'Cause Tomorrow Winter is Here
“You know, I don’t think I got your name.” The rainbow colored mare approached the new recruit to the weather team, a blue Colt with fire-like blue mane. Everything about him seemed to be blue. His eyes, his body, his mane and tail, even his cutie mark, a Snowflake, were blue.
They were standing in the hangar bay of the Weather Team Ponyville Division HQ, getting ready for today’s cloud movement. It was only a few hours until they moved the Northern clouds down for Winter.
“Oh, I’m Cobalt Storm. And you are?”
“Rainbow Dash. The fastest flier in Equestria.”
“I assume that title was self-appointed.”
“No, I actually won the best young fliers competition back in Cloudsdale.”
“That was YOU? It’s an honor to be with you.” Cobalt bowed.
“Really? Thanks.” He certainly is a gentlecolt. She thought to herself. “Well, it’s about time we got in the air and met up with the captain.” She began walking towards the edge of the hangar, and Cobalt followed close behind. “You better be as good as the academy said you were. The captain said he isn’t going to hesitate to kick you if you mess up at… what exactly are you doing again?”
“I’m here to help with bringing winter.”
“Alright. But, you seem kinda old to be fresh out of the academy.”
“It’s a long story. It’ll probably bore you to sleep.”
“You know, you’re probably right. Long stories DO bore me.” She laughed, and dove off the edge of the cloudy hangar and plummeted, before extending her wings and catching the air. She turned sideways and her wing skimmed the top of the cloud. Cobalt Storm simply flew down next to her, skipping the formalities.
They both regrouped with an assembly of Pegasi around their boss, Thunder Hooves. He had come from a family of rather eccentric Earth Ponies, who for some reason hadn’t passed down their disposition. He was ruthlessly strict, and never tolerated failure. He had practically already finished briefing the Weather Team on their job. Cobalt and Rainbow arrived late.
“And THAT, fillies and gentlecolts, is your assignment. Ah, look, the newbie is late. Well, we’ll see how well the esteemed graduate does his job when he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Rainbow turned to Cobalt, who was growling quietly. “I’ll be out with the first squad bringing down the Northern Clouds. When I arrive with a pile for you, your job is to make them snow.”
“That’s all?”
“Well, they did mention that the clouds this year were fickle and warm, so you’ll have to cool them down.”
“That’s what I do best.” Cobalt and Rainbow flew north and each fetched a stack of clouds. They were almost warm to the touch, but were damp enough for use. They flew them back into position over Ponyville. Rainbow left to get more clouds, while Cobalt studied the clouds. He felt the temperature, and landed on one, facing the rest. He extended his wings, and flapped them once, in a rather peculiar fashion. Instantly, the dark, damp clouds grew sharp and icy. He shook one, and snow came out. “There it goes.” Rainbow Dash arrived with another stack of clouds.
“Hey, how DO you do that anyway?”
“The great and powerful Cobalt Storm never reveals his secrets.”
“One, I’m serious, and two, don’t call yourself that. It reminds me of somepony I don’t like that much.”
Cobalt sighed. “It’s a flight technique that Weather Ponies learn in the University.”
“That’s odd. I attended the University, none of my classes ever taught THAT.” She studied the snow falling out of the cloud curiously.
“It’s only in the AP Frost unit.”
“Oh. I left as soon as I got a basic degree in Weather Sciences.”
“That’s a shame. I almost see you being the Valedictorian.”
“The what?”
Cobalt sighed again. “It’s the best student in the class. I was Valedictorian three years out of four.”
“Quit bragging.”
“It’s not my fault. I was surprised too.”
“Why?”
“I thought I was gonna get the fourth year too.” A snowball whizzed at Cobalt’s head, getting cut clean in half by his mane as he ducked. “You…. don’t wanna start that with me.”
