[Cloudsdale] Frenzied Factory Zone: Opening Assembly (Sign-up in OOC Thread)

[Bellosh]

Spring has descended onto the land of Equestria, and with spring comes rainfall; lots and lots of rainfall. To make such a large-scale operation possible, the mares and stallions of the Royal Weather Factory in Cloudsdale work tirelessly during the spring months to create the rain storms so coveted by ponykind. It is through the efforts of these pegasi factory workers that crops are sufficiently watered and reservoirs refilled in preparation for summer.

Unfortunately this year, a major crisis has rocked the city in the clouds which could jeopardize the upcoming rainy season. Due to a sudden flu plaguing Cloudsdale, more than three-quarters of the Weather Factory’s workforce have been forced to stay at home, at precisely the time when their contributions are needed the most. If there are not enough pegasi to work the factory floor and deliver clouds on time, settlements all over Equestria could very well face crop-wrecking droughts!

To forestall this alarming chain of events, the overseers of the Weather Factory have taken the drastic measure of recruiting any winged volunteers that can be found. Heralds and newspaper bulletins serenade Equestria in the hopes that enough pegasi and other creatures able to fly to Cloudsdale can come to help operate the weather factory. It doesn’t matter where these emergency volunteers come from, just as long as the spring rings can indeed proceed on schedule. High in the turbulent skies of Cloudsdale, failure is not an option.....

--------------------

Sugar Apple partly wished she could have stayed in sick today... sick like nearly all the other workers today. As a reward for being the sole supervisor not bedridden with the flu, the purple mare had suddenly found herself in a rather unfortunate but necessary position: that of having to orientate all the new volunteers enlisting their services for the Royal Weather Factory in this great hour of need. Sugar was plenty used to overseeing a manageable group of employees in the Vaporization Department, but having to introduce so many volunteers to how to operate the Weather Factory was a different matter entirely.

The good news though was that Sugar Apple had the willpower of the bravest soldier; hence she soon felt the confidence to perform this vital task bestowed upon her. And she wouldn’t be alone either; taking a peek behind her, the pegasus took note of the four other ponies who’d be helping her lead the others today. The dark blue alicorn needed no introduction; due to the gravity of this crisis, Princess Luna would oversee the proceedings at the factory today. Behind Luna stood the ponies who’d help lead each team: stern-old Colonel Pummel of the Royal Equestrian Army would fill in for Sugar herself over at VaporDep, the even-older Professor Krashkop would look after the volunteers assigned to manufacture rainbows, and the youthful ace-flyer Rainbow Dash of Ponyville renown would naturally ensure her team delivered rain clouds to their destinations in time. None of them have worked at a weather factory before by Sugar’s reckoning, but the higher-ups both in Cloudsdale and Canterlot felt these ponies would be the most effective leaders for the band of equally unskilled volunteer workers.

Seeing that the assembled crowd of volunteer pegasi outside the front entrance of the large cloud-formed factory was of a sufficiently large size, Sugar Apple cleared her throat to get everypony’s attention first; [colour=#800080]“Ahem... uhhhh, howdy y’all fillies and gentlecolts; mah name’s Sugar Apple, and it’s mah jo- pleasure to orientate y’all about workin’ at th’ Royal Weather Factory hyar today.”[/colour] Pleased that she hadn’t made a blathering fool of herself so far, the purple mare pressed onwards; [colour=#800080]“First things first; ya’ can’t enter th’ factory eff yer not wearin’ a proper uniform...”[/colour] Sugar paused and pointed at her white jacket and hardhat, required clothing for all workers and visitors; [colour=#800080]“Eff ya’ forgot t’take a uniform, please head back over to th’ lady hoofin’ them out on yer way in. Everypony needs t’stay safe at all times, so git yer jackets an’ hardhats now please.”[/colour]

Sugar Apple now waited a few moments for the stragglers to collect their uniforms; she saw one gray pegasus dash out of the crowd who obviously failed to get the necessary clothing. Hopefully, said pegasus only suffered a brief attention lapse and wouldn’t present a chronic problem. In about a minute or so, Sugar would continue on with Orientation.....

OOC thread is here. For the volunteer characters, feel free at this time to post a paragraph or two explaining why they want to be there, have them intermingle with their partners, and so forth. New threads for each team will go up soon. ^_^

[Lux]

Sky Flare flew in through the entryway of the famous Cloudsdale Weather Factory. Being a life long resident of the floating city he knew all about it. Yet aside from helping to move a few clouds around here and there the stunt pegasus never saw the actual inside of the place until now. And so he stopped by to pick up his coat and hard hat, cringing at the required uniform.

[colour=#ff8c00]"Ugh, I hope I don't have to wear this thing when moving clouds around," [/colour]he said as he made his way to the pony giving some kind of announcement, [colour=#ff8c00]"It'll really mess with my speed."[/colour]

The fiery manned pegasus's ears perked up when he heard something about his position and the name Rainbow Dash. He knew about her second hoof from others who told about her speed and that she made a seemingly impossible stunt called the Sonic Rainboom. To meet a fellow pony that loves speed and stunts would be a real treat. He just had to remind himself to play it cool and now fawn over her like a crazed fan pony.

[colour=#ff8c00]"Sky Flare reporting in for duty," [/colour]the stallion said as he saluted smartly at the pony giving the announcement.

[Mojo]

[colour=#008000]"Oh my! I hope I'm not too late! Dat vould not be a good example to set for mein team!" [/colour]the airborne Professor Clyde Krashkop neighed as the elderly green Pegasus stallion flew higher and higher up towards Cloudsdale. Although it had been a long time since he had last visited the city, he knew where the weather factory was and that things in that factory hadn't change a bit since his foalhood long ago. Seeing the crowd of volunteers gathered below him in front of the gate, the Professor descended to come in for a landing. As was his norm, the white maned Pegasus miscalculated his approach, coming in too fast and too high. When his hooves touched the cloudbase, he bounced once before going into a roll that continued until his body crashed into the gate entrance. All in all, it was one of his better landings.

