Chapters Prologue
Here we are, Cloudsdale, the great cloud city of the Pegasai. It's origin can be traced back over thousands of years ago, back when Commander Hurricane called it Pegasopolis. Despite any proof that they are the exact same, the idea had always been there. A paradise in the sky for pegasai and them alone. No other races could touch them for the longest of times. Eventually, unicorns' magic and earth pony's inventiveness led them to their own spells and devices to walk among them, but none could truly live there. Now, one thing that really made this place special, was the creation of the weather factory. The one place where everything weather related could be produced, stored, and ready for use at a moment's notice was the crown feature of this glorious city. All sorts of ponies were drawn to it's wonder, bringing in workers and scientists of all pony races. Years went on however, and the factory became less of a tourist attraction and more of what a factory really is, a machine. It sat in the background as ponies lived their lives and the world grew, until one young worker was promoted.
Rainbow Dash was well known across Equestria, being one of Princess Twilight's best friends and helping to have saved the world several times over. She even became a Wonderbolt for a few years before settling down and returning to her sky clearing job. The day she was promoted was pivotal to it's rebirth. It started when the lead scientist and CEO was killed in a lab accident. They had been researching the strange energies of the Everfree Forest when a prototype thundercloud struck them without any known reason. When looking for a new face for the company, they went to their most loyal employee. Rainbow Dash happily accepted the pay raise and took the job.
With her new authority, she cleaned up the factory and invested in new directions to take weather production. Hiring over seventy new specialists and researchers, she brought the factory into new light. Quickly, they solved many problems and inefficiencies in the factory's previous work. Things only got better when they developed a suit that would allow pegasai to clear rogue Everfree clouds, beginning their efforts to clear away the forest's sky permanently. Cloudsdale wasn't the only city to benefit, as Ponyville began to cut into the Everfree's territory, clearing away a portion of it's chaos. With Ponyville expanding, Rainbow could only keep looking forward. If she can conquer the Everfree Forest, then the Frozen North won't stop her either. With more research and a new weather mech built for weather teams, they even began to push back the icy chill that surrounded the Crystal Empire. Rainbow Dash could never be any less famous now than she had become, and she could only get bigger from there. She knew, one day there would be no cloud that disobeyed her.
Chapter 1 - The Unicorn of the Sky
The Unicorn of the Sky
In recent news, the strange hooded pony still on the loose. Will his vigilante actions be stopped soon, or has Canterlot really lost control of it's crime? Continued on Pg 3...
Last week's Gala was as eventful as ever, with Princess Flurry Heart arriving and causing a ruckus with her aunt. Is Princess Twilight a bad aunt, letting Pinkie Pie watch the filly alicorn?...
Cloudsdale hires new assistant manager....
'Ugh, there's never anything good in these anymore. ' A lavender colored mare thought to herself as she sat in a bus chariot. She set the newspaper down onto the empty seat beside her and glanced over the side. It was just another day, heading back to work. The weekend was over, so she was returning to Cloudsdale from her home in Canterlot. Sure, she really didn't like having to travel back and forth every weekend just to see her father, but at least the Weather Corporation paid for her flights. It's now close to her three month mark with her new job and she was starting to get bored with it. All her life, she wanted to build clouds to put in the sky. It was always odd, being a unicorn with such a dream, but she never really cared about what other ponies had to say. Already proficient in crafting simple clouds, she went to a specialized school for weather inclined ground ponies. Now, she was never top of her class or anything like that, but she still passed with honors and immediately was granted a job at the factory.
Her first day on the job was rather upsetting though, as she was assigned to a dead branch of weather research: Aerial Weaponry. There were only two other ponies in the department; a green pegasus that smelled like he bathed in applesauce, and a tall skinny teal mare that had an unkempt blue mane that looked like she'd cut several strands, making the ends distinctly uneven. Neither of the two really ever did anything except sleep, so she never really worked on anything real yet. Although, she did suggest adding a taser to the individual weather suits, to protect them from Everfree monsters. However, her manager, a large white stallion that always wore shades, just seemed to laugh and walk away. She swore she'd seen him write that down in his notebook though...
With a gentle bounce, she felt the long chariot land in front of the factory. Reaching into her saddlebag, she pulled out a small bottle of little tablets. Spilling out one onto her hoof, she swallowed the pill and slowly headed to the back of the chariot where everypony was stepping off. Her body began to feel lighter as the tablet's effects kicked in. She never needed magic to walk on clouds with those little things. They were issued to all non pegasus employees, even if they were a unicorn. Apparently they thought cloud walking spells were too complicated for just anyone to use. Stepping onto the cloud she began to head to the side door that led straight to her department's bay. Supposedly there was a CEO inspection today, so nopony was allowed to enter the main doors. The door was cold as usual, leading into the dimly lit bay where her co-workers sat at a table, surprisingly both being awake. It was a bit earlier than normal, she'd figure they would be asleep.
"'Ello Vi'let. Ya' need to sweep up the bay b'fore the big boss gets ta' us." the green pegasus said, sitting up. He was groggy and had bags under his eyes.
Violet sighed. She'd figured neither of them would get up, so she levitated the broom over to herself and began to sweep. "So, Gat, Morri, how were your guys' weekends?" she asked politely.
Morri just sort of turned in her chair, ignoring the question and staring at a mirror that hung on the wall. Gat just shrugged and watched Violet sweep. "I was up all night." was all he'd say.
"Well, must be exciting. Why were you up all night? Partying with your friends?" Violet didn't think he had friends outside of this place, but she was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had a crazy social life? It'd explain all his sleeping.
"No, I was thinking. Why 'ern't we paid as much as them fancy cloud-makers? We always sittin' here n' doing nothing. I'm s'pposed to be makin' fightin' things to protect ponies. They don' give us any stuff ta' build things with. Can't build with no ideas or material." Gat said, staring straight at Violet. That's probably the most intelligent thing she's ever heard him say, although, he doesn't talk much as it is.
Violet finished sweeping the dirt into a pile. "Wow, you couldn't sleep cause of that? I've only been here a few months, and I understand. It's boring, not doing anything. I'm not even sure if they can really have me in this position. I'm not qualified in making weapons. I make clouds, but their positions are full. I just have to hope that a spot opens up soon."
Gat just rolled his eyes. "Well ain't you lucky. There's nothin' down here for us two, an' it's drivin' me insane. If ah' could just tell off that jerk, Cloudy Blitz. He don' care bout this job, an' he ain't even here half the time."
Violet chuckled, "Well, why don't we tell the CEO? I know she probably doesn't care about making weapons, but surely she'll give us something to do. She's the Princess's friend, right? I bet she's nice."
As if a light turned on above his head, Gat jumped up. "Perfect! She'll be comin' here too! I'm gonna tell her!"
Just then, there was a bell from the elevator that led to the more busier second floor, where the majority of the major departments worked. The doors slid open and the rainbow maned mare stepped out. Rainbow's mane was a short cut, somewhat similiar to the wonderbolt Spitfire, and she wore a tie. Two pegasai on each of her sides wore full tuxes though. The older mare still never really cared to be super formal. She smiled and entered the bay. Morri stood and Violet set the broom against the wall.
"I apologize, Ms.-" Violet started.
"Dash. Rainbow Dash. You can call me by my name. So where's all the cool weapons and stuff? There's literally nothing in here. Unless that dust pile is like some kinda' magic laser dust. That'd be so cool!" the CEO interrupted.
Violet glanced at the dust pile and back at Dash. "Um, well. We don't really have any weapons. Or anything really. I did suggest adding a taser to the field suits though."
Rainbow stared at her. Wasn't a weapons department supposed to... Make weapons? Not that she really wanted to make any, but Rainbow was hoping for something exciting to end her inspection with. "So, you're telling me that we haven't made anything? At all? Where is Cloud Blitz? Isn't he in charge of you three?" she said, getting rather upset.
Morri replied this time, still staring blankly at Rainbow Dash. "Ma'am, Blitz isn't here. He's at home. He doesn't work on Mondays."
Rainbow's brow furrowed. She would have to talk to him when he returned, with the new assistant manager starting soon, everything had to look good. This department was a mess! "Alright, when was your last real project? I can't have a department committed to," she glanced around the room, unsure of what they would even do all day, "committed to doing nothing. You, you're new right?" she pointed at Violet.
The mare in question nodded. "Yes, I'm Violet Dawn. I specialize in making clouds. I was sent here because the cloud department was full. And because I never took the Everfree Anomalies classes, which would've at least let me be an apprentice to the cloud experimenters."
Rainbow's expression softened a little as she began to think. "So, if you're good at making clouds, why don't you make a cloud related weapon? I just need you three to make something before my assistant makes her inspection in a month. If you come up empty hooved, I'm just going to get rid of this department. Anyways, Equestria doesn't need any weapons right now anyways, so if you three want to keep your job, you might want to make something cool enough to catch my attention." she turned around, heading for the exit but was stopped by Gat.
"Ms. Dash, we ain't got no stuff to make things with. How's we gonna make something without machines n' stuff like the other departm'nts?" he said quickly, standing between her group and the elevator.
Rainbow smiled. "Well, I suppose I can send some extra stuff down here. Alright, take the next three days off and try and come up with some ideas. I'll have everything you need here when you come back. I'll even cater to your talents. Now, I must be going, I'm visiting a friend today." And with that, Gat stepped out of the way, smiling more than Violet has ever seen him do before. Rainbow left with a smile, giving Violet a little hope that their CEO was leaving on a good note.
Gat excitedly ran to the break room to grab his things and flew out the door, heading home. Morri sighed, turning to Violet. "So, we're going to lose our jobs unless you can make something. Good luck with that."
Violet glared. "Hey, at least we'll be doing something now. I'm not the only one who can make things, I don't know a thing about weapons, so you have to help to."
"Yeah. Just don't get Gat's hopes up to much. If you let him down, he'll probably kill you. He's been here a long, long time with nothing to do. I'm sure he's not going to be stable if you fail him." Morri said coldly as she turned to leave.
Violet frowned. She never really liked Morri to begin with. That mare's negativity could drive a pony crazy. "Well, we won't fail. Even if we don't get your help, we'll figure something out. I bet he's coming up with plans right now, and I'm going to come up with stuff too. I won't be the reason Gat loses his job!" she'd say with a bit of anger towards the end, but Morri had already left. Sighing, she turned and left too, heading to wait for a ride back to Canterlot.
'Well, if I'm going to be making weapons, it might help to go see my father. Three days to come up with something shouldn't be too hard. I'm sure dad's seen lots of crazy things in Canterlot, he is a cop after all.' she'd think to herself as she waited for her ride.
Chapter 2 - Dress for A Dance
A Dress for a Dance
Violet stood up from her small twin size bed. Her room was mostly bare, as she only stayed here during weekends and other breaks from work. During the week, she stayed at an apartment in Cloudsdale. It was always nice to be on solid ground, not needing a silly little pill or spell just to not fall through the floor. Turning into the hallway, she descended the stairs which led into the kitchen. The house was empty right now, as her father was still at work. When she returned from Cloudsdale, she took a short nap and now it was around noon. This morning's newspaper sat on the counter, bearing the same news she'd skimmed earlier. The main article, the one about a vigilante loose in the city stood out over the rest. She'd heard about him only through her dad, as he'd mention that Canterlot guards are still looking for him almost every time she was home. Apparently, this strange stallion had been beating up thugs every night and 'saving ponies'. Violet rolled her eyes. The article didn't even have any sort of picture of him or any real proof that the pony really was out doing such nonsense. Sure, if he was out there, maybe Canterlot wouldn't be such a dangerous place?
