The monsters strode towards Ponyville while the Weather Team enjoyed their brunch.

“More Zap Apple Jam?” asked Derpy, the team leader.

“Oh, no. Okay, well, perhaps a bit more,” said Flitter. “Thank you. Oh, so good.”

The team rode on the back of the biggest cumulonimbus incus, totally on top of it. The other thunderclouds marched beside them and the team admired their colors: alabaster and pearl, granite and jet. Cathedrals, canyons, mountains of clouds surrounded them.

The monsters had come up from the south, over the Macintosh Hills and through Appleloosa. High winds had been reported in Dodge City and Ghastly Gorge was on flash flood alert.

“If you don’t want your muffin, I’ll eat it,” offered Thunderlane.

“You boys and your stomachs,” said Cloudchaser, shaking her head. “I am totally into this paleo-pony diet. Just grass and seeds, like our ancestors in their wisdom.” She tossed her mane. “I feel so much cleaner now. More energetic, more spiritual. Muffins? Feh!”

“I agree with Miss Cloudchaser! No more muffins for me!” declared Rumble. “Feh to muffins!”

“Lil’ bro? Come here,” said Thunderlane, pulling Rumble aside. “Look,” he said quietly, “I appreciate your interest in her, but dude, she’ll never be into you.”

“I know she’s older than me,” said Rumble. “But maybe she likes younger dudes!”

Thunderlane looked back and noted how attentive Cloudchaser was to Flitter. Good friends or perhaps more? He smiled ruefully. Thunderlane rubbed Rumble’s mane affectionately. “Guy… just don’t get your hopes up, that’s all I'm saying.”

“Y’know,” said Flitter. “I always wondered what the Weather Team was about. They act so superior, right? ‘Oh! We keep the skies clear!’ they say. But the skies look pretty good to me right now, amirite?”

“Actually,” said Derpy, hesitantly, “we’re above most of the weather right now. I mean, the weather is right here.” She patted the fluffy thundercloud beneath her. Then she blinked, as the Sun caught her eye.

“The skies are natural and organic,” proclaimed Cloudchaser sagely. “The Weather Team is all about ‘controlling’ the weather. But, perhaps,” she said, nodding, “it is they themselves that they seek to control.”

“Whoa! You are so insightful, Miss Cloudchaser!” exclaimed Rumble.

“Bro! You are kind of embarrassing me now,” hissed Thunderlane.

Derpy blinked again. Why is the Sun moving? she wondered. She looked around and up and noticed that the tops of the anvilheads were turning. In fact, the puffy clouds on which she and her Weather Team were enjoying their brunch were rotating, east to west in an ever-quickening gyre.

Derpy stood now, scanning the horizon. She had served on the Weather Team before Shadow Day; that’s why she was in charge. She realized suddenly that none of her wingponies today knew anything about weather, real weather. None of them had braved the rains of the Cloudy Peaks or the fogs of Horseshoe Bay. None of them had fought through freezing rain to deliver precious parcels to Canterlot. They only knew the kindly weather of Ponyville, the weather that the Weather Team allowed through.

Derpy looked to the north and shivered. There was a cold front coming down out of the Crystals. Cold air that would sweep chilly, dry winds across the farms and fields of Ponyville until it encountered the warm, wet air of the monsters. Then there would be rain, heavy rain, if Derpy was any judge. Hail, possibly; thunder and lightning, of course. This was weather, in its most primal form.

But then, possibly, she worried, the cloud monsters will dance. No!

“Everypony! May I have your attention?” asked team leader Derpy.

The Weather Team roused themselves from their morning brunch and looked to their leader.

“I think we may have a situation here,” said Derpy. She looked down. Cold rain was descending upon the fields, faster than she had imagined. She looked up. The anvilheads were turning faster now. The slower fluffy clouds that had wrapped the storm cell were flung away into a spreading crown, as the rest of the compressed cloud wall began to spin.

Rear flank downdraft, she thought miserably. I failed Miss Dash. I failed Ponyville. I’m just a stupidhead like everypony says.

Derpy put her head down, squared her shoulders and decided, No! I won’t give up!

“Attention to orders!” she commanded. “Thunderlane! You are our strongest flyer!”

“Hay!” said Cloudchaser, miffed.

“Shut up!” said Derpy. “Thunderlane! Seek out Twilight Sparkle! Tell her that a monster is approaching Ponyville!”

“What?” said Thunderlane, dropping his muffin.

“Repeat my order!” shouted Derpy, as she imagined her family in Ponyville. “Repeat it!”

“Tell Twilight Sparkle about a monster in Ponyville,” said Thunderlane. “Got it.”

