Chapter 49
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash arrived in Ponyville just before dark. They first went to see Rarity so that Fluttershy could give her the orders from Cloudsdale. Rarity was recovered from her nearly sleepless night and was pleased with Fluttershy's progress. Four shops had ordered flight suits for sale and two others wanted to discuss licensing Rarity's designs.Rainbow Dash looked around the shop while they talked.
“Don't worry, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity, “I'll still do your suit next.”
“Huh?” said Rainbow, coming back from her own thoughts, “Oh, yeah, thanks Rarity. I really appreciate it. I'd like to take one along to show Mr. Immelmane next week. Uh, can I ask you two something?”
“Of course, darling,” said Rarity, “what's on your mind?”
“Sure,” added Fluttershy, “what would you like to know?”
“It's about Firewing,” said Rainbow Dash. “I know you both seem to like her but do you consider her a friend?”
“I do,” said Fluttershy, “she's gone out of her way to help me learn sky dancing, not to mention what she did for you last week. Yes, she's a real friend.”
“I agree,” said Rarity, “besides, we need somepony to look after you when we're not around. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, just curious,” said Rainbow Dash, “I just wanted my new friends to get along with my old friends, that's all.”
They chatted a little longer but Rainbow Dash wanted to call it a night. She said goodnight to Fluttershy and Rarity and headed for home. Her bed felt warm and welcoming after the tiring day of flying and the inquiry. Sleep found her quickly.
* * *
Rainbow Dash was awakened the next day by a knock at her door. Still groggy, she answered it and found the Weather Team on her front porch.
“Good morning,” said Cloudchaser, “sorry to wake you but we were wondering, who is in charge now?”
Rainbow Dash had a hard time understanding this and it wasn't caused by her just being woken up from a sound sleep. “You haven't elected a new leader yet?” she asked.
Several of the team shook their heads. Rainbow Dash was surprised by this and woke up fully.
“Well why not?” asked Dash. “It can't be that hard to pick a new leader. Nominate some pony and take a vote.”
“It isn't that,” said Cloudchaser. “We talked about it and some of us are good at doing different parts of the job but no pony is good at all the parts of the job.”
“Yeah,” said Thunderlane, “and we added another pony to the team to replace the one that will be the new leader but we don't know quite where to put her.”
“I thought I trained you guys better than this,” said Dash. “Thunderlane, you and Cloudchaser are great at cloud busting and weather control. I think one of you should lead, if you want my opinion. All you have to do is get better at the scheduling and paperwork. Now, who's the new pony?” She scanned the team for a new face and found one. “Oh, no,” she said so softly that no pony else heard.
“Derpy here signed up first,” said Cloudchaser, “so we thought we'd give her a chance.”
Rainbow Dash shook off the vision of the smoldering ruins of Ponyville under a blanket of snow that entered her mind. She thought for a moment. “Okay,” she said at last, “why not try this; Thunderlane will lead a week and Cloudchaser will lead the next week and you can vote when it's all done. Since neither of you like the paperwork side of things, we'll let Derpy handle that. Derpy, meet me at Town Hall in an hour and I'll go over what you'll need to do. Does that sound good to everypony?”
There were no objections so Thunderlane led the weather ponies off to work. Rainbow Dash went back inside and flopped down on her bed. She couldn't sleep as she had to meet Derpy in an hour and she wondered what she'd been thinking when she thought of putting her in charge of the paperwork. At least she wouldn't be flying around where she could cause real damage.
Dash didn't stay in bed long and soon arose. Hunger as much as the unexpected trouble from the weather team drove her from her comfortable bed. She shook out her mane in front of her mirror. She missed Firewing giving her a brushing and laughed a little at the thought. She headed down to Sugarcube Corner for some food.
Pinky Pie greeted Rainbow Dash as she walked in the door. Aside from a customer at a table in the corner, they were alone. After ordering a couple of muffins to go, Rainbow Dash asked Pinky Pie what she thought about Firewing.
“Firewing?” said Pinky Pie with a giggle, “I think she's great. She's so nice to be around. I can see why you like her. And she has a great sense of humor. She reminds me of you a lot, except without the boasting.”
“Uh, Yeah,” replied Dash. “So you would say that you consider her a friend?”
“Of course I'd totally say that,” said Pinky Pie. “Why?”
“I just wondered,” said Rainbow Dash, “I'm glad that you feel that way. It's a load off my mind.”
“You can unload your mind on me anytime you want,” said Pinky Pie. “When is she coming back?”
“A week from next Tuesday,” said Dash. “Frost will be coming too. We'll be working together until the weekend.”
“Great!” shouted Pinky Pie, “I'll plan on having a party! What day would be good?”
Rainbow Dash was expecting this. “Why not make it for Wednesday night? We'll be working a lot but Firewing and Frost will probably be tired on Tuesday from the travel. Don't make it too big, okay? Not like for the whole town or anything.”
“Sure, Dashie,” said Pinkie Pie, “maybe just Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, Spike, you, me and your two new friends.”
