//------------------------------//
// Encounter 
// Story: Not So Far Away 
// by Cold Bolt 
//------------------------------//

When she was just a filly, Pinkie had a recurring dream in which she found herself able to walk on clouds. She always awoke from it with a smile on her face, even as she knew it would never be possible in the waking world. When she found out she was wrong about that, she immediately volunteered for this mission - how could she not? It was literally a dream come true!

She hadn't counted on the novelty wearing off quite this quickly. 

Pinkie trudged onward, the clouds beneath her hooves glowing a warm orange in the light of the evening sun. Every step took her higher than she had ever been in her life... but as that had been true for every stretch of clouds before this one as well, the monotony had robbed the idea of excitement. Instead, she found herself simply wishing the next island would descend on its own so she could reach it more quickly. At the very least, her latest venture was almost over; she was looking forward to stopping for a snack as soon as there was proper ground beneath her hooves again.

Then her ears twitched.

She froze. Considering how much empty air surrounded her on all sides, there wasn't too much to listen to at this altitude - so any sound at all made for a rather sharp contrast... but even then, this was enough to make her heart skip a beat.

Voices.

At least two, unless her ears deceived her. A conversation going on above her, too far away to discern any words, but there was no mistaking it.

Caution lost to the winds, she took off running, leaning sharply into the curve of the clouds as she galloped upward. There were ponies up here after all! She couldn't wait to talk to them - she had to get up there now! She was going to give them the speech she practiced so much, then offer them sweets, become instant best friends, and -

In hindsight, she really should have known better.

One of the things the exploration team had fought hard to drill into her for this excursion was careful hoofing. The Cloudy Path didn't exactly have railings; knowing she would want to bounce around and play, they spent over an hour teaching her that the enchantment on her necklace wasn't a toy, and that one careless step could spell the end of more than just her mission.

But Pinkie was still Pinkie. She always would be... and that meant there was no helping the occasional distraction.

She yelped as her hooves lost purchase with the fluffy terrain beneath her, causing her to overshoot the curve. In desperation, she reached out to grab on, but succeeded only in tearing off a chunk of cloud - like ripping into cotton candy with her teeth. It wasn't nearly enough to support her weight, and ended up slipping from her hooves a second later.

Legs flailing madly, she screamed at the top of her lungs as she plummeted.

The Floating Atoll leaned at an angle as it rose into the sky, meaning the Path did as well; in seconds, she had already missed her chance at landing on the clouds... assuming they would have saved her in the first place. Now, there was nothing between her and the mountains far below.

Her screaming continued.

It would be minutes before she finally reached the ground, even at terminal velocity. She wasn't sure what was scarier - the fatal landing she was in for, or the extended period of time she had until then to regret her carelessness.

Tears streamed from her eyes as she screamed and screamed and -

"Peace, friend."

She gasped, her uproar ceasing as a soothing voice spoke in her ear.

"Fear not," said a second. "No more are you in danger."

Pinkie blinked several times, squeezing a few more tears from her eyes as she looked around. She was no longer plummeting - instead held up by two sets of forelimbs from a pair of ponies, one on each side of her. The first had a pale sky blue coat, a darker blue mane, and a soothing smile; the other gave a concerned frown from beneath her red mane, her coat a dark orange. None of this held Pinkie's attention for long, however, as she noticed a much more prominent feature on both of them...

...namely, the wings that held the two of them - and her by extension - aloft in the air.

"..."

It wasn't often that Pinkie found herself speechless, but here she was, mouth moving yet producing no words. Her goal from the very beginning had been to make contact with the lost tribe of flying ponies, but this was another thing entirely! Should she give her speech now? She wasn't sure if she could - her heart was pounding in her throat, it felt like. Plus, she was getting that tingling sensation in her hooves again from the feeling of nothing but empty air beneath her. She hoped it would be okay for her to wait till they got back onto the island; Moondancer and the others wouldn't blame her for that, right?

Distracted by her thoughts, she hadn't noticed their gradual ascent until the underside of the island loomed above them. A mere few seconds later, she felt herself being set down gently, all four hooves slightly rustling the short but unkempt grass.

"Whew...!"

She collapsed on her belly immediately, thinking only of calming her breathing and the thunder in her ribs.

"Thank you," she whimpered, her eyes still leaking tears. "Thank you, thank you... I, I thought... I was a goner for sure...!"

