My Little Season Fairy: Weather is Magic

by Nyperold

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Main 6, Lyra, Original Character
Length: 6197

Five season fairies find themselves in Equestria at the site of a major disaster.

An explosion at the weather factory briefly connects the world of Equestria with the Fairy World, and Sugar, Salt, Pepper, Ginger, and Turmeric go through. Can they find a way to help Cloudsdale and Ponyville recover?

Crossover with Chitchana Yukitsukai Shugā/A Little Snow Fairy Sugar. Familiarity with same helpful in enjoying this fic.

All canon My Little Pony ponies and associated locations © Lauren Faust and Hasbro Incorporated
All fairies © Haruka Aoi
Dr. Stable Nimbus is mine.
I am not going to even try to sell this or make any sort of profit with it. (A fanfiction by a newbie fic writer? Who would buy it?)

If you want to make cover art for this, I'd like to see what you come up with.

SPECIAL ACORN CAFÉ NOTE: The character of Pepper is not the same Pepper who has experienced the events in our Round Robins, but is closer to the original.

Published 2014-05-05 04:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-07-29 15:32:10 UTC

Primer: "Do You Know About Season Fairies?"

Interested in this story, but think you'd be lost in all the terminology because you haven't seen the show or looked up anything about it? This guide seeks to remedy that.

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar is an anime and manga series from 2001 and 2002. The anime was formerly licensed by Geneon, but has since been acquired by Sentai Filmworks, and published in two collections of two discs each. The manga, originally serialized in Dragon Junior, has since been published in three volumes by Kadokawa Shoten. (I have not read the manga; any differences between the manga and the information presented here can be chalked up to that, and as such, are irrelevant to the crossover.)

In the world of A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, the weather is not made by complex systems involving heat, moisture, the rotation of the earth, and other factors, but is responsibility of small humanoids called season fairies. This magical weather control is achieved through the playing of special musical instruments. Each season fairy is responsible for a particular kind of weather within an area, but it is possible (and canonically happened) for the season fairy of one area to fill in for the same type in another. It seems as though it is normal for an apprentice season fairy to aspire to be the same type as a parent, but it is not unheard of (and again, canonically happened) for an apprentice to switch types, even late in training.

There are three kinds of season fairies that we see: apprentice, full-fledged, and elder. The apprentice season fairies tend to be children; canonically, the three we see most often are about 9 years old. They take up temporary residence in the human world until their flower, which they are supposed to plant as soon as possible, fully blossoms, indicating that they are fully-fledged. A major part of the process is finding "Twinkles"; this goal is frustrated by the fact that while all the full-fledged season fairies know what they are, the apprentices do not. And no one who does know is allowed to tell, as finding out for yourself is part of the process.

The normal full-fledged season fairies are already responsible for their area/weather type combination. The ones we typically see are Turmeric and Ginger.

The Elder, the leader, is a special case: he can make any kind of weather. Among his duties is personally training apprentices.

Fairies can be seen and heard by, naturally, other fairies, and can be seen and heard by other non-humans. They cannot typically be seen by humans; however, humans who will be or have been bonded to a season fairy can see any season fairy, even if it's not that one. (Saga, the main human, saw a snow fairy when she was a few years younger than she is outside of flashbacks, and until Sugar becomes full-fledged, she can also see her fellow apprentices, the full-fledged season fairies, and the elder.) Any human can feel them, as well as see things they do... such as eat the soup right off someone else's spoon. (Whether or not season fairies can be smelled or tasted is thankfully not explored.)

As you might guess, being a person who can see fairies in a world where this is rare and fairies are not typically believed in even by most 11-year-olds can be rough, particularly when one keeps provoking you to respond. But even humans for whom this is true can find themselves getting attached to the little guys, and vice versa.

So, that's the primer. If you have any questions pertaining to A Little Snow Fairy Sugar canon, particularly as it pertains to this fanfiction, ask in the comments and I'll see if the answer warrants inclusion in the primer itself. Otherwise, I'll likely just answer in the comments.

Enjoy the fic! If, that is, you haven't already and this primer has gotten you ready to.

