Boiling Point
Near the center of Ponyville sat the local weather patrol station, the tallest building in the whole town. Despite its impressive size, however, the inside was actually quite hollow; pretty much a necessity, considering the kind of ponies employed within. Within its imposing exterior flew a cadre of pegasi, all of them in charge of making sure Ponyville's weather systems came and went on schedule and in the right amounts, not to mention fighting back the Everfree Forest's own ideas of what Equestria needed.
Not that it mattered much to one special employee. Raindrops, the yellow-coated, cobalt-maned Bearer of the Element of Honesty, came into work looking about as happy as she possibly could. Not that it was very evident, mind you; Raindrops' default expressions tended to be “stoic,” “very stoic,” and “has no idea what expression is.” Still, there were the subtle ways one could tell how she was really feeling inside, from a tiny spring in her step to the way she folded her wings. Needless to say, she was ecstatic.
“Hey, Raindrops!”
The mare was so trapped in her own little world of euphoria that she barely registered the pony landing right next to her. Cloud Kicker, second-in-command of the weather patrol and the one pony actually keeping the place running efficiently, only managed to get her attention after a tap along the shoulder. “Um...Raindrops, we need to talk.”
“Is...this about my vacation?” Drops' voice was about as flat and deadpan as ever, but beneath it all there was just the slightest dash of excitement.
“Well...yes.” Cloud Kicker...kicked at the ground nervously. “I-I have to tell you that...”
“It's all approved, right?” Drops spun about mid-sentence, her eyes locking with her superior's in a way that made the violet pegasus rear up nervously. There was just so much hope and a lust for life just waiting to be crushed into a fine paste. “Can you believe this'll be our first family vacation in years? Mom and Dad have it all planned out down to the hour. And Snails...can you believe they have a gastropod museum right next to the beach? You could probably lock him in there the whole trip and he couldn't be happier.”
Cloud Kicker took a couple steps away from the other side of this conversation. She knew the next part was going to be painful, both to Raindrops and possibly somepony's muzzle. “B-But we have to...”
It was no use, however; Raindrops was officially lost to the limitless realms of her imagination. “Sprawling coastlines, sunny weather, hunky stal-” The mare's face blushed as she caught her slip. Fortunately for her, Cloud Kicker was too nervous to care. “W-Well, I'm sure this is going to be the best vacation of my entire life. Thanks for helping me...”
“You didn't get it.”
Raindrops' face froze mid-word, her ears twitching at the strange phrase she had just heard. “D-Didn't get what?”
“The vacation days. They weren't filed in on time, so the head office had to...well, deny them.” Acting on pure reflex, Cloud Kicker stretched out her wings and looked around for any safe place to escape to. Outflying Raindrops was never that difficult, but when she set her mind on something, not even the Tyrant Sun herself could stop her rampage. It was just common sense.
Raindrops didn't move right at first. Her lower lip started to tremble after a few seconds, but everything else remained completely frozen as if she had been chiseled from stone. The other ponies above, sensing that an explosion was evident, took to the ceiling as quickly as they could. There was no way Raindrops could kill them all, even if she wanted to. Break every bone in their bodies, perhaps, but not kill.
“B-But how?” she squeaked, every inch of her strength already being drained to keep her from losing control. “I-I submitted them months ago! You helped me fill out the forms yourself!”
“And...um...” Cloud Kicker shied her face away from Raindrops. She knew the next words were going to be very, very bad. “Look, I...gave the forms to Rainbow Dash to send in, but she...um...forgot to send them in. I-I'm so sorry!”
Rainbow...Dash...
Deep within Raindrops' metaphorical heart, something snapped, while her literal heart began to pump harder and faster. Something cold and mean began to course through her veins, darkening her features, extending her wings, and making her hooves tremble with white-hot fury. “Rainbow Dash...Rainbow Dash did this?!”
The ponies above scrunched together even tighter than before, with more than a few simply flying out of the spire as quickly as possible to avoid the upcoming hurricane. Cloud Kicker's eyes wandered back and forth between the angered Raindrops and the door to Rainbow Dash's office. Unfortunately, the lights were still on, meaning she was in the room. And if she was...
“Raindrops, I want you to listen to me,” she said quickly. “I want you to go home and take the day off. Relax a little, let yourself cool down. I'll try to figure something out, but until...”
“No....” Raindrops growled. Her teeth were bared like a snarling Timberwolf, ready to rip into the first pony she came across. And unfortunately for her target, she knew exactly where she would be. “No more waiting. No more cooling off. I had to work through the trip to Cayo el Bayo because I her. I got written up for letting a storm through Ponyville because of her.”
She spun about on her hooves with the speed of a dashing cheetah. Every inch of her body was primed and ready for the showdown to end all showdowns. A tiny portion of her brain still screamed for her to relax and take Cloud Kicker up on her offer, but her rage had escalated beyond the point of any self-control, even one as well-disciplined and tested as her own. To make the situation even more of a brilliantly-designed catastrophe, Rainbow Dash just so happened to pull the door open at that very moment, her head turned towards the office's interior. She had nary an idea that her demise was imminent.
Sensing her opening, Raindrops let out a primal scream and charged. She raced forward about five steps before leaping into the air, her wings spread as wide as possible for the greatest possible drift. Rainbow Dash barely had enough time to process that something was coming at her before the two collided, sending both ponies rolling back into the office in a tumbleweed of limbs and feathers. The spectacle slid to a stop just as the two went crashing into a far wall, with Raindrops standing over her dazed and confused boss. “D-Drops? What the hay are you...?”
“SHUT UP!” A tiny stream of spittle, not unlike that of a mad dog, escaped from Raindrops' lips as she looked down at her pinned prey. “You and I have a long...”
“A-HEM!”
