Chapters Thunderlane to the Rescue
The silhouette of a pegasus stood majestically on the high bluff, looking out over the forming weather system some way distant to the west. The first of the deceptively gentle breezes that heralded the onset of the storm tousled his mane and rippled his feathers.
A veil of clouds was being drawn progressively across the late afternoon sunshine, as the azure sky was ushered prematurely from sight, portending the fury that was preparing to be unleashed.why me , and why today ?”
Today, as every buckball fan knew, was the pivotal match in the season’s playoffs. As an avid fan, he had tried desperately to swap this duty with all the other weather ponies on his shift, offering to take double shifts and even resorting to bribery, but all to no avail. He had drawn the short straw, and nopony was going to help him out.
Of course, weather ponies didn’t always post lookouts when a storm came through, but today was unusual; the Cloudsdale weather factory was experimenting with a new technique for making lightning storms. The previous method that had worked for countless generations was dependent on resources that were starting to become rare in Equestria, and efforts had been directed into developing a more sustainable alternative. Although scientists believed that they had probably managed to formulate a new production method that replicated the old fashioned lightning storms in every detail, there was still a degree of concern.
With expectations running high, the first of the new class of lightning storm was being rolled out over a large uninhabited area to the west of Canterlot, known unofficially as the weather factory’s test range, and lookouts had been stationed at key points along the route, just to be safe.
Staring out through his amber eyes, the dark grey pegasus kept his vigil until he felt that the buffeting from the wind was starting to get a little too uncomfortable and then unfurled his wings, giving the area under the advancing cloudfront one last good look before taking to the air. Suddenly he stopped; it could be that the wind was whipping up dirt into his eyes, but he thought he saw a speck moving under the deepening shadows.
He stopped, shook his head and stared a little harder, looking for confirmation of what he thought he had seen. There it was again; two small light colour dots contrasted against the deep darkness of the storm behind them. He knew that it was feeling uncomfortable where he was, so could only imagine how difficult it must be flying further within the storm’s grip. He checked again to see that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, then sprang into the air, turning into the storm rather than heading away from it as had been his original plan.
The winds grew stronger and more unpredictable as he moved further in, the tiny spots he could have so easily overlooked now showing they had wings and starting to show hints of colour; one appearing to be lavender blue whilst the other was vanilla. It was the lighter coloured one that was having real trouble in the unpredictable and unceasingly violent winds, whilst the other was trying to protect it.
The dark grey stallion fought against the elements and once he had just about got close enough to see the fear in their eyes, a lightning bolt shot out from the cloud and scorched through the air with the sound like all nature being ripped apart. The vanilla pegasus screamed and its wings folded up as it began to tumble towards the ground.
Speeding forward with a power he did not believe he possessed, he dived to reach the falling pony, its terrified young screams ringing loudly in his ears even over the relentless roar of the wind. Reaching out, he gripped the struggling filly with his forelegs and fought to regain height where he could meet up with her lavender blue companion above them.
“That way!” he shouted over the intensifying sound bearing down oppressively around them. The mare nodded and fought to make headway as she had been directed. The filly had stopped struggling now and was holding on tightly to her rescuer who was silently praying he had the strength to get the pair of them out of this building maelstrom.
Just then, another lightning bolt flashed close by the fleeing ponies causing them all to jump while the filly gripped on even more tightly, sobbing uncontrollably with fright. He would liked to have comforted her, but was too busy saving his energy for flying, the closeness of the last lightning bolt spurring him on to getting out as fast as he could.
“I … I don’t think I can make it!” the mare cried out, panic evident in her voice.
Another lightning bolt crashed menacingly as the storm grew in self-confidence, as if toying with them like a cat with a pair if terrified mice. This time it sounded further behind them, providing at least a small sliver of hope that they were pulling away from the dangerous heart of the storm. The mare seemed to understand too, and the pair of them flapped harder than they thought possible, boosted by the thought of having to make progress, slow though it was.
They toiled away, the mare risking an occasional glance at the filly hanging grimly onto the strong forelegs that embraced her tight to the body of the dark grey stallion, her small eyes scrunched tightly shut as they drew away from the storm wingbeat at a time. He, in his turn, watched the lavender blue mare intently for a few seconds, analysing her flight pattern to determine how strong a flyer she was, and whether he thought she could make it. She was tiring; it was going to be a close run thing.
It wasn’t just the strong winds, but the buffeting that made their escape particularly difficult, and worse, their progress to outrun the black-hearted storm was diminishing by the minute.
