Phyre in Ponyville

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic © Hasbro & Lauren Faust

Story Written by: TOOS0BER

Chapter 5: Silver Lining

Halo Phyre soared through the Equestrian atmosphere underneath Celestia's majestic sun, above even the highest of clouds. Just below her, wherever the clouds weren't concealing the ground, lay the beautiful Equestria itself. From so high up so much was visible under Halo's gaze, as the number of clouds seemed minimal this fine day. Snowcapped mountains, monumental crystal blue lakes, endless forests of an intoxicating green hue, and Ponyville; her long time home.

Canterlot was a long ways from the humble town, but from this altitude it was practically next door, the gorgeous city embedded into the shear cliff side of the tallest mountain. The home of the Princesses. Other major cities, such as Manehatten and Fillydelphia, attempted to rise high from the ground, never quite making it. Halo watched as just below her dozens, nhundreds, of pegasi flew and soared in the atmosphere around the cloud city of Cloudsdayle. Unless a unicorn used their magic, or an earth pony flying contraption, the capital of the pegasi was a symbol of exclusivity for the winged ponies.

Twisting her flying body earthward Halo began a rapid descent, picking up monstrous velocity with every passing second. The smile of a daredevil spread across her muzzle as the wind whipped around the speeding mare. Closer and faster she flew, draining distance between herself and the massive cloud city. Details came into stark focus. Houses, stores, office building began to take distinct shape. Followed by smaller stuff like pillars carved of cloud, streets paved with cloud, everything that was a part of Cloudsdayle was made of the fluffy white stuff – and Halo was diving right towards it at blinding speed.

Halo made out a contraption that protruded out from the rim of the city. A machine – made of clouds – that produced the feathery pillows that was then used to distribute weather all across the world. Gears turned and supply pipes puffed and jutted this way and that in the device, forever producing cloud after cloud. Just as she was about to zoom passed, the device spat out a particularly large fluffy white puff.

Halo didn't even flinch as she plunged through, at manic speed..

Behind her a large explosion resounded.

Reacting to being struck, the cloud, right before disintegrating turned black and let out a monstrous thunderclap, accompanied by a great many lightning bolts that momentarily crackled out across the sky. The remains spread out in an ever expanding circle, dissipating slowly in thin air over the sky. Halo beamed, it was one of the coolest things ever! Drawing attention and then applause from those recovering from the sudden noise.

It took almost a full minute to reverse speed and stare back at the latest stunt. She could hear as several ponies – both skyward pegasi and earthbound counterparts – cheering at her, their compliments distant.

From off to her left, “Wow Halo,” came Heart Phyre's voice as she flapped up to greet her younger sister, and congratulated. “that was incredible!” the older pegasus beamed as she hovered.

Halo's chest swelled with pride. That was her shock cloudwave – one of several tricks she had invented. “Eh, it was nothing.” she blushed, smiling widely.

“Nothing!?” another voice joined in, and Scootaloo appeared next to Heart. “You're joking right? If that doesn't impress Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts, then nothing will!” Scoots cheered.

“That'll be nothing compared to our duet!” Halo offered a high-hoof. Scootaloo smiled widely and hoofed back. Her older sister wasn't the acrobat type, but still gave Halo great inspiration and encouragement. The greatest thing she gave her was flight; seeing Heart fly the first time gave Halo such joy.

And of course Halo got to rub it in her sister's muzzle, that she'd been right all those long years back.

Scootaloo, her long time friend, was her primary stuntspony partner. They did many performances together and wowed the crowd endlessly, coming up with new routines and daring techniques. Especially since Rainbow Dash had finally gotten into the Wonderbolts. No, she didn't just join, she was made captain! Ever since, Scootaloo and Halo Phyre have worked together to try and gain membership.

Halo glanced down in the direction of Ponyville, a tiny splotch of multicolored buildings far, far below. Somewhere down there, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were watching. But if they weren't, that was okay. She knew they'd be working on their own careers if they weren't. That, and she always made sure to get them tickets to their many shows. It was something friends did for each other. Briefly, Halo wondered if stuntspony things were pegasi things, since she'd never heard of a unicorn or earth pony doing such stunts.

Then again unicorns did do magic, and earth ponies were strong... very strong. Whenever Halo or Scootaloo hoof-wrestled Applebloom they always lost – badly. It made her shoulder stiff and ache just thinking about it!

“Hello My little ponies,” A new voice spoke, majestic and splendid. A winged unicorn now appeared, smiling kindly at the trio of pegasi before her. Halo beamed at her beautiful, flawless white coat and multicolored mane, always ever flowing. That, and the most unique sun for a cutie mark that decorated her flank.

Halo and the other two pegasi bowed in regal respect mid air.

“That was quite impressive,” Celestia praised, her voice easy and a laid back expression on her face, Halo fought back the urge to squee. “will that be in your next show?” she asked.

“Oh yes!” Scootaloo piped up. “Definitely.” Halo nodded in agreement.

“Hmm,” the ruling alicorn answered, evidently pleased at this news. “My sister, Luna, and I greatly anticipate your show. Farewell.” And with that, she spread her elegant wings wide, twisting the curvature of her frame, and dived away towards Canterlot far below. Halo was awestruck. No stunt or trick could match the simplistic grace Celestia radiated, even when all she did was depart. Suddenly Halo felt inadequate for such an honor as pleasing the Princesses. She found herself going through every routine in her head, stressing every detail and frantically thinking of ways to improve.

“Hey don't stress it Halo,” Scootaloo said, watching Halo's worried face. “everything will be awesome!”

The stuntspony took a breath, clearing the jumbled thoughts away, and looked back at Scootaloo. She was right. Everything was already perfect, and there simply wasn't time before the next show to seriously consider improvements.

Scootaloo looked at Halo, giving her a droopy eyed smile, which the creamy orange pegasus returned. They'd been together for a while, doing everything together as great friends. She looked at her sister, whom was still staring in the direction Princess Celestia had left, and felt immense gratitude to her for moving them to Ponyville in the first place.

Best Day Ever.

No, wait, second best day ever!

_-**-_//(o)\_-**-_

The alarm clock bellowed its loud, ear shattering ring.

“Gyah!” Halo squealed, jerking awake from the clock's sudden assault on her hearing.

Surprised, her body jumped out of bed and into the empty air before landing on the hard, cold floor with a loud thud. She rubbed her rump, trying to ease the pain of another hard landing. Talented as Halo was at flying, she did have the occasional crash. With a smile, she began wondering how often Rainbow Dash crashed to earn the nickname 'Rainbow Crash'.

Halo's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing that hadn't ceased yet.

Slowly, moaning, groaning, and grumbling the whole time, Halo made her way to the annoying alarm clock. Violently shaking the thing that had stolen away sleep and the awesome dream the filly was having.

How do I turn this dumb thing off!? Halo screamed inwardly with a teeth filled frown, trying desperately to quell the noise. It took several minutes to finally find the tiny leaver that switched the troublesome device off, stilling the small hammer that clanged between the bells.

With a sigh of relief, Halo tossed the clock into the closet, determined never to use the dang thing again. Halo was about to trot down to the kitchen when a papery crunch emanated from her hoof. Blinking once, she twisted the offending hoof to her face and found a crumpled note.

Found your old alarm clock, THIS should get you up in the morning! Sweet dreams!

The note was followed by a poorly drawn picture of Heart's face with a very manic grin.

The filly glared at the note, blushing slightly. “Oh you prankster you!” Halo shouted at the still closed door, more than annoyed that this nightmare had followed her from Buckson. She could have sworn that she threw that clock out! “You know I hate that thing! Arrugh!”

She angrily tossed the crumpled note into the garbage, then made her way downstairs. In the thirty seconds or so that took, Halo's anger cooled to a dull annoyance, the scowl that decorated her young face gave way to a I'm-still-sleepy expression. The pegasus filly paused in the hallway, twisting her ears left and right. It was too quiet, only the occasional sound of hoof traffic or some other random noise from outside made its muffled voice known.

Maybe Heart is still asleep? The mere possibility would have been shocking. Heart never slept in and she practically never took naps during the day. It was a habit developed in Buckson, and what lead to Halo lying about her experiences with school. Her older sister was always busy, and couldn't really afford a moment's rest from what Halo could tell.

A sly grin creased Halo's muzzle now. Oh, perfect opportunity for some revenge! She thought, thinking back to all the times Halo refused to get out of bed and received an ice-cold bucket of water for it. The chilling memories only made Halo that much more determined as she skulked around the building, stealthily searching for the older mare.

As quietly as she could, Halo made her way to Heart's room, beginning her search. The room was similar in size to Halo's, maybe slightly bigger as she had a larger bed (which was annoyingly perfectly made). A desk with slim bookshelves, with many cookbooks and other culinary knick knacks, was to one side while the closet was to the next. The most contrasting difference was that Halo could actually see the floor; it was clean and devoid of random objects and debris. The filly never really bothered with cleaning her own room, on the premise that it was just going to get dirty again. Although, sometimes it did get bad enough for her to pick up a little. Halo rolled her green eyes, annoyed at Heart's OCD cleanliness.

But there was no sign of the older mare.

Halo continued her search, crouching low in the hallway.

She didn't have any luck in the shop's main floor, the connected living room/den area, nor anywhere else in the house. Eventually the filly, out of concern and confusion, came out of her stealthy crouch and started calling out Heart's name, searching for her, looking this way and that. The last room she looked was the kitchen, and she smacked her forehead with a hoof when the intoxicating scent of food assaulted the filly's nostrils. Naturally Heart would be in the kitchen cooking; she practically lived in there!

Tensing, Halo burst through the double door, shouting with a grin, “There you – !”

The filly nearly face planted in surprise. “ – aren't?”

The kitchen was empty, nopony here, nopony home.

Cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head, the confused filly started to look around. There was evidence that somepony was in here... and recently. Halo waved a hoof over the stove, feeling the dissipating heat wash over the extended limb. Examining the sink, she noted the dishes hadn't been done. That was very unlike Heart Phyre to just leave dirty dishes lying about.

