Stormy Nights and Cloudy Days
The night raged and wept, bolts of light were arcing to the ground, shattering trees and scorching the earth, while clouds bled pure tears, each falling towards the still town of Ponyville. The town, usually busy, was now quiet as the various shopkeepers and passers by all took cover inside their houses, stalls, and the town hall, nervous eyes peeking out of windows and doorways all around.
Then there were the two onlookers onto the scene of anger and sadness striking the town. A pair of ponies, both laying on a hillside just out of town. Neither of them wore a coat or hat and were perfectly content to sit in the rain and watch the storm before them. The pegasus wore a wistful expression on her face, her sky denied from her with the light show creating an impassable barrier for her, while the unicorn beside her wore a thoughtful, almost peaceful, expression on her face. Neither of them were bothered about the constant rainfall around them, they were content to simply watch nature at its finest with a friend by their side.
"Have you ever walked through a storm?" One asked the other, not looking at her as she posed the question. Not waiting for an answer she continued, "Have you ever walked to a backdrop of natural fury, to a crowd of elemental rage?"
The other didn't look away from the sight either, contemplating the question put to her.
"I have. I have walked through the storm before."
The other thought about the answer given by the one, considering the response but being interrupted before she could reply.
"Why do you do it?"
The other still didn't look from the storm, instead using it to illustrate her point instead, hooves gesturing to the skies above.
"Why do we do anything? Because it gives us a sense of peace, to know that there is something more powerful than us, and something we are powerless to stop."
A confused look from her companion caused her to continue
"Yes, the pegasi can be rid of the clouds easily, they can buck their lightning out of them and drain the water within them. But they cannot control them. Lightning will always strike the ground, no matter who stands beneath. Rain will always fall, even if there are no thirsts to be quenched. All the while the storm carries on, regardless of everything else."
The other mare was satisfied with the answer, replying herself.
"Or a sense of power. To walk through disharmony incarnate, to walk through chaos and bear no scars. To walk through the storm as the anchor of sanity and harmony and face no obstacles."
The look she had given the one before was replicated in turn, this time with bemusement and a raised eyebrow. The other looked at the look, then turned back to the storm and continued.
"Sometimes it's nice to know that you still remain in control, that you can still walk through the chaos and come through unchanged. Even if it does change you, the storm does not judge you, it comforts you and provides a conduit for your emotions. The storm is both grounding and insane, juxtaposing against itself and you."
The one listening thought for a moment before commenting.
"That's deep."
Then she turned back to the storm and continued watching. The only indication that she'd been heard was a slight nod from her partner in the storm.
"Twilight?"
"Yes Rainbow?"
"Want to take a walk?"
The two got to their hooves, storm raging around them, and did just that.
They walked past the outskirts of the apple orchards side by side, lost in their own thoughts. A flash of lightning pierced the sky, briefly illuminating the two walkers. One a deep purple silhouette against the night while the other became a cyan imprint against the backdrop. The two ponies continued walking.
The moon above moved down the sky, hiding from the light which neither of the two ponies below saw.
The clouds seemed thinner than before yet the rain continued its' constant beat against the stones, each beat accompanied by a hoof-fall against the path, the two ponies continued their silent walk as the rain kept falling. The lighter sky above the clouds offering the barest hint of colour to the greys and darkness below, revealing a multi-coloured mane, wild and untamed, while the other sported an indigo mane, streaked with pink and straightened over her eyes. The drum roll continued.
The rain was slowing down, the lightning becoming less and less frequent, and a wind that no-pony knew existed dropped silently. Not that it mattered to the two walkers, each creating their own beat into the path that lay in front of them. The two walkers, now revealed to the empty street as Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, kept their pace and walked under the clouds, now lightening drastically with the absence of rain above.
"Why are we still walking Rainbow?" The lavender unicorn asked the pegasus walking beside her, not slowing down or speeding up.
"Because I like walking under the clouds Twilight." Came the reply, her voice calm, while she kept the pace and set the pace, not showing any irritation to her speed or lack of flight. Content to walk the Earth under the cover of the clouds above.
"Why?"
"Because I can hide myself under them, I can walk under a blanket and fear no exposure. I know that my own worries and problems won't get exposed to Celestia's sun, and I can walk free, knowing that my secrets remain my own."
This caused the unicorn beside her to laugh slightly, amazed at how the usually attention seeking pegasus next to her covered her doubts and worries, yet she could still see some sense to what she said. The clouds were after all, just another mask. The laugh was taken another way by the pony next to her though.
"And I notice that you're still walking with me. Why continue? Why do you walk under the clouds Twilight?"
At this the named unicorn blushed slightly, her pace faltering before she continued like nothing had happened and she started to speak.
"I walk under the clouds because they hide the sun and the light. They allow some darkness to cover the land, something to fuel my thoughts. Let them roam unchecked by the sunlight of my mentor. It allows me freedom to think, freedom to speak, freedom to walk."
Rainbow considered this, still walking to the same pace as Twilight as she thought of a response, or if a response was needed at all. At a loss of anything constructive to say to that, she simply nodded her assent of Twilights admission, and left it at that.
After the two walked for a few more minutes, a shaft of sunlight began to spread in front of them, covering them whole and forcing them out of their reveries. After a moment Rainbow said that she had to help clean up the skies, now filled with the remnants of the chaos from last night, while Twilight went to check on her house, worried about damages from the storm.
Twilight and Rainbow both looked at a sheet,
the next storm was in nine days’ time.
They both planned for a walk under the storm.
The End
