The rain pelted against the streets of Manehattan. The young colt’s hooves were heavy, as he walked away from the restaurant that had just kicked him out. He lidded his eyes as he felt his short dark blue locks getting soaked in the heavy rain that continued to pour. It was taunting him. The only thing he had to look forward to was getting to go home to his wonderful little sister.
The rain continued pouring down, as he trotted home. It wasn’t far, but he hadn’t planned to go back home this early, nor get caught up in a rainstorm. His body limped as he walked, sighing. His head downtrodden, eyes staring at the pavement of the sidewalk as he bumped into something. He jolted up quickly.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you…” Storm trailed off.
In front of him stood a trash can, which cheerily greeted him with a rancid stench seeping out as it stood there lifelessly.
Had he really just said sorry to a trash can? What was his life coming to?
He shook his head. Keep it together. Just get home.
The streets of Manehattan were jam-packed and full of ponies bustling about. They wouldn’t even give a colt like him the time of day. He scurried across the street as fast as his hooves could carry him. Each step forward he could feel the weight of the world fighting against him, gritting his teeth. He managed to make it to the other side. He looked back to the street, seeing it fill with more carts than before. Rolling his eyes, he sighed and continued on his way home. No matter what he had to stay strong, for the both of them.
He entered through the old ragged blanket he had put up as a make-shift door. He walked inside, the wood beneath his hooves creaked loudly with every step. He rolled his eyes, as he looked towards her. His sister, through it all she was always a welcome sight to come home too.
"Hey sis, I'm back," Storm Cloud called out as he tried to shut the poor excuse for a door behind him. The wood was so old, it looked like it could crumple to tiny bits if somepony pushed too hard.
The door handle was long gone, a small hole where it had once been. As he entered their living quarters, he coughed as he wiped a cobweb out of his mane. "Stupid spiders. Ugh. I thought we got them all."
"Hey…Stormy. Did you get us anything?" asked Rainy Showers, coughing and quickly covering her lips with her wingtip. She was huddled up in the corner of the room. There was no carpeting, but she was sitting on a cloud-like blanket.
Storm Cloud bit his bottom lip, fidgeting awkwardly as he lifted his left foreleg to his cheek and shook his head. He then proceeded to shake off his fur by moving his entire body, his whole head spinning as he shook himself dry.
“Nope. Sorry Rainy, I got kicked out. Again,” he grumbled to her, as once he was certain he wouldn’t get her sick by laying down beside her.He shifted so he was sitting next to her, but still about ten centimeters apart as he plopped his flank down. His mane sopping wet, he sighed.
“It’s okay…” Rainy began, sighing as her wings folded tightly against her barrel.
Storm Cloud stopped her right before she could say more. He felt furious.
“No, it’s not okay! We can’t keep living like this. We need to be able to get food in our bellies, and try to find a place that doesn’t smell like Grandpa’s old shoes.”
“Grandpa had shoes?” asked Rainy, tilting her head towards her brother. He was a few years older than her, and she might not have remembered.
“UGH! It doesn’t matter what Grandpa had. We need to do something, sis. You know it. If we don’t…well. I don’t wanna think about it,” he admitted, his shoulders slumping as he buried his head in between his forelegs, letting out a faint whimper. He hoped she didn’t notice.
“Stormy…I know it’s been hard. I can’t even imagine how you keep a calm head on your shoulders, but we’ll get through this together. We promised…remember?” she asked him, and he felt her wing expanding and attempting to wrap around his barrel.
He couldn’t help scooting closer, allowing his sister to hug him with her wing, but he was trying not to give her the chills as he felt his whole body shivering teeth chattering. Then, he noticed something being wrapped over his barrel as her wing moved. It was her cloud blanket. Why?
“Sis…you don’t gotta give me your blanket. I got that for you.”
