Pale Sky's orange mane streamed behind her as she flew from Ponyville to Cloudsdale. The wind ruffled her green fur as she zipped through the air.
Open Book poked her brown head and pink mane out the window, just in time to see Pale Sky take off in a blur of color. She teleported to Cloudsdale, just as Pale Sky landed. Open Book quickly cast a cloud-standing spell to avoid falling to her death.
"Morning, Pale Sky," said Open Book. "What are you doing in Cloudsdale today?"
"I'm on weather duty today. There's gonna be a big rainstorm this afternoon, and it's all hands on deck." Pale Sky said. "Follow me. I'll show you the ropes."
Pale Sky lead Open Book through Cloudsdale. On the outskirts, they passed the Wonderbolts zipping here and there, practicing a routine, and being instructed by Rainbow Dash.
A few minutes later they passed a racetrack being used for a foals' race. As they got farther into the city, ponies began to stare at Open Book. It wasn't every day that you see a unicorn in Cloudsdale.
At the heart of the city, they reached the weather factory. Pale Sky showed her badge to the security officer guarding the door and was let in. But Open Book was stopped. "It's okay, she's with me," said Pale Sky.
The guard let Open Book in. She and Pale Sky proceeded past various work stations until they reached Pale Sky's. Pale Sky stepped up to her place in the mass production line, and started shaping clouds with her hooves.
"Is this really all you do all day?" asking Open Book.
"Pretty much, yeah," said Pale Sky. "But it pays well."
Open Book sat down and watched Pale Sky work for a few hours.
Suddenly, there was a loud grumble. A bang. Pale Sky dropped her cloud. The air became full of the mumbles of the other pegasi. "Don't worry, everypony!" shouted the supervisor. "It's just a cloud jam. It'll be fixed momentarily."
Pale Sky and Open Book stepped back to let the maintenance ponies have access to the cloud machines. While the maintenance ponies worked, Pale Sky and Open Book went outside to look around.
The cloudstacks weren't producing clouds. The rainbow falls weren't producing rainbows. The rainbow moat was beginning to sit still.
"Looks like other areas of the factory were affected too," said Pale Sky.
Even from outside, Pale Sky and Open Book could see the lights go out.
"Uh oh," said Pale Sky. "Let's go see what happened."
Pale Sky and Open Book went back inside. All the lights were off. Most ponies were standing still in order to avoid bumping into stuff and other ponies. Hushed whispers filled the air. Maintenance pegasi flew around with flashlights in their mouths, cutting and taping, connecting and disconnecting wires.
Eventually the lights came back on. Pale Sky went back to work.
Pale Sky soon noticed that the conveyor belt was speeding up. It was going so fast that she couldn't keep up anymore.
"Oops!" said Derpy Hooves. "I bumped a lever."
A nearby worker flipped the lever back to normal. All the ponies went back to work.
It was getting dark. Pale Sky flew home. Open Book teleported to Pale Sky's house. It started drizzling. By the time Pale Sky got home a few minutes later, it was pouring, and she was soaked.
Open Book laughed. "Haha, you look so funny. Here, let me get you a towel." She trotted off to the bathroom and retrieved a towel. She brought it back to the living room and draped it over Pale Sky's shoulders.
"Thanks, Open Book," said Pale Sky. She quickly dried off and tossed the towel aside. "I'll make tea," Pale Sky filled the kettle with water. She let it boil. While she waited, she waited, she put teabags in cups and put them on the coffee table. When the water was ready, she poured it into the cups. She put the kettle back, then joined Open Book on the couch.
Pale Sky and Open Book sipped on their tea. After a while their daughters, Cloudy Night and Torn Page, joined them to play with blocks on the floor.
Torn Page built a castle. Cloudy Night built a tower. She knocked it down, taking Torn Page's castle down with it. Torn Page started to cry. Cloudy Night started to cry.
Pale Sky and Open Book put down their tea. Pale Sky picked up Cloudy Night under her wing. She carried her upstairs, put her to bed, and read her a bedtime story before returning to the couch.
Open Book levitated Torn Page onto her lap. She dried Torn Page's eyes with her hoof before returning to her tea.
Open Book and Pale Sky drank tea and talked late into the night while Torn Page slept on Open Book's lap.
"It's late," said Open Book, "It's time to go home."
"Bye," said Pale Sky. She hugged Open Book.
Open Book teleported herself and Torn Page home. She put Torn Page to bed and went to her own room.
She picked up the novel on her bedside table, the third Daring Do book. She sat down on her bed, turned on the light, and started reading.
A few hours later, Open Book closed her book and put it back on the table after she finished it. She turned off the light. She tucked herself in and closed her eyes.
Pale Sky went straight to bed. The day had been so exhausting for her that she didn't even tuck herself in.
That night, Open Book dreamed about her school days. Pale Sky dreamed about being a Wonderbolt. Cloudy Night dreamed about landing on the moon. Torn Page dreamed about going to the library.
The next morning, Pale Sky and Open Book prepared their daughters for school. They fed them. They packed their backpacks and lunch. They met up outside Open Book's house and walked to school together. They dropped of their kids, and went to work again.