Chapter 1

"Get that under control!"
"I'm trying, sir, but it's just too much to handle!"
The factory worker and his subordinates were frantically trying to do whatever they could to keep the machine together, but they could all see it was futile.
"All right," the foreman said, "there's nothing for it. Sound the evacuation alarm!"
Klaxons blared throughout the area around the factory. Every pony dropped what he was doing and attempted to leave as quickly as possible. Workers trained to assist in emergencies maintained order in the evacuation. Eventually, the workers at the malfunctioning machine broke away, as well, having delayed the inevitable as much as possible. They cleared the factory just as the machine exploded in a burst of brilliant color, taking out the entire thing, and the cloud on which it sat.

And where it had been, there was a shimmering disc.

*~*~*

"Sugar, c'mon! get up!"
"Please get up, Sugar, or you'll be late!"
"Ohhh, you're gonna make us late, too!"
In the world of season fairies, Sugar, a little snow fairy, was being awakened by her friends Pepper, the wind fairy, and Salt, the cloud fairy. She rubbed her eyes, stretched, and looked at her friends' worried faces.
"Oh no! What time is it?"
"Time for us to get movin', that's what time it is!" said Salt.
"C'mon, we'd better hurry!" said Pepper.
Sugar grabbed what she needed, and followed her friends.

"Where could those three be?" said the elder. "It's almost time to start."
"We're... here!" panted Sugar as the three came in and flew toward him.
"Well, you're here on time, so I won't scold you about it, but you did cut it pretty close. Now then--"
The elder was interrupted by the opening of a large portal that suddenly appeared in their path. The fairies couldn't stop in time, and they went through.

"Sugar? Salt? Pepper?" called Ginger. No answer came.
"Ginger, Turmeric, I'm going to need you to go after them. They may get in trouble wherever that leads!"
"As you wish, elder," said Turmeric.
"What will you do about Muhlenberg?" asked Ginger.
"I'll take care of Muhlenberg. You take care of those fairies! Good luck!"
The two adult fairies disappeared through the portal, which shrank to nothingness behind them.

*~*~*

The five hovered in midair and looked around. They saw several clouds around them where winged ponies were tending to the injuries of other winged ponies, or flying them away on stretchers. Nearby was a decent-sized city, seemingly built on top of the cloud.

"Whooooa..." said Salt. "What is this place?" None of the other fairies had any idea.
"Hey! You over there!" said a voice. It came from a light blue pony with magenta eyes and a rainbow mane. It approached them and stopped, looking stern. "Did you do this?"
"Hey!" said Sugar, getting in the pony's face. "How could you accuse us of something like that? We didn't do it, okay? We didn't!"
"Now, now, Sugar," said Pepper. "I'm sure they have to check all their leads. Um, miss, I think we were brought here as an effect of this."
"Oh? Heh, sorry about that, then. I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria!"
"I'm Pepper, and these are Salt, Ginger, Turmeric, and, of course, Sugar."
"So is this cloud Equestria?" asked Salt.
Rainbow Dash laughed. "No, no. Equestria is much, much bigger. We're hovering in Cloudsdale, in... what used to be... where the weather factory was. An explosion took it out not long ago. We'll need to rebuild, but the cloud machine went with it!"
Salt pulled out his cello. "Sounds like something we could help with, right, Turmeric?"
"Not so fast, Salt. I don't think the clouds we made back in the human world could support buildings. We might be able to here, but if we're not, then what we'll have is a great big gaping pit disguised as the equivalent of solid ground. We'll have to analyze the local clouds, and experiment to see if we can get it right first. You are right, though, if we can help, we should."
"Wait wait wait," said Rainbow Dash. "Make clouds? How're y'gonna do that without machinery?"
"Well, Miss Dash," said Pepper, "we're season fairies. In the human world, we're responsible for making various kinds of weather for our assigned areas."
Salt grinned at Sugar. "Yeah, or whatever area we happen to be in if the local fairy of our type is late." Sugar grinned and blushed, recalling the time she filled in for a full-fledged snow fairy.
"Looks like there's a story behind that, but it'll have to wait. You all, hang on to my mane. If you're with me, everypony'll know you're cool. We'll get you two somepony to help you experiment with cloud-making." The five did as told, and Rainbow Dash took them in search of a cloud scientist.

