open Ponyville Weather Team

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

OOC: 

 

Rainbow Dash sighed. She hated, no, she despised paperwork. It was always so needlessly tedious and when it came to new applicants, there was a lot of it. She wanted to go to the Cloudsdale Weather Cooperation and give them a piece of her mind, but now wasn’t the time for that. Right now, there was a new applicant that wanted to join the Ponyville Weather Team.

”Right, where was I? Oh yeah, so you want to join the Ponyville Weather Team. right? What made you decide to join? Sandy Fire, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. She tried to remain in a casual position behind the desk, but she her nervous shuffling of the papers kind of ruined that.

While it was quite cold outside with overcast weather and snow on the ground, inside the Ponyville Weather building up in the clouds, it was quite warm. It was a small but modern cloud building that got the job done. Most of it was for filling paperwork anyways.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

If Sandy noticed Rainbow's nerves, she didn't show it. In comparison she was completely tranquil, like her acceptance to the team was a forgone conclusion. "Hmm? Oh!" She nodded, leaning forward a bit on her seat, "While I can't say it's something I've always wanted to do, that would be the firefighting team, I figure this would be a good place to start so I can build up my skills and eventually move on to my passions."

She bushed back a bit of her short fiery mane as she leaned back a bit, revealing the brown roots if Rainbow was looking closely, "So, what sort of things would I be doing? Provided I'm allowed to join that is."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

"Ok, we could work with that. The weather team kind of needs all the help it can get with Winter Wrap Up happening next week," Rainbow Dash said, writing down what Sandy was saying. Talking to Sandy helped keep her mind off of how mind-numbingly dull paperwork was to her.

"So on the Ponyville weather team, you are in charge of managing the town's weather. The Cloudsdale Weather Cooperation assigns a certain climate for us to maintain, in Ponyville's case, humid continental. They tell us in general, about how hot each week should be and when storms should be scheduled, and they dole out clouds accordingly. In addition, the citizens of Ponyville give us specific requests for how much rain they want their plants to receive. You will be using cloud manipulation along with air manipulation for this. They taught a basic course on controlling the weather in pegasi high school. How well did you do in that?" Rainbow Dash asked. The feather she was holding hovered above the section asking about that course.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy thought a moment, but still appeared confident, "Well, I can't say I did too well with the smaller stuff like intermittent cloud cover or localized showers, but I excel at large scale storms, like rain across the whole farmlands type.", she emphasized the scale with a sweeping gesture, then retracted herself a bit, "I mean, I passed those classes, and I'm confident in my abilities."

The resumé that Sandy had submitted with her application indicated that she had taken some more advanced classes on large scale storms, though they were mostly focused on using storms to fight fires, rather than irrigating crops.

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle

"Firefighting skills, interesting. That would be quite useful in clearing the cloud cover during Winter Wrap Up," Rainbow Dash said, filling out the section about the applicant's education. She compared it to the resumé that Sandy had submitted. 

"Ok, so as a Weather Team member, you need to know the town you serve very well. Do you know the ins and outs of Ponyville and the kind of weather that happens here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

That was the question that made Sandy a bit more nervous, "I... can't say I'm too familiar. I only moved in a few weeks ago. I'm from Dappleshore originally, it's a small town, but it's got a similar geography to here, at least from what I've seen, nearby mountains and forest with large open plains. So, I hope my experience helping with the weather there can at least help me get up to speed here? That won't be a problem, will it?"

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle

"Huh, Dappleshore, that could work. They do have a similar climate. However, not really knowing the ponies here could make it a bit of a challenge. Eh, I'm sure it will be fine considering her strengths... I don't think it will be a problem," Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her chin in thought. She added what Sandy said to the section of the paperwork. "Ok, anything else you want to add from your resumé?" Rainbow Dash asked.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy looked relieved that Rainbow wasn't going to hold her lack of social knowledge against her, "Um, no. I'd just like to say that I hope I'll be able to achieve everything you want for me in this position. I aim to please and exceed, and haven't failed to do so yet. Thank you for this opportunity." She'd spare a quick glance around the office, "Is there, well, anything else you need from me?"

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

“Great, you’re hired. Grab a vest over there; We are going to need all the help we can get wrapping up winter in a few days. See you there,” Rainbow Dash said, gesturing to the blue winter wrap up vests for the weather team while straightening all the papers and filing them away.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy was surprised, "Wait, that's it? I... I got the job?"

