Mirror: Book I - Mind

“Cirrus! Cumulus! Cirrocumulus! Cumulonimbus!”

Grainy, black and white images of clouds filtering through the sky were shown unto the pegasi.

“Rain! Snow! Thunder and lightning!”

Rumbles of thunder and harrowing winds roared by, ponies looking aghast and afraid. Not to mention, a little old-timey as well, whatever that might look like.

“The weather is an ever-changing prospect in the day to day lives of the citizens of Equestria. Therefore, it is up to us, the loyal pegasi of the weather to maintain, control, and enforce the ways of mother nature, with our abilities, given to us by mother nature.”

The crackling voice of the narrator sounded over the ponies’ ears, some listening with interest and intent, others…hardly even present by means of being conscious. The snoring was a tell-tale sign of their eagerness to learn.

“There is no greater force, no stronger will, no mightier wind than the gusts of a weather pegasus. This is the seventh division of the Cloudsdale weather factory. This is…the Ponyville Weather Patrol!”

“P.W.P. for short.” Sunshower announced, swatting her pointer against the black board. The bold, capitalized lettering shone stark white upon the chalky, black surface like an insignia of vivid propaganda to any pony clearly uninterested, but still working for the same name mentioned in chalk. “As I’ve learned the hard way, this is Ponyville.” Sunshower continued. “Though we may be miles away from Cloudsdale, that is no reason to deduct from ourselves the assets and abilities that which our pegasi brothers and sisters have hoofed down to us. As a weather patrol unit it is our duty to stay on course, remain vigilant, get up at five-thirty in the morning, run the safety checklist before entering the work field…Is anypony evening listening to a word I’m saying?”

Snores reverberated all around the room. Amazingly so, Open Skies’ snoring alone sounded like three ponies snoring at once, as many wondered if he did so on purpose. Clear Skies was always ready to give him a boot, kick his cloud, nudge his shoulder, and in this particular case kick his chair out from underneath him.

“Youch! What’s the big idea, Skies?” Open Skies rubbed his rump. “I got up at five-thirty for this?”

“You got here at eight, Owen.” Clear Skies, or rather Skies, corrected.

“Still feels like five-thirty.”

Clear Skies and Open Skies, the iconic duo of Ponyville’s weather patrol team. Curly and Larry might’ve been good names for them, but after having studied them for long enough, Sunshower determined they might as well be siblings, unmistakably brother and sister, and though they claimed having no blood relation whatsoever, ponies still speculated that the familial bonds they displayed were evidence enough to prove their relation. Sunshower was satisfied they had at least sorted out their names so they wouldn’t get confused with common nouns uttered in the work field every five seconds or so. For Open Skies, Owen was a fitting name for his tone of voice and stature, at least for a stallion. Skies was the only thing Clear was willing to go with, as she dared not to completely discard her original name. In more common cases, Open Skies was simply called Oskie and Clear Skies as Cskie.

“Blossomforth, what in Cloudsdale and back are you doing back there?” Sunshower gawked.

“Commencing my daily stretches, ma’am.” She replied. “This is about the time we get out on the field, don’t you think?” The pink and green maned pegasus was fixed into a position one might describe as a half-woven pretzel. Oskie had to refrain from looking back lest he lose what little breakfast he had consumed this morning.

“Neigh, we haven’t gone over basic safety protocols.” Sunshower grumbled in reply.

“I find it incredible she can still speak while looped around like that.” Cloud Kicker commented.

“Do you think she moves her organs and dislocates her bones?” Cloud Chaser followed up.

“Gross! But cool.” Cloud Kicker laughed, and the two pegasi hoof bumped.

“I find it incredible that Ponyville’s weather patrol unit is somehow still standing on all four of its hooves, even after the neglect its foundation has gone through.” Sunshower backed up to the black board and spun it around, the other side depicting a small graph with seemingly no progress at all. “Take a look at this, these readings are based off of records I found while digging around the office last night.”

“That explains the insanely scary, organized state of my work space.” Cloud Kicker crossed her hooves.

“This is the safety and work load checklist evaluation record five months ago.” Sunshower points to a blank, a nothing, zero.

Every pegasi is still and quiet.

“And this is the evaluation record now.” She points again.

“Why are you still pointing in the same spot?” Cloud Kicker asked.

“Because nothing has changed!” The Captain burst. “Let me put it to you simply, my fellow pegasi.” She took a deep breath, and came out with it. “This is an organization, not a playground.”

“You do realize that we work with huge, fluffy clouds floating around in the sky, right?”

“That doesn’t change a thing.” Sunshower argued. “No matter what the situation, there is never an excuse to perform poorly or even at a sub-par level in the line of duty. Keep this in mind, always when you are at work or at home, that we the patrol pegasi of the skies are the final step in this grand system that we call the weather. Thousands upon hundreds of thousands of clouds are produced every year at the Cloudsdale weather factory and sent to various locations across Equestria, Ponyville included. When the weather has arrived and the storm is on the front, it all comes down to us. Should we fail, all of the work the pegasi in Cloudsdale do for us and the citizens of Equestria will all be for naught! I implore you all to think about the stability of your careers especially in the next few weeks here.”

“You don’t mean-?” The crowd paused in disbelief.

“That’s right, pegasi.” Sunshower grinned, turning the black board once again. Somehow the previous writing had disappeared and was replaced with a new insignia. “I’m talking about Ponyville’s annual, final downpour of the season. The Last Rain.”

Groans of displeasure filled the room. “I thought it was about the doughnut party…”

“You’ll get your doughnuts.” The Captain held up her hoof. “But only after you’ve earned them. In conjunction with my late-night research, I followed up with another two hours after midnight to find that last year’s annual Last Rain had just barely slipped by and the weather team had received a mild scolding from Mayor Mare for nearly throwing her usual off-schedule tasks off schedule.”

“Captain, we’re understaffed.” Cloud Chaser raised a hoof. “How do you expect us to do all this work when we’re a few feathers short?”

“As I stated before when nopony was listening, I will be holding interviews later this afternoon.” Sunshower announced. “As for everypony else, I’ve got a plan to rejuvenate your wing power tenfold. All the work you need to do is right here…” For a final time, Sunshower spun her blackboard and the markings on the other side vanished to reveal a new set of figures. They spun and twirled into a series of regimen all serialized to the ponies in witness.

“I have organized you all into roles based upon your work flow attributes.” Sunshower’s pointer spiraled into the black board as she explained, the depictions resulting as such. “Oskie and Cskie, you two are the investigation duo, or as I like to call, Sky Watchers. The two of you are tasked with picking up useful clues and details around the work site. Report them to the station at the end of the day or whenever you feel it to be most convenient, and make conclusions based off of the evidence you have gathered.”

A creeping Cskie quietly fluttered up into a napping Oskie’s sleeping cloud.

“Your ability to work well as a pair is why I have chosen the two of you for this job. No horsing around.”

Cskie sounded her air horn, followed by a surprised and infuriated Oskie nickering hostility towards the giggling mare.

“Lyra Heartstrings.” Sunshower tapped the sheet of paper on her desk, viewing over the mentioned mare’s resume. “Let’s see here, it appears that you went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot?”

“If I wasn’t sure then I never would have written it.” Lyra laughed from across the desk, rocking in her plastic, kiddy chair.

“Yes…” The Captain eyed both the paper and the mare cautiously. “And it appears you have written that statement in crayon.”

“I must’ve been in a rush, pen ran out of ink.” Lyra chuckled nervously.

“Your entire resume is in crayon.”

Silence emanated from the unicorn, nothing but an awkward grin and darting eyes.

“Let’s get to the bottom of it, shall we?” Sunshower started. “I don’t want to waste your time, my time, and especially not the Weather Patrol’s time. So tell me, would a unicorn such as yourself know any, and I mean any weather manipulation spells that would benefit this organization in either the short or long run?”

Lyra’s eyes went wide, she paused as a small light bulb lit above her head, which was actually just her horn lighting to life. “I can do…this!” She held an opening between her hooves, and Sunshower watched with the upmost dull, unsatisfied, complete and utter lack of amusement a pony could ever muster. Lyra was just flipping cards in her hooves from one hoof to the other, the pegasus didn’t even know why her horn was lit. Sunshower heard a noisemaker go off from underneath the chair, she knew why now.

「Lyra Heartstrings : REJECTED」

“Blossomforth, you are the situational director.” Sunshower elaborated. “Your task is to evaluate new and challenging situations and determine what must be done when an unaccounted for situation pops up. You’re responsible for moving ponies and assigning them with tasks to benefit operation and work flow in the vicinity of the situation.”

Blossomforth looped herself in many knots around a cloud to tie a special weather rope and snugged it taut, carrying several other clouds with her in tow.

“Your flexibility is why I have chosen you for this job.”

“So allow me to get this straight,” Sunshower stared into one eye. “You used to work at the post office?”

“That’s correct.” The wall eyed pegasus changed eye directions.

Sunshower leaned the other way, staring into the other eye. “And why is that?”

“Inane working environment, ma’am.” Derpy answered. “I’ll have you know I treat my coworkers with unconditional respect, but should they ever cross me-”

“What exactly was ‘inane’ about this working environment?” The Captain quested.

“To put it short and simple, my associates and I just didn’t see eye to eye.” Derpy tried to stare straight.

“I see…” Sunshower couldn’t choose which eye to look at. “It appears you’ve already fixed an address for your payroll?”

“Everything is down to the last letter, you won’t have to waste any time with the paper work.” The pegasus mother smiled dutifully. “I’m as ready to work as ever.”

Well, I do admire somepony ahead of their game. Sunshower considered. But still…those eyes. Should I ask? Maybe she has a pet chameleon or something.

“May I ask why it is that you want this career, Miss Hooves?”

“More than anything in this world I want the best for my two lovely daughters, and this work will give us more than plenty to live off of, you won’t see me going anywhere anytime soon.” Derpy reassured. “Aside from that, I will always try my absolute best no matter what the situation. You have my word, Captain.” The gray pegasus raised a hoof and saluted the pony across the desk.

Sunshower stared at her for a moment, considering her determination. She knew that the obvious need for money might be a red flag, but she simply shrugged and raised a stamp to the pony’s resume.

「Derpy Hooves : TENTATIVE」

“Cloud Chaser, you are the equipment and tools manager.” Sunshower furthered. “Your task is to keep tabs on every single piece of equipment in the supply closet, know their uses, and provide them to our team members at a moment’s notice. If a team member is unaware or does not know how to use a certain piece of equipment, which they should via the training program, you’re responsible for teaching them how safely and securely.”

Cloud Chaser could be seen up in the exterior Town Hall rafters doing wing pull ups.

“Your surprisingly strong and dexterous wings is why I have chosen you for this job.”

“And, Cloud Kicker?” Sunshower finalized.

“Yes, yes, yes?” Cloud Kicker trotted up gleefully. “What do I get? A super, secret mission? Laser eye vision? A trip to Whiny Land?”

“You get to file paper work in the office.”

“What? But I was already doing that…” Cloud Kicker pouted.

“There are doughnuts by the coffee maker.”

“On it, Cap’n!” Cloud Kicker saluted.

The Captain of the weather patrol was sitting at her desk reviewing over the progress of the day and scanning over resumes sent in to the station via the hiring notice practically posted all over town. As a result, only three resumes had been turned in. Three, so then where was the third applicant? Her thoughts ceased as Sunshower heard a loud thump clatter upon the roof of Town Hall. The pegasus simply sat still at her desk, staring all about the room as she heard hooves working their way across the roof, down the steps and into the building, where they finally came to a stop before the door leading into the patrol pegasi’s quarters. There was a double knock.

“Come in?” Sunshower sat expectantly, but wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

The panel swung ajar just a crack, enough for a pink, bright blonde-maned pony wearing a leather aviator’s helmet and goggles to poke her head through. She blinked at the Captain, and the Captain blinked back. “Hullo.” She said. “Is this a bad time?”

“Are you one of the applicants?” Sunshower asked.

“Oh, yes!” The mare had to contain her excitement. “For the weather patrol position.” She added.

“That would be correct.” Sunshower confirmed and waved her hoof. “Come in, have a seat.”

Without another word the pony slid inside and shut the door behind her, to which the Captain looked back up from her desk and saw what made her heart sink. The pony didn’t have any wings…She was an earth pony. Despite it, the earth mare found her seat and sat across from her interviewer, causing Sunshower to blink herself back into the moment.

“Miss Cherry Berry, is it?” Sunshower reviewed the resume. “I don’t recall you mentioning you were an…earth pony.”

“May I just say how much of an honor it is to be meeting somepony from the weather factory? Let alone Cloudsdale?” The mare chirped.

“I’m sorry, have we met?” Sunshower squinted curiously.

