Leaving Canterlot

Chapter One

She had left the city of Canterlot to go and be somewhere else. She felt like she didn't belong in Canterlot ever since her parents passing. Her soft eggshell coat was covered by a dark grey cloak from her parents. She recalled their accident so vividly.

Her parents worked with the weather, it was summer transitioning into fall, so thunderstorms had come into play. They had to let one thunderstorm through each city, and then continue moving it. This was a tricky process, as the dangers of being struck by lightning or electrocuted were very high.

"Mom! Dad! No! You can't go to work today! There's thunderstorms in the forecast!" Storm Chaser whimpered, not wanting her parents to leave her.

"Honey, we have to go, we'll be fine, really." Her father comforted her by pressing his hoof between her wings, calming her down.

"Storm, we can't stay out of this time slot forever, we need a way of money if we are to live in Canterlot. If we are to have any income at all!" her mother exclaimed.

So not listening to their daughter's concerns, Thunder Clap - Storm Chaser's father - and Sky Daze - Storm Chaser's mother - left to go to work. Not knowing that they would never see their daughter again.

It seemed like a normal job, touch the cloud for three seconds and pass it to the next pegasus, however, the cloud hadn't been manufactured right.. Thunder Clap and Sky Daze were next to eachother on the cloud, all of the pegasi were nervous about the lightning, they all looked around to eachother, wondering who would be the victim of the lightning strike. There was a timer above the cloud, letting the pegasi know when the lightning would strike. The tricky part of moving the cloud is to not have it sit in one place for more than one second, so someone had to be next to the cloud for the lightning strike, which put them at risk for getting struck. Two ponies had to be lined up for the first seven seconds of carrying it, them being the closest. Thunder Clap and Sky Daze were set up to be the first two ponies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Storm Chaser had been at school while her parents were gone. She was pulled out of her class after hearing the thunderstorm go on for a while. The principal had pulled her out, along with Storm Chaser's counselor, they both had a sullen look on their faces. Storm Chaser started shaking her head and sobbing, knowing only what could be the news that her parents had died in an accident moving the thunderclouds.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Alright! Thunder Clap you're up! You have 3!.. 2!.. No! You're too close! Get away!" All of the pegasi watched in horror as the male pegasus was struck by lightning, Sky Daze being next to him, the lightning jumping from him to her, yet Thunder Clap getting the brunt of the shock, he dropping from the sky quickly, his wife following him down...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Storm Chaser was lead to where her parents laid, both of their eyes closed and she just started sobbing, hugging her parents until her body became so exhausted from crying she fell asleep. When she was woken up her parents were being wheeled away and she screamed and cried again, some ponies having to hold her back, others watching the sad scene be on large display in the middle of the hospital. She writhed against the security ponies, wanting to go to her parents, screaming and sobbing, her body eventually giving to exhaustion.

The flashback faded and she shook her head. A tear rolled down her cheek as she cried silently. The only sound she heard was the clicking of her hooves on the ground. She trotted on the ground lightly and looked around the forest she had come about. She had begun to wonder if anyone lived out here.

Eventually she found a bridge that led into a small town, it was the middle of the night and she didn't see anyone awake, nor any windows lit up. She searched around for somewhere for her to stay, but yet didn't see anywhere. The place seemed like a ghost town. She eventually walked around and found a large tree to lay under. Reaching to her satchel she pulled out a blanket, covered it over herself, and rested for the night.

She was eventually woken up by a gust of wind, the wind whipping her light blue hair across her face. Her dark green eyes opened and looked about. She turned to find out where the wind had been coming from, and noticed a blue female pony. "Finally, Another pony." She thought to herself.

"Hey!" she called out.

The other pony noticed her, and quickly trotted over, flexing her wings.

"What's up? You look new here!" she responded, her magenta eyes glinting.

She noticed the cutie mark that she had, a cloud with a rainbow lightning strike. "How curious," She thought. "It's so similar to my cutie mark..."

"I was just curious if you ponies had somewhere I could go, I've been traveling from Canterlot and I arrived here late last night." she responded.

The blue pony looked down for a moment to think,
"I can't really think of a place for you to go, we don't really have a place for newcomers, usually people get homes before moving here." she thought.

"I know! I'll take you to Sugarcube Corner! I'm sure my friends will know what to do."
She merely nodded, and the two trotted off together.