A smile quickly replaced the confusion as she stood from the chair to go ang get the vest, "Thank you Miss Dash, I promise you won't regret this!"

With that she'd grab the indicated vest and trot outside, unless Rainbow needed something else from her, then she'd wing back to her small house on the edge of town. It wasn't the best place, barely large enough to fit her things, but it was all she could afford after moving from Dappleshore. She hung the vest on the hook by the door before turning to the framed picture she had of Spitfire holding a small foal, "Well, one step closer to making you proud auntie."

(I'm not thinking of making Spitfire her literal aunt, but more of a friend of the family, like Spitfire's a good friend of Sandy's mom or something, so she saw her as an aunt growing up.)

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle

The next week flew by, and next thing Rainbow Dash knew, she was getting ready to lead the weather team for winter wrap up. From up on a cloud, Rainbow Dash could see that Mayor Mare had just finished giving her speech over by city hall. The crowd murmured with excitement and while Rainbow Dash had wrapped up winter many times before, she was just as excited this time around. Rainbow Dash waved over the weather team members before unraveling the checklist that Twilight had sent over.

"Alright everypony, let's wrap up winter and bring in some spring weather!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy had been in attendance at the speech, though she was standing mostly on the edge about as far from the mayor as Rainbow had, only with a worse vantage. As confident as she had been in the interview, she was typically a rather shy and insular pony. Sure, she had tried to put herself out there and make some friends, but throughout the week her efforts had been less than fruitful. Still, she held out hope that working closely with other pegasi in the weather team might help. She was quick to fly up to Rainbow's level when she called out, saluting her smartly, and hint of her earlier shyness smothered under a façade of official confidence, "Reporting for duty Ma'am, what should I do first?" 

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

“Alright everypony, you all know your roles. We need the ice broken up, snow removed, clouds cleared, and the birds be brought back. Twilight gave us a big checklist so let’s wrap up winter on time like last year,” Rainbow Dash said and the pegasi started to scatter. Rainbow Dash turned to Sandy Fire.

”Sandy Fire, we could always use some more help clearing the clouds and melting the snow. That’s what I’ll be doing. The checklist says that we need to melt the snow as soon as possible, but not before all the animals wake up. Come on,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Ditzy Do, south’s that way!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy froze momentarily when Dash said that everyone knew their roles, as she most certainly did not, but was relieved when Dash gave her some specific instructions. "Clouds and snow melt, got it." She nodded. She had plenty of practice with melting snow, as Dappleshore was further north than Ponyville, though they typically saved the snow melt for last, having a big magical bonfire where everyone could light a torch that would not burn anything, just give off heat to melt the snow, which the residents would get to then keep in their homes to keep warm until the warmer air made it from the south. They had also arranged for all the animals to hibernate above the water table, so they wouldn't get drowned out by the melting snow.

She got the feeling that Ponyville did not have the same tradition, given she did not see any magical bonfire preparations. She she'd go with the next best thing: Clearing the clouds, she could help with that. Sandy was faster than she was strong, at least when it came to breaking clouds, so she'd help out by rounding up the smaller, sparser clouds that typically fell off the larger ones, and push them together for the stronger pegasi to break up. Much like raking leaves, just in the sky.

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

Rainbow Dash pitched in along with some other pegasi they were clearing the clouds. The group started out by the farms above the areas that were already plowed away. However, while they were all working quickly, there was still quite a lot of clouds that needed to be cleared. Rainbow Dash could feel the air around her begin to warm up as the sun began to shine through the cloud layer onto the ground. Still, most of the warmth would come from the pegasi returning with the birds from down south. This would cause the average temperature for the day to go from below freezing to around 15 degrees, which is a more comfortable, yet still slightly chilly temperature for most ponies. The temperature would creep up slowly after that as they got closer to summer.

Snow clouds were different to work with compared to rain clouds. For one, they were significantly colder, which meant mishandling them could result in cold and wet hooves. Most pegasi preferred to buck the clouds, causing the clouds to dissipate with their pegasi magic, causing the snow inside to end up as rainwater precipitation in nearby bodies of water. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, preferred to fly right towards the clouds with her hooves in front of her, breaking them up upon contact with her hooves and flying so fast the water wouldn’t be able to stick to her fur.

