Chapter 1: Hey Roomie
"Listen I'm... sorry again about all this mister- uh... what was your name again?" The cyan Pegasus awkwardly asked, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Jesse, uh... y-yeah, it's okay I must have um... come to the wrong house?" Jesse stuttered out, slowly lifting the sheet held in his right hoof.
He blinked at it, unable to focus on the words as the nearby appendage begged to be noticed. His arm was gone, replaced by a furry, green foreleg. His mind reeled, the explosive onset of information short circuiting his brain as he sat on his haunches with a troubled expression.
"Right, Jesse, nice to meet you." The mare said bluntly before swiping the paper from the stunned pony and scanning it carefully, letting out a short disgruntled sigh. "One of Discord's... ugh. Hold on, I'll go get Twilight. She'll know what to do."
Then she was gone, a single flap propelling her out a nearby open window before the wave of force even hit the awestruck pony.
His body was covered in what looked like a mockup of his work gear, jeans with a sleeveless white shirt. The pony's eyes tore away from the window and towards the back door he'd come through. Stretching forward hesitantly with his front appendages, his hooves pressed against the soft flooring that lightly molded to his shape like a fluffy mattress. With shaking legs, he carefully made his way across the living room towards his escape as a light bead of sweat formed on his brow from the mental effort.
He got into an awkward rhythm that seemed to work well enough as he made it to the door, fumbling with the handle before pushing it open and tumbling through. There was that same feeling he felt before, like he'd started falling from a really high place before the ground quickly met him with gusto.
Jesse groaned, rubbing his head where he'd landed before noticing his fingers had returned. In a flurry of movement he sprang to his feet, looking himself all over with small panicked pats. After confirming himself to be... himself again, he spun back towards the still open door.
It was still there, just on the other side. Even though he was looking at it, he still couldn't believe it. Snapping out of his stupor he grabbed the handle, before slamming it shut. The paper taped to the window fluttered, barely holding on from the sudden force as his eyes read the words printed along it.
Please lock door behind
:)
Jesse let out a small chortle of disbelief, before digging into his pocket and finding the same key he'd used to unlock it in the first place. Stuffing the key into the doornob, the white glow just behind the paper suddenly ceased with a flash... growing dark once more.
Jesse didn't care. Because Jesse was leaving, right now.
He approached the second door making up the miniature airlock-like hallway, grabbing his jacket as he passed the coatrack the key was originally hanging on. The hum of the city suddenly picked back up as he exited, spinning around and scanning the seemingly normal building as he backpedaled.
Shaking his head, he looked down at the key in his hand before throwing it far down the street and out of sight. Turning to his nearby car that was parked on the road, he wasted no time scurrying over to it's driver door. The car's pearl white exterior was marred by the caked dirt and dust that had settled onto the thing, making it almost appear grey. It was an old four door that'd served him faithfully for some time now, and took the trip to this city like a champ.
And now, it seemed, it would be acting as his apartment once again.
Jesse sighed irritably as the door slammed shut, muting the outside world slightly as he leaned back in the seat and rubbed his temples.
'What the hell even was that?' He pondered, turning his gaze to the right and looking at the closed door through his window.
A few moments of silence passed as he watched the door, before shaking his head again and reaching into his pocket for his keys. Jesse's brow furrowed slightly as he pulled out what he thought was his car's key. Instead... the same long, old fashioned style apartment key greeted him. Opening his car door, he fired the key off into the road again before slamming the door shut and retrieving his real keys.
His panic slowly began to rise, he knew he must have stumbled into some strange occult shit, it was the only explanation! Starting his car, he hurriedly merged into traffic and started his drive.
To where? He'd worry about that when he got there.
Taking another right turn, he pulled into a grocery store parking lot and stopped somewhere at it's edge. Jesse sighed in relief, but the moment was short lived as the sun annoyingly beamed into his eyes from ahead. Flipping down his visor to avoid the annoyance and give himself a moment to think was, instead, met with a small thunk as the key from before fell from the visor and onto his lap.
Jesse glared down at the object in anger, before brushing it off himself in disgust and stumbling out of the vehicle. Backing away from the running car, he set the back of his hand on his forehead for a second. His eyes then locked onto the object held in his grasp...
The key, it's brass coloring glinting slightly in the daylight.
The previously held back fear now crashed forth like a wave. Whatever that place he went to was had cursed him... somehow. And now, it didn't want him to leave!
Jesse took in a deep breath, steadying his thoughts for a second.
'Calm down...' He shook his head, looking back at his car. 'What did that page say again...'
He tried to recall the page mentioning anything... like this. But try as he might, the only things he remembered reading was something about help being wanted for 'Weather Maintenance’... which, he'd assumed, meant repairs from weather related damages.
It was clear, now, that he must have obviously misread something!
Jesse grumbled as he sauntered back to his car, leaning inside but pausing to look at the ground for the *other* key. It was gone, confirming his suspicions of a teleporting key as he glanced to the aforementioned item in his hand as he sat. Reaching forward, he placed the key on his dashboard while keeping his eyes locked onto it.
With a defeated sigh, he slouched back in his seat.
'Guess it's back to job hunting... and apartment hunting. Fffuuuck...'
In truth, Jesse should've known that listing seemed suspicious. It was pinned up on a job board offering a month of good pay with available living arrangements; being between work, between cities, made it a very tantalizing offer.
And now he got his ass cursed, fantastic.
Flicking on the radio, he tried to drown out his thoughts with some music. Familiar tunes began to play, but immediately Jesse noticed something was... off.
♫Ooo~ I'm blinded by my job~♫
♫Nooo I can't leave until I clear those skies~♫
Jesse shook his head in disbelief, switching to the next station.
♫If you wanna' get out alive... Ooo~♫
♫Work for your life~♫
Jesse switched off the radio.
Rubbing his face with both hands, he looked down at the key still sitting on his dash before grabbing and inspecting it closely. His eyes bulged as he finally noticed something for the first time…
There. Were. Words.
All over it… etched onto and wrapping around the entire thing's edge. Looking closely, he fruitlessly tried to pick out where the jumble of letters began. His attempts proved unsuccessful, twirling the key around in his grasp trying to find the starting point of the text.
He did notice something about being called the 'Wielder' though, the paragraph of curving words splayed out like a clause of some kind.
”No... this is bullshit! I never signed anything!” Jesse angrily fumed from his seat, until a nearby sound caught him off guard.
"Well... you kind of did." A gravelly voice spoke out, complimented by a reptilian-like growl.
Jesse's eyes turned to look at the speaker, but as it came into view his body froze. The slender creature sat in the back seat, it's long face curled around the passenger headrest as it peered directly at him.
This was the demon that cursed him, he was sure of it! It was hideous… it's body made up of seemingly different animals, all put together as one and moving in sync. Jesse's eyes locked onto his dashboard, holding his breath for a second as he heard the creature slink into the seat next to him.
There was a small clicking sound as the key disappeared from his grip, appearing midair suspended in place just ahead of him.
"I truly apologize for all of this, it seems I missed a few of these contracts when I was… cleaning up." The voice spoke again as Jesse fought the urge to look at it. "Do return soon, however. The penalties will only get worse the longer you're away..." It added, the key spinning slightly in midair before dropping back onto his lap.
"P-Penalties?" Jesse blurted back, gripping the key in his hand and turning to the figure to find it already gone.
"I'll explain better later-" The voice whispered just behind him, causing Jesse's skin to crawl for a second, "-so, you better get going!" It finished with grandeur as Jesse fumbled with his gear shift and pocketed the key.
He was right on the money, definitely some occult shit... and now this Loki motherfucker was haunting him because of it. The car’s engine revved back to life as he pulled out of the parking lot in a hurry. He was at a loss as to what he should do… return like the creature said or say fuck it and run now?
The penalties couldn't be that bad, right?
Before he could make his decision, fate butted in. His entire body suddenly felt weightless, lifting slightly off his seat as he made a left turn.
“Wha-? Aahh!” Jesse screamed as he suddenly flew from his seat and over to the passenger side, his body twisting as his hands refused to let go of the steering wheel.
He managed to keep the car straight, despite his weightless form, and strained to pull himself back over to his side. He figured he probably looked like a booze cruiser right now with how he wobbled the wheel, but he didn’t have time to care and just hoped no-one was witnessing his dumb little stunt.
With a bit more effort he managed to position himself above the seat, before pulling down onto it and clicking the seatbelt on. Yanking the belt tight, he let it hold him down as he breathed a sigh of relief at reaching the pedals again. And not a moment too soon as the same apartment came into view on the left side of the road.
With a curse under his breath, he crossed over quickly and parked against the curb while facing traffic. At this point he could honestly care less given his current situation. As he opened his driver door and pressed on his belt button he immediately flew off the seat and collided with the ceiling, groaning in annoyance before pushing his car door open and looking towards his goal.
The apartment door lay just a small distance away, across a sidewalk that seemed much farther now than it ever did. Jesse swallowed, a dry pit forming in his throat as he looked up into the clear sky above. He felt like he was in outer space, like gravity had no effect off him whatsoever! If he were to float away…
He shuddered at the thought, remembering what that creature had told him… it was going to get worse.
Swearing louder this time, he pushed the car door open fully after the next pedestrian went by and he was sure no others would see him. Pulling his body forward, he delicately climbed out of the car and pushed the door shut… before angling himself towards the apartment and kicking off the door.
His shoes left some nice marks on the dirty exterior, as well as it leaving plenty of smudges all over his clothing. He didn’t care at the moment, however, as he hurtled weightlessly towards the apartment door. His angle was slightly off as he careened to the left, grasping onto the railing and pulling his body towards the door.
He felt like an honest to goodness astronaut right now… but he wasn’t too keen on joining them in orbit just yet. Reaching over and grasping the doornob with his right hand, he gave it a twist and pulled himself inside. With a bit of an awkward few turns he managed to shut the door behind him, panting a bit as he held his back to the ceiling and stretched out his limbs to steady himself. Looking at the door just down the hall, he carefully retrieved the key in his pocket and made his way over.
He really didn’t want to go back, the smallest of voices in his head detailing their displeasure at the idea... but his recent loss of gravity was very clearly trumping any reservations he may have previously had. Reaching down with a stretch he stuck the key into the handle, prompting the same flash of white behind the page covered glass.
Storing the key back into his pocket, he swallowed his nervousness and opened the door as it sucked him in.
The result was his face once again being propelled into the fluffy white abyss as the floor let out a soft wheezing sound on impact. The door promptly closed behind him, the same sound once again being produced by the cloudy structure. Jesse groaned, lifting his face from the indent he'd made in the ground, literally.
For a moment, however, his heart nearly stopped.
Through the small hole in the ground where his head had just been impaled lay a quickly sealing hole, and far far below it lay the earth...
He swallowed, his legs suddenly taking on the characteristics of jelly as they failed to help him stand. The floor sealed itself by now, but the image remained burned in his mind next to his latest revelation...
He was walking on a cloud.
"Oh, there you are..." A voice he recognized as the cyan pegasus from earlier chirped, "-thought you took off already or something." She added with a hint of something Jesse just barely caught... disinterest.
He blinked once, realizing he was on four legs again and carefully stood up. He figured he probably looked like a baby trying to stand for the first time, evident by the strange look the pony gave him as he flashed an awkward smile back.
"Uh... ok so, Twilight's waiting." She stated with a motion of her head to the right before walking out of view.
Jesse moved to follow her but hesitated, turning back to the door he'd just come through. Pulling it open, he saw the other side… the darkened hallway that he'd just been in moments ago. Closing the door, he fished for the key in his pocket and pulled it out before looking at the handle.
His eyes widened as a keyhole formed on the end.
A bit of awkward hoofing later and he hit his mark, the key twisting in the lock with a resounding clang from the door. Pocketing the key, he peeked back through the door as his jaw dropped. Just outside was a breathtaking horizon, where the bright blue sky met the green earth beautifully… hundreds of feet below him. He blinked once, before slamming the door shut hard. It elected the same light *poof* as he stared at the wall for a moment longer.
Jesse was cursing under his breath again, hoping that by at least being a bit angry he could curb the rising terror in his chest. Turning around, he made his way to the middle of the building where the pegasus had went to... while delicately scooting past the previously 'filled' hole in the ground. As he entered the room, he saw the same rainbow maned pony from before, but this time she was joined by another.
The lavender pony locked eyes with him instantly, scanning him up and down while taking dozens of mental notes for later analysis. She had the sheet the pegasus took from him in her grasp, floating next to her head and surrounded in a purple glow. Jesse's eyes widened at the feat, but before he could even say something the pony smiled widely and pranced towards him.
"You must be this 'Jesse' Rainbow told me about, nice to meet you!" She greeted in a cheery voice, reaching her right foreleg out expectantly.
Jesse recognized the familiar custom, and moved to grab her hoof before remembering he didn't have hands anymore. The result was an awkward bump against her own, before hesitantly pushing against her leg and moving it up and down. Twilight's brow furrowed at the strange behavior as Jesse shied away slightly, his ears bending down a touch.
"...Anyway. I'm Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship here in Ponyville." She stated without a hint of malice and a smile, the softness in her voice scattering any thoughts Jesse might have had about this individual being someone to fear. "I understand you may have... come into contact with Discord?" She asked politely, bringing the floating sheet back into view.
Jesse's eyes locked onto the page, his mouth flapping slightly as he searched for where to begin.
"I uh- yeah... no? To be honest I'm not entirely sure, ma'am..." He replied with a shrug, patting for the pocket he had put the key in.
After a few moments of looking, he found his target as he pulled out the key that wouldn't leave him be. The second he did both the ponies in the room groaned in annoyance, especially the cyan one... who shook her head in disbelief.
"Awe cmon... he already gave you the key?!" Rainbow complained from behind as Twilight lit the object up in her magic.
The key flew from Jesse's hoof to her grasp as the green stallion just watched in amazement at the act.
Twilight tapped her chin, looking the key over closely with squinted eyes. "Complex magical runes... indecipherable codex... yeah, this is definitely Discord's..." She finished with a sigh, before floating it back over to Jesse who accepted it clumsily. "How did you find this?"
Fumbling slightly with his words after being put on the spot, Jesse shifted in place. "Well... I was just looking for a job and I saw-"
However, before he could say anything else in his defense, another figure burst into the room with a literal crack of lightning. The bolt struck the floor, sending small little static charges all around from the impact as a figure quickly emerged from the flash. The same creature Jesse had seen before stood proudly, though he had to admit... it was much more pleasing to the eyes on this side of the door for some reason.
It was wearing a pair of ugly sunglasses, their green glitter brightly flicking in the sunlight as he took them off... casting his yellow eyes across the ponies. His gaze lingered on Jesse longer than the rest, the pony gulping nervously at the attention.
"Do I spy some gossip, my little penpals?" Discord playfully jeered, slinking onto the ground and wrapping a single arm around the princess. "About... me perhaps?
Twilight rolled her eyes, brushing his arm off her back as it fell like a dead weight next to her. "I suppose you were listening the whole time, Discord?" She asked, electing an annoyed snort from the nearby cyan pegasus.
"Maybe?" Discord said with a shrug, popping away in a flash and re-appearing midair on a small cloud as he relaxed. "I was just having my evening nap... the one I always have, when I noticed a tiny little... disturbance I thought I should keep my eyes on." He finished with another glance towards the shifting stallion.
"Yeah, we already know you know..." Rainbow groaned in annoyance, flying off the ground and hovering next to Discord on his cloud. "Because you gave him the key, right?!"
Discord scoffed at the accusation. "Rainbow, dearest. I did not give him the key."
"I found it." Jesse suddenly spoke, electing the group to look his way as he shrunk slightly from the exposure. "It was... hung up at the address listed on the page."
"I'd have noticed that by now." Rainbow replied with a deadpan stare.
Twilight groaned as she facehoofed, before quickly composing herself and looking towards the floating draconequus. "Discord, once again this little stunt of yours is gonna cost somepony a lot of time and money!"
Discord shrugged. "I don't see the problem... the way I see it, even after you told me to recall those sheets, little Rainbow Dash here still hasn't found a viable student." He teased, flicking the nearby pegasus' mane with his tail and electing a scowl from the mare.
Jesse looked between the ponies and god-like creature bickering, his mouth slightly agape at the display. Here he was, a simple repairman/roofer/sometimes plumber stuck in the middle of this battle of powers.
He didn't register on their power scale in the slightest, except maybe...
His eyes glanced over the rainbow maned pegasus for a second, as he noticed something different about her from the others. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but...
"Fine!" Discord suddenly exclaimed with a huff, cutting off Jesse's train of thought. "Let me see it."
With a flash, the key blinked from Jesse's grasp to Discord's. His cloud transformed, becoming a chair with many different types of magnifying instruments bending upwards over his head and aiding in his inspection of the key. He hummed to himself, twisting, prodding and poking it before shaking his head with a grunt.
"Nope, no can do. This thing's binding." He finally replied, the whole ensemble vanishing as the key reappeared in Jesse's hoof.
Twilight shook her head with an incredulous look. "You can't unravel it? Did you even try?"
Discord rolled his eyes, before appearing in a tucked in white shirt with a creased pair of slacks. He sat at a table with a computer as he typed furiously on the keyboard.
"Twilight... sometimes when you're making these magical items, especially with chaos magic, you're in an entirely different headspace." He paused as something printed out of the computer's side, a piece of paper that folded itself and gently glided in circles. "It's not always easy to go back and fix what you made... even I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote some of this. Like, why is there a coconut here? And why can't I delete it?" He mumbled in annoyance with a few button presses, electing a puff of smoke from the computer as it all disappeared in a flash.
Twilight rubbed her head in annoyance, before lightly huffing and glancing at Jesse. "I'm really sorry about this... I'll look into breaking this contract asap so you don't have to stick around for the next month." She assured as Rainbow flung her forelegs up.
"Yeah? What about me?! I'm the one that has to room with him now!" She stated in annoyance, glancing to the green pony.
"Rainbow..." Twilight started, before being interrupted by the nearby stallion.
"No it's fine." He said with a wave, wobbling slightly from the loss of support and quickly putting it down. "Sorry, didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't know taking the key would start a... contract." He finished with a mumble.
"Uh huh, sure you didn't." Rainbow added with a judgmental look.
Jesse sensed the tone in her voice and frowned, but before he retorted with something less than polite Twilight managed to barge in.
"S-Sorry!" She sputtered with an awkward smile, shuffling between the two. "In the past others accepted the job just to, you know... be around her. Fans, and all that." She quickly explained as the pegasus in question puffed up her chest a bit.
Jesse looked her up and down, before raising an eyebrow. "Well... if it helps, I don't know who you are."
It was like the wind was instantly taken out of her sails as Rainbow gawked back at the green pony, electing a slight chortle from the nearby Draconequus.
"Anyways..." Twilight cut back in, resuming her previous train of thoughts. "I'll work on it. I'm guessing since you travelled here from... where did you say?" She asked, looking expectantly towards Jesse.
"I uh... didn't." He stated awkwardly as a short silence hung in the air. "B-But yeah, I traveled pretty far to get here..."
Twilight nodded sagely. "Don't worry, we'll make sure to sort this out quickly. The binding spell really only requires you to stay in the greater Ponyville area." She paused, flying over towards the windows and looking out. "Sadly, I think the only hotel is just outside that border..."
Rainbow let out a long, droning groan as she slowly lowered onto the cloudy ground. "...fine. You can bunk here for a while." She finally conceded, before walking up to Jesse and poking him once in the chest. "But don't touch my stuff, or go in my room. Got it?"
Jesse nodded rapidly, his brown mane swishing slightly from the force as Rainbow pointed at the area where the backdoor was. In that hall two more doors lay on the left and right side, opposite from each other.
"The left is my room. The right, the bathroom. Don't mix them up." She warned, getting another nod from the pony.
"Where do uh... I sleep?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head.
"Outside." Rainbow stated bluntly, pointing to a small balcony nearby with her left wing.
"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted nearby, electing a another groan from the pegasus.
"Ugh... there's a couch on the second floor..." She relented, motioning above with a hoof.
Jesse craned his neck, looking up at the rest of the structure for the first time. There were two other floors, both visible through the opening in the center.
"How do you uh... get there?" Jesse asked obliviously, before looking down at the two mares staring at him strangely.
"Uh... fly?" Rainbow dash answered, pointing behind him. "With your wings?"
Jesse stared at her dumbstruck for a moment, before twisting his neck to look at the feathery appendages affixed to his side. The shock almost showed on his face as Discord let out a little hum to himself and spun slowly in place.
"R-Right." Jesse stuttered, looking away sheepishly.
"And you." Twilight started again, this time turning to Discord who'd been idly twiddling his thumbs.
"Oh... me?" He said with mock surprise.
Twilight lit up her horn, placing the sheet she had before above the trickster as it slowly flittered down onto him. "You will explain to this pony every line of that contract. Don't leave a single thing out." She commanded, electing a salute from Discord.
Twilight sighed, before flashing an encouraging smile to Rainbow and taking off out a nearby window. A few moments of silence ensued, until Discord let out a little yawn and stretched.
"Weeeell... I guess I best be going for now and leave you two roomies to get settled in." He teased, reappearing on a cloud with a drink in his hand as he lounged in place.
"H-Hold on!" Rainbow piped up. "Twilight said-"
"Yes yes-" Discord tsked with a wave of his hand. "I will... but she didn't say right now." He finished while raising his right hand.
A snap of his claw and flash of light left Jesse alone with the miffed pegasus as she fumed silently in place, slowly turning to look at the human turned pony.
He awkwardly chuckled, kicking his right hoof. "H-Hey... roomie."
Author's Note
This originally started as a practice run for my "Third person" chapters, but I found myself thinking up more and more ideas as I went until I had unintentionally made another story. In the end, I decided to just run with it. I have some nice ideas for this story and slice of life is something I've wanted to do more of, so I hope this is a nice, short and sweet story. Yes, this story will be finished, and much shorter than my other stories.
I hope you all enjoy 
Chapter 2: Today's Forecast
Chapter 2: Today's Forecast
‘Come on… work dammit ’ Jesse thought in frustration, hoping to mentally command the appendages on his back into obeying.
The wings remained resistant, sometimes giving an occasional flutter and sending foreign sensations down his spine, but refusing to cooperate any further. Rainbow Dash wasted no time locking herself in her room, not saying much else other than the expected “Don’t go in my room.” And “Don’t touch anything.” Leaving Jesse with plenty of time to examine the place.
Specifically, outside.
His mouth gaped the first time he beheld the exterior, quite understandably not believing his eyes as he watched literal rainbows flow away from the home like water. It took all his willpower not to try tasting the stuff, it looked so good.
From what he could see as he stood close to the edge, it looked like the house was it’s own completely isolated island. A bustling town sprawled out below, many spots of interest demanding his attention. It was a pretty sight, if not a bit terrifying from his current perspective…
After the shock of his location wore off, he sought to try and figure out his wings; in case he were to somehow fall through the clouds... he'd very much like to prevent the proceeding grisly end.
He jumped in place again and again, struggling to flex some unknown muscles in his back. His reward was more of the same, nothing. He didn’t want to be resigned to this floating island for too long… besides the obvious boredom, the local populace would quickly begin to question how a flightless pegasus made it up here in the first place.
By now he’d figured out walking, and was actually surprised at how easily he just… adjusted to the new walking style. Within only ten minutes of practice it felt like he’d been walking on them all his life, but the wings were a different story. He landed with a huff after the last of his numerous attempts to so much as glide, scratching at his chin and thinking hard.
‘How do baby birds learn…’ He thought as the answer popped into his head with a wave of unease, turning back to the nearby ledge. ‘…Instinct.’
With a bit of hesitation, he scooted close to it and looked straight down. His stomach dropped, a cold sweat suddenly covering him as he backpedaled a couple steps.
“What’re you lookin' at?” Rainbow suddenly asked as she landed with a thud behind him.
Jesse’s soul left his body, the sudden impact and question catching him completely off guard. His wings sprung open with a loud woosh as he reeled back, nearly falling over. Rainbow couldn’t help it and let out a muffled snicker at the stallions reaction, covering her face slightly with her foreleg in an attempt to hide her laugh.
Jesse caught himself with a swallow of his dry throat, shaking his head. “J-Jeez, do you always land like that?”
Rainbow answered with a shrug, walking up next to him and peering down to where he'd been looking. By now Jesse noticed his wings were still open, brushing his hoof through the feathers and shivering at the alien sensation he felt from his new appendage. He could feel the still tense muscle... the unfamiliar tightness in his back a strange new experience. Letting it ease up slowly folded the wing against his side as he practiced moving the new muscle around a bit.
“So... what were you looking at?” Rainbow asked again, turning to Jesse with a questioning look.
He blinked once at her, eyes flicking between the pegasus and ground below as he absentmindedly fluttered his wings. Should he tell her? Should he tell any of them... would that 'Discord' character be mad if he did? After all, he seemed to dance around the subject himself even though he obviously knew he was a human.
'Better safe than sorry...' Jesse decided, taking in a short calming breath and motioning to the ground.
"It's... really high." He admitted, a sheepish grin on his face as he slowly flexed his wings. "Not used to being this far up... is all."
Rainbow flashed him a look. “So… you took a weather job, but you’re afraid of heights?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m not afraid... but I thought it was for something else.” He replied, shaking his head at her suspicious glance. “Like… repairs. Weather related damages, that kind of thing. The highest I’ve ever been is on a roof, so…” He trailed off with another look to the edge.
Rainbow sighed and shrugged as she fell back, flapping her wings and lounging mid-air. “Well, I guess you’re not the only pegasus I know that’s afraid of heights.”
Jesse shook his head, casting an unsavory look at the pegasus. “I’m not scared of heights. Like I said… never been this high.”
Jesse wanted to be annoyed with the pegasus, but found himself instead impressed by her control as she moved in the air. She made it look simple, like a professional swimmer twisting and flipping in water as she sliced through the air with grace. If it was that easy for her, it really couldn’t be that scary… could it?
He flexed his wings, having grown comfortable enough with the limbs at this point after idly moving them around, and opened his eyes in surprise as a single flap lift him up a few feet. His wings spread out, causing him to slowly glide backwards towards the cloud and land with a bit of a stumble.
Just the single second of air time was enough to excite him, his breathing quick and his muscles still tense. The feeling of his body being held aloft for a moment was… unexplainable, a sensation he’s never felt before. Rainbow hadn’t seemed to notice his first test flap as she lazily scanned the town below.
He swallowed, flapping once more but this time trying to keep a steady rhythm. He clumsily flapped his wings, the beats a bit uneven as he moved higher and lower in place. Then it’s like something clicked into place, and Jesse steadied himself. He didn’t have to hold out his hooves for balance anymore, letting his legs dangle underneath freely as his wings made small corrections midair to keep steady. The smile on Jesse’s face was massive as he looked to the cloud under him in amazement, moving forward and back to test his maneuverability.
He quickly swallowed his excitement, reducing his large grin best he could to a small smile as he looked up to where Rainbow had been floating.
She was gone.
“Do you think-“ Rainbow began, appearing next to him and causing him to unceremoniously tumble to the ground.
He let out a small oof as he landed on the cloud, the sudden fright causing his wings to seize midair. Quickly standing up, Jesse looked back at the pegasus in annoyance as she rubbed her neck sheepishly.
“Heh… sorry.” She apologized, this time showing some guilt instead of laughing at his misfortune. “I was gonna ask, do you think you can get down?”
Jesse broke off his annoyed stare and looked back to the ground below with a hesitant nod. “Y-Yeah, I don’t think it’s a problem.” He finished, trying to sound confident.
“Uh huh.” Dash agreed, her tone unconvinced as she flew over to a nearby cloud leaking rainbow.
Jesse took a second to compose himself, before taking off into the air again. Just like before he hovered, not even struggling with his balance this time during takeoff. He stayed in place for a moment, before casting a glance to Rainbow to see her still lounging on the cloud.
Slowly he moved forward, looking to the ground far below as he crest the edge of the fluffy floor. The same sinking feeling in his gut returned with a vengeance as he hastily retreated back to the safety of the cloud island.
"Looks like a problem." Rainbow piped up from her spot.
Jesse looked back at the cyan pony in annoyance. "Easy for you to say, you made it look easy."
Rainbow glowed from the compliment with a smug smile. "I always do."
Jesse rolled his eyes, realizing he just unintentionally stroked the pony's ego. Rainbow laughed, and with a streak of color flew over to the hovering stallion as he wiggled slightly from the sudden burst of air.
Her hoof landed on his shoulder to steady him. "A friend of mine used to be pretty afraid of heights... I helped her kick the fear, so this should be easy." She started, looking at his wings. "First, you're trying too hard. Stop flexing your wings so much, especially on the upstroke."
Jesse blinked at the sudden lesson, before easing up on his wings a bit each flap. He realized his wings would bounce back nearly on their own after each downwards swing, almost halving the strain on his muscles.
Rainbow nodded once. "Better, now come on." She goaded, moving a few feet ahead and off the cloud edge.
Jesse glanced down, swallowing once. "I don't-"
"Don't look there, look where you're going." Dash interrupted, leaning forward and grabbing his two front hooves.
His panic spiked as she pulled him forward, dragging him through the air as she backed up.
"R-Rainbow! Wait, stop!" He pleaded, starting to look down.
"Hey!" She cut in, stopping him from looking as he locked eyes with her. "Look where you're going. Don't focus on anything else."
He nodded, view locked forward.
Blinking, Jesse stared towards the only thing in his field of vision. He couldn’t help it, but a part of him suddenly noticed just how big and expressive pony faces were… especially the eyes. He kept his gaze on hers, the magenta accented orbs watching him with rapt attention. Until she cracked a small cocky grin.
"See?" She started, taking a glance down. "Not so bad is it?"
Jesse looked down for a moment, seeing the massive fall below him again. This time however, the same sinking feeling in his stomach did not return. Instead, the sensation of wind against every part of his body -weaving between every strand of hair- assaulted him all over and he felt... free.
Rainbow let go, pulling away from the stallion as he stopped and hovered in place. Looking around, he saw he was almost twenty feet away from the house as it drift through the sky lazily.
Rainbow Dash flew back into his vision, stopping a few feet away and blowing a strand of her mane away. “So… what you said before. Were you really just looking for a job when you found that key?” She asked, watching him intently.
“Of course.” Jesse quickly replied, “I’ve been traveling for a while and... kinda bottomed out on funds. I didn’t mean to start all this.”
Rainbow shook her head. “…nah, it’s fine. I think I was too quick to judge cuz’ of last time.”
“Last time?” Jesse asked, tilting his head a bit as he barely noticed Rainbow's slightly panicked glance.
Rainbow waved one of her hooves quickly, dismissing the topic as she landed back on the cloud island. “Just a… problem with the last pony, he’s not really an issue anymore…” She assured, motioning towards the still flying green pony. “I mean, you don’t seem like a total dweeb yet.”
Jesse’s face contorted into a crooked half smile. “Yeah, you too I guess?”
Looking over the town, Rainbow gave it a slow cursory glance before staring back at him. “Well, if you do want a job… wanna give weather duty a shot? Since you're stuck here for a while anyway... even though I know it's not what you had in mind."
Jesse looked around at the scattered clouds all over the sky above the town with an uneasy look. “You’d have to explain a lot…”
“You a good visual learner?” Dash asked, stretching a bit in place and flexing her wings.
Jesse shrugged. "I'd like to think so."
Without another word, Rainbow took off like a rocket. The sudden wave of air nearly blew Jesse out of the sky as Dash raced past, ripping into a cloud moments later almost a hundred feet away. She took sharp turns, zigzagging from cloud to cloud as she tore into each one and barely slowed down.
The process was brief and after deleting the final cloud she landed with a hard slide, coming to a stop and kicking up a bit of white fluff as she pant. Jesse couldn't help it, staring back at her in shock with wide eyes.
"Catch all that?" Rainbow finally asked, wiping a small amount of sweat that formed on her brow. "Whew, made pretty good time I think..."
"You THINK?!" Jesse repeated back, looking over to the previously semi-cloudy sky which was now completely clear. "You... just destroyed the clouds?"
"Duh." Rainbow replied with a roll of her eyes. "We maintain the weather, that's the job. Ponyville's own weather-pony."
Jesse blinked, before nodding once. Pegasi control the forecast... made sense.
"But, if you're so good at it... why do you need a student?" Jesse asked, finally landing on the island next to her and giving his wings a momentary rest.
She looked back towards the nearby town, a slightly longing look on her face. "Well, with wonderbolt training ramping up I'm gonna be more and more busy... need to make sure someone can take care of the town whenever I'm gone."
"Wouldn't the... mayor or something handle that?" He replied, getting a shake of her head as she looked away.
"No... I need to make sure it's somepony great." She stated with a nod, pacing slightly. "Applejack's farm needs extra rain sometimes, not to mention Twilight complains whenever her telescope is blocked, and-"
"Nuance, I get it." Jesse interrupted, electing a look from Rainbow as she nodded with a sigh.
She continued, motioning a hoof to the town below. "It took me a while to get everyone's routines figured out... nopony was there to teach me." She paused, looking to Jesse. "I can't make the next pony go through that, no way."
Jesse nodded back, a knowing smile on his face. "Well, Devotion to your job is something I can respect..." He started, but slowly trailed off.
He hesitated on his next words. He wanted to tell her he'd be up for learning the ropes, after all... how can someone not want to try controlling the weather? But there was a single, small problem...
He didn't belong here.
There was too much that could go wrong, Discord could cause him more grief, Twilight could break the bond early, and even if none of that happened... he'd still be going home after just a month.
Rainbow spoke up, rousing Jesse from his thoughts. "Sorry... I didn't mean to pressure you into accepting." She said, flapping into the air and back over to her lounging spot by the falls. "You can do the cloud clearing tomorrow, think on it maybe."
Jesse liked the idea of waiting, it'd give him more time to think up some kind of excuse.
'For now, though...' Jesse thought to himself, looking out into the open air as he spread his wings.
With a single flap, he took off into the sky. He pushed harder with each stroke, trying to pick up speed as he went. Jesse tried to remember how Rainbow flew, the way she angled her body flat while pointing ahead with her hooves. He tried replicating it, wobbly uneven the first few attempts, before kind of replicating it.
His body stretched straight out, his wingbeats flapping behind him like drums as he slowly began to pant. Then he remembered another technique he'd been forgetting. Pulling his wings in slightly, he struggled to find the proper position until they seated correctly in place as he began his dive. His speed rapidly picked up, his angle of descent getting faster and faster.
Soon, the faraway land below was suddenly not so far as it rapidly approached. Flaring open his wings, he angled up into a glide as he soared a comfortable height over the town. The rooftops blurred below, about fifty feet down, as he rocketed past. Pulling back up, his speed carried him upward as he tried something risky.
Pulling back, further and further, eventually he crest the backflip and went completely upside down. The feeling was slightly nauseating as he evened out, successfully pulling off the loop with only a minorly upset stomach. The feeling knocked the wind out of him as he flew back over towards Rainbow's house, landing on the cloud floor and lightly shaking his head.
"Not bad, newbie." Rainbow commented nearby, slightly nodding. "Maybe I'll teach you some tricks next time too.
Jesse smiled slightly but looked away, a bit of embarrassment creeping onto his cheeks. He figured it probably looked like baby's first flight, he didn't think she'd be watching him. Rainbow went back to her lounging, snoozing by the lightly roaring waterfall as Jesse opted for going back to the house.
As he entered, he looked back up through the opening in the roof before flapping his wings and ascending. As he climbed to the second floor, he could see what looked like a couch on one side flanked by a night stand. On the other side of the floor was a single fluffy chair with a table and small lamp.
Another floor lay above through an opening like the last as Jesse continued up and peeked inside. Tons of workout gear lay strewn around, from a hanging punching bag to some nearby dumbbells.
How the dumbbells didn't fall through the clouds vexed Jesse more than anything he'd seen so far...
Lowering back into the second floor, Jesse landed near the couch and let out a small stretch. Back in his world it had been nearly late evening... but here it still seemed like early afternoon. Regardless, Jesse was exhausted. He knew he had a lot to worry about, like his car he'd left haphazardly parked the wrong way, or the contract Discord still hadn't explained the details of.
Or even how he kind of... liked Rainbow Dash?
He honestly thought she'd get on his nerves pretty quickly after he initially met her. She'd been almost hostile at first, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stand the ego she seemed to exhibit. But she promptly changed her attitude after a bit of talking, and Jesse was starting to feel a lot less worried about being stuck here... for the time being.
Stretching his body out on the couch, awkwardly fighting with his wings as he got comfortable, he settled for laying on his side. His right wing sprawled out under him as he shuffled in place, before giving a content huff. Part of him wanted to go sleep in his car, just to be himself again for a little while... but the visions of him floating away kept him from acting upon the idea.
He expected it to take longer to fall asleep here, but to his surprise it lulled him quickly into darkness.
The night passed swiftly, the moon hiding away past the horizon as the sun was soon to show itself. Not many ponies were even awake yet as the soft beams of sunlight bathed the cloudy house in it's warm radiance. All was silent inside Rainbow's home, a certain green stallion still napping inside. He didn't rise to the slight change in light, nor to the small woosh of wind shortly after.
But the following commanding tone roused him pretty good.
"Sun's up! Sun's up, lets go!" Rainbow Dash drilled, floating up from the hole in the center. "Morning showers ordered for Ponyville!"
Jesse leapt from his spot on the couch, tumbling over the back of it with an oof. Composing himself, he pulled over the couch and looked at Rainbow in surprise.
"But I-" He began, getting a shake from the pegasi's head.
Launching forward, she grabbed his front hoof and turned around. "No time!"
"Oh-" Jesse felt his breath catch in his throat as Rainbow pulled him so fast he could barely manage to hold his wings out.
By now the sleepiness was gone from his system, the jump-scare wakeup and bullet-train speeds a very sobering experience. She pulled him out of the house through a window, Jesse quickly steeling himself at the sudden sight of the ground far below.
