Sky

by Pinkydash

Chapter 1, Sunshine and Cloudy Skies

“Ooooh! Is that a present for me? Gosh this is the bestest birthday present ever!” Pinkie hopped directly in front of the guard’s face. The large pegasus stallion remained composed, unmoved by Pinkie’s hyperactive antics.

“Wait a second.” Pinkie paused, rubbing her chin with her hoof. “It’s not my birthday today. Oh! Is this a suprise extra early birthday present?”

The guard simply ignored her, instead pulling a letter from his side pocket. “A request by her highness, Princess Celestia,” he stated, hoofing the letter over to Pinkie, who quickly scanned it through. “The hot air balloon will be lent to you for the duration of the assignment.”

“Aww...” Pinkie frowned. “So I can’t keep it?” she stared at the guard with large puppy eyes. “But it’s so pretty, and shiny, and—”

“No,” the guard bluntly stated, unmoved and emotionless as ever.

“Hmph,” grumbled Pinkie, glancing at her newly acquired balloon. The hot-air contraption sat in front of Sugarcube corner, the surface of the balloon beaming in the sunlight. “So, we should be going today?”

“Yes, it is imperative that you depart as soon as possible.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie saluted to the guard, who quickly returned the favor. “Don’t worry Mr. Guard, I won’t let the princesses down!”

The guard nodded towards Pinkie, giving a bow before taking off into the clear morning sky. She watched as the guard flew farther and farther away, disappearing into the clear early morning sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Dinky! Is there any mail for me today?”

A light purple unicorn popped up from behind the long wooden desk, her long blonde mane swinging as she did so. It was early in the morning, and usually she would have an hour or two to grab some of her mother’s muffins for breakfast, before a customer would arrive to receive their mail. This hasn’t been the case for the past month however, as Rainbow Dash —the pony she would least expect to arrive this early—had been bothering her.

“Uh-huh.” Dinky grumbled, her tummy rumbling loudly. “We actually do have something for you today, and I’m pretty sure it’s the letter you been bothering me about.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash beamed as her eyes lit up. “It’s...it’s here?”

“Mhm, that’s just what I said.” Dinky reached down to her mother’s mailbag, grabbing a certain envelope with a Wonderbolt seal upon it. “It’s this one right?”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Rainbow Dash snatched the letter from Dinky’s hooves. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The mailmare remained straight-faced. Ignoring the spazzing pegasus, she watched out the window to look out for her mother.

“Not to crush your hopes or anything, but isn’t this your third try to enter the Wonderbolts?”

Rainbow Dash’s smile slowly disappeared; she turned her attention back to Dinky.
        
“I mean, you’re like thirty years old now right? Most Wonderbolts would start considering retiring at that age. It’s not my right to judge, but maybe you should start looking for something else.”

Dinky turned her head back, lazily looking at the pegasus. Dash simply ignored her, silently ripping the envelope apart to reveal the letter on the inside.
        

To: Miss Rainbow Dash
From: The Royal Wonderbolts Canterlot Headquarters

Dear Athlete

Thank you for partaking in the Wonderbolt’s 22nd open tryouts. While we admire your enthusiasm, we cannot accept you into...

Rainbow Dash scrunched up the letter into a ball, letting out a loud sigh.

“Again, huh?” Dinky frowned, watching Rainbow Dash as she threw the letter into the nearby trash bin. “Well if you want to try again, they’ll probably host another tryout in a few years or so.”

“Yeah...” Rainbow trailed off, glancing off towards the exit. “I guess I should get going, gotta go clear out the clouds from the sky right?” She softly chuckled.

“Mhm,” Dinky replied as she heard the front door chime. “Good timing too, it looks like my mom’s back.”

“Dashie!” Pinkie Pie squealed, rushing inside to aggressively hug the pegasus.

“Or not.” Dinky sighed loudly, her stomach growling louder than ever.

“Ahhh!” Rainbow yelped, turning around to meet her intruder. “Pinkie!”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie replied, letting go of Rainbow Dash. She had a saddlebag on her waist, the side of it bulging with food.

“How did you know I was here?” Rainbow asked.

“Because you told me silly,” Pinkie giggled, as she began bouncing on the spot. “You said that you were waiting for the Wonderbolts letter to arrive, and you never wait for something you’re this excited for!”

“Uh-huh,” Rainbow quietly replied.

“So did you get the letter yet?” Pinkie Pie beamed.

Dinky opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when Rainbow Dash gave her a glare.

“Nope,” Rainbow bluntly. “The letter didn’t come today.”

“Awww...” Pinkie Pie frowned, patting the pegasus on the back. “Well don’t worry, I’m sure the letter will arrive by the time we’re done with our trip.”

“Trip?” Dash gazed towards Pinkie with a raised eyebrow. “What trip?”

“This trip!” Pinkie grinned, pulling out a letter from her saddlebag.

        

To: Her Royal Element of Laughter Bearer, Pinkie Pie and Her Royal Element of Loyalty Bearer, Rainbow Dash
From: Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria

Dear Loyal Esteemed Subjects, I am in need of your assistance.