"Well, now that that's settled," said Sugar, once they had found one. "now what?"
"Say," said Pepper, "I thought I saw a city below us when we were back at the hole."
"Huh?" said Rainbow Dash. "...OhmyCelestiayou'reright! Hang on, we're moving again!"

*~*~*

"--so I said to myself that it was gonna be a doozy, and then there was an explosion of color, and then my tail started twitchy-twitch-twitching all over the place, and then stuff started falling, and so--"
"Little... BUSY... here... Pinkie," said Twilight Sparkle, straining to concentrate as she and Rarity lifted a large piece of debris onto a cart set to be pulled by Big Macintosh. "There. Okay, Big Mac, I think that's a load."
"Eeyup." Big Macintosh headed off with it.

"Pinkie, darling," said Rarity, "weren't you assigned to the kitchens?"
"Yup! But right now, you can't fit another pony in the local kitchens and expect anypony to be able to do anything! We're working in shifts, and it's not mine right now."
"Well, we kind of need to concentrate in order to move things around. I certainly appreciate Pinkie Sense more than I would ever have thought, but... you can recap when we can all relax and enjoy it, y'know?"
"Hey, guys!" said Applejack, pulling a tankard of cider. "Y'all thirsty? Ah brought some cider ta help cool ya down some!"
"Ooooh, thank you!" said Pinkie Pie. "My mouth is parched!"
"I can't imagine why," said Twilight dryly, then smiled. "Thank you, Applejack."
"Glad t'help out. Bah the way, y'all seen Big Mac?"
"He just took a load of debris away." Twilight sipped her cider. "He'll be sorry to have missed this."
"Oh, it's okay. Ah'll ketch up t'him sooner or later."
"Hey! Guys!" came Rainbow Dash's voice from above as she made her descent. "Is everything all right?"
"As far as I know," said Twilight, "there's property damage and a few injuries, but that's it."
"We're just taking a break while we wait for a cart to load debris onto," said Rarity.
"Care fer some cider?"
Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up. "Would I! Thanks, Applejack!"
Applejack served it to her."Yer welcome, sugarcube."
Rainbow Dash started sipping at the cider, then stopped. "Oh! I should introduce you. I found these little guys near ground -- or should I say, cloud -- zero. This is Salt--"
"Pardon me," said Pepper, "but Salt's still in Clouds...ville?"
Twilight giggled a bit. "Cloudsdale."
"Cloudsdale. I'm Pepper, a wind fairy."
"I'm Ginger, a rain fairy."
"And I'm Sugar, a snow fairy!"
"It's nice to meet you!" they all said, bowing in greeting.
"Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"Ah'm Applejack."
"And I am Rarity."
"Oh, I'd better get back to Cloudsdale to help out, so I'll see you guys later!"
"Bye!" said the others, and Rainbow Dash flew back as fast as she could.

"So," said Twilight Sparkle, "when you said that you were wind, rain, and snow fairies, what does that mean, exactly?"
"Oh," said Sugar, "well, we're season fairies, so we're responsible for making different kinds of weather."
"What kind of machine do you use to make weather?" asked Rarity.
"Machine?" said Sugar. "No, we're not scientists; we use our musical instruments!"
Twilight quirked an eyebrow. "Instruments? To make weather? I'll believe it when I see it."
Sugar puffed her cheeks in annoyance, but then extracted a flute from her bag, put it to her mouth, and blew over the embouchure hole, her fingers depressing the keys and producing a lively tune. The round part on the flute glowed, and a single large snowflake generated right in front of Twilight. The ponies, particularly Twilight, stood transfixed at the sight, until it touched her nose and dissipated.
"Ooh, that's cold!" Twilight said. "So... I guess you guys really can make weather, huh?"
"Yep!"
"Well, in that case, Miss Ginger, did Ah hear you say you were a rain fairy?"
"Yes."
"Well, mah farm needs some rain for the crops, an' some pegasi brought some clouds over, but then they got called away on accounta the explosion, so they never rained. So Ah was wonderin' iffin maybe you could trah gettin' 'em to rain?"
"I'll certainly try, Miss Applejack, but I must warn you that Turmeric -- one of the cloud fairies -- wasn't sure if his usual technique would work to fill in the cloud, and if that's uncertain, I might not be able to make it rain, either."
"Aw, that's okay. All y'can do is try, 'n' if it doesn't work, weyull, we'll jus' have to hope a pegasus kin get away long enough ta make it rain there. Ah'll see you folks later!"
Applejack left, Ginger following her.