“Don’t you 'sis' me, you need it more than I do,” said Rainy, as she gave him the stare down, her eyes narrowing, her nose scrunched up. She tilted her head ever so slightly as she let out a breath of hot air. Her lips pushed down together, her eyes widened like a lost puppy, her boopable nose staring at him.
He couldn’t fight that look if he tried. A slight smile raised up on his muzzle. No matter how hard times got, he could always count on her. He hoped they would make it, but as he could hear the sounds of the thunder hitting the sky, it made the small, run down place shake with vigor.
“Fine. You win this time, but I’m going to get us out of here, no matter what,” Storm sad boldly, puffing out his chest as he nuzzled his little sister. He could hear her cooing as she returned the nuzzle.
“I know you will, you’ve always been the strong one. Just like dad,” whimpered Rainy, as she lidded her eyes, scooting herself closer. He fidgeted as he felt her against him.
“So much for trying to not get you sick…” he said aloud.
“I’ll take my chances,” said Rainy yawning, as she shifted herself so they were barrel to barrel, her wing wrapping around her brother as she cuddled him under the blanket. She shut her eyes, and he could hear the beating of her heart and the gentle hum of her soft murmurs as she drifted off to Luna’s realm.
He smiled while watching her sleep. She looked just like an angel. He had to be strong. He muttered to himself. Stupid...How had he messed things up so badly? If things had gone according to his plan they would’ve had a meal at least, but now they’d both be going to bed without supper. His belly rumbled, his heart ached, and as he looked once more to his little sister, the fire of his bright yellow eyes burned with a desire to make things right. To give them both a future they could be proud of. He felt his eyes closing on him, as he jerked himself back awake.
“Can’t sleep. I have to think of a way to fix this,” he whispered, softly enough he wouldn’t wake her. He had to think. There had to be a way to get them out of this dump. The walls looked old enough that his grandfather might have recognized the woodwork of the panelling. There was no carpeting; the entire floor was just bare bones. There was dust that had covered the small space, and the spiders, ugh. He didn’t even want to get started on how many times he had tried to rid this place of those pests. Sure, they kept the other bugs out, but it was still annoying to constantly run or walk into a cobweb when he wasn’t expecting it to be there.
He shook his head, rubbing at his eyelids with his forehoof as he began to lean his head forward towards the ground. He could feel his whole body wanting to just rest, but he fought against sleep, as he tried to think of a way,some way to be a good pony for him and his sister. There wasn’t about to be any miracles here, he knew Manehattan was a cold and distant town. Nopony cared about two young kids in this huge city that was burdened by overpopulation and crime.
His eyelids fell shut as his head fell into his forelegs, mutterin aloud, “Must find a way, I have to be strong.” And with that, Storm Cloud felt Luna calling to him, as he dreamt of better days for him and his sister.
The morning sun rose up into the sky, and the bright light of it shone right through the small hole in the door, shining right onto him, and making him groan, and mumble.
“Five more minutes…” he muttered as he felt nothing beside him. Startling himself awake, he looked to the spot his sister had been last night. “Where is she?!” he panicked, trying to steady his breathing. Breathe. He hadn’t hurt anything or any pony in his sleep. Maybe she just went outside, to get a bit of fresh air. He knew how much she loved getting out and being able to spread her wings, but he also knew she was a weak flyer, and that she shouldn’t strain herself too much.
He rose to his hooves, and immediately trotted over to the door, as he stepped outside. The rain had stopped, the sun was beaming down on him, as he called out to her.
“Sis! Sis! Where are you?” he shouted, he saw a few ponies walking by on the other side of the sidewalk giving him a dirty stare, muttering amongst themselves, before prattling on, to whatever they had been doing.
Storm Cloud panicked, his breathing increasing rapidly by the second. Breathe. Calm down. There had to be an answer to where she was, or where she had gone. He went back inside, over to where she had been. His yellow eyes scanned where she had been laying last night. The first thing he noticed was that there was no sign of anything at all. Meaning that his worst fears of her being marenapped in the night without him noticing surely weren’t true!
