Cloudsdale Frenzied Factory Zone: Vaporization Department (Sign-up in OOC Thread)

[brianblackberry]

Flitter turned the water spigot close as soon as she heard Cloudchaser’s cue. There, that should help quite a bit, now the vat will be…

Filled to the brim again.

Flitter facehoofed as the water-prism mix splashed over the sides of the vat, adding to the already colorful mess that permeated the cloud floor of the room, soaking into the once brillant bluish fluff, which was now a prism of swirling colors. Well perhaps the colors will be easy to remove, much like rain, or the place is use to regular spillage. At least that is what Flitter hoped.

“It’s a bit full, but I'm sure one we begin to stir it, real good clouds will form! Just leeeet me spill some of the excess into that bowl cloud I made, 'kay?” Flitter used the oar to carefully push some of the colorful water into that same cloud she used before. The spillage mostly went where she intended, that could be seen as good or bad, depending on how much of a stickler one was in regard to a clean workplace. Can’t worry about that now though, there were clouds to make!

Once that was done Flitter began to stir the more balanced mix, as she had hoped, the clouds condensing on top and floating up were considerably larger and thicker then the pathetic ones that preceded them. “Finally! I knew we could get this! Pfft… That old goat thought we wouldn’t be able to do anything without his ‘supervision’, well these awesome looking clouds are about to prove him wrong!” Flitter wasn’t quite as confident as she boasted, but she feared that if she admitted that she was just playing it by ear, Cloudchaser would lose her own confidence, but hey, things are going right, so why not pretend she was on top of everything?

Between her focus on stirring and all the clouds that were now forming, Flitter had forgotten about the bowl shaped cloud she had made earlier, now fully laden with prism and water, the top had just folded over as it absorbed the mixture. Noiw fully saturated and turning brilliant colored, the large cloud began to float upwards, ready to explode its contents everywhere with just the slightest bump...

[AlisonRose]

-Misty Morning-

Misty knew that she had been sort of late to help out her friends Flitter and Cloudchaser, but at least she had found the right room to be in. Wearing a Weather Factory lab-coat and hard hat she looked around with a small grin hoping that most of the ponies here wouldn't make too much of a hype that she was a Wonderbolts Team B member. Distraction causes injury, and injury isn't fun!

"Sorry I am late, is there anything that I need to be informed of?" She spoke to whom seemed to be the team leader at the moment. "I have this pamphlet thingy still that I was given by that nice Apple Mare, but I'm not even sure that I am actually in the right place. The Vaporization Department?" Misty was rambling, hoping that he wasn't too busy looking stubborn and upset with the workers to take notice of her. She rubbed her eyes a bit hoping that she was just seeing a huge spill of, so eloquently put, stuff from a giant vat.

"What is even going on here?" She scratched her chin as she squinted her eyes to see that it looked like Flitter and Cloudchaser were the only two working!

[Bellosh]

OOC: Assume that there are other volunteers around aside from the player characters. Treat them as NPCs.

"Sorry I am late, is there anything that I need to be informed of? I have this pamphlet thingy still that I was given by that nice Apple Mare, but I'm not even sure that I am actually in the right place. The Vaporization Department?"

What was this world coming to? First those two insubordinate mares, and now this new latecomer? Didn’t ponies these days know how to be on time? Col. Pummel sure as heck didn’t need the Army to teach him the value of promptness. It was as if the only ponies who bothered filling in for the sick factory workers were the very ponies who weren’t fit for factory duty at all. It all made sense in hindsight.

Unfortunately though, Pummel had to deal with the ponies he had on hoof; not the ponies he wanted. “Look around you ma’am,” the disgruntled team leader suggested in a chastising tone; “Did you sign up to make clouds? If so… I believe you somehow stumbled into the right place. Now why don’t you... Are you even paying attention to a word I’m saying? What is so compelling that's making you ignore-”

That look of horror on the mare’s face prompted Col. Pummel to briefly glance over at what distracted her… only to find the sight before him to be as equally alarming as the latecomer did. What did those two fools do now? That cloud of theirs was about to cause a major catastrophe! “My… Celestia,” Pummel quitely growled, but it was too late. The colonel only turned his head fast enough just in time for it to happen.....

[RarityDash]

“It’s a bit full, but I'm sure one we begin to stir it, real good clouds will form! Just leeeet me spill some of the excess into that bowl cloud I made, 'kay?”

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Cloudchaser said with a smile. "My Flitter can't fail. We totally got this!" she added. She had been worried for a while, but seeing Flitter figure it out restored her confidence. It was kinda exciting actually. Flitter was so cool, and seeing her put her amazing brain to use and get this done, and without the help of that big mean colonel, was the best!

​

“Finally! I knew we could get this! Pfft… That old goat thought we wouldn’t be able to do anything without his ‘supervision’, well these awesome looking clouds are about to prove him wrong!”

"Woo! They look amazing, Flit! I'm sure that miserable old nag won't believe his eyes when he sees how well we're doing here!" she cheered, eagerly. her eyes went for a moment to the odd, now floating colorful cloud pull. it seemed to be kind of pulsing... or something. She wondered if perhaps she shouldn't say or do something about it? Probably... She gave a nod and flew toward it, when suddenly a voice spoke near them.

​

"Sorry I am late, is there anything that I need to be informed of? I have this pamphlet thingy still that I was given by that nice Apple Mare, but I'm not even sure that I am actually in the right place. The Vaporization Department? What is even going on here?"

