Dream On

by Colbbie

Chapter-3 What's a Rainbow Taste Like?

“Alright everypony with an orange wristband! Would you please stand up and follow me!” Shouted a blue pony from one of the double doors at the end of the room.

This quickly replaced my bored expression with that of curiosity as I continued to walk towards the small group that was gathering in front of the big double doors. I genuinely had zero ideas of what or how the heck a weather factory operates to any degree.

“Alright, if everypony is here, let's begin our tour!” She pronounced to the group of ponies I was currently in the back of.

With that, they pushed the doors open and our group of around ten to fifteen ponies walked through them and down the preceding hallway. As I passed through the big doors, it was pretty obvious that this area was specifically for tours. Dozens of portraits and pictures with placards decorated the walls and the fancy carpet adorning the floor was not something that would belong in a normal factory.

We were directed into a door on the right side of the hallway which led to a smaller locker room-type place with helmets and what looked like jackets for ponies lining both sides of the walls, each with their own small locker underneath them.

“Ok everypony, choose a locker and place any valuables and or anything you don’t want to get possibly damaged into them.” She directed, opening a locker of her own at the end of the room. “Once you’ve placed all your belongings into the locker, you must put on an anti-static jacket to protect you from any possible stray electricity,” That statement was not comforting in the slightest “and a helmet for standard safety.” She then placed a white helmet upon her own head with her sky blue ears poking through the holes in the top of the helmet.

While the helmet seemed pretty easy, the jacket on the other hand was a nightmare to get on. So when I walked up to a little stall with no one near it, I kept the locker closed because I didn’t have anything, and then proceeded to contemplate how I was going to get this jacket on without making a fool of myself.

Drawing up blank, I decided to just look at the pony next to me. They were also the same kind of pony as me, so watching them seemed like a good idea. They seemed to have no problem flipping it up onto their back and then simply putting their front legs through the sleeves and then sitting on their bottoms and tying a simple knot with surprising dexterity.

Now with somewhat of an idea on what to do, I grabbed the jacket off its little hook with my mouth and then tried to get it on my back as they did. But all I ended up doing was throwing it onto the ground next to me. I gave a little chuckle and an uneasy smile as the pony who I just watched effortlessly put on their jacket gave me a raised eyebrow.

“Do you need any help?” The tour guide said from out of nowhere causing me to jump a little.

“Uh, yea that would be nice.” I responded in a very forced relaxed tone.

The process went much more smoothly from there as she used her wings to pick the jacket up off the floor before placing it on my back. I then did the rest of the process by myself under the watchful gaze of the tour guide before finishing and standing back up.

“Do you need anything else miss?”

“No I’m fine, thank you.” I thanked her to which she responded with a smile and a nod before moving back to the far end of the room.

“Alright, looks like everypony is ready so let's begin the tour!” She declared nearly hopping in place.

‘She must really like her job…’ I thought as I placed the white helmet on my head, crushing my new ears, before fixing it and walking towards the opposite end of the room.

When I reached the backlogged group of ponies near the small door, I began to question this reality as I prepared myself for the possibility that ‘weather factory’ isn’t some kind of metaphor and they quite literally make weather.

The answer to that question was slammed into my face as I walked onto the metal catwalk and looked down to see dozens upon dozens of ponies manually carving snowflakes. No silly metaphor here, they are actually hand- erm hoof carving snowflakes one at a time. How did they make enough each year? I had no idea and no intentions to find out.

Then as if to answer the question on my mind the guide said, “This is where all the snowflakes are hoof-made every single year.” She said, gesturing to the entire room below us. “While regular snow is mass deposited all over Equestria, these snowflakes are special as they are released upon Canterlot on the first day of the winter solstice every year.”

‘That seems a little more possible…’ I thought as I watched all the ponies in deep concentration do what they have most likely been doing for who knows how many years at this point. Each one had a clear container on the corner of their work area, some almost completely filled and others completely empty with the carving area taking up most of the rest of each of their desks. I personally had no idea how they could just sit there in total concentration all day throughout the week and do this without getting bored or just exhausted. I looked back up to see that the guide was talking and listened in. ‘Hoping I didn’t miss anything too interesting,’ I thought to myself.

