//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: "The Lazy Jerk" // Story: Griffin Over the Line // by Emeral Bookwise //------------------------------// "...and so after that The Great & Powerful Trixie will move onto card tricks followed by..." A very bored looking jasmine coated pegasus sat at a cafe by Ponyville park, staring somewhat blankly across the table at her perpetually overdressed unicorn friend as she yammered on about some upcoming performance she was planning. Casting her gaze about the pavilion, Raindrops observed that most of the tables were empty. It was well enough past high noon and there was even an angled tarp in place to shield patrons from the sun as it proceeded in its descent, yet it seemed even these months later most ponies were still slow to come out of their midday seclusions, unwilling to take any chances. Not for the first time since the meal began, Raindrops considered if she should have done the same. Returning her gaze to the plate in front of her, the pegasus sighed as she poked absently at the food, though she thought describing it as food might be rather generous, having made what should have been the rather obvious mistake of letting her companion order for the both of them. It had seemed reasonable enough at the time and Trixie was paying, plus Raindrops could scarcely interpret the fanciful script on the menu, if it had even been written in Equestrian in the first place. She should still have known better, given the unicorn's rather, unique, tastes. This of course had done nothing to improve Raindrop's mood for the day. "Remind me again why it is that you had to get me to be the one to go over all of this with you?" she interrupted the azure coated mare who had just gone into something about boxes and sawing ponies in half. "Is that not plainly obvious?" Trixie replied, in that tone which carried just the barest trace of haughtiness, not quite enough to make it sound like she was actually talking down to anypony, but enough to make one feel almost justified slapping her upside the head anyway. "I need somepony to give me completely honest feedback on the routine. As such you would seem to be the most natural choice considering..." she trailed off letting the basic truth of the matter go unsaid, "Besides, Lyra still isn't much for talking to me." "Yeah, yeah, I get all that," sighed Raindrops with exasperation, purposely trying to ignore that Trixie had just bluntly admitted to only talking with her as a second choice, "but it's not like I've got much of an idea what would make a good performance in the first place." Trixie chuckled with that distinctive trill of hers. "But don't you see, that's exactly what makes you an ideal sounding board. Staging a good performance isn't science, but pure art. It's not about technical requirement, but the emotional response of the audience." Raindrops gave Trixie a halfcocked sideways glance. "Don't know if you noticed, but emotional responses aren't exactly my strong suit," then added in a mutter, "Not the good kind at least." "Oh stop glowering. What's got you in such a sour mood anyway? I hope you aren't still brooding over the whole Winter Wrap-Up mess. You've hardly even touched your food." Gee I wonder why, she thought to herself as she gave another glance at the so-called food in front of her. Still, as much as she hated to admit it Trixie had a point and it would be unfair to try to pin all the blame on this disappointment of a meal. "I've lived in Ponyville long enough to have seen worse Wrap-Ups. As bad as this year may have seemed, last year was even worse, but it is work related. You see Rainbow Dash has ──" "Oh please," Trixie cut in, "that's hardly anything new now is it." "Well yeah, but it's worse than usual. She blew off her entire shift yesterday. Not just got a late start, not just rushed through the work then take the rest of the day off, but outright skipped the whole shift. And then this morning ──" Her rant was cut abruptly short with a, "Tut-tut, you can worry about that on your own time. Now then, where was Trixie... oh yes..." Trixie resumed her spiel, but in short order her less than enthusiastic audience was no longer listening. Not just because the unicorn was being infuriatingly dismissive, again, but because Raindrops attention was instead focused solely on an errant cloud that was slowly drifting by overhead, a cloud sporting a rather distinctive multi-hued tail. As she stood from her seat, spreading her wings, Raindrops made no attempt to excuse herself. So focused on her goal as she ascended, she hardly even noticed as Trixie cried out a protest. No, she had more important matters to attend to as she set her eyes fixedly on Ponyville's lead weathermare, unsurprisingly engaged in her second favorite pastime, napping. "Rainbow Dash!" she bellowed, "So this is where you've been hiding. It's bad enough when you leave the rest of us to cover for your lazy flank, but this cloud was supposed to be on the south side of town a good hour ago." The lazily reclining pegasus waved a forehoof in a dismissive acknowledgment, not even bothering to open her eyes as she yawned out a response, "Yeah, yeah. I'll get right on that just as soon as I finish getting another few winks." Raindrops eyed her quarry coldly and let out a single brief snort. Rainbow Dash opened a single eye and sighed, "You're not going to drop this are you?" A beat passed as neither pegasus said a word or made a motion until, "Fine!" she groaned just before rolling off of the cloud, catching herself mid free fall before slowly flapping her way back up as she rubbed the sleep from her magenta eyes, "but you have to help me move it." For just a moment Raindrops balked. It was hardly like her boss to ask for assistance, especially for a task so trivial as moving a single cloud. No doubt she was just being grumpy from having her nap disturb. Still, if it meant getting things back on schedule and hopefully getting the weather manager back into the patrol station for the rest of the afternoon it would be worth the minor trouble. With a shrug and only the barest hint of a glower, Raindrops flew over. She placed each of her forehooves against the cloud, not even waiting for Rainbow Dash to do the same, she knew all too well what definition of help was expected and had no patience for playing games at the moment. No sooner had she started to push the cloud then a pair of claws burst out of it grabbing hold of each of her hooves, then before Raindrops had time to figure out what was happening a sharp beaked maw burst forth and let out a deafening roar into her face. ──────────────────────────────── My little pony, My little pony Ahh ahh ahh ahhh... My little pony Friendship never meant that much to me My little pony But you're all here and now I can see Stormy weather; Lots to share A musical bond; With love and care Teaching laughter; It's an easy feat And magic makes it all complete! You have my little ponies How'd I ever make so many true friends?