//------------------------------// // Tempest Takes A Job // Story: Orange and Blue, I Do (Book 3) // by LotusTeaDragon //------------------------------// CHAPTER FIVE “Tempest Takes A Job” It was a beautiful day, and Violet was so excited, she couldn’t help but almost skip on her way to Golden Oaks library, where she was starting her new job working as Twilight’s research assistant. It probably didn’t seem like much to some, but to Violet, it was the first major step in her efforts to make her life a successful and happy one. Unlike some of her friends in high school, Violet loved research. She loved studying, she loved the smell and feel of the books and scrolls as they passed underneath her hooves, and she delighted in the mental exercise it required to dig into page upon page of text, and to discover a hidden truth that was sitting right there in front of you the whole time. Those were the best secrets, the ones held right under your muzzle. She focused herself as she finally stopped, standing in front of the large library door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and took a step back. A few seconds passed, at which point she heard what sounded like the scratching claws against a door lock. The door flew open, and Violet lowered her gaze to see a purple dragon smiling at her. “Hello, Violet! Twilight’s been expecting you!” The tiny drake called out cheerfully. A moment later, he stifled a yawn. “Hi, Spike! Is it okay if I can come in, then?” Violet asked, her head tilting to the side, a bemused expression on her face. “Oh! Yeah, sure! Sorry, I guess I’m still a bit tired.” The young dragon moved to the side and let Violet in. As he closed the door behind her, he continued. “Twilight had me re-arranging everything last night. Something about a meteor and apology about some kind of something.” “Meteorological Occurrences and Atmospheric Anomalies.” Violet turned her head in the direction of the voice that had just entered the conversation. She saw Twilight coming up from the downstairs laboratory, goggles on her face, a clipboard held in her magic. “I’ve been studying the recent anomalies with the odd weather patterns coming out of the Everfree forest. It’s nothing major, I’m sure, but it is something that the Princess will want fully documented.” She smiled at Violet. “Are you ready to get started?” Violet nodded, at which point she heard a “here you go” from behind her, and turning, saw Spike approach her with a labcoat and goggles of her own. She saw magic take hold, and in seconds, the goggles were on her face, and the lab coat was around her barrel. She followed Twilight down the steps and into the spacious laboratory below the library. Violet was in awe as she saw tubes, pipes, electrodes, recording devices, reams of paper, and various oddly colored objects here and there, coming out of every corner of the lab, and there, in the center, stood a purple unicorn, jotting down notes, perfectly at home in her environment. Violet trotted over to where Twilight was standing, and waited. After a moment, Twilight looked up at her and smiled. Violet felt herself blush just a bit. She wasn’t accustomed to being the sole focus of somepony’s attention. “Here’s what I need you to do, Violet.” Twilight said as she cleared some space on the large table in front of her. “I need you to read through these journals left by Sea Sprite, the last meteorologist who had fully documented the weather patterns of the Everfree forest some seventy-five years ago. Obviously some things have changed since then, and I’m going to need you to take down relevant notes where his research differs from my own.” Twilight placed her own clipboard next to the cleared space she had made, as Spike walked downstairs with the books Violet would need to follow up on Twilight’s research. “Thanks, Spike,” Violet said as the drake dropped the pile of books on the table. “Hey, no prob, Violet. It’s pretty cool that you’ll be hangin’ around here now that you work for Twilight.” “I’m proud of you, Spike!” Twilight called from over her shoulder, while she was reading an old, dusty scroll. Violet cocked her head to the side, and looked at Spike. “What does she mean?” Spike began to recite the story about his past encounters with new assistants. “Ya know, I was more of a kid back then, I guess,” he said, scratching at the dirt with a clawed foot. “I’m much too old and mature to fall for that kind of jealousy anymore.” He said, sticking a claw to his puffed out chest. Twilight smiled as she turned toward the two of them. “Alright, Spike. Violet and I have some work to do. If you’d like, you could go get a few groceries while we work.” Spike began hopping up the steps, but stopped and turned before reaching the door. “Can I get some ice cream, too?” Twilight giggled. “You sure can, just make certain ponies can eat it too.” “Hey, it’s not my fault you won’t open your mind to Double Fudge Cream Quartz,” he retorted, before jumping the last couple of steps, and closing the door behind him. Twilight went back to her research, and Violet cracked open the first of many books, Meteorological Circumstances and Circumferences, hoping to pare down the ream of statistics to a workable, and simplified theory. As she turned to Twilight’s first set of notes, she took a moment to thank Celestia for her advanced Calculus courses. Twilight had filled every nook and cranny with volumes of figures, both abstract, and imaginary. She glanced over the second page, and saw more illustrations, figures, and estimations. She grabbed the quill with her mouth, and started reading the large tome in front of her, making comparisons, from time to time, and generally working to resolve the hypotheticals that were preventing further illumination into the matter by which Twilight had been digging so deeply to uncover. The day passed uneventfully. They took a break for lunch, and Twilight and Violet got to know one another better. Twilight regaled Violet with some of her adventures, and Violet told Twilight about her future, and what she hoped to do with her career options. That night, she went home late, which would be the norm when it came to Twilight and her research work, but her mind