“April! April! Over here!”
I look into the crowd of mommies and daddies standing on the sidewalk, waiting for their foals to get out of school. I see Mommy waving at me. I skip up next to her, beaming. “Hi, Mommy! Hi, Fluttershy!”
“Ape,” Fluttershy chirps. I give her a look.
“Fluttershy, it’s not ‘Ape,’ it’s ‘April.’”
“Ape,” she repeats, smiling.
I groan and look at Mommy. Mommy smiles back.
“Just give her time,” she says. “She’ll get it eventually.” She leans over and gives Fluttershy a kiss. Fluttershy giggles.
I giggle too. I can’t help it. She’s just so cute.
Mommy looks up and waves again. “Skittle! Skittle! We’re over here!”
In a moment, Skittle pushes her way through the crowd, and we all start walking home together. After a minute, Mommy looks over her shoulder at me and asks, “So, April, how was third grade today?”
I gasp. “Oh! I almost forgot!”
Mommy stops and looks at me funny. I just smile real big.
“Today, we had a pony from the Weather Patrol come and talk to us,” I say. “It was so cool! His name was Thunder Crash, and he works with storms and thunderclouds! He told us about how they’d push the clouds around, and get them just right, and then they make it start raining—and it sounded so fun!”
I run around Mommy and make swooshing noises, pretending I’m Mr. Crash. Mommy laughs, but Fluttershy presses up against her, looking at me with big eyes. As soon as I see her do that, I stop. “Sorry, Fluttershy,” I whisper awkwardly. She just smiles.
Mommy starts walking again and I trot up alongside her. “Daddy talks about weather all the time,” she says. “What made you so excited about Thunder Crash?”
I groan. “Mommy, Daddy works at the Weather Factory. All he does is work a machine all day, and it sounds so boring.” I look at the ground. “Sleet isn’t even cool weather.” Mommy smiles a weird little smile, then looks straight ahead again.
After a moment, I sigh. I hate the Factory. Daddy talks all the time about how dangerous it is, with all the big machines and everything. And he always comes home so late he never has time to play with us. Even on his days off, he’s so tired we don’t do a whole lot. Even though he lives with us and I see him all the time, it’s like he’s not even here.
I sigh. I miss him.
When we get home, Mommy tells us to put our things inside, then we can come outside to play. I run inside and put my saddlebags on my bed. I turn them a little bit so I can see my Flight Camp patch better. I sewed it on myself right after I got home from graduation this past summer. As I look at it, I puff out my chest—I know how to fly, and I have the badge to prove it! I dust it off (even though it doesn’t need dusting), then I turn and skip outside.
Once I get outside, I stand on the porch and look around the yard. Mommy is over talking to Sunflower’s mommy about something, and Skittle is sitting on the clouds, watching the other pegasi flying overhead. Fluttershy is off to one side of the yard, playing around with the clouds. I watch her for a minute, and make sure she’s not going to go wandering near the edge—it is my job to keep her safe, after all. Our house is right on the edge of Cloudsdale, and if she falls off, she might get really hurt.
After a while, I decide Fluttershy’s not going anywhere, and I look away. I see Skittle still staring up at the sky, and I get a mean smile on my face. I spread my wings and run towards her. “I’m Thunder Crash, and I’m gonna get you, raincloud!” I yell. She looks over her shoulder, sees me running towards her, and yelps. She gets up and starts running away. I make big scary noises, and she starts screaming “Mom-eee!”
Mommy turns and looks at us. She frowns. “April, knock it off.”
I skid to a stop, then go stand on the porch and pout. Fluttershy is still playing quietly—it looks like she’s using little tufts of cloud to make a cloud-castle...
Suddenly, I have an idea. I check to see if Mommy’s looking (she’s not), then I sneak over to the edge of our yard, right next to the drop-off. I grab onto the edge and pull—and a little piece of cloud comes off. It’s not very big, but it’s just big enough that I can push it around with both hooves.
I grab it, spread my wings, and take off. I fly around the yard, making wooshing noises again. “Hey, wait up!” Skittle shouts. She flaps her wings for a bit, and, with a little effort, she takes off too. Once she gets in the air, she tries to chase me, but I’m faster.
I laugh as I fly higher and higher, pushing the cloud the whole time. I fly so high I can see our entire neighborhood, all the houses small and packed together like building blocks. This is where the Factory workers live, out on the edge of Cloudsdale. The houses are nicer in other parts of the city, where the ponies have more money, but I like this neighborhood. It’s my neighborhood.