“And why not?” Rainbow pulled up a cloud topped with a pyramid of snowballs. Cobalt pulled up one of his snow clouds, and squeezed it, firing a snowball right past Rainbow Dash. “I guess that answers it.” Rainbow Dash left and fetched some more clouds. She returned with another stack in ten seconds flat, which Cobalt went to work on. Soon their quarter of Ponyville was being blanketed in gently falling snow. Cobalt and Rainbow met up with the other three squads of cloud gatherers. Cobalt went over to talk to the other ponies in charge of freezing their clouds. Rainbow Dash was left to her thoughts. I still don’t know what he’s doing here. He’s too old to be a fresh recruit, but if he isn’t, then why would he sign up just now? Hmm… well, he took AP, so he’s obviously smart. There’s no way he got held back, or they wouldn’t even consider him for that class. I guess I’ll go ask him about it. Rainbow Dash was approaching Cobalt when Cloud Shine jumped in front of her.
“Ohmigosh Rainbow Dash my mane mare. What’s up?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Cloud Shine acted like her number one fan, when she could barely fly herself.
She barely managed to get onto the weather team, and she never got as much work done as anypony else. “Us.”
“Ohmigosh, right as always! Hoof bump?” Cloud held her grayish hoof up. Rainbow bumped it absentmindedly. She was still staring at Cobalt, who had waved goodbye to his group and returned to Rainbow. “Oh, you’re that new guy.” Cloud suddenly seemed significantly less bubbly. “I’m Cloud Shine, Rainbow Dash’s number one fan. And you are?”
Cobalt looked slightly surprised. “Oh, I’m Cobalt Storm. I’m here to-” Rainbow cut him off.
“Yeah, why ARE you here anyway?” said the chromatic Pegasus. Cloud looked annoyed.
“Oh, I’m actually a touring inspector for Cloudsdale. I go around and make sure the Ponyville teams are bringing Winter correctly. And if I’m there, I might as well help them out with it.”
“So, you tour around? What’s your schedule?”
“I actually leave town at the end of the week.”
“Wait, so you’re… leaving?”
“It sounded pretty clear to me when I said it.”
“It’s just…” I don’t want you to leave me yet. “I... uh… er… we could uhh… could use your help further in the season. Yeah.” Cloud looked at her with an Are you serious? face.
“Well, I guess I could stay a little long-”
“AWW YEAHH!!” Everypony stared at Rainbow Dash. Silence hung over the pegasi like the clouds they were standing on hung over Ponyville. “I mean… uh, oh, that’s cool.”
“I’m not sure my boss will be too happy, but Old Stallion Gusty can barely see at all, let alone see that I’m gone.”
“Isn’t he the head of the entire Snow Division?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“You know, now that I think about it, I have no idea what I was trying to prove there.”
“That awkward moment when you forget what you were trying to do. I know that feeling Rainbow.” Rainbow was slightly laughing now.
“I was in the Academy, learning about Cloud Ballistics.”
“The method they use to find when lightning is fired?”
“Exactly. I got into a debate with the teacher in front of the whole class, and at the end, I just forgot what I was doing up there in the first place.”
“Oh, that must have been awful!”
“Everypony in the class had a good time, though. Said I was some sorta hero for standing up to the teacher. I didn’t really understand what they were getting at, but I enjoyed the praise.”
Cloud Shine burst inbetween them and started talking to Rainbow Dash. “So, now that HE’S done talking, how about we go out and get some Starclops?”
Rainbow looked less than eager. “Why don’t you go without me, I’ll meet you there later.” Cloud nodded slowly, suspicious of Rainbow’s true intentions. She parted the snowy clouds and dove down; sealing the rift she created as she fell. “Oh, hey, do you have any place to stay while you’re here?”
“I could always rent a room at the Mareiott. There IS one here, right?”
“Oh, I guess so. If you want, I’ll show you where it is.”
Cobalt bowed thankfully. “I’d be honored.”
