Thunder rumbled overhead as dark storm clouds loomed over Ponyville, rain deluging the small village. It fell to earth in large drops that almost hurt when they hit the skin. Howling wind tore through the town, throwing small pieces of trash and debris into the air. Lightning forked across the sky, jumping from cloud to cloud in a deadly dance of electricity. Every so often, a bolt would strike the field just on the outskirts of town, singing the grass. Water was beginning to pool in large puddles that were slowly growing bigger, almost threatening to begin flooding the low-lying areas.

The weather team had really gone all out with the storm, almost to the point where it was getting out of control. Ponies huddled in their warm houses, watching the storm outside, or just snuggling up with their family to wait it out. Nopony was crazy enough to be outside in this weather.

Nopony, but Warm Care.

Staggering down the street, his eyes squinting against the pouring rain, Warm Care pulled his raincoat tighter around himself. Despite the protection, he was soaked to the bone, his fur plastered to his body. His mane hung in front of his eyes, blinding him as it clung wetly to his head.

Snorting, he blew water out of his nostrils before shouting, “Selena!” The wind tore the words from his lips, taking his breath with it. Blinking water from his eyes, he tried again, struggling to be heard over the noise of the storm. “Selena!” No reply came, or if it did, his old ears couldn’t pick it up.

Warm Care cursed softly under his breath, rubbing at his eyes futilely with the back of a hoof. He couldn’t see anything; the combination of wind and rain making it so he could barely make out his muzzle in front of his face.

Wiping his eyes again with his hoof, he continued on his way, determined to find Selena.

It had been three days since the filly had run away. Three long days with no sign of her. Care had asked around town, hoping that somepony had picked her up, or had at least seen her. However, the answer was always the same: nopony knew where she was.

Of course, nopony but Care seemed to care that she was missing. After all, she was just another orphan, no real something to be concerned about. She didn’t have any parents that were missing her, nor did she have any family wanting to get her back. Most ponies just gave him an apologetic smile before returning to their day. However, there was occasionally one or two ponies that told him that they’d keep an eye out for the wayward foal.

The local bakermare was one such pony, going as far as to leave a plateful of food on her front step each night, just in case Selena was out wandering around and stumbled upon it. Hopefully she was still somewhere in town. Care didn’t want to think what could happen to her if she had accidentally ambled into the Everfree Forest. Even Whitetail Woods would be bad for the blind filly. She had barely even ventured into Ponyville, let alone outside the town. If she was to enter one of those forests, there would be no way she would be able to get out without some help. No, she had to be in town. She just had to be—

KRAC-BOOOOM!

Care yelped, jumping in surprise as thunder roared above, catching him unawares. As he landed, his hoof splashed into a puddle, causing cold water to soak his underbelly. Groaning in discomfort, he sighed heavily before shaking himself like a dog. Water droplets flew everywhere as he tried to shake himself dry, only to become wet again an instant later. High overhead, thunder rumbled again, almost as if it was laughing at him.

Trying to ignore how cold he was getting, Warm Care stepped out of the puddle and continued his slow progress down the street. He had only taken a couple of steps, when a large, steel pole suddenly appeared in front of his face. Care balked, scrambling to avoid smashing his face into the metal. Blinking, he placed a hoof on the pole, glancing upwards through squinted eyes. It took him a second to see what he had almost run into through the rain, but when he did, he groaned.

He had almost run straight into the street sign for Orchard Street. He was on the opposite side of town as the orphanage, and still no sign of Selena. He was practically at the edge of town, the only thing further down the road being an abandoned cottage by a small stream. He knew she wouldn't be there; it had been boarded up for years now with no way in short of breaking apart the wood. Something a young filly certainly couldn't do.

“Great,” he muttered, lowering his gaze. Glancing around, he tried to make out the surrounding area, but the rain made that near impossible. Struggling to see through the curtain of rain, Care couldn't help but laugh weakly. Despite her hatred for being blind, Selena had an advantage over him right now. She had learned to move around without her eyes; he hadn't.

Turning, he slowly began to make his way back towards the heart of town.

“Selena!” he called out again, his voice slowly becoming hoarse. “Selena, are you there? Selena, where are you?” Again, no reply came, and Care sighed heavily, hanging his head. He didn't know why she had run away to begin with. He usually never punished her, and when he needed to, it was more often than not just a simple timeout in her room; something that she always seemed willing to do.

This time was different, however. She had been terrified of him, and it hurt inside to see that. Why had she felt the need to be scared of him?

Skirting around a large puddle, Care found himself in the marketplace. The stalls had been packed up for the day, the owners back home, out of the storm. Some of them still had their awnings down, and he immediately took shelter under the closest one. Finally someplace relatively dry, he reached up a hoof to wipe his mane from his eyes, only to stop when he saw it was covered in mud. Lowering it back to the ground, he shook his head instead.

Care stared out from beneath the awning, watching the cascade of water flow down the canvas top. A flash of lightning illuminated the marketplace for a brief second before a loud rumble was heard. It sounded like the storm wasn't even close to blowing itself out yet.

Snorting, Care steeled himself to go back out into the rain. However, before he could, a figure darted through the curtain of water beside him. He jumped with a yelp, only to calm down when he saw the familiar face of Merriweather.

She was soaked, her orange mane clinging to her face, her eyes peeking out from between the wet strands. Her coat was disheveled by the wind, the feathers of her wings and chest ruffled. Raindrops rolled off of the waterproof feathers in torrents.

Shaking her head, Merriweather sprayed water everywhere. Normally, Care would have been annoyed by this, but seeing as he was already soaked to the bone, he ignored it.

“There you are,” she said, ruffling her wings to try and organize her feathers. “I've been looking for you for nearly an hour! What’d you do, head over old Cornsbee’s place?”

“Practically,” Warm Care grunted, shifting on his hooves. His legs were beginning to become really stiff now, and he knew he was going to be horribly sore in the morning. However, it would all be worth it if he could just find Selena. “I was at Orchard Street before I turned around.”

“Anything?” Merriweather asked, giving him a tense look.

He shook his head. “No, I could find hide nor hair of her anywhere. The rain is making it impossible.” He glanced over at her, chewing on his tongue. “I’m assuming that you didn't find her either, right?” When she nodded, he lowered his head and sighed. “I figured as much.”

Merriweather placed her wing across his back, wincing as the sensitive underside brushed against the cold water on his rain jacket. “Come on, Care. It’s time to go back home. You've been out in the rain for almost four hours now. You’re going to catch pneumonia if you aren't careful.”

“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I have to find her.”

Merriweather frowned. “Care, it’s been three days and nopony has seen her. We don’t even know if she’s still in town.”

“She is,” Care said. “She wouldn't go anywhere unfamiliar. She’s somewhere in Ponyville. I know it.”

Merriweather sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Retracting her wing, she shook it to get off the excess water before folding it against her side.

“You aren't going to do anypony any good by continuing to search for her, Care,” she said softly. “We've filed the report with the guards. If they find her, they’ll bring her back. There’s nothing more we can do. Now, come back to the orphanage. The other foals are beginning to worry about you. Honey Ray was up until one in the morning last night waiting for you to return.”

Care’s ears splayed backwards, and he looked away.

“I know,” he murmured guiltily, “but I have to find her, Merriweather. She ran away because of me, and even though I don’t know why, I still have to apologize to her.”

“Care…” Merriweather began, but was cut off as he continued speaking.

“You didn't see how scared she was, Merri. She was terrified of me, and I have no idea why! It’s like she thought I was going to hit her or something! I don’t know what I did to cause her to think that was a possibility, but I have to make it right.”

“I think it wasn't just you, Care, but a combination of things,” Merriweather said. “The poor dear’s been bullied since she was old enough to understand what the other foals were saying. It was just a matter of time before something like this happened. Just give it a couple of days, and she’ll be back, safe and sound.”

“That’s not good enough!” Care snorted, stomping his hoof. “She’s out there right now, in this storm, alone, probably hungry, scared. I have to find her, Merri. I just have to!”

“Did you ever think that she doesn't want to be found?” Merriweather asked softly, giving Care a calm look.

He blinked, cocking his head tilting to the side. “What?”

“Did you ever think that she doesn't want to be found?” she repeated. “You know how hard it is to find the foals in the orphanage when they don’t want to be found. You’re looking for a foal in Ponyville. I’m telling you, just give her a couple of days, and she’ll be back. Either that, or somepony will find her.

“There’s only so many places a foal can hide,” she added, giving him a small smile.

Care sighed, hanging his head in defeat.

“Fine,” he murmured, “I’ll head back. However, tomorrow when the storm breaks, I’m going back to look for her.”

Merriweather nodded. “That’s fine, just don’t forget you have other foals to look after as well.” Flaring her wings, she danced in place before, with a lunge, she darted back off into the storm.