Chaser's eyes went from the cloud bowl to the mare that had come to meet them. Apparently she was on the team too, but was late. Chaser might have continued to look after the precarious cloud bowl, but it just so happened she recognized this mare. Excitedly, she flew back down to meet her.

"I know you! You're Misty Morning, from Team B of the Wonderbolts!" Chaser started, smiling. "I'm a huge fan of you guys! Signed up for the academy myself, in fact... but it was kinda tough. Ended up dropping out after the first month."

She gave a chuckle as her eyes then darted toward the mare's pamphlet. "Ah, hey! You wouldn't mind sharing that pamphlet with us, would you? We seem to have... misplaced ours..." she then asked. This was awesome. Not only had they met a wonderbolt, but now they'd have access to the pamphlet again... so long as a certain stallion didn't come and notice...

​

“Look around you ma’am, Did you sign up to make clouds? If so… I believe you somehow stumbled into the right place. Now why don’t you... Are you even paying attention to a word I’m saying? What is so compelling that's making you ignore-”

Chaser sighed. It was too much to hope for, she supposed. As the colonel approached and began to speak, she felt like rolling her eyes. Why didn't he just let them work? It's not like they were hurting things. They were figuring it out, and even if things had gotten a little messy, it's not like anything too bad had happened.

Then the stallion cut himself off as he noticed something. Cloudchaser's eyes went where his did. That's where she saw it again! It was that super saturated prism cloud bowl, hovering and pulsing harder than ever. Chaser couldn't tell what it might do, but every indication was that it wasn't going to be good. She was closest, so she flew at it, intent to stop it from doing whatever it might do. She got one hoof on it when suddenly it burst violently.

Massive quantities of prism shot out everywhere. It got all over Cloudchaser, dyeing her coat and mane with large rainbow splotches. Some shot up in the air and began to rain down from above. It was hard to guess how big an area had been affected, but everywhere Cloudchaser could see was now spotted in bright colors. She gave an awkward laugh as she sat down on a cloud. She looked up at the colonel, already having a pretty good idea of what he was going to say...

​

[brianblackberry]

The clouds were finally starting to look good, soon they would have enough to start shaping them individually for transport. Flitter figured to let Cloudchaser handle that part, she was a weather pony after all and knew how to keep them from storming up until needed. Still Flitter had some nervousness and worry as she stirred the mixture producing the storm clouds, but smiled all the way so to keep Cloudchaser's confidence high; it appeared to be working as her mare friend basically cheered her on. "Looks like soon we'll have enough that you can start sorting the clouds hon; maybe I am cut out for weather work after all. Not that I would give up my day job." Well, day school, she didn't have much in the way of a job, yet.

Another pegasus approached them, one with an ice blue mane and a light yellow coat. To Flitter she seemed familiar, but the bow wearing mare couldn't quite place the newcomer, that is until Cloudchaser exclaimed who she was, Misty Morning. Like all pegasai, Flitter knew who the Wonderbolts were and she could even recognize some individually, as long as they were in uniform. This was the first time she met one outside of their sleek outfits, heck, this was the first time she actually met one period!

"Yeah, Cloudy here actually got invited to the academy, I am so proud of her!" Sure Cloudchaser didn't make it through the first part of the program, but most recruits don't, but hey she at least got a chance, most pegasai don't even have the skill to get that far! Flitter just felt a little embarrassed still about the "congratulations Wonderbolt" banners she presumptively bought, and set up, when Cloudchaser returned.

None of that mattered now, Misty had a pamphlet! Now Flitter could check it against her memory and make any necessary adjustments! "Say miss Misty could I take a peek at that, just want to make sure on the details." No need to worry Cloudchaser by giving the impression she wasn't sure on the main principles.

Flitter floated down to look at the paper when there was a loud popping sound. As she turned around, Flitter was meant by a large splatter of cool, colorful mix prism and water, covering her body from head to hoof. As if that wasn't bad enough, the explosion of liquid color sprayed out in every direction covering ay and all ponies in the room, not to mention the vat, the floor, the walls…. "Uh ohhhh…"

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash's head popped in through one of the many new holes perforating the cloud factory's once-pristine roof, the harried team leader looking a bit wide-eyed and annoyed.

"Hey! Everypony all right in there?" she cried. "I've got a whole flight of clouds out there that looks like they're ready for some really rocking sunsets over a Dethklowd concert!" She paused in her complaints, looking around in concern. "Wow, there's color EVERYWHERE in here. What happened, someone spill prism into an overloaded stormcloud or something?"

​

[Bellosh]

A sea of color filled the eyes of Col. Pummel for a couple brief seconds, who only had a brief window to yell “TAKE COVER!” before being engulfed by a wave of liquid rainbow. As every pegasus knows, it took heat to make rainbows, meaning that getting hit by such a prism-filled wave was not unlike colliding into a wall of hot water. Pummel shielded his eyes with one foreleg, using his other legs to keep from being swept away.

When all was said and done, the colonel’s drab appearance turned into a canvas for every haphazard color of the rainbow. It would have been a humorous sight indeed, if not for Pummel’s face crackling with utter rage. To Tartarus with keeping composure; the old stallion would give these twerps a verbal lashing down they’ll never-

"Hey! Everypony all right in there? I've got a whole flight of clouds out there that looks like they're ready for some really rocking sunsets over a Dethklowd concert! Wow, there's color EVERYWHERE in here. What happened, someone spill prism into an overloaded stormcloud or something?"

