Set in The Weedverse, Whatever Way The Wind Takes You
is a story written by Kudzuhaiku, depicting the travels of a pegasus mare named Gloomy August as she leaves home to have an adventure.
After demonstrating heroism in a hurricane (and meeting Wormwood), she heads north, and finds herself the caretaker of a griffon egg. Realising she's out of her depth, she seeks help in the Crystal Empire, where Princess Cadance regretfully informs her they have no-one who can take in a griffon egg. Unwilling to let her Silver Lining die, she decides to adopt the egg as her own.
Whatever Way The Wind Takes You contains examples of:
- Arc Words: "Going where the wind takes you".
- Big Damn Heroes: Gloomy rescues two colts from a natural disaster early on, being able to carry them above the floodwater long enough for the Royal Guard to reach them.
- Big Eater: Gloomy has her moments, despite not actually being pregnant, attracting the odd joke.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: The contrast between Milkweed and Silver Lining is commented upon.
- The Cavalry: Gloomy is rescued from the storm by The Royal Guard. Later on, while trying to reach the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Guards rescue her when her strength fails her.
- Continuity Nod: Part of Gloomy's inspiration is Tarnish and Maud appearing in a magazine.
- Don't Split Us Up: Mistral and his sister comes to get Cadance's help because the orphanarium mistress split them up from their younger brother.
- The Eeyore: Jasper Picklesworth.
- Furry Reminder: Gloomy gets some strong nesting instincts in the Crystal Empire.
- Giant Wall of Watery Doom: A dam breaks in the second chapter, and Gloomy tries to save ponies from the farmlands below.
- Interspecies Adoption: Gloomy adopts Silver Lining because no-one else will.
- I Will Wait for You: Wormwood is sworn to a decade of service, and is only five years in when he meets Gloomy, forcing this trope.
- Love at First Sight: Wormwood leaves a good impression on Gloomy after their first meeting. He's harder to read, but he does seem taken by Gloomy as well.
- Magic Mirror: The pool in the Glass Gallery shows something odd. It's not entirely sure what, but it's generally believed to be what the observer most regrets or fears.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Warden Wormwood appears to not even notice a tree branch sticking out of his neck.
- Mama Bear: Silver Lining's biological mother performed a Mutual Kill on a manticore to save her. Gloomy develops into this. Sufficiently so that Shining jokes that he should set her to guarding the Crystal Heart. She has to be held down during medical checks on Silver's egg.
- Must Make Amends: The doctor caring for Gloomy and Silver knows about griffons because he lost some patients due to lack of such knowledge, and, despite exemplary service since, hasn't forgiven himself.
- Mutual Kill: Silver Lining's biological mother died killing a manticore.
- Our Manticores Are Spinier: The reason Wormwood is in the north to meet Gloomy again.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Milkweed has, to her regret, achieved this by simply living a very long time.
- Peaceful in Death: Mrs. Milkweed dies smiling, surrounded by friends.
- Scrapbook Story: Portions of the story are told with excerpts from Gloomy's journal.
- Senior Sleep-Cycle: Mrs. Milkweed falls victim during the tea with Gloomy's friends. Or at least, that's how it appears. Instead, different tropes apply.
- Take Care of the Kids: How Gloomy ends up with Silver Lining, although Played With in that it's not a matter of trust, but that Gloomy was there.
- Unishment: Gloomy makes a cloud rain on Twilight so that she'll get banished after Twilight refuses to do it just by asking. Twilight, exasperated, banishes her until she makes a public apology.
- Walking the Earth: Well, flying, but this is Gloomy's goal at the beginning of the story.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Milkweed isn't immortal, but her long life has brought her much loss. What she sees in the Glass Gallery is an ever-longer existence.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Gloomy, after Silver's biological mother dies.
