Thunder

Scores of Pegasi, with the occasional thestral, carpeted the dim sky above Ponyville, their silhouettes like bruises against the amber sky, their flight precise and direct, their wing beats sporadic and deliberate. From a square in the center of Ponyville stood a group of twelve ponies - four Unicorns, four Earth ponies, three Pegasai and one Thestral - crowded around a map which was laid out upon several feathered helmets. Upon it lay a drawing of Ponyville and several guard stations scattered around the Everfree forest. The map was full of detail. Lakes routes and patrols littered the outskirts of the forest, but past an inch of the boundary there was only the occasional landmark or path sketched in.

Around the town, Earth pony guards marched from door to door, delivering notices and talking to the few dreary-eyed residents upon the hearth of their homes. Unicorn Guards marched to a spot between the lake and the train tracks, placing large wooden poles into the ground and establishing a camp. From the horizon came a softly chugging train, clad in colour and the duel flags of the day and night guards, leaving a lazy trail of smoke behind it.

Rainbow could see all of this from one of the two open windowsills on the third floor of the hospital. Her panted breath misted before her. As she sat taking in the site of the Guards, a soft rapping came from the closed door behind her. She turned around as Twilight opened it and invited the Princesses inside.

"Thank you Twilight. I hope you and your friends slept well." Celestia scanned across the room where each of the Elements sat. Rarity and Applejack pored over a small pile of papers on the bed, and Pinkie and Fluttershy were playing a card game. "Thank you for your capture of our old pet. It shall be safely taken to Canterlot, for it has truly been a long time. It's presence in the forest might mean there are other things once thought lost laying within the trees, so I must ask that you do not enter the forest without good reason and some guards with you."

Luna took over from her sister. "The guards are setting up a base camp by the lake, and would very much like any knowledge of the paths through the Everfree. From the letters you have sent to my sister, I think this Zecora would be most useful. Please inform the captains of where she might be found. As to the dangers in the forest, I believe you have skills that might be very useful, Fluttershy. I'm sure you have many questions but I must escort our pet to Canterlot. I bid you adieu."

She turned and left, turning towards where the creature was kept. Was.

Guards around and the Creature was out of its room this morning... it must have escaped! Rainbow gasped internally. What if it tries to attack Ponyville?

"Princess, it killed somepony!" Rainbow blurted out, interrupting Twilight mid lecture mode. "Play it cool, Rainbow, if the Princess finds out you know something you're not supposed to -"

"Rainbow, are you OK? Why are you spacing out?" Rarity asked, waving her hoof in front of Rainbow's face.

"I'm fine," Rainbow dismissed with a wave. "Are you sure the Guards will be able to protect us if another one comes at us?" she asked Princess Celestia.

"Quite certain, Rainbow Dash. The Guards are well trained and can handle any threat. Though you'd know that about Shining Armour." She turned from Rainbow to Twilight. "He's leading the Day Guard right now; I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on, Twilight. And that you all know how skilled he is." Princess Celestia stared directly into Rainbow's eyes.

Shining Armour? It must be serious. How many are there? Can they all do that freaky thing with the weather? Sweet Celestia... they need to know what it can do... I have to go!

"Rainbow, what are you -" Rarity paused as Rainbow turned and jumped outside. The wind whipped at her face and ears and she shot out towards the Guards in the town centre. Getting her bearings, she made a beeline for the circle of ponies who she assumed were in command. They noticed her coming and those with wings took off and met her in the air.

"What is it, Loyalty?" The Night Guard Pegasus asked.

"The creatures in the forest, they... they do this freaky thing with the weather. They make the clouds move all on their own and there's this lightning that makes your wings feel weird." Rainbow was all but shouting at the Guards.

"We'll be sure to keep it in mind, now if you'll -" One of the Guards began to speak before Shining Armour interrupted, having marched up underneath them.

"Rainbow, good to see you! It's been a year, hasn't it? We were just finishing up." Shining turned to the assembled guards. "Little Wind, Bronco, go give the troops the orders and oversee the ground patrols. Captain Nightfang, when the barracks are done, come to Sugarcube Corner, you'll love it." With a wave of his head towards the aforementioned gingerbread house he beckoned Rainbow to walk and talk. "What's this about freaky weather?"

"Seriously weird. The clouds just go into the Everfree on their own... It made Ponyville cloudy on a cloudless day! And the lightning... I could feel it in my wings you know, but not like normal... it felt alive." Rainbow said with a stricken face.

"And the wind?" Shining replied.

"None... not one bit... just... silence." Rainbow pawed at the ground with her hoof.

After a moments' silence Shining spoke up. "Hey, how about we go find the others?"

The Everfree forest was a difficult place to navigate - unless you knew the paths, of course. Twisting mazes of roots and trees could get you turned around. The key was to keep something big and far away in view and use that to navigate; the Sun, a tower or a river were all very big things. Unfortunately they all required sight line to any of them, or in other words being in the open. Something you don't really want when you're being chased, especially when your prospective chasers have wings. Lo didn't want to be captured so she had to use the lay of the land. Special trees here and there and the gentle sloping of the land could all be useful if you knew the land. Needless to say she was lost, and badly. To make matters worse, it was coming close to midday. If the renewed light on the forest floor was to be believed, her disappearance would've been noticed already. She could risk being open now. It would take several hours for any sort of search team to get to the forest and she probably had four more of them to use as an advantage, but if a few thousand years of being on the run had taught her anything it was don't chance it. Even a one in a thousand shot can hit sometime, and all it would take is for one orderly to enter that room and find a distinct lack of Human and the jig would be up, and with it those four precious hours.

Still though, being lost gave a high chance of death or even capture if she was found. Your knowledge of the land was the greatest aspect in a chase and her old home was perfect. Dense trees and lots of twists meant it wasn't about speed -which she lacked - but about manoeuvrability and endurance. They also prevented any pesky birds coming down and grabbing her or keeping track of her during the whole chase. There were caves, so she always had somewhere to hide or hole up if her chaser was any good. And to top it all off, the river was at the edge, giving her access to clean water. There was one cave she could use to sneak from one side to the other and thus give her chaser the slip. Oh, what she would give to find just one of those caves. Lo could see indistinct trees and rolling anonymous hills, with not a cave in sight.

Well, she thought, I'm fucked.

The door to Ponyville General Hospital opened with a menacing ping. From it, six mares marched out towards Rainbow and Shining as they came to the steps. Why did you fly off, Rainbow? Whats wrong with you, Rainbow? She knew how this would go down.

"I see you've found Captain Armour. Have you informed him of the dangers that await in the forest?" Princess Celestia asked.

Play it cool Rainbow... you can do this. "Yepperoo Princess, told him everything I knew," she responded calmly. Nailed it.

Applejack spoke next. "It's mighty fine of you to help out, but you could'a told us what you were doing, Dash. You had us all worried," she said, laying on the guilt.

"Shining!" Twilight cried before running up to her BBBFF and hug-choking him nearly to death.

"Hey, Twi!" Shining half choked, "I'm in charge of the troops here so I'll be round quite a bit from now on... that means you can let go now."

"Really? That's great! We can do all sorts of parties and... oh gosh!" Pinky Pie began to run off, her voice becoming quieter as she crossed the hill. "I have to go plan for the 'Welcome to Ponyville' party. Tell them to be in town by midnight!"

"Oh my, do you think she's planning for everypony on the Guard?" Fluttershy asked, staring at where Pinkie had vanished from sight.

"I believe so."

"Yup."

"That would be an interesting sight." Rarity, Applejack and Celestia said in chorus.