Interlude 18 - The Tornado Run
Well, today was set to be the start of a busy week. We’d already been working our rear ends off for the past fortnight. When the…stuff…happened, we lost our ability to control the weather, and it began to just drift around on its own. Even though what happened was over fairly quickly, less than a day in fact, there were still a lot of rogue weather patterns far from where they were supposed to be.
Regardless of how we felt, we all had to get back to work. In a way it was a blessing in disguise. The heavy workload kept us busy, kept our minds off…other matters. We all ended up having to work as one big team, trying to get everything in our sector back under control and moved to where it was supposed to be. Luckily, nothing had started up, so there were no renegade thunderstorms to deal with.
Orders across the board were fairly simple, if it wasn’t an empty cloud, get rid of it. Dry weather was needed for repair work, what little was needed. At least the damage wasn’t that bad, apart from Twilight’s library of course, though she does now have this really cool shiny tree castle now. At the end of the week, we were all completely shattered.
Unfortunately, like it or not, the Weather Patrol still had to follow a strict operations schedule to keep everything going. Next week on my calendar was circled in red ink and read ‘Tornado Week’.
Usually, only ponies who are actually serving in the Weather Patrol do weather work. Most pegasi can usually do something, but a lot of pegasi aren’t employed for weather work, like Fluttershy for example.
However, this week, it would be a case of all hands on deck. You see, rain in Equestria came from rainclouds manufactured by Cloudsdale. Turning ground fog or moisture into clouds took a lot of time and effort. So it was easier to send vast amounts of water up to Cloudsdale and then get weather patterns as and when we needed them. However, the only way to do this was by tornado. Effectively, we would funnel up all the water in surrounding lakes that had accumulated over the winter. The problem was, to create something of that scale, the dozen or so ponies of the Ponyville Weather Patrol were not sufficient. We couldn’t generate enough power to create a tornado powerful enough to push the water up to Cloudsdale and also control it. So, each tornado week, the draft went out. All able bodied pegasi from the ages of eighteen to sixty five were required to report for duty. You took a standard wingpower test, and if you passed that, you joined the section.
We would need eight hundred to lift the water and keep everything stable, and we had just about that much available. But of course, we had to assume some ponies wouldn’t be able to help, either due to sickness, injury or other issues.
Fluttershy and I were both helping out. Fluttershy may have lower than average wingpower, but she could still do her bit. Last year was the first time she participated actually. Apparently, she used to get badly teased as a filly for her low wingpower rating. And of course this year, Twilight, with her newly acquired wings would also help out. As an alicorn, she was a very strong flyer, although not yet very talented if you ask me. Then we had our standard patrol, including Rainbow, as well as all the other pegasus ponies who were fit for duty. The start of the week, when she and I were supervising training, Dash told me how things would work.
“Okay, Lizzie, listen up. This tornado is going to be more powerful than anything you’ve ever worked with before. You’ll be flying in close formation with other ponies, at distances of less than ten feet inside a vortex filled with rain, wind, and a lot of turbulence. No matter what, you will get knocked about up there. The key thing is to hold your position with the rest of your section and keep yourself level. Remember, only the water goes up, not you. The trick of it is the poor visibility; you won’t have much of a horizon and it will be dizzy as hay.
“However, I also know that you are one heck of a good flyer. You’ve done storm work with the patrol before so I know you can handle the conditions. That’s why I’m doing this.” She hoofed me a small gold badge.
“What’s this, Rainbow?” I asked curiously. Dash smiled.
“That, Lizzie, is your section leader badge. Instead of me trying to coordinate everything and everypony, Twilight suggested we split up into smaller groups, each one working at a certain altitude. I’ll take the bottom, where the tornado will be roughest. Thunderlane will be above me and then you’ll be the next level up. You pass it on to Flitter and then Cloudchaser helps the water make landfall at Cloudsdale. You wear that badge whenever you’re on duty from now on.” I quickly fastened it to my jacket.
I figured this was more than normal weather work when they gave me a flying suit as well as a cap and goggles. Most weather work, you don’t need any of that stuff. I’d used goggles before; standard issue when you do storm work or anything with high winds. This however, was a whole different ballgame.
“So who do I have with me then, Rainbow?” I asked, eager to know. Rainbow reached for a clipboard.
“Okay, you are gonna be working with, oh hey, Fluttershy, Bluebell and Dewdrop.” Dash quickly pointed out the two ponies I wasn’t familiar with.
Bluebell, who had a purple-blue coat a dirty blond mane and a cartoon cloud for a cutie mark, was busily doing wing-ups next to the track whilst some of her friends did their test runs. She was a veteran of these tornados and according to Dash, would make a good second in command.
Dewdrop on the other hand, was a new arrival in Ponyville, and had only recently turned eighteen, meaning this was his first tornado. He had a turquoise coat and a lighter blond mane. His three raindrop cutie mark made me think he had a talent with rain. But those things are fickle in their meaning.
Fluttershy of course had done this sort of work before, but last year had been a big step for her according to Dash. Hopefully, with me at her side, she would have no trouble this year. Dash and I both headed over to the pair so I could introduce myself.
“Alright you two,” Rainbow said. “This is Lizzie, she’s gonna be running your section for the tornado on Friday.”
“Hi, Lizzie,” Bluebell said, offering a hoof. “Your Margaret’s daughter aren’t you?”
“How’d you know?” I shook her hoof.
“Oh, my son Blu is in her class at the elementary school,” she replied. “She told me how you’d managed to get yourself a spot on the full time patrol. It ‘ll be nice to fly with somepony with storm experience.” Bluebell seemed like a nice pony, easy going and friendly, like most Ponyville residents. I then turned to Dewdrop.
Unlike Bluebell, Dewdrop was far less experienced in flying. Plus, as a relative newcomer to town, he didn’t yet really have all the social side of things down. I knew how that felt, not knowing too many people in a new town.
“And you’re Dewdrop, right?” I asked, offering my hoof. The young stallion hesitantly shook it.
“Oh, erm, yes. I moved out here from Las Pegasus last month. I’m not really sure I’m going to be much use to you though. I’ve never really done much in the way of weather work, or flying.” I smiled kindly; the guy was kind of adorable in his bashfulness.
“Hey, no worries,” I replied. “I haven’t been at this that long. I’ve only got a couple of months under my belt. We’ve got plenty of time to train you up. Besides, you aren’t the only one, Fluttershy used to be a pretty nervous flyer too. C’mon, how about we meet up with her and get some practice in?” Dewdrop brightened up a little at that. Knowing you aren’t the only one who is new takes a lot of the pressure off.
I quickly took off and my new friends followed. I used the trip over to Fluttershy’s to see how good they were at regular flying. We practiced a few manoeuvres like sharp turns, rolls, loops and the like. Both were fairly competent in the air. But like Dash said, this wouldn’t be about fancy flying; it would be about keeping steady in some of the worst weather conditions a pegasus could imagine.
The three of us touched down at Fluttershy’s just as she was finishing up feeding the animals she was currently taking care of. Along with Angel of course. Despite the fact that I am clearly not leaving his home anytime soon, he still doesn’t really like me that much. He’s stopped the biting and clawing, but he still gives me the stink eye when he thinks Fluttershy isn’t looking. Luckily, with his carer present, he was keeping quiet and just not looking at me. Most of the other animals I get along fine with, even those that seemed scary at first, like that bear she looks after on occasion. I do try to help whenever I can, but the Weather Patrol is a full time job, regardless of how laid back Rainbow seems.
“Hey, Fluttershy, good news. I just talked to Rainbow Dash in Ponyville Park. She’s not only letting me lead a section during the tornado, but she assigned you to the same one. We’ll be able to work together for pretty much the whole week.” Fluttershy smiled as she…well, fluttered over to us.
"Oh, so we’ll be working in pairs?” she asked, sounding interested.
“Not pairs. Twilight put everypony into sections of four ponies each. Bluebell and Dewdrop here will be our squad mates. I figured we could do a little bit of training here. Rainbow said to practice as much close formation flying as possible.” Fluttershy retreated a little at that.
For all the way she has come with her shyness, she still has a little bit of trouble meeting new ponies, especially if they are introduced without prior notice. Even more unfortunate, was that Bluebell was a massive extrovert and quickly invaded Fluttershy’s personal space. Dewdrop was a lot more understanding and held off for a minute.