Raindrops' head snapped about towards whatever pony had dared to interrupt Rainbow Dash's much-needed dressing down...and soon felt her rage being replaced with fear. Standing opposite her were a trio of ponies, all dressed in fine suits with slicked-back manes. Attached to their lapels were visitor badges, the kind that usually denoted somepony who was important, but not necessarily a member of the Night Court or nobility in general. In other words...
“Um...Drops?” Rainbow Dash squeaked nervously. “I'd like you to meet the district supervisors...”
----------
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?
----------
Raindrops' hooves slammed against the top of soda parlor's bar. “Hey, barkeep! Another Cider Surprise! And make it hard this time!”
The soda jerk rolled his eyes and began mixing the ingredients together, keeping things out of view just in case this was all a brilliant ploy to discover the secret ingredient for the parlor's latest concoction. Despite it still being well before nine o'clock, the parlor had adopted a small adaptation to the rules. They now served the alcoholic versions an hour early for anypony who had just had to deal with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, the Mayor, and a double shot if their problems had anything to do with Trixie. So far the last one had proven to be the most profitable by far.
Once the abomination against the beverage world had been finished, the jerk plopped it onto the bar and sent it sliding down. Drops' hoof just barely managed to catch it before it could crash into the seven empty glasses to her side. With a partially drunken flourish, she stuck the straw into the glass and began sucking away. In an instant, she was struck with the combined flavors of alcohol, apples, and a strangely unidentifiable substance that she was probably better off not knowing anything about. It didn't matter, anyway; no matter how many she drank, she was still stuck in the same soda parlor, drinking the same cocktails, and just waiting for the day to finally relent and let her rest.
“Oh, there you are, Raindrops!”
And that wasn't going to happen today.
Carrot Top, bearer of the Element of Generosity, trotted up to the counter and pulled herself a seat right next to the ailing pegasus. Her hooves and coat were still covered in a fresh layer of top soil and mud from the day's planting and chores, but such was the lot of the lowly farmer. Not that Drops really knew anything about that stuff. She was a weather pony by trade, and as such spent a lot more time floating above the ground than standing on it.
Sensing that her friend was ignoring her, Carrot Top gave Raindrops a tiny nudge along the shoulder blades. All this did was make her teeter a little before stabilizing. “So, I...guess you don't want to talk about it?”
“Nope.” Drops took another big sip, cursing the alcohol for not working fast enough. By this point, even Trixie would have been slipping into her Neigh Orleans accent and started hugging the whole group.
Carrot Top sighed. “Look, I...I heard what happened. After all the stuff Dash put you through, I wouldn't blame you for snapping like that.”
Raindrops turned her head and scoffed. “You're friends with Rainbow Dash, right? She tell you all this?”
“W-Well, friends is a generous way of putting it.” Carrot rolled her eyes at all the memories of the madness her “friend” had gotten her roped into, from being clawed by weasels to getting trapped in a spa by a mad fashion designer. “But yes, she told me everything. She also said there was nothing she could do. She wasn't quite as polite when she said it, but I could tell what she meant.”
“I can't believe I did that.” Raindrops shook her head slowly, her friend's words finally getting through to her. “After the whole mess with Gilda, I promised I would never lose my temper again. Trixie even helped me learn to take it one step at a time. But when she ruined my vacation...all because she was lazy...” Drops could feel something trying to flare up again inside, but the combination of her restored willpower and the alcohol served to simmer it to a light boil. “She deserves to be fired.”
Carrot Top shook her head. “You know that won't happen.”
Raindrops replied with yet another frustrated snort. Everypony who knew anything about Rainbow Dash also knew about her best friend, the mysterious hermit pony Fluttershy. And anypony who knew who Fluttershy was could tell you of her family connection. According to what she had gleaned from Carrot Top, the only reason she even got her job as weather manager was because Fluttershy's father wanted to turn her into a glorified foalsitter. And as much as she hated to admit it, Raindrops couldn't help but confess that Rainbow Dash had some skills when she actually got off her lazy flank and did something. In other words, she was competent and connected. In other words, untouchable.
“And besides,” Carrot continued, “she told me all you have to do is attend anger management. Finish the course, and I'm sure they'll lift your suspension.”
The rage heated to broiling temperatures. “Anger management... Don't they know I've already tried that?”
Carrot Top tapped on the counter and ordered an orange soda float. Fortunately, that particular mixture didn't involve things that may have oozed out of a meteor, so it was in front her just in time for her epic rebuttal to Raindrops' indifference, an argument that would echo throughout the hallowed halls of Equestria for generations to come. So great was it that centuries from now, the Night Court would only speak of Carrot Top the Persuasive in hushed whispers, lest her spirit come to debate with them some more.
“It couldn't hurt to try again.”
Unfortunately, her skills were of no use against an opponent of such stubbornness as Raindrops. She suckled down the last remaining vestiges of liquid before turning back to the friend. Carrot Top's smile was about as broad as the bough of a ship, but nowhere near as watertight. “Look, I...know you mean well, but this isn't going to do anything. It's not just Rainbow Dash that's bugging me. It's...everything.”
Carrot Top cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
“For starters, look around you.” Carrot Top obliged, and for the first time noticed something significantly off about the current seating arrangement. For starters, not a single pony was seated within three chairs of them. Despite the parlor being as busy as ever this time of night, nopony seemed to want to be anywhere close to them. “I'm sure everypony else at headquarters already told them what happened. The whole town knows I'm always angry, just a few moments from snapping and breaking somepony. As far as anypony cares, I'm just the perpetually perturbed pegasus who just so happened to save the world a couple times. Even Trixie was terrified of me for a long time.”