“This is going to be the first snowflake they drop on Canterlot this year, so please don’t drop it.” She then handed a container that looked to be made of something expensive before they handed it to the pony next to them; soon after, the container made its way to me.
I carefully used my magic hooves to grab the container, being extra careful to make sure that I had a firm grip, before bringing it in front of my face and inspecting the single snowflake resting inside. To say it was impressive would be an understatement. The amount of detail put into something that small was incredible. Crisp, clean lines with the perfect symmetrical shape, it was completely flawless. It looked like it was taken right out of a Pixar film, only it was one hundred percent real and two inches away from my face.

After looking at it for a few more seconds, I took my gaze away from it and saw the tour guide standing about a foot away from me. I gave it one last look before giving the snowflake back. She accepted it and walked back through the group to the front before the gap was filled and I lost sight of her once again.

“Alright, now we’re going to head to the autumn wing!” Came the voice of the guide from the front. A few moments later the group started walking again at a steady pace across the rest of the catwalk; moving towards a door on the opposite side of the wall.

As we made our way across, I took note of just how big this place was on the inside. The outside took up an entire city block, yet this place felt like it took up double the space.

We stopped only for a moment as the guide punched a code into a keypad next to the door before a hiss escaped and the door opened to reveal more catwalks above an equally expensive room.

The main thing that stood out, as I passed through the door, was the swift change in temperature. The previous room felt freezing compared to the warmth of this room, yet I didn’t notice at all. ‘How was I not cold?’ The more I thought about the more I realized it had been nearly freezing in that room. I was forced to put that thought aside for later, however, as the guide began talking again, forcing us to come to a halt.

“This, everypony, is the autumn section. Here, specialized clouds are made for this season specifically.” She began while pointing towards a fairly large gathering of clouds off to the side.“These clouds are specially made to not rain when they are placed together. They keep the sky overcast most days and help keep the temperatures cool without it raining all the time.” She explained as her hooves raised to towards the floor of the room, which housed dozens of machines making this room look like what I expected when I heard the word factory.

The machines had to be about fifteen feet tall and looked like giant pots with various gauges and valves all over them as well as a small opening that some ponies were looking into. They were all connected by clear tubes; they seemed to all run into the ground to some unknown location where I would assume they are distributed outside somehow.

We watched a few batches of pretty normal-looking white clouds get made before we continued on, only this time we didn’t leave the room. We went down a set of stairs and were on a restricted section of the factory floor specifically for tours and heading towards the back left corner of the room.

I was a little surprised to see that we were now in front of what looked like a control room. The room wasn’t what surprised me, however, rather it was the pony inside. Breeze was staring at a gauge on the big console right in the middle of the room while scribbling something down onto a piece of paper.

“This is the central control room where the lovely mare inside, Autumn Breeze, makes sure everything is running smoothly. From water pressure to cloud pressure, she manages it.”

By this point, Breeze had looked up and given a wave and a smile to the group which a few ponies promptly returned. When she spotted me her enthusiasm and smile only grew as she waved with a little more energy.

After we exchanged waves, the group continued on with the rest of the tour. This time, instead of a floor covered with loud and dangerous machines, I was greeted with a sight that nearly made me gasp. Rainbows were flowing from the right wall down across clouds, like one of those little water fountains you see at restaurants, into a mini lake at least the size of a swimming pool. The whole sight was surreal to the point where I had to make sure that I was still awake. The soothing sounds of flowing water accompanied by the slightly sweet yet spicy smells made it all the more surreal. The first thing it reminded me of was all the illustrations of what Olympus looked like only with a lot more rainbows.

I was taken out of my awe-struck state as the tour guide continued on towards the pool of rainbow in the middle of the room before she started talking again.

“This is where all our rainbows are stored, the process for making rainbows has remained a secret for hundreds of years! Only a select few ever even get to see how they are made!” She then pointed towards the top right corner of the room behind us where a dark and somehow thundering wall of clouds was with a door covered in all kinds of warnings. Just looking at it caused a shiver to run down my spine, so I diverted my attention back to the rainbows.

“While they aren’t specifically made for tasting, you most certainly can eat rainbows. Some ponies even like to use them in their cooking to add a little… zest! If you’re daring enough, you can even try some right now!” This caught the attention of a few ponies, including mine. So, I did what anyone would do and decided to try a rainbow.

I made my way through the group of ponies to where the tour guide was holding what looked like a miniature shot glass full of liquid rainbows. I came to a stop in front of her and took a glance around to see that all eyes were on me. Anyone else who seemed eager to try it now seemed to be just fine with watching me instead.

After pushing my second thoughts to the back of my head, I decided, ‘To heck with it!’ before downing the shott of rainbow all at once. The first thing I noticed after swallowing was that it tasted pretty sweet. I actually liked it. Then the spice came, and it wasn’t just hot, it felt like I had just taken a drink out of a volcano.

“Spicy! Water please!” I just about shouted into the face of the tour guide through my searing, pain-filled mouth. She just as quickly held up a glass of milk meaning she knew exactly what was going to happen as I’m sure it's happened dozens of times before.

I took the glass and chugged the whole thing until not a drop was left without a single breath in between. Following a huge breath of air, the fire in my mouth finally started to dwindle down from the level of pain to uncomfortable which I could live with for a little while.

“How was it?” The guide asked, extending a hoof which I placed the now empty glass back into.

“Spicy!” I said between gasps.

The tour went on throughout the rest of the factory. Nothing else was really special, just more ponies and more machines making different kinds of clouds and whatnot. While my mind kept yelling at me that none of this was possible, it was pretty hard to deny what was right in front of me. Eventually, we made our way back to the main lobby to the factory but in full Disney style, not before walking through the gift shop.

I was making my way down the grand stairs leading to the entrance when I looked up and saw that a clock posted on a storefront on the opposite side of the street read 3:30. I had spent nearly four hours of my day on the factory tour; but since I still had a few hours before I should go back to the apartment, I decided to try to find a nice park.

I walked through the city for about another half hour passing by all the various shops and apartments that lined the streets until I spotted an opening in the sea of buildings.

In that vacancy laid a luscious green park lined with a black metal fence where a sign about every twenty feet or so read, ‘Cloudsdale Park’.

The exhaustion that had started building in my legs instantly vanished as I redirected my path towards the park with renewed vigor.

I crossed the street and walked over to an entrance in the fencing. But just before walking in, I took in the calmingly familiar sight of nature which remained the same even in this alien world.

After deciding I had stood there long enough, I walked in and began to explore the fairly large-sized park. While it had nothing on Central Park in Manhattan, it was still pretty big considering that it’s in a city, taking up two whole blocks. The grass, trees, and flowers scattered about with a small creek or two combined with the various sounds of the animals and insects that call the park home nearly made me forget about all of my problems.

Having taken in most of the park, I spotted a fairly secluded spot hidden away behind some bushes where a tall oak tree resided, casting its shadow upon the land.

Deciding that it was a good spot, I took a seat under the tree, still not entirely used to sitting like a cat, and decided to go through my pre-game routine.

Hockey had taught me a lot of things, but the most important thing to me was my ability to tune out the real world and dive into a world of my own imagination with no worries plaguing my mind about what was going on around me.

I started my meditation and began to perform all of my normal stretches and breathing exercises. Some stretches were a little difficult due to my new physiology, but I managed.

I continued on with my routine without a worry in the world, calmness being my only thought. All my problems and anxieties were put away and forgotten about. The sounds of birds chirping and ponies talking tuned out of my mind. I was completely relaxed, in my own world. I eventually came back to reality, taking in all the sounds, smells, and sights of the real world.

I then started to lay down, the feeling of dirt against my body calming until I was completely on the ground with my head resting against the grand oak tree.

I was roused from my rest by rays of the warm sun shining against my face. The sounds and feeling of the world slowly came back to me before I slowly, and carefully, rubbed the dirt out of my eyes followed by a hefty yawn before standing back up.

I looked towards the horizon where the sight of the receding sun informed me that I had been asleep for a few hours at the minimum. I decided to head back to Breeze's apartment so as not to stay out too late and worry her.

After getting the rest of the sleep out of my system, I reluctantly left the park for Breeze’s apartment, but not before engraving its location in my head so I could come back another time.