“Where did she go?” he asked himself, scratching the side of his chin. He sighed heavily. He was getting a whole lot of nowhere this way. When he found her, he was going to give her a lecture about leaving him some kind of note, if she was going to wander off before daylight struck.
He headed towards the door, and before he left, he put a note on the door for her, if she came back before he did. He hoped to Celestia and all things good that she had just forgotten to let him know where she was going and went to try to find them food, but his mind was already spiraling through the worst of possibilities.
Today he was going to find them food. He took a deep breath, as he began walking down the sidewalk towards a hot dog stand along the side of the road.
“Get your hotdogs, freshly made, finest dogs you’ll ever taste, satisfaction guaranteed, or your bits back!”
He licked his chops. Hotdogs sounded really good, as he felt his belly rumbling, as his cheeks flushed a tint of red, trying to hide his embarrassment. He approached the vendor, as he knew he didn’t have any bits.
"Hey kid, are you interested in a dog?" the stallion asked, his lips curling up in a smug grin.
He watched the large stallion leaning forward, his strong forehoof leaning on the countertop, smirking down at him. His stomach rumbled, as the waffling smell of freshly cooked dogs was making his mouth water. His tongue lapped out as he fidgeted in place. He nodded, fighting for words.
“A little, yeah but um…” he fidgeted more. “How much are they?”
“Five bits per dog, best quality dogs in all of Manehattan. Bits on purchase or no dogs.”
Storm Cloud sighed heavily, as he felt his ears drooping downwards against the sides of his face. He shifted a forehoof against the sidewalk, shaking his head.
“I don’t have any bits...sorry.” replied Storm, as he slowly turned around to walk away. His stomach growled furiously, vocal enough he was certain the vendor could hear it. He scrambled away quickly, not wanting to linger. He had to find food for him and his sister, and he had to figure out where she had run off too. He raised his head upwards looking at the big blue sky above him, the sunlight beaming after yesterday, it should’ve been a welcome sight. He frowned, and kicked at a random soda can some pony had dropped onto the sidewalk.
Storm Cloud sulked in his step, as he pressed onwards, the roars of his belly getting louder, and harder to ignore the pain in the pit of his abdomen. Groaning, muttering he didn’t even notice when he felt himself suddenly tripping over a manhole, as he landed head first, his mane splaying over his eyes, blocking his view, as he let out a muffled grunt. He was about to get up from the ground, when he heard the booming voice of a stallion.
“Looky here boys, it’s a little colt lost and scared. Do you want your mommy little one?” asked the stallion, but before he could even attempt to respond, he felt the stallion push him further into the sidewalk, causing him to grunt, trying to shield himself with his front forelegs.
He could have responded to the taunt, but instead he just laid there. His whole body shivered, he felt weak, and even if he tried to fight back, he’d be at a disadvantage. He could already feel from the shove alone, this pony was muscular, well built, and had other ponies at his side. Storm Cloud was alone. He lidded his eyes, simply using his front forelegs to attempt to shield himself from the stallion. He knew if he just laid still long enough, they’d go away. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in this sort of situation, he knew how to play possum.
“Look boys, he’s scared, he’s not even trying to fight back. What a coward.” The stallion taunted him.
He didn’t budge, he took notice of his coin pouch over his barrel, his eyes lit up like a kid on Hearth’s warming eve, but he whimpered, and sulked on the ground, trying to make the stallion focus on his pointless taunts so he could obtain the thing he really wanted, bits.
The stallion put his strong forehoof right onto his head, pressing him into the sidewalk, so that his cheeks was rubbing against the cement uncomfortably, he cringed, and his eyes narrowed, as he reached out towards the pouch when the stallion wasn’t looking.
“Let me tell you something, kid. Colts like you don’t make it in the big city. You’re nothing, you’ll never be anything, and the sooner you accept your place, the better off you’ll be. Now grovel. It’s all ponies like you are good for,” instructed the stallion as he gave him a good shove with the other foreleg that wasn’t pinning him into the pavement, as he barely heard the stallion talking to his lackeys, before moving on.
Storm Cloud was grinning, a toothy grin spread across his muzzle. He fought to stand up as his whole body felt weak from hunger, and from the pain of not knowing where she was. He struggled to his forelegs, and walked back over to the hot dog stand, his mouth watering as he licked his lips, putting the bag of bits onto the counter.
“I’d like two hotdogs please.” he whimpered as he leaned into the counter as he felt his hooves wobbling, his spirit the only thing that was keeping him upright. He had to be strong for him and his sister.
“Coming right up. Wait a second. Didn’t you just say you didn’t have any bits?” asked the vendor, giving him a confused stare.
He shifted, gritting his teeth, as he lied. “Oh yeah, I sorta forgot I had this pouch. I really don’t mean to be a bother.”
“Eh. What do I care how you got it, all I care about is making profit. Alright, two dogs coming up!” stated the stallion, as he watched him fire up the grill, and throw the dogs down. They made a sizzle sound as they popped against the top. He watched eagerly, unable to pull his gaze away, his tongue swirling from one side of his lips to the other, as his stomach roared, he blushed trying to ignore it. He’d have food soon for him and his sister, it was just one hot dog. He knew they’d need more than that, but right now, he didn’t care.
He took the pouch back after the vendor took the bits for the dogs, putting it over his barrel, and strapping the hook over it so it wouldn’t fall, then as he turned back to the vendor, he was holding out the two hotdogs freshly made, smelling like the most amazing aroma ever. Drooling, barely able to contain his eagerness, he took them.
He started to head back to their little space they called home. He wanted to eat his hotdog. It looked so good, hot, juicy, and mouth watering, but it wasn’t right. He shouldn’t eat until he found his sister, she had to be somewhere. He wished in the pit of his gut, he knew where that was, and that she was safe. He didn’t even know if there was such a thing as greater beings in this world, but he spoke to himself a soft prayer.
“Please, wherever you are. Please remember you are loved, and that you have a big strong brother that will always be there for you.”
The streets of Manehattan were jam packed with bustling traffic, he stayed along the sidewalk, he didn’t have far to go. He lingered at the door, wanting to walk through and see his sister there, see her smiling back at him. See that he would be able to provide for them both, that he could be strong for them. He had to be, what other choice was there?
He opened the door, it creaked, and made a squeak. Stupid door. His yellow eyes then focused on a sight he both welcomed and terrified him to the core at the same time. His sister was there, but she was splayed out on the floor, her wings spread out fully, her face covered in…blood. She was whimpering as her forehooves were clinging to something.
“Brother...I got us breakfast.” she whimpered meekly, barely able to speak, as she coughed, and he could see the bruises underneath the fur right where her ribcage was. She was hurt. His grip on the hotdogs fell as they dropped to the ground, and within that moment, he wasn’t hungry anymore. He went over to his sister, nuzzling against her, tears forming in his eyes, as he tried to not let her see it.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?” he asked, concerned, as he didn’t even know if he had a way to help her. They didn’t have any first aid kits here, and he knew for a fact the place was barely livable, so finding something here to help here seemed impossible.
She coughed, and hacked as she leaned her weight against him, showing him the bag of food she had gotten. She gestured it towards him.
“Brother…eat.” instructed Rainy Showers, as she noticed the hotdog that he hadn’t dropped in his foreleg. She took it from him without a second thought, and nibbled on it, licking her lips, he could see as her pink eyes widened, that she enjoyed the taste, and the freshness of it.
“How can I possibly eat when my sister is hurt?” he asked her. He had to get her to a hospital, or something. He couldn’t just not do anything, but he wasn’t sure where the closest one even was, his own body ached, but he struggled to stand up, gesturing with his head for her to hop onto his back.
