good luck,” he said firmly, “you’re going to need it.”

Midnight only nodded solemnly before spreading his powerful wings and launching himself into the heavy gale. The wind that rushed through Ponyville was, for the moment at least, strong but not unusually so. Midnight’s powerful wings pushed him steadily through it, his well toned muscles rippled underneath his dark skin as they worked to keep him moving.

It should have been a short flight to the Everfree Forest, but the closer he got, the stronger the wind grew. Each stroke of his wings seemed to cost him greater effort. Sweat soon sheathed his hide, darkening it further. He had been flying directly at the storm, but he couldn’t keep battling the storms power head on. Midnight was forced to reduce his angle of attack and instead zig-zag towards his target. This had the effect of increasing the distance he had to travel, but also meant he didn’t have to fight the vicious wind head on.

Midnight had been given a very specific list of operations and flight patterns to carry out once he got into position. Some of these operations, like cloud sampling, required him to actually be IN the cloud. He didn’t fancy that idea, although at this rate, it didn’t look like he would be able to get that close.

A bead of sweat ran down his brow and into his right eye. The salty droplet stung, making Midnight squint and hesitate briefly. He was tiring quickly, the storm’s victory seemed inevitable, and the only question that remained was whether or not he could get some good data before his muscles gave out.

He doggedly continued, pushing closer and closer to the looming thunderhead. Some of the bizarre instruments began to beep and whir as they entered their operational ranges. The rest remained inert. He would have to get closer.

The front of the storm bulged outwards, and suddenly disgorging a sheet of lightning that leapt across the sky. The forked bolt came perilously close to the struggling pegasus, it was almost as if the storm had aimed for him. Surely that was impossible, right?

***

Cloudburst and the other gathered pegasi were watching Midnight’s valiant journey. The ponies that hadn’t volunteered were feeling an odd mixture of emotions. They felt relief; they did not have to undergo the hardship that Midnight was suffering, or face the possible dangers. This fuelled shame and guilt; they had failed to step forward when the situation had demanded that they must, instead letting the burden fall on another. In the face of Midnight’s bravery, they were made to feel like cowards. Tempering this though, was pride; pride that they had the privilege to work alongside such a pony, and could call him friend.

After fitting the harness onto Midnight, the four pegasi had decided they would each sacrifice a portion of this month’s paycheque to show their admiration and respect. He deserved it; above and beyond the call of duty and all that. He would refuse of course, saying he was just doing what needed to be done, but they would be adamant. By unspoken consent they were also ready to leap into action the moment Midnight hit trouble, so when the lightning struck, four sets of hooves almost left the ground, stopping only once they realised he was still in the air.

“...Now, that isn’t normal,” the forepony commented. His voice was dark, and he sounded even more unsettled than he had been previously.

The four glanced at his worried face.

“This isn’t a normal storm, even by Everfree standards. Lightning doesn’t arc to AIR. You boys need to go and get him before he gets too close!”

Almost simultaneously, four sets of powerful wings thrust downwards, pushing their owner’s skyward. The backwash of air nearly knocked Cloudburst over.

Once aloft, the four entered a diamond formation; the lead pegasus cutting through the wind, making it easier for the ones behind. They swapped positions at regular intervals, so no one got overly exhausted.

The formation quickly gained on their beleaguered colleague, steely determination filled their eyes.

***

Midnight began to lose altitude, his endurance flagging. He knew he couldn’t keep this up much longer or get much closer. He was barely gaining ground, and was almost stationary in the air.

The near miss from the lightning had also shaken him considerably. A lightning strike was a pegasus’ worst nightmare. The strike didn’t even seem to make sense; it hadn’t seemed to arc to anywhere like it should have. There were no clouds behind him and he was too high for trees or the like. The lighting had come for him, he was sure of it; the storm had tried to swat him out of the sky and it scared him.

The storm front bulged outwards again, just like last time. Would the same thing happen again? Was it worth risking it?

His courage broke and he finally gave in to the wind. He turned and dove, his fatigued muscles desperately fought to maintain control as the powerful swells of wind filled his wings.

Behind him, the bulging storm glowed with a telltale illumination. A bolt of lightning spider webbed-across the sky faster than the eye could follow; the deep roar of thunder accompanied it. It headed straight for the fleeing pegasus.

***

The formation flying had served the four well. Sharing the burden, they had closed the gap between themselves and their friend. Had there been no wind, they could have easily shouted for him. However, the storm whipped their words away long before they reached Midnight’s ears.

They could only watch as the clouds reached out towards him. They strove to close the final distance as their friend broke off and headed back towards them. Then, with horror-filled eyes, they could only watch as the savage electricity struck Midnight! It speared an outstretched wing, passing straight through it without a moment’s hesitation. Midnight lit up like a candle as the bolt pierced him. Once it dissipated, the pegasus plummeted ground ward, trailing smoke and singed feathers as he fell.