Cloudsdale Reunion - Chapter 10

Cloudsdale Reunion

 

Chapter 10

 

All Hail Breaks Loose

 

* * *

 

Rainbow sped through Cloudsdale, checking off each location one by one.

For the most-part, they were all good. No injuries, just mild chocks and a

few ponies were scared, but kept calm by the others in the room.

 

However, in one of the last safe buildings, Rainbow met a few ponies

she did not want to meet right now. Or ever.

 

The spoiled, rich snobs and their bratty, equally spoiled kids.

The self-proclaimed Elite of the city, High-class business-ponies

with egos bigger than the Canterlot Mountain.

 

One of them, an elderly mare dressed in what looked like a very expensive dress,

approached Rainbow as she landed.

 

"Young lady! I demand to be moved away from this dreadful place!

It is dirty, and full of lower-class citizens. I simply can not be seen socializing with

these... workers!" She waved a hoof at a group of ponies as she finished her rant.

 

Rainbow sighed. "Miss, I can't do anything about that. It's a crisis situation!

You can either take refuge here in the safe area, or you can go out and get injured

by the storm, and I promise you that dress of yours will not survive outside today.

You don't have a choice. It's this place or nothing. I'm sorry, but you're gonna have

to spend time with the common folks for a while. I know it must be hard for you

and your giant wallet to be treated like a lowly normal pony for once, but trust me,

you'll survive."

 

The old lady frowned and sneered loudly.

 

"How dare you talk to me like that? Do you have any idea who I am?!"

 

"Do I look like I hang around in your social circles? I don't know who you are,

and honestly, right now I don't have time to care! My job is to make sure

everyone here is alive and unhurt. So if you'll excuse me..." Rainbow said, and then

turned around toward the rest of the room, raising her voice.

 

"Is anypony hurt or sick in any way? Do you need any help with anything?"

 

There was some mumbling and murmurs, after which a stallion replied,

"I speak for everyone here... Nopony's hurt or sick, and we don't require any

assistance. We would like to know how things are going out there though.

Any progress in stopping the storms?"

 

"Good, that means I can go to the next location.

And yes, some progress, we have a plan and is currently executing it as we speak.

Long story short, we're shutting down the power grid under the factory

to stop the machines from making any more clouds, and then me and the other

weather ponies will take care of the ones already out."

 

After thanking Rainbow, the ponies let her leave for the next safe house,

while the rich lady kept complaining about everything, including the fact

the plan was too slow, and that Rainbow had been rude to her.

Nopony in the room said anything, but most of them silently agreed that Rainbow

had been a bit rude, but also that the old lady deserved it, so it was all good.

 

Meanwhile, the weather was getting worse, and colder.

Snow and hail started falling in some areas, and the winds got stronger.

 

In one of the other safe houses, the one where Fluttershy, Gilda, and the others

were currently held up, they could hear the wind whistling outside.

 

Fluttershy was curled up in a corner, covered in a blanket with her wings over her

face, and Gilda sitting next to her. "Just stay calm, Flutters. We'll be alright."

 

"I know." Fluttershy said, slightly shaky in her voice. "It's just... you know me,

I'm always worried..."

 

"Yeah, I know. Just stay under that blanket, I'll sit right here as long as we're

cooped up in this place."

 

"...Thanks, Gilda."

 

"Don't mention it."

 

They sat like that for a little while, when suddenly they heard a crash of broken glass.

Crescent Moon came flying to them over the heads of everybody else in the room.

 

"What was that?" Gilda asked, looking toward where the noise had come from.

 

"Window by the door." Crescent replied. "Large hails crashed straight through

the glass pane. We're talking golf ball sized ice pearls here. We need to barricade

the window with something, like... a table maybe? Point is, we need it barricaded."

 

"Fluttershy, I'm gonna leave you for a moment and go help with that, okay?"

Gilda asked, and Fluttershy nodded.

 

Gilda and Crescent flew over to the other end of the room, and found a large table.

 

"This should do it!" Gilda said, and started to push the table toward the broken

window, as large hails kept flying in through the now glass-less hole in the wall

where the window used to be. They tilted the table and pushed it toward the window.

 

"Damn it, it's not stable enough. I'm gonna need to keep holding it, or those huge hails

and the winds are just gonna push it off balance, and it'll fall down again." Gilda said,

and placed herself standing on her back legs, and pushed her back to the table

with her wings spread out slightly. "Go keep Fluttershy company, will you?"

She asked Crescent, who agreed and hovered across the room over the crowd of

ponies until he reached her.

 

"Where's Gilda?" She asked.

 

"Don't worry. The table was unstable, so she's holding it in place,

kinda like a shield."

 

"She won't get hurt, will she?" Fluttershy asked in a worried tone.

 

"Oh, not at all, there's no danger. Maybe a bit tired after a while, but nothing worse."

 

"That's good... I'd go there, but..."

 

"I understand. I'll go check on her once in a while if you want me to."

 

"That would be very kind of you..." Fluttershy managed a small smile despite

her worry. Crescent replied with a smile of his own.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, beneath the city in the under-"ground" tunnel, Misty and her crew

was walking toward the machine rooms, supposedly located somewhere down there.

