Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly a morning pony, but she managed to get out of bed and go about her routine regardless. As much as she liked sleep, she had an appointment to keep that morning. As usual, she picked up the small pile of mail that had been delivered to the box on her balcony and took it inside to sort through. The first few letter were the usual fluff: junk mail, fan mail, and bills. She tossed the junk in the trash as she found it, setting the rest aside for later. She paused on the second to last letter, immediately recognizing the return address.
You'd think they would get the hint after all these years that I'm not coming back, the pegasus thought as she threw the letter in the trash with the junk mail without reading it. I've moved on. Why can't they? The last letter, however, erased any hint of annoyance that the previous one may have caused. Okay, now that is awesome! Scootaloo will definitely want to see this! Rather than leaving to find the filly, though, the mare simply walked over to a nearby hallway and shouted...
"Hey, Scoots! Wake up!"
The pegasus filly stirred at the sound of a familiar voice. She didn't want to get up. Her bed was so soft and comfortable, like sleeping on a cloud...
Wait, a cloud?
Realizing something was wrong, Scootaloo opened her eyes. She was lying in a bed made of clouds, in a room that was also made of clouds. Familiar items decorated the white walls of the room: Wonderbolts posters, a rainbow pennant, the Best Comedy medal from the Crusader's performance at last year's talent show... It was all her stuff, but this wasn't her room.
How did I end up in a cloud house? the filly wondered as she rolled out of the bed. Maybe we're on vacation, and I just forgot... but why did I bring my posters? Yawning loudly, she made her way over to the door. Walking on clouds was a strange, yet comforting feeling. There were almost never any clouds low enough to the ground to walk on in Ponyville. The only time she had ever gotten to do so was years ago, when her father had carried her into the sky to show her what it was like. It was a pleasant memory...
"It's an amazing feeling, standing up here. Clouds under your hooves. Wind in your wings. It can make a pegasus want to stay in the sky forever. But you can't let yourself do that. Do you know why, Scootaloo?"
"Why?"
"Because the sky is empty, nothing but air and water. You could spend your life up here, free to follow the winds to your heart's content. But the wind does not make good company. You would be alone, with no home to go back to. Do you know where your home is?"
"Our house!"
"Not quite. Home is where you rest your wings, and who you rest them with. Promise me that you'll remember that."
"I promise..."
Lost in thought, Scootaloo wandered out the door, and right into the pony standing outside.
"Oof!" the mare grunted. "Next time, try to actually wake up when you get out of bed. At least you're out, though. I was about to get you up myself!"
Scootaloo looked up at the pony, finally realizing why her voice had sounded so familiar.
"Rainbow Dash?"
"That's my name, don't wear it out!" the pegasus said with one of her trademarked grins. "Come on, sis, I got something extra awesome to show you this morning!" With a flap of her wings, Dash raced away down the hall.
Did... did she just call me 'sis'? None of this made any sense, and the confusion was giving Scootaloo a massive headache. Am I dreaming? Yeah, that has to be it! A dream!
"Hey, Scoots! What's the hold up!" Rainbow Dash called from the end of the hallway.
"I'll be right there!" Nopony's ever called me 'Scoots' before... I guess it is a pretty cool nickname. Eager to see how her dream played out, the filly trotted down the hall to meet her "sister".
"You are not going to believe what came in the mail today!" the older pony said as Scootaloo entered the living room. Unlike the rest of the house she had seen, this the floor of this area was made of hard tiles, most likely enchanted so the clouds could support it. This allowed the room to accommodate some more traditional furniture, as well as Tank, Rainbow's pet tortoise, who was sleeping in his shell under a table in the center of the room. Rainbow Dash herself was standing on the far side of the table, staring intently at a piece of paper on the table.
"So... what is it?"
"Only the most awesome opportunity of a life time! Check it out!" Dash nudged the paper across the table to Scootaloo, who began to read aloud.
"Congratulations! You have been selected as the winner of the first annual Wonderbolts Sweepstakes! Enclosed you will find two VIP passes to this summer's Wonderbolt Exhibition in Canterlot." The orange filly stared at the letter in disbelief.
"I told you it was awesome! There's even two passes, so we both get to meet the Wonderbolts!"
"Wow..." Now Scootaloo was sure she was dreaming.
"You know, it's kinda funny," Rainbow Dash continued, "but I don't remember even entering this contest. It's almost like somepony decided to grant the wish I made last night. Crazy, right?"
"Wish?"
"Yeah, everypony was making wishes on that comet last night. I wished for another chance to meet the Wonderbolts. Don't you remember?"
The comet! Memories of the night before came rushing back to the filly, and the realization of what had happened made her head spin.
