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

[Blueblood]

Sky Sailing looked up as Prism Burst spread his words of encouragement to the team. The pegasus appreciated it, certainly, but there was one little issue... "Um, sir? This is the cloud transportation department, not rainbows. Er, are you lost? I'm kind of new here myself, so I understand." Sky hoped that wouldn't offend or embarrass the poor fellow.

As Dash sent the clouds high, The sky-blue stallion followed upward, humming a little tune again to keep himself calm as the work got underway. He gathered the clouds together in a triangular shape, which three ponies could maintain, and use to take advantage of the wind if possible. It was a sturdy shape, too, able to hold together in crosswinds, if you knew how to tack, which Sky Sailing could do, and had done, in his sleep. He waited for the other members of his team to take their corner before they set off to deliver their load.

[Lux]

Sky Flare watched as the clods drifted into the air, each one of the filled with rainwater like an overfilled water balloon. He placed his goggles over his eyes and then flew up as the Pegasus working with him started to build a triangle out of clouds. It was an effective technique to break the winds so they went around the clouds, making it easier to move the cloud mass towards their destination.

"Hey, nice pattern there," the white Pegasus said to the Sky Sailing.

Sky Flare knew that Rainbow Dash would probable go into the center where the greatest force was needed to push the cloud mass. He then opted to take a position to the left side of the mass, halfway between the middle and the corner. That way he could help with power and turning the load of clouds. There he waited for the command to go.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash nodded in approve as Sky Sailing started gathering the clouds together into a storm front - though he used a less-frequently used pattern, it seemed appropriate enough for their long-distance flight. And she didn't want to micro-manage... if this is what they were used to, it'd certainly work! She flew up to pat him on the shoudler. "Nice pattern!" she said approvingly, "Not the one I'd use, but pretty good for catching the maximum wind! We'll just have to change it up if we run into any unexpected winds out of the Everfree - but solid grouping there!" Dash had never really thought of clouds being like sails - she was thinking more of her usual method of powering them along with her own wings. Tacking with clouds was a bit delicate and subtle for her usual techniques...

"And don't forget that those rainbows designate rough areas in the sky we'll want to keep these clouds out of till we reach the weather depot! Yeah, the rainbow division is whipping up the rainbow mix, but Dad there is going to scout ahead and actually make the rainbows to show us where to stay away from!"

She gave a solid approving nod to Sky Flare, and then gave a "Hurry up, then!" to Sunbeam. "Remember, we're joining up with some other teams for a massive weather front, and splitting off just as we get past the Everfree, so we're going to aim for the left flank of the formation! Let's go!" And she zipped forward to the center of that triangle of clouds, flipping over onto her back and flapping her wings energetically, staying in place as she built up the beginning of a wind to ease those clouds up to speed.

​

[Bellosh]

OOC: Time to make use of my powers as OP, hehe.

Having finished giving an orientation to the volunteers working in her usual Vaporization Department, Sugar Apple started to make her rounds through the rest of the Weather Factory. As the highest-ranking full-time employee not stuck in bed, it was her responsibility to make sure that every one of the temporary workers knew what they were doing. While Sugar wasn't as intimately familiar with the intricacies concerning the procedures of the other departments, the pegasus mare knew enough to adequately answer most questions if needed.

Sugar Apple made her next stop over at Transport Dep to see how the delivery crew was doing. As she stepped out onto a balcony overlooking the staging area, the supervisor saw the volunteers assemble the first batch of clouds into a storm front; a rarely-used pattern these days. Thinking it odd, Sugar flew up to the team leader in charge and tapped on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Uhh, Rainbow hun?" she asked quietly, trying to keep this conversation discrete; "Ya' sure thet's a good way t' pack up them clouds? We kinda stopped using thet pattern since thet one incident a few years back....."

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash blanched a bit as Sugar Apple popped up to critique... she coughed and pulled Sugar Apple closer with one hoof round her shoulders. "Don't say that too loud!" she murmurs. "It's not a *bad* formation, just gotta be careful for unexpected winds and stuff... They gotta keep moral up cause we got a lot of work ahead of us, and I'm not going to sweat the little things. Just the important stuff! If we get some unexpected winds, we'll just rearrange things then!"

