Scootaloo and Gale continued to practice various stunts until the sun began to set. It was then they noticed the storm moving out of the Everfree. It was much larger than the stray weather patterns that normally emerged from the wild forest.
"Nice tricks, Gale, except now I know all your secrets," Scootaloo mocked.
"I'm not worried; I bet you couldn't pull off half of them. Say, do you know if Dash scheduled a storm or something? Those clouds don't look right."
"I don't think so; we get storms out of the Everfree occasionally. Pegasi can't control the weather over the forest. It has something to do with the wild creatures and dark energy or something. I'm sure Sweetie Belle could explain it to you."
"Well I'm heading home, wouldn't want to be up here in the open when the storm hits. Try not to get killed before I beat you Sunday."
"As if," Scootaloo scoffed.
It didn't take her long to glide down to the cloud house she shared with Dash. Once she got home, Scootaloo realized the house had risen even higher from the ground.
"Scootaloo, there you are!" Dash sighed in relief.
"Dash, what's going on?"
"The storm system moving in is too large, we're going to be doing our best to break it apart tonight. I raised the house to a safe height; I need you to stay here. No matter what, don't leave; it'll be too dangerous to fly."
"Why don't I head down and stay with Fluttershy?"
"It's too late, Squirt, storm is already over Ponyville. Just find a book to read, it'll be morning before you know it." Dash rubbed her mane with a hoof. "Now, I have a town to save."
Scootaloo was left alone and decided to gaze at the storm for a while. From this high up, it was little more than a mass of grey clouds. It didn't look very threatening at all. Sighing, she grabbed a Daring Do book and curled up on her bed.
She awoke at night, drooling onto an open book. Scootaloo didn't recall falling asleep while reading. She rolled over and wiped the drool from her mouth. Her first thought was to relieve herself at the restroom. Her next thought was to check on Dash.
Checking the house revealed that Dash had not returned from clearing the clouds. Scootaloo went to the window and looked out over a sea of black clouds. There was thunder in the distance, and she couldn't see any pegasi from up here. She did not envy the weather team down there, flying was difficult enough without the risk of being electrocuted or running into an eighty mile per hour wind gust.
Returning to her bed, she began tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. Each roll of thunder woke her up and increased her worry for Dash. She was an expert flier, surely she would be okay. Each time sleep almost reached Scootaloo, another flash of lightning lit the room up. The sun rose and she barely noticed it. Having not slept well the whole night, she got out of bed.
Scootaloo went up to Dash's room to check on her. The door was open so she went in. Dash wasn't in the bed, causing her to panic. She ran down stairs and would have flown out the door to look for her.
She stopped when she saw the tangled mass of rainbow fur on the sofa. Dash was soaking wet, her mane and tail frayed from the storm. Scootaloo calmed down and approached her. She was shivering, and it looked like she was exhausted and sleeping heavily.
Scootaloo took a few deep breaths in relief, before retrieving the blanket from her bed. She carried it downstairs and draped it over Dash. It'd likely take her awhile to warm up, not to mention get enough rest.
Glancing out the nearest window, she could see that the town was surrounded by mud. It had rained heavily, and most of the dots moving around below were likely Pegasi. Ponies didn't like to run around in the mud, if Rarity was any indication.
It was clear there wouldn't be much to do on a Saturday except practice for the competition tomorrow. It would be the day Scootaloo won best young fliers. She had dreamed of earning a cutie mark while winning a competition. She hated to get her hopes up, but with half of Ponyville likely to attend, it was hard not to.
Scootaloo sighed, without her idol to train her and give her advice for tomorrow there was not much left to do. She ate a few Hay Tarts, unfortunately they only had s'mores flavor left. Walking back out she checked on the sleeping pegasus.
Dash was still shivering under the blanket. It must have taken a lot out of her to keep the storm from getting too far out of control. Scootaloo shrugged, she had nothing else to do today.
She lifted up the blanket and crawled underneath. It was warm, but still damp, underneath the blanket. Scootaloo carefully slid under Dash's foreleg and poked her head out the top of the blankets. She could feel Dash's cold, wet fur on her back. It sent a chill down her spine.
She felt Dash pull tightly on her, and wondered if she had woken up. Scootaloo held still and realized she was curling up around her for warmth. She closed her eyes and waited to drift back to sleep, hoping there would still be time for flight practice when they woke up.