Life Begins Anew

Cake. Whoever invented this scrumptious, fluffy treat must have been treated like a god by his or her peers. Sitting at the small cafe was a snow white kirin with a styled purple mane. She sat there with a satisfied look on her face as she enjoyed the very last bite of her delicious treat. The kirin’s previous favorite was vanilla with strawberries on top, but now she was craving the delectable goodness of her Cloud Chocolate Delight. The way they mixed the cocoa and the sugar was godlike as it was smooth and creamy. Just the way she liked to end her meals or snack time.

The maid, who was standing by, picked up the kirin’s plate when she was finished. “Ah. My compliments to the chef for this delightful cake,” the kirin hummed with satisfaction as she gently wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin.

“I’m sure he will be glad to know you enjoyed it,” the maid smiled, striding into the cafe with the plate after placing the bill on the table.

As the creature looked over it, she noticed a shadow circling around her chair. She looked up to see a light green pegasus making rounds around her spot, gliding down towards her. As the mare landed on the cloud next to Snow Fall with a soft pomf, she gave the kirin a sheepish smile. She sported a light red mane and yellow eyes to go along with her green coat. She gave a nervous laugh as folded her wings together.

“Sorry I’m late, Ms. Snow Fall,” the light green mare apologized. “I lost track of the  time I was supposed to be here so...”

“It’s perfectly alright, darling. We all have our bad mornings,” Snow Fall assured. She motioned her claws over to the open chair right across from her. “Please. Take a seat.” The mare walked over to the seat, making herself comfortable in it. “By the way, I never caught your name. Can I have the pleasure of knowing?”

“It’s, um, Grass Breezy, Ms. Fall,” the pegasus stammered a bit at that last sentence.

“Alright then Grass Breeze, please take a seat.” Snow Fall asked as she rested her foreleg on the table.

“I... um... of course, Ms. Fall.” Grass fidgeted in her seat, looking nervous.

“Well Grassy, let's get to business, shall we?" Snow Fall said  in a serious tone.

Grass Breeze gave a soft nod as she dug in her brown saddlebag. She pulled out a scroll and unrolled it on the table. The scroll revealed to be a map of sorts. It showed the details of a large building and the schematics of the different wings of the structure.

She pointed on a section of the map that had nothing on it whatsoever. “Well, Ms. Fall, we would like to commission you and your team to build a new section of the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. This new section would be to control the hurricane force winds that would normally take plenty of unneeded pegasi power to make.

Snow Fall looked over the blueprints as she inspected the location of this new wing of the factory. She noticed a crucial detail that would greatly affect the building process. “I would be willing to do the commission, but we would have to move the location to here.” She pointed to another section of the blueprint.

Grass Breeze raised an eyebrow at her decision. “Why would we have to move the project?”

Snow Fall gave a small chuckle. “You see, the southern side of Cloudsdale isn’t really meant for larger structures like a new section of the weather factory. It would would stand out like a sore thumb. Moving it to the northern side would look so much nicer.”

Grass Breeze shifted nervously at her statement. “Well, Ms. Snow Fall, you are the expert. The northern side it is then. Now, let’s talk about the inside of the building.”

The two exchanged words and ideas as to how the new section of the weather factory would look like. Grass Breeze would offer up an idea, which would be quickly rectified by Snow Fall. They continued to debate for another hour until Grass Breeze checked the time.

Noticing she would be late for another appointment, she rolled up the scroll and placed it in her saddlebag. “I’m sorry Ms. Snow Fall, but I must be on my way, as I have another meeting back at the factory. But please, whenever you have the time tomorrow, please come over to the factory and present your ideas to my husband, the current owner of the place.” Grass Breeze said as she gave a small bow.

Grass Breeze flew off, leaving Snow Fall to her thoughts. After giving the maid a small bow, she left the cafe to return to her office. As she was walking along the plush roads of Cloudsdale, she was able to get a nice view of the weather factory. The tall buildings and detailed structures were already giving her ideas as to how the building should be designed.

Why yes, add a few pillars there around the main building and it’ll look absolutely gorgeous. She thought to herself as she reached her office.

As she opened the door, she was greeted by her secretary who was startled by Snow Fall’s sudden entrance. “Oh! Ms. Snow Fall! How did the meeting with Mrs. Breeze go?”

Snow Fall looked at the orange pegasus with gray mane as she gave her a smile, “Well, we have the commission. All that’s left to do is present the plans to Mr. Breeze and we shall begin building.”

