Anatomy of a Rainstorm
Apr 9, 2011 18:37:09 GMT -8
Post by Caelum on Apr 9, 2011 18:37:09 GMT -8
This is the last fic I had to move from the old forum. Ah, I feel so accomplished. 
This was a response to the April/May 2009 writing challenge. Requirements were: The story had to take place in the rain and had to include a blanket, a broken piece of dishware, and the line "Not long now. Be patient."
Anatomy of a Rainstorm
Dream Castle stood strong in the downpour, its pink walls slick as the rain beat down. The granite was unyielding--even after several centuries, the spells put over the stone to prevent erosion by the castle's founders held fast, providing the ponies within with a safe, warm, and dry place to call home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Majesty idly listened to the thunder as she placed her crown on her bureau, done with the day's work. Her ears twitched as another crash sounded in the sky.
"It's certainly coming down," she remarked to her empty room, watching the rain splatter across her windows.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
On one of the terraces, Glory and Moondancer gazed out through the marble columns.
"It'll last a while," Moondancer said.
"Good," said Glory. "Hopefully the farmers will get a nice big crop this year. Only problem is that the foals will have to stay indoors for a while." She sighed. "It's gonna be a few long days..."
Moondancer grinned. "I could put them in temporary hibernation, if you wanted."
Glory grinned back. "Tempting, but no."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Windwhistler stood on the wall, wearing a raincoat and bracing herself against the wind as she examined the scene. "We seem to be experiencing a torrential downpour complete with lightning and thunder that will most likely have the duration of one and a half to two weeks, possibly longer!" she shouted over the storm. "I suspect the rain will greatly permeate the ground, however, the water will most likely stay within the parameters of the flood plain!"
"What the heck does that mean?!?" Wigwam screamed, wondering why he'd volunteered to help her survey the storm.
"It means we'll be perfectly fine so long as we don't run short on hot chocolate and board games!" Windwhistler shrieked back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherries Jubilee scowled out the window. "How long do you think this will last?" she asked Cupcake.
"Not sure," the other cook shrugged. "The latest forecast says a week or two, maybe."
Cherries Jubilee scowled harder. "Just in time for the castle picnic, too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lightning hit the boulder, blasting the rock to smithereens and creating a blackened crater several feet across. Smoke rose from the ground. Sparkler grinned as the storm raged above her and the training grounds.
Perfect aim.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posey watched the rain fall and smiled. Her garden was going to look amazing. As usual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Firefly laughed as she flew through the sky, dancing through the rain and dodging lightning forks. From one of the tower windows, she dimly heard Medley screaming at her to come back, that it was too dangerous to fly in such conditions.
Medley should have known better by now. Danger was her life.
Firefly closed her eyes, smiled, and hurtled through the storm with that sense of freedom only daredevil pegs could understand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, Quarterback," Heart Throb breathed, batting her eyes alluringly. "Isn't this just romantic?"
"Of course, love," Quarterback grinned alluringly back, and he pulled the blanket around them a bit tighter. They sipped their hot chocolate and listened to the rain patter on the window.
Then the door opened.
"Oh DARLING!!!" Bangles sang as she entered Quarterback's room. "It's raining out, and I thought it'd be soooo nice if we snuggled under a blanket and had hot chocolate, so I brought--" She broke off when she saw Heart Throb. For a moment, there was tense silence. "Oh," she said at last, eyeing up the pink pegasus. "I see."
Heart Throb was glaring just as hard at the unicorn.
Quarterback's love life fell to pieces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whoop!" Lightning shouted as he slid through puddles. His younger twin brother was close behind him.
"You know Minty's gonna kill us for ruining the grass, right?" Thundercloud laughed, slipping across the castle's front lawn.
"Since when do we care?"
"Good point."
Together, they ran and slid across an especially wet section of grass, leaving a trail of mud and destroyed lawn in their wake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ripple giggled as she jumped out of the water, feeling the rain beat down on her skin before she plunged back beneath the surface. Humming to herself, she swam through the water, building up more speed for another jump. Normally it felt funny when she was in dry air, but during rainstorms being out of the water felt slightly more natural.
Ripple leapt out of the water again and flapped her fins, pretending to be a pegasus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baby Leaper laughed as he jumped in puddles in the castle courtyard. The grownups would probably skin him alive if they caught him out here, playing in the wet and the mud, but he supposed that what they didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sniffles gave a small shriek at the next peal of thunder and burrowed deeper into the blankets. Snookums gave her a hug.