The heavenly scent of vanilla and cherries caught Halo's hungry attention like a gourmet baited trap. Closing her eyes and smiling, she practically lifted into the air, drawn to the delightful smells. Soon she stood over the, admittedly hastily, set table. On it was a three stack high plate of pancakes. Halo sniffed them, her muzzle drooling, and squeed.

“What did I do to deserve this!” Halo beamed at the flat, fruity cakes.

Without wasting anymore time, she sat at the table and reached for the nearby container of syrup – and paused when she heard the telltale crumple of another note.

“Huh?” Halo, begrudgingly distracted from the food, took the note in hoof and read.

Dear Halo,

I likely won't be back by the time you read this. I have to depart to Canterlot on important business with Twilight and her friends. Apparently, the Princesses want to see me for some reason (!!!) Can you imagine? I have no idea why, but it must be important with the way Twilight is panicking. You're in charge while I'm gone, watch the house and store. I know you don't have school today, but BEHAVE! I'll be back as soon as I can.

Your Loving Sister,

Heart

P.S. Double check those pancakes, I was rushed and wasn't able to confirm they were cooked through!

P.S.S If anything goes wrong, the hospital is a bit west of our house, and I'm sure Cheerilee won't mind helping if you need it.

P.S.S.S Oh and if – (The note ends suddenly)

Halo stared at the note, feeling more than a little left out. She wanted to see the Princesses too! She pouted, wondering if Canterlot was as beautiful and awesome and cool as Ponyville was. She (likely) wouldn't have minded being woken up for a trip there! Reading the note over once more, Halo thought maybe it was a joke, and half expected Heart to jump out of the pantry and say A-ha! Gotcha! Or something like that. When it didn't happen, Halo sighed in disappointment.

The note ended abruptly, and Halo wondered why. Heart had said Twilight was frantic, maybe she got really impatient and dragged Heart out the door? The mental image made the filly snicker in delight. Serves you right, Halo thought. That would be for bringing that annoying clock along!

With another loud chuckle, Halo did as her sister asked and checked the pancakes. Yeah, they were cooked through and therefore safe to eat, and the filly did so with gusto and much warm syrup.

In two minutes flat, Halo finished her breakfast and decided to wash the dishes, despite the fact that she didn't like cleaning. Heart would likely be tired after her journey and Halo would feel extremely guilty leaving such a mess for her. It didn't take long since all Heart had cooked for breakfast was the pancakes, plus a few slices of toast. The filly decided to munch on that later in the day, already filled by the fluffy cakes.

Halo trotted about the front of the store after eating, admiring the job Twilight and the others had done in setting up the store front. Everything was better than she had imagined, and seemingly well planned. Each table sported a game, set up and ready to play. Classics such as Chess and checkers, filly games like Muffin Land, set aside on a smaller table, and more complex games like the Adventures of Daring Do: The Board Game, had all been neatly prepared for interested customers. Somewhat out of habit, Halo started checking each setup, making sure it was in fact correct. Satisfied at finding no errors, she briefly thought about going back to bed... just for a little bit.

Halo huffed, and considered the fact that Heart could return home at pretty much any time. The note held no specifics about when her big sister would return. It might be only a few hours, or it could be as much as a full day. There was simply no way to tell. Unless...

“Maybe Sweetie Belle will know!” she gasped, a smile creasing on her muzzle as she darted towards the door, being careful not to knock over anything – she had a bad tendency to be clumsy when excited.

Looking outside, she was a little surprised to see that the weather was still quite gloomy, many clouds from the storm the day before remained. Confused, Halo wondered why the pegasi hadn't cleaned up the bad weather yet. Not being part of the weather team, because she was still just a filly, she had no idea whether it was supposed to be sunny or not according to the schedule; but at the very least the clouds should have been swept up maybe? Shrugging, Halo decided to assume it was supposed to be cloudy.

Blinking, her head craned up to the slightly depressing sky, Halo facehooved when she realized she almost forgot to lock up the door! Heart would have killed her if anything happened to the store that could have been easily prevented. While she doubted anypony would be mean enough to steal in Ponyville, that didn't mean it couldn't happen. Once, Heart had almost lost her job because somepony was in fact stealing from the store she used to work at. Fortunately Heart was able to prove it wasn't her.

Deliberately locking the entrance and double checking its security, Halo finally trotted off. Before long the fact donned on her that she had no idea where Carousal Boutique, Sweetie Belle and Rarity's home, was located! Stomping a hoof in irritation, she started looking this way and that. It couldn't be that hard to find...

Right?

_-**-_//(o)\_-**-_

“Darn it!” Halo screamed through clenched teeth as she rounded on another familiar corner. Anger building in her face.

The filly had been searching for the boutique for what felt like hours. Wandering around in circles, looking this way and that, trying to pick out what she thought would be a unique and easily distinguished shop. Not for the first time, Halo kicked herself for not asking Sweetie Belle for directions; or at least a description of the building! Arrugh!

Halo scuffed her hoof on the dirt, greatly annoyed. Oddly enough, she had no problem navigating the long, building cramped, crowded streets of Buckson. There were many of the paved pathways, but she could find practically everything. Yet, here in this small, humble town, she was having immense trouble finding anything. Once again, the filly was confounded by Heart's apparent ability to find everything shopping so easily. Then again, Heart spent the vast majority of her life on the ground, despite being a pegasus. With that Halo looked to the sky, wondering if the boutique might be better spotted from the air... and facehooved again. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier!?

“I am not a smart pony...” Halo muttered before flapping her wings, and used her legs to push off the dirt ground skywards. Feeling in her element, the pegasus filly gained altitude quickly, certain that the higher she climbed, the easier this arduous task would become.

Ascending probably ten stories worth into the sky, Halo looked down. Ponyville, while small, was far from becoming a spec. Going up high enough for that would have defeated the purpose entirely. Instead the buildings looked about the size of the vendor carts she had seen in the marketplace, like she were looking into the window of a toy shop with multiple doll houses on display. Halo marveled again at the simplistic, elegant beauty that was her new home, breathing in the clean, crisp air.

Halo relaxed a moment, letting her wings beat absent-mindedly to keep her body aloft, allowing herself to take in the surroundings. Just like in the pleasant dream she had not hours ago, she glanced at the majestic capitol of Equestria, Canterlot. Embedded into the side of a cliff, many gleaming golden and ivory white towers sprang up from the city of all shapes and sizes, somehow without being mismatched. Pouring down into the depths of the mountain's base, many streams of sparkling clean water fell from the edge of the city, creating a beautiful mist only about halfway down as the lines of water dispersed to individual droplets. Halo had glanced the city on her way to Ponyville with her sister, but never had a chance to really gaze at it. Saying that Canterlot was jaw dropping was like saying cake wasn't awesome.

Sad to turn her sights away from the site, Halo looked around and spotted the wandering pegasi capitol of Cloudsdayle. Instead of the perfectly straight towers Canterlot boasted, the still impressive structures made of fluffy white cloud curled and twisted carefree, swaying in the wind like the city as a whole did. The unique thing about Cloudsdayle was that it was never held in the same place; always in the same general area. One month it might be directly above Ponyville or Canterlot, and the next it could be several miles away near Manehatten of Fillydelphia. With the assistance of the fleets of pegasi, they made sure that the massive cloud city didn't drift too far away though.

Deciding that was enough site seeing, Halo began scanning earthward towards Ponyville, looking for anything that might be Carousal Boutique and her friend's home. While each building was unique, many were still similar enough to make everything somewhat blend together; making the pegasus filly squint as she tried to pick out tell-tale details that might give her target away.

Hmm, brown roof, white lining that looks like icing, center tower that looks like a cupcake with three candle chimney stacks. Nope, that's Sugar Cube Corner.

Another building. Well, not actually a building. It looked like a tree, with several windows and balconies, one even bore a high powered telescope. Since Halo didn't recognize it, it seemed like it might be the boutique... until she saw the sign with a picture of a book, revealing that it was a library. Sighing in frustration, Halo pointedly turned her gaze elsewhere.

A large spiraling building in the center of town... no, that's town hall, Halo guessed. Every structure seemed to not carry the characteristics she was expecting, and Halo felt the frustration building as every possible guess ended up face planting when something assured her that it wasn't what she was looking for.

“Arrugh!” Halo screamed, clutching her head in her small hooves. “Where the hay is it!”

Turning around again, Halo spotted another spiraling building similar to the tower of town hall, colored in light purple with a pale white, and had many a semblance to pointed tents. It sported large display windows on the ground floor, and had the figures of many ponies in epic or showy poses, rearing on their fake hind legs with emotionless, blank faces. One decorated just above the front door was in a form of saddle lingerie that made Halo balk just a little bit.

The filly felt a relieving success as she gazed at the building that had to be the boutique, and then narrowed her eyes, thinking aloud. “Wait a minute...” Tracing with her hoof, Halo began searching for the start of her journey, and made a horrifying discovery.

The Carousal boutique was almost next door, just maybe four houses down from her own home.

If Halo facehooved any more (or any harder) she was sure her forehead would sport a new bruise. That, and she blushed, shouting in the sky, more at herself. “Oh come on!”

The frustration didn't last long, relieved by the fact that she had finally found what she'd been looking for. Just as Halo was about to dive down towards the door, she paused, looking around in the open sky. Turning her yellow-bowed head this way and that, Halo searched the still pretty cloudy sky. She knew something was off, but couldn't quite put her hoof on it. Everything seemed normal, so why did it feel... not normal?

Shrugging again, Halo darted off towards the boutique and her friend before she could forget where it was located.

_-**-_//(o)\_-**-_

“Ugh!” Sweetie Belle exasperated to Scootaloo, both of the young fillies slumping against a nearby arts and crafts table, looking like somepony had barfed up a plethora of colorful art supplies. “I'm so bored!”

“I know...” Scootaloo deadpanned in agreement.

The two fillies had been sitting at that table for what felt like hours on end (and in truth wasn't that far off), trying to figure out something, anything, to do. When Scootaloo had initially came over, Rarity was in a hurry to get out the door. Something about a meeting that Twilight was having a horsy-fit about, and the librarian had practically dragged the fashionable unicorn out the door out of pure impatience.

