open Ponyville Weather Team

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

“Woah, what happened to her? It seems like all her hopes and dreams got crushed,” Sunshower Raindrops asked, noticing Sandy Fire’s change in mood and pace. With the whole weather team now focusing on clearing the snow from the trees and rooftops, the group was quickly catching up with the schedule. However, the rest of the weather team was still a bit concerned about their newest member suddenly losing her heart in this. 

“Hey Sandy Fire is from Dappleshore, right?” Rainbowshine asked.

”Yeah, why? Rainbow Dash replied.

”I think I know what will cheer her up. I need to find Twilight. Meanwhile, have some pony sing the winter wrap up song or something. Be right back,” Rainbowshine answered as she took off.

The rest of the weather team suddenly got the desire to break out into a song. “Winter wrap up winter wrap up...” they sang as they worked.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

Andy perked up a little at the song, while it was a far cry from the rhythmic chants she was used to, it was still something familiar, and in fact something she found herself preferring over her old traditions. Maybe not everything here is worse.

She did her best to tap into the musical magic that helped ponies sing together, but her inner thoughts of not belonging only got her has far as humming along with them. It was a start at least.

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

With the weather team singing the winter wrap up song, time seemed to fly by. The next thing Rainbow Dash knew, the team had finished clearing all the snow for all of Ponyville. Rainbowshine also returned part way through but didn't say anything about what she did. A little while after that, Ditzy Do returned with the birds that had migrated south for the winter.

Some of the plants team members were a bit annoyed about the cloud from the Everfree Forest sprinkling some snow on the fields that they already cleared, but ultimately, they were just glad that everypony wrapped up winter on time. 

Soon enough, everypony was gathered in front of the city hall again with Mayor Mare up on the steps. "I can't believe it; Spring is here on time, and we have Twilight to thank for it," she said.

Rainbow Dash giggled a little. "Yeah right, without you, the weather team wouldn't have wrapped up on time, Sandy Fire," Rainbow Dash said to her.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy waved a hoof dismissively with an embarrassed smile, "That's... that's sweet of you to say, but I'm sure you would have managed it fine without me. I mean, You've all done this for decades right? I doubt one new pony is going to make that much of a difference."

Still though, she couldn't help but feel like she had helped. On a pair of occasions giving this Twilight ideas on how to do things better. And there she was getting the credit. Still, surely there were other reasons why Twilight were being praised for the success. She'd probably done more than just organize, right?

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

The crowd broke up after Mayor Mare's speech praising Twilight for the second year in a row. The weather team flew over to Rainbow Dash again.

"Nice job team, We did it," Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Many of the weather team members drifted off after that. It was late in the evening now and they were all pretty tired. However, Rainbowshine flew up to Sandy Fire and whispered something in her ear.

"Meet me and the rest of the weather team on the cloud in front of the weather team office tomorrow morning," she whispered with a wink before flying off.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy thought the invitation odd. She had, after all, just been pranked earlier with regards to a meetup, so she worried that this too would prove to be another prank: She'd turn up at the cloud and no one would be there and they'd all laugh about her, or something similarly foalish. Still, she'd be remiss if she passed up a genuine opportunity to fit in. She counter herself lucky that Rainbowshine had not waited for a response from her.

She also wondered if this meetup in the morning was what Rainbow Dash had meant when she invited her to hang out with them the next day. If Dash were there, that would lend some legitimacy to the invitation.

Still, she had worked pretty much all day without much of a break, she figured she should get something to eat before she went back home. Maybe there was some traditional food here surrounding the event? She hesitated, maybe they had the sort of tradition where you stayed home afterwards? Not wanting to risk another public misstep of traditions, she simply went home, she could eat out another time, when she was more settled in the community.

Unless someone stopped her or came to visit, she'd simply go home, eat something, then stare longingly at the framed picture next to her bed until she fell asleep.

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

The next day, when Sandy Fire arrived at the cloud in front of the weather team offices, There was a lavender unicorn casually sitting on it as though it was the most natural thing in Equestria. Also on the cloud was a large purple bonfire and the rest of the weather team. Rainbow Dash noticed Sandy Fire.

”Hey there Sandy Fire, glad you could show up. Rainbowshine was behind this idea though,” Rainbow Dash explained. 

“Hi there, I’m Twilight Sparkle and it’s so nice to meet you. I heard that you had trouble adjusting to Ponyville so Rainbowshine and I got together to help you do so. I created the magical bonfire, and I think I got it pretty close to how it’s done in Dappleshire. What do you think?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy was stunned, she hardly expected anyone here to even know about the traditions in Dappleshore, (other than Rainbow Dash, who she had told about it) , much less care enough about them and her enough to make it happen here.

