//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Prelude to "Operation Storm Breaker" // Story: 10 Days, 3 Adventures - Part 3 - "Cloudsdale Reunion" // by TP Night //------------------------------// On the upside, the factory suddenly went black. All machinery stopped, and all lights went dark. Factory workers were prepared, and immediately started flashlights, head-lamps, lighted candles, shook life into some glow-crystals. Author's Note: Glow-Crystals were invented and are now provided by a group of unicorns in Canterlot, who came up with a spell to bind glow-enchantments in gemstones, to be used as lamps. Simply shake to 'activate', and shake again to 'deactivate'. No external magic required, thus they can be used by anyone, not just unicorns. All required magic is already embedded into the gem itself when produced, meaning only unicorns can make them, but any non-unicorns can use them once they're made. Now available for sale in most cities, for a (relatively) cheap price. Spitfire, who was currently in the main machine room at the time, grabbed and shook a crystal, and then called out to the workers. "Okay ponies, Looks like the generator-shut-off part of the plan was successful. Next step for you in here, is to start locating the trouble, and see what needs to be done, and then do it! Meanwhile, I'll be going outside to gather my Wonderbolts, and the Weather Ponies, and a few others who I consider qualified." She flew out, and landed in the center of the city, just outside Wonderbolt HQ. There, she was met by the Wonderbolts and Weatherponies, already prepared and ready for action. The 'bolts were all wearing their uniforms and goggles already down over their eyes, while the weatherponies were wearing similar goggles, and those with longer manes had them tied up in tight knots or ponytails, to get it out of their faces. As Spitfire landed, Rainbow Dash walked up to her, with her mane tied back. "Commander Spitfire. Rainbow Dash reporting for duty. The Bolts and Weather crews are all gathered and prepared. If the factory is down, we can get started within seconds, on your order, Ma'am." "...Don't call me Ma'am. And, good job getting the troops gathered, Dash. Now then..." Spitfire hovered up just above the crowd of ponies, and cleared her throat. "Hrm... NOW, Ponies! Wonderbolts, Weather Crews! You know what to do! Look around you! We have several weeks worth of bad weather to take care of! I promise you, this will not be fun. By the end, you'll all be exhausted. This is more work than we've ever done in one go, but we need to take care of this right away. It's a huge mess, and we're the clean-up crew!" Ponies were cheering and woo-ing, somepony whistled, and some clapped their hooves. Everyone had determined looks on their faces. They all knew what was to come, but nopony wanted to be anywhere else right now. This was their purpose, their time to shine, and they all knew it. Spitfire continued her speech. "...Now, You all know the plan. Divide into groups of three or four, take one section per group, and if you get done faster than expected, help the nearest group that isn't done yet, and continue like that until the skies are clear. The sky is covered tonight, So we can't see Lunas moon above us... But by the time the sun rises, I want to see that sunrise! Do I make myself clear?! We're going to buck those clouds to oblivion!" "YES, MA'AM!" The crowd replied in unison. Spitifre mumbled to herself, "I hate when they call me Ma'am... makes me sound old..." But then she yelled, "I can't hear you!" The crowd repeated, even louder, "YES, MA'AM!!!" And then she ended the speech. "Ponies! Initiate Operation Storm Breaker!" * * * "Dash." Spitfire said, stopping Rainbow Dash just before she was about to take off. "Yeah?" "One more thing. Before you set out to kick clouds, I need you to do another check-up round on the safe houses. Make sure everypony's still okay, and update them on the situation. Tell them the factory is offline, but the weather is still unsafe, so they'll need to stay inside a while longer, until you or someone else from the 'Bolts or weather crews tells them otherwise." "And when I'm done with that, I report back to you, and then I join the cloud-kicking?" "Exactly. You're the fastest flier I have here, so it makes the most sense to have you do the check-ups. Plus, you did the previous, so all the safe houses knows you." "Good point. Alright, I'm off. Better get it done as soon as possible!" Rainbow gave Spitfire a quick salute and sped away at near-top-speed, almost fast enough to leave a rainbow trail after her. Unfortunately for Rainbow, the closest safe house was the one she was least excited to go back to. The one with the rich snobs. "This will be fun..." she mumbled to herself as she flew. "Those wallet-heads will be sooo happy to hear they'll have to stay locked up another few hours..." She landed, and approached the door, knocking on it hard enough to be heard over the rain and whistling winds. The door opened, and one of the nicer ponies in the house stood in the door. "Oh, it's you. The weather pony. Here for another check-up, I guess?" he asked, in a relatively calm tone. "Yeah, and a update. First off, is everypony still unharmed in here?" "Well, the nobles are getting a bit tiresome, but other than them causing headaches with all their whining... No, nopony is hurt. Just tired and restless." "Good. As for the update... As you can see, the weather is still bad, but the factory has been shut down now, so we'll be able to start clearing the skies soon, we're making the final preparations and sending out teams now. However, due to the raw amount of clouds, and the varying types and sizes and strengths of them, even with several full teams, it's still gonna take us most of the night to get the skies clear enough for civilian safety, so our current aim is to have it done around sunrise... So I suggest you all try to get some sleep, but maybe take turns and sleeping, always keeping one or two of you awake just in case." "Yeah, I understand. I'll inform the ret in here, you go on to the next house." "Just you wait, Young mare!" A voice yelled out from inside the house. An elderly-sounding, very upset voice. "Oh Celestia