The wee hours of the night, a time when the only Ponyville residents out and about were those that couldn’t sleep and needed to tire themselves with a short walk.
Then there was Twilight, who had more than a million reasons to be standing on top the tallest hill with the town’s limits, the blinking dots that had the same effect on her as a warm cup of roasted coffee.
Not so much for her yawning dragon assistant, who was assembling a gray telescope decorated with oversized stars. “Why must we do this so early today?” He mashed two pieces together repeatedly. “And why out here? What’s wrong with the balcony?”
“I’m sorry about all this, Spike.” Twilight powered up her horn and assisted Spike with proper alignment, “There’s few constellations that only come around this time of the night and this is one of the best days of the year to observe them. The angle from the balcony won’t let me see them from there. I’ll find a way to make it up to you. I promise.”
Patting his wide-open mouth, “Oh, all right. I would only do this for somepony special like you, Twilight.”
She beamed with pink cheeks, “Ah. That’s really sweet of you to—”
“And Rarity.”
Her face scrunched. “Never mind. Anyways, we’re all set up here. Spike, can you get me the… huh? What’s that?”
Well above the nearest mountain range was a distant flash of light, then a few more that illuminated what looked like a lumpy moving mass.
“Do you see that, Spike? I think that’s lightning flashes but it’s usually not that far up high.”
Spike flinched, “Oh, I’m awake, I’m awake. I, um, what did you say, Twilight?”
“There’s something peculiar up there.” She peered through her telescope while rotating one of the many knobs. “No, no, maybe, hmmmm. Looks like some type of cloud formation but—” She turned a second dial “—is it actually growing? I can’t really tell what that is. Spike, did you happen to bring any weather books? Spike? Spike?”
Her assistant had his head down with eyes shut.
Stomping the ground, “Spike!”
He stumbled down onto the grass. “Oh, sorry! Sorry!” Spike crawled to a nearby book pile. “Ummm, something about weather, huh?” As he reorganized the stacks, all he saw was covers with celestial objects. “I don’t see one here but I think Rainbow and Flying were going in that direction tonight. For all we know, they’re taking a look at it right now. You could ask them about it when they come back.”
Twilight sighed as she refocused the telescope. “I suppose. I wonder how those two are doing, though.”
“Don’t worry about it, Twilight. They’ll be fine. I’m sure—”
Suddenly, their mysterious object shone a burning light right into Twilight’s retina.
“Gah!” She rubbed her eye socket with a hiss. “Owwwwwwwww! What in Equestria?”
Spike mouthed a wow. “Look at that glow! The whole sky’s lit up! You’re totally missing it, Twilight!”
Once her vision cleared, the unicorn went right back to her instrument, only to find haze on her scope. She struck the telescope, sending it spinning.
“Oh, darn it! I missed it! I can’t believe… wait a minute.”
Moving the telescope back into position, “Ok. Now this is really strange. The lightning’s completely gone, and so is whatever was floating up there. But why? Was that light responsible for that? What could’ve caused it?”
“Let Rainbow and Fly figure it out,” he mumbled as he rested on a pile of books. “If they didn’t know about that thing before, they sure know now.”
“But—”
In between yawns, “Besides, you wanted to look at stars, remember?”
That was true but she loved solving mysteries, even at this late hour. Unfortunately, all she had at her disposal was a telescope and weather knowledge in her head or at the Treehouse. Without wings, she had no chance of investigating the scene and collecting the requisite evidence; she’d have to leave this to those better equipped.
“All right, Spike, but I will be asking Flying and Rainbow about this first thing in the morning. In the meantime, can you get me the… huh?”
Her assistant had drool coming out of his mouth along with an occasional snore. Watching her assistant in such a peaceful state warmed her heart just enough to avoid waking him with a few terse words. Instead, Twilight levitated the book she wanted her way.
“I got this one, my number one assistant,” she whispered.
Soft.
Whatever material Rainbow laid on top of in a flattened position, it contorted to her body. Her eyelids slowly opened to a dim blur, with no discernable landmarks coming into focus. With every breath, she recouped more energy so she tried sitting on her haunches.
“Don’t get up too fast,” a hushed voice said to her right.
Turning her head, Rainbow found her friend, his head uncovered and with goggles parked on his forehead. “Is it… is it—”
“We’re at a safe altitude. Go ahead.”
Rainbow yanked the latex off her head, immediately exposing her flesh to the elements. A light breeze slapped her cheek with bitter cold but it was exactly what she needed.
“How are you feeling, Dashy?”
“Like I’ve been asleep for days,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. “What happened to me?”
With his hoof, Flying mimicked the ‘pegasi falling out of the sky’ motion. “I caught you but I was gonna lose it too. I aimed for this floating cloud and well—” He patted their savior —“we made it.” Patting his chest, “Dang. I don’t wanna go through that again.”
Rainbow shook her head a little, “I passed out before you did? Not cool.”
He snorted a chuckle. “Really? We could’ve bit the dust and that’s what you have to say?”
She flashed a grin. “What? I can’t worry about my reputation here?”
“If you say so but just remember that I am the one and only Flying High.” The stallion smirked, “Gotta live up to my reputation too, you know.”
She popped him on his side. “Whatever, Fly-Fly. So, did we actually pop that cloud?”
“Just look around you.”
Slowly but surely, the world’s features became brighter as the sun’s glow peeked over the horizon. Ponyville’s Town Hall was a miniature object on the ground, but stood proudly amongst its even smaller structures surrounding it. Above her head, a film of haze blanketed the upper atmosphere with a few cloud fragments in the mix. No rain, no lightning, no lumