//------------------------------// // 12. Far From Reach // Story: Keeping It Simple // by Ivory Piano //------------------------------// Far From Reach Macintosh woke up with a yawn and slowly forced a hoof up to close his room’s only window situated just above his headboard. The bed creaked and groaned as he slumped onto his hooves with a grunt of his own. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and went to fetch his harness from its usual hook beside his only shelf. Miss Smartypants sat beside the harness on the shelf, and beside her was his ‘Best Tasting Ever’ ribbon Pinkie had given him a handful of days ago. He smiled as he looked at it, only for his smile to shrink slightly as he refocused on his yoke. With a sigh he slipped it over his head and headed out toward the kitchen. “Did I ever tell ya how I met yer granddaddy when he entered the very first National Dessert Competition?” Granny Smith asked him as he entered the kitchen to the smell of butter and pancakes. Macintosh shook his head with a groan at yet another one of Granny’s stories. “Ya know, Ah’d like ta know more ‘bout gramps besides how ya met him,” he said. His eyes saw a bowl of apples on the table, and he grabbed one and started to eat his breakfast. “Ya wanna know?” the elder mare asked before flipping a pancake. “Welp, he was a lot like yer mother, who was a lot like you. That’s their harness yer wearin’ after all. Course yer mama had ta put some cloth on the inside so it wouldn’t wobble ‘round so much,” she said with a laugh. “Ah kept teasin’ her ‘bout it, so yer granddaddy finally carved some wood to go inside it ta make it fit. Bless his heart. He loved his daughter more than anythin’. Any colt dumb enough ta court yer mother he threatened ta buck to the moon. Liked yer daddy, though. If only ‘cause he was dumb enough ta come back after his fifth buck to the nose and his third to the ribs.” “Eeyup, ya told me that story,” Macintosh said, a bit dissatisfied with what she told him. “What Ah wanna know is how…how much were they like me?” “Why the interest all a sudden?” Granny Smith asked. “Just curious,” he said. “Ah’m gonna go do my chores, granny.” He moved towards the kitchen door leading outside, eager to get out into the fields and have a bit of time to think. “Have some breakfast,” she called after him. “Ah had an apple,” Macintosh said simply. A thick blanket of cloud in the sky stretched on forever, and he felt a bit disappointed. Some sunshine would have helped him wake up and perhaps lift up his mood significantly. He didn’t often reminisce about what could be, at least not when there was work to be done. Then again, it wasn’t as if he had much work to do today. There was only a field to be plowed so Applejack could start planting sweet potatoes. A job usually reserved for him. The work went along easily as always since his sister bought the new plow. It was annoying, even disgusting, how little effort it took. Maybe if he kept going like this he would lose most of his strength and he’d feel as if he was actually doing something. His hooves stopped and the work was done not two hours after he begun. He shook his head in disappointment. He really needed something to occupy his time since farmwork couldn’t. Not anymore. Maybe he could get a second job somewhere in Ponyville. “How’s work goin’?” Applejack’s voice turned his head. She stopped beside him and took a quick scan of the freshly tilled field. Satisfied with the job done, she smiled. “Good, Ah suppose,” Macintosh said while unhitching himself from the plow. “Just wish there was more ta do. Ah know ya told me ta ease up on the work but Ah got more than half the day free. Heck, even you don’t have that much free time.” “It ain’t like there’s much work that’s gotta be done,” Applejack said. “You know well as me that summer ain’t our busiest time.” “Eeyup,” Macintosh said, “but we still plant a few vegetables. Why don’t Ah help with that? Just give me the sweet potato seeds and Ah’ll get started.” “Mac, don’t worry about it. Ah’m doing it,” Applejack said defensively. “Then let me do something. Let me take out the weeds over in the west fields. They’ve been gettin’ outta control lately,” Macintosh said, his voice getting heated. “Ah’ll take care of it,” Applejack retorted. “When?” “When Ah get to it!” “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you two,” Rarity’s voice rang out through the farm and halted their argument. They both looked over to her, and Macintosh noted that smile that always made him wonder what kind of scheme the fashion designer was cooking up. “Ya didn’t think to check the farm first?” Macintosh asked while Rarity approached. “It’s just somethin’ she says when she wants somepony to think she took a ton a time outta her day to look for ‘em,” Applejack said, not taking her eyes from the unicorn. “Why would she want somepony ta think that?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at his sister. “So she can guilt ‘em into doin’ something they won’t like.” “If you two are quite done,” Rarity said with a scoff and a flick of her mane, “I came to take Macintosh to the boutique for a fitting.” “A fitting?” Applejack asked with a raise of an eyebrow. “What for?” She looked to Macintosh for an answer, but he could only shrug. “He hasn’t told you? I invited him to an outdoor picnic in Canterlot that takes place in two weeks,” Rarity said, and Macintosh couldn’t help but brace himself as Applejack burst into laughter. “Well gee, sis, take ‘im if ya want, just make sure ta have him back by sundown,” she said with a snicker that caused Rarity’s face to flush red. “Wait a minute,” Macintosh said, “What about the farm?” The sound of beating wings cut Applejack’s answer short. Not soon after did Rainbow alight among them with a small thud as all her hooves hit the ground at once. She had her saddlebags on, and quickly greeted Rarity, Applejack, and Mac before turning to him with a grin so wide it looked painful. “Hey Mac, guess who has an extra ticket to a Wonderbolts show today at Cloudsdale?” she asked, her voice full of glee. Big Macintosh wasn’t much in the mood for guessing games. “You?” “Eeyup,” Dash answered, “and guess who’s coming with me?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Applejack?” he asked, looking over to his sister. Applejack shook her head. “She already asked me, and Ah already told her that I couldn’t go ‘cause Ah’m too busy with the farm.” “You ain’t gotta be too busy if ya just let me help,” Mac said. The Apple siblings glared at each other. Neither of them backed off and he lost track of how long they scowled into each others eyes, daring the other to look away. As if wanting to break the sudden tension, Dash spoke again. “Not Applejack, guess again.” It was only with great reluctance that Big Mac broke eye contact and focused back on Dash. His staring contest with Applejack did little for his mood, and he decided to end Dash’s roundabout manner. “Ah give up. It’s either gonna be Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, or Pinkie Pie, and Ah ain’t in the mood to go through ‘em one by one.” “Well it’s certainly not me,” Rarity said while her eyes narrowed at Rainbow Dash, “and I certainly wouldn’t come if you asked me. No offense meant, but stunt shows really hold no interest for me.” “Don’t get all excited,” Dash deadpanned, “it’s not you. C’mon Mac, try harder. The Wonderbolts aren’t really Fluttershy’s thing, and Pinkie Pie’s really busy today at Sugarcube Corner. And have you ever gone to a show with Twilight? It’s all ‘terminal velocity’ this and ‘complete rotation on a longitudinal axis while following a helical path’ that. It’s not any of them.” Macintosh bristled as the realization dawned on him. Why would Rainbow Dash be telling him all these things if he didn’t have anything to do with it? No doubt she intended to take him to see the Wonderbolts. “No,” he said. “Aww c’mon,” Dash said. “Why not?” “Well first of all,” Rarity said before Macintosh could give his own answer, “he has an appointment with me to have his fitting done.” He did his best to hide the look of aversion threatening to break his usually stoic expression. It was nothing to do with Rarity, of course, but he couldn’t help but remember how little personal space he had been given the last time he was in the Carousel Boutique to have his measurements taken and that was when the two were only acquaintances. He couldn’t imagine how…familiar she might be now that they’ve known each other for a time, no matter how small it seemed to him. At all cost, he wanted to avoid finding out. “Ah can’t go to the fitting,” he said to Rarity, the words almost coming out in a single burst. “Ah got work to do ‘round the farm.” “No ya don’t.” He could only grit his teeth as Applejack quickly disagreed. He didn’t have to look at her to feel the glare she was giving him. “Like Ah said, Ah’m handlin’ the farm, so you ain’t gotta worry about it.” “But Ah-“ “No buts,” Applejack cut him off, “if you stay here all yer gonna do is mope around and maybe take a nap, and the last thing Ah wanna see is yer sorry self staring at me like Ah stabbed ya in the back. So get goin’, Ah don’t care where.” “Ah, well, uh,” Mac stuttered, his eyes going from Rainbow Dash’s grin to Applejack’s hard-set scowl. “Look, even if Ah wanted ta go to Cloudsdale, which Ah doubt earth ponies can even set hoof on, how the heck am Ah supposed to get there? Case ya hadn’t noticed Ah ain’t got wings back there.” Rarity leaned her head, trying to get a good look of ‘back there’ as if confirming what he said was indeed the truth. “We can take Twilight’s hot air balloon,” Dash said. “I already asked her and she said it was okay so long as we’re careful with it. We can go right now. The show starts in a few hours so we have plenty of time to get ready and stuff.” Seeing the hesitation still apparent on Big Macintosh’s face, she continued, “It’ll be fun, I promise. A thousand times more fun than pulling a plow or bucking some trees.” Mac sighed. He knew better than to try and get his sister to allow him to do some work, that stubborn mare was nowhere near budging. He supposed she learned that from her big brother, but at least he knew enough to pick his battles. Rolling his jaw to position his stick of wheat to the other side of his mouth, he took a sideways glance at Rarity. Was there really any point in having his measurements taken again? It seemed to him that if he went into the Carousel Boutique all he’d get was a bunch of flirting that would make his cheeks go hot. “Let’s