“Alright everypony, listen up!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, looking at the crowd of weather patrol pegasi in front of her. A hole in their cloud prison, barely large enough for two ponies at once, could be seen behind her. She had worked on it for what seemed like forever, and even then she only had managed to dig a hole big enough for a filly. Much to her surprise, the wall around it collapsed a few moments later. In fact, the whole cloud prison started to slowly crumble away. Rainbow Dash wasted no time, rallying all pegasi of the weather patrol and every other voluntary. They all lined up in front of her, eagerly waiting to hear her plan.

“Our target is Silver, pegasus, about this height, dark blue coat, silver and purple mane, right wing injured; but most important: silver bracelet around her right front leg. I have no idea how she’s doing it, but she’s using it to cast magic like a unicorn.”

The crowd audibly gasped and looked confused at each other.

“We need to get out there and find a way to disrupt whatever she’s doing. My plan is simple and effective. We all fly out and break through the clouds at once and search for her. Once we find her we just threw everypony at her, she can’t withstand all of us. Oh, be sure not to try anything with that bracelet…” Rainbow took a moment to rub her still aching head. “… didn’t work well the last time I tried. Anyway, once we got her under control it should be easy to break the storm and restore the normal weather schedule.”

A murmur rose from the pegasi as they started to discuss Rainbow’s plan with each other. It took every bit of Rainbow’s patience to wait until they finally calmed down and focused back at her, her tail flicking nervously all the time.

“Any Questions?”

A royal-blue, male pegasus wearing flying glasses raised a hoof. Dash turned towards him, raising an eyebrow. “Yes Chips?”

“Are you sure we should go out there while… well… THAT?” He asked, motioning towards what lay behind the hole in the cloudwall.

Rainbow turned around. “What do you…” she started to say, breaking off mid sentence. The clouds outside were pitch black, churning and raging like an angry beast. Lightning ran across the surface, turning the clouds into an image straight out of a nightmare.

“Oh come on… that’s so not cool…”

“Twilight, are you sure about this?” Rarity asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Yes Rarity, I am sure.” Twilight Sparkle answered as she corrected the position of her new raincoat, making sure it’ll not hinder her.

Rarity glanced towards the window. Thick streams of water rushed down along the surface of the glass. Outside the storm raged stronger than ever before, the sky illuminated by one lightning after the other. A shiver ran down her spine just imagining how it must be to be outside.

“Is this really necessary?” she asked again.

“Look, I know you’re concerned, but there is no other way. We need to help Silver or everything will get even worse.”

“But, didn’t you say that these clouds will just vanish once she used up all her magic? And didn’t you say you think she reached this point already? Why risk going out there when she’s already at her limit?”

“She’s right sugarcube, ya’ said that. So why rush outside?” Applejack asked.

“What do you see when you look outside?”

“Huh?” the two ponies answered in unison, looking confused.

“Well, a dreadful storm.” Rarity finally answered.

“Look closer, especially at the clouds.”

Applejack looked up through the window, sipping in every detail. “Well, looks like a big, solid black cloud cover t’ me.”

“Exactly. Remember what it looked like the past days?” Twilight chimed. Reading through the Living Clouds spell description again.

Applejack thoughtfully rubbed her chin with a hoof, but could not finish her thoughts as Rarity answered. “It was dark, but spotted with silver patches… of course! The silver ones were created by her magic and the others…”

“… are normal storm clouds.” Twilight finished the sentence. “I think she did not create the storm with magic, but did it like the pegasi usually do, by working and controlling the clouds by hoof. To do this, she created the clouds with this spell. But now that her clouds are gone, there’s nothing there to hold the storm back. Imagine it like the weather in the Everfree forest.”

Each one of them shivered as a thunder roared outside the instant the unnatural forest was mentioned. Applejack started to put on her own raincoat.

“Applejack?”

“Ah’m coming with ya’ Twilight. Ah Won’t let ya’ go outside alone.”

“Thanks AJ” Twilight answered with a smile.

“So Twi, what’s the plan?” Applejack asked.