"You know, dahlings, I'm not sure what we'd need wind and snow for at the moment."
"Hmm..." said Twilight. "Pepper, how well can you control your wind?"
"Fairly well, I suppose," said Pepper. "I can make a nice breeze, or sweep light debris into a pile."
"That could come in handy," said Twilight. "Now for Sugar. Snow... snow... cold... packs...? I wonder if the local hospital could use your snow..."
"Ohhh!" said Sugar. "How?"
"For some injuries," Twilight explained, "it's good to apply some cold to it. If somepony can wrap up something cold, then they can put it on the injury."
"I believe I've seen them doing that at the veterinary clinic," said Pepper.
"Oh!" said Rarity. "Then if the hospital isn't in need of your assistance, perhaps you could help Fluttershy instead!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Twilight spread her wings. "I'll fly her to the hospital. Rarity, you and Pepper go see if Fluttershy needs help, and if so, tell her about Sugar. I'll be by later, either way, but Sugar might be with me, or she might not be. We'll see."
"Then we'll see you later?" said Pepper.
"Yeah!" said Sugar. "Let's help some ponies!"
Sugar gripped Twilight's mane extra tight, but as it turned out, Twilight was a little slower than the average pegasus of equivalent age. With practice, she had gotten good enough to be a graceful flyer at that speed, but said speed was nowhere near Rainbow Dash's, so Sugar loosened her grip a little as they headed for the hospital.

Chapter 2

"So, I hear you can make clouds," said Dr. Stable Nimbus, looking at the two fairies, "but you need some help with the local details?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Salt.
"You see, Dr. Nimbus," said Turmeric, "back home, all clouds are expected to do practically is provide intermittent shade, and, when rain fairies play the music for it, make it rain."
"But here, they support buildings?"
"Well then," said the scientist, smiling, "we should start by examining the differences between one of our clouds and one of yours." She went over to a large reinforced glass box with a number of scientific instruments around it. It reminded him of one of Phil's inventions.
"You gonna make an aurora with that?"
Nimbus chuckled. "What? No, no, this allows us to study a cloud under controlled conditions. The instruments around it let us look at it in many different ways: microscopically, spectrographically... if it's a way to look at clouds, we can do it here! And we can print out what we see, so we can show somepony else without making them come here!" The gray mare was grinning broadly by the time she finished, but with a blush, she managed to calm herself down. "Ahem. At any rate, Mister... Turmeric, was it? I'd like you to make a cloud appear inside this box, and try to keep it smaller than the box. Other than that, make it as you normally do."
"Yes, ma'am." He began to play his cello with the usual tune, stopping just before it reached the limits of the box.
"Ah, lovely, both the tune and the cloud." She went around to the various instruments and looked, making printouts and "hmmm" noises on each one. "Yes, most fascinating," she continued. "It's different in almost every way. Unfortunately, I believe it wouldn't even support the weight of a pegasus feather."
To test this hypothesis, she plucked a loose feather from one of her own wings and gently placed it atop the cloud. The feather drifted through almost as easily as if the cloud were not there.
"Awww..." said Salt, seeing the feather resting on the bottom.
"Now, now, no need to feel bad on your friend's behalf. This gives us a place to start from."
"Is the cloud at least good for rain?" asked Turmeric.
"I would have to run tests with plants to find that out, but I would hypothesize that the water from a cloud like this would not be good for the plants of Equestria." She pulled a file folder from the shelves. "Come look." She opened the folder and spread some pictures out. "This is what it looks like when you have the type of cloud that can support buildings." The fairies looked at them while she gathered the other printouts. She brought them over and laid each near its normal counterpart. "You see? Different in almost every way. Now then, Turmeric, does how you play the instrument affect how the clouds come out?"
"It seems to, on a superficial level. I'm afraid I've never examined them they way they're being examined here, and I've definitely never tried to make them hold things up."
"Well then," said Dr. Nimbus, eagerly, "we shall be doing both. Quite possibly a lot of both. If you're willing to help, that is."
"I am."
"And so am I!"