He looked back to the tiring mare, then down to the ground, scanning left and right, making regular sweeps of the landscape as it slowly unfolded below him, searching desperately for any signs of shelter. He knew they needed a large slice of luck and needed it quickly, or she would be sucked into the storm and pounded to pieces and then probably slammed to the ground for an encore. That was something he didn’t want to consider too closely.
As if in answer to his prayers, he saw a plateau emerging from the rock strewn landscape below, bordered on one side by a steep ridge that snaked over the landscape, probably the sides of a dried up riverbed. Focusing more closely on the long deserted riverbanks, he became gradually aware of some dark patches. “Caves?” he dared to think. He took another sidewards glance at the mare who was now clearly starting to lose the coordination of her wingbeats and looked about to fall out of the sky. There was no choice now; he signalled to dive.
The dark grey stallion led the mare down, the prospect that he may have found an answer to their dilemma spurring her on. Another lightning bolt jolted the pair of them, and the mare gasped, momentarily losing her focus and began to fall. The stallion knew he couldn’t save both ponies and wasn’t prepared to drop the terrified filly, so called out, “We’re almost there! Hold it together!”
Somehow his authority penetrated through her mounting panic and she fought to regain a steady wingbeat, looking back over to him with a nervous smile that barely covered her fear.
As an experienced weather pony, he anticipated the difficult terrain and trimmed his wings in advance of an updraught that rushed up to meet him. When it hit, he was ready for it and kept the right way up as he sped towards the mouths of the caves speeding up towards him. He wanted to look back and see if the mare had anticipated the updraught, but knew it was more important for him to focus on his own landing, seeing as he had direct responsibility for the filly clutching tightly to his forelegs.
He was almost on top of the cave entrances now; the first was blind, so he kept going to the second praying hard for it to offer even the most tentative refuge; he was too low and too slow to recover height and fly away now if it wasn’t.
The second cave entrance turned out to be more a trick of the light and offered nothing; all hopes now pinned on the third and final cave. He started seriously thinking what he could possibly do if this also turned out to be useless as had the other two; his options were exhausted, this had to work!
As he approached the final cave he could see it extended in at least a short distance and backwinged furiously to burn off the last of his speed as he prepared for landing in a confined space, mindful to leave room for the mare following closely behind.
He offered a final prayer to Celestia and held the terrified filly tightly, realising that he wouldn’t be able to land on all four hooves if he was to keep her safe. He pulled up sharply, dipping into the cave mouth as his rear hooves thumped onto the solid rock floor. The shock of suddenly being out of the murderous wind coupled with his additional landing weight made his legs buckle as he absorbed the unpleasantly severe jolt of the landing.
Still holding protectively to his precious cargo, he knew he had to move quickly to get further into the cave so the mare could have a bit more space for her approach. He strode back into the darkness further in the cave, but a sharp pain in his hind leg forced him to abruptly shift his weight, and he had only limped back a few steps before the shape of a pegasus mare blocked out the daylight.
Next thing there was a clatter and scraping of hooves as she misjudged her landing, skidding then overbalancing and finally crashing into the wall of the cave. Fortunately, ferns and climbing weeds adorned the walls and she had a much softer landing than hitting solid rock. At the very least she was winded, but she was out of the storm.
Thunderlane to the Rescue
“Aunt Cloudy! Aunt Cloudy!” screamed the filly wriggling clear of the stallion’s protective embrace and running over to the fallen pegasus.
The lavender blue mare groaned and staggered as she tried to regain her balance, but elected to lay down instead.
“Come further inside where it’s safer!” he called gesturing to them, “The wind’s getting too strong outside!”
“Thank you for saving us” she said gratefully, “We would have been lost out there if you hadn’t known about this cave.”
Just then, an uprooted tree flew past the cave mouth in a flash, and the rain front that they had fought to keep ahead of broke, the dim light within the cave getting noticeably darker. The ponies were all stunned for a moment, until Cloud Kicker broke the silence by saying nonchalantly, ”You’ve sprained it; nothing broken. It’s going to hurt like hell when you put any weight on it for the next few days.”
Then she extended her neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.Princess? ” he gasped.real Princess” the filly chipped in, “And then I’ll make you Captain of the Guard and give you a big shiny medal for being so brave!”
Another lightning bolt flashed, lighting up the cave for a brief second. It was cramped and squalid, but above all it was safe, even though the young filly screamed at the noise.
He lay down facing the cave mouth and the lavender blue mare followed suit, leaving just a small gap for a young filly to be sandwiched in between them. Outside it was dark, the intense rain appearing as parallel silver lines at the cave mouth.that .”
