//------------------------------// // Mopping Up // Story: Adventures in Community Service // by Pigeonsmall //------------------------------// When put under pressure Dash knew she wasn’t a good liar. Even more so in those rare situations where she was wrong. She would crack in ways that would make Applejack balk at her weakness. “For now that part of the factory is quarantined for any unskilled personnel to sort through.  Still a lot of stray electricity, broken glass, unstable machinery...and all that...so yeaaa, as much as I hate to say this, you’re not allowed in there. What a shame.” Rainbowshine’s line of conversation trailed away, leaving Dash in the wake of their echoing footsteps. “Hey!” Shine looked over at Dash. “You wouldn't happen to know how to cook would you?” Dash frowned. “Umm.” “Nevermind just thought I’d ask.” Rainbowshine continued, “Anyway you’re on good ole cleaning duty.” Shine opened a small closet off the side of the hallway and pulled out a mop and bucket. “So for now you’ll be in the spring and summer sections for the next three weeks, scrubbing the walls, sweeping the floors,mucking out the rain containment vats,” Shine slid the cleaning supplies over to Dash. “Those vats can get really grimey,I mean, all that water came from lakes.” Rainbow sighed as she grabbed the bucket. “Don’t be so glum, star player. Maybe you can,uh, use this as some kind of wonderbolt training. Wax on wax off?” Shine chuckled, when Rainbow Dash’s sour expression dipped even further, it didn’t seem to have any ability to dampen the mirth. “Are you done?” “ Oh just one more thing,” Rainbowshine tapped the floor once. “Don’t try to clean this place in under ten seconds or whatever nonsense. There’s a lot of delicate pipes and stuff in these cloud walls that you could bust if you accidentally fly into them or something. I can only imagine how long you’ll be here if you break anything else.” Rainbowshine eyed her sternly.  “None of that ten seconds flat crap, Dash. Do it right.” “Fine” Rainbow Dash snorted, while dunking a rag into the bucket of hot sudsy water. “Are you done now?” Shine stifled a giggle. “Yes. I am.” Rainbowshine started towards the exit. “I’ll be back in an hour.” Then Rainbowshine went away, and Rainbow Dash started to clean. In an almost total silence, the passage of time felt slower than usual. Torturous even. No clocks on the wall to taunt her, the warm water in the bucket never cooled down as she polished the metal catwalks and scrubbed the cloudcrete walkways until she could see the ghost of her reflection staring back up at her from the opaque surface. The face watching her back seemed duller.  That was when she noticed a larger form appear in the reflection next to her. “What’s up?” Rainbow tried to shriek. It became a shrill squeal in her throat. “Uh- yeah, hey. What’s up.” Rainbow Dash reoriented herself, looking up to see the disgruntled yet amused look on Dumbbell’s face before turning away again to cough. “I’m good.” Dumbbell trotted around the immediate area, inspecting the floors and walkways with a keen eye. Dash felt a jolt of annoyance shoot through her. Who was this guy that he could just walk around casually like some kind of stiff nosed inspection pony, ready to boss her around or insult her ability to mop a floor? “Looks like you’re getting the job done.” His voice held a delightful hint of approval and for just a moment Dash thought she had passed his inspection. “Oh hey now, you missed something.” Dumbbell stood on one of the catwalks twenty feet above Rainbow Dash’s head, peering into a viewport into a room she could not see. “You forgot to clean the filtration vat.” Dash cringed and backed away. “That thing is disgusting!” Dumbbell blinked once, his expression betraying nothing. “Exactly why you’re supposed to clean it.” “By myself?” Dash asked with a disbelieving scowl, Dumbbell watched her calmly from the catwalk. “Yeeah, it’s your job.” Dumbbell pointed a hoof at her.  Dash knew she only had one option, and brought the bucket, mop, and scrubber up to the catwalk and looked through the porthole at the one thing she had been dreading since the start.  From her vantage point the filtration vat looked like a big empty mud hole, the sides dull and mottled from clots of dirt and whatever slimy residue, possibly three inches thick, was left behind after the pumps siphoned the groundwater to be purified. Rainbow Dash knocked her head against the window. “I’m gonna be here all day...” “It’s gonna suck,” Dumbbell nodded. “Smells like dead fish.” Dash grimaced. “Definitely.” She walked to the door leading to the filtration room. “At this rate, I’ll be spending the night in the rec room.”  