“Climb up, we’re taking you to get help,” he instructed her, without looking back at her. The more he stared at her, the more questions ran through his head, and he could tell by the look in her eyes, she wasn’t about to tell him a lick of nothing. What happened to her? Who did this? He swore when he found out what happened, he was going to use all the strength his hooves had, and give them one hell of a hoof stomping, how dare they, how dare they hurt her.
“I’ll be fine…” she lied, gripping the back of his hindleg, a soft whimper escaping her lips.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better. You never should have left without me. You know how it is out there. Why? Why did you go alone?”
“Because big brother, I didn’t want you to feel bad about your mark again…”
“My cutie mark? What does my cutie mark have to do with anything?” he asked defensively, as his eye twitched, and he wanted to just punch the nearest wall, but he knew if he did, it might just crumple down on them.
“Your cutie mark, you say it’s bad...that you’re cursed and that’s why you have bad luck.”
He froze. Really? This was why she went out on her own, to make him not feel bad about being born with a weather pattern cute mark as an earth pony. He sighed heavily, he couldn’t possibly be mad at her, but gosh darn it. He was furious! If she had just waited for him, maybe he could have stopped whatever had happened. He couldn’t change the past, but right now, he could simply be there for her. He took a look at the bag of food she got. It was good stuff, a couple of hamburgers, some fries, even some biscuits. He wasn’t going to ask where she got it. He looked at her, he had too many other questions to ask. The first of them was the hardest of them all.
“What happened?” he asked as he nuzzled his cheek against her, to try to provide some sort of comfort, he could hear her whimpering, even if she was trying to hide her pain. The blood, the bruises, the way she was laying there wings splayed out to each side of her, whatever happened to her, it had to have been serious for her to act this way. For her to be so quiet, it was not like her at all. This was his little sister, and he had promised he’d protect her, what kind of big brother was he, if he couldn't even do that because she was afraid of hurting his feelings because of his mark? Stupid mark.
“You won’t like it, brother. But… I’ll tell you, just promise me you won’t do anything crazy.” Rainy begged, her upper lip hanging over her bottom lip, in a cute pout that he just couldn’t ignore.
“I promise...just please tell me what the heck happened to you. You look… like a mess.” Storm said, biting his bottom lip. He turned his head away slightly, so she wouldn’t see his scowl.
“I went out to get food, I knew we needed it, and I didn’t want you to have to worry. I ran into a bunch of colts…” She paused, and her whole body trembled, visually shaking, a slight tear drop running down her face. “I just wanted to get us food. They told me if I did what they wanted they’d give me food.”
“What did they do to you?!” He asked, as his muzzle scrunched, and he stomped his hoof against the floor of their small little home.
“They didn’t touch me like that brother, I swear.” Rainy began to calm his nerves. “They just roughed me up really good, I don’t know why, but they did. Then they told me how a filly like me will never make it in this city.”
“Those colts…” Storm replied with a snarl. “I ran into ones just like that, I’d be shocked if they weren’t the same. So what if we’re orphans. It’s not like we had a say in what happened to our parents!”
“Stormy… please calm down.” Rainy said, reaching out to hold his hoof. “It’s always been hard for us, but you can’t let anger consume you. We need to be strong, and we’ll get through this.”
“You’re injured… you need a doctor. And we can’t afford it… “ Stormy whimpered as he laid down beside her and nuzzled her affectionately, refusing to leave her side for as long as possible. She went through all of this pain, just so his cutie mark wouldn’t plague him more. She was always looking out for him. She was the strong one of the two, and yet he was supposed to be strong for her, so why did he feel so damn weak?
He laid there with her for the rest of the night, just enjoying the warmth of his sister, and trying to alleviate or distract her from the pain she was in. He knew he couldn’t heal her, but he ached for her, and just hoped she’d be okay. He struggled to find sleep, worrying she’d run off again, but eventually his tiredness overtook his willpower and he fell into the dream realm.
