//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Clouds On The Horizon // Story: Our Pasts That Haunt Us // by Dynasty-Kaine //------------------------------// One week later... It had been a rough week for Rainbow Dash at the weather office for Ponyville. Left and right, mistakes were happening, and they were quickly becoming dangerous. Just yesterday Cloud Kicker had lost control of a cloud she was handling and it had spiraled into town hall. Thunderheads were somehow going fully active with no triggers, and had managed to catch a few of the thunder wranglers off guard. On top of this week's problems, the cyan mare had just been approached by a Cloudsdale weather inspector. They now sat in a small office lined with filing cabinets, a couch, two guest chairs, and then Rainbow's paperwork cluttered desk. She sat behind her desk as the inspector gathered herself together, she had been working undercover apparently. "So Miss Dash." the plain white pegasus began sitting in the chair opposite Rainbow. "As you now know, I have been undercover watching how you run your Ponyville weather team. Before seeing it firsthand, I thought I would be amazed. Yet I am disappointed at what I've found." "I am aware this hasn't been the best of weeks for my team miss...?" Dash inquired formally. "Miss Sureshine." she replied easily setting her briefcase down beside her. "Yes, well, Miss Sureshine, for once I cannot offer much in the way of an explanation as to the failures we have suffered in the past week. We are still investigating the causes, and with such a small team to start with my resources are limited." The inspector nodded evenly, "The Cloudsdale factory is aware of such, and will be taking direct control of those investigations. As well as implementing the necessary changes to fix the problems within your offices." Rainbow was worried and unraveling inside at her situation, but on the outside maintained a cool expression. The way the inspector sat and spoke, there was no way for the cyan mare to tell if anything bad was going to happen. Maybe for once Cloudsdale was sending her the help she had been requesting for almost two years now. The inspector just sat there stoically, watching her, as if waiting for a good moment to say something. The white mare in front of her began to show tones of emotion as she began again, "Miss Dash, upon my arrival, here I found myself in a cafe. You may remember visiting it a week ago, the Hayseed Cafe?" "Um, yes, I do recall the cafe." the blue mare replied furrowing her brow in confusion. "Though. I don't see the significance of the topic Inspector Sureshine." The white mare flicked her light brown mane out of her face as she stood up casually, "It is of more importance than I'm sure you are aware of." She picked up her briefcase, sat it on Dash's desk, opened it, and pulled out a letter handing it to her. The rainbow haired mare looked at it incredulously, it looked like a formal letter of some sort from the hiring board in Cloudsdale. Her heart skipped a beat, it couldn't be what she thought it was, could it? "As I am sure, you are aware the Weather Factories of Equestria are all about maintaining their image." the inspector began. "In this we are a family focused company, and if my ears heard you correct a week ago...then your personal life does not fit with this company's views in the least." Rainbow narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean by my personal life doesn't 'fit' with the company's views?" "Simply put Miss Dash, your open declaration of affection for the same gender isn't looked kindly upon." "That is absurd!" Rainbow fumed before she shook the letter in her hand. "If this is a request for resignation based solely on the fact of MY personal choices outside of work, you can take this back to Cloudsdale and tell them to shove it! Who I choose to love is my business and it doesn't effect the company in the slightest!" The inspector's eyes grew serious, "Oh really now? I beg to differ on that topic. You have for the past week, reassigned tasks that only the manager is supposed to handle to others on your team just so you could simply leave on time. Rather than stay and finish the task that could turn into a massive problem later on down the line if done wrong." "I entrust the task to those on my team, that, I am full well understanding of their competency and performance levels." she defended. "That is not the point Miss Dash. It's volatile break of protocol in fact! From what I've seen, your lack of forethought has actually lead to more than half of the fifteen accidents this week! But you wouldn't know that because you never stayed a second past the time you were supposed to leave just to make sure the task was handled right." Dash simply grimaced in response, she actually couldn't counter this statement because it was true. "The letter you hold isn't a request for resignation, it's a letter of termination. From this day on, you are relieved from work as Ponyville's weather manager." Sureshine said in a subtle tone. "Your things are to be packed and out of this office within two days." Dash's jaw dropped in utter shock, "Wait they're firing