The Race in My Head

by Owlor

Fission Mailed

There are sounds that only comes out at night, and every area has a different nightly soundscape. If you've never been inside a large building made out of cloud somewhere in the troposphere, you're gonna have a hard time imagining what sounds you would hear, regardless of how they are described.

In the end, though, what's most striking is not the sounds you hear, but the sounds you DON'T hear. It's surprising how fast you tune out the constant background of soft white noise that gets created by hundred of flapping wings in one place. You generally don't realise you're doing it until nighttime comes and the hiss dies out. Then there isn’t much sound at all, except the ones you or anything near you create.

It is the tiny sounds that are the most unnerving, little hisses, little ticks and tacks, echoes of echoes of clocks. Every noise reminding you of just how fragile the tense silence was. Some sounds would remain a mystery, just part of the auditory nighttime crowd, others made sense once they where puzzled out.

The gang of stray ponies made their way across the basement corridor in silence. There was a soft thumping sound that didn't match any of the ponies hoofprint. This could have been just another unexplained nighttime sound, but it got instantly connected to the light of a flashlight that where coming from around the corner.
“It's a security guard!”, Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “Hide!”. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rainbowshine jumped behind a series of particularly large potted plant. Derpy panicked and froze up to disguise herself as a statue.

The securtiy guard went by them with an expression of extreme boredom, barely glancing around him. There was a long tense moment as the guard slowly shuffled right by them, just a few feet from where they where hiding. Derpy gulped when the guard grunted slowly and stopped right next to her. But he just coughed and kept on walking.

Once the guard had disappeared behind the next corner, Rainbowshine signaled with her hoof for the group to form a huddle. The group started a a whispered discussion.
”Shouldn't we just talk to the security guard?”, Rainbowshine said, “he'll let us out”
”heck no!, Rainbow Dash said, “Do you have any idea how much trouble we'd be if they saw us snooping around late at night, what if they don't let me compete in the race? I can't win if I dont get to fly!”
Rainbowshine gave 'Dash an amused look.
“Oh, you think you're gonna win, huh?”, she said.
“Perceive the victory in your head, Young Grasshopper”, Rainbow Dash said in a mock-erudite voice, “then work to make your vision become a reality.”
“Allright”, Rainbowshine replied, “let's perceive the victory in our heads, I picture us sleeping in our own beds, and not in a cramped jail-cell, how are we supposed to make this vision a reality?”
“I'm thinking...”, Rainbow Dash said. “We can't just walk out the front door. How about the air-ducts?”

The Parhelion hall was labyrinthine enough as it is, and the air-duct was like a maze within a labyrinth, or a cipher inside a crossword-puzzle. The air-ducts where made out of cloud like most anything else in Cloudsdale, but it still had a very different consistency. It was created out of the same long, misty clouds that the Weather Patrol would put across the sky at sunset if the forepony where feeling wistful enough. The air-ducts where large enough for a pony to crawl trough, but not large enough to hold a comfortable discussion. If you wanted to look back, you could just barely look over your shoulder and judge whether or not any other pony where nearby, but not much else.

Rainbow Dash was leading the ponies and the rest where crawling behind her. The pipes did glow slightly for some reason, but it was not enough to really help them see where they where going, it was just one step above total darkness. It was hard to get a sense of the enviroment outside the pipes, pretty soon your sense of place adapted and it was hard to picture the building as anything but a long, complex series of pipes and intersections.

They went on in silence, but soon enough they came to an intersection and Rainbow dash had to stop crawling. The others where suddenly hatled.
“Why did you stop?” Rainbowshine asked from behind 'Dash.
“I don't know which way to go, she said, “left or right?”
“let's see”, Rainbowshine tried to match the course they had crawled to the mental map she had of the basement, but she could not make them match, “I have no idea”, she said and glanced over her shoulder.
“Fluttershy, what do you think, left or right?”
“Uhm, I don't know”, Fluttershy said.
“Okay, Can you ask Derpy?”
“Sure, Derpy, left or right?”
“Left!” Derpy said, “Wait... what are we talking about?”
“I don't know”, Fluttershy said, “I just heard Rainbowshine asking me 'left or right?' and that she wanted me to ask you...”
Nopony could see it, but Rainboshine tried to give fluttershy an annoyed glare from behind her shoulder.
“We're trying to find out which way to go!” she explained, “left or right?”
“Oh, was that it?”, Fluttershy said, “We should go right, we've crawled halfway past the first corridor, into a common room and back out. Then the pipe seemed to do a turn, but it was only a dent, they prolly had to work around something in the ceiling. The right pipe should lead toward the stairway while the left will just lead us back trough the second pipe in this corridor”, she paused to catch her breath” Uhm, I think, at least...”
“Wow...”, Rainbowshine was dumbfounded. She went silent for a second to collect herself.
“well, its worth a try”, she said, “Right, 'Dash!”
They could not be sure if Fluttershys description where correct, but at least the air drum was getting larger. It was still cramped, but less claustrophobic at least, and you didn't feel like you had to turn your eyes around in the back of your head just to look back.

