My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Friendship from afar.

Chapter 1: Storm of the Century - part 3

The sound of hooves splashing against the wet cobblestone streets echoed along the boarded up walls and windows as Twilight and Pinkie galloped through the now deserted Ponyville streets, heading towards Fluttershy’s cottage. The lavender mare felt unnerved, the dancing of their shadows against the backdrop of empty buildings only fueling the uneasiness creeping into her very being. The darkness shrouding the town caused by the approaching storm did not help the situation at all. By her judgement, and the light, constant patter of precipitation, the encroaching weather was still a good ways off. Twilight gave a side long look to her left, noticing her pink friend bouncing along merrily beside her without a care in the world. Twilight could help but smile, much of the anxiety melting away from her in response.

“Hey Pinkie?” Twilight questioned, breaking the monotony of the situation. “Can we take five for a minute? My hooves need a bit of a rest from all the running we’ve done.”

“Hmm? Oh, sure Twilight.” Pinkie responded, her bubbly attitude never faltering. “Let’s find a place to get out of this sticky-icky weather.” She then clopped her fore hooves together excitedly. “Then we can have a quick snack.”

Twilight was quickly snagged by the hyperactive party pony and dashed away before she could even muster a protest.

*

Twilight sat on her haunches, quietly chewing the muffin Pinkie had just given her. In her rush to get them both out of the rain, Pinkie had dragged the pair to the ‘Quills and Sofas’ shop just on the outskirts of the business district. This particular building was creepy even during the day. Given the circumstances at the moment, it was down right mortifying. Twilight sighed. At least the front entrance had an enormous overhang, keeping them dry and somewhat shielded from the wind.

“You know something, Twilight? That was a good-no super duper awesome idea you had for using my ‘Party Cannon’ earlier.”

Twilight gave a smile and a light blush at the compliment. It had been a spur of the moment idea, really. Where Pinkie hid the cannon on her person was a intelligence battle for another time. She’d probably wind up placing the incident in the overly full folder labeled ‘Pinkie’s tricks’. She swallowed her muffin. “Thank you Pinkie.” Twilight responded.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Pinkie responded, waving a hoof airily. “You are the smartest pony in Ponyville.” She then tapped her chin, scrunching her face in deep thought. “Well, maybe except for that on stallion. But that guys a total shut in. Couldn’t even get him to come to one of my ‘You’re -a - reclusive - shut - in - and - could - really - use - a - party’ parties.” She then shrugged. “Oh well, I’ll keep trying.”

Twilight’s mouth opened to form a response but was cut off by a white hot flash of electricity. Pinkie let out a squeal of fright, tackling Twilight to the stone porch.

“P-pinkie...” Twilight wheezed in the pink mare’s vice like grip. “I c-can’t br-eathe...”

“S-s-s-sorry Twilight,” Pinkie managed to shiver out as she released her friend. “M-maybe taking a b-b-break for this long was a bad i-i-idea.”

“Nonsense Pinkie,” Twilight responded, dusting herself off from the surprise attack. She then cleared her throat. “It is a scientific fact that when lightning flashes across the sky or strikes the ground, all a pony has to do is count, in seconds, after the electrical discharge until the negative electrons counteract with the positive electrons and produce the atmospherical noise called ‘thunder’. The longer the count, the further away the storm is. Each second counted represents roughly one mile in distance.”

The blank look behind the furrowed brow gave Twilight all the information she needed: Pinkie had no idea what she’d just been told. Twilight let out an exasperated sigh.

“It means the longer it takes for the thunder to rumble after the lightning, the farther away the storm is.”

Pinkie’s expression changed from confused to clarity. “Oh... Why didn’t you say that in the first place.”

Twilight face-hooved, groaning at her friend in frustration; feeling the hairs on her back start to raise themselves against her will. Pinkie was on of her best friends, but sometimes Twi wondered if all the parties and massive sugar ingestion had taken their toll on her. The lavender mare was just about to start one of her rants when another white hot flash streaked across the low slung atmosphere above. Pinkie didn’t flinch this time; instead gazing up at the sky in wide-eyed amazement.

“Just count to see how far away it is, right?”