*~*~*

"Well, here we are, sugarcube, Sweet Apple Acres. Mah home an' the home a' the best apples this side a' Appleloosa! My, uh, cousin lives there. Anyhoo, the clouds're all ready up there, so if'n you would, Miss Ginger..."
"Certainly, Applejack." Ginger flew up into one of the trees and sat on a branch. She played her usual tune through to the end, but to her disappointment, not even one drop fell during the entire song. She furrowed her brow. She didn't want to give up so easily.
"I'm gonna try playing this a few different ways and see what happens."
"Well all right, but if'n you feel like givin' up at some point, Ah won't hold it against ya."
The rain fairy nodded and went back to playing.

*~*~*

"Well, I'll certainly appreciate the help if it comes, Rarity," said Fluttershy, "so I guess we'll see... Oh! Here she comes now!"
Twilight landed near Fluttershy. Not the most graceful of landings, but that would improve with practice, and nothing was damaged in the process, so it was overall a good landing.
"Hello, Twilight!"
"Hey, Fluttershy!"
"So what's the news?" asked Rarity.
Sugar's tiny head popped up from Twilight's mane. "The hospital staff said they have enough access to ice, so--" Twilight started to explain, only to suddenly find herself getting an unexpected close-up of Fluttershy's chin.
"Awwwwwww, she's so cute! So you're a fairy? I'm Fluttershy!"
"Yep!" Sugar giggled. "I'm Sugar, the snow fairy! I'm here to make snow for cold packs!"
"Well," said Fluttershy, getting out of Twilight's face and walking over to an injured badger, "it just so happens that we have a patient who could use that very thing. Whenever you're ready, Miss Sugar!" She prepared a cloth container for the collection of cold crystals to come. Sugar went over to it, then withdrew her flute from her pocket and began to play a lively tune. A snowflake formed and materialized as before, landing in the cloth.
A few seconds of silence.
"That was very pretty, both the snowflake and the music, I mean, but -- and I mean no offense -- if you make the snow one snowflake at a time, it'll take far too long to make one that does any good."
"Huh," said Sugar. "Usually when I play like that, I get a nice snowball. Funny, because when I was an apprentice, I was making snowballs all the time when I was trying to make snowfall, until I got the hang of it."
"This is just conjecture, Sugar," offered Twilight, "but our weather is usually made by a different process, so maybe you need to modify your technique a bit to compensate."
"...Huh?"
"Play a little bit differently, darling," said Rarity. "It might work better."
"Oh, uh, right!" Sugar said, and played the way she normally would if she were trying for snowfall. This time, two snowflakes appeared. The three ponies sighed.
"Well, it's progress." Twilight prepared to take off again. "Keep trying! I'm gonna see if I can find Rainbow Dash. Maybe they're having an easier time."

*~*~*

Pepper flew around, looking for ponies to cool with a breeze and light debris to gather. She spotted an earth pony operating a broom and struggling with getting debris into a dustpan.
Pepper brought out her harp. "Oh, allow me, sir!"
"You?" said the stallion, incredulous that a little bitty... whatever-it-was had just offered to help him.
"Blow, wind, blow," chanted Pepper as she strummed a pretty tune on her harp. A breeze came and blew the debris he was struggling with directly into the trash can he was transporting, bypassing the dustpan entirely. Satisfied, she turned to go on her way -- and nearly flew smack into a pair of tangelo eyes belonging to a very light aquamarine unicorn who was eyeing her intensely.
"Are you... a human?" said the awestruck voice.
"Eep!" said Pepper, startled and unnerved by the ocular proximity. "Um, no, sorry." The mare looked crestfallen. "I can see why you might think that, though!" Pepper hastened to add. "We fairies are similar in structure, albeit much smaller and with wings, which humans don't have."
"So you know about them! That's wonderful! The name's Lyra Heartstrings. I've been interested in humans for years! Perhaps you could tell me as much as you know about them...?" The mare looked at her pleadingly.
"Sh-sure, as long as I can help out around here at the same time. I'm Pepper, by the way!"
"Nice to meet you, Pepper Bytheway!" She shook Pepper's tiny unproffered hand, fully shaking her from head to toe.

