The New Weather Pony

Stratosphere rolled over in his bed, letting out a large groan as he did so. Celestia's sun was shining through the bedroom window, illuminating the small room. The sleepy stallion glanced over at the alarm clock sitting on top of the nightstand. At first nothing clicked. Then the stallion realised what time it was. He jumped out of his bed, sending the covers flying. He ran over to the bathroom and dived into the shower. He turned the nozzle which started the flow of cold water. The stallion shivered as the streams of icey water trickled down his sky blue coat. After a few minutes of icey torture he hopped out of the shower and dried himself off. He then went back into his bedroom. He gave his mane a quick brush before heading out the door. It was his first day of his new job and he was going to be late. The stallion raced across the square to the town hall, where the weather team met every morning to discuss the day's weather patterns. Stratosphere barged through the doors into the building. He trotted hastily up to the front desk, where a familiar mare was sitting. She looked up from her work and smiled at the sky blue pegasus.

"Good morning Startosphere!" the mare said with great enthusiasm. The stallion smiled back at her.

"Morning Silk." he said. He glanced around the building, searching for his destination. The mare examinaed him as he searched. A grin formed on her muzzle.

"I take it you're looking for the weather team meeting room?" she asked the stallion, holding in a giggle. The stallion stopped and looked at her.

"Do you know what room it's in?" he asked frantically. The mare smiled and nodded.

"Second door down the hall on the right, you can't miss it." she said.

The stallion hurried down the corridor, leaving a grinning mare to return to her work. He found the room that Silk had mentioned. He knocked softly on the door before entering. Inside the room were five other pegasi sitting around a small table. At the top of the table was Rainbow Dash. She had a pile of sheets infront of her on the table, a board behind her depicting different weather patterns.

All of the pegasi looked at the newcomer. Stratosphere saw Thunderlane sitting to the right of Rainbow Dash, a large grin plastered on his face. He closed the door behind him as he stepped inside the room. He sat down in the empty seat between Thunderlane and a lilac mare. Rainbow Dash frowned at the stallion before returning to her presentation.

"Anyway as I was saying, Cloudsdale is trying out a new formula to make a new type of cloud. They want us to test out this new type of cloud for them, see how it pans out." she said with a tone of authority. The pegasi in the room nodded at their captain."So, is everypony clear on their jobs?" Rainbow Dash asked the pegasi seated infront of her. They all nodded in unison."Very well, you are all dismissed, except for our late comer." the cyan mare said. The other pegasi got out of their seats and left the room, Thunderlane grinning as he passed the blue stallion. Once the last pegasus left, Rainbow Dash stood up.

"It's not a smart move to be late on your first day." she said in a serious tone. Stratosphere sank into his chair."I thought you seemed like a pretty cool stallion at your welcoming party, but this behavior is quite the opposite." the rainbow maned mare said. Stratosphere sat quietly in his seat, waiting for the chewing out to finish. Rainbow Dash scowled at the stallion.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" she asked him.

"I overslept." Stratosphere said meekly, a small grin on his face. Rainbow Dash was on him like a hawk.

"Oh, so you think this is funny?" she questioned the stallion. Stratosphere, realising he was grinning, stopped immediatly."Look, I may be a cool and chill pony off the clock, but when work needs to be done I get it done." she said sternly."Do I make myself clear?" she asked. Stratosphere nodded repeatedly."Good." she said."Now go find Thunderlane, he'll tell you what work you have to do." she said trotting out of the room, swishing her tailed as she exited the room. Stratosphere lingered in his seat for a moment.

"Today is not a good day." the stallion said, getting up out of his chair and leaving. As he trotted through the building he was stopped by Silk Parchment. She gave him a soft smile.

"Don't take what Rainbow Dash says too seriously. She just likes ponies to know whos boss." she said. Stratosphere smiled at the mare.

"Thanks." he said, stepping outside of the town hall.

Stratopshere walked out of the town hall, his head hanging low. He had been late to his first day of working, giving his boss a bad impression. As he came outside, he saw a dark grey pegasus standing across from him, a large grin on his face. He trotted over to the saddened stallion.

"So how did it go with the old boss mare?" Thunderlane chuckled, knowing the answer would be humorous. Stratosphere let out a sigh.

"She chewed into me harsh. Then she told me to find you to get my work for the day." he said. Thunderlane patted the pegasus on the back with a hoof.

"Ah don't worry about it too much. We've all been in that position with the captain. As the element of loyalty, she's very loyal to her job." Thunderlane said. The two ponies started walking through the town."At least you got stuck with me. Inagine what would of happened if you got stuck with Cloudchaser or Flitter." the dark grey stallion chuckled. Strstosphere looked at him.