[colour=#008000]"Do not vorry dear friends! I am here, reporting for duty!" [/colour]the Professor neighed, staggering back up on his four hooves. Walking very wobbly, he made it to the mare who was passing out the uniforms and was soon properly attired. Spotting Sugar Apple, he immediately galloped up to her and saluted.

[colour=#008000]"Professor Clyde Krashkop, reporting for duty, fraulien!" [/colour]

[PedestrianWolf]

Snickerdoodle hauled herself out of bed that morning feeling better, but still had a bit of a sinus headache and a small cough. Curse her coworkers anyway for giving her a case of the feather flu. However, she knew that work had to go on, and the factory would be desperate for help, especially anyone with experience. Mixing rainbows could be tricky, if one didn't know what they were doing.

She put on her colour spattered coveralls, and grabbed her jacket and hardhat on her way out the door. She also grabbed a big pink bakery box full of cookies for the assembled volunteers. They had been baked last week, before everypony had gotten sick, so they weren't fresh, but they were safe to share.

Arriving at the gates of the weather factory, Snickerdoodle looked over the assembled volunteers. Ooh, this was going to be interesting. She passed by the crowds and walked up to Sugar Apple.

[colour=#8b4513]"Hey Sugar, I made it. I've got cookies for everypony, too. Guaranteed plague-free," [/colour]she joked.[colour=#8b4513] "I'll just leave them in the break room next to the coffee machine."[/colour]

After dropping off the pink box loaded with treats, she trotted back to the assembly out front, ready to get her instructions for the day. She hoped that whomever she would be working with in colour mixing would be nice, or at least be competent.

[Blueblood]

A sky-blue pegasus came to a slow and drifting landing towards the back of the crowd, looking around with silent interest at the weather factory. He'd never been to this side of the massive complex before; his family lived near the snow-production facilities, which also doubled as the Cloudsdale cold-storage facility, whose uniform the stallion was still dressed in.

He'd arrived a little late, and so hadn't caught most of Sugar Apple's talk, but he did hear the part about jackets and hard hats. "[colour=#00ffff]Hm, oh![/colour]" He looked around, finding the mare handing out the proper attire. "[colour=#00ffff]My name is Sky Sailing, do you know where I'm supposed to be?" [/colour]The cold storage foreman had drawn straws to see which employee would be volunteering at the factory, and his name came up.

[Jane]

Windygust dragged herself from the bedroom into the kitchen and mindlessly put the kettle on the stove. She felt like death warmed over. Nothing was helping; none of the usual home remedies she had given the foals when they were sick, none of the prescription medication she had in the bathroom cupboard. She had an achy back and a sinus headache and chills and a fever all at the same time. What pained her was that she wasn't the only one - she hadn't been to work in almost a week and the weather factory was starting to get desperate. Apparently they had called in backup from all over Equestria to try to help out. Her son Stormwing would be coming back to the clouded city from his home in Trottingham, along with much of Trottingham's weather team. Good thing, too - they'd need all the help they could get, considering half of Cloudsdale was out of commission.

The loud, obnoxious whistle of the kettle pierced the blue mare's ears. She pulled the chamomile tea out of the cupboard and placed it in a mug with a bit of sugar before adding the boiling water. Tea would help. Tea would definitely help. She placed her mug on the kitchen table and sat down before the apartment started spinning.

​

[colour=#498995]"Morning, Mummy-bird. Is there any water left?"[/colour]

​

Dear Celestia, not Whirligig, too. Windygust could tell immediately that her daughter was getting the sickness that was ravaging the city. She lacked the usual spring in her step, the usual pep to her speech, the usual sparkle in her eye. Windygust was well practised in figuring out when her children were sick and when they were faking it. Though Whirligig had never been one to fake it; in fact, the poor, dear girl usual denied when she was sick. Her brother had been the one guilty of faking illness to get out of going to school.

[colour=#42B2B2]"Yes, Whirly-bird, help yourself"[/colour] the older mare replied, taking a sip of her tea. [colour=#42B2B2]"Are you planning on going into work today?"[/colour]

​

Whirligig dumped some instant coffee into a clean mug - probably a little bit stronger than she usually made it, but she felt like she needed a bigger jolt than usual today. Still, the concern in her mother's voice annoyed her. She wasn't sick, thought Windygust would probably try to convince her that she was. She couldn't be sick. She had the hardiest of immune systems, and anyways, the city of Cloudsdale had a crisis on their hooves. A real epidemic at one of the busiest times of year for the factory meant they needed every able-bodied pegasus they could get. This, of course, included not only Whirligig, but ponies from all over Equestria. When else would Whirligig get the chance to work with her brother in the factory? Granted, they probably wouldn't be on the same team, considering how much Stormwing hated working in the actual factory, but it would be something. It would take more than a few chills and a slight fever to keep Whirligig in bed today.

[colour=#498995]"I'm not sick, Mum, and the factory needs me. So yes, I'm going into work today. You stay home and get better."[/colour] Whirligig said, trying to suppress a cough.

Windygust gave her a look that told Whirligig that her mother didn't believe her for a minute, but also that she didn't feel up to arguing. Instead, the yellow-maned mare took another sip of her tea before getting up from the table.

​

[colour=#42B2B2]"If you're sure, dear,"[/colour] she said with a cough. [colour=#42B2B2]"Don't work too hard. And tell your brother I expect him home for dinner - we've got that lasagne I made last week still frozen so I won't have to cook."[/colour] At that, she collected her tea and returned to her room.

​

[colour=#498995]"I'm sure, Mum! See you tonight,"[/colour] Whirligig answered.

She collected her satchel containing the packed lunch she'd made the night before and set off to work. She briefly wondered if she would meet Stormwing en route, or if she should wait for him outside the main entrance. She soon decided, however, that her it would be just like Stormwing to be late, so she didn't bother. Instead, she entered the large factory, placed her satchel in her locker and collected her uniform.