“Well hello there, Fluttershy. I’ve heard a lot about you. I sure as hay remember how you saved our hides last year,” she said, shaking her hoof warmly. Now to Bluebell, this was a friendly greeting, but Fluttershy was a little overwhelmed by it. Still, doing her best, she managed to reciprocate.
“Oh, erm, pleased to meet you Bluebell,” she said, only slightly below normal volumes. Once upon a time, she’d have hidden behind her own mane and spoken so softly you couldn’t hear her if you were a millimetre away.
Dewdrop’s introduction went a bit more smoothly. As a bit of a shy stallion himself, he kept his distance a bit more and Fluttershy was far more relaxed as a result. With the meet and greet done, we set about organising ourselves.
“Right, Rainbow said that during the tornado, each section will be responsible for a certain altitude. We’re going to be the third level, with two more above us. All we have to do is keep the tornado going where we are. In other words, fly around and around in a circle until our wings come off.” That got a chuckle out of everypony.
“Because the levels are going to be close together, we’ll be passing close to a lot of other ponies. So, we need to practice both precision flying on a fixed course and altitude, as well as formation flying. By the end of the week, when the tornado is due, we need to be able to do all that in driving rain, high winds and rubbish visibility.
“For starters, I say we go with the simplest part, formation flying. Once we get used to flying close to each other and holding our position in the group, we’ll start practicing manoeuvres in formation. And then lastly, we can set up some small weather patterns here to simulate the conditions we’ll be flying in. That make sense to everypony?” The other three pegasi nodded.
So, with open sky all around Fluttershy’s cottage, we took off and began to practice. I’d done some formation flying before. You have to keep in position when you are working with large weather patterns, but this was much closer. Sometimes, over the wingbeats, you could hear the ponies around you breathing, or hear their manes getting ruffled by the wind.
We practiced flying in a diamond formation. I, as section leader, lead the flight and the others were to mimic my movements whilst holding their spot in the formation. A little way back and to my left was Bluebell. She was the effective second in command, as she had the most experience. Opposite her, behind me and to my right, was Fluttershy. And then directly behind me and the others was Dewdrop, who was the ‘tail-end Charlie’ as my brother called it.
When we began, we weren’t anywhere near as close as we would need to be on the day. To start with, we all had a time just holding position. Precision flying is damned difficult and at first instead of a tight diamond shape of four ponies, you had a triangle followed by a large square, then a rhombus, all far too large to work properly. We even had the one crash. As we were trying to form a diamond shape of any size, I slowed down to allow the others to catch up and Dewdrop…didn’t. He crashed into me, rear ending me, and we both dropped to the ground. Luckily, neither of us was hurt.
After that mishap though, which resulted in continued stammering apologies from Dewdrop and a bit of teasing from Bluebell, we steadily began to improve. First, we managed to get ourselves flying in a more stable fashion, and then, as the day went on, we steadily began to reduce the distance between each of us, until eventually, we were in the sort of close knit diamond formation we’d need on the day.
We kept practicing throughout the afternoon, taking breaks every now and again to avoid exhausting ourselves. We were doing quite well, until Fluttershy’s other roommate decided to pay call on us.
We were currently practicing performing manoeuvers in formation, such as sharp turns and speed changes, as well as practicing flying in circles for extended periods whilst holding our formation. Things were going swimmingly until a long serpentine blur shot through us and a voice cut through the air like scratching on a chalkboard.
“Daka-daka-daka-daka-daka-daka-daka-daka-daka!” Discord called, imitating machine gun fire. Completely caught off guard, we all broke formation and scattered. After seeing what it was that had caused the noise, we all steadily reformed. The annoying flying draconequus pulled up alongside us.
“Discord!” I called angrily. “What the hay was that for?!” Discord grinned and continued his act.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” he exclaimed in a faux-British accent. “Never fly straight and level for more than thirty seconds or you’re a dead duck!” I rolled my eyes at his antics.
“Discord, we’re training for tornado duty, not repelling an attack by the Luftwaffe!”
“My point is still valid,” he replied in his usual voice. “Anyway, how come I haven’t been asked to help out?”
“Simple,” I replied. “If we had you working the tornado, it would probably pull Cloudsdale down instead of pushing the water up!” At this point, Fluttershy broke in.
“Discord, please. We’re all training really hard for this tornado and we need to practice. You can stop by tonight if you want, but unless you want to help us, please leave us be.” Acquiescing, Discord snapped his talons and disappeared from sight, leaving us alone to continue practicing.
Even though it was annoying, it was still nice to see Discord back to his usual pranking ways again. After what happened, the guy had gone quiet for about a week. Nopony had heard a peep out of him, not even Princess Celestia. Still, it was understandable, given his…mistake a few weeks back. Still, it’s pretty much a case of ‘all is forgiven’ now. He took the same punishment as us and did in the end help to stick that monster back where he belongs. Regardless of what else I might say about him, Discord is chaotic, not evil. Both Fluttershy and I agree on that.
Several days later, we were pretty much ready to go. With our new ability to fly in very close formation, we quickly began to pile on the pressure. We could now hold formation and keep flying in a circle, which would be needed to create the tornado, even in really bad weather conditions. Even better, Fluttershy had been able to enlist the help of some of her animal friends. Hawks, eagles and other large birds repeatedly buzzed us as we tried to stick to our course, as a way of mimicking the other pegasi above and below us who would be passing very close to us.
But best of all, Discord managed to find something he could do to help out. Originally, I’d planned to set up small weather systems around Fluttershy’s cottage to simulate the weather we’d be flying in. But with Discord’s help, we were able to practice in cloud and driving rain, just as we would on the day.
Okay, the rain was actually chocolate milk and the clouds were made of cotton candy, but it still helped. By the time the big day rolled around, we were all ready. And, based on what I had heard from Rainbow, everypony else was raring to go too. Due to past experience, Rainbow had become obsessive over infection control during the week. The day before we were due to go, everypony involved, as in, all the pegasi in Ponyville, had to go to the doctor’s for a check-up. We lost the odd pony, but we still had sufficient wingpower. Thunderlane in particular made sure that he didn’t come down with anything.
Finally, our day of reckoning arrived. Early in the morning, just as the sun was coming up, the four of us met up at Fluttershy’s cottage and headed off to town together. The sky was completely clear, with no traffic for miles. We didn’t want to have to worry about anything else this week, so the whole area was treated to a week of clear weather. After getting in a good breakfast and donning our flight suits, caps and goggles, we all took off and headed for town. Discord joined us as well, wanting to wish Fluttershy good luck. He’d also be helping out on the ground.
When we reached Ponyville, we quickly headed to the park where the lake was to meet up with the rest of the Weather Patrol and the other sections. When we arrived, the place was a hive of activity, with dozens of pegasi going to and fro, practicing, organising themselves and doing final checks. Once we landed, I quickly sought out Rainbow. She was with Twilight and oddly enough, my parents.
“Hey, everypony,” I said as we landed nearby. Dash quickly came over.
“Good, you’re here, Lizzie. Each of you, take one of these.” She gave us each what looked like a bluetooth earpiece.
“What’s this?” Dewdrop asked.
“Communicators,” Twilight replied proudly. “Everypony is going to need to stay in contact to coordinate this thing, but it will be almost impossible to talk over the wind and rain. So, these will let you talk to each member of your section directly, as well as everypony else. Everypony has their own call sign in the air. You guys will be part of red section.” We all nodded and placed the devices in one of our ears and checked them. “Each section will have somepony on the ground watching them too.”
“Who is ours then, Twilight?” I asked.
“That would be me,” my brother replied, emerging from behind my parents. “Mom and Dad are a mite nervous, Sis. They wanted somepony they trusted to keep an eye on ya.” He gestured to his own earpiece. I turned to my parents.
“Don’t worry, Mum,” I said reassuringly. It’s always her who gets worried about me. “We’ve practiced this thing all week. We can cope with anything this tornado throws at us.” At that point we were interrupted by Dash.
“Alright everypony, time to go to work. Each section is to get airborne and follow the instructions of their controllers. Now let’s make a tornado!” And with that, we were off.
We all took off and headed away from the park. The various sections would all form up a ways off and then be guided into position by their controllers. We were the last group in red section, which consisted of Dash’s section, Thunderlane’s, and us. The three sections above us were gold section and would come in from the opposite side of the park.
With everypony formed up in their sections and ready to go, Rainbow made a sharp left turn and led us towards the park again. She’d go in first and form a small tornado with her section, and then each section following would add to it until we hit eight hundred wingpower. Then each section would pass the water upwards until it reached Cloudsdale. As we headed in Dash performed a final radio check.
“All wings report in,” Dash’s slightly garbled voice came over my earpiece. Steadily everypony checked in. Thunderlane and his section came first. Dash already knew her lot were ready.
“Red ten, standing by.”
“Red seven, standing by.”
“Red three, standing by.”
“Red six, standing by.”
“Red nine, standing by.” That was Bluebell.
“Red two, standing by.” Fluttershy.
“Red eleven, standing by.” Dewdrop. Now me.
“Red five, standing by,” I called. That was everypony in our section. Then, my brother jumped in, clowning around a bit.
“Lock S-foils in attack position,” he called, laughing a little to himself.
“Blade Star, stop messing around; this is serious,” Twilight ordered. The radio went quiet as we approached.
Dash and her section went into a steep spiral dive and began to circle the lake at low altitude. Quite quickly, the beginnings of the tornado appeared and we began to feel the effects of the increasing wind; it got more and more difficult to keep stable.
“We’re bouncing through the vortex,” Dash called. “Hold tight, everypony.”
With their part stable, Dash called Thunderlane and his four pony team in to take the next level.
“Alright Thunderlane, you can start your entry now,” she instructed. “But watch yourself, there’s heavy wind shear from the right side of the lake.” Thunderlane and his section turned and began to head in.
“Sweet Celestia, look at the size of that thing!” Thunderlane exclaimed as he closed on the already large storm.
“Cut the chatter, Thunderlane!” Dash ordered. “Accelerate to tornado speed.”
“Right, Dash. We’re in position. I’m going to cut across the axis and try to get in through your wake.” And with that, the four ponies disappeared inside the storm, which quickly grew in size. I could hear the two sections coordinating.
“Heavy winds, Dash, twenty degrees,” her second in command called.
“I see it. Stay low, everypony,” Dash replied. Now it was our turn.
“This is red five; I’m going in.” The four of us headed into the maelstrom. In spite of our practice, it was still a hell of a thing to fly in. The winds sucked us down quickly, far lower than we needed to be. For one horrifying moment, we all saw Thunderlane and his section, and I feared we might crash.
“Lizzie! Pull up!” Dash called desperately, seeing how close we were to Thunderlane’s section. With effort, we managed to get back to the altitude we were supposed to be at. “Are you guys alright?” Dash called.
“We got a little soaked but we’re okay,” I replied.
We were now in the heart of the storm and began flying our pattern. Even with goggles on it was difficult to see. With no horizon it quickly became a daunting task just to work out which way was up. Every now and again, I saw fleeting flashes of other ponies as sections both above and below us passed close by. All sorts of radio chatter went back and forth as we all tried to stay coordinated. Eventually, I heard that the last part of gold section was in position near Cloudsdale. My brother came over the radio again.
“Squad leaders, the main body of water is heading your way now.” I looked around, aside from the driving rain; I couldn’t see anything in the way of water.
“That’s a negative; I can’t see anything,” I replied.
“Keep up your visual scanning,” Dash advised.
“Here it comes,” Thunderlane warned gravely.
And that was when I saw it. This huge cylinder of water was slowly rising up from the eye of the storm. It was like a looking at a rough sea; you could see white tops and everything. But worse, as the water was spinning with the tornado, a pony could easily get pulled into it. Very quickly ponies got into trouble.
“Watch it; it’s nipping at your tail!” Dash warned one of her squad mates. Far below, I saw a pony struggling to pull away from the water. In one horrifying moment, the water completely engulfed them, before spitting them straight out of the storm. We heard a strangled cry over the radio. Luckily though, a few moments later my brother came back on.
“Don’t worry guys, Cloud Kicker’s okay, just a bit shook up. Shake it off and keep focussed. If we lose too many the whole storm could collapse.” I breathed a sigh of relief at the news and quickly returned to the task at hand. A few moments later though, I heard from Dewdrop.