She tossed the supplies in haphazardly and was halfway in when she heard the stallion snort. She turned to see Dumbbell  laughing spitefully. “Oh just suck it up and say it, Dash. You want me to help you, right?” She could hear the eye rolling exasperation pouring from his voice and it made her hackles shoot through the  cloud roof. “Hey I’m willing to lend a hoof, or else you’re gonna be here til lunch time tomorrow.” “Go away, Dumbbell.” Rainbow Dash could feel the disgusting heat of embarrassment spreading across her face, and she didn’t want him to see  it. “Come on, just admit it.” Dumbbell was adamant, closing the short gap between them, causing Rainbow Dash to crane her face away even further. “No I don’t.” she practically hissed as she turned to enter the room, so distracted that she didn’t see the mop she had carelessly thrown in ahead of her. The alarm bells went off too late as she tripped over the wooden handle and pitched forward. “Gah!” She saw the dark sludge running up to meet her when she felt her diaphragm being crushed in the grip of strong forehooves hauling her back over the edge of the vat. “Whoopsy Daisy, Crasher.” Dumbbell lowered Dash onto the catwalk, giving her a chance to exhale. Had he reacted just a moment late and she would have been coated in lake sludge as her face peeled along the bottom of the tank. Rainbow blanched and looked at the stallion, bashful. “Uh, thanks.” she fumbled with the mop and bucket  just to give her hooves something to do. “No problem.”  Their voices echoed briefly then died in the silence.  Rainbow Dash stood their watching him awkwardly, she tried to study his face, looking for malice or even just a little hostility but there was none. As that realization clicked, she felt her knees go weak and she sank into a sitting position on the catwalk, shoulders sagging she sighed dejectedly as Dumbbell sat beside her. “Look on the bright side,” he said. “At least Spitfire helped you out of a jam. You could be facing a lot worse.” A few alternative outcomes briefly flashed through Rainbow Dash’s mind. A few cold nights in jail? Or weeks in the Canterlot dungeons? Or maybe worse than both of those combined, she shivered, expulsion from the Wonderbolts. Rainbow gulped. “You have a point.” “And now that I saved you from  the most natural mud facial you never wanted,” Dumbbell tabbed the metal walkway a few times. “Are you gonna stop being stubborn and let me help you?” This time she didn’t take much convincing. “Yeah. I’ll go get the spare mop.” Cleaning the dirty filtration vat went on with little issue. The muck peeled under the stiff sponge mops like butter curling under a butter knife, a mental analogy that made Dash’s stomach do pancake flips more times than she could count, but in a way that made the process easier. “Oh and uh,” Dumbbell couldn’t hold back his grin. “Guess I shoulda told you that these vats are usually cleaned by two ponies.” Rainbow Dash gawked at him. “No really, ya think?” Dumbbell chuckled. “And Rainbowshine didn’t say anything either.” she grumbled darkly. “Why didn’t she help?.” “She could have,” Dumbbell answered. “But she asked me to do it instead, so I did,” he shrugged. “That’s sort of like helping. Isn’t it?” “In a snide backwards thinking way, yeah I guess.” With the grimy work done, the two ponies put up the equipment and went to wash their hooves.  April Showers met them halfway there with a little pep in her step. “Shine wanted me to tell you she’s gone on to the  cloudesseum.” Dumbbell nodded. “Alright, I’ll get there a little later.” “She left?” Rainbow pushed her way between the two ponies. “She said she’d come back to check!” April blinked once “Oh, Shine sent me.” she shrugged. “I was coming this way anyway so I didn’t see any problem with it,”  She looked up and around at the pipes, floors, and walls and nodded solidly.. “Looks like you did a good job too!” Dash’s body suddenly felt heavy. “If I have to scrub one more tile, the fur on my hooves is gonna fall off.” Dumbbell who had been sorting through some equipment glanced at a nearby wall clock. “Well looks like you’re in luck,” He grinned self importantly. “thanks to me, your shift ends early.” “Finally!” Rainbow Dash stood, shuffled off the white jacket, and pulled the heavy hard hat away from her mane, which now looked even more out of sorts than usual. “Any longer and I would have gone crazy!” Like a blue streak she put her factory work uniform away, and she was just about to leave before Dumbbell stopped her, blocking the exit. “Woah woah, woah there, Crashy,”  he said, amused by her sudden intense frown. “Where do you think you’re going?” “Uh, out?” she said. “Away from here. As far as possible?” she asked as she tried unsuccessfully to side step the stallion. “Let’s try this again,” Dumbbell slapped a hoof on Dash’s shoulder.  “Where do you think you’re going without me?” A dark mood started in. “What are you talking about?” Rainbow questioned, pulling away from his grip. “Don’t act like you forgot, Crash. You’re on probation, that means I have to keep an eye on you.” “Yeah, I know, while I’m at the factory-” “While you’re anywhere.” Dumbbell corrected. “What?” “Yep, remember what Spitfire said, you can’t leave Cloudsdale. At all.” “And I won’t!” “We, eh...,”  Dumbbell interrupted her, waving a hoof as if to weigh her sincerity. “can’t trust you on that.” April stepped forward, trying to  avoid looking directly at the dark coals burning in Dash’s eyes. “Eh, I mean, what he means, uh. You fly so fast, Rainbow Dash that...you could easily spend a few hours in Ponyville and come back to Cloudsdale before anypony ever realized you were gone.”  An awkward silence stretched between the three . “I’m sure the restriction will only last for a few days!” April searched for something satisfactory to say. “It will only last while we’re over Ponyville.” “Rules are rules.” Dumbbell backed her up. Dash deflated. She had no choice. But she still hated this. “Well if it isn't the force of nature herself, Hurricane Dash.” Dash looked up to see Rainbow Shine, who tended to just go by the name Shine, walking over to her with two cloud balls in tow, one bouncing lightly in her outstretched hoof, and another tucked under her foreleg. “ So I guess she finally finished scrubbing everything," Shine looked towards Dumbbell. "You made sure she did the ducts too, right?" "I had to keep showing her how to do it right but yeah, she did em." Dumbbell replied. "Wow, I'm sitting right here." Rainbow Dash's teeth were clenched. "Don't talk over me." "Sorry," Shine's attention returned to her. "You decided to join us for a game?” “Not like I had a choice.” Dash groaned, seeming uninterested, but Shine eyed her scrupulously. “Well you can always go back to your apartment and sulk if you don’t want to be here.” Before Dash could speak up, Dumbbell interrupted. “Nah she wants to be here. Just not with me.” He didn't bother to hide his grin and Rainbow’s mad smolder deepened. “I don’t need a chaperon.” "Oh you don't do you?” Shine blinked innocently. “If that were true then half the weather factory wouldn't be blown out right now, our jobs wouldn't be threatened, and you wouldn't be sitting here like a filly in time out,” Rainbow Dash didn't shirk away from these statements, she stared at Shine in defiance. “But,” Shine tossed the cloud ball high in the air, catching it deftly. “Unfortunately reality isn't so rosey now is it.” Rainbow Dash sat back, rolling her eyes and appearing disinterested. “I came here to play cloud ball, not so you can lambaste me.” “Well it’s about time you got one.” Shine sneered. “You've always been a pony used to getting whatever she wanted.” Dash’s wing feathers bristled as she stood up immediately. “What did you just say?” “I said messing up others just because they’re in your way isn't a new look from you, Rainbow Dash, and well,” Shine gave Dash a quick once over and wrinkled her nose. “It’s  just as rotten as usual.” Dumbbell shot an arm out, preventing Rainbow Dash from advancing on the other mare. He had become a literal wall between them. “Hey ladies, ladies! It's time to cool off our tail feathers. What did we come here for? To argue?” “I’m  definitely here to blow off some steam.” Shine replied. “And I’m here to play some cloud ball.” Rainbow Dash was still glaring at Shine as she stated this. “Looks like we can do both.” Dumbbell pulled one of the cloud balls away from Shine and forced it into Dash’s arms. “I really don’t feel like breaking up a fight, and I really don’t feel like watching you both at the same time. So whatever this stink is, handle it in the arena, you two, okay?” “Oh I’ll handle it in the arena alright.” Rainbowshine snorted and walked to the platform  leading into the open sky colosseum, before taking the leap she looks back at Dumbbell and Rainbow Dash. “Are you two coming or what?” “You ref.” Dash grumbled to Dumbbell as she pushed passed him, trying to beat Shine to the take off platform. She might have heard Dumbbell say something about regretting this but didn't really care to know. It was at some point during the practice matches when Rainbow Dash realized how much pain her wings were in. It had been a good two hours and a heavy throb like a broken tooth ached all the way along her humerus bone down to her primaries. “You guys, timeout.” Rainbow Dash called and some of the activity lessened on the cloudisseum, though most continued without any pause while she floated to a platform, rubbing her left shoulder  with a pained look. Above her April Showers caught the cloud ball and looked down at Dash. “Want us to wait for you?” she asked. Rainbow Dash palmed her shoulder then shook her head. “Nah, it’s good, I’m just going to rest my shoulder for a little bit.  