It's Like a Big Can of Weather Worms

Chapter 2

Over the next few days, Dumbbell flew head first into his training with the Drumfires. They frequented one of the aerodomes which were separate from the cloudosseum, similar in structure, but smaller in size. Made mostly for training and smaller sporting events that didn’t require as much space. As far as meeting times were concerned, it wasn’t too difficult for them to find and keep a consistent schedule between training, sleep, work, and whatever other interests he had time for in between. As far as training went, as early as the second day, Dumbbell could already tell what he was in for.

“Bell, watch your outside turn! You’re starting to lose control!”

They had rented three wind machines, the kind used to help push clouds over long distances, and placed them around the arena to help simulate the kind of conditions they would be facing during a real race. Pulling the chariot in calm weather wasn’t the hard part. Before now, he had shown skill in zipping around a course with one strapped to him with ease. It was keeping himself from colliding with the side of the aerodrome as the rushing streams of wind assaulted him from every side that proved difficult.

He struggled to stay within his invisible lane with the extra weight in tow, all of which dragged him lower than his preferred height. Ahead he saw Tango heading into the next turn. She went in fast, but the current had its way with the chariot, which was heavier than she was.

“Tango you’re going into that turn too fast, slow yourself!” Highball barked out his order from the sidelines. But Tango didn't pay attention or simply did not hear him, either way it was too late. The rush hit the chariot at a bad angle and wrenched her to the side, throwing her into a spin out.

“Dumbbell, look out!” Dumbbell heard Pompellyite somewhere behind him. He was the slowest of their team but expectedly the most controlled. From his position behind Dumbbell, he must have been able to see the collision coming. It was at that moment, with the chariot dragging Tango behind it like she was the cargo, that Dumbbell saw it coming too. Two words flashed sharply in his mind then.

‘Shit, dive!’

His wing muscles strained under the combating pressure as he forced his wing power to come to bear against the torrent rushing wild around him. He felt the mass of Tango’s chariot pass over, missing him by just under a foot of head space. He had avoided his face being crushed by a chariot, good show, but there was still a problem.

“Can I get some help here?” Dumbbell shouted as he continued to struggle against the extra weight of his chariot, but he was already too far gone. He rolled and tumbled helplessly in midair, unable to reach the release mechanism as he was heaved around. He reached for the button again, but before he was able to push it, he felt the harsh jolt of the chariot hitting the aerodome wall. The collision knocked the air from his lungs, and for a moment he was stuck there, suspended. Then he felt himself lean forward as his weight pulled the chariot away from the wall, and both he and the chariot fell to the cloud floor, which was thankfully soft of course.

“Ugh...that’s smarts.” Dumbbell pulled his nose out of the cloud surface and shook his head slightly, feeling the world around him dizzyingly rotate, but he was cognizant enough to tell that he wasn’t injured and began trying to stand up. As he pushed against the underside of the chariot which had flipped over and pinned him, he realized it was not as heavy as he expected. And then he noticed two pair of hooves visible from his place underneath it. The chariot flipped away, and the first thing Dumbbell noticed was that he could hear a lot clearer, as the gushing sound of machine-made wind currents finally ended, and he didn’t have to stretch his ability to hear to the limit to understand what the pony in front of him was saying.

“Pro-tip. Do not set those things to full power the first time you use them.” It was Rainbow Dash.
Of all the ponies Dumbbell expected to be staring at, she was pretty low on his list.

“Sorry about that, big guy,” Tango landed next to him and bowed her head sympathetically. “Seriously sorry! I almost knocked you pretty bad up there.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dumbbell said after finally kicking himself out of the loose harness. “Look like you came out of your ordeal just fine.”

Tango’s eyes brightened and she laughed loudly. “You’ve got Rainbow Dash to thank for that!”

“Heh, yeah...” Rainbow Dash managed to say after her involuntary fit of flinching ceased. “It was nothing. But it’s a good thing I was overhead when I saw you were about to fly head first into a wall.”

For a moment, Tango looked down at her hooves.“Mmhm, guess I couldn’t handle the turn as good as the straight away. Thought I was doing pretty good. But Rainbow Dash swooped down and saved me!” She knocked Rainbow Dash playfully on the shoulder. “ You should have seen her, just as good as a Wonderbolt!”

The compliment put a big grin on Dash’s face which Dumbbell thought was more goofy than anything. “Thanks!”

At that moment Highball and Pompellyite made it to them, both looking concerned.

“Are you two alright?” Pompellyite pulled away his goggles glanced worriedly between his two teammates.