"It's okay," the braver twin said. "It's just noise. Mommy says it can't hurt you, remember?"
Another crash, and both foals yelped and pulled the bedcovers over their heads.
"I hate rain," Sniffles decided.
"Oh really?" their mother's amused voice broke in, and the covers were pulled away. Powder smiled down at her daughter and son. "It's almost the same as snow, you know."
"Well," Sniffles shrugged, "I like snow better. It's quieter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ambassador Jiedrikot of the Elves was absolutely aggravated.
He hadn't washed his hair in twelve hours.
And everyone knew it was dangerous to take a bath while there was lightning outside. So he had no choice but to wait until the storm passed.
He looked at the bottle of shampoo in his hand and sighed. Just when Majesty had finally gotten the proper hair care products to his room, too...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLASH!!!
"One High Queen Tiff'ny, two High Queen Tiff'ny, three High Queen Tiff'ny, four High Queen Tiff'ny, five High Queen Tiff'ny..."
BOOM!!!
"Okay, five seconds," Gusty said. "Now divide that by five..."
"So, that one was one mile away," Fizzy nodded.
"I still don't see how this works," Spike cut in.
"It's simple Spike," Fizzy grinned. "It...well...um...Gusty, you explain it."
"Sure thing, Bubblehead. See Spike, it takes sound five seconds to travel one mile, so--"
FLASH!!!
"One High Queen Tiff'ny, two High Queen Tiff'ny..."
Spike doubted he'd ever know how this counting thing worked at this rate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wonder if anyone's getting married today?" Lucky wondered as he moved his checker across the board.
"If they are, it sucks to be them," Ribbs answered, wondering why they were even having this tangent as he took out five of Lucky's pieces. Given how often Ribbs beat the other colt at checkers, it was a wonder Lucky still held on to all his good luck charms.
"But Ribbs," Lucky said, taking the blow in stride, "it's lucky for it to rain on your wedding day."
Ribbs blinked. "Seriously?"
"Yep."
"So when I marry Glow--"
"Oh, Rainbow..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When's Sundance getting back with the hot chocolate?" Lickety-Split wondered, blinking as lightning flashed through the sky.
"Not long now," Ribbon yawned, idly reading through a book as she lay on her bed. "Be patient."
Lickety-Split sighed and rested her head against the window pane, watching the downpour. Five seconds later, the door slammed open.
"SURPRISE!!!" Surprise bawled, flying into the room and landing on the bed with a grin, nearly squishing Ribbon in the process. "Heard you guys were having hot chocolate, so I figured I'd drop in."
"Nice to have you," Ribbon grunted, pulling her book out from under the peg. Sundance entered, carefully balancing a tray of mugs filled with hot, cocoa-y goodness on her back.
"Got the hot choc--YIPE!!" Sundance yelped, tripping over air and barreling into the floor. The cups flew, splashing hot liquid over the walls before several tinkling crashes were heard, and ceramic shards flew across the floor. Sundance stared at her handiwork for a moment before grinning sheepishly. "Um...oops?"
Lickety-Split sighed. "Let's all just go down to the kitchens and get our own drinks. Maybe Gingerbread's made some cookies..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another crash of thunder, and the babies in the nursery shrieked. Hoping to keep the mood light, Skydancer laughed.
"Aw, c'mon kids! Don't tell me you're afraid of a little thunder!"
"It's scary!" Baby Tiddlywinks insisted.
"What makes it scary?"
"It's loud," Baby Lofty cut in.
"And scary!" Baby Cuddles added.
"...it's just noise," the yellow stallion pointed out, though he knew he was already losing this battle of logic. Looking at the scared faces, he sighed. "It can't hurt you. Really."
The foals didn't seem to care.
"I hate thunderstorms!" Baby Tiddlywinks exclaimed. "I hate them!"
As the other babies joined in her sentiments, Skydancer frowned. "Now, that's not fair, kids," he said. "I, for one, love thunderstorms. And rain of all sorts, really."
"Why?" Baby Cuddles wondered. The rainbow pony grinned.
"Because," he said, "without rain, we wouldn't have any rainbows."
The foals thought that over.