They spoke for over an hour about small inconsequential things, and soon the grown-ups found they shared more in common than either would have realised, his growing attraction to her being rewarded by her respect of his courage and selflessness in protecting the filly.
The ponies sheltered as the storm raged above them, the easy conversation keeping them all happy, especially Princess, who felt reassured by the calming tones of the happy conversation between her aunt whom she loved, and the heroic stallion she wanted to be Captain of her Guard. She did never quite get used to the loud sound of the thunderclaps, but did get very adept at counting distance and taking delight in telling the others when it was finally on its way past.
When the rain finally stopped, Princess trotted towards the mouth of the cave to take stock of the world outside.
The filly looked around from the mouth of the cave to tell the others that she could see the storm clearing and a rainbow shining vibrantly against the dull background, but saw instead that they were kissing. She turned away to look back at the rainbow once more, her heart beating rapidly with the prospect that her two favourite ponies of the moment may, possibly, soon become an item and letting her thoughts drift to what the wedding would be like.
“How did you know this place was here?” asked Cloud Kicker, “Is it somewhere you’ve brought lots of mares before?”
***
The final rays of evening sunshine shot like horizontal spears through the gloom, framing their faces in a soft orange glow. It was the first opportunity they had to see the surroundings that had protected them from the extreme weather that had rolled over them that afternoon. It was little more than the size of a stall with water dripping down the walls, maintaining isolated clumps of ferns that seemed to thrive in the damp and the dark. Nopony except Thunderlane realised how close they had all come to disaster; both of his newfound friends seemingly having complete faith in him.
“I have to report back to the weather factory in Cloudsdale” he announced, “And I don’t think we’ve got too much daylight left. Can you fly?”
“Great kid” he commented admiringly, looking up to Cloud Kicker whose cheeks flushed brightly at the compliment, “And you’re really nice too.”
“OK” he said, “Ready?”
They grouped up and followed the path of the storm, safely behind and out of its reach. Princess soon started showing off by flying loops around the grown-ups, prompting them both to agree that she really should consider going to Junior Speedsters Flight Camp and try her luck at becoming a Wonderbolt. She heard this, of course , and started showing off all the more.
By the time they approached Cloudsdale, the sun had retreated below the horizon, leaving behind an aura of pinks, oranges and purples to act as a backdrop to the remaining clouds that had stayed to usher in the night.into the storm after all. Besides, once it had built up momentum, there was no way to stop it.”you know .”
Thunderlane to the Rescue
Thunderlane led his two new friends to the weather factory and touched down as close to the main entrance as he dared and tried to walk forward, but his hindleg was hurting far worse and he almost fell the instant he put weight on it.
“Hey Thunderlane!” called Soarin, striding out of the large building, “Where you been, bro?”
“I would file a report myself” Thunderlane offered apologetically, “But I kinda injured my leg and the nurse here …”everything …”
“Princess Erroria!” Cloud Kicker cut in, “I’m sure this gentlecolt doesn’t need to know all the details.”“I’ve also got very good hearing” said Cloud Kicker with a mischievous smile, at which Soarin blushed deeply.married, married ...” sang the filly cheerfully.
“OK, bro. Look, I’ll go sort everything out for you. Just get yourself down to the infirmary and get that leg seen to.”
Soarin went back into the building and spoke to a receptionist, returning shortly with a clipboard. He flipped through the pages with a forehoof, checking out the rosters for the day.
“Can I help you get to the infirmary, Mr Thunderlane?” asked the filly looking up at him with big bright eyes.
***
Thunderlane lay on a hospital bed, his lower leg and ankle bandaged. He and Princess Erroria had been telling each other stories about brave pegasi in full armour rescuing fair damsels from mildly inconsiderate dragons, and if he was being honest, he would have to say he was rather enjoying it.
A gentle knocking echoed across the room, stopping them in mid story as the door opened and a lavender blue mare stepped in.practically a doctor” she replied, “I have made sure he does everything he’s supposed to, although I have to say he didn’t like the ice very much.”
“Ah, yes” she replied, stiffening, “Your three friends decided that they didn’t want to miss the start of the buckball final today, so didn’t actually check the area, but reported back they had done it anyway.”
“Well, it’s the last time they’re going to do that, or anything else in the weather factory for that matter; they’ve been fired.”just in case you wanted to call round .”
Just then, the door moved again, and a grey colt looked round into the room.
“You know” whispered Cloud Kicker, “This is the first time we’ve had any ‘us’ time, if you know what I mean.”