Care stood there, staring out at the rain. Reaching up, he adjusted his rain jacket, pulling it tighter around himself. Above him, thunder rumbled, causing the ground beneath his hooves to tremble slightly. Lightning filled the sky, the bolts spreading out like the branches of a tree.

Casting one last glance around the deserted market, Warm Care sighed before following after Merriweather, his head hung low.

Selena huddled down near the back of her makeshift shelter: a large cardboard box tipped on its side. She shivered as the wind continued to howl outside. It pulled what little warmth there was inside the box out through the various holes and slits in the sides. The top sagged horribly, so saturated with water that it dripped through and feel to the floor below.

Shivering again, she pulled her tail tighter around herself, trying to gain a small amount of warmth from the worn hairs. Her ear flicked as the rain continued to pound upon the top of her shelter.

She wasn't exactly sure where she was at the moment, having lost track of her position in her mad dash to escape the storm. She had been near the old library earlier. At least, she thought it was the library. It was a tree with a door, so it had to be the library. Having been there a couple of times with Care to pick out new books, she had a general idea of where it was in town, as well as the surrounding buildings.

She had originally been trying to get inside of the library. It was empty during the night, so it would have been the perfect place to hide and rest. It was also near enough to the marketplace that she could search for food in the stalls. However, the door had been locked tight, and none of the windows would open. She had been contemplating using a stone to break one of the back windows when the storm hit. Seeking cover, she had raced through the marketplace as quickly as she could without bumping into anything, and took shelter in an alleyway between two buildings. From the smell of it, one of them was the flower shop.

Rubbing at her eyes with a hoof, Selena sniffled quietly. Her fur was soaked and, while it was drying, it was also stealing the warmth from her coat. She felt horrible, and though she couldn't see it, she looked so as well. Her mane was disheveled and tattered, her tail in a similar state, stray strands of hair stuck out at odd angles.

Snuggling down deeper into her tail, a small frown touched her lips as her stomach growled softly. She hadn't had anything to eat in a while. In fact, the last thing she had was a couple of apples she had, miraculously, stolen yesterday from the apple stall when the owner wasn't looking. She wasn't completely sure how she got away with it, but she hadn't really cared. It was food, and those apples had been delicious. Back at the orphanage, she usually never got any of the apples Care brought back with him. The other foals would take all of them and eat them before she got there. Either that, or they would leave the bad apples for her. She remembered biting into a worm once, much to the other foals’ enjoyment. But now, there had been no foals to take her apples from her, and she had been able to enjoy them.

And enjoyed them she did. At least, until fifteen minutes later when she finished off the last of them. She hadn't dared to leave her hiding spot to find more food, not wanting to bump into somepony who would take her back to the orphanage. So, she remained hidden under the porch until night fell, and then she ventured forth cautiously. It was strange, really. She almost moved around better at night than during the day.

KRAC-BOOOOM!

Selena flinched back, her ears pressing against the top of her head as thunder roared across the sky. Whimpering softly, she buried her face into her tail, closing her sightless eyes tight. While she wasn't afraid of thunder, she didn't like how loud it was. It hurt her ears.

Another burst of thunder, and she covered her ears with her hooves, gritting her teeth. Almost as soon as the thunder died down, her stomach growled in response, louder this time, causing her to sigh. Maybe she should have stayed in the orphanage.

“No,” she muttered under her breath, her face scrunching up. With her eyes still closed, she shook her head, the hair of her tail tickling her nose. “No, no, no.” She couldn't have stayed there, and she couldn't go back now. If Care wasn't mad at her for hitting him, then he’d be angry with her for running away. No, there was no way she could go back to the orphanage now. Care would punish her, the other foals would tease her for running away, and she would just be miserable again.

More miserable than you are now? she asked herself. She paused, thinking about it. After several seconds, she nodded her head. I’d rather be out here and away from them, than back there in that place. Snorting, she curled up into a tighter ball. Her ear twitched to the beat of the dripping water, the noise slowly lulling her to sleep. She was relaxed enough now that the next clap of thunder barely caused her ear to twitch. Somewhere in the back of her mind, an unknown yet familiar voice sung softly to her.

“Now the hour has come at last, the soft and fading light, has crossed the west horizon and has bidden us goodnight…”

Yawning, she slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Not knowing that she was in for a rude awakening when Ms. Cake stepped outside to take out her garbage. But that was several hours away, and for now, she rested.