Fish In The Clouds

by teamidris

Air Show

The little filly had two hobbies if you will. But the first was more of birthright than a controllable pastime. Nobody was in any doubt that her connection with water was deep and so very often smelly. If it could be fallen or dived into, she was the pony for the task. It was lucky that she could swim!

It could be said that her second hobby was adventure and it certainly invaded her life like few others. And I guess with a name like Cloud she was bound to look upward and wonder at the pegasi drifting past. Ordinarily earth ponies understood that what went up must come down, but for little Fish it was just another exciting 'thing' to explore. Maybe it was no coincidence that one afternoon she found herself sitting in front of a billboard, watching a mare with a step ladder stick up a brightly coloured poster which read;

"Air Show!"

Sam looked some what alarmed as Fish excitedly displayed the flyer held in her teeth. Many things came out of that school saddle bag and some of the really bad ones did indeed come on paper. Those usually involved a trip to the school house which was awkward, but not distressing. Glyn looked up from his seed catalogue with a smirk.

"I wonder if there is a balloon big enough to carry me?" the large black earth pony pondered.

Sam now looked even more horrified.

"What!" she said, spinning to look at Glyn so fast her tail nearly took the mixing bowl off the edge of the table. "How are you helping here? I've heard so many tales about how my errant daughter only just managed to escape some watery tomb by flailing legs and branch in mouth, but at least she floats! Now you both want to defy gravity?"

Glyn looked a little taken aback. "Well I can't do magic," he protested "And who wouldn't want to see the land as the birds do?"

Sam could tell by the looks on their faces that logic wasn't going to play a big part in any following argument. It seemed hypocritical anyway. She had pretended to be scornful as a young filly watching Glyn swing on a rope as hard as he could, before soaring a few feet into the village pond. It was these antics that had drawn her to the young colt and to wonder at their future.

Sam remembered how it was at school and that silly play ground song. "Sam and Glyn, Sam and Glyn, she's got wedding bells for him!" She had got really mad at the time, but it was so obvious looking back.

"I guess you can't escape destiny," she said to her now smiling husband as a chicken made best efforts to fly past the kitchen window. The sudden commotion in the yard was undoubtedly Fish playing at pegasi.

The few days passed quickly as Fish tried to stay out of trouble everywhere. She couldn't risk doing something silly for fear of punishment. Being grounded this week would mean literally being grounded. Now though it was really happening! She was standing in line with some of her school friends behind a thick rope as they chattered about how high they would go and how they wouldn't be scared at all!

Eventually it was time for the little filly to take her turn in the sky. She danced on the spot as Sam anxiously handed over some bit's before Fish was directed to a pegasus of suitable size. Fish wasn't tall for her age, but she was no lightweight either. The stallion got down on his knees so she could climb on.

"Legs go there, head there and don't wiggle about," he said. "I presume you will want to go as far as the moon?" he winked.

"Erm," said Fish, but hadn't chance to think about it as they shot into the air gaining height with every powerful wing beat. Fish wanted to hang on and snuggle into the stallions mane for safety, but she couldn't miss the view below. Opening her eyes and looking down she was hit by the rest of the sensation of flying. The wind rushed through her mane as the pony body rose and fell as its feathers caught the air and pulled them upward.

"I'm Stratus," he called back, "Where do you live?" Fish pointed a hoof in the general direction she thought she might live.

Everything looked so different from above, but after a minute it started to look familiar. It wasn't enough to say that their farm below looked like a toy. She could see the animals and the pond and even her favourite scarf on the washing line. It was more that it looked disconnected from her life right now. Different from what she was experiencing high in the sky. She wasn't frightened now and knew she wanted more.

"Loop the loop!" she screamed with delight.

Stratus turned his head to look at her, "No can do little filly, this is just a cruise around the village sort of thing." He could see the disappointment in her face though and decided that it was worth a spin. This job was getting old anyway.

Banking further away from the farm he noticed a tree topped ridge that would hide them nicely. "Didn't you want to go over there and see something you just thought of," he winked.

"Do it!" shouted Fish, her mane and tail sticking out horizontally with the new turn of speed.

Stratus was careful to keep a very sedate flight plan as he banked around the woodland. As soon as he was out of sight he dived sharply to pick up speed while flapping hard to make that extra bit. As he neared the ground he flexed his wings to their full span and flipped himself upward. The ground dived away below them as Fish flattened against his back. She looked down to all green, then all blue and then back to green, the world turning over with her stomach.

"Yes," she shouted, "that was the best thing ever!"

Stratus flew lazily to the same height he had started and came back into view as though he had just extended her trip a little. Just as well because Sam would have been furious if she had seen her only offspring hurtling to the ground and then flying upside down before again hurtling to the ground.

They landed just in front of Sam and Glyn. "What a lovely filly you have," he said pleasantly as Fish climbed down.

"Yes she is sweet isn't she," the salmon coloured mare replied. "Certainly not the sort to encourage folk to high jinx." Fish grinned unaware of just how messed up her mane had become in the aerial antics.

The next highlight was Glyn trying to get into a wicker basket along with a mare sporting a leather flying cap and goggles. He was totally over sized for the balloon and there were some gasps from onlookers as he finally managed to front hoof stand his back legs into it, followed by his bottom.

Sam tutted at the scene. "Your father has managed to do some deal for winter storage for that thing in return for a ride. They all shook hooves on the deal before anypony had really considered how it was even possible? Now they are looking for pegasi to form an aerial rescue team should it turn out to be as bad an idea as it looks."

It took more heat than expected to raise the balloon, which now began to drift slowly upward. Glyn waved a hoof with a huge smile while taking taunts from some of his neighbours.

"I'll be sure to crash into your barn," he shouted down to an old friend.

As it was a fairly still day the balloon only drifted a short way away before being towed back by the pegasi. After twenty minutes it was safely back on the ground and tied up. There were then another few minutes of fun while they tried to retrieve Glyn from the basket. It should have been an easy task, but with everypony howling with laughter as they failed to lift him free it was a wonder they got it done at all!

Once loose he treated his rescuers to an apple juice each from one of the market carts. This was what it was really about. Although the air show folk would leave with some bits in their pockets it was also an excellent time to move some cash around the village. In return the event would be the talk of the area for a good few weeks. It was a welcome break from weeding and all the other tasks a farm needed to keep it working.

Author's Note:

A huge Thankyou to Fia94 for the title art. This is the first time I've felt brave enough to go and ask someone to help me out on this sort of thing :o)

Comments

[PresentPerfect]

"playing at pegasi" is the best thing :D