Author's Note

Those of you also on Coloholics may recognize the name "Stable Nimbus". I actually wrote this story long before I made her a character there, but I didn't fully name her in the story until after I had done so.

Chapter 3

Twilight located Rainbow Dash, who told her where to find the cloud scientist's lab she'd taken the fairies to. Going there, she entered the lab quietly enough so as not to disturb the goings-on within, while loudly enough to announce her presence so she wouldn't startle anyone by seeming to just suddenly be there.
"Ah, Your Highness," said Nimbus. "To what do I owe your visit?"
"Eheh, Dr. Nimbus, I presume?" asked Twilight. The doctor nodded. "Just 'Twilight' or 'Twilight Sparkle' is fine." I suppose I should be grateful I don't yet exude grandeur like Celestia or Luna. "I heard we have a couple of fairies trying to help out up here, and I wanted to meet them and see how things were going." Having noticed the fairies, she trotted over to them. "You must be Salt and Turmeric."
Turmeric bowed a bit. "Yes, your... I mean, Twilight. I'm Turmeric, and this is Salt. Sadly, it's not going well. I've played my tune in a lot of different ways, and nothing seems to make a cloud suitable for our purposes."
"Ohhh," said Dr. Nimbus, mournfully. "I'm going to be hearing that tune in my head for days..."
"A tune? What tune?"
"Please no, it's a lovely tune, but I've just heard it too many times today."
"Can you play a different tune from... whatever it was, then?"
"A different tune...?" said Salt. "Hang on, I've got something!"
He began to play the main melody that he had heard Saga play so many times when he was in the human world. Turmeric smiled, recognizing it. Twilight and Dr. Nimbus were so moved, they almost forgot to watch the cloud form. It achieved maximum size just as he finished.
"Oh... my..." said the pegasus. "Oh! Yes!" She went around, making printouts of the views. Twilight looked through out of curiosity. She'd never done so before, only having seen still printouts in science texts.
"Why... these are perfect! If anything, they might even be stronger than the clouds that were there before!"
Salt was pleasantly surprised. "Really? Saga's mom's song did that?"
"If that's who composed that wonderful piece, then yes!"
"Great!" said Twilight. "Should we go to the site, then?"
"I don't see why not," said the scientist. "We'll just have to round up an engineer or two. Twilight, if you wish, this would be a good time to go find Rainbow Dash. She'll want to know about it, I'm sure."
"Yes, she will," said Twilight. "I'll go do that right now. See you two later!"

*~*~*

Ginger sighed. This was the tenth variation on her usual tune she'd tried yet, and nothing seemed to be working.
"Whah donchy'all have a break, at least?" called Applejack. "Got some cider for ya!"
"Thank you, I believe I will," said Ginger, putting her violin away and flying down. She accepted the thimble with cider in it and sipped at it. Applejack when back into the house, and about a minute later, reemerged with a fiddle and bow.
"Oh!" said Ginger. "You play, as well?"
"Ah guess Ah play a little," Applejack replied, modestly. "Nothin' real fancy, but Ah figure it's raht enjoyable."
She tucked the fiddle under her chin and set bow to string. With that, and a bit of tuning, she began to play a good old-fashioned country-style tune, of the sort played at a barn dance. Ginger smiled and moved in time with the music as she continued to drink. When both she and Applejack had finished, Ginger had a thought.
"Do you mind if I join in?" she asked.
"Whah, not at all!"
Ginger pulled out her violin and set it to her chin, and Applejack started over, this time with Ginger playing the same tune. The music reached the clouds, and they began to unleash their rain upon the orchards and fields.
"YEEEEEE-HAW!" yelled the earth pony, missing neither note nor beat.
When the song was over and all the clouds rained out, the two beamed.
"Well don't that jus' beat all. One-a them old folksy tunes made it rain! Reckon it wouldn't happen without a magical instrument, but still... Y'all done us a good turn, Miss Ginger. Thankee muchly."
"It was my pleasure, Applejack. I had fun, even if it hadn't done that."
"Well, no surprise there. Now that that's that, maybe we should go see how the others are doin'!"