After eating a light snack, the lavender unicorn put on her saddlebags and headed out to town. With some extra bits to spend, she figured she'd go dress shopping. While eating, she noticed an open invite to a small dance at one of the nearby theaters in the paper. It had been a while since she went to a social gathering, so she was hoping to go out and enjoy herself tonight. The streets were busy as usual, ponies bustling about their business. She and her father lived on the less busy side, but it was still quite active. Memories of Violet's childhood were in her mind as she wandered the roads. Back then, this was one of the less developed sides of the city. It wasn't until a few years ago that the tall buildings of central Canterlot expanded and grew. Surely, one of these days somepony will get the idea to built something tall enough to match the castle's height. That thought gave Violet a chuckle.
Soon enough, she reached Canterlot Boutique, one of the higher end shops of affordable fashion. Once Violet was within eyesight, she noticed it looked like the place was closed. The doors were closed and the windows had the blinds down. Sighing, she went up to knock. There shouldn't be a reason for it not to be open today, and she'd already walked all this way. She really did want something new to wear tonight.
A few moments passed before a head carefully peered through the window. Violet couldn't see past the mare or the blinds, but it was Sassy Saddles, the manager of the shop, peering through the window. She smiled at Violet and just barely opened the door. "Good afternoon, but we're closed for a birthday party later. I apologize for the inconvenience."
Violet frowned, "I really was hoping to get something for the theater dance tonight though, is there any way I can get something quickly? I'm the only pony out here. I could try and help set up your party, so you're not by yourself, Miss Saddles."
The taller mare glanced back inside for a sec before turning back to Violet. "Well, we have more than enough help, and my boss said this was an important party."
"Your boss? Isn't she that famous designer from Ponyville?" Violet asked before Sassy seemed to dissappear and a curly pink-maned mare appeared in her place.
"Hi! We'd love to have more help, and I'll make sure you get a super fun dress for your dance! I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?" the bouncy mare said as she practically dragged Violet into the half-decorated store. Rarity and Rainbow Dash glanced over curiously, wondering who the lone customer was.
"Hey, you work at the weather factory. How come you're in Canterlot?" Rainbow asked before anypony else could say anything.
Violet shrugged, somewhat in a daze, unsure what to say. Three of the element bearers? In Canterlot? She didn't think she'd run into such important ponies today. "I, uh, was looking for a dress for the dance at the theater tonight, boss."
Rainbow just shrugged, "Oh. Well, if you don't mind helping us, I'm sure my friends will be able to find you something to wear. I didn't know you lived in Canterlot. I just figured you lived in the apartments like most of the other scientists and what-not. Well, this is Rarity and that's Pinkie over there, but she already introduced herself." she chuckled.
Rarity smiled, setting down a box of streamers with her magic and came over to Violet. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I rarely ever meet anypony employed by Rainbow face to face. Do you have any sort of dress in mind, or would you like my expertise make one specifically suited for you?"
"Wow, you'd really do that? I suppose everything I've heard about you is true, you really are very nice. I don't want to take too much of your time though, so one already made should be fine." Violet smiled, being led to a large side room where all the clothing stands have been moved for the party.
Rarity began to search through the dresses as she spoke. "Of course I would! You seem like a kind mare yourself. Now, I suggest something inspired by the theatre arts, for a theater dance of course. Perhaps a beautiful gown?"
Violet blushed. "A gown? That's a bit expensive for me, and I don't think I'd be all that great in one."
Letting out a soft laugh, Rarity pulled out a light-blue gown, almost perfectly matching Violet's lavender coat. "Oh, darling, this one will be on me. Now, I think this one would look wonderful on you. Go on, try it out."
Doing as the fashion expert said, Violet went to try it on. It looked like something that would be actually worn in a high-end play or fancy ball. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but to love it's look on her. She stepped out of the dressing room and smiled wide. "Alright, I think i'll wear this one. It's just really comfortable and I look so beautiful." she blushed.
Rarity hummed happily, "I agree with you one-hundred percent! Now, I'll go put it in a nice box for you to take when you leave. I'm sure Rainbow and Pinkie would like some help putting together some of the more intricate decorations that require a uncorn's gentle touch." she said with a wink.
Nodding, Violet took off the dress and gave it to Rarity before heading back to the main shop. Rainbow was trying to tie bows, mostly failing at the task as Pinkie was wrapping presents. Pinkie was doing significantly better at her task, of course. Violet sat down beside Rainbow and smiled, levitating the fabric out of Rainbow's hooves. "You don't do this often, do you?"
Rainbow leaned back in her chair. "Not as much as I used to. My job is pretty busy, so I don't get to help with these sort of things often. It's great to visit my friends again though. Rarity is pretty busy a lot too, so I don't see her much anymore. I think her mane might be getting little grey strands." she chuckled. "She hides it so well though. But anyways, I really hope you and your co-workers can build something before my assistant's inspection. She used to run the company that produces the base for the individual weather suits, so I'm sure that weapons development will be something she wants to see. I'm really counting on you to make something that impresses not only me, but also her."
Violet nodded. "I understand, boss. But, I'm only one mare. I don't know anything about weapons. Gat and Morri know about weapons. They'll probably come up with something before I do." she sighed, finishing up another bow before beginning to magically fold another.
Rainbow smiled, "You're smarter than you give yourself credit for, kid. I can see a lot of potential in you, and for more than just weapons. You know, I bet if you three come up with something good, I could try and get you in a position that you want. Enjoy yourself tonight at that dance. I'm sure something will come to you naturally. I didn't learn how to do a sonic rainboom overnight, it came to me at just the right time." she stood, glancing to see Rarity returning with Violet's box. "I think you've helped a good amount. You can head off if you'd like."
Violet stood too, setting down the last bow and taking the box from Rarity with her magic. "Thank you, both of you. For the dress and the advice. It was a pleasure and an honor to meet you and your friends outside of the factory. Have a nice day."
"You too darling! Enjoy that dance tonight, you'll be beautiful." Rarity said as Violet waived to everypony and headed out the door.
Chapter 3 - And So It Begins
And So It Begins
The theater was busier than Violet expected, with at least sixty ponies showing up for the dance, not including about two dozen or so highly known nobles and business ponies that had arrived. As she found a nice spot to sit down, wishing she'd thought to invite one of her friends. Violet was rather terrible at keeping in touch with her friends though, as she had always put school and work first. None of them probably would be free anyways, she'd think to herself.
A couple minutes of pony-watching passed by and she soon started to become bored, standing and stretching her legs a bit. Wandering over to the main drink bar, she sat down and ordered a juice. She wasn't much for any sort of alcoholic beverages, so juice was always her go-to drink. A lone unicorn stallion sat beside her, dressed in an expensive looking suit. He turned to her and smiled, setting down his drink.
"That's quite an eye-catching dress. I'd probably say one of the best ones here."
Violet smiled back, she hadn't expected to get attention so soon. "Oh, thanks. It was sort of a gift, from my boss's co-worker. It really is nice isn't it?"
The dark yellow-coated stallion nodded with a light chuckle, "You must be quite the employee. It does look quite beautiful on you. May I ask where you work? I'm sure you must have a lovely profession."
With a blush at his statement, she then just shrugged upon the question about her employ. "Oh, well, my job isn't that amazing. I just work at the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale. It's actually not as exciting or 'lovely' as one may think. In my opinion, it's rather boring. Things might start to pick up soon though, with the addition of a new assistant manager." Violet smiled softly.
"You work at the Weather Factory? Where the weather team suits are built?" he'd ask, seeming much more interested in the conversation now.
Violet laughed and rolled her eyes, "Well, I just said that, yeah. But those suits aren't actually built at the weather factory, they are imported from a company that builds the base suit. When they're sent to us, they go directly to a specific department where all the cloud clearing tech is installed. I really don't know what else happens after that, I don't work in anything close to those departments. I suppose they just get deployed to individual weather teams across Equestria."
The unicorn nodded and sighed. "I see. So, if not in that department, what exactly do you do?"
"Well, my job really isn't super important, just a... cloud maker. I make simple clouds." she'd lie. Saying that she works in the weapons department could make things a bit awkward, she thought. What if he was some sort of pacifist or something? It could ruin her chance of getting to know him, and she was liking him a bit too. "What do you do? Oh, and my name's Violet. What is yours?"
He smiled, shrugging and brushing back his medium-length golden mane. "Well, cloud-making sounds very important, even if it might be something overlooked by today's technology. My name is Golden Olive. I run a pretty large vineyard near Las Pegasus. We, as in me and my dog, moved to Canterlot a number of months ago. A large portion of my family live here in Canterlot, so I returned after my brother passed away. Recently, I've been thinking about building another vineyard a little closer to home, you know?"
Violet recognized that name. One of her father's favorite wines were made by his vineyard. Wow, he must have a good amount of bits! She smiled excitedly, "My father loves the wines you produce. I didn't think I would meet the owner of that vineyard. Sorry to hear about your brother though. Canterlot has gotten so bad since the big technological boom. It's crazy how much things can change in six years."
Golden sighed again. "Yes, it is much more hectic here since I came back. It's as if the princesses don't care about this city anymore. The only thing they care about is expanding Equestria's borders. Their focus just isn't harmony anymore. For example," he turned towards the center of the theater where ponies danced away, "these rediculous parties are thrown for no real reason. I believe they are distractions so ponies don't have to see what is really happening to this city."
Violet glanced out to the ponies. "Distracting them? From what? What is really happening to this city?"
"I don't really know yet." was all the stallion said, turning back around in his seat and finishing his drink. His horn randomly started to lightly glow, causing him to glance up and touch it with his hoof, fizzing out the magic aura. "I think i'm going to take off. It was really nice to meet you Violet. I hope to see you again some time."
Confused, Violet stood. "You're leaving already? We only just started talking. I was hoping you'd stay for a while, I don't really know anypony else here."
Golden stood as well and only smiled. "I realized I'm late for something, and I really must leave. It really was a pleasure to meet you. Goodbye for now, Violet." he said as he began to wander off.
Violet sat in her seat for several moments. She had wanted at least one dance tonight, and she really didn't feel like finding somepony she didn't know to introduce again. Sighing, she turned back to her drink to finish it off. 'What an odd pony. It'll be an interesting thing to tell my dad though. He'll probably make some joke about me not asking him for a date. It's been so long since I ever went on one... '
Another half an hour or so passed by before she finally decided to just go home. She had tried talking to another stallion, but he was only interested in talking about some weird hat collection of his. Violet had to excuse herself from that nonsense, it was such an uninteresting topic and he talked really fast, something that was a slight pet peeve of hers and reminded her of that pink friend of Rainbow Dash's. It was night when she'd left, but the walk wouldn't be too far. At least the streetlamps lit up the roads. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze, the sky lit with the moon and stars. She could see Canterlot Castle looming over the edge of the city in the distance. With the angle of the moon's light, the castle looked so lonely on the mountain side. From what she's heard, the princesses don't hardly ever stay there anymore, preferring to live in the Crystal Empire. Northern Equestria was not so much of a icy wasteland anymore, and rumors went around on plans of moving the capital high up into the Frozen North once the snowfields are fully melted by what was essentially an army of weather ponies and equipment.