“So what was so important about this meeting...?” Scootaloo asked for maybe the fifth time, her bored eyes lazily following Sweetie, as she scooted around with her face on the floor. Why the white unicorn did this, Scootaloo had no idea.

Sweetie stopped to stare blankly at the young pegasus, then scowled lightly. “I told you before Scootaloo... I don't know what it was about. Rarity didn't tell me anything before Twilight insisted they go... and now.” Sweetie picked herself off the floor and waved a hoof dismissively.

“Oh...” Scootaloo deadpanned.

Both of them sighed before a series of knocks came to the boutique's front door.

“I'll get it!” both fillies screamed simultaneously, and then shot each other a glare.

“I really should get the door, since I live here.” Sweetie explained as she stood up and took a few steps.

“No, the guest gets to open the door!” Scootaloo argued back, going a little bit farther than Sweetie Belle.

“Really, I mean, it might be a client...” the unicorn filly stated simply, edging further towards the door.

“This early!?” Scootaloo questioned, then added. “I'm sure Twilight gave Rarity enough time to hang a closed sign on the door...”

That took Sweetie a moment to process, eying the ceiling in thought. “Obviously you don't know Twilight when she's in a hurry...” she brushed past the pegasus, who huffed. “she can be downright pushy.”

For a moment, the two stared at each other, each of them glancing at the patiently waiting door. Neither made a move as they glared at one another, each one waiting for the other to make a break for it. Long seconds passed by, and the silence became deafening. Not a creature stirred, except for Opal, who mewed in a corner, watching the tension with borderline interest in the ridiculous fillies.

More knocks on the door, a little harder and whoever was there was quickly losing their patience.

At the same moment, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo charged at the door. Each of the fillies determined to win...

_-**-_//(o)\_-**-_

Halo sat in front of the wooden door to Rarity's boutique, hooves crossed and impatiently tapping her rear hoof on the ground. Honestly, what was taking Sweetie Belle so long?

She'd better not be asleep, Halo thought irritatedly, daggering the door with her gaze. The pegasus filly rapped on the door again, much louder, hoping that it'd be enough to stir Sweetie in case she was indeed asleep.

Halo's ear twitched, and she thought she could hear muffled voices. The door was thick, and the sounds coming from within were too muffled to make out anything distinct. After maybe thirty seconds, the voices died down and there was nothing but silence.

Was this some kind of prank or something? Halo quizzed, cocking an eyebrow at the door, annoyed that she couldn't look right through it.

Rolling her eyes as the door remained closed, Halo huffed and reached for the door handle, deciding to let herself in. Heart had always taught her to knock and politely (even if impatiently) wait to be allowed inside. But, Halo saw no harm in letting herself in this one time. Besides, she could hear somepony inside. Maybe Sweetie Belle needed help with something and couldn't get the door? Yeah, she'd go with that.

Her green eyes widened in surprise, “Eep!”

As soon as the door fully opened, the creamy orange pegasus was tackled by a pair of feuding fillies, dragged hoof in hoof with the fighting. Caught in the eye of the storm, Halo was flung along with the two combatants before she sprawled to the ground, face planting in the dirt.

“Ohhh...” Halo groaned as she sat upright and rubbed her head with a hoof. “What in the world...” she looked on as her two assailants continued to quarrel, stirring up dust and debris that concealed the trading blows.

Blinking, Halo cautiously approached the dusty blur of movement. She considered prodding them with a hoof to get their attention, but the mental image of herself getting sucked in like a vacuum cleaner made Halo think otherwise. Instead she decided to get their attention another way.

“Uh, hello?” Halo said, trying to follow the white and orange blobs of blurriness.

No answer, the two didn't even hear her.

“Guys, come on.” Halo tried again, and got the same result.

“GUYS!” Halo shouted at the top of her lungs, drawing a couple stares from the few nearby ponies. Still no reaction. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, Halo guessed, were too embroiled in their fighting, whatever it was. Furrowing her brow, Halo was at a loss for what to do.

“Hmm,” Halo hummed, rubbing her chin with a hoof, as an idea swept over her.

Leaving the excitement for a moment, Halo grabbed a nearby bucket and located a faucet. Filling the container full to the brim with cold water, the pegasus lazily hovered over to the fighting crusaders, a devilish smirk on her face. Once the filly was directly over top the fight, she tipped the bucket over completely, releasing the very wet contents.

“AHHHHH!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo screamed, the fighting instantly died as freezing rain drenched the young fillies.

“Cold!” Scootaloo shivered.

“Agh! I'm drenched!” Sweetie complained, the two searching for the source.

They stared up as a still smirking Halo Phyre, guiltily holding the overturned empty bucket before tossing it away. “Well, now that I've got your attention...” she said silkily, as though showing off some prize. “what in the world were you two doing!?” the hovering pegasus stated.

Sweetie and Scootaloo looked at each other, and smiled sheepishly. “Uh, answering the door?” the unicorn said with a chuckle. Halo rolled her emerald eyes.

“Heh, some greeting eh?” Scootaloo gave her friend a cocky grin.

“I'll say,” Halo grimaced, rubbing her backside, landing in a sitting position next to her friends.

“Uh,” Scoots chimed in. “we should probably go inside. Everypony is staring at us...”

Halo looked around, noticing the moderately sized crowd that had gathered in the vicinity of the three fillies. Most just looked confused, while a few others rolled their eyes. Apparently some ponies didn't approve of Halo's methods for garnering attention. But for every mister grumpy hooves, there was a pony with a smirk on their face. Slightly embarrassed, the orange-maned pegasus smiled nervously.

“Hehe,” Halo rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “That... might be a good idea...”

In quick succession, the three headed back into the privacy of Carousal Boutique. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went upstairs to dry off, temporarily leaving Halo by her lonesome.

Halo felt a serious sense of deja vu. The boutique was nearly as clean as her own game shop; no, maybe even cleaner, if that was even possible. The only exception was a nearby arts and crafts table, strewn about were crayons, colored pencils and various other art stuff. Judging from the fact that there didn't seem to be any serious drawings in progress, Halo guessed her friends were just idly milling around.

Even though Halo didn't care for dresses and frilly stuff, she couldn't help but admire some of the elegantly crafted outfits that were on display around the store. Shockingly, she even picked out a few she liked, and that kind of disturbed the filly, not liking the idea of actually wearing said dresses. Suddenly Heart's voice popped into her mind, and went on to tease that if Halo were to wear such a dress, she could get a colt friend.

Halo blushed fiercely, and her eye twitched. Hurriedly she tried to banish her troublemaker sister from her mind.

“Aaand we're back!” Sweetie shouted as she jumped down the stairs, and Halo jerked her head towards the unicorn in surprise. “Hey we think... why are you blushing?”

“I, er, uh...” Halo stammered, having no idea what to say.

“Halo's just picking out a dress,” Scootaloo teased. “she's had her eye on Snips in school!” the other pegasus exclaimed, poking a hoof at Halo.

Wait, Snips? Who was... the dawning realization struck Halo when she connected the name with the mental image of the pudgy unicorn colt from Miss Cheerilee's class. That blush deepened, and the bowed filly felt her ears fold back and jaw drop.

“Ewwww!” Halo gagged, then exclaimed while glaring at Scoots. “N-No way!”

Scootaloo laughed heavily at Halo's expense.

“Hmmm,” Sweetie rubbed a thoughtful hoof on her chin. “that's not your color though...”

Scootaloo paused to look at the white unicorn, then glanced back at Halo. The pegasus with a yellow bow facehooved, not enjoying Sweetie's oblivious comment. Sure, it wasn't a joke like her other friend's, but it suggested that Halo was doing exactly as Scootaloo teased. The purple maned filly scrunched up her face, trying and failing to stifle more laughter as she collapsed onto her back, flailing her limbs.

“Oh! Ha-haaa! It's too much!” Scootaloo cried, laughing her flanks off while Halo's face invented whole new shades of red. “Snips and Halo sitting in a tree! Ahahaha!” she finally managed to get her giggling under control, standing upright again. After a few moments of catching her breath, Scootaloo continued the torment, “Do you have anything awesome planned for him on Hearts and Hooves day? Hmmm?” Scootaloo hummed, leaning close to her friend and prodding her with a suggestive hoof.

Halo just stood there and sighed, blowing a tuft of two-toned orange mane that had fallen into her face. A few days ago, the pegasus might have balked severely at being teased like that. But things were much different now, because they were friends just having a laugh, and not those same fillies and colts from Buckson. Also because it was Scootaloo and not that tiara filly.

Still it made Halo blush. She did have something for somepony in Miss Cheerilee's class, but it wasn't Snips. For a moment Halo tuned out Scootaloo's continuous laughter, and actually did consider how she would approach said pony before hearts and hooves day...

Halo stared at the ceiling, ears flat and pondering. How would she approach them? Should she ask sooner rather than later or just observe to see if they felt the same way? The filly's head buzzed with question this and conundrum that. One thought cascaded to another, and Halo started worrying what would happen if they said 'no', feeling a chill run up her spine that off set the burning in her cheeks.

Arrugh! Dumb brain! Stop thinking!

“Are you okay?” Sweetie asked. Scoots had long since stopped laughing and simply stared.

“Er, I, uh...” Halo stammered, still not back on track. “yeah. I'm fine... yeah...” she grinned widely.

“Well, if you're done fantasizing,” Scootaloo chimed in, Halo bristled, but let the other pegasus continue. “let's go see Applebloom.”

“Yeah,” Halo replied, relieved to have the conversation steer towards something else finally.

The trio of fillies exited the boutique and back into the center of Ponyville. Even though they'd only retreated back into the store a few minutes ago, everypony whom was staring at them earlier departed and went about their business. Much to Halo's relief; now she had at least something of an idea what Heart had gone through that first day when they arrived. Being the center of attention in an awkward crowd of ponies was not fun!

