//------------------------------//
// Cloud Fluffing 
// Story: The Life Of Daisy 
// by WannaFlugelHorn 
//------------------------------//

"He couldn't have asked me just as I approached that stall?" Daisy grumbled, upset by Potting's amazingly horrible timing, a bag of fertilizer secured in her saddlebag. "It's not that hard. Just say 'Hello Daisy, the usual?', accept my bits, and be done with it. Talking is an after work activity, for Celestia's sake!"

On her walk back to Beautiful Blooms, Daisy had decided that this was the best time to vent about anything she pleased, her current situation at the forefront of her mind. She mumbled to herself a bit more, putting anything that came to her in front of the word 'stupid', as well as looked mindlessly around in hopes of finding a rock to kick. It took a surprisingly long time to find a stone that wasn't big or sharp enough to hurt her with each hit, or too small to properly keep track of. At last she came across a dark gray rock with streaks of brown and a lighter gray running through it, but as it turns out, the rock was taking commands from Tarturus. On it's third bounce it struck the ground as the wrong angle and went tumbling into the grass. Steam was practically flowing from Daisy's nose at this point. In fact, her mind was so foggy with angry thoughts that she almost didn't hear White Lightning call out her name.

"Daisy!"

Daisy looked around for a moment before barely spotting her friend among a cluster of clouds, her white coat and blue mane camouflaging her against the sky.  She was hovering silently in the air with her wings, which obviously did't speed up the search.

"O-oh, hi Whitey!"

"Um, sorry to bother you like this, but I just wanted to ask if you were okay," White said, clearly concerned. "You were kind of hunching down, and your muzzle was all scrunched up. So, um, what's wrong?"

"Everything is wrong." Daisy said with a sigh. "And I'd rather not talk about it."

"Um . . . okay . . ."

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, one second." White slowly fell to the ground, putting herself at eye level so they could talk easier. Daisy was very appreciative of this, as her neck was starting to grow hot from strain. White Lightning shook a bit of cloud fluff from her wings and fixed her mane a bit before starting her explanation.

"Well, um, you see," White started to explain, "Those clouds up there were used for rain yesterday, as you know, but they were worked with so much, they kind of smushed in on themselves, right? So my job is to fluff them back up."

Daisy nodded in understanding before taking a better look at the clouds above the Pegasus. It was as if the clouds were once filled with air, but had deflated, like an old balloon. Or perhaps a photo was taken of each cloud, and forced into a narrow picture frame. Not to mention the many divots, hills, swirls, and outcroppings usually found in clouds were few and far between, almost unnoticeable. Daisy was glad to hear they'd be returned to their cheery state, even if they wouldn't matter much to her on this particularly unfortunate day. They did arose a question, however, and Daisy began to wonder how long it took to finish each cloud. She decided to ask.

"Um, about fifteen minutes, I guess. Most of that time is used for the fluffing, not the little knobs of white you have to make."

"It takes you an hour to do four clouds?"

"Oh, yah, I guess so. It's kind of hard, getting them to look similar, but not the same. Otherwise they look kind of boring. Fake, even."

"I didn't know your job was so complicated."

"Yah . . ." White though for a moment before continuing. "Hey, do you mind if I walk around with you for a bit? Maybe back to the market? I could use a break. Only if it's okay with you."

"That would be great, actually. I could really use some company right now."

White Lightning shot into the sky and pushed the clouds she was to fluff together, making sure they wouldn't be greatly separated when she was finished with Daisy. Satisfied, she came back to the ground next to her pink friend before immediately backing away. She plugged her nose and gagged a bit before holding up her hoof, signaling she'd need a moment. White then dashed to the Cake's cookie stand (Daisy's trudging had caused her to walk a far smaller distance than she'd thought) and sucked in a large chunk of it's sweet, sugary smell before returning, approaching rather nervously.

"That was the fertilizer I just picked up," explained Daisy. "You should probably travel with me on my right side."

White Lightning opened her mouth to talk, even if more of a croak came out.

"Good to know . . ."