“Dash.”

The chromatic maned pegasus grumbles into her dark gray storm cloud, ignoring the voice coming from above. It isn’t the comfiest, but there aren’t a lot of better options. Her wings burn from her dawn workout, and he should know better than to wake her.

“Wake up, Dash. Got something for ya.”

“I’m not going on a date with you,” Rainbow Dash testily replies, trying to burrow further into the chilly surface.

“I know.” She can feel the eyes rolling. “And so does every stallion and mare in Ponyville. Not that they asked. I have an assignment for you.”

“Seriously, Clouds?” Rainbow growls out, opening one magenta eye to glare at her boss. It better not be another long haul, everypony knows she hates those. “You know I’m good for my share. Just need to finish up this nap, and it’ll be bucked like the rest of ‘em.” She flaps a cerulean wing as if to shoo him off, yawning wide.

“Yeah, well.” The medium blue pegasus points his hoof down towards Ponyville, the exact destination out of sight from Rainbow’s vantage point. “Something, or rather somecreature, came up.”

“And?” Rainbow Dash grumbles as she flops back down into her cloud’s cold embrace, closing her eyes.

“Well, the Everfree monster was spotted coming from Sweet Apple Acres, and after marauding around town he-”

“Wait, hold up,” Rainbow Dash says, all drowsiness gone from her voice. “Sweet Apple Acres? Is Applejack okay?” She hops up, following the blue hoof and peering down at the market center. Her eyes narrow at spotting the pale figure wandering through town, easily discernible by the wide berth everypony gives him. He’s milling about, definitely suspiciously, probably searching for his next victim or something equally sinister.

Fluffy Clouds nods, his namesake cumulonimbus mane bobbing exaggeratedly. “As far as we know; Kicker’s checking it out. But there’s no telling what he’ll do next. Something went down at Carousel Boutique. He already tried enslaving Rarity, even after promising not to, and it’s only a matter of time before he tries with somepony else.”

“So you need somepony to drive this monster out of town. Let him know he’s not welcome here.” Rainbow Dash smirks as Fluffy Clouds nods again. “Well, you came to the right pony. After all, we can’t have Applejack making excuses next time she loses, right?”

With a quick loop Rainbow Dash slams her hooves into the cloud, pushing it above the lone creature. For anypony else, the difficulty inherent in aiming an opaque blob of crackling storm with only one glance would be too much. But Rainbow Dash coasts to a stop directly above the creature, not even double checking her accuracy before slamming her forelegs into the cloud again, grinning madly.

Thunder cracks as the cloud releases a torrent of icy water directly onto the creature below.

“What the-!” comes the deep shout, and it’s enough to get Rainbow Dash to release her hold on the cloud, complaining wings keeping her aloft. She pulls away from the cloud to watch the creature’s stunned reaction, pointing a hoof at him as she cackles.

He looks around wildly, as if the culprit for his current predicament could be found on the ground. He spots nothing amiss from any of the nearby ponies, at least what he can see through the pouring rain and rumble from the lightning coursing internally in the cloud. He does, however, see the dry ground not three paces away. He dashes out of the frigid rain, brushing the water out of his face and hair, flinging droplets as he looks up.

If he was stunned before, it’s nothing compared to what happens when he spots Rainbow Dash. His mouth hangs open, eyes darting back and forth between the pegasus and the dark cloud. Murmurs emanate from his throat, one limb raising to point at her.

Rainbow Dash stops laughing, her gaze turning serious as the creature just stands there, slack-jawed. Rainbow Dash remarks with a roll of her eyes, “Jeez, it’s like you’ve never seen a pegasus push a cloud before.” She flits back to the cloud, any cheer in her brash voice belied by the menacing way she raises her hooves. “And, if you don’t scram, I’ll show you what else we can do.”

Just for effect, she lightly slaps the cloud, a minor bolt of lightning streaking into the damp ground. She smirks as she peeks her head back above, eagerly awaiting his reaction.

The burst of light and sound must have been more than the creature expected, because he startles backwards two steps. His unstable form nearly falls over, terror plainly written on his oddly flat face. He steadies himself against the ground with a limb as he spins around, kicking up dirt as he sprints to the west.

“And good riddance!” Rainbow Dash shouts to the many hoof stomps of the nearby ponies. She shakes both forelegs, basking in their adoration, until she comes to an abrupt realization.