It was getting hot crawling inside the pipe, (ironic for something designed to keep the building cool) and eventually they had to stop and rest.
“You know what this reminds me of?”, Rainbowshine said, “Those games where you run around in a dungeon and fight monsters.”
“Sounds scary...”, Fluttershy said.
“Well, you don't ACTUALLY run around in a cave and fight monsters”,she explained, “you sit at a table, you play a character and you say what your character is doing. And one of you is the Game Master and he'll tell you what happens in the dungeons and what the consequences of your actions are....”
“What?”, rainbow dash said,she looked very amused,
“'Shine!”, she said while laughing, “I didn't know you where such a NERD!”
“I'm not a nerd!”, Rainbowshine said, “I... I heard about it from a friend, allright?”
“Well, I think it sounds very interesting”, Fluttershy said, “like how we used to play as kids. You say you are a tree and then you are, a pretend-tree that is... “
“Yeah, that sounds fun!”, Derpy said, “Let's pretend we are in a dungeon!”
“Are we really going to do this?”, Raindowsshine said, still a bit bitter over being called a nerd.
“It's either that or keep crawling”, Rainbow Dash said, “which do you prefer?”
“Oh, Allright, then I am the powerful sorceress Lila Starshine....”

“...and then the dragon pass out and you see he was sitting on a large pile of shiny gold and jewels!” Derpy said.
In the end, it proved not to be an all-together unpleasant way to wile away a few minutes. They kept the story going until they where all rested and had their strength back.

They kept crawling, it was impossible to tell where in the building they where, or even get a good sense of how far they had been crawling. They could catch glimpses of the building underneath from the occasional air-vent, but from this angle, most rooms looked about the same. The ponies where growing increasingly frustrated, and it was only the silence imposed be the necessity of going forward that kept them from fighting. Eventually they had to take another break, however....
“Couldn't we have tried to get into the air ducts later down the corridor?” Rainbowshine said, “I'm getting really tired of this!”
“We've gone this far, Rainbow Dash said, we can't just give up!”
“Sure we can, we just kick open an air vent, get down, get trough the corridor and...”
“and then? Waltz out the front door?”
“I was picturing something closer to Foxtrot...”
“Oh, don't you sass me!”
“Please don't fight”, Flutteshy said.
“Yeah, Derpy filled in,” save some air for us!”

“Who's there!”, a voice could be heard from below them in the building. The three ponies suddenly got very silent.
“What is it?”, a second voice said.
“I thought I heard something, from in there!”.
“Well, there's nopony there, you sure it wasn't just the wind?”
“I know what the wind sounds like!”, the first pony protested, “I used to work for the Weather Patrol. No I'm telling you I heard something from here. They where talking about dancing!”
“Look”, the other pony pointed with his hoof. “there's nothing there! Unless you think there are ponies sitting in the air duct and discussing dance-moves, you must have misheard something.”
“I guess so”, the first pony said, “let's just continue on, shall we?”
The ponies sitting in the air-duct and discussing dance-moves didn't dare to crawl on until a few minutes had passed.

It was no use, eventually even Flutttershy's sense of direction was failing them and they ended up at a crossroad, completely uncertain which direction to take.
“what are we going to do?”, Rainbow Dash asked, and Rainbowshine passed the question on.
“Well”, Derpy said, “I learned a trick once to solve labyrinths, you just stay at one side and follow it.”
“I know that trick”, Fluttershy said, “But it only works for some types of labyrinths. I know one that works for all kinds, though.”
“Clawing trough the walls?”, Rainbowshine asked, “Because that's about what I feel like doing right now....”
“Every time you are at an intersection”, Fluttershy explained, “You mark the path you want to go, if you reach an intersection with a path you have already marked, you take the path that's unmarked. If all paths are marked, you pick one and mark it again. Eventually you will find your way out without having to mark any path more than twice.”
“That's going to take foreeever!” Rainbow Dash said, “is there really no better alternative?”
“I don't think so” Rainbowshine said, “but we don’t have anything to mark with, unless somepony got a crayon.”
“I got a whole box!” Derpy said, “but you can't use the yellow, it is my favorite color and I want to draw a big happy sun later!”

Fortunately, they had already made it pretty far, so it didn't take too long for them to find an exit.
When they reached a large circular air-vent in the end of what otherwise seemed to be a dead-end Rainbow Dash looked just about ready to cry.
“What is it, Rainbowsinhe said, “what do you see?”
“It's so beautiful!”, Rainbow Dash said, “I can't believe it, we're outside, we found our way out!”
There was no room for Waltzing or Foxtrotting, or even just a victory dance, and they couldn't exactly yell, so the ponies had to settle for a careful “Yay!” said in unison.

A few brief kicks and the air-vent flew loose. The four ponies where finally outside, and the sight that hit them was indeed beautiful. Cloudsdale has long been praised by artists for how utterly amazing it looks during the nighttime. The gaslight that illuminates the city during the night has a particularly pleasing way of scattering inside the clouds.

The early morning air was particularly sharp at this altitude. It was a cool and refreshing breeze, especially for somepony that had been stuck in an air-duct for an hour
”We made it!” Rainbow Dash said, “What do you say about that 'Shine?”
“I'm glad Fluttershy's crayon-trick worked, or else we'd be crawling around in there for eternity!" Rainbowshine said.
“Oh, it was nothing special”, Fltutershy said, “and I am just glad to be outside!”
“So much space!”, Derpy said with a smile and extended her wings.
“By the way”, Rainbow Dash said, “I had something I wanted to say to you, 'Shine”
“What's that?”
“'Lila Starshine?' you really ARE a nerd!”, Rainbow Dash said while laughing.
Rainbowshine didn't respond, but shot her a disgruntled look.

.