Glint Stones: Shenanigans

After the scare the brothers had over Chilly yesterday, they had to do something to shift their focus. Sparx had already left to see Pinkie, Ashes left to go see Applejack, Chilly took a walk all over town, and Gust flew all over Ponyville to find Rainbow Dash. Starlight was left home to attend to personal matters.

"Hmm...where is she? Where is Miss Rainbow Dash?" Gust searched high and low, but she couldn't find her.

"Hey...! Gust...!" Gust looked down to see Scootaloo waving at him from below. He flew down to meet with her.

"Hi, Scootaloo. Do you need something...?"

"Yeah! Have you seen Rainbow Dash today? I can't find her anywhere...." Scootaloo looked sad.

"Actually...I'm looking for her too. I wanna see if we can get rid of those weird clouds." Gust was slightly annoyed by the constant darkness.

"Wanna go look for her together? We can look for her together if we both fly together." Gust then stretched out his abnormally lengthy wings all ready to take flight. Scootaloo was amazed, yet she felt troubled.

"I wish I could help you, but I can't fly...." She felt defeated when she admitted this to Gust. Gust was confused.

"Why...? Your wings look fine to me. Do you just not know how to fly?"

"I don't know...! I just can't, ok?!" Scootaloo became upset over these questions. Gust was surprised to see this. But he knew he crossed the line and kept his mouth shut. Scootaloo then realized she took it too far and noticed Gust's shocked expression.

"No...I'm sorry! I shouldn't have yelled at you! I just-" She began to panic at her mistake.

"Ah...no! It's fine! I shouldn't have said that stuff! Look, I'll make it up to you! I'll give you a lift! We can look for Miss Rainbow Dash together that way!" Gust was also panicking as her lowered his body to allow Scootaloo on his back.

"Uh...alright!" Scootaloo quickly got on Gust's back and they both took off into the sky immediately. Scootaloo was amazed at how fast they ascended and how high up they were.

"Woah...! This awesome! I thought Rainbow Dash was fast, but wow...!" She held onto Gust tight so she wouldn't fall.

"Hey Scootaloo, what is Miss Rainbow Dash like exactly? You seem to like her a lot."

"Are you kidding?! Rainbow Dash is awesome! She can fly super fast, she can clear the sky in record time, and she's the best flyer in all of Equestria! And I want to be just like her someday...!" Scootaloo went full fan-mare over Rainbow Dash.

"So that's why she's so awesome...? I mean, flying and clearing the sky are what Pegasi do anyway. What's so special about all that?" Gust wasn't convinced.

"What?! Have you gone crazy?! She's an awesome athlete too! She's has won so many sports events and took first place every time!" Scootaloo was baffled by Gust selling her idol so short.

"Really? That...does sound awesome. And that's what you want to do?"

"Yeah...! I want to be as great a flyer as her someday! But I...." Scootaloo then became defeated again by her inability to fly. Gust noticed and didn't know what to say to cheer her up.

"Uh...well, do you have to be a great flyer like Miss Rainbow Dash?! Maybe you can do something else to be awesome!"

"Maybe...but all Pegasi can fly. How can a Pegasus who can't fly be awesome?" She wasn't convinced.

"I'm sure you can do something that's awesome! Aren't there any sports games done on the ground and stuff?" Gust continued to try and cheer Scootaloo up, but he was starting to run out of ways to do it.

"Well...there is Hoof Ball, but only Pegasi that can fly can attend." Scootaloo became even more down. Gust couldn't come up with anything else to cheer Scootaloo up. He then saw Rainbow Dash flying around against the clouds above them.

"Look, there's Miss Rainbow Dash! Let's go see here!" Gust then quickly flew upwards to do so. Hoping Rainbow Dash could cheer up Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash was trying her hardest to remove the dark clouds alongside other Pegasi, but the clouds were too thick.

"Miss Rainbow Dash...!" Gust flew right next to her and startled her.

"What the-?! What are you two doing here?!" Rainbow Dash nearly lost her altitude from the surprise arrival.

"We were looking for you. Gust said he wanted to help you remove these clouds." Scootaloo quickly perked up from meeting her idol again.

Rainbow Dash gave an annoyed sigh and said, "Good luck. We've been trying to get rid of these stupid clouds all morning. But no matter what we do they won't go away." Her fellow Pegasi shared her annoyed feelings. Gust looked up into the clouds and he couldn't see anything.