He’s heading west.

Not south, the shortest distance to the Everfree, but west, towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“Oh, no you don’t!” she shouts, zipping back. Her wings, sore from her earlier workout, burn as she rams into the back of her cloud. Rain sprays into her face as she charges after the fleeing creature and leaves a muddy trail in the streets. She has to pull away several times, just to confirm that he hasn’t taken refuge under one of the many awnings or tried to shake her on a side street. Though it’s unlikely the ponies there wouldn’t have immediately outed him.

She catches up just as he vaults the fence into the closest of Sweet Apple Acres’ orchards. “Come on!” she shouts to the trees, letting loose a loud groan. She quickly locates the one he has chosen to huddle underneath. “We’re not gonna hurt you!”

“Wha-at?” comes the choked reply, difficult to make out from the crackle of the storm cloud.

Rainbow peeks out as she pushes her cloud above the tree, glaring. “Just as long as you get out of here!” She growls as he fails to comply, slamming her hooves into the cloud and sending a jagged bolt of lightning coursing through the tree.

In a nearby orchard, Applejack’s head twists away from Cloud Kicker as loud peals of thunder ring out from the south. She angrily mutters, “What the?” as she slips out of her cart, a flick of her head saying goodbye to the lavender blue weatherpony. She warily makes her way towards the crashing sounds until she spots a chromatic burst of color above the storm cloud.

“Rainbow Dash!!” she shouts as she gallops to the edge of her farm. Her teeth grind at the sight of the cloud alternating between stormy black and thundering white, rain and lightning pouring down onto one of her helpless trees. “What in the hay are ya doin’?!”

“I’m trying to get him to leave!” Rainbow Dash shouts over the thunder, pointing a hoof at the tree currently getting drenched in ice cold water. “He went underneath the tree and he won’t come out!”

“Well, stop it!” Applejack angrily huffs, half a mind to lasso the pegasus. “And why’d ya chase him under one of mah trees?” Applejack looks at the figure huddling under Crab Wellington. His body is folded against itself, forelegs wrapped around his knees, making him seem especially small and pathetic compared to when he stands. Not that he was very intimidating then, either. His front hooves clasp in front of his face, making a tent around his eyes as he stares at the dirt in front of him.

“He was caught trying to steal from Rarity’s store, and word is he’s trying to make everypony slaves, and he ran straight out of Ponyville to get away from me.” With every statement Rainbow Dash hits the cloud, more rain pouring out.

“Looks to me like you’re just makin’ things worse,” Applejack states with an angry sneer, “and you’re gettin’ too much water on mah trees! Now stop torturin’ the poor creature! Can’t ya see he’s terrified?”

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash says with a roll of her eyes. She begrudgingly pushes the cloud back over the road, the rain gradually coming to a halt.

Doug warily glances up, not yet willing to believe that this harrowing experience is over so suddenly. His locks eyes with Applejack, something between shock and relief that grows to a wide, toothy smile. He chuckles darkly, his head slumping back against the tree. Hands push back his wet hair, shielding his face from the drops still coming down. He shudders as he tries to relax his entire body, going back to furtive, raspy breaths that almost sound like laughter.

Rainbow Dash cautiously asks, “You got this?” as she flits back, looking ready to pummel the strange creature if he so much as makes a sudden move.

“Ah got this,” Applejack says, shooing the troublesome pegasus away as she turns to Doug. At least he’s stopped rocking his body back and forth. She demands, “What’r’ya doing?”

Doug takes one deep breath, his entire body shivering. “Trying not to throw up.” He takes another deep breath, looking like that is a distinct possibility, “And figure out where this all went wrong.”

“Well, Rainbow Dash says you were stealing from Carousel Boutique, that you’re trying to enslave everypony, and you were jaywalking. That true?”

“I didn’t, I’m not, and all the other ponies were.” Doug looks up, meeting Applejack’s eyes with an intensity that stops her in her tracks. “You gonna hang me for that?”

“Hang…” Applejack says, gulping as a hoof automatically goes to her neck. Then her stern expression returns, replying forcefully, “Ain’t gonna hang ya for that. But ya gotta follow the commands of a weather officer.”

“She never told me to stop,” he retorts, “and I wouldn’t have for some psycho trying to kill me.”

