Bro's day out (Rumble)

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"And there she is!" Thunderlane called out, looking up at the large structure that was the Weather Factory. He smiled warmly, remembering the first time he'd seen the place. He was just a little foal, about Rumble's age, and he'd nearly been jumping out of his skin to get inside. The last time he'd been here? Well, the last time was to aid with that rogue hurricane that had whipped up near Manehattan, but that had just been in an outside pagoda. He hadn't actually been inside since he'd taken his certification to work with Thunderclouds. Naturally, he'd scored top marks. Then he'd been docked points when his supervisor received a rather nasty shock. Literally.

He looked over his shoulder, for what must have been the 150th time since they'd arrived in the cloud-tropolis, to make sure that his little brother was still keeping pace. This city was every young pegasi's mecca. It was nigh on impossible to walk through the streets without stopping several times to admire some wondrous building or fabulous item in a shop window, so he'd needed to make sure to keep an eye out so the two didn't get separated. He knew the little guy could watch out for himself, but the threat of the chewing out he'd get from Mom if he lost track of his brother was more than enough to keep him motivated.

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It took every single ounce of willpower Rumble had to stick to his big brother like a shadow. They were all the way in Cloudsdale! He'd never need so many Pegasi gathered in one place before, including when he tried to help get the water up here. That wasn't one of Rumble's greatest achievements. The small colt had been tossed so far away that by the time he got back everything had finished up. That was a drop in a bucket compared to what he was seeing now.

Everywhere he looked there were Pegasi, and just about everything was made out of clouds. It was nothing like Ponyville, even the shops looked like they had different things to sell than back at home. The little colt was doubly glad now that he had brought empty saddle bags with him. There was NO WAY he was going home without something to show off to all of his friends. Flitter and Cloudchaser might not be the most impressed, but everypony back at school would probably be amazed at whatever he brought back. The big question was whether to go show off whatever souvenir he got right away, or save it and hope Miss Cheerilee will let them do show and tell again.

"What are we going to see first Thunderlane? Are you going to show me where they charge up the lightning clouds? How about where they make hail? Do you think they'll let me kick a thundercloud?" Rumble bombarded his older brother with questions. Rumble hadn't brought up the subject of rainbows at all since Thunderlane had told him they were going to visit the city in the sky. He'd never shown any particular interest in them before, but after hearing a terrible rumor about how they were made, he was very glad he nothing but shades of gray and wanted nothing to do with pegasi-created rainbows.

Thankfully Miss Cheerilee had explained to him that rainbows were formed naturally due to water droplets in the air, and light bouncing through them was refracted to show the spectrum in its separate colors. His parents had the job of explaining how the Pegasi in Cloudsdale made their rainbows, and how it wasn't at all like he had heard.

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Thunderlane grinned. Seeing his brother this happy and excited always put him in a good mood. "Heheh, we'll see all of it. But to do that we need to take the tour. It's a bit of a railroad, but they seriously take you to see everything. As for kicking a thundercloud....." He put on a thoughtful face, looking up and tapping his chin. "I dunno. They only let the best behaved foals EVER do stuff like that. I'm not sure you're up for the challenge." He flicked his eyes down to his brother and smirked, reaching down to ruffle his mane. Of course he was, and of course they'd let him kick a Thundercloud. After they set him up in the itchiest, most uncomfortable, most ill-fitting rubber suit they could find.

But still, kicking your first thundercloud was so much of an awesome feeling, the itchiness was more of a fact that one remembered, rather than a feeling one couldn't get out of their head. And chest. And legs. And skin.

"Alright, Rumble. You ready?" As he spoke, he pushed the front doors of the weather factory open. Inside was a cushy room with accents of wood for tables and counters. When the stallion behind the counter looked up and saw the little Rumble, he immediately jumped into action, hopping out from behind his desk and spreading a huge grin across his face.