Violet was about halfway home when the street lamps seemed to cut off. Something didn't feel right. The ground started to shake softly, followed by a loud crashing that sounded like a building being crushed or ripped apart. She was in a more industrial part of Canterlot, as she usually would cut through to reach her house quicker. After a few more quakes and what sounded like something large taking steps, she turned to look down a road to her left that led to some sort of storage facilities. One of the buildings had a hole in the side and some sort of large beast or rather, when she got a better look after hiding behind an empty carriage, a large machine that looked quite similar to the mechs used by the Weather Corporation to help clear the northern snowfields. The thought came to her, what if they were made by the same company?
Her thought quickly was replaced by fear, as it turned towards her. Violet wouldn't even see a group of ponies exiting the building and surrounding the machine that stood almost as tall as a small house. Noticing they were also in suits similar to the weather clearing ones, she just hid there unable to move as she saw them start to escort it down the road. It was a good two blocks away, but she knew they would see her when they got closer. She quickly looked around for any sign of another pony to call out to, but the whole area was empty. There was a significant increase in ponies at the party since she got there, but was there really nopony nearby? The machine was half a block closer now, and they were moving quickly. Not knowing what else to do, she crawled underneath the carriage. This wasn't any sort of situation she'd ever imagine herself get into.
When the entourage came to the intersection, they clearly saw the hiding mare, two of the suited ponies quickly ran to the carriage, both of them shoving it to the side, revealing the mare. Violet shook in fear, as she knew that these ponies could be dangerous. Her father wouldn't ever mention anything out right, but he had always implied that there were very bad ponies out there in the streets. Opening her eyes, she lit her horn and fired a flare into the sky with her magic, quickly trying to dash away from the two bulky pegasai in metal suits as fast as she could. She wouldn't get far before they caught up to her and held her in place. Another of the pegasai standing beside the larger mech walked up to her and smiled.
"You picked the worst day to be on the streets. Why is this little unicorn leaving the dance so early? Boyfriend break up with you or somethin'?" the stallion asked, laughing at her and looking over her fancy dress. "I bet you're rich. Maybe we'll take you with us and see if we can't get some money in trade of ya'?"
Violet struggled in the other two ponies' grips. These suits were very different than what the Weather Corporation uses, seeming to be armed with real armor and weaponry. It seemed to enhance their strength too as she realized she could barely move. "In a few moments, the guards will be here to stop whatever you're doing!" she'd say loudly, but with a much more nervous and shaky voice than she'd intended.
The stallion laughed even louder, "The cops can't stop us. We're not just some low time thieves. A new Equestria is coming."
Closing her eyes and focusing, she lit her horn. The stallion stopped laughing, unsure of what she was trying. Suddenly, from her horn she created a cloud around them. The confused pegasai dropped her and stepped out of the cloud, giving her a chance to try and sprint away. Cursing herself for not being very good of a runner, her escape was short-lived as they caught up and pinned her down to the ground.
"Nice little trick, show pony, but we're pegasai. Clouds won't stop us, and now you're gonna' take a little nap." the pegasus would say before Violet saw him raise his hoof in the air. She closed her eyes and winced. There was a loud smack and she was knocked unconscious.
Chapter 4 - Flowers and Thorns
Flowers and Thorns
Violet groggily awoke to the sound of machinery and that sort of factory smell that reminded her of work. As she opened her eyes, she noticed she was of course in a factory, but not one she was familiar with. There was a great conveyor that was moving the basic frames of the individual body gear that were the base of the weather clearing suits. Looking around a bit more, she could see that there were only a few pegasai running the machines, and two were standing guard not so far from where she lay. She was strapped to an inclined table, as if they stole it from a dentist or something. Her dress lay on a table a ways away, messy and torn with a little blood on it. The fact that they removed it while she was unconscious worried her a little, causing her to look down at herself. 'Oh, good, they took it off to bandage my leg. Wow, I don't remember getting cut though. Ugh, it really hurts now! ' she thought to herself.
Moving around in her bonds to try and loosen them, or at least get in a more comfortable position, she noticed that the guards didn't really care about her being awake. They seemed to be on edge, waiting for something. Violet just grunted, unable to move in the straps. One guard turned at her with an angry glare.
"Shut up, or we'll knock you out again." the armored pegasus whispered. All the pegasai wore the same modified suits that she had seen back in the street. However, she couldn't recognize any of the guards, and that giant mech wasn't anywhere in sight.
Violet raised an eyebrow, "Why are you whispering? I can barely hear you over the machines."
"I said be quiet! Don't make me come over there!" he whispered loudly. Just then, a stallion's scream echoed across the factory, followed by a yelling.
"Where are you!? Come out where I can see- AH!" a pegasus yelled, before the sound of him falling hard on the ground.
The main guard ran over to Violet, a knife flipping out of the hoof-piece of his suit, pressed against her neck. She squirmed and tried to use magic, but they had put a blocking ring onto her horn, which jolted her immediately. Tears were in her eyes and her horn stung. All she could do was scream for help. Suddenly, a yellow beam shot through the other guard's neck, causing him to fall to the ground with what looked like a dandelion stuck into his neck, the stem deep into their neck like a needle.
Still holding the knife to Violet, the last pegasus started to pull the table infront of him to block anything that'd come. "What in the name of Celestia did you do to him!? Stay away, I'll kill her! I mean it!"
An echoing laugh broke out as a loud calm voice spoke, his voice seemed to be coming from every direction at once. "He's unconscious, obviously. My dandelion intoxicates him to the point of causing him to black out immediately. Now, let the nice mare go before I get you too."
"There's no way I'll give her to you, alive of course. But you want her, I'll give her to ya' dead!" He raised the knife-hoof, about to stab Violet.
Quickly, a loud blast sounded behind the stallion, a sort of launcher sending out at least forty high-velocity grapes like a sort of shotgun. It hit the stallion in the back hard, causing him to stumble and knock over the table holding Violet. The stallion stood in anger, turning to face the assailant who threw a small tube that that fired the grapes aside. It was a unicorn wearing some sort of costume, looking similar to the mysterious Mare-Do-Well without a hat, but in a dark green with a dark yellow highlights, with a full head mask covering his face and eyes. The stallion swung the knife at the costumed stallion, who easily rolled out of the way. Landing behind him, the costumed pony kicked the pegasus in the back hard. There was an audible crack from one of his wings and he fell to the ground, turning onto his back where his suit protected him. Pressing a button on the knife-hoof leg, the knife fired at the vigilante.
With the knife slicing the caped pony's cheek, he grunted in pain and then lit his horn, levitating the knife into the air. With the knife in his control he sliced through the side strap of the pegasus' armor, throwing aside the front piece and stabbing the knife into his shoulder. "Where did that machine go. What is your gang planning?"
Chuckling a little, the stallion panted. "You won't get anything out of me, Flowercolt. Everypony knows your game, and you're going to lose this one." The pegasus reached to the inside of the suit's shoulder. An enchanted gem that was the power source for all the suits was inside the shoulder-piece. Quickly, he thrust his hoof into it, hitting it hard and causing it to glow irregularly.
Stepping back quickly, the vigilante turned and ran to free Violet. Without warning, he lifted her onto his back and began to run out of the factory. Once outside, a magic blast blew up where the pegasus had been, causing all the unfinished suits to begin a chain reaction. After they were far enough away from the blasts, the stallion set Violet onto the ground. He was breathing heavily from carrying her so far. Violet just glanced back and forth between him and the remains of the building.
"What just happened." was all Violet could say. She felt lost. All that happened so quickly to her, she didn't know what to think. How would she begin to explain this to her father?
The stallion turned, about to leave, but stopped. "You were taken by a very deadly gang of armored pegasai into a stolen factory. You're lucky to be alive. Just try not to wander the streets of Canterlot in expensive dresses. They could've done a lot more to you than they did."
Violet glanced at her bandaged leg, then looked back up before he left. "Wait a second, I know you. You're Golden Olive. Why are you the vigilante that ponies are talking about."
He stopped in place again. "I- No I'm not. How could you relate me to a vinyard owner?"
Violet laughed, "Well, dandelion wine is my dad's favorite kind. And your vineyards are one of two in all of Equestria that still make them. That and the dark green obviously represents half of your name. But Flowercolt? You seriously need a better nickname. That's just... Kinda dumb, if you ask me."
Sighing, he carefully looked around, making sure nopony was looking. He took off the mask. Violet was right. "Well, I didn't make the name, it's just what they call me. I apologize for leaving the party early, but I suppose you know why I left now. Please, you mustn't tell anypony who I am. Those pegasai killed my brother, and it is my one and only goal to stop every member of their gang. If they find out who I am, they could hurt the rest of my family."
Frowning, Violet pointed at the factory's remains. "I get what you're trying to do, but what I saw was more than just a gang. They kept on saying weird things that I think means they plan on starting a war. You can't think you'll be anything special enough to stop them. That's stupid. You need to move on, or move away from Canterlot. You can't fight an army alone."
Golden looked into her eyes. "I will do everything that I can to prevent their war. If you think I alone am not enough, then join me. I like you, and I bet together, we could stop them. You could help me get information about them in ways I can't. There's no way I can just forget what they did."
"Are you serious? I'm not going to join you. My father is a guard and once I tell him about what happened today, maybe he'll get Celestia to wake up and realize how bad Canterlot has gotten and send the entire royal guard after them. I'm sorry Golden. Thank you for saving me, but I can't do what you do. I'm just a cloud maker, and I don't even work as one. So, I'm going to go home. Goodbye." she said, holding back her emotion. She started trotting away quickly, hoping he wouldn't follow. Her father needed to know what she saw.
Golden stood, watching her go. Would he ever see her again? Canterlot was going to be hit hard, and that's what he needed to focus on. Wherever that massive machine went, he needed to find it and find out what it does before it would be too late. He put his mask on and ran off down the street. War was coming, and he needed to prepare.
Home
It now was the next morning and violet sat on the couch, holding a cold, wet towel to her horn. When she finally woke, her father had taken the restricting ring off, it slightly cracked her horn just barely, but enough to have made her bleed and cry a little from the pain. Her father had wrapped the wound as she explained everything that she'd seen, up to the point where the vigilante saved her. However, she left out the fact that she saw who he was.
"Well, at least you're alright now. I don't know what I'll be able to do about these pegasai though. If they really do have some sort of modified weather mech, we'd have to prepare the city for anything. I have no real proof that the thing really exists. I believe you Violet, but I don't think the princess will believe me." the older blue stallion said, sitting back on the couch.
Violet frowned, "Dad, you have to tell the princess. That thing was pretty tall, and I'm sure I'm not the only pony to see it. At least try, please. I'm going to be busy once I get back to Cloudsdale, so I won't be able to nag you about it. If you don't tell her, that vigilante will try and stop them himself and probably get killed. Will you tell her while I'm gone?"
Standing, he just sighed and looked at her, "I'll try and get her to hear it. It probably won't be Celestia to hear it though. I'm sure you know by now that she practically stays in the Crystal Empire permenantly. Princess Luna may not give me a chance to ask, but I'll do my best since you asked. But while you're gone, just be careful okay? Those are some bad wounds you got from last night. You might be living in Cloudsdale, but it's still dangerous up there too. Not as bad as down here, of course, but mind your surroundings. If those thugs that caught you were all pegasai, there's a good chance they have friends in Cloudsdale."
