Changeling No More

by Breaking News

First published 16th of May, 2013

Drone 9417 just had the worst day of his life. The attack on Canterlot failed but more importantly a magic overload has left him trapped in the form of a pony for the rest of his life.

Changeling Drone 9417 had a month-long assignment for a minor spy mission in Ponyville leading up to the Canterlot invasion. He deviated from normal operating procedure a bit then found out the hard way why changelings aren’t supposed to do that. After his body absorbed too much magic during the attack it triggered a permanent transformation that’s left him forever in the form of the pegasus disguise he was previously using. Now a pony called Cloud Breaker he'll try and put his life back on track with the help of his former roomates Sunny Rays and Serenity...

(Current chapters proofread by Dark_Night, earlier chapters proofread by BlackjackOrBust)

What?

“Ugh, my flank.”

Drone 9417 felt like he’d been run over by the Friendship Express. He was barely awake and wondering what had happened. Five hours ago he, like the rest of Queen Chrysalis’ changelings, was assaulting Canterlot. Now he was embedded in a field near the foothills of the Unicorn Mountain Range.

It was all slowly coming back to him, though. Beforehoof he was one of several Changelings sent to Ponyville to research the Elements of Harmony. That had gone well, and he’d retaken his place in the swarm before the attack on Canterlot. The day was going just perfect; they bested the Elements before they got their magic jewelry, took the city hostage, and the Queen had even defeated Princess Celestia one-on-one.

Then it fell apart. The pure love of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had defeated them and expelled them all from Canterlot by force.

But while he remembered all of that, he couldn’t remember why he didn’t feel right after his impact. He saw no sign of the other changelings; they must have been propelled further on to parts elsewhere. Something was up though. As he got to his hooves, he heard something that felt like the cracking of ice. He took a step and something snapped in his right front hoof. The odd thing was he didn’t feel it.

He looked down and saw that his black exoskeleton lay broken off just above where the changeling leg holes began. But that wasn’t what caught his attention; the pastel green pony hoof that now lay exposed amongst the broken black pieces did, though. He held it up.

“What in Chrysalis’ cocoon?” he asked out loud.

He tried to transform and got no response, it was like there was nothing there to transform with. Instead he felt a tingle in his backside. He turned his head just in time to watch his insect-like wings fall off, taking another chunk of black with it and revealing a feathery green wing underneath. His jaw dropped just in time to feel a crack run down the middle of his face, hook up with another on forehead and fall off, taking his horn with it.

“No, no,” he said.

The drone saw a creek nearby and started to walk toward it. More cracking, more black bits falling off. At this point he knew what was coming. He reached the creek and looked down into it. A perfectly normal green pegasus with sky blue eyes, an orange mane, and a matching orange tail looked back at him. A small tear ran down his cheek and dropped into the water. He recognized the face; he’d used it for the last month before the attack as a disguise. And now it was really his forever…

There was no stopping it now as the rest of his black exoskeleton crumbled and fell off. Drone 9417 just continued to stare at the reflection of the green pegasus stallion looking up at him. A cutie mark of a little black pony kicking a cloud now adorned his flank. The idea of a changeling becoming a pony wasn’t unheard of in the hive. There were ways it could happen. Several changelings over the years even left for an equine life, but Drone 9417 hadn’t meant to do it to himself. He had seen it before, though. He remembered his lost sibling, Drone 9413, who’d left on a mission to Dodge Junction and never returned. By the time another member of the swarm found him, he had permanently become a ruby red earth pony stallion named Lambert Cherry who was obsessed with romancing some mare with an orchard.

As his memory returned, there was no question how his transformation had occurred. There were some types of unicorn magic or zebra potions that could achieve such a result, but neither the purple or white Elements of Harmony were using that, nor was the wedding couple. No, this was an accidental transformation, and there were ways to trigger them.

Usually mode-lock occurred when a changeling overloaded its transmogrification magic to the point it simply burst and locked you forever in the form you were using the most. The only way it was possible was to hold a form for days on end, and he knew that he had. He’d spent three weeks in a row living in Ponyville with this pegasus form using the name “Cloud Breaker.” He dropped the disguise for the attack on Canterlot, but that fight with the Elements must have kept his magic level far too high. Switching from the blue to the yellow to the purple pony so much had seemed like a good idea at the time, but he hadn’t expected that magical expelling blast. His body absorbed so much magic during the explosion that it must have triggered this reaction. As the shock lessened slightly, the realizations of Drone 9417’s change started to come into his mind.

“Well, um, what now?” he pondered.

Becoming a pony permanently always came with a price. You forever lost your connection to the swarm, and, depending on your new form, you lost your magic, your flight, or possibly both. As he examined his new feathered wings he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be casting anything ever again. Of course that left him wondering where he could possibly go. The other changelings wouldn’t be looking for him, he’d be presumed dead and all would move on. Even if they found him he’d be “just another pony” to them. Despite the bedtime stories that parents told to scare their foals, changelings were not an assimilating race that could absorb anypony to make new hive members, you had to be born as one. He always wondered who made up those stories, feeding on love usually left them hungry more than most in this world. Why would they want more mouths to feed?

With a return to the hive out of the question, that only meant one option: a new life somewhere else. For the first time since he crashed in the field, a smile crossed his new face as he thought of all the possibilities. He could have a new life anywhere he wanted…but then he immediately remembered that he had no money and no place to live. The smile vanished just as fast as it had appeared.

Adjusting to life as a pony probably wouldn’t be too hard—he’d been impersonating them for years—but getting a job might be. With changelings in the news, everypony would be suspicious of outsiders for a bit. That was also saying nothing of getting anywhere, he was in the foothills of a mountain range without a town nearby or even train tracks. He was isolated and he needed to find shelter, he may have been a pegasus now but he had no idea what the weather schedule would be. There was also the whole “food” issue now that he wouldn’t be able to feed on love. He heard ponies in a pinch could, what was the word, “graze” on wild grass, so he’d probably have to try that and hope for the best.

He thought about what places would be close by, and of course the “Big Three” came to mind; Canterlot, Cloudsdale and Ponyville. Canterlot was on a mountain in the range, but obliviously he wasn’t about to go back there. Cloudsdale would be perfect for a pegasus, but he might not have any luck with everyone iffy on outsiders. That left Ponyville, where memories of a personal connection were coming to mind. He’d spent all of that time there living with a pegasus mare and her special somepony, so it was probably the easiest place to start.

When he was sent on his mission, the changelings had given him a stipend of a few thousands bits which he had sent to the couple in Ponyville when he left. Perhaps he could get some back? That’s what he would do, he would go see them again. What was her name? That’s right, Sunny Rays. And her coltfriend Serenity.

Author's Notes:

Is it right to use the changeling tag when "our hero" isn't a changeling anymore?

Why?

Drone 9417’s days as a changeling were truly over. He would never be part of the swarm again, probably never see the other drones again, and now being a pony there was no real point in even trying to find them. Part of him really wanted to dwell on the loss but on the other hand doing so would accomplish nothing and he had to get moving, he'd cry himself to sleep later. Ready or not he’d have to face the world as Cloud Breaker the pony now. Not that he had much choice. He’d go back to Ponyville, meet up with Sunny and Serenity again then put a new life in place. A brief thought came to mind that he did something that he might now regret when he sent his bits to them but he’d sort that out later. He hoped.

After a little trot to make sure his no-hole pony legs worked just like his old disguised ones had he took a run and took off. He promptly dropped back to the ground and crashed. Of course, his previous pegasus disguises all used an illusion of feathered wings but he still flew with his insect-like changeling wings. Still he knew how pegasus wings worked, you had to look those kinds of thing up for your illusions to work right, and after about an hour or two of practice he was ready to set off again when an odd sensation overcame him.

Were his changeling problems returning after all? Nope, his stomach made a noise. No longer able to feed on love real hunger was a new sensation for him. It was somewhat exciting as it was a new feeling he had never truly felt before. And yet it was sort of an annoyance. He didn’t like this feeling. But it gave him a reason to eat for the first real time. In various pony disguises he’d eaten all kinds of things before but “taste” as the equines call it isn’t a feeling with much real meaning to undercover changelings. Quite oddly he was thinking about how good a buttercup, lily and tulip sandwich would “hit the spot” right now even though he’d never had one, perhaps he was more of a pony now than he thought. He looked toward the field he crashed in, mountains looming in the distance behind. The contents of the field appeared to be wheat but from the little he knew about plants from the time he impersonated a farmer pony wheat wouldn’t be ready to eat in the spring.

Between the fields he did notice a small grassy area. What was that Seapony saying about “any safe harbor in a storm.” He ended up digging in and just as quickly realized why Equestria's ponies grazed so rarely. The grass was tasteless fluff like the love a changeling could get if they used money instead of cunning. Whenever he got to Ponyville he’d have to get a good meal somewhere, maybe from that little sweet shop where the pink Earth pony element worked. The thought of her reminded him of the mission which he recounted to himself as he eat...

The pink pony was a friendly one. Pinkie Pie, that was her name. As a changeling Drone 9417 was one of several dispatched to Ponyville to investigate the Elements of Harmony as preparation for the Canterlot invasion. The mission was not a high priority one. Everyone was to play it safe on intel side. Wild card antics just to get more information would be strictly off limits. Queen Chrysalis sent 12 changelings of mostly moderate to somewhat skilled levels to Ponyville just to get a little background on the Elements as her best underlings would be held back to directly prepare for the invasion. The Queen thought that if her plan went as hoped they wouldn’t even need the element infomation for anything beyond how to distract them. After pondering a unicorn mare to blend in better Drone 9417 decided on a pegasus stallion form. He preferred male disguises anyway as they just felt more natural to him.

As time went on he blended in just fine, everyday he would take a flight over the apple orchard where the orange one worked, buzz by the blue one’s cloud house and take in a cupcake at that sweet shop where the pink one was. He would gather small amounts of data, nothing large enough to get noticed, then relay it back. The Elements never even noticed him or the others. They were always caught up in their own nonsense about a time traveler’s cryptic warning, getting caught up in a tizzy over losing at a rodeo, or a rampaging dragon they helped cause. The information gathered was minimal but that was a goal, it was all gathered from the side unnoticed as Chrysalis had put her emphasis on the element of surprise for her main attack. They collected information on appearance, personality, work ethic, and threat level. It was a simple side mission to the invasion to come, nothing fancy in changeling terms.

Each of the Ponyville spies was issued a stipend of 3,000 bits to use as needed for shelter, acquiring love, and whatever else they needed. One rather bold comrade bought a matching suit and dress from the white one as an excuse to get closer then left town to avoid any follow-ups. It wasn’t the best idea, he didn’t get enough information and described her as “too posh to be a real threat” which went right out the window when she eventually right hooked about 25 of them in the attack.

For a residence “Cloud Breaker” rented a room from what he thought was a single mare named Sunny Rays, a yellow pegasus mare with a purple mane. It was normal, a changeling would then try in this situation to get into a mild relationship and feed off the love. But the ink was no sooner dry on his four-week room leasing agreement then her coltfriend Serenity trotted in. Serenity was an odd pegasus stallion, a pink-coated pony with a blue mane, “Cloud” figured his foalhood must have been Tartarus looking like that.

He was about to try and leave until he felt a wonderful sensation, their love. It was strong enough he could get a nice fill off just being around them. It was the perfect setup. There was no risk of being found out attempting intimacy and a residence that would be filled with love anyway with no work to maintain it. For about a week everything was perfect. He had his own private room in Sunny’s house where he could drop his disguise for a few hours as needed to safely balance his transformation magic.

Sunny was a bright mare full of ideas but she was usually so caught up enough in her work designing weather patterns she wasn’t investigating him. Serenity was one of her experts on rainfall in the same division at the local weather office, they joked they’d have to get Cloud a job if he hung around long enough. Minus one close shave when Sunny walked into the bathroom suddenly while he was taking a foggy shower she never even came close to figuring out his identity. Things were going perfect until he chose to use some of his bits to take the two out to fancy diner at a fancy pegasus-focused restaurant, an eastern-style place named Fusaichi’s. As “Cloud” smiled silently absorbing off a bit of their love Serenity dropped a bombshell. Both ponies were enjoying their fine meal while “Cloud” faked interest in his. Pegasi had odd tastes for light airy food and with no sense of taste he was simply pretending to enjoy it. The suddenly it all became rather awkward.

“How long have we been dating, Sunny?” Serenity asked.

“I suppose we started about a year ago,” Sunny replied. “Why?”

“Well I think it’s been going swimmingly,” Serenity said. “You really are my sunshine on even the most cloudy of days.”

“Cloud” just smiled happily, enjoying and dining well on their lovely vibe. This was a perfect moment.

“I think we might be ready for our relationship to soar to the next level,” Serenity said.

Ut oh, this looked like trouble. "Cloud" began to get nervous.

“I was going to do this in private, sorry Cloud, but I can’t pass on this,” Serenity said, he pulled a small box out from under his wing and opened it to reveal a fancy gem earring. “Sunny, will you marry me?”

“Cloud” couldn’t believe what he was seeing, he either hit the jackpot or rolled snake eyes with this move. Sunny just smiled, slightly embarrassed. Then her face lit up.

“You bet your high-flying flank I will.”

Oh boy, the love they were radiating was off the charts. “Cloud” decided perhaps he had to make this last. Over the weekend that followed Serenity expressed a desire to eventually move from his modest apartment into Sunny’s house. They were going to do it after “Cloud” left but the changeling decided to take a huge gamble. He insisted Serenity move in right away. If he were around more that immediately meant more tasty, emotional feelings.

The couple wasn’t ready to sleep together so “Cloud” gave Serenity the room and switched to sleeping on a foldout couch. That was where it would get tricky; he eliminated most of his privacy but decided to get around that by just never letting his disguise down. After all what was the worst that could happen? For the next three weeks he went about his deception with a smile and a full feeling. But as his current predicament showed maybe that wasn’t the best decision in hindsight. Love makes you do silly things even when you aren’t the one in it.

Undercover in Ponyville

With his meal eaten Cloud sat in the field wondering what had went wrong. He ran through his entire involvement in the invasion…

In his identity as “Cloud Breaker” Drone 9417 was trying to pass himself off as weather pony from the Neighagra Falls area taking a two-month break to travel Equestria and settling into Ponyville a bit because of “all the action” that had popped up there of late usually caused by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. His arrival into Ponyville rather well-timed, just a week before he showed up there was a “calling all pegasi” weather formation event to bring water to Cloudsdale that the changelings knew nothing about. As a changeling with no viable weather training he may have easily been discovered but since he came later he lucked out.

When it came to weather stories he did have enough research under his belt to fake it a bit when the conversation undoubtedly turned there and it did somewhat often living with two weatherponies. He had limitations but he could at least try to get around them, dare say he really came to like his hosts somewhat.

“Personally I think I prefer storm positioning in the summer to snow positioning in the winter,” Serenity said. “There’s nothing like a fine afternoon drizzle to make the grass and flowers grow properly. And usually you don’t end up with a coat full of ice crystals afterward. What do you think Cloud dude?”

“Well I, ah, prefer a nice snowstorm,” ‘Cloud’ replied. “Snow creates such a peaceful and serene scene. Perfect for a nice low-lever flyby… as long as there’s no microbursts. We did one once trying to rush the snowfall and I ended up front hooves deep in the powder afterward.”

Serenity looked at him funny at that line.

“That was pretty foolish,” Serenity said. “A microburst in winter is an unusually dangerous and out of season approach for snowfall. You’re lucky you didn’t end up like those freaks in Hoofington who tried a ‘Snownado’ for cleaning at Winter Wrap-up a few years back.”

“Um yeah,” ‘Cloud’ said, trying to bail out from a clear mistake. “My boss got knocked down to cloud kicking in Appaloosa for that one.”

“He’s lucky he’s not ridding a low-level desk in Cloudsdale,” Serenity noted.

“Happens in any business,” ‘Cloud’ said, trying to change the subject. “Someone gets promoted too high up the ladder. What’ll help make you a great cloud buster in Ponyville doesn’t transfer over much to overseeing the snowflake production in the Cloudsdale factory.”

“I suppose,” Serenity replied.

“You boys trying to mix business with pleasure again?” asked Sunny as she walked in.

“Is there any way not to when you work with weather,” Serenity noted. “This business rocks. It’s like being a Princess with none of that royality manure. We get to decide where the rain and sun go.”

“Technically I decide where the sun and the rain go with my patterns, you just position them,” Sunny said with a smirk.

“True, true,” Serenity noted. “You know best in that area.”

There was clear winner in this discussion. ‘Cloud’ just smiled. Ah, to be young and in love. Tasty, tasty love.

“Got to know when you’re beat right, Cloud?” asked Serenity.

“Yeah, always follow orders from your superiors,” ‘Cloud’ replied. “Especially when you’re dating one.”

“Have you ever dated anyone Cloud?” asked Sunny. “Give me a chance to talk to Dolphin Dream and I’m sure she can hook you up with a nice mare for your trip to the royal wedding in Canterlot. It’d be the least I could do after the favors you’ve been doing for us of late.”

“Oh I’m good, I want to wait until I find my special somepony on my own,” ‘Cloud’ replied, like several of the other spies he would be using a fake wedding invitation to explain his final departure. “Besides, I’ve only got one spot in the festivities.”

“You are so lucky to have landed an invitation to that,” Serenity noted. “It’s not my thing but Sunny would have loved to chance to meet Princess Cadence.”

“I’m sure Cadence would love to meet her too if the chance arose,” ‘Cloud said, knowing full well the Queen would be impersonating her by now. “But I’m sure she’s too busy to see anyone with the final preparations going on now though.”

“How’d you get an invite anyway?,” Sunny asked.

“I know some of the entertainment for this year’s shindig,” ‘Cloud’ said, a slight hint of smirk on his face. “Talking to them they say nopony will ever forget this wedding day. But as for payback just save me a spot at your wedding and we’ll call it even.”

“Deal,” said Serenity. “Just no drunken speeches at the reception. We’ll get enough of that from Berry Punch, Sassaflash and Caramel.”

“I’ll try,” ‘Cloud’ responded.

The three weeks he spent living with the “dynamic duo” were some of the best of his life. With the rarity of usable love in the homeland it was refreshing to day after day have all the ‘food’ he could eat. He’d be in some most nourished shape of his life for the invasion. To be honest, he’d miss them. But such is the life of a changeling, “love’em and leave’em” was practically their motto.

When his room lease ended ‘Cloud Breaker’ departed on the day before the wedding with a hug from Sunny, a hoof bump from Serenity, and a promise to write often to stay in touch that he sadly knew he’d never be able to keep. He really thought about warning them to take a trip to the Griffin Empire for a few days but he knew they wouldn’t on such short notice and he didn’t bother. He threw his bits in a saddlebag he purchased in Ponyville and flew off in the direction of Canterlot…until he was out of sight from Ponyville then he turned north. With his last report filed it was time to take his place in the swarm for the attack.

The swarm would meet up in the mountains the day before then storm in the day of the wedding. They planned to take the capital then gradually expand out to swallow up the rest of Equestria. ‘Cloud’ wondered how long Sunny and Serenity would be okay, being outside Canterlot they’d have warning and he was sure they could get away if they tried… he still kind of wished he warned them.

The news leading into the attack was not good. The swarm had been locked out of Canterlot for a week because while the exact nature of what was happening was unknown somehow the ponies had been tipped off something would be, ‘Cloud’ figured it was probably a changeling who lost faith in the queen or maybe one of the other spies got discovered and talked. However it happened Shining Armor and his royal guards put a shield around the city they’d never get through. It was up to Queen Chrysalis now to pave the way for the attack. They knew were ready for the Elements of Harmony, conquest was at hand.

But before he arrived at the rendezvous ‘Cloud’ still continued to think of Sunny and Serenity. Even after he left he could still feel a bit of their love but it was almost time to get down to business. Somehow he couldn’t just walk out, he should but he wanted them to have closure. Looking down he noticed a set of train tracks and a small town. Well, maybe there was one last act ‘Cloud’ the pegasus should take.

‘Cloud’ landed in the little town of Jerkwater and walked over to the train station. Jerkwater was tiny, perhaps 50 ponies lived here at most, and it existed only for the rail line. It was here that Friendship Express trains heading north into the mountains would pick up a helper engine or top off with water. At the station he walked into a room labeled as an office of the Equestrian Royal Postal Service. He purchased a small box and just enough materials to write a letter. With a few strokes of the quill he wrote a final epitaph for ‘Cloud’…

“Dear Ms. Sunny Rays and Mr. Serenity,
My name is Final Goodbye and I run the Flowery Meadows funeral home in Canterlot. It is with deepest regret that I must inform you that the pegasus Cloud Breaker has been killed in the Changeling invasion of Canterlot. He died from injuries suffered trying to fight back with others against the invasion. With his last breath he gave us directions to mail this saddlebag full of bits back to you, he had no family and requested cremation so there will be no funeral. We are so sorry for your loss. May Celestia’s sun and Luna’s moon shine on you to help you through this troubled time.”

He threw his saddlebag and all his remaining bits in the box and mailed it, they’d probably get it a few days later after the attack. Cloud’s mind was starting to turn elsewhere when the older blue earth pony at the mail counter tried to start a conversation.

“You’re just in time, sonny,” the older mail pony said.

“Ah yeah, sure,” ‘Cloud’ said as he turned to leave, his mind elsewhere.

“You a weather pony?” the older pony said.

“Huh, um, yeah,” ‘Cloud’ said. “But it’s my day off, I can’t move any weather in without permission.”

“Oh that’s fine,” the older pony said. “I just wanted to know if you knew when we’d be getting our new workhorse.”

“I don’t know,” ‘Cloud’ said. “I’d love to chat I gotta go.”

“Have a good day,” the older pony said as ‘Cloud’ walked out the door.

With a train arriving at the station he took to the skies and left Jerkwater to join up with the swarm. He didn’t notice his package was already being loaded on board for shipment.

He had almost forgotten how good a transformation felt until in a flash of green ‘Cloud’ vanished for good, or so he thought, and Drone 9417 was back ready for battle. For the next 12 hours the swarm rested and plotted. As he slept on the ground Drone 9417 actually sort of missed his couch in Ponyville. As dawn broke the changelings took off and slowly began to surround Canterlot, when the time of the wedding arrived the shield was still up leaving them to pound away uselessly at it in a futile attempt to be ready. Suddenly the pink shield crumbled from the inside, Chrysalis’ plan had worked and the attack was on as they all dive-bombed the city.

Author's Notes:

I've added a cover image, it's just a modified screenshot but it's something. I'm more of a writer than an artist.

In the original version Sunny was to be a love interest for Cloud. I thought that would be cliche so she got a lover and Cloud will probably be unattached for the duration.

This is my first time writing a FiM fic and I thank you for reading it.

Winning the battle, losing the war

KABOOM!

Drone 9417 slammed into the Canterlot ground, leaving a crater in the middle of the sidewalk café he just nailed. All their preparations were being put to the test as they attacked the city. As half the changelings split off to pin down the Canterlot Royal Guard he took his place in the team determined to stop the Elements of Harmony before they ever got their jewelry and powers. The changelings gathered in a group as the six of them approached and surrounded them.

“Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way,” Rainbow Dash said with a hoof clap, this was going to get fun.

With their appearances down pat from the Ponyville research one changeling morphed into Rainbow Dash for a quick tease to the speedy pegasus before everything busted loose. Everyone took forms of Equestria’s six so-called heroes, 9417 used his knowledge from all those visits to Sugarcube Corner to turn into a very convincing Pinkie Pie with a simple flash of green. His transformation magic still working fine despite its extended layoff.

“They’re changelings remember,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“They’re changelings remember,” said a group of Twilight-disguised changelings trying to mess with the mares.

Drone 9417 was ready for action. There was something strangely refreshing about charging into battle with a bizarre pink appearance, what would Serenity say now? Wait, why was he still thinking about Sunny and Serenity now?

BANG!

The fight began and his hesitation bit him as the real Rarity clocked him with a solid right hook. Wasn’t she supposed to be the wimpy, girly one? Drone 9417 was thrown back; she was tougher than she looked. He could use that, with a flash of green he switched to her form and charged back in only to get nailed by another changeling mistaking him for the real Rarity in the confusion. Perhaps a big fight like this wasn’t the best idea. With another transformation he swapped to Rainbow Dash and managed to get a hit in on the real Applejack before the real Dash got him with a diving attack.

“Accept no substitutes,” Rainbow Dash said with a cocky smile as she flew off.

He switched back to Pinkie then changed his mind and flipped to Fluttershy and then Twilight before being blasted with a shot of magic from the real purple unicorn deal, he whacked against a building with enough force to lose focus and drop his disguise. He was ready to transform again when another blast of pinkish light from all of the equines knocked him out of the battle.

The Elements charged away and Drone 9417 could do nothing, did he literally only land one punch in that whole fight? He should have had Sunny draw up his battle…what? He tried to shack it off when a smile came to his insect-like face, the other changelings through sheer numbers captured the Elements before they made to their weapons. They won! By Chrysalis they pulled it off, those mares made mincemeat of Discord and they beat them. It was the happiest moment of the day as the changelings led their captured prey away. He wasn’t feeling 100 percent but he’d probably feel better in about an hour.

He didn’t. As the other members of the swarm secured the capital most of the Changelings involved in the morphing fight were too tired for another battle and were left to just fly around as intimidating air support. Although one would spend the whole time smiling Drone 9417 put on a serious expression as he buzzed through Canterlot. He still didn’t feel good; maybe he got hit harder than he thought in that fight. He needed to land.

“I need a break,” Drone 9417 said.

“Take one,” Drone 7682 said. “We’ll pick you up again on the next pass.”

“Thanks,” Drone 9417 said, unaware he’d never speak to another changeling again.

He flew down and landed on the roof of the building. Something really wasn’t right and he thought he knew what. His transmogrification magic felt like it was ready to act up. He tried to transform and it worked as he flipped into the form of Rainbow Dash again. He switched back to his default form immediately as he started to feel sicker. Something was definitely wrong with his transmogrification magic but he wasn’t thinking straight to remember how he’d caused it. As the other changelings buzzed overhead not noticing his issues he tried in vain to figure out the obvious but elusive answer to what was wrong when suddenly he heard an explosion of some kind. He had only enough time to look up before a blast of pink magic hit him head-on. It felt like really powerful love, did the royal couple get loose and strike back? At the same time it was the most wonderful and most awful feeling he’d ever had.

Whatever happened next, that’s where it got blurry. That spell threw him and all the other changelings out of Canterlot, he only remembered being the air as his insides started to hurt even more. His leg holes started to have a white glow coming out of them and then he blacked out.

And that of course brought him back to the field. The new pegasus starred off in space for a moment with his now blue pony eyes. He botched it badly and his transmogrification magic had burst like he thought, it just took several steps to trigger it. Holding his form as ‘Cloud Breaker’ for three weeks left its way higher than it should have been and transforming back to his normal drone self only 12 hours before the attack didn’t give him enough time to reset it, he would have needed a day or two at least. He transformed six times within about 5 minutes during the fight then took a hard hit from Twilight’s magic that probably put him on the verge of disaster. His level was still too high when he tested it with that quick switch to Rainbow Dash on the rooftop and when that magic wave hit him the it finally overloaded and trigged an emergency transformation.

Because he’d been Cloud Breaker for so long his body flipped to it as a default and the last of transmogrification magic redid him into the green pegasus from the inside out. He now sat with real feathered wings and solid hooves wondering where he would be after all this was over.

It was mid-afternoon now, if he was to make Ponyville by dark he had to leave. Before Cloud Breaker left he walked back over to shattered pieces of his changeling exoskeleton. He took one final look at the large chunk of his face that fell off with his horn attached then smashed it with a stomp of his left-front hoof. The facial portion crumbled. He picked up the horn portion and tucked it under his wing where he could hold it while flying, it’d be a final token to remember Drone 9417 by. He took off and flew on. Three hours of flying later he reached his destination.

Ponyville was oddly quiet as dusk fell over the city. Ponies were probably still caught up in the hype over the wedding and the attack. The story of how those heroic locals pulled it out at the wire would be big news for a while; you’d need to practically rediscover a lost city to top this. Cloud Breaker landed on Stirrup Street and quietly walked to Sunny and Serenity’s home. As much as had happened today he’d be lying he if wasn’t almost happy he’d get to see them again. He walked to the door and knocked with his hoof… then suddenly the contents of that letter started to come back to him. “Ut oh” was the only thing that went through his head but he only sent it yesterday, he probably beat it here and could cover when it arrived. Serenity answered and Cloud figured he wouldn’t be mad.

“Hi Serenity,” Cloud Breaker said with his first lasting smile since the transformation. “I’m back.”

The pink pegasus stallion punched his green counterpart right in the face. So much for not being mad, yup he got that letter.

“You jerk,” Serenity practically yelled! “You better have a darn good reason for that little prank you decided to pull. Why the Tartarus aren’t you in Canterlot? Or was that all a lie too like your little letter?”

“Ah, I can explain,” Cloud Breaker responded as he got back to his hooves.

“You darn well better,” Serenity said as Cloud Breaker slowly walked inside to face two angry pegasi.

Author's Notes:

I know that modified screenshot I'm using for a cover image is "Doomie," but our changeling protaginist in this isn't that one. Doomie's got enough fics.

The Truth Revealed

This was about the last place Cloud Breaker thought he would be when the day began. In the course of about ten hours he had gone from attacking Canterlot with the rest of the changeling swarm, more than willing to directly face the Elements of Harmony themselves, to a lone pegasus about to face the wrath of the only two ponies in Equestria he could really count as friends. Serenity locked the door behind him after Cloud slowly trotted in.

To be honest he was more afraid as he walked into Sunny Rays’s kitchen than he was when he’d dive-bombed Canterlot earlier. Sunny Rays was already at the table and the yellow mare had a look of anger on her face that could only come following an hour of misplaced sadness. The pink stallion took a spot alongside her as Cloud positioned himself across from them. He saw the now-opened package he sent the day before on the counter. Apparently the mail service had been oddly fast today. “Why couldn’t that ditzy grey one have been working,” he thought. Maybe that way his package would’ve arrived later. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the time for laughs.

Cloud didn’t grow up in anything resembling a pony household but he imagined this was what it was like to face angry parents.

“Well you’d better have a good explanation for what happened today,” Serenity said. “The extra bits are nice but I’d rather know what in the world is really going on."

“I have an explanation but I don’t know if you’d believe me if I told you,” Cloud responded timidly. “I’ve had a bit of a rough day.”

“So did we after that letter arrived,” Serenity said. “We were worried sick for a few minutes before your story unraveled.”

“We got your package just after lunch,” Sunny said. “I cried for 15 minutes, just wishing I’d get the chance to see your smiling face one more time, before the facts shot holes in your story. I noticed that your package was postmarked yesterday, so you must have mailed it before the attack even started. You somehow knew the changeling attack was coming ahead of time, and you didn’t warn anyone?”

“I couldn’t. I had to keep it a secret,” Cloud said.

“Why?” Serenity asked. “They take some member of your family hostage or something?”

“No,” Cloud responded. “I- I just couldn’t tell anypony."

“We could have stopped them, Cloud,” Sunny said. “Nopony got hurt, but that’s just short of a miracle. If you’d spoken up we could have gotten the word out and stopped the attack. My cousin Best Defense is a member of the Royal Guard, and Canterlot could have been even more prepared.”

Cloud had no answer. Could he tell them the truth?

“There were other issues with your story in the letter,” Serenity said. “Before I moved to Ponyville I interned with the Canterlot weather team for a year and I still have my city directory.”

Cloud’s impulsive goodbye letter was digging him in deeper by the second. He definitely didn’t bank on them being that familiar with Canterlot and he knew what was coming next.

“There’s no Flowery Meadows funeral home and nopony named Final Goodbye there,” Serenity said. “Your saddlebag that you mailed to us was mint, too. There wasn’t one tear or speck of dirt on it, and that makes it seem unlikely that changelings beat you down.”

“You mailed it in Jerkwater, too,” Sunny added. “The Ponyville weather office services Jerkwater. I’ve been twice this month on business. It’s not on the usual flight path to Canterlot or Neighagra Falls. It is on the path to Cloudsdale, though. Why were you headed there?”

“I wasn’t,” Cloud said. “I was going to hook up with the others in the Unicorn Mountain Range before going to Canterlot.”

“What others, Cloud?” Sunny asked. “Were your friends with the entertainment coming from Cloudsdale?”

“No, they weren’t,” Cloud replied.

“Then where were they from?” Serenity asked.

It was all or nothing now. If he could really save this friendship he may as well tell the truth.

“The changeling hive,” Cloud responded.

The visual response from Sunny and Serenity expressed both a bit of shock and a subtle confirmation of their suspicions.

“I sent you that letter because I was never going to be able to come back and I didn’t want you to worry about your friend Cloud,” he said nervously. “Because Cloud was just an identity I cooked up, I never had any plans to come back and I would never have been able to write you like I said I would.”

“Why did you lie?” Serenity asked. “If you aren’t Cloud Breaker then who exactly are you?”

Cloud swallowed hard and decided that he really was going to do this. Deception had only dug him deeper into trouble over the last few weeks. Why not try the truth for once?

“I am Cloud Breaker now,” Cloud said. “But the real, complete truth is that up until today I was Drone 9417. When we met in Ponyville I was doing some research on the Elements of Harmony. I wasn’t a high-ranking changeling and my work wasn’t a vital part of the invasion. The focus of the invasion was Queen Chrysalis’ imponynation of Princess Cadence.”

“If you’re a changeling, then lose the pony look and let’s see the real drone,” Serenity said.

“I… can’t. I’m not a changeling anymore,” Cloud said.

“Yeah right,” Serenity said.

Sunny wouldn’t believe his story, either. “I wasn’t aware that being a changeling was a temporary condition,” she said.

“It isn’t. Not normally,” Cloud said. “I lost my powers. During my time in Ponyville I took some chances I really shouldn’t have. Staying as Cloud Breaker all the time so I could stay here with you two overloaded my transformation magic. After everything in Canterlot this morning it burst and turned me back into Cloud for good. My exoskeleton crumbled and left me this way. I can’t transform into anypony else ever again. I’ve lost my species, my home, and any semblance of my previous life over the past several hours. You’re the only ponies I know well enough to turn to. I need help and you’re the only thing resembling friends that I have.”

“Yeah right,” Serenity scoffed again. “If you’re a magically-cured changeling then I’m Princess Luna. If you were into something illegal in Cloudsdale or lying about being invited to the wedding you can just admit it.”

Sunny had an inquisitive look on her face. Serenity was less amused.

“I’m not lying, I was a changeling until just a few hours ago,” Cloud said.

“So you spent the last several weeks living in our house under false pretenses,” Serenity noted, “And you came back asking for help expecting us to be cool with that? Life’s not that simple, drone man. You deceived us that long so why should we believe you now?”

“I was lying then but I’m not lying now,” Cloud said. “I’ve lost everything. Look, I can prove it.”

Cloud reached under his wing and pulled out the only remnant of his former life. Even though the couple was trying to act stoic, Serenity and Sunny both showed a little shock when he dropped his changeling horn on the table. He then turned his head back and pulled out a feather from his green wings and dropped it next to the horn.

“When a changeling mimics a pegasus we don’t copy the wings. We just use a little magic to put up the illusion of feathered wings over our insect-styled one,” Cloud said. “My old wings didn’t exactly survive my, err, career change.”

“You could have gotten that horn anywhere,” Serenity countered. “There’s no telling how many changelings crashed and burned after the attack. Maybe you pulled it off a ‘comrade,’ nabbed that feather from a pony in the attack, and you’re still faking it.”

Sunny pulled the horn closer to her with her left hoof. It was intact right down to the base. With no damage the horn itself meant nothing and she focused on the little piece of the base that remained, instead trying to see how it broke off. Serenity and Cloud noticed her deep concentration and paused to watch her inspection. Sunny continued to look at the edges as she spun the horn. One side was rather jagged and uneven, bending slightly upwards. It looked like somepony had stomped on that side, but the other was smoother and cleaner. It looked familiar.

“Did you break this off, Cloud?” Sunny asked.

“First my face section split in half and fell off, but yeah,” Cloud responded. “I crunched that section underhoof afterward to retrieve the horn. I thought I might need it for something later.”

“Perhaps he deserves the benefit of the doubt, Serenity,” Sunny noted. “Take a look at this, the left side of the base is rough, like he deliberately broke it off. But it doesn’t carry over.”
Sunny pointed to the right side of the base. Cloud had a bit of a smile on her face. Maybe they would believe him.

“That’s a much cleaner fracture, all nice and smooth,” Sunny noted. “Remember when those guys in the hail division at the Cloudsdale plant froze that water pipe solid last year by mistake? The expansion of the water inside broke the pipe.”

“Yeah, wasn’t your sister Merry May on the inspection team that wrote them up for it?” Serenity asked.

“She was, and she talked about it in detail,” Sunny responded. “That crack isn’t quite identical to this one, but the premise is the same. That’s a pressure crack from the inside out and not an impact one. If Cloud says that it just broke off that might back it up a bit.”

Cloud had a smile. Sunny always was a bright pony.

“So you don’t think he’s lying?” the stallion asked.

“I can’t confirm either way, I’m not a medical expert,” Sunny said. “I think we should contact one, though. If Cloud’s a real pony now a DNA test would confirm it.”

“I’ll submit to one,” Cloud said, not knowing exactly what one would entail.

“I’ll get in touch with Doctor Stable and schedule one,” Sunny said.

“So just because you think he might be a pony now you’re going to give him a pass on four weeks of deception and committing a terrorist attack against the capital?” Serenity sputtered.

“I never said that, but for now it’s possible he’s just a pegasus. No one would believe us if we turned him over to the authorities,” Sunny noted. “We’ll deal with it after the tests. Until then Cloud, you are welcome to stay the night, use the couch again please.”

Cloud perked up with a legitimate smile at that.

“BUT if the tests reveal you are still a changeling we are going to turn you over to the authorities,” Sunny said. “If you’re a pony then we’ll help you get back on your hooves a tad but there are still going to be consequences for your actions in Canterlot.”

A little of Cloud’s enthusiasm subsided. Still, he knew this was his only chance.

“Thank you both,” Cloud said.

“If you want anything to eat I got half a buttercup, lily and tulip sandwich in the fridge,” Serenity said. “You’re welcome to it.”
Cloud’s face lit up once again at that.

“You don’t know how much I’ve been craving one all day,” Cloud said. “And it’s odd because taste is rather new to me.”

As Cloud raided the fridge for the sandwich, Serenity and Sunny left the room.

“You really think it’s best to let him stay here?” Serenity asked. “Even if he’s a pegasus now, he was a changeling.”

“No doubt much of his friendly nature before was trying to feed off our love,” Sunny noted. “But even if he spent the last three weeks feeding on our emotions he took no malicious action against us. He only pushed us in the direction we were headed anyway.”

“I’m still iffy on it,” Serenity said. “Trust is earned, not given, and he blew most of ours.”

“What do you want to do, throw him out?” Sunny asked angrily. “You were complaining last week that there were too many ponies collecting welfare from the Princesses. He’s got to stay somewhere; we’ll get him tested and then see where it goes from there. It’s not very Equestrian of us to bail on a pony in need.”

In the living room Cloud eyeballed the flowery BLT before digging in. As his first real meal since becoming a pony, it didn’t take much for it to be the best thing he had ever eaten. He felt his wings flip out involuntarily.

“Oh my goodness,” Cloud said to himself, enjoying the taste of the simple sandwich.

Maybe this whole pony thing would work out after all.

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to BlackjackOrBust who is helping me out with the is fic as a pre-reader.

DNAnswers

Was there ever a time somepony had to go to a hospital when they weren’t nervous? Cloud certainly was as he walked into Ponyville Hospital alongside Serenity and a saddlebag-wearing Sunny. He was fairly confident that he would pass these tests easily. Once he did, the former changeling could really start properly putting a new life together.

But what if he didn’t? What if he was still a changeling deep down and didn’t realize it? Could he still rejoin the swarm? Did he even still have it in him? As the trio took seats in the main waiting room, the two engaged pegasi noticed that their green newcomer was nervously biting away at his still relatively new hooves.

“I don’t think you need to be that nervous, Cloud,” Sunny noted. “If your story really is true, the outcome is already decided and you’ll be fine.”

“A little fear is good for ya,” Serenity added. “Keeps you focused on success.”

“Yeah, ah, sure,” Cloud said.

Cloud’s attempt at his first-ever “Ponyville-style” breakdown—even in the hive he’d heard anypony living there was prone to one—was interrupted as a door opened to reveal two ponies. The first was a light blue unicorn with a purple-and-white mane. She had a little orange flower in her hair and bandages on her horn. The second was a yellow Earth pony with a blue mane, green eyes and an oddly high amount of blue eye shadow; she wore a small hat that indicated she was one of the facilities’ nurses.

“Now you’ll be just fine, Ms. Diamond Mint, but only if you lay off aggressive magic for the next week as Doctor Stable recommended,” the nurse said. “Horn cracks happen to every unicorn from time to time, but the latent magic in your carbuncle should heal it relatively soon.”

“Thank you, Nurse Coldheart,” Diamond Mint responded. “I’m picking up my prescription at the pharmacy on my way home.”

Diamond Mint trotted off, leaving the nurse to walk behind the desk and check the list of appointments. She called off the next name on the list.

“Breaker, Cloud,” Nurse Coldheart announced. “The staff will see you now.”

Cloud gulped one last time and walked toward the door. Sunny and Serenity both gave a wave then waited. They figured they might need to be there if medical staff had any outside questions about Cloud.

“Wish me luck,” Cloud said as he left.

“Good luck,” the pegasi responded in unison.

Serenity and Sunny both knew they’d probably just peg him for “stressed out, maybe delusional.” They started talking again as soon as Cloud trotted through the door and out of earshot.

“Five bits says he’s a pony,” Sunny wagered.

“You’re on,” Serenity fired back in a half-joking manner. “If I’m being honest, I hope he is. The guys and I need a fourth for euchre since Thunderlane started spending more time with Flitter and Cloudchaser.”

In the hallway outside of the waiting room, Nurse Coldheart looked at the forms for the new patient and chuckled softly at the description “patient thinks he is a changeling, administer DNA test.” She then led Cloud Breaker to a small room. Using her mouth she pulled a new paper cover out and covered the room’s bench with it. She placed Cloud’s paperwork by the door.

“Feel free to have a seat if you’d like,” Nurse Coldheart said.

“Thank you,” Cloud responded as he did so.

Nurse Coldheart opened a drawer, revealing a fresh syringe and a checklist.

“I will need a few samples for testing,” she said. “Doctor Stable will handle most of the tests. I will need one of your feathers and a blood sample for the lab, though.”

Cloud pulled a feather out of his right wing his with mouth and presented it to her. She placed it in a bag and sealed it with her hooves.

“This next part will hurt,” Nurse Coldheart warned as she picked up the syringe.

Cloud braced himself as she positioned it with her hooves and jammed it into his flank just above the cutie mark. She took the sample with a quick pull of the plunger, and Cloud looked down as the instrument was removed with its red contents. That blood color was a good sign, right?

“Doctor Stable will be with you shortly,” Nurse Coldheart said as she left to take the samples for testing.

Cloud thought he had a moment to ponder what he doing, but instead the doctor arrived almost immediately with another nurse. The doctor was a yellow unicorn stallion with a brown mane; he was accompanied by a white earth pony mare with pink hair. They were apparently coming back from a short break and finishing a conversation.

“I can’t believe you got me on the back nine with that birdie on 17, Redheart,” Doctor Stable said. “That’s usually one of my better holes, too.”

“My uncle is the groundskeeper at the Gooseneck Club, and I’ve been playing that course since I was a filly,” Nurse Redheart responded. “A deal is a deal. You owe me a smoothie at the 19th hole next time we play.”

“Yes, yes,” Doctor Stable responded as the white pony left. “Now on to business.”

He pulled out Cloud’s paperwork with his magic.

“So let’s see what your issue is, Cloud Breaker,” Doctor Stable said as he looked over the papers. “Hum. Okay. So you think you are really a changeling? How long have you been having these thoughts?”

Time for more honesty. If he kept this up he’d get quite good at it eventually.

“My whole life, Doctor,” Cloud responded. “I was a changeling up until yesterday when I screwed up my magic and turned into this.”

Cloud gestured to the various aspects of his new permanent pony look.

“So you were part of the attack on Canterlot?” the doctor asked.

“I was,” Cloud replied. “I had a spy mission in Ponyville for a month leading up to that.”

“I see, spy mission,” Doctor Stable responded. “That sounds risky. So have you been under a lot of stress at work lately?”

“I haven’t found any pony work yet,” Cloud said. “Haven’t had much time to look yet if I’m honest.”

“So you haven’t been working in at least the last six months?” Doctor Stable asked.

“Not in any pony positions,” Cloud said.

“I see. Well the job market has been stressful lately. Are you new in town? I noticed we don’t have any prior records for you.”

“Yes, I’ve only been in Ponyville about a month,” Cloud responded.

“Have you had any changeling-related dreams of late?” Doctor Stable asked.

“Um, not really,” Cloud said. “Just normal deception and conquest stuff until last night. My first dream as a pony was about getting a toasted BLT flower sandwich. After having a normal one, toasting it seemed like the next step.”

Doctor Stable made a few notes on the paper.

“Do you mind if I make a more personal examination for a moment?” the doctor asked.
Cloud nodded.

“This may tingle a bit,” Doctor Stable said.

The doctor then examined something on Cloud’s underside. Cloud felt a bump in a rather personal area.

“Ah,” Cloud said. “What are you doing down there, Doc?”

“I’m checking your personal area,” Doctor Stable said. “Changeling reproduction is different from other equines. While they can fake the appearances and, to an extent, intimacy of ponies, they aren’t a perfect copy. This appears rather normal, though.”