go,” he said to Dash. Her grin widened. He decided it wasn’t all that unpleasant. With a nod goodbye to Applejack and Rarity, the latter not looking very pleased with him, Big Macintosh followed Dash down the path to Ponyville. She flew above him while doing a few loop-the-loops in the air, obviously excited at the prospect of watching her favorite flight team. A sudden thought came to him as they entered the outskirts of town. “Say Dash,” he called out to her and caught her attention, flapping in the air as she looked down at him, “why do you like the Wonderbolts so much?” “You’re kidding, right?” she asked. “I like them because they’re awesome.” She didn’t say anything more and continued her flight toward Twilight’s library. Macintosh knew he was going to have to be satisfied with such a superficial answer. It didn’t come as a surprise, he had to admit. He supposed being awesome was reason enough for Rainbow Dash to like anything. The first thing Macintosh noticed when Twilight’s library came into view was the hot air balloon, inflated and ready to go, weighed down by bags of sand in front of the studious mare’s home. It stood almost as tall as the entire library, and Macintosh stared at it anxiously. This balloon was supposed to take him to Cloudsdale? “Hey guys,” he heard Twilight’s voice call out from up above. He raised his head and saw her on the upper balcony, no doubt reading a book, though he couldn’t see any from his vantage point. Rainbow Dash saw her as well and landed beside her. “Come in, Macintosh, I’ll be right down,” Twilight said before she and Dash disappeared inside the building. Big Macintosh entered the library and closed the door behind him. The soft sound of hoofsteps accompanied the two mares as they descended the stairs. Twilight wasted no time, and spoke as soon as all four hooves were on the main floor. “First thing’s first: a spell that’ll let you walk on and touch clouds.” Twilight levitated a book from one of the various shelves in her expansive library. “Here it is,” she said. Macintosh’s response proved unneeded as she began casting her spell. He was a bit taken aback when his body became covered in the reddish glow of her magic. It was strange how much trouble it was to allow an earth pony or unicorn to actually walk on one of Equestria’s cities. Still, he supposed there really was no point in thinking about it too deeply. Either way, the ability to touch clouds was pretty nifty he had to admit. He felt a bit tingly once she had finished casting the spell. It was a strange feeling, but it felt pretty good. Like a sort of warmth lightly touching every part of him. The brief moment of ease quickly deteriorated as he remembered himself and looked toward the two mares standing beside him. Particularly Twilight, who he hadn’t seen much in the past few weeks. It didn’t seem to bother her at all, and she carried along as if nothing ever happened. “So Macintosh,” Twilight said, “I haven’t seen you out of the farm in a while. How’s…that puzzle going?” Perhaps he spoke too soon. “Ah’m still tryin’ ta figure it out,” he said casually so that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t pick up on anything, “still tryin’ ta flip over the pieces. They’re still lookin’ blank.” “Oh well, I’m sure it’ll get easier,” she said, mustering up a small smile for him. He smiled back, grateful for her effort. “Puzzles are so boring,” Rainbow Dash said while taking to the air and landing on Mac’s back. She rested her chin on his head and looked down at Twilight, bringing her front hooves to comfortably rest on his snout. “You want fun? Do a barrel roll at Mach speed, that’s fun.” “Gettin’ pretty cocky there ain’t ya?” Macintosh said. He had to close an eye and squint the other as Dash’s forelegs pressed against them. “What? I’m a pegasus. You know it’s true.” Macintosh gave her an annoyed grunt. “Ah wasn’t talkin’ about that,” he said. “Less yer gonna buy me dinner, Ah suggest ya get offa me.” “Oh, I have food here if you want to eat before you go,” Twilight said, pointing toward her kitchen. Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh could only stare at her. “What?” Twilight asked. Big Ma shook his head and then his whole body to get Dash off balance. It worked and she landed on the ground with a thump. Satisfied with his eased burden, he turned to look out the window at the hot air balloon just outside. He wished he could just get it done and over with. Every second spent staring at it was just another chance for his anxiety to grow. He hated to sound so stereotypical of both a farmer and an earth pony, but he honestly felt like he had no place amongst the sky and the clouds that made it their home. He much preferred the solid comfort of dirt beneath his hooves. “That balloon gonna be okay to take us?” he asked no one in particular, never moving his eyes away from the window. “It’ll be fine,” Rainbow Dash said. The fluttering of wings quickly followed the sound of her voice. The familiar weight of the pegasus on his back made his knees buckle a bit, just a tiny bit, and he narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “What Rainbow said,” Twilight said. “Don’t worry, I taught her how to use it and everything.” “Yeah,” the pegasus said. “Let’s get going. If we get there early we might run into some members of the Wonderbolts and they could give us some autographs. Hut two!” She softly struck a hindleg against his flank, jostling him forward. Macintosh rolled his eyes, shook himself again, and for the second time got Dash off his back. -*- Macintosh had to use every speck of willpower not to look down. As the wind whipped through his mane he kept his eyes firmly shut, and all the while he wished for the ride to be over as soon as possible. On top of that, the occasional turbulence from unexpected wind currents didn’t help his composure any. “What’s wrong, Mac? Scared?” Dash said teasingly as she poked his side. “Ah ain’t scared,” he said, eyes shut. “It’s just that if Ah was meant ta fly Ah would’ve been born a pegasus.” “Aw c’mon. Look were almost there.You can see Cloudsdale from here.” Slowly Macintosh opened his eyes and immediately the city of Cloudsdale came into his view. Its cloudscape almost glittered in the noon sun, setting it apart from the other clouds that were a lusterless gray. From his viewpoint he could see dozens of pillars and arches that seemed to be made from some smooth stone rather than the fluffy clouds he was used to. It seemed like a strange place to him. Smooth and rough, hard and soft. A city that looked as if a breeze could take it all away, yet so grand it felt absolutely timeless. “It’s beautiful,” he said softly. “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash sighed beside him. She shook her head to clear her mind and pulled down the cord that widened the opening at the top of the balloon, causing them to slowly descend for a landing. As they came closer to the city, Macintosh noticed something in the far off distant on the other side of Cloudsdale. A mass of black clouds hovered in the sky, it was small but even so it seemed ominous amongst the glittering white of the cloud city. He tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and nodded at the rain clouds. “Probably the weather factory getting ready to deliver them somewhere around Equestria,” Dash said, waving off his concern. Macintosh was ready to drop the issue when his ears pricked up as the heard the sound of low rolling thunder and rushing wind. By the way she was scanning the air around them, Rainbow Dash heard it too. All he could see was the same white fluff. Then he saw it zooming into view: a black cloud much like the ones on the other side of Cloudsdale. It rushed past the hot air balloon, leaving a trail of rain as it went. Following it were two pegasi in bright orange vests, they flew past without taking any notice to the balloon. “What about that?” Mac asked. Rainbow shrugged nonchalantly. “Probably put too much lightning in it, it happens. Makes the clouds go crazy.” For some reason, Mac wasn’t so sure it was that simple, but he was in no position to tell her so. It wasn’t as if he had any experience with how the weather worked. Instead he watched the city became larger and closer with each passing second until he could swear the basket was only a few inches away from the ground, or at least what could be considered ground in a city of clouds. They hit a rough landing amongst some chariots and carriages right at the outskirts of the denser part of the city, he supposed it was some sort of lot for vehicles and such. Rainbow Dash jumped out of the basket, propelled with a casual flap of her wings. Macintosh, however, decided to take his time. Looking at the pseudo-ground he wondered if Twilight’s spell would work, or if he would plummet hundreds of feet to his inevitable doom. No, he wouldn’t do that. He’d hate to think what kind of guilt Twilight would feel because of him. He chuckled at the morbid thought. The change in altitude must be what was making him think such strange thoughts. Noticing Rainbow stare confusedly at him, he gave her a small smile meant to ease her mind and climbed out with a bit of difficulty. “C’mon,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, “the stadium’s only a quick walk away.” She didn’t wait for him to say anything and quickly headed toward the city at a brisk pace. Macintosh had to trot to catch up to her, and even then had to pick up the pace just to stay even with her. Why couldn’t she slow down? It’d be nice to have a leisurely walk amongst the skyscrapers and take in his surroundings. Everywhere there were flying pegasus in the air, going about their daily errands or even just treading air to have conversations. Unlike the layout of most cities, Cloudsdale had several houses and storefronts suspended on their own little clouds in the air with no way for a pony on the ground to reach them without flying. It was a strange feeling, as if he was a square looking at a cube, painfully aware of the dimensions he could never have access to. Every so often he would be comforted by the presence of earth ponies and unicorns walking the fluffy streets. Every one he saw seemed to be going in the same direction as he and Rainbow Dash. He guessed they were going to the show, and he wondered whether that was the only reason they were in Cloudsdale, or if they actually lived up here. A sudden drizzle of rain made him look straight up to see another black cloud zoom past. Right on its tail were two pegasi speeding to catch