“Huh,” Scootaloo hummed. Halo turned to gaze at her friend as she stared upwards into the sky. The bowed filly and the unicorn switched their eyes to look at the cloudy sky, trying to see whatever Scootaloo was looking at.

“What is it?” Sweetie asked, tilting her head and squinting hard at the sky.

“It's just,” Scootaloo searched for the words. “odd. There's no pegasi in the skies above Ponyville.” It dawned on Halo that that was why things seemed weird when she was searching for Carousal Boutique earlier. While her vision was obscured by the numerous buildings in Ponyville, Halo looked this way and that, trying to spot any of the winged ponies that weren't there. Not a single pegasus to be found.

Well, that explains why the clouds haven't been cleaned up, Halo thought.

Voices caught the fillies' attention, and they all quieted to listen.

“Yeah,” the first started, an cream colored earth pony with a dark blue and pink mane and tail. “I heard that Manehatten, or was it Fillydelphia, needed extra help with some sort of weather project.”

“Oh,” said the second, a unicorn with a minty green coat and matching mane. “but why would they need every pegasi? Surely that project isn't that huge?”

“I don't know,” the first muttered. “I hope they don't take too long, I want the sun to come back out. I hate cloudy days.”

Weather project? Halo quizzed, not recalling any sort of news or information. At least the eavesdropping had answered the earlier question of why there weren't any pegasi in the skies. Does Rainbow Dash know? It made the perfect excuse to go visit and find out. Halo voiced her plan, and the other two fillies agreed; Scootaloo practically insisted on going to Rainbow's cloud home.

The three fillies made their way closer to the forest, where the house of cloud hovered serenely some distance above their heads. Halo couldn't help but admire the building, and started thinking about how she would like to have a home like that. Although she doubted that it would have the significance of the three story shop in Ponyville that Heart had worked so hard to buy.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo called loudly, making Sweetie and Halo wince. “Hey! Rainbow Dash!” The purple maned pegasus called thrice more.

“Are you done?” Halo said evenly, rubbing her ringing ears with a hoof.

“I don't think she's home Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle stated the obvious.

“Well,” Scootaloo grimaced, deep in thought. “she is a heavy sleeper. Maybe we should check the house.” Scootaloo looked to Halo, and she stared back.

“What?” Halo asked, then pointed a hoof at herself. “Me!? But I barely know Rainbow yet, I can't just intrude in her house.” Heart's teachings came to her forethoughts. Carousal Boutique was different because Halo could hear Sweetie and Scootaloo inside. Some pony was home; but in this case the cloud house was likely empty, and that would be bad.

Halo was starting to feel irritated, Scootaloo still staring at her expectantly. “Why don't you fly up and see if she's home? Dash knows you more than me.”

Surprisingly, Scoot's gaze drifted to the ground and her ears folded back, and she started to look upset. Halo blinked, did she say something bad? The filly got that impression, and it was confirmed, when Sweetie Belle patted Scootaloo on the back.

“Uh, yeah.” The unicorn started to explain. “Scootaloo has... trouble flying.”

Oh, Halo thought, feeling her small chest impact at the revelation. She's just like my sister...

Halo recalled the very first time she had asked Heart about why the filly had never before seen her fly. Scootaloo's reaction was almost an exact mirror image of Heart's from so long ago.

“Scootaloo...” Halo said sympathetically. “I'm so sorry, I... I...”

“It's okay...” the other pegasus said flatly. “I know I can't fly.”

Halo examined her new friend. Sure, Scootaloo said she was okay, but her face displayed otherwise. Briefly she wondered why Scoots couldn't fly. Heart never did reveal the reason why she couldn't, but just like that didn't stop Halo from trying to convince her otherwise, that didn't stop Halo from asking about it; much to her older sister's annoyance.

However, perhaps patience would pay off this time. “I'll just go check to see if she's home...”

With that, Halo flapped off the ground and began soaring towards the cloud home. As expected, the white, fluffy door gave way to Halo's hoof, and she tentatively made her way inside. The place was a mess. Apparently Rainbow shared the same thoughts on cleaning as Halo did; which was why bother? The room was littered with old crumpled papers with drawings and diagrams of aerial stunts and techniques, many of them scribbled over, repeated and modified.

Halo called out the name of the house's only owner, only to receive echoes off the puffy walls, twisting her ears this way and that listening for sound.

“Hmm, nopony home.” Halo said. Although, it was possible that Dash could be asleep upstairs, and so she made her way up.

The bedroom was no less messy than the living room, to which Halo didn't mind at all; having plenty of practice navigating her own messes. The filly smirked, thinking about how Heart would react to seeing this mess. One interesting note caught her eye. A book shelf with a few dozen books neatly lined up. A closer look revealed that they were all Daring Do novels.

“I didn't take Rainbow Dash as the book-reading type...” Halo cocked an eyebrow. But then again, Daring Do was an awesome series.

One book in particular caught the filly's eyes.

Halo squinted at the book, trying to read the title. After a few seconds it donned on her there was none. Humming once, Halo hovered up and plucked the mystery book from the shelf. Even on the front cover there wasn't any wording to give a clue as to the book's subject.

Holding the book in her hooves, Halo opened the cover. Inside was the curved name of the pegasus, as well as the word: Diary.

The filly's eyes widened and she gasped. She found Rainbow's personal diary!

Halo felt very conflicted. Here was the secrets of a mare she admired, right here. Deep, dark, personal secrets. Should she look? Should she really start reading from what was supposed to be kept secret from all but the one who wrote it? It was an immense breach is privacy... but what harm could come from a tiny peak?

A small peak won't hurt, Halo thought, grinning. She wanted to learn about the awesomeness of Rainbow Dash. And, honestly, according to what she'd been hearing about Dash, what more would be in here than gushing about the Wonderbolts and schemes to join their ranks?

The filly plopped on the bed and picked a random page, somewhere near the front of the diary, and began reading.

As time passed, Halo's smile disappeared and her pupils shrunk in response to the words that she was reading. It was strange, the information was completely unexpected and unusual. After finishing the entry, Halo closed the book and placed it back on the shelf where it belonged. For a moment, a wave of paranoia washed over her and she blushed. Would Rainbow, maybe, possibly notice that the diary had been moved?

“Pfft,” Halo chuckled nervously. “Nah, there's no way Dash is attentive enough to notice something like that...” Still, the filly glanced at the serene ex-secret book, and her eye twitched. Just as a precaution, she flew up and fiddled with the position a bit until it looked more right than it had before.

After learning what she had from the diary, Halo quickly checked the rest of the cloud home. As suspected, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. Soon, she exited the fluffy domicile to rejoin the other crusaders on the ground.

“So?” Sweetie asked.

“Er, she wasn't home,” Halo replied earnestly, trotting quickly in the other direction.

“Um,” Scootaloo spoke up, eyes following the orange filly. “is everything okay Halo?”

“Yes!” Halo spoke a little too loudly, and winced. “Yes, why wouldn't it be? Hehe...heh...” she nervously grinned and held it for almost two seconds before going neutral. With that, Halo resumed her trotting, leaving the other two to stare at each other, deeply confused. After Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were done pondering Halo's strange behavior, they quickly galloped to catch up, heading now on their way to Sweet Apple Acres.

_-**-_//(o)\_-**-_

Halo trotted quietly along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle while they pondered the mysterious disappearance of the pegasi around Ponyville. The young filly was concerned about that as well, but her young mind easily succumbed to boredom as they made their way towards Sweet Apple Acres to check up on Applebloom. Her thoughts turned to her older sister and what she might be doing in Canterlot right now. And about what that, apparently important, meeting was about.

Was it possible that the Princesses simply wanted to meet Heart Phyre? Doubtful, as Halo was certain that they wouldn't have the time to meet and greet with every new pony that moved to Canterlot or the surrounding towns. So then, what could it have possibly been about? Halo buzzed her own brain with possibilities.

Sweetie and Scoots exchanged theories in conspiratorial tones, coming up with ever stranger ideas that started to make Halo's eyes roll in her skull. She started to think that the other two Crusaders had been reading too many Daring Do books recently. Eventually they connected this venture with becoming Cutie Mark Crusader 'Conspirators'. That made Halo perk up, eagerly joining in the group high-hoof.

Thankfully, the distractions gave the illusion of time passing and the three of them arrived at the home of Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie rapped a hoof on the closed wooden door, and patiently waited. Halo, leery of closed doors, stood off to one side, should another violently feuding filly tornado decide to blow through unexpectedly.

An old green pony with a mane long gone gray answered the door, “Well hello youngin's. Ya'll here to visit with Applebloom?”

Halo, now certain that it was safe to be in front of the door, hovered just in above her friends, smiling brightly, “Yes ma'am.”

The elder pony squinted at Halo, not recognizing the new filly. The filly blinked, unsure whether or not introduce herself, or ask if the mare needed her glasses. After a moment, the elder's face changed to a bright smile, cheerfully speaking, “Oh hello Scootaloo! Please you and Sweetie Belle...” she glanced at the actual Scootaloo with tired eyes, “... come right on in!”

The three Crusaders turned confused glances at each other, then shrugged in unison. Halo guessed that the old mare did this kind of thing often – mistaking ponies that is. Briefly she recalled her own grandparents, and how they did the exact same thing. Sometimes it was a little frustrating, but for the most part it was benign and even, at times, hilarious; the memory caused a warm smile to crease Halo's lips.

“Little Applebloom is just upstairs,” the older mare, whom Sweetie whispered that her name was Granny Smith, pointed a wrinkly hoof up the nearby staircase. She turned a semi-serious gaze towards the three fillies as they began to ascend, “No adventurin' now, ya hear? That little filly needs her rest.”

Halo nodded in tandem with her two friends. Scootaloo and Sweetie seemed slightly disappointed, but the fiery orange maned pegasus understood. Granny Smith seemed to be very similar to her own sister when it came to illnesses; rest and recuperation first and foremost, everything else was second. Halo was unsure just how dedicated that promise was, but if Applebloom's grandmother was anything like Heart Phyre, then their earth pony Crusader was going nowhere. Many a time when Halo was nearly over a cold and wanted to return to the outdoors, Heart had beat her at every turn, forcing her back to bed. In a way, the filly's older sister was more of a mother than her real mom.