“That’s right Pinkie.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie,” Pinkie responded, inhaling a massive breathe of air. “One... Two...”

CRAKKA - BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The two mares screeched in fright; glomping one another as the loud bust of thunder roared overhead, rattling up into the base of their hooves. It was several seconds after the initial shock wore off before the pink mare spoke.

“Um T-twilight?” Pinkie asked nervously. “Maybe we should get to Flutter’s now.”

“I whole heartedly agree, P-pinkie. I’m s-sure A.J. needs our help j-just as much as Fluttershy does.”

As the next lightning bolt streaked across the sky, it illuminated the now deserted section of ‘Quills and Sofas’ porch; the faint sound of hooves disappearing into the distance.

*

Applejack stood on her front legs and gave the wooden peg one last buck for good measure. The peg gave a slight squeak as it was wedged tightly amongst the dam work Applejack had created. The orange, freckle-faced mare had spent the better part of the morning erecting, what she called a ‘hodge-podge’, wooden dam that had been filled with sand, rocks, and anything else she’d been able to find that would some what withstand what mother nature was going to dish out. Satisfied with her work and the soundness of the structure, A.J. let out a contended sigh, wiping the mixture of rain, sweat, dirt and debris from the bridge of her snout. A rumble of thunder caused her to cast her gaze towards the heavens, flinching as several heavier drops of rain splattered upon her face.

“This storms movin’ in ah’ bit faster‘n Ah’d realized,” A.J. said to herself aloud. “Ah hope everpony got out of town alright.”

The whole ‘evacuation’ Rainbow had eluded to earlier was beginning to eat at her. She hadn’t really given it much thought at the time as she’d been too caught up in the moment with the evacuation of her family, not to mention helping Fluttershy. Now that much of her task had been completed, she now came to the realization of her worry: Ponyville didn’t handle emergency situations well. At all.

When Spike rampaged through the town as an adult dragon, ponies were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The same was true when the Parasprites began devouring the food, clothing, and pretty much everything else. The saving grace was that the Elements had been there to help restore peace. (In both cases there was a lot of damage to repair, but fortunately, nopony had been hurt) The main difference between then and now was Applejack’s friends. All of them come together to halt the situations before they escalated too far. Now; however, they had been split up. This did cover more ground, but it also left them vulnerable and with no way to contact each other. If something was to Fluttershy... A.J. shivered at the thought.

“Um, Appljack,” a timid voice called, snapping the orange mare back to reality. There Fluttershy stood, holding a lantern in her left hoof, it’s light showing the timid mares concerned facial features. “You were shaking. Are you cold?”

“No...” Applejack paused, unsure of how to word her response. Lying was out of the question. Her face always scrunched up funny whenever she tried, her Element of Honesty always giving her away. “Ah’m just worried is all, sugarcube.”

“Oh?” the butter yellow mare questioned, half hidden behind her damp pink mane. “Why, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“FLUTTERSHY!!” A familiar, scholarly toned voice called out. “APPLEJACK!!”

Fluttershy let out a soft squeak, darting behind A.J.’s flank as her name was called out. Applejack just smiled, sighing in relief, and pulled herself up above the barrier, ready to greet her friends. She was instantly greeted by a big grin and a pare of blue eyes.

“Hi Applejack!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Whatcha doin?”

Surprised, a wide eyed Applejack fell back onto the rain soaked earth with a soft thud, splashing mud on her coat as well as Fluttershy’s. “Blast it Pinkie,” an angry Applejack snapped, “Ya’ gotta be more careful. I plum near landed on Flutters here.”

Pinkie brought her hooves to her up to hide her quivering lip, her eyes becoming misty even in the horrid weather. A.J. sighed, retrieving both herself and Fluttershy from the muck.

“Ah’m sorry Pinks,” she began, “Ya’ just scared me a tad, s’all. Is Twilight with ya? Ah thought I heard-“

The party pony’s demeanor changed instantly back to smiles and giggles. “Oh no problem. Didn’t mean to scare ya, A.J. And yes Twilight’s-“

”Oh, there you are, Pinkie,” the lavender unicorn spoke, rising above the barrier next to her friend. “I thought I lost you for a moment in this macabre darkness. Oh and I see you’ve found Applej-“ Twilight couldn’t even finish her sentence at the sight she was now taking in. Even in the dim light cast by Flutter’s lantern, she could see both of her friends were covered in muck, to which she raised an eyebrow beneath her pink-striped forelock. She brought a hoof to her lips, clearing her throat. “Well, Pinkie and I came out her to see if you needed any assistance, but seeing as how you two are playing in the mud...”