New objective; get everypony useful back to work. “Never mind what happened Miss Dash!” Pummel barked at the Transport Team leader; “Get back to your post; I’ve got everything under control down here.”

And now… to chastise the two utterly incompetent mares Flitter and Cloudchaser; “.....I gave you jokers one chance to prove yourselves as valuable team players… and you blow things just... like... that? I absolutely can’t believe that anypony would sign up for such an important mission only to blow off their team leader and goof around! LOOK AT THE DAMAGE YOU CAUSED, IDIOTS! DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOUR TEAMMATES COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED FROM YOUR STUPEFYING NEGLIGENCE?”

The colonel needed a breather to calm himself back down; “Flitter. Cloudchaser. Find buckets and mops. Clean up your mess or get out. Neither of you are welcome to resume your Vapor Team duties; Equestria doesn’t need numskulls like you period. Dismissed…” Pummel extended a hoof towards the nearest janitorial closet, not caring if he hurt any feelings. Flitter and Cloudchaser deserved all the tough love that came to them. Meanwhile, the tall stallion had one of the other volunteers to find and summon Sugar Apple.....

[brianblackberry]

Oh this was bad, very bad, and very colorful. Flitter had miscalculated terribly, she mistakenly believed that her little cloud could hold the excess prism and water but it was too much. Now the results of her hubris were colorfully everywhere for every pegasus to see. It even managed to get into some of the clouds outside based on Rainbow Dash’s inquiries. Oh Celestia, she really screwed things up this time!

At least no pony was hurt, the prism had been cooled by the water and the cloud enough that it felt like a very warm bath, a very colorful, soaked into everything warm bath. That was the only good thing about the entire mess, for it not only attracted Dash’s attention, it also got Pummel’s, and with it his wrath.

What could she say in response to the officer's enraged bellowing? The cold, hard truth was that Flitter really had made a mess of things. She told Pummel off, she pretended that she had it under control; she assumed her ad hoc cloud solution would work, and now it was all blowing up in her face, one could say literally, the way Pummel kept going off on her, on them.

Then something snapped, at first it looked as if the bow wearing mare was just going to sheepishly take it, or worse, start to cry, it was her fault after all. Pummel though blamed Cloudchaser just as much for the mess, but Cloudy did nothing wrong! She was just trying to help; she didn’t make the cloud or dump anything into it, that was all Flitter. There was no way she was going to let her marefriend take even the smallest part of the fall for this, especially punctuated with his insulting name calling. “She is not an idiot!!”

For a moment, the teary eyed Flitter didn’t say anything past that other than to look determined, and tough, while failing miserably at the latter. She wasn't done though, “I’m the idiot! If you’re going to blame anypony, blame me! I’m the one that made the cloud, I’m the one that overfilled the vats, I’m the one that poured the excess into the cloud thinking it would hold! All Cloudchaser did is stir to make the clouds above us, she didn’t cause this, I did! And I did alone! You’re not the type to blame the innocent, are you?!”

Flitter sniffed, working to hold back her tears as she turned to get the mop and buckets, “my mess, I’ll clean it!” It was all she could think of to do to fix things and protect Cloudchaser, who's job could even be on the line.

Now just don’t let them see you cry Flitter, don’t let them….

[AlisonRose]

-Misty Morning-

Misty was shocked at all the sudden attention. Misty stepped down onto the clouds and nuzzled Flitter aside.

"Hold on hun, let me take care of this." Or at least try, Misty didn't recall exactly what to do so instead she just started to preform one of her signature I think this is how it works faces and started to mop up the spill. She was being very careful as to not ruin the colors. She tried to get them into each of the buckets without mixing them as best she could but with her limited eye-sight this was going to be the task of ages for her as her goggles had fallen off somewhere above and she wasn't able to retrieve them as she wanted to help Flitter and Cloudchaser take care of this mess.

"I don't want either of you to cry or get upset ok? When I first started to train at the Wonderbolt's Training grounds I ran into /everything/ and made tons of messes worse then this one. Then I got my goggles made specially for me to help with my vision! But still to this day I run into things from time to time, just less. So fret not, even us great Wonderbolts still make a mess every now and then, its nothing to be sad about, just perk that chin back up missy and make sure to keep your head in the game for the rest of the day huh?" Misty tried to give her words of confidence as she slowly worked at cleaning up the color.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash bristled and turned her head over her shoulder. He was yelling at HER friends that way!? SHE DIDN'T THINK SO! "Be right back!" she called to her team, then down through the hole to get up in Pummel's face.

"YOU GOTTA PROBLEM?!" she demanded loudly, her hoof jabbing into his chest, her words blowing his mane back. He thought he could get volume? He had something to learn! "These aren't recruits, these are volunteers! In an emergency! We don't have the luxury of finding ponies that LIKE this job, or who know what they're doing! It is NOT THEIR JOB to know what they're doing, or who are going to know what dangers to avoid! And it is NOT your job to shake them down like a set of new recruits, or try to filter out the good from the bad! It's your job to guide them, protect them, and help them be useful! So if they screw up, it's YOUR FAULT, and not theirs! I know these two ponies are hard workers and try their very hardest to do the very best they can, so you better SHAPE UP, Captain Loudmouth, or you and I ain't just gonna have issues, we're gonna have SUBSCRIPTIONS. NOW, soldier, do you or do you not have your regulation hoofkerchief on you?"