The interior of the Apple family's home wasn't too different than that of the new game shop that Halo now called home. Perhaps the biggest difference was the number of happy family portraits that decorated the walls and the few tables that lined the walls. She recognized the Apple sisters, as well as Granny Smith, and a fourth earth pony whom she didn't know. A massive, muscular stallion with a dark red coat and a laid back expression on his face, a single strand of straw protruding from his muzzle.

In short order they entered Applebloom's room, the light colored filly staring absent-mindedly at the ceiling. Halo knew that look, mind-numbing boredom was an affliction she found herself combating often enough. It took several seconds for her to register that the rest of the Crusaders were in the room. When she did, all Applebloom could manage was a weak smile and a wave of her hoof.

“Hey girls...” the filly rasped, her throat obviously sore from coughing.

“Hi Applebloom,” the three said in unison, wearing sympathetic smiles.

“How are you feeling?” Halo asked, trotting closer to Applebloom's bedside; yet she kept enough distance still. After all, she didn't want to get sick too!

“Like Ah ate too many apples with a unhealthy amount of worms in 'em,” Applebloom groaned,  frowning intensely. “dumb cold.” For a moment she stared flatly at Scootaloo, whom grinned sheepishly. Everypony remembered all too well who had suggested river rafting in a torrent of a storm.

“Eh,” Halo said nonchalantly. “you'll live.” smirking at the bed-bound earth pony.

Applebloom snorted, making some sound that came close to a blegh.

“Did Applejack mention anything about that meeting with the Princesses?” Sweetie asked. “Like, what it was about? Twilight practically dragged Rarity with her this morning,” then the unicorn added with a shake of her head, “it wasn't pretty.”

That made Halo blink, and recalled that half finished note, smirking again at the mental image of Heart Phyre being dragged out by her tail by the egghead librarian.

“What'cha'll talkin' about?” Applebloom questioned, looking at Sweetie Belle.

“Twilight rounded up everypony for some meeting in Canterlot,” Halo explained. “I read from a note left by my sister that the Princesses wanted to meet with them.” the pegasus concluded, then added another detail. “Even Heart was invited.”

Applebloom pondered this for a bit, a snotty forehoof raised to her chin. “Well, nopony told me anythin' 'bout no meeting. Ah do know that Applejack didn't go; my sis' has been here takin' care of me an' Rainbow Dash.”

“Rainbow's here!?” Scootaloo exclaimed a little too loudly for Applebloom's comfort.

“Uh, yeah?” The earth filly said once her hearing recovered, and stared at Scoots in annoyance. One quick apology later, and Applebloom added, “She's got a terrible cold just like me.”

Scootaloo grinned widely, apparently excited that Rainbow Dash was actually nearby and not miles away at Canterlot, whatever concerns or conspiracies about the mystery meeting utterly forgotten. Quickly she said her goodbyes to Applebloom and headed off to find the pegasus mare, leaving Halo and Sweetie Belle in the dust.

“Well,” Sweetie said sheepishly. “hope you get better really soon Applebloom.” she said with a smile, Halo nodded in agreement.

“You'd better get better soon,” Halo told the earth pony in mock authority. “we got crusading to do!”

The tired filly rolled her eyes and smiled, waving the two of them out. Just down the hall Halo heard the opening and closing of doors as Scootaloo was checking each room, searching for Rainbow. That reminded the filly, “Um, which room is Dash in?”

“Second door down, in mah sister's room,” Applebloom raspingly answered, then coughed several times before collapsing on the bed, groaning loudly.

“Hehe, thanks.” Halo left without waiting for Applebloom's reply, simply to let her friend rest; she would need it, as that seemed like a doozy of a cold. If Halo's own experiences were anything to go by.

Halo and Sweetie trotted casually down the hall. Scootaloo had given up on finding the correct door after several seconds, tapping a hoof, impatiently waiting for the other two to lead her in the right direction. Halo couldn't help but enjoy Scoot's discomfort, and slowed down even more. Sweetie Belle cocked an eyebrow at Halo, matching the pegasi's pace obliviously. It was a form of revenge for Scootaloo teasing her earlier. Light hearted fun.

Eventually though, that came to an end and they reached the door that led to Applejack's room. Just before entering, the three Crusaders overheard an argument through the door. Crowding around, they all pressed their ears against the varnished wood.

“Oh come on now Rainbow,” the melodious voice of Applejack sounded annoyed. “it ain't that bad.”

“Of course not,” a second voice, which must have been Dash, replied with both a twinge of sarcasm and the same raspyness that plagued Applebloom. “it's absolutely horrible! I mean, something that tastes that bad can't possibly be good for anypony!”

Applejack groaned, “Granny was right. Ya'll are worse than me...”

After a few seconds of silence, the sounds of a light tussle were heard, followed by a loud coughing and sputtering noise. “There, now that wasn't so bad, now was it...” the response to that statement sounded like a combination of a sneeze and grumble, with a little moaning and groaning mixed in afterwards. If Halo had to guess, the farmer was trying to get Rainbow to take some kind of cold medicine.

Halo involuntarily shuttered. She knew how bad said medicine could be, having been forced to take it on multiple occasions. Inwardly, though, she smiled at how similar this situation was. The filly always gave Heart a hassle with the icky syrup too. Simply because the stuff was absolutely disgusting.

At that moment the door swung open, Halo and the other two fillies spilled unceremoniously onto floor at Applejack's hooves. “What in tarnation?” the farm mare recoiled in mild surprise, clearly not expecting three young fillies to spill into the door.

“Ow,” the three fillies groaned in unison. Just as quickly they picked each other up, grinning sheepishly at the farmer.

“Well hello there Crusaders,” Applejack said with a warm smile, obviously letting the eavesdropping go. “ya'll visitin' Applebloom? 'Fraid she can't do any crusadin' today...”

“Yeah,” Halo said sadly. “we know.”

“Hi Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed, ignoring the other ponies and galloped up to the bed with a sniffling, staring pegasus.

“Uh, hey there squirt.” Dash said raspingly, sucking up air with her nose.

Ewww, Halo thought, recoiling from the resulting disgusting noise. Oh she has it bad.

“How are you Rainbow?” Sweetie Belle asked, trotting to rejoin Scootaloo.

“Oh, I'm just wonderful.” she exclaimed with was sounded like a heavy dose of sarcasm to Halo. “I'm trapped in bed, feeling like I'm going to die, and AJ is making me take poison.” Rainbow finished with a lull of her tongue, feigning a choking gesture with her hooves at her throat.

Applejack rolled her eyes, “Like Ah told ya before, it's the fastest way for ya'll to get better Rainbow...”

“I don't see you lining up to take it...” Dash muttered unhappily.

“Ah ain't the one that's sick!” the farmer replied, a hint of growing annoyance. Halo took an involuntary step back.

The two stared at each other for several moments, the silence only interrupted by the stifled sniffling from Rainbow Dash. Halo decided to break up the tension before something bad happened, “So, um, what was that meeting about Applejack?”

“Eh, Ah don't know there sugar cube,” Applejack said, staring up at the ceiling while pondering something. “Twilight was in such a dog-gone hurry, and mah mind was still on Applebloom, that Ah guess Ah forgot to ask...” the blond mare shrugged.

“Oh,” Halo deadpanned. Well, so much for getting details on the mysterious summons...

“Could it be related to this weird weather project we heard about?” Sweetie intervened.

“What weather...” Dash paused as she was interrupted by a loud sneeze. “... project? Nopony told me about any weather project.”

“We overheard some ponies in town talking about it,” Scootaloo answered eagerly, her wide eyes never leaving Rainbow. Halo inwardly groaned, wondering briefly if Scootaloo's 'worship' of the pegasus might be unhealthy. Then again, Halo gave a lot of praise to her as well. The purple maned filly gave Dash the rest of the details, which wasn't much.

“Huh,” Rainbow said, furrowing her brow. “surely they don't need every pegasus for whatever they're doing...” Halo had the same thoughts. What kind of project could be so massive that they need all of them?

“... they should have just called me!” Dash thrust a hoof at her chest and a cocky smile crossed her muzzle. That statement caught Halo by surprise, as she had just fallen over. She wondered if that could have been Dash's real talent; boasting.

“Ya'll are in no condition to do any weather patrollin' Ar-Dee.” Applejack added firmly. “Ya couldn't stifle a gust of wind right now, let alone a cloud.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow challenged.

“Yeah...” the orange mare moved closer, locking eyes with the pegasus.

“Well,” Dash picked up again. “if there's nopony to clean up Ponyville, then I have to do it.”

“And Ah said ya'll ain't in no condition to.” Applejack stated with a stomp of her hoof. “If'n ya do, that cold will only get worse. I'll strap ya to the bed... again... if'n Ah have to...”

Rainbow balked, and her eyes shrunk a little at the threat. Only now did Halo notice that there was indeed several strong-looking belts in the corner near the bed. Then the filly caught the mental image of the pegasus strapped down on the bed with Applejack forcing her to take the medicine, screaming and wailing the whole time as though her friend was a mad mare. The scene was both hilarious and disturbing; Halo wasn't sure she wanted to grimace or smirk.

Dash crossed her forehooves before slinking back down into the bed, “Fine. But something needs to be done about that...” she gestured at the cloudy skies outside the window.

At that statement, Halo had an idea. The only real requirement for controlling the weather was being a flight-capable pegasus! She could clear up the weather around Ponyville! How hard could it be?

“Oh!” Halo waved her hoof enthusiastically, smiling widely, while garnering the mare's attention. “I can do it! I can clear up the weather for you!” she finished, hopping several times before hovering in the air above the rest of the ponies.

Applejack stared up at the pegasus filly, unsure about this decision; then she looked to Dash, perhaps assuming this question was better resolved by the only other weather pony in the room. The rainbow pony brought a hoof up to her chin, deep in thought. Halo waited patiently, watching the older mare's every move. Just when Halo thought she would say no, the mare answered, “Sure.”

“Woohoo!” Halo cheered, doing a tight barrel roll in the small room.

Yes! This was going to be so awesome! Halo thought, still cheering. I get to help Rainbow and Ponyville!

“Now hold on there Ar-Dee,” Applejack warned. “is that such a good idear? Isn't there a lot more to that fancy weather stuff than just pushin' clouds?”

“Well...” Rainbow searched for the words. “yeah, kind of. I mean, it's mostly straightforward. I'm sure she can handle it...” Dash looked to Halo, whom nodded enthusiastically, straightening herself proudly. That in turn made the rainbow pegasus smile and added with a hoof, “See? How can you argue with that kind of spunk?” Rainbow sneezed suddenly, and collapsed back on the bed, groaning.

Applejack sighed, and resigned with a nod. Halo could still see the worry etched on the farmer's face; clearly she didn't like this idea. However, the filly was certain that she could do the job. When Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle vowed their own support, Halo's confidence grew ten fold.

In unison, the three fillies high-hoofed, proclaiming, “Cutie Mark Crusaders! Weather Ponies!”

At that point, Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged slightly worried looks. What could possibly go wrong?

_-**-_//(o)\_-**-_

“Okay,” Halo listened to Scootaloo. The three Crusaders had left Sweet Apple Acres for a hill just outside Ponyville. “it should be simple...”

The filly looked on at the numerous gray clouds that still hovered over much of the air space around the small town. Despite the confidence she boasted at the farmhouse, Halo felt quite nervous. She'd never done something like this before. Controlling the weather was something that was reserved for flight camps and, for those that wanted to pursue a career in the field, for higher up schools. Although Halo couldn't help but think that the task couldn't be that hard. After all, Rainbow made it look easy enough; and it was just clouds...

“Got that?” Scootaloo finished some sort of sentence.

“Huh?” Halo broke out of her trance, and Scootaloo rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“I said, you got that?” the second filly repeated.

“Uh, sure?” she said, not sounding very convincing.

With a sigh, Scootaloo once more explained what vague mechanics of weather control she knew off hoof. Pointing out the fact that pegasi can interact with clouds in ways that others cannot, that bucking a cloud will produce lightning or release trapped precipitation, and other such basics. Halo thought about what she needed to do. Moving the clouds would accomplish the goal; it sounded so easy, and Halo began wondering how fast she could do it.

“Got it...” Halo replied, lowering a pair of protective goggles over her emerald eyes. “this is gonna be a cinch!”

Several yard in front of her, Halo noticed Sweetie Belle waving her hooves, giving the pegasus the OK for takeoff. Halo rushed forward, flapping her wings to gain speed. The distance between the white unicorn and herself lessened rapidly. Just before colliding, Halo leaped into the air just above Sweetie's head, making the unicorn duck. Halo smirked as she thought she heard an eep.

The pegasus took several moments to gain altitude and examine her bearings.

The majority of the dreary gray clouds hovered above Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres, along with a few stragglers above the Everfree Forest. Halo noticed an empty field off in the distance, nearly devoid of the fluffy clouds, and chose that as a gathering ground.

Swooping this way and that, Halo began pushing the clouds. They were surprisingly light, and she soon had several dozen all arranged in the air space above the field. Ponyville and the farm were almost completely clear, and Halo took a moment to admire her work. The filly looked down, noting Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle watching her. They were waving at her, and she smiled and waved back before descending down to the ground.

“And how was that!” Halo beamed, lifting the goggles from her eyes.

Sweetie looked unsure while Scootaloo stared flatly at her. Halo's grin disappeared, and she looked back and forth between the two fillies. “What?”

Scootaloo groaned and rolled her eyes, “You need to get rid of the clouds, not just move them somewhere else!”

“But where am I supposed to –” Halo started to answer when Scootaloo cut her off.

“I don't know!” Scoots raised her voice.

Well now what? Halo thought sullenly. She had all, or at least most, of the clouds gathered up in one place, and now she finds out it's not enough? There was a lot more to this weather business than the filly previously thought! For a moment she thought that maybe she should have just stayed in bed...

Halo gaped as an idea hit her, and grinned manically, “I know exactly how to get rid of those clouds!” before Scootaloo could inquire as to what Halo was talking about, she took to the air once more.

It did make perfect sense that moving the clouds would not be enough. No, not even close. The clouds needed to be completely removed. As in, from existence. Halo had the idea earlier that day, in a dream that was so rudely yanked from her by a certain annoying alarm clock. A stunt she'd 'performed' in her dream that did exactly what she needed: to erase clouds from existence.

Halo started to dive towards the closest cloud, but then paused. Doing it one cloud at a time would take forever, and the filly just didn't have the patience for that, no. Halo glanced at the number of fluffy white puffs around her. Perhaps she could eradicate them all at once, in one fell swoop. She considered the idea, and it fit the filly's imagination perfectly.

Oh, that is going to be epic! Halo grinned widely again, and began gathering up the clouds, pressing and smooshing them together to form an ever larger, single cloud. One little detail the filly missed while she prepared for the task, was that with each addition to the massive growing blob, it grew darker and darker. Over time, that pure whiteness had degraded into an almost metallic gray, and  what was once many became just one; an ominous cloud of massive size that it covered a large chunk of the field below in dark shadow.

Halo breathed rapidly, wiping sweat from her brow as she finished the last bit of preparation, “Well, that should do it...”

Applying that dare devil of a grin, she soared as high and as fast as her wings would carry, gaining what was believed to be the necessary altitude. When the filly felt that she could climb no more, she turned back – and nearly balked in surprise.

She'd flown so high that Ponyville was almost the size of a bit! For a moment, she wondered if this was too high. But any thoughts of doubt evaporated when she looked at the monster of a cloud. It dwarfed the nearby town by as much as three-fold, still holding steady exactly where she'd left it.

Countdown!

Three! The filly angled herself just correctly, right towards her target.

Two! She focused her vision, picking out what she guessed was the direct center.

One! Halo flapped her wings harder, garnering the necessary power.

GO!

The filly dashed forward, front hooves thrust out in front of her head, rear hooves outstretched behind her; the long fiery tail and mane swept violently back and forth from the generated wind. All of Halo's concentration was on either flapping harder, or staying on course. The ground, sky, Ponyville were rapidly coming into starker focus; as well as the intended target. Halo clenched her jaw, but that still didn't stop the wind from blowing her gums about like the hair before it.

Yard by yard was covered and passed in mere seconds, the distance shrinking faster than even Halo imagined in her dream. The cloud loomed in the shrinking range, and before long the target enveloped Halo's vision...

… and she connected.

At the moment of impact, Halo clenched her eyes shut out of reflex. The world spun into oblivion, and the filly could feel the soft fluffiness of the cloud. Her speed was slowed greatly, but she continued to flap unabated. The further she ventured, the more the cloud seemed to thicken, until severe turbulence began to veer her off course. The manic speed made the effort too much, and the filly lost control, tumbling through the cloud's interior. She was slammed, jostled and pummeled throughout, but since it was essentially water vapor she was hitting, all the experience really garnered was a lot of wetness and cold.

Eventually the filly exited the bottom, and began tumbling through open air. When that fact donned on Halo, she tried to regain control. Flailing hooves and wings alike, she struggled to right herself and slow the rapid descent. The rolling finally ceased, and Halo was able to garner her direction once more; and she was meteoring right towards the ground!

Halo screamed as she back-flapped, desperately trying to subside her forward momentum before she would go splat on the ground. With a cold stone in her stomach, the filly realized it wouldn't be enough, she wouldn't be able to slow down in time!

Halo tried to think quickly. She couldn't slow down enough to keep from impacting the hard ground, but enough speed was lost to gain a little bit of steering control. Frantically, she looked around and spotted a few trees with many large bushes around their base. Using what little experience and control she had, Halo angled her body towards that new target. It'd still be a hard landing, but it was better than grass and dirt!

Just before impact, Halo contracted herself into a ball to better protect herself.

Branches and leaves snapped and gave way as the small pegasus filly slammed into the sides of the first few trees. Luckily, she avoided the trunks themselves, which would have absolutely crushed her. When Halo impacted the bushes, she had slowed significantly, enough for the flexible branches to simply bend rather than be broken outright. Eventually that momentum, which had overwhelmed the wood's durability, subsided enough that one particularly large bush was able to catch Halo and hold onto the small pony.

Halo rested there, her rear half sticking out of the massive shrub that caught her. The filly felt soar all over, but nothing seemed to be sprained or broken. To which she sighed in great relief; Halo did not want to explain that to Heart Phyre.

Halo eeped in surprise when she felt something snag her tail and yank hard. Startled, she flailed her hooves, eager to be free. Two painful tugs later, and the filly dropped unceremoniously to the ground, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood above her with worry etched on their faces.

“Are you okay?” the rhetorical question came from the unicorn as Halo rubbed her head with a hoof. Scootaloo just stared at her.

“What kind of question is that Sweetie Belle?” The fuchsia maned pegasus cocked an eyebrow at the unicorn, whom just shrugged in return.

“I'm okay...” Halo groaned, she sat upright and removed the goggles. “so, how was that? Was it awesome or what! I bet that cloud is absolute history now!” Halo smiled brightly. She wouldn't have been surprised if that blast even surpassed the one from her dream! The filly was certain it was spectacular, and probably over by now.

Halo waited, and was trying to listen for the praise and the oohing and aaahing – which never came. When that fact became apparent, she looked around at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo; the pair of fillies still staring blankly at her.

“What?” Halo asked, greatly confused by the blank stares.

“Uh, you may want to follow us...” Sweetie said nervously. Scootaloo nodded and started to leave the small grove.

Reluctantly, Halo got to her hooves, whole body aching furiously. Tentatively she followed the other two Crusaders out into the clearing, still not understanding why they hadn't thought the stunt was incredible. Surely it was one of the more spectacular things... they'd ever... seen?