"So, what's your name?" Rainbow Dash asked the newcomer.
"Storm Chaser. Yours?" she replied.
"Rainbow Dash." the blue pony said in response.
"I'm sure you'll like it here, everypony is so nice and welcoming."
"So I've heard, I left Canterlot to find Ponyville, Canterlot felt so alien ever since.." Storm Chaser trailed off.
"Ever since what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Storm Chaser ignored her question as they walked into the small town, and her eyes lit up in excitement, noticing all of the brightly colored houses and all of the ponies everywhere. For the first time in a long time she felt comfortable. They eventually walked up to the building that looked like it was made of purely candy, and her stomach grumbled slightly from hunger.

She noticed five other ponies. One was all pink and had large curly hair, she looked really happy and it made Storm Chaser smile in response. She looked over Rainbow Dash's friends and tried to remember what each of them looked like for help later. She looked over to Rainbow Dash and expected her to speak.

"Hey everypony! This is Storm Chaser. She's from Canterlot." Rainbow Dash said loudly.

Suddenly all eyes were on Storm Chaser, and she suddenly felt very shy. Gathering the courage to speak up finally she simply said.

"Hi."

Suddenly all of them started speaking at once, the pink one started speaking very fast and she didn't really understand anything that she was saying, other than the fact that her name was Pinkie Pie. Another that was speaking to her was the white one, she noticed a strange accent in her voice, and her false eyelashes on her eyes, she seemed excited that Storm Chaser was from Canterlot. The purple unicorn just looked excited and asked her about the Princess and if she knew anything about her. Every word just blurred together and Storm Chaser felt very overwhelmed by all of them.

"What in tarnation are y'all doin'? Y'all are frightenin' 'er!" the orange pony had said.

She had walked over to Storm Chaser, smiling knowingly at her, comforting her.

"It's alright darlin'," she said. "M'name's Apple Jack, we're sure to find a place for ya to stay."

Apple Jack looked up to all of her friends, who all shrugged and looked around at eachother in turn, unsure of what to do. The purple unicorn spoke next, looking around to everypony.

"Surely there's somewhere that Storm Chaser can go? Apple Jack do you think she could stay with you?" she looked to the orange pony.

Apple Jack spoke again, "I can't have her there because all of our bedrooms are tied up, Big Mac hasn't ..."

The conversation continued in a haze, Storm Chaser's mind blurred and suddenly it was decided that she would stay with the white unicorn, which she eventually came to understand was Rarity. They began to trot out of Sugarcube Corner and were heading to Rarity's home.

"Oh, I just have to know what Canterlot is like now! I have not been in such a long time! Do you go to galas or shows?..."

Rarity continued rambling excitedly about the frilly things in Canterlot that didn't mean anything to Storm Chaser now. She just mumbled sometimes and it seemed to give Rarity enough incentive to keep talking about Canterlot. Storm Chaser looked around where they were going, she noticed a small building and figured it was Rarity's home.

"Now, I have a kitty name Opalescense, and sometimes my younger sister comes over, her name is Sweetie Belle. But I don't think she'll be staying the night since you're here. Other than that we shouldn't have any disturbances. You can stay in my guest room!" she continued speaking. Storm Chaser just nodded and followed Rarity inside of the house.

They walked inside and Storm Chaser noticed it was set up as a boutique, she assumed that Rarity was a seamstress. All of the detail in the room was incredible. Each wall had gems in the wallpaper. The large mirrors in the front had small designs on the edges. She noticed to her right was her kitchen, and noticed the spiral staircase to upstairs, where she assumed her bedroom was.

"Alright, so upstairs is where your bedroom will be, through that door is where the kitchen is. Oh, let's take you upstairs to your room! You'll love it, all of the design is done by moi! Made to be like a Canterlot home!"

She walked up the stairs and Storm Chaser followed after her. She became distracted by all of the intricate designs in the walls and stairs, noticing that her stairs were made from amethyst and opals. She followed Rarity into a small bedroom where there was a large canopy bed and a small window next to it. The window was stained glass and shined different colors upon the white floor. Storm Chaser gasped slightly from the beauty of the room.

"Wow." She said.
"Oh I know! I love this room, well not as much as my room, my room is specially made for me, but this room has it's own merits as well! Well, I..." her expression became confused, and Storm Chaser looked to Rarity, expecting her to continue speaking.

"Opal!? Opalescense?!" she looked around frantically, worried about her pet.
"Storm Chaser, I'll leave you to your room, I must go find Opal!"

Rarity scuttled out of the door to find her cat, and Storm Chaser turned around looked about the room. She reached to her satchel and began to make herself at home in Rarity's guest bedroom, wondering what would happen within the next few days.