Soarin the Giant

He was never quite the same after the incident. Since moving out of Cloudsdale, Soarin felt more isolated than ever. Nopony would go near him or trust him, and his friends were actually scared of him. He hated it, but as much as he wanted to return to his normal size, all the doctors said the same thing. Not only was he not going to return to his proper size, he was probably only going to get bigger.

He laid on his cloud, pouting. It had to be custom made by combining existing storm clouds into a massive cell that could support him. As such, the cloud was pitch black and was constantly raining, which accurately reflected his mood. As he rolled over again, he heard a quiet yell, and immediately bolted up. A small creature he initially mistook for a bug, but then quickly realized what it was, darted out of the way with another yell. "Oh!" gasped Soarin, "I'm sorry, are you alright?"

The tiny pegasus shrugged. "I was sent to inform you that it's ready. Try not to kill me on your way there." He snorted angrily and flew off, leaving Soarin to feel both guilty and excited. For weeks now, there was talk that his fans were building him a much bigger obstacle course and even got Cloudsdale's permission to have buildings moved for him. He could finally return to the city, he hoped, and he got up, flapping his wings as gently as he could as he flew off for Cloudsdale.

He got to the city much more quickly than he thought he would. He certainly moved faster at his size. In front of him was another massive cloud with a flat clearing on top, just big enough for him.

"Here he comes!" said Thunderlane excitedly, "I hope he's impressed!"

"He has to be," said Cloudchaser, "after how much time we spent on this thing."

Soarin spread his wings wide, sending a burst of air over the cloud as he descended. The ponies crouched to hold on, and Soarin landed with a powerful blast that bent the cloud in toward him. He looked down at his hooves, hoping he didn't crush anypony. Beside them were some familiar, albeit tiny, faces.

"Hey guys!" he said happily. "How have things been here?"

"We've been busy!" Thunderlane yelled up to him. "Look!"

Soarin stared off ahead. There was a wide path cut through Cloudsdale, with plenty of room for him to move. Above it, several ponies circled. He recognized them immediately as his team mates, the Wonderbolts. He couldn't hold back the tears.

"You guys," he said, wiping his face, "you didn't have to do this, this is too much."

"Go on, give it a try," said Flitter, stepping back to avoid a falling tear drop. Soarin extended his wings again and, as gently as he could, took off into the air. The gust was still powerful, but his fans managed to wave up to him as he flew to join Spitfire and the others. They were all equipped for severe weather and seemed, and Soarin realized they must be prepared for his own gusts. He felt a little bad, but was still happy to fly with them anyway.

"Ready to go?" he barely heard from Spitfire. For the first time since the incident, he was ready to fly fast. He pulled back, aimed straight up, and shot through the air, but not with his full strength. The Wonderbolts managed to keep up for a bit, but they were eventually blown off course.

He soared higher and higher, and he realized how much he missed this, being able to fly as fast as he wanted. He turned back down and shot as fast as he could, pulling up before he landed. Only when he was one the ground did he realize the damage he caused. It was like a  hurricane swept through. He looked around, hoping nopony was hurt. Relieved that there weren't any destroyed homes, he leaned down and drank from a lake, emptying it in just a few gulps. He then ate from a forest nearby, chewing down the trees like broccoli. He needed to eat a lot to keep him going.

Fully refreshed, he flew back up, spinning as he re-entered Cloudsdale. All around him, he heard the cheers of ponies who had finally accepted him, despite what had happened. He felt amazing, like nothing had changed after all. He carefully flew down to the cloud again, stretching his wings out and smiling at his fans, who didn't seem to be smiling at him. Instead, they were staring at his hoof.

"THUNDERLANE!" screamed Cloudchaser. "THUNDERLANE, NO!"

Soarin's heart dropped as he yanked his hoof up. 'Please,' he said to himself, 'please, no, it's not possible. I couldn't have, no...'

But there he was, flattened down into the hoof print on the cloud. Soarin couldn't accept it. He didn't, he couldn't...

Then Thunderlane moved, swaying slightly as he stood back up. Everypony gazed at him, and how he was miraculously unharmed. He ruffled his mane, stretched his legs and laughed. "Thank goodness for soft clouds!" he said jokingly.

Soarin felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. "I'm so sorry!" he cooed. "You're not hurt are you?"

Thunderlane laughed again. "No, I'm fine! Think you straightened out my spine actually. Thanks!"

He managed to smile, momentarily happy again. Something that wouldn't last for long.

He began to tremble, and he felt his legs stretching. "Oh no..." he gasped, "everypony, run! Get out of here!"

Thunderlane, Cloudchaser, Flitter, and the Wonderbolts all flew away in terror as Soarin expanded, and expanded, and expanded... the citizens of Cloudsdale feared for their lives. He kept growing and growing until he practically eclipsed the whole city.

He hovered, and his wings sent hurricane-like gusts over the city. He could hear tiny screams. "No, this isn't happening, please, not this..." He looked down, stretching out his legs... and he was soon standing on the ground below, still at eye level with Cloudsdale.

"I didn't mean to," he whispered, "I don't know how to stop it. Is... is everypony okay?"

He could see specks zooming around the city, but he couldn't differentiate between them. He feared that if he breathed in too hard, he'd inhale them. "What... what do I do now?" he whispered, mostly to himself. He would have sighed if he weren't sure it would have killed half of the city.

There was a tiny squeaking in his ear. He tried to shut out all noise to hear what it was saying. "Soarin..." he heard faintly. "You can't stay... you have to go up... all the way up..."

The stratosphere. That's what the voice was saying. Few pegasi ever went that high. It was so cold and lonely... and it was dark too. What choice did he have though? He knew he couldn't stay. He would destroy everyone.

"I'm scared," he said, "I don't want to be alone."

"You won't be..." and he recognized the voice as Thunderlane's. "I'm going... with you..."

A tiny black speck flew around his head and landed on his muzzle. Soarin smiled warmly. "Thank you," he whispered. With the slightest of movement, he gently fluttered his wings. He knew he would cause some damage anyway, but at least he'd be gone from the city.

Up he climbed, higher and higher, and the tiny black speck that was Thunderlane clung tightly to him. In no time, he was high above a Equestria, with a view of the Crystal Empire all the way to the Macintosh Hills. He gathered the wispy clouds together in a platform big enough for him. He looked down at his muzzle and... he knew it. No more Thunderlane. Of course he couldn't stay.

He laid there for quite some time before he cried, his tears freezing and turning to vapor as they fell from his face.