"Uh, you okay, Scoots? You don't look so good."
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine... that's pretty crazy..."
"Oookay, then..." Rainbow Dash eyed her sister suspiciously. "Well, I promised Pinkie Pie I'd meet her at Sugarcube Corner for breakfast this morning. Wanna tag along?"
"No thanks, I'm not very hungry right now..."
"Alright then, suit yourself. We'll just have to hang out later. See ya!" After giving they young pegasus one last concerned look, Rainbow Dash trotted out the door in the room and took off, leaving Scootaloo alone with her memories.
The previous night...
Soft white light filled the night sky as the comet passed overhead, making it easy for Scootaloo to see the path ahead. She didn't normally ride her scooter at night, but she was in a hurry. There was no way she was going to miss a chance to stay up late and hang out with her friends. She eventually arrived at the park, where it almost seemed like the whole town had come out to see the comet.
The whole town except for my parents, Scootaloo reminded herself, still bitter over the fact that they would rather stay in bed than come out and see the comet. Luckily, it wasn't hard to spot where the Cutie Mark Crusaders would be, as Pinkie Pie already had a brightly decorated Comet Party set up for her friends. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would almost certainly be with their sisters, Applejack and Rarity.
"Scootaloo! You made it!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she and Apple Bloom galloped to meet their friend.
"Like I would miss this! Can you believe the size of that thing?" Scootaloo gazed at the object in the sky.
"It's amazin'! Twlilght's makin' a really big deal 'bout it, sayin' that it's unprek... unpredec..."
"Unprecedented," Sweetie Bell finished for Apple Bloom.
"Yeah, that! She's even got a telescope set up to look at it!"
"Oh! Maybe we could get Astronomy cutie marks!" Sweetie said.
"That's a great idea! Stars are cool, right?" Scootaloo chimed in.
"Definitely!" Apple Bloom agreed.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS STARGAZERS! YAY!" With their signature shout, the trio galloped off to look at Twilight's telescope. Unfortunately, the lavender unicorn would have none of it.
"Look, things are a little crazy tonight, and I really have to focus on studying this comet. This means that I can't share my telescope right now."
"Awwwww.... Please?" The fillies whined in unison.
"No."
"Pleeeeeeaaaase?"
"No."
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"
"NO! For the last time, No!" Twilight shouted in frustration, though she immediately appeared to regret it. "Sorry about that, girls. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It's been a long day..." The mare smiled apologetically at the trio for a moment before speaking up again. "Here's an idea! What if I took you all out stargazing tomorrow night? How does that sound?"
"That would be great!" Sweetie Bell beamed at the older unicorn.
"Yeah, how 'bout you meet us at our clubhouse tomorrow night?" Apple Bloom suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll see all of you tomorrow, then. It'll be fun!" Twilight said before returning to her observations. "Now, where did Spike run off too? He was supposed to help me take notes..."
"This is going to be awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "So, what do you want to-"
"Oh Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called, cutting the filly off. "Could you come over her please?"
"You too, Apple Bloom, it's almost time to make our wishes!" Applejack added.
"Wishes? What wishes?" Scootaloo asked, confused.
"Oh yeah, you weren't here the last time there was a comet, were you?" Apple Bloom said.
"No..." Mom and Dad wouldn't let me stay up that late on a school night...
"Well, whenever a comet's in the sky, it's tradition to make a wish on it. At least, that's what Granny Smith told me. She said last time that she hadn't seen a comet in the sky since she was a little filly, which makes this one happenin' so soon after the last one extra special!"
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack called again.
"Be right there!" Apple Bloom replied before trotting off to make her wish with her family.
So, now what? Looking around, Scootaloo suddenly felt very much alone. Everypony had somepony to share the moment with. The Apple Clan all sat together, as did Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Pinkie Pie was with the Cake family, trying to get Pound and Pumpkin to pay attention to the comet. Twilight had Spike, who was taking notes while the unicorn looked through her telescope, and even Fluttershy had brought her rabbit Angel out with her to enjoy the sight. The only other pony who was by themselves was Rainbow Dash, who was lounging on a cloud a ways up in the air. I wonder if she feels lonely up there too...
An idea crept into the pegasus filly's head, and she knew what she wanted to wish for. It was a silly wish, but this whole wish business was silly to begin with. Wishes didn't come true, no matter how much you wanted them to.
If I'm going to make a pointless wish, I might as well make a wish for both of us, she decided. I wish Rainbow Dash and I were sisters...
It took a minute for Scootaloo to think clearly again. This wasn't a dream. This was real. A huge grin crept across the filly's face.