​

[Blueblood]

Sky Sailing grinned at Sky Flare, but his head retreated a bit back into his neck. He was a little unused to compliments, given how much he kept to himself at work. "Heh, thanks." And his boss liked it too! Things were looking up for him, to say the least. *This all might just work out... I had been worried, with all the talk about drought and disaster.*

Hm, so Rainbows were actually used like signal flares for weather teams? That actually made sense. At least that was why Rainbow's dad had showed up. And he wasn't the only one to look in, the overall supervisor had turned up as well.

Ya' sure thet's a good way t' pack up them clouds? We kinda stopped using thet pattern since thet one incident a few years back....."

Uh-oh. Looked like there was a dispute. Sky didn't want to cause any trouble, but didn't want to stick his neck into an argument he caused. Blushing beneath his coat, he attempted to hide behind the cloud formation...

[Lux]

Sky Flare waited for Rainbow Dash to examine the cloud formation, hoping that it was ready for the group to begin their journey. To his and he was sure Sky Sailing's delight the lead of the flight team did approve of the formation, albeit mentioning that it may need to be changed midflight.

"Hey whatever needs to be done we'll do it, right Sky Sailing?"

"Remember, we're joining up with some other teams for a massive weather front, and splitting off just as we get past the Everfree, so we're going to aim for the left flank of the formation! Let's go!"

"Alright, let's do this," Sky said going to the one side of Rainbow Dash and flapping his wings began to help push the cloud mass out of the warehouse. Before they could get going, the head of the operations decided to pay the Transport Team a little visit. Unfortunately she didn't like what she saw, referring to some disaster that Sky Flare was not quite sure when or what that was. For a while the white Pegasus stood back and watched Rainbow Dash and Sugar Apple.

"Look, I don't know what this 'incident' was but we got this covered. And like Rainbow Dash said, if we need to move it around we will."

[Bellosh]

"Don't say that too loud! It's not a *bad* formation, just gotta be careful for unexpected winds and stuff... They gotta keep moral up cause we got a lot of work ahead of us, and I'm not going to sweat the little things. Just the important stuff! If we get some unexpected winds, we'll just rearrange things then!"

Sugar Apple wasn't too reassured by Rainbow Dash's confidence, but then again, she was the team leader for these group of volunteers. Rainbow didn't get chosen by management for this assignment because she had no idea how to manage a cloud delivery crew. If Dash had proven herself in the past as a capable weathermare, she wasn't very likely to let Equestria down today. ".....Alright," Sugar Apple stated with assertiveness; "Y'all have th' go-ahead t' head out. Good luck out thar', Rainbow Dash." The supervisor walked away at this juncture, as her presence would be needed elsewhere throughout the Weather Factory.....

*Exit Sugar Apple*

[Pretzelparty]

Suddenly a loud voice rang out,"'Ey, Dash. Do ya mind if I use my own goggles for 'dis?!"the owner of the voice bore the characteristic accent of a pony from Manehattan. If the rainbow maned Pegasus looked to see who made the inquiry she would see the voice belonged to a rather diminutive pegasus...mare? she was definitely on the short side, almost to the point she looked like she was just an adolescent filly who probably shouldn't be here, rather than the adult mare she actually was.

Mistral had been having a fairly long dry spell in the chance to exercise her talents as a con artist due to her preference for only targeting other grifters or con artists which nowadays were pretty few and far between. Her job as a freelance weather pegasus was taking up a lot of her time lately and while it was kind of boring it paid well and with this recent crisis Mistral's incredible speed and skill as a flyer would be a great asset to the weather factory in the transportation department.

Her reason for asking the question because while she was an excellent flyer her eyesight was absolutely terrible if she didn't wear her glasses or the prescription goggles she currently wore to the factory. If she didn't wear these chances are she wouldn't be able to see more than one or two yards in front of her without the view turning into an indistinct blob of colors and shades.

[Blueblood]

With a little coaxing from the pegasus who shared his first name, Sailing flew back into view, looking over his cloud formation again. It looked stable enough to him; he had enough confidence in his own control, but could he lead others if needed? "I suppose if worse comes to worst, we can always reshape it, right?" He gave a small smile to Sky Flare as he prepared to take point in the triangular formation.

The vantage point was good enough for him to see the new arrival, and even if it wasn't, he sure could have heard her! It was loud, brash, but not without melody; a city song from a city pony, not quite to the beat of the Cloudsdale native's own drum though. "Uh, I don't think that'll be a problem; I was allowed to use mine." The stallion half-hesitantly called down.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash twisted around to see Mistral coming in ... she checked her sheet quickly, but didn't see the cutie mark - well, why not? They could use all the help they could get. "Right! Of course you can, as long as they're regulation! Hurry on up here, we're about to head out! Gear up and join formation!"