it. They flew toward the thick mass of black clouds and disappeared in the distance. It was then that he realized that he and Rainbow Dash were heading straight for the dark clouds. Macintosh cast a sideways glance at Rainbow Dash, but she didn’t seem fazed in the slightest by the sight. He didn’t even think she noticed, busy as she was talking about each member of the Wonderbolts with such detail he idly mused on whether she was stalking them. Though more likely it was simply the lack of privacy most celebrities had. “That’s weird,” Dash mumbled as they stopped just in front of a level part of Cloudsdale without buildings. The sudden shade was the first thing Macintosh noticed, the second was the curtain of rain falling a few feet away, and the third were the ponies in the air, all wearing orange vests, darting in and out of the mass of clouds. If he squinted he could just see the individual shapes of clouds amongst the blanket of darkness. Stranger still was that wherever a pony went, the clouds would part and create a path of bright blue sky. It was as if they were being repelled by the pegasi’s very presence and stopped at nothing to get out of their way. Macintosh had never seen anything like it before. One second there would only be shade so thick he could hardly see Rainbow Dash, the next a patch of sunlight would shine wearily through a sudden gap only to be engulfed again seconds later. “Eeyup,” Macintosh said, it was all he could think of. He cast another glance at her, silently asking whether they should keep going. She never noticed it, and instead gazed somewhere ahead of them. Following her eyes he spotted what caught her attention. Just ahead was a staircase that sloped gently to a cloud island that held a colosseum-like structure; he supposed where the air show would be held. Cutting off any entrance to the staircase was a tangle of yellow tape and a few bright red and yellow signs floating on a couple of clouds. Both said the same thing: “Show cancelled due to inclement weather”. “Inclement weather?” Rainbow Dash read as she trotted forward into the rain. Macintosh quickly followed her, and felt a bit of shock as the ice cold rain hit him for the first time. Dash, however, didn’t seem fazed at all. “How can a show in Cloudsdale be cancelled because of rain?” She asked no one in particular as she stopped at glared at the yellow tape. “That’s like Sugarcube Corner closing because it has to many cakes and stuff.” Macintosh wasn’t sure the analogy was very apt. “Looks like it’s the end of the road,” he said. “Might as well head back.” “No,” she said, placing a hoof on his chest to keep him from turning the opposite direction. “I came here to see a Wonderbolts show, and a little bit of rain isn’t going to stop me.” “Dash, what’re you gonna do? Walk up to ‘em and tell ‘em to put on a show in the middle of a rainstorm?” “I’m going to ask ‘em what’s going on,” she said as she flew above the tape and landed on the other side. “C’mon, there’s something up, I know it.” Macintosh could only stare at her. He knew better than to argue, the look on Dash’s eyes told him that doing so wouldn’t be any use. So with a sigh he pulled the tape aside and passed through. As they went up the staircase Macintosh gazed at the colosseum. It seemed to be completely empty. Entering it only seemed to confirm his impression, as each of the several long hallways were without light or sign of life. He didn’t exactly know where they were going, and so stayed close to Rainbow Dash who seemed to have a better idea. Then again it might just be her usual bravado unwilling to admit that she had no idea where to go. Finally the sound of falling rain and rumbling thunder became louder as they went down a particular hallway. Looking ahead, Macintosh saw the corridor lead and end into the open air. Underneath the archway that signaled the entrance to the stadium’s field were three ponies deep in conversation, only their silhouettes visible. “How hard is it to give me a solid number,” a mare’s voice spoke, her voice sounded heated. “Let me ask again. How long until all these clouds are cleared?” “As I said, it’s taking longer than we estimated to catch them. At this rate we’ll be lucky if we can get them all within twenty-four hours,” a stallion’s voice answered. “Twenty-four hours?” Dash blurted out, and instantly covered her mouth. The three other ponies turned their gazes to them. “Rainbow Dash? That you?” the mare asked as she approached. As she did, Macintosh could discern a bright orange and yellow mane along with a golden coat. The other two followed along. The stallion that spoke before wore a white lab coat and a orange hard hat, while the third was a stallion with a dark blue mane and a lighter blue coat. “Hey, long time no see,” the blue-coated stallion said with a smile. “Oh hey Soarin, Spitfire,” Rainbow Dash said, and Mac could see how hard she was trying not to break out into a huge grin. She managed to keep a straight face as she spoke. “Me and Mac here were on our way to your show when we saw it was cancelled and we were wondering what happened.” Macintosh just stood there, waiting for Dash to at least introduce him properly. She never did, much to his annoyance. “It’s a long story,” Soarin said. “We were doing our dress rehearsal when these clouds just came out of nowhere and started raining.” “So?” Dash said. “Why don’t you just move them?” “Ask him,” Spitfire said as she pointed to the stallion with the lab coat. He glared at her for a moment before clearing his throat and taking a step forward. “We’re having a bit of difficulty catching them,” he said. “What? That’s it?” Dash said with a roll of her eyes. “Geez, I’m a weather pony too, you know. I could catch all these clouds and clear ‘em out in ten seconds flat.” “Thank you for the offer,” he said, “but these are no ordinary clouds.” “What do you mean?” Dash asked. “These clouds were part of an experiment conducted by weather factory personnel,” he explained. “In an effort to raise the efficiency of the weather process, a spell was cast on them that would allow them to simply float to an area designated for rainfall without the supervision of pegasi. This part of Cloudsdale was meant to be a test run, only lasting for about an hour, but…” he paused, and shuffled his front hooves nervously. “But?” Rainbow Dash said, her voice threatening as she prodded him on. “Well, you see, in order to make sure that any pegasus from off the street couldn’t interfere with the rain schedule by moving the cloud, another spell was cast that made it so the rain clouds would evade capture by fleeing from any ponies that got too close until such time as it would be safe to return. Then yet another spell would be cast on the clouds so that weather factory ponies could get close to them. However, the scientists in charge of this test run seemed to have…forgotten to cast the last spell.” “So let me get this straight,” Dash said, rubbing her head in exasperation. “There’s a ton of clouds out there that’ll try to fly away from any ponies that get too close, and the only way to stop the rain is to catch them and-“ “Bring them back to the weather factory to have them de-spelled,” the weather pony finished. “Why can’t you just bring a unicorn and have them do it from here?” Soarin asked. “Well, uh, you see the spell can only be undone when a unicorn has direct physical contact with the cloud.” “Which they can’t since the cloud would just fly away,” Spitfire said. “Exactly.” “Oh for Celestia’s sake,” Soarin moaned, “why all the trouble with spells? Is getting clouds stolen really that much of a problem?” “It’s not that they’ll be stolen, we were worried that they would be tampered with. A lot of ponies don’t agree with the weather schedule we set up, and we don’t want to make it easy for them to make a rainy day sunny or vice versa.” “Whatever,” Dash said, “but twenty four hours? I get that there’s a lot out there but like I said, I can catch ‘em no problem if you just let me help.” “I’m sorry,” the pegasus said, “this is weather factory business, and while it may take a while we have this situation under control.” “Under control my-“ Dash didn’t get the chance to finish her swear before the weather factory pony flew off into the rain. “That’s that then,” Spitfire said with a sigh. “Let’s go Soarin, we have to break the news to the rest of the team.” Soarin nodded and followed her down the way Mac and Dash came in. “Wait, so that’s it?” Dash asked. “You’re not going to do anything?” “Look, Dash,” Spitfire said, “I’ve dealt with weather ponies before. Hell, I’ve been dealing with that one all morning. Don’t get me wrong, I want to do something, but those ponies won’t let us. We have our place in Cloudsdale, and they have theirs. It’s best not to get in each other’s business.” “But those clouds are raining on your stadium,” Dash retorted. “It is your business, and even if they won’t let you do anything about it, you’re the Wonderbolts! You’re practically royalty. You can do whatever you want! So what if he said they had things under control? Obviously they don’t or else it wouldn’t take a whole day to clear those clouds out. Besides, who’d complain if you helped them out? Like anypony’s going to say anything about having to do less work. No offense, Mac.” “She’s got a point, Spit,” Soarin said. “It’s not like we’re not used to getting in a little trouble here and there,” he added with a smirk. “Plus if I don’t stretch out my wings I’m gonna get my feathers ruffled.” Spitfire squinted at the floor in concentration. Slowly, her eyes lifted to look at Soarin, then to Rainbow Dash. Finally her eyes drifted to Macintosh, and they held each other’s sight for a brief second before she spoke. “Mac, right? You’ve been pretty quiet. You wanna help us out too?” He wished she hadn’t asked him. Now all three pairs of eyes were looking intently at him. “Eeyup.” He answered without giving much thought, which made him contemplate why he answered yes so easily. He looked over to Dash and noticed how much her eyes shone with eagerness. He figured she was seeing this as an opportunity to display her skills in front of her idols, but what could he possibly gain from it? Especially being an earth pony amongst pegasi. Well, it was better than sitting on his backside, doing nothing. “Good enough for me,” Spitfire said with a smile. “Let’s go. I want to tell the team what we’re going to do, and I’ll think up of some strategies on the way.” With that she quickly trotted down the hall, and the others hurried to catch up to