He stirred awake, groaning as his eyelids felt heavy. He immediately checked that she was still there, laying beside him. Her body was still, and her eyes were glazed over. He took a step back, horrified by what he was seeing.
“Rainy? RAINY! Please wake up.” He begged her, as he pushed at her barrel with his forehooves, trying to get her to stir awake, hoping in the back of his mind, this was just a nightmare. Please, no…
She didn’t move or budge. She didn’t blink, and the ever so realization began to sink into him, she was dead...His baby sister was gone.
He fell down to his shins, and sobbed against her limb barrel. He cried, as the tears poured down his face. He wanted to punch something. She didn’t deserve this, she shouldn’t have died…
“Why? Why her of all ponies? Why?” He sobbed, as he tried to wipe the tears streaming down his face, struggling as he tried to breathe, and it came out in heavy gasps of air, as his nose felt like it was plugged up. He knew he had to report this, he had to tell some pony, she had died.
He couldn’t just leave her body here in this rambled old shack. It was his duty as a big brother to ensure her body was buried, and her soul able to move on. Even as he struggled to stand, he found some solace in knowing she was no longer suffering. He couldn’t stop the tears. He couldn’t keep himself from being angry, even though she hated it when he was like this, he bit his tongue to hold in a scream, as he trotted out into the streets of the big city, looking for any signs of any pony. Some pony had to be around, this was Manehatten.
“I swear if I see those colts again… I’ll… show them a piece of my mind.”
“Hey kid, are you quite alright? You look like some pony kicked your puppy.” asked a mare approaching him.
He looked at the mare, she looked like an average everyday pony, and right now, she was exactly what he needed.
“My sister is dead, and I was hoping some pony could help me bury her.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s awful. You poor dear. I’ll help you. Do you know what happened?” asked the mare.
“Some colts beat her up the other day when she asked for food.” Storm answered her honestly, there was no sense in skimming out the truth. Lies never got him anywhere. And now his sister was lying dead because of his stupid cutie mark. Just his bad luck. He could feel a storm cloud over him, even now as the mare helped him with the details of his sister’s burial.
It was a tedious process when the mare called the cops, and he had to once again, explain what had happened, the best that he could. He hadn’t been there, but his sister had told him enough to know, those colts were up to no good. He had to try to prevent this from happening to more innocent mares. He had to try.
Once the report was filed, he was asked to go to the station. He declined the offer. He had to get out of this city. It was clear to him, he needed to find an answer to his cutie mark. Why was he unlucky? Why on earth had he been cursed with this mark? He’d always known for the rest of his life that because of it, his sister had died. It was bad enough losing his parents, but losing her meant he was truly and utterly alone.
There was no pony to turn too, no pony was going to help an orphan. He didn’t have much to pack, as he grabbed a stick while tying the blanket over the food that his sister had gotten for them. He swore he wouldn’t let her sacrifice go unnoticed. He stood there for a moment, gazing back into the city, tears streaming down his face.
“I’m not crying… it’s just rainy today.” He said, trying to defend himself as he turned away from the city, and began his journey. He had no clue where to go or who to turn too, but he had to try. Something had to give. Some pony might be able to help him find a cure to this stupid mark on his flank. He wasn’t strong enough to save his sister, but now he had to be strong in honor of her memory. Rainy Showers. His little sister. He’d never forget her smile. Even during the bleakest of moments, she had always smiled like an angel.
It was raining today, that’s what he told himself, because he could feel that impossible cloud overhead, following him no matter where he went.
Author's Note
Hey everyone, it's been awhile hasn't it? I've been keeping this gem in my back pocket for some time, debating whether or not to publish it. And well maybe it's time I stop doubting and just press the big Green scary button. I hope you all enjoy this, it's a different kind of story. I took inspiration from Oliver in some regards. The play, not Oliver and Company to be clear!