"Hey, why don't you have Gust help? I heard from Sweetie Belle that he can make wind. Maybe he can blow it all away."

"Sorry Scoots, but not even wind can get rid of them. We even tried making a little twister and that didn't work. Let's face it, we're stuck." Rainbow Dash then flew over to a nearby cloud that is below the cover. Gust and Scootaloo followed her.

"Then...what now?" Scootaloo then joined Rainbow Dash on her cloud hoping to comfort her.

"No idea.... This has gotten the entire Weather Factory in Cloudsdale freaking out. Even the Wonderbolts can't do anything." Even Rainbow Dash became discouraged by what is happening. Gust then looked back into the clouds and felt that something was bit...off. He then suddenly flew upward into the clouds at great speed. His entry caused the clouds to ripple like the surface of water.

"What in Equestria is that guy doing? Does he think that he can-" She then saw Gust fly back down from the clouds. He seemed very confused about something.

"What in the world?!" He was really confused. He then flew over to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo to report.

"Miss Rainbow Dash, something is really wrong...!"

"What's wrong, Gust?"

"Is it that you can't get rid of those clouds like us...?" Rainbow Dash wasn't at all surprised.

"No, it's not that! I tried to fly through the clouds and see if there was something above them, but I wound up back here!" This definitely got the other Pegasi confused.

"Maybe you just got lost. That can happen when you can't see where you're going." Rainbow Dash was not convinced.

"Then you do it...! You fly up and get through! You'll see what I mean!"

"Maybe you should try it, Rainbow Dash. It can't hurt to try...." Scootaloo began nudging Rainbow Dash to do so.

Rainbow ash gave another annoyed sigh and said, "Alright, fine.... Let's give it a try." Rainbow Dash then flew straight upwards into the clouds at great speed and into the clouds. In no time at all, she came back just as quickly. She then stopped and was shocked by what just happened.

"What...?"

Gust then flew up to Rainbow Dash and asked, "Now do you believe me?! I flew into the clouds only to fly back down! What is going on here?!" Even the other Pegasi tried to do so and they all failed to pierce through. This began to concern Rainbow Dash more and more. Not only can they not break through the cloud cover, but now they can't even get to the clear sky. She then flew over to the cloud where Scootaloo was perched.

"Hey Gust, I need you to do something for me."

"Uh...what is it?" Gust flew over to hear her request.

"I need you to get Scootaloo back to the ground for me. I need to go meet with Starlight." Rainbow Dash glared at the clouds. She knew something was going on. She just didn't know what it was.

"Rainbow Dash...?" Scootaloo was concerned.

"Don't worry, Scoots. I'm sure Starlight will know what to do. I'll meet back up with you." Rainbow Dash then flew off to Twilight's castle to tell Starlight what's going on. Gust and Scootaloo were both concerned. Gust then brought Scootaloo back to the ground like he was asked to.

"Well...um...." Gust really didn't know what to say about all this.

"Hey Gust, could we hang out a little longer? I...don't want to be alone." Scootaloo became scared. Gust couldn't leave her alone and they decided to stick together for now. Meanwhile, Sparx and Pinkie were hanging out doing what they failed to do before: make a good batch of sweets. Except every time they make a batch, it ends up burnt.

"Ok, this is getting stupid...." Sparx was beginning to lose his patience.

"I don't understand.... We followed the recipes exactly as the book says we should. I don't know what we did wro-?!" Suddenly, both Sparx and Pinkie felt a deep chill run down their spines.

"What the hell...? This feeling...." Sparx felt like his blood turned to ice and his heart felt like it was being squeezed. Pinkie felt the exact same feeling. Her mane and tail both deflated.

"Sparky...something happened. Something bad. I'm scared." Pinkie then held onto Sparx.

"You felt it too, huh? Yeah, something really bad happened. But where...?" Sparx looked around the room for the source, but he could tell the source was nowhere nearby.

"What the hell is this feeling...? It's like my legs are telling me to do something but I don't even know what happened or what I should do and they won't shut up about it!" thought Sparx; he was getting really annoyed about it.

"Sparky, I think we should go and tell Starlight...right now."

"Uh...yeah. Let's go." Sparx then got Pinkie to ride on his back to keep her out of trouble. They left Sugar Cube Corner and made their way to Twilight's castle. They both knew something was going on, but now they know for sure that something very, very bad was going on. They just didn't know what it was. Meanwhile, in Sweet Apple Acres, something was happening to some of the apple trees. The leaves were turning from green to black and the apples were starting to drop from their stems all rotten.

