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Of Parties and Rainbows

by Donny's Boy

Chapter 11: After Every Storm

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"After Every Storm"

Synopsis: The storm raged through Ponyville for two whole days and two whole nights. The storm pulsed and roared as though it were a living thing, a ravenous beast, and the beast's every heartbeat poured out torrents of wrath, of passion, of grief.


The storm raged through Ponyville for two whole days and two whole nights. Its winds howled through the emptied streets, shrieked through the village square, and ripped branches straight off the trees at Sweet Apple Acres. The storm pulsed and roared as though it were a living thing, a ravenous beast, and the beast's every heartbeat poured out torrents of wrath, of passion, of grief.

At the very center of the storm flew a tiny blue speck, a streak of rainbow trailing behind it.

Ponyville's denizens mostly stayed indoors during the maelstrom, staring out their windows with wide eyes and aching hearts.

By the end of the first day of the storm, Princess Celestia had written to Twilight Sparkle and asked if she should magically intervene. None of the pegasi who worked on the weather teams near Ponyville had been able to calm the unscheduled storm - indeed, none of the pegasi had been allowed near enough to even make a solid attempt at doing so - and the princess worried about the well-being of the little hamlet that was now facing such punishing forces.

Twilight hadn't been sure what to write in reply, so she'd braved the dangerous streets to take a census, using her magic as a shield against the blowing debris and freezing hail. She'd asked her friends, and she'd asked the Mayor and Nurse Redheart and Miss Cheerilee and Mr. Breezy, and she'd asked any other pony she could find. In turn, each and every pony said the exact same thing. Each and every one asked her to tell Celestia to not interfere.

Finally, she'd ventured all the way out to Sweet Apple Acres and asked Applejack about the welfare of the trees on her farm. After all, if any pony would think about this reasonably, logically, that pony was Applejack.

But Applejack had just shrugged. "That ain't important," she muttered, her voice sounding hollow. "Just … just let her alone, Twi, all right? Just let her do what she's gotta do."

"But AJ, your trees ..."

"The trees will be fine. They always are. And the rest o' us in Ponyville … well, I reckon we'll do what we always do, and we'll fix everything up all neat and proper after the storm's settled." She lifted her eyes, up towards the heavy dark storm clouds that hung like death over the land, and she frowned. "It ain't the trees I'm worried about."

At that Twilight had nodded. And Twilight had written back to Celestia and requested that they be given more time to deal with the storm on their own, and Celestia had graciously granted that request.

On the morning of the third day, the storm finally abated. The winds died down enough that the residents of Ponyville were able to safely venture forth into the streets and, as one, they surged towards the hills just on the outskirts of town. Twilight joined them, her every footstep falling heavily. Spike clung to her back much like he had as a newborn, and neither of them spoke. Neither of them felt any desire to.

Dark gray clouds still hung low and thick over the village, despite the fact that the winds had gone.

Slowly but steadily, the ponies of Ponyville made their way out of town. Only one pony in the entire town did not join them out in the hills, and Twilight found her gaze drifting up towards the skies, searching, hoping.

The service was long and boring. As she stood there numbly, Fluttershy leaning against her on one side and Rarity leaning on the other, with Spike standing to the side with Applejack and Applebloom, Twilight found her thoughts skipping like a record. She couldn't really pay much attention to any of what was happening for any length of time. It was as though this was all some ridiculous play she was being forced to watch, from a balcony far, far away.

There were numerous dignitaries, of course. Of course. She'd been important, after all. A very important pony. Not for any of the reasons all those ceremonious government speakers thought she had been - they only talked of her service, of her noble sacrifice, and they insisted on referring to her ever so stiffly and formally as The Element Bearer - but they were absolutely right that she'd been important.

They didn't talk about the things that had actually mattered, though. They didn't talk about brightly colored balloons, or sarsaparilla, or impromptu song and dance numbers that came complete with intricate choreography They didn't talk about one-pony marching bands or inexplicably toothless alligators, and they never once mentioned cupcakes slathered in hot sauce.

As each speaker spoke even more officiously than the previous speaker, Twilight grew steadily more and more furious. She'd never felt this kind of uncontrollable rage before in her entire life, and it left her trembling and breathless. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Rarity shooting her a concerned look.

"You didn't know her!" It took a moment for Twilight to realize she'd said this aloud. Not just said, but screamed. "None of you know the first thing about her!"

The stallion who had the podium, some minor noble, a duke or a marquis, immediately shut his mouth, too shocked to continue speaking.

Princess Celestia took a step forward, her eyes creased in concern, murmuring, "Twilight Sparkle … " But, as Luna put a gentle hoof on her sister's shoulder and slowly shook her head, Celestia froze.

It didn't matter. Not even Celestia herself could stop Twilight at this point, as the unicorn barreled onwards like a runaway train. "She wasn't just some - some - some abstract ideal! Just some stupid Element of Harmony! She was a pony, a real pony. A wonderful pony! She … she threw me a party." A choking sob escaped her throat. "She barely even knew my name, and the first thing she did was to throw me a party … "

Twilight faltered, and she felt Fluttershy give her a soft nuzzle. She tried to keep a grasp on her anger as it began to drain away from her, but she couldn't. Embarrassment came rushing in like the tide to take the place of her quickly receding rage.

She was spared from having to stammer out an apology, however, as right at that exact moment, the entire heavens exploded with a blinding white light.

The force of the explosion knocked all of the ponies right off their hooves and, in an instant, it punched through all of the storm clouds with all the ease of a knife slicing through an apple. As the shock waves spread out, the clouds dissipated into nothing more but a fine mist and left behind a bright blue sky and brilliantly shining sun.

And, after the last of the explosion rippled away, a blazing rainbow stood in its wake, huge and triumphant. All of the gathered ponies stared mutely at the sight for several long moments.

Fluttershy was the first to speak, whispering in a tone filled with awe, "She did a Sonic Rainboom ..."

Still stunned, Twilight looked around the hillside, at all of Ponyville as well as half the royal Equestrian court. As the sheer shock of the Rainboom started to fade away, she could see a few faint smiles begin stealing across the faces of the other ponies around her, and astonished whispers began rippling through the crowd like waves. Some of the younger foals even began pointing up at the sky while laughing in joy and surprise.

Suddenly Twilight sensed a presence behind her, and she whirled around - only to find herself staring into a pair of familiar rose-colored eyes.

The unicorn struggled to find words to say, struggled to find words that were adequate, but for once, nothing but silence came out of her opened mouth. Apparently she'd used up all of her voice earlier. So instead of speaking, she glanced up at the rainbow then back to her friend, a question burning in her violet eyes.

Rainbow Dash just shrugged. "She would've wanted everypony to be smiling."

Twilight threw her front legs around the pegasus, hugging tightly, and she held on for dear life. "You're absolutely right," she whispered hoarsely, hiding her face against Rainbow's strong shoulder. "She absolutely would have."


Author's Notes: Come for the Rainbow Pie, get blind-sided by subtextual Twi Pie? I ... I don't even know with this one.

I will try to ensure that the next installment is as fluffy as possible. Like, super, duper, cotton-candy fluffy.

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