"So what are we doing today?" he asked the stallion. Thunderlane groaned.

"We have the pleasure of stopping any rogue clouds that come out of the everfree forest, which means it's gonna be an all day job." the dark coated stallion said. The pegasus fluttered his wings."Come on, let's get going before the boss sees us and accuses us of slacking off." he said, taking off into the air. Stratosphere followed closely behind him. The two pegasi flew to the edge of Ponyville that bordered the Everfree Forest. They settled down on a small cloud.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Stratosphere asked.

"Exactly what I said earlier. If we see any rogue cliuds coming from the forest that aren't part of the weather schedule, we remove them." he said.

"Seems easy enough." the blue pegasus responded. Thunderlane chuckled.

"Never said it wasn't easy. It's just boring as tartarus." the stallion said."It's gonna be a long, long day." Thunderlsne groaned.

The pair of stallions had been sitting atop the cloud all morning. Their rogue cloud encounters were very limited. The two weather ponies had gotten very bored. To entertain themselves, they started doing tricks and stunts. Stratosphere had started with a few loop de loops while Thunderlane was doing sharp zig zags. As they were messing about Stratosphere spotted a cloud drifting from over the forest. He call it out to Thunderlane. The dark grey pegasus flew over to it and gave it a large kick. As his hooves made contact with the cloud a large electic current went through the stallions body, causing his coat to go frizzy. The cloud then disappeared. Stratosphere flew over to the stallion and began laughing, nearly falling out of the sky. The shocked pegasus glared at him.

"This isin't funny." he growled.

"Maybe not from where you're standing, but from here it's absolutely hilarious." Stratosphere said. The two pegasi then returned to their little watch cloud. As they were sitting, they were joined by Rainbow Dash. She landed on the cloud beside the two. She looked at the clear sky around her.

"Good to know you can do your job Stratosphere." she said smugly. The stallion didn't respond.

"How much longer do we have to stay out here?" Thunderlane asked.

"That's why I'm here. I came to tell you you're both finished for the day. Head back to Ponyville and take the rest of the day off. But I want both of you here tomorrow. We'll be testing out the new cloud around here." Rainbow Dash said. The two pegasi nodded."Also, try arrive on time Stratosphere." she said before the two had departed. Stratosphere nodded before flying back towards Ponyville, accompanied by Thunderlane.

"Well today was a great first day." Stratosphere ssid sarcastically. Thunderlane grinned.

"It could have been worse, you could have gotten stuck with RD." he chuckled. The two ponies continued to fly theough the sky. Eventually they reached the familiar sight of Ponyville. They both landed down in the town square. It was quite busy as it was just mid afternoon.

"So, you wanna grab a bite to eat in sugarcube corner?" Stratosphere asked. Thunderlane grimaced.

"Sadly I'll have to decline. I have to pick up Rumble from school." he said."Maybe next time."

"If you want I can come with you to pick up Rumble. I don't really have anything else planned for the rest of the day." the blue pegasus said. Thunderlane smiled.

"Sure thing. You can come back to my place and we can play some more video games." the dark coated stallion suggested. The two ponies headed off in the direction of the school.

Stratosphere and Thunderlane sat patiently outside the school, along with all the other parents. As the bell rang, all the fillies and colts poured out of the school house. Rumble ran straight over to Thunderlane once he saw him. The older brother gave his younger brother a hug.

"How was school today little guy?" he asked.

"Oh it was awsome big bro!" Rumble said."We played hoofball during lunch and I got the winning point."

"Congrats little bro." Thunderlane said.

"I also got a B in that test we had." the colt said. Thunderlane smiled at his younger brother.

"Well I'm very proud of you." he said earning an extra smile from her younger brother. Rumble glanced at the blue pegasus walking alongside them.

"Why is our neighbour here?" he asked innocently.

"Well me and him just finished work. He offered to come with me to pick you up. He's gonan come back with us and play some video games." Thunderlane said.

"Alright." Rumble said."But he better be prepared for another flank whooping." the colt giggled. Stratosphere glared at the little colt.

"You did not whoop my flank, if anything I destroyed you." the sky blue pegasus argued. The colt only shook his head in response. The three ponies continued walking until they reached Thunderlane's house. They went inside and collapsed onto the couch. Each picked up a controller and started playing.

"Celestia dammit!" Stratopshere said as Rumble's character destroyed his. He looked at the colt."Best two out of three?" he asked. The colt grinned a devilish grin."This is going to be a long afternoon" Thunderlane thought to himself.