A sonic rainboom shook the town of Ponyville, announcing the start of another work week. Ponies eagerly looked out their windows at their new morning alert and the rainbow that graced their town.

Applejack smiled at the harvest that was suddenly ripe for the picking and the regular apples that had fallen into the baskets that had been set up. She let her gaze sweep the orchard from her stance on a small balcony that had been set up outside her old room in the farmhouse.

Unicorns were beginning to collect the regular apples while earth ponies were gathering the zap apples, since magic couldn’t be used to collect them.

The sound of Granny Smith shouting her orders to the ponies she’d trained to help her make jam in the barn was music to her ears and the thought of selling so much more product filled her with pride to be a member of the Apple family.

Rainbow stopped and hovered behind Applejack, lifting her flight goggles, clearing her throat loudly.

“Apple Tart, I thought you were gonna be down there today?”

“Yeah, Sugarplum? I thought you were gonna make a heart up there again.”

Rainbow scratched her mane uneasily. “Well, I thought it might be getting old, so I figured I’d skip it this week… You’re not mad, are you, babe?”

“How can Ah be mad at the perfect mare?” Applejack asked looking over her shoulder and giving a wink before she looked back over the orchard. “Dashing, all this is thanks to you, she said thoughtfully, “I might not love apples like I tell ‘em I do, but I still have pride in a good crop.”

“Ha, yup, and this’ going to be the best year the Apple family has ever had, and one ‘a the best years of my life.”

“Aww, shucks,” Applejack said as she felt a blush warm her face, “what say we have a party tonight? Invite the girls over and have a shindig. It’s been a while and it’d be nice ta see ‘em without fightin’ some monster or savin’ the world.”

“Reckon,” Rainbow said with a wink, “that’s a good idea.”

Applejack turned and looked at her hovering mare, raising an eyebrow. “Sugarplum, aren’t ya gonna be late fer work?”

“Psh, I’m the boss, I make my own time…” Rainbow withered under Applejack’s stare, “and I have to make a good impression to the others, so yeah, see ya, my Apple Tart,” Rainbow said backing up and donning her goggles before turning and flying away, her contrail showing her path.

“That mare, I tell ya,” she said turning back to the orchard.

---

“Heya pegasi! What’s the news?” Rainbow asked as she flew to her office through the bustling weather floor.

“We just got orders to set up a storm over the entire region,” a stallion said flying past in a hurry.

“What?” Rainbow asked another pegasi that passed who shrugged at her.

“Rainbow Dash?” Soarin called out to her from the loud noise of the floor, “Emergency, come here.”

“Coming,” she called flying close to the ceiling to his office, “what’s the problem? Why’re we doing a major storm?”

“Corporate just told me that they lost the requisition forms from Canterlot. We’re overdue by six months for a storm and it’s having negative effects across the area.”

“But, I haven’t noticed anything and Fluttershy lives at the edge of the forest, she’d tell us if anything-”

“The Everfree, not the others, not Whitetail; the long term effects could be disastrous to the wildlife there.”

“But the running of the leaves is in a couple weeks, that much water won’t evaporate in time and the leaves might not fall right.”

“Mights and maybes aren’t why we’re here. We have to do the weather and you have to be my voice to them,” he pointed a wing to the open door at the pegasi flying around the room, “come here and help me set up the teams, we have a few hours to get this ready before Cloudsdale dumps the clouds on us and if we’re not ready in time…”

“What’ll happen, Soarin?”

“I don’t even know, no pony team has ever had this happen. They’re always so on top of it, it just doesn’t make sense,” he said in a panicked voice before gasping in several deep breaths.

“Calm down, sheesh, you’re like, going to hippo-ventil-eat.”

Soaring gasped and chuckled. “Yeah, don’t want that to happen. Okay, I’m better now. So, let’s figure this out, okay?”