“Watch your back, Lizzie. Watch your back! The water above you is trying to suck you in!” he warned, sounding frightened. I felt the mass begin to pull at me, and despite my own increased efforts, I began to lose my position, my squad mates drifted away. My brother again entered the conversation, sounding just as worried.
“Red six, can you see red five?” he asked.
“The water’s starting to suck other ponies in,” Bluebell answered.
“Red five, where are you?” I heard my brother ask.
“I can’t get clear of the water!” I called, now deeply frightened. Luckily, help was at hand. Out of the mist, I saw Dewdrop.
“I see you, Lizzie. Hold on!” he called. Doing his best to not get sucked in too, he grabbed my hoof and between us, we were able to get back to our position.
“Thanks, Dewdrop,” I said gratefully.
“Nice work, Dewdrop,” Twilight added. It was then we heard from the ponies above us in gold section. In the time I’d been stuck, the water had started to reach Cloudsdale.
“Red leader, this is gold leader, the water has reached Cloudsdale. Just hold things for a few more seconds.” We all did our best to keep level. By now our wings were starting to ache and we were soaked to the skin. Finally, the last of the water passed us.
“It’s away!” Cloudchaser called excitedly. Quickly cheers came over the radio.
“Alright everypony, pipe down,” Dash ordered. “Let’s start easing this thing down.”
The whole group of us landed in front of the watching crowd, and were treated to the pony equivalent of a standing ovation. The lake, which had previously been full to the brim, was now at a much lower level that you would expect with the summer. The grass around the park was blown out almost like a crop circle due to the effect of the tornado making landfall. All three members of my family came up to congratulate me.
“Yee-haw, great balls of fire, Sis!” my brother exclaimed. “That was some mighty fancy flyin’ there, Ah reckon.”
“I should say so,” my dad added. “Discord told me you and Fluttershy had been practicing, but I didn’t know you guys were that good.” At that moment, I was set upon by my mom, who scooped me up in her arms.
“Oh, Lizzie!” She hugged me as if her life depended on it. “I’m so proud of you! Are you sure you’re okay though? You were nearly sucked into that thing.” I carefully pried myself away. No matter where I go or what I do, my mom will still be like that; she’s the same with Blade Star too. I mean, at this point I’ve moved out, gotten a job and am effectively an adult, but Mom will always treat me as her little girl, I just know it.
Then, out of the crowd, Dewdrop emerged. Like me, his coat and mane were matted with water, but he seemed to be standing a little straighter than before. He quickly trotted over to me.
“Hey, Lizzie. I just wanted to check you’re okay after that near miss with the storm,” he said. “Dash said you should probably have a quick physical check-up, just in case.” I nodded.
“Sure, Dewdrop. And thanks again for saving my tail back there.” It was at that moment though, his slight awkwardness returned. He rubbed a foreleg with a hoof nervously.
“And, erm, I was thinking, if you, erm, weren’t doing anything later. Maybe you might want to come and get a cup of coffee?” I started, was he asking me out?
Dewdrop was a good guy to be with. Throughout the week we’d been working together, he’d been nothing but kind and courteous. Though he wasn’t one of those annoying white knight types. It couldn’t hurt could it? I’d been thinking about how little I got out of the cottage anyway.
“Sure, why not.”
Proofread by Sidetrack.
Just to remind you all; I have no understanding of how romantic relationships begin or otherwise work.
As for the giant reference...I regret nothing. 
Oh, and if any of you are interested, GeodesicDragon is setting up a collab project you may want to contribute to. Details are here: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/481550/collab-details-finalised
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Week.
Also, I've been thinking about this yesterday when I was watching the news: I'd like to know your opinion on the elections that have occurred in the United Kingdom yesterday, you being British and all.
The force is strong in this one...
Ship has been built and beginning to set sail.
Dewdrop has guts. Asking her out in front of her parents? I suppose tackling a tornado gets the blood pumping and avoiding getting sucked into a maelstrom sets fires burning.
I loved the movie reference in this chapter it made me laugh
Lock S foils in attack position.