Suddenly, I hear Mommy scream. I look down, and I see Fluttershy standing at the edge of the yard, looking at the ground far below. Mommy runs over and yanks Fluttershy back by her tail. Fluttershy squeaks in surprise. Mommy spins Fluttershy around and starts yelling at her. I blink. Mommy hasn't yelled at us in a long time—maybe not ever.
I turn and look at Skittle. She’s hovering in the air, looking at me with big eyes. We can both hear Mommy. She doesn’t sound mad. She sounds scared.
I push the cloud lower and we both listen.
"Fluttershy, don't you ever do that again! You can't fly, and if you fall down, we might never find you! Do you know how dangerous it is down there? Don't you remember what happened to your Grandpa Snowdrift?"
Skittle and I look at each other again. We’ve never even heard of Grandpa Snowdrift before. I kinda want Mommy to keep talking, but Fluttershy starts to cry. Mommy sits down, then reaches out and grabs Fluttershy in a tight hug. After a minute, she starts rocking back and forth. Skittle and I watch for a while, but Mommy just keeps rocking. Eventually, I fly away to put my little cloud back where I found it, then I tiptoe up on the porch where Skittle’s standing. We both watch Mommy for a while. I can still hear someone crying. I can’t tell if it’s Fluttershy or Mommy.
After a while, we go inside and play quietly. Mommy comes in a little later, her eyes red and puffy, with Fluttershy right behind her. She doesn’t say anything.
We play until dinnertime, and after dinner Skittle and I do our homework. When Daddy comes home, he kisses us goodnight, ruffles our manes, and goes into the kitchen to get his dinner out of the fridge. Mommy puts the three of us to bed. She kisses us goodnight, then turns out the light.
I lie awake until I hear Fluttershy start breathing heavy. I sit up and double-check her eyes are closed, then I lean over and poke Skittle. "Hey, Skits."
She opens up one eye and looks blearily up at me. "Wha-a-a-at?" she moans.
"Wanna play Weather Patrol?" I ask.
She opens her other eye and sits up. I tell her my plan.
Ten minutes later, we’re pressed up against a shed just outside the Weather Factory fence. “What are we doing here again?” Skittle asks.
“Shh!” I turn and look around the corner. “Don’t talk so loud. We don’t want any guards to hear us.”
“Sorry,” she whispers. I glance around again. “So, what are we doing?” she whispers.
I roll my eyes and whisper back, “Do you remember what Daddy told us that one time about the Cloud Division?”
“No.”
“He said that sometimes little clouds get stuck as they come out of the Condenser on the roof,” I whisper, “and they’ll pick up little bits of all the other clouds that come out. The longer they stay there, the more clouds they pick up, until they become thick black rainclouds. Someone has to go and clean them out every so often, otherwise it starts raining inside the Factory.” I turn and look at her. “Don’t you remember that?”
She shakes her head, and I roll my eyes. I peek out from behind the shed again. The coast is clear. I spread my wings, and—
“If those clouds are just gonna get thrown away, why are we sneaking in?” I groan and turn around. Skittle looks at me with her big, innocent eyes.
“Because,” I hiss, “we don’t want to get in trouble.” I peek around the corner again.
“I don’t get it,” she says uncertainly.
I grit my teeth. “Just... stay here, okay?” I say to her.
I can’t see any guards. I decide to go for it. I fly over the fence, then dash from shadow to shadow. At every stop I listen as hard as I can for hoofsteps, but I never hear any. Finally, I make it to the Cloud Division. It’s a big, round building, with a curved roof, and a giant machine on top. I’m guessing that’s the Condenser that Daddy was talking about.
I fly up and land on the roof. As soon as I touch down, I slip and land on my side. I look down and make a face. It looks like it’s been a while since someone washed the roof—it’s kinda dirty up here.
I stand up and trot over to the mouth of the Condenser. Just like Daddy said, there’s a little cloud stuck on the rim. It’s tiny—not much bigger than the one I was playing with earlier—but it’s so dark it’s almost black.
I manage to pull it off, and fly back to the shed where Skittle is hiding. As soon as I fly into view, Skittle’s eyes get real big.
“April...” she says, surprised. I smile real big and puff out my chest. “...um... you got dirty.”