“But, Soarin,” Rainbow said looking at a rolled map on his desk, “the whole region? We’re talking eight thousand square miles. Even if we had three days and almost every pony that could fly, we’d still fall short. When’s this thing due by?”

Soaring pressed the bridge of his snout. “Three days.”

“You’re shitting me?”

“No, I’m not. We have three days to cover the whole are in an inch of rain or the spring won’t produce the foliage needed; creatures will die.”

“Well, I’m glad AJ isn’t here, because I can say this without getting ‘the look’.” Soaring looked at Rainbow and smiled. “Fuck this shit.”

“Exactly my feelings, Rainbow. Let’s just think this through,” he said unrolling the map, “what if we roll the clouds in early and start in a rotation?”

“Can’t, the area’s too large and we don’t have the ponies. And before you say it, calling in reinforcements would still put us a day behind, not to mention messing up their own weather. What if we ask unicorns for help?”

“Use their magic to do our work? Then they realize they have that power and take it from us? Weather is all we have, we can’t give it up,” he said with a frown, “what about the hills?”

“What about ‘em,” she asked looking at him, not the map.

“Rain on them and the water rolls down. That takes care of a solid tenth of our workload.”

“But what about the other seven?”

“Seven?”

“Yeah, of the ‘nth’s’,” Rainbow said matter of factly.

“You mean nine, and that’s why you’re here to help. Let’s get ready to spend a few hours on this,” he said tapping the map.

“Great, and I thought it was gonna be an easy day.”

“No such thing when you’re the best.”

Rainbow puffed her cheeks, lost for words before she exhaled in a nicker. “Fine, let’s just get this figured out.”

---

“Whoo, it’s gonna be a banner year, Applejack. Ain’t never seen a crop this big in Equestria, I bet,” Granny Smith said gleefully as she hobbled toward Applejack.

“Yeah, Granny. This’ gonna cover us for the next two years easy, but let’s not get too big headed. Like Uncle Cider said, ‘one year at a time.’”

“Yeah, but he was a ciderholic, ya know what he meant,” Granny said with a knee to Applejack’s side and a single ‘eh’.

“Yeah, he’s still kickin’ though. How’ve things been the last couple days with me at the new ‘stead?”

“Oh, rightly fine, ya know. Half pint’s still playin with her friends, Big Mac’s been takin’ charge of zap apples and it’s goin’ good ‘nuf. So,” Granny asked, her voice pitching high, “how’s you’n yer marefriend?”

“Shucks, Granny,” Applejack said pawing the ground as a blush graced her cheeks, “everything’s fine. We’re fixin’ ta take in Scootaloo and in a few years, maybe have one of our own.”

“Well, that’s great ta hear. ‘Bout time I get a great-grandfoal,” she grinned widely as Applejack looked at her with wide eyes and red cheeks, “and I’m hopin’ it’s a colt, we need more of ‘em on the farm,”

“G-granny…”

“Ah ain’t rushin’ ya. I got a few years left and I know y’all’re on yer way. Now… Say, are we scheduled rain taday?”

Applejack looked to the west, following Granny’s gaze and narrowed her eyes. “No, but maybe that’s for somewhere else.”

“Ah’m hopin’ so, young’n… Clouds them dark’re gonna soak the area good.”

“Oh, don’t fret, Granny. Rainbow’d tell us if’n it was gonna rain here. It’d ruin the harvest, and she wouldn’t do that.”

“Now yer overreacin’. Rain ain’t never ruined a harvest,” Granny said with a laugh, “worse it’d do is set us back.”

“Well, zap apples don’t last that long,” she replied.

“Ain’t no storm gonna hit us fer a whole day, keep yer head on and let’s get ya buckin’ some ‘a them apple trees while I get ta pickin’ the fields.”

Applejack stopped and hugged Granny Smith before fixing her hat tighter to her head and galloping into the orchard.

---

A loud thunderclap over Ponyville town hall shook the town, announcing a storm beginning soon.