me simply on my personal life? Won't that look bad for the company?" "You think so? Well why don't you read the letter before assuming their reason for firing you?" she replied with a cocked eyebrow. Rainbow looked at the letter in her hand and then reached over to open it with her other hand. She pulled it out and unfolded it and began reading. Dear Miss Rainbow Dash, It has been brought to our attention that, in the recent week, your management tactics have been less than satisfactory. At first, the Board had been willing to overlook this with your prior rates of execution, but of late with rates of accidents going up steadily in your sector, reconsideration was necessary. Accidents should be avoided at all costs for the company to prosper. In the past week you have had three Lightning Wrangler's sent on medical leave, and two Cloud Kickers sent on administrative leave for the nature of their mistakes. This string of issues must be dealt with swiftly, and after reviewing the dossiers sent by Mrs. Sureshine the Board has come to a conclusion. As of this moment the Board has voted to terminate your services as Manager of Ponyville weather services. You are to clean out your desk and office over the next two days before a replacement is sent to take over formally. We are sorry to have to take this action, but we hope you will understand it is nothing personal. However, we wish you well in your future endeavors. Sincerely, Downburst Head of Cloudsdale Safety and Weather Efficiency Board. By the end of the letter Dash was in tears. They were going to pin all the accidents on her and use it as reasoning to fire her. Completely covering up the real reason why they were doing it, and it was shattering her heart. She was always meant to be a weather pony, and now she wouldn't be able to follow that calling anymore because of who she was. Whatever reputation she had once had as an employee was destroyed in an instant with this. "Well then Miss Dash, I must take my leave now if I'm to make it back to the Cloudsdale office in time." Sureshine said with a bow. "Good day to you." "Yeah sure...great day..." Rainbow said with a dismissive wave of her hand before wiping her tears away. As the door closed behind the inspector the cyan mare leaned back in her chair in thought. She needed a new job now, or else she was going to have issues paying rent on her house. She had a reserve of money in savings, but she wasn't too sure how long that would last. Since it now had to cover all her expenses she tried doing the math in her head quickly. "Hm, so if I really buckled down on my money then I can make the savings last maybe one month to a month and a half." she paused putting a hand to her forehead. "That's if I'm obsessively watchful of my spending like Jackie usually..." Rainbow's eyes shot wide open in distress at the realization. They were going to be going out again tonight, and Dash concluded that she may have to cancel. She didn't know what to do about things now thinking about Applejack. There was time before their date though, and she concluded that maybe if she was lucky she could solve the problem before then. "Maybe Pinkie will have an idea for me. Though it's odd that I haven't heard from her in over a week..." Dash pondered aloud. She decided it would be better than nothing, and got up out of her chair. She went around straightening up and organizing her office to prepare for removal that she would handle tomorrow. She then headed out of the office and locked it as she went, putting her key's in the back pocket of her blue jeans as she walked away. As she left the office the few pegasi on desk duty looked at her curiously. Rainbow shrugged it off through her dark blue tank top and continued to Sugarcube Corner. Her office wasn't far from the Cake's confectionery, so it only took about five minutes to get there. Dash quickly noticed something off though, it was extremely busy. The Cake's seemed to be over their heads with work today, and she found herself wondering where Pinkie was in this chaos. She managed to get inside after a ten minute wait for the crowd to dissipate, and made a b-line for Mrs. Cake. "Wow I don't think I have ever seen it so packed in here Mrs. C, what's going on?" Dash asked with gentle humor. The pink maned mare replied with a look of anxiety, "Oh Rainbow dear, good to see you! To put it simply Pinkie hasn't showed up for work for about a week now. It is actually beginning to worry us where she got off to." She looked back in dejection, "Aw really Pinks is gone, and you have no clue where she wandered off to at all?" "No deary, not a single one." the older mare sighed. "Never thought I'd admit it but without her, running Sugarcube Corner has been much harder than either of us could expect. And the kids aren't taking her absence well either. So our time has been too preoccupied to do anything. If you could Rainbow, please keep an eye out for her no telling what she has gotten into. Just let her know we need her back as soon as possible." "Sure thing Mrs. C! Well, since she isn't here guess I'll head out then. Take care!" Dash said as she turned and left the building. Dash was worried as