The place was eerily empty - most of her usual coworkers were home sick along with the rest of Cloudsdale. She was pleased, however, to see a familiar pink box next to the coffee machine. Snickerdoodle must be feeling better if she was here with cookies to share. Whirligig didn't really know the mare all that well - she worked in Rainbows while Whirligig's usual position was in Snowflakes. Though with winter over for another year, the snowflake makers who were healthy had all been reassigned. The red-maned Pegasus had been hoping she would get to work in Rainbows again this spring as she had last year; or better yet, in the wind tunnels creating breezes and gales, but she instead found herself in a new department: vaporization.

A small crowd of mostly new faces had gathered around Sugar Apple, Whirligig's temporary supervisor in vaporization who, evidently, was now overseeing the efforts of all the volunteers. Whirligig looked around at the small collection of recruits and couldn't help but wondering if there would be enough ponies there to get everything done - there was so much to do today, and so many new workers couldn't possibly be efficient enough to help them reach their quota. Furthermore, Whirligig wasn't feeling much better now than she had that morning. After making her presence known to Sugar Apple, she approached the brown-maned mare who was responsible for the cookies in the break room.

[colour=#498995]"Hey there, Doodle-bird*. Thanks for the cookies again - they're always awesome-tastic. I've missed them while you were sick. Glad you're feeling well enough to help us out today. Sucks that half of Cloudsdale is out cold with this ridiculous flu - Mum's still home sick. Can you believe that we're getting so many volunteers from all over everywhere to help us out? I hope we can still get everything done with so many new ponies, don't you? I mean, how terrible would it be if we had to cancel the spring showers? My brother would be devastated, not getting to build any storms this year. He's meant to be coming up from Trottingham today, but knowing Stormwing he's probably going to be late."[/colour]

​

[colour=#b4b4b4]((OOC: *One of Whirligig's quirks is that she gives everypony she meets a nickname that has 'bird' in it, and will default to 'Bluebird' if it's a pony she's never met before. I feel the need to explain this as it sometimes confuses people))[/colour]

[Frost137]

Spin Art looked at all the posters and bulletins hanging around all over Cloudsdale. She picked up one that was flying in the breeze and gave it another look. The Weather Factory needed some ponies to help out? Spin Art gave a little smile. Maybe she can help out. Ponyville's weather patrol didn't need her at this time since they were waiting for the rain clouds. Maybe she can impress her boss that she helped out! Hee hee! Thankfully, living here in Cloudsdale, she hasn't gotten sick! The blue-gray pegasus didn't know how she did it but it was cool that out of all ponies... yeah.

As the day came, she stood right outside of the entrance. Thankful that the pegasus named Sugar Apple offered the uniforms. Spin Art headed over and got the needed clothing. It wasn't stylish, but Spin Art digged it.

Spin Art assigned herself to Prism-Mixing. She thought that maybe her skills in art, creativity, and whatnot, can help. Hopefully, this was going to be fun!

[brianblackberry]

Flitter was excited, determined, and last but not least, nervous, complete with the stomach that no doubt held several butterflies. Unlike her marefriend, Cloudchaser, she wasn't a weather pony by trade, but a biologist! Well, more like a graduate student in biology, but soon to be a biologist! What was relevant at the moment though was despite not having real weather experience, Flitter had an opportunity to help at the weather factory in Cloudsdale as part of ad-hoc, emergency crew gathered to prepare the Spring rains; something that beemed her with pride as she saw the huge factory come into view behind the opening cumulus.

As the light gray-lavendar mare came in for a landing, she sported dark and light lavender leg warmers, a matching scarf, and her favorite pair of goggles that she bought for last year's tornado. Comfortable. Fashionable. Practical! That was who Flitter was! She was sure of that fact, that is until she looked about and realized that he may have over-dressed just a wee bit. Worse, she heard who was no doubt the forepony, announce that she had to wear a uniform…

Flitter made a blegh face as she put on the plain white coat and hat, at least she could keep the goggles and leg warmers on; not as fashionable but still doable; at least she wouldn't look any dorkier than anypony else, right?

The lavender mare made an exaggerated salute once she had, [colour=#9999cc]"Flitter, reporting for her job, er, duty! Just tell me where to go!" [/colour] This was exciting, although, where was Cloudchaser?

[Bellosh]

During Sugar Apple’s pause, a few of the volunteers saw fit to announce their readiness for weather factory duty. The purple pegasus felt that a couple of these pegasi might have been latecomers, but she had more pressing matters to worry about other than the punctuality of these one-day or so volunteers. At any rate, the sight of Snickerdoodle’s cookies lifted the supervisor’s spirits considerably; [colour=#800080]“Thet’s mighty nice of ya’ hun! Ah haven’t been able to make sugar apples this mornin’, so ah’m sure our th’ volunteers will like those cookies.”[/colour] Knowing that Snicks worked over in the Prism Department, Sugar added; [colour=#800080]“Ya’ don’t have to stay fo’ Orientation Snicks, but be prepared t’help out th’ others makin’ rainbows... they’ll probably need it.”[/colour]

Figuring that enough time has passed by, Sugar Apple resumed orientation. [colour=#800080]“Now then!”[/colour] she got the crowd’s attention; [colour=#800080]“When y’all signed up t’volunteer today, ya’ were all given a choice of which department t’work at. When ya’ enter th’ factory, please follow th’ signs to get t’yer work stations. Also be sure t’obey both all other safety signs ya’ see as well as yer supervisor’s instructions. We’ll all need t’ follow th’ rules and work as a team eff we’re t’git these rainclouds delivered on time!!!”[/colour] For that last part, Sugar pumped a hoof into the air to pump up the crowd in front of her; a perked-up worker was a more effective worker!