The secretary clopped her hooves together as she said with excitement, “Great! Do you want me to get the others together and tell them of the new project?”

Snow Fall gave an approving nod. “Please do, as we’ll need all available hooves for this one.”

After dismissing the secretary to finish her duties, Snow Fall retreated to her office. It was a modest room, with a sofa against the wall and two chairs sitting in front of her desk. She trotted over to her office chair and relaxed in it.

She stared at a paperweight stone she kept on her desk; the way it looked

fascinated her. She never knew why it fascinated her so much, though she had summed it up to the dragon part of her: it was a blue orb with a flattened bottom that had multiple colors swirling in it. She usually found herself lost in the stone, and it was considered to be an odd habit by most of her coworkers.

There was a knock on her door, and she snapped away from the trance-inducing article.

“Come in,” she said, turning to face the knocker as they came in.

Her secretary came in, poking her head in through the door.

“Just thought you’d want to know that your workers are ready!” she said with a smile.

“Good,” Snow Fall replied, slightly dropping the air of professionalism she had been holding. “Thank you.”

The door closed, leaving her alone in the office. She stood and sighed. She had always had to be so professional around other ponies, to let them know she was good at her job. It was something her parents had instilled in her as a child, and something that she was sure to never forget. She turned back to the small stone, and held it up as she relaxed back in her chair.

“All that’s left is to present my plans and then work on perhaps my biggest project yet.”

*               *             *

“And that’s the plans for the Hurricane Wing of the Cloudsdale Weather Factory.” Snow Fall gave a bow to the executives seated before her.

One of them stood up from his chair with a stoic expression.

“It appears to be a very well thought-out plan Ms. Snow Fall,” he said, standing straight-backed and stiff. “However, why did you decide to build it on the north side of Cloudsdale, rather than the south?”

“The south side isn’t for big buildings,” Snow Fall replied, nervousness creeping up into her body; executives held an air that made her tremble. “It’s still developing, but the north side is already used to tall complexes and the like. The view out there is much nicer, as well.”

“Snow Fall,” he said, sounding rather disappointed. “You are my top contractor, and you know it. Your skills are great, and you know how to talk to the clients. But, sometimes you let other things get in the way of progress.

“This new addition to the weather factory has to be in quick reach of the main plant, and putting it on the north side places it farther from the main complex, meaning accidents will take longer to resolve, and more money lost by the company on transport.

“It doesn’t matter how bad the city looks when this is built on the south side, as long as it does its job, pays its workers, and keeps the skies safe. So, we are going to put it south side.”

Snow Fall only nodded and sighed under her breath.

“Sir,” she began, raising a hoof. “Are you sure? I mean, ponies may not like the building there.”

The stallion sat down and said, “It doesn’t matter what the populace likes about the design, it matters on how much more efficient the complex will run.”

Snow Fall opened her mouth to speak once more, but just stopped in defeat. There was no changing his mind.

“Then that is all,” she said, beginning to pack up her things. “You may go. Thank you for coming.”

Snow Fall placed a few sheets of paper in her bag. The sound of softly approaching hoofsteps caused her to look up. The pony coming to her was Grass Breeze, who had a smile on her face.

“Your husband was serious,” the kirin said with a mirthful smile.

“He’s always like that at work,” Grass Breeze said. “I don’t actually work here, but I decided to come and see how it went.”

“It was fine, but my idea to put it on the north side of town was trounced,” Snow Fall stood with her saddlebag across her back, papers and documents stored safely inside.

“It’s okay, though,” the mare replied. “He knows what he’s doing. It won’t seem so bad as soon as the building starts.”

“I know, but does he not see the art of beauty in buildings?” Snow Fall complained. “Oh well. Say, would you mind showing me where you planned on building before?”

“Not a problem,” Breeze replied, signaling her to follow. “It’s right this way.”

Snow Fall followed Grass Breeze to the southern side of the factory. Unlike the area the two were just in, which had large, multi-story structures, this side contained many smaller, one and two story buildings. While she was busy examining her surroundings, she wound up bumping into a blue pegasus mare with a white mane.

“Sorry,” she said, backing away carefully.

Snow Fall looked at the mare, before turning her head away from the pegasus, “You really should watch where you are going.”

The pegasus, who was surprised by her rude attitude, quickly got up and said, “Well, excuse me then. You should watch where you’re going as well!”

Snow Fall looked at her with a frown, “You have wings, you could have easily just flown over me, but instead you rudely collided with me.”