I did it! I wished for Rainbow Dash to be my sister, and now she is! This is awesome! Scootaloo let out a cheer, which prompted Tank to poke his head out of his shell to stare at her. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you, just got a little excited." she said sheepishly to the tortoise. His only response was to blink slowly before returning to his shell. You know, I think I'll go have breakfast with my sister after all... but how do I get down from up here?
Scootaloo walked out the door Dash had left through and on to the front balcony of the cloud house. It wasn't very high off the ground, as far as clouds go, but it was still more than high enough to make it inaccessible from below. After a little thought, the filly realized that getting down was doable, if tricky, as she could hover well enough to make her way down slowly. Getting back up later was where the problem was. Looking back at her tiny wings, Scootaloo sighed. The doctors said that it wasn't uncommon for a young pegasus's wings to develop slower than the rest of their body, and that they would catch up eventually. For now, though, all they could do was slow a fall, let her jump a bit higher than normal, and propel her scooter.
My scooter! That's it! I'll just build a ramp, get some speed and use that to jump back up! Now all I need is some lumber, maybe Apple Bloom can... Before she could finish her train of thought, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Walking over to the right edge of the balcony, she found her scooter, leaning up against a column. It must be enchanted to not fall through the clouds just like the floor inside! Awesome! Right next to it, however, was a carefully sculpted ramp made of clouds, which gently sloped down to the ground below. Rainbow Dash, you are officially the best sister ever! With an excited shout, Scootaloo rocketed down the ramp and set off for Sugarcube Corner.
"What's wrong Dashie? You've hardly touched your muffin!" Pinkie Pie asked her friend sitting across the table.
"Oh..." Rainbow Dash replied, nervously poking her breakfast with a hoof. "I'm just a little worried about Scootaloo, that's all. I think this whole wish deal might have done something to her." Despite the fact that Sugarcube Corner was an excellent bakery, its specialty was in desserts, not breakfasts. This, combined with the excitement all around town, meant that the brightly colored parlor in the front of the store was practically deserted that morning. "What do you think of all this?"
"I think it's amazing! Everypony got their wish, so now they're all super happy, and super happy ponies make for the best parties!" The pink pony was practically vibrating with excitement.
"What about all of the ponies that wished for something that turns out to be dangerous? There has to be at least a few of those."
"I talked almost everypony I know this morning, but nopony's done anything like that. That is strange..." The pink mare seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, a rare sight for a pony like Pinkie Pie. Within a few seconds, though, she perked up and continued talking. "At least your wish worked out well enough! I bet you're happy you entered that contest after all!"
"But I didn't enter that contest! That letter just showed up in the mail this morning."
"Really? Well that's even better!'"
Better in your strange world, maybe, Rainbow Dash thought. None of this adds up. I need to talk to Twilight about this later. If she doesn't know what's going on, I'm sure Princess Celestia will. All of these inconsistencies only managed to compound what had been troubling the Dash in the first place. "I'm still worried about Scootaloo, though..."
"Don't worry, I'm sure the she wished for something great too!"
"But she was acting really weird this morning, like she was confused. What if she accidentally wished for something really bad, and there's no way to fix it?" What if she doesn't want to fix it? Dash tried to push those thoughts from her mind. She's my sister. I promised that I would take care of her. No wish is going to stand in the way of that.
"Hmmm..." For the second time that conversation, Pinkie Pie was deep in thought. This only laster a brief moment, though, before her right ear twitched. "Why don't you just ask her?" That very moment, an orange blur burst through the door and sped across the tiled floor, circling the table three times before screeching to a stop right beside Rainbow Dash.
"Nice moves, Scoots!" The pegasus smiled at her younger sister. "You're getting better at that."
"Thanks, I've been practicing!"
"Looks like you're feeling better, too."
"Yeah, sorry about this morning. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, you know, with the comet and all."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about- Wait... Where's Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo scanned the room, but the pink party pony was nowhere to be found.
"Right here, sillies!" Pinkie Pie shouted from behind Scootaloo, nearly causing the filly to jump through the roof. "Here's a breakfast muffin for you, Scootaloo. Hey, that rhymes!" The pink pony giggled at her unintentional poetry as she tipped her head, causing the plate she was balancing on top of it to slide neatly on to the table next to Rainbow Dash's.
"How did you do that?" Rainbow Dash asked, staring at the spot Pinkie had appeared from.
"You weren't looking!" she replied, prancing back to her seat on the other side of the table.
"But... Never mind." I should know better than to try and figure that out by now...
"So, you wanted to ask me something?" Scootaloo asked, looking up at her sister.
"Yeah..." Might as well get straight to the point. "What exactly did you wish for last night?"