Sighing deeply, the mare looked into her big glass. “Sometimes, I just wish I could stop feeling like this, that ponies would have no reason to be scared to be around me. But I've already gone to counseling and psychiatrists and everything else. It never works.”
A few beads of sweat worked their way down Carrot Top's brow. She had no idea things were anywhere near this bad; then again, Rainbow Dash was usually a poor judge of others' feelings, so there was no way to tell until she actually spoke to her friend. Normally, this would have been Ditzy's department, but she was already preoccupied with something Dinky was doing and couldn't make it over there. Still, she was Generosity, and the most generous thing a pony could give a friend was their time. Money didn't hurt either, but time was a bit more precious. Just a bit.
“Drops, I'm not promising anything, but you have to give it a try. You need your job back, anyway. And perhaps this time it'll work out. The other groups you went to just might not have been the right ones for you. If you want, I can even tag along. Just promise me you'll give it one more try, okay?”
Raindrops was silent for a moment, her brain weighing in on the pros and cons of her possible actions. If she went to the meeting, it would no doubt be a huge waste of her time. Even if she did rejoin the weather patrol, she'd still have the same lazy manager making her life miserable. But she couldn't lose her job...
The yellow pegasus groaned and took another chug. “Alright, I'll give it a try. Meeting's tomrrow night at town hall.”
----------
The next night, the perpetually perturbed pony and her plucky sidekick ventured forth into Ponyville's town hall. Official business had already concluded for the day, save for the occasional pony trying to muscle out some overtime and/or trying to make up for Ivory Scroll's latest mishap, and thus the only group in attendance was the small Anger Management Session in one of the hall's small conference rooms. By the time the two arrived, there were already five ponies in attendance, all of them sitting in a circle of chairs and wearing faces that perfectly reflected their desire to not be there. And then there was the pony running the session. Or rather, the minotaur.
Sitting at the head of the circle was an overly-muscled bull-like being, with razor-sharp horns and a ring through his nose. Any sort of intimidation he might have been going for was offset only by the silly tie he wore around his neck and the large clipboard in his claw-like upper arms. Raindrops had barely enough time to realize what has happening before the minotaur noticed her. “Ah, you must be our newest member,” he said in a half-growly voice.
“Y-Yes, I'm...”
Before Raindrops could get another word out, the minotaur had already risen to his two hooves and walked over, stopping but a hair's breath away from her. The pegasus smiled nervously and began to back away, but only managed to bump into Carrot Top, who shook her head at her friend's retreat. The group leader returned his eyes to the clipboard, flipping through pages and shaking his head. “Weather patrol sent you here, huh? Well, no matter. Iron Will's the name, training ponies is my game!” He finished his declaration with a sudden thumbs up to the two, who just looked at each other in utter confusion. Sensing that nopony was going to follow this up, Iron Will dropped his salute and grabbed Raindrops by the scruff of her neck. “Now that you're here, we can get this show on the road! Hey, everypony!”
Drops tried to fight free, but to her horror the minotaur's strength exceeded even her own. Before she or Carrot Top could protest any further, Iron Will charged forward with the furious speed of a locomotive, plopping Raindrops' hind quarters into the nearest available seat before jumping right back into his own. The other ponies clapped their hooves together in a mixture of awe and amazement, while Drops settled for rubbing her bruised hiney.
“Good evening! My name is Iron Will, and today is the first day of your new life!” The minotaur's voice echoed and boomed through the small room, his speech sounding less like a psychiatrist and more like a used wagon salespony. The others, having apparently heard the same speech before, rolled their eyes, but Raindrops just watched in a combination of stunned silence and general apathy. So far, things were still not exactly looking very promising.
Too bad her poor attitude was not subtle enough to escape Iron Will's notice. “Now Raindrops, Iron Will knows you're only here by court order, but so are all of the other ponies here! Every one of us has done something out of anger at one point or another. And that's why we're here to get well!”
“No!” shouted a burly, mussy-maned unicorn sitting across from Raindrops. The others instinctively pulled away from him, causing both Drops and Carrot Top no small measure of concern. “Everypony else here might be a bunch of psychopaths, but I'm trying to save Equestria!”
Iron Will shook his head and snorted. “How many times does Iron Will have to tell you not to act up, Trajectory? We have a new member with us today. We don't need..”
“Um...how are you going to save Equestria?” asked Carrot Top. No sooner had the words left her mouth than the entire room turned their eyes towards her dismissively, causing the mare no small amount of anxiety. “I-I mean, I was just wondering...”
Trajectory gave a proud smile and crossed his forelegs. “You know those catapults we use to launch pumpkins every year? After everything that's happened the last two years, I decided to recalibrate one of them and use it to destroy Equestria's greatest enemy.”
Raindrops' eyes doubled in size. There was no way he just said what she thought he just said. “Y-You mean...You're going to try and...”
“That's right,” Trajectory boasted. “I am going to DESTROY THE SUN!”
And with that, the moment was lost. Even the very air molecules in the room seemed to freeze from the sheer stupidity of what was just said. Raindrops' pupils shrank back to normal while she assumed her typical stoic expression, while Carrot Top hoofed herself in the face. “W-Wait, you mean you're the pony who's been launching things all over town? A safe crashed into my field last week!”
“I almost got flattened by a piano during my morning jog two days ago!” Raindrops added.
“Just some minor miscalculations,” said Trajectory. “After that cannonball went through the representative's window, I finally figured out how to enchant my ammunition to achieve the appropriate distance! Soon, that anvil will make contact with the sun itself!” He turned to the minotaur, half-mad with rage. “And I would have sent more if this monster hadn't told the mayor on me!”
Iron Will, however, remained unimpressed. “Iron Will apologizes for that. Trajectory was a client at Iron Will's Assertiveness Seminar, and...he took my lesson to heart. Now, how about we skip introductions for the moment and work on some self-control techniques? Let's start with deep breathing...”