​

[RarityDash]

Cloudchaser stared ahead in a stupor, completely unsure what to even say or do. She had watched it happen, but she didn't quite comprehend that it had. Her body shook awkwardly and she found herself unable to move for several moments. Then the shouting started. It started with him, the colonel. He tore into her and Flitter. It was bad, the kind of thing that would make a more sensitive mare cry. Chaser wanted to say something as he turned to insulting her and Flitter, but hesitations kept her from speaking up and then Flitter opened her mouth to speak for herself. It was exactly the sort of thing she would have said and done, and while Cloudchaser felt proud of her mare, she didn't really desire to be shielded by her.

Flitter was not the last to speak her mind. Alerted by the colorful explosion, Rainbow Dash had appeared on the scene suddenly. Once the big mean colonel had finished his tirade, she opted to make it a shouting match, scolding the tough guy right to his face. It was a bold move from a bold pony. Chaser was very much impressed. There was something very warming about seeing that Rainbow Dash, the leader of the weather team back home, had her back for something like this. It helped Chaser collect herself and figure out what she needed to say. She stepped ahead calmly.

"Sure, we made mistakes. That much is obvious to anypony," Chaser started in a cool voice. "But the fact is that this is our time we're volunteering to help you guys out of a pinch. If we're not wanted here, me and Flitter can just unvolunteer it and bolt home right now and you can clean all this up by yourself."

Cloudchaser gave a smile as she walked over to Flitter and wrapped an arm over her. "Theres' no reason for you to clean this all up on your own, Flitter. It's on our supervisor here," she said firmly. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Looking back a Pummel, she gave a nod, "Your call, Colonel."

​

[Bellosh]

Col. Pummel’s control over the situation evaporated away by the second. Flitter suffered a breakdown of guilt, Rainbow Dash went into all-out accusation mode without having have had the chance to know every detail surrounding the incident, and Cloudchaser predictably stood by her fellow partner. With so much open dissention on display, Pummel’s confidence in his other workers’ ability to remain obedient waned. The crisis needed to be rectified at once!

Firstly; to counter the other team leader. Pummel didn’t really wish to have to argue with Rainbow Dash, having showed aptitude as a superb motivator of ponies during the orientation session. But perhaps the colonel had been too quick in his initial appraisal of the rainbow-maned mare. “.....You are a rather rash pegasus Miss Dash,” Pummel coldly sighed; “Perhaps you would think differently of your friends... if you knew that out of sheer pride, those two refused to ask another volunteer to share an instruction pamphlet with them.”

“Ordinarily, anypony who loses something like this,“ Pummel showed the pamphlet he confiscated earlier as punishment; ”Works as hard as they can to figure out another means to figure out a procedure safely. But not those two; no, they acted like foals by winging it while everyone else followed instructions and respected their team leader. I assure you that if Princess Celestia was in my position, you wouldn’t tolerate a superior being badmouthed behind their back every second.”

Frankly, Col. Pummel would be happier seeing the two jokers walk off the factory floor than seeing them stay. Flitter and Cloudchaser caused more than enough harm already. “If you can’t tolerate my authority,” he snorted, strategically turning away from the three critics; “Then by all means, get out and let the others pick up your slack. Heh, not unless Miss Dash here’s willing to throw aside her Transport Dep responsibilities to babysit you two.” Pummel was really getting tired of these ignorant civilians questioning his leadership methods.....

[AlisonRose]

-Misty Morning-

Misty didn't much like arguments, she kept cleaning up as best she could not making eye contact with any of those who seemed to be in the middle of a very intense war of words.

"Uh, um, excuse me. Can we maybe not yell so much?" Misty said tilting her head to one side and acting as if there was something stuck in her ear. In reality it was more the fact that she didn't want their verbal warfare to get any worse. If anything now was the time of action not the time for words. She went back to mopping make sure to try and get every last little bit mopped up into her buckets.

She lets out a soft sigh as she puts a smile back on her face as she tried to keep herself in good spirits.

[Bramble Rose]

Dash landed in front of Pummel, her eyes narrowed. No longer yelling, she hissed between her teeth at him, demanding his attention. "Are you telling me ... that you wouldn't allow them a set of instructinos? That you sabotaged your own team?" She ground her teeth. "You failed them. You betrayed them. What kind of traitor betrays his own team? But everypony deserves a second chance, and I wasn't kidding when I said we needed everypony. Now you will turn around and do your duty, soldier," she snapped, her voice getting crisp and sharp in the military fashion, "Or so help me, I don't care who is in charge of what, but if you can't get your act together, I will get you busted down to private so fast your ears will pop, and make sure your CO makes your life miserable until you learn how to talk to civilians. Do you hear me?"

​

[brianblackberry]

At first Flitter didn't understand. Why was everypony defending her? Well alright, it made sense that Cloudchaser was going to stick up for her, that was expected, even if it was a bit worrisome that Cloudy was so calm; she must have been really annoyed at Pummel. Dash and Misty were another matter entirely, especially Dash, who was actually fuming at Pummel and blamed him for everything. Flitter felt better that her love, her friend, and even a Wonderbolt stood up for her; sure she made mistakes, but they were right, Pummel was being far too heavyhoofed and only made things more difficult then they needed to be. They were volunteers for a civilian job, not military recruits.

As great as it felt that so many ponies came to her defense, Flitter didn't want to just sit back and let everypony else just speak for her; she wasn't some emotional snowflake after all, but a grown mare who could speak for herself. Determined to explain her actions, she put down her rainbow soaked mop for a moment and walked up between Dash and Pummel and faced the rainbow maned mare, "thanks Dash, but it was a rookie mistake on my part, sorry. But-"

She turned to Pummel with her best stoic face, hiding the fact she felt knee trembling panic standing up for herself against such an aggressive pony, "but, you took the pamphlet away from us before we could finish reading it! You said we didn't deserve instructions, cause we didn't automatically grovel to you! You wanted us to make mistakes just so we could 'learn a lesson!' Well congratulations, you got your mistake! Happy now?!" She snatched the pamphlet away from him.