“It’s a possibility, I meet all kinds of pegasi in my hot air balloon.” She smiled from ear to ear. “Did you know that Town Hall has a landing pad? Neither did I!”

Sunshower peeked out the window, catching a glimpse of the balloon body over head. She snuck a look back at her applicant, noticing the pony’s aviator cap for a second time. The lenses were slightly fogged by what Sunshower could only recognize as the dew weather in the clouds above, evidence that the pony had in fact gained an altitude high enough for weather pegasi to function. Not only that, but she had rode an entire hot air balloon to her interview, even when it seemed that walking would have been the easier option.

“I suppose you don’t have a propeller installed?” Sunshower decided to ask.

“I maintain my route with the slipstreams after finding the right altitude, of course.” Cherry Berry explained. “It’s easy to ride the winds when you’re in Ponyville since it’s not that far from Cloudsdale. It’s common knowledge that this is a stationary front region.”

“Stationary fronts are common sky-highway mechanics.” Sunshower noted.

“Hence why I use them for transport instead of lower regions. I’m in a balloon the size of Sugarcube Corner for crying out loud, you think I actually want to run into other pegasi?”

“And what if, say, we were located on one of the coastal cities?” Sunshower challenged. “How would you compensate for the wind flow patterns?”

“It changes between night and day, doesn’t it?” Cherry Berry prodded her chin. “Fly by morning, return by night. I believe that’s how the saying goes. The sea breeze would be coming inland from the water during the day, so I would have to adjust to lower altitudes at daytime and higher at nighttime. That’s if I’m following the wind flow back towards the city, of course.”

I can’t believe it. Sunshower looked up from the resume. I wouldn’t have even put such a question in the interview for the weather patrol employees, but this mare’s got straight aces. She’s even studied climate operation theory for Celestia’s sake! I thought that was exclusive to some factory employees only. Her eyes began to sparkle, wide and hoping. I’d almost hire this pony right on the spot, if only… Sunshower’s eyes strayed down to the mare’s barrel.

If only…

“Cherry Berry, I have only one final question for you.” Sunshower prepared.

“Anything, ma’am.”

“Can you unfurl your wings for me?”

There was a brief pause, a sting of silence.

“I’m…” The pink mare’s smile seemed to fade. “I’m sorry?”

“Your wings.” Sunshower said calmly. “I would like to have a look at them.”

“I’m sorry, but I-” Cherry shut her eyes. “I don’t have wings. I was born an earth pony, ma’am.”

“This is not a gesture to shame you, I hope you know that.” Sunshower told her. “I only want you to realize just how hard this job would be for a pony without a natural means of flight.”

“You can cut half my pay.”

“I’m sorry, it won’t change anything.”

“Three-fourths!”

Sunshower slouched back in her chair and sighed, composing herself and looking the mare in the eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, Cherry Berry, you have displayed an excellent amount of knowledge in just a few short sentences, and if I were to hire you I would even be willing to lay out a promotion within a month or two notice, but you need to understand where I’m going with this.”

Worst of all, Sunshower was sure the pony already knew the answer, plain as Celestia’s sunlit, cloudless sky. This mode of denial, she knew, was unhealthy to be fixated upon wherein the only antidote was to be told the truth straight. However, for one reason or another she couldn’t quite place, the pegasus felt herself holding back. Finally, she came out with it.

“As Captain, I cannot jeopardize the stability of the weather patrol, more importantly I do not plan to jeopardize yours or anypony else’s well being. I know you plan to get around with your balloon or other means of…aviation, but just think that your co-workers and other ponies would be busy compensating for your mode of operation, working around you and at the same time falling behind on their own work, uh…” Sunshower felt her speech collapse. “Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“I…” Cherry Berry looked down, blinking hard. “I understand.”

The resume slowly found its way across the table and back over to the earth mare sitting in the opposite chair, a crumpled mass of hurt and dejection staring at the floor, her aviator cap slumping over her head. The pink mare’s hoof crawled up onto the desk and pushed the paper back toward the Captain.

“Go ahead.” Cherry Berry said. “I guess I just want some closure.”

Sunshower stared down at the flawless, perfect resume with heavy eyes. She raised her printing stamp, feeling her hoof try to push in the direction of green. She fought it, grabbed for the red stamp, and force her hoof onto the paper.

「Cherry Berry : REJECTED」