"I... " She blinked a few times, both to hold back tears and to make sure she was seeing things properly, "This... this isn't a joke, right?" There were some happy tears in her eyes as she got closer, transfixed by the sight and familiar warmth, waving a hoof through it to see if it would burn her, unless she were stopped, "I... I wish I would have known, I would have brought something to burn."

She turned her attention to Twilight, "It is close, but you couldn't get it any closer by yourself, in Dappleshore the fire gets a bunch of colors from all the unicorns who contribute their magic to light it. Still, it is nice. We met yesterday, remember? I gave you the idea to dig trenches so the animals wouldn't get drowned out?"

She'd turn her attention back to the fire, simply admiring it until someone got her attention. 

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

“This isn’t a joke. I’m not the kind of pony to do jokes anyways,” Twilight Sparkle said, getting up from where she was sitting and walking around on the cloud. “Rainbowshine told me everything. She said that she wanted it to be a surprise. I think I did a pretty good for the first time doing it. Also, thanks for the idea from yesterday.”

“Oh! I know exactly what we can throw in the bonfire!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she winked to the other weather team members. The weather team members flew inside of the weather team office and came back out with boxes of papers.

“These are old records that are no longer relevant to us or the Cloudsdale Weather Cooperation,” Sunflower Raindrops said as she started to throw some papers into the fire. The rest of the weather team joined in, and Rainbow Dash seemed visibly excited about the idea of burning the papers that caused her significant agitation. There was a box of papers next to Sandy Fire if she wanted to join.

“Hey Sandy Fire, I heard about what happened yesterday. When I first tried to participate in Winter Wrap Up last year, I had no idea what I was going to do and it felt like I didn’t fit into any group. However, it will get better. It helps if you make some friends. For example, I’m friends with Rainbow Dash and now I’m joining her paper burning thing,” Twilight said offering her advice. 

“Hey are you joining? We got a lot of papers to burn!” Sprinkle Medley asked Sandy Fire.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

The rest of the weather team would likely be surprised to see the papers not burning on the fire, accompanied by Sandy protesting, "No! No, wait! That's not what I meant!" Assuming she got their attention, she'd continue. "The bonfire isn't for burning just anything,  it's for burning things that represent what is holding you back, like your struggles in effigy, so that you can start the new year without it. Besides, the fire is magically designed not to burn things it hasn't been cast on, which is why the papers aren't burning. Twilight would have to cast the spell on whatever you want to burn, with the modification that it will actually consume the item at the normal pace, rather than very slowly as is usually the case with this type of thing."

She sighed, "I'm sorry, if I knew you were all interested I'd have explained it earlier, still, I do appreciate the effort."

 

Per Twilight's comments to her, Sandy sighed, "I... I'm trying to. It's just hard to fit in to a whole new town that does things differently than you're used to. I... I'm sure I'll be fine, eventually."

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

“Yeah I thought I explained to you all earlier that this bonfire isn’t your regular bonfire. And there is no way I’m casting spells on all those papers. I’ll just create a regular bonfire afterwards for that,” Twilight explained with a groan and an eye roll. 

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that...” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing he back of her neck with her hoof in embarrassment. “Anyways, let me show you the weather team. There’s Cloud Kicker who likes to explain things, there’s Rainbowshine who loves to help others, there’s Sprinkle Medley, who loves pranks, there’s Sunshower Raindrops who is also kind of new, and there’s me, Rainbow Dash: Team captain and Wonderbolt academy cadet. I’d like to think we are a pretty awesome bunch.” 

The rest of the weather team waved with friendly smiles and Sprinkle and Sunshower could be seen shoveling and rubbing clouds on each other’s faces like a pair of immature children. “Oh and in case you are wondering, this is the group that does the weather team full time. There were a lot more members yesterday to help wrap up winter,” Cloud Kicker explained.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy nodded in greeting at each of the ponies as she was introduced to them, "I was wondering why there weren't more here, thank you. I suppose I should introduce myself too, yes? I'm Sandy Fire, I moved here from Dappleshore about two weeks ago. I haven't gotten the chance to meet too many ponies here, but I'm glad you ponies have been so welcoming so far."

She took a moment to take in the fire for a moment longer, then turned to Rainbow Dash, "So, now that winter wrap-up is, well, wrapped up, what's the daily schedule for the weather team look like?"

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"Well we move around clouds depending on whether it's supposed to rain or not, Ponyville citizens complain to us about how we messed up the weather and now their whatchamacallits are ruined, and the Everfree Forest sends us some crazy weather that we have to stop," Rainbow Dash dismissed, waving her hoof in the air.