Flitter floated back to the bucket of watery rainbow prism and mop, "Celestia would have never taken the pamphlet from us, she would have patiently explained why it was important for us to follow it by the letter, with kindness and respect. That is why ponies respect her, because she earns it." She picked up the mop and scrubbed at the cloud floor once again in order to soak up the colors from the thick clouds, but glared at Pummel. "You have not earned it. I'm not here for you or your ego. I'm here because Equestria needs it. If you can help us, fine. If not, we'll figure it out ourselves."

She felt confident again, even vindicated. Even if she got kicked out at least she didn't flake out, didn't go off and cry, she stood up for herself, just like Cloudchaser and Dash would do. Hopefully things would be alright from that point on.

Overhead, though, sat all the clouds produced up to that point, unwatched and uncontrolled, slowly combining into an ever darkening thunderhead...

[Hippo]

Luna peeked over the factory wall and saw all different colors of pegasi, but instead of surrounding the boiler vats, they were surrounding what seemed to be some kind of shouting match between the ponies. The one who looked like he was supposed to be in charge, and the blue pegasus Luna calls 'the loyal one' who seemed to be taking the attention of all of the workers. But the problem was severe because, quite plainly, the vats were not being properly maintained, and the clouds were condensing out of control.

Luna was about to pounce in, when she started hearing some of the conversation that was being yelled across the factory floor.

​

"I assure you that if Princess Celestia was in my position, you wouldn’t tolerate a superior being badmouthed behind their back every second.”

"Celestia would have never taken the pamphlet from us, she would have patiently explained why it was important for us to follow it by the letter, with kindness and respect."

There were many things barked on both sides of the chaos. But the parts Luna heard loud and clear was the comparisons the leadership had with Celestia. WHy was a Princess so important in this situation? Was a Princess needed? Luna decided to find out. She took flight again and swooped down and landed next to the Colonel. Luna remembered this pony from the Gala, and had a horrible experience what she could only describe as jailing tiny foals from their fun at the gala. To put it lightly, she wasn't too fond of this pony or his rank, and didn't shine too good of a light of what it means to serve the Equestrian order. "Colonel. What seems to be the issue?"

​

[RarityDash]

“Then by all means, get out and let the others pick up your slack. Heh, not unless Miss Dash here’s willing to throw aside her Transport Dep responsibilities to babysit you two.”

The Colonel didn't relent. He rather clearly had his perspective on the situation and wasn't going to be convinced he was wrong. He was too much of a big heartless stupid to even think about giving anypony the benefit of the doubt. He had the gall to even hide behind the princess! It was pretty extreme, and needless to say it brough a fierce rebuttal from Dashie. Chaser wondered if perhaps, her rainbow-maned friend might not be taking things to a bit of an extreme. The Colonel was pretty important; even if he was wrong and a big stupid bully, that didn't change the matter of authority. As far as she was aware, a high ranking officer like him far outstripped a Ponyville weather mare in terms of such things. That kinda made it cool in a way though; it was nice to see how far Dashie would go for her... of course, by the same token she hardly wanted to see Dash get in trouble too.

After Dash had said her piece, Flitter didn't miss the chance to say her piece. She laid it on the table, explaining her reasoning for everything and why it was the colonel's fault and not theirs that this had happened. Cloudchaser, nodded along with her marefriend. Flitter was the more articulate one. She was better at explaining these things. Cloudchaser was more about action. In this case, she wasn't sure they were beyond needing to explain it anyway. The Colonel had given his ultimatum, and she was ready to meet it.

"There's really no point in wasting any more breath on it," she said with a nod, focusing in on the Colonel. "Fact is, we're here because you wanted help and we wanted to help. If this is how it's gonna be, then I guess none of that's true anymore. Neither of us is out a thing for just leaving you and this mess behind right here and now."

"Let's just fly, Flitter. We're clearly not the kind of volunteers they're looking for here," Cloudchaser added, turning and stepping away from the rainbow colored mess. That was when she noticed her there and stopped in her tracks.

​

"Colonel. What seems to be the issue?"

"P-Princess Luna..." Cloudchaser started in surprise at seening the alicorn suddenly on the scene. She bowed her head in respect.

​

[Bellosh]

This just had to be a farcical dream Col. Pummel was sleeping through. Rainbow Dash got it in her head that she could talk down somepony old enough to be her father as if she was a drill instructor. That would have been an outright appalling sight under normal circumstances; no pony should ever insult an elder by presuming to hold authority over them. But with this debate as nonsensical as it was, Pummel almost wanted to laugh. Almost.

Even so, it became apparent to the colonel that he was seriously mistaken when it came to one thing. It dawned on Pummel that he made a grave error placing the same faith in civilians that he did in the officers and soldiers under his command. Ignoring the issue of proper obedience, a member of the Royal Equestrian Army would never have dared going without a manual when learning a procedure, knowing that serious consequences would result. By forgetting however that the civilian volunteers were not trained to conform to authority and common sense, Col. Pummel let a bad situation get even worse.