her. Nobody spoke the entire way as Spitfire led them down one corridor after another in a seemingly random fashion. All the while her brow was furrowed in an unbreakable concentration. Only when all four stopped in front of a solitary door with light creeping out from the other side did Spitfire’s expression relax. “What room is this?” Dash asked, a bit of excitement tinting her voice. “The cafeteria-slash-equipment room,” Soarin said. “There’s a cafeteria here?” Mac couldn’t help but ask. “Yeah, of course, Cloudsdale is practically our headquarters. Our rooms and everything are in this stadium, and it’s where we do most of our training.” “So if it’s your home why do you only have a half-cafeteria, half-equipment room? Why not have two rooms for it?” Rainbow Dash asked. Soarin shrugged. “We used to have a dedicated cafeteria, but we got so much training stuff that we had to, uh, find someplace to put it all. Cafeteria seemed a good a place as any. It’s also where we have our staff meetings and stuff since our old conference room is also kinda full of equipment too. And right now there’s about ten of our teammates waiting for their captain to bark orders at them.” Spitfire gave him a glare and he responded with a playful snicker. “Watch it, wise guy, or I’ll make you sleep in the locker room,” Spitfire said with a smirk before focusing back on the door. She rolled her shoulders and stretched her neck from side to side. “Gotta get into the zone,” she mumbled, more to herself than to anyone else. When her hoof opened the door she stood straighter, and her smirk disappeared. Macintosh recognized the look; it was the one ponies wore when they got down to business. The bustling room looked much like a cafeteria, tables and benches arranged neatly throughout. The only difference was the various chests, drawers, and bags scattered haphazardly about. Just as Soarin said, there were several ponies seated on a few benches and tables, and all of them were chatting amongst themselves. Rainbow Dash whispered into Big Mac’s ear and started naming each of the ponies in the room, from Fleetfoot to High Winds, Fire Streak, and Misty. Macintosh didn’t know whether the lack of uniforms made it easier or harder for her to identify them. The room quieted down as soon as the ponies noticed Spitfire standing in front of the door. They all stood at attention, and gave her a quick salute. The captain took a moment to allow her eyes to scan through the small crowd, her eyes falling on a particular pony now and again. “Blaze,” Spitfire said, and immediately a mare with an orange mane and yellow coat stepped forward, “remember what you said when I announced that we’d have to cancel morning rehearsal?” “Uh,” Blaze paused, “I said I was glad…” Spitfire squinted her eyes and her mischievous smirk returned. “And I said it wouldn’t last long. Listen up ‘bolts, turns out it’s going to take a whole day for those weather ponies to get those clouds out of the way.” A small murmur traveled through the room, and Spitfire patiently waited for it to quiet down before continuing. “I’m not going to wait that long, so we’re going to do what Wonderbolts do best and speed things up. Let me tell you what we’re up against.” They all listened as Spitfire explained exactly what the clouds were and how they worked. Some of the ponies exchanged looks of disbelief, but Spitfire ignored them. When her exposition finally started winding down, Soarin took the opportunity to stand beside her. “So Captain,” he said once a few seconds had passed for their audience to take in all the new information, “you said you’d think of some strategies.” “I did,” Spitfire said, “and those two ponies are going to help us. Some of you already know Rainbow Dash, and all of you know what she’s capable of. I want you all to treat her with the same respect you’d treat one of our own.” Macintosh noticed how much Dash’s eyes lit up as she tried in vain to contain her grin. Spitfire pointed to the farmpony. “And this is Mac. I admit I don’t know him that well, but anypony that’s friends with Rainbow Dash is okay by me.” The crowd of ponies said their greetings to both of them, and Dash enthusiastically returned them. Macintosh, trying his best to shake away the discomfort from having so many pairs of eyes on him, mumbled a quick hello. “What’s the plan?” Soarin asked, his speech speeding up in excitement. “It sounds good.” Instead of answering him outright, Spitfire just smiled and made her way through the other Wonderbolts toward a chest in the back of the room. She opened it and started pulling out several pieces of rope varying in length from a few feet to several yards. “Dash, Mac, we use these ropes to pull our obstacles into place, two or three at a time. They’re enchanted so they tighten around a cloud no matter what shape they take. This is how we’re going to quicken things up.” “So we’re going to tie those ropes around the clouds?” Soarin asked, and Spitfire nodded. “Seems like it’ll be tough to get them around the clouds while they’re trying to get out of our way.” “Ah can tie ‘em into lassos,” Macintosh said. He grabbed a piece of rope and did the familiar knot. He quickly demonstrated how it worked by roping his foreleg and pulling the rope tight, and then loosening it off of him. It took all of half a minute. “Perfect,” Spitfire said. “Can you do that with all the ropes?” “Eeyup,” Mac said, already getting started. “Yeah, that’s great,” Soarin said, tilting his head, “but how are we going to actually, you know, catch the clouds?” “Maneuver Fifty-Three,” Spitfire said, her voice lowered to give her words a bit of mystique. A buzz of excitement filled the room, and a few pegasi flapped their wings. Macintosh looked over to Rainbow Dash, hoping for an answer. Judging by her wide-eyed expression, she had one to give. She noticed his gaze and gave him a smile. “Nah, it’s a thousand times better if you see it for yourself. Let’s just say it has another name: The Sphere of Death.” “I think it’s obvious how we’re going to use it to catch the clouds, seems simple enough,” Spitfire continued before looking over at Rainbow Dash and Macintosh. “Once we catch a cloud we’ll tie it to a column where it can easily be retrieved. Dash, you’re a weather pony, so I’d like you to try to get them to transport the clouds from here to the weather factory. If we could focus everything on catching clouds while they worry about transporting them, we can get this whole thing done in a blink. Until then, Mac, you’re going to have to do it on your own. You up to that?” “Eeyup,” Macintosh said without hesitation. It wasn’t a glamorous job, and it sounded repetitious, which meant it was just the sort of thing he was used to doing. “Just point me to the weather factory. ‘fraid Ah ain’t spent much time here in Cloudsdale.” “Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash told him, “I’ll go with you on the first trip.” “Alright, team,” Spitfire said, “let’s get a move on. Those clouds aren’t going to take care of themselves, and there’s no way in hell this day’s going down as the first time a Wonderbolt’s show was postponed because of a little rain.” She slung the rope across her back and walked out of the room with confident steps. Everyone followed close behind. Macintosh made sure to stay well behind everyone else, content with silently pondering his thoughts as the rest talked excitedly. The conversation didn’t last long as they got closer to the archway leading outside and the rain and thunder became louder. By the time the small crowd were at the exit, every pony there looked out at the darkened sky. Spitfire gave her team a reassuring nod and dropped the ropes on her back. “Squad Alpha, we’ll take the ropes. We’re going to need ‘em.” With that she took a length of rope and flew into the rain. Soarin quickly followed her, and one by one the Wonderbolts followed their leaders into the air, about half taking rope along with them. “Watch this,” Rainbow Dash said to Mac while in the air. “I’m going to go talk to the weather ponies, but when I get back I want you to tell me how awesome it was.” He nodded, though he didn’t need any prodding to follow the pegasi as they flew higher and higher. They began in the shape of an arrow before breaking off into two groups, Spitfire leading one while Soarin led the other. The vice-captain was the first to make a move, and he started flying a horizontal circle in the sky. Reacting to his presence, the clouds around him moved out of his way, creating a streak of blue sky in his path. Faster and faster he went, until the clouds were forced to separate into those outside Soarin’s circle and those within. To compensate, the clouds inside began to lift up and away. Before they could, another Wonderbolt from Soarin’s group started circling in a vertical axis, cutting them off and intersecting with the vice-captain’s flight path. Macintosh winced as he watched the two ponies passing one another, sometimes coming within a hair’s length of crashing into each other. They never did. Big Mac could now see exactly what Rainbow Dash was talking about. Even he, a pony that had absolutely no experience with anything even remotely related to flying, could admire the amount of skill being displayed before him. Soon, as if two ponies weren’t enough, two more from Soarin’s group joined in. This time, they each created a circle diagonally from Soarin’s. They were going so fast that the clouds inside seemed to shiver as they tried their best to escape. Now their stunt truly looked like a sphere, and Mac could swear that it looked as if the sphere was solid. Once the four ponies were in position, Spitfire and her squadron hovered around it. In the blink of an eye the captain darted forward into a collision course for the sphere, but instead of crashing and falling as Big Mac expected she passed through without harm and a cloud between her hooves. She quickly slipped her rope tight around it, and brought it down to the archway where Mac stood. After tying it around a nearby pillar she gave him a salute and flew back. One after the other Spitfire’s team followed their captain’s lead and zipped into and out of the sphere. If Mac was impressed before, it was nothing compared to the astonishment he felt now. The clouds inside the sphere didn’t last long and once the final few were tied to the pillar, Soarin and his squad broke their formation and moved on to another area of the sky. Macintosh counted the tethered clouds as Soarin began circling again. Six clouds. Not a whole lot, but, especially considering that it took around ten minutes, it was a start. The beating of wings announced Rainbow Dash’s return beneath the entrance. She was soaked to the bone and he could see her shivering. Quickly she pressed her side against him, looking for warmth, and he wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders to give it to her. “How’d talkin’ with the weather ponies go?” he asked. “So-so I guess. They’re talking over there.” She pointed a hoof at the field and Mac could indeed see the group huddled around each other. “They’re deciding whether they should go with Spitfire’s plan or keep going they’re own way.” “They are?” Mac asked incredulously. “Seems like a dumb thing to discuss. It’s obvious that workin’ together would make things go faster.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “It makes sense. I’m a weather pony too, remember? I know how it feels. The weather is what weather ponies are all about, and it sucks when other ponies tell us how to do our jobs. It’s like if Pinkie Pie told you that you were watering your farm wrong.” Big Mac nodded with a thoughtful hum. “Yeah, but then again Pinkie Pie would probably tell me to use sugar water.” “Yeah,” she said with a weak chuckle before pressing her cheek against his neck. “You’re really warm,” she mumbled, almost to herself. Her eyes looked over at the clouds tied to the pillar. “Let’s get those clouds to the weather factory, maybe the weather ponies’ll come around by the time we get back.” “Maybe you should stay here and dry up,” Mac said. “Ah’m sure Ah’ll find it if ya just gimme directions.” “Fat chance,” Dash said, separating herself from him and shaking the water out of her coat, “We’re taking those clouds together. That means we’re dry together and we stand out in the rain together.” “But Ah didn’t stand out in the rain while you were talkin’ to the weather ponies,” Mac quickly said, hoping to stop her. He agreed with Dash whole-heartedly, and that was why he felt so guilty about staying dry while she was out in the cold. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, smiling. “You got me warm, that’s good enough for me. Now c’mon let’s take these clouds before the Wonderbolts bring more.” Macintosh couldn’t think of anything more to say, so, while taking a deep breath, he stepped into the rain along with Dash. Coming to the pillar, Macintosh grabbed all six pieces of rope. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned to meet Rainbow Dash’s glare. With an inward sigh he released one of the ropes. It wasn’t enough to alleviate him of her stern gaze, so he let go of another. Still she glared at him, but he refused to let go of yet another. Instead, he fiddled with the knots around the pillar. They came off easily, and suddenly the strain of four clouds trying their best to escape came full force on his neck. It was nothing he couldn’t handle, however, and he steadily made his way back beneath the archway, while Rainbow snagged the two remaining clouds. She quickly fell in beside him, and Mac could see in his peripheral vision how much she struggled with her burden and how much she tried to hide it. Bringing attention to it wouldn’t do anyone any good, Macintosh knew. It wasn’t as if she would ever admit to it. All he could do was focus on his own clouds. It felt good. It felt good to have his body strain against a force fighting him. For once he was doing actual work in hard conditions. He could feel his sweat briefly sting his eyes before the rain washed it away. He could feel his muscles strain as he followed Rainbow Dash out of the stadium and into the open air. He could feel his strength returning to him after long having been neglected. This was it. This was work. Not dragging a sharp blade through the ground as if both were made of water, not bucking an apple tree with a light hoof so that he wouldn’t damage its trunk, and not holding back because his sister told him to. His ache gave him happiness, and his rain-soaked shivers proved his merit. That was all that mattered to him. After a couple of minutes of walking, they were out of the thick cloud cover. The rain never stopped, however, as the clouds above them would not relent and continued to pour gallons and gallons of water on them. Thankfully the weather factory was a quick ten-minute walk away. The weather factory was a large building that stood in its very own floating cloud a bit away from the rest of the city. Similar to the stadium it was connected by a large path to the rest of Cloudsdale. It shared the same pillars and sweeping curves of the colosseum, but there were dozens of pipes—all made of cloud—snaking their way in and out of the walls. In front of them was a set of double doors that he assumed were the entrance, and in front of it were several pegasus ponies. As soon as they saw the black clouds they all came toward Mac and Dash at once. Rainbow Dash tried to explain what was going on, but they didn’t seem to pay any attention to her. They went to work on the clouds, untying the ropes around them and bringing them inside the weather factory. It took two of them to bring in a single cloud. “Thanks,” a pegasus mare said once all the clouds had been safely brought inside. “I take it you’re helping out our field team?” “Kinda,” Dash said, slinging the loose rope over the farmpony’s back. Macintosh could see that she was bursting to say more, but before she could Big Mac tapped her side. With a nod to the black sky over part of Cloudsdale, he silently signaled that they had to get going. She gave him a nod. “We gotta go back and help,” she told the mare, “make sure you guys are out here and ready for more. A whole lot more.” The mare gave her word that they would indeed wait for more clouds to be delivered, and Mac and Dash trotted off back to the stadium. “So was it awesome?” Dash asked. “Eeyup,” Mac said, remembering the spectacle that the Wonderbolts put on. “Ah gotta admit, Ah didn’t know what it was about ‘em that you kept getting so excited about. But watchin’ them do…that was pretty damn impressive.” “I know!” Rainbow Dash gushed. “It’s so awesome! You think they’re going to hit each other, but their timing is so perfect. Especially how some of them actually go through it. It’s like they can make time stand still or something.” Big Mac listened with a smile at how Dash’s voice rose an octave when talking of her idols. She went on and on about them, and how big of a fan she was. He already knew most of what she told him, things like how much she’s wanted to join since she was a filly, but he was glad to have an opportunity to quietly share her excitement. “Hey Mac, can I ask you something?” Rainbow Dash asked, her tone taking on a more serious tint once she was done talking about the Wonderbolts. “Eeyup,” Macintosh said, wondering what had brought on her sudden change of mood. “It’s about when Spitfire asked if you wanted to help too.” “What about it?” “It’s…It’s just that, you only said ‘eeyup’. You couldn’t think of anything else?” Macintosh grunted. “Guess not.” “You mean you couldn’t think of saying something cooler like ‘I want to help Rainbow Dash since she’s the most awesome friend I ever had’ or maybe ‘It would be a total honor working beside the best flight team in the entire world’?” “Ah…Ah guess Ah could’ve,” Mac admitted, “though Ah probably would’ve worded it different. Ya know Ah did want to help ya, and Ah did think it’d be pretty nice to work with ‘em. It’s just that Ah didn’t think to say those things.” “Why?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What’s it matter?” Mac asked. “Ah don’t see why yer makin’ such a big deal about what Ah said or didn’t say.” “Because it wasn’t you, you know? I mean, yeah it was something you’d say, it’s totally something you’d say. But it wasn’t what you would do or say to a pony like me if I had asked you. You would’ve said more than just ‘eeyup’.” Big Macintosh quirked an eyebrow at her, honestly confused. Rainbow Dash sighed and rubbed her head, and he could see the gears whirling in her mind as she thought of the best way to explain. “It’s like…you’re a different pony when you’re around me than when you’re around ponies you don’t know. You’re really cool, Mac, but I wouldn’t even know that if I never got to know you. It’s like you’re kind of hiding. Like when we first met Spitfire and Soarin and you hardly said anything.” Mac only shrugged. “Ah’m just shy, Ah guess.” “No, Fluttershy is shy. You’re…I don’t know. You’re like one of those three-D pictures that just look like a bunch of shapes and colors and you have to stare at it for a long time before it makes any sense.” Big Mac tapped his chin. “Maybe the colors and shapes are really all there is to it, and maybe there ain’t some hidden picture that ya gotta figure out.” Rainbow Dash stared at the ground in thought. “I just wish Spitfire and Soarin could know you like I do. I think they’d really like you.” If she had anything more to say she never got a chance to say it. Just ahead of them were several weather ponies holding ropes tethering black clouds. They were all headed in the same direction Mac and Dash were coming from. Not a word was spoken as the two groups passed each other, though Dash wasn’t trying particularly hard to hide her smug smirk. The weather ponies didn’t seem to notice, struggling as they were with trying to control the clouds trying to escape. A few clouds, mostly the larger ones, had to be held by two or even three ponies to be kept under control. Mac and Dash were soon beneath the rainclouds again, and they huddled close together against the cold. By the time they entered the stadium and were beneath the archway leading out there were five more clouds waiting to be delivered, and the Wonderbolts were still dutifully catching the clouds. Big Mac couldn’t see much progress being made. He figured it was going to be a long day, but that was fine by him. “I’m going to see if I can catch a few on my own,” Rainbow Dash said as Mac dropped the ropes on his back on dry ground. “You okay taking the rest of the clouds?” “Eeyup.” No sooner had Macintosh said it did Rainbow grab a length of rope, give him a quick salute, and fly into the air. He watched her gain altitude and give chase to a random cloud. It darted away from her at an incredible speed, but Rainbow Dash was obviously faster and she quickly closed the gap. However, with every sharp turn the cloud gained back some distance since Rainbow Dash always reacted a second too late. All in all, though, Mac wouldn’t be surprised if she caught it within