The timid yellow Pegasus rose her head at Twilight’s comment. “Um, a-actually Pinkie-“

”Whadaya mean ‘playin in tha mud!” Applejack snapped, cutting Fluttershy off. “Why if’n you weren’t mah friend, Ah’d...”

“Wait please...”

“Oh, really?” Twilight snipped back, now clearly agitated. “That’s cute. I seem to recall a certain stubborn earth pony refusing to ask for help when...”

“Wait!”

Applejack rolled her eyes at this remark, her anger growing in the of her stomach. “Yeah? And whose the ‘fraidy pony who though she was going back to ‘Magic kidenergar-‘”

“WAIT!”

Fluttershy’s explosive outburst brought the bickering to a halt. The timid mare never raised her voice often, but when she did, it was enough to calm the angriest dragon. Her face was no longer half covered behind her mud -stained pink mane; her cyan eyes glowing with an intense fury that neither of them had seen before. She angrily chewed at her bottom lip, stamping her foreleg into the ground, a geyser of mud following its impact.

“I can’t believe you two!” Fluttershy finally spat after a few moments of tense silence. “We all have a huge job to do and the two of you are bickering over such a petty misunderstanding! Applejack heard you calling us and went to see you when Pinkie scared her! That’s why the both of us are covered in..i-in...”

The timid pegusi was unable to complete her rant; the anger and frustration vanishing as quickly as it came, replaced with regret and sadness. Her ears went flat against her head and her rear legs involuntarily gave out, plopping her haunches down roughly upon the ground.

“W-were friends...” She began sobbing, her frame shivering from the emotional turmoil. “Friends laugh and smile, comfort each other. They don’t fight.”

Both Twilight and Applejack looked at each other, then back at their friend, surprised to see Pinkie pie already embracing her. The two mares smiled warmly at each other before joining in Pinkie pie’s happy intervention. Slowly, Fluttershy’s sobs became sniffles, her shivering disappearing. She looked up from her friends’ embracing hug, smiling gently.

“I’m sorry I snapped at the both of you. It’s just that, um...”

“Ah understand Flutters.” Applejack responded. “No hard feelings, Twilight?”

“I, as well.” Twilight responded in kink. “And no, A.J. No hard feelings.”

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I’m glad you two made up and Flutters isn’t all ‘saddy-waddy’ anymore.” She tapped a forehoof to her chin for a moment. “And you two work better when you’re both not Mr. Mc meanie-pants.”

Another loud burst of thunder rocked the group from their momentary lapse of the situation at hoof. Twilight seized the moment, just as she had during the dilemma during ‘Winter Wrap-up Day’.

“Okay everypony . Listen up. The brunt of the storm is almost upon us. We need to get finished here quickly and join Spike and Rarity at the train depot as it’s our ride to Canterlot. With the rising water, the conductor surely won’t be able wait much longer. Applejack? Are is the barrier sufficient to withstand continual punishment from said elements?”

“Ah’ built it tougher ‘n some a’ Big Mac’s special cider, but Ah’ would appreciate it if you’d give it a once o’er to double check.”

“Not a problem, A.J.” Twilight responded in kind. “How about you, Fluttershy? Are all the animals in your care free and in the clear?”

“Um almost. Angel bunny is still inside where it’s safe, but the otter family is being stubborn and refuse to leave their home. I’ve tried everything.”

Twilight took all the information in, her mind going into hyper drive, analyzing and formulating a plan of action.

“Okay,” she began after a few tense moments, “let’s get to work: Pinkie? You and Fluttershy the otters out of their den as quickly as possible. Applejack and I will put the finishing touches on things here.”

As the two groups headed towards their assigned directions, Twilight couldn’t help but look at the nearly pitch black sky.

“Dash...come home safe.”