Dash flitted around the cloud formation, checking it one last time, then returned to the key power position in the center. "All right, team!" she cried, "No interruptions, this time! Everypony on three! One! Two! Th-"

The cloud vaporization department nearby suddenly seemed to explode with colorful light. Jets of prism-laced water and shreds of small vaporous clouds punched through the thickened cloud-walls of the factory, and went flying out over the storage area and the clouds all lined up for departure, streaming rainbow-colored jets staining every cloud it touched with brilliant color. Their carefully massed formation was suddenly full of oranges and greens, blues and magentas. Dash dodged a big jet that threatened to turn her bright pink - NOT her color - and floated there, gaping. "Buh... buh... HEY! These clouds aren't scheduled for a sunrise OR a sunset! What gives?!" She flew swiftly over to the vaporization department and stuck her head into one of the many new holes perforating its once-pristine roof.

"Hey! Everypony all right in there?"

​

[Pretzelparty]

"Uh, I don't think that'll be a problem; I was allowed to use mine."

"Right! Of course you can, as long as they're regulation! Hurry on up here, we're about to head out! Gear up and join formation!"

Mistral gave a smile before pulling her goggles up from around her neck and putting them on,"Huh... not too sure about regulation, but if I don't wear d'ese I can't see two yards in front o' me" If by regulation they meant plain, the goggles were definitely not regulation in that way. The mare's goggles were slightly oval shaped and tilted to fit over the pegasus' deceptively sharp eyes, said eyes almost completely obscured by the very thick lenses inside them.

Regardless of how Dash replied, Mistral took off like a shot with an incredible speed and stopped perfectly in her position. To the untrained eye it would seem like she had almost just teleported into place without a flash of magic, the powerful gust she left in her wake being the evidence she had simply flown. Her ears gave a flick in Dash's direction while she waited for the signal to start moving.

"All right, team! No interruptions, this time! Everypony on three! One! Two! Th-"

Mistral was ready to go, practically itching to, but just as she was going to start moving she heard a look explosion and looked to see a large explosion of rainbow blasts coming from another department. One particular beam seemed to be speeding towards her intent on turning her and her cloud to a bright green. She didn't have time to safe herself and the cloud from this fate. There was no way in Tartarus she was going to let herself be turned green! Flying quickly out of the way she looked over to dash and let out another loud yell,"If they're okay could you ask 'em what da hay they're doin' in there?!"

[Lux]

"Sure we can reshape it," Sky said trying the reassure Sky Sailing who looked worried that his cloud formation wasn't going to pass, "but I think it'll work well for the most part."

A new pony hastily joined the group asking whether she could use her goggles.

"Err... I don't see why not Miss. I mean if you can see out of them and they can survive the trip then why not?"

Sky then prepared to push off to their destination, ready for Rainbow Dash to lead the charge. Before the group could go a blast of colors shot out from part of the factory, hitting the clouds like a pony flinging paint at a canvas. Sky turned just in time to see a light blue streak coming right at him, making him unable to dodge the blast. The coloring hit him, knocking him into a nearby cloud not part of the formation. For a moment Sky stood up slightly dazed as he shook his body. Looking at his stained coat he realized what happened.

"Oh great. I think I'm going to be blue for a while."

[Blueblood]

"Impatient" was not a word that could with accuracy be associated with Sky Sailing. Most of the time, he was conent to be wherever he was, taking what beauty he could from that place, and putting it into song. Much could be had in a well-made formation of clouds, though the art was of a monochrome kind.

All of the pegasi around him, however, seemed ready to go, and with him at point, he was just pushing forward, when it struck him. Not the prism paint, though that covered him in a gush of indigo dye. No, it was the image of the factory, usually so plain and utilitarian in design, suddenly bursting forth in color, lighting the sky with a burst of rainbow light. "So... beautiful-" *SPLOT*

And that was pretty much it. He, and the entire front corner of the clouds, were dyed indigo, while Sky Flare's corner was blue, and the third and final one green. It seemed that Mistral had avoided changing colors, though others were not so lucky. That wasn't important to him right now, however. "Did you see that? I want that for my first album cover, its just so perfect!"

[Bramble Rose]

There was some sort of angry bellowing coming from down in the factory, and then Rainbow Dash's brightly colored mane and tail bristled in terrible anger. She looked back over her shoulder, eyes flashing with rage. "Be right back!" she called to her team, then flared her wings and darted down into the vaporization department.

(( Go ahead and start trying to fix up the clouds and stuff to the best of all your novice abilities! See what trouble you can get into without supervision, and Dash will be back in a bit! ))

[Lux]

As he tried to shake off the rainbow that dyed his coat, Sky Flare could see that Rainbow Dash was bristling with rage. The team leader looked back at him and the other ponies with a stare of pure anger, one that put even a typically confident and unafraid pony like Sky Flare into a shudder. He knew that she wasn't angry at the group but at whatever happened over at the Weather Factory. Still he held his tongue as even the slightest provocation could turn Rainbow Dash's anger towards the team.

"Reminder: don't upset Rainbow Dash," Sky said to himself as the rainbow hued mare flew off before turning to the rest of the team, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of at a loss as to how to fix these clouds. I can't even get this stuff off my wings or coat."

[Blueblood]

"Fix it? FIX it?" Sky Sailing was about as incredulous as an art curator would be if someone offered to clean the paint off a canvas. "There's nothing wrong with these. We're supposed to deliver clouds that have rain. These still have rain. Heck, they've got colored rain, which is, like, really cool."

He calmed down from his excited flapping, taking point once again. "Besides, we don't have time to get new ones, the production is over-worked as it is. If the route's already set up, we should probably go ahead and start. If you're all ready back there?" The stallion began humming a happy little tune, quite at peace with the world, now that he knew there could be colored rain in it.

[Pretzelparty]

"Reminder: don't upset Rainbow Dash, Well, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of at a loss as to how to fix these clouds. I can't even get this stuff off my wings or coat."

There's nothing wrong with these. We're supposed to deliver clouds that have rain. These still have rain. Heck, they've got colored rain, which is, like, really cool. Besides, we don't have time to get new ones, the production is over-worked as it is. If the route's already set up, we should probably go ahead and start. If you're all ready back there?"

Mistral couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the multi-colored clouds and color splattered pegasi she was with. The mare flew around the group and took a look at some of the clouds the others carried and while they were ... different, they seemed undamaged and would do the job fine, just as Sky sailing said. Flying back to her cloud she nodded and pointed to Sailing,"Dis guy's right. Dese cloud's will do fine seein' as we're pressed fer time."

Taking a look around she coughed awkwardly,"So... anypony else think they're fast enough ta take dash's place? Cause I'll take the helm unless you guys have any betta ideas."

[Lux]

"Ok," Sky Flare said at the sudden reaction by Sky Sailing and Mistral, "Sheesh, I was just thinking out loud you know. I know we can't just replace these clouds with new ones. Guess the towns will be getting a colorful rainstorm. You two are like I was thinking about me like I was about to smash some artsy pottery. Of course I do have to get this rainbow off me at some time. Maybe I'll stand under one of these clouds when we let it rain and it'll wash the blue away."

There was then the idea with who should take Rainbow Dash's place now that the mare had went into the factory.

"I can take the center. I'm not such a bad flyer myself. Not to say you two are bad either but one of us has to take the center spot."

[Blueblood]

Sky Sailing shrugged; now that he knew that something sublimely wonderful wasn't going to be destroyed in the name of utilitarianism, he was content to remain quiet and in the background. He wasn't a fast flier, though he probably had the most experience in flying with cargo.

The light blue pegasus took his position in formation, adjusted his goggles and helmet, and stretched his wings in a few warm-up flaps. "Ready to go when you are; as the wind takes us, so we sail!" It sounded like an old pegasus saying for good luck before long flights, though as a matter of fact, Sky Sailing had made it up on the spot.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash floated up out of the hole in the top of the cloud factory and turned to squeeze the edges together, sealing it up properly. She ignored the faint rumble of thunder inside, and brushed off her hooves as if she'd just finished up with something dirty. "Well, that should teach him," she said firmly, then took to the air to head off down the air streams in the direction her team were supposed to go. Without a whole weather system to tow along with her, it didn't take her long to catch up with them.

She circled around the formation of multicolored clouds, sighing a little. What a waste of good prism. And who knew what effect that would have on the crops? They'd be so much better off as sunset clouds ... and with the uncontrolled bursts of prism, there were going to be some nasty storms all across Equestria this season! Still, beggers can't be choosers. Better a few storms and some overtime pay than a drought.