“We go out there, search for her, and hope that she doesn’t run away again.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Surely she will stay close after what happened the last time you met her. But, just in case. Take this with you.” She walked over to her saddlebags, in which she brought the raincoats, She pulled out an extra one, with two holes on the back. “I made this one for Rainbow Dash, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind… just imagine being out there in the rain for days, her coat must be a real wet mess now.”

“Thanks Rarity. Please stay here with Applebloom and Pinkie Pie… speaking of which, where’s Pinkie?” The three ponies looked around the main room of the library, their pink friend nowhere to be seen.

“Her raincoat is missing too!” Rarity exclaimed. “Don’t tell me she went outside without telling anypony!”

They all exchanged worried looks. Thoughtful silence fell over the library.

“Well, one more reason to get out there and get this storm under control.” Twilight said.

“Ah’m right behind ya’ Twi.”

‘You really outdid yourself this time’ the mockery voice chirped cheerfully.

“I don’t have time to argue with you,” Silver muttered through gritted teeth.

‘Oh right, I forgot. You’re too busy messing things up.’

“Leave me alone. I have more important things to concentrate on,” she responded angry. The light around her bracelet flickered unsteady as she furiously beat her hoof on her cloud.

‘Of course you do’, the voice said, chuckling, ‘you always have more important things to do.’

Silver sighed, raising her head to look at the storm before her. “I didn’t want this. I just wanted to…”

‘Yeah, yeah, you just wanted to help this filly. How often did you say that to yourself? How often did it go wrong?’

“I …”

‘It’s always like this. You always want to help somepony. But in the end, you will fail.’

“No!” Silver shouted into the rain, tears streaming down her face.

Her cloud exploded as lightning struck it from behind. Silver fell, spiraling downwards, the world around her fading to darkness.

It was a bright sunny day, not a single cloud to be seen. The colorful garden in front of the simple timber framed house stood in full bloom, filling the air with all kinds of wonderful aromas.

Green Feather loved her garden. She tilted the watering can a little and watched the water sprinkle down on the flowers, the light of the sun reflecting in every drop. It was beautiful. The colors, the scents, it was here that she felt alive and it almost made her forget how it felt to fly.

With a wistful sigh she looked at her right wing. She stretched it carefully, concentrating on keeping balance. She folded it and turned her head to the large scar where her left wing should be. She let out a long sigh and turned her attention back to watering her flowers.

She had emptied her can when a dark blue filly hopped into her view, jumping around her joyfully. Every jump the filly beat her small wings to reach higher than her legs alone could bring her. And all the time she cheerfully shouted: “I did it! I did it!”

“Silver, sweety, calm down.” Green Feather reached out with one hoof, stopping the endless jumping of the overexcited filly.

“I did it mom, I did it!” she shouted cheerfully.

“What did you do?”

“You must come so I can show you!” Silver answered, pulling on Green Feather’s right front leg.

“Okay, okay. Lead the way and show me.” She answered with a giggle, not able to turn down the request of her overexcited daughter.

Silver led her to the rocky hills only a few minutes away from their house. The grass was thin on the hard ground, and big boulders lay all over the landscape. They stopped at a particularly flat rock, an open book on top.

“Have you been trying magic all day again?”

“Yes!” the filly chirped cheerfully. She hopped to the book and pulled a loose sheet of paper out of it.

“So, what do you want to show me?” Green Feather asked curiously.

Silver didn’t answer. Instead, she concentrated on the sheet of paper before her. She sticked out her tongue as the bracelet around her ankle started to glow unsteady. Green Feather’s eyes grew wide as the glow raised in intensity. Sweat ran down Silver’s face as the released magic finally showed effects.

A small silver colored cloud formed in front of her, slowly growing in size. Green Feather could only watch in awe as her daughter used all her willpower to enlarge the cloud. The cloud had reached the size of three full grown ponies, Silver collapsed on the ground, panting heavily, the bracelet still engulfed in a soft glow.

“Silver… that’s… incredible.” Green Feather walked to the cloud, gently touching it with her hooves. “It feels like a real cloud too. It’s… wonderful.”