Halo noticed Sweetie point a hoof up to the sky and followed it with her own eyes. The massive cloud still hung in the open air, almost completely unchanged. There was a small, filly-sized hole barely recognizable in the dead center; and said hole was closing quickly. Instead of erasing the cloud like she meant to, the filly had simply plowed right through.

“Awwwe,” Halo groaned loudly, collapsing out from under her hooves. “darn it!” the filly whined. “That worked out so much better in my head...”

“Yeah, I know that feeling...” Scootaloo agreed ruefully.

“So does Applebloom...” Sweetie Belle added in.

Halo paid them no mind as she silently moped over her failure. The filly had been so sure, so positive, that that idea would work; and work spectacularly! Instead she had almost nearly killed herself. Even worse, she had done practically no damage to the cloud whatsoever. The pegasus filly stared glumly at the massive cumulus.

Okay, something went wrong with the whole idea, Halo just needed to figure out what. She squinted and scrunched her face in concentration.

That technique would have definitely worked on a smaller cloud, Halo was sure of it; so why then did it not work on the largest one? She recalled hitting the cloud dead on, and when she did, the filly barreled right through with next to no resistance. The exception being the deepest center of the cloud. Maybe the problem was the cloud wasn't dense enough.

“Maybe the cloud doesn't have enough density,” Halo voiced aloud, then took a glance at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

They both stared at each other, neither of them having any strong thoughts for, or against, the idea. Halo decided that that must have been the problem, and turned to take to the air again.

Once more Halo soared through the open air, circling slowly above the summit created by the massive cloud. The filly pondered how to solve the density issue. She needed to somehow compress the fluffy gray monster, so that when she dove through it this time, it would go poof.

Halo dived, leveling herself with the cloud's altitude, and began circling around the circumference. Again flapping as hard as she could while maintaining that turn. Gradually, Halo tightened the turn radius, moving ever closer to the fluff. With each passing turn the cloud's surface gave way and retreated ever inward, condensing further.

Along with the rapidly circling pegasus filly, the cloud itself began to twist and turn. The forces at play caused it to flatten, becoming a circular disc with spiraling tendrils of cloud jutting out counter-clockwise. The drab light gray darkened further and the, now storm, cloud thundered softly; unnoticed by Halo with the wind whipping around her flopping ears.

Halo stopped circling when each pass became noticeably sharper. The filly soared high once more in altitude, but not so much as last time; even though she was sure the cloud was dense enough now, she didn't want a repeat of what had happened before.

The cloud looked completely different than before. It was much darker, and nowhere near as poofy. It was nearly flat, almost like a dinner plate or pancake. Long tendrils waved in one direction while the center-most portion spun the opposite. Another hole had appeared directly in the center, but it was perfectly round – like somepony had taken a cookie cutter, removing but the one piece. The ominous groaning that came from the cloud was heard, and again, Halo had some doubts about this plan of hers.

Halo hovered there, some distance above, pondering whether or not to proceed further...

No, she had to. She promised Rainbow Dash that she'd clean up the weather, and that's exactly what the filly would do. Any lingering doubt or apprehension vanished, and that dare-devil smile once more plastered itself across Halo's muzzle.

“Here goes nothin'!” she dived for the second time at the cloud, barreling as fast as the pegasi wings could carry her.

Time and distance whizzed by, and before long Halo made contact with the cloud...

… and smacked, hard, into the overly dense surface; giving a pained oomf. The cloud gave only slightly before Halo was rebounded off of the surface, also giving off a monstrous thunderclap where the filly had struck, short and sweet lightning bolts shot out in multiple directions. Luckily, none of the deadly energy bolts struck her as she fell.

Not falling nearly as fast as with the last attempt, Halo landed relatively softly in the exact same bush as before. Once more Scootaloo tugged the orange filly out by her tail. With another oomf, Halo collapsed on her back, staring up at the raging storm cloud.

“Well that went swimmingly,” Sweetie Belle commented, gazing upwards towards the sky.

Halo examined the cloud, and it seemed to have gotten much worse. It twisted and turned, small lightning bolts occasionally burst out from under it. The air underneath darkened as it began to rain, and a violent wind stirred up everything below and around the stormy cloud.

“Oh perfect,” Halo moaned, dusting herself off. “now what do we do?”

“Well,” Scootaloo rose a hoof to her chin in thought. “maybe if the spin can be reversed, maybe that will stop the storm from getting worse. After that, you can just separate the clouds again, and get rid of them that way.”

Halo groaned, that sounded hard and long... but then again she couldn't argue; the plan had been going belly-up since the first phase. “Okay, I'll try that...”

_-**-_//(o)\_-**-_

“Oomf!” Halo landed in the bush... again.

For the last hour, things went on in a pattern. Halo would zoom up to the massive, raging storm cloud, and the filly would begin to circle in the opposite direction of the dark gray disc. After maybe a few minutes, the conflicting wind speeds would become too much and she would be flung from the cloud and back down to the ground; usually violently.

Worst of all, none of Halo's efforts seemed to be changing the cloud at all! She was beginning to believe that this was absolutely impossible, losing hope that she could fix this problem by herself. The small filly simply didn't have the wing power to alter the storm.

“Well,” Scootaloo sighed, helping the fatigued Halo stand back up with a hoof. “that makes ten for ten failed attempts...” the purple maned filly stared glumly at Halo, probably not liking the idea of failing a promise to Rainbow Dash as well.

“Ugh,” Halo groaned, rubbing her aching head with a hoof. “don't remind me.” Not for the first time, Halo sat back on her haunches, trying to figure out what she was doing wrong.

Every time she got up to speed, every time when the winds and spinning clouds felt like they might change directions, the barrier she needed to cross just rebounded. Halo had already tried to separate the clouds before stopping the storm's turbulence, but they were simply too dense. The rain, wind and lightning made it impossible to break up; not to mention dangerous. Numerous times Halo was nearly struck by lightning because the task was taking too long. She was certain that if she just had a little bit more help, the storm could be overturned and calmed; but there were no other pegasi in Ponyville other than Rainbow, and she was too sick to help...

… except for maybe one.

“Scootaloo?” Halo turned towards the only other pegasus. “I need your help.”

Scoot's eyes shrunk when Halo posed the question, only managing a, “Huh?”

“I said I need your help Scootaloo.” Halo repeated.

“B-but I can't!” The other pegasi replied, her ears folding back. “I can't fly Halo!”

The bowed filly considered this, looking over Scootaloo's wings folded down by her side. They looked good to her. Maybe a bit on the small side, but they seemed perfectly fit for flight. “You can Scoot's. I can't handle this by myself, and you're the only other pegasus here!”

Scootaloo gulped, looking down at the ground, “I just... I don't know if I can...”

“Then try.” Halo put a hoof on her friend's shoulder.

Halo put on her best confidence smile as Scootaloo searched back and forth in her own eyes, the doubt etched on her face. The bowed filly desperately hoped that she could give her friend the confidence she needed. This task was too big for her to do alone, no matter how much she wanted to.

Scootaloo mulled this over in her mind, glancing repeatedly between Halo, her own wings, and the ground at her hooves. The filly glanced up at the dreary, threatening storm and gulped. After that, she looked into Halo's eyes again, and gave the wannest smile, along with a tiny nod.

Yes! Halo's grin went wide, putting those goggles back over her green eyes.

Halo took to the air, and waited while Scootaloo got herself ready, placing her own pair of protective eye wear. Slowly, tentatively, the pegasus spread her wings and began to flap furiously. Halo's initial thoughts were correct in that Scoot's wings were definitely a little on the small side, but again, they were developed enough for flight; she was just doing it wrong.

With that critique in mind, Halo landed next to the flapping Scootaloo and garnered her friend's attention, “You're flapping too frantically for take off.” Halo offered advice. “A little slower on the take off, and try angling yourself upward.” Scootaloo nodded, and Halo nodded in return before jumping back to the air to observe.

Halo watched as the purple headed pegasus rearranged, squatting her rear legs while straightening her forehooves. At the same time she minded her initial flapping, the movements far less frantic than that first attempt. Scootaloo squinted her eyes in concentration, and flapped more rhythmically. Slowly but surely, the pegasus filly's wings lifted her off the ground. Climbing slowly at first, but then gaining altitude at a reasonable rate. Before long, Scootaloo hovered just in front of Halo's smiling face.

Only when Halo reached out a hoof to Scootaloo's shoulder did she open her eyes. The filly looked down to finally notice that the ground was now very far below her, and almost balked in fear. That trepidation only lasted for a moment, as the dawning fact washed over her, “I-I'm flying! I'm finally flying!” Scootaloo let out a squee.

Halo nodded once, then added, “Eh, I give you an 'A' for effort, but maybe a 'C-' for technique...” she smarted off, smirking at her friend. Scootaloo rolled her purple eyes and jabbed a hoof in Halo's shoulder. The sudden jar made her nearly capsize in mid air – until Halo grabbed hold to steady the pegasus.

Scootaloo grinned sheepishly before adding, “Let's do this!” and the two shared a dare-devil smile before darting off towards the storm cloud.

Halo was a little surprised that Scootaloo was doing so well for her first time; the pegasus filly almost keeping pace with her. She guessed that it may have had something to do with watching Rainbow Dash fly so much. Since Scootaloo frequently talked about Dash this, or Dash that. It wasn't annoying to the bowed filly, it just answered some questions.

Quickly the two began their counter-turns to reverse the spinning of the storm. For the first few laps, Halo watched Scootaloo to make sure she would be okay. When the filly didn't appear to have any problems, Halo concentrated more on her own flying. She squinted her eyes shut. Indeed having the help of a second pegasi was making a difference. The jet stream that Halo was passing through was more bearable, softened by the wake of Scootaloo's own flying. The winding cold and whipping wind had already chilled the filly to the bones, but she didn't dare stop now; she wanted them both to succeed now. They both wanted to impress Rainbow Dash, and the fact that they were working together was even better.

Halo felt that barrier approaching, the level of wing power needed to reverse the storm's spinning, and hopefully allow the two pegasi to quickly get rid of the troublesome clouds once and for all. Physically Halo felt her body pass that threshold, and couldn't help but smile around her flailing gums.