About halfway through my journey back to Breeze’s apartment, I stopped by a fairly upscale hotel to use the restroom. After doing my business, I was surprised to spot Fleetfoot across the lobby sitting at the bar talking with a few other ponies.

“Oh hey, Fleetfoot!” I said as I redirected my path and made my way over to her and the two other ponies she was hanging out with at the hotel bar.

“Hey Winter, Nice to see you.” She said while turning around and greeting me with a wave.

“Are these your friends?”

“You don’t know who I am?” Asked the yellow one with a raised eyebrow and skeptical tone.

“No, but I’m assuming you’re a friend of Fleetfoot here.”

“Guys,” Fleetfoot spoke up, “this is that mare I was telling you about who performed at the cafe we’re going to tomorrow!” Fleetfoot said expectantly to the two other ponies.

“Oh yea, you were talking about how good she was.” The blue pony said before he got up and walked over with an extended hoof. “I’m Soarin, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Winter, and it's nice to meet you as well.” I said with a smile as I bumped his hoof with mine.

“You sure you don’t recognize us?” The yellow one asked again, still not believing me.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve never met you before, I think I would remember.”’Because you’re a talking horse and I just got sucked into this magical world.’ I thought but restrained myself from saying.

“Well, I’m Spitfire,” She raised her hoof, still seeming to expect me to remember her from somewhere.

“Nice to meet you, Spitfire, I’m Winter if you didn’t hear.” I said as I bumped her hoof.

“So, you’re going to be the one we’re going to see perform tomorrow right?” Soarin asked, sitting back down in his chair.

“Yeps, I’m going to be playing some of my favorite songs so I hope you like it.” I said with a smile.

“Do you do anything in addition to performing?” Fleetfoot asked curiously.

“I’m a hockey player.” I spoke on instinct before realizing my error. “Well, used to anyway.” I said, attempting to correct my blunder.

“What’s hockey?” Spitfire questioned, the others also seeming to take an interest in my response.

“Uh, it’s a sport that-”

“Oh nice, you like sports? We all really like sports and athletics too.” Fleetfoot blurted out before apologizing for cutting me off.

“Well,” I continued, “it's a sport played on ice where you have to try and shoot a puck into a net and score. That’s a very simple way to put it, I can tell you more tomorrow at the cafe if you want though.” I shrugged, then saw the time on the clock above the bar and realized that it was getting late. “I should really get going.” I told them, which Fleetfoot seemed a little sad about.

“Alright, I want to hear more about this hockey stuff! See you tomorrow!” Fleetfoot said with a wave that the other two mirrored.

“Bye!” I said, giving my own wave, before turning and heading for the exit.

“Huh, they don’t have hockey here… guess my old profession is out of the picture…’ I thought, saddening me a bit. I could no longer play the sport I grew up loving, but considering how the game was played made me realize that the sport would be nearly impossible given my new physical limitations. I swiftly pushed that thought away and continued back out into the still busy city.

I realized just how far I had gone from the apartment when the walk back seemed to go on without end, the sun continuing to gradually sink below the horizon.

Finally, I reached the apartment building and made my way inside with heavy legs. After entering the lobby and telling the doorman where I was going before showing my key, I continued towards the elevator lobby and pushed the metal button. A moment later, the door in the middle opened and I stepped onto the wobbly elevator. Subsequently, I pushed floor eight and the elevator began its ascension upwards.

Once the elevator dinged, I walked down the hallway, tried to open the wrong door, found the right door, and with my improving dexterity, took the key from around my neck and inserted it into the lock. A click followed by the door opening signaled my entrance.

“Hey Winter! How was your day?” Came the smooth voice of Breeze from the kitchen accompanied by the sounds and smells of cooking.

“It was pretty good, just walked around and took the weather factory tour.” I responded as I locked the door before making my way into the kitchen. “So, whatcha making?” I asked while taking in a deep breath which rewarded me with the heavenly smells of properly cooked and seasoned food. The specific smells, however, seemed to elude me.

“I’m making hay and tofu pot pie with a flower salad. I made some for you too!” She then pointed at a plate covered in flowers of all shapes and sizes with tulips being the most prominent. While I nearly asked why I would eat flowers, the fact that I was no longer a human stopped me.

“Thanks! I appreciate it a lot, though I hate mooching off of you…” I sighed before she placed a hoof under my chin and lifted my gaze to hers.