I groan. There goes my moment. Irritated, I turn around and look at my flank—there’s a big patch of mud all down my side. I sigh. “Come on, Skittle, let’s get out of here.”
She flies up next to me. “What are you gonna do with that cloud?” she asks.
I open my mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. I have no idea what we’re going to do with it. I turn around and start flying away, but I don’t get far before I stop. I turn around and smile. “We’re gonna water Sunflower’s plants,” I say.
Sunflower grows wildflowers. Everypony said she wouldn't be able to, but she somehow figured it out. She keeps them in little clay pots in her front yard. I figure they could use the extra rain. It’s not the best idea, but it’s better than nothing.
The cloud is too little for both of us to push it, so I end up pushing it all the way home by myself. It’s harder than I thought it would be—before we’re even halfway there, I’m gasping for breath.
Finally, we make it back. There’s Sunflower’s pots, all lined up alongside her front step, filled with bright flowers. I push the cloud over, above the pots, and stare at it. I suddenly realize something: I have no idea how to make it rain.
I turn to look at Skittle. She’s just hovering there and watching me. I turn back and make a big show of adjusting the cloud just right. I stare at it, trying to figure out what to do next. I try shaking it, but that doesn’t do anything; I try to jump on it, but the cloud’s so tiny I almost fall off just trying to stand on it.
Then, I do something I shouldn’t. It’s past my bedtime, so I’m starting to feel sleepy, and I’m tired from pushing the cloud all that way. And, I’m a little upset because I don’t want to look like an idiot in front of Skittle. I’m frustrated, too, because after all we’ve done, nothing’s working. So, I let out a little yell, spin around, and kick the cloud.
That does it. It’s just a tiny cloud, but it starts raining hard all over those little flowers. They suddenly look brighter, happier, somehow, like they’re standing up just a little straighter.
I smile—I made this happen. I made those flowers happy.
I sigh. Mr. Crash was right—this is the greatest job ever.
After the cloud runs out, I push it away, then Skittle and I sneak back through our window. Skittle flops right back into bed, but I slowly open our door and peek out. Mommy and Daddy are sitting at the kitchen table talking. I stifle a yawn, then sneak into the bathroom.
I close the door and turn on the light. I stare, wide-eyed, into the mirror. That roof must have been dirtier than I thought. I’m filthy. I gotta clean myself up before I get into bed, or Mom and Dad’ll know we snuck out for sure.
I quietly get a washcloth out from under the sink and get it wet. I don’t want Mommy and Daddy to hear me, after all. I start trying to clean up my flank, but it’s hard; I have to scrub really hard before I can even see the littlest bit of purple—
Wait. Purple? I scrub harder. After a minute, I see three little purple umbrellas on my flank. I stare at them with my mouth open. Is that...
“My cutie mark!” I scream.
A second later, Mommy bursts into the tiny bathroom, with Daddy right behind her in the hall. “April? What happened?” Mommy asks, worried. She looks at me closer. “...why are you so dirty?”
I try to tell her, but I’m so excited I talk too fast and Mommy can’t understand me. Mommy asks me to say it slower, but I can’t. Skittle finally stumbles in, rubbing her eyes, and Mommy asks her if she knows what happened. Skittle tells her about how we snuck out to the Weather Factory, and how we got the cloud and watered the flowers and everything. When she’s done, Daddy looks at me over the top of Mommy’s head. “Young lady, you’re in big trouble. Haven’t I told you how dangerous the Factory is?”
I feel my eyes start to fill with tears. “B-but...” I say, turning to the side and gesturing feebly at my cutie mark.
For a moment, everyone is silent. Then, Mommy screams.
“April! You got your cutie mark!”
I smile real big. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
Daddy smiles. “April, come out here where I can give you a hug!” he says. I wrap my arms around him, and he hugs me close. “You’re still in trouble, missy,” he whispers in my ear, then kisses me on the cheek.
Daddy has us all line up in the living room so he can get a picture. I turn sideways so he can get a good view of my cutie mark. After that, Mommy has me take a shower to get all cleaned up, then I go straight to bed.
I lie awake for a long time. I pat my flank, trying to feel my cutie mark, but I can’t find it. My fur all feels the same.
I snuggle down deeper under my covers.
I got my cutie mark for making it rain.
I sigh.
I’m gonna be in the Weather Patrol when I grow up!