Chapter 2
Head in the Clouds
I wonder what's going to happen first, Taylor Talker pondered as he rose to the pegasi's meeting spot for the weather team. I hope the local weather manager isn't too upset with my delay.
Taylor could hear orders being shouted by a somewhat-cracking voice as he neared the hovering group of blue-vested ponies in the midst of the brisk winter sky. Falling in on the edge of the crowd, Taylor could see the pegasus giving the orders was a rainbow-maned mare with a cyan coat. Taylor was reminded of the rainbow that flashed in the crowd earlier, but decided to keep any comments of the event to himself, lest he regret it under an even heavier work load.
"Hey, you: new guy!"
The cracking voice broke Taylor from his reverie with a jolt. After pausing to laugh for a second, the cyan mare continued. "What wingpower can you hold?"
"Twenty one wingpower," Taylor responded mechanically.
"Good, we're going to need it for the cyclone we use to sweep these clouds out of here. First, we need to break down some of the larger clouds to more manageable sizes. So, I'm assigning you to team eight, I want you to join your two teammates on the north side of town taking care of the cumulonimbus clouds we had up there for yesterday's snowstorm. Any questions?"
"No." Taylor responded simply, taking off north.
"Now get over there in ten seconds flat," shouted the rainbow maned pegasus behind him before turning back to address the others.
Ten seconds flat? Surely, she's joking. It's another 3 miles before I reach that area. Nevertheless, Taylor flew as fast as he could, landing his first buck on a cumulonimbus in a surprising 29 seconds, his speed having been aided by a steady descent on the journey. Taylor grinned at the satisfying pop and poof he heard as a decent chunk dispersed into small bits. Taylor began to wonder about his teammates as he continued his work. I wonder where my teammates are, anyhow. Maybe they started on the far side so they could work their way--
“YEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH!” Taylor heard bellowed nearby. Taylor was so startled he completely missed his next buck. That was his last worry though. A cumulonimbus thunderhead nearby suddenly burst asunder, and Taylor was seriously considering hiding in the cloud behind him, but then he heard another voice.
“Good work, Snowflake,” a much more managed, but still excited voice replied. “We'll have this done in no time at this rate! Hey, that one next, looks like some work's already been done on it.”
Taylor didn't think in the next few seconds, instinct to survive took over. A stark white pegasus: terribly muscular, mouth foaming, and eyes blaring red, was charging straight at Taylor, moving toward the cloud behind him. All Taylor could do was react as though a train was about to hit him, although, it occurred later that that may have been less painful. Taylor closed his wings to drop beneath the rabid “iron horse” approaching him and spread his wings once safely out of contact range. The last part was a miscalculation. A terribly loud pop rang through the air as the cloud was destroyed behind him, but the rush of air was far too much for Taylor's flight skill, so he began to tumble through the air as the blat of air pressure met his wings from behind.
I'm falling, Taylor realized as his world became a tilt-a-whirl of bland colors. I can't recover, Taylor thought, realizing one of his wings was sprained and stuck straight open, adding to the pain. I need help. The ground was closer every time Taylor saw it now. “Help me!” Taylor shouted, his voice lost in the rush of air. Taylor closed his eyes and began to brace for impact, but felt a sharp pain through his body when he felt something under his forelegs jerk him in another direction before they could close against him.
“That, my friend,” stated the more pleasant voice from earlier, “was too close.” It took Taylor a few seconds to realize that he was no longer falling. He opened his eyes to see what was going on and noticed he was being carried to a cloud by a dark-coated pony with an oddly silver mane. Taylor felt like he had met this pony somewhere before. Taylor was placed on a small cumulus cloud before anypony spoke again.
“I'm sorry about that,” the pegasus continued, “my teammate and I got real carried away, huh? We're team eight on the weather team, and we were assigned to clear the larger clouds in this area.”
“Right,” Taylor groaned experimentally stretching his wing to measure the extent of the injury. Apparently, it was not one that would last past a good night's rest, but one that would have the pain to make up for it.
“I'm Taylor Talker, and I was just given orders to aid team eight and was working on the last cloud that cra-” Taylor was abruptly interrupted by a hoof in his mouth.