Silver smiled from ear to ear. “I can move it at will.”

“You… you can move them at will?”

“Yes,” Silver chirped. “We can fly around with it without needing use our wings. Isn’t this great?”

Green Feather embraced her in a tight hug, tears of joy running down her face.

“Mom… you can let go of me now.”

Escaping her mother’s embrace, Silver flapped her wings and jumped on the cloud. Carefully Green Feather joined her, and both of them sat down besides each other.

The glow of Silver’s bracelet intensified as the cloud started to ascend into the sky. Higher and higher it rose, allowing both pegasi to look at the land below. The view was overwhelming. Green Feather closed her eyes and lifted her head into the wind. For the first time since her accident she felt like a pegasus again. She embraced the moment and wanted to never let it go again.

“It’s … beautiful.” Green Feather said quietly.

Silver snuggled closer to her, giggling slightly. “Hey, that tickles.”

“Huh?” her mother responded, looking down at her little filly. She smiled at the sight of the silver cloud shaped Cutie Mark that now shone on her daughter’s flank. She nuzzled her gently. “I’m so proud of you.”

They sat there for hours, high above the rocky hills, watching the sun stroll across the sky.

Silver let out a long yawn and cuddled against her mother, as the exhaustion from using her magic finally overcame her great excitement. She closed her eyes and soon drifted away into peaceful sleep.

Green Feather looked down at the sleeping filly beside her. She had never imagined her daughter would be able to do something like this and she never felt more proud, though she knew what would happen next.

The glow around the bracelet started to flicker and the cloud began to shrink, its corners dissolving into the air.

She embraced her sleeping daughter in a tight hug and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s not your fault sweetie.” She whispered into Silver’s ear.

The glow faded away. The cloud dissolved into thin air. The fall began.

“This way AJ” Twilight shouted, galloping through the rain. The roads of Ponyville had mostly turned into soft, water soaked mud, making it difficult to get proper grip while running. The surrounding was illuminated by an eerie light originating from Twilights horn.

“Ya’ sure ya’ve seen something?”

“Yes, it definitely looked like a falling Pegasus. It must be somewhere around here… there!” They rounded another corner and finally found what they were searching for.

‘Wake up.‘

Silver let out a grunt, opening her eyes slowly. Everything around seemed to be clouded by grey fog that blurred her vision. Her whole body felt numb and far away, even the rain pouring down on her was nothing more than a faint echo from far away. She closed her eyes again.

‘Don’t give up now. You’re so close.’

Her eyes flashed open again. Collecting what strength was left in her numb, exhausted body she rolled on her belly, getting her legs beneath her. Slowly she tried to stand up, but quickly fell back into the mud. Lifting her head, she let out a frustrated sigh. There was not a single patch of silver clouds left, and judging by how she felt, the cloud holding the other pegasi also wasn’t there any longer.

“So this is it? Is this were I fail again?” she asked towards the dark clouds above.

Her ears tilted to the side, catching faint but familiar voices nearby. She couldn’t make out the words, the voices muffled through the thundering heartbeat echoing in her ears. The world around slowed down as she gave in to the numb feeling her failure left behind. There was no sense fighting anymore. She had failed again, failed to the promise she gave to the sad filly in front of her mother’s grave so long ago. The promise she gave to herself.

She felt something being laid on her back. What was it? A blanket? A cloud? Another pony? She didn’t know. She wouldn’t even notice that there was something, if it didn’t stop the rain pouring down on her back.

The face of a purple coated unicorn appeared in front of her. Her mouth moving, but Silver could her nothing but muffled sound that made no sense. She lifted her head and looked at the speaking pony with tired eyes. She felt so tired…

‘Wake up. You still have so much to do.’

Her head slowly rose again. Who said that? Where did these words come from? She watched the mouth, of the unicorn before her, open and close, but no words ever reached her. Not that it mattered anymore. It probably were accusations or worse, like it always were. No pony ever said good things to her ... not even the projections of her own mind …

‘Stop thinking that. It’s not true.’