Nodding, Violet smiled and stood, going to give her father a hug. "Don't worry dad, I think I'm going to try and play things safe for a while. I'll stay the night at the factory if I have to. It's probably the safest place in the city. Plus, I might actually have some stuff to do now. I've come up with an idea for a project that might impress our upcoming assistant manager."
Her father smiled, hugging back and turning to put on his armor for work. "Well, that's good. Hopefully something related to your talents this time. I'm sure that sooner or later, they'll put you in a department that you want. I'm heading out now, so don't do anything crazy again. And try not to wander the streets at night, or at least take somepony with you. Hopefully we'll be off early tonight so I can say goodbye before you head back to work tomorrow."
"I'm probably just going to stay home tonight anyways." she chuckled, opening the door for him. "Good luck in getting the princess to listen. I really hope you can talk to her... Well, see you later tonight then."
The blue stallion nodded, waiving and heading off towards the castle. Violet watched him leave for a moment or so before heading back inside and closing the door. Heading upstairs to her room, she sat down onto her bed. Her mirror on her desk showed a tired looking, messy maned mare sitting on her bed. Violet groaned. The sight was only a reminder that she went through some crazy things over the course of one night. A bandaged horn was the first noticeable thing to her, and second was the worn wraps on her right hind-leg. Carefully, she unwrapped the leg, revealing a moderately sized cut down the side of the leg. No wonder it hurt so much when she walked. Standing, she went into the bathroom and grabbed some fresh supplies to wrap her leg again. This will be an interesting thing to explain to her coworkers, she thought.
Once her leg was wrapped up again, she did a quick rinse of her mane and tied it back into a messy bunch. Her orange mane was now clean and fresh. Violet smiled, looking into her lighter orange eyes in the mirror. 'I don't look too bad, it's just two little cuts and I can still use magic even with the bandage, so I'll be fine. Hmm, but what should I say to Gat and Morri? They're probably going to be worried. Maybe i'll just say I fell. Hopefully Cloudy won't be at work again though... He'll probably just make fun of me. That stallion is such a jerk. I can't imagine how he got put in position as my boss. '
Stepping out of the bathroom, she went to her desk and pulled out some paper. As she had mentioned to her father, she really did have an idea for a weapon that she could build, getting the idea from last night's events. Violet thought, what if the weather suits could deploy clouds from the suit's built in power? If she could do that, then maybe the cloud could be used to create a sort of cover to hide the pony, similar to what she tried to do when she was caught, but in a larger scale. It was a simple idea to her, and she planned to pitch the idea to Rainbow Dash. Sure, it wasn't quite a weapon exactly, but it could be used in conjunction with one. Hopefully, Gat and Morri were busy with creating some ideas too, so then the three of them could all produce something useful.
Violet spend the good half of the day working on her idea, drawing out what she hoped it'd look like. There wasn't much she could do on the how, since she didn't know how the gem that powered the suits worked. Instead, she mostly came up with ideas on how it would store the cloud or if it would magically spawn one. Once she'd felt she had enough thought up to pitch the idea, she took a break to nap and rest until her father returned home from work late into the afternoon. Hearing him return, she went down to the living room to see him.
"Any news about talking to the princesses? Did you get to tell them?" Violet asked excitedly.
Sitting down onto the couch, he chuckled. "You're persistent. Well, I didn't talk with them, but Princess Luna is willing to listen to what I have to say. I'm scheduled to have a hearing with her at the end of the week. It's a bit farther off than you probably hoped, but it's something."
Violet gave a sigh of relief. "Oh good, at least you'll get a chance to tell her. I'm guessing Celestia isn't in Canterlot? Not a big surprise."
"Actually, Celestia might be coming to Canterlot for some sort of royal business. However, since she'll be busy, Luna will be the one to hear me. Either way, I'll make sure one of them knows what is going on. So, you plan on leaving tomorrow morning?" he asked as he stood and began to take his armor off and place it on it's stand beside the door.
Violet shrugged and wandered into the kitchen. "Yeah, I suppose. We were supposed to only have three days off, but I'm heading back a day early. I just really want to get my project started, not to mention get out of Canterlot. I don't know what I'd do sitting around here while you worked tomorrow, so I'm just heading back in the morning. Hopefully they won't mind having me come back early. We're on sort-of a schedule anyways, and the more time to work on the project I have, the better. I hope you won't mind."
Her father nodded, heading into the kitchen. "That's fine, I understand that you wouldn't want to stay in Canterlot after last night... Hopefully next weekend when you come back I'll have good news from the princesses for you. You know, it might sound silly, but it does get a little lonely around you without your or your mother around. Canterlot's never really been home for either of you."
Violet glanced at the ground. Her father rarely ever talks about her mom. It usually led to an argument. "Dad... She only left because it's just not the same Canterlot we used to know. You should know that the most, since you're out there every day trying to keep ponies safe. Don't you see how bad it is at night? I'm sure there's more than just armored pegasai out there. There's a vigilante out there, for crying out loud. Obviously things here are bad enough to make a normal pony try and take on criminals themself. That's not how things are supposed to work. I'm not going to ask you to move, but if the princesses don't listen to you, I'd suggest thinking about not just my future, but yours too. I hate seeing you here alone, and I bet that I'm not the only one that misses you while I'm gone."
The older stallion sighed, setting down a cup he had pulled out of a cupboard. "This is where I've lived all my life, Violet. I just can't leave it. Canterlot is my home, and I hope that once the princesses know what's going on, maybe they will do something, like you said this morning. Once Canterlot returns to normal, you and your mother can come back and we can all be together again. I know that someday soon, Canterlot will be restored to the way it used to be. We will be a family again."
Violet looked up at him, frowning. "Even if the princesses did something about those pegasai and their machine, it won't change things. Canterlot will never be the way it used to be. If you want to stay here forever, then you can. That's your choice. Mom would be right though. You'd rather stay here all alone living in the past while the future just passes right by you. She already left. You better hope I don't lose my patience with you too. I don't want to leave you, but every time we talk about this, it's just harder and harder for me to stay. I miss mom, and you should too." With that, Violet turned and slowly went upstairs to her room. Her father just silently watched, a sad frown on his face too.
Telling her father what she felt hurt, but she needed to let it out. Violet sighed heavily and laid down in her bed and closed her eyes. She could only hope that the princesses do something. A part of her wanted them not to, so her father could just move away from this fallen city. What was going to happen to Canterlot? She wished she knew, but she had to focus on her work. Soon enough, she drifted off to sleep, replacing her thoughts with eagerness to start her new project.
Chapter 7 - The Everfree Thundercloud
The Everfree Thundercloud
Wearing the suit was quite an experience for Violet, as it never was built to accommodate a unicorn's horn. The bandaged horn stuck out of a hole that had been drilled into the head piece, causing her to easily stick out among the small group of pegasai that accompanied her. The leader of the team was a mare named Cotton Cloudy, but Violet forgot any of the other ponies' names. After her lesson on how to use the suit, she had been sent to the edge of Ponyville so she could easily enter the forest. Now, she and the regular weather team ponies stood at the edge of the forest, meeting there before they search for the cloud.
"Well, I hope you got plenty of sleep last night. These clouds are pretty tough, and we don't normally take one on." Cotton said to Violet.
Violet nodded. The inn she stayed at was nice, but she did end up staying late reading any notes she could find about these clouds. She really didn't find anything useful though, unfortunately. "Yeah, I'm as ready as I can be. But, what do you mean that you don't normally go after the everfree clouds? I thought you team ponies were always out fighting them so that Equestria can expand or something like that."
Cotton chuckled through her suit's faceshield, "Are you kidding? Not every weather team is tasked to that crazy stuff. My team was pulled back to help with the regular weather schedules. Ponyville is bigger now than it was when I was a filly, so we need more ponies clearing normal clouds and such. You know, basic stuff. This week's supposed to be sunny, so we haven't been busy. I suppose that's why we were picked for this."
Shrugging, Violet started off towards the forest. "Well, I guess we should get started. So, am I just going to try and follow you three from the ground?"
"Yup. You have to be ready once we pull the cloud to the ground, cause your suit is fitted with the net that can catch it. Just don't miss and we'll be golden. My team has the hard part, really. Oh, but if something crazy happens, don't forget to activate the stun-hoof mechanisms to slow the cloud down. Just press that button on your shoulder panel." Cotton pointed, smiling.
"Of course. I'll be ready."
Watching the three pegasai take to the sky, Violet followed them the best she could from the ground. The area they started in still had most of the forest intact, just with less clouds over it. She had to be careful still though, as the Everfree still can be dangerous even without it's perpetual darkness. Tree roots, vines, and many other tripping hazards slowed her down as she tried hard to follow the pegasai in the sky. Soon enough, they entered the edge of the cloud cover and she couldn't see them anymore. She sighed, turning to look for an opening that was still in the light. Soon enough, she found a small clearing where she could see one of the pegasai for a moment before dissappearing back behind a cloud. Violet laid down in the grass, watching the sky, waiting for the pegasai to do their thing.
Up in the sky, the three suited pegasai flew in a 'V' formation with Cotton in the rear, and the other two ahead. They were high above the dark cloud layer. The fluffy dark floor seemed to be in constant motion, rolling over itself and jolting with the occasional spark.
"Alright, we need to find one that's isolated themself. Hopefully, when we find it, it's not angry or sad. Remember we have to hit it with enough to stun, but we aren't actually destroying it." Cotton reminded the other two, another mare and a stallion.
The two nodded, but then the stallion pointed towards one off to the left, floating away from the mass. "We got one, Cotton. Looks like they don't want to be a part of the mosh. Can I head over there and rough it up a bit?" he chuckled.
Cotton glanced at the lone cloud. It did seem to be in a hurry to leave the rest of the clouds. She smiled, "Go ahead Rumble, we'll break off and try and flank it."
Rumble smirked and took off, diving straight for the cloud with his stun-hooves actively sparking around the front legs of his suit with little blue bolts. He hit the cloud hard, pushing it further from the mass to keep the team from becoming overwhelmed. The cloud was jolted with the blue static, not having any chance of escape. Once the dark puff was pushed a good ways away from the larger mass, Rumble backed off, looping up wards. The cloud shook and started off after him, but at a much slower pace. Rumble turned around and stuck his tongue out at the cloud when suddenly it was engulfed in more blue static as Cotton and the other pegasus struck it from both sides. The cloud was effectively paralyzed for now, not chasing anymore.
Cotton yelled out, holding her hooves tight to the cloud to maintain contact. "Quit watching it and start pushing it towards the ground Rumble!"
Doing as he was told, he dived back down, pushing the cloud down. His wings flapped rapidly as he pushed with his eyes closed, the ground coming closer and closer. About half the distance left now, he opened his eyes, seeing that he was aiming them straight at a pond. He wasn't the only one to notice that, as Cotton let out another yell.
"Pull up and go left, featherbrain! Violet's at that opening!" she called out.
Rumble turned the best he could, but now the cloud seemed to be resisting the stun, adding more drag than he'd expected as it tried to free itself from it's captors. Suddenly, Cotton vanished, causing them to pull off to the right from the lack of pressure she had applied. Rumble realized that she must've hit a tree and tried to pull them higher up to clear the trees but the cloud still pulled them down, but now in a wide right turn. Then, they came to a rapid halt as the cloud hit the trunk of a tree, causing the two pegasai still holding on to roll several feet ahead. The mare rolled into another clearing while Rumble tumbled into a bush. The cloud only hovered in place, its fluff looking frazzled and it pulsed with little purple lightning bolts of it's own. Rumble hastily stood, stumbling out of the bush. If his visor allowed for peripheral vision, he'd see Violet running in their direction, but he didn't. He charged forward at the cloud, aiming to try and stun it before it took out it's anger on him.
In a matter of moments, the cloud shot out a bolt at the stallion causing him to fall to the ground but it was quickly wrapped in a sort of enchanted netting, shot from Violet. It fell to the ground, landing softly and it stopped pulsing and became much more calm looking. Violet carefully trotted over, making sure the cloud was pacified before hurrying over to where Rumble lay. She turned him onto his back and could see a blackened mark on the chest of the armor.
"Hey, are you okay!? Wake up!" Violet pleaded, worried.
The suit made a little beeping noise and the gem glowed bright. Violet backed away as the suit was engulfed in a quick shock of blue static. The gem then went dull, out of power.
Violet carefully leaned down again. "A- are you okay?" she asked quietly.
Rumble's eyelids flickered and opened slowly as he groaned. "Ow... Never doing that again.."
Out of the woods, Cotton stumbled into the little clearing with her visor shattered and a little blood trickling down her cheek. "Stupid trees. I had a feeling I'd crash into a tree today, it's like I'm a tree magnet sometimes."
Violet smiled at Rumble. "Well, at least everypony is okay. Wait, where's that third one?"
Cotton looked up at Violet, laying down beside Rumble. "Make sure she's alright. I'll stay with Rumble and the cloud. I'm still a bit dizzy."
With a nod, Violet hurried over to the mare. She was unconscious, but Violet couldn't see anything life threatening. Violet tried to lift her up, but the weight of both of them in the suits were too heavy for the unicorn. Quickly taking off her own suit, she then lifted the mare onto her back and slowly made her way back to the others. Cotton was taking off Rumble's suit as he was leaned against a tree and the cloud still lie on the ground where it had been captured. Violet set the mare against another tree as she went over to look at the cloud.
"You know, they look like a normal storm cloud when they're asleep like this."
Cotton glanced at the unicorn. "What? You talk like they're almost alive. It's just a cloud. You should focus on sending a message back to Ponyville for a team to pick us up. I really don't want to stay in the Everfree Forest all day."
Violet frowned, "As a matter of fact, I think that they might actually have a low-level intelligence, from what I've read. I never thought a cloud could be capable of any sort of thinking like this. I'll have to study it more to find out what it's actually capable of though. And who would I send it to? I don't actually know anypony from Ponyville that I can message." She shrugged, figuring that Rarity and that party pony would be busy. They were from Ponyville, weren't they? Violet couldn't remember for sure.
"I have an address, and she'll be here fast." Rumble spoke up, pulling out a pad from a compartment in his suit that lie on the ground.
Violet took it with her magic and quickly wrote a letter and sent it out to the address. A few moments passed before they received a return note. She quickly read it to herself and smiled. "So, they said they'll be here in about twenty minutes. So, do you know this Scootaloo mare? It said to tell you she's on her way."
Rumble chuckled, smiling. "Yeah, I figured. Now we just wait."
Back to Work
Finally returning to Cloudsdale, Violet was sitting in a hot air balloon with three mares that looked to be about the same age as herself. She was wearing her modified weather suit again as her magic held onto a rope that was tied around the Everfree cloud, which was still pacified from the net that held it in place. One of the three mares was apparently the one she'd written the letter to earlier, the orange pegasus Scootaloo. It was quiet, since the three had finished arguing over something that Violet really didn't care to pay attention to. She was mostly just watching the cloud, eager to start work on it. The silence was broken by Scootaloo.
"So, what exactly did you need to get an Everfree storm cloud for? What does a pony even do with one of those?"
Violet smiled at her, "Well, I'm going to study it and figure out how they work. They constantly generate their own lightning field, and they are almost ten times denser than a normal storm cloud, but they still float as high as it wants. There are so many secrets I can learn from it. As I've been watching it, I've been thinking so much. Perhaps if I figured out how they create their own lightning, maybe that knowledge could lead to infinite energy generators? Imagine if we could power all of Canterlot with just one of these clouds?"
"That would be pretty impressive. I guess I've never thought about that. If you could do that, I bet you could build a scooter that runs on it's own lightning generator! That could make them move so fast! That'd be awesome. I hope you can figure it out soon, I want to be the first one to use it." Scootaloo said excitedly.
With a chuckle, Violet turned to look at the cloud. "That would be quite entertaining, seeing ponies riding around on self-powered scooters. Sounds somewhat dangerous though. I'm sure the first thing that my boss would want me to do is find a way to power the weather suits though."
Scootaloo chuckled, standing to glance over the side of the balloon. She immediately screamed. "We're about to crash through the cloud floor! Sweetie Belle, weren't you supposed to be steering us?"
The white unicorn was leaning slightly against the corner as she looked up from a book she levitated in front of her which she dropped from the sudden outburst. "What!? I thought it was Applebloom's turn! I was reading!"
Scootaloo groaned, looking at the earth pony who was sitting up from the balloon's basket floor. She had been asleep until the sudden panic woke her. "Ah' told you ta' keep watch Scootaloo. That's why ah' took a nap!" the irritated yellow mare replied, clearly angry about her nap being disturbed.
"You didn't tell me anything, Applebloom! You just went to sleep!" Scootaloo replied, reaching for the controls and turning up the heat so they would head up and away from the cloud floor. Once out of the way, she slowed it down and let it gently drift to land softly on the clouds. "Whew, that was close. It was nice to meet you, Violet. We have some stuff to take care of in town, so we probably won't be able to give you a ride back if you need one."
Violet stepped down from the basket, pulling the cloud along with the rope. "It was nice to meet you too, but I don't live in Ponyville, so I'll be fine. Well, have fun with whatever you're off doing." She waived and turned to walk towards the factory. 'Looks like it's finally time to go back to work. Those three argue a lot, I honestly don't know how they became friends. Oh well, I have a cloud to study! ' Violet thought to herself.
The weapons bay seemed much busier than it ever had been. A number of various machines and tools now took up it's formerly empty space, the large cloud container in the center of the room. Gat and Morri were working on their own issued projects and Cloudy Blitz, the weapons manager who typically wouldn't show up, was sitting at the small table in the corner. He just glanced at Violet for a moment before standing and heading over towards her.
"About time you caught that cloud. Now go put it in the container and I'll give you your assignment papers. You don't need to be shown how to use one of those, do you?" the sunglasses-wearing stallion asked.
Violet huffed, "I know how to operate a cloud containment device. Nice to see you too, boss.." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she turned to climb up a large utility ladder that led to the top of the machine. At the top was a large opening that was closed off by grating that opened to a lever. Violet pulled the lever, opening up the grating so she could drop the cloud in. She removed the rope and levitated the cloud to the bottom where she released the netting around it with her magic. Quickly, she closed it up so the cloud couldn't escape. It seemed to angrily fly about the inside, shocking the walls of the container in its anger. Violet thought it looked sorta like an angry bee trapped in a jar. She giggled to herself before heading down the ladder-stairs and over to the table where Cloudy presented a folder of papers.
"I hope you enjoyed your time off, because now it's time for you to work. You have three tasks to complete. First, you need to figure out a way to control that cloud and create an easy way to control it's friends. Second, you have to build something that can channel their free lightning into a high power bolt that can be aimed. Third, if you can find any other uses for the cloud that can be used as some sort of weapon of defense, than let me know and we can come up with something together to add to it. That isn't too much for a unicorn like you to handle, is it?" Cloudy said, pointing with a large hoof, smirking.
"You actually want me to make weapons? I thought I was trying to discover secrets about the Everfree clouds, not build a weapon from one." she frowned.
The stallion groaned. "You're assigned to the weapons department for a reason. If I wanted you to make pretty pink clouds and frolic around with them, I'd have sent you to the cloud department. Too bad for you they're full, so you're stuck making weapons or not having a job here. And it's not what I want, these are from the big boss."
Violet gave him a sour look, she didn't like when he talked like that. "The big boss sent those assignments? As in Rainbow Dash? I didn't think that's what she meant when she told me the other day."
Cloudy leaned back in his chair. "No, genius, Rainbow Dash left Lightning Dust in charge of the south side facilities while she oversees the north side facilities. If you weren't playing with clouds in Ponyville this morning, you'd have been at the meeting. We're also going to be getting more focus soon, which means we might increase staff here. Apparently, things are getting rough in the Frozen North and Celestia may need new weapons to take on the new threat to the Crystal Empire. So, If I were you, I would probably try and complete your assignments within the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I have my own assignments so you'll be seeing even less of me. Stupid admin stuff will have me running all over the place."
Violet almost let out a sigh of relief, but stifled it. "Alright, I'll get started quickly then.. Enjoy your admin duties." she said before heading back to the cloud container. Cloudy rolled his eyes and stood to head out of the bay.
The lone storm cloud just drifted slowly in the container, not angry anymore. It occasionally let out a small spark, but seemed mostly tame for now. Violet only smiled, watching it drift for a few moments before glancing over to a table where Gat seemed to be looking over some equipment. He didn't notice her since he was distracted, but she wandered over to visit him.
"What do they have you working on?" she'd ask.
Gat jumped slightly, startled a little since he was lost in his thoughts. "Vi'let? How have ya' been? They jus' got me workin' on building a thingy that reflects alicorn magic. 'Pparently there's a rogue alicorn in the Frozen North o' sorts. These here armor pieces were used o'er a thousand years ago by a group of ponies who tried to stop Nightmare Moon on their own, but failed. I thought it was some sorta' unicorn magics that protected them, but this is actually some sorta' material that nullifies magic altogeth'r. I'm tryin' to figure out where they came from so we could get more."
Violet smiled. "Well, that's actually really useful, I suppose. As long as we find it first though. Something like that seems very, very dangerous if it's in the wrong hooves."
The dark green pegasus nodded. "That's why I'm gonna find it m'self. With some personal friends o' mine, course. If ya wanna come, I wouldn't mind the extra help. Whenever, we figure where, o' course."
"I'd love to come along, if I can. I'll be pretty busy with the Everfree cloud though, but I'll make time. Well, it was nice to talk with you, but I should probably get to work."
Gat smiled, "Yeah, me too. Good luck with that cloud. Them's dangerous, but I got faith in ya'. Morri might be more free to help, she's just makin' a giant sun panel 'r something."
"I'll keep her in mind. She probably won't want to be bothered by me." she chuckled, trotting over to the cloud container. "All right cloud, first things first, I'm Violet Dawn and I'm going to be learning what I can from you. Now, I have to take a little sample from you to start with, so this might hurt a little."
Taking a little syringe, she pressed a small button on the side of the container, opening a little hole. Quickly, she levitated it into the container and stuck it into the cloud, sucking in a small puff of cloud into the syringe. She pulled it back out and closed the opening before the cloud went into another little lightning fit.
Violet giggled to herself. "You're so fussy, I'll give it back when I'm done, I promise. I just need it for a little while." she said to the cloud as she took the sample into another large device which was more like an isolated single room with all glass sides and a table with various tools and smaller measuring devices. Once inside, she shut the door behind her and went to the table and set down the syringe. It was very quiet in the little isolation room, which made it perfect for her to work in peace. She put a small petri dish down beside it and released the cloud sample into the dish. It almost started to float away before Violet casted a small bubble around the dish to prevent the tiny cloud puff to float away.