Recently, as of the past three years, the diplomatic relationship between the Griffon Kingdom and the Diarchy of Equestria has been decaying.  Frequent missions by my trusted diplomats had appeared to yield some promising results to fix the issue, but a few months ago the Griffon Kingdom abruptly cut off contact with our government.  We are unsure of the reasoning of this sudden loss of diplomacy, as we were of finalizing agreements before the loss of contact, and believe that the issue is not related to our recent attempts to strengthen ties with the Kingdom.

Due to the nature of the country, I have picked the two of you to endeavour upon this mission.  Rainbow Dash has previous experience with interacting with griffons,as known by her long friendship with Gilda. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie’s sophisticated social skills will provide a beneficial social platform to discuss upon, as long as she remembers to not be so hyperactive among the royalties of the nation. I would like for the others to join you, however due to certain events, this is no longer a possibility.

Normally I would have once again sent one of my diplomats in Canterlot for such a mission, however due to the sensitivity of our diplomatic relationship, I require a pony of a high symbolic status to interact with the political figures of the opposing party, in order to show a sign of respect and to maintain a stable political relationship. Perhaps you could bring this carton of high quality Equestrian tea with you, as it is well known that the Griffon King is a strong lover of our beverage.

Due to the nature of our relationship, I request that you make way for the Kingdom as soon as possible. I have dispatched a hot-air balloon for your use, which should have arrived with this message.

I thank you for your corporation and your assistance, and I’ll be awaiting to hear your report on the Griffon Kingdom.

Signed by:

Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria
Eternal leader of the Reunified Equestrian Diarchy

September 21st of the 1009th year of the Modern Summer Sun Celebration

“So let me get this straight,” Rainbow asked the bouncing Pinkie Pie. “She wants me to come with you.”

“Mhm!” Pinkie nodded.

“To the Griffon Kingdom.”

“Yup!” Her grin stretched from ear to ear.

“So that we can we have tea with the Griffon king?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Well, we don’t have to drink tea, silly,” Pinkie giggled, patting Rainbow on the head. “Princess Celestia just wants us to check up on him to see why he hasn’t replied to her letters.”

“Uh-huh...” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “So why do I have to come with you?”

“Because the Princess said so!” Pinkie smiled, pointing to a specific part of the letter. “See! It says so right here!”

“Couldn’t she get somepony else to do it?” Dash replied, noticing her name on the long-winded letter.  “I mean, princess or not, I’m not really on good terms with Gilda and I haven’t been on good terms with any other griffons since flight camp. Why doesn't she just get Rarity or Twilight to go talk to this King guy? They’ve both been living in Canterlot for awhile now.”

“Because Twilight’s busy teaching at her university job, and Rarity has to do that fashion show thing.”  Pinkie said, fumbling with her saddlebag.

“How about Applejack?”

Looking up from her saddlebag, Pinkie gazed deep into Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

“Applejack’s busy with her farm, remember?” she replied, slowly returning her attention back towards the bag.

“Fluttersh—” Rainbow Dash tried to ask, but a quick glare by Pinkie Pie stopped her in mid-sentence. “Yeah, nevermind. Couldn’t she get somepony else to go? Maybe one of those Canterlot ponies?”

“Nope,” Pinkie Pie replied, pointing to a part of the letter with her hoof. “It says right here that she requires a pony of a high symbolic status to interact with the political figures of the opposing party, in order to show a sign of respect and to maintain a stable political relationship.”

Rainbow stared wide eyed at the pink pony. “What?”

“Basically," She stood up tall with her hind hooves, imitating a Canterlot accent. "Me and you are special—”

“No, I know what it means,” Rainbow replied. “But... how...when...”

“Hmmm?” Pinkie stared into Rainbow’s eyes. She tried to come up with some sort of rebuttal, however all that came out of her mouth was a sigh.

“Nevermind.” Rainbow said.

“Okie Dokie Lokie.” Pinkie pie smiled, turning her attention back to the saddlepack to pull out a large muffin. “So, ready to go to the Birdy Kingdom Dashie?”

“Wait, now!?” Rainbow Dash glared at Pinkie Pie.

The earth pony walked towards to the large wooden desk, hoofing over a blueberry muffin to Dinky. The mailmare quickly grabbed the large muffin from the pink hooves, a wide smile cast upon her face as she dived right in.

“Yup! Ready to go? The balloon’s parked right outside!”
        
“Shouldn’t we pack up first or something?” Rainbow followed Pinkie Pie as she trotted out the front door. “I mean, the Griffon Kingdom isn’t exactly close, and we’re probably gonna be stuck there for at least a few days.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that!” Pinkie jumped into the large hot-air balloon. “I’ve already got everything packed! Cupcakes, muffins, tea, water, fruit punch, card games—”

“Card games?” Rainbow raised her eyebrow.

“Eeeyup Card games!” Pinkie reached down to grab the box of cards, a loose card falling off the deck.  “Oh and streamers and cake and—”

“All right, all right!” Rainbow Dash put a hoof to Pinkie’s mouth . “I got it!”

“Mhm!” Pinkie grabbed another large muffin from her saddlepack. “So, ready to go Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash glanced back inside the postal office, her crumpled rejection letter rolling around from the outdoor wind. “Sure, why the hay not?” She hovered herself inside the hot-air balloon, finding a comfortable spot among the cluttered mess.

“Wake me up when we get there.”