“Yeah, we’re good, Pomp.” answered Dumbbell. Then Highball looked at him, then at Tango, and finally over at the overturned blue-gold chariot.

“Aw no,” he muttered and crept over to the chariot with a strange anxious caution. He levered a hoof underneath and gently lifted it up, eyes sweeping over the exterior.

“I’m still paying for these. My brother is going to kill me...again.”

Dumbbell’s ears pricked forward in annoyance. “Don’t worry about us, Highball, no near deaths over here.”

Highball snapped out of his funk for a moment and saw his teammates again with a kind of reevaluated clarity, and his ears drooped.

“Sorry about that,” he said, then paused and shrugged, displaying a nervous smile. “But neither of you got hurt, right?”

“Well, haven’t you got the nerve!” shouted Tango.

“Sorry.” Highball’s limp apology was all he could offer.

Tango stomped over to fuss over him because he hadn’t fussed over her. Pomp rolled his eyes and followed to make sure she didn’t try to kick their chariot pull captain in his rear while he wasn’t looking. That left Dumbbell alone with Rainbow Dash and a pony he had never seen before. A stallion with a faded hazelnut coat and an iron-gray mane. He was at least as tall as Dumbbell and well built. Dumbbell could sense easy confidence radiating from his smile, and power rolling off of his primary wing feathers. The kind of pony who was good at whatever it is he did and knew it. For half a second, their eyes met, and Dumbbell could have sworn he had seen this pony before but his tongue went lax, not being able to remember where. Also, Dumbbell had a knack for picking them out, but the guy looked like an asshole.

Yeah, takes one to know one, right?

‘Shut up you idiot.’ he thought back to himself. It took all two seconds of silence for these thoughts to pass through his head before he spoke.

“So who’s your friend?”

Rainbow Dash and the stallion traded glances.

“The name’s Brew,” he held his hoof out for Dumbbell to shake. “And I’m Dash’s personal trainer.”

“Trainer huh?” Dumbbell was lifting his own hoof to shake but stopped short. He looked at Rainbow Dash curiously. “What are you training for? he asked. Rainbow Dash kicked up a white ball he hadn’t noticed before and tossed it buoyantly from wing to wing.

“Brew here is training me for a big airball competition coming up,” she said. “ A Cloudsdale wide event and first place gets a cool three hundred bits.”

Dumbbell whistled. “Sweet.” Three hundred bits could buy a lot, especially in Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash hovered and tossed the ball and with a single flap of her wings shot it up like a shell shooting straight from a cannon. It flew up several feet and came back down, landing on Dash’s outstretched wing like a perfect cradled fit. “And I’m gonna win it.”

“Hey, invite me to the victory party!” Dumbbell brought his hoof up and she bumped it.

“She certainly has the skills.” Brew laid an appraising eye against the mare. “All she really needs is to learn the rules and techniques.”

Dumbbell looked at Brew curiously. Where had he seen him before? “So you’re pro?” he asked. Brew shook his head, his smile not changing. “Well, in a way you could say that I am,” he said. “But I don’t play the game professionally, I just train the players. Some of them the best in the league.”

Before Dumbbell could ask another question, his vision was flooded by mulberry.

“A professional trainer?” Tango’s wings fluttered. She was hovering upon her hoof tips to meet Brew eye to eye. “Are you serious? That’s amazing! Who did you train?”

“Well, I’ve trained several, there was —”

“Did you train with Cloud Kicker? Or Cool Corona? Desert Orchid? Oh-oh-oh what about Red Rum!” Tango moved back so she would have enough room to prance in place. “Red Rum is my girl! Airball champion three years running!”

“C’mon lay off of the guy, Tang!” Dumbbell had to sidestep her to avoid getting his hooves stepped on. “You’re acting like a complete spaz.”

“You are right on all counts.” Brew tilted his head back and glinted a smile full of pride. “In fact I expect to meet Red Rum at the next Cross Equestria flying event.”

Tango had just then reared up on her hind legs. She froze, standing there stiff and awkward, her mouth hung open in a big flabbergasted “O”. Five seconds later she broke from her spell and resumed standing normally, though her wings were still stiff as boards. Her mouth pinched inwards and her eyes grew large, Dumbbell took a step back uncomfortably.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Brew...C-can I...may I...” Tango stammered, eyes shimmering. “Have your autograph?”

Brew graced her with a smile that could charm snakes. “It would be my pleasure.”