To be honest, Raindrops simply tuned out the rest of the lesson. She already knew this technique by heart; indeed, it had saved her from more than a couple outbursts in the past. But that hadn't stopped her from punching out Trixie, or fighting Gilda, or exploding at Rainbow Dash. By the time Iron Will had begun handing out stress balls (for two bits a piece), she knew exactly how this night would go...
----------
“What a bucking waste of time!” Raindrops growled as she and Carrot Top stepped out of town hall. The rest of the group had already left, with the two newcomers holding up the rear so the complaining could occur out of earshot of Iron Will. “Breathing techniques? Stress balls? Next he'll be telling me to buck a pillow!”
“B-But those could help,” Carrot Top said sheepishly. “And besides, now you're a step closer to getting back to work. Isn't that worth it?”
“For that job? No way.” Raindrops shook her head, her back still turned to her friend. “Look, I...I'm glad you came with me, but I...I want some time alone for a minute. I'll see you tomorrow.”
Carrot Top opened her mouth to protest, but no noise dared to emerge. Despite her desire to stand up for her friend, that accursed weak little part of her brain quickly knocked her willpower back down to its usual levels, and she just as quickly acquiesced and began to trot back to her home. Once she was gone, Raindrops fell back on her haunches and extended her wings limply. “Why am I so surprised?” she said to nopony in particular. “Better ponies have tried to help me get over this, and it's never been enough.”
Her head gradually drifted upwards towards Luna's beautiful night sky. So far, the dancing stars overhead were the only highlights of her entire day. She still had no job, and no recourse against Rainbow Dash's baffling laziness. Her friends could all offer her the usual platitudes, but nothing that would actually get to the root of the problem. And now she was stuck attending meetings led by a money-grubbing minotaur and with a legitimately insane pony who wanted to destroy the sun itself. Granted, Trixie herself said that Luna got about a thousand petitions a day asking for the same thing, but at least she didn't have to get locked with them in a tiny room. And besides, she never beat somepony until he had to walk with a limp for the rest of his life.
And stress balls? That stupid minotaur thinks those help? Snails gets me one of those every time I lose my temper, and...
Her eyes opened wider than ever. “Snails...” Her brother still didn't know what happened; he had enough problems in his own life without worrying about his sister. If anything, she could...
And then she turned her head just enough to catch the hall's bulletin board. There, attached right between a notice for a Farmers Union meeting and a posting for a magic tutor, was a small, unassuming piece of white paper. It wasn't the size that mattered, however, but how you used it. And written on this little sheet was something that make Raindrops' eyes pop open with new hope...
----------
Morning crept up on Snails with all the sneakiness of a cat burglar. The colt struggled under his bed covers as the first rays of light pierced his window and cast its unforgiving glare across his tiny bedroom. In any other house, this would have been considered a slightly large broom closet, but considering the size of the house, he actually got one of the best rooms out there. Granted, his bed took up about three-quarters of it, but hey, at least he got a window. That was more than Raindrops could attest to.
Gradually, however, his desire to remain asleep was defeated by a fear of being late to school, and he pushed himself up...
”MORNING!”
And immediately jumped half out of his skin at the sight waiting for him. Standing with both front hooves on his bed was his big sister, looking just as awesome as ever. But even to his young eyes, he could see that something was...off about her. There was no moisture on her hooves, despite her usually going for some morning workouts. Her mane and coat were already perfectly cleaned and brushed, something she could only manage after a few prods from their parents. And then there was the biggest problem of all.
She was smiling. Not just a little smile, but a great, big, look-at-how-clean-my-teeth-are smile. To make things worse, she started giggling at the sight of her confused brother. “And how are you this fine morning?!”
“Um...uh...fine?” Snails stammered out. “D-Did something happen?”
“You bet something happened!” Raindrops punctuated the expression with a slam of her hooves against the ground, causing the entire room to shake and send the colt bouncing again. “But enough for now! I'll tell you everything at breakfast! So let's get moving downstairs before we run out of waffles!”
And with that, the mare bounded out of the room, bouncing like she was on the highest of all sugar highs. Snails simply watched in confusion, his brain already trying to rattle out what could have caused such a dramatic twist in his sister's behavior. Wow, she must have gotten some really good vacation time! Oh, and waffles! Nopony can say no to that! No wonder she's so happy!
Having solved this mystery, the colt jumped to the ground and cantered off to join the rest of his family for breakfast, pushing his sister's odd behavior to the very back of his mind. After all, if Raindrops was happy, then nothing could possibly be wrong...
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Okay! Reading now. Sorry, I wanted to finish up the chapter of "My Choices" that was up before starting this.
Incidentally, you should read "My Choices" if you're not already doing so.
Let's see...
Is a guy who works a soda fountain actually called a jerk? Like, that's the technical term? Huh, didn't know that. The more you know...incidentally this means that I was employed as a professional jerk for about 1 month back in '07. Good times. Until Friendly's fired me rather than pay me more when minimum wage went up. Joke's on them, they're going bankrupt now!
Oh, look, it's Iron Will, and -
- and Iron Will just got upstaged.
Iron Will just got upstaged. Trajectory is now best pony.
Tempting fate, Snails...
Anyway. As you can probably get from my mostly inane comments above, I don't see any problems with this at all! Although Raindrops' "thing" seems to have happened fast, if it was only one night...
Well, this is it. My first (?) contribution to the Lunaverse. Here's hoping you guys like it enough.
1736931
Thanks for giving it a look through.
Well, in about...whenever this story gets approved, we'll see if it can survive the rest of the group beating it to a pulp.
1736955
Incidentally, you wanted to make this Season 1, right? Any preference as to where to place it in the canon?