“I’m helping you out. I will not just let you go back out there with no money and nowhere to go! Please, it’s alright. If I didn’t want you, I would have thrown you out already.” She put it very bluntly.

After staring into her lime green eyes, I reluctantly agreed. “But while we're on the topic, I got a part-time job at the Sunny Side Cafe as a performer.” As I said that, a smile appeared on her face and she congratulated me but said I really didn’t have to, to which I responded by saying, “I need to do something, I can’t just sit around your place all day.”

She soon finished preparing her own plate which she brought over to the dining room table which I also did.

After we sat down and Breeze got both of us a glass of water, we began to eat, though I was a little hesitant. Hay and flowers were going to be the first and if I still had human taste buds, I didn’t think that hay and flowers would taste that good. But not wanting to be rude, I picked up a fork and skewered a flower before lifting it in front of my face and putting it in my mouth. And to my delight, they actually tasted pretty good.

After breaking the ice, I indulged in the rest of the meal that Breeze had oh so kindly prepared. Once the last bit of food was erased from my plates, I slouched over feeling stuffed.

“Thanks for the food, it was really good.” I said to Breeze as she was in the process of finishing her own food.

“Thank you, I enjoy cooking so it was nothing.” She responded after swallowing what was in her mouth. “And I have another thing I want to ask you.” She said, stopping me in my tracks as I was getting up to put my plate in the sink.

“Ok, what would you like to know?” I asked while sitting back down.

“Alright, well, I got two free tickets to the Wonderbolts show in two days and I was wondering if you would like to go?” She then pulled two glossy tickets out of nowhere and held them up.

“Really? I mean, don’t you have any of your friends that you would rather take?” I said a little surprise that she would take me to something like this, not that I really know much about the Wonderbolts anyway.

“You are my friend, silly! So, you wanna go?”

“Sure, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my little job at the cafe.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, it’s at two on Sunday.”

“Alright, that sounds good, thanks!” I was a little excited to see what these Wonderbolts were all about. I mean they had their faces plastered all over that section of Cloudsdale near the stadium. So they must be something right?

I cleaned my plate and left it out to dry, all the while I was pondering over the various events that transpired throughout the day. And as I was finishing drying my dish, a yawn escaped my lips and I stole a glance at the clock on the wall of the living room and saw that it was about 9:30.

“Alright, well thanks for the dinner but I think I’m gonna hit the sack. Goodnight!” I said as I made my way towards the guest bedroom.

“Goodnight Winter, and I don’t have work tomorrow so we can do something if you want.” She said as she looked up from the rest of the dishes.

“Ok, goodnight!” And with that, I closed the door and made my way over to my bed and got comfortable under the sheets, all the walking I did now catching up with me.
After getting nice and cozy under the sheets, I remembered I didn’t brush my teeth.

After reluctantly getting back up, getting a toothbrush from Breeze, and brushing my teeth, I was back in bed under the covers with heavy eyelids.

All of the problems and questions on my mind tried to push their way to the surface for me to think about and question, but I kept them at bay with the simple saying of ‘why do today what you can put off till tomorrow’ until the soft embrace of sleep finally overtook me.

Author's Note:

“What is today, but yesterday's tomorrow.” -Mr. Krabs

A big thanks to Hemlock conium for helping me proofread this chapter

Comments

[Ziper Ace]

Oooo I wonder what type of song it would be next I’m curious too see if any other pony notice that she/he has no Cutie Mark

[Amos Anon]

“Huh, they don’t have hockey here… guess my old profession is out of the picture…’ I thought, saddening me a bit. I could no longer play the sport I grew up loving, but considering how the game was played made me realize that the sport would be nearly impossible given my new physical limitations. I swiftly pushed that thought away and continued back out into the still busy city.

It's okay. Hockey is a garbage profession anyways.

I make no apologies.

[Windy Breeze]

Poor Winter, she just found out hockey isn't a thing in Equestria. But don't worry! ponies have their own sports like Hoofball...Running of the Leaves, and....stunt flying! eh-heh. I think ponies don't have many sports for obvious reasons, or maybe i just don't know the others.

Good story Colbbie. I hope the story gets updated in the near future.