//------------------------------//
// Chapter 59 
// Story: Raindrops' Wrap Up 
// by Arkensaw Pinkerton 
//------------------------------//

"I got f-fired!" you wail at the stricken unicorn. "I missed the start of the wrap up because of this book and the boss fired me and now I don't even have a job and I'm missing everything!"

"Wait," Twilight says, confusion clear on her face. "Rainbow Dash fired you because you were late this one time?"

You sniffle and nod.

"Well that's not right. She'd normally let something like that slide and just put you on a bad duty or something. I'll talk to her. You'll get your job back, I promise. She'll listen to me." She looks so sure of herself that you can't help but trust her.

"Okay," you say, lifting your head up. "Okay," you repeat, and this time it doesn't sound like you're mumbling to yourself.

"Great!" Twilight beams at you. "Give me a moment to track her down and just wait here. You should take some deep breaths, too, to keep yourself calm. I really will be right back."

She canters off to find Rainbow Dash and you take her advice, breathing deeply for a few minutes. By the time she returns with a thoroughly disgruntled Rainbow in tow, you've got a handle on your emotions again.

"Raindrops, Rainbow Dash has something she would like to say to you," Twilight said, nudging Rainbow hard in the shoulder.

"Fine. Raindrops, I should not have fired you for a single minor infraction," Rainbow sing-songs, and you get the feeling she's heard the phrase 'single minor infraction' several times in her conversation with Twilight. "But seriously, I expect you on time in future, okay?"

"Does that mean I have my job back?" you can't help but grin and Rainbow rolls her eyes at you. 

"Yeah, whatever. Now if you really want to get in my good books you'll help me out with something today, okay? There might be a shift manager position opening up soon and Cloud Kicker's making a real case for it. I'm going to put you working under her today." She sees your expression and snorts at you.

"Yeah, I know you don't like her, okay? That's why I want to see how she manages you. If she's a total hardflank on you but not on everypony else then she's no good for the job. So do me a solid and go do your job."

"Yes boss!" You throw her a sloppy salute and take off towards the knot of pegasi you can see in the clouds. Yeah, Cloud Kicker's a bit of a tool, but you're back on the team. Even she can't puncture your good mood today. Probably. As you soar in close, you see that she's arranged the seventeen ponies in front of her into two groups of four and one of three. You soar quietly into position behind the group of three, evening them out, and Cloud Kicker notices as you arrive.

"Good of you to join us, Dropsy! Blossomforth's in charge of your group- she'll pass on instructions to you. Everypony, you've got your jobs- move out!" You hate that nickname, and Cloud Kicker knows it. Blossomforth's alright, though.

"We're trying a big sweep," she explains to you as you fly towards your positions and you can tell from her voice that she doesn't think it's a good idea. As she details the plan, you start to agree- Cloud Kicker's trying to pull a big, complicated maneuver here. It's a gutsy move but half of these pegasi are volunteers for the wrap up; there's no way they're going to have the experience or the skills to pull this off right, and if somepony loses their nerve you could end up with a tornado on your hands.

Cloud Kicker's supposed to be in charge- you can see her getting some ponies into position a couple of hundred yards away. She's not likely to listen to you if you bring this up; but if you don't somepony could really get hurt.

Please put requests for Raindrops' actions in the comments below!

To go back a step, Click here for Chapter 26.