“Just try to keep up, alright?” Rainbow sped through the powdery cloud layer, as Cobalt followed behind as best he could. Rainbow noticed him performing several swoops and dives, using advanced flight techniques to keep up. He was only barely behind her, meaning that either he was fast, or she was slow. Either way, they reached the Mareiott Hotel, only to see the NO VACANCY sign lit up in bright red neon. Rainbow landed on the ground, Cobalt following suit only a second later.
“Darn it! Where am I gonna stay?” exclaimed Cobalt.
Rainbow attempted to look innocent, hiding her feelings poorly, yet enough to fool the icy Pegasus. “Well, you could stay at my place.”
Cobalt looked confused. “Whoa, really?”
“Umm, yeah, it’d be no problem to me at all!”
“Well then, I’d love to. Better than… well, there isn’t really much to compare it to. Probably because I haven’t seen it yet.”
“Why don’t I give you the grand tour of the coolest house in Ponyville?”
“Well, how cool is it?”
“It’s… about 200% cooler.”
“Thanks, Rainbow Dash. You’ve been so nice to me ever since I got here. Much better than my brother Amber.”
“Isn’t that a filly’s name?”
“Say that to him and he’ll knock you to Germaneigh and back. He dropped out of Flight School, even though he was doing pretty well. Somehow taught himself. Don’t know what he does now, actually.”
“Doesn’t sound like you wanna meet him again, do ya?”
“Not in this decade.” Cobalt and Rainbow laughed, and then departed for Rainbow’s house. It was placed below the cloud layer, but the rainbows flowing around the sides were not yet frozen. Cobalt stared at it for a few seconds, almost analyzing it. “That is a pretty neat house. Unusual for a Ponyville Pegasus to have Pegasopolan architecture, the way Cloudsdale builds.”
“I was born there.”
“That explains it. Oh, hey, check this out!” Cobalt flew over to Rainbow’s still running rainbow waterfalls and froze them midfall, creating a chromatic ice shard connecting two parts of her house together. He punched out a blue piece and gave it to Rainbow. “This’ll last all winter. You could call it a gift if you want.”
Rainbow inspected the odd blue ice. It changed colors when she tilted it, changing from a bright teal to a dark… cobalt. She flew up and into her house and placed the blue crystal on a dresser. She showed Cobalt around the house, eventually reaching the guest bedroom. “This is where you’ll be staying. Sorry if it isn’t all that great. Never thought I’d be having guests anytime soon.”
“It’s better than sleeping in a snow blanket.” Cobalt and Rainbow chuckled lightly. It wasn’t even that great of a pun, but for some reason, Rainbow thought it was actually pretty funny. “But still, thanks for the room. I feel as if we’re forgetting something though.”
“Getting lunch?”
“Sounds right to me!”
Down in a crowded Starclops, Cloud Shine sat an en empty table for two. She sipped on her warm cocoa, watching the one she bought for Rainbow get cold. “That crummy blue Pegasus is taking away all of my time with Rainbow Dash, the best flier in all of Equestria. If it weren’t for him, I’d be having Starclops with the most amazing chromatic Pegasus in the world! There’s only one way to resolve this. Time to play heartbreaker…” Cloud grinned wickedly, only to look around and see several other Ponies staring at her in confusion. They slowly went back to their conversations, while Cloud Shine blushed madly.
Rainbow and Cobalt were finishing up eating dandelion sandwiches inside a local restaurant when Cloud Shine entered and sat down at their table without asking. “So, Rainbow, Cobalt, you two are good friends. Would you mind helping another good friend out?”
Cobalt and Rainbow looked at each other. Cobalt spoke up. “What do you need?”
Cloud practically cut the end of his sentence off. “There’s something I left in the locker room of the HQ, and I hurt my wing. Could you two go get it?”
Rainbow was confused. “But your wing looks fine from-”
Cloud clutched her right wing almost comedically. “OHH, the pain! Oh, woe to the poor flightless soul with her belongings left in the locker room!”