And so naturally, it was only now that Princess Luna finally arrived on the scene. The towering pegasus’s eyes subtly narrowed, knowing that the night alicorn was no advocate of his brand of unforgiving discipline. Nonetheless, Pummel saluted his sovereign before giving Luna his honest assessment; “I expected the workers under my oversight to display the same resourcefulness and loyalty of a REA soldier, Your Highness. As you can see.......... I made the wrong call.” The strong-willed stallion could admit to error on his part, but he kept sincerely believing that his incompetent subordinates ultimately deserved most of the blame.....

[brianblackberry]

Flitter was riding high in confidence. Not only did she take the instruction sheet back, she told off that grump of a colonel what for right to his face! Ha! Bet he wasn’t used to that, the old codger! Better yet, it seemed everypony stuck up for her, which only added to her conviction that she was right, even if she diiiiiid make a few mistakes along the way, mistakes she was ready to admit to. She floated over to Cloudchaser, sporting a huge smile, the instructions in hoof, “did you see that? I was so assertive!”

Cloudchaser though, up to this point, looked less than pleased. It was actually the sternest Flitter has ever seen her marefriend; she must really be steaming inside to have such a flat look and speak so seriously! “It’s alright Cloudy! We don’t have to leave or anything. Look, I got the instructions back, and we can show the Colonel that we can be the best cloud makers, oh and be able to clean up after our mistakes, buuuuut I'll take care of that, 'kay Cloudy?” Flitter made a squeak as she gave an embarrassed, but encouraging smile; she still had to mop up the rest of the bright prism that soaked the floor, and that is what she intended to do!

Flitter placed the instructions playfully on Cloudchaser’s head and trotted with pride back over to where Misty Morning was still moping. “Heya! Don’t worry; I wasn’t going to go before cleaning this up Miss Wonderbolt! Hey did you know Cloudchaser was in your academy? She’s a darn good flyer!” Sure she didn’t qualify for the Wonderbolt short list, but the fact Cloudchaser got in at all was something Flitter took every opportunity to mention with pride; one never knew when the academy could call her back!

Flitter’s mood suddenly changed to one of worry when she heard the princess of the night enter the room and inquire about what was happening. Getting in trouble with an old grouch who could only kick them out was one thing, getting in trouble with one of the regal sisters was something else entirely! Along with her partner, Flitter bowed with reverence.

As much as she wanted to yell out the colonel was wrong and just being a sourpuss, she decided to just be mature and forthright as she could be, surely Luna would understand, right? Well Celestia would at least. “Umm.. Your highness, princess Luna, the spill was my fault, it was an accident, honest! We just we’re umm.. Enthusiastic about helping the weather ponies and all, and wasn’t paying as close attention as we should have been, that’s all. Sorry... I promise I’ll clean it all up!!”

Say was the room getting darker? As if was becoming cloudy or something, like before a storm?

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash let out a snort. "You expected them to be loyal by disobeying you? You're not too bright, are you." It wasn't a question. "You don't demand loyalty, that's something cheap villains do. You earn loyalty."

She turned her back on the Colonel, then. "Cloudchaser, Flitter, thanks for helping us. Keep up the hard work. And don't let him push you around anymore. Luna! I mean, Highness. I'll leave this to you! I've got to get back to MY team." And with that, she crouched down and streaked off into the air, leaving her rainbow trail behind her, punching a small hole in the dark clouds gathering under the ceiling of the factory.

​

[Hippo]

The Colonel seemed defensive. Of course, it was Luna's understanding that coming to the attention of a Princess was always going to promote an inferior attitude by default. A bow and an apology always came not necessarily because the pony was always humble, but because the laws of nature and social expectation in Equestria made it that way. And despite Luna having been removed from a thousand years of cultural difference, this was one thing that never changed. Luna looked around the factory at all the ponies who were tense and flustered, both by Luna but also by a previous situation before she came to consult. Luna smirked at the Colonel. "Well they sure don't look like REA members. What exactly were you expecting?" Luna appreciated his wrong, and it immediately put Luna on a good angle, open to understanding what the real issue was.

Flitter spoke up to the Princess and admitted she made a mistake and a mess. She offered to clean it up to the delight of the Princess. Flitter's honesty sparked interest in Luna as to what happened in the factory that was causing such a stir. The clouds above were continuing to get neglected however, and so Luna was not really interested in too much of the formalities. Whatever was going on that caused such a stoppage needed to be fixed as soon as was possible. Luna listened to Rainbow Dash as she retorted her frustration over the Colonel. As Rainbow Dash saluted the Princess briefly and returned to taming the dark cloud above, Luna raised her head and posture to speak in her signature royal Canterlot voice. "Weather workers! You all have an important job to do today! And by the looks of the area I would say that that job is not being done properly! Should you choose to neglect the clouds any longer, we shall be forced to implement extensive circumstances that require the lot of you to be given a dishonorable discharge from your temporary employment without pay, be it voluntary or required service, and emergency protocol for the lack of efficiency will be in effect to cut the losses of factory working in this zone! Hear me, workers, you do not want that protocol to occur! Do not disappoint me!" Luna looked down at the Colonel, reminding her of an important detail. "And obey your superior!"

Luna motioned the Colonel to the side and lowered her voice to a near whisper. "So, Colonel, what happened here? Why is this factory floor in disarray?" Luna wasn't going to overthrow leadership just because she was a Princess. Of course, she had the power to do so. She's a princess. However, she knew that by way of association, she was inferior to the Colonel's decision-making and did not want to step on his hooves. That said, Luna was concerned about the role the leadership was playing in this sector. She knew the consequences of ruining the credibility of the leader in front of the leader's followers. "Even the loyal one is upset. What does she mean when she says 'earning loyalty'?"