“That would be great,” replied Dash. “Like I said, we have a lot of work to do that week. I'll see you later Pinky Pie.”
“Bye, Dashie,” said Pinky, “stop by after lunch, Mrs. Cake is making cupcakes and it's a new recipe.”
“I'll do that Pinky,” said Dash, “I have to go now. I have to make a couple more stops before I meet Derpy at Town Hall. Later.”
Rainbow Dash left and went to where Applejack usually set up her stand. It was early and the market was nearly empty. Applejack smiled as she saw her friend approach.
“Mornin' RD,” said Applejack, “I didn't expect to see you this early.”
“Me neither,” said Dash, “the weather team is having a little trouble moving on so I'm helping them get started. How about a bottle of applejuice?”
“Sure thing Rainbow,” said Applejack getting a bottle from a box. “Anything else this mornin'?”
“Not right now but I'll be back later for a few apples,” said Dash. “You can answer a question for me though. What do you think of Firewing? Do you consider her your friend?”
“Well sure, Rainbow,” said Applejack in a confused tone. “What kind of question is that? I guess I don't know her as well as you do but from what I could tell she's a right nice pony. She cares enough about you to sacrifice her own career to keep you safe. That takes a lot of guts and loyalty if you ask me.”
“Thanks AJ,” said Dash with a smile, “I'll see you later. I have to go see Derpy and I want to eat breakfast first.”
“Sure, RD,” said Applejack, “I'll set some of my best apples aside for you.”
Rainbow Dash left the market and found a quiet corner of the park where she had a quiet outdoor breakfast and thought about what her friends had said. It was as she thought, all of her friends liked Firewing. Applejack's comment about loyalty really struck a chord too. Maybe if Firewing had lived in Ponyville, she would have been chosen as the Element of Loyalty instead of her. It seemed to Dash that she had made a good choice. She finished her breakfast and went to meet with Derpy.
It was like the soft hearted Cloudchaser to give the town's most inept flier a chance to make the weather team. The rest of the team would go along with it at least until she messed up. Now, however, it was up to Rainbow Dash to find a place for her. She took a deep breath, went into the Town Hall and made her way to the Weather office.
Derpy was already inside, sitting quietly by the window. She got up as Dash entered, knocking a cushion onto the floor.
“Hi, Rainbow Dash,” said the blond maned pony, “thanks for giving me this chance. I'll really try my best.”
Rainbow Dash found her mood softened by Derpy's enthusiasm. There was something about that smiling face with the eyes that were never on the same page that made even the hot tempered pegasus give her more than her share of breaks.
“That's okay Derpy,” said Dash, “I'm going to show you what you need to do and I need to look up a few things in the regulation book. Just try to pay attention.”
“Sure thing Rainbow Dash,” said Derpy.
Rainbow Dash showed her the schedules and stacks of various forms that she would need when dealing with the headquarters in Cloudsdale. She gave a demonstration of how she made up the scedules, kept track of vacations, who to contact in case of emergencies and the myriad other small details it took to run the weather in Ponyville. At last she dug out the massive book of regulations that every weather team in Equestria was required to keep on hoof.
“This is the our guide for all that we do,” explained Rainbow Dash. “Practically every type of weather and personnel situation is covered in here.”
“I know,” said Derpy, “I've been studying it. I've read the whole thing. Twilight Sparkle has a copy at the library.”
“Really? You read the whole thing?” said Rainbow Dash in surprise. She certainly had never read the entire book, only using it when she needed to look up something specific.
“Yep!” replied Derpy, “I knew I'd get a chance to be on the weather team someday and I wanted to be ready.”
“That's uh great Derpy,” said Dash. “I don't suppose you'd know where I can find out how many ponies we can have on our team, do you?”
Derpy thought for a moment. “Chapter Ten, Section Seven, Subsection B,” said Derpy, “and the calculation table is in the back. I already checked it out. We're allowed to hire three more ponies, if we can prove that we need them. If we fill out the 1235A and 719 short form, we can probably get them.”
“How can that be?” asked Dash, stunned, “Ponyville isn't that large.”
“There's a clause in subsection B that allows us to claim the territory within twenty miles of town as part of the town,” said Derpy.
“But nopony lives that far from town,” said Dash. “That would even include part of the Everfree Forest!”
“It doesn't matter,” said Derpy, “if we claim the territory, we can get more ponies.”
“Okay,” said Dash, “go ahead and fill out the forms. I'll send a letter of resignation to HQ myself. They already know about me leaving my position through the Wonderbolts but I suppose that I should do it anyway. The schedule will be a little flaky until the team decides who they want to lead them but just talk to Thunderlane and Cloudchaser and work with them on that. For now, fill out a 141-6 for yourself so you'll get paid.”
“Who will sign it?” asked Derpy. “Until we get a new leader, you're still in charge. You could fill out a provisional leader form, 1812-L I think, and designate Thunderlane as a temporary leader.”
“Yeah,” said Dash, “do that too. I'll be back this afternoon to sign everything. And if you think of anything else, write it down and we'll talk about it then. Good luck, Derpy. I think you may have just found your perfect niche.”