After a long flight in which the princesses exploited the chance to let loose and fly as fast as she could without risking her passenger falling off, both royals reach their destination as Cloundsdale appeared on the horizon, and Blueblood couldn't do anything else but to gasp at the sight in front of him. A collection of clouds rising even higher into the sky, forming an imposing mountain with rivers of rainbow and water streaming to the ground down below. Houses and columns with Greek architecture were spread everywhere as Pegasus flew around, and stairs and statues that he would have confused for pure marble were instead more clouds.
Mount…Olympus, wait, no! Focus! It's not that. It's a different world, is not some mythological place; it merely looks like… The prince shook his head but then had to take a double-take to admire everything …like an interpretation of the Greek pantheon. For Pete's sake, they have an ACTUAL Mountain made of clouds over there!… And I'm heading straight to it as a pegasus!
Celestia didn't need to see him to know how he had his mouth agape at the sight in front of them, and rather than comment, she waited for the inevitable. It wasn't long until she heard him choking and coughing violently for a second. The prince just ate a bug. A small thing to remember and keep in mind, and she let loose a tiny chuckle.
"Beautiful, isn't it? No matter how many times I visit, I always end up awed by the beauty that is Cloudsdale," Celestia mentioned as more pegasi are seen headed toward what appeared to be a landing zone. Two of these fliers fell in beside them and guided them into a target for touchdown. The princess was soon getting in line and waiting their turn as well.
"Is…Is that an actual mountain au…ah mom?" Blueblood asked, pointing towards the structure in the distance.
"It looks like it, doesn't it? But no, it's a cloud-shaped mountain. but it is an exceptional one because, from it, the foundation of Cloudsdale and all of it structures were made"
So that is what Pinkie meant when she said Dash lived on a cloud. The prince pondered, looking to see that indeed in various cloud formations were houses with pegasi flying in or out, and there were even gardens in some of them.
"What makes it so special, mom?"
"I could tell you, but it's a long story, and that is not the reason we are here. For now, think of it as the primary material for construction here. You can get down now, by the way," She replied with a smile and turned to look at him, so the prince could notice that she not only stopped flapping her wings but had also sat down and lowered her wings so he could climb off.
He looks to the side but can't see any form of landmass and just more clouds around, which for some reason hadn't swallowed them as Celestia seems to be capable of walking on it without a problem. He looked back at her with fear as she pointed down again. "Come on. There is nothing to be afraid of, trust me. You will be fine."
The prince stood up and, with tentative steps, put a hoof on the cloud next to him. He was surprised how his hoof hadn't passed through, and instead, it felt like soft, elastic ground, Like a taut trampoline that didn't allow for much in terms of bounciness but left enough leverage to stand up.
"The clouds are…solid? But how?" He asked her, perplexed as she chuckled and stood up once more.
"Pegasi can stand and mold clouds as they please, dear. It's part of their magic, see?" She pointed at a nearby construction site where a group of workers were carrying big chunks of square clouds into the half-built building where another group took them and used their wings to mold the blocks to construct walls, floors, pillars, and even gargoyles before soaking them with water making them resemble solid marble. "Of course, not all clouds work the same. Those, in particular, are a special brand of cloud extracted from the mountain that hardens when brought into contact with water while retaining their ability to remain in the sky."
She tells with gusto, enjoying the attention Blueblood was giving her before poking the cloud beneath him with the eyes of a child. She wasn't sure if that was the pendant's effect or the simple joy of discovering something new and fantastic.
I can't believe it, I'm seriously at a loss of words here? Can you build a house made of clouds? Does that mean that all clouds that look like something are failed attempts at making a statue? God, will this world ever stop surprising me? His thoughts soon were interrupted by a light tap on his head, and looking up, he saw Celestia pointing into the distance with her head.
"Come on, dear, there is still plenty more to see, and we don't want to be late for your flying lesson, right?" She asked rhetorically as she started to walk while filling in the pamphlet,
"Coming!" the prince soon joined her, his wings twitching, revealing the ever-increasing excitement he felt as they headed towards their destination. The princess had to block a couple of more accidental lift-offs as a result.
Soon the two started to see more moms and their children heading the same way they were going. Before he realized it, they finally reached their destination and once more, the prince was left speechless at the image alone, a prestigious and well-kept park with actual vegetation spread out as far as the eye could see, suspended somehow on top of the clouds. Giant, bulky trees with an unusual inverted half-sphere acted as a home for a multitude of birds and in the middle of such spectacle were marble rows, fountains, chairs, gazebos, and even a playground for children to play on without a care in the world. Indeed the closest the prince could compare the place to was Central Park, and even that seemed to be a colossal understatement compared with the beautiful fusion of flora and fantasy in front of him.