Rainbow Dash went towards the benches and sat down with a heavy sigh. Only a moment later Dash felt the twinge of pain return, darting in and out of her sensory awareness like small yet intense pen needles. Just as she was about to head for the locker room to grab some muscle cream, Dumbbell landed in the stand next to her. “Need some help with that?” he asked, referencing her shoulder.  Dash shrugged. “Sure, you got something to rub on this?” “Just these miracle workers.”  Dash felt his hooves press into the tenderness of her trapezius muscle. “Oooh…ung…mm!” She clamped a hoof over her mouth, but the sensation was indescribable. The pain was just…leaving! Sliding away like hot oils down her neck, and out  through the tips of her wings. “Where did you learn how to do this?” She breathed sharply and scowled when Dumbbell chuckled behind her. “Just something I picked up from a masseuse who used to live up here a while ago, I think he lives in Ponyville now.” “Ah, okay.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t allot enough brain cells to completing her sentence as Dumbbell’s applications cut through her shoulder and wing pain like soft butter. “Looks like Shine did a real number on you. I don’t remember her playing this hard since flight school.” In the cloudisseum, Rainbowshine deflected a cloud ball with a gust of wind powerful enough that the twirling cloud mass shot back to the other side, and  straight through the opposite goal post before anypony could stop it. “She must have practiced a whole lot.” Dash mused. Dumbbell sat next to her when he finished her quick massage. A few minutes passed by as they watched the other players passing and maneuvering deftly through the air. “Yeah, we can barely get her to lift a finger in the cloud factory but out here she works like a dog,” he said. “Damn near every day since the last time you two had a 1 v 1 in the flight school arena.”  There was a pause, Rainbow felt her ear twitch in annoyance when an awkward beat of silence ran between them. Dumbbell continued. “Do you remember that day?” Rainbow Dash’s ears fell and a phantom pain ghosted across her back. “I remember,” she tugged absent-mindedly at a feather.  “You got me kicked out of school.” “That was the day after.” Dumbbell corrected. “After you broke Rainbowshine’s wing.” Rainbow Dash’s back arched.  “That was a long time ago, why bother bringing it up now?” The stallion rolled his eyes. “I know you’re practically blind, deaf, and dense, but you can’t tell me that you haven’t picked up on the very un friendshippy way Shine’s been around you since you’ve been here,”  He couldn’t help but smile. “She makes us look like the best of pals.” In fact Rainbowshine’s wing was broken once…but- “What happened back then isn’t important. It’s in the past.” she growled. “And I’m pretty sure Shine was trying to break my wings. What I did was in self defense.”  When Dumbbell’s grim expression failed to change she added. “She was trying to kill me.” “Oh yeah?” Dumbbell smirked, his eyes narrowing. “Pretty sure four years ago I was the one trying to kill you.” “As if you had a chance.” Rainbow Dash muttered. In the span of that exchange, the awkward mood soured into something deep and regrettable, something Rainbow Dash couldn’t sound the depths of.  She averted her eyes not wanting to face Dumbbell’s accusing gaze, that and she wouldn’t admit that she could not face it. “What’s bothering Shine is bothering me,” Dumbbell’s tone hardened.  “It’s bothering all of us. But she won’t tell us the truth. So I figured I might as well get the truth out of you.” “None of that was my fault.” she whispered.  Behind her Dumbbell snorted. “That’s not the way she tells it.” It was late evening when Dumbbell flew back to the apartment, a cloud of bemusement had followed him from the cloudesseum. He slipped the key back into his sling bag as he looked over the interior. From Friday evening to Monday night the place was usually empty at all but the most remote hours of the morning. At that moment it was quieter than a crypt since Hoops rarely if ever spent his free time at home, and for the most part, it was a mystery to Dumbbell just where he went or what he was doing. It was enough to concern him, but he struggled with the idea of it being any of his business to ask. Dumbbell tossed his bag onto the couch in the living room and went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out a ginger soda. Something cold with a sharp taste was just what he needed. He popped the top and tipped the bottle back. It wasn’t until that moment while savoring the drink that he noticed a light smell and a hissing sound behind him. He paused and looked over at the stove and saw the covered pot sitting on top of it, a small flame underneath, which was the source of the hiss. Slowly Dumbbell took another gulp of soda and walked over to the pot and the smell became more pronounced. Something like cooked barley or corn, but none of the other accompanying smells that came with activity in the kitchen. The things Hoops liked to eat usually filled the apartment with a smell so foul it was baffling, but now besides the mystery in the cooking pot, all he could detect was baking soda and detergent, the typical smells of a spic and span and unused kitchen. “That’s weird.” Dumbbell thought to himself as he leaned over the warm pot. It was dangerous, he was sure of it, but curiosity was getting the better of him. “You’re back! Awesome!” Dumbbell looked up and saw Hoops in the living room from over the bar. He was honestly surprised that Hoops was even there on a weekend, but looking at the pot gave him an idea. “Yo, Hoops,” Dumbbell moved away from the stove. “Are you making something?” Dumbbell rarely called anything Hoops did over a hot stove “cooking”. Maybe concocting, scalding, performing nuclear fission, as he learned a while ago, the hard way. “I’m going out soon.” was the answer. It felt like he was dodging the question. “Tonight?” Hoops glanced at a clock on the wall. “Iiin a couple of hours, yeah.” Dumbbell heard the bubbling ‘splorch’ of the contents in the pot and grimaced. “You’re not...feeding her are you?” he asked. “Well, actually I—” “I’m not gonna to be your guinea pig.” Dumbbell said all at once, lowering his head with a scowl, the way a cornered animal would. “Not again.” The sudden desperate reaction caused Hoop’s mouth to split into a grin, and then he laughed. “It’s not like that, dude! I’m taking her out.” Dumbbell felt the tension leave his feathers and he breathed a deep sigh. ‘Thank the light.’ “But I do need a favor.” Dumbbell was halfway out of the kitchen, soda in hoof when he stopped mid-step and inspected Hoops with a sideways glance. “I can’t cover for you tonight,” he stated. “I’ve got work in the morning.” “It’s not that, I’m fine tonight.” Hoops offered quickly. “It’s something I need for the day after tomorrow, and nothing too bad.” Dumbbell rolled his eyes. “Spit it out. What is it.” “I need you to take my place on the night shift!” “No way.” “Aaaawww come on, Dumbbell, you’d be doing me a huge favor if you do this for me!” “I can barely wake up early enough to get to the factory on time in the morning.” Dumbbell complained. “What makes you think I’d ever want to waste my perfectly good sleeping hours there?” He couldn’t believe what he was seeing...well maybe he could at least a fraction, but had to turn his head away in embarrassment when his friend started to grovel at his hooves. “So you want me to take your place during the night shift so you can go on a date...” he sighed. “Why didn’t you get this figured out way before now?” “It isn’t my fault,” Hoops whined in that way that always made Dumbbell grind his teeth together. “The manager just threw me on the night schedule yesterday, but I've already planned my date with Autumn Leaf!” “Another one?” Dumbbell asked. “Aren’t you going out to see her now?” “Actually I’m going out to see Calico.” Hoops admitted nervously. “But three days from now I got a date with Autumn.” Dumbbell dug his hoof into the carpet. “For the love of Neptune, you have got to be kidding!” Hoops slowly shook his head. “Nope.” “Then reschedule the other date!” “What?” Hoops leaped to his hooves, seemingly appalled. “I never reschedule!” He gave Dumbbell a look as if to signify he should know better. “I’ve got a reputation to keep up, you know.” He shrugged. "Besides, I've already got reservations." “Heh, right.” Dumbbell couldn’t help but raise a sardonic smile. “Tell that to Honey Rays.” “That’s not fair,” Hoops groaned and looked away, wings drooping. “That was different.” Dumbbell knew Honey Rays was crazy, but he wasn’t in a pitying mood. “Sure it was.” But he had taken a moment to think about Hoops’ request, as last minute as it was, there could be benefits. The night shift was just a skeleton crew, meaning he would almost have free reign of the place and more free time to have to himself if he wanted. On top of that those aggravating protesters wouldn’t be around, plus the easy pay would be nice. Hoops flopped backwards onto the plush couch and pulled a pillow down over his face, after a couple of deep sighs he started to mumble through it. “Ok, fine...I’ll just call up Autumn Leaf and...reschedule,” he sounded so pitiful that Dumbbell decided against letting him suffer any longer. It’d be better to end this quickly. “Fine.” But then he added with no affection in his voice. “What's in it for me?” Hoops' shoulders rose in a shrug as he mumbled through the pillow again. “My paycheck, I don’t need it.” And that was all Dumbbell needed to hear. “Deal.” Hoops flung himself off the couch a little too fast