“Is that good?” Cloud asked.

“That depends on what you hope the answer to this test will be,” Doctor Stable responded. “Wings out, please.”
Cloud responded by extending his wings as asked. Doctor Stable attempted some small talk as he examined them and made notes.

“It’s not often that I have a voluntarily-conscious patient for a changeling test,” Doctor Stable said. “Normally if any doctor is doing one of these, it’s down at the police station with a subdued suspect. Comes up more than you’d think. Our knowledge of changelings is relatively strong, but not complete.”
Doctor Stable finished his examinations and opened the door.

“I would like to run one more test,” Doctor Stable said. “Please follow me.”

Cloud got up and did so. The pair walked down the hall, passed closed doors as the scent of antiseptics hung in their snouts, and arrived at a room labeled “X-ray.” Doctor Stable opened the door, and the two stallions entered.

“This is a simple process,” Doctor Stable said. “I’d like to do an X-ray. If you are in a disguise, the all-seeing eye will see through it.”

“I’ll take one,” Cloud said. “If it will help, then I’m game.”

The doctor brought Cloud into the room and positioned him for the X-ray. He then left the room and clicked the machine, snapping an internal picture of the questionable pegasus.

“That should about do it,” Doctor Stable said. “The lab results will take a few more minutes. I’d like to talk with your friends during that time if it’s possible. One of the nurses will take you back to the room and I’ll return with the results.”

“Yes, doctor,” Cloud murmured as the older stallion departed and Nurse Coldheart returned.

***

In the waiting room Sunny and Serenity were both distractedly reading books that she had brought from home. Their reading was interrupted as Doctor Stable walked in. Nurse Redheart followed with a packet of papers and an X-ray picture.

“Your materials, doctor,” Nurse Redheart said.

“Thank you, nurse,” Doctor Stable responded.

As Nurse Redheart walked back to her other duties, Doctor Stable looked over the papers and glanced up at Serenity and Sunny.

“Good afternoon, I’m Doctor Stable. I’m handling Cloud’s tests today,” the doctor said. “We have our conclusion and wanted to talk with you both before we tell Cloud.”

“Certainly,” Serenity said.

“What’s the answer, Doc?” Sunny asked. “Is he a changeling?”

“Not in the slightest,” the doctor explained. “His physical tests all indicated a normal pegasus, and these results have confirmed it. The DNA tests on his blood and feathers are a 100 percent match for a male Pegasus, and the X-ray shows he has a normal pony skeleton. He’s just as much a pony as anypony else.”

“Well that’s a relief,” Sunny said.

“Not quite,” Doctor Stable said. “I’m curious. How long he has claimed to be a changeling? Did he start after the attack or before it?”

“He only started doing this after Canterlot was attacked,” Serenity responded. Technically that wasn’t a lie.

“Was he in Canterlot for it?” Doctor Stable asked.

“He was,” Sunny responded, relatively sure of that point.

“As I thought,” Doctor Stable noted. “I think he’s suffering from a mild form of PTSD. If he indeed witnessed the attack, in order for his mind to comprehend it he is now convinced that he somehow took part in it. I think it’s certainly a notable condition, but not an incurable one. It’s quite possible that he’s just having a kneejerk reaction, but if it continues for more than two weeks I’d recommend counseling.”

“Is he a danger to anypony?” Sunny asked.

“Not in my opinion,” Doctor Stable responded.

“Will he be allowed to leave?” Serenity asked.

“Yes,” Doctor Stable said. “For now anyway, we will tell him the results and release him.”

***

Cloud had been waiting for the past several minutes alone. He examined his hooves. They were so much smoother and more complete than his old holey ones, and they still felt a bit weird to use. He had no further time to consider his new appearance, though, as Doctor Stable returned. The doctor didn’t beat around the bush in telling him the results.

“You are free to go, Mr. Pegasus,” Doctor Stable said. “Everything checks out. You are not a changeling.”

Cloud smiled widely as Doctor Stable presented him with all of the data confirming the announcement.

“Oh thank goodness,” Cloud responded with a smile.

Finally, confirmation. Either way, now he could really start living again.

“Have a good day, Mr. Cloud. I need to go check on another patient now,” Doctor Stable said before leaving. “Your friends are waiting for you in the lobby.”

As Cloud walked out of the exam room and made his way back to the lobby, a million thoughts went through his mind. So he really was a pony now. He’d make it work somehow.

Even if he was past this hurdle, there were still a million more to come. How would he make money? How would he make amends for attacking Canterlot? At least he might have something on his side, “his friends” as the doctor put it. He probably had a bit more work to do before he could call them that, but at least it was a start.

Meanwhile in the lobby, Serenity discreetly forked over five bits to Sunny just before Cloud walked out.

Author's Notes:

In the original version of this Doctor Stable put some powder on Cloud Breaker before the X-ray that he'd say was a highlighter compound. We'd then find out afterward not in Cloud's presence that it was really a magic neutralizer and he was testing for a changeling disguise. I cut that because that is way too underhanded for a doctor to do in any context, even if the doctor is a magic talking unicorn.

Face to Old Face

Cloud Breaker felt like he was walking on air as he trotted out of Ponyville Hospital alongside Sunny Rays and Serenity. A simple DNA test had finally given him the confirmation he needed, he was a changeling no more and now 100 percent a pegasus pony.

For a moment he felt so happy it was like he was trotting on air. Then he heard Serenity and Sunny chuckling and noticed that he actually was trotting on air, about a foot off the ground. Apparently his wings had started flapping without a direct command.

“Um, oops,” Cloud said as the chuckling continued. “I’m still getting used to these things.”

The humorous mood continued until the trio of pegasi stopped at a sidewalk café for lunch. With Cloud’s identity now confirmed, Sunny and Serenity had agreed to return some of his bits. He, in turn, would be buying their meals in exchange for some other favors later. Both fully admitted some apprehension at his changeling past, but Serenity was quick to point out that he was more nervous about the so-called baby dragon that lived down the street with Twilight Sparkle. Spike had almost destroyed the town, yet he was somehow allowed to stay. Sunny chimed in and added that discrimination had never gotten anypony anywhere, and that they would sort out consequences from his part in the attack later.

The three sat on small bales of hay outside around a table designed to look like a mushroom. The two weather ponies discussed some business while Cloud looked over a menu, confused about what to order.

“The weather is perfect for a little outdoor lunch,” Sunny said. “Well, at least for the next three hours. Then we’ve got that pleasant afternoon shower coming through if Blue Skies and the team are on time.”

“They usually are,” Serenity responded. “Blossomforth is with him today, and she’s a real talent. She’s great at moving clouds so the plants get their sunshine. Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane are still in Canterlot, but Dizzy Twister and Silverspeed are in the rotation today filling in.”

“I was working all week to get a thunderstorm in at the least inconvenient time,” Sunny said. “Did we get the okay for one tonight?”

“I think so,” Serenity replied. “Check with Midnight Strike, she’s lead pony on the night shift this evening.”

All this weather talk piqued Cloud’s interest.

“So how many pegasi are on the Ponyville weather team?” Cloud asked.

“A couple dozen, believe it or not,” Sunny responded. “Ponyville’s so centrally-located that we’ve been put in charge of a lot of territory. We actually move a lot of weather produced in Cloudsdale for other areas. There’s also monitoring to be done in the Everfree Forest; the uncontrolled weather in there is such a wildcard that it pays to have a team on standby in case it produces something dangerous.”

“Despite the size of our town we’re one of the largest weather departments outside Cloudsdale, Las Pegasus, and Fillydelphia,” Serenity said. “Even Canterlot’s a smaller operation because the central office in Cloudsdale handles almost all of their services. Not a lot of pegasi live there, too, probably because a lot of those real high society unicorns are a bit elitist. Ponyville’s pegasus population is much higher than normal for an earth pony-founded town because of the weather office and the resulting pegasi community surrounding it.”

Cloud liked the sound of that. He’d impersonated enough pegasi over the years as a changeling to know that weather jobs paid rather well. Rainbow Dash’s giant cloud house he’d been flying by everyday for the last month was proof of that. It was a major reason why his pegasi disguises were usually weather-related. If there was any early upshot to being stuck as Cloud it was that his identity came with a possibility of a career in the field.

“What are the odds of getting a job here?” Cloud asked. “I’ve got to work somewhere, and if the whole ‘cutie mark means destiny’ thing is as true as we’re taught, then it seems up my alley.”

“Pretty good,” Serenity said. “We just had a round of promotions and retirements, so the Ponyville office currently has three openings in town and few others on the outer ring of our coverage area.”

Cloud was starting to feel confident.

“But it takes more than just a weather-themed cutie mark and name to get a job around here,” Serenity added. “You may really be Cloud Breaker now, but you also have no resume of any prior weather work or training to your credit. Plus, everyone around here knows you as our friend; if we just pulled a few strings and blindly got you hired we’d all make it about half a day before we’d get investigated for nepotism.”

Cloud’s confidence vanished.

“With that cutie mark your best chance for a job beyond just manual labor is probably still something in the weather business,” Sunny noted. “But the only way you’d get a position with your qualifications would be if no one else applied, which isn’t likely in this sort of populated area or larger office.”

That was a disappointing twist, but suddenly a thought from earlier came back into his head.

“Oh that’s fine,” the older pony in the Jerkwater post office said. “I just wanted to know if you knew when we’d be getting our new workhorse.”

“You mailed it in Jerkwater, too,” Sunny added. “The Ponyville weather office services Jerkwater, I’ve been twice this month on business.”

If a populated job wasn’t in the cards maybe an unpopulated one was.

“What about Jerkwater?” Cloud asked. “Isn’t there a weather position open there?”

The look on the engaged pegasi’s faces confirmed that Cloud was right.

“There is,” Sunny noted. “That’s not a good gig, though. The old pony on that beat retired three months ago, and nopony has applied to fill it.”

“That position requires being based in Ponyville for quick access to the office,” Serenity noted. “But that also means a two-hour flying commute each way and several more hours of paperwork alone in the Jerkwater office. It’s not ideal, but you could get hired for that with some practice. Celestia knows Rainbow Dash doesn’t like having that spot open and allocating resources to cover it.”

“So if apply for that spot I’d have a chance?” Cloud asked as the other two tentatively nodded. “I’ve impersonated weather pegasi before, so I have some idea how it works, albeit not perfectly.”

“It would take some work to get you trained, but I’d say it’s not impossible,” Serenity said. “We might be able to help you a bit, but it will take a lot of initiative on your end to get some stuff in place. I suppose it’s worth a shot. We can’t have you sleeping on our coach forever.”

Cloud smiled. Perhaps he would have a future in the weather business after all. At this point the waiter finally arrived, and for such a casual restaurant he was dressed rather formally.

“May I take your order?” the waiter asked

“Yes, I’ll have the six-inch tomato, hay, and lettuce sub with the hickory-smoked tofu,” Serenity said. “You guys have Yoke or Horsi?”

“Yoke,” responded the waiter.

“I’ll have one of those please,” Serenity responded.

“And you, Madame?” asked the waiter.

“Can I get the veggie medley with a side of fresh applesauce?” Sunny asked. “And a water with lemon to drink.”

“And you sir?” the waiter asked, looking at Cloud.

“I’ll have the toasted jalapeño-and-habanero alfalfa sub with a Yoke,” Cloud said.

Serenity and Sunny both looked at him funny.

“Very good, sir,” said the waiter as he left.

“Jalapeño and habanero?” asked Sunny.

“It sounded good,” Cloud responded. “Why, that’s not super spicy or anything is it?”
___

As Cloud prepared for bed that night he could still feel some of the heat from that sub he ate for lunch. In retrospect it had been a mistake. But it would eventually fade, he hoped. With a clink he locked the couch’s fold-out bed into place and lay down. His eyelids were heavy, and he hoped to fall asleep right away as they closed for the first time.

It had been a long day. After the testing, the confirmation of his transformation, and his scorching lunch he had some time to ponder his future. He’d have to start researching weather patterns tomorrow to get him ready for his application. Sunny noted that Rainbow Dash liked to handle the interview process herself and make it anything but easy. Serenity had used the term “gauntlet of doom,” but Cloud was sure that was an exaggeration.

At least he hoped it was.

No matter how hard that test would eventually be, he was confident for a better future for the first time in awhile. Cloud couldn’t even remember that optimism when he was a changeling.

But as bright as he thought it was looking, the thing he wasn’t doing was falling asleep. Perhaps a trip to the restroom would do it. He rolled out of bed back on all fours and trotted his way down the hall. His midnight trip took an odd turn when he got there and had a hard time remembering why he had come there in the first place. He shrugged and turned to trot back to bed.

“36 Hours as a pony and you’re already to just throw it all away to spend your life playing with clouds huh,” said a familiar voice.

Cloud recognized it immediately. It was his voice but he certainly didn’t just say that. He looked around to find the source.

“Come on, it hasn’t even been two days,” the voice said. “Certainly you haven’t forgotten me already.”

No doubt the source now, it was coming from the mirror. Cloud walked over to it and looked in, the reflection on the other side was not that of a green furred, orange-maned pegasus as he was now. It was a changeling, specifically changeling Drone 9417. He’d recognize that face anywhere compared to other changelings. It had been his until just recently.

“Given the recent nature of your accident, you sure seem ready to just abandon everything so you can be a pony,” the reflection said. “No respect for your heritage, huh?”

“What choice do I have?” Cloud Breaker responded. “My transformation magic is gone, my exoskeleton is nothing but a bunch of little broken pieces some timber wolf is probably nibbling on by now, and that DNA test showed that I don’t just look like a pony. I am one. I don’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” Drone 9417 replied.

Drone 9417 stepped forward; slowly he emerged from the mirror into the real world. Cloud Breaker was now literally beside his former self. Was this really happening?

“You think just because you changed species you should just cut all ties with the swarm?” Drone 9417 asked. “The changeling swarm was more to you than friends, we were your family. How much can you really trust those two pegasi? Will they really help out someone who fed off their love for several weeks without permission?”

“Yes, they will,” Cloud Breaker said. “It won’t be easy, and I have to work to make that up to them, but I can do it.”

Real or not, the changeling definitely wanted a debate.

“And what about your family, then?” Drone 9417 asked. “Remember how crushed your close siblings were when we lost Drone 9413 to the ponies? How do you think they will respond to losing you, too? You weren’t just a number to them.”

That one hurt. A few tears rolled down Cloud’s snout. There were almost certainly some changelings that would notice he was missing. The swarm wasn’t as close as ponies, but they knew when someone was gone. But still, no matter how much he missed them, he knew it was for the best that he moved on.

“So what do you want me to do, bud?” Cloud asked. “Go back? I’m a pony now, and anypony who goes waltzing into the changeling hive is most likely going to get cocooned and sucked dry for all the love they’ve got. I don’t even know where the hive is anymore, given how spread out everyone was after the attack.”

“If you search you can find them,” Drone 9417 said.

“But I don’t want to find them,” Cloud fired back.

“Do you really want to live your whole life without seeing them again?” Drone 9417 asked. “Don’t sell yourself short. Even if you are a pony now, there is still a place for you in the swarm. Maybe they would cocoon you, but maybe they wouldn’t. You know all their secrets, all their espionage strategies, and you as a pony are perfectly undetectable. You have the perfect disguise now, you can get into areas that no one else can. And for refusing the easy equine out you have been offered everyone up to Queen Chrysalis herself would respect you for returning. You could be promoted well up in the organization.”

To prove his point Drone 9417 vanished in a flash of green light. When he emerged Cloud was staring at a perfect copy of himself as Drone 9417 turned into a perfect pegasus clone. His version wore a modified suit of the armor that was issued to only the best of the changelings’ commanders. A changeling horn was even built into the armor for decorative purposes.

“You have a choice, Cloud Breaker,” the copy ‘Cloud’ said, “and never forget that.”

Cloud’s jaw hit the floor at this. His doppelgänger used his stunned look to throw a punch. With an instinctive response, Cloud blocked it.

The instant he did he immediately woke up back on the couch bed.

“Ah!” Cloud screamed as he woke.

A nightmare, it was just a nightmare.

That Drone 9417 had only been a figment of his new pony imagination. He had been talking gibberish; he knew he didn’t still have a place in the swarm waiting for him if he tried to return. Did he? Did he even want one?

Cloud just looked around frustratedly. Sure he missed some of the swarm, but he wasn’t a drone anymore, and the part of his mind that produced that dream probably needed to accept that. He rolled over and drifted back to what he hoped would be a more peaceful sleep. Tomorrow he would do some research and try to get his head in the clouds…

Author's Notes:

That waiter had a memorable speaking role and that little cafe is recurring but I could not find the name for either one.

Blue Skies' mention was originally Thunderlane before I remembered the timing and how he'd probably still be off. I just googled for another MLP pegasus stallion and he was the first one who came up I thought would work.

We've got a lot of the more obscure ponies in this one. Has Serenity ever had a leading role in any fic before this? We'll get some of the Mane 6 back into the rotation here shortly.

That recalled dialogue about Jerkwater should be in italics but I was having trouble getting it working. I'll look into it but thought it wasn't enough to delay the update.

Thanks again to pre-reader BlackjackOrBust for all his help on this fic.

An office, a library, and two close calls

Oui. For Cloud Breaker it had been a long night but at least it was over. He stumbled into the kitchen as Serenity made breakfast and Sunny Rays read the morning edition of the Ponyville Express newspaper. The other two pegasi immediately picked up on the green stallion’s issue; some of their worries about him were subsiding but not all of them.

“You look like you were run over by the Friendship Express,” Sunny said.

“It’s not the first time I’ve had that feeling,” Cloud responded. “I had a bit of nightmare last night.”

“You get the one where Princess Luna is hanging out in your house for no apparent reason too?” Serenity asked.

“What?” Cloud responded. “No. I think it’s just some post-transformation stress. I’ll shake it off, I think.”

“I wouldn’t know what that’s like but I can’t imagine it’s pleasant,” Sunny said.

Serenity placed two plates of toast and scrambled eggs on the table then went back for a small bottle of grape jelly. As he put a third plate down for himself Sunny put down her newspaper, the headlines were mainly still about the aftermath of the Canterlot attack and an equally serious piece about a “Cash for Sun” scandal expanding in Las Pegasus.

“Either of you want a coffee or a Red Pegasus?” Serenity asked. “It’ll perk you up.”

“Coffee is fine,” Sunny said. “Two sugar cubes please.”

“I’ll also take a coffee,” Cloud said. “Black please.”

Serenity presented the two cups and an additional one for himself. Cloud stared at the front page of the paper.

“What is the “Cash for Sun” scandal?” Cloud asked.

“A bunch of pegasi on all levels in Los Pegasus got nailed taking bits under the table to assure perfect weather for all the big events and movie shoots out there,” Serenity responded. “They also scheduled rain on some that didn’t. Lots of heads rolled and a whole bunch of pegasi got canned over it. That’s left a lot of positions open and a lot of the young talent fresh out of school is going there to get them.”

“It’s why Rainbow’s had trouble filling positions here,” Sunny noted before everyone’s attention turned to their food.

After a quick bite to eat the conversation quickly turned to the day ahead.

“For once I can’t wait to punch the clock,” Serenity said. “After the consistent strangeness that was this weekend I just want it done and over. Give me the weather map and a raincloud bound for Dodge Junction over all this weirdness any day.”

“Three bits says Rainbow Dash brings up the whole “I saved Equestria” thing within three sentences at the morning briefing,” Sunny wagered. “That’s her third time saving all ponykind now I believe.”

“I’m not taking that bet,” Serenity said. “It’s a sure thing she will. She came to work for a week wearing that gold crown thingy after she won the Best Young Flyer competition you went to watch in Cloudsdale.”

“What should I do today while you are both at the office?” Cloud asked.

“I suggest you come along for the first part,” Sunny said. “You can see the office, meet some of the crew, and pick up your job application.”

“After that I’d head for the library,” Serenity added. “You’ve got to cram about 10 years of weather studies in about a week. You apply today and R.D. will probably have you tested by the end of the week. I’ll try and see if I can get you up in the sky for some practice tomorrow, maybe a little cloud busting on the edge of the Everfree.”

Cloud thought about going to the library and immediately gulped. No doubt Twilight Sparkle would be back on the job and he did actively make an attempt on both her and her friends’ lives over the weekend. That usually wasn’t the best way to get on her good side. Of course that thought reminded him of his other goal this week.

“And in that time I’ve also got to make up my role in the attack to those I hurt,” Cloud said with a hint of dejection. “For Princess Cadence and now Prince Shining Armor I figure I’ll just have to write them a letter or something, maybe mail them a belated wedding gift. No way would I be able to get near them after everything that went down.”

“Sounds like a good start,” Serenity said. “How many of the Elements did you hurt in that fight?”

“I only actually managed to land a single punch on Applejack,” Cloud responded.

Serenity openly chuckled at that.

“Yes, I admit I more or less got my flank kicked,” Cloud said.

“I wouldn’t worry about getting Applejack’s forgiveness too much,” Sunny said. “She’s actually pretty quick to forgive from what Rainbow says. I’d make sure to do her a favor though, she’ll probably have you kicking apple trees for an hour or two, maybe wash her dog.”

“Or cut out the middle pony and just buyout her apple cart,” Serenity said. “There’s no quicker way into her good graces than that.”

Serenity looked at the clock. It read 8:51 a.m., time for the morning commute.

“Up for an early morning flight?” he asked.

“You know it,” Sunny responded.

The breakfast dishes were quickly moved to the sink as the three pegasi made for the door. With a short gallop all three shot skyward for a quick flight across town. Cloud just followed the others; it was an uneventful flight minus a rather tight buzzing of city hall by Serenity that was no doubt just him showing off.

---------

Within about three minutes they all came in for a landing in front of a three-story building built with a slightly more Cloudsdale-esque look than most of Ponyville. It was decorated with two small white columns around a double-glass door front entrance. On the roof were various pieces of weather equipment including a fancy radar system. This was the Ponyville's Weather Management Bureau.

“Wow” was all Cloud could say as he, Serenity, and Sunny joined with the other pegasi all walking through the door. His hosts and the other ponies immediately clocked in their timecards and headed through another set of doors to get ready for the morning briefing.

“Want to see the briefing room before you go Cloud?” Sunny asked.

“You bet,” Cloud responded as he followed the others into the room.

Oddly for a meeting space it appeared to be modeled on a locker room. The walls were lined with interchanging green and brown lockers and they weren’t just decorative. Each had a bar labeled with the name of pegasus it belonged to and their position in the organization.

“Dash likes a “pep talk” environment for the briefing,” Serenity said. “It works out well, everyone needs a place to put their stuff and the old meeting room was kind of cramped.”

The room was just a basic locker room and yet Cloud felt a little in awe as he looked at the lockers and the various names on them, changelings had no equivalent. A few pegasi had their lockers open; one was a black stallion whose locker was labeled “Thunderlane.” As Cloud trotted by he watched Thunderlane looking through its contents and noted the locker contained both work equipment and a few personal effects. Thunderlane’s seemed to be decorated with pictures of him having all kinds of fun with a younger grey colt and a couple purple mares.

