High above Equestria, higher than the birds fly, a cyan pegasus perched on a cloud, breathing deeply.
“This is it,” she whispered to herself. “Miss Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria, is going to attempt a double-super-awesome sonic rainboom. She needs complete concentration to pull it off. If she puts one feather out of line, it’s over.”
She spread her wings slowly, unable to avoid a slight nervous quiver.
“This trick was struck off the Wonderbolt’s routine centuries ago when the great Jetflash was almost killed attempting the manoeuvre. Miss Rainbow Dash knows the dangers. We need complete silence, please, as she mentally prepares herself for the challenge.”
Sweat beaded on her forehead as she closed her eyes as gently as she could. Her wings, fully spread, ached to beat, but she held them still.
In her mind’s eye she envisaged the jump, the plummet, the execution. Her mind zeroed in on the final instant of completion, excluding all other thoughts.
Then, silently, she reared up onto her hind legs, gave a powerful flap of her wings then closed them, and dived over the edge.
Icy wind raced up and beat her face, gathering intensity until it tore her eyes open and tugged at her rainbow mane. Her wings, snapped shut to her sides, were begging to be opened. “Not yet,” she growled to herself, as she plummeted faster and faster.
When she had gathered enough speed she opened her wings, gasping as they were wrenched backwards. With all the strength she could master she beat them, up and down, up and down, increasing her speed.
She streaked ever faster downwards, a rainbow trail beginning to form behind her, and a barrier of air building in front of her. Almost there! She could physically feel the barrier pushing back at her, but that was fine, she didn’t need to push back, she just had to smash through...
Rainbow Dash!
“Huh?”
Rainbow lost concentration, confused. Who could be calling her name?
Rainbow Dash!
Her left wing began to buffet. In an instant it caught a gust from the barrier of air, and she lost control, barrelling outwards into a sidespin at impossible speed until surely she would –
“Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow awoke with a start.
“Yay, you’re awake!” The voice belonged to Scootaloo, who was jumping up and down under the tree where Rainbow had been napping with a wide smile on her face.
Rainbow gave a groan and rubbed her forehead. “Scootaloo, what are you doing here? Ow. Why does my head hurt?”
Scootaloo giggled. “You woke up a bit aggressively and smacked your head on the branch up there.” Rainbow glared at the offending branch, and continued to rub her forehead.
“What did you wake me for?” She asked, a little put out. She couldn’t remember her dream, but she had a feeling she had been enjoying it.
“Because you didn’t look like you were sleeping very peacefully. You kept muttering to yourself about double-super-awesome sonic rainbooms.”
Rainbow got up from her perch in the tree and fluttered down to stand in front of the purple-maned filly. “You shouldn’t wake sleeping ponies,” she said, giving the small pegasus a gentle cuff round the ear. “Anyway, I know you didn’t wake me just because I was having a bad dream. What is it? Actually, shouldn’t you be in school?”
Scootaloo shook her head. “Nope! Miss Cheerilee is sick today with a nasty cold, so we have a day off. I couldn’t find Sweetie Belle or Applebloom, so I came to find you.”
“Came to find me?” Rainbow’s pride swelled slightly. “All right then. I’m not doing anything today; the weather is scheduled to run its natural course until tomorrow morning. What do you want to do?”
Scootaloo sat down and smiled up at Rainbow with her enormous purple eyes. “No idea!” she said brightly. “I knew you’d think of something awesome, though.”
Rainbow scratched her head. She hadn’t expected to be tested for awesome ideas so suddenly. “Erm ... well, I haven’t been to Cloudsdale for a while and was going to see a couple of the weather ponies there about next week’s rainbows. Wanna tag along?”
Scootaloo deflated and shuffled slightly. “Eh ... maybe not.” She gave her tiny wings a weak beat, looking at them sadly.
“Really? It must be ages since you’ve been to Cloudsdale. I know I’ve been itching to go for a bit. Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“I ...” Scootaloo blushed slightly and didn’t look at Rainbow.
Now Rainbow was confused. “Scootaloo ... have you never been to Cloudsdale?”
“Well ... no. I haven’t.” Scootaloo gave her wings another little flap.