[colour=#800080]“Okay, now does anypony have enny questions before ah hoof things over t'Princess Luna?”[/colour]

[colour=#ffcc00]“Oh, ohhh,”[/colour] cried out a pegasus waving her forelegs about... that same gray pegasus mare from before who forgot her uniform... and in typical Derpy Hooves fashion, appeared to have her helmet on backwards for some odd reason; [colour=#ffcc00]“Will the princess be signing any autographs today?”[/colour]

​

[colour=#800080]“No,”[/colour] answered an eye-rolling Sugar Apple, observing how crooked the other pony’s eyes looked; [colour=#800080]“Does anypony have any real questions?”[/colour]

[Derpyy]

[colour=#800080]When y’all signed up t’volunteer today, ya’ were all given a choice of which department t’work at. When ya’ enter th’ factory, please follow th’ signs to get t’yer work stations. Also be sure t’obey both all other safety signs ya’ see as well as yer supervisor’s instructions. We’ll all need t’ follow th’ rules and work as a team eff we’re t’git these rainclouds delivered on time!!!”[/colour]

The eager young stallion glanced around at everypony that was here at the assembly. He had no questions but he wanted to see if anypony had a question. He really wished he would have spoken to a few ponies when he got here but, he just decided not to. He blamed his quietness on the fact that he was pretty nervous. He couldn't believe that he had signed up to help with transportation. He felt like all of Equestria was depending on him. Like all the weight of this whole things was on him. He had to keep reassuring himself that this was going to be a team effort to keep that thought away. But it kept coming back.

The young stallion darted his eyes from one pony to the other. He had no idea how old or young some of these ponies were. But he felt as if he was the youngest. He just hoped he didn't run into a pony that looked down on him because of that. Though he was sure that everypony was as concerned and nervous about their job as he was.

He thought of something that helped him a bit. He signed up for transportation...and he was a mailpony. So it was just like he was delivering the clouds to somepony who ordered them. It made him laugh a bit when he thought about what it would be like to actually deliver a cloud to somepony. He smiled. Though he figured he would never have to deliver a cloud in his lifetime.

Care stopped daydreaming about delivering clouds and went back to the assembly. He hoped that he hadn't missed a pony ask a question. It didn't seem like he had been dreaming for very long so he was okay.

He took one last look around at a few of the ponies. He wondered which of them were on transportation like him.

[PedestrianWolf]

Snickerdoodle secretly hated it when ponies shortened her name. Her mother hadn't named her Snickers, or Doodle, or anything like that. Yes, her full name was four syllables long, and a bit of a mouthful (much like her cookies!) but it still annoyed her. She never said anything about it though, because it would be rude, and she already didn't have that many friends. It wouldn't do to alienate the ponies she had to work with on a daily basis.

Really, it was probably just the sinus headache making her extra grumpy today. She clamped her teeth together in a forced smile, and vowed to get through the day with as much grace as possible.

She was almost immediately aurally assaulted by a blue pony with a violently red mane. [colour=#498995]"Hey there, Doodle-bird...(cut for length)" [/colour]

Snickerdoodle winced a little, then mustered up a smile.

[colour=#8b4513]"Good morning, Whirligig. Yeah, this flu is terrible. I'm sorry that your mum is still out sick. I'm surprised they haven't called my mother out of retirement today, but they usually only need her for snowstorms."[/colour]

Was it her imagination, or did Whirligig look a little, flushed? It might have just been the red of her mane reflecting on her cheeks, but there was something in her eyes, too. Something that said, "I'm patient Zero". She hoped that Whirly-bird, as she sometimes referred to herself, wasn't in rainbows today. The last thing she needed was to get re-infected.

[colour=#8b4513]"Well, I gotta go to my workstation now. I hope that we have enough volunteers to get everything up and running smoothly today. See you later!"[/colour]

Snickerdoodle followed the signs that pointed towards her department, and kept an eye out for any ponies who were also heading in that direction.

[Blueblood]

Before long, Sky was kitted up in his protective gear, and he tested his flight capabilities with the jacket. He could hover just fine, after a few adjustments for the wingholes. After getting comfortable, he surveyed the scene as he drifted over towards the crowd. The weather factory, being an indoor environment, had practically no wind, which made it a bit of an effort for the stallion to get over there. Normally, he minimized effort by using wind currents; the cold storage warehouse always had a current running towards any open door. This part of the weather factory didn't.

He yawned. He didn't know why he felt so tired today, he got a full three hours of sleep last night! At least the signs were clear on where he, as a pony in delivery, needed to go. When Sugar Apple asked for questions, he raised a hoof. "[colour=#00ffff]Um, yeah, how's the wind gonna be today?"[/colour] He didn't want to tire himself out too much, he needed that energy for his music, later.

As the crew he was to be working with separated itself, he looked for any familiar faces. No one seemed to be from his side of town, but he thought he recognized one, a package deliverer that dropped by the warehouse sometime. Sky Sailing hummed a little tune as he went over to him, still hovering. "[colour=#00ffff]Are you new here, too? I hope this goes alright.[/colour]" He kept close to Care Package, clearly not comfortable in the crowd of strangers.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash stirred herself from behind one of the nearby counters, waving a hoof at the quick little puffy cloud she'd whipped up as a comfy pillow, dispersing it. She yawned, stretched, stood up, the noise and murmur around her, and the shouting orders, finally interrupting her nap. Resettling her helmet atop her head, she shimmied her way around the counter to join with the rest of the listening group, as if she'd always been there and fully awake, and hadn't shown up early to resume sleeping. Blech. Barely ten hours last night... but Cloudsdale needed her.

She lifted her hoof into the air at the appropriate time, along with Sugar Apple, and let out a cry of [colour=#0000cd]"WOOOOOO! Cloudsdale Rocks!"[/colour]

Then she went back to rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and looking around for ... oh, boy. Derpy. Looking around for anyone else she might know. Wow, this was a sparse crowd. They were gonna have to put in some extra work!