“What?” Twilight said as she and Sun Struck looked to the sky and the pegasi forming clouds across the sky. She looked around and noticed earth ponies and unicorns; every pegasi was on weather duty.

“I said that it isn’t scheduled to rain for three more days, why’re they making a storm?”

“I-I don’t know, Sunny, but I’ll try and find out. Maybe it’s just them getting a storm ready for somewhere else and they’re going to push it to wherever all at once.”

“That isn’t likely, it’s starting to sprinkle over town hall,” he said nodding in its direction, “and that’s usually a sign it’s going to stay.”

“Well, let’s head back to the library and wait it out. A rain shower should only last an hour or so. According to pegasi standard weather law it can only rain, unannounced, twice a year per region, and thanks to the Everfree we’ve already had six, so -gah-!”

Twilight lept, wrapping her forelegs around Sun tightly as the thunder clapped ablove them.

“Woah, filly. It’s alright, Sunny’s here to keep you safe and warm. It’s just the warning claps. This’ gonna be a big storm, let’s get back and have your dragon make us some food.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay, but he’s not my dragon; he’s Spike and he’s family.”

---

Flutterwing stood atop her cloud and focused magic to her hooves before rearing and landing heavily, sending a bolt of lightning through the growing cloud and the thunderclap notice about.

“I hope they don’t get mad at us for this… I’ve never even heard of a single storm rolling through a region,” she conversed with herself, “but, I just do what I’m told, and I was told to do warnings while the others made the storm, so…”

---

“Okay teams, we have our first clouds ready. Roll with systems one, six, and nine going east. Two, four, eight, and ten going north. Three and seven are going south and the rest are going with me to the west,” Rainbow shouted to the team leaders who saluted and spread across the cloud tops to their own teams to begin the work.

“AJ, I hope you aren’t mad about this, but I can’t even tell you. Just, keep harvesting and don’t get mad,” Rainbow said softly as she took off to the west and began leading her team to begin the rolling storm.

---

“Oh my, it’s really coming down! Hurry, Sweetie Belle, we have to get home before my mane is ruined,” Rarity whined as she picked up her little sister in her magic and held her as an umbrella over her.

“Sis, Rarity?! Stop it, I’m not an umbrella, just cast a spell.”

“I don’t know any that protect from rain. Just be patient, we’re only two blocks away.”

“I’m trying to be patient,” Sweetie shouted in reply.

“What, Sweetie? I was talking to myself. You’re doing fine, just stop thrashing, you’re making rain splatter my mane.”

“I hate when it rains,” Sweetie grumbled as she was soaked.

---

Scootaloo looked out the window and smiled. The scent of apples wafted throughout the house and she was warm and dry.

“I think I’m gonna like being a part of a real family.”

“Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom drawled, “it’s yer turn, c’mon, these clouds ain’t gonna cuminate ‘emselves.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and smiled as she sighed. “Okay, I’m comin’, sis.”

---

Futter Storm stared at the door and waited. The door burst open with a gust of wind, leaves and rain poured in as Pinkie hopped in and slammed it quickly.

Her coat and mane was wet, her tail lay against her rear legs, and she wore an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I’m late, Fluttersh-Storm,” Pinkie hesitated, “I didn’t know it was going to storm today…”

Flutter Storm glared at Pinkie. “You’re mostly forgiven,” she said giving a light kiss to Pinkie before whispering, “you have one last punishment for what you did, and in private, you call me by my real name.”

Pinkie’s ears flattened to her head and her tail moved between her legs as her head drooped; she nodded, replying with a real smile. “Make it hurt, I was a horrible marefriend, letting him do that to me.”

“Yes, yes you were,” Flutter Storm replied with a nip on Pinkies ear, yielding a pleasurable yelp.

“I’ll shower first, mistress, then you can punish me as you wish.”

“Okay, sweetie, see you in bed.”

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