Sandstorm of the Century [Quest]

[tunnelnexus]

Nexus kept up the light spell, taking up almost all of her concentration.

((OoC: skip me this round, I'm not doing much except light. )

[applecider]

Apple Cider was busy collecting other ponies from town when she saw a black unicorn exiting a building. Obviously she was just as surprised as every other pony about the sandstorm. "Hey there," Apple Cider said, "There's a sandstorm headin' our way right now. We need to get the ponies from town to safety. I'm taking some of them to mah cider mill where they'll be safe in mah cider cellar. Can you help me?"

[danielalaverne]

Sand, so much of it! If I get out of this fine, I'll definitely need a vacation at a less sandy place-, by now the delivery Pegasus felt more like a mole digging though the sand dominated landscapes around Appleloosa, and less like actually flying. It was just a huge messy something of tiniest sand grains, scratching her pelt and skin and getting into her mouth and eyes, every now and then. At least she could try to keep her mouth closed and breath through the nostrils...

Tunnel's light from below was a great help already and she could as well orient herself by following ZipFyre and her parents in forming the tornado. She just had to do as the other ponies, having her wings and body in a right angle and tilt, and hope, very much of the last one...

Having carried her red tin wagon across the skies quite some often, she was not fully unprepared for an athletic stunt like flying against a storm, yet she could tell she didn't have it as easy as the fully grown Pegasi. At least flying got a lot easier once the tornado funnel started to build up. Once it would be fully in action, it would make it a lot easier to keep the funnel running. At least that's what the mahogany Pegasus was hoping. She was no weather patrol member.

Morrow sure was wondering how soon the pony-made storm would show an effect on the giant sandy one. Hopefully soon, or there would be little left to be saved from it.

Meanwhile Singasong kept travelling with AC, occasionally chirping in approval as the cider pony got other Appleloosans to follow and help her. Still she kept looking out for her Pegasus to return, healthy and in one piece.

[11qwe123]

Lime noticed a pony followed by many more asking to help everypony to a safe place. "Sure, I'd be happy ta' help ya round up all the ponys and git em' somewhere safe," Lightning replied loudly so her voice would be heard through the wind. "What areas of the town do ya still need to cover?" Lightning asked as she scanned the area for ponies. The sandstorm sure looked like a big one, the largest she'd ever seen in her life.

[zipfyre]

ZipFyre was staring to get tired, which was saying something. She hadn't tired of flying... ever, she didn't think... That stupid storm wasn't about to get the best of her, though. Pushing herself even further, Zip started living up to her name. Thank Celestia for Tunnel's light or she'd have gone off-course multiple times. The tornado was growing, but they'd have to protect it if it wasn't going to blow away. ZipFyre lowered herself, flying in a spiral very close to the ground to create a barrier. She allowed herself a grim smile when she started to feel like the storm was waning on one side.
Risking a mouthful of sand, she shouted to the others. "Jist a li'l longer and we'll know if it worked!"

[ragglefraggle]

Just as the pony-made tornado started to form inside the sandstorm, a bloodcurling screech echoed through the giant cloud of dust, the source of which seemed to be even deeper inside the storm.
The light Tunnel Nexus created was, just for a moment between two gists of sand, reflected by something in the heart of the storm.
There was no telling what was in there, hidden in the shroud of grit, but one thing dawned on the courageous Appleloosans: They weren't alone in that storm.

[tunnelnexus]

Sand and grit swirled viciously around Nexus, grating on her skin; fortunately, her eyes were moderately protected. Despite putting most of her focus into the spell, Tunnel's ears picked up on a horrifying wail that came from further in the sandstorm. Her concentration was shot, nervousness and fear creeping into her mind; the bright, yellow light began to fade as the spell dissippated.

Oh my Celestia! What. Was. That. No! Focus, Tunnel! Get the light back on!

It must be pretty big. I wonder if it caused the sandstorm.

Caught in the two trains of thought, the caver took a deep breath, sand whipping into her mouth and making her gag. That certainly snapped her mind into gear. Coughing like mad, she sat back on her haunches, covering her mouth with her forehooves as her lungs cleared the grit out.

Gritting her teeth together again (which still had a few sand particles left, making that annoying grinding feeling in her teeth), Tunnel put her energy back into the light, bringing everything back up to normal.

"Are you guys okay?" shouted the gray mare through clenched teeth.

[applecider]

Apple Cider was happy the other pony would halp. It seemes with all the sand flying around and the number of ponies she had to find, Apple Cider had bitten off more than she could chew! "Thank ya kindly fer helpin' me. I'm gonna get these ponies to mah cider cellar where they'll be safe. I've already ckecked the North side of town, so if ya can get the ponies from the South side, that would be grand." With that she pulled the map that ZipFyre gave her and gave it to Lime Lighting. "This map will show ya where all the underground storm cellars are. That's where the ponies can be taken ta safety. I'll meet back with ya here when I'm done. Oh, by the way mah name's Apple Cider."

[danielalaverne]

"Let's hope!", she yelled through the storm, hoping ZipFyre would hear her reply, but if she got to hear the other Pegasus, why shouldn't she as well. Exactly! Besides, it started to look like the pony-made tornado would be stable and a success.

The delivery Pegasus allowed herself a smile, just to spit out some sand the next moment, Focus", she thought, keeping up the continuing spiral flight. As hard this work may be, it's still that and in a week or so we will all laugh hearty about it. I mean, it's not like the storm is actually magic-

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the most horrible screech she could imagine! What in the hay?! And then the light even faded! Did something happen to Tunnel? Then again, that didn't sound like a pony at all, in her opinion! Oh, right, there was grey mare's light again-

"We are okay, how about you?", she shouted through the storm, then after some hesitation, due to sand getting in her mouth, she added, "Whatever that was, it's in the storm and may need help! How stable is the tornado if one or two of us look in there?"

Actually she was hoping the screech was just an effect of the wind, but it sounded so alive! If we gotta get in there to save a lil' pony, sure thing... as long as it's not actually some kind of evil-, yet she didn't even want to think that far. There was time for speculations later.

[11qwe123]

"I'm Lime Lightning but most just call me Lime. Thanks fer the map, that'll sure help me alot! I sure am glad I could help ya. I'll be on my way then!"After getting a good look at the map she was given Lime went off at a canter. Once she started to see ponies she called as loudly as she could,"Hey ya'll, follow me everypony! I'm takin' everyone to the storm cellers! Just follow me!"
She trotted through the whole south side of town and once she thought she'd gotten pretty much everypony trailing behind she led them to the celler. Once at the celler she held the door open for everypony, "Now ya'll will be safe in here till the storm is gon, stay put everypony, ya hear? I'll be off again ta double check the town." After the last pony was safe in the celler Lime once again went off through the streets of the town. She wanted to make sure she didn't leave anypony behind. "Anypony els out here?!" she called as she trotted through town.

[zipfyre]

First the scream, then Tunnel's wavering light, the distractions were enough to throw off ZipFyre's concentration on not catching her hooves on the dirt ground. She immediately tripped on some unseen boulder and rolled to a stop.
"What in tarnation was that?"
Zip shook off the excess dust she'd accumulated in her fall. Not that it made any difference, but habits were hard to break. She glanced back at the tornado, which was now strong enough to stand on its own, but still needed some building if it was going to do anything. But a pony's life was in danger. Training and ZipFyre's instincts wouldn't let her leave somepony alone in this sandy prison.
ZipFyre heard Morrow's suggestion. "It's strong enough, we jist need ta build it some. Ma 'n Pa cin do that while Rose 'n I look fir whoever's in there. I dunno who's gonna need light more, though. So you cin choose if'n ya wanna stay 'r come, Tunnel! Wait a minute... Ya got a rope somewheres in yer 'quipment, Tunnel?"

[tunnelnexus]

"Yeah, I'm fine, just startled, was all," shouted Tunnel, keeping her teeth clenched to try and ward out the sand. "I've got some rope in here somewhere! The light is going to dim a little bit, be warned!"

Tunnel diverted some of her attention and magic from the light spell to grope around in her bag until she pulled out a 20 meter length of rope. She couldn't hold it in her mouth and speak at the same time, so Nexus let the coil fall to the ground as she shouted up.

"Got the rope, Zip! I'll come with you, you'll need my help!" said the gray mare, unsure whether now was a good time to be so cocky.

[applecider]

Apple Cider nodded to Lime Lightning as she left. She wanted to talk to her more, but now was not the time. It wouldn't help having a conversation if there was no town to converse in. "All right y'all. Let's head to mah cider mill. Everypony keep yer heads down so y'all won't get blinded by the sand. Also be sure to keep together so none of you get lost. Now let's go."

With that she began leading the ponies down the main street of Hoofington to the cider mill which thankfully was at the opposite end of the town from where the sandstorm was coming. At least this would bide some time for Apple Cider to get the thirty ponies to safety. The question in her mind was how Lime Lightning was doing getting the other ponies to safety and how Tunnel Nexus, ZipFyre, and Morrow Rose were doing battling the sandstorm.

[danielalaverne]

As if the sand storm hadn't been bad enough already, now there was that scream, too, and Morrow couldn't shake off the bad feeling she had since, actually since the giant wall of sand had shown up first. Rivaling with that was yet still the need to prove herself and more importantly, help the other ponies, that were friends, neighbors and her new home since a while now.

She shook herself in the streams and torrents of dust and sand around her and got out of course for a bit, before she caught herself again. She had something to be done, and that was now, or else she couldn't look at herself anymore afterward, if she didn't have been ready to give it all. There were all those ponies trusting on her friends and her, there was her old friend AC, her pet bird, Singasong, somewhere in the town and now also that pony in the storm?

The delivery Pegasus was no super-mare, but she always wanted to do something to improve the lives of other ponies. Now, a storm was no real foe, but just as meaningful. "No idea whatever that is, but we definitely should look for it!", she yelled back at ZipFyre, over the loud grinding of the storm. "I've been around before with little light, at work, but it would definitely be better to search for the pony", or whoever screamed like that, "in the storm with light!"

She waited for the striped Pegasus to leave the now stabilized tornado with her, shouting "Keep up the great work!", to Zip's parents, while she dived back into the actual storm, where she knew Tunnel. "Great idea with the rope, that pony in there might be injured or trapped and need to get carried away", she spat some sand out of her mouth, she really needed to focus on less words! She hovered above where she knew the grey Unicorn and the rope, "Zip, you think you can carry that alone and I shall fly ahead to scout?"

[11qwe123]

As Lime made her way through the town calling to see if anypony els was out there the wind was gradgually getting stronger. I sure hope nopony els is out here hurt. Then she noticed a few young foals hiding from the fierce wind and sand in a bush nearby. As she neared the bush 3 heads poped out. "Hey, you guys shouldn't be out here, c'mon. Follow me and I'll get you three somewhere safe!" Lime saw the foal's eyes wide with fear as they nodded and closely followed.
While leading the foals to the celler Lime looked twords the big cloud of sand. Wow, I hope the pegasi get that thing under control... Lime also hoped Apple Cider was doing ok. Finally reaching the celler Lime opened the door as the three hurried in. There, I think that's everyone, I hope. I better go back and meet up with Apple Cider. Once she was sure the door was secure Lime started to make her way back to where she'd met Apple Cider, looking for stray ponies that needed shelter as she went.