Rainbow sighed. “FINE, I’ll go get it.”
Cloud practically jumped over the table. “NO! I mean… umm… oh, since you two are such good friends, why don’t you get it together?” Cobalt and Rainbow looked at each other, grinned a little, shrugged in the weird way the ponies do, and agreed awkwardly. “Great! Well then, better get going!” Cloud pushed the two out of the restaurant, and then closed the door. She immediately stole Rainbow Dash’s half-eaten sandwich and ran home.
Cobalt and Rainbow flew through the snow to the almost always sunny Weather HQ. It was made of clouds, and floated above in almost eerie silence. They entered through the almost always open hangar and walked through the mostly empty hallways around the entrance. They reached the entrance of the locker rooms, where a crowd had gathered and were giggling at something. Rainbow and Cobalt pushed to the front of the crowd where the realized that the center of attention was a picture of Rainbow Dash as a crying filly taped onto the door with patented Equestrian Innovations Adhesive Material™. The crowd realized she saw it and laughed at her. One particularly big brown stallion stood in front and started insulting her personally.
“Looks like ol’ Rainbow Crash isn’t as cool as we thought she was, huh? Oh, oh, maybe we can get this in the Ponyville Daily! Then the whole town’ll know about Rainbawl Cry!” Rainbow was nervous with all the other pegasi laughing at her. She looked to Cobalt who seemed slightly frustrated. The ringleader took notice. “Oh, so this cryfilly’s your marefriend, huh? Take a good look at her now, because she’ll be outta town by next week! Wait, don’t tell me she got you into this because of her coolness act? Well lemme tell ya, it’s all just that, an act, and the proof is right-” Cobalt cut the big stallion off and froze him in place with his wings. The now-immobile Pegasus just fell to the ground in the same, almost mocking position he was in a few moments ago. The whole hallway quieted in seconds, and the crowd parted to let the two through. Cobalt grabbed the picture, froze it, and smashed it. He shot an glare as sharp as an icicle at anypony who dared to make even a peep. They entered the locker room in silence. Only a few pegasi were in the room, and they were simply casually talking about whatever they felt like. Cobalt finally relaxed and lower his flared wings.
“Sorry about the show, but I had to shut him up.”
“I appreciate what you did for me, so much.”
“Nopony deserves what happened out there.”
Cobalt and Rainbow found Cloud Shine’s scarf lying on a bench. They knew it was hers because not only did it have her cutie mark, a cloud with a sun behind it, but the length of it read ‘Cloud Shine’. Rainbow picked it up with her mouth, and they departed through the hangar doors.
“So… you aren’t gonna leave because of that picture, are you?”
“Why would I?”
“Because, maybe you thought I was just some crybaby like that picture painted me to be.”
“Rainbow, I don’t pick friends just because of how ‘cool’ they are. There’s more to you than that, and we both know it.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“Don’t try to hide it. Besides… that picture WAS pretty adorable. I would have d’awwed if I weren’t busy making an entry for the Cloudsdale Ice Sculpture Competition. This year’s theme is plotholes.” They both laughed a little. They were flying back to Cloud’s house when she literally burst up from the clouds in front of them. Cobalt and Rainbow were entirely shocked. Rainbow worked quickly to maintain her semblance of coolness for a now-unexplained reason.
“Ohmigosh, you found my scarf for me! Thanks so much!” Rainbow handed Cloud the scarf as coolly as she possibly could.
Cobalt was confused. “How are you up here if your wing is injured?”
“I… umm… I got better! That’s it!”
“H-how?”
Rainbow stopped him. “When in doubt, don’t ask questions.”
“Words to live by, eh?”
Cloud Shine broke in again. “So, anything interesting happen on the way? Any funny stories? Weird occurrences? Failed relationships?”
“What was that last one?” said Cobalt and Rainbow in unison.
“Weird occurrences?”
Cobalt added something. “Well, I froze a pony. All in good intent, of course.”