She flew in to take up her position at the center, smiling confidently to Sky Flare, Mistral, and Sky Sailing. "Good job, team! Take up positions at the corners, and let's really get this weather front moving! We've got a lot of work to do today!" She looked over to see a lovely rainbow arching across the sky, ahead and to the left. "HIE RIGHT!" she called, as everyone was in position, and followed up the words with the proper hoof movements, knowing that the wind could easily rip her words away. Her dad was scouting ahead, best at his job. Cause who else could do so good as Rainbow Dash's own sire? Heck yeah! "Ware crosswinds! We've got some rough weather coming up ahead!"

​

[Lux]

Just when they were about to take off with their cloud patch, Sky flare saw Rainbow Dash returning, a sound of thunder booming from the building. The white Pegasus didn't know what exactly was going on but he decided not to be curious and let things be. After all, he had bigger things to do. At least the colorful clouds passed Rainbow Dash's expectations as she flew around it before settling into the middle position.

As the team took off, the group's first challenge was to move the formation right as a rainbow appeared. Sky remembered that they marked the spots of where rogue winds could be. As they reached the area Rainbow shouted about crosswinds. As they pushed on, the cloud formation began to be pushed sideways like a sail.

"Hold onto your goggles. I have a feeling this cloud pile is going to be pulling us around a little until we get out of this."

He flapped his wings harder trying to get it out of the crosswind and back on course.

[Pretzelparty]

"I can take the center. I'm not such a bad flyer myself. Not to say you two are bad either but one of us has to take the center spot."

The Mare shrugged, This pony definitely looked like he would be a good replacement, his mark seemed a bit too vague for Mistral to guess what the specifics of his talent were... but who was she to judge? She was an incredibly fast and skilled flyer and her natural talent was almost entirely based around Deception, Her skills in flying having been acquired through a combination of her physical properties and constant exercise. "Sounds good ta me, Bu--"

"Good job, team! Take up positions at the corners, and let's really get this weather front moving! We've got a lot of work to do today!" She looked over to see a lovely rainbow arching across the sky, ahead and to the left. "HIE RIGHT!"

Still looking at Sky flare through her incredibly thick looking goggles, she chuckled and said,"Nevermind, Looks Like our leader back." In a black and white flash and burst of cold air, Mistral returned to her cloud and took her spot in the formation. Despite her smaller than normal size, the mare was having no problems at all keeping up with the group. It looked like everythinhg was coming up cabbages...

"Ware crosswinds! We've got some rough weather coming up ahead!"

... "Well da good part o' dis could only last so long." thought the mare to herself with a grimace before the sudden crosswind hit her and her cloud hard. The sudden jar off course only lasted a few seconds as she made sure to resume the proper course and return to formation.

[Blueblood]

And... they were off! Sky Sailing didn't know what it felt like to ponies to whom this was regular work; perhaps they might even feel it to be slightly boring, though from Rainbow Dash's attitude, he doubted it. The stallion himself was certainly excited, and why shouldn't he be? He was piloting rainbow clouds across Equestria, bringing the rain in his wake!

The whole situation stirred up the artist and musician in him. He listened to the team leader call out commands, and he followed them, but that was only the automatic part of his mind. The rest was thrumming with notes, set to the pace of his teammates' wings. Too lost in the song to retain his shyness, he began to sing:

"Watch for the rain-bow

Where the cross-winds blow;

Let felicity fly!

Soar through the prism

Keeping in rhythm;

And kiss the spring drought goodbye!

We bring all the water in air

And it's most needed where

The sun beats down.

And we'll sail through the thunder and hail

Bringing rain without fail

From the sky to the ground!"

He trailed off here into more hummed notes, his lyrical inspiration drying up for the moment. He was slowly becoming aware that he had an audience as well, and the shyness habitual to him was returning upon his outburst. In any case, though, his singing had kept him on-course, and he had even timed the arrival of the cross-winds for the transition from verse to chorus, so that was kinda nice. He still couldn't guess what his teammates and leader would think of it, though.

[Lux]

After getting used to the draft, Sky Flare got used to the buffering and the pull of the cloud. He quickly corrected his path and set his flying to the other ponies in his team. The slightest difference could make moving the cloud harder or worse cause a complete loss of control.

"Hang on everypony. We'll get through this!"

Pushing, the pony next to him started singing an impromptu tune about what the group was doing. He quickly stopped singing though, possibly realizing that others were listening.

"Awww... you don't have to stop singing. In fact I like listening to music. It helps pass the time."