The prospect woke her up a little bit with excitement. An impossible task! A kingdom in peril! Cloudsdale needed her help! This was the thing that heroes were made from! She silenced the little squiggle of nervousness deep in her gut that they might not have enough ponies to do this ... that they might not pull it off. That she might screw up. She could deliver these clouds all by herself if need be! After all, who was the fastest pony EVER?

Still, right now it was waiting time, and she HATED waiting... and she couldn't even start getting prepped cause there was still that team lead meeting... and she HATED meetings!

​

[RarityDash]

[colour=#000000]Cloudchaser was running just a little late. This was very typical for her. She was easily distracted, and she wasn't exactly what could be called a very organized mare in the first place. She was, however, very eager to help her fellow ponies out when and wherever they needed it. Signing up to volunteer at the weather factory when the call for help had been made had been a no-brainer for her. It just seemed like the right thing to do. She had even encouraged her marefriend Flitter to volunteer her time as well. She was eager and happy to give it her all and do whatever it was she could. She had just happened to get a little distracted on her way to Cloudsdale.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Luckily, as she arrived at the orientation, she was relieved to find that it still looked to be in the process of just beginning. She would have hated missing anything important, especially since Flitter might be disappointed. She flew down to where they were handing out the uniforms and took one for herself. Ugh, she hated messing with her awesome mane with some ugly helmet, but she supposed it was unavoidable. The coat wasn't exactly made for style either, still she put it on and went out to meet the others. A rainbow tail caught her attention right away.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Heya Dashie!"[/colour][colour=#000000] she started excitably, waving a hoof at the leader of the Ponyville weather team, a pony Cloudchaser had come to kind of admire, especially through their shared time at the Wonderbolt Academy.[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]"I had a feeling you'd show up to help Cloudsdale too!"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]The carefree mare continued ahead, looking through the crowd for familiar faces. Her eyes found first a certain gray pegasus. She wasn't altogether surprised that Ponyville's infamous Derpy Hooves would want to help out, but she couldn't see it being a very good idea to let her. It just might end up being kind of counterproductive. Regardless, she gave a small wave to the mare and continued to search through the crowd until her eyes found the one she was really looking for. Fitter was wearing the required uniform as well as her leg warmers and goggles. She looked adorable in a distinctly Flitter-y way. Cloudchaser smiled and moved toward her.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"A hardhat and coat really shouldn't look so cute. I don't know how you do it, Flitter," [/colour][colour=#000000]she chimed sweetly as she strode up to the mare and offered up a charming smile and nuzzling her cheek. [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Turning to the others gathered, she gave a nod. [/colour][colour=#ffffff]"Ponyville's Cloudchaser, reporting for duty!"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she started much like she would for Spitfire at the Academy.[/colour]

​

[Lux]

Sky Flare merely shook his head when the pony asked if there were any questions. It was kind of self explanatory of what he was about to do: follow the signs and directions and meet whoever was going to work with him. The indoor space, although a flurry of activity, was unsettling to the pegasus. Sky Flare was better suited in the open sky where he could be free to practice his stunts and such. He knew that in a short time he'd be leaving to move the clouds, with his own style though. To get his mind off of the waiting process, he decided to meet with the potential work buddies, starting with a pony next to him that shared a similar name.

[colour=#ff8c00]"Hey there. So, your name is Sky too. What a coincidence. I'm Sky Flare, in case you didn't know. So, are you working at the transportation area?" [/colour]

[Jane]

[colour=#498995]"Bye Snickerdoodle - see you later!"[/colour] Whirligig called as she watched the mare head towards the Rainbow section.

Whirligig rubbed her hoof against her temple to try to clear her head, and suppressed yet another cough, but it wasn't really working. She wasn't sick - she couldn't get sick. Not when the factory needed her.

Whirligig realized she probably didn't really need to be around for the orientation either - vaporization may not be her main department, but she'd been working in there for a few weeks now and didn't need to go through the same training again. But she wanted to get to know some of the volunteers she'd be working with.

So many ponies from all over Equestria seemed to be gathering in the factory today - plenty of volunteers, and even Princess Luna herself, but there were so few of the regular factory workers present that Whirly was starting to worry. She was also worried because Stormwing had yet to make an appearance, though she did recognize a few of the other ponies from the Trottingham weather team. Now Whirligig was starting to get anxious. No, anxious wasn't the right word - Stormwing would turn up, probably midway through Princess Luna's motivational speech or something just to be extra-rude. Annoyed was a better word. Even when things were important he could never seem to make much of an effort. She exchanged irritated glances with one of Stormwing's local teammates and realized that she only had to put up with his tardiness every once in a while. They had to put up with him every day.

She tried to put her irresponsible brother to the back of her mind and turned her attention to Sugar Apple, who was giving out more instructions to the rest of the volunteers. Eventually, the purple mare paused and asked for questions from the crowd. Whirligig had one - actually, she had several, in usual Whirligig fashion, but she decided to limit herself to just one.

[colour=#498995]"Oh, I have a question, Apple-bird, ma'am! Are you in charge of all the volunteers? Cause if you are, then who's gonna be in charge of vaporization? That usually -"[/colour] she stopped, realizing that talking a lot made her want to cough. Covering her mouth with her hoof, she tried not to draw too much attention to her present state, but since all eyes were already on her, she failed at that rather miserably. With a few feeble wheezes, she finished her sentence [colour=#498995]"That's usually your job."[/colour]

She hoped against hope that they wouldn’t try to send her home now. Surely, if she was here she could work, and they needed ponies who could work. Maybe she could wear a mask - one of those masks doctor ponies wore so as not to get their germs on other ponies. She would look rather silly, of course, but she wouldn't mind too terribly if it meant she still got to help out. She shifted her hooves beneath her anxiously, hoping nopony would say anything about her small relapse. She would be fine, she knew she would be fine. She just had to think positive - think positive, yeah?