 

"Anypony else getting hungry?" Mist asked. "I brought some sandwiches."

 

"You brought food? For this mission? Are you serious?" Misty Fly asked

with a deadpan look.

 

"Well, I figured we would be here a while, and it was already getting late when

we flew down under to get here, and if we get too hungry that will also mean

we would get weak and tired, and we need to be focused and energized for this.

Plus, sandwiches can be eaten with one hoof while we continue walking,

which is what I intended. That way, we can eat AND keep going, There is no need

for us to actually stop and take a break, because THAT, we do not have time for."

 

"Dude's got a point." Rusty said. "And I am in fact getting hungry,

so I'll gladly have a sandwich."

 

"Good. Now then, I have cucumber-and-cheese, and I have tomato--and-cheese

with a hint of garlic."

 

"Garlic? Serious? I thought only vampires ate that stuff." Torch said.

 

"No, you buffoon," Rusty replied, "Vamps are the ones who DON'T eat garlic.

It kills them or something."

 

"Well, Actually, there are different versions of that,

depending on what lore you read." Mist said.

 

"In some books, it says vampires die from garlic, in others it says it does not kill

them, but it makes them very weak and sick. but since there are no actual vampires,

nopony knows for sure which version would be correct."

 

"You sure know a lot about vampires. You sure you aren't one yourself, Mr. Mist?"

Torch asked in a joking tone.

 

"Oh, of course not, I am eating a garlic sandwich after all. At the very least I should

be sick, or even dead, should I not? No, vampires are merely stories in horror movies

and scary books, nothing to be afraid of in real life."

 

"But what about Princess Lunas guards? Those guys have batwings

and stuff..." Torch said.

 

"Those are bat ponies, not vampires. In fact, I think it was from them the myths

about vampires started. Someone made up some rumor about them drinking blood,

or absorbing magic, and the rumors spread and ponies started believing it,

just like any other rumor or story. It starts with something real, but evolves

over time, and ponies believe the stories." Mist said, finishing his sandwich.

 

Misty Fly interrupted the discussion. "Okay guys, we've got a problem.

The tunnel forks off in two up ahead, and I don't know which one leads

to the generators. Any of you guys have any idea?"

 

"Well," Mist scratched his chin as he spoke, "The generators should be directly

beneath the storage area next to the factory itself, with thick cables connecting

to the factory... and based on where we are now, I would say the left tunnel

leads to where we need to go."

 

"And how can you be sure?" Misty Fly asked.

 

"Because it says so on the small sign on the wall here." Mist replied with a smirk,

pointing at a small sign.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

LEFT

Main Generator Room

 

RIGHT

Storage Room

(Tools, replacement parts)

------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Ha ha, very funny, smartass. Let's get going." Misty Fly gave Mist another deadpan

stare, and started walking toward the generator room. As they got closer, they heard

the humming noise from the generators, getting louder as they got closer.

 

"Pretty noisy machines." Rusty said.

 

"Old Class C generators, no noise volume regulations back then." Torch replied.

 

"You two know about this stuff?" Misty Fly asked.

 

"Of course we do, That's why the boss sent us instead of anypony else from the

factory. We're experts in older machinery like this."

 

"Oh, small heads-up. If these really are C-class, you'll all want to stay a few

hoof-lengths away from the spinning turbines. Might throw arc lightning if you get

too close. Pretty low safety regulations a hundred years ago, when these were built."

 

"Thanks for the warning, I will be sure to keep my distance." Mist said.

 

"Me too. But what about you two?" Misty Fly asked.

 

"Oh, no problem." Rusty replied. "The cables we're unplugging is on the opposite

side of the generator, so we're gonna be beyond safe distance from the turbines."

 

"What kind of turbines are they, by the way?" Misty Fly asked.

 

Torch smiled. "Basically, a kind of wind turbines, drawing power from the fact

that Cloudsdale is positioned above an updraft. Wind goes upward to keep the city

floating, and the same wind goes into turbine openings on the underside,

making the turbines in here spin. Then, magically charged crystals enhance and

multiply the power output, kinda like focus lenses. After that, power goes into storage

batteries, like transformers, and from there, out to the city grid and the factory grid.

So basically, the turbines themselves don't generate enough to run the city,

but the crystals increase the power roughly a hundred times over."

 

Rusty added, "Let's say for example, you can generate a hundred watts of power

with a small home turbine. Add a focus crystal, and it'll become a thousand watts.

One watt goes in on one side, ten watts come out the other side.

But of course, on a much larger scale. hundreds of thousands of watts."

 

"I see... That's actually pretty smart..." Misty Fly said thoughtfully.

"Honestly, I never really knew Cloudsdale was powered like that...

I mean, I knew we have electricity of course, but I never thought about how

we get it... Until now, and now I know."

 

The tunnel widened a bit, revealing a door, still open, leading to a room

with a large (and loud) turbine engine setup, spinning rapidly and casting

lightning, caught by rows of antennas set up beside the spinning part.

 

"Lady and gentlecolts..." Torch said, "Welcome to the Generator Room."