“Never ever?” Dash said incredulously.
“Never ever,” Scootaloo replied. Her ears turned downwards. “I’ve always lived in Ponyville, I can’t fly yet, and no one’s ever taken me. So no, I haven’t been to Cloudsdale.”
“Well then, it’s settled,” Rainbow said firmly. “You and I are going to Cloudsdale, right now. I don’t care about anything else, not until I’ve shown you how fantastic it is. It’s the citadel of the pegasi, your citadel, and you have to see it!”
“Well, I know, but I can’t ...” Scootaloo didn’t finish her sentence.
“You don’t have to!” Rainbow giggled, and turned the glum filly’s face upwards with a hoof. “Why should that stop you?”
Rainbow turned slightly and crouched down beside Scootaloo. “Ride on my back until we get to Cloudsdale. Then you’ll be able to walk on the clouds.”
Scootaloo gave an excited gasp, her eyes filled with twinkling stars of delight. “Really?!”
“Yes, really. Now come on, the sooner we set off the sooner we’ll be in Cloudsdale. Just mind my wings, and hold on to my mane.”
Trembling with anticipation Scootaloo clambered onto Rainbow’s back, positioning herself behind her wings and taking hold of her multicoloured mane. Rainbow stood and trotted forward so she wasn’t under the tree.
She turned to Scootaloo and said with a wink, “Ready?”
“Ready! Thank you so-” She didn’t finish her sentence, as in one powerful movement Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings, and thrust them downwards while pushing forcefully against the ground with her hind legs. Together they leapt into the air and soared upwards.
Scootaloo’s breath was jerked from her as she dived forward and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow’s neck. This is it, she thought, I’m actually flying!
Rainbow flew up and out of Ponyville with the filly holding on as tightly as she could. Scootaloo chanced a look behind her to see her home town disappearing downwards. She could see the school house, the library, and Carousel Boutique ... then further over to the left was Sweet Apple Acres, a carpet of apple trees with the barn nestled in the middle.
Scootaloo did her best not to look down. She knew it was silly for a pegasus to be afraid of heights, but the truth was she had never been high before. Instead she closed her eyes and hugged Rainbow as hard as she could, concentrating on the steady rhythm of her wing beats.
After a while, she opened her eyes again and looked back in the direction of Ponyville. It had disappeared from view, and below them was nothing but fields and trees, with a large river running through them.
“What river is that?” She called to Rainbow Dash above the wind.
“That’s the river Equine,” Rainbow replied. “Cloudsdale uses it to ensure the citadel never evaporates – there’s always a supply of water for the clouds there, no matter how hot or dry the weather is. Every few weeks, when Cloudsdale drifts over the river, it sucks up a ton of water, which lasts it until the next time it's close enough.
“Speaking of which, we’re getting close. Can you hear the trumpets?”
Scootaloo trained her ears forward, and heard the distant sound of a trumpet fanfare lost in the wind.
“What are the trumpets for?”
“They sound the trumpets to guide pegasi towards the citadel. Since it isn’t attached to the ground, it floats wherever it wants, so if they didn’t, the sky would be full of lost pegasi trying to find Cloudsdale.”
Scootaloo giggled. “Does it ever just drift away and get lost completely?”
“It did once. They had to send out search parties, and it didn’t turn up until about a week later, when it almost crashed into Canterlot Castle. They asked a team of unicorns to enchant it so it wouldn’t fly too far, but it still drifts around.”
They were getting close now, and the sound of trumpets filled the air.
Rainbow puffed up proudly. “This,” she declared, “is Cloudsdale!”
Cloudsdale, citadel of the pegasi. It towered high above them, a fantastic construction of thick white cloud. It seemed as if the clouds had all been thrown together at haphazard angles, with great swirly towers rising out of the base, and falls of water and rainbows flowing down to the land far below. To the far left Scootaloo could see the cloud stadium, flags waving in the wind, and beside it a large building with cloud pillars.
“What’s that next to the stadium?” Scootaloo asked.
“That’s the academy, where Fluttershy and I grew up. I’ll show you my old stamping ground,” said Rainbow, with a hint of pride in her voice, “And everything else there is to see in Cloudsdale.”