"There isn't that much to it. However, I dare you to a race to that cloud and back. Three two one go!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, giving Sandy Fire a second to comprehend what just happened before taking off towards the cloud. A few seconds in, she would turn around to make sure that Sandy Fire was actually racing.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy nodded along as Rainbow Dash listed off their duties, it didn't seem like it would be too much work, which explained why there were so few of them, but Ponyville was a much larger town than Dappleshore, at least by acreage, so she was still certain to get worked hard while she was here.

She was stunned by Dash's sudden invitation to race, the prank from the previous day having suddenly come true. She wasn't going to take that sitting down though, as she had been half expecting it. While Dash's unfair start did put her at a disadvantage, and Dash was a much stronger flier than Sandy could ever hope to be, Sandy was smart, she knew that as long as she stayed in Dash's air shadow, she'd be able to stay right behind her, and maybe pass her right at the end. She rushed after Dash, doing her best to get behind her, such that Dash would do all the hard work of pushing the air, and Sandy would get to just glide along in her wake.

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

Rainbow Dash didn't seem to particularly care that Sandy Fire was right behind her. It was a pretty straightfoward race too, so Rainbow Dash didn't think there was that much strategy to it. She was certain that if she flew at the same speed as the Wonderbolts, Sandy Fire wouldn't be able to pass her in the end. She preformed a sharp u turn at the designated cloud before flying at the same speed back. There, she noticed the rest of the weather team watching in awe and Twilight frantically taking down notes as though she would get wings someday. Rainbow Dash landed back on the bonfire cloud before quickly coming to a stop. She turned around and held back a smirk, expecting Sandy Fire to land a few seconds after her.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

The problem with tailing someone like Sandy was doing, was that sudden stops were very difficult to account for. Given Sandy's acrobatic abilities it wasn't hard for her to keep behind Rainbow in the U-Turn, but she couldn't stop on a dime like Rainbow could, not at the speed that Rainbow had accelerated her to. Her only choices were to either slam into Rainbow at top speed, or dive through the cloud so as to avoid hitting anyone present. So she dove as sharp as she could, barely grazing Rainbow's hooves as she passed under her, before pulling up in a vertical loop to spend the areal momentum, coming to a stop a good distance above the rest before more gently gliding back down to the rest, "Sorry about that, I didn't know you were going to stop so soon."

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

Everypony watched as Sandy Fire looped back around, and everypony except Rainbow Dash was very surprised about the results. "Impresive, not many ponies can fly as fast or as agile as a Wonderbolt. Brohoof," Rainbow Dash noted as she held up a hoof towards Sandy Fire.

The rest of the weather team and Twilight stared at Sandy Fire silently, trying to comprehend what just happened. They all knew that Rainbow Dash wasn't flying her fastest, but even then, Sandy Fire was still faster than all of them. Twilight started taking down more notes.

"Hehe, maybe you should join the Wonderbolts like Rainbow Dash..." Sprinkle Medley joked, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof nervously.

"Hey just wondering, what is the weather like in Dappleshire?" Sunshower Raindrops asked.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

4 hours ago, Rainbow Dash said:

Rainbow Dash noted as she held up a hoof towards Sandy Fire.

Sandy met her hoof, "Agile yes, but fast, not hardly. I was just riding your shadow. I've no hope of beating you in a race, I can't pass you, and I sure couldn't catch up to you if I got too far behind, but yeah, that's probably the fastest I've ever gone before."

4 hours ago, Rainbow Dash said:

"Hehe, maybe you should join the Wonderbolts like Rainbow Dash..."

Sandy chuckled, but shook her head, "No no... I'm nowhere near their league. Like I said, I can tail someone just fine, but I could never pull off those speeds on my own."

4 hours ago, Rainbow Dash said:

"Hey just wondering, what is the weather like in Dappleshire?"

She was surprised by that question, "Well, with the mountains on one side keeping most of the clouds from going over, and the forest on the other that keeps pushing the clouds off of itself, it's overcast almost all year. The weather team has to push the clouds up towards the river so they can head down to Trottingham pretty much every day,

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"Wait, you were riding my shadow? Hey, that's cheating!" Rainbow Dash joked, pretending to glare at Sandy Fire while giggling a little.

 "Interesting, so I always suspected that there were benefits to flying really close together in a certain formation like the way birds do. If this is true, than this could revolutionize the way pegasi fly..." Twilight rambled as she took down more notes.

"Yeah, and we can't forget about Twilight Sparkle here. A nerdy unicorn that wants to become an alicorn in order to be able to do everything pegasi can do. As if!" Sprinkle Medley joked, laughing so hard she was rolling around on the clouds.