well because Pinkie never went off for a week without at least telling someone. Yet she was still more worried about herself. With Pinkie missing in action, she had no leads at all on work in town. She was wandering along the roads so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't paid any attention to where she was going. She hadn't realized it but the older ponies that passed her were shooting her the dirtiest of looks, judging her for what she had declared she was a week ago. Those looks stopped quickly as she got further and further out of town. She began dwelling on being fired again, and felt tears welling up in her eyes again. Then she was shocked out of her daze by a familiar voice. "Dash? Dashie, is that you?" Applejack said running over to her. Oh great Celestia, in her haze she had wandered up to the Apple farmhouse. AJ was the last person she wanted to see right now in this feeble state. The sun was on its way down, which meant their date wasn't far off either. Things couldn't get any worse for her at this point she felt. "Shug, is there somethin' wrong?" the farmer asked a look of worry on her face. The orange mare got close to Dash and grabbed her waist pulling her close. As AJ wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug, she felt her defenses melt away. Rainbow threw her arms around her marefriend and began sobbing into her shoulder. "Ah knew it." Applejack whispered into her ear softly. For a short time they stood there as the blonde farmer let Rainbow get all her tears out. When they began to subside, AJ grabbed her by the arms and pulled her back looking her in the eye. She always felt so drawn into the beautiful emeralds that resided in Applejack's eyes. "Wanna go up to mah room ta talk 'bout things or are y'all okay with talkin' here?" "AJ they," she sniffled and wiped her eyes, "they fired me today." Shock quickly overtook her marefriend's expression, "What, why would they fire you sugar?" "Cause of all the accidents lately will be what they say, but it's mostly cause of the statement I yelled out in the cafe last week." she said looking down in dismay. "They're a family friendly company, and being a filly-fooler is shunned apparently." "Now tha's jus' not right! They can't do that to ya, it's discrimination!" the farmer replied with a fire. "Jackie don't. I know you care, but they covered their butts from here to the next century." she closed her eyes a tear falling from them slowly. "It's not worth challenging, but I'd like to know if you can help me get my things from the office tomorrow possibly?" "Well okay hun 'iffin you say so. Tomorrow, Ah could try askin' if Big Mac can cover fer me fer a bit so Ah can help ya. Dunno how that'll go though, seeing as he has been preoccupied lately himself." she stopped and scratched her head. "Honestly though, Ah can't figure why." "Wait what's got him preoccupied?" she asked suddenly curious. "Ah said Ah wasn't sure hun. But knowin' him it's nothin' he will admit ta us." AJ shrugged, before her face lit up with an idea. "Ya know Rainbow, Ah could help ya while yer out of work. Just till ya get back on yer feet an' all. Ah'm sure Ah can pull double shifts fer public sales." "Woah there Jackie, I don't want you going out of your way for me!" Rainbow said with a flustered look on her face. Applejack got close again and put her forehead to Dash's saying softly, "It's not a problem when it's all fer you Dashie." Before she could reply the farm mare silenced her with a deep kiss. She just melted into it again, as her tears once again spilled over. With Applejack she always felt she was safe, and she hoped she left the farmer feeling the same. They parted their kiss and just stared into one another's eyes for a time before Rainbow spoke. "I love you Jackie." "Ah love you too Dashie." she replied with a smile. "So about our date tonight, should we postpone?" Dash looked sheepish for a moment before answering, "I don't know. Was actually wondering the same thing, but what do you think hun?" Applejack put a hand to her own chin for a moment before replying, "Well Ah got an idea on what we can do ta change it up. Meet me up here at the barn this evenin' 'bout eight, an' make sure ta wear somethin' comfortable fer dancin' in alright?" "What do you have planned Jackie?" Dash asked, a smile creeping onto her face. "Ah'm not tellin' Dashie, y'all will jus' haf ta wait an' see!" the orange mare smiled devilishly. "Oh also, maybe you could pick us up some food fer the evening. My treat?" Dash smiled warmly, "Nah it's okay hun, I can take care of this for you." "Alright, long as yer sure 'bout it." Applejack leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "You had best go get ready then hun, an' Ah gotta get back ta work." As AJ jogged off back to her work, Dash put a hand on the cheek she had kissed. It still felt warm, and she cherished that feeling. She turned and took to the skies slowly heading for home. For all the bad that had happened, there was still good to be found in the little things. She had almost lost herself and pushed AJ away earlier, but it seemed like the farmer knew her better than she ever could have imagined.