1737140
The original plan was to make it a Season 2 story, but that was back when it looked like it would be months before I got to it since I was going to start on Parent's Day immediately after BUB concluded. Now that that one's been pushed back until after Season 3 finishes... You can make it a Season 1 episode. Place it in any slot that'll work; I'm not picky.
now i am at a crossroad.... shall i start right now reading lunaverse and get to read awesome IAH work while understanding it, don't give a shit about lunaverse and just read it or delay lunaverse even more together with this?
I am sorry to say that I will not be reading this. The Lunaverse is... not what I like. I feel that many things were handled poorly, and as such I don't want to get involved in what I feel to be a broken, and fundamentally flawed alt universe.
Not bad. Seems almost like a Pinkie Pie personality transplant, at least at first glance. That's an awful lot of grinning and bouncing.
Hm... I'm not much of a Lunaverse reader... however, I have read this chapter... and ferl so sorry for Raindrops. I mean, how would anyone react because their lazy BOSS didn't do part of her job?
Wow so the fics finally here, I always had mixed feeling about this fic idea, for various reason, still I think having it be mostly the cloudsdale pony;s fault works quite well, but I think her rage could have had a bit more build up from happy to "attack a pony" Besides that though I really liked the scene Cloud kicker the descriptions of Raindrops, the chizled form stone line really stood out for some reason, I really liked it along with the "stoic" lines
though I do acknowledge it could me hilarious, the idea always left me thinking of Homer Repressing his rage and a fan video of Shizuo becoming a hippy... only for it to be a lie as he lit Iziaya hair on fire.
I think you meant becuase "of" her.
Ouch loved the soda line about special serving in regards to Pinkie and CO, feel bad for Trixie, "She's not that unbearable"
well usually anyway. I do wonder why she didn't go and work it off first though getting drunk always strike me as something Raindrops avoid... unless she's a happy drunk. 
I'm surprised Fluttershy's family connection is know but this does take place late in canon so maybe it's know by this point.
Little surprised to see you using the M!6 to cause the L!cast problems, it's done well though, no one comes across as looking like a jerk or anything unreasonable.
The entire scene was great the safe the Piano all of it.
Wow super happy Raindrops is creepy as, good writing doing it from Snail perspective, I liked her still happy hoof stomps shaking the room, I look forward to where this new madness takes us
Overall this was a very enjoyable chapter I imagine Raindrops chose to have either an experimental drug or some sort of spell cast on her to make her perpetually happy, or she ate hearts desire.
Regardless this was a good read overall, prepare to be liked and followed and thanks for posting! I look forward to more
.
My interest. It is piqued. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Colgate_beam.png
I like this. I like it alot.
And seriously, Rainbow Dash.....ugh. That's just horrible.
Wow! This was sort of unexpected. Didn't think you be getting around to this so soon, but the fact you are finally writing this makes me all kinds of happy. After all, one of my favorite authors is writing a story about my best L6 pony, so how could I be anything else?
I will say I'm also a bit surprised that you maid this all so blatantly Rainbow Dash's fault. Doubly so since we know Rainbow herself has no personal qualms against taking unscheduled vacation time. Personally I'd like to think that Dash was already going to find a way to fix things; she may be an egotistical self-centered jerk (and that's just her nicer M! counterpart
), but I've always thought that she really does appreciate Raindrops, and well, not exactly consider her a friend per say, but someone she respects and appreciates having around, even if they do occasionally but heads.
The part with Iron Will caught me a little off guard, not so much that he was hosting the anger management class (I was already expecting that), but rather that it seems to be something of a regular thing at the town hall, whereas I always assumed he was more of the traveling motivational speaker type. Also surprised me that ALL of the ponies were there by some mandate, I'd have expected that being ordered into anger therapy would be a pretty rare thing in Equestria and that it would more commonly be voluntary self-improvement. (Trajectory, However, all kinds of fun though, and I hope to see more of him, but don't know how much room this fic has for him; maybe he should be the pony you eventually write an Everypony's Day for, or at least a webisode tie-in to this episode).
Anyway, there are a few minor nits I could pick with this fic, but the only one that actually bugs me is this one line from Carrot Top...
Maybe it's just my personal thing, but when writing GOtL I used 'Drops' as an annoying nickname that pretty much only Rainbow Dash addresses her by (maybe occasionally Trixie in one of her less considerate moments). This ties into my head-canon that because of her slow flight speed and poor agility (plus the apparent tendencies of her own M! counterpart), Raindrops was rather mercilessly teased as a child for being clumsy. Thus for me at least calling her Drops would be the same as addressing Dash as Rainbow Crash. That said I understand how that can make things a bit restrictive when wanting to shorten her name, though for me at least, I'd rather see the friendly nickname for her as something like Rainy.
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I don't think her family connections are all that well know. The line was "And anypony who knew who Fluttershy was could tell you of her family connection." It could be spelled out a bit more explicitly, but I think it's supposed to mean, "anypony who knew who Fluttershy Really was," that is who only those who know that she was born Fluttering Poesy of the Poesy family weather moguls. That would need to be a very large number of Ponies, and even Raindrops herself might only know becase Carrot Top told her.
Other than that while the Raindrops attacking Dash happens with only minimal build, I don't think that's a problem her. This isn't a story about Raindrops losig her temper (there are other fics for that), rather here it's just the setup for the real story. So I think it works that it's all dealt with in cold open, allowing us to more quickly jump into the consequences. Also, all Raindrops did was tackle Dash; I don't think she was planning to give her a beating, just a good scare while she ranted about how irresponsible a boss she is.
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ah good point about Fluttershy there, didn't think of that.
Not sure I agree about the Raindrops vis a visa Dash thing but I don't think it's worth debating here.