no..." Dash mumbled, and facehoofed. The very rich elitist noble mare came literally marching toward the door, eyes bloodshot with anger. "You can not keep us locked up like hens in a hen-house! I demand you let us out right this instant! I heard you, the factory is off! And you're supposed to be a weather pony! You should easily be able to kick a few clouds, shouldn't you?!" "Yes... A few. But lady, look outside. We have LITERALLY A THOUSAND STORM CLOUDS out here, of all sizes and types! Look over there. That's a MONSOON CLOUD! And over there, to the left, you have a tropical thunder storm! and next to THAT, you have a level 4 snowfall and a tornado moving toward it, which will become a blizzard once they collide! And that's just the ones you can SEE FROM HERE! If you take one step off that porch, lady, you will quite literally blow away, get soaked, get frozen, and los in the dark, all at once, and by tomorrow you'll be found dead. IF you're found at all. I know this sounds really harsh, but it's the truth, and I think you need to hear it, lady. You are NOT trained, you're a civilian. Your wallet can NOT fix this problem. If you leave the house, you WILL almost certainly die, or at the very least end up in a hospital with severe injuries. If you stay inside, you'll survive unharmed, and you'll have a great story to tell your grandkids if you have any." The old mare was still fuming with anger, but at a complete loss for words. She had expected some arguing from the colorful mare, but not this much. So instead of arguing back, she simply snorted as loud as she could, raised her muzzle high in the air, and reluctantly walked back into the house. "Okay, I really, REALLY, need to leave now. Several more houses. And sooo may clouds to kick..." She pointed behind her. The stallion just nodded. "Go. I'll handle the angry lady. Don't tell anyone, but I have some... not-completely-legal plants, and I could brew some very relaxing tea from the leaves of the plant, and give it to her... Obviously NOT telling her what it's made from..." "Do it. I won't tell anyone." Dash winked, and flew off to the next house, to repeat the same process, minus the angry lady, and then repeat it a few more times, house by house. Eventually, she reached the house where Fluttershy, Gilda and Crescent were held up, and she knocked on the door. * * * A middle-aged stallion opened the door slightly, and peeked out through the opening. "Is it safe to come out yet?" he asked in a somewhat nervous tone. "Not yet, but it IS safe to open the door." Rainbow replied assuringly. The stallion hesitated for a second, and then slowly let the door open fully. Dash walked in, and closed it behind her. She looked around, and noticed Gilda still holding the table over the window. "Gilda! What's going on? Is everyone okay in here?" Gilda panted for a moment. "Y-yeah, we're all fine. I*m just a bit... tired... I've been holding this table to stop the hail storm. The window broke, and we needed to shield the hole somehow... this was the least bad of our options." "What about other ponies? Couldn't you take shifts or something?" "Nopony in here is as strong as me, and the table is heavy. Smaller tables wouldn't be enough to cover the whole hole. Entire window's busted. Glass shards everywhere, but that's cleaned up now." Rainbow looked around some more. "Flutters, Crescent?" She called out. From across the room, Crescent waved his hoof above the other ponies, and called back, "Over here, Dash. Far end of the room." Rainbow made her way through the crowd. "You two okay?" She asked as she got to her friends. "Yeah, Fluttershy hid under a bunch of sheets and a couple of pillows, and I've been sitting beside her so she wouldn't be alone while Gilda held the table over the broken window. She fell asleep though. I guess she got tired from everything that's happened. How are things outside?" "Well, the factory is shut down now, and we're currently starting the clean-up, but even with the 20 or so ponies we have on duty, it's still gonna take several hours, probably all night... our target is to have Cloudsdale safe for civilians by sunrise. Gonna be a tough job, but we're tough ponies." "Well, like the saying goes... 'When the going gets tough, The tough gets going'." Crescent said with a confident smile. He added, "I'm sure you and the other can handle this. You're weather ponies and Wonderbolts. The two toughest pegasus groups in Cloudsdale. The only ones who're as tough as you guys would be the pegasi unit of the Royal Guard in Canterlot." "That's mainly because most of those guys are former weather ponies or 'Bolts." Rainbow replied with a smirk. "Anyway, is everyone in here okay? No serious injuries, no sickness, no other trouble?" "Apart from the broken window and some ponies getting a few minor cuts from the glass... No, nothing serious. The cuts are patched up, no wound was serious enough for stitches, just band-aids and bandages. Gilda's getting tired though, but she's ridiculously stubborn and determined, and she's the only one strong enough to hold that table..." "Yeah, she told me. And I've knows her since grade school, so I know how stubborn she is once she sets her mind on something. Her body is gonna feel like Tartarus when this is over, but she can handle it. Also, I'm gonna see if I can get those hail clouds fixed as soon as possible, so she can rest..." "Yeah, that would be good." "Well, I gotta go. Keep the door closed, and keep the table up until I or someone else from the clean-up crew tells you the hail cloud is gone. I'll try to do it myself, but I have to go where I'm needed, you know. Group operation and all that." "Yeah, I understand." "But I'll tell Spitfire about the situation here, and ask her if we can prioritize the hail cloud here." "Thanks." "No Problem". With that, Rainbow dashed out from the house, and made her way back to Spitfire to report the status of the safe houses. On her way, she had to make a few quicker-than-usual turns to avoid winds and hail, and a small tornado that swooped past her, almost close enough to pull her in, but she just barely managed to make a quick upwards-left turn and avoid it with just a few inches to spare between herself and the tornados danger zone.