One of the last green lockers especially caught his attention; there was no name just a simple label as “Jerkwater Weather Pony.” He thought just for a second “maybe" then turned to trot out before the meeting started.

“See you later,” Cloud said to Sunny and Serenity. “I’m off to the library.”

Cloud left the locker room and walked toward the door. With no ponies now using the time clock he noticed a corkboard next to it. As he approached a folder labeled “Applications” came into view next to a list of job postings. His green reflection shined in the front doors, except for just the briefest moment he thought he saw Drone 9417 looking back at him again. He shrugged it off and took one of the applications. He was just about to leave when he heard one of the doors open.

“Hey newbie, what are you doing here?”

He knew that voice and he knew what was coming now. He gulped again and turned around to find himself face to face with a blue mare adorned with a signature rainbow-colored mane. Rainbow Dash stood before him munching a Gala peach she held in one hoof. The expression on her face definitely showed she recognized him. Cloud froze in fear, how could the jig be up this quick?

“You’re Sunny’s room renter aren’t you?” Rainbow said. “Cloud Bunker or something.”

Whew, dodged a bullet there.

“Cloud Breaker actually,” Cloud responded. “I, ah, I want to apply for that job in Jerkwater I heard was open. I have something of a soft spot for that railroad town.”

He had heard once ponies make hiring decisions in just a few seconds. He needed something to make sure this conversation was memorable in a good way. He didn’t want to seem suspicious from his actions at the wedding. That’s it, the wedding.

“And I wanted to congratulate you on your performance this weekend saving the royal wedding and all of Equestria,” Cloud said. “You were awesome in that fight with all those changelings, err, from what I’ve heard.”

Rainbow’s face lit up at the last two sentences.

“I know, best wedding ever right!” Rainbow responded. “I totally kicked those changelings’ flanks. I’m pretty unstoppable on my own but with my friends backing me up those invaders never stood a chance. And that sonic rainboom I pulled on demand afterward was incredible wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Cloud said, he had no idea what she was talking about but knew he’d best play along.

Rainbow took another bite of her peach but kept talking.

“I probably drank way too much of Pinkie Pie’s Tutti-Frutti Sherbet Sugar Punch at the reception though,” Rainbow said. “Things get really wild, really fast when you party with her.”

She finished off her fruit.

“I’d love to stay and chat about my feats of greatness but I’ve got a morning meeting to run,” Rainbow said as she started to hover down the hall. “Hey good luck with the application, I’d love to have that position filled. Catch ya later Cloud Breaker.”

Cloud smiled. Wow, did he really just make a good first impression? Maybe he could pull this off.

Rainbow Dash flew into the locker room and darted right to the front. She began her meeting.

“Alright I’m back, did everypony have a good weekend?” Rainbow asked. “I certainly did because I attended the royal wedding and saved all of Equestria again!”

“Two sentences, told you that was a sure thing,” Serenity said to Sunny quietly.

---------

After a quick trip back to Sunny’s house to get his saddlebag Cloud continued his journey with a quick flight over to Ponyville’s signature Golden Oaks Library. Oh boy, this is where it got tricky.

He’d been here before. While he left the investigation of Twilight mainly to the others on the spy mission he’d still be here a few times. During his mission he’d occasionally come in and check out a random fiction book or something. It was just an excuse to walk around the library and gauge her up. As he prepared to open the door he suddenly had a flashback to the Canterlot fight where disguised as Fluttershy he got a full-power blast of her magic. The pain practically came back to him. He opened the door anyway; he only hoped she didn’t remember him.

The interior of the library was quiet as one might expect. A quick look around revealed bookshelves upon bookshelves packed with thousands of books. And of course, at the podium was the Twilight Sparkle with a stack of them reading away as always. Cloud trotted toward the non-fiction section as quietly as possible, hopefully she wouldn’t see him. He made it all of five steps before she did.

“Hello Cloud Breaker,” Twilight said casually. “Great to see you again.”

How did she remember him? They didn’t even interact much!

“Oh hey Ms. Sparkle,” Cloud responded. “I, ah, didn’t want to disturb your research.”

“Oh it’s fine and please call me Twilight,” Twilight responded. “I was just reading some about the Bahamares Islands. What an interesting place, a cool island pony culture.”

She closed her book and trotted over to him.

“Are you here to check out more of the Detective Drafthorse series or another Cleveland Bay Adventure?” she asked.

“Huh?” Cloud responded.

“I keep lists tracking all the books everyone checks out from here,” Twilight said. “You checked out several of the books from those series before, I thought you might want to see more of those series.”

And that’s no doubt how she remembered him. Cloud wondered how much OCD this mare had.

“Actually I want to make the switch to non-fiction,” Cloud responded. “I’m going to try out for a job with the weather service and I need pretty much anything you have that can make me a better weather pony.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that,” Twilight said. “I’ve got plenty that are just what you need.”

POMP!

Cloud watched as the purple unicorn teleported to another part of the library and grabbed a book off the shelf with her magic.

POMP!

She did it again. And again. And again. And again. Cloud figured she must not get to do the librarian thing nearly as much as she probably wanted to. Finally she was done and presented him with a stack of texts on the topic.

“Here you are,” Twilight said. “There’s Weather 101: Back to Basics, The Art of Storm, Unnatural Occurrences: The Everfree Mystery, Wind Riders: The Ultimate Guide to Weather Creation, Mastering the art of Tornado, The Definitive History of the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, and a few others for good measure. If you need more just read those and bring’em back for an exchange.”

Cloud’s jaw hit the floor at her efficiency.

“Thanks Twilight,” Cloud responded.

One trip to the library checkout desk later and Cloud had all the information he needed. He went back to the house and started reading like crazy. Now this is where it would start to get difficult…

Author's Notes:

I'm going to admit I gambled on this one. My pre-reader is MIA of late, probably busy with RL stuff so I'm not worried, but I wanted to get a chapter out to you guys and keep the story going. It's not a game ender, I'm a reporter and proofread my own stuff literally for a living, but if this chapter is a little rough it's probably because of that.

I was on the fence with giving the Weather Bureau a radar. That's pretty advanced for Ponyville but eh, it looks cool and it fits.

For that newspaper Sunny reads I was really, really tempted to make an in-joke to myself with a ponified version of a story I just did in RL (maybe that one at the VA clinic with a Senator). The plot won out in the end.

The Mane 6 start working their way back in during this chapter. It's still not really their fic but R.D. now gets a tag because her role increases from here out.

Sunny enlightens her viewpoint

Cloud’s snout was deep into The Art of Storm, a book about weather patterns and how to manipulate them for the best results. In the past six hours since he got home he’d already read three of the books Twilight had loaned him.

Any pegasus could probably just fly up and move a cloud if they tried but if he was going to do it professionally he’d best know what he was doing. He was studying like crazy and he felt he may have the basics down. He wouldn't know for sure until he got a real chance to try it.

He had just finished a section on dealing with hail storms when he heard the arrival of the house’s main two residents, Sunny and Serenity were back from their weather shifts. A look up at the clock revealed it was now 6:15 p.m.; they were supposed to get out over an hour earlier. As the door opened the response from both of them said everything.

“Unbelievable,” Serenity moaned. “We were 45 minutes late on that rainstorm to Jerkwater today. We haven’t been that far behind on a storm arrival in four months.”

“Even the best fall behind sometimes,” Sunny Rays said. “You were short staffed; you didn’t have much of a chance.”

“I guess it goes without saying that was a rough day at the office,” Cloud said.

“Yeah, we had a timing issue,” Sunny said. “And as Serenity said it’s right up your alley too because it involved Jerkwater.”

“We had a rainstorm come out of the Everfree unexpectedly yesterday but it initially just went harmlessly into Ghastly Gorge so it wasn’t a problem,” Serenity said. “We scheduled it for a move up to Jerkwater but fell way behind because a fog bank of factory runoff from Cloudsdale rolled in before we got there. We sent Blue Skies ahead to clear that but that meant Drizzle had to be pulled off the Everfree watch to replace him and Raindrops had to come off cloud moving to Appaloosa to replace her and so on. With all of the changes we fell behind. That storm to Jerkwater was late, the clouds to Appaloosa were late, and Rainbow was not pleased.”

“Yikes,” Cloud responded. “Well everyone has off days.”

“There’s a reason our staffing numbers need to increase,” Serenity said. “But it’s hard to hire right now with the Cash for Sun scandal taking all the talent.”

“Speaking of hiring, how’s the crash course going Cloud?” Sunny asked.

“So far so good,” the former changeling responded. “I’m through a few books already. Dare I say I’m ready for a little rudimentary practice.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to test you tomorrow,” Serenity said as he plopped down on the couch for a moment. “Before all the hassles I got clearance to put you on some minor cloud popping duties by the Everfree tomorrow afternoon. Time to find out how many clouds can Cloud Breaker break if Cloud Breaker can break clouds.”

Sunny chuckled a little at that, Cloud didn’t. Serenity decided to change the topic

“I could use a bite to eat,” Serenity said. “Anyone up for some Lijiang-style stir fry?”

“Sounds good to me,” Sunny said as Serenity hovered off toward the kitchen.

After he left Cloud continued the conversation.

“So you found a stallion who can cook huh?” he asked Sunny.

“Yup, he’s a keeper,” Sunny said with a smile.

Cloud smiled along with her, he could not ask for nicer ponies to room with… Incredibly nice ponies… even after what he did to them. Suddenly he began to wonder why they took him back; the books could wait a minute or two.

“Sunny can I ask you a question?” Cloud asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Sunny said. “It takes a few minutes to make that stir fry.”

“Why are you two helping me so much after what I did what I was a changeling?” Cloud asked. “I betrayed your trust, I attacked Canterlot. What have I done to earn another chance? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you two gave me one but why?”

“Well part of it is I don’t have the heart to throw out a pony in need, former changeling or not,” Sunny said. “And the other part is I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want my friend Cloud back. When I got your letter Saturday and read it my kneejerk reaction was “I’d take any circumstance just to see Cloud’s smiling face alive again.” You’re story came apart a few moments later but for that instant I would have taken any option to see you again, I wasn’t expecting a changeling reveal but I guess I'll take it. The lies in your letter ticked me off a ton but I’d be lying if there wasn’t than an ounce of relief when you came back that night.”

Sunny looked at Cloud more directly.

“You being a changeling wasn’t a deal breaker to me judging by your prior actions,” Sunny said. “You’re not the first changeling I’ve interacted with after all.”

Cloud’s ears perked up at that.

“What?” he asked.

“It was a few years ago while Serenity still worked in Canterlot,” Sunny said. “We had a hiring freeze at the office but three new ponies showed up with real official-looking paperwork right from the top in Cloudsdale appointing them to office duty at our post. There were two mares and a stallion, all three of which were massive flirts. The stallion was actually kind of cute and I would dare say I befriended one of the mares. She hung out with Merry May and I one night, didn’t seem to know as much about weather as you’d expect but very friendly. Maybe a bit too friendly, she was really more aggressive in the romance area than you’d expect. I don’t swing that way but I still thought she could have been a good friend.”

Cloud somehow knew where this was headed.

“We found out the next day the stallion was a changeling,” Sunny said. “Thunderlane caught him with his disguise down in the locker room. Both the mares fled; all the evidence says they were changelings too. Never heard anything from either of them again, never saw that pony I thought could be my friend again.”

Cloud shrugged, it was protocol. He cut and run from a mission that went south the same way once. A changeling always had to have an escape route.

“Those changelings were looking into weather control, the one we caught was pretty unrepentant for his actions,” Sunny continued. “He got nailed on fraud and industrial espionage charges; did some time in a low-security Equestrian jail. He wasn’t a violent offender.”

Cloud knew that was often the fate of busted changelings. Being a changeling wasn’t a crime in Equestria, imponynating somepony you’re not or lying to gain access to private areas was.

“But you were a little different,” Sunny said. “You never flirted with me or Serenity during your time here. You could easily have just captured him and took his place or whatever changelings do but you didn’t. You just stood off the side and helped our relationship along. You must have legitimately cared a bit, that’s why you sent that letter wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t want you to worry about me,” Cloud responded.

Sunny thought back to the dinner table conversation and recognized that “worry about me” Cloud used instead of the “worry about Cloud” from earlier.

“Changelings drones aren’t just numbers right?” Sunny said. “I mean, you have personalities right?”

“Somewhat,” Cloud responded. “Most, myself included when I was still in the swarm, just obey the Queen and followed orders without questions. She thought the invasion of Equestria was best for us and everyone went along with it as we were ordered.”

“But now you don’t have to,” Sunny said. “An evil leader doesn’t mean everyone under her is evil too. Without her influence I think all you need is a little push in the right direction and you can become a great pony. You got a gift few ever do, a push of the reset button on your life.”

Cloud smiled at that. They believed in him and he could do this.

“I know you’re trying to make up for it but do you regret what you did in Canterlot?” Sunny asked.

“Yes,” Cloud responded. “To be honest part of the reason I did so poorly in that fight with the elements was because I was thinking of you two a tad. I was worried a bit… about my Ponyville friends.”

Sunny returned the smile now.

“You aren’t beyond redemption,” Sunny said. “No changeling is, transformed or not. I noticed nopony on either side died in that attack according to the papers. Serenity was a little rougher around the edges about you but he’s coming along. We want to see you win; just looking at that stack of books I know you have the will to do become a weather pony like you now want.”

Their conversation came to an end as the smell of a delicious stir fry lofted into the room.

“Dinner’s ready you two,” Serenity said. “You ponies want it fresh or you waiting for a feedbag?”

“Coming,” Sunny responded.

Cloud continued his pause from his studies long enough to have one of the best meals of his recent pony life then got back to the books. He continued to read into the night, he’d be ready for his test run tomorrow for sure.

Author's Notes:

As with the last chapter my proofreader is still away so I did my best to check it myself. Again sorry if any areas are rough.

I noticed this story has been linked to a couple more Changeling groups. To those who linked it up I'm honored and welcome to the new readers. Kind of fitting we do get a bit more of the changeling stuff in this chapter.

I know Jerkwater doesn't fit the horse pun theme most Equestrian towns have but it does fit a railroad one like Dodge Junction. A "Jerkwater Town" is a little town that really only popped up so railroad steam engines would have a place to stop and take on more water.

Of my three main characters Serenity is the only one who's actually spoken on the show; during the tornado in "Hurricane Fluttershy" he asks "What was that?" when Fluttershy speeds past and saves the day. I went back and rewatched that scene and the voice doesn't quite match his personality here...Oops. Well not everyone has one in RL (for example I've heard history teachers say the RL General Patton's was rather squeaky) so we'll roll with it. Besides Lyra's voice doesn't match the "obsessive fan girl" personality she has in a lot of her fics.

Next time: Cloud Breaker vs. Clouds in need of breaking!

Test Flight

Cloud Breaker’s long night of studying eventually led as many cram sessions do to him falling asleep literally mid-sentence reading about wind patterns. He had been almost deliberately trying to avoid falling asleep because he knew who might get at him if he did.

As the green pegasus slept his head lay on the coffee table just off to the side from his book. He was seemingly awoken from his slumber when a holey black hoof came down in front of him.

“Huh, what,” Cloud said groggily.

He looked up to again find a familiar changeling looking down at him.

“Still at it, eh Cloudy boy,” Drone 9417 said. “When will you learn, you can’t do this. It takes more than a few dirty old books to make a phony pony into something he’s not.”

“I’m not trying to become captain of the Wonderbolts,” Cloud responded. “I’m just trying to get something going with my new life.”

“New life, new life,” Drone 9417 said. “You don’t have a new life. You just have one life and all you did was screw it up by your own doing.”

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Cloud said.

“Most beings’ mistakes don’t end with permanently altered DNA,” Drone 9417 said. “You massively messed up the job you were literally born to do. And yet somehow that has inspired you to have a go at something changelings like yourself cannot physically do.”

“It may not be what I was born to do but maybe it’s what I’m MEANT to do,” Cloud said. “I won’t know until I try.”

“Go ahead and try,” Drone 9417 responded. “The Swarm is still waiting for when you come to your senses.”

-----------

Suddenly Cloud woke up; his head was indeed on the coffee table next to his book. Despite the nightmare he actually had a little bit of confidence, he felt he might have actually won that argument with himself. But disputes with that little changeling voice in the back of his head would have to wait for later; he still had to prepare for his test flight.

Cloud trotted into the kitchen to find a plate with a cold waffle and a note on it. He looked up at the clock and noticed it read 9:41 a.m. That explained the lack of Sunny and Serenity; both would be at work by now. His attention turned to the note.

“Cloud, long night huh? Pop by the office at 2 p.m. for your run. I’ll go through the preparations to get you in the sky once you arrive. Have some breakfast and get back to those books, Serenity.”

“If you say so Serenity,” Cloud jokingly said to himself as he eyed the waffle.

A quick meal later and he dug back into that book on wind patterns. He read to himself.

“The Equestrian environment does not naturally have wind in most locations except during storm conditions. Normally it must be produced by pegasi in flight. To produce wind angle your wings and use your body’s inherent weather abilities to grab the air and pull. The wind produced will be roughly 10 percent of your airspeed velocity; wind should not exceed 50 units under normal circumstances although currents adjusted by storms often can.”

As he continued to read the topics continued into more severe weather.

“The funnel cloud is a rotating column of wind that can be used for moving clouds to higher points in the atmosphere or breaking them if at higher speed. It is to be deliberately used only under very strictly monitored and controlled situations. The only difference between a funnel cloud and the more dangerous tornado is a connection with the ground. Use extreme caution in their formation; they are hard to break up. Strategies for breaking them out including letting them spin themselves out, altering currents to reduce conditions favoring them, or a directly flying into it to create counter rotation that can be used for braking purposes.”

Cloud could only wonder why anypony would deliberately create a tornado but he supposed it could make sense under the right circumstances. He closed the book and used the next hour to carefully fill out his weather pony job application then took a small break for lunch. After a simple sandwich made from leftovers in the fridge Cloud went back to the books. He was going to be ready.

-----------

It was five minutes before 2 p.m. when Cloud Breaker hovered into the Ponyville Weather Bureau, he dared not be late for this project. He had his saddlebags on, holding a vital folder containing his job application. Sunny Rays was in the lobby waiting for him.

“Well, well Mr. Sleep-pony decided to get up after all,” Sunny joked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Cloud said. “I was up studying probably a little longer than I should have been.”

Cloud turned his attention to his application.

“Where should I submit my paperwork?” Cloud asked as he turned his head around and used his teeth to remove it from the bag.

“I can take that to Rainbow while Serenity takes you up,” Sunny said. “I’m usually in the office plotting out patterns instead of the sky… unless we need an extra set of hooves.”

“So where’s Serenity?” Cloud asked.

“He’s in the locker room,” Sunny said. “Good luck up there Cloud.”

“Thanks Sunny,” Cloud said as he trotted off into the locker room.

The locker room wasn’t nearly as packed as it was for the briefing. With most ponies off on maneuvers or working in the offices there were only four present and the purple mare with a yellow mane and purple eyes walked out immediately for an assignment. That left only three stallions; Serenity, Thunderlane, and a different fellow with a blue coat and a yellow mane and eyes. They were just finishing a conversation about sports.

“I’m taking Rumble to see the Canterlot Crusaders hoofball game this weekend, I thought he deserved a little treat for how well he did with our tornado work last month,” Thunderlane said. “He did a good job under tough circumstances and helped me clear my feather flu afterward.”

“You are going to have a great time,” the blue one said. “Who are the Crusaders playing this week? We need a win badly to stay in contention.”

“They’ve the Detrot Manticores this week,” Serenity noted.

“Ah, good,” the blue one responded. “Detrot never wins.”

Serenity caught a glimpse of his green roommate.

“Ah, Cloud Breaker, you made it,” Serenity said. “These are my coworkers Thunderlane and Blue Skies. Guys, this is Cloud. He’s a rookie going for the Jerkwater job I’m going to take up on an Everfree run today.”

“Well welcome aboard Cloud Breaker,” Thunderlane said.

“Thank you,” Cloud responded. “It’s an honor to meet you guys.”

“I love getting some fresh blood in the office,” Blue Skies said. “Good luck up there, Celestia knows we need another set of hooves around here. I already made one trip to Jerkwater this week and I don’t want to make another one.”

“I’m going to get him set up,” Serenity said. “Catch you colts later.”

“We still on for euchre this week?” Thunderlane asked as he and Blue Skies left. “I should have time.”

“We’ll see,” Serenity said .

As the blue and black stallions left the room the pink and green ones trotted over to Serenity’s locker. He opened the door, like Thunderlane’s Cloud noticed the interior was decorated with pictures and personal effects, a lot of them were of him and Sunny. Serenity quickly looked over his locker.

“Mind if I leave my saddlebag here?” Cloud asked.

“That’s not a problem,” Serenity said as Cloud took them off.

“Here we are,” he said as he removed a box.

Serenity opened the case but didn’t discuss its contents at first.

“Now I’m going to take you up on some Everfree work,” Serenity said. “Just some cloud popping and practice. Don’t do any hot dogging and just to make sure everypony knows what we’re doing I’ve got these.”

Serenity pulled out four high-visibility yellow hoofbands from the box.

“Put one of these on each hoof,” he said.

“Why?” Cloud asked as he did just that.

“They’re rookie indicators,” Serenity said. “It gives all the ponies below a warning you don’t fully know what you are doing.”

Cloud shot him a ‘Seriously’ look. Serenity gave a slightly naughty smile back at him, then grabbed a stop watch out of the locker, placed the box and the saddlebag in, and closed it.

“Nature of the business Cloudy,” Serenity said. “Now let’s get flying.”

The two pegasi hovered out of the locker room, down the hall, and out the door. When they were clear of the building both shot into the sky for a cruise to the edge of the Everfree. As the two took a direct route to the mysterious woods both passed over Sweet Apple Acres, Cloud noticed a tree blown down by wind. Maybe he could work with that for making it amends with Applejack…

-----------

A few moments later the duo arrived at the border between the farmer fields of outer Ponyville and the mysterious Everfree Forest. The massive wooded area made little sense by any sort of Equestrian laws of nature but the bizarre naturally occurring weather was the perfect place for weather pony practice runs that didn’t interfere with their regular schedules. And indeed today there were about 15 clouds floating in a direction out of the forest and into the Ponyville skies that would need to be eliminated.

Cloud gulped. He had to pull this off if he wanted any chance at the job. As he and Serenity flew up to the site he briefly glanced back as his cutie mark, a black pony kicking a cloud. When he created his ‘Cloud’ disguise as a changeling the symbol was an afterthought he just made to look weather related, he never thought he’d have to use it. He hoped it had some real magic to it now, maybe his flank didn’t blank for a reason when he changed.

Serenity spotted a rather fluffy cloud of size. He gestured a hoof toward that cloud.

“Alright, we’ll start small,” Serenity said. “How much cloud walking have you done?”

“I did espionage in Cloudsdale before but changelings use the cloud walking spell for that,” Cloud responded. “I’ve never done it naturally per se.”

“Okay we’ll start there,” Serenity said. “Take a loop and come in for a landing on that cloud. Bank your wings to slow down and you should land softly. It’s a bit bouncy but you’ll be fine.”

“Got it,” Cloud said.

Cloud gave it a kick and sped around. He took aim as flew toward the cloud and tried to bank his wings to slow down… It didn’t work. He banked them too much and came in too low and was about to smash into the side of the cloud. Serenity saw what was happening and started barking corrections.

“Wing Power! Power! Power!” Serenity shouted. “Go around!”

Cloud gave it his all and pulled up at the last moment. His hooves caught the edge and broke off some powdery bits of the cloud but he cleared it. For a moment Cloud thought he’d blown it until he heard what the pink pegasus immediately ordered him to do.

“Try again!” Serenity shouted. “No blood, no foul.”

Cloud sped around again. He banked his wings a little less this time and made another run at the cloud. This time he was right on the money and landed softly on the cloud. The bouncy nature tipped him over on his back but he quickly got back up and shook that off. Serenity hovered over to his green friend.

“Alright, that’s a little better but not perfect,” Serenity said. “Try it again.”

“Huh?” Cloud asked.

“You still crashed on landing,” Serenity said. “Let’s do it again. Third time is the charm.”

Cloud Breaker shrugged and took off again. His third attempt to land on it was perfect and uneventful.

“How’s that?” Cloud asked.

“Now we’re cooking,” Serenity said as he landed alongside Cloud. “As you can see clouds have a bouncy texture to them. Even if you land on them right they can kick back a little if you don’t pay attention.”

“It’s a fun feeling though,” Cloud noted with a fun little jump. “No wonder I’ve seen so many pegasi catching a nap on these things, they are kind of comfy.”

“That they are,” Serenity said with a smile. “But we’re not up here to sleep, we’re here to get you prepared.”

Serenity looked over and spotted a rather dark cloud floating out of the Everfree. The colorization told him exactly what he needed, that’s one had some precipitation in it.

“Next lesson, cloud moving,” Serenity said with a smile. “Fly over and get the gray one then bring it back here. Just fly behind and push it, very simple.”

Cloud took a deep breath then took off. He zipped around, came up behind the cloud, and slowed down. At a snail’s pace the former changeling bumped up against the cloud then poured on the wing flapping. Just as Serenity said the cloud was easy to push and easy to turn. He flew the cloud right over to him with ease. Serenity took off and hovered next to the cloud.

“Alright, that was good,” Serenity said. “Now we’re going to learn how to open the faucet. This baby’s got some rain in it. The secret to turning it is simply this!”

Serenity bucked the cloud with back legs. Instantly the cloud opened up and rain began to pour out of it. Cloud watched attentively as Serenity bucked it again and the rain instantly stopped, his raindrop cutie mark very clearly wasn’t just for show.

“I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t my favorite part of the job,” Serenity said with a smile. “There’s nothing more serene than a good rain, I love positioning and creating showers.”

Cloud could tell Serenity took pride in his work.

“Alright, now you try it,” Serenity said. “Give it a hard kick, don’t worry about breaking it. Clouds won’t pop when they still have water in them.”

Cloud did as he was told. He turned about and gave the raincloud the hardest buck he could. Immediately the rain started again, as the water fell the raincloud’s color started to go from gray to white.

“Not bad,” Serenity said. “Now while this one drains out let’s learn how to pop one.”

Serenity again looked across the sky to pick a new target. He noticed a soft white one; that would do.

“This is our last lesson of the day, ready for some cloud breaking Cloud Breaker?” Serenity asked.

Cloud actually chuckled a bit at the pun. It had only truly been his name for about three and a half days now so it was a new one to him.

“What do I have to do boss?” Cloud asked.

“See that puffy little cloud over there?” Serenity asked.

Cloud nodded in acknowledgement.

“Buck it hard,” Serenity instructed

“What?” Cloud asked in shock.

“Hit the cloud forcefully,” Serenity said. “You can do it with a buck, a punch, or whatever you need. Focus on popping the cloud and you will. It’s not a hard maneuver.”

“Oh, that’s what you meant,” Cloud said. “Got it. Here I go.”

Cloud took aim at the puffy white one in question. With some heavy flaps the green pegasus darted across the sky. He connected with the cloud front hooves first and it exploded into water vapor on impact. Cloud looked back after he pulled off, breaking that cloud was straight up thrilling.

“Wow,” Cloud said. “THAT WAS AWESOME!”

As he flew back to Serenity he noticed the more senior pegasus smiling. He was far from perfect but overall this test flight hadn’t gone to bad. Serenity then threw in a little twist.

“I got one more challenge for you,” Serenity said.

“I thought you said that was the last lesson?” Cloud asked.

“It was the last lesson, this is a fun little challenge,” Serenity said. “We’ve got about 14 clouds left here including that rain cloud which is now dried out. How fast can you clear the sky?”

“Huh?” Cloud asked.

“Simple test, break all the clouds,” Serenity said. “I brought the stopwatch for a reason. I want to see how fast you can do it.”

“You are serious aren’t you?” Cloud asked.

“Yup,” Serenity said, positioning the stopwatch with his hooves.

Cloud gulped again and readied himself.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Cloud said.

“Get ready, get set,” Serenity said. “GO!”

Serenity hit the button and Cloud jetted into action. He dipped, dived, and looped through the sky as fast as he could, popping every cloud he met on the way. The large one he practiced landing on only halfway broke when he hit it forcing him to come around again and hurting his time. He zoomed back toward Serenity, took out the now dry raincloud, and finished. Serenity clicked the timer.

“47 seconds,” Serenity said. “Not too shabby for a newbie but not on pace either. The average weather pegasus can do it in about 22 seconds, Rainbow Dash can do it in 10 “flat” but that’s a big reason she’s got a manager position.”

“So did I do well?” Cloud asked.

“You are raw without a doubt,” Serenity said. “But that is nothing we can’t work with. You’re probably capable of doing this regularly. You’ll need a lot of practice but you’ve got a little skill so assumedly your studying paid off a bit. Once you’re home hit the books again, perhaps you just might pull this off.”

Cloud beamed with pride, he still had work to do but his initial test had still gone about as well as he could have hoped.

-----------

Back at the office Sunny was heading back to her office with one detour. Her destination was the fanciest third story office in the building. The door was oddly colorful and the nameplate showed why; “Rainbow Dash: Ponyville Weather Manager.”

She could hear a rubber bouncing sound as she knocked on the door.

“It’s open,” came an unmistakable voice from the other side.

Sunny opened the door. Rainbow sat at her desk bouncing a ball against the wall.

“Sunny Rays!” Rainbow said in a welcoming tone. “Please tell me we’ve got surprise orders for a storm or something. It’s way too quiet out there today. I’m going up the walls waiting for some action.”

“No dice today Rainbow, we don’t have any storms scheduled today or tomorrow,” Sunny said. “Actually I do have something for you though it’s a job application for Cloud Breaker.”

“Yeah, that green dude, he seems pretty cool,” Rainbow said.

Sunny used her wings to pass the paperwork to Rainbow who immediately started looking it over.

“Why’s he putting in for Jerkwater when we’ve got three open spots in Ponyville proper?” Rainbow asked.

Sunny answered as best as she could.

“I think he’s nervous about his abilities,” Sunny said, she knew that was mainly accurate.

“I can see why,” Rainbow said. “He’s got no references and no prior weather experience. What’s his cutie mark?”

“A pony kicking a cloud,” Sunny responded.

“Sounds weather themed there,” Rainbow noted. “Any idea how he earned it?”

“I don’t know,” Sunny said.

Rainbow looked over the paperwork again. He had a weather themed name and a weather cutie mark… And he didn’t try a career in weather? It didn’t make a lot of sense… But she needed that position filled and he was the first applicant in several months. Perhaps Sunny knew more.

“What do you think of this colt Sunny?” Rainbow asked. “Is he trustworthy?”

Sunny wished she hadn’t asked that.

“He’s working at it a lot but I wouldn’t take him completely on blind faith,” Sunny responded, part of her wished she could have seen how his flight went.

“Would you hire him?” Rainbow asked.

“I’d give him a chance to prove himself,” Sunny said. “He’s a friend of mine, I can’t really judge that.”

“Very well,” Rainbow said. “Tell him I want to talk to him Thursday. He’s in the running.”

Sunny smiled as she walked out the door, Cloud was on the fast track to getting himself where he wanted to be.

As the door closed Rainbow took another look at the application. She was halfway tempted to just approve it and get him in the air but something didn’t seem right. She tucked the paperwork under her wing and opened her window.

“I need a background check on this stallion.”

A blue streak with a rainbow contrail shot out the window into the skies over Ponyville. Rainbow knew just the mare to turn to for one.

Author's Notes:

Any bets on who Rainbow's background checker will be?

Again I'm flying only on my personal reporter proofreading skills. If you catch an error let me know and I'll fix it. This one took longer to write in part because of the length and in part because of all the coverages I've had to do of late.

Happy Fourth of July everyone. I'm in a border state so I'd also like to wish a belated Canada Day to my readers north of the border and a very belated Festa della Repubblica to my Italian readers.

I had a long section in here where Serenity introduced a watch that served as basic avionics for pegasi. It was a cool item but as I wrote the practice run I noticed it was being used so I cut it completely.

Cloud's yellow "rookie hoofbands" are inspired by the yellow "rookie stripe" inexperienced race car drivers have decaled on the back of their cars.

Deception Detected

Cloud’s day was far from over after his test flight ended. While Serenity went to fill out the paperwork on the flight he flew over to a store in downtown Ponyville. The store was located in a green two-story building decorated with a sign showing two flowers and it sold all kinds of plants to the residents of Ponyville.

It was run by three ponies nicknamed around town as the “Flower Trio” because flowers as one might expect were their specialties; Rose, Lily, and Daisy. But Cloud wasn’t here for any tasty tulips or pretty roses. No, he was here for a different kind of vegetation.

The green pegasus trotted through the main portion of the store into a greenhouse area in the back. As he entered it the smell of racks of fresh flowers awaiting planting licked at his nose. Cloud continued to look and in the back of the greenhouse found what he was looking for, fruit tree seedlings.

There was a whole row of them with various fruit offerings. Peaches, pears, cherries, and others all sat before him, each in a small pot filled with a little soil. None of the trees were more than a foot high if that. And then he saw the one he wanted, a little apple tree.

“This is perfect,” Cloud said as he picked up the pot with his wings and headed back into the store to complete the purchase.

He hoped the little seedling was destined for greatness. He had to do something for Applejack after landing that punch on her in Canterlot. This offering to replace that tree she lost to a wind storm would hopefully do the trick. Twenty bits later he trotted out the door and made his way back toward Sunny Rays and Serenity’s home to get back to studying. He’d give this tree to Applejack tomorrow.

-------

For Rainbow Dash when it came to background checks there was only one pony to turn to when she wanted one done. She knew exactly where to fly and who to see, she only hoped she wasn’t too busy with work today following that layoff for the wedding most of them were trying to catch off for.

Rainbow was capable of shattering the sound barrier with ease but when it came to flying within Ponyville city limits she usually kept it at a more reasonable pace. With no storms scheduled it wasn’t like she was in a hurry anyway.

As the blue pegasus looped around the town windmill the Golden Oaks Library came into view. Rainbow knew this could be fun. She took aim at Twilight Sparkle’s residence…and buzzed around it as tight, loud, and as fast as she could. The response from Twilight was about what she expected when her studies were disturbed as the purple mare threw open a window.

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted, an iced coffee stain now on the front of her purple coat.

Rainbow had a naughty smile across her face. It had been too long since she buzzed the library in a deliberate attempt to mess with Twi. Her Wonderbolt Academy training would have to wait though as she reached her destination. She came in alongside an office with a large sign that read “Pon-ID Security Services” and landed. She then trotted right past it up to the front door of Sugar Cube Corner and entered the sweet shop. Pinkie Pie knew everypony in town better than anypony else, she was a natural to do this.

As Rainbow entered the eatery the sweet smell of fresh sugar cookies hung in the air. Mrs. Cake was at the counter as she usually was handing a frothy pink cherry drink to a pink earth pony with a yellow mane and a cherry cutie mark. Dash passed her by as she finished the transaction.

“Hey Mrs. Cake, Pinkie around?” Rainbow asked.

“She’s in the back Dash,” Mrs. Cake responded. “You might want to give her a minute while she finishes frosting those cookies.”

As Rainbow trotted into the kitchen Pinkie was indeed finishing off that fresh batch of sugar cookies hot from the oven. She was just finishing them off by giving the pink frosted cookies a splash of Luster Dust to put a sparkling gold star to each. As the pink pony completed the last one and placed the Luster Dust container off to the side she noticed her friend had arrived.

“Hey Rainbow,” Pinkie said, her voice speeding up as she went. “That’s so awesome that you came by. I’ve got two parties later for June Bug’s second-place in the Los Pegasus flower show, shame it rained the whole time she was out there…”

“Pinkie,” Rainbow chimed in.

“…and Lilac Links’s acceptance to compete in the Vanhoover rodeo,” Pinkie continued even faster.

“Pinkie,” Rainbow tried again.

“…and then I got another tomorrow because Cranky popped the question and Matilda said…”

“PINKIE!” Rainbow finally butted in. “I need your help.”

“Well why didn’t you say so,” Pinkie responded. “What do you need Rainbow?”

“Pinkie you know everypony in town and I need a background check on a new guy,” Rainbow said.

“Background check huh?” Pinkie asked. “Oh! Oh! I can do that!”

Pinkie darted away at lightning speed and instantly came back wearing a dark blue security guard hat with an official looking ID badge tapped to her front. She had a huge smile on her face.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Pinkie said. “Oh wait, I’m supposed to be serious for this.”

Instantly she dropped her smile in a failing attempt to look tough. She tried to talk in a gruffer voice.

“Now who seems to be the problem ma’am,” Pinkie said blowing her attempt to be tough with a slight giggle afterward.

“I’ve got an applicant for one of my open weather jobs but something doesn’t seem right with his paperwork,” Rainbow said. “He’s got a weather-themed cutie mark but no prior weather experience.”

Pinkie’s face lit up at the revelation.

“A new guy?” Pinkie said excited. “Oh! Oh! Who is it? Is it Flash Sentry?”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked. “Who’s Flash Sentry?”

“You don’t know?” Pinkie said with a smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll find out later.”

“Yeah, ah, anyway,” Rainbow tried to steer the conversation back on topic. “The stallion in question is Cloud Breaker. Green guy, orange mane and tail, blue eyes.”

Rainbow pulled Cloud’s application from under her wing and placed it on the counter by Pinkie. The party girl looked it over in about a second.

“Oh I know him,” Pinkie said.

The pink earth pony darted over to a cabinet in the kitchen and opened a random drawer revealing a long list of files, she must have had one for everypony in Ponyville.

“You keep those in the kitchen?” Rainbow asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Pinkie responded.

She proceeded to scroll through all of the files to find the one she wanted.

“Let’s see, Cloud Kicker, Cloudchaser, here we are! Cloud Breaker,” Pinkie said.

With her mouth she pulled his file and flipped it onto the counter where it popped open and slide over to Rainbow. As Rainbow began to look it over Pinkie said what she knew about Cloud.

“Cloud was one of seven ponies who arrived in Ponyville last month but all of them except Sweetcream Scoops were just visiting for a few weeks,” Pinkie said. “I tried to throw all the visitors a party but they wouldn’t go for it. Something about staying private or something, seemed liked they were always around Sugarcube Corner or the Carousel Boutique or the library or Sweet Apple Acres or places like that anyway though. None of them were really talkative but he was in here like everyday to have a cupcake or something small.”

“If he was so private why did he come to Sugarcube Corner everyday?” Rainbow wondered out loud.

“Sunny said he was staying with her, both before and after Serenity proposed,” Pinkie said.

“I know that,” Rainbow said.

“He’s supposed to be a weather pony from Neighagra Falls from what I heard, he was taking a little break from to see Equestria and hanging around Ponyville because of all the action we’ve been stirring up of late,” Pinkie said.

One of Rainbow’s eyebrows raised itself at that.

“Hold up,” Rainbow said. “He said he already was a weather pony and yet he didn’t list that or any other weather experience on his resume. Pinkie, are you pondering what I’m pondering?”

“Why do Cloud Kicker and Cloud Breaker spell their names with a space but Cloudchaser doesn’t?” Pinkie asked. “And why did that last question you asked sound sort of familiar?”

Rainbow rolled her magenta eyes.

“Anyway he and all those other ponies left at the end of their time here to go to the wedding in Canterlot,” Pinkie said. “They said they were invited, unlike all those fans in the courtyard, but I didn’t see him or any of the others there at all. None of them said they were coming back but he did anyway.”

“He was supposed to be in Canterlot for the wedding but didn’t show?” Rainbow asked, that made little sense but wait didn’t he say something to her about that wedding.

“And I wanted to congratulate you on your performance this weekend saving the royal wedding and all of Equestria,” Cloud said. “You were awesome in that fight with all those changelings, err, from what I’ve heard.”

She continued to think to herself. Why’d he add that last part about “from what I’ve heard” like he was explicitly trying to say he wasn’t there with the changelings.

Rainbow thought about the battle. The changelings could turn into anypony and they all created such perfect copies of herself and her friends during the fight. They even had Twilight’s voice and her mild ego down pat although they seemed to focus more on appearance than getting into character.

They could have gotten the appearance stuff from newspapers, her awesomeness had gotten all of them in the news a lot lately, but that didn’t explain the voices or personalities… unless they had a spy to find that in advance. And with several ponies to spy on they could send several spies, split the job up, and they’d be practically unnoticeable. But then how would such a spy leave without anypony knowing they were a spy? Then it clicked.

You could say you were leaving for the wedding and not coming back then rejoin the army and launch the attack. That’s why Cloud and those ponies that arrived at the same time were so private! No experience and no past weather lessons despite a weather themed name, suddenly it made sense. Cloud was a changeling… but she didn’t have proof. Still what if Serenity and Sunny didn’t know? The last thing she needed was two more pegasi down for the count with her employment numbers. She had to do something.

“Oh man, Cloud Breaker could be a changeling!” Rainbow said.

“Huh?” Pinkie asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Rainbow said. “It’s a long story but I’m pretty sure he’s a changeling in disguise.”

“Ai-yai-yai-yai-yai!" Pinkie responded, perhaps not realizing the full weight of that statement. “OH! If he is we could do a disguise-themed party, he’d be a hit with all his morphing and I could use this new Fluttershy costume I just made that’s…”

“Pinkie this is serious, he’s rooming with two of my employees who just got engaged,” Rainbow said. “We’ve got to get Twilight and hustle over there pronto. If I’m right Sunny and Serenity are in big danger. With what those two love birds have been up to lately he’s probably sucking them both dry right now to power up for revenge against us. Come on!”

Both mares darted out the door. Rainbow could only hope she was wrong. But if she wasn’t she found herself wondering why Cloud Breaker would apparently lie about being a weather pony when he first arrived then recant and tell the truth he wasn’t on his job application. She would have checked and found that out anyway but why didn’t he keep up the appearance of his lie so he didn’t give himself away? Why did he apply honestly?

_____

Back at Sunny and Serenity’s all three pegasi were gathered around the kitchen table. Sunny Rays had a map out to plot the most effective route for a rainstorm next week that was due in both Dodge Junction and the MacIntosh Hills. With his new Sweet Apple Acres-bound tree sitting in a window sill Cloud Breaker was next to her with his snout back into one of the books he borrowed from Twilight. Serenity had the stove on trying to prepare a rice pilaf with hay broth and bell peppers. The topic of discussion was the test flight.

“He clocked in at 47 seconds,” Serenity said. “Not perfect but overall solid. I gave him a good write up, he earned it.”

“That’s not bad, with some effort we should be able to cut that time by at least 25 percent,” Sunny responded.

Cloud smiled. He was raw but his life was finally going in the right direction. Then there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Sunny said.

The yellow mare got up from her map and hovered over to the entrance of her house. She peeked through her peephole to see a familiar blue face and rainbow mane. Sunny rolled her eyes.

“Serenity, you might want to make another portion or two,” Sunny shouted to the other room. “Rainbow Dash is here.”

Serenity shrugged and started cutting up another bell pepper with a knife he held in his teeth. Cloud closed his book, he wondered if this was about his performance today. Sunny opened the door.

“Oh hey Rainbow, dropping by unannounced for dinner again?” Sunny asked, now noticing Twilight and Pinkie were with her. “Nice of you to bring your friends but if you’d told me you all were coming by sooner we could have made more food.”

“This isn’t about dinner Sunny,” Rainbow said sternly. “Is Cloud Breaker here?”

“He’s in the kitchen with Serenity,” Sunny said. “Why? If this is work related why not wait until the morning?”

“It’s not work related,” Rainbow responded. “You may want to wait out here Sunny; you never know what his type will do when surprised.”

“His type?” Sunny asked, quickly she realized what just happened. “Oh, horse apples.”

A blue streak darted through Sunny’s living room into her kitchen. It came to a halt right in Sunny’s seat.

“So Cloud Breaker when in the application process were you going to tell me about the fact you’re really a changeling?” Rainbow asked.

Cloud’s jaw dropped harder than a piano entrusted to Derpy for delivery. The look on his face confirmed Rainbow’s suspicions as Twilight, Pinkie and Sunny caught up.

Author's Notes:

As with the last few I'm without a proofreader other than myself. If you catch one I'll fix it.

And busted...Is this the end for Cloud or will he get a reprieve to save his chances next time. Stay tuned...

Pinkie was interesting to write with for this chapter, I'm surprised nobody guessed she'd be the background checker. Her Equestria Girls joke was only in there because it was funnier than the original which involved Flitter ("She already works for me.").

The Dashie and Serenity Webster

A blue streak darted through Sunny’s living room into her kitchen. It came to a halt right in Sunny’s seat. Rainbow Dash hadn’t exactly been pleased with at her most recent discovery and came to give Cloud Breaker a piece of her mind. Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Sunny Rays followed her in at a slower pace.

“So Cloud Breaker when in the application process were you going to tell me about the fact you’re really a changeling?” Rainbow asked.

The horrified look on Cloud Breaker’s face said it all. He should have known his background would become public knowledge eventually but he thought he’d get more than three and a half days before his changeling origins leaked out. The shock left him speechless.

“Well, I’m waiting for an answer changeling!” Rainbow said, her anger increasing.

Serenity looked on, doing his best to both quickly finish cooking his pilaf and focus on the conversation at hoof. Cloud had to do something. Well the truth had been working for him of late, why not.

“Well I was hoping it wouldn’t come up, I could land the job, and then tell you about it a few months or years after the fact by which point I would hopefully just be another good employee in the organization and you wouldn’t care,” Cloud said. “And also I’m not a changeling, I’m just a pegasus now. No tricks, I blew away my magic acting stupid and this is the penalty.”

Sunny darted out of the room to get something. Pinkie grabbed Twilight and took a familiar pose as she aimed the lavender unicorn’s horn at Cloud like a weapon, Twi responded with a hoof gesture that implied “no, not this time” and the Earth pony released her. The purple mare was intrigued at that last sentence. No matter what the others were doing Rainbow didn’t buy Cloud’s excuse for a second.

“Yeah right, drop the disguise insect,” Rainbow responded. “Changelings turn into ponies all the time, that’s all you do. You change shape, steal love, and try to take over Equestria. Well guess what, there’ll be none of that while Ponyville’s friendly Rainbow Dash is on duty.”

“I’m telling the truth,” Cloud responded. “I can’t change into anything else. I’m just as much a pony as you are now since my magic overload after the Canterlot attack.”

“YOU ATTACKED CANTERLOT!” Rainbow shouted.

That was it, the blue pegasus swung a hoof at the green one only to have a pinkish aura stop it from connecting, Twilight had cut her off. This pony apparently attacked her brother’s wedding but like them Shining was one to forgive and forget and he never had any issues with her research on any topic. This was too good an opportunity for a little studying to just let Rainbow rant.

“Hold your horses Rainbow, I want to hear his reasoning,” Twilight said. “I’ve never heard of a changeling becoming a pony permanently before, of course my changeling research so far has been limited.”

At this point Sunny came back into the room with a file in her mouth and Cloud’s former changeling horn under her wing.

“He’s telling the truth Twilight,” Sunny said as she dropped both on the table. “We had him tested by Doctor Stable. The good doctor is very trustworthy as well; he’s the same guy who mended Rainbow’s wing and not one to lie on test results.”

Twilight levitated the horn over to her for examination as Rainbow looked over the papers in serious disbelief. Pinkie just stood off to the side deep in thought; could she throw Cloud a changeling themed party now or not? Or maybe just a costume disguise one would be better instead. Twilight was in awe at the horn.

“Amazing,” Twilight said. “I’ve never seen a changeling horn up close and detached before. It’s so rounded off, it’s nothing like the Queen’s jagged one. The structure is close to that of a unicorn one but slightly different, likely to handle their more holographic-focused magic. I could write half a report on the comparisons alone. But this could be from any changeling, do you possibly have more evidence connected to him I could see?”

Rainbow wasn’t getting anything out of the report and gave it to Twilight. The purple mare used her magic to pick it up and read it. Serenity finished the cooking, turned off the stove and moved to stand over by Sunny. He’d have done so earlier but he hated wasting food and wasn’t one to burn a good meal just because Rainbow Dash had barged in and starting flinging around questions…yet again.

As she read the hospitals charts from the DNA test Twilight showed a pleasant little smile. Rainbow and Pinkie pulled her away from her library card catalog work tonight saying Cloud must be a changeling but the official Ponyville Hospital report very clearly said otherwise.

“Look at that,” Twilight said as her research finished. “Blood, feather, and X-ray tests confirm subject 100 percent pegasus pony. Belief pony is a changeling likely a result of stress related to witnessing Canterlot wedding attack.”

Cloud smiled, Rainbow didn’t. Sunny and Serenity just stood by silently trying to think of anything they could help to him.

“This is fascinating, it appears that despite your thoughts Rainbow his story checks out,” Twilight said. “Cloud, at least now, isn’t a changeling. But if changelings can permanently become ponies how does it happen? Is it a reaction to serious injury, a voluntarily move, some form of punishment from Queen Chrysalis for the failure of the invasion?”

Cloud looked down at the table, a reflection of Drone 9417 was looking back at him smiling from a glass of water. He wouldn’t give him the pleasure, he’d keep telling the truth. By this point he was getting tired of explaining his predicament but from the changelings’ research on Twilight they all knew she didn’t take “no” for an answer in situations like this. “Here we go again” he thought to himself.

“It’s caused by an overload to changeling transformation magic,” Cloud replied. “It can be done voluntarily but changelings look down upon that. Mine was accidental, I was a spy researching you before the invasion and I held my disguise as Cloud Breaker too long to keep living undetected with Sunny and Serenity.”

“So that’s why you came by the library to rent books with no rhyme or reason before this week,” Twilight responded. “I hope you were still reading them.”

Rainbow was anything but amused.

“I knew you were a spy!” Rainbow said.

“That alone wouldn’t trigger it,” Cloud said. “The fact I fought you probably did though. I swapped forms several times but I got my flank kicked. I turned into Rainbow and punched Applejack but then the real Rainbow swooped down, punched me away, and proclaimed “accept no substitutes” as she raced off.”

Rainbow’s angry look donned a little smile at that, she remembered that move. Sucker never saw it coming… and yet now that very changeling was before her again and claiming somewhat successfully he was a pony now.

“Well at least I know that part is true,” Rainbow said proudly. “I totally had AJ’s back!”

“After Rainbow stopped me Twilight blasted me and I was out of the fight,” Cloud said. “My transmogrification magic overloaded shortly thereafter when the royal couple expelled all of us and I changed into this before I crash landed. Sunny and Serenity are the only friends I have so I came here to try and set my life straight. I was Drone 9417 then but I’m Cloud Breaker now.”

The response from the three Elements could not be more different. Rainbow still looked truly ticked off, Pinkie had a huge smile per usual, and Twilight was still in awe at the educational possibilities a confirmed “former” changeling could provide. She loved research papers, she was already thinking of possible titles.

“When I was only pretending to be Cloud I made him a weather pony because, well a lot of pegasi are and it wouldn’t raise suspicion,” Cloud said. “After I became him for real I figured trying to do his job was my best option to have a spot in pony society. I gave myself a cutie mark to match it.”

“Oh Oh! I want to ask the next question,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “If you were pretending to be a weather pony before why didn’t you try and kept that up instead of submitting that blank resume?… Also do you like chocolate or vanilla cake?”

“I’ve been lying about who I really my whole life, I’m trying to shape up and be honest now,” Cloud said. “I got no resume so I won’t lie about having one. And ah, chocolate I guess. I’ve never had either in a context where I’d know what they really taste like.”

Rainbow wasn’t amused.

“So what you’re getting at is just because you aren’t a changeling anymore suddenly you deserve a second chance?” Rainbow asked. “An altered appearance doesn’t change what you did to Equestria. What we should do is turn you over to the authorities. You want to do some good help the royal guard track down the rest of the changelings from the attack. Or you know, rot in a Canterlot dungeon like most terrorists. Either one is good for me.”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Just curious Rainbow but if he’s not a changeling anymore and has the paperwork from the hospital to prove it why would they believe us if you tried to turn him in?” Twilight noted. “We’re well-known but they run DNA tests on ponies who are accused of being changelings in deception cases. He’d ace it and walk.”

“So what do you want to do with him Twi?” Rainbow asked. “Study him?”

“Yeah, think of the opportunity for lea…”

“No, this freak pony attacked Canterlot and deceived our town for almost a month before that,” Rainbow butted in. “If the law won’t punish him we will. Cloud you’ve got 24 hours to get out of Ponyville. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”

Twilight and Pinkie looked shocked at the statement.

“Aw, come on Rainbow,” Pinkie chimed in. “He hasn’t even gotten some cake yet.”

“I don’t have a home, where am I supposed to go?” Cloud asked.

“That’s your problem not any of ours,” Rainbow said. “Fillydelphia’s nice this time of year, maybe their weather manager won’t run a background check.”

After thinking for several minutes about what to do Serenity finally had something to say. He had to ask something to try and convince Rainbow to let Cloud keep trying. After all, changeling or no Cloud was quite generous at paying rent just to use the couch.

Serenity thought about all the adventures Rainbow had gone through of late that he read about in the papers, all the trouble in Ponyville that came after Twilight came and assembled her friends at that Summer Sun Festival. And then it hit him, that festival.

“Rainbow just curious, you’d count Princess Luna as a friend right?” Serenity asked.

“Huh, yeah she’s cool,” Rainbow responded. “A bit out of touch and more up Twi’s alley but she likes a good prank and that makes her alright in my book.”

“So what’s the difference between her and Cloud?” Serenity said.

“Is it that Luna controls the night and Cloud controls nothing but his hopes, dreams, and destiny?” Pinkie asked.

“There is no difference, both are ‘bad guys’ who are trying to shape up,” Serenity said with hoof gesture air quotes as he looked at Rainbow. “You guys remember that night Luna came back, the night Twilight arrived, and the night you all got your pretty jewelry things and all the stuff. You should, Princess Luna tried to make it last forever.”

“Technically she was possessed and acting as Nightmare Mo…,” Twilight tried to add before Rainbow cut her off with a hoof gesture.

Cloud smiled; when he first came back Serenity was the one iffy about letting him stay. Now the pink pegasus was stepping up to the plate to defend him. Maybe he saw something he liked on the test flight?

“What are you getting at?” Rainbow asked.

“I didn’t see what you guys did to her as Nightmare Moon but immediately afterward you brought Princess Luna back to town and everyone had a huge celebration to welcome her back,” Serenity said. “All was forgiven instantly… BUT two hours earlier she actively tried to KILL US ALL with an ever-lasting night that would kill all the plants and later all the wildlife. She almost committed genocide on all of us and you let her off with no more than a slap on the wrist and giving her debatably the secondly most powerful position in Equestria.”

“That was different, she was purified by us using the Elements,” Rainbow said.

“He was basically purified by the royal couple’s love and unlike Nightmare Moon he wasn’t completely a jerk before hand,” Serenity said. “How is giving him a chance at the office’s literal ‘low mare on the totem pole’ position going to bring about the end of Equestria like you are trying to imply here? Luna masterminded that attack; he just went along with others’ orders.”

Serenity continued, switching from defense to offense.

“Who are you to decide who gets to stay in Ponyville or not, Commander Hurricane?” Serenity asked.

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. Pegasi did not casually throw around calling someone a “Commander Hurricane” in that context; it was an offensive term for someone who looked down on non-pegasi in a non-literal sense.

“Twilight’s baby dragon darn near destroyed the town, why does he get to stay?” Serenity asked. “You’ve saved this community like 52 times or something by now but you’ve put it in jeopardy quite a few times too. The parasprites, Discord, overcharged love potions, trying to cause a riot with warnings “from my future self,” muffins made of earth worms, and cutie pox; it’s a wonder anything in this town is still standing!”

“Hey, we had nothing to do with the cutie pox,” Pinkie noted. “And Twilight’s responsibility for the love potion was indirect at best.”

Sunny broke her silence to help the argument.

“Rainbow, your actions with the tornado were a little unprofessional as well,” Sunny said. “You were so sure Thunderlane was faking being sick you pushed him too hard and infected a good chunk of the team. I spent two days bed ridden after that.”

Rainbow blushed. She did a great job preparing everyone for that but she did botch that one thing and hospitalized several ponies in the process. Her leadership was flawless except that mistake that cost them the record and without Fluttershy’s help would have cost them everything.

“You guys aren’t perfect but neither is Cloud,” Serenity said.

“Even before he was a pony he was still an accommodating stallion,” Sunny added. “After he changed we gave him a list of conditions for him to stay with us and he’s obeyed every one. Look at this.”

Sunny hovered over the table and over to the window with the little apple tree seedling.

“We asked him to make it up to Applejack that he got her in that attack,” Sunny said. “He went out and bought her this little tree to replace one a wind storm the office did apparently blew down this week. He’s trying to put things right Rainbow and we’ve been making sure he does.”

The mood was swinging in his favor. Cloud was ready to rejoin the conversation.

“I’ve made mistakes, a lot of them, and I’ll admit that,” Cloud said. “But I want to put things right. I want a job and a real role in a community. No more disguises, no more deceiving anyone, and no more feeding on love. If you want I’ll tell the whole team who am I and let them decide if you want me considered, you are short staffed and I am the only one who has applied for the position in months. The others know I put in for it; at least Thunderlane and Blue Skies are pulling for me. Will you at least let me try?”

Rainbow looked at Twilight and Pinkie. Twilight was rather emotionless, still thinking about publishing her results in the Canterlot Science Journal or Equestria Biology Today, but the pink mare’s look just seemed to say “come on Rainbow.” The blue mare sighed, she hated losing. But despite her anger they were right and she needed more staff. Dropping her only applicant without explanation would raise questions. “Alright fate, you win,” she thought to herself.

“Come on Twi, Pinks we’re done here,” Rainbow said then turned to face Cloud Breaker. “Be at the weather bureau at 9:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow for your job testing. Pass it and color yourself a weather pony. Be ready, I had a few wildcards planned and I’m still going to use them rookie.”

The three turned to leave.

“Hey wait, before you go does anyone still want some pilaf?” Cloud asked. “Serenity made extra.”

Author's Notes:

I don't know if I really like this chapter because it requires Rainbow to sort of "lose" the argument. But it's got to be this way to set up the climax. I did my best proofreading solo but if you see a mistake let me know and I'll fix it.

Could not think of a title for this one to save my life, went with the first idea that sort of worked. Sunny had a chapter named after her, only fair Serenity got one too I guess. It's just for pun, Serenity has no fanon last name but if he did for this fic I'd probably make it Raincloud or something more Equestrian.

Dashie's "Accept no Substitutes" line that got a call back here is paraphrasing a former slogan by sportscar maker Porsche.

Some work on this fic actually paid off at my reporter job this week. In the early chapters Cloud mentioned a microburst during a weather conversation, the plan was to develop that over the course of the fic to the point Cloud would use it during his test in the last act. I researched mircobursts to get ready for that and found it really didn't fit what I needed and dropped it from the fic... Then reality had to come by and made this odd. The area where I work suffered a rather violent mircoburst during a severe thunderstorm this week and I had to do a story on the aftermath. No one was hurt but made a mess of a local campground and flipped a semi-truck crossing a local bridge. Strange but true...

The Test Begins

It was another night and it resulted in another bad cerebral visit from Drone 9417. Cloud Breaker woke up before his alarm at 6:15 a.m. He just lay awake in his fold-out couch bed for a few minutes thinking about all that would be on the line today.

If he succeeded he’d have the weather job he’d been working toward. If he failed it was back to the drawing board. He had no idea what Rainbow Dash would pull out for challenges during this test and it worried him.

As the minutes passed it became more of a certainty he was not going to fall back asleep. Well if he couldn’t rest maybe there was something else he could do, before his test at the weather office there was somewhere else he wanted to visit. He rose out of bed, shook his wings to wake them up and set about getting ready over the next few minutes.

He grabbed the little apple tree seedling he bought the day before, trotted out the door, and took to the skies.

---------

The ticking grandfather clock in the Apple Family’s living room read 6:45 a.m. as Applejack walked in carrying a basket full of fresh eggs from the hen house with her mouth. The orange earth pony placed the eggs down then finally yawned, she’d already been up almost two hours doing her chores and hadn’t even gotten Apple Bloom up yet. It had been an odd night. Rainbow Dash came by late running off at the mouth about a changeling that wasn’t a changeling and some other nonsense.

Her brother Big Macintosh sat at the table after having already started some of the repairs he had planned for the day.

“You get the harness repaired on the plow?” Applejack asked.

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied.

For the moment the older Apple siblings could turn their attention from the daily chores to the much simpler task of making breakfast.

“You up for an omelet this mornin’ Big Mac?” Applejack asked. “I got fresh eggs.”

The red stallion thought for a second then responded.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

Applejack opened up the family’s cabinet and removed an onion and a few bell peppers. She reached into a drawer and removed a knife with her mouth then followed with a cutting board. With a few precision neck movements the ingredients were diced and the knife made its way into the sink for washing later. AJ turned on the stove and continued some mild conservation with her brother.

“Did I tell you Apple Fritter found herself a stallion at the royal wedding?” Applejack said.

“Nope,” Big Mac responded.

“Cousin A.F. came to help me with the refreshments and hooked up with one of Shining Armor’s groomscolts,” Applejack said. “Earth pony name of Meadow Song I think. They’ve gone off to Los Pegasus on a whirlwind romance. I hear it almost never rains out there.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

As A.J. started cracking eggs an unexpected knock came from the farmhouse’s front door.

“You expecting anyone this time of day?” Applejack asked.

“Nope,” Big Mac replied.

“Could you get that while I cook?” Applejack asked.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

The red stallion got up and trotted over to the door. With a click of the pull-down handle he opened it revealing the odd sight of a green pegasus stallion standing on the porch holding a small apple tree seedling in his hooves.

“Good morning I’m Cloud Breaker,” Cloud said. “The tree is for your family. May I come in briefly?”
Big Mac thought for a moment.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac responded.

“Thank you,” Cloud said as he walked in.

The two stallions made their way back to the kitchen as A.J. prepared the omelets. Big Mac spoke up to get her attention.

“Ah, A.J.,” Big Mac said.

“What is it Big Mac?” Applejack asked as she looked up, spying the second stallion and his tree. “Who’s that?”

“Um, hi Applejack,” Cloud said nervously. “I’m Cloud Breaker. I, uh, sort of used to be a…”

“Let me guess,” Applejack said. “You’re that ‘not a changeling’ fellow R.D. was over here ranting about last night aren’t you?”

“Ah, yeah I am,” Cloud responded, actually sort of glad he didn’t have to explain the last few days again.

“So what brings you here pardner?” Applejack asked. “And why are you carrying a seedling?”

“Well I was part of the changeling attack on Canterlot,” Cloud said. “During that fight you and your friends got into trying to get your Elements of Harmony I hit you.”

“Were you part of that dog pile of changelings done up like a fake me that mobbed me?” Applejack asked.

“Actually I was the Rainbow Dash copy that slugged you earlier in the fight,” Cloud said. “The real R.D. dove in and saved you.”

“Only cause I didn’t have time to whoop ya back myself,” Applejack responded.

“What?” Cloud asked.

“Nothing,” Applejack responded, with an awkward aside glance and odd facial gesture.

“Um, right,” Cloud said to change the subject. “I came by this morning to apologize for my actions toward you and your country. I’m sorry for hitting you. I’m sorry for taking part in the invasion.”

Cloud gestured to the little seedling.

“Doing a practice weather run the other day I noticed one of your trees blew down recently,” Cloud said. “I’d like to give you this little one as an apology gift.”

Applejack looked over the little seedling. It wasn't as high a quality as their home-grown trees but give it time and care and it would probably bear good fruit.

“I don’t know if I can ever fully make up for my actions against you,” Cloud added.

“Yeah, yeah ah forgive ya,” Applejack said. “You want an omelet?”

“What?” Cloud asked.

“Holding a grudge never got anypony anywhere,” Applejack said. “The tree is a nice touch and we’ll use it but ah’d forgive you even without it, not very neighborly to turn down an apology and all that…Besides if I remember that fight correctly little fillies fight better than all dem changelings anyway.”

Cloud missed that last part. If he had heard it perhaps he wouldn't have been so concerned with further apologizing.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” Cloud asked.

“Nothing I can think of,” Applejack responded while checking on the two cooking omelets.

“Are you sure you don’t need help harvesting or anything?” Cloud said.

“Nothing to harvest for another four months, it’s only April,” Applejack responded. “I’m not constantly applebuckin’ despite what a certain blue pegasus may say.”

“Yeah, Rainbow can be quite brash,” Cloud said. “Seems like a solid leader for the weather department though. With any luck now I’ll be working for her. I've got an interview in about two hours.”

“She still do the part with the Ghastly Gorge?” Applejack asked. “You’d think she’d have learned her lesson after the avalanche.”

“Huh?” Cloud asked. “Avalanche?”

“You’ll find out,” Applejack said. “So you've got a job interview today huh? Well then I know I'll have to fix you an omelet and a nice glass of Apple Family brand apple juice. Fill you up right for Rainbow’s big test.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Cloud said.

“Ah insist,” Applejack responded.

Cloud researched Applejack, he knew she was stubborn enough there was no escaping this well-balanced breakfast. He smiled, at least one thing went unexpectedly better for him today…

------

After his breakfast with the Apples Cloud dashed back to Sunny and Serenity’s home for some last minute studying before his test. Finally the clock was running down and at 8:40 a.m. he darted out the door to the weather bureau, Sunny Rays and Serenity wishing him luck for big test before departing for their own shifts. He dared not be late for this test.

For 15 minutes he waited outside the Ponyville Weather Bureau, watching as that new radar thing spun silently on the roof. Other pegasi arrived and casually flew up to the door. For just a moment he saw the reflection of Drone 9417 looking back at him with an evil smile. He shrugged it off just as Rainbow Dash arrived with Twilight Sparkle in tow. The blue pegasus had a slightly naughty, slightly happy look on her face. They were talking about something.

“Now you’ll make sure she has that by the end of the day?” Rainbow asked.

“I’ll get back to the library and send it immediately,” Twilight said as she magically hovered a scroll into her saddlebag. “I know she’ll be understanding Rainbow. She’ll be glad to help in this situation.”

On her way back the librarian walked right past Cloud. Twilight smiled as she cantered past him.

“Good luck up there,” Twilight said.

Cloud smiled for a moment but it quickly evaporated as Rainbow walked up to him.

“Ah, you decided to show,” Rainbow said. “Very nice, this is going to be fun.”

Cloud didn’t like the sound of that. With a deep breath he readied himself for the ride to come.

“Let’s do this Rainbow,” Cloud said. “What’s first?”

“The morning briefing, it’s 9 a.m.,” Rainbow responded.

“Oh, where would you like me to stay during it?” Cloud asked.

“Front and center big boy,” Rainbow said. “You said you’d agree to have your background revealed to the crew and we’re going to do just that. If the team is fine with that we’ll begin the test proper, if they aren’t you’re done. If you would prefer your “former occupation” not to be the public knowledge of virtually every pegasi in Ponyville you are welcome to leave right now. I’ll tell nopony your secret and you walk free. So what’s your call buggy? ”

Cloud gulped. This really was an all or nothing shot, with that out in the open he couldn’t just silently go back to Sunny and Serenity’s couch with his tail between his legs if he failed. He pondered only briefly before making his decision.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” Cloud said. “If I’m going to be part of this weather team they need to know.”

Rainbow smiled. Somehow Cloud knew that was the response she wanted no matter how this turned out.

“Alright, just let me do the talking,” Rainbow smiled slightly naughtily. “Don’t worry. I have a plan to win them over.”

Cloud just knew Rainbow had a trick up her sleeve, despite the fact she wasn’t even wearing anything with sleeves. He gulped again as the two ponies trotted inside to the briefing.

As Cloud entered the locker room he looked around and indeed most of the pegasi in town were present. Visible amongst all of them were Sunny, Serenity, Thunderlane, Blue Skies, that grey one with the funny eyes, the two purple ones with memorable manes, and that big white stallion one. Eh, Cloud really needed to learn these ponies’ names at some point. Rainbow gestured him to stand next to her.

“Alright, 9 a.m.,” Rainbow said. “Let’s get this party started. Everypony I’ve got a special briefing for you today. I know of late we’ve been short staffed and we’ve had a hard time filling those open positions. We’ll I have good news, this green stallion here is Cloud Breaker and he has applied to come aboard. You guys willing to give him a nice Ponyville welcome?”

There was a light stamping of hooves and a few mild cheers. Huh? That was a lot warmer response than he was expecting from Rainbow. For just a moment Cloud wondered if Rainbow was bluffing about outing him as some sort of secret test of character.

“There is just one little issue with Cloud before I put him in the air,” Rainbow continued.

She wasn’t bluffing, Cloud knew this was going to suck.

“You see this pegasus wasn’t exactly a pegasus this time last week,” Rainbow continued. “Cloud Breaker here was a changeling drone who took part in the attack at Princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding last weekend. He even fought me and I straight-up spanked his flank. But later he overloaded his magic, turned into a pegasus somehow in the process, and now here he is.”

There were a few gasps from the crowd at that revelation. There was also some hostility and not all of it directed at Cloud.

“You get into the poison joke again last night?” Midnight Strike spoke up from the back. “I’ve seen him around town for about the last month. Quit with your bragging from that stupid wedding and lay off the new guy.”

The black mare’s unexpected chime in was met with a few comments to the extent of “yeah” and “she’s right.” Cloud immediately validated Rainbow’s accusation, after the past few days honesty was really starting to grow on him.

“She’s not lying,” Cloud said, followed by a few more gasps.

Rainbow had a snarky little smile as she looked over to Cloud. Then gave him a wink.

“Before you all get down on Cloud I’d like to make a few points,” Rainbow said. “First off as of right now he’s pure pegasus with a DNA check to confirm it. There’s not an ounce of changeling left in him. His hooves are clean, his heart’s beating, and his wings are ready to flap which is more than I can say for any of our other job candidates because we don’t have any. He’s also got a weather-themed cutie mark and Serenity said he’s solid in the air following a test flight out to the Everfree earlier this week.”

Rainbow’s snarky smile got a little bigger. Cloud wondered what her angle was here.

“Plus he’s not applying for any of our Ponyville positions,” Rainbow said. “Cloudy here has applied for the Jerkwater job, if he gets it none of you have to do it anymore.”

That comment was met with some mild cheering.

“We’re short staffed, we've got to take what we can get,” Rainbow continued. “Cloud’s had a shady life but he’s turning over a new leaf. If you don’t want him let me know and you can color him gone. But if you can find it in your hearts to look past his past he could be a big help to us. By a show of hooves how many of you want me to give him a shot?”

Rainbow must have made a rather persuasive argument as just over half the audience put their hooves up. Dash made one more move.

“Oh, and if he is approved for testing the morning briefing is cancelled today for his testing,” Rainbow said.

A noticeably higher number of hooves went up at that. There were still some down but Cloud would at least be getting his shot.

“Alright the morning briefing is canceled, everyone’s assignments for the day are on the board,” Rainbow said. “Except Sassaflash, Thunderlane, Rainbowshine, and Serenity. You four report to Cloudsdale and await further orders, I have an errand for you a bit later.”

There were a few cheers at the cancellation. Serenity just looked nervous, Dash assigning him to that could not be coincidence. As Sunny left to lay out her weather plans for next week Thunderlane snapped the pink-and-blue pegasus out of his haze so the team could group up.

“Come on Pinky, let’s roll,” Thunderlane said. “It would have been nice if you’d have told us about the new guy’s changeling bit ahead of time.”

“If the guy can fly does it matter at this point?” Serenity retorted.

“Perhaps a little,” Sassaflash said as the teal pegasus joined in. “But we gotta take what we can get. I do not want to deal with the paperwork for another 45-minute rainstorm delay.”

The trio joined up with Rainbowshine and departed. They passed Cloud on the way out.

“Good luck up there,” Serenity said.

“Watch out for the stopwatch part,” Rainbowshine said, the purple pegasus visibly shivered remembering whatever that was.

Cloud’s attention turned to Rainbow Dash as the blue pegasus hovered over to him. Something didn’t fit between her arguing last night and her actively trying to swing things in his favor here.

“Did you spin that introduction?” Cloud asked.

“Duh,” Rainbow said. “Twilight and I had a little talk after we left last night. The result was win, loss, or draw I want your result to come in the air. The penalties for your prior actions will be handled later. Now let me check something quick and the test will begin shortly. You can wait outside, I’ll be right out.”

Cloud followed his instructions. Rainbow darted across the hall after spotting a pink pony with a reddish-orange mane and wearing a pair of goggles. The pink pony was carrying a printout of some kind and other papers in a saddlebag.

“How’s the radar looking today Jetstream?” Rainbow asked.

“Not good actually,” Jetstream said. “A lot of cloud cover came out of the Everfree headed toward Ponyville. We’re scheduled for sun today. Think we could send a team out to pop it?”

“How much is it?” Rainbow asked.

“Probably four oktas, mild but we have to deal with it,” Jetstream said.

“Alright,” Rainbow said. “Why don’t you get in the air with Sky Team 3, that’s Blossomforth, Lightning Bolt, and Star Hunter, and take care of it. I don’t want that popped, I want it moved. You have a map and pen?”

“Yeah,” Jetstream replied as she produced the requested items from her bag.

“Great,” Rainbow said with a slightly naughty smile.

The blue pegasus held the map with a hoof and used her mouth to make a doodle.

“Move the cloud bank here and leave it,” Rainbow said passing the map back.

Jetstream looked at the map.

“Jerkwater?” Jetstream asked.

“Yeah, we’ve got rain scheduled later anyway,” Rainbow said. “A little cloud won’t hurt that area, I hope.”

“I’m on it,” Jetstream said. “Good luck to the rookie.”

Jetstream went out to get her team while Rainbow departed. Dash trotted back into the briefing room and grabbed a stopwatch from her locker, putting it on over her head. She then flew out the door to where Cloud was waiting.

“Alright, ready to roll?” Rainbow asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Cloud responded, looking nervously at the stopwatch.

“Well then off we go into the wild blue yonder,” Rainbow said.

Both pegasi took off and began a flight out of Ponyville. Rainbow was naturally in the lead with Cloud following.

“Alright, here’s how it is going to work,” Rainbow said. “I’m going to test you on speed, flight, and endurance in that order. We’ll start with a timed cloud pop, continue with a flight down a course of my choosing, and end with a larger project that should be along the lines of what you will face on the job if hired. Now for the warnings…”

Cloud perked up at that.

“Weather is an unpredictable thing,” Rainbow said. “Even with pegasi control it can and does change rapidly and without much warning. There are risks to this job and you must be alert for anything while on duty. The sky can play tricks on you if let your attention lapse. For this reason there are going to be a few wildcards thrown into these test, just be ready, and you should be able to get through them. You got it?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Cloud said.

The two pegasi continued to fly out of downtown to a more isolated part of Ponyville over farmer’s fields filled with various crops. Above a carrot farm near Sweet Apple Acres Cloud noticed about 15 clouds positioned throughout the sky. Rainbow suddenly vectored up and Cloud followed. She stopped well above the clouds.

“Alright, you probably know what I want you to do here,” Rainbow said while gesturing down.

“Pop all the clouds?” Cloud asked.

“Yup,” Rainbow responded. “Now on your practice run Serenity said you clocked in at 47 seconds to clear the sky with a few errors. Take those out and how fast do you think you can do it? Maybe 37 seconds?”

“I can try,” Cloud said.

“Good,” Rainbow said as she took off her stopwatch and used a hoof to adjust the time. “I’m going to set this clock for 40 seconds. Your test is to fly down pop all the clouds then fly over and click the stop button on this watch, do it before the clock hits zero and you pass. Sound good?”

“Yeah, I’ll do my best,” Cloud said.

He remembered what Rainbowshine said and looked at the stopwatch nervously. Rainbow noticed that.

“It’s just a stopwatch Cloud,” Rainbow Dash said. “It stops with just the push of a button, it’s not booby trapped or anything.”

Cloud let out a sigh of relief.

“Now on your mark,” Rainbow said.

Cloud took an aggressive pose. He hated to admit it but he had not been this ready to spring into action since he was a changeling attacking Canterlot. Dare he say it, this could be fun.

“Get set,” Rainbow said, with a slight wind-up of the hoof on which the watch rested. “GO!”

Rainbow Dash clicked the stopwatch to start the countdown then hurled it into the air as Cloud’s jaw dropped…

Author's Notes:

As always, if you see a typo let me know and I'll fix it. Some of AJ's dialogue is supposed to be off a bit to mimic the accent like a lot of writers do.

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've been busy at work lately.

For non-American readers "Wild Blue Yonder" is the theme song for the U.S. Air Force...who field the Thunderbirds acrobatic team that partially inspired the Wonderbolts.

Okta really is the unit of measure for cloud cover. Now you know...And knowing is half the battle!

A Good Day to Fly Hard

“Now on your mark…Get set…GO!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

The blue Pegasus clicked the stopwatch to start the 40-second countdown then hurled it into the air as Cloud’s jaw dropped.

He wasn’t expecting that. He didn’t have time think about it though as he immediately took off into a steep dive. He’d now have to get all the clouds and catch that watch before impacted the carrot field below.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Cloud quickly said to himself.

He quickly looked at the positions of the clouds; maybe he could get them all taking a spiral course looping down. He wouldn’t have time to come back around if he missed one but it was a gamble he had to take if he wanted to catch up to that watch.

The green Pegasus stallion put both his forearms out in front of him and banked into it a turn. He sped himself up as fast as he could go. He flew in the corkscrew pattern by angling one hoof out and then connected with the first two clouds. POP! POP! Both ‘bit the dust’ the instant he hit them.

Cloud looked down trying to find the watch as it fell, taking out another three clouds on the way. He was simultaneously trying to both remember everything Serenity taught him about clouds and locate that watch. Then he caught just a glimpse of the sun’s reflection off the watch, it was still below him but not by much

“THERE.” Cloud said as he popped another two clouds on his spiral.

He focused in on the watch, perhaps a little too much as he banked slightly toward it. In an instant he realized that he was too far into his turn and would miss getting a direct hit on the next cloud. At the last second he flipped a rear hoof out and still managed to pick it off.

Okay, change of plans. He could not lose sight of that watch but he had to pass attention to what was ahead. Thinking fast he did the best he could to keep one eye on the watch, and one on the clouds. He strained his vision as he knocked off another cloud. For a moment he legitimately missed his old compound changeling eyes but he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

The watch dropped past the last cloud, as Cloud Breaker chased it he couldn’t read the timer but knew it had to be running down. He took out the last two clouds and immediately angled down. He had to get that watch. He gave his feathered wings everything they had. He was catching it. He knew he was, he could feel it.

Quickly he was able to catch up to the watch. He grabbed it with one hoof and clicked the button with the other. The timer still read 4.32 seconds.

“YES!” Cloud shouted.

Rainbow smiled slightly at what she saw. He most likely passed; she thought to herself about his skill in the air. That would make the next part of this test much more interesting for her.

As Cloud stared at the watch he didn’t notice he was still in a steep dive. He immediately realized what was happening though as he jubilantly looked up from his prize and quickly realized how close he now was to the ground. He immediately pulled up, now only about 15 feet above the carrot field below. He tried to slow down but stopping from high speeds was not an instant process for pegasi. It was then that he noticed the barrel-themed personal residence in front of him.

“Oh boy,” Cloud said.

---

On the ground a yellow earth pony with an orange mane walked out of her house onto her porch. Carrot Top smiled with a forearm wrapped around a fresh glass of her favorite homemade carrot juice. She didn’t have to run her stand today and she planned to enjoy every second of this rare chance to relax. She trotted over to a position alongside a carrot-themed deck decoration.

As she angled the glass to take her first sip a little hint of green appeared in the corner of her eye.

“What is that?” the yellow mare asked herself.

The question quickly answered itself as ‘a screaming green Pegasus’. Cloud angled his wings at the last second and just barely missed the house but was still barreling past Carrot’s residence at high speed hauling a blast of wind behind him.

“AH!” Cloud screamed as he rocketed past Carrot Top.

Carrot Top steadied herself as the wind rushed over her, it messed up her hair but did little else. Suddenly another blast of wind rocked her as a lightning-quick blue streak trailing a rainbow shot by going even faster. As the wind finally died down the earth pony shrugged. She had to admit she was wondering if continuing to live in Ponyville was really all it was cracked up to be with all the weirdness of late. She decided not to think about it and just took a sip of her drink instead. She smiled; carrot juice really took the edge off any of her issues.

---

When Cloud finally slowed down he came in for a landing. He panted quite a bit, he’d never really pushed himself like that before. There was just the hint of a tingle in his flank but it quickly subsided. He was hoping to get a moment to catch his breath but it wasn’t to be as almost instantly Rainbow arrived alongside him. He thought about how her reputation as “Equestria’s fastest flyer” was not unearned in any way. Cloud immediately held up the stop watch.

“Got it,” he said proudly. “And just over 4 seconds left to boot!”

“That’s pretty good,” Rainbow said. “However the last four pegasi I’ve hired were all in the 10-second range with a 35-second timer.”

Cloud gulped.

“Do I still pass?” the converted changeling said.

“Yeah, you got the watch didn’t ya?” Rainbow responded. “Now that we’ve got the speed test out of the way it’s time for the flight test.”

“What does that involve?” Cloud asked.

“As I said earlier now we’re going to take a flight down a course of my choosing,” Rainbow said with a smile as she thought about where to do it. “Something challenging but not impossible, a fun low-altitude cruise down on the deck would be good. Yes, we’re going on a nice flyby through Ghastly Gorge.”

“Ghastly Gorge?” Cloud asked.

Rainbow just nodded.

“What is Ghastly Gorge?” Cloud asked.

“It’s a sweet canyon run with lots of obstacles,” Rainbow replied. “It’s actually a really fun run. I’ve done that blast a thousand times; just don’t the hug walls near the end under any circumstance.”

“Why?” Cloud asked.

“I, ah, don’t really want to talk about that,” Rainbow said. “Let’s just say a mare’s best friend is her tortoise.”

Cloud just nodded, part of him wanted to know the context of that line. Part of him did not.

“Let’s get flying,” Rainbow said.

Cloud sighed. Part of him wanted a rest but he knew that would have to wait.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Cloud said.

With that the two pegasi again took off. Cloud did his best to keep up as Rainbow led him toward the gorge and his second test.

---

The flight from Carrot Top’s farm over to Ghastly Gorge took several minutes involved flying back into downtown Ponyville and around the edge of the Everfree Forest. The location of the canyon was weird, they were at the same time within trotting distance of Ponyville but isolated from it completely. Cloud had never flown out into this area before.

The gorge was a deep ravine lined with gray rock on either side. A lush green forest was on either side of its rim with a small creek running down the middle, no doubt it eroded the gorge into existence over centuries. There were some areas of something at the bottom, Cloud couldn’t really tell. Whatever it was it was likely be a major obstacle on his flight.

“Now let me just say in advance this is not a race between you and me nor are you are being timed,” Rainbow said. “The purpose of this test is to see how you fly under various circumstances. I want you to fly through the canyon as fast as you think is safe. There are several challenges that occur when one flies through the gorge down on the deck and that is where I’d like you to be, adjust as needed to get passed them safely.”

Cloud nervously looked at Rainbow.

“If you don’t feel safe or don’t think you can clear an obstacle fly up and out of the canyon,” Rainbow added. “You have to know your limits but I will take style points off for any obstacles you choose to skip. You understand?”

“I do Rainbow,” Cloud responded. “How many can I skip?”

“The fewer the better, I wouldn’t skip any if you can avoid it,” Rainbow said. “I’ll fly in behind you and match your pace. Good luck, you may begin when you are ready.”

Cloud looked down at the ravine again.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Cloud said.

The green pegasus angled his wings and descended into Ghastly Gorge as fast as he could. Rainbow smiled, she’d been looking forward to another chance to fly through this canyon. She followed her trainee’s flight path and with a small burst of speed instantly caught up to Cloud.

“Alright let’s get it on,” Rainbow said.

Cloud tried to tuck himself into an aerodynamic position as he sped through the canyon. The canyon made a few quick zigzags but that was hardly an obstacle. As he made a high-speed turn around a small island with three pine trees on it he could feel his confidence building. Maybe this run was actually a bit easier than it looked. He rounded another rock island and took aim at what appeared to be a natural tunnel.

“Rainbow’s right, this is a fun run,” Cloud said.

The green pegasus flew into the tunnel with a smile on his snout. A smile that immediately vanished as a high-speed wind hit him head-on. He actually found himself going backward against the force of it for a second before he steadied himself and cleared the tunnel. Rainbow followed with significantly less difficulty and a slightly larger smile on her face.

“Not quite as easy as it looked huh?” Rainbow asked rhetorically. “We’re just getting started, this gets even more fun as we go.”

Cloud shrugged and kept flying. He rounded a bend in the canyon and found himself facing a large pile of large thorny bramble bushes plants lining the bottom. He eased up and looked at Rainbow.

“Do you want me to see how close I can fly to the top without getting pricked?” Cloud asked.

“No, I want you to go through it,” Rainbow said. “Think fast and you might get through unscathed.”

Cloud gulped yet again and charged in, aiming the best he could to get past all of the plants. He dodged past the first three vines but then nailed the fourth. Losing a bit of control he then crashed into the ground and bounced into the fifth. He stopped, stood up, shook himself off, and took off again. This time he cleared the rest of the vines and emerged a little marked up, but otherwise fine, on the opposite side.

Rainbow watched his progress from behind the bush section. The blue bolt of lightning then flew into the bramble bushes herself, dodging every branch, and came out on the other side in record time.

“Eh, you were a little rough in there but only one stoppage is decent for the first run,” Rainbow said.

Cloud sped ahead through an open and rather straight portion of the gorge. Rainbow immediately ran him down.

“Alright now I’m all for surprises but I’m going to give you a head up for this next part,” Rainbow said.

Cloud sprang to attention. How bad would this be if it was where Rainbow drew the line at blindsiding him.

“The next thing coming up is several nests of Quarray eels,” Rainbow said. “They spring out quick and will snap in an open attempt to eat you. Speed up, don’t slow down for any reason, and watch the holes where their nests are and you should be fine.”

“Is there anything in this canyon that isn’t trying to kill or crash me?” Cloud asked.

“Not really,” Rainbow said.

Cloud again took the lead. He flew out a little further from the left-side wall of the canyon so he could see the holes the eels would pop out of. He then punched it, flying as fast as he could when the first of the giant red eels popped out behind him with an audible “CRUNCH” as its giant jaw snapped shut. There were more to come.

“CRUNCH!” “CRUNCH!” “CRUNCH!”

He dodged, ducked, dipped and dived in an all-out effort to get past the eels. He cleared the first eight only to have the ninth snap down on the very back of his orange tail. Despite the loss of a few hairs he didn’t even notice it as he was more focused on not becoming a changeling-flavored pony pop for the tenth and final eel.

He cleared it and when he was finally out in the open slowed down to catch his breath as Rainbow overtook him having cleared all of the eels with her usual ease. She had to be just toying with him at this point.

“Watch out for this last part,” Rainbow said nervously.

Cloud recalled Rainbow’s earlier warning but didn’t see how this empty portion was any sort of danger although the remains of a rock slide off to the left side of the canyon at this point was a very strong hint. The last bit of the canyon run was uneventful as both pegasi exited Ghastly Gorge.

“Well you made it though, not bad,” Rainbow said. “You tried all the obstacles with only one wipeout and a little nick from the eels. That bit of your tail will grow back, you’ll be fine. This is actually the easy test, pretty much everyone passes it and indeed you have. Still not a bad run for someone who’s only had their wings for less than a week.”

“Well I’ve been flying my whole life and these aren’t too different from my old wings,” Cloud said.

“I suppose,” Rainbow said. “So now let’s see how they do on an endurance test.”

“This wasn’t already an endurance test?” Cloud asked. “We virtually did the last two tests right in a row.”

“Yeah, but now it gets interesting,” Rainbow said. “The third part is where I separate the mares from the fillies. You know where Cloudsdale is right?”

“Yeah for the most part,” Cloud said.

“Good, go there,” Rainbow said. “Right now.”

“What?” Cloud asked; he wasn’t expecting that.

“The final test is a real on the job scenario simulation,” Rainbow said. “If you want to be my Jerkwater responder so bad let’s see how you handle a weather assignment there. I’ve scheduled a rather large rainstorm for 5 p.m. this afternoon there. The paperwork for the storm has been filed. All you have to do is go there, collect the storm, bring it to Jerkwater, and start it on time. You’ll have a flight crew there to help you move it. Try not to stress out in Cloudsdale, the weather factory folks aren’t the easiest ponies for outsiders to work with since somepony started spreading false statements about how they make the weather.”

Cloud was a bit shocked at the revelation. He thought the “real world” third test would just be a shift on the Everfree Watch or some paperwork at the office.

“Good luck,” Rainbow said. “Go.”

Author's Notes:

Special thanks again to Dark_Night who was my proofreader for this chapter.

There's only maybe 1 or 2 chapters left in this story, time to make it or break it Cloud Breaker. They'll also probably be an epilogue chapter at the end.

Sorry for the delay in writing this chapter. My job got very busy in August combined with a family vacation to New York City. But I'm back now.

Rainbow's little remark at the end was originally more of an overt Rainbow Factory joke (Hearing he's headed for the factory Cloud would asked "Is it true the rainbows are made by..." before Rainbow cut him off with a flat, heard that too many times "No." It was trimmed down because I thought it was too cliche.

Cloudsdale or Bust

Former changeling turned pegasus Cloud Breaker was having a rough day. With his admission test moved up suddenly he had quickly found himself in a high-speed cloud bursting race against a gravity-driven stop watch and a chaotic aerial charge through Ghastly Gorge. He was ready for a rest but he wasn’t going to get one.

With his potential position as a weather pony on the line Rainbow Dash was overseeing his three-part “job interview.” With two down and one to go Rainbow pulled out her biggest challenge yet.

“The final test is a real on the job scenario simulation,” Rainbow said. “You want to be my Jerkwater responder so bad let’s see how you handle a weather assignment there. I’ve scheduled a rather large rainstorm for 5 p.m. this afternoon there. The paperwork for the storm has been filed. All you have to do is go there, collect the storm, bring it to Jerkwater, and start it on time. You’ll have a flight crew there to help you move it. Try not to stress out in Cloudsdale, the weather factory folks aren’t the easiest ponies for outsiders to work with since somepony started spreading false statements about how they make the weather.”

Cloud was a bit shocked at the revelation. He wasn’t expecting that for a finale.

“Good luck,” Rainbow said. “Go.”

Cloud readied himself and charged ahead. As he departed he looked behind him to see if Rainbow was following him. He was actually surprised to see the blue mare wasn’t.

“Aren’t you coming?” Cloud asked.

“Nah,” Rainbow replied. “I go to Cloudsdale all the time. If you want this job you don’t need me to hold your hoof through the whole thing. Just go to the main desk at the factory and tell them which storm you are there to pick up. I sent a flight team ahead to help you move it, you’d do best to use that resource well. I’ll catch up with you in Jerkwater later. Go get’em Presto Chango, you’re against the clock now.”