Her ears twitched again at the sound of one of her rescuers marching in a circle around her; a quick peek revealed it to be the orange one.

"I find her suspect," her deep voice declared.

"As all but the most innocuous of things," came the much lighter pitch of her blue counterpart. "I miss how her peril aims to threaten."

"You miss much. Ponder her garb, hm? Her manner?"

The blue pony crouched slowly until she was eye level with the prone Pinkie. "Friend, how fare you? Pray - what state are your wings, that you would need our aid so?"

She straightened up a bit as a pink hoof raised partway.

"I gotta... gotta speech," panted Pinkie. "Just... need a sec. Hard to... catch my breath this high up..." She sat up slowly, wiping the tears from her face. "I'm good! I'm good. Okay."

The flying rescuers exchanged confused glances as Pinkie noisily took a deep breath.

"I represent a collision of - no, um, coalition of earth ponies and unicorns. My name is Pinkie Pie, and I uh - what was the next part? Oh! I bring good tides - tidings to you and your winged... um, brothers and sisters! I'm here on a diplomatic mission - hey, I got that one! - to restore the peaceful co... coed... extant... coexistence we once shared with the ponies of the sky, so if you could take me to your leader, um... that would be super rad!"

Nailed it!

Unfortunately, her audience looked as bewildered as ever.

Pinkie sighed. "I told Moondancer it wouldn't work..."

"Your manner is peculiar indeed," said the blue pony. "You are one... Pinkie Pie? Yes?"

"Mhmm!" Pinkie nodded vigorously; she had managed to convey something with that silly speech after all! "What are your names?"

"I am one Whirlwind." The blue pony bowed her head and flared her wings. "My companion is one Aerial Ace. Fair winds to you, friend Pinkie Pie."

"You offer too much," Aerial Ace warned her companion. "Still she does not bare her wings, yet you have asked."

Whirlwind seemed to consider this for a moment. "Friend, would you indulge us...?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Earth ponies don't have wings, silly!"

"Earth?" Aerial Ace scowled. "You speak madness."

Whirlwind, however, was suddenly mesmerized. "Earth? No wings...?" She blinked. "Groundwalker...?"

Aerial Ace's scowl deepened. "The sky is impermeable to groundwalkers. She deceives."

"No, for real! Here, lemme show you!"

In a single motion, Pinkie leaped out of her saddlebags, coat, hat, and socks, leaving them hanging in midair in defiance of gravity. With a flourish, she landed gracefully a meter away, now wearing nothing but her enchanted necklace. "Ta-da!" She immediately began shivering. "G-Goodness, it's c-c-cold...!"

Aerial Ace gawked at the floating garments.

Whirlwind trotted a quarter circle around Pinkie, leaning in close to examine her back. Grinning excitedly, she pointed as she turned to her comrade again. "She speaks truth! A groundwalker, here among us!"

"I've g-got m-more p-p-proof!" Pinkie hopped backward, sighing with relief as she occupied her warm clothes once more. She flipped open one side of her saddlebag and rummaged for a moment before producing a thickly frosted cupcake. "Here, try it! This one's strawberry."

Aerial Ace gave the treat a deadpan stare. "Of what function is this object...?" She hesitated, glancing between it and the strange pony holding it.

"It's a cupcake, silly pony goose! You eat it!"

Without missing a beat, Pinkie turned and tapped the cupcake on a nearby rock until it produced an audible crack and split into two roughly equal halves. Peeling the wrapper off, she took one half in each forehoof and shoved them into the winged ponies' fallen jaws. "What do you think? Tell me, tell me!"

Whirlwind chewed slowly and cautiously, as though not yet convinced that the thing she had just been fed was actually food. By contrast, Aerial Ace's eyes lit up; though she seemed to struggle with it for a moment, she finished her portion quickly.

"This... these are groundwalker rations?" she asked, clearing her throat. "I... believe I require more data for a proper assessment."

Pinkie giggled. "There's more where that came from, but I gotta save some to share with your leader, too!"

"The Constable," said Whirlwind, eagerly licking excess frosting from her upper lip. "She must be enlightened - and our friend has earned an audience, yes?"

"...Perhaps yet," admitted Aerial Ace. "You seek council, groundwalker? Come - you will have it."

"Aww, yeah!" Pinkie pumped her hoof. "Score one for the Pinkster!"

Two winged ponies stared at her incredulously.

"Um... aheh." Pinkie cleared her throat. "Anyway..."