It seemed to Scootaloo like the single most amazing creation in all of Equestria.
They were approaching the main entrance now, a great staircase of clouds capped with a grand archway. Rainbow flew through the entrance and came to land beside a building adorned with titanic pillars of cloud.
“Wooow, what building is that?” asked Scootaloo excitedly.
“That’s the Council of Pegasi and Weather Ponies,” Rainbow answered. “All weather everywhere is scheduled and planned there, except for the weather over the Everfree Forest.”
Scootaloo shuffled off Rainbow’s back and stood tentatively on the cloud. Her hooves sank a few inches into the mist, then stopped, supported by an unseen force. Scootaloo pushed the cloud about with her hooves experimentally.
Rainbow watched with amusement as the pegasus filly jumped up in excitement and rolled about on the cloud. “Never stood on a cloud before?”
Scootaloo grinned. “Never ever!”
“Come on then. I’ll show you around.”
**
They began with Mane Street, a wide street with famous shops on either side. Names like Pegasopolis, Wings, Cloudhooves and EdgeSky passed Scootaloo by as she wandered down the street next to Rainbow open-mouthed. Some she had heard of before, but most were completely new to her.
Mane Street was full of high-society pegasi, strutting down the street, socialising and showing off. Scootaloo had seen a street like this before when she went with her friends to see the Hearthwarming play in Canterlot, but this was all just for pegasi, which made it seem so much more special.
“You grew up here?” Scootaloo asked, wide-eyed with amazement, trying to put the filly Rainbow Dash amongst all the high society pegasi and expensive brand names.
“Sure did! Though Cloudsdale is a big place, and we didn’t come to Mane Street very often. Usually if ponies come here it’s because they’re showing off, or sightseeing, like we are.”
Scootaloo had wanted to stop and look at every building that went by, though there just wasn’t the time. She bounced along excitedly next to Rainbow Dash, turning her head left and right.
Mane Street led up to the Cloud Stadium. It loomed imperiously, casting a long shadow. Four flags fluttered from the very top above the entrance.
“Want to go up and look?” Rainbow asked, crouching again. Scootaloo hopped onto her back, and together they rose to the level of the flags. There was no floor in the stadium; instead the stands simply gave way to nothingness and a very, very long drop to the ground below.
“And this is where you pulled off your amazing rainboom?” Scootaloo asked, a little breathless.
Rainbow blushed slightly. “Well, not quite here. Rarity fell through the bottom of the stadium, and by the time I had worked up enough speed we were quite a long way down below Cloudsdale. But yeah, this is where the competition was.”
“I wish I could have seen it!”
“Hehe, maybe some day you will, kid. Some day. Who knows, maybe even one day you’ll be making your own rainboom? Or a scootaboom? Actually forget that, that sounds awful.” Rainbow laughed.
Scootaloo shuffled slightly on Rainbow’s back.
“I don’t think that’s very likely. I can’t even fly yet, never mind do tricks, and other fillies my age are way ahead of me.”
Rainbow began to descend back to the cloud surface. “There’s nothing wrong with being a late bloomer,” she said simply. “You shouldn’t let it worry you. The last flower to bloom can be the prettiest of all.”
“You really think so?” Scootaloo hopped off Rainbow’s back and steadied her hooves in the cloud.
“I know so,” Rainbow said with a wink.
Scootaloo felt better after that.
They weren’t allowed into the Academy since it was during term time, so instead Rainbow decided to take Scootaloo down the famed Cloud Terrace, while telling her about her fillyhood in Cloudsdale.
Cloud Terrace was a one sided street on the southern face of Cloudsdale. On one side were the most expensive houses in the whole citadel, great mansions with fancy pillars and windows.
But it was the other side that made Cloud Terrace special. On the other side there were no buildings; the street simply gave way to the empty sky, falling away to the land far below. The view looked to the south, so the sun always shone directly on the terrace.
Scootaloo could see out almost as far as the Everfree forest, which was easy to spot because of the freak weather patterns hovering over it. Hidden behind that was Ponyville, and a long way beyond that Scootaloo thought she could just make out Canterlot, perched precariously on a mountainside.