*~*~*

Pepper and Lyra went from place to place, Pepper cleaning up small debris and Lyra asking her all sorts of questions about humans. Although Pepper didn't mind too much, it was a bit distracting -- not that she would ever say so -- and there were times when she simply did not know the answer. That was fine with Lyra, though; she was simply ecstatic to gain what information she could.
"So you say humans can't see or hear you?"
"Mostly not. They usually can only see and hear us if they're going to be helping an apprentice season fairy find her twinkle and become full-fledged. Once that happens, they lose that ability, but while the ability lasts, they can see any season fairy as easily as they can see each other."
"Ohhhh... so what's a 'twinkle'?"
Pepper giggled. "It's something we need to find to make our flowers grow. When I was looking for mine, my friends and I disagreed about whether it was twinkle-twinkle, puffy-fluffy, or comfy-warm. In the end, I guess it was all those things. We're not really supposed to tell apprentice season fairies, since finding it on their own is part of what makes a season fairy become full-fledged, but since there aren't any around here, and weather is made by a completely different process, I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell. As it turns out, it's--"
"Lyra~!" a pleasant voice called. "Would you be a dear and help me make more loads?"
"Oh! Sure thing, Diamond Mint!" Lyra sheepishly turned back to Pepper. "Guess I'd better go work. It was fun talking with you!"
"Well, um, same here!"
"I guess I'll let you get back to what you were doing. See you around!" With that, Lyra trotted off.
"Bye!" Pepper said, and indeed, went back to moving debris into cans.

*~*~*

Applejack and Ginger found a very frustrated Sugar at Fluttershy's cottage.
"Heya, Fluttershah! So, how're ya doin', sugarcube?"
Applejack suddenly had a fairy in her face. "I am not a cube! I'm Sugar! Hmph!"
"Beggin' yer pardon, uh, Sugar. No offense intended."
"Oh, Applejack, it's been really difficult for her," said Fluttershy. "It reminds me of me when I was learning to fly..."
"Why won't this work?! Grr!" Sugar fumed. "All this time, and what do I have to show for it? This!" She gestured to a cold pack with a small wet spot in the middle. Her face turned sad. "It's my apprenticeship all over again..."
Ginger came up and hugged her, and was hugged in return.
"There, there, Sugar. I didn't find it easy, either. I only managed it when I played a tune Applejack knew. Maybe you just need to play something else."
"I guess... but I just don't feel up to it."
Ginger guided her to the ground, where they sat together, hugging. Suddenly Ginger had an idea.
"I know what'll cheer you up."
"What," asked Sugar, dully.
"This!" said Ginger, and began tickling her mercilessly.
"B...bahahahahahahahahahahaha!" laughed Sugar, and began to kick and wiggle. "Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Fluttershy and Applejack couldn't help but smile at the scene. After about a minute, Ginger stopped and lay on her back, allowing Sugar to give her the same treatment. Sugar happily did so, making Ginger helpless with laughter. Soon enough, Sugar stopped.
"Now," panted Ginger, "what say you... try a different tune?"
"Yeah!" said Sugar, now energized. "But... what?"
"Whatever comes ta mind, Ah reckon," offered Applejack.

Sugar played a tune she had never heard before. It was as though it was fed to her by an outside force. None present really knew it, though the reader would know it as the theme song to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. When it ended, a nice snowball fell right in the middle of the pack.
"Oh!" said Fluttershy, approaching the pack. "That will do nicely!" She bundled it up and took it to the patient. "There you go, Mr. Badger, a nice cold pack for your injury."
Sugar hovered there with her mouth open. She took a deep breath before... "YAHOOOOOO! I did it I did it I did it!" She giggled and went around to everyone present, giving each a kiss, even the badger. She stopped back at Ginger and hugged her. Ginger smiled and hugged her in return.
"Your mother would be so proud of you," she said to Sugar. "I wonder how Turmeric and the others are doing..."

