Into the Storm

"You ready, pipsqueak?" A familiar voice rang from above.

Scootaloo's attention was stolen as she held a hoof up to shield her eyes; the sun was shinning bright in Equestria today, the grass still a bit wet from the rainstorm the day before. She looked anxiously up at hovering blue pegasus whose rainbow mane was fluttering in the breeze. She couldn't help but fall a bit into fangirl mode, allowing a large grin to stretch across her muzzle.

"You betcha, Dash!" She flapped her wings excitedly, her deep red mane flowing behind her as she rose up to meet her mentor and friend. The two smacked hooves as they usually did before taking off through the skies on their evening weather run.

Scootaloo had spent only a few short months on Ponyville's weather team, ever since she got her cutie mark, which turned out to be identical to Rainbow Dash's, except the color of her bolt was gold and curved in the opposite direction. She'd earned it on a whim when her two closest friends dared her to single-hoofedly clear the clouded sky over Ponyville; it was done in twenty seconds flat (though she always bragged it was ten).

The duo moved south-west over Ponyville, flying high over all the residents out enjoying the sunny day, passing over frequent hangouts and spotting familiar faces, waving back to the ones that cared to greet them.

Passing over SugarCube Corner, Scootaloo turned to her right and asked her wing-mare. "So what's the forecast?"

"Pretty much just need to keep the skies clear;" Dash explained without missing a beat, "they're having that Sapphire Shores concert later on and we can't let it rain on 'em." They banked north as they reached Sweet Apple Acres. "Which is gonna be a problem," she continued, "since I'm pretty sure something's cooking up over the Everfree Forest."

The orange pegasus shot a glance to dark and seemingly lifeless forest to her left, noticing a small gathering of clouds. "Why is that a problem?" she asked curiously, focusing her attention forward again, closing the growing distance between her and her wing-mare. "Even the biggest storm wouldn't be a problem for a highly trained weather team."

"According to Cloudsdale, it's gonna be a big one; big enough that they had to send in half a team from the factory to help contain it."

Dash and Scootaloo landed in an open field, a short distance away from a small, flora covered cottage. Scootaloo looked skeptical, "But, we're the greatest weather-mare duo Ponyville's ever had! I don't think we'd need that much more help with us on duty."

"Look, kid, I've been doing this job for years, since before you could fly. I know to trust Cloudsdale when it comes to weather; they make the stuff, you know." She pointed a hoof at the clouds converging above the Everfree Forest, which had nearly doubled in size since they last looked, "That's going to be a bad storm in about two hours. And as much as I brag about how undeniably awesome I...er, we are, we can't fight it alone."

Scootaloo didn't hesitate, "Don't worry, Dash, I've got your back, no matter what."

Rainbow Dash smiled, giving the orange mare a noogie, "I knew I could count on you, pipsqueak."

Scootaloo sheepishly smiles, "On one condition, though."

Rainbow Dash returned the grin, "What's that?"

"Stop calling me 'pipsqueak.'"

-----

No storm Ponyville had seen was ever this strong. A supercell had rolled over from the Everfree Forest and could sprout a tornado at any moment.

Scootaloo  flapped her wings furiously, rain pelting her face and water gathering on her goggles as she gained altitude. She dove hoofs first into the gray clouds, breaking though and emerging on the other side to a blinding sun, full contrast to the chaos brewing below. She turned south, spotting Rainbow Dash over the clouds as well, and what appeared to be an army of pegasus ponies. She threw her hooves forwards and grouped with the other weather-mares while Rainbow Dash went over the plan to break up the storm. "We're gonna punch through the center! Everypony form a line in doubles behind me!"

All the pegasus partnered up and formed a line that measured a full quarter-mile in length with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo at the helm. The former turned to her wing-mare, "Ready Scoots?"

She nodded wordlessly.

"Then let's go!"