Before Dumbbell even had a chance to protest, his teammate stepped away from the group, towards a little overhang under the bleachers, with the supposed all-star trainer, a healthy if not one-sided conversation well underway.

Well damn, it's like they’re already at the top of their game. But before he could go and pluck Tango away he was intercepted by Rainbow Dash, an impish and expectant smile on her face. Dumbbell watched her for a moment, not sure of exactly what she was hoping for him to say.

“What’s the problem?” was the only thing he could think of, straight to the point.

Rainbow Dash sniffed once and cocked her head slightly to the side. Her smile changed a little. “So, where’s my present?”

“Wha?” He creased his brow, not understanding. “What present?”

Rainbow Dash’s smile quickly dipped into a frown. “Seriously? My birthday was just few days ago!”

Dumbbell shrugged. “I didn’t get to go. I told ya that!”

Rainbow Dash still had the airball clutched between her wing and her body.

“You still could have got me a present.”

In one deft movement she threw the ball at him with one wing, but Dumbbell jumped back a little and caught it with his own. Now he was smiling.

“Tch, If I’d known you were a material girl, I would have got ya something.” he said. “But no guarantee it would be something ya like!” And Rainbow Dash shrugged, smiling herself. “Nah it’s not a big deal.” she said.

They began walking together across the aerodome’s cloud tarmac without saying anything. Sometimes it look a little bit more to get the ball rolling, but it was a silence with communication.
Dumbbell and Rainbow Dash had become friends roughly six months ago. Or had they been friends for much longer than that? No, that presumed far too much, maybe this was a re-lighting of an old friendship gone long cold, and had died. Dumbbell couldn't really decide. To him it felt like a new thing, yet at the same time there were memories which made it feel like he was starting over. Or being given a second chance. But ever since then, they had started to hang out more often, a toss up between athletic hobbies or hunting for new reading material at the library. It was weird how a fight over a book, one which neither of them even got to finish reading, started the chain of events that placed Rainbow Dash back in his life, but he didn't find himself complaining.

Dumbbell gripped the ball and bounced it up and down with ease. He then realized a bit too late that he was now doing exactly as Tango had done, albeit for a different reason, still he couldn't help but feel like he had bailed, despite the fact that he hadn't gone far. He looked back towards the bleachers and saw Tango and Brew, still chatting each other up like they were on a second date. He looked further out onto the field and noticed Highball and Pompellyite talking near the chariot about something he couldn't hear, but it must have been casual as they had pulled drinks from the icebox.

Well, he could say their break was well deserved.

“So, airball,” he wondered allowed. “When did Ms. Wonderbolts suddenly decide to get a profession change?”

“Huh, you wish,” said Rainbow Dash. “Actually this isn’t a change, more like a...detour.”

“Oh, I get it.” Dumbbell continued to bat the ball of cloud, rubber, and magic deftly between his wings. “Think if you win the upcoming airball tournament you’ll get the attention of the Wonderbolts.”

“More than that.” Dash said. “I’ve been paying attention to this sport and, —” her pause was hardly noticeable as she caught the ball. “I think I can learn a thing or two if I get good at it.” She threw the ball back.

“What’s your wing power?” Dumbbell caught the returning throw.

“Seventeen,” Rainbow Dash said proudly. She was wearing her usual boastful smirk. “ And that's if I'm going easy, I’ve been workin out, or as you’d say, “ lifting?”

"Oh, really?" Dumbbell scoffed. “I haven’t seen you at any gym!”

“Well, obviously there’s one in Ponyville!”

Dumbbell flew into the air several feet with the airball locked between his hooves. The cloud surface made holding it easy. “Yeah right, like I can believe that podunk little village could afford one.” he grinned. “What do you even bench press with? Rolling pins?” He wound up his throw and released with more power behind it.

When he threw the airball down, Rainbow Dash didn’t catch it. Instead, she jumped into the air and angled her body sideways. A strong flap of her wing changed the ball’s direction mid-fall, straight up towards him, and twice as fast, he reached out and felt as the sphere scraped past his grip. Dumbbell was only just fast enough to catch it.

‘Wow, that was fast.’ he thought. But he told himself that was only because he hadn’t anticipated the move. He looked down only to realize Dash was already in the air next to him, her nose against his, her fore hooves pressed against his own, grappling for the airball’s possession.

“Let’s go a round, and I’ll show you what I’ve been lifting.”