"I guess you're right," Baby Tiddlywinks conceded. Skydancer smiled at her. Outside, another peal of thunder sounded, and the stallion noticed that this time, there was minimal flinching, and only a modicum of terror.
This was a response to the April/May 2009 writing challenge. Requirements were: The story had to take place in the rain and had to include a blanket, a broken piece of dishware, and the line "Not long now. Be patient."
Anatomy of a Rainstorm
Dream Castle stood strong in the downpour, its pink walls slick as the rain beat down. The granite was unyielding--even after several centuries, the spells put over the stone to prevent erosion by the castle's founders held fast, providing the ponies within with a safe, warm, and dry place to call home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Majesty idly listened to the thunder as she placed her crown on her bureau, done with the day's work. Her ears twitched as another crash sounded in the sky.
"It's certainly coming down," she remarked to her empty room, watching the rain splatter across her windows.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
On one of the terraces, Glory and Moondancer gazed out through the marble columns.
"It'll last a while," Moondancer said.
"Good," said Glory. "Hopefully the farmers will get a nice big crop this year. Only problem is that the foals will have to stay indoors for a while." She sighed. "It's gonna be a few long days..."
Moondancer grinned. "I could put them in temporary hibernation, if you wanted."
Glory grinned back. "Tempting, but no."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Windwhistler stood on the wall, wearing a raincoat and bracing herself against the wind as she examined the scene. "We seem to be experiencing a torrential downpour complete with lightning and thunder that will most likely have the duration of one and a half to two weeks, possibly longer!" she shouted over the storm. "I suspect the rain will greatly permeate the ground, however, the water will most likely stay within the parameters of the flood plain!"
"What the heck does that mean?!?" Wigwam screamed, wondering why he'd volunteered to help her survey the storm.
"It means we'll be perfectly fine so long as we don't run short on hot chocolate and board games!" Windwhistler shrieked back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherries Jubilee scowled out the window. "How long do you think this will last?" she asked Cupcake.
"Not sure," the other cook shrugged. "The latest forecast says a week or two, maybe."
Cherries Jubilee scowled harder. "Just in time for the castle picnic, too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lightning hit the boulder, blasting the rock to smithereens and creating a blackened crater several feet across. Smoke rose from the ground. Sparkler grinned as the storm raged above her and the training grounds.
Perfect aim.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posey watched the rain fall and smiled. Her garden was going to look amazing. As usual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Firefly laughed as she flew through the sky, dancing through the rain and dodging lightning forks. From one of the tower windows, she dimly heard Medley screaming at her to come back, that it was too dangerous to fly in such conditions.
Medley should have known better by now. Danger was her life.
Firefly closed her eyes, smiled, and hurtled through the storm with that sense of freedom only daredevil pegs could understand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, Quarterback," Heart Throb breathed, batting her eyes alluringly. "Isn't this just romantic?"
"Of course, love," Quarterback grinned alluringly back, and he pulled the blanket around them a bit tighter. They sipped their hot chocolate and listened to the rain patter on the window.
Then the door opened.
"Oh DARLING!!!" Bangles sang as she entered Quarterback's room. "It's raining out, and I thought it'd be soooo nice if we snuggled under a blanket and had hot chocolate, so I brought--" She broke off when she saw Heart Throb. For a moment, there was tense silence. "Oh," she said at last, eyeing up the pink pegasus. "I see."
Heart Throb was glaring just as hard at the unicorn.
Quarterback's love life fell to pieces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whoop!" Lightning shouted as he slid through puddles. His younger twin brother was close behind him.
"You know Minty's gonna kill us for ruining the grass, right?" Thundercloud laughed, slipping across the castle's front lawn.
"Since when do we care?"
"Good point."
Together, they ran and slid across an especially wet section of grass, leaving a trail of mud and destroyed lawn in their wake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ripple giggled as she jumped out of the water, feeling the rain beat down on her skin before she plunged back beneath the surface. Humming to herself, she swam through the water, building up more speed for another jump. Normally it felt funny when she was in dry air, but during rainstorms being out of the water felt slightly more natural.
Ripple leapt out of the water again and flapped her fins, pretending to be a pegasus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baby Leaper laughed as he jumped in puddles in the castle courtyard. The grownups would probably skin him alive if they caught him out here, playing in the wet and the mud, but he supposed that what they didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sniffles gave a small shriek at the next peal of thunder and burrowed deeper into the blankets. Snookums gave her a hug.