"Hey, I can't be the only unicorn that is curious about what it is like to fly or move clouds like a pegasus..." Twilight defended. When Sandy Fire started talking about the weather in Dappleshire, Twilight looked on with interest as she flipped to a new page to take down more notes. "Interesting, I always found the geography in that area quite intriguing. How does the climate there compare to here? And does it rain a lot there, or is it just overcast a lot? What happens to the clouds when you push them down to Trottingham?" Twilight fired off, writing down notes just as quickly as she asked questions. 

Rainbow Dash leaned over. "Just warning you; once you get Twilight started on a subject she's obsessed with, she will go on for hours," she whispered. Meanwhile, half of the weather team (Cloud Kicker and Rainbowshine) looked on with interest while the rest (Sprinkle Medley and Sunshower Raindrops) looked like they were bored out of their minds.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Ocean Wavedream

Sandy was a bit confused by what she was being told, she had thought these things were common knowledge. After all, she had been taught about the benefits of flying in formation from a young age. Was this town so Earth-centric that they repressed the advancement of the other races? Or maybe Ponyville simply lacked the strong unity that Dappleshire had.

She shook those thoughts off, it had been that same 'unity' that had pushed her out of her home town after all, and she wouldn't come to belong here if she kept comparing this place to somewhere she couldn't go back to.

15 hours ago, Rainbow Dash said:

"Interesting, so I always suspected that there were benefits to flying really close together in a certain formation like the way birds do. If this is true, than this could revolutionize the way pegasi fly..." Twilight rambled as she took down more notes.

She raised an eyebrow at that, "Yeah, I thought everypony knew that, it works for earth pony caravans too, that's why traveling in a line is more efficient than any other configuration, or why it's easier to boost someone else's spell than to cast your own. Dapplesire's been doing things that way since long before I was born, I didn't realize it was such an odd concept."

She was a bit concerned at the teasing towards Twilight from the weather team, but Twilight didn't seem to be hurt much by it so she didn't step in, instead turning her attention to her next question,

15 hours ago, Rainbow Dash said:

"Interesting, I always found the geography in that area quite intriguing. How does the climate there compare to here? And does it rain a lot there, or is it just overcast a lot? What happens to the clouds when you push them down to Trottingham?"

"Um... I mean, it's sunnier here, a bit warmer. I don't think it rains any more often than it needs to for the crops, which is why we need to clear the clouds every day, so the crops can get sun. I don't know what Trottingham does with the clouds, but I assume they put them to use. I'd hate to think they went to waste. I'm sure there's more knowledgeable ponies than I out there who could tell you more."

She didn't know what to make of the weather team's reactions, but she didn't figure she was holding them up by talking to Twilight, so she'd wait and see if something else happened.

 

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

“Huh, Dappleshire certainly has an interesting way of doing things. Maybe I should schedule a trip there sometime to see how the do it,” Twilight noted as she took down more notes.

Suddenly, Sunshower Raindrops perked up. “Say Sandy, what made you decide to move to Ponyville and join the weather team?” Sunshower asked.

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Skylight Scintillate

Sandy looked down at Sunshower's question, "Oh? Well... Dappleshire is not a very big town, there's not a lot of room between the forest and the mountains. So, anyone who can't fill a necessary role, make themselves useful there, have to go somewhere else so as to not be a burden on the community." She sighed, then perked up a bit, "Anyway, I've always wanted to be a firefighter, so I figured joining the weather team would be a good place to start."

 

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"Huh, Dappleshire sounds so different from here. So you got kicked out from your community? What made you decide that you wanted to become a firefighter?" Sunshower Raindrops asked as she rubbed her hoof on her chin. "For me, I always liked being able to control the weather. There's something about using my pegasi magic to control the clouds that interests me. I heard they do things differently in Dappleshire. How so?"

[Illiad Easle 3,130]

@Skylight Scintillate

Sandy looked a little defensive, "I wasn't kicked out... It's just, I wasn't useful there, so it's better for everyone that I left, that I went and found somewhere I could be useful." She seemed sad as she said that.

When asked about why she wanted to be a firefighter, she perked up, "Well, I always thought fire was cool, and well, there isn't much use in someone setting fires, so I figured fighting them would be the next best thing."

She wasn't sure what Sunshower meant when she said that Dappleshire did things differently, so she asked, "What do you mean? Like, how do they do the weather differently? Or what?"

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"Yeah, how they do the weather. Like I could tell from the way you acted yesterday that you hated the way Ponyville wrapped up winter and how you miss the bonfire in Dappleshire and such. So how do the pegasi do things in Dappleshire? Do they use unicorn magic?" Rainbowshine asked, casually sticking her tail into the bonfire and unintentionally poking the papers that weren't burning inside.

"You know, the Ponyville Weather Team kind of is the town's fire department. Whenever there is a fire, they usually ask for the weather team to put it out," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

"Yeah but that's because fires don't happen very much around here anyways," Cloud Kicker finished.