​

[Bellosh]

Finally thought Sugar Apple, somepony with a real question! [colour=#800080]“Oh yeah,”[/colour] she addressed the wind question from one of the volunteers; [colour=#800080]“Th’ meteorologists say thet th’ wind ‘round these parts should be fine today, but ennypony volunteering t’transport th’ clouds with little prior experience should be aware thet clear air turbulence can occur at enny time. There shouldn’t be problems though if y’all don’t panic and keep yer clouds from blowin’ away.”[/colour]

The next pony to ask a question was actually one of the newer workers, Whirlgig, and she wanted to know who would be left in charge of VaporDep in Sugar Apple’s absence. Well... the purple pegasus would have to introduce all the temporary supervisors sooner or later, so she decided to get all that out of the way. [colour=#800080]“Good question,”[/colour] Sugar pressed on, not having heard the wheezes from Whirlgig; [colour=#800080]“Ah’m not actually in charge, but ah will be helpin’ out th’ Princess today, so Colonel Pummel of the Royal Equestrian Army,”[/colour] Sugar pointed to an older gentlecolt behind her outfitted in an military officer’s service dress; [colour=#800080]“Will be in charge of you folks today. Ya’ rainbow makers will report to Professor Klyde Krashkop,”[/colour] she then nodded towards the professor; [colour=#800080]“And ya’ transporters will follow Rainbow Dash’s Dash! Ya’ might remember Rainbow as th’ winner of thet Young Flyer’s Competition a year ago, so we all appreciate her lending a wing or two today.”[/colour]

[colour=#800080]“All yer supervisors have chosen to volunteer hyar just like th’ rest of ya’, so give them all yer respect please.”[/colour] Feeling that she needed to get on with things, Sugar Apple decided now would be the time for the alicorn to make her introduction; [colour=#800080]“Alright folks; we’ve got deadlines we all gotta’ meet to make sure everypony gets thar sprin rains on time, but before we start th’ work day,”[/colour] the pegasus mare gestured to Her Highness; [colour=#800080]“Ah believe thet Princess Luna has a few words to say.”[/colour] And it couldn't have come at a better time too; Sugar Apple's throat started to get exhausted from all that nonstop talking.....!

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash smiled brightly when Cloudchaser greeted her, and then spotted Flitter there too, amongst the crowd. [colour=#0000cd]"Hey, girls!"[/colour] she greeted them cheerfully, though quietly, so as not to talk over Sugar Apple. She stepped forward to throw her forelegs around each of their shoulders, drawing them close so she could deliver a melodramatic pep talk just for those two Ponyville pegasi. [colour=#0000cd]"This is awesome, huh? Equestria in peril, and we, the only ponies who fly guard against disaster! Caught between plague and famine! Do or die, this is our moment! The kingdom is counting on us, and if we fail, thousands, perhaps millions of ponies will starve!"[/colour]

​

[Mojo]

Not wanting to miss Princess Luna's speech but excited when he heard about the cookies, Professor Krashkop rushed over into the breakroom, grabbed up several cookies and returned to his former place in the group, munching on the cookies as he stood.

[colour=#008000]"Dees cookies are VUNDERBA!" [/colour]the Professor neighed as the green Pegasus turned towards Snickerdoodle, [colour=#008000]"Danka fraulien! You must give me dee recipe for dees delightful baked vonders! Are you on mein team? Dee rainbow colouring team?"[/colour]

Professor Krashkop waited for a reply while still waiting for Princess Luna's arrival on the scene. She would no doubt come with great fanfare in her air chariot. That was something the elderly Pegasus stallion wanted to see with his own two eyes!

[brianblackberry]

Flitter didn't pay close attention to the nuances of the speech the lavender pegasus was giving, as she figured anything important she needed to know would be told to her at the department level. Instead Flitter floated over to the posted listing that showed which pegasus was assigned to which department. It didn't really matter to her what department she was actually in, being equally inexperienced in all of them, but if she would know any of the others in the department she got assigned to. The gray-lavender mare verbally squeaked in joy half way through reading when she saw Cloudchaser's name printed for the Vaporization department.

As if on cue, the tardy Cloudchaser came trotting up to her with blush inducing compliments in hoof. [colour=#cc99cc]"Awwww… thanks hon. Although I had to move my bow"[/colour]. Flitter brought her tail up along her side to show that she had tied her favorite bow to the end of it,[colour=#cc99cc] "it doesn't look as good down there, but oh well… Heh, if you want, I can tie it onto your tail instead! It be soooooo cute!" [/colour]Flitter just smirked, bows weren't Cloudchaser's style, so it was fun to occasionally "suggest" adding some to her mane or tail; truth was though Flitter was trying to be silly to deflect from her own nervousness at the general situation, and the pressure she felt.

Of course Dash only added tot hat pressure when the rainbow maned pegasus popped up between the pair talking something about how the fate of Equestria was on their wings and the only thing between hungry little foals and starvation was them, at least that is how a suddenly worried Flitter took it. [colour=#cc99cc]"Oh come on… It isn't that bad! Is it?" [/colour] Surely Dash was just really exaggerating for effect and the worst thing that could really go wrong was a small rain delay, right?

Yet again didn't that Sugar Apple say that Princess Luna would be in charge?? When did a weather factory need a princess to run things? The situation had to be serious! Still… Flitter just turned and looked at Cloudchaser with a quiver, [colour=#dda0dd]"it isn't that bad... Is it?"[/colour]

[PedestrianWolf]

Snickerdoodle turned around quick when she heard that one of the Princesses would be in charge of operations, and giving a speech to the assembly. It wasn't completely unheard of for them to visit Cloudsdale, but never the weather factory. She didn't want to miss this!

Scurrying back towards the group of volunteers, she saw an older green pegasus stallion with a mouth full of her cookies.