"It's okay," the braver twin said. "It's just noise. Mommy says it can't hurt you, remember?"
Another crash, and both foals yelped and pulled the bedcovers over their heads.
"I hate rain," Sniffles decided.
"Oh really?" their mother's amused voice broke in, and the covers were pulled away. Powder smiled down at her daughter and son. "It's almost the same as snow, you know."
"Well," Sniffles shrugged, "I like snow better. It's quieter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ambassador Jiedrikot of the Elves was absolutely aggravated.
He hadn't washed his hair in twelve hours.
And everyone knew it was dangerous to take a bath while there was lightning outside. So he had no choice but to wait until the storm passed.
He looked at the bottle of shampoo in his hand and sighed. Just when Majesty had finally gotten the proper hair care products to his room, too...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLASH!!!
"One High Queen Tiff'ny, two High Queen Tiff'ny, three High Queen Tiff'ny, four High Queen Tiff'ny, five High Queen Tiff'ny..."
BOOM!!!
"Okay, five seconds," Gusty said. "Now divide that by five..."
"So, that one was one mile away," Fizzy nodded.
"I still don't see how this works," Spike cut in.
"It's simple Spike," Fizzy grinned. "It...well...um...Gusty, you explain it."
"Sure thing, Bubblehead. See Spike, it takes sound five seconds to travel one mile, so--"
FLASH!!!
"One High Queen Tiff'ny, two High Queen Tiff'ny..."
Spike doubted he'd ever know how this counting thing worked at this rate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wonder if anyone's getting married today?" Lucky wondered as he moved his checker across the board.
"If they are, it sucks to be them," Ribbs answered, wondering why they were even having this tangent as he took out five of Lucky's pieces. Given how often Ribbs beat the other colt at checkers, it was a wonder Lucky still held on to all his good luck charms.
"But Ribbs," Lucky said, taking the blow in stride, "it's lucky for it to rain on your wedding day."
Ribbs blinked. "Seriously?"
"Yep."
"So when I marry Glow--"
"Oh, Rainbow..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When's Sundance getting back with the hot chocolate?" Lickety-Split wondered, blinking as lightning flashed through the sky.
"Not long now," Ribbon yawned, idly reading through a book as she lay on her bed. "Be patient."
Lickety-Split sighed and rested her head against the window pane, watching the downpour. Five seconds later, the door slammed open.
"SURPRISE!!!" Surprise bawled, flying into the room and landing on the bed with a grin, nearly squishing Ribbon in the process. "Heard you guys were having hot chocolate, so I figured I'd drop in."
"Nice to have you," Ribbon grunted, pulling her book out from under the peg. Sundance entered, carefully balancing a tray of mugs filled with hot, cocoa-y goodness on her back.
"Got the hot choc--YIPE!!" Sundance yelped, tripping over air and barreling into the floor. The cups flew, splashing hot liquid over the walls before several tinkling crashes were heard, and ceramic shards flew across the floor. Sundance stared at her handiwork for a moment before grinning sheepishly. "Um...oops?"
Lickety-Split sighed. "Let's all just go down to the kitchens and get our own drinks. Maybe Gingerbread's made some cookies..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another crash of thunder, and the babies in the nursery shrieked. Hoping to keep the mood light, Skydancer laughed.
"Aw, c'mon kids! Don't tell me you're afraid of a little thunder!"
"It's scary!" Baby Tiddlywinks insisted.
"What makes it scary?"
"It's loud," Baby Lofty cut in.
"And scary!" Baby Cuddles added.
"...it's just noise," the yellow stallion pointed out, though he knew he was already losing this battle of logic. Looking at the scared faces, he sighed. "It can't hurt you. Really."
The foals didn't seem to care.
"I hate thunderstorms!" Baby Tiddlywinks exclaimed. "I hate them!"
As the other babies joined in her sentiments, Skydancer frowned. "Now, that's not fair, kids," he said. "I, for one, love thunderstorms. And rain of all sorts, really."
"Why?" Baby Cuddles wondered. The rainbow pony grinned.
"Because," he said, "without rain, we wouldn't have any rainbows."
The foals thought that over.
"I guess you're right," Baby Tiddlywinks conceded. Skydancer smiled at her. Outside, another peal of thunder sounded, and the stallion noticed that this time, there was minimal flinching, and only a modicum of terror.
