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// Prologue - Stand Up! Hook Up! 
// Story: Adventures in the Weather Patrol 
// by Blade Star 
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I stood on the precipice. Far below I could see the small town which I called my home. Beyond that, the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside, and beyond that, the vast mountain that dominated the valley. It all looked pretty small from up here. At a rough guess, I’d say there was at least a six thousand foot drop, just one step away. It was quiet up here too. At this time of the morning, when the sun hadn’t yet warmed the air up, everything was calm and still, if a little chilly.  

    Still, I loved this time of the morning; clear skies almost all to myself for miles around. I slowed my breathing a little. No matter how many times I do this, there’s always that residual bit of fear in the back of my mind; the part of me that says this isn’t a good idea. But I know what I’m doing. I’ve done this hundreds of times and I’m still here. I felt a smile form on my face. 

    I took one last deep breath, and then, with a single, graceful bound, I leapt into the abyss.  

    The first thing that happens is that drop; gravity wants you back downstairs and your guts are happy to follow. After that, the air starts pounding against you as you pick up speed. The slight chill turns to biting cold in a heartbeat. Eventually though, it begins to ease off; you hit terminal velocity. The ground rushes up to meet you pretty sharpish; what used to be just a speck now almost fills your vision.  

    I counted in my head. One. Two. Three.  

    And then I opened my wings.  

    My descent slowed, the winds stopped nipping at me, and suddenly, it was as if I was just walking on the air. That’s as good a description of flying as any I suppose.  

     The speed I picked up in my dive now turned to forward momentum. I was shooting over the treetops at a heck of a pace. Every slight twitch of my wings affected my pitch and bank. It’s certainly different to the artificial feeling of flying an aeroplane. You are the plane.  

    Dashing over the treetops, I sped over streams, open fields, and the houses of still sleeping ponies. I though, was wide awake now. There’s nothing like giving gravity the middle feather to get yourself up and about and get your blood pumping.  

    Pulling myself up, I zoom climbed back towards the clouds. Picking one of suitable size, I made my way towards it, pulling up and loosing speed as I went. Just as I found myself above it, my speed ran out. Instinctively, I flapped my wings to stay up in the air, and a moment later I settled on the soft, fluffy white surface of the cloud.  

    I was awake now.  

    Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is Elisabeth. With an ‘S’. You send me a letter with a ‘Z’ in my name and I’ll insert it up your…never mind. Just remember that, will you? As you might have guessed, I’m not a human. I used to be. Up until a year ago, I was your average teenage girl. Now though, thanks partly to a weird portal that I still don’t understand, and partly to my best friend’s jerk roommate, I’m a pegasus. A pegasus pony to be more precise. I could explain how I’m now stuck in a world based off some little girls’ TV show, but you’ve heard all that before, haven’t you? Suffice it to say, that I now live in Equestria, along with the rest of my family.  

    My parents both got pulled through the strange portal with me, although we were separated for a little while when we first got here. They’re both still human and live in their own house in Ponyville. My Mum’s a teacher at the elementary school, and my Dad works for the princesses, the rulers of Equestria, up in Canterlot; that’s the capital. 

     Then, there’s my older brother; Bones. Well, the name he gave himself when he got here was Blade Star, but everypony around here tends to call him Bones instead. It sounds less stupid if you ask me. He didn’t used to be called either though. He only changed it because, while we stayed human when we came through the portal, he got turned into a pony right off the bat. Unlike me though, he’s a unicorn, complete with magic. He lives with his sort of girlfriend Applejack and her family on their farm; Sweet Apple Acres.  

    I’d been here a few months, living with my roommate and friend, Fluttershy, in her cottage, just on the edge of the Everfree Forest. She’s a pegasus pony too, although she doesn’t fly as much as I do; she prefers to stay on the ground. Anyway, I helped her look after all the animals she takes care of, although I was somewhat limited at times, because I couldn’t fly. 

     Well, it just so happens, that one of Fluttershy’s friends is also an immortal spirit of chaos, because that’s a thing here. One offhand comment to him and poof, the next morning I wake up as I am now; a pegasus pony with a dark blue coat and a brunette coloured mane and tail; it’s actually not too different to my old hair really.  

    Originally, I was only meant to be stuck like that for a week. That was Discord’s idea of a practical joke. But to be honest, being one of only three humans in the world wasn’t exactly fun. Like I said before, I was a bit handicapped. By the end of that week, I’d learned (sort of) how to fly and a friend of a friend had even offered me a job to earn some money. So, since Discord could undo the spell anytime anyway, I asked him not to undo it for the time being. It’s been six months, and I haven’t looked back.  

     My job is working as a member of Ponyville’s Weather Patrol. Pegasus ponies you see, in addition to flying, can also walk on clouds, and manipulate the weather. In Equestria, weather is tightly controlled, rather than being simply left to chance. That way, crops get water when they need it, it snows in the winter, and we avoid crazy weather like storms and hurricanes, unless we need them of course. 

    I’ve been working with my boss, Rainbow Dash, since she offered me some work. She’s been tutoring me, both on flying and on how weather works here in this land of magical technicolour ponies. Along with the rest of our patrol flight, we work to keep the weather around Ponyville under control and on schedule.  

    It wasn’t the job I expected to get, but I actually enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun and the pay is pretty good too for a blue collar nine to five job. It’s a lot of fun too at times. Let me tell you some of my more interesting stories.