[colour=#008000]"Danka fraulien! You must give me dee recipe for dees delightful baked vonders! Are you on mein team? Dee rainbow colouring team?"[/colour]

[colour=#8b4513]"Uhm, you're welcome? I, uh, don't have a recipe written down. I learned to bake from my Nana Noctilucentia, from Itaily. Well, Trottingham now, but..." [/colour]Snickerdoodle trailed off as her head suddenly started pounding. She stopped and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing. Darn sinuses, why did they have to clog so badly, anyway? Maybe it was the altitude. Or the barometric pressure. No matter, just get through the morning, and maybe try to take a nap at lunchtime.

[colour=#8b4513]"Oh, yes! I'm in rainbows today. Well, I'm in rainbows every day, actually. But I think I'm the only one of the regulars who made it in."[/colour]

And a good thing, too, since she was sure she saw Derpy's name on the roster for colour mixing. Snickerdoodle knew from previous run-ins with the blonde mare that she could be trouble. Not malicious, just clumsy. And that could be dangerous around the dye vats. Somepony was going to have to keep an eye on her to make sure nothing got damaged too badly.[colour=#8b4513] [/colour]

[Elderflower]

Luna looked over the meagre gathering of pegasi as they all made their way into the weather factory. What she saw did not comfort her - there was eagerness and courage to be found, yes, but she also saw a lot of nerves, a touch of the feather flu, and simply not enough of the grim determination that she herself was feeling. Did they not understand the severity of the situation? The Princess of the Night stood in her place on stage, her solemn image stoic and somewhat severe despite the slight silliness of the jacket and hard hat she sported. Though it certainly cut away from her regality, the safe wardrobe was necessary. Even though she felt as though she did not need it, if their Princess was wearing the gear, well, the others wouldn’t be as tempted to take it off.

She remained still as a statue where she stood, her teal gaze jumping from pony to pony as she sized each and every volunteer up. Hopefully, despite the sheer lack of experience that was gathered before the stage, these ponies would stand up to their task. If not…Luna couldn’t bear to think of it. It was her duty, then, to communicate the severity of the situation without driving a wedge into their nerves – to make them aware of what they faced without making them fear it. She must also lift their morale, encourage them and set their spirits ablaze.

Luna sighed. At least the leaders on stage alongside her seemed to be made of stern stuff – they were tried, experienced, and she could trust that they were capable. Though Rainbow Dash seemed to be a little bit energetic and all over the place, the Princess knew without a doubt that she would make a good leader today. The only one who gave her pause was the old green pegasus, who did seem a little…kooky.

Finally, when Sugar Apple indicated it was her time to speak, Luna drew a deep breath. She allowed a few moments for the ponies to collect themselves and took advantage of that bit of time to brush over what she wanted to say in her speech. For once, her own nerves (though they still spun around into knots in her stomach) were relatively calm. Normally, she would be concerned about her image – about what the ponies thought of her and the impression she were making. But luckily, for a Princess who used her royalty and authority as somewhat of a crutch when it came to interacting with others, the position she was in demanded those qualities to shine. Her only concern was not to go terribly overboard…

[colour=#6666ff]“Greetings, pegasi of Equestria,” [/colour]she finally began, stepping forwards and doing her best to soften her expression as she looked down upon the small groups of ponies,[colour=#6666ff] “We are all here because Equestria is facing a peril that we were not prepared for. Spring is upon us, and with it must come the heavy and rejuvenating rains which will sustain the crops and soil and feed life into our fields. But the feather flu that has struck Cloudsdale has put everything behind, leaving us in a sore predicament – we are far behind and the possibility of a drought is very real. Today, we must all band together in our efforts to bring the spring rains to Equestria. Though most of you are volunteers unfamiliar with the weather factory, trust in your leaders to guide you in the right direction. You may be unfamiliar with the factory’s process, but with our presence you will not be lost – ask any question you must, and do not fear to do so. Today, all that matters is that we work as quickly as possible and create a quality product, for when night falls our deadline will be up.”[/colour]

There. The reality of the situation was covered. The princess, solemn-faced and towering, her stomach tumbling with nerves, allowed herself to reveal a smile. Though slight, it shifted her expression from stony determination to one of great confidence.

[colour=#6666ff]“Do not fear, though, my little ponies. The severity of this situation is far outweighed by something much more powerful than any plague of feather flu: you. Volunteers or not, in my countless centuries of life I have never seen anything more capable of great feats of strength or will than a pony. I know that you will find it in yourselves today to salvage this situation and deliver a proper spring to Equestria.

But the time for speeches is done. You must now follow the guidance of your team leaders in your efforts. I will be visiting each group throughout the day to monitor your progress. Have faith, pegasi! Together, we will triumph!”[/colour]

Her smile growing slightly, Luna lifted her wings and chin proudly, then stepped to the side and made room at centre stage for Sugar Apple to come forward. She turned and nodded at the mare – this would be the best time to introduce the leaders and set the groups towards their designated areas in the factory. Time to get the ball rolling!

[Jane]

Stormwing never meant to be late. It just sort of happened. One morning he would sleep through the alarm, the next he couldn't find where he'd written down the weather schedule. The following day, he would pour himself a bowl of oats only to discover the milk had gone sour, so he would have to rush to the corner shop to buy more. On this particular morning, the weather had been, well, not quite cancelled, but the team leader insisted he would take care of the simple, party-cloudy sunny day himself so that the Trottingham weather crew could help take care of the crisis in Cloudsdale.

He'd heard about the crisis, of course - perhaps even sooner than many, since his mother was one of the first to go down and was still, as far as he knew, recovering from the dreaded feather flu. And he was eager to do his part to help out, even though he'd tried and hated working at the factory.

Everything was set for him to be on time. The milk was fresh, the alarm was set, there was no weather schedule to worry about. But at the last minute, before he was about to leave, Stormwing remembered that he had an old hardhat from his factory days in the closet. Oh, and Vanilla Latte had given him some croissants yesterday for him to share with Whirligig and his mother. Where had he put those?

Next thing he knew, fifteen minutes after he was meant to leave for Cloudsdale, he was still rummaging through the clutter in his closet looking for the stupid white helmet that he knew must be in there.