So profound was the fascination he was experiencing that it took him a full minute to recover and notice that they were currently in line to enter the class. A series of pegasi with orange security vests and flying goggles were retrieving the inscribed pamphlets from the mothers and their eager children, causing the prince to realize one small detail that he had forgotten. "We forgot a name, au…mom! We forgot to think of a name for me!" Blueblood harshly whispered to the disguised Celestia in alarm.
"Don't worry, dear. I have that covered" She gave him a wink before handing over the pamphlet to one of the officials, a slightly bulkier pegasus stallion with brown fur and a black mane that had a setting sun overlapped by a feather for a cutie mark. "Good morning, miss…Smiles, is this your first time coming to this class?" He asked while checking that all the information was in order.
"Indeed it is, we are new in town, and we are not staying for too long, so when I saw your pamphlet, I just knew this would be the perfect opportunity to show my sweet Blue Yonder* the wonders of his roots and start his flying lessons at the same time." The princess replied with a proud smile.
Blue Yonder? Well, it keeps with the theme of blue, and considering my mark could be regarded as a compass or a guiding star…yeah, I could see the logic there. Blueblood pondered the name and why it was chosen in the first place.
"That explains why I didn't recognize your face before." The official smiled and nodded as he put the pamphlet away and gave them a list of activities. "In that case, allow me to be the first in welcoming you to Cloudsdale and explain a bit of this class. As you can see, we have several activities today. Not only for first-time flyers but also for experienced colts and fillies and even tips and lessons on how to improve your flight, you can take one or several and even leave and come back if you wish, we will be here all day. Now since this is your first time, may I suggest starting with the glider? It's perfect for beginners, and you are in luck, the next class will start in 10 minutes. Head straight to the center of the plaza behind me until you see the giant slingshot there. My partner there will explain how to start, and if you have any other questions, look for anypony with an orange vest."
"We will keep it in mind. Thanks for the help, kind sir. Let's go, dear. Our lesson will start soon."
"Have a good day, you two!" The officer called out before resuming his job while Blue waved goodbye and rush to his aunt's side. "That was incredible auntie, did you think of all that just now?"
"This isn't my first time thinking up a backstory, sweetie. I can't act, my flank! I want to see Luna improvise something on the spot." Celestia whispered in pride before her eyes widened in realization, and a sly smirk crawled onto her face. "Indeed, I will love to see that happening."
"Mom?" Blueblood called for her, slightly worried by the face she was making, but she merely shook her head and returned to normal.
"Don't worry about that, sweetie, a subject for the future, for now, isn't this great? Technically this is still a lesson, but this place looks more akin to a fair. There is plenty we can do. We can even explore the town a bit more and come back to do some activities until the end of the day. Oh! They have mommy and me extreme ziplines?! We have to take that one" Celestia kept reading through the list of activities, getting more excited by the second as she mentally planned for the day, until they finally reached their destination as in the distance on top of a small hill just as the officer said, was a giant slingshot surrounded by a series of pegasus mares and their children. Some of them having to be watchful in order to prevent lift-offs from excitement alone.
"Ok, everypony, hold your horses. You will have a turn very soon," A giggling mare informed the crowd, approaching the group and making every colt and filly present let out a happy cheer once they saw her. Blue was left surprised to find her here of all places. Flying in front of the group was none other than Spitfire herself. wearing a pair of sunglasses, another orange vest, and carrying a clipboard in one of her hoofs. "I know you are all very excited to test these beauties. I sure as Heck was when I was your age." She confided in pride, landing next to the contraption in question and giving it a light tap. "But we don't want any accidents here, so first we are gonna have a brief explanation on how this works and do a quick check to see the level you will be placed on."
Spitfire's speech was met with a collective groan from all the kids as she chuckled again, "Hey, cut me some slack. It will only take me like 10 minutes, and this beats homework any day, am I right?" She chirped, raising their joy once more as everyone voiced their agreement simply nodded at the statement.
"That is what I thought. So ok, let's start with the introductions. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Spitfire, captain of the best flying team in Equestria called the wonderbolts, and today I'm your guide in an introduction to flight." She paced back and forth professionally. "I'm sure everypony here already knows that in order to fly, it requires more than flapping your wings, am I right, moms? Yeah? ha, this mare knows it." Spitfire joked, earning a chuckle from the mom's present while pointing at Celestia out of all the ponies, who nodded a couple of times.