was full, though contented, and so after a quick snack, and a warm shower, she went to bed eager to begin the next day. Day 2 was more of the same. She got up, took a shower, had breakfast, and practically skipped off toward the library, ready to get started on her second day of research work with Twilight. Like the day before, Spike met her at the door, Twilight was already at work in the lab, and over lunch, they once again discussed different parts of one anothers lives, their hopes and dreams, and as they giggled over small jokes, Spike would occasionally roll his eyes at all the “cutesy” frou-frou silliness, though secretly he was happy to see Violet coming more out of her shell around them. Like the first day, Violet stayed late, finishing up the first draft on a lab test that had gone slightly wrong (a minor explosion caused both Twilight and Violet to be turned a light shade of green, and reeking of vinegar), much to Spike’s delight (he would go on to refer to them as the pickled pony pair for days). She went home, that night, happy and content, glad she was able to be useful for someone who was so intelligent, and such a kind pony. It was on Day 3, while cross referencing a theorem from a book titled Windy and Warm: An Observer’s Guide To Tropospheric Cyclical Phenomena, when she dropped her quill in surprise. She quickly checked the figures on her draw sheet, and then glanced back at the book she had open. Seeing that they matched, she looked up at the purple mare, who was studiously working on a chemical composition, a beaker in one grip of her magic, a vial in the other. “Um, Twilight?” she asked, “I hate to bother you, but can I ask you a question?” Twilight nodded without looking away from her work. “Sure, Violet! Ask any question you need. That’s what lab partners do.” Violet felt a warm pang of appreciation at Twilight’s casual inclusion of the young mare, but pushed forward before she lost her train of thought. “You told me that we were documenting the Everfree forest’s weather patterns, right?” Twilight nodded as she eyed the amino acid levels of a beaker sitting on a bunsen burner. “That’s right,” she said, and tapped the beaker. Violet watched as it changed from a sickly yellow to a bright cherry red. “Well,” Violet replied, “I was looking at your long form equation here, and to be blunt, it looks more like you’re preparing to manipulate the Everfree’s weather into something less dangerous.” Twilight turned toward her and smiled. “That’s right.” Violet took in a deep breath, and said rapidly, “but isn’t that dangerous? I mean, I know you wouldn’t put anypony in danger but I’m pretty sure messing with the Everfree’s weather pattern could result in very bad things happening.” She cringed, waiting for Twilight to get upset at her questioning the brilliant mare’s work. “Violet, are you okay?” Violet opened one eye, and saw a curious Twilight staring at her. A moment later, Violet opened the other eye, and relaxed slightly. “Aren’t you mad?” she asked the purple mare. Instead of showing concern at Violet’s impetuousness, Twilight simply smiled. “No, silly filly, why would I be mad?” Violet began blushing at her apparent faux pas. “Well,” she mumbled, while rubbing one foreleg with the other. “I thought you would be upset with some new upstart like me trying to second guess your work.” At this pronouncement, Twilight’s smile turned into a giggle. “Of course not! We’re partners. That means you asking questions when you need them, no matter what they’re about. I mean, I trust your judgment, Violet. Just the past two days alone have shown that you’re studious, disciplined, and very smart. I’m very happy to have you on the team.” She turned toward the clipboard and picked it up in her magic. “Yes,” she said as she flipped several pages, “one of my goals is not only to keep the Princess informed of the Everfree forest’s weather patterns as of late, but also to find a solution to the increasing storm activity. There’s-” A voice interrupted her from upstairs. “Twilight, Violet, it’s supper time!” A second later, Twilight’s stomach rumbled. “Oh my,” she giggled, “I guess it is time to get something to eat!” She motioned to Violet. “Come on up, and we can discuss this while we’re making our tummies stop growling!” After quickly washing up, they sat down at the dinner table, plates laid out before them, loaded down with daffodil sandwiches, baked cucumber slices, and hay fries. “This looks delicious, Spike!” Twilight said as she took a bite of her sandwich. Violet followed suit. Spike munched on some hay fries slathered with onion sauce, and sprinkled with peridot pieces. For a few minutes, the trio at in silence. Violet finally resumed her question from earlier. “So, Twilight, what are your plans for the Everfree forest?” Twilight finished a cucumber slice, and dabbed her muzzle with a napkin. “Well,” she began, “my theory is that there is a magical imbalance, perhaps resulting from an overabundance of output coming from the Everfree, and it’s causing havoc with local Equestrian weather.” Violet thought on this a moment before replying. “So what you’re saying, is that if we, I mean you, find a way to neutralize this source of high level magical output, the remaining magic should bleed back into the Everfree from the surrounding area-” “Reducing instability, that is correct.” Twilight finished, and then smiled. “That’s terrific, Violet! I mean, I knew you were smart, but I didn’t know you had such a grasp of the finer points of the physics behind it. I’m impressed!” Violet blushed hard. She turned away from Twilight and Spike. “Are you okay?” Violet nodded at the question. “Oh, I’m fine. I’m just not used to being heaped with praise by someone I respect so much.” Twilight grinned. “Aw, that’s so nice of you to say that! I really am lucky to have such a wonderful research assistant!” Spike made gagging motions with a claw. Violet felt warmth permeate every square centimeter of her body. Twilight looked down at their empty plates. “Well,” she asked as she looked up at a blushing Violet, “are we ready to get back to work? The Everfree won’t tell us the problem itself!” Violet grinned. “Ready when you are, partner.” (/)*(\)