[colour=#00333E]"Oh, forget it!"[/colour] he announced aloud, realizing that there would be spares there he could use. He grabbed the brown paper bag between his teeth, stretched his wings, and set off as quickly as he could over the rooftops of Trottingham, over the Great Nimbusgait Lakes, and towards the shining city of his childhood to assist with the crisis.

It wasn't a long flight, and so within an hour Stormwing came crashing into the weather factory, his wild red mane mussed and windswept, and the brown paper bag filled with Latte's croissants for mother was ripped in three places. He was a bit exhausted, having tried to fly faster to make up for lost time, and not terribly excited to start factory work in his present condition.

He stumbled into the main area of the factory where he saw some of his team from Trottingham glaring at him. Breezyblue especially looked rather annoyed his tardy arrival - but his cousin was always annoyed with Stormwing. He also saw that Princess Luna was addressing the group in a loud and authoritative voice. Oh sweet Celestia, he hoped she wouldn't notice him slipping into the back of the group. He had no idea what was going on - something about her never having seen anything more capable of great feats of strength than a pony. Good good, all he was missing was the obligatory pep talk. He made sure to cheer extra loud at the end of the Princess' speech.

Oh no, now he had Whirligig's attention - the cornflower blue pegasus turned around at the sound of his voice - and gave him a rather condescending look. Stormwing sometimes wished that he couldn't communicate with his sister using facial expressions alone - maybe then he would have been able to pretend that he didn't know she was trying to tell him that he was an idiot and how dare he be late for something like this when Equestria needed him. And also, in his rush to get here on time, he'd forgotten to don one of the Factory Uniforms. It figured, considering trying to find his old uniform was the reason for his tardiness. Sheepishly he snuck out of the crowd, brutally aware of his bright red, unhelmeted mane sticking out like a sore hoof.

He returned to the room full of eager pegasi in the proper attire this time, and plastered a smile on his face. He was used to rocky starts to mornings - unfortunately they were far too common an occurrence in Stormwing's life and he was used to laughing them off and getting on with his day. Putting the morning's events behind him and avoiding a certain pair of green eyes that looked exactly like his own, he focussed his attention on the purple mare who seemed to be in charge of the operation and awaited further instructions.

​

[Blueblood]

The supervisor's answer was satisfying enough to Sky Sailing, until he realized that he didn't really know what were "normal" winds for this part of town. The turbulence probably wouldn't help either, but since he was in the delivery task force, the light blue stallion would probably have to "wing it" anyway.

However, another suspicion was beginning to trouble Sky. It began when the cyan mare began going on about the dire situation, and was only reinforced by the fact that Princess Luna herself had come in person. As he looked at the alicorn, half listening, the doubt in his mind grew. [colour=#40e0d0]*Am I awake? Maybe I'm dreaming; it can't really be that serious... would they trust me if it was?*[/colour]

There was an ever-present kind of dreamy fog between Sky's ears, derived mostly from his trouble sleeping. The waking world was made a little more surreal, and the sleeping world more prosaic, so that he could hardly tell the difference sometimes. [colour=#40e0d0]*But either way, I don't want to disappoint the Princess.*[/colour]

With that thought, he gave a wave towards the platform at the end of Luna's speech. "[colour=#40e0d0]Will do!"[/colour] He said, probably summing up the feelings of everypony present. [colour=#40e0d0]*If this is a dream, let's make it a good one!*[/colour]

[RarityDash]

[colour=#CC99CC]"Awwww… thanks hon. Although I had to move my bow.I[/colour][colour=#CC99CC]t doesn't look as good down there, but oh well… Heh, if you want, I can tie it onto your tail instead! It be soooooo cute!" [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Cloudchaser was happy to see her mare, but seeing that look in her eyes she took a step back and grinned awkwardly. Bows might look amazing on Flitter, but they totally clashed with her awesome style. [/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Nah, that's fine, Flit... I actually think it looks super cute on your tail,"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she said with a laugh. [/colour][colour=#ffffff]"you totally know how to make those bows work," [/colour][colour=#000000]she added with a nod.[/colour]

​

[colour=#0000CD]"Hey, girls! [/colour][colour=#0000CD]This is awesome, huh? Equestria in peril, and we, the only ponies who fly guard against disaster! Caught between plague and famine! Do or die, this is our moment! The kingdom is counting on us, and if we fail, thousands, perhaps millions of ponies will starve!"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Dash had noticed the two of them then and had flown over to offer greetings. Chaser smiled at her fellow weather pony as she laid on the dramatics. How very like Dash to make a scene of it with her dramatics. Chaser laughed and smiled at her captain's excitement. Fitter, on the other hand didn't seem quite so pleased. She had that look on her face that told Cloudchaser she was worried. As she spoke up, this was confirmed.[/colour]

​

[colour=#CC99CC]"Oh come on… It isn't that bad! Is it? I[/colour][colour=#DDA0DD]t isn't that bad... Is it?"[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Well, it is a big deal. Equestria depends on the weather factory for so much. Still, you know Dashie. Leave it to her to make every event out to be a Daring Do climax,"[/colour] [colour=#000000]the pegasus did her best to reassure her special somepony. [/colour][colour=#ffffff]"We just gotta do our best and we can beat this!"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she concluded, readily.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Though she talked big, she was a little worried. She had never really done factory work before. Moreover, she'd sometimes go all scatterbrained and screw up under pressure. She could vividly recall how combatting a storm that had gotten out of control not too long ago had landed her passed out in a puddle with a bump on her head after only a few minutes of work. She wasn't going to let herself choke up like that again. She would try her best to be as cool as possible. [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Princess Luna addressed them then with a rousing speech. Chaser watched with rapt attention. Princesses sure were cool. With Luna here, she was sure they'd all do nothing but succeed. She clapped her hooves together at the end of Luna's speech.[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]"Woo! Go Luna! We're so gonna do this!"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she cheered out, revealing her enthusiasm.[/colour]

​