Pulling out a simple microscope of sorts, she looked at the cloud, studying every edge and curve of the cloud puff. It looked almost like a regular cloud would, but she noticed something different. It seemed to lightly pulse, as if the electricity inside it kept it alive. Violet smiled to herself, continuing to study for a couple hours until she heard a knocking on the door. She looked up to see Morri knocking. Morri looked as emotionless as usual, but the lights seemed to be half off in the bay. Violet never noticed, since the isolated room had its own lights. Setting down her instruments, she opened the door.
"Violet, it's time to go home. You're lucky I stayed to make sure everything not needed running was turned off." the teal mare said with her monotone voice. The lack of inflection made it hard to tell her mood, but Violet could tell from whether the tips of Morri's mane was pointed or frayed, indicating content or irritation usually. Morri seemed to be content.
"I guess my sense of time was a little off, I did get here a little later than usual. Thanks, Morri."
Morri nodded. "Yup. I'm going home now. See you tomorrow, Violet."
Violet watched as she turned and left. Shrugging, she put away her tools and levitated the cloud puff back over to the container, returning the puff to it's owner. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow little cloud. You helped me a lot today, and I think tomorrow, we'll actually be able to make progress. Hopefully I can get what I need.." she said to the storm cloud that just fizzled with it's static, seeming to watch as she left. Morri was at the door still when Violet opened it to leave.
"You're talking to the cloud as if it hears you. That's weird. It's just a cloud."
Violet frowned, "No, It's more than just a cloud. It has it's own properties that gives it a low level intelligence. It's almost like a pet.."
Morri rolled her eyes. "It's a cloud, Violet. Go home." With that, she left the building for good now, flying off towards central Cloudsdale.
Sighing, Violet took another cloud-walking pill and began heading to her Couldsdale apartment. It wasn't very far from the factory, since it was mostly built for it's employees. Her room was pretty small, but it was all she really needed. A twin size bed sat in the corner and a wide, short dresser was across it against the wall. There were a few pictures of old friends and one of her and her parents together. Violet smiled at her picture and then hopped into her bed. 'Tomorrow, I think I might be able to read the cloud's thoughts. If I succeed, it'll make controlling it easier! ' she thought to herself before soon drifting off to sleep, eager for tomorrow.
Showtime
The following week of tests and studying were more successful than Violet expected. The first thing she had managed to accomplish was learning that it would respond to various levels of electric shocks with various displays of what Violet only could explain as emotions. High voltage shocks seemed to make it very energetic and appearing to be happy, while long constant pulses of lower energy would lull it into a sort of depression or would outright pacify the cloud over an extended period of time. An easy way for her to determine it's current mood, was giving it a single moderate-powered shock. The cloud would either wiggle a bit in place if content, or try to retaliate if it were in a more irritable mood.
Once she had felt comfortable with the cloud, she had three tall bars installed on the inside walls of the cloud container that would send out pulses from three directions to quickly set the cloud into an awake, but pacified state. While in this state, she could use a powered magnet to attract the cloud in whichever way she wanted. With that, she concluded that with consistently training the cloud, it could be directed to a specific amount of magnetic pull. She figured, to use this discovery as a weapon, a target could be magnetized, so that it would lure the cloud towards it where the pulse bars can instantly be changed to a high power pulse that would put the cloud into an instant frenzy, attacking anything nearby that target until pacified again.
When asked on her progress by Cloudy Blitz, he was actually impressed on the discoveries, even scheduling for Lightning Dust to come and look at the cloud, which was apparently a big thing being talked about around the Weather Facility, as now the weapon development bay was cleaner than usual, and the other machines were moved against the walls to allow for a set of spectator stands to have been set up. Violet decided to not just show them the magnet trick, but also to demonstrate a specially built attachment to the weather suits that add a smaller scale version of the energy bars to allow control of the cloud in a field environment. Currently, Violet was checking the suit one last time, to make sure everything had been installed as she specified. Morri came over to her, dressed a slight bit more formally with her mane tied back to not be as messy. The ends of her mane were slightly frayed though, indicating her irritated mood.
"Are you almost ready? Lightning is bringing ponies from numerous departments and might be bringing some of our future co-workers from what I've heard. I don't like all this attention." Morri said in her usual emotionless tone.
Violet looked up from the suit. "Yes, I'm finishing up. Why are you so worried about it though? I'm the one they're here to see, so I'm the one that should be nervous. I know what I'm doing though, and I've done this at least three dozen times this week. I'm pretty much playing a game of fetch with a cloud in front of a crowd of ponies. The only difference is that I'm trying my new suit in the process. Everything on the suit is done exactly as I needed it to be, so it should work perfectly. And if anything does happen to go wrong, I'm doing everything from within the cloud chamber. Gat will pacify the cloud with the larger energy bars if the suit is faulty, and nopony will notice."
Morri gazed at her. "Okay. Well, let's get ready to greet Lightning Dust and whoever she's bringing. They'll be here in a few minutes."
Violet nodded, following Morri to stand beside the elevator where the VIP's would be entering. A couple of random other workers were already beginning to arrive, entering through the main doors or the back door. The stands were maybe only a fourth filled by the time Lightning and her entourage finally arrived.
Violet smiled at Lightning and the ponies she'd never seen before. "I'm glad you came to see my progress, ma'am. I'm ready to start my demonstration whenever you're ready."
Lightning chuckled, "You can just call me by my name, and we still have to wait for the new hires to arrive. I want them to know you before they actually start working with you. I think it will inspire them and show just how talented this department is. So, while we wait, I believe it's only proper that I introduce you to my friends. First, the managers of the Cloud Production, Field Suit Maintenance, and Resource Recieving and Distribution departments."
Violet shook their hooves, eager to meet the manager of Cloud Productions. She was about to speak but was quickly cut off by an un- introduced stallion who had a short forest green mane and a blue-grey coat. "Ah, Violet Dawn, It's nice to meet you. I'm the owner of PegaGears, the main provider of the base weather suits and other mechs that the Weather Corporation uses and modifies. You can call me Wake. I am quite interested in your personal modification that you had ordered. You see, every modification has to be approved by myself personally, so once I saw it, I became curious about your project. Hopefully, your display today will impress me further. Our two companies, while yes, we work together, we don't officially have a partnership with the Weather Corporation. They merely buy what we build and modify them. It's rather tedious for your company to send anything new by me though, which is why I'm here. If this display inspires me, I may agree to partner with Lightning and Rainbow Dash to provide my suits at a discount while allowing them free modifications whenever they want."
Lightning nodded with a smile, "And I'm sure we'll impress you, Wake. Violet is one of the most talented in this department. I have full faith in her ability. Now, I believe everypony who's coming should be here now, as I can see Cloudy Blitz over by the new ponies in the stands. Shall we begin, Violet?"
"Yes, of course. I'm ready to start." Violet and Morri headed towards the cloud container as Lightning and her group sat in a specified section of the stands. Climbing up to the top entrance with the grating, Violet stood behind a makeshift pedestal. "Today, I'm going to demonstrate that I can control one of the dangerous Everfree Forest clouds, which as you all know, cannot be tamed by normal means. This is made possible by a system of pulse emitting bars which are the long black magnet-like devices on the sides of the inner walls of the cloud containment device. By emitting a constant rate of low voltage energy, the cloud is pacified yet still alive and awake. These clouds are almost like a living animal whereas they have emotions and desires just like a cat or dog would. Now, through magnetizing another nearby object at the correct amount, causes the cloud to seek it, moving towards it and confusing it so that it believes the object is another cloud seeking what can only be described as a mate." She looked to Morri, smiling slightly. Morri just nodded back at her.
"Now, instead of using the bars, I will use a shrunken down version of the pulse system that is built for potential use in the field. This system was custom built into a standard weather suit, and using this, I will guide the cloud to fetch a steel ball and take it through the loop installed inside the chamber, then return it to me. My assistant, Morri will lower me into the chamber, while Gat remains at the outside controls in the case of any anomalies." Violet finished, turning to Morri who sighed and opened her wings to stretch a little before flying down to lift the suit up to Violet. Stepping into the suit and powering it on, Violet let Morri lift her up and slowly lowered her into the large cylinder where the cloud was currently immobile from the larger bar system. Morri flew back out, closing up the grate at the top.
'Here we go, cloud. It's time to try this up close. ' Violet thought to herself as she nodded to Gat to disable the big system. Once it was disabled, the cloud began to spark. It didn't seem to be happy, that Violet could tell, but it didn't sway her. Quickly, she activated the personal system, which to her relief, pacified the cloud once again. The crowd awed as the cloud stopped sparking once again. Violet almost felt like she was hosting some sort of stage show as she activated the steel ball's magnetic attraction and the cloud began to fly towards it. It stopped just above it and Violet turned a dial next to one of the bars, which was the larger of three and was attached horizontally to her chest while the other two came off her shoulders at an angle.
The change in energy caused the cloud to emit sparks again and zap the metal ball, pulling it into the cloud with the bolt. Violet then toned it back down and activated the ring hanging from the ceiling of the cylinder, making it attract the cloud just as the steel ball had. Moving slower due to the steel ball inside, the cloud floated up through the ring. As it looped through, Violet deactivated the ring again, and allowed the cloud to slowly sink back down to where she stood. Landing as a thick fog would, it just laid on the ground for a few moments before lifting up to hover again, leaving the steel ball on the ground.
The crowd was clapping and some were cheering a little. There weren't too many ponies actually watching, but the large bay made them echo. Violet smiled wide, everything went well. She motioned at Gat to reactivate the larger energy bars. With them reactivated, Morri opened the grate to fly in and pick up Violet to lift her back out of the cloud container. They closed up the grate and Violet smiled at the crowd. Lightning and Wake seemed very impressed, among the other ponies. She then glanced over at the crowd of soon-to-be co-workers. They were excited too, except for one. A bulkier looking pegasus sat in the back of the group, seeming to stare directly at Violet. Her eyes locked with his, and she had a really uneasy feeling come over her. He looked like one of the pegasai that was in Canterlot the night she saw all the stolen equipment. Could he be the one that had struck her, knocking her out? Her thoughts were interrupted by Morri, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"Are you just going to stare into space all day or go talk to Lightning before she leaves? I'm sure they'll want to talk to you after that." Morri said dully. Her mane's ends weren't frayed anymore.
Violet blushed, "Oh, right, of course! Sorry, I suppose I spaced out a little. I'll go talk to them before they leave." She hurried down the ladder to head over where Lightning and her party were waiting.
Lightning was smiling wide. "Keep up the good work, Violet. Perhaps Rainbow and I can notify one of the princesses of the new discovery, once you're a bit closer to finishing, of course. They could really use the new methods against the threat in the north. This is probably the farthest in research that anypony has ever come regarding the Everfree clouds, you should be proud."
"Also, I now am willing to partner with Cloudsdale Weather Corporation officially, thanks to your display. Now, brilliant minds in all departments of this facility will no longer have to jump through hoops to develop modifications to my suit design. At least you were lucky enough to have Rainbow Dash personally request for you. I may not have been here without seeing the request directly. You're going to be a popular mare, Violet. Continue doing good things." Wake said before turning to leave, followed by Lightning.
'Me? A popular mare? Dunno what to think of that, but neat I suppose. But where did those new ponies go. I need to see that stallion. ' Violet thought as she turned back to the stands. Everypony seemed to have left or were leaving, but then she noticed the stallion was up on the top of the cloud container, looking at the custom suit she'd left up there. Quickly, Violet rushed up the stairs.