“Couldn’t they get sick?” Cloud Shine tried to work off of his apathy.
“That’s irrelevant. It’s not like I did any permanent harm anyway.”
Rainbow chipped in. “He had it coming. Making fun of me like that.” Cloud looked a little disappointed, but quickly masked it. “Hey, it’s getting late. Wanna head back to my place?”
Cloud’s face exploded. “Really?! I can stay over at your place?! I’ll take the guest room and we can have a sleepover and make food and watch TV and stay up ALL NIGHT!”
“That’s… kinda creepy. I meant Cobalt. He’s already staying at my place.” Cloud simmered down.
Cobalt smiled a little. “Sorry, Cloud. Maybe when I’m out of town.”
Cloud muttered, “I’ll drive you outta here in three days if it’s the last thing I do.” Luckily for her, it was barely audible. She quickly dove back under the clouds and went home.
Rainbow looked a little concerned, but didn’t say anything. They flew back to her house in a sort of awkward silence. As soon as they closed the door, Rainbow turned to Cobalt with evident signs of worry on her face. “What do you MEAN when you’re out of town? I thought you were staying!”
“Rainbow, let’s be reasonable. I can’t stay at your house forever. Plus, I have a job. I can’t just quit to stay here.”
“But… why not?”
“It isn’t that simple. I have a job to take care of ponies, and make sure they’re doing the right thing. It’s my duty as a graduate in such a field. Ponies like me are running out. They need me.”
“Cobalt, when’s the last time you visited Cloudsdale? The Snowflake factory is chock full of smart Pegasi. What’s one less? Besides, I’m sure nopony would mind if you got a job here with me.”
“But what about Gusty? What am I gonna tell him?”
“Tell him that you’ve grown tired of moving around and that you wanna settle down and get a more finite job.”
“Rainbow, why are you going out of your way to do all this?”
“Because… I hate saying goodbye to people I know so well.”
Cobalt sighed. “I’ll tell him at the end of the week. Thank you. For everything. You’ve changed my life.”
“I’d do anything for you.” Cobalt blinked a few times.
“What was that?”
“I said I… I’ll go make us some stew. Wait, why would I make that? Just gimme a second, I’ll get us something really good. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.
The next morning was significantly colder for obvious reasons. Rainbow somehow woke up early and decided to get Cobalt up as well. She opened the puffy door to see he had completely frozen the bed. He got up and slipped off, falling into the cloud floor. “Oh, uh, sorry about the bed. That hasn’t happened in years. It’ll melt by tonight as long as we don’t intentionally keep it cold.”
“As long as I’m not sleeping in it, it’s fine by me.” A loud knock was heard at the door. Rainbow groggily opened it to see the cross-eyed mailmare delivering mail alongside an excessively eager Cloud Shine. Cobalt passed by them both, telling Rainbow he was off to meet Gusty. Cloud glared at him, but returned to Rainbow.
“Oh, hey Cloud. You need something, or just wanna talk again?”
“Rainbow, I’m suspicious of Cobalt. You should check his journal just to make sure he isn’t up to something behind your back.”
“Wha… why? That’s snooping. Cloud, there’s something off about you. Ever since Cobalt got here, you’ve been… different.”
“Dash, just listen. I heard Cobalt talking about leaving in secret. There has to be something in his journal about it. Go check if you doubt me. And him going to talk to Gusty, that’s him reporting on the status of this. His whole nice guy act is just an act! Go check!” Rainbow was angry at Cloud, and slammed the door. Immediately she burst into Cobalt’s room. She found a cold, blue journal with his cutie mark printed on the front. She unlocked the clasp and flipped it open to the most recent entry, marked with, what appeared to be an oddly black feather. It read:
My plan of fully examining the Ponyville Weather Squad has been going excellently. Nopony doubts that my ‘relationship’ with the prominent Rainbow Dash is actually a ruse to work my way into their work ethic and find out if they are at maximum efficiency. From my studies, it looks bad for Ponyville. I will speak to Gusty tomorrow about replacing the whole worthless lot of them and replace them with some real Cloudshinedale Pegasi. At the end of the week I will write a fake breakup letter for Rainbow Dash and sneak out of town.