The bowed filly opened her eyes to gaze at Scootaloo in the opposite distance...

… and saw only the gray wall of wind whipping off to her side.

Huh!? Halo gaped, shocked at this new development. What the hay is going on!? What is that!?

With a blood chilling revelation, it clicked in Halo's mind just what she was looking at...

A tornado.

The two pegasus fillies, working together to calm the storm, had inadvertently created a tornado! Halo felt the wind's sucking power grab hold while she was dumb-struck by the unexpected result of their work. Before she could react, or even comprehend the threat, Halo was slurped into the whirling tunnel of violence, tossed about like... well, a filly!

Once again Halo curled herself into a ball, desperate to protect herself from the tornado's wrath as she was flung this way and that; circling ever closer to the ground down the funnel. The tornado hadn't touched ground yet, and therefore it didn't have any deadly debris swimming around. Eventually the filly reached the end of the funnel, and was spat out at speed...

… landing in a familiar bush that had been taking a beating ever since starting this project.

“Oohh...” Halo groaned, then eeped when a screaming orange and purple blur crashed into her in the bush. The filly saw stars as her vision swam. Ugh, Halo thought, trying to clear her head. How many times am I going to crash and burn today!?

“I think I've broken something...” Scootaloo moaned, then reached behind her back to pull out a carrot. The orange vegetable had been snapped in two. Where said carrot came from, Halo had absolutely no clue.

“I think my ego's bruised...” Halo chimed in, then added when the crushing weight on her chest was still there, “mind getting off of me? Please?”

“Oh! Hehe, sorry!” Scootaloo blushed while rubbing her head with a hoof. A moment later and Scoots hovered herself off of Halo. The bowed filly sat up with effort, her body still implanted in the bush. Once more she checked herself, and sighed in relief. No serious injuries, but Halo was certain she'd have a few bruises without a doubt.

So much for that brilliant idea, Halo thought glumly.

A roar drew the attention of all three fillies; the tornado had touched ground and was twisting its way around the fields below, churning up plants, dirt, anything and everything that wasn't nailed down. The twister changed colors from a simple, solid gray to a collage of that same gray with green and brown mixed in. It swerved this way and that, completely out of control.

“Oh, absolutely wonderful...” Halo whined, cupping her head with her forehooves. Could it possibly get any worse?

“Uh oh,” Sweetie Belle's worried tone suggested that it had, indeed, just gotten worse. “I think it's heading for Ponyville!”

What!? Halo jerked her head up to stare horrified at the twister, dragging the storm cloud with it, heading straight for her new home!

“Well what the hay do we do now?” Sweetie asked, growing fear etching across her face.

Scootaloo looked to Halo for any ideas. Problem was, Halo had absolutely none. She wasn't sure she should even try anything, lest Ponyville or Canterlot, or heck, the entirety of Equestria, spontaneously explode! Twice! Yet she knew she had to do something!

Just then a rainbow colored smear soared through the air and paused, then headed straight for the fillies. Rainbow Dash landed deftly next to them.

“Rainbow Dash!?” the three fillies blurted out, mixed with shock, surprise and (for Halo at least) embarrassment.

“The one and only,” the pegasus mare sniffled. “sure glad the weather is cleared up...” Dash glanced up at the tornado.

Halo flushed with embarrassment, eyes glued to the ground and ears plastered backwards. Great, now Rainbow thinks she is an utter failure. It started to rain, and Halo hoped the falling water would hide her tears. A cyan hoof dragged the filly's gaze from the muck.

“Hey, it's okay squirt.” Rainbow's tone wasn't angry or disappointed as she smiled at Halo, and then at Scootaloo. It was almost sympathetic even. “You're not the first pegasus weather newby to accidentally make a storm...”

Halo's eyes shrunk at that; thankfully, Dash didn't appear to catch it.

“Now, who wants to help me fix this?” Dash asked, smiling at the two fillies.

Scootaloo smiled brightly, but Halo wasn't sold yet. “But, we'll just screw it up somehow... I mean, look at what we've done already!” the bowed filly deadpanned. Honestly, she had already messed it up so much, and truly didn't believe that she could fix this.

“As a friend of mine would say, 'that's just stinkin' thinkin''” Rainbow poorly mocked a country accent that must have been making fun of Applejack. “I saw you and Scoot's,” Dash paused and turned her attention to the purple maned filly. “Congrats squirt, I was wondering what you were waiting for...” Scootaloo smiled and lifted herself in the air with her wings, a bit wobbly however. Halo smiled, and thought about when she might first see Heart Phyre fly, when Rainbow drew her attention once more.

“I'm glad you're up for it Scootaloo, because I'm going to need help from both of you...” Rainbow sneezed, and wiped her muzzle. “Ugh... also because this cold isn't going to let me do it alone...”

Halo thought about this a moment, surely they couldn't fail with Ponyville's number one flier? “Okay, sure.” Halo stood up, ready and at attention.

“Right,” Rainbow examined the raging storm cloud and the twister of death. “first thing's first. That tornado needs to be stopped, and then we can...” she was interrupted by another sneeze. “we can work on getting rid of the clouds.”

Scootaloo and Halo nodded simultaneously.

“To get rid of the tornado, we need to circle in the opposite direction...”

Sweetie Belle interrupted, “But, they already tried that. And it didn't work.”

“Yes,” Rainbow nodded. “but they were inside the tornado. To do it properly, we need to fly just outside.” Then she turned to the two pegasi fillies. “And they were trying to do it at top speed; something like this needs endurance, not force.”

“Oohhh,” a dawning revelation seemed to hit Scootaloo. “so, the problem was that it was too fast and too short...”

“Something like that,” Rainbow concluded. “now lets get going before Ponyville gets flattened.”

With that, the three pegasi went to the air, heading straight towards the massive storm and raging tornado. Even though Rainbow appeared one-hundred percent confident, Halo still felt a trickle of doubt. It was more or less fear that somepony would get hurt. For once today, Halo was glad that Heart wasn't in town right now.

With Rainbow directing, the two fillies and pegasus mare began circling just beyond the circumference of the tornado, rapidly gaining speed. Just as Dash had said, Halo and Scootaloo intentionally held back, keeping with the pace that the older mare was setting. Minutes went by, and the tornado continued seemingly unabated, heading for some of the buildings on the outskirts.

Halo turned back to gaze at Rainbow Dash, concerned for the town. The pegasus shook her head, gesturing with a hoof to continue. She was still unsure about this method working, but the filly decided the best thing to do would be to defer to Dash's experience.

Several minutes longer went by, and with every speedy pass, Halo saw the buildings edge closer and closer. Still, she fought to continue proceeding with how Rainbow Dash had suggested, flying fast but not too fast. Frustration built in the filly as nothing seemed to change, the wailing winds still whipped around and the occasional, mercifully small, debris pelted Halo every now and again. The freezing rain was beginning to sap her strength as well.

Perhaps exhaustion was starting to make Halo go numb, as flapping seemed to become slightly easier...

Wait a second, Halo noticed the decreased effort, glancing in the direction of the tornado. Amazingly, it was shrinking. No longer did the massive twister envelop the filly's vision, instead dwindling to nearly half of its full width. It was working! It took a while, but the strategy was definitely taking effect! Moments later, and the rest of the spiraling cyclone came to an utter halt.

And not a moment too soon. The tornado had managed to cause some minor damage to some nearby buildings; a few shingles ripped off, some windows smashed, but nothing crippling or permanent. Maybe a few hours worth of work. That kind of gave Halo a little hope; she could atone for this mistake by helping to repair what little damage was done.

“Yes!” Halo shouted, grinning wide at the pegasus mare still flying behind her. Rainbow Dash smirked at her, motioning for them to land.

The three pegasi landed just a short distance from the circumference of the cloud, just outside the pouring rain. Almost immediately, they all plopped on the ground, panting from exhaustion.

“That was...” Rainbow said between breaths. “good. You two... would make good... weather ponies...”she sniffled again.

Halo beamed at that, encouraged by Dash's words. The orange pegasus glanced at the storm still hovering over Ponyville. It was still raining, and the occasional lightning bolt flung out, but the tornado was one-hundred-percent gone. The town was no long in danger of being destroyed.

“Well,” Dash continued, getting to her hooves faster than the two fillies. “I think you two can handle it from here. I think I hear Daring Do calling me... or maybe Applejack...” The pegasus shuddered. Halo suddenly remembered the belts, and snickered a bit.

“But what about the storm?” Scootaloo asked, gesturing with a hoof.

Oh that's right! They still have the storm to deal with! Halo facehooved, the filly in disbelief that she had completely forgotten about it.

“Oh, that's easy...” Rainbow went on to carefully explain exactly how to get rid of the storm cloud without causing another huge disaster. Apparently she didn't want a repeat of what just happened. Halo, even though she had an excuse for not knowing what to do, couldn't help but feel utterly stupid as Dash laid down the basics. She groaned as every step was so easy and obvious.

Her first mistake was trying to get rid of all the clouds at once; which seemed obvious now. Doing so makes them a harder target, as did condensing said clouds. And of course there's the tornado.

“Dang,” Halo sighed, her eyes glued to the ground. “I had it completely wrong.” the filly sat hard on the ground, disappointed in herself.

“Don't do that,” Scootaloo said to her left. “there was no real damage done, and besides... I can actually help now!” she beamed, grinning from ear to ear. Halo couldn't help but smile in response.

That was true. Now that Scootaloo knows she can fly, she can definitely help with the cleanup. It'd still take a while, but everything would now work out. Halo guessed that there was no shame in asking for help when it's needed – that, and make sure you know what you're doing when doing a job for somepony.

“Got that?” Rainbow said, smiling at Halo.

Halo snapped out of her reverie, not sure where that lecture-like thought had come from, “Huh?” Dash repeated, which was a few tips that would make the job go faster. Halo nodded and turned to Scootaloo, to confirm that her friend was ready.

One nod later, and the two fillies took to the air to clean up Ponyville.

Not the best day ever, Halo thought. But close enough!