Pinkie Pie had appeared to have done a good job at breaking up the ice on those bodies of water because they were almost all melted by now. The water table had also risen significantly due to all the melting. 

With Sandy Fire on the team an the rest of the pegasi knowing what needed to be done, the weather team was actually flying slightly ahead of schedule for now. Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight Sparkle on the ground with a checklist that was probably a kilometer long. Rainbow Dash glanced at her and she noticed, looking up from her checklist and waving with a friendly smile.

”So, what’s it like in Dappleshore? How do they wrap up winter there?” Rainbow Dash asked Sandy Fire as she flew up to her. Rainbow Dash started gathering the clouds next to Sandy in order to do another cloud-busting dash.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

"Huh? Oh!" Sandy had been so focused in her work, striving to impress, that she had forgotten to socialize with those around her, and hadn't noticed Dash approaching until she spoke up. It took her a bit to get back into the groove, "Well, we've got a larger unicorn population there, so magic plays a larger part in it. I mean clearing the clouds goes about the same here as there, but since it's further north it takes a bit after we've cleared the clouds before it's time to melt off the snow. So the unicorns of the town make a special magical bonfire in the middle of the town. Everyone can throw in something that they want to let go of, something to represent what was holding them back, so they can start the new year fresh, free of that weight. Then we use the bonfire to light special torches and everyone runs around the town melting the snow throughout the night, the goal being that the sun will rise on a town ready for spring, and a populous ready for the new year."

She spoke about it almost wistfully, like she missed it. She shook it off, "Here, it feels much more structured, methodical, but that makes sense, it suits the earth pony culture that founded the town."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

“Well here in Ponyville, the town has always preferred to do things the traditional way due to its earth pony founding. However, the Ponyville weather team still manages to make it awesome,” Rainbow Dash said, beaming with pride. She wasn’t sure what to make of Dappleshore’s winter wrap up tradition, so she didn’t say anything about it. However she noticed that Sandy Fire sounded like she missed that place though.

”What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking towards Sandy Fire. “You sound like you miss that place.”

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy looked surprised by the interest taken in her, "Oh," She shook her head, "Nothing happened, I simply moved here. Dappleshore is a small town with limited opportunity for growth. There's not much room for the town to expand as close as it is to the mountainside, so anyone who can't, or doesn't want to, cement themselves there moves out to find somewhere better for them. I'm not disappointed that I've moved here, I've really enjoyed this place so far, I just miss what's familiar, what I took for granted. Here, now, is the first time I've really gotten out of Dappleshore, and doing this, the whole new tradition, reminds me of what I've left behind." She let out a short breath, "You don't have to worry about me, I'll adjust quick enough I'm sure."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

"Oh," Rainbow Dash said as she felt a wave of understanding wash over her. "Well I'm sure you will get used to Ponyville. It's a pretty cool place if I say so myself. Anyways, I think we have gathered enough snow for another cloud bust. Also, you're doing a great job with gathering the clouds."

The pegasi have cleared a significant area over Ponyville and the surrounding farms. In addition, the clouds near her were all clumped up together ready for another cloud bust. Rainbow Dash lined herself up for another round when she noticed Fluttershy approach Twilight Sparkle on the ground with a concerned look on her face. She whispered something to Twilight, which caused Twilight to wave at Rainbow Dash and the rest of the weather team to come over. Rainbow Dash reluctantly flew over until she was hovering about two meters above Twilight.

"Fluttershy says that the animal team is behind schedule in waking up the animals. Could you slow down a bit?" Twilight asked.

"We can't slow down! The birds returning need all the snow melted, and so do all the animals that have already waken up! Will ponies ever make up their minds!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"What!? Oh dear, we are going to wrap up winter late again this year, and we are going to become the laughing stock of the region! This was what happened two years ago, and the year before that, and the year before that..." Twilight hyperventilated, frantically scrolling through her kilometer long list.

For some reason, all the pegasi turned to Sandy Fire, expecting her to speak up.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy was a bit worried at being put on the spot like this, she was a newcomer after all, did they really want her opinion on how to proceed? She thought a moment, gathering her confidence, before offering, "Um, it may not be too useful here and now, but back in Dappleshore we had all the animals hibernate above the water table and dug trenches in front of their burrows so the melting snow wouldn't flood them out. Maybe if we dug a trench in front of whichever burrows are still occupied, it could direct the melting snow away?"