Very enjoyable read. Like the character moments and a bit of the believable nature of the whole thing. Though one does have to wonder if Raindrops whole status as a bearer of an Element and hero of the whole world wouldn't allow her a tad more leeway and ignoring of her defects...But makes sense that it doesn't I suppose considering what else we've seen the Bearers have to deal with with no fear of angering the heroes that saved the whole world. The only other minor gripe I have about this story is the bar scene. It seemed a bit empty. Would've liked to see a few of the other Elements around. If it's all over town then they likely all know so all of them trying to cheer her up a little might've been nice. Hell Trixie going along to the anger management meeting rather then Carrot Top and getting something out of it considering some of her own problems would've been pretty damn funny really.
Another little minor question, though this is regarding the L-verse as a whole rather then just your story, is with Raindrops considering this such a problem and her being rather fearful of what she might do to others why didn't she ask Princess Luna about her problems on the couple of occasions she's met? I mean she's had the opportunity right? Hell even writing to her through Trixie could've been a pretty good little bit. I don't get why the Elements in the L-verse are so hesitant to write to Luna or at least ask her advice...But again that's not your fault it's a problem I've been having with the L-verse as a whole. I know Luna as portrayed here wouldn't want to fix their problems as a whole but advice and thus learning seems to be in her character so it confuses me.
Anyway, it's wonderful to see you make a story in this universe. Yours and RDD's Luna's have always been my favorite Luna's in fic form so it's great to see the two of you kind of come together in one place in a fashion. Can't wait to see how this develops. The reactions from the other harmony barriers should be really interesting indeed. Part of me wishes you had made her a bit more of a Fluttershy then a Pinkie Pie though, but either way it seems like it'll be a fun read. Perhaps her Element should have a bit of a problem with her changed nature as well? Since she's not really acting like herself through whatever changed her isn't she then being dishonest? Regardless, can't wait to read more thanks very much for sharing!
I've never seen the word "hiney" written down before...
....and I am not a good critical thinker before breakfast.
I am interested in finding out where this goes though. You've made her sudden change into HappyDrops quite omnious.
This sudden transformation reminds me of the Transformers episode Grinding Gears, where the perpetual grouch Gears lost a component that turned out to be a literal anger unit, removing all his aggression.
Also, I now have the perfect ending to my story. Thanks Trajectory!
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And what would Raindrops even expect the princess to do about something that no one has ever been able to help her with? Not sure yet what the details of this special treatment she got are going to be, but I doubt she's ever even conceived of something so radical before now, so it's not like she'd have had reason to ask the princess to do anything of the sort.
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I don't mean about a specific treatment but the Princess is over a thousand years old and they know this. She likely has quite a bit of knowledge. Raindrops has been lucky enough to be in pretty direct contact with her in quite a few situations, knows her personal student, and has a problem she is embarrassed and frightened about. She's not going to you know ask the thousand year old she knows her advice? Luna isn't going to offer it to her after hearing likely reports about her Element bearers and their problems? It doesn't make sense to me.
Trajectery is awesome!
Otherwise, a very promising set up.
I liked the start of this story. I found Raindrops' boiling point to be pretty believable. It wasn't just bad that she didn't get the vacation time, it was compounded by the fact that she did everything she had to do to get it, and lost it because Rainbow Dash let it slip her mind. Bad timing that the supervisors were there, otherwise Rainbow might've just let things slide, or even been able to work something out with Raindrops once she calmed down.
The scenes with Iron Will were amusing and I think you got a winning gad pony with Trajectory.
Now we have a very happy bouncy Raindrops and I'm looking forward to finding out just what caused the sudden change. Write on.
Hmmm.......
It seems to me that a clever pony like Trajectory would make a bit of name for himself in the Celestiaverse as well. He could, for instance, be why a moving crew dropped things while a lavender unicorn was stalking the wild water witch.......
There's only one explanation for Raindrops's sudden attitude change.....
She got laid last night
Iron Will, you stud you
Or is there a more chemical explanation?
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Well to start with even when you're on speaking terms with you're immortal god queen and meet her in person sometimes asking her how to deal with your anger-management problems isn't likely going to be at the top of you're list of things you're likely to think of saying, and second even though Luna is over a thousand years old she isn't likely to be an expert on everything (especially when it doesn't pertain to something very important to her), for all we know she may not have any better advice the you're average Jo when it comes to anger-management issues.
In regards to the story: A strong start; I like it. Raindrops stories are becoming quite popular in the L-verse it seem (I'm not complaining though
). In addition: inexplicably ecstatic Raindrops with no clear reason to be uncharacteristically joyful? WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE!?!?!?
I'm enjoying this. The set up is good, Raindrops was really well written and it was a good exploration of how her anger was actually affecting her life.
Tragectory, simply put, was awesome.
I just really hope that Rainbow dash gets called up on her behaviour because frankly, so far she has managed to get a free pass on a lot of things. Honestly, I know Raindrops loves being a weather pony but I'm not suprised she hadn't exploded sooner.
And the scene with happy Raindrops managed to make me feel the right amount of dread about what was going to happen.
All in all, a great start.
Out of curiosity, is there a reason the District supervisors visited, or is it just a strict business meeting to discuss what ever it is District Supervisors discuss with Weather Captains? Such as a fascinating discussion of the weather?
Otherwise a good start. Especially loved the description of (properly) happy Raindrops.
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Laid!Raindrops would not be quite so ...creepy. She might be constantly hovering though and...
BRAIN BLEACH! NOW!
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What makes you say that the Lunaverse is fundamentaly flawed?
Raindrops smiling? Quick, build a bunker!
Yay, new Raindrops story
...