"What in tarnation is happening to the orchard?!" Applejack was shocked to see what was happening.

"Sis, I'm scared...." Apple Bloom held onto Applejack's legs in fear.

"HEY...!" Ashes came running towards Applejack and Apple Bloom to help them with the orchard.

"Oh, howdy Ash. Today isn't really a good day right now." Applejack was quite concerned with the state of her orchard.

"Huh...? Why no-HOLY SXXX! WHAT IS UP WITH YOUR TRE-!" Applejack then slammed an non-rotten apple into Ashes' mouth after he just noticed what was happening.

"Please keep the foul language away from my little sis...." Applejack had Apple Bloom cover her ears when Ashes started swearing.

"MMMPH?! MMPH?!" Ashes had his mouth full of apple.

"Ashes...don't talk with your mouth full."

"We have no idea what's happening...! We just found the trees like this and I think it's spreading!"

"Granny Smith and Big Mac are not gonna like what they see when they get back."

Ashes finally ate the apple and asked, "YOU WANT ME TO BURN THEM FOR YOU?! I CAN DO THAT...!" He then started to burn up.

"No...! You'll start a forest fire! Just...go and tell Starlight about this! Maybe she'll figure something out!" Applejack really didn't want anything crazy happening. Especially when her entire apple orchard was rotting away.

"YEAH!" Ashes then ran off to do so in a hurry.

"Big sis, can Starlight really do something about this? Can she cure the orchard?" Apple Bloom was afraid of what was happening. Applejack didn't have an answer for her little sister. She was unsure of what could happen next. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was spending some time near the CMC clubhouse on her knitting and it wasn't coming along too well. But she's still trying.

"C'mon...! How does Rarity do this every day?!" Sweetie Belle was beginning to grow frustrated with her messy knitting. While she wasn't looking, a pair of vicious eyes were looking down on her from the trees. From within those trees, a black smog came from within the leaves. Suddenly, another Manticore jumped out at Sweetie Belle in the hopes of killing her. But just before it could, it was then smacked away by an icy hammer. Sweetie Belle jumped from the loud noise and noticed the Manticore crashing on the ground and sprawling in pain.

"Good thing I decided to get some exercise to day...." Chilly was the one who smacked the Manticore away and saved Sweetie Belle.

"Chilly?! What just happened?!" Sweetie Belle panicked and was confused. Suddenly, Chilly flashed his horn in her face and she passed out.

"Sorry missy, but you need to be quiet for a little while. After this, it'll be just a bad dream...." Chilly then placed Sweetie belle on his back to keep her safe. But the Manticore then got back on it's feet and was ready to fight.

Chilly then glared at the Manticore and said, "You should have ran for it, cat...." With another flash of his horn, many icy shards sprung from the ground and ran through it's body. It died without delay and the black smog left it's body. Chilly then walked over to the Manticore's dead body and placed his horn on it. In an instant, the Manticore turned into frost and then disintegrated. Chilly left nothing behind. He then turned and left for Ponyville with Sweetie Belle safely on his back. He made his way to Rarity's Boutique to take her back home to her sister. He sees Rarity working on another dress like always.

She then noticed Chilly and said, "Ah Chilly, what may I do fo-" She then noticed Sweetie Belle passed out on Chilly's back and immediately stopped working.

"Sweetie Belle...!" She ran over to see if her little sister was alright. Thankfully, she was un-harmed.

"Chilly, what happened?! What's wrong with her?!"

"Calm down, missy. She's fine. A Manticore attacked her but I got rid of it. She just fainted out of fright." Chilly then magically placed Sweetie Belle gently on a nearby pile of blankets. Rarity then rushed to check and see if Sweetie Belle was alright.

"Thank you so much, Chilly. I don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to my little sister." Rarity held onto Sweetie Belle in relief.

"I'll leave the rest to you, missy. I've had enough exercise for one day. Later." Chilly then left the boutique with his hood over his head. He then began making his way back to Twilight's castle. He glares at the dark sky that looms over what was supposed to be a land of peace. He was disgusted.

"It seems the time to be lazy has long since gone. The time to get off my lazy ass draws near...." He thinks to himself as he moves through Ponyville.

"This time I will not fail...."