The mare was taken aback by her claim, “And you could have done the same! You know what, I’m not going to get into an argument. I have more important duties to attend to.”

As the pegasus flew off angrily, Snow Fall realized that she was losing pace to Grass Breeze. After quickly trotting up to her, she noticed that Grass Breeze had stopped and turned to her.

“Here it is!” she said, waving a hoof at the site. It was a large, open area with buildings surrounding it in a circular formation.

“Hm...” Snow Fall pondered. “It seems acceptable, though it isn’t really what I was expecting to work with.”

Grass Breeze merely chuckled lightly and turned to look at her.

“I hope that your work goes well,” she said. “I can’t wait to see the finished project.”

Grass Breeze trotted off, leaving Snow Fall to look at the area, imagining the final construct standing. She looked up and pictured the tall pillars stretching up to support a roof of floating white. Her thoughts were soon going a mile a minute as she began to ponder how to make such a large building look acceptable amongst such other smaller, more petite structures.

Soon, her eyes lit up as she gasped with excitement and said in a sing-song voice, “Idea!”

She located a nearby bench and table as she took out a large piece of paper and started drawing blueprints for the new area. Her pace was almost frantic as she sat there, improving the original plan and adding to the functionality at the same time.

She began talking to herself as she drew on the blueprint, “Yes, that way, instead of having to look like the more blocky buildings of the factory, making it more like a tower, and add pillars here and here... Why, I think I’ve had a stroke of genius!”

As she finally finished her design, she placed the new blueprints in her saddlebag and was soon on her way to meet the carpenters available for the job.

In order to reach the workshop where the carpenters would be at, she had to cross through most of Cloudsdale. The walk took her about an hour, but she was now in front of the building. She opened the doors and went in, where a small space with a lone counter awaited.

“Ah, Snow Fall!” the middle-aged stallion at the counter said. “What do you want this time?”

“Would it hurt to be a bit more polite?” the kirin replied, rolling her eyes. “You always greet me the same way.”

“You’re a regular!” he said with a chuckle. “Gotta treat regulars like family!”

“No, you don’t.” Snow Fall said with a deadpan look on her face.

“Aw, well. Now, why’re you here?” the stallion leaned forward on the counter.

“I want,” Snow Fall pulled out her blueprint design with the modifications, “this created. It’s a new extension to the weather factory. It is a circular opening located on the southern side of the area, and it must be done with the utmost precision.”

“Hm...” he said, taking the papers and looking them over. “It’s a lot, but we can get it done. You really went overboard with the design, though.”

Snow Fall was taken aback by his statement. “Overboard? Why I never! It is perfect for the location of the building.”

The stallion laughed as he said, “Well, Ms. Fall, I’ll get the team together. We’ll meet you at the site.”

“Thank you very much Mr. Build,” Snow Fall said while placing a few bits on the table, “Here’s a small tip for you, for accepting the job.”

The stallion gave Snow Fall a quick salute before heading to the back, leaving Snow Fall to herself once more. After sealing her bag, she headed back to the southern part of the factory, ready to begin her work. Upon arrival, she received quite a surprise when Grass Breeze was waiting for her.

“Why, Ms. Snow Fall, just the pon—er kirin, I was looking for!” Grass Breeze said with a smile. “There’s somepony that is supposed to assist you in overseeing the project, as the new department will be run by her.”

Snow Fall raised an eyebrow at Grass, “Oh? Just who would this other pony be?”

Grass Breeze clopped her hooves together in excitement, “Oh, she is just a joy to be around. Honest and dependable.”

As she was talking, a familiar pegasus mare came down from the skies. It was a blue pegasus with a white mane. Her cutie mark was that of wind blowing in the air. It was the same pegasus who Snow Fall had rudely bumped into just hours before.

Grass Breeze pointed a hoof in the pegasus’s direction. “Snow Fall, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Windswept.”

“You!” Snow Fall yelled.

“You!” Windswept yelled in return.

“She’s your daughter?!” Snow Fall said, turning to look incredulously at  Grass Breeze.

“Yes,” the mare replied. “Why?”

The two stared at each other for a minute, eyes narrowed.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Snow Fall said, breaking the confrontation. “I was rather in a rush, and I may have overreacted.”

“Overreacted?” Windswept replied, rolling her eyes. “You blew it out of the water!”

Grass Breeze looked between the two and smiled, “See, I knew you two would hit it off well!”