*~*~*

Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Dr. Nimbus stood at the edge of the hole in the clouds as Turmeric and Salt hovered nearby.
"Twilight tells me you guys have got this down," said Rainbow. "So let's see what you can do!"
Salt and Turmeric nodded to each other and went down to the bottom of the foundation cloud, cellos and bows in hands. They began to play Saga's mother's song as they spiralled outward and upward, cloud forming wherever they had been. By the time the song was done, the cloud was completely filled in.
"Whoa," said Rainbow Dash. "It's... perfect. You can't even tell wasn't made by our own construction pegasi!"
Nimbus scanned the ground with her naked eyes. "I have no doubt that you'd be able to tell the difference with equipment, but I am completely confident that this cloud is safe to walk and even build upon."
"Really?" asked Twilight.
"I would stake my reputation on it."
"Doc knows her stuff, Twilight. I didn't seek her out for nothing!"
"Okay, okay, if you trust her, then so do I. Though I suppose the proof will be when they actually start rebuilding."

*~*~*

A few days passed. The fairies continued to help out where they could, making wind, snow, rain, and clouds as needed. They met with Lyra and told them more about humans, and went to the school to talk to the foals about themselves and their lives. They had their meals and took their sleep at various houses, as well.

Finally, the day came when the weather factories were all ready for operation again, and all damage done was repaired. As such, the stage in Ponyville was set up, and ponies from both Ponyville and Cloudsdale were called to attend. As such, there was a massive crowd in front of it, such that nopony felt the need to replicate themselves to fill it out. On the stage stood the two pony sisters, and a lectern on which the five fairies stood.
Celestia approached the lectern. "Residents of Ponyville and Cloudsdale. A few days ago, there was an industrial accident in the weather factory, completely destroying it. But thanks to the help of these five, we have recovered our losses. And so, I bestow upon each the title of 'Friend of Equestria'."
There was a glow in front of each fairy, and within each glow was a button of the sort you pin on, sized to be normal for a fairy. On the front, each said 'Friend of Equestria'. The fairies picked theirs up curiously. Then, Sugar lifted hers above her head and gave a brief laugh. The other fairies looked at her and did the same, and the crowd cheered. Then the fairies pinned them to their clothing.
"And now, my little fairies," said Celestia, as the crowd quieted down. "I believe I can send you back home whenever you choose."
"...We... should really get going," said Pepper, sadly. "But we will miss you all!"
"I'll think about you every day!" said Salt.
"I'll never forget you!" said Sugar.
Twilight stepped forward. "And we will never forget what you've done for us. Title or no, you truly are friends."
Twilight suddenly found her face being hugged by Sugar. Salt and Pepper joined her, and Ginger and Turmeric hugged her neck. Then they broke away, and flew back up to the stage.
Sugar took a deep breath, then exhaled. "We're ready."
"Very well." Celestia's horn glowed, and from it issued magic swirling into a portal. The fairies flew in front of it, waved one last time, and flew through before it disappeared.
"I wonder if we'll ever see them again," said Twilight.
"Who knows," said Celestia. "Let us hope that if they do show up again, it is under more pleasant circumstances."

*~*~*

Back in the fairy world, the fairies returned to find the elder on the floor, panting hard. They all rushed over to help him up.
"Elder! Are you all right?" asked Ginger.
"Eheh, mostly fine," he replied. "I may be rather powerful, but taking care of all forms of an entire city's weather is exhausting! You see why each type of weather is usually the provence of only one fairy per region."
They helped him over to a chair.
"Now then, young'uns," he continued. "Why don't you tell me all about what happened these past few days?"
"Well," said Pepper, "we found ourselves in Equestria, where talking ponies seem to be the dominant species, in the middle of some clouds. This light blue winged pony with a rainbow mane came up to us and..." It was then that she noticed that he had fallen asleep. "Elder?"
Turmeric laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Let's let him sleep. We can tell him all about it some other time."

Author's Note

Well, that's the end of my first story! I currently have no plans for continuing it, but who knows?