“She weren’t tryin’ ta kill ya,” Applejack says with a huff. Rainbow Dash sits up to stick her tongue out at him. “Nopony is.”

Doug snorts loudly, disbelief plain as he crosses his arms across his chest. “Well, regardless,” Doug says, pausing a moment, his breathing finally under control. “Thanks. I owe you.”

“Ah didn’t do it for you,” Applejack says icily as she inspects Crab Wellington. She sighs. Limbs scorched and broken, leaves and blossoms ripped away, rain flooding the roots. None of it too egregious, but an annoyance that she’ll have to fix nonetheless. She glances down at the creature still sitting there. He’s in the way, and she doesn’t want to leave herself vulnerable while she fixes it. Even if he hasn’t lashed out after being treated like that.

“Well, thanks anyway,” Doug says, staring down at his mud caked legs. Her steady gaze gets him to stand and move over to a dry spot to clean himself off as best as he can.

“S’all right,” Applejack says dispassionately, walking past Doug to set her hooves against the trunk. She closes her eyes as she concentrates, focusing on the wounds and water. Slowly, but surely, the deep gouges in the wood crackle and creak as they knit themselves together. New blossoms replace the fallen, and she pulls away to check to see if any of the apples are salvageable. She frowns. All the ones in the tree exploded from the lightning, painting the nearby trees in applesauce, but the few that fell before should still be good. Maybe not for sale, but at least a quick snack. She takes a lick of the applesauce, pausing at the odd taste. Hmm, maybe Ah should have Rainbow try that again. Just needs a little cinnamon to make this. Or saffron. She walks up to each apple in turn, eating them whole. She saves two for Doug, feeling a little sorry for the creature. She smirks a little; maybe he’ll hold off on eatin’ us.

Except he’s just staring at the tree, dumbfounded. Applejack clears her throat, and he tears his gaze away from the blossoming flowers to regard her with wide eyes.

“How…?”

“Ain’t the first time Ah’ve had to fix a tree after Rainbow got a little, well,” Applejack chuckles as she glances back at the pegasus, “let’s just say enthusiastic about racin’ in the orchard.” Applejack smirks, flippantly swishing her tail to shoo her off.

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes, lethargically pushing her storm cloud further into the air before flopping back on top. Far off in the distance over Ponyville various pegasi go back to what they were doing, though Fluffy Clouds stays watching her.

Applejack turns back to Doug, and he’s still staring at her like she grew a second head. He rips his gaze away from her as he stands and returns to the tree, tracing his foreleg over the remaining scarred bark.

“This is incredible,” Doug mutters to himself, lightly tugging at the bark and coming away with nothing. Applejack smiles at the praise. “Weeks of growth? Years? Instantly.” He massages his head, utterly fascinated. What other miracles can they perform? Is miracles too strong a word? He kneels down as he says quietly, “I don’t suppose you’d consider letting me work here?” He glances back at her, still in shock but noting her trepidation. “Just for a day. Then I’ll be out of here, out of your hair.”

Applejack cautiously inspects the creature sitting in front of her. Worries flood her mind like rain on the roots. What could go wrong? What if this strange, unpredictable creature uses his unknown powers on her and enslaves her? He denied it, sure, but wouldn’t anypony? Well, he didn’t deny eating the apples. And if you could trust somepony with a little, couldn’t you trust them with a lot? Maybe they could get some use out of him, and the farm desperately needs the help, loathe as she is to admit that.

Perhaps against her better judgement, she flicks her mane towards the orchard she came from. “Phrase is outta your mane,” Applejack corrects as Doug gets up, though she belies any hostile intent with a pleasant smile. “Ah don’t suppose you’ve worked on an apple farm before.”

Doug shakes his head, slightly pursing his lips. He looks down, still unable to clean his feet off, and now his hands are all muddy as well. “Done a fair amount of gardening, and I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. I’d like to think I’m a quick learner, but I don’t know if I can replicate that.” He points to the storm cloud, and the pegasus still watching warily. “Or that,” he says, pointing at the tree.

“Guess it’d be a mite, mm, presumptuous to expect ya to.” Applejack starts walking back to the orchard, glancing back to make sure he’s following her.

“But I’ll help in any way I can,” Doug says as he quickly catches up to her sedate pace, then following at her side.

Next Chapter: Ch. 6 - Arborix Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 3 Minutes