Trajectory is new best pony. I like the way his brain works, and how his gib is cut 
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I just don't like it. It's what happens when you have multiple people writing the same universe. It's the same thing with MLP proper. I refer you to Over a Barrel, and The Mare Do Well.
THEY DO NOT HAVE HYDRO ELECTRIC DAMS!!!! ...Sorry.
I just feel that certain main aspects, such as Celestia, were not handled well at all, which others have stated before.
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, but my long time best friend locally has more than made up for my own good fortune; having an employment track that reads as a near continuous stream of such).
I suppose maybe Dash could use a bit of a comeuppance at some point, but as this story points out, she's got sufficient connections and competence to be largely untouchable, so any such would likely only ever be at the personal level. I also don't find it all that surprising that Raindrops generally puts up with it all; I'd wager a fair number of us have had to put up with equally bad or worse bosses at some point or another. (not me though
It's not fair, but when your employment options are limited that's just the way thing are sometimes. More importantly though, Raindrops genuinely loves her job, and Dash isn't a totally irresponsible flake all the time. This story, is just capturing an example of a bad day because those tend to be far more interesting due to the adversely conflict it creates between the pair.
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Getting called up on your behaviour and getting your co-uppance are two completely different. things. Trixie got called up for her behaviour in both Longest Night and in Boast Busted, Octavia was called up in Muscians and Dreamers but Lyra still tried to save her career, Applejack recieved buckets and buckets worth off ponies calling her up on her behaviour, even Pinkie Pie was called up by Trixie for not really listening to other ponies. I know from a career stand point she is untouchable but I don't want anything bad to happen to her career or her personally, I just want someone to walk up to her and say "Rainbow Dash, you are being an ASS!!"
I know bosses can be like that. I've had a boss like that and, unlike many people, I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I could resign with my dignity and job oppertunities still intact. It wasn't a fun move and frankly until him, I never thought I would get to the point where I would rather face unemployment in a recession hit economy than have to deal with my current workplace.
Others don't have that option and I sympathise.
Sorry if it seems like I'm harping on Rainbow Dash. I know Raindrops loves her job and I know Rainbow Dash isn't always this bad. I guess it's just sometimes really hard for me to find her likable (both in the lunaverse and in canon), but that's my problem and for the most part I try to leave my personal opinions about characters at the door and focus on how they are presented in the story infront of me.
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Overall a fairly good and respectable attitude to have on all matters (both in regards to real life endeavors and addressing the function of fictional characters; if more folks had that kind attitude, there would probably be less flame wars and such). As for Rainbow Dash specificaly...
That was kind of exactly what Raindrops was doing, if in a bit of an overly physical manner. Just too bad for her the higher ups were there to see it.
Overall, I liked it. I'm really interested to see where you go for this. My favorite bit was probably the part with Snails, I think you really nailed his personality in an awesome way.
Wasn't a big fan of Dash screwing up in such a jerkish manner. Being too lazy to submit an employee's vacation forms is pushing it even for her. I think I'd rather it be something like Dash's previous behavior putting the Ponyville team under scrutiny -- say, Dash was caught taking unauthorized vacation days, so now all vacations have to be audited and Raindrops' wasn't in time for the extra time that an audit takes, or something. I think that works better.
The bit with Carrot Top worked nicely. I like how Berry's now seems to be the place for the L6 to go when they're upset; Carrot Top did it herself in Carrot Top Season (getting soused with Trixie to boot), and now Dropsie as well.
Iron Will worked very well. Trajectory was meh for me, but I'll reserve judgement for now.
And crazy creepy smily Raindrops is truly an awesome sight to behold.
Pretty good, although the destruction of Trixie's window is getting way overused. Also, Raindrops better get her vacation and Dash a major chewing out. At least raindrops getting the vacation. To deny her that overall would be cruel, unnecessary and just plain mean. In a bad way, I might clarify.
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Even though I'm writing this story, I agree with you for the most part. Celestia was not well-handled at all, and every attempt to rectify that just makes things worse. Much of the early Lunaverse ran on Ron the Death Eater, making the M6 and Celestia look as awful as possible so the L6 and Luna could instantly stand out. At the very least, though, the group's trying to move away from that as a whole, but I'm not sure if they ever can get past what went down in LNLD and BB. Those are the stories people are most often introduced to the Lunaverse through, and when the first thing they see is their favorite characters becoming flankholes for the sake of that overrated stage magician and her padre of background and secondary characters...
Yes, I actually have run into people who've used the Lunaverse to advance the idea that the Mane 6 are a bunch of thugs who had it in for poor, defenseless Trixie from the start. Someone much smarter was handling that conversation, but it was a...troubling sight and confirmed some of my worst fears of the Lunaverse as a whole.
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Thanks.
Honestly, I was really worried about that part going in. I've never really been a fan of Snails in either continuity, but he's just too important to this setup to not use. I just hope I can keep it up, especially considering how you're all going to hate me in one or two chapters...
I'd respond to this, but that would be giving away something later on. The next chapter will detail her motivations a bit more.
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Pretty much this. The start of the story is just a classic exercise in horrendous timing. And Dash will get what's coming to her next chapter, in the most terrifying way possible...
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...Now I wish that was the answer. Certainly would be a lot funnier than the actual cause.
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I can certainly see some of the cast jump to the same conclusion as me, Cheerilee particularly
I've seen these kinds of people too, but so far as I'm concerned they are the kind of people who would have hated on the M6 and Celestia anyway even if there never was a Lunaverse. We at the Lunaverse can't and shouldn't be held accountable for the existence of such fanatics, and while there might be some superficial similarities, we generally aren't those kinds of people.
Most of us actually writing for the Lunaverse love everything about the show including its original cast, and that's the reason we've at times over used the L!M6, not because we hate them, but because we want to explore something simultaneously familiar and alien. Sure Celestia and Twilight seem to get it extra bad, but a lot of that is sort of wish fulfilment that Nightmare Moon and Trixie had gotten more screentime on the actual show.
