Storm woke up with his head pounding and his vision hazy, courtesy of a lovely hangover. After last night's celebrations for New Years, he felt like his head was just slammed into a brick wall, then bounced on the pavement for good measure. He limply got up off the couch, clutching the empty champagne bottle in his left foreleg. Just then, Rainbow Dash popped in the living room, bouncing over to where he was standing with a wide smile on her face. "Morning, Storm! Look how beautiful this day is! Here, check it out!" She flew over to the living room window and grabbed the string for the blinds in her teeth.

Storm rapidly waved his hooves, dropping the bottle. "Rainbow Dash, wait!" But, it was too late. The excited mare jerked her head back, and in flew the bright, blinding, and horrible rays of the sun into the living room. "Ahhh!" He grabbed his head and writhed in pain, dropping back on the couch.

Rainbow flew over in haste, "Storm, are you alright? You look so..." She stopped in her tracks as her eye caught the bottle next to him on the floor. A grin started to form on her face, "Ohhh. I know what'll help that! Some breakfast!"

Storm grunted.

"Here, I'll make my famous Rainbow Dash-cure-all hangover cure...thingy. Now, where are those eggs?..." She trailed off, seeming to make as much noise as she possibly could in the kitchen. Pots and pans clanged together with loud ringing after tones, and the sun wasn't getting any dimmer. Had he had any less patience, he would have been saying some profanities that definitely would have had some impact on their current friendship. But, thankfully, he was too tired and sore to open his mouth.

Sick of being so negative, he spoke up. "So, how'd you sleep?"

Rainbow muttered to herself while she talked, "Oh, ya know, just another night. I had a cool dream about uh...hotsauce...me in the Wonderbolts again!"

"Really? That sounds cool."

"Yeah, totally! You should have seen me! Flying around in the...anchovies...the uh, sky and doing all these flips and spins! I mean, you couldn't see me because it was in my...spam...dreams, but yeah. You get the picture. Looking forward to today? I bet you can't wait to start your new exciting life as a weather pony. And, after I put in a good word, you'll get that job for sure, I can pretty much guarantee that."

He ran a hoof through his mane. "Yeah, I really am. Who knew that sleeping with the right pony could help me so much?-" Realization struck him upside the head upon seeing the stunned expression on Rainbow Dash's face. "-no no! I didn't mean it that way! I meant, uh, uh, like, you know, sleeping under the same roof! Ugh, what do you call it...STAYING! THAT'S what I meant to say! Heh...Heh..." Rubbing the back of his head, he started to feel a nervous sweat coming along.

It was then that he saw something.

Something awful in every way.

"Uh, Rainbow, what's that?"

"You know what a blender is, stupid."

"Yeah, I know what it is, but why are you getting it out?"

"Pft, I gotta mix all these things together somehow."

"Do you really think that's a good idea to do that in front of someone who has a severe hangover?"

"Well, normally no, but you're a special case."

"But right now I don't wanna be special."

"Sounds like a personal problem. Now stop complaining! I'm gonna help whether you like it or not!" With that, she firmly pressed the button on the blender that said, "Obliterate", and everything was mixed together in a loud, salmon-colored liquid.

Pity that she forgot to put the lid on.

By the time about over half the contents of the blender had made its way in the room and on both ponies and she stopped the blender from any more destruction, Storm just sat there, nodding his head. She looked around the room, and back at him. With an apologetic look and a high-pitched voice, she tried to put on her best act of puppy-dog to avoid trouble, "Uh...Sorry?"

He looked at her with an expressionless face. He stuck his tongue out, licking up the liquid that had just attacked him. Holding his expression, he deadpanned, "That's pretty good. I think I'm going to go apply for that job now. Never speak of this again?"

"Eeyup."

Storm got to the Weather Station in about ten minutes flying time. There was little traffic, so it led to a speedy arrival. He landed softly on the plushy clouds. He gulped a little, seeing the big building and all the pegasi flying in and out of it. But, he sucked in a breath, and walked in the building.

Once inside, he was greeted by a receptionist desk and a grey pony with aqua eyes, and a smile that could make anypony's heart melt. "Welcome to the Weather Station! How may I direct you two today?"

"I was told to ask for Sun Spot?"

She looked up to the ceiling, then to him, "He's in a meeting right now. But, if you take the stairs, he should be in his office by the time you get up there."

"Okay, thank you."

He approached the stairwell, and gulped as he looked at the many flights of stairs he had to ascend. "Well, I could fly up...but he might still be in that meeting. Better work out my legs a little."

By the time he made it up, he was panting and in a deep sweat. "Oh dear Celestia, that was awful."

He made his way into the lobby of Sun Spot's office, a receptionist with her mane in a tight bun sharply instructed him to sit and wait patiently. He waited patiently in the chair next to the door after what felt like hours of hearing muffled voices talk. But after a while, the door opened up, and Sun Spot beckoned him inside.

He smiled nervously as he got up and walked into the office, shutting the door behind him. Behind the desk sat a rather portly blonde pegasus pony with a mustache and a fat cigar sitting in the crook of his mouth. He was a jolly old type, with yellow teeth and a relaxed disposition. However, for Storm's sake, he put on a bit of a stern face for the sake of the interview.

Sun Spot gently pulled the cigar out of his mouth and set it on the side of the ashtray that was on his desk. "So, Mr. Cloud, you think you have what it takes to be a weather pony? It ain't no joke out there, contending with the sometimes life-threatening storms we have to put in place to ensure the natural cycle of life on this planet."

Storm took a deep breath, "Yes, sir. I do believe I can handle it."

Sun Spot chuckled, "Heh, we'll just see about that, rookie. Rainbow Dash tells me good things. Though, she did mention that you need to get in better shape. That gonna be a problem, rookie?"

"Wait, she said what?-" Storm heard a slight snicker come from the other side of the door "-oh. I should have figured she'd say something. Yeah, I can afford to lose a few, but I don't think that'll be too much of a problem, Mr. Rider."

Spot looked Storm over, and noticed his demeanor. He wasn't much, but he was someone. However nice Storm appeared to be, Sun Spot could just tell that he had no clue about anything to do with weather duty. "Alright, I'll give ya a shot. But, we're starting you at the bottom: you get 9 bits an hour, and you work 5 days a week. We'll talk about benefits after you've stuck around for a while and proved yourself. I'm also sticking you in with Rainbow Dash's crew. She'll keep ya on the straight and narrow."

Storm stood up when Sun Spot did, and shook his hoof. "Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate this opportunity."

"Yeah, no problem. Now, you start tomorrow, so I'd suggest you go and rest up. Weather maintenance ain't no joke."

"I'll get right on it." And, with that, Storm went back to Rainbow's house.

"So, I need to lose some weight, huh?" He playfully nudged her on the shoulder. "In any event, thanks a lot, Rainbow. What you did really meant a lot to me."

"Hey, no problem. That's what friends are for, right? Now, let's go celebrate. I think I can smell the sweets cooking at Sugar Cube Corner already!"

"Wait, but according to you, I need to lose more weight, wouldn't that be counter-productive?"

"Heh, let's just say that you'll get a rude awakening whenever you start your shift tomorrow"- she draped her foreleg around his shoulder -"I'll make sure of that one."

He glanced down to the side briefly, but shook it off. Also, her touch made him feel weird; his stomach started to go in knots, and he started to feel pressure in his chest. But, he shook it off. He had sweets to eat.

Author's Note

Please forgive me for the short random chapters, I just tried to have a little fun in between.