​

[RarityDash]

“did you see that? I was so assertive! It’s alright Cloudy! We don’t have to leave or anything. Look, I got the instructions back, and we can show the Colonel that we can be the best cloud makers, oh and be able to clean up after our mistakes, buuuuut I'll take care of that, 'kay Cloudy?”

"Yeah, you were awesome, Flit," Chaser said with a smile, pleased to see that evidently they had made the colonel realize his error. It had been kind of crazy, but it seemed like they had won out, and it was nothing but nice to see Flitter happy about it. She was so adorable when she was excited about something. Cloudchaser couldn't help but smile as she watched her. She gave a laugh then when the silly mare placed the instructions she had reaquired right on Cloudchaser's head and flew over to the wonderbolt. Chaser walked in that direction herself.

​

Heya! Don’t worry; I wasn’t going to go before cleaning this up Miss Wonderbolt! Hey did you know Cloudchaser was in your academy? She’s a darn good flyer!”

"Well, not good enough to make it very long over there,' Cloudchaser admitted with a touch of awkwardness, glancing aside. "But it sure was an experience. That Spitfire can really be an intense character..." she said with a chuckle.

​

"Cloudchaser, Flitter, thanks for helping us. Keep up the hard work. And don't let him push you around anymore. Luna! I mean, Highness. I'll leave this to you! I've got to get back to MY team."

Chaser nodded at her pal Dashie. "Thanks a lot, Dashie! See ya back home!" she called out with a grin as the other pegasus flew off to go be awesome elsewhere. She gave another nod and sighed. Things really did seem like they were all well and good and fully handled now. it was nice to see.

​

"Weather workers! You all have an important job to do today! And by the looks of the area I would say that that job is not being done properly! Should you choose to neglect the clouds any longer, we shall be forced to implement extensive circumstances that require the lot of you to be given a dishonorable discharge from your temporary employment without pay, be it voluntary or required service, and emergency protocol for the lack of efficiency will be in effect to cut the losses of factory working in this zone! Hear me, workers, you do not want that protocol to occur! Do not disappoint me! And obey your superior!"

Cloudchaser was startled then when suddenly princess Luna started to address them in an unnaturally booming voice that shook Cloudchaser to her core. When she was through, all Cloudchaser could do was give a solemn and quivering, "Yes, princess."

It was truly a shock to hear the princess say these things. She was acting just the same as colonel mean face, bullying them into action with volume. What even was she talking about? All of this was volunteer work. None of the volunteers were getting paid as she understood it. Everyone was assembled there because they wanted to help out in this time of need. It still remained that her and Flitter could leave now and neither of them would be out a thing. They honestly had things back home they could be doing with their time and certainly hadn't signed up for this to be condescended to. Was Luna just so out of it she didn't understand the situation at all, or was she really just no different than the blow-hard colonel? Either way, it was a significant blow to Cloudchaser, who had always sort of admired the princess associated with the night time she loved so much.

It's not like you could talk back to a princess regardless....

"Let's get back to work..." Cloudchaser said in a somber voice, head hung low.

​

[brianblackberry]

Flitter began to mop the remaining prism with a small song in her heart, which she merrily whistled as she pushed the special cloud soaking rags along the solidified cloud floor. What could that colonel do now that she was more than willing to admit to her mistake and clean it up? Everypony saw her point of view on it. That was until she heard Princess Luna’s thunderous displeasure at the situation.

Hearing the princess of the night chastise them in much the same manner as Pummel did simply drained the joy out of Flitter. Why would she take that old codger’s side in this? Sure they messed up some, but he was being so unreasonable about it all with is stubborn and disrespectful attitude! Princess Luna mentioned pay, which only served to confuse the bow wearing mare, as she was told this was a volunteer gig. Of course some of the others here were weather ponies by trade, and maybe they were being given extra compensation because this was viewed as part of their job. That meant…

Flitter quickly glanced over in Cloucchaser’s direction. Her marefriend’s fearful and dejected expression said it all. Clouchaser must have been getting paid for this! She was on the clock so to speak and this was seen as part of her job! Oh no! Flitter suddenly looked both crestfallen and worried; her carefree approach and arrogant messing around may cost Cloudchaser her job!

As she watched the spikey maned pegasus float back to the vat with such a glum expression, Flitter knew she had to do something, anything, to salvage the situation before poor Cloudy was dismissed from her position and livelihood! “I’m sorry hon, this is my fault, and I’ll fix this! No way am I going to let them let you go!” Flitter quickly hoofed the colorfully soaked rags onto Misty Morning with a quick, “sorry, be right back!” and flew right up to Luna.

Flitter quickly bowed her head as she fluttered down to the floor in front of the dark blue alicorn, “ummm, your most gracious majesty? Pleeeeeeease don’t let Cloudy, I mean, Cloudchaser.. Or the others! Umm, please don’t let them get fired for my mistakes!” Oh horseapples, how did the addressing royalty protocol go in these situations? “I umm, we plead for your mercy and wisdom in this manner oh Princess of the Night!” There, that sounded all Canterlot formal, right?

Oh Flitter, you really put your hoof in it now!

[Bellosh]

"Well they sure don't look like REA members. What exactly were you expecting?"