Scootaloo stayed close to Rainbow Dash's side as the duo led the column of ponies  further into the sky before arcing down; the sound of air speeding by was increasing as was their speed. The distance between herself and the supercell closed in seconds. It felt as if she'd broken through a brick wall when they pierced the storm; sunlight instantly poured in behind them. The two led the group back up through the storm, breaking a second hole, a third, a fourth, sewing their way through the storm until no more than a few lingering clouds remained.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash came to a halt in the air. "Alright!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, holding her hoof above her head; Scootaloo, worn from repeated impacts, met it with her own. She dragged her head up to watch the rest of the weather team sweep the final clouds away.

But her break was short-lived. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open when she looked back up at the sky; hundreds of clouds materialized almost instantly, gravitating on a single point in the sky, rotating faster and faster, growing larger and larger until Ponyville was consumed once again by clouds as dark as night.

"Wha--" Rainbow Dash's voice trailed off, Scootaloo knew her partner was just as dumbfounded as she was.

"Rainbow Dash..." Scootaloo called out, not bothering to hide the worry in her voice, "what just happened?"

"It formed into another supercell...out of nothing!"

"Uh...?" Scootaloo's head jerked back and forth between the spinning storm and the blue pegasus hovering a few meters away. "What do we do?"

"Come on!"

Scootaloo dashed after her mentor's rainbow tail as they climbed up to the supercell. The winds intensified, shaking her more ferociously as they gained altitude.

The two looked up at the intimidating storm.

"Alright..." Rainbow Dash started; if she was scared, she was doing an excellent job of hiding it. "I need to get inside."

Scootaloo's face wrenched in surprised horror, "I-inside?"

"Yep. I'm gonna start spinning the other way to stop the rotation before it sprouts a tornado."

"And that'll stop it?"

"No...it stops the rotation."

"And what about the rest of us?"

"Get back on top of it. Once it slows down, break it up like we just did. Now get going!" And without another moment's hesitation, Rainbow Dash dove hooves first into the gray wall. Scootaloo, sheepishly followed suit.

The outside of the storm was brutal, but preferable when compared to the inside. Winds quickly threw her for a loop as she struggled to maintain control of her flight; it was fortunate the rain hadn't started up again.

She had just regained her balance when a rainbow blur sped past her, moving against the rotation; Dash sure did work fast. She quickly pierced the top layer, emerging back on the sun soaked roof of the storm. She rose high into the air, looking down at the rotating storm below; it was churning noticeably slower by the minute; a small rainbow stripe was barely visible in the middle.

"Well," she said to nopony in particular, "here goes nothing!" She threw her hooves forward and hurled towards the center of the storm. She felt the wind flowing through her mane and tail, drowning out all sound with the passing air, which was only getting louder with her increasing speed.

The impact was going to hurt, that much was sure.

But Rainbow Dash needed her; she was relying on her.

She closed her eyes...

BAM! The sunlight shone in behind her as she barreled through the supercell, a trail of cloud following behind her. Pegasus ponies cheered as they broke holes of their own in the dying storm to clean it up once again. She tried to look behind her, to see the obliteration of the storm in her wake.

But her strength had left her.

She couldn't even open her eyes to see the ground.

-----

She jolted up, her young filly wings standing on edge. It was dark, but the sky above was clear, thousands of stars fully visible from the cloud she had been sleeping on. Panting mildly, she stretched her legs out and looked over the edge of the cloud; Sweet Apple Acres rested quietly a few meters below.

She exhaled in relief before excitedly turning her attention to her flank...

Blank...

She sighed again, this time in disappointment and nuzzled her head back into the cloud.

"Bad dream, kiddo?"

She felt a warming shiver run up her backside as she remembered exactly where she was; to her left was a familiar blue pegasus, rainbow mane flowing lazily in the light breeze as she looked her in the eyes, wings outstretched over her neighbor as if offering a blanket.

All disappointment quickly drained from her mind. She shook her head, ignoring the truth echoing in her head, "Nope, I'm fine."

Rainbow Dash smirked; she saw straight through the lie, "Alright, if you say so...pipsqueak."

Scootaloo couldn't help but smile as she stared into the glowing full moon in front of her until her eyes grew heavy and closed once more.