"The very first thing you need to learn is control and stability, and that is where the nest pusher comes in handy." She smirked before pointing behind her. Everyone saw four cloud heads stacked like a ladder with different slingshots strategically placed and four more Pegasi with security vests waved at the group. they could also see a reasonably big cloud with a target etched on it with a series of small flags. "This is how it's going to work. There are five types of wings sizes: sparrow, pigeon, falcon, eagle, and albatross. Depending on your size, achieving what we are looking for will require more or less force, which is why all of you will be assigned to your level once it's determined." She then clarified her point by showing how her slingshot's base had a big sticker with an albatross's image on it. "Once that's out of the way, my partners and I will put you in the slingshots and aim for that cloud where your moms will be waiting with their hooves outstretched. All you have to do, is stretch your wings and slowly glide down, let them acclimate to you, don't force anything, and enjoy the ride" She demonstrated flying up and then keeping her wings stretch as she glided down with grace and even did a couple of flips in mid-air before touching down.
"Heck, have fun while you are it. Spin around, zig-zag a bit, do a barrel roll if you want. Fair warning, it not as easy as it looks. The only rule is don't flap your wings." She repeats in a severe tone. "This is about control and stability, but it also about focus, so just let things flow naturally without any fear, and don't be a jerk either, respect the airspace of your classmates."
The kids, upon hearing the explanation, had mixed reactions. Some were eager to start, while others who had tiny wings started to look unsure, something that Spitfire quickly took notice of, and she promptly gave them a sympathetic smile. "Hey, don't feel so bad. It doesn't matter if your wings are very large or short. Any pegasus can fly with no problem if they practice. Having small wings means tighter turns, and you could achieve real speed in no time."
That seemed to do the trick as they all soon looked at her in wonder as she smirked and started digging for something on her vest. "Want some proof? Meet Bulk Biceps," She announced, showing a photograph of an incredible bulky stallion with the tiniest wings the Prince had ever seen, whooping out loud as it appeared that he won first place in a race.
Ok, that picture must be fake. There are no way wings that small could lift that kind of monster. The Prince had to rub his eyes and look at the picture again to make sure he saw it correctly and found it hard to believe a stallion like that could ever exist.
"I have never seen a stallion with wings that size, and yet he not only proved to me that he could be fast; he almost got a place on the wonderbolts." All the kids awed at that revelation.
"Then why didn't he enter, miss?" A colt raised his hoof in wonder. "He wasn't fast enough?"
"The opposite, the stallion was a rookie for sure, and his control needed refinement, but he had heart and was an ace in the sky. If he had stuck around a bit more, I'm sure he could have made the uniform proud, but in the end, he decided to quit because of personal reasons. To each their own, and he is doing fine from what I hear. The moral of the story is that if he can do that, so can you." She cheered, bringing everyone's spirits up once more.
Wow, she is terrific at motivating kids.
"Now, who is ready to glide?!"
"ME!" They all responded in excitement.
"That is more like it! Let get this party going!" She cheered enthusiastically as she guided the group toward a pole with measuring tapes and began to write down names and divide everyone into their designated group.
"I have to admit, she's is good with kids." Blueblood nodded, impressed by Spitfire's antics.
"It all in using the right words and having the right attitude. A good leader knows how to keep the morale of their teammates up, and Spitfire is a shining example of that." Celestia remarked, "Most of the time." she finished remembering some less than glamorous moments with the captain itself.
"Have to say, I didn't know the Wonderbolts were hosting this event."
"It's more common than you think, and not only the Wonderbolts, royal guards, both active and retired, often volunteer for activities like this all the time, from their respective tribes. Often, they even are the ones that organize, petition, go through the proper channels and reserve the area and equipment necessary themselves."
"Wait, so the crown is sponsoring this?" Blueblood queried, impressed as he looked around at all the equipment and hired staff. They must have in order to make this all possible. His suspicions were confirmed when Celestia nodded with a smile.
"This is a perfect way to preserve old traditions within the tribes, forming unity and friendship. Teaching their kids the same lessons they learned in their younger years and even allowing mares and stallions in the force to spend time with their family and be a part of their foals childhood."
"That…that is very nice for them and a clever way to preserve traditions while having fun."
"And today, we get to enjoy it as well." She says with a big smile, "A brand new experience in more than a thousand years! I…I have to experience teaching my colt how to fly! Let go, dear! I want to start already!" She informed him, getting more excited by the second as they trotted toward the rest of the group.
The Prince chuckled as he looked in front of him. Now that I think about it, the last time I saw Spitfire was the night I went into exile. I wonder how she's been doing since then?