It was late evening when Dumbbell flew back to the apartment, feeling tired but satisfied with the day’s events. He and his team had done seven more practice rounds in the aerodome with the wind machines at a much lower setting as Rainbow Dash had suggested, and gradually worked their way higher. By the end, they found that they were able to fly within the ranges between low and middle speeds with relative ease. It was the roughest winds that were trouble, so it was decided they would bulk up their wing strength over the next few months, as well as hone their ability to maneuver with a chariot around tight obstacles. As far as his brief bout against Rainbow Dash had fared, he decided it best to keep the outcome to himself.

Dumbbell slipped the key back into his sling bag as he looked over the apartment. From Friday evening to Monday night the place was usually empty at all but the most remote hours of the morning. At that moment it was quieter than a crypt since Hoops rarely if ever spent his free time at home, and for the most part, it was a mystery to Dumbbell just where he went or what he was doing. It was enough to concern him, but he struggled with the idea of it being any of his business to ask.

Dumbbell tossed his bag onto the couch in the living room and went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out a ginger soda. Something cold with a sharp taste was just what he needed. He popped the top and tipped the bottle back. It wasn’t until that moment while savoring the drink that he noticed a light smell and a hissing sound behind him. He paused and looked over at the stove and saw the covered pot sitting on top of it, a small flame underneath, which was the source of the hiss.

Slowly Dumbbell took another gulp of soda and walked over to the pot and the smell became more pronounced. Something like cooked barley or corn, but none of the other accompanying smells that came with activity in the kitchen. The things Hoops liked to eat usually filled the apartment with a smell so foul it was almost baffling, but now besides the mystery in the cooking pot, all he could detect was baking soda and detergent, the typical smells of a spic and span and unused kitchen.

“That’s weird.” Dumbbell thought to himself as he leaned over the warm pot. It was dangerous, he was sure of it, but curiosity was getting the better of him.

“You’re back! Awesome!”

Dumbbell looked up and saw Hoops in the living room from over the bar. He was honestly surprised that Hoops was even there on a weekend, but looking at the pot gave him an idea.

“Yo, Hoops,” Dumbbell moved away from the stove. “Are you making something?”

Dumbbell rarely called anything his friend Hoops did over a hot stove “ cooking” . As he learned a while ago, the hard way.

“I’m just going out soon.” was the answer. It felt like he was dodging the question.

“Tonight?”

Hoops glanced at a clock on the wall. “Iiin a couple of hours, yeah.”

Dumbbell heard the bubbling ‘splorch’ of the contents in the pot and grimaced.

“You’re not...feeding her are you?” he asked.

“Well, actually I—”

“I’m not gonna to be your guinea pig.” Dumbbell said all at once, lowering his head with a scowl, the way a cornered animal would. The sudden desperate reaction caused Hoop’s mouth to split into a grin, and then he laughed.

“It’s not like that, dude! I’m taking her out.”

Dumbbell felt the tension leave his feathers and he breathed a deep sigh. ‘Thank the light.’
“But I do need a favor.”

Dumbbell was halfway out of the kitchen, soda in hoof when he stopped mid-step and inspected Hoops with a sideways glance. “I can’t cover for you tonight,” he stated. “I’ve got work in the morning.”

“It’s not that, I’m fine tonight.” Hoops offered quickly. “It’s something I need next week. And nothing too bad.”

Dumbbell rolled his eyes. “Spit it out. What is it.”

“Next week I need you to take my place on the night shift!”

“No way.”

“Aaaawww come on, Dumbbell, you’d be doing me a huge favor if you do this for me!”

“I can barely wake up early enough to get to the factory on time in the morning.” Dumbbell complained. “What makes you think I’d ever want to waste my perfectly good sleeping hours there?”

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing...well maybe he could at least a fraction, but had to turn his head away in embarrassment when his friend started to grovel at his hooves.

“So you want me to take your place during the night shift so you can go on a date...” he sighed. “Why didn’t you get this figured out way before now?”

“It isn’t my fault,” Hoops whined in that way that always made Dumbbell grind his teeth together. “The new manager just threw me on the night schedule yesterday, but I've already planned my date with Autumn Leaf!”

“Another one?” Dumbbell asked. “Aren’t you going out to see her now?”

“Actually I’m going out to see Calico.” Hoops admitted nervously. “But three days from now I got a date with Autumn.”

Dumbbell dug his hoof into the carpet. “For the love of Neptune, you have got to be kidding!”

Hoops slowly shook his head. “Nope.”

“Then reschedule the other date!”

“What?” Hoops leaped to his hooves, seemingly appalled. “I never reschedule!” He gave Dumbbell a look as if to signify he should know better. “I’ve got a reputation to keep up, you know.” He shrugged. "Besides, I've already got reservations."