and almost tripped over the coffee table in front of him. “Really? Aw dude you’re the best!” He moved forward to wrap Dumbbell in a big hug. “A real pal!” Dumbbell only realized too late that he should have dodged before Hoops was on top of him, crushing him into a bear hug. He wasn’t prepared for the weight and nearly fell over. “Ugh, get off me ya big fog headed lame-brain!” As it turned out Rainbow Dash was also assigned the night shift. Rainbow Dash reached the cloud depot and flew out into open air. The depot itself was a large room on the west side of the rainbow factory complex, sifted clouds through pipes, that eventually floated out of a gigantic upturned funnel on the outside. Ten other ponies were already hovering around the mouth of the funnel with their nets stretched over the holes to catch the light fluffy clouds as they drifted out and carried them into the open sky. These would be the last batch of clouds for the winter. Dash looked out across the factory’s expanse and saw something startling. The sound of chanting  was unmistakable. “Nature is Not for Profit!” “Say No to Engineered Weather!” “Don’t Stop the Natural Order!” “Who are those guys?” She asked Dumbbell who flew up beside her. “Oh great, look whos here.” Dumbbell muttered with begrudging recognition. “Hey Shine!” he shouted. “Look, the protest pigeons are back!” This surprised Rainbowshine who turned around. From her position near the depot Dash saw at least a dozen forms settling atop one of the suspended glass walkways. Half of them were holding big white signposts covered in bold black writing above their heads.  They drifted in from whatever odd corner they came from, in small segments and flocks like migrating birds gathering at some ancient meeting place. For these pegasi that place was the weather factory. There were more of them that night, huddled but a street width away from the front entrance. Enough for the workers to get inside without feeling like they were about to get swarmed. She couldn’t understand why they were doing this. Surely they had day jobs. “Oh no, not these guys again.” Rainbowshine groaned. “Hey Dumbbell, quick! Sic Dash on them.” Dash didn’t acknowledge her insult. If the ponies on top of the walkway heard her they didn’t seem to take the hint causing the indigo mare to groan in resignation. “That’s just what we need.” Her voice ran thick with annoyance. A few of the other weather ponies saw the gathering on the bridge and flew closer to get a better look. “Oh no, not them again — do you see them too?” Merry May  flew over head toward the smattering yet growing congregation. “You are not allowed in this area!” May flew forward in an authoritative stance. “This is weather management property and airspace, please leave!” None of the protesters moved and started chanting as if the mare’s approach was the signal to start. The weather mare tried again in vain to get the protest ponies to listen to her but they took no notice. “Don’t waste your voice on them, May.” said Shine. Dumbbell nodded in agreement. “Yeah it’s not worth it.” “It’s a good thing this isn’t storm season when these clouds would be full of electricity...” Merry May turned back, rubbing her temples in frustration. “I remember that debacle from last year. That stallion was in a coma for six weeks, what a mess! And to think they were starting to slow down! That is until that psycho decided to blow a hole in the place!” There was a loud obvious cough and Merry May turned around to see Shine chuckling icily, Dumbbell broke eye contact and whistled nonchalantly, as a very downtrodden looking Rainbow Dash stood between them. May’s wings flared up in fright until she realized she had been overheard. “Um. Sorry, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Guess I deserve that. Don’t worry about it.” she tilted her head slightly. “So what exactly is a naturist?” “The worst kind of pony.” May answered. “They want weather to happen on its own.” She rotated a hoof flippantly. “Naturally!” Dash noticed the wording on some of the signs. “Wow, seriously?” “Truly chaotic. They sit out here all day harassing the workers and generally being a nuisance.” she sighed. “I’m going to the office about them, nobody let those ponies throw you off task, your duties are the same as always.” “They aren’t as chaotic as some ponies.” Rainbow Shine mentioned icily, her head tilting slightly in the direction of Rainbow Dash who could do nothing but bristle in embarrassment. “Welp let's get to work and leave the buzzards to security.” Dumbbell’s forced cheer breaking the tension before grabbing Shine’s’ attention and flying to the funnel, where another big poofy cloud peaked like a giant cotton ball, bellowing gently over the sides. Rainbow Dash followed Merry May inside, dreading all the cleaning that awaited her.