the minute. His eyes going back to the tethered clouds, he grabbed the five ropes and untied the knots. The sudden force whipped his head back and forth before he could gain back control. He stood still for a few seconds, concentrating on stiffening his neck muscles. Taking his first tentative steps, he gritted his teeth and made his way to the weather factory. The work was tedious (as he thought) and consisted of going back and forth between the colosseum and the weather factory, dropping the ropes off for the Wonderbolts to use when he arrived at the stadium. Every trip to and from he would always see the weather ponies going the other way. A few would always give him sideways glances as he held on to three, four, or five clouds at a time—however many were waiting for him. It made him feel a bit proud of himself, and every time he would go to pick up more he would always try to take at least one more than the last. The most he managed to take was ten in one trip. Of course he had trouble, but he made sure to hide it. This time the weather ponies couldn’t help but openly stare at his feat of strength, and Macintosh made sure to give one of the prettier mares a wink. She looked away and blushed, and Macintosh smiled and strutted off with his confidence at an all time high. The times when he could see it, the sun always headed steadily through the sky. After delivering a batch of clouds he would take a moment to admire how much the setting sun turned the glittering cityscape of Cloudsdale into deep reds and bright golds. He didn’t even mind the cool breeze that, thanks to his wet coat, felt like needles piercing him. Cloudsdale. Big Mac was content with being an earth pony, but if he ever found himself a pegasus by some strange happenstance, then living here probably wouldn’t be so bad. If only for the incredible hues the clouds borrowed from the sun. He wished he could see them during sunrise. Soon the border between the raining part of Cloudsdale and the rest of the city began to recede. It shrunk until it was nonexistent, and Macintosh was surprised when he arrived at the colosseum to pick up more clouds only to find that there was just one left. Nearby he saw the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash happily congratulating themselves for a job well done. “Looks like that’s it,” Spitfire said with a grin. “Good work, team. Hit the showers and take the rest of the day off.” She stared off toward the quickly setting sun. “Looks like there isn’t going to be a show today. We’ll have to reschedule to next weekend.” The other Wonderbolts agreed and quickly headed inside, eager to finish the long day. Spitfire grabbed the vice-captain by his tail and pulled him to her. “Not you, Soarin. Me, you, Dash, and Mac here are going to deliver the last cloud and take a little victory lap.” “Victory lap my cutie mark,” Soarin said with a smirk, “you just wanna give the weather ponies a big, fat ‘I told you so’.” “Guilty,” Spitfire said with a smile. She brought her face closer to his and Soarin did the same. She closed her eyes and tilted her chin forward, her lips relaxed and waiting for his. Soarin suddenly lost a bit of his focus and cast a sheepish glance at Mac and Dash—both of whom were politely averting their gaze—as his cheeks turned a slight shade of red. He quickly placed his eyes back to Spitfire and tapped the end of his nose against hers. Her eyelids opened halfway and she frowned in annoyance as Soarin tried to casually turn to the exit. Before he could, Spitfire placed a hoof on his cheek and forced his face toward hers. In an instant she had her lips on his, and Soarin’s wings ruffled in surprise. With cheeks almost as red as Mac’s, he broke the kiss after a few seconds. “You can do a Split S blindfolded but you can’t kiss your marefriend in public,” Spitfire said with a sly smile. “Gimme a break,” Soarin said, the flush never disappearing from his face. He quickly looked around in hopes of finding a way out when his eyes fell on Big Macintosh. “Mac you get it, right?” he said. “When you’re with a mare aren’t things like that supposed to be private?” Macintosh shrugged, wary of tossing in his two bits though well aware that he couldn’t avoid it. “Eeyup. It’s probably better ta just wait ‘til yer all alone together.” “Well, yeah, maybe for big stuff,” Rainbow Dash chimed in, “but if I want to kiss my coltfriend then I’m going to kiss my coltfriend. If that makes anypony uncomfortable well then let them deal with it.” “Exactly,” Spitfire said to Soarin. “Plus it’s not like our relationship is some big secret. We’re Wonderbolts for Celestia’s sake, the tabloids were saying we were together before we were actually together. Now if we’re done talking, let’s deliver this cloud.” She didn’t wait for an answer and led the way out, and the rest gladly followed. Mac was just happy the subject was dropped and took the last piece of rope and undid the final knot. He tried not to pay too much attention to the rain falling on him. Nothing was said along the way, and it was a comfortable silence that accompanied the four. Big Mac was a bit surprised that they didn’t run into the weather ponies like he did every time he went this way. He supposed that they already knew that the work was finished, or that they probably knew exactly how many clouds they had set loose and thus knew there was only one left. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t long before they arrived at the double doors. There was no one there. They stood silently, until the captain stepped forward and gave three knocks. The air seemed to stand still as they waited for an answer. “Some victory lap,” Rainbow Dash muttered, “there should be hundreds and hundreds of ponies out here telling us how great we are.” “Maybe they’re busy,” Soarin said, “they have to de-spell a hundred or so clouds and all.” At that moment they heard a call from a few yards in the opposite direction. Macintosh turned from the door and saw a group of ponies waving at them. A few had cameras, while others had pads of paper tucked beneath their wings or floating in the air. Almost all of them were wearing vests or coats with a logo emblazoned on the front, and Mac could make out a few belonging to newspapers. “I was wondering when the newsponies would get here,” Spitfire said. “Let’s go Soarin, they probably have a ton of questions, and we can take the chance to announce that the show’s being postponed.” Soarin nodded and followed her. “Oh hey,” Dash said, “you guys mind if I come along?” “Course not,” Spitfire said, “you were a huge help.” Rainbow Dash grinned and with a giddy step trotted to catch up to the Wonderbolts. Mac, seemingly forgotten, simply shrugged and knocked on the doors again. They finally opened soon after, and Big Mac almost released the cloud in surprise. His breath vanished as he saw who stood there to greet him. His heart raced as he gazed at her. He had never seen her up close, only a few far-away glimpses whenever she visited Ponyville along with photos that he saw in some newspapers or the books in Twilight’s library. Neither of which did the princess any justice. From her ethereal mane of vibrant colors to her bright pink eyes, not to mention her considerable height (it wasn’t often he had to look up to meet a pony’s eyes), all of it stunned him in place, and for a moment he didn’t feel the rain beating down on him. He could have sworn that there was a light shining from her. Considering that she raised the sun every morning, it might not have been simply his imagination. Macintosh looked back at the newsponies, wondering if they had realized who was standing at the entrance to the weather factory. They were several dozen yards away and they all seemed engrossed with the Wonderbolts, taking pictures and furiously writing notes. Princess Celestia didn’t notice him at first, busy as she was talking to a stallion wearing the usual weather pony uniform. He seemed to be in a panic. “And that’s what happened, your highness,” he said. “I’m afraid the test run was a bit of a failure. Again I offer my most sincere apologies.” “That’s a shame,” the princess said with a smile, “perhaps it’s best to leave the weather to dependable pegasi.” The weatherpony nodded, and his eyes widened when he finally noticed Macintosh standing beneath his own personal rain cloud. “Oh, that must be the last one. Let me get that for you.” He untied the cloud and brought it inside the factory, leaving Mac alone with the princess. Remembering himself, he gave her a bow so deep his chin touched the ground. “Hello,” the princess said kindly. “Please get up and tell me your name.” Her tone of voice made him relax quite a bit, and he took a deep breath as he got back on his hooves. “Big Macintosh Apple, your highness,” he said. “Oh, I thought you looked familiar,” Celestia said. “You’re Applejack’s older brother. I think I’ve seen you around Ponyville a few times.” She noticed the water dripping from his coat. “After coming to Cloudsdale to see the experiment the weather factory scientists were so proud of, I’m a bit disappointed that it ended in failure. The weather foreman told me that the Element of Loyalty and the Wonderbolts were helping with the effort to clear the sky. I didn’t know you were helping as well.” Macintosh shrugged absentmindedly. “Well, Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts did most of the work. Ah mostly delivered ‘em along with a few other weather ponies.” “Yes,” Celestia agreed, “but you did go above and beyond what any normal citizen of Equestria would do.” She looked past him for a moment at the crowd of ponies interviewing Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Soarin. “Surely you’d like some recognition for your actions.” “Nnope,” Mac said, turning to look at the newsponies as well. “It’s enough for me to just feel like Ah’m bein’ of some use.” The more he talked the more comfortable he felt around the princess. It was a strange feeling, and he jokingly wondered if it was some type of magic. “I see,” the princess said. “Not many ponies share your viewpoint, perhaps for good reason. It seems only fair that good deeds be rewarded with at least a ‘thank you’.” Macintosh shrugged. “Ah don’t need thanks. It just feels good to do some work. If Ah ain’t bein’ useful then Ah’m just bein’ a burden to my family and friends.” The princess hummed in thought. “I must ask. If Applejack stopped working on your family’s farm, would you consider her a burden?” “Nnope,” he said, “she’s the Element of Honesty. She’ll always be