Despite his bad mood, Col. Pummel let a tiny smirk escape from his lips as Princess Luna reminded him of what should have been obvious. “In all honesty,” the officer contemplated, mainly to himself; “I don’t really know.” Pummel supposed that the least he asked for were volunteers who didn’t mock his authority so openly. He wasn’t so naive as to think some enlisted ponies did not share the same disrespect for COs they didn’t personally like, but at least they had the decency to wait to express such thoughts until their superiors were no longer in earshot.

"...We shall be forced to implement extensive circumstances that require the lot of you to be given a dishonorable discharge from your temporary employment without pay..."

Col. Pummel welcomed Princess Luna’s proclamation asserting the workers’ need to mind their team leader with respect. However, he needed to whisper a correction into the alicorn’s ear; “Your Highness, all of these ponies are unpaid volunteers. They're not here for money.”

“Ummm, your most gracious majesty? Pleeeeeeease don’t let Cloudy, I mean, Cloudchaser.. Or the others! Umm, please don’t let them get fired for my mistakes! I umm, we plead for your mercy and wisdom in this manner oh Princess of the Night!”

Flitter’s display of begging was perhaps the absolute most disgusting thing Col. Pummel witnessed today. True, he might very well face disciplinary action for his poor choices in a manner of minutes, but the grim old stallion would accept the consequences for his actions with grace. But in Flitter’s case, once a Princess got involved in this stinking mess, any semblance of supposed bravery gave way to pathetic pleas for mercy. Used to disciplining officers trained to keep their pride intact at all times, Pummel immediately desired to take the pegasus out of her misery. “Oh quit your GROVELING!” snarled the old pony with his most vile facial expression yet, before it was softened with a groan of indifference; “.....Ugggh, get back to work.” The colonel turned his back on Flitter and said no more, as Luna requested a private conversation with him.

"So, Colonel, what happened here? Why is this factory floor in disarray? Even the loyal one is upset. What does she mean when she says 'earning loyalty'?"

The decisive moment had come at last. “Approximately 20 minutes ago before the incident,” Pummel matched Luna’s near-whisper; “I overheard those two volunteers, Cloudchaser and Flitter, publicly refer to me by an insulting nickname. I demanded to know if those workers had any problems, only to be hypocritically told that I had to call them by their actual names. That prompted me to verbally reprimand them, as what I usually do in these situations, only to next be told I was more of a misfit at this factory than they were. My disciplinary options limited, I more or less called their bluff by confiscating their instruction pamphlet, the intent being to remind them that it was dangerous for them to masquerade as know-it-alls.”

“But they didn’t get the message. Cloudchaser and Flitter kept on working without a proper set of instructions, which by doing so enabled a buildup of rainbow-saturated clouds. By the time anypony else noticed... it was too late.” Pummel was surprised he got through his report without revealing venom in his voice, but the colonel supposed he spent it all earlier. Yet because Pummel spent so much time describing the events leading to the accident, it didn’t occur to mention anything about Rainbow Dash.

[Hippo]

After Luna addressed the workers, the Colonel felt the need to whisper something into her ear.

​

“Your Highness, all of these ponies are unpaid volunteers. They're not here for money.”

Luna gave a surprised look on her face. She had no idea that none of these ponies were being paid. She came to Cloudsdale to check on the weather department for the emergency. She knew that many of the workers were sick. But according to the Colonel's words, all of the paid workers were gone. Which did two things in Luna's mind. It solidified the urgency of this situation, and it also made any misconduct more unacceptable. And just then, Flitter came up behind Luna and asked for her attention, bowing in slight fear.

​

“Ummm, your most gracious majesty? Pleeeeeeease don’t let Cloudy, I mean, Cloudchaser.. Or the others! Umm, please don’t let them get fired for my mistakes! I umm, we plead for your mercy and wisdom in this manner oh Princess of the Night!”

“Oh quit your GROVELING! Ugggh, get back to work.”

Luna had no words to describe the utter intolerance of such an exchange. Was the Colonel trying to create the most unproductive work environment? Luna jumped forward out of the Colonel's earshot and whispered to the pony who was pleading in a rather silly tone. But Luna would never laugh. "Volunteer, your time is precious to you and ours. Please inform you friend that no pony shall be fired today. We have too much to lose in the case of failure. We must succeed. The Colonel, he's just, upset about something. It's best that we do our best to complete the task. I assure you, that if you do, the Equestrian Council in Canterlot will thank the Clousdale citizens with much more than just words." Luna smiled brightly to the pony. "I thank thee for the support." Luna gave a cheesy gesture, swinging of a hoof to the side. "There's nothing like some good old-fashioned weather labor." Luna winked and then walked towards the Colonel, who was waiting for Luna to retreat to his argument.

What came next was an amazing tale from Colonel's point of view, which much to Luna's immediate displeasure, not only was a total invasion of her question, but was also the most unacceptably waste of time that could even come at a moment like this. Luna waited until he was finished with his whining before talking. "Are you done? Are you finished with a declaration of your prideful behavior? You know, the ponies are right. You are out of place. There is only one other pony that is more out of place than you, and it's me. Listen, Colonel. We have a job to finish, and it is extremely important that we get it done. We cannot have this kind of prideful behavior torrenting the production of these clouds. These ponies are not going to be motivated by your drill seargent-esque commands, either. You need to learn to encourage them through positive reinforcement. And if you cannot do so, then I suggest you remove yourself before you start another delay. And then we will find somepony who can delicately organize the efforts to increase morale and productivity in the vapor department. If we have another incident like the one we just had, it might just ruin factory morale for the entire season. I am sure that is not in your best interest. Am I wrong?"

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