Silver closed her eyes and lowered her head to the ground. The sounds of the outside world faded until her slow heartbeat was the only sound that remained. At least until the voices returned. First only a single one, silently pleading, but soon it rose to a concert of voices shouting at her out of the back of her mind.

‘Wake up!’
‘Don’t give up!’
‘Wake up!’
‘Stop fooling around or you really will fail!’
‘Wake up!’
‘… live!’

Silver’s eyes snapped open, the world turned back into focus and bombarded every one of her senses. Pain ran through her whole body, her muscles screaming for rest. The Unicorn still stood before her, talking endlessly and desperately.

“Come on, we need you. Snap out of it.”

“Twi’, ah fear the fall didn’t do her any good” Applejack said, standing at one side of Silver, holding a colorful raincoat in place over the back of the lying pegasus.

“Of course not, but we … “

Pushing herself up a few inches, just to fall back into the mud with a groan, Silver caught the attention of both Ponies.

“Thank goodness, we feared the worst”, the Unicorn spoke for both of them.

“Why are you here?” Silver responded silently, her voice barely noticeable.

“Aw shoot girl, we saw ya’ fall down and reckon’d ya’ could use a helpin’ hoof.”

Silver looked to the ground again. “Why help me, after all that I’ve done to you.”

“Ya’ saved mah little sister. Helping ya’ s the least we can do.”

“Besides,” the other pony intercepted, “we need your help to stop this storm.”

“I can’t help you. My magic is all gone, and even if I had some left, I don’t think I can move now.”

“Oh don’t worry, I can cover that part. Which reminds me… hi I’m Twilight Sparkle”, the unicorn said with a bright smile.

“Huh? … Oh … hi … I’m Silver.”

“Good, now that this is done…” Twilight’s horn started to glow in magical light. The air around it vibrated slightly and between the raindrops formed a small purple colored cloud. It quickly rose in size until it was as big as three ponies. “Phew, this is harder than it looks.”

“So, you know the spell? What do you need my help for then?”

“I know the spell yes, but I’m no pegasus. I have no idea how use these clouds to control a storm. And that’s why we need your help. I create the clouds and you say what I need to do with them. Come on Silver, let us work together to end this storm, it has raged for long enough don’t you think?” Twilight held out a hoof towards Silver.

The pegasus felt unsure and lost. She looked towards her side where Applejack stood smiling and nodding.

‘Trust them.’

“Okay, let’s end the storm”, she finally said, grabbing Twilight’s hoof to pull herself up.

“That’s the spirit. Now, where do we start?”

“First we need to get higher. We can’t control anything from down here, we need to get near the storm cloud as far as possible.”

“And I know exactly how we get there.” Twilight’s hooves glowed for a second before she jumped on top of the cloud she created moments ago.

“How do you… nevermind, we have time for that later”, Silver said, joining Twilight on the cloud.

“Good luck to both of ya’. Ah’ll stay here and wait for ya’r return.”

The two ponies looked at each other, their eyes filled with determination.

“Let’s go.”

The cloud, with the two ponies on top, shot away towards the storm clouds above.

“Okay, here we are”, Twilight exclaimed, bringing the cloud to a halt.

Around them the storm raged at its strongest. The wind tore at their manes and raincoats, rain fell down reckless, trying to get through their waterproof clothing.

“What now?” she asked, turning towards Silver.

“Create a cloud, size approximately the size of two ponies.”

Twilight nodded and started to concentrate, her horn glowing in soft purple light. The air whirled around them as a new purple cloud formed in front of them.

“Good, now send it into the clouds over there”, Silver said, using her front hoof to point at a part of the storm cloud.

Twilight clenched her eyes an aimed at the spot her pegasus companion pointed at. She couldn’t see any difference between this part of the cloud and every other part around it, but then again she was a unicorn and didn’t know anything about clouds. The purple cloud sank into the storm, spreading into its surrounding cloudy mass, creating a small purple patch in the black stormy ceiling.

“Okay, next one, same size, goes over there.”