-Clobalt Stormy
Dash closed the journal shut when she heard the door open. She ran out of Cobalt’s room to almost smash head on with him. He was wearing a pair of headphones around his neck.
“Oh, hey, Dash, I got my headphones from my dorm in Cloudsdale. Have you heard that new Ponybeat album? I’ll tell you, I can’t stop listening to Discord.”
“Cobalt, speaking of Cloudsdale, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Go ahead.”
“So, I uhh… heard you talking about some stuff last night.”
“What… kind of stuff?”
Rainbow grunted and her wings flared out. “Don’t play dumb, Cobalt, I read your journal!”
“Oh, Celestia, Dash, I just… felt so strongly about it.”
“You didn’t feel anything! Did you have any idea how this could make me feel?!”
“I was going to tell you when you were ready!”
“Horseapples, Cobalt! It said you were going to sneak out in secret!”
“Wait, wait, wait… what?”
“I read the entry about your little act! I can’t believe you’d lie to me like this!”
“Rainbow, what are you talking about? Because I’m talking about my most recent journal entry where I announce my feelings for you in secret. I was gonna show you it.” Cobalt took his journal from Dash and flipped it open to another entry which had severely different handwriting than the fake one.
Rainbow looked severely confused. “But I’m… talking about your most recent journal entry where you announce that what was between us was just an act to find the efficiency of the Ponyville Weather Team…”
“Dash, that’s horrible! You and I both know I’d never do something like that!”
“But… if you didn’t write that, then who did?”
Cobalt sighed angrily. “Dash, who told you to look in my journal?”
“Cloud Shine… She’s been trying to break us up!”
“The Photo, the Journal, she’s behind everything!”
As if she was waiting, she burst in through the door.
“Is that arguing I hear? Why don’t you both explain your stories so that I can take Dash’s side and get Cobalt kicked out of here.”
“Cloud, we know you forged Cobalt’s journal entry.”
“And we know you taped that picture to the door of the locker room.”
Cloud grinned nervously. “Oh, cmon, it’s all in good fun!”
Cobalt didn’t buy it for a second. “Everypony in the room knows that that isn’t true, Cloud.”
Rainbow was furious, much unlike her usual cool self. “Cloud, if you were a true fan of mine, you’d be trying your best to make me happy, not to break me up with my coltfriend!” Both of them turned to Rainbow for a brief second.
Cobalt turned back, his wings now flared wide. “Cloud, I think it’d be best to leave before I decide to add another sculpture to my collection.” Cloud looked terrified.
“So, I’ll, uh… see you at work!” Cloud dashed back through the door.
Cobalt turned to Rainbow. “So… did you mean what you said when you said I was your coltfriend?”
“Tell the truth and say you feel the exact same way about me. You know I’m not the patient type.”
“You’re my little Dashie.”
Cobalt fell to the cloudy floor as Rainbow tackled him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll always be your little Dashie.”
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Cobalt, you’re a terrible person. What are you doing, shipping your OC with a main character?! Just listen to me though. My brain is like… a gigantic mixed bowl of fruit. Maybe there are some that you don’t like. You can try and avoid them, but eventually, you’re gonna have to eat them in order to get more of the ones that you do like. Besides, I DID warn you that there was OC/Dash shipping. Oh, and while you’re here, tell me what mistakes I can fix, unaddressed plotholes (Besides that one in the locker room), things that just don’t make sense, or stuff that you don’t like. If you have absolutely NO critical talent, feel free to just talk about what you like. Remember, I can’t know what I’m doing wrong unless you tell me what I’m doing wrong. Have a great day!