Scootaloo pointed endlessly to different places she could see, asking Rainbow what was there, and Rainbow proved surprisingly knowledgeable and well equipped for fielding her questions.
At the end of the Cloud Terrace was a large building with two chimneys.
“What’s that?”
“That’s the weather factory. They have everything in there, from the top pony technicians designing new snowflakes and rainbow patterns, to conveyor belts with the fastest production rate of any weather factory in Equestria.”
“Awesome! Can we go inside?”
“Yep. I know a few pegasi, and we should be able to have a little look round.”
At the door Rainbow greeted a yellow pegasus like an old friend.
“Hey Raindrops. How’s it going?”
“Not so bad, Rainbow,” Raindrops replied. “You know how it is. What brings you to the weather factory? I haven’t seen you here in a while.”
“I’m showing this little squirt around,” Rainbow replied, giving Scootaloo a playful nudge. “She’s never been to Cloudsdale before.”
“Oh, wow!” Raindrops smiled down to Scootaloo. “How exciting.”
“Can you get us in to look around? We won’t be long.”
“Eh, I don’t see any reason why not. You know where the lab coats are.”
“Thanks a million Raindrops. I owe you.”
“Pff, you’ve saved my feathers more times than I can count. It’s the least I can do.”
Scootaloo thanked the pegasus and followed Rainbow into the factory. Donning white labcoats, they went into the first room.
It was icy cold, and on the observation platform Scootaloo’s breath misted in front of her. The room was full of microscopes with pony scientists leaning over them, taking notes.
“What are they doing?” Scootaloo whispered to Rainbow. There was a hush in the room and Scootaloo didn’t want to break it.
“They’re designing snowflakes,” Rainbow replied. “Each one is hoof made.”
“But that must take forever!”
“They make them over the summer and put them into cold storage. When the winter comes they take a break. But yes, they do have to work very fast,” Rainbow chuckled, “or all the snowflakes melt before they get put away.”
They continued on a whistle-stop tour of the factory, looking into the rainmeter, snow mixers, hail generators and so on. Scootaloo found the detention centre for wayward clouds quite funny.
The final room was the rainbow mixing centre.
“All the rainbows have to be perfectly mixed so that the colours blend right,” Rainbow explained.
“It looks like zap apple jam!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Ha, I hadn’t noticed that. Don’t try it though, it doesn’t taste anything like zap apple jam,” Rainbow said.
“Oh I know. Pinkie told me. Bleurgh.” Scootaloo stuck her tongue out, and Rainbow laughed again.
**
By evening, even Rainbow was tired. She sat with Scootaloo outside the Sunset Café, watching her enjoy an iced cherry sundae.
They had been round the entirety of Cloudsdale in one day. It was an impressive feat, but the young pegasus’ energy had spurred Rainbow on to show her more and more of the citadel.
Rainbow had long finished her tea, and waited patiently while Scootaloo slurped what was left of her sundae. When she finished, she wiped her mouth and looked up at Rainbow.
“Rainbow, I ... I just ...”
“What is it, Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo trotted round the table and hugged Rainbow tightly. “Thank you so much for showing me Cloudsdale. I’ve never been before, I’ve never walked on clouds before, and I’ve never even been this high up before and I can’t wait to tell my friends and just thank you and ...”
Rainbow patted Scootaloo gently. “Don’t worry, kid. You don’t need to get emotional. I’m glad you enjoyed it, but I think we ought to be going. The sun’s about to set.”
Scootaloo sniffed and nodded.
“Come on then.” Rainbow crouched beside Scootaloo, allowing the filly to clamber onto her back. Scootaloo snaked her hooves around Rainbow’s neck again and held on tight as with a few powerful strokes of her wings Rainbow lifted into the air.
She flew up and up until they were high above Cloudsdale. The sunset was casting a deep yellow glow over the citadel, throwing long shadows behind the rainbow waterfalls.
“This is my favourite time to see Cloudsdale,” Rainbow said to Scootaloo. “Just in the sunset.”
She was answered by deep, regular breathing. The filly had fallen asleep.
Rainbow smiled and began to fly back to Ponyville, in the direction of the setting sun.