“Go now! Now!” shouted Derpy as Thunderlane leapt into the air. “Flitter! Cloudchaser! Carry Rumble to Canterlot, away from danger.”

“I’m not a baby,” complained Rumble.

“Shut up!” shouted Derpy. “You three all need to be out of the damage path. You can’t help Ponyville now! Go!”

Flitter gathered Rumble and Cloudchaser to her side. “Let’s go,” she said, nodding to Cloudchaser and Thunderlane’s little brother. “But what about you, Derpy?” she asked.

“I will try to reason with the giants,” Derpy said. “Go now!”

The Weather Team fled, except for Derpy Hooves. Should have hugged my family another minute, this morning, she thought, then threw herself into the dangerous sky.

The storm cell came up over the horizon towards Ponyville. The monsters reached for each other, linked arms and began their strange, ponderous dance, counter-clockwise, over the town.

***

TANK

Tank rested at the entrance to Ponyville Town Hall. He was content.

THE PINK PONY had set him here, to greet everypony. "Let's see that big smile," THE PINK PONY had said. A minute or so later, the corners of Tank's mouth had stretched into a grin.

THE PINK PONY had hugged him then. "I am so lucky that you are my friend," she said. "Wish me luck!" she said, before Tank could offer another word.

All morning, ponies had walked by, stopped and lingered to pat Tank's shell. That felt good. On other days, he spent most of his time at THE BLUE PONY’s cloud mansion or wandering among his old friends at THE YELLOW PONY’s sanctuary. It was a good life, but Tank was thrilled by how many ponies there were in the world and how they all seemed to like him.

But the best thing of all was when THE BLUE PONY fluttered from the sky and sat beside him.

“Whew! What a morning I’ve had!” exclaimed THE BLUE PONY, as she rested against his shell. “I think that Derpy tricked me! ‘Oh, the Royal Post! So important!’ Do you know where I’ve been?

“Ponyville. Canterlot. Manehatten. Return post from Manehatten to Canterlot. Then return post to Ponyville. Then Appleloosa and a re-route to Dodge City! Back to Ponyville. Back to Canterlot. Is Las Pegasus even on a map? And I’ve still got this ridiculous post to the Everfree Forest in my bag!”

THE BLUE PONY slumped against his shell. Tank stood, to support her back.

“You know, pal, if this is what Derpy does every day, then I owe her an apology. I thought she just fluttered around Ponyville, traipsing through the blue… what the hay?!”

THE BLUE PONY suddenly lifted her weight from Tank’s carapace. She stood, staring at the sky.

“What is she thinking?” whispered THE BLUE PONY scanning the sky above her and the approaching army from the south. Then she looked north and froze in horror.

THE BLUE PONY looked up. The monsters were dancing. Spinning. Crowned by a horseshoe.

"No, not here! Never here!" THE BLUE PONY prayed quietly. "Storm giant!"

THE BLUE PONY suddenly spun Tank around. “Tank! Look at me! Look. At. Me! Go to ground! Bury yourself! Do… whatever the heck you tortoises do to keep yourself safe! Don’t fly! The sky is a bad place for you today!”

Then THE BLUE PONY kissed Tank’s head, whispered, “I love you, pal,” looked at him again and streaked off into the darkening sky.

Tank stood looking after THE BLUE PONY as she flew into the distance. He thought for a bit, then finally decided: no.

He looked apologetically towards the Town Hall and THE PINK PONY. Wasn’t much help to you, was I? Then he pulled himself into his shell. He rummaged around a bit and tossed out his lifter harness. When he poked his head back out, his flight goggles were firmly in place.

Putting the lifter harness on, all by himself, was a little tricky. The propeller bit tended to flop around, but he finally got it balanced on his head long enough to step through the loop of the harness. Getting the harness into the correct position was a matter of rubbing up against the door and carefully shifting the strap over his shell. It took time, but Tank was patient. A tortoise is nothing if not patient and deliberate.

When the harness was in the correct position, the strap cinched tightly over his shell. Magic, he supposed. Tank didn’t know what magic was, exactly. But he knew that his life had been full of magic since he met THE BLUE PONY.

I am a tortoise that lives in a castle in the clouds, he thought. The Queen of Sky and Storm calls me friend. We bump noses, when she thinks no one is looking. On lazy days, she leans back against my shell while she reads aloud to me. On busy days, she comes to me for a few moments’ rest. Sometimes, she sings to me.

I live my days in joy and wonder.

Tank raised his head, following the invisible path in the sky carved by THE BLUE PONY.

When I became your pet, I never expected to be safe.

Tank checked his environment for hazards, spun up his lifter and rose slowly from the ground.

Tank looked to windward. He tilted himself towards the sky, then followed his heart and THE BLUE PONY.