She used her magic to create the next cloud and sent in on the way. Halfway towards her goal the cloud was struck by lightning, evaporating it instantly. Twilight fell onto her knees, her face a mask of pure pain, sweat running down in a stream. Her ears moved around nervously and the light around her horn flickered unsteady for a few seconds. Shakily she came back onto her hooves. Gulping heavy she turned towards Silver.

“Does it always hurt like this?”

She winced and returned her gaze with a sad nod. “Every time one of them is destroyed like this.”

“How many did you … ?”

“In this storm? Seventeen.”

Wincing slightly, Twilight returned her gaze towards the clouds above. “Let’s try that one again”, she said, creating a new cloud.

Rainbow flew around aimlessly, always looking at the storm clouds below. Something was happening again, she could feel it. She felt it with every part of her body. That soft tingling that told her the weather was changing.

She beat her wings and stopped in midair, her eyes nervously darting around. The lightnings that jumped across the surface of the storm clouds below seemed to come less frequently. More importantly, the colors were off. Something disturbed the pitch black surface below: a single purple patch.

“Huh? … purple?”

But before she could wonder any longer about it, a second purple patch formed. Like a bullet shot into the clouds from below, a purple cloud broke through the storm before settling down and stretching out throughout her black surrounding.

“Twilight.” She murmured to herself.

Rainbow shot away towards the next pegasus in sight.

“Chips! Something is happening down there; tell the others to get ready.”

Rainbow quickly returned to her old spot and continued watching the clouds below, now directly searching for purple spots.

“Urngh … where to with this one?” Twilight asked, panting heavily from her exhausting task.

“Over there Twilight, between these other two.”

Over a dozen purple patches could be seen in the clouds, and yet the storm didn’t seem to slow down a bit. Twilight began to wonder if it ever would. Carefully she placed the next cloud.

The wind suddenly grew wilder, tearing at their clothing viciously. Both ponies clinged to their cloud, fighting hard to not fall off. They tried to secure their faces from the relentless rain pouring at them from the side. It felt as if the storm tried to protect itself, as if the long exposure to magic and the absorption of so many living clouds had given him a will of his own. Twilight grimaced and created the next cloud.

“Where?” she shouted towards Silver.

“Directly above us! Quick!”

Lightning struck down past their cloud, shaking their bodies and making their hearts beat faster. For a second, Twilight lost control and the wind sent their cloud flying away uncontrolled.

Collecting all her willpower, Twilight forced the last cloud in position, avoiding the barrage of lightning that tried to stop it.

The purple cloud broke through the dark clouds. Nearly instantly, the stormy clouds around seemed to calm down.

“Now everypony!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, flaring her wings to fly in a wide circle. Behind her a dozen pegasi mirrored her every move.

They circled one more time before diving down, breaking right through the newest patch of purple.

Twilight looked up and watched in awe as the rainbow colored streak broke through the cloud, tearing a big hole.

“The pegasi… Silver, we made it!”

She continued to stare, following every move of the weather patrol. They spread out, punching through the cloud cover just to return at a different spot. Slowly the cloud cover thinned, the rain weakened and finally stopped.

Twilight smiled and lifted her head into the first rays of sunlight breaking through the holes the pegasi created.

“It feels like forever since … Silver? … Silver!”

Twilight turned her gaze to the side, the unconscious body of the pegasus lying on the surface of the cloud they stood on.

“Oh no, no, no….. Rainbow!” she shouted towards her pegasus friend that circled through the clouds nearby. She caught the calling and shot towards her.

“Twilight! There you are. I knew you could… whoa, is that…” Rainbow glanced at the unconscious pegasus.

“Yes it is, quick, help me.” Twilight quickly said, commanding the cloud to descend towards the ground and her library.

Below them, the citizens of ponyville started to leave their houses and cherish the end of the storm.

~~~

Author's Note
In case you were wondering: Chips is short for Chipper Blue, an OC of my good friend Mixup (whom's constant nagging, if and when the next chapter will come, kept me going ;) ). Check out his stuff, it's great. Blue Skies; Soaring through Fire