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

"Hmm," Rainbow Dash thought outload. She didn't really consider herself much of a thinker, but she could see how Sandy's explanation had a point. "Twi, calm down," she said, putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash and something clicked in her mind. 

"Oh, trenches?" she said, blinking a few times before understanding, "Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that? Let's see, since the plants team is ahead of schedule by an average of 15.4 minutes, we can delegate one of plant team members to help plow in front of the burrows to form trenches and we can have the weather team slow down by 0.1% while I go and see what is holding up the animal team..." Twilight rambled as she rolled up her checklist and headed off towards the burrows.

"Yup, that's Twilight for you, freaks out about everything... You know, you're pretty cool, Sandy," Rainbow Dash said, turning to her. "Want to chill out with the other weather team gals and I sometime tomorrow?" The rest of the weather team started to fly back up to where they were working. Some of the clouds that weren't so tightly packed together started to drift apart, but the group didn't lose too much progress.

"I suppose we need to slow down 0.1%? Eh whatever, let's just continue on as usual," Rainbow Dash shrugged.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy rubbed the back of her neck, a bit embarrassed by the further attention on her, "Oh, it was nothing. I wouldn't make a good fire fighter if I couldn't stay calm under pressure, right?"

She was surprised when Rainbow Dash offered for her to join them ? She nodded, inwardly excited to finally be part of something, "Oh, Sure! I'd love to!"

She went back to her work with a bit of extra pep in her wing, if she weren't careful she'd push the weather team even further ahead of schedule.

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

"You can say that again," Rainbow Dash joked. "No kidding, I think you'll make a great firefighter."

Rainbow Dash and the others continued to clear out the clouds using their various methods, making significant progress clearing the skies over Ponyville. There were some tough clouds that were a bit denser than the others, but nothing that the weather team couldn't handle. However, occasionally one of the weather team members would mess up and cause some snow to get dumped on the ground below. When Rainbow Dash wasn't looking, one of the weather team members flew up to Sandy Fire.

"Hey, you want to know why Rainbow Dash really invited you to hang out with us after winter wrap up? She thinks you're fast and will probably dare you to a race," Sprinkle Medley whispered to Sandy Fire while giggling. She started rolling up some clouds next to Sandy Fire for them to be busted.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy was unsure how to respond to that, on the one hoof she was flattered that Dash even considered her a potential racing competitor, and she did consider herself rather speedy when she needed to be, but on the other hoof, it did somewhat cheapen the invitation. What if she wasn't fast enough? What if she was too fast? She had certainly heard how fast the Element of Loyalty was, and how proud she was. She didn't know if winning or loosing would be the better outcome. Supposing she did win, Dash could just as easily get mad and kick her out as respect her for it.

She shook her head, no sense getting worked up about something that wasn't even a sure thing yet, for all she knew this pony could be trying to stir up trouble for their own reasons. Best if she just let whatever happened, happen.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to do some training tonight, just in case.

"Oh really?" She snorted and shook her head, "Oh I'm sure I'm nowhere near her level. Maybe I could beat her at agility, you know, dodging and weaving and the like, but pure speed I'm sure she has me beat."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

@Illiad Easle 

When Sprinkle Medley saw Sandy's reaction, she burst into laughter, rolling around on the clouds and stirring up the snow inside. "Ahhahaha, I hadn't had such a good laugh since last week! Oh my gosh, my lungs hurt now..." she laughed.

"Let me guess: she fell for it?" Cloud Kicker said, flying over.

"Hook, line and sinker!" Sprinkle Medley howled.

"Look, Sandy, you can calm down. Rainbow Dash wouldn't actually invite you over unless she thought you were cool. And for the race, well no offence, but not even the Wonderbolts can beat her here. She just wants to see how fast you can fly. You know, Cloudsdale Weather Cooperation likes to make being on the weather team seem very formal and everything, but for the most part, we are just a bunch of young pegasi that like to have fun," Cloud Kicker explained. However, the other weather team members quickly quieted down when they noticed Rainbow Dash flying over.

"Alright, I think we have cleared most of the clouds over the fields. Let's start clearing the clouds over Ponyville now," Rainbow Dash said, pointing the way. "Also, be aware of any clouds from the Everfree Forest."

Edited March 17, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream