//------------------------------//
// Storm Chaser 
// Story: Snowflakes and Rainbows 
// by Violet Rose 
//------------------------------//

Tap tap tap.

With a groan, I pried myself off the couch, trying not to aggravate my injured wing. I swear, no matter how much rest I got or how many stretching routines I did, the soreness in my chest just didn’t seem to want to go away. Not to mention, I was going stir-crazy! I was sorely tempted to beg for a few shifts of Cloudweaving, just to get me outta the house.

Tap tap tap.

“Coming!” I shouted, inching over to the door. Fortunately, my legs seemed to have mostly recovered - it was just my ribs and wing that still ached like mad. Finally, I made it to the door, only to find myself face-to-face with the weather factory’s messenger, who jumped as the door opened. I snickered; Inky Quill was always on edge.

“Storm! You’re here. Good, good, very good,” he sputtered.

I glanced pointedly at my bandaged wing. “Where else would I be?”

“Ah, yes, of course.” He cleared his throat, and suddenly his voice became deeper and more sure of itself. “Storm Chaser, you’ve been invited to work in the newly reopened Rainbow Division until you are fit to return to the Storm Assembly Team.” As soon as his message was finished, his jumpy demeanor returned. “Th-that’s it.”

The Rainbow Division?

I hesitated. RD was a respectable job, sure, but there were a whole lot of rumors about why it had been “closed for renovations” a few months ago. Whispered tales of workplace accidents, rogue machinery, even hauntings, had been met with vague denials from the Weather Council, the group that oversaw the whole factory. Only two former RD workers were still around, and neither of them were talking.

But maybe I’d be put into rainbow combing instead! Mixing the separate chroma into liquid rainbow and straining out impurities – sure, it was a little tedious, but the pegasi who worked there were a friendly, laid-back bunch. The Rainbow Pools had even stayed open while the rest of the division was closed, maintaining the existing rainbow.

One last glance at the couch I’d been stuck on for the last few weeks clinched it. I turned back to Inky with a grin and said, “Count me in!”