needed. Not just by her family but by Equestria. She’ll never be a burden, especially not to me.” Big Mac’s eyes glazed over as he looked off somewhere in the distance. “Sometimes Ah wonder if...Ah could find something like that. Somethin’ to do that nopony else could.” Macintosh regained his senses and quickly shook his head. “Sorry, yer majesty. Ah didn’t mean ta ramble like a senile ol’ nag.” A minute of silence passed between them before she spoke again. “Macintosh, do you know what friendship reports are?” He was a bit surprised by the question seeming to come out of the blue. He guessed the princess was just trying to fill the silence with idle conversation. “Eeyup, Applejack’s showed me a couple she wrote.” He chuckled as he remembered one letter in particular that seemed a bit cheeky to him. Princess Celestia nodded. “Over the past few months I’ve been receiving letters from the Elements of Harmony as I usually do. A few have spoken quite highly of you and the things they’ve learned from you.” “R-really?” he stuttered. “I would like you to do me a favor, Macintosh,” the princess said. “It is my belief that the lessons learned from friendship don’t simply go one way. You must have learned something from them as well. For that reason, I would like you to write me a friendship report telling me what you have learned. It doesn’t have to be now, or tomorrow, or next week, but whenever you feel ready to write one. Do you understand?” Macintosh didn’t know what to say. He didn’t feel at all qualified to write a friendship report, and he didn’t know what in the world he could even say. He nodded to the princess, hoping that she meant what she said about taking his time to write it. He couldn’t help but think that she would be waiting for quite a while. He kept nodding, and Celestia’s smile never wavered. He didn’t dare look her in the eyes, and instead focused on the crowd of ponies in the distance. Mac gulped as he realized that they finally noticed Princess Celestia’s presence. They charged toward the two while waving a hoof and shouting questions for the princess. “I assume you’ll be leaving if you don’t want to be bludgeoned with attention,” the princess said with a chuckle. Big Macintosh nodded, gave the princess a quick bow, and slipped away from the crowd starting to form around Celestia. Rainbow Dash’s waving hoof caught his attention, and she beckoned him over along with Spitfire and Soarin. “Hey Mac, guess what,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin. He didn’t even get an answer in before she blurted it out. “Spitfire and Soarin invited us to get food and drinks tonight.” “It’s the least we can do after cancelling the show and dragging you into our problems,” Spitfire said. “Plus it’ll be nice to go on a double date, but first I thought it’d be good to freshen up back at Cloudsdale stadium.” Mac quirked an eyebrow when Spitfire mentioned a double date. He faced Rainbow Dash and noticed how hard she was trying to avoid eye contact. “Sounds good,” Dash said, “so, uh, we’ll catch up with you in a couple of minutes.” “Sure thing,” Soarin said, and with that he and Spitfire walked off to the stadium. As soon as they were out of earshot Macintosh looked at Dash expectantly, and she rubbed the back of her neck. “So they kind of thought you and me were together, and I sort of didn’t correct them,” she said. Macintosh rolled his eyes. “Why not?” “Well it would’ve been awkward.” “Not as awkward as it’s gonna be when we finally tell them the truth, and the longer we wait the more awkward it’s gonna get.” “I know, I know,” Dash moaned. “Can we just put it off for now? Maybe wait until it won’t be so weird?” Macintosh sighed. “Eeyup.” Dash sighed in relief and gave him a smile. “So I saw you talking with the princess. I wish I could’ve said hi,” Dash said, tilting her head to get a better view of the princess from behind Big Mac. “But it looks like she’s pretty swamped right now.” “Eeyup.” “She tell you anything good?” Macintosh only shrugged, and Rainbow Dash didn’t ask any more questions. -*- “Alright, let’s hit the showers,” Spitfire proclaimed as she led the way to the locker rooms. Macintosh had to admit that a nice hot shower seemed exactly what he needed to get rid of the stress of the day. It’d be nice to get under some water that wasn’t ice cold. Rainbow Dash had talked nonstop with Spitfire on the way to the stadium. Dash asked her every question she could think of about the Wonderbolts’ training regime, touring schedule, and even their diet. Spitfire always answered with a smile, and Dash took it all in as if trying to memorize every detail. Big Macintosh and Soarin, meanwhile, stayed toward the back without saying a word. It was the comfortable silence often heard between two stallions that neither knew each other nor considered each other strangers. They stopped once they had entered a fork in the hallway, each leading to a locker room for each gender. “The shower for colts is that way,” Spitfire said as she pointed to the right. “How about we all meet here once we’re cleaned up?” “Yeah sure, but, uh,” Soarin said, his cheeks turning red as he loudly whispered in her ear, “Maybe we could split up Wonderbolts and non-Wonderbolts?” “Maybe next time, Romeo,” Spitfire said with a laugh before quickly nipping his ear. “We’ll meet you and Mac right here. C’mon Dash.” She and the rainbow mare went down the left hallway, and Macintosh started going through the other. Soarin sighed as he followed Mac. “It was worth a shot,” he said with a smile. “I gotta hand it to you, Rainbow Dash is one heck of a catch. How’d you do it?” Soarin said as the two passed rows of lockers and entered a brightly lit, tiled room with showerheads coming out of the ceiling. “It ain’t like that,” Macintosh said, deciding it was time to set the record straight. He turned a handle and warm water began to fall on him from above. “We’re just friends.” “Ouch, friendzoned, huh?” Soarin said, turning his own handle before grabbing a nearby bar of soap and rubbing it against his coat. “Yeah I was there with Spitfire for a while. No worries though, getting out of it’s easier than you’d think. Just gotta find that one big, romantic act that’ll have her swooning over you without making you look really creepy. See that’s the hard part: flying the line between endearingly determined and just plain creepy. For me it was shaping the clouds into a love letter as big as the Cloudsdale sky. She said it was the cheesiest thing she ever saw.” He laughed. “Just before she kissed me.” “It ain’t like that,” Mac repeated. “Ah don’t wanna court her. Heck, she’s like a sister to me.” “Ah, so you’re the one that friendzoned her.” “No Ah didn’t. We like bein’ just friends, and neither one of us wants ta make it anythin’ more.” Soarin tapped his chin with the bar of soap. “You sure about that? I mean, me and Spit thought you two were together, and when we invited you guys to a double date Dash didn’t say anything. Maybe she’s looking for something more.” “That was only because she admires ya so much that she didn’t wanna embarrass ya. Things between us are nice and simple, Ah’m sure of that.” Soarin only gave him a nod, and the rest of the shower continued without conversation. After a few minutes they decided that they were clean enough and dried off before going back to their meeting place where Spitfire and Rainbow Dash were already waiting and passing the time speaking with each other. “Look Dash, you’re a great flyer but-“ Spitfire stopped as she saw Soarin and Mac approach. “Thank Celestia. Hey Soarin, help me explain to Dash what it takes to be a Wonderbolt.” “I know what it takes,” Dash interjected. “It takes guts, speed, and style.” “Yup,” Soarin said, “and an understanding of basic aerodynamics. Advanced aerodynamics if you wanna be a captain. Good technical flight skills, safety training, teamwork, hours and hours of practice, and a good sense of risk and danger. Which means pretty much knowing what risks you can take and which ones you can’t.” “I can do all that!” Dash insisted. “I know you can,” Spitfire said, “but you don’t have it down perfect yet. I’ve seen you at the preliminary tryouts. You’re fast, Dash, and your good at stunts, but you crash a lot.” “That’s only because-“ “It’s because your technical flying is weak and you take dumb risks when you don’t have to,” Spitfire said. “I’m not saying this to be mean, if I wanted to be mean I’d charge you my usual consultation fee, but we can’t just let anypony into the Wonderbolts. Not ‘cause we want to be elitist or anything, but because we do stunts as a team. Just think back to earlier today when we did the Sphere of Death. Even if one pony was off by a split-second, by even a centimeter, then the whole team would’ve been in danger. I really want you to be a part of the Wonderbolts, but not until you’re ready. You’ve got some raw talent and serious speed, but you still have a ways to go.” Dash could only stand stunned as the captain of the Wonderbolts lectured her. Mac could see in her eyes how much she wanted to argue, how much she wanted to prove her wrong. Heck, he was sure for a second that she would challenge Spitfire to a race right there and then. Thankfully, Dash held back. She took a deep breath and managed a smile. “Thanks for the critique,” Dash said sincerely. “I’ll work on it, and you can bet your plot that you’ll be begging me to join you next time.” “That’s what I like to hear,” Spitfire said, giving Dash’s shoulder a gentle punch. “Great, glad that’s settled,” Soarin said with a smile. “So what’s the plan?” “I figured we could go to a bar and keep it casual,” Spitfire answered. “I was thinking of going to Rain and Shine, I know how much you like their spinach and artichoke dip.” “Yes!” Soarin cheered before turning to Mac. “That place is the best. You like hushpuppies? Nah, it doesn’t matter. You’ll love their hushpuppies. Oh, and they sell this slice of apple pie a la mode, it’s delicious. Let’s go!” “Eeyup,” Macintosh said, “but y’all better try not to drink too much. Ah don’t wanna carry any of ya on my back.” He gave a meaningful look to Rainbow Dash. She only smiled and pretended not to hear him. “Hey, Soarin, you wanna know who makes the best apple pie?” -*- “What did Ah say just before we went?” Macintosh asked, annoyed. “Not to drink so much…” the blue pegasus on his back said bashfully. Big Mac shook his head while Spitfire walked alongside him and Rainbow Dash leaned against his side trying to maintain balance. “Sorry,” Soarin apologized again. “Hey, but you know you’re pretty comfy. My head fits perfectly between your shoulders.” “Soarin, please stop talkin’,” Mac said. “What’s a matter? Not secure in your masculinity?” “It ain’t about masculinity, its about keepin’ the small bit of personal space Ah got left.” The four of them were walking in the dead of night toward the outskirts of the city where Mac and Dash had set the hot air balloon. It wasn’t too far away, Soarin had said after Dash described the location, only a ten-minute walk. That was twenty minutes ago. At least he was sure it was twenty minutes ago. He hated to admit it, but he might have drank a bit more than he should have. Finally he saw their transport home off in the distance. “Hey Spit, come up and try it. It’s like a cloud that’s hard and soft in all the right places.” Soarin said, causing Macintosh to roll his eyes. Spitfire laughed and took to the air with a flap of her wings. Macintosh had to hold back a grunt as he felt the weight of two pegasi on him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Spitfire lay cozily on top of Soarin, and both of them seemed ready to fall asleep. He was about to tell them to get off of him when he heard yet another flutter of wings. His teeth ground together as he realized Rainbow Dash was more than ready to add to the weight on his back. Or so he thought. He suddenly felt his burden lighten considerably as Rainbow Dash shoved the other two off before landing back on the ground. “How ‘bout a little respect? He’s not a perch you know.” Spitfire was the first to get up while rubbing her head. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry there, Mac.” He gave her a simple nod and a smile as his only response. “Guess this is where we split,” she said with a smile of her own. She went to stand beside Soarin, who had yet to get up from Dash’s shove. “C’mon, Soarin, let’s get home. It’s only a quick flight.” She placed a hoof beneath him and helped him up. “Just like flight school. One, two, one, two, one, two.” She flapped her wings to her count. “One, two, one, two,” Soarin repeated, stretching out his wings and following her lead. The two took off, a bit wobbly but in the air nonetheless. “Take care you two,” Spitfire said. “Take care of each other,” Soarin added with a wink. With a goodbye they flew back toward their home, and Macintosh and Dash waved as they saw them go. When they were out of sight Mac walked toward the hot air balloon waiting for them with Dash leaning against him once again. It took a while for her to remember how to operate it, but it only made them pause for a few minutes. They lifted off, and Rainbow Dash pressed closer against him as the cold air rushed past them. “Thanks,” Mac said. “For what?” she asked. “For gettin’ ‘em off of me. Ah gotta admit I was worried Ah was gonna have three pegasi on my back.” “Nah, I know how much you hate it.” “Ah don’t hate it,” Macintosh said as he looked up at the stars, noticing how far the moon was in its path across the sky. It wouldn’t be long until morning would come. “Ah actually like the weight on my back, makes me feel like Ah’m doing work. What Ah hate is when ponies do it without askin’ me. It makes me feel like Ah’m doing…work.” Rainbow Dash just stared at him. “You know that doesn’t make sense, right?” He shrugged. “Ah know. Ah guess Ah ain’t in too good of a condition ta talk.” She nodded and sighed into his shoulder. “Would ya mind if I, well, you know.” Mac smiled as he lowered himself. “Get on,” he said. She wasted no time doing so and managed to climb on top of him with a bit of his help. Mac stood straight once she was securely on his back, her forelegs wrapped around his neck. “Hey Mac, mind taking off your harness?” Dash asked, and he could feel his harness shift in place as she messed around with it. “Leave it,” he said. He heard Dash sigh and shift around until he felt her head rest on the back of his neck and her forelegs shift a bit higher. “What if I’m never good enough to join the Wonderbolts?” she whispered into his ear. “Now don’t ya dare start talkin’ like that,” Big Macintosh quickly said. “What happened ta makin’ ‘em beg ya to join?” “I know,” she said, “but what if I can’t do everything they said I had to do? What if I’m never a good technical flyer? What if all I’m good at is being fast?” “Dash, you got guts, and Ah know that if ya decide you wanna do something then yer gonna do it no matter what.” “I guess you’re right,” Dash said, nuzzling the back of his neck. “Course Ah’m right,” he said with a smile. He heard her laugh again before it became a loud yawn. They kept quiet for a few minutes, and she spread her wings to catch the passing air. He heard them flap gently, almost as if wanting to lift off. “When I was a filly,” Dash whispered, “I had these Wonderbolt action figures. I played with them a lot, pretty much every day, since my parents... Anyway, every time I did I would always dream of when I would join them. When I would do awesome stunts in a stadium with thousands and thousands of ponies, all of them looking up at me like I was the greatest pony ever and shouting my name over and over: ‘Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash...” she kept chanting her name until her voice faded into the wind. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I wanted to be the best stunt flier ever. Ponies can’t ignore you when you’re the best at something,” she said. He didn’t say anything and waited for her to go on. He had to wait several minutes before she spoke again. “Hey, Mac, I’m glad I got to know you better,” she whispered in his ear. “And I’m glad I stopped thinking of you as just Applejack’s brother.” Big Macintosh didn’t know what to say, so he simply kept his mouth shut. He couldn’t help but smile at her statement though, even just a little. “Are you glad you got to know me?” she asked. Macintosh sighed, and rested his head on the edge of the basket. “A lot of times Ah think about it. What life would be like if Ah never got to know you or Pinkie Pie or Twilight or Fluttershy or Rarity. Life would’ve been a lot easier Ah think, but Ah would’ve been a lot dumber…and happier.” He was silent for a few seconds before adding, “Ah’m glad Ah got to know ya.” He waited for her to reply, but instead all he heard was rhythmic breathing. Rolling his eyes, he quickly shook himself. Dash woke up with a snort. “What? What is it?” “Don’t fall asleep,” he said, “Ah don’t wanna have to wake you up when we get to yer house. You know Ah can’t get up there.” “Just throw me. I’ll make it.” Macintosh shook his head with a small chuckle but didn’t say anything more. He could hear her breath slow slightly as she relaxed, and he knew she had fallen asleep again. Thankfully, by that time Ponyville lied just below, and Macintosh knew enough about how to make the balloon descend. The landing wasn’t the best, and the basket skidded across the ground for a few yards before it stopped just in front of Twilight’s library. He sighed with relief when nobody came out. It was getting late, and he’d hate to wake anyone. He climbed out of the basket and managed not to wake the sleeping pegasus. A feat he was quite proud of. The smell of rain was heavy on the wind as it whipped his mane into his eyes. He went for Dash’s home, the wind strong enough to slow him down more than he liked to admit. He felt Dash shiver on top of him, her forelegs tightened around his neck, and he quickened his pace. Just as he feared she was still fast asleep when her cloud house had come into view. With a sigh he looked up and then over his shoulder to the sleeping pegasus. There was no way he was going to throw her back home; he didn’t think his aim was good enough in the wind. “Dash, wake up,” Macintosh said firmly. She didn’t even move. He shook his head and shook himself gently, but still there was no reaction from her. He finally slid her off. She fell to the ground, but her sleep remained undisturbed. He started to wonder if there was something wrong with her. Her breathing was fine though. She did drink a lot at the bar they went to, probably more than any of them. It was pretty late as well, very much past midnight that much he was certain. “Dash, c’mon, ya need ta get home.” Macintosh said. It was no use; she was out cold. With a sigh he lifted her and got her on his back. He looked around as if the surroundings could provide him an answer. He didn’t want to go and disturb one of her friends so late at night. He supposed it wouldn’t be too much trouble to set her up in the guestroom at the farmstead. He was sure Applejack wouldn’t mind. Heck, he was sure that if he did anything else she would ask him why he didn’t bring her to the farm. So with a nod to himself and his plan he headed to Sweet Apple Acres. It was a quick walk, eager as he was to get some sleep after a very long day. Leaves blew across the Acres as he headed for the house, and he couldn’t hear anything over the sound of rustling leaves. He took a moment to close his eyes and enjoy the sound. A few heavy drops of rain fell on his nose and snapped his eyes open. He sighed. Just what he wanted, more rain. Wasting no time, he went to the farmhouse door. Opening it slowly so he wouldn’t wake the rest of the house, he sneaked inside. With cautious steps he made his way upstairs and to the guest room. Thankfully, he had recently oiled the hinges of the door during one of his bouts of boredom, and so didn’t need to take as much caution as he entered the room. Macintosh pulled the covers back and started sliding Rainbow Dash on to the bed, but her forelegs wouldn’t let go of his neck. He rolled his eyes and raised his head away, but to his surprise her grip tightened and pulled him in closer to her. “I told you to just throw me,” she said, her eyes slowly opening. Macintosh lowered his eyelids. “Dash, if you tell me you were just fake sleeping Ah’ll throw you out of this house right now.” “Uh-huh,” Dash murmured, not having heard him. She removed her forelegs from around his neck and lay on her side. “Hey, Mac?” “Eeyup?” “Can you...maybe...” she trailed off and diverted her eyes away from him. Even in the dark Mac could tell that her cheeks were flushed. From the cold, he reasoned. She bit her lower lip, and he could see her wings twitch just slightly. “Nevermind,” she finally said, rolling over so her back faced him, “g’night.” Mac smiled at her. He pulled up the covers and tucked her in, making sure she was as comfortable as possible. “Goodnight, sugarcube,” he said while taking his leave, gently closing the door behind him.