Sheesh, fine. If she's not going to listen to you, you're not going to force it. You wander back over to the weather team just in time to hear your name called, and you start struggling with your saddlebags.
"Raindrops, Drizzle, Flitter, Bon Voyage- you'll all be working cloud control on the east side, which means you're reporting to Cloud Kicker." You're about to raise a voice in protest, but Rainbow just raises her voice and carries on. "That means you take any problem- including which team you're on- to her, not to me. Are we all good?"
"Yes, boss," the chorus comes. Most ponies are pretty enthusiastic about it, even if your response is a little lacklustre, and you realise- what are the odds Cloud Kicker's going to be on your flank every second of the day? You can probably get some really nice work in, and just enjoy the wrap up. You finally loose your saddlebags and leave them by the fountain, and you're about to take off when you realise you've forgotten how. Something's badly wrong.
You turn to shout at Rainbow, but the words come out all wrong.
"Base. Base, wafer bee! Alpha weed."
There's something broken in you. You try to sit down and collapse to your side instead, and the road dust tastes like sweet pears and smells of burnt hair. You try to work a spell to save yourself but there's no energy pulling into your horn at all. Your magic's gone! You flail, trying to stand upright, and you see the boss hovering in front of you with a worried expression.
"Pane tops? Pane tops! Claw cake airlock rafter fur, save bottle mind firefight!"
She goes, and Cloud Kicker lands by you and puts wings on you and you pass out.
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Time passes. At some point, you remember that you are Raindrops.
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"Hey there, sleepyhead."
Thunderlane's voice is coming from a long way away, and he's looking all blurry. You blink a couple of times and force your eyes wide- the boss is here too, looking relieved, and Twilight's standing with the doctor- they're both concentrating on a spell, and you think you're the target.
"Hey." Your voice is flat and creaky. "How long was-"
"Two weeks. You're fine now, though. Right? Miss Sparkle?"
"Yes! Concentrating here!" Twilight snaps at Thunderlane, and he cowers slightly.
"What- what happened-"
"That book you were carrying did something weird to you. Don't worry though, Twilight's got it sorted. She says you'll need a week off to recover, so I'll see you back in a month, okay? Thunderlane's been filling in for you and he's, well, terrible-"
"Hey!"
"-but you need the break. I'm gonna get your parents now. You rest up."
"Okay," you croak. Much as you'd rather not admit it, you're on the verge of tears. Seeing your parents would be a good idea. You close your eyes and start to drift off again the moment you hear a satisfied, tired sigh from Twilight and the doctor.
"Raindrops! Miss Sparkle, she's-"
"She's sleeping, Thunderlane. Let her rest. The spell's cleared out of her now."
That's good to know, you think. The bed's warm, and the machines beep reassuringly, and you're fast asleep by the time your parents silently arrive and your mother takes your hoof in hers.
THE END
You received an incomplete ending. That means things went alright for Raindrops, on the whole- they certainly could have gone worse- but you didn't get the whole story.
There's a few ways you could have gotten here.
To go back a step, Click here for Chapter 8.
Or Click here for Chapter 41.