Discord, if you come in Vader the flight, im gonna go all Han on your
Nw, for some fresh hot coffee?
that star wars reference though!
5954133 Well, we now have a Conservative majority, so we no longer have a stupid coalition that no one voted for. I don't trust any of them really. In the states you have two clear parties, one leaning toward the right and one more centre left. It used to be the same here Conservatives (often called Tories) were right wing and the party of the rich, Labour was the party of the working class and fairly leftist, whilst the Liberal Democrats were centrist and the party of people who read The Guardian and The Independent.
Now though, all three parties seek a 'catch-all' vote and all offer the same policies. As such, its difficult to distinguish between them except for party colours. They are all the same and consequently, many feel disenfranchised. it's been that way since Blair. Personally, I feel that none of the parties represent my views and I despise their leaders. They are all born and bred politicians, with no connection to the real world. As such I spoilt my ballot writing 'None of the above'.
5954315 I was sort of aiming to evolve his character. When Lizzie first meets him, he's pretty shy and timid. By the end though, having saved her hide form the tornado, he's become a lot more confident and comfortable. Not completely of course, his personality hasn't changed over a week, but he has managed to drum up the courage.
5954440 It's hidden in a draft copy that you aren't supposed to find.
5954539
Important part about majority politics.
Remember all that Magna Carta and Civil wars things about preventing any one entity from having overall unresttricted control and power?
They claimed it was for Kings only.
Works just as well for a multi part entity such as a party, where they use whips to enforce all the drone think the same, and for companies.
So, shouldnt majority rule, due to Magna Carta, be illegal, because it cant be countermanded?
I saw the twister reference btw
5954563 Well, firstly, the Magna Carta isn't as crucial as you might think. It only really ever applied to the gentry who forced King John to sign it so they could have a slice of the pie. It is not some freedom granting document like your own constitution. Secondly, you have to remember that the prime minister and his government are not the head of state.
In Britain we have what is known as the separation of powers, with the executive, legislature and judiciary all balancing each other out. That is what prevents majority rule. In the theoretical world, the monarchy still runs the show. Every law has to be endorsed by the Queen, and around this time, she will be asking Cameron to be prime minister and to have his party form government.
Additionally, the elections only cover the lower chamber of Parliament, the House of Commons. The upper chamber, the House of Lords is unelected and consists of the landed gentry. Any bill passed by the Commons must also be passed by them. If it is rejected, the Commons must either revise the act, or they have to wait two years.
It used to be that a bill could not be enacted unless the Lords passed it, but this was repealed by the Parliament Act of 1911, which reduced the Lords power to only blocking a bill for two years. Previously they could veto a bill indefinitely, which could potential nullify any elected government.
So no, despite having a majority in the House of Commons, the majority government is not all powerful. Our long standing traditional system is filled with checks and balances to ensure no single entity has too much power.
5954133 *Smacks head on wall as a proofreader failure.*
Huh, I was honestly expecting Lizzie to be Red One and Blade to begin the Star Wars thing with "Red Five standing by". Which wasn't too far off...
I was not expecting it to keep going.
For the whole rest of the scene.
Only thing missing was
"Did it hit?"
"Negative. Just impacted on the surface."
Well, and "You're all clear, kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!"
I know. If we win, this could be a big morale booster for the Republic.
As soon as you mentioned red section, I knew there was going to be a Star Wars reference. Gold section just confirmed it. Bravo!
exultant work Lizzie really needed this chapter it shows just how much she haze grown in Equestria and she is now a true pegass thank you discord you made the right choice with her.
and do I see a special somepony in her future?
Harts Fire
i.imgur.com/P6eLC6h.png
I've been planning on making this model for a while now, and since I need it to make coverart for one of my stories I decided to do it now.
I just need Blade Star's cutie mark and I'll be good to go. (So if you'd be so kind as to provide it, that'll be swell.)
(Oh yeah, and am also gonna make a model for Lizzie, so I'll need a reference image.)
loved the Star Wars refferance and keep up the good work
Ah, nothing like the Death Star battle to bring back memories...
What the..., Oy, who invited orks here?!
* fire plasma gun at said orks *
'Use the force Lizzie!'
STAR WARS!
6702991
*Fires Type-33 Needler at Orcs*