There are only a few things in life which are more irritating than being woken up by a blaring alarm clock. One of those is waking up the very second BEFORE the alarm goes off.

Yet, like some cruel joke designed by Discord himself, this very thing has happened for the past three days without error for the silver gryphon upon his cloud. There weren't many things that Troy could say he legitimately hated, but he was really beginning to hate his recent sleeping habits. He also started to hate clouds, including the rather small one he made for himself to live in. Even though the cozy abode wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, Troy was more displeased with the space because it wasn't made with a gryphon in mind.

It was difficult enough being a different species in a place where almost everyone else was a pony, right down to the point that hearing "everypony" and "anypony" was more common than “everyone” and “anyone.” However, having to live in a cloud instead of a nest just seemed to confirm that fact. Nothing felt like it was for him. Not his job at the Weather Factory. Not his limited interactions with the pegasi around Cloudsdale. Even his place of residence felt more like it was meant for some… pony. Everything felt temporary to Troy, even though he didn't want it to be.

Not after everything else.

Despite resistance from his body out of physical strain and protest, Troy managed to pick himself off his cloud bedding and freshen himself up. After a quick preening of his silver wings, he flew off to the nearby waterfall for some much-needed cleaning.

Troy found it rather odd that none of the pegasi took advantage of the fresh water these afforded. Then again, maybe pegasi were more reluctant over using a waterfall on ground level. Either way, Troy was a bit glad his cloud was out of the way of other ponies. Even though clouds weren't exactly the most private of living arrangements, the seclusion the gryphon had was rather comforting.

One of the best things about the waterfall was how it acted as both a shower and a mirror. After a quick rinse over his feathers and fur, Troy took a quick glance over himself: The silver feathers along his face were always a lot sleeker than those of other gryphons, and his smooth, yellow beak didn't exactly make him look more masculine back home; of course, the darker grey feathers along his chest to the top of his head were a decent indicator to ponies that he was, in fact, male―even if there were several pesky feathers that always seemed to find a way to cover his golden eyes.

The rest of his body was nothing special to Troy. However, it was starting to become rather annoying how often ponies would stop and stare at him. Some would look for uncomfortably long periods of time with curiosity, while others kept their distance in fear. Almost every pony who talked to him had questions. Most of them were simple enough, either regarding his diet or the culture of the Gryphon Kingdom; however, it was usually difficult to explain the biological aspects of gryphons, mostly because the questions asked about them were either extremely uncomfortable or unbelievably stupid. In less than a few months, Troy managed to distance himself enough from those things to live his life in a somewhat comfortable manner, even if that meant borderline-introverted seclusion.

As Troy flew up towards Cloudsdale with his mind on cruise-control and a satchel draped over his shoulder, he passed by several pegasi, happily waving back as they greeted him. In all honesty, Troy didn't want to be as secluded as he was, even if being more social meant dealing with countless questions like, "Is it true gryphons eat changelings?" (absolutely not, since their blood is toxic) or "Do gryphons lay eggs?" (well, yeah, duh). Even with the almost alien feel Equestria had to Troy, it still felt a lot… kinder than back home. It was tricky to find the right word to describe it, but “kind” felt like one of the best words.

When Troy finally arrived at the Weather Factory, he was surprised to see a rather large crowd forming around the entrance as two ponies stood at the top of the steps. It took less than a second for Troy to recognize the first pony as Rainbow Dash―with her cyan coat and multicolored mane―talking over the crowd with a large, red megaphone (as if she needed to be any louder). The pony next to her was a much bigger surprise for everyone there: the purple alicorn known as Princess Twilight Sparkle. He knew quite a bit about her coronation, which happened shortly after he moved to Equestria, but he never thought he would actually have the chance to see her up close. As he settled himself on a cloud near the back of the crowd, he began to listen to what Rainbow Dash was saying.

"Listen up, everypony!” As her voice boomed out through the megaphone, Twilight Sparkle was standing beside her with her horn brightly lit, and carried a pointing stick in her aura. Behind the two mares, a large map was hung up on a bulletin board with several areas marked with red borderlines. The Princess pointed to various sections of the map while Dash said, “As most of you guys may know, a large storm is being organized over the D, E, F, G, and H regions west of Ponyville. These might be a bit more intense than our usual routines, but they’ve been specifically designed to better help with farming efforts."

Troy could see several heads within the crowd nod, but the masses as a whole remained silent as she continued.

"However, it's been reported to me by Twilight here,” she said, raising her free hoof in Twilight Sparkle's direction, "that we don't have enough ponies to clear out the area before the storm begins."

At this moment, Twilight stepped forward to address the crowd. With the Princess’ presence on full display, Troy sat more upright out of instinct while his ears twitched attentively.

"Because of this, we are asking for any and all ponies willing to assist as volunteers. If anypony, or err… any creature is interested, then please step forward so we can have you listed for preparations."

The crowd had some rather mixed reactions, to say the least. While there were some ponies who immediately raised their hooves or began yelling to join in, a large majority looked less than enthusiastic about being a part of something this sudden. Not that Troy could blame them, though: there were about three dozen different projects being done all over Cloudsdale that needed their attention as much as a weather job did. Cleaning up a field before it rained didn't exactly seem like the most efficient use of everyone’s time on a Friday.

As he glanced up to the clock above the factory, Troy could see it was nearly eight. Definitely not much time to get ready, although he was sure nopony would really mind since a member of Royalty was at the front door. But even with that kind of distraction, he didn’t want to be late for his shift. With a quick stretch on his cloud, he spread his wings out as he prepared to fly toward―

"Hey, you! The gryphon!"

Troy turned back toward the stage as he heard Rainbow Dash, who was now flying toward him. As the crowd looked back, Troy worried about what the cyan pegasus wanted with him. He'd heard some rumors about an interaction she had with a gryphon that didn't go well, and he was less than curious to learn more about the details of that. But alas, Rainbow Dash approached him with a surprisingly blank look on her face, scanning him up and down. "So, gryphon guy, what's your name?"

Troy blanched for a moment before realizing she asked a question, and quickly responded, "Um, my name is Troius Clawston. I work snow division at the Rainbow Factory."

He was worried about whether or not to have added that last detail since she didn't ask for it; however, she didn’t seem to take note of it as she pursed her lips. "What's your wing power, Troy?"

"Um…” Troy tried to remember the last time he had his wing power measured, but it wasn’t like he usually needed to take notes during his physical exams. But since he had recently undergone a physical upon moving to Equestria, he was able to answer her accurately enough. “Eight… eight-point-seven, I think?”

Rainbow's eyebrows raised slightly. "You think you can help out with cloud formation today?"

"I… I guess I could?" Troy wasn't really planning to volunteer due to his work schedule, but he really didn't want to object to the pegasus hovering in front of him. Dash may have been two-thirds his size, but her reputation was intimidating enough to make him comply accordingly.

"Oh, that's great to hear!"

Troy looked past Rainbow Dash at the lavender alicorn flying toward them, who looked rather happy upon hearing their exchange. "We really need all the help we can get for this project, so thank you so much for your help."

Her statement was undoubtedly sincere as she smiled at him, which was just enough to put him more at ease about his sudden agreement. As Troy looked back to Rainbow Dash, he noticed she seemed more lively and pleased that he agreed. "Cleanup’ll start at ten AM at the D section. You know where that is?"

"Ummm…” Troy paused briefly to process his thoughts, but was quick to nod and say, “Sure, it's about... ten miles from the hospital, right?"

“Ehhh… more around fifteen, but yeah, that’s it.” Dash pulled out a sheet of paper and pen from under her saddlebag. As she hoofed it to Troy, he saw that it was a long signup sheet with a few names written at the top. Troy signed the first clear line available, even as he realized that he would now have to explain this new duty for the day to his boss.

"And you won't have to worry about your work schedule,” added the Princess, almost as if she could read his thoughts (and given her powers, it wouldn't surprise Troy in the slightest if she could). "Just tell your supervisor that you're going to be helping me and Rainbow Dash. I'm sure they'll understand." With her horn’s magic, she levitated a small Royal Excusal sheet toward him, surrounded by a distinct purple aura.

"Um… thank you,” was all Troy could muster as he took the small note from her magic, and placed it in his satchel. Troy nodded to them as he handed back the sign-up sheet. "Well, I gotta get to my shift. So... I guess I'll see you guys at ten, then?"

The two ponies nodded with smiles as he turned past them. He made his way towards the Factory, but he made sure to pause and give the ponies a friendly wave before going inside.

Just so any newer readers are aware, I've recently been undergoing a big project to turn the Brushed Away series into physical books for individual sale. Because of that, I just wanted to make a quick note for which chapters have been revised so far, including this one.

I want to give my deepest thanks, as well as some well-deserved credit to the editors helping me out with this process: SirReal, and Double R. Forrest. And if anyone is interested in helping out with making this project a reality, I highly recommend checking out my Official Ko-Fi page dedicated to it.