“Heh, right.” Dumbbell couldn’t help but raise a sardonic smile. “Tell that to Honey Rays.”

“That’s not fair,” Hoops groaned and looked away, wings drooping. “That was different.”

Dumbbell knew Honey Rays was crazy, but he wasn’t in the mood to feel pity. “Sure it was.”

But he had taken a moment to think about Hoops’ request, as last minute as it was, there could be benefits. The night shift was just a skeleton crew, meaning he would almost have free reign of the place and more free time to have to himself if he wanted. On top of that those aggravating protesters wouldn’t be around, plus the easy pay would be nice.

Hoops flopped backwards onto the plush couch and pulled a pillow down over his face, after a couple of deep sighs he started to mumble through it. “Ok, fine...I’ll just call up Autumn Leaf and...reschedule,” he sounded so pitiful that Dumbbell decided against letting him suffer any longer. It’d be better to end this quickly.

“Fine.” But then he added. “What's be in it for me?”

Hoops' shoulders rose in a shrug as he mumbled through the pillow again. “My paycheck, I don’t need it.”

And that was all Dumbbell needed to hear. “Deal.”

Hoops flung himself off the couch a little too fast and almost tripped over the coffee table in front of him. “Really? Aw dude you’re the best!” He moved forward to wrap Dumbbell in a big hug. “A real pal!”

Dumbbell only realized too late that he should have dodged before Hoops was on top of him, crushing him into a bear hug. He wasn’t prepared for the weight and nearly fell over.

“Ugh, get off me ya big fog headed lame-brain!”

Eventually, that day came, and Dumbbell took Hoops’s place on the night shift. As he flew up to the weather management district, he couldn’t help but think about all the sleep he was missing, and how that may affect his training.

“ Oh well, it’s a paycheck, a nice easy paycheck,” he said to himself. “It might be alright if I think of it as a relaxing vacation. I mean, it’s only the night shift.”

But before he even reached the front gate he was already regretting it.

The sound of chanting just in front of the factory entrance was unmistakable.

“Nature is Not for Profit!”

“Say No to Engineered Weather!”

“Don’t Stop the Natural Order!”

Dumbbell could never really tell when the “natureists” started to show up. They just drifted in from whatever odd corner they came from, in small segments and flocks like migrating birds gathering at some ancient meeting place. For these pegasi that place was the weather factory. There were more of them that night, huddled but a street width away from the front entrance. Enough for the workers to get inside without feeling like they were about to get swarmed. He couldn’t understand why they were doing this. Surely they had day jobs.

They cycled through their phrases along with a few more for close to an hour each morning, swaying in concert with their big white signs. Sometimes when it seemed like they were touched
by a real charged up zeal to denounce the evil of mass produced pegasus made weather, they could stay out there for more than two. But the fact that they had come back on the same night, on the night shift he agreed to take for Hoops...

“Don’t any of you have anything better to do with your lives than sitting out here screaming at a building!” he shouted down at the crowd but none of them listened. Or more accurately none of them could even hear him.

“Hey, Dumbbell don’t encourage them.” A blue jacket watch pony was patrolling the front walls nearby. Despite the slowness of the night, he already looked tired and ready to put in a few hours of shut eye, so the last thing he wanted was even the barest hint of a confrontation. “ Just go inside and do your job, and I’ll make sure this lot stays civil.”

“Whatever, Old Sweep. Just don’t let them fly all over the place this time, okay?”

The mustached watch pony nodded curtly. “If you happen across Dandelion Breeze tell him he doesn’t have to fret over splitting his ends with this crowd. They’re loud, but not too rowdy.”

Dumbbell couldn’t help but smirk. If he caught their oh so diligent head of security asleep on the job again, he would give the pampered prig more than just words.

“I can’t believe they’re out there...at night...are you serious?” Dumbbell spoke to no one in particular as he opened his locker to pull out his worker’s uniform. A headache was already standing on the welcome mat of his skull before even reached the locker room. To think that he would be free of that stupid perpetual chanting, nope, seemed the natureists were more serious than he gave them credit for.

“Of course, as long as they know some pony is inside to hear them.” said Merry May as she walked past and happened to be within earshot.

“Just like yesterday... and the day before that,” Merry sighed listlessly. “But at least they are only at the front of the building today.”

“They have been at this for three months.” Dumbbell muttered between his teeth. “When is somepony gonna tell em to stop? All they’ve done is get in the way.” He thought back to when they were out moving thunder clouds.