"Hey, what are you doing? You don't work here yet. That's Weather Corp. property." Violet said, trying not to sound like she recognized him.
The stallion turned to face her and gave a soft smile. "I was only making it so that it won't short itself out. Those bars seem to use a large amount of energy, which could lead to power failure, especially since you were changing the power output at drastic levels without any cooldown time or build up time. I'm just trying to help. Wouldn't want to run out of power while inside there would you? That'd be terrible and could end up really messy if you're trapped inside that thing with a cloud like that."
Violet gave an awkward smile back. At least he didn't seem to recognize her, but it was definitely him. Perhaps after he leaves, she could tell Cloudy about him? Hopefully, they could figure out a way to lock him away for stealing those suits the other night. "Oh, of course. I.. Hadn't thought of that. I'm not really much when it comes to that stuff, my skills are with clouds. But, you need to leave. You aren't allowed to touch anything without actually being an employee."
He chuckled, "My bad, I'll hurry and catch up with the others. Nice meeting you in person, Violet." With that, he hurried off to leave with the rest of the new ponies.
After cleaning up, Morri and Gat went back to their usual work. Violet went over to her custom suit to inspect it. She wasn't about to take any chances, that pony was the one who made her night miserable last week. She didn't see anything wrong, so she put it on and activated it. Nothing negative so far. Testing the pulse bar system, she activated it at a low level, pointed to the open. It worked as it should, so she reached to turn it off, however, it wouldn't shut down. Confused, she tried to dial to a higher-energy pulse and tried again, failing still. Trying to turn it back down, she turned the knob, but now it wouldn't shut down. She panicked a little, rapidly pressing the small power button when suddenly, the power started to increase on it's own, pushing her back a little from the intensity of the pulses being sent through the air. Morri noticed and started to run up the ladder.
"Morri, stay back, I don't know what it's doing! That stallion messed with my suit!" Violet exclaimed worriedly.
Not listening anyways, Morri reached the top, pushing through the pulses the best she could. Violet tried to hold her ground but was still being pushed back from the steady increase of power. The teal mare wasn't able to push through the pulses any longer and could only hold her own ground. "Violet, just shut the thing off already! Overload it with magic if you have to!" Morri yelled. She couldn't figure out what to do as she smashed her hoof onto the off switch. Just then, the pulses became too much for Morri to withstand as she completely was blown back right into the lever for the grating, opening it up.
Violet fell backwards into the cloud container, landing hard onto her side. The cloud that had been hovering right below Violet before she fell had slowed Violet's fall slightly as she fell through it, but once hit by the suit's pulses, it went into a frenzy as lightning struck all around the cloud, hitting the sides and top. It then charged at Violet. Knowing she couldn't get up just yet, she activated the steel ball with her magic. The cloud curved towards the ball and struck it with a bright bolt of lightning, causing it to be launched at the wall. Unfortunately, Violet had been just barely in the way as the electrified steel ball collided with the side of her horn, completely shattering it where the small crack had still been healing from the previous week. She let out a piercing scream and instantly collapsed onto the ground, losing any concentration she'd had on the steel ball. Not being attracted to the ball anymore as it shut down, the cloud quickly went to Violet's unconscious body, shocking her and pulling her inside the cloud. Once inside the cloud, the suit stopped emitting pulses, as if they were being absorbed by the cloud itself.
Morri struggled to stand as she watched Violet taken inside the cloud below her. Gat was already at the controls before Morri could call for him. Increasing the output levels of the inner bars, he attempted to pacify the cloud. The cloud seemed to resist for a few moments, the magically reinforced glass cracking slightly as Gat increased the rate of pulses. Slowly, the cloud seemed to weaken and shrink around Violet to the point where it looked like it took the shape of her. Once the cloud couldn't take it anymore, it then suddenly just dissipated, dropping a shivering Violet to the ground. Gat quickly shut down the pulse bars and ran up top to fly inside and pick her up.
When he tried to pick her up, there still was crackling of electricity sparking around her body from the cloud and also the now severely damaged suit. It shocked him and knocked him back a little but he just picked her up again, fighting through the pain. Immediately as they exited the cylinder, he put her down and stepped back. His mane and coat was extra frizzled and slightly scorched in spots, but he was in best condition of the three. Morri was clutching her side, breathing heavily and showing signs of collapsed lung while Violet was still unconscious, bleeding from her broken horn, and sparking from the residual energy that was forced into her body.
Cloudy Blitz had heard the commotion, and came out when Gat flew to pick up Violet. He had quickly sounded the emergency alarm and then ran up with a first aid kit to help with Morri, patching up the collapsed lung. The two carried her down to the ground when the emergency team came in to take over, a unicorn on the team levitating Violet so nopony would be shocked. They took them away as fast as they could, leaving one with Gat to help with his wounds. With a heavy sigh, Cloudy went back into his office. An open letter sat on his desk.
Steer clear of the mare after the show..
Cloudy glared at the short note, picking it up and ripping it into pieces before throwing the pieces into the trash.
Chapter 10 - Pulse to Life
Pulse to Life
The mare slowly came to her senses in a massive jolt of pain. Quickly sitting up in a bed, she noticed her body sparking with tiny bolts of energy as she was shivering. A slightly scorched unicorn doctor had a single defibrillator paddle on his hoof, and the other was laying on the ground. Before Violet could attempt to apologize, a nurse came in to check on the fallen doctor, standing cautiously and stepping towards Violet.
"Are you feeling alright, miss? Please stay calm, we don't know what's wrong with you." the nurse said, trying to carefully levitate a syringe towards her.
Violet noticed what she was doing and tried to counter-levitate it, but she just remembered now that her horn was completely broken off. An intense pain flowed from her stub of a horn as it sparked and fizzed with uncontrolled magic, sending little beams out every which way. Some hit the nurse, who dropped the syringe, causing it to break on the counter as the sedative spilled onto the floor. Taking advantage of the staggered nurse, Violet hopped out of bed, aiming for the door. She overshot, crashing into the door frame before shaking it off and running out down the hall.
The nurse recovered too, and began to chase, pulling a little alarm. While Violet ran, her balance seemed to be significantly off and she felt like she weighed almost nothing. She collided into several walls and other ponies before starting to get some control over herself. There were a few security ponies after her, but Violet recognized that she was in the Canterlot hospital. Once she saw a hallway she remembered, she quickly made a beeline to the exit. The static around her was long gone now, but she knew she would be able to escape before anypony could get her. Passing through the lounge, she shoved open the doors where she stopped in her tracks immediately, almost crashing into the familiar royal guard waiting in front of her.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" was all she could really say as she was surrounded by the hospital security.
The blue stallion glared at her. "Violet, I've been here since you got hurt. They're only trying to figure out what that cloud did to you. Why are you trying to run when they just saved your life?"
Violet raised an eyebrow, looking around at the security and guards. Why did she run? She wasn't really too sure herself. "Well, uh, I guess I was just really scared. They shocked me with the defibrillator, and I don't know what happened, but I guess it woke me up. I'm sorry I made such a commotion, I just don't know what's going on."
Her father sighed placing a hoof on her shoulder. "You need to go back inside and speak with the doctor. He can explain what they know so far."
Violet nodded, "I suppose I can go back inside. But, how long have I been here? You look pretty tired."
"You've been here for a week and a half. A lot's been going on in Canterlot. That gang of pegasai you ran into showed up again, but not as stealthily. We couldn't take them down, so we had to ally with the Flowercolt, and even then, they got away. We can talk about it more later though. You need to see that doctor." he said, motioning to the security. They began to lead Violet back into the hospital, taking her back to the room.
The doctor was looking over some papers when she returned. He was still slightly charred in a few patches on his coat, but he seemed fine. Violet sat down on the bed she'd been in earlier. When she looked at herself in a mirror on the wall, she let out a horrified gasp. Her orange mane was now almost a lemonade yellow color, with greyish tips. Not to mention, her purple coat had small grey splotches in it, as if she'd spilled some sort of paint on a carpet that stained and wouldn't ever get out. Her short spiky tail still maintained some of her natural orange, but with the soft yellow closer to the base, still with the blue-grey tips. The doctor sighed and turned around.
"Miss Violet, I understand how stressed you must be right now, but it is important to stay calm while I explain what we think may have happened to your body." Violet nodded slowly, letting the doctor continue. "When you fell into that cloud chamber, we think that somehow, the thundercloud fused into you. While you were unconscious, you became as light as a pegasus, if not lighter. Not to mention, there is a sporadic lightning that seems to pulse through your veins and amplifies with your heart rate. But none of that is the worst of it... Your heart rate can drop rapidly at a calm enough state, and when you flat-lined, your body started to evaporate. That was when we used the defibrillator, which returned you to normal and woke you in the process. Now, this is a lot to process, but with time, we can help you and perhaps even find a way to cure you."
Violet's mind spun around this insane idea that her body fused with the cloud. How was it possible? How is she ever going to be normal again? Will this bring a multitude of horrible side effects? She could feel the energy pulse within her, making her begin to shiver. The feeling was like an intense rush and as she thought about it more and more, it just felt like it grew more and more. With her mind so lost in herself she didn't hear the doctor trying to get her attention, trying to persuade her to stay calm. Looking down at her front legs, she could see sparks pulsating out of some of her grey splotches, dancing around her legs and body until it'd return to another small spot. Violet could only stare in wonder, her breathing becoming faster and more sparks floating around her. She was in awe, but was starting to panic. It wasn't something she knew how to control, and now two unicorns broke into the room.
"I- I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on! I- I can't. I feel it so much!" was all she could say, coming out as almost a scream. One of the two security guards that came in tried to hold her in place with a control pole used for aggressive patients or large dogs, but due to the conductive metal of the rod he ended up shocking himself. Violet screamed, the confusion and terror causing her to feel her heartbeat become even faster, faster than any normal ponies' heart could ever beat. Her whole body was sparking like a severely angry thundercloud as she began to feel like she was hovering. She wouldn't even notice in her panicked state, but the doctor and confused guard saw her legs begin to dissolve and transform into a mass of black cloud. The doctor and guard ran out of the room, awaiting help.
Quickly, normal royal guards came hurrying into the room and two of them cast a large bubble-like spell on the half-cloud, half-pony Violet to hold her in place. Another guard had a dart gun of sorts and fired numerous tranquilizer darts into her neck and upper body that hasn't begun to dissolve yet. The panicked Violet strained in her magical bonds before soon falling asleep, the sparking ceasing as she fell into deep sleep. Sighing in relief, the doctor cautiously came back into the room as Violet's father came in.
The doctor just frowned, watching as Violet's body seemed to reform again. "I don't have any idea what to do, Blue. Your daughter has one of the most unique ailments we've seen here. We may have to put her somewhere that can better take care of her. I fear she may not be stable unless she gets some mental help too, to control her body at the very least. Honestly, I don't want to risk being injured by her emotional fluctuations which seem to be causing all this electrical discharge."
Violet's father furrowed his brow, walking over to place a hoof on Violet's forehead, pulling it back with a quiet wince from a small shock. "Doc, there must be somewhere else. She's a strong mare, I know it. There must be someplace that deals with magical afflictions rather than this place which seems only to be proficient with the common cold and broken bones. I will not take her to that damned mental hospital, not in the state it's been in since the warring in the north and the princesses' absence."