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It's just the nature of the beast at times. You've created an AU that perfectly conforms to preset biases, and people will come rushing to it for support when the show doesn't back up their arguments. I never said the Lunaverse should be held accountable for such thoughts (especially since that includes me, too), but it is still troubling to see the universe promoted in such a way. It's also why if I recommend it to anyone, I do not send them to read LNLD or BB first. It's always "Family Matters" or "Musicians and Dreamers" for me, since those are both fairly gentle introductions without any of the possibly offending elements of the previous two.
While the Lunaverse has grown beyond where it used to be, I would have to remind you that a whole thread about how to use the Mane 6 was necessary to keep things from getting worse. At the very least, we're not turning Apple Bloom into Diamond Tiara anytime soon.
...
(By the way, I took your advice and read LNED. I was...less than impressed, unfortunately.
)
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No need to remind me; I'm the one who started that thread. So yes, I'm very aware of how badly things could have gone, but well, they didn't (and it makes me proud as a contributor to remember that I might be largely responsible for that).
...except kind of AJ, who I now consider worse off than either Twilight or Celestia. Which probably bugs me extra more, not because she is or ever has been in anyway my favorite character in either verse, but because she's probably the character I personally put the most effort in to explaining why she was never so bad off to begin with, and instead of any of that being taken into consideration when trying to show her as a potentially sympathetic character we got... well, you and I both know what we got instead an that's probably not a discussion worth going into here.
Sorry to hear that, at least depending on in what way you were unimpressed. In and of themselves the stories aren't really meant to be all that individually impressive; just vignettes really. Short stories that explore little sidetracks of what else was going on during much larger event, and in that respect I think they are generally quite successful. If this is just more not caring for the whole Corona history stuff though, well I can't really do any more to help you with that. So if that's the case, I'm sorry to have caused you more trouble and pain by way of the recommendation.
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Personally, I'd prefer the idea of Celestia becoming paranoid. Think about it, what kind of world is Equestria? Dragons, the everfree, a mad god improsioned on the front lawn, monsters and villans and so on and so forth. Celestia starts taking up more and more responsibilities, starts eating at work, and doesn't sleep as much, and no matter how hard she tries to protect her subjects, she becomes more and more frightened that something terrible will happen if she doesn't protect them. She enacts curfews and draconian regulations and laws to protect her subjects.
Celestia sees her sister getting more and more distant as Celestia becomes more and more terrified of threats to her subjects, real or imagined, and eventually thinks that Luna will turn and become a tyrant. Overcome by fear and paranoia, Celestia does a pre-emptive stike, utterly convinced that what she does is aboslutely nessecary for the continued safety of her Little Ponies. At this point, she's become the overbearing mother who wraps her children in bubble wrap and almost never leaves them unsupervised.
When Celestia returns from her "banishment" she's so overcome with fear and paranoia that she assumes that, since it is night, that Luna has become a monster, and will not set the moon nor raise the sun. She kidnaps most of the town, and takes them to a safe place, providing for them, fussing over them, and making sure that they are perfectly safe. Little does she realize that she's become the biggest threat to Equestria in the manner of a crazed mother creating proxy children.
When the L6 arrive to "save the day" Celestia is convinced that they are agents of her "corrupted sister" and does everything in her power to protect her captives from an imagined threat. They blast her wht the Elements, but Celestia is still terrified of monsters, until in comes Luna to soothe her big sisters fears, raising the sun to chase away Celestia's tears.
Celestia is now the equivalent of early S1 Fluttershy. Timid, easily frightened, and hides a lot, but still means well and has much of her good nature in play.
Oh my gosh...Raindrops is on drugs.
Also, the Lunaverse? It's amazing. So far, i think it could possibly, just maybe, equal (if not exceed) the show in terms of Fantasticness. Please keep up the amazing work.
*Trajectory loads Pokey into cannon*
Pokey: "MY HORN WILL FINALLY PIERCE THE HEAVENS"
So that's a staple of Lunaverse rules? Trixie's front window is forever a magnate of dangerous objects?
You know who is the real problem with this whole scenario?
FLUTTERSHY'S FATHER! THAT'S WHO!
Lets go down the list shall we:
He sheltered Fluttershy throughout her entire childhood because she was "delicate". Likely only reinforcing said mentality.
He forced his daughter's best friend Rainbow Dash to accept a management possession straight out of college that she wasn't ready for by threatening to have her parent fired.
So RD never learning the proper way to run a weather office from an example and just sticking with whatever she made up that worked, barely worked.
So RD is under constant mental stress that only reinforces her irresponsible habits.
So everypony working under RD, especially Rain Drops, has to deal with more stress and negative reviews.
And RD is so fearfully overprotective of Fluttershy that she drives away practically anypony who tries to socialize with her.
So Fluttershy has almost never even had the Chance to get over her social awkwardness.
And all in the name of familial loyalty.
The truly sad part is that if someone other that Flutters were to say all this to his face he would probably just order security to escort them out of his building, sit silently for a moment, then retell himself all the same old justifications and go on with his life.
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And as too snails reasoning: I look to this and wonder; isn't this the same sort of situation?
Snails you fool, you just tempted fate, one would think anyone with half a brain in this universe would learn not to do that. I guess he thoguht for once that it would not make everything go incredibly wrong.
tomorrow
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You need to clarify the "she". Since Raindrops did give a pony a permanent limp, and Luna, nor Trixie did.
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Re-reading this fic after I failed to fav it. This fic from what I remembered was [as of chapter 4] really interesting, even if I did feel a hit to the heartstrings when Dropsy completely wrecks her brother verbally.
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