“How’d they get past security anyway?” Dumbbell asked. “Did they catch Dandy during one of his cat naps again?”

“If even that,” said May while she browsed a clipboard to keep track of the night crew’s itinerary. “Sometimes I wonder how that stallion managed to keep his job this long.”

“Question of the century.” Dumbbell said after slapping his locker shut and walked out of the room.

“Oh and before you get too far,” Merry May leaned out of the doorway and held up the clipboard. “I’m actually glad that you took Hoops’ place this week. You see, Dewdrop couldn’t make it in tonight but I need a pony up in the observation room,” Merry blinked and looked down at her clipboard again. “Apparently there is an issue with the pH.”

“Sure, sure, I’ll be up there.” Dumbbell nodded and made his way to the stairwell, where he noticed some pony hung a large flyer over head to announce an upcoming holiday. Big blue letters and pastel colors, a mother's day flyer. He filed the notion away and continued walking.

Of course he hadn't counted on a completely work free night, but a part of him was bummed that Dewdrop was oh so conveniently AWOL. On a skeleton crew there were just enough ponies assigned to run the weather complex at its most basic capacity. This normally consisted of the weather factory’s night manager, ponies to monitor the nocturnal weather patterns, and basically keep things warm and ready for the day crew, plus one or two engineers on staff, in case something went wrong, like a malfunction or a pipe break.

There were no large storms on the schedule. Actually it was going to be clear the whole night, so in all, only about ten or so ponies were present at the facility, doing monitory, custodial, or maintenance work. More like twelve if you counted the two ponies on guard duty. Dumbbell was an assistant monitor pony but with Dewdrop’s absence it seemed that would be his main job that night.

The observation room was a relatively small one due to nearly two-thirds of the space being given over to one computer that took up the entire north wall. A big copper-colored block covered in dials, buttons, switches, and gauges with obscure runic symbols carved intricately along the surface. The far left and right sides of it lined with thick black wires that attached to read out apparatus installed in the walls.

As soon as he was alone, he took the helmet off of his head. He always felt silly wearing the thing, and even though it was weather factory protocol, Dumbbell would usually take it off when alone or at least when nopony was around who was uppity enough to care.

Dumbbell walked up to the panel where a clipboard and a single sheet of paper lay, it was a read out. He picked it up and examined what was there, grinding a stray pencil he found on the desk methodically between his teeth as he did so. Everything looked on point yesterday, when had the levels gotten so low? Dumbbell scratched the back of his mane as he thought, sometimes making the calculations could be complicated but Dewdrop wouldn't make mistakes like this.

Oh well, it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle with just a few changes. Using the previous read out as a guide he pressed the appropriate buttons and twisted the right dials, to feed the correct information into the computer, the carved runes glowed and shimmered in calculated response.

“And...that oughtta do it,” he said to himself as he punched the last button. It took ten seconds for the read out to shoot out of the side wall on a pristine square piece of paper, he reached over to pull it out of the slot.

“Let me see that.”

The unfamiliar voice made the stallion freeze in place, he turned yet saw no one in the doorway.

“Who is that?” Dumbell asked, thinking he had maybe overheard a snippet of discussion not related to him until he turned around again and—.

“Holy sh— who the hell are you?”

In front of him, stood a light gray stallion with a charcoal mane. He was very lean and stood about half a head shorter than Dumbbell, but his legs were long and lanky. In fact, lanky was the word Dumbbell would use to describe all of him, from the tips of his ears, past his deeply shadowed eyes, down to the base of his hooves. A total lightweight. Nothing about his face suggested cheer or good tidings either, and for a moment Dumbbell wondered if the pony was angry with him for some reason. But he had never seen the guy a day of his life. Then there was, of course, the obvious lack of wings.

“Who are you,” Dumbbell said more measurably a second time. “And how did you get here?”

“Unless you are the pony rightly designated for this station then who I am is none of your concern.” the gray pony’s voice dripped with distaste and no nonsense. He gestured towards the paper. “The read out.”

Dumbbell frowned. He didn’t appreciate this guy’s tone. “Seriously buddy, you’re not getting jack squat until you tell me who you are and what you’re here for.”

The gray pony closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, as if he were the one dealing with a problem.

“Well?” Dumbbell demanded, bearing down on the stranger.

“If you don’t already know why I am here then the problem must be worse than I thought.” his voice was level, slow, and patronizing. And then he opened his eyes again, staring at Dumbbell with a full on no nonsense gaze.

“I’m here because none of you pegasi can perform your jobs correctly.”