“Do NOT call him the 'C' word if you want that wing to be your only problem. He doesn't take kindly to that sort of thing. And you've seen what he can do when excited,” The other pony explained.
Taylor nodded and the other pony removed his hoof and spoke again, “I thought your speech was pretty cool, Mr. Talker,” Mr.? Taylor thought, “I'm sorry again about the wing. Guess we aren't making the best teammates right now, huh?”
Taylor heard an odd buzzing approaching and was surprised to see it belonged to the white pony from earlier, who was now approaching the other pony.
“How bad'd I get him Thunderlane?” came his oddly soft-spoken yet understandably gruff voice.
“Nohing to serious, I think. Right, guy?” Thunderlane questioned.
“No, just a sprain,” Taylor said, gesturing to his out-streched wing. “I won't be able to help you guys now though.”
“NNOOOOOOOOooo!” came a pained bellow from the white pony. “I hurt a teammate!”
Remind me to say only the most emotionally neutral thing possible around this pony, Taylor thought. “Well, I'll be fine soon enough. I'll just have to kind of sit out the weather-control team this year. I can go help some-pony else on the ground.” Taylor then noticed this ponies cutie-mark was a simple snowflake, just like that friend from a long time ago, but surely this couldn't be him. Wait, aren't all cutie marks unique?
Taylor wasn't left long to ponder on it. “Hey! I know that cutie mark,” The bulky pegasus exclaimed.
Not sure how much more my ears can take, Taylor mentally complained.
“I thought it was you when you said your name earlier! How've ya been buddy?” Taylor now found himself one-leg-hugged by this muscular titan.
“I'm sorry, but I'm not very good with faces,” Taylor explained.
“I wouldn't recognize me either after all that changed. It's me, pal: Snowflake.” Taylor nearly fell off the cloud in shock.
“Thunderlane,” Snowflake continued, “You know who this is right, the one who put you in your place way back when you used to be mean? 'Course, who'd guess you were ever mean now?” Snowflake laughed.
Thunderlane dropped his head a bit, “Yeah, I recognized him immediately, but I was kind of glad he didn't recognize me. New start and what not, you know?”
Taylor was speechless. For the first time in years, he simply did not have the words to fit the situation. All he could do was stare agape, no longer paying any attention to the pain in his wing.
“Hey, I thought you three would have this done in no time flat, and he you are, chatting!” Taylor recognized the voice behind him as belonging to the weather team leader. “I'm especially disappointed in you rookie! Wait, what the hay is up with your wing?”
Taylor turned to explain to her, but when he saw her face she had gained a faint blush. Odd, I didn't imagine that to be the face of a captain getting angry with me.
“Oh! I'm so sorry to point it out like that. Totally uncool of me to insult your interests,” she said hurriedly. The other two stallions were snickering and Snowflake patted Taylor's back.
Taylor couldn't understand what was going on about for the life of him, but he tried to roll with it so he could get the explanation for his apparent laziness out of the way.
“Thanks for that, I guess,” outright laughter exploded from the Stallions at this point, but Taylor new to keep speaking despite distraction, “but reason we're not working at the moment, Captain, is that my wing was damaged from an unexpected burst of air pressure, it's just a sprain right now, but that's keeping it sprung open.”
The laughter had died down and silence ensued for a few seconds before the blush spread to the rest of the captain's face. “Woah! I'm sorry about that! I had the way, way, way wrong idea!” The guys were consumed with boisterous laughter all over again. “Now grow up you two, and get back to work while I get him to Nurse Redheart, she's always busy this time of year, and you should be too!”
“Sure thing 'Captain', but now we know how your mind works, huh Snowflake? Catch ya later, Taylor.” Tunderlane laughed, taking off to the last few clouds.
“YEEEEAAAH!” Snowflake bellowed in what seemed to be a joking manner before booming into the next cloud.
“Come on,” Taylor heard the captain say while picking him up from behind to carry him to the ground. “How about not mentioning that little confusion back there?”
“I'm afraid I'm as confused as anypony right now,” Taylor replied honestly. He felt relief when his hooves touched the ground.
“Oh, um... that's fine then I guess,” the capaitn explained. “I'm Rainbow Dash by the way, and Nurse Redheart is this way.”