"Look, it may be the best place equipped to deal with her. She'll be safe enough. Better there than she would be here. We don't have the same numbers of doctors and nurses as we did before the ridiculous northern efforts. What good is a frozen wasteland anyways, even if the weather corporation can 'turn it into a hospitable land'. But you're distracting me from the point. She needs a different kind of help than what we offer, and the mental facility could at least calm her so she doesn't electrocute every random pony who gets her worked up."
The tired old guard sighed. He wasn't going to let her go to an asylum. Glancing down at Violet, then over to a vase with a fake rose in it, he got an idea. "I'm going to take her. I know somepony that's helped her out before. I have a feeling he might be able to help her again. I suppose I'll thank you for at least trying to help though." he'd say before lifting up Violet with his magic and setting the unconscious mare over his back, walking out of the room and down the hall.
The doctor tried to follow him, appalled by Blue's initiative. "You can't just take her, she needs a professional. We don't know what is wrong with her, and she must stay in a medical facility until whatever it is that's causing this is found out. We haven't cleared her to leave, only to transfer facilities!"
Blue grunted in annoyance, trying to ignore the smaller unicorn doctor. Pushing through a doorway, he was now in the lobby. The doctor ran in front of him, standing nervously in the way. With ease, Blue just walked past him, "I don't care what your policies are, but I know well enough that she doesn't need your asylum's help." With that, Blue left for a hidden garage on the edge of town that only he and one other pony knew about. Inside was the pony he was seeking, the mysterious stallion Flowercolt.
The vigilante was wearing his full head mask and forest green suit that sported a dark goldenrod cape. Standing up from the chair he sat in, he watched Blue set down Violet softly onto the ground. "Sergeant Blue, what's going on? There was no calls for help, so what happened to this mare?", he asked before making the connection in his head, "She's your daughter, isn't she?"
The older stallion nodded. "Yeah, it is. I know you've saved her life before, and I never had a chance to thank you yet. However, I might need your help again. I need somepony to find out what's wrong with her, and I figured you might know some super-pony that could help her. The doc was saying that she needs to go to the Asylum, but we both know that's where we've been sticking any of those pegasus gang members we've been catching. Figured, you probably are in league with some other heroes out and about in the other towns. Seems like the whole vigilante thing is getting popular. I just read about rumors of one in the Crystal Empire with all the war prepping up there, and another in Ponyville for who knows why. Anyways, she was in a bad accident at the weather factory and they're thinking that her body fused with some sorta' cloud. I don't know, it's a bit over my head. Is there any way you can help?"
Flower looked down at Violet, sighing. "I don't know what sort of comics you've been reading, but I'm not part of any team or league. I don't know who those other ones are, and honestly, I don't have any sort of powers anyways. I grow my dandelion darts and my grapes from specially treated seeds. I dont' know if I can help her, I'm not any sort of medical professional. If it makes you feel better, I can keep her safe, maybe try to talk to her. There's a friend of mine back in Las Pegasus I can ask for advice from, but it'd be a slow process. You know how busy we've been here. With the war in the north about to begin, and the pegasus gang getting better weapons, I won't have very much time to treat her of whatever is wrong with her. Her mane isn't even the same color anymore, and her coat has all those spots. She looks like she came down with some sort of dalmation disease or something."
Frowning, Blue sat down. Flowercolt's reply was dissappointing, but Blue couldn't protect her himself. Not in their little house. "If.. If you can just protect her and watch over her until all this chaos is over, then I'll take her wherever she needs to go. If your friend can somehow help her, even if its all the way from Las Pegasus, it'd be better than nothing. Please take care of her. She's a sweet little mare, and she won't tell anypony of your identity if you have to reveal yourself to her. I'm sure she'll understand the situation when she awakens."
Lifting her onto his own back, Flower went over towards a back door. "Alright. I'll keep her safe. I can't guarantee anything though. I'll let her know you only did this to protect her."
Giving a soft smile, Blue nodded. "Thanks. I'll try to get any information on her from the hospital if it'll help your friend find out what's wrong with her and if we can fix it."
Flower nodded back, pressing a button to call an elevator, stepping inside with Violet. Once the doors were closed and it began shuttling them down, Blue had left the abandoned garage. Violet was in safe hooves now, and he could go home and relax. Or, at least for now.
Chapter 6 - Lightning in the Morning
Lightning in the Morning
Returning to work a day early wasn't entirely what Violet thought it would be. She had entered the back door again, like the last time she arrived at work, when she heard who she could only guess was the new assistant to the CEO, Rainbow Dash. The two were doing an early tour of her bay and it sounded like Rainbow was obviously trying to reassure her new assistant that this department was busy. At least the equipment had been moved into the bay like Rainbow had said she'd do.
"Rainbow, this equipment is nice, but it's not what I was looking for. I don't know if you had been paying attention to what is happening in the frozen north. They've discovered a kingdom that thrives on it's icy tundra, and they won't budge. Celestia's been trying to make an agreement, but their leader won't have it. There might be a war, and it sounds like they'd be too powerful for the Crystal Empire's forces alone. We may be relied on to provide some sort of defences that are beyond what any little kingdom outside Equestria can imagine."
Rainbow protested, "Yes, I heard about that, but I can promise you that I've been starting to get this department up and running again. You'll see in a week or so. They'll build something far beyond anything anypony has seen before, I have faith in that. We will be able to provide whatever Celestia may need."
From Violet's hiding position, she could see the turquoise-coated assistant manager stop in place, looking at a large cloud-forming machine. "Well Dash, we may need to push your company's limits further. I've been looking over the profiles of your employees in this department and I have been thinking, maybe we should try to do something that hasn't been tried in a long time."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Um, try what? I don't think I follow."
"Do you remember what exactly brought you to this position? The failed project that killed the previous CEO of the Weather Corporation?"
Nodding, Rainbow gulped. "Of course I do. It was horrible. But you can't be thinking of trying to succeed where she failed, could you? Dissecting an Everfree Forest cloud? No pony could survive that, and it's just not possible. They are too unstable, that's why our field suits are build to destroy them, not control them. I read those files too, I had to, and those clouds show no mercy when they're messed with like that. They barely managed to pacify one to bring it here, and it took more resources than we could afford when they did."
The turqouise pegasus just chuckled, "Yes, but we are much more advanced now, thanks to you. With our current status, I'm positive that it won't be an issue to wrangle another cloud. And as I said, I think you know who I'm thinking about to work on it. The former CEO had no real training with the further intricacies that form a normal cloud, and as for what I think, is that she couldn't befriend the cloud because she just couldn't speak it's language. I've looked at Violet Dawn's profile, she'd be perfect for the job."
Rainbow sighed. "She wasn't even top of her class though. And, I couldn't ask her to take on something that could kill her. She only just got here a few months ago. Violet may be talented and have a lot of potential, but she's not ready for anything like that."
Violet blushed to herself. 'Wow, the chance to work on the most famous unfinished cloud project? I don't know if I could even do such a thing. I've only worked with normal clouds... ' she thought to herself. She really wanted to try though. If she could figure it out, she might be known as one of the greatest cloud pegasai of all time! Standing abruptly from her hiding spot she spoke out. "I- I think I could try. Yes, I could definately try ma'am."
The two turned towards her, almost dumbfounded. "How long have you been hiding there?" Rainbow asked.
Before a reply, the turquoise mare smiled and stepped forward, holding out a hoof. "I've read a lot about you, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Lightning Dust."
"It's, um, nice to meet you too, ma'am. So, you're the new assistant CEO?" Violet shook the offered hoof.
Lightning nodded with a chuckle, "Something of the sort. I'm glad that you're accepting this task. I am confident that you can conquer the mystery of the Everfree clouds." An alarm started to beep from a little watch on Lightning's hoof. "Oh, I have some things to take care of, so I'll have to be leaving," she turned to Rainbow Dash, "I apologize boss, but moving back into Cloudsdale has been a little rough. I need to go pick up my furnature now, so I'll try and be back right before lunch."
Rainbow smiled. "You're fine, Lightning. Take whatever time you need, it was nice of you to stop by early."
With that, the turquoise mare hustled out of the bay. Rainbow let out a heavy sigh, sitting down in one of the chairs in the corner of the room. "Well, you just happen to always be in the weirdest place at the weirdest time, don't you? Are you sure you can take on this project? I can override her, you know. If you have any doubts or feel like you can't continue this project, just let me know. She might be a lot nicer than when I first met her, but she's still reckless. Why are you back early anyways? Did you leave something here? How come you're all bandaged up?"
Violet sat in the chair across from her and sighed, "No, I just didn't want to stay in Canterlot after I was practically kidnapped after that dance... I figured to come here since its a lot safer than staying there."
Rainbow's face became an expression of worry and shock. "What!? Kidnapped? Are you okay? What happened? I heard Canterlot was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad."
"I'm fine, thanks to some weird pony in a costume. But, it's about the ponies who grabbed me. They all had modified versions of the field suits used by our weather patrols. And there was a giant Heatwalker that was modified too. You know, the ones built to melt the ice and snow of the frozen north, but it looked like it had some sort of cannons instead. I don't know what it's meant for, but I thought I'd let you know." Violet glanced down at the table. The cut on her leg still hurt, along with the tiny crack of her horn that gave her a headache. Whoever it was that did it to her needed to be caught by somepony!
Frowning, Dash nodded. "A couple weeks ago we did lose a shipment of base suits and one Heatwalker. I suppose some kind of gang stole them now... I'll try and talk to Twilight and see if she can convince Celestia to have a team searching for them. I suggest to you to try and stay out of Canterlot for a while. You weren't wearing that ridiculous dress Rarity gave you were you?"
Violet let out a small, guilty smile. "Y-yes, I was. I know not to do that again, not at night in the streets by myself. Anyways, about this project, how do I begin? I want to start as soon as we can."
Rainbow shrugged, "Well, I can send a team later to fetch a cloud from the Everfree Forest. After the incident with the former CEO, I wouldn't allow any of those clouds to stay here, but I suppose I'll have to make an exception to the rule. It won't be until after lunch though, and none of your co-workers are here. You'll have to do any preparation by yourself."
Letting out a giggle, Violet leaned forward in her chair. "I was planning on going with. I've never even touched an Everfree cloud, and would like to see the process on catching one. I'm going have to study every aspect of one before trying to take it apart."
"Going with? Well, I guess that's understandable. I'm not really a cloud pony, so I wouldn't know where to begin with one, unless I'm kicking them." she chuckled but then sighed. "My expertise is in rainbows and flying really fast. And apparently running this company, with the help of my friends of course. I couldn't get where I am today without them, and I hope you have friends to help you when you need it too. Just remember, Violet, I'm your friend too. You're a smart young mare, and I just don't want you to get hurt, or worse, by a silly cloud."
Her face more serious now, Violet nodded. "Thank you again, Rainbow Dash. I'll be careful, maybe even wear one of those field suits if I have to."
Rainbow chuckled. "Do you even know how to use one? Surely they didn't cover that in 'Advanced Cloud Forming'?"
Violet rolled her eyes, "I can learn. It can't be that advanced can it? I know it's powered by an enchanted gem."
"I suppose we'll have to have a quick lesson. Follow me." Rainbow said, smiling.
Violet followed the older mare, excited. She finally was going to do something she had come to this company to do, and she wouldn't allow herself any chance of failing!
Author's Note
Sorry about the little delay, been distracted with Doom and work xD
