One weekend, when Stelara was negotiating with a lumber yard for building materials for the refuge, Tondro suggested that Chielo and he visit the weather factory.
This factory, on the outskirts of Cloudsdale, continually emitted black thunderclouds with lightning, white clouds, rainbows, and funnel clouds. From the factory, pegasi pushed the weather formations through Equestria to where they were needed.
Tondro smiled to his son as the door rose and they entered the main room.
Rainbow fountains splashed into silver basins. Stately marble columns and clear pipes guided the rainbows to their destinations: washed-out, pastel rainbows for light showers; dark and full rainbows for after thunderstorms. Pegasi in white coats checked rainbows against color charts and re-mixed a few basins.
The rainbow room overlooked Cloudsdale's shining spires and constantly-shifting architecture. It was a central fixture in the factory, with other rooms leading from it.
They walked through one door to an enclosed room. An angry-looking black cloud filled the center of the room. White electricity flashed across its face in never-repeating patterns.
Tondro said, <<Rigardu.>> He dipped his claw into the electric cloud, and pulled out a small ball that seemed to have the texture of black cotton candy. Lightning and thunder crashed from the tiny ball, one nearly striking Chielo. As lightning flashed, it used up the wisp; within twenty seconds, both lightning and wisp had disappeared.
With an exaggerated talon to his lips, Tondro hid a larger ball from the cloud in his hand.
In the next room, a machine carefully spun air in a circle. Above it, a quiet and meek-looking whirlwind stirred lazily, sometimes coming close to breaking up.
Tondro dropped the lightning puff into the tornado.
Lightning flashed through the tornado, and it doubled in height. Chielo spread and flapped his wings, as if to ward off the tornado. His wings pushed the tornado away from him, but it gathered strength as it meandered into the rainbow room. The tornado quickly found a new source of power: the rainbow falling from the roof.
The tornado splashed random colors over every pony, every griffin, and every pillar. A red-green-orange pegasus mare and a blue-black-white pegasus stallion... no, make that a yellow-pink-brown pegasus mare and a red-white-green pegasus stallion sped quickly in the opposite direction of the tornado's winds. Despite looking like constantly-shifting Jackson Pollock paintings, their wind-working slowly calmed the storm, soon only splashing the lightest pastel colors everywhere. The winds stopped. Everything dripped in multi-hued splendor.
The foremare stared at the two griffins who caused the ruckus. “Out. OUT.” she commanded. Tondro needed no translation.
The blue-orange-purple father and his red-yellow-green son, dripping color mixtures that could inspire abstract artists, caught a glance of themselves in a reflection... and started laughing.
School was mixed for Chielo. Mathematics and science continued from what he already knew. But history after the breakup of the Kingdom into the Three Principalities centered on different eras, different sides in wars, and different people that he knew little about. And though Chielo spoke Common, he hadn't read much in it, so didn't catch many literary references.
But the most odd class was P. E.
If P. E. were only about flying races, then he would be fine. He usually finished among the fastest third of his class, sometimes among the top ten. But when Coach had them move clouds, he just flew through them. Without wings, he was faster than any pony in a 100-meter sprint, but even the slowest pony could lap him in a mile-long race.
The first time he played hoofball was a disaster. Though he could sprint short distances faster than ponies, he had less stamina than them; he couldn't kick the ball with his claws as hard as they could with their hooves. Once, he spread his wings – an automatic foul.
He thought about his strengths and weaknesses the second time he played. “Coach, can I try playing goalie?”
“Sure,” she said. “Second half.”
When he trotted onto the field, his team, the Reds, were behind, two to one, against the Greens. Chielo concentrated wholly on the ball. Every time that the Greens brought the ball near to the goal, he caught it. Soon, he stood at the center of the goal, and moved exactly enough to block any shots. No matter whether the hits were high or low, to either side, or came spinning, he either blocked them or caught them easily.
Hoofballs didn't dodge when you tried to catch them, unlike birds.
The Reds got a second goal, tying the game. At the end was the shoot-out. Against the opposing goalie, his team got three goals. Against Chielo, the Greens did not get a single goal.
His defense had won the game.
The next day, Chielo noticed a difference. At lunch, his teammates invited him to sit with them. No one asked about his sandwich. They laughed about the game; he listened as they talked about favorite fillies and colts in other classes.
He felt accepted.