Rainbow let go, letting him fly by himself albeit farther back than her. He struggled to keep up while it looked like she struggled to slow down.
"See those clouds?" Rainbow spoke up, pointing to a bundled grey mass in the distance.
Jesse peeked around her as he struggled to keep up. "Yeah?"
"Take them to Ponyville, quick as you can." She added, suddenly bolting off towards the clouds.
Jesse looked at the fading streak of color in startled amazement, before shaking his head and trying his best to keep up. He wasn't sure why she wanted his help all of a sudden, he hadn't even told her he wanted the job yet! He rapidly approached the clouds before noticing a large section of them careening his way. Tilting hard, he made a sharp bank right and narrowly dodged the mass. Looking back, he could see Rainbow pushing it with her front hooves as her wings beat furiously.
'Damn, she's bookin' it!' Jesse stared for a moment, before remembering his current task and picking back up speed.
Pulling up next to the other floating grey boulder of clouds he examined it closely. It was all bound together with... rope. Jesse wasn't gonna question it, and positioned himself same as Rainbow before pushing. He breathed in surprise as the clouds launched forward, barely any weight behind them at all.
'Okay... easy, I can do this' Jesse thought with a slight nod as his wings gave it their all.
He strained to look over the top of the mound, just to make sure he wasn't on a collision course with something. Jesse noticed how different these clouds felt than the last, like he was pressing down on a wet sponge and electing water to leak from where his hooves sank in.
"That's good! Now spread em' out!" He heard Rainbow yell from somewhere ahead.
He stopped his pushing and raised himself with a hard flap. Looking over the clouds, he saw Rainbow ahead as she pulled the ropes loose with her mouth. The clouds dispersed lazily into the sky all at once as Rainbow got to work spacing them out equally.
Jesse looked down at the rope and gripped it in his teeth. After some wiggling and struggling he managed to get it loose, the binding going slack as the mound broke apart rapidly. However, he wasn't prepared for the sudden expansion and took a cloud head on as it shoved into his body.
A loud crack of thunder suddenly filled his ears as lightning shot out from it's bottom. The sound rattled him as he quickly scrambled out of the grey mass and eagerly flapped back a few feet. He was damp, his clothes wet all over as he shook his head and whisked droplets of water from his mane.
Getting over the shock he leaned forward and flapped his wings, pushing the clouds down one by one into a single thick layer like the others. As he pushed the third cloud from the batch, Rainbow appeared on his right.
"What the hay, dude!" She whisper shouted, a look of nervousness on her face.
"S-Sorry." Jesse quickly apologized, doubling his speed as he pushed the clouds along.
She looked like she was about to continue her scolding, but took off to help move the rest of the clouds. They were very wide, covering decent chunks of land below as it darkened beneath their shadows. With the final one being placed Jesse looked up at the completed ceiling of clouds as Rainbow Dash stopped in it's center.
She gave it a few hard taps in sequence, before darting off past him.
He looked on at her for a moment as she tore away, slowly growing smaller until she stopped past the edge of the clouds and looked back. Then, a low rumble reached Jesse's ears as he realized she just hit the start button... and he was still under it!
He took off as fast as he could. The grey puffs raced past him overhead as he whistled under. It was no use, however, as the torrent of rain came forth anyway. It was light enough though, just extremely unpleasant. The rain stopped quickly as he left the coverage area and shook his head, throwing his wet bangs away from his vision.
Rainbow was gone, again. She was really good at that...
He spun and looked around, before peeking down and noticing her telltale color scheme on the path below... just outside the rain. It was a road near the entrance of town, and he could see the prismatic pegasus talking with another pony. Their beige fur was damp but covered by an umbrella, attached to a saddle resting on her back.
As he approached the pair, he just made out the end of the exchange as Rainbow huffed in annoyance.
"It won't happen again Mayor Mare... don't worry about it." Rainbow assured.
The mayor glanced to Jesse for a second as he approached, before focusing back on Dash. "Yes, well... I also noticed this downpour was supposed to be up before sunrise?" She asked, getting an awkward look from Rainbow as she turned away.
Shaking her head, the mayor huffed. "...good day." She said with tiredness, rolling her eyes and prancing off into the light drizzle.
There was silence for a few moments, before Rainbow slowly flapped her wings and began climbing. Jesse watched her go for a second, before following after her.
"...was that my fault?" He finally asked, coming up next to her as she looked towards him lazily.
She went to answer, but hesitated as she chewed her lip and nodded. "Kinda...." She started, looking ahead again. "-and, kinda' mine too. I was actually supposed to have that set up before morning, thought if I was quick I could do it last second." She paused with a sideways glance. "...sorry about the sudden wake up, by the way."
"Nah, it's cool. I'd never handled storm clouds before anyway. As you could probably tell." Jesse retorted, earning a giggle from the pegasus. "...what?"
"Those weren't storm clouds, they were barely light drizzlers." She answered, Jesse mouthing an 'O' back. "We'll clean them up in a few hours when they dry out..."
They flew in silence towards her house again, and she went straight for her spot by the rainbow falls to lay down. He watched her get comfortable for a second and quickly deflate into her usual napping form. That was, until she peeked an eye open and looked at Jesse.
"What?" She asked, getting him to look away awkwardly.
"Could you uh... teach me some of those tricks you mentioned?" He asked, getting a silent look from the pegasus.
The look was soon accompanied with a slowly widening smile, a burning fire behind her eyes as she sat back up and gave a small stretch.
"Oh, absolutely."
