Author's Note

Based off an interesting picture. No worries, it's safe for work:

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/21500369/

Titan Chasers (macro, storm chasing, lore)

Version: 1

Cloud Ripper lived up to his name. Smashing and tearing through the clouds that had been left to wander the skies here above the wilderness. He was in a hurry. A big hurry. And the stupid fluffy white blobs were not helping.

A short distance behind him was his partner, High Sight. The pegasus was barely more than a colt. So young. Yet he could soar. And that was what this mission required. The two of them needed to be fast and they needed to fly high.

"Get out of my way," Cloud Ripper growled. His vision was nothing but white at the moment.

Suddenly, he emerged into open sky, leaving a huge gaping hole in his wake. For several seconds he simply basked in the freedom of open air. The sun warmed his fur even as his mane flapped wildly against his head. In that instant the pressures of his job and life were gone. Everything was going to be okay.

"Woah," a voice filled with awe came from behind him.

Cloud Ripper blinked and looked down. Then the tension returned in force. This was bad. Cloud Ripper's hoof jumped to his headset and pushed the button there to begin transmitting. He also had to slow so the wind wouldn't drown out his message.

"This is Cloud Ripper, we have eyes on the Titan. She is moving in a north-east direction cutting through Fine Dirt Woods. Though her pace is slow, the mare is definitely a large category two, possibly a small category three. She isn't watching where her hooves are landing and clearly has her eyes on the city. I repeat, the Titan is heading for the city."

There was static for a few anxious moments. "This is Control. We hear you Cloud Ripper. The evacuation is already in progress. Notifying the royal military now. You know your orders. Keep eyes on the Titan and update us regularly on her progress. Good luck and may Celestia help us." There was a click as the connection ended.

Cloud Ripper swallowed nervously as his eyes returned to the giant below crashing through the forest without a care. The swath of destruction behind her was hard to fully grasp from so high up. Each tree at least came up to her knees, yet her thick legs plowed through them carelessly and snapped the old trunks like they were poorly made pencils. It wasn't a worst case scenario, but it was undeniably serious. A lot of ponies would die if she reached the city before the royal military got to her first.

"How can you tell how big she is?" the rookie asked.

Now that he had eased into a glide High Sight was able to drift alongside him and talk.

"Experience," Cloud Ripper grunted. "See the pine trees she's currently knocking down?"

High Sight focused on the carnage below. He watched as several trees were crushed and shoved out of the mare's way. "Yeah," he said with a shiver.

"The largest pine trees grow to about 25 meters. Most of those are probably a little shorter than that. More like 15 to 20 meters. It's an old forest so the trees are likely on the tall side. Yet they are only just taller than her knees with a few brushing her belly. That's the tell."

High Sight quirked a brow. "The tell?"

Cloud Ripper rolled his eyes. "The one detail that let's me guess her total height. If the trees are just brushing her belly at 20 meters, her total height is roughly three times that. So... 60 meters. That's the minimum height to qualify for category 3 status."

"Oh!" High Sight gasped. Then with a new perspective he watched the mare for a minute as she continued her careless march. "What is the point of the category system?" he asked suddenly.

Cloud Ripper snorted. "It's a loose way of estimating the damage a particular Titan can cause. Bigger the Titan, the more they can destroy in a shorter amount of time. And it's 20 meters to a category. The smallest Titans are 20 meters, category twos are 40, category threes are 60, and so on."

"What's the biggest Titan ever?" High Sight asked as the mare below them crossed what would have been a wide stream with a single step.

"Category 5, starting height is 100 meters."

"No. I mean, what is the largest Titan ever?"

Cloud Ripper didn't answer for some time. They flew in silence as the Titan below them found a road that cut through the forest. Her pace was about to accelerate. Cloud Ripper called it in. Then they returned to following the huge mare in silence again.

"The largest Titan in the world is over 120 meters, at least, but nopony is sure of her exact height."

"Is?"

"Also happens to be one of the few Titans not drawn to large civilized areas. So she hasn't been put down. Yet."

For a few seconds they watched the large pony beneath them leave gaping holes in the road as she walked towards a helpless city. The royal military still hadn't arrived.