Cloud took off again soaring back toward Ponyville as Rainbow raced off to her own business. Cloud had a rough idea where Cloudsdale was but needed to get his bearings before setting off for the so-called “Greatest City in the Sky.” With a quick spin over what would hopefully be his hometown he caught sight of the floating city in the distance and sped up his flight accordingly. Compared to his canyon run the flight was uneventful as he arrived in the pegasi’s unofficial capital.

---

As a changeling Drone 9417 had done undercover work in Cloudsdale before but it was hardly a regular occurrence and it still left him with a sense of awe as he flew into town. There was just something jarring about a functioning city made of clouds hovering in the sky at 10,000 feet with little pegasi colts and fillies racing up and down the street between houses and shops while adults flew back and forth going about their days.

The weather factory was a massive complex that dominated Cloudsdale’s quite literal skyline. Cloud circled above the complex to take it all in as waterfalls of rainbow runoff flowed over the side and freshly-made clouds emerged into the sky from within in the plant. He especially took notice as a team of ten pegasi departed pushing a large thunderstorm toward Vanhoover. A purple one banged down on the top of one of the cloud’s triggering a lightning bolt out the bottom before the flying ponies all repositioned themselves and began to push away. He wondered how large his storm would be and just who Rainbow Dash had sent to help him on the flight crew side.

After making his airborne lap of the facility Cloud found what he thought was the front door and flew in. He found himself in a lobby with a white floor and weather-pattern themed designs on the wall. A single older pegasus mare with a tan body and an orange mane was resting behind the desk filing a hoof. Cloud trotted up to her, he thought this would be a simple break then he’d be back in the air with his storm almost immediately.

“Hello, I’m Cloud Breaker and I’m here from the Ponyville office to pick up a storm for Jerkwater,” Cloud said with a smile.
The secretary took a look at him and chuckled.

“Rookie?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m sort of on a test flight to see if I get the job,” Cloud responded.

“I thought so,” the secretary asked. “You can’t just walk in here, grab a storm cloud, and take off. We have procedures, orders, and policies that must be followed.”

The secretary pony reached over and opened a drawer of files.

“Where’s your storm headed again?” she asked.

“Jerkwater,” Cloud responded.

The secretary pony hooved through her files.

“Ah yes, here we are,” she said as she pulled the file. “Level 2 Thunderstorm, basic soaker, no hail. Your storm has not been made as of yet. You are number four in line currently, you’re storm should be ready at about 2:45 p.m.”

Cloud gazed over toward the lobby’s clock. It read 12:30 p.m. The storm had to be in Jerkwater at 5 p.m.

“Do you know how long the flight time with a storm from Cloudsdale to Jerkwater is?” Cloud asked.

“About two hours give or take a half hour for conditions,” the secretary responded.

Cloud had a feeling this was going to be tight. He wondered if that delay at the factory was just a normal part of the day or if Rainbow deliberately planned it that close. The secretary noticed the distress on Cloud’s face then took another glance at the paperwork.

“If you are worried about your test may I suggest you use this time to grab some lunch, get your flight team together, and plan your flight route for optimal efficiency when the storm is ready. There’s some Ponyville flight team waiting in the cafeteria also attached to this storm. You should probably go meet up and get planning. We’ll call you when the storm is ready.”

“That’s sounds like a plan,” Cloud said as he trotted off to the left. “Thanks for the advice.”

The secretary rolled her eyes, that stallion was more nervous than a one-legged minotaur at a flank-kicking contest. As she expected almost immediately Cloud came back.

“Quick question, where exactly is the cafeteria?” Cloud said.

“Five doors down on the right,” the secretary replied.

“Thank you again,” Cloud said as he trotted off in the right direction this time.

---

“1-2-3-4-5,” Cloud counted off the doors as he made his way down the hall.

He made the turn and entered the fifth doorway into the cafeteria to find a room filled with tables and a small eatery bearing a sky blue neon sign naming it as “Aileron’s Café.” A large window looked down onto the factory floor where some ponies used machinery to produce a large batch of clouds while others prepared to mix in the right amount of rainwater, snow, or hail for each storm.

There were various pegasi seated at tables throughout the room. Some were in the middle of a quick meal, some played board games, and most were just having idle conversations. There was obliviously more than one flight team awaiting their storms today. He looked around for somepony he knew and finally got a familiar pair of faces when he noticed Serenity and Thunderlane chatting over a plate of baked hay fries. He trotted over to the duo, noticing the stallions were joined by Ponyville mares Sassaflash and Rainbowshine. As Cloud approached Serenity took notice.

“Ah, Cloud you made it,” Serenity said. “Somehow I knew the special assignment Rainbow put us on was going to involve your test. We got ordered onto a storm to Jerkwater with a “mystery supervisor” as soon as we got here. It took all of about five seconds to figure out that was probably you on leg 3 of your exam.”

“We had a pool going on the first two, odds were 3-to-1 you’d bite it on the watch test,” Sassaflash noted as she quietly slid Rainbowshine six bits. “Oh course it was also 5-to-1 you’d quit on the flight test.”

Thunderlane slid Sassaflash 10 bits and Rainbowshine slid Serenity five. Cloud rolled his eyes, well at least that had to be partially a vote of confidence.

“Does she do those tests with everypony?” Cloud asked.

“Basically,” Serenity said. “Sometimes she swaps out Ghastly Gorge for a kamikaze down on deck run just above Foggy Bottom Bog. That one is even less fun.”

Suddenly an announcement came over the speaker into the cafeteria.

“Neighagra Falls Flight Crew, your storm is ready in hanger 4.”

Seven other pegasi got up from another table and left. Cloud looked over to the others.

“So that’s how we’ll know when the storm is ready huh?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Serenity said. “You have any idea when our one is ready to fly?”

“They told me about two hours,” Cloud said.

As if on cue his stomach rumbled.

“I don’t suppose you guys have eaten yet?” Cloud asked.

“Yeah, we eat after we got here,” Sassaflash said. “You can grab a bite, we’ve got time.”

“I’d be lying if I said that didn’t sound perfect,” Cloud said as he started to trot over to the cafe.

“I’ll get some weather route maps while you satisfy your need to feed,” Thunderlane added in.

---

For just a moment Cloud Breaker could forget about his test and just enjoy a nice lunch. As he walked up to the counter at Aileron’s he took a look over the menu. It was mostly simple sandwiches with options including the Buttercup-and-Mayo, Veggie Supreme, and the “Spectraflame Submarine.”

“What’ll have stranger?” asked the reddish-orange stallion behind the counter.

“I’m not sure yet,” Cloud responded. “What exactly is a Spectraflame Submarine?”

“Oh that’s a custom one only we make,” the cook replied. “Four types of flowers, lettuce, tomato, and a sweet heat coating of pure rainbow leftover from the factory.”

“Rainbows are edible?” Cloud asked.

“It’s an acquired taste but some pegasi like it,” the cook said.

Cloud thought about it for a second before thinking “eh, what the hay.” It couldn’t be any worse than that jalapeño-and-habanero one he had in Ponyville…Could it?

“I’ll have one of those,” Cloud said.

The cook assembled the submarine sandwich as normal then splashed a layer of liquid rainbow on top and topped it off. The colorful concoction looked quite appetizing as Cloud trotted back over to the table holding his plate with his mouth. Thunderlane had the weather maps out looking at possible courses when he looked up at Cloud’s meal of choice.

“The Spectraflame Submarine, you are braver than I thought,” Thunderlane said.

Cloud took a seat.

“Huh?” he asked before he positioned the sandwich in his hooves and bit in.

“Never seen a rookie eating pure rainbow before is all,” Thunderlane added. “You might want to take it easy with that thing.”

The sandwich did have a little heat to it but not much. Cloud took a much bigger bite.

“Oh this’ll be good,” Sassaflash said.

Cloud was starting to get nervous. Was it starting to get hotter in here? The sweet heat taste suddenly gave way to a mild burning sensation then a more severe burning sensation. Then the sandwich dropped the pleasantries altogether and switched to an intense fire feeling not unlike having your taste buds welded together. With a rapid change color from his normal green to a scorching red, and a few others in between, Cloud’s whole body felt like it was on fire.

“AHHHHHH!” Cloud screamed.

He took off toward a drinking fountain, turning it on immediately as he tried to extinguish the five-alarm blaze on his tongue. Serenity, Thunderlane, and Rainbowshine got in a good natured chuckle as Cloud humbly hovered back to the table.

“The cook didn’t warn you about the heat huh?” Sassaflash said. “Rainbows are made mainly of ice and food coloring but they mix in a little ghost chili and some other spices to discourage ponies from eating them. The liquid version does make one sweet hot sauce though.”

Steam was still flowing out of Cloud’s nostrils as Sassaflash continued to eye his sandwich.

“You goin’ finish that?” she asked.

Cloud rolled his eyes and shoved the plate over to her.

“Thanks dude,” Sassaflash responded before she dug in and a multi-colored smile crossed her formerly teal face.

“I’m going to go get a buttercup, lily and tulip,” Cloud said dejectedly.

---

A half hour later with all meals consumed the process of planning the flight continued. Before the five pegasi was a map of Central Equestria including both Cloudsdale and Jerkwater.

“So how does this test work?” Cloud asked.

“Rainbow plays by the same rules every time,” Thunderlane said. “You’ve got command of this mission. We’re mainly here for moving the clouds and a little friendly advice. If anything comes up you've got to handle it alone.”

“So what’s the main route to Jerkwater from Cloudsdale?” Cloud asked.

“The main route is west out of the city into the Unicorn Range,” Serenity said. “Mount Lusitano’s 25,000 feet so standard operating procedure is to go around it by cutting through the Calabrese Valley. That adds about an hour to the flight.”

“We’ll be tight on time,” Cloud said. “Let’s just go over the mountain and save the time.”

“The main pegasi flight path from Las Pegasus to Cloudsdale is 1,000 feet above the peak of Lusitano,” Serenity said. “The resulting winds would probably rip it apart. There’s a reason I didn’t just recommend that to begin with.”

“Listen and you just might learn something rookie,” Thunderlane said.

“True,” Cloud said. “Alright, it’s through the canyon then.”

At that point an announcement came over the speakers.

“Ponyville Flight Crew, Jerkwater storm ready in hanger 5.”

“Alright, let’s do this,” Cloud said, silently hoping Rainbow didn’t have any more surprises left on his test.

The team left the cafeteria and made their way toward the factory floor.

---

Meanwhile in Canterlot Twilight Sparkle stood on the platform at the city’s train station, changing trains after her morning journey into town. She wore a new dark blue pair of saddlebags labeled “Legal Documents” and stood alongside several royal guards. Slowly a ‘Friendship Express’ train chugged into the station. It had several passenger cars and some freight cars filled to the brim with railroad building supplies.

“Train 1010 now departing for Shining Time, Jerkwater, Mustangia, and points north,” said the Conductor. “ALL ABOARD!”

Twilight boarded the train with a smile on her lavender face.

---

Just outside Jerkwater a blue-tinted rainbow streak barreled into town as Rainbow Dash arrived to oversee the conclusion of Cloud’s testing. The sky was quite cloudy as Airheart and her team finished positioning the clouds from the Everfree over the small village. Rainbow surveyed their work, this would make for an interesting finale to her exam.

Author's Notes:

I'm back, I'm not dead! Sorry about the delay, my real world writting requirements at my paper and the release of Grand Theft Auto 5 caused some serious holdups with writting this chapter.

While I like MLP:FiM a lot and have some merchandise from the show (season DVDs, comics, the guidebook) one thing I don't have is any of the toys because they don't really interest me. One toy I do collect however is Hot Wheels cars and I threw a HW reference into this chapter as such. See if you can find it?

Twilight's got a different set of saddle bags in this chapter just because I felt like giving her some (and it helps move the story slightly). Anyone else notice her normal pair apparently was left behind in EqG?

This is the penultimate chapter of the regular story, next time it's all over for Cloud. Will he be hired, arrested, sent sulking back to the swarm, or none of the above? Find out next time! I am interested in doing an epilogue though, would you guys like to see a little wedding for the road? Let me know in the comments

In the Air, Against the Clock

“Ponyville Flight Crew, Jerkwater storm ready in hanger 5,” said a voice over a loudspeaker in the Cloudsdale weather factory.

For Cloud Breaker the moment of truth had arrived.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Cloud said.

Following his assigned teammates Thunderlane, Serenity, Rainbowshine, and Sassaflash the former changeling made his way through the halls and down a staircase to Hanger 5 on the factory floor below. Cloud was in awe as they entered it.
The room itself was huge with a large set of hanger doors that were slowly opening to the right and a large collection of cloud making machinery to the left. A griffin hovered by above them holding two orange flashlights gesturing in fashion that just seemed to say “bring it out.” Cloud looked over to where the avian-feline mix was coming from and his jaw dropped.

There floating above him being moved out of the factory was the storm, his storm. It was huge dark gray cloud being moved out of the factory doors into the open sky by a team of 10 pegasi. An additional red pegasus gave the back of the cloud a quick kick producing a lightning bolt and a little thunder. Cloud felt a tingle in his flank just looking at it. He could only gaze before a blue pegasus stallion tapped his hoof on Cloud’s withers.

“Are you Breaker-comma-Cloud?” asked the stallion, clearly a factory floor manager.

“Yes I am,” Cloud responded.

The blue pegasus held out some paperwork and an inkpad.

“I need you to initial here, here, and here to say you picked up the storm,” the worker said.

“Alright,” Cloud responded, following the order.

Cloud clopped down his hoofprint down as requested and handed the paperwork back to the worker. The worker pulled out a rubber stamp, dipped it in the inkpad and gave it his final approval.

“Alright, as of 2:51 p.m. this baby is yours,” the worker said.

“Did you say 2:51 p.m.?” Cloud asked. “Oh boy, we are going to have to book it.”

With the storm now entirely out of the hanger the Cloudsdale crew peeled off and flew away.

“You ready Cloud?” Serenity asked.

“Yeah,” Cloud responded. “What’s the best position for moving this weather?”

“Get on the back and push,” Sassaflash butted in. “You’ve got center position as leader and authority to put us where you want. Of course if I were you I’d put Rainbowshine and Thunderlane outside with myself and Serenity in the middle.”

Cloud glanced over to Serenity who nodded as if to say “that’s a good plan.”

“Right then, let’s do that and do it now,” Cloud said. “Let’s fly. We are going to be tight for 5 p.m.”

With that all five Ponyville pegasi took their pushing positions. After Serenity quickly corrected Cloud’s initial position to the correct one the group began to move the storm. Slowly they began to pickup speed as they left the weather factory behind them.

---

Meanwhile in the little town of Jerkwater Rainbow Dash had settled in to have lunch. She didn’t really have much in the way of options as the town only had one eatery called “The Depot.” Located next to the train station it was really more of a watering hole that served food than a true restaurant. Dash’s late lunch meant she was the Depot’s only customer. She briefly looked around at the railroad-themed décor before an earth pony mare brought her meal; a daffodil, tomato, and lettuce sandwich with a Red Pegasus energy drink.

“Here you go honey,” the waitress said.

Dash rolled her eyes.

“Thank you very much,” Rainbow responded.

Rainbow bit into her meal. She had got about halfway into her sandwich before an unexpected guest arrived. The front door of the Depot opened to reveal a yellow pegasus as Sunny Rays walked in wearing a set of saddle bags

“Rainbow, there you are,” Sunny said. “Some stuff just arrived at the office. I need your authorization on these papers.”

Sunny removed a packet of paperwork from her saddle bag and presented it to Rainbow. Dash quickly looked it over then glanced over to Sunny. This was not a breaking news weather update about an Everfree storm or anything that should have prompted Sunny to come immediately.

“These are boilerplate storm approvals for next month,” Rainbow said. “It’s hardly something pressing enough to run all the way out to Jerkwater for..."

Rainbow saw right through this to Sunny's real intentions.

“Unless you had more than one reason to come. Let me guess, you wanted to see how Cloud does on his test?”

“Guilty as charged Rainbow,” Sunny said. “You’ve got my fiancé and my friend both up there on that storm. I’m not waiting all day to find out how this turns out.”

Sunny looked back toward the sky.

“This cloud cover wasn’t scheduled for today,” Sunny said.

“It’s a little challenge,” Rainbow said. “They are basic clouds from the Everfree, a final twist to see if Cloud can think on his feet.”

Sunny rolled her purple eyes; Rainbow did this kind of thing with everypony she tested. She remembered how insanely she had studied clouds in preparation for her own job testing to show how well she understood how they worked. She still had over 150 household uses for cloud materials memorized in the back of her head. She turned her train of thought back toward Cloud and Serenity’s project.

“Any word from the crew?” Sunny asked.

“They are out of the factory but otherwise I haven’t a clue,” Rainbow responded. “If he’s going to make it by five he’d best be about a third of the way into the move by now. If they aren’t they may be in a bit of trouble.”

---

“Alright Cloud we’re about a fourth of the way into the move,” Serenity said as the snow-capped peak of Mount Lusitano loomed above them.

“Is this about when we start the decent into the Calabrese Valley?” Cloud asked.

“Yes it is,” Serenity replied.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Cloud said.

The green pegasus briefly pulled off his storm and gestured downward so the others could see him. He then retook his position as the five pegasi proceeded to lower the storm into the valley.

The weather in the Calabrese Valley was sunny and clear today minus their storm the Ponyville fliers were now moving. The valley was wide and the storm easily fit inside, Thunderlane compared it to the express galloping trails that ran from Canterlot to other cities with few distractions.

Once the five-pony team safely had the storm into the valley the mood finally began to lighten. As the team accelerated its storm Cloud found a moment to look down at the bottom of the valley. A little train track ran through the middle, passing through a small town every now and then. It wasn’t hard to imagine that’s how a lot of these little villages came into existence, to serve the railroad like Jerkwater had.

The storm’s progress was good, with clear skies and no wind but what they made as they flew. Cloud finally had a chance to smile. This was perfect, this was what he wanted to do with his life. Sure if he got hired not every job would be this easy but even facing the wildest storm like Serenity or filling out a mountain of paperwork at the office afterward like Sunny sounded like great fun to him at this moment. Nothing could ruin this moment of bliss.

“You got a low flyer coming in from 11 o’clock,” Serenity said. “Brace.”

“Huh?” Cloud responded. “Shouldn’t it be like four by now?”

Cloud glanced down just in time to see a teal-and-gold streak as another pegasus raced by beneath them at enough of a click she appeared to be trailing lighting, if that was possible. The sight of another pegasus didn’t really catch him off guard but what happened next did as a massive wind blast resulting from that flyer came through the valley and hit his storm head on, stopping its progress immediately.

Cloud was jolted up and forward by the bang, flipping into the top of the cloud and impacting it noggin first. The impact jolted a small lightning bolt out of the top of the storm but caused no damage. Cloud shook himself loose from the cloud to find the others having a friendly laugh.

“Things come up in the weather business Cloud,” Thunderlane noted. “Stuff happens fast up here. You better watch it unless you want to end up with your head in the clouds.”

“Ah, yeah,” Cloud responded.

He blushed, a little light ribbing was appropriate in this case. While he was doing well in his testing the fact was there was still a lot he’d need to learn if he got the job. He’d have time to think about how he’d do that once this was done. He flew back into his pushing position.

“Alright, let’s try this again,” Cloud said with a forward gesture. “Let’s fly.”

The crew started pushing once again. Cloud only hoped his delay wouldn’t make him late in the end.

“How much further do we have?” Cloud asked.

“Just under half an hour,” Serenity responded.

A clock tower below them in the tiny hamlet of Colt Corner rang out as they passed by above. Its chimes indicated it was now 4:30 p.m.

---

As the 5 p.m. deadline neared the Everfree cloud cover remained hovering over Jerkwater. Suddenly two pops were heard as a pair of pegasi mares, one blue and one yellow, emerged through the clouds and made their airborne way to the edge of town. As the two got into position a Friendship Express train came into view entering the valley below.

“Looks like Cloud’s cutting it awful close,” Rainbow said. “I suspected he’d end up having taking it down to the last minute. Should be fun but in all reality you can tell a lot about a pony by how they handle pressure.”

“How much longer until they come into view?” Sunny asked.

“It should be about another four or five minutes,” Rainbow said.

As the blue mare finished her sentence suddenly a big gray storm came into view.

“Or ya know, it could be right now,” Rainbow said. “Same difference.”

“Now this is where it gets interesting,” Sunny said.

The clock on the wall in the Jerkwater train station read 4:55 p.m.

---

Cloud knew he was running out of time. Despite the brief delay after the flip at Colt Corner he still knew he could get the clouds into position to start the storm by 5 p.m. He and his crew had been moving the storm as fast as he could and finally after two hours of flight there was good news.

“This is the last turn in the canyon,” Serenity said.

Cloud smiled. This was finally it. He thought back to his training session with Serenity, “Buck it Hard,” “Buck it Hard” and trigger the rain. Nothing could stop him now. This was…

“What the hay is that,” Sassaflash said. “We didn’t have that scheduled.”

Cloud looked up to see what she was talking about. He found himself facing a sky already filled with other clouds. Clouds that he knew would have to be cleared before he could start the storm, unexpected clouds that as Thunderlane said earlier he would have to clear alone for the test. His joy evaporated quicker than dry ice in a blast furnace.

“That’s from Rainbow, isn’t it?” Cloud asked. “Can she do that?”

“Yeah, unexpected clouds come up,” Rainbowshine responded. “Guess she wanted a nice little finale for your test.”

“How long will that take me to clear?” he asked.

“Under normal circumstances, a weather pony can do something that big it in about 3 minutes,” Serenity said. “But I’d say probably 5 to 10 for a rookie like you.”

“That’s time I don’t have,” Cloud said, in Jerkwater the clock tower clicked over to 4:57 p.m.

Cloud suddenly thought back to his readings, something he read must have had some answer for this…

“The Equestrian environment does not naturally have wind in most locations except during storm conditions… To produce wind angle your wings and use your body’s inherent weather abilities to grab the air and pull.”

That might help a little but he’d something a bit more aggressive than that. He continued to scan his mind. Something big, something powerful…

“The funnel cloud is a rotating column of wind that can be used for moving clouds to higher points in the atmosphere… It is to be deliberately used only under very strictly monitored and controlled situations.”

“Funnel cloud,” Cloud said. “That’s it.”

Author's Notes:

Ever get a little too ambitious? Yeah, trying to wrap this fic up in a single chapter was indeed that. Oops. So I split the final chapter to get this baby updated. Thanks again to Dark_Night who again proofread this chapter.

Sunny's "150 ways to use clouds" bit is off her card from the collectible card game. Speaking of those, background ponies Airheart and Blue Skies who were featured in this fic were both officially named in the cards (As Jetstream and Cerulean Skies respectively). I'm still on the fence about renaming them in the fic, any thoughts?

Serenity showed up in "Rainbow Falls." Did you see him flying through the background a few times? Looks like he missed the cut in the end though.

The griffon at the weather factory originally had a longer scene. For how that was to have ended go watch Airplane! "Hey Larry, where's the forklift?"