"WWWWWWWWWELCOME to the wonderful, awesome, fantastic, stupendous, amazing, super-fabulous CCCCCCLOUDSDALE WEATHER FACTORY!!!!!" He posed extravagantly.

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Rumble let out a happy little laugh as his brother ruffled his mane. Even thought he small colt styled his mane with gel, when it was on its own it looked very similar to his brother's, except softer and fuzzier. With the way their manes stood up, and the stripes in his big brother's mane he suspected that maybe one of their grandparents, or great grandparents had been a Zebra. No other pony seemed to have a stripy mane like that.

"I'm the only foal here. So I'm automatically the best behaved one here." he beamed at his Thunderlane. He could be trusted to be on his best behavior around his big brother for the most part. Foals will be foals some times, and Rumble had hit the stage in his life where he knew what the word loophole meant. He also knew the difference between playing and science was recording the results of what you did. As foalish as he was, at least he had a decent sense of judgement.

The small flier just about bounced with excitement as he followed his brother into the weather factory. Rumble darted underneath Thunderlane to look at the other side of the entry room. It wasn't uncommon for him to buzz around his older brother when excited, but he'd never run off on his own... perhaps stop and stare at something in a window for a few seconds longer than he should, but not wander away. Aside from being excited about the tour, he was also excited about what they might let him have. Cotton Cloudy would probably flip over a freshly made cloud, and Scootaloo would probably get excited over a snowball from snow that hadn't fell yet, or a jar of rainbow.

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Thunderlane grinned first at the eccentric show that the stallion had put on just for little Rumble, and secondly at Rumble himself. The weatherponies had been lacking in recruits for the last couple of years, so every young foal and filly that walked through the doors of the weather factory was targeted immediately and ruthlessly by the staff, who were trying to make this tour the highlight of every young pegasus's life. Honestly, they didn't do a half bad job.

About 20 seconds late, two party poppers went off with a BANG and showered some confetti on the floor.

Ok, so maybe it was HALF bad. Also, to the trained eye, the shape of the attendant was already beginning to show. He was breathing rather heavily. Thunderlane wondered for a moment if they were going to start putting their factory staff on mandatory diet and exercise regimens just to keep up with the demanding task of giving weather factory tours. It was.....actually, not that far out of the realm of possibility.

Still, from the point of view of a child, Thunder hoped, this would be the most wonderful place in the world. He also knew how the tour worked and, for the most part, he knew he'd be just following and watching. His theory was given weight when the greeter walked up to his little brother and leaned down to talk to him.

"Alright, then, little man! What's your name?"

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"My name's Rumble, and this is my big brother Thunderlane. He's on storm patrol!" Rumble said eagerly. He had never thought about joining a weather team, but it was still an awesome place to visit. The party poppers were a bit out of place, but were still a nice touch. The young colt was too excited to notice the things his brother did, he was too concerned with what would happen next.

"What's first on the tour? Do I get to see how all weather gets made, or only whats in season?" Rumble kept fidgeting about, trying really hard to resist going off without supervision. "OH! Is there a gift shop? I got a bunch of friends back in Ponyville who'd want something from here." He hoped he could get things better than a t-shirt for his friends.

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Thunderlane smiled a bit. Rumble was given a bit of a stipend to spend on whatever he wanted, and he seemed almost entirely focused on getting things for his friends, rather than himself. That was good. The generosity was an amazing trait in somepony so young.

Meanwhile, the stallion who had greeted them nodded vigorously. "Of course, of course! My dear friend Rumble, you'll get to see all sorts of weather made here! Even if it's not in season, we do everything all the time! And as for the gift shop, at the end of the tour we'll go right through it! You'll be able to choose from a wide assortment of the most wonderful, awesome, fantastic-" The tour guide caught an exasperated glance from Thunderlane, and cleared his throat a little bit, expediting his speech. "-gifts you can find anywhere."

"So, Rumble, are you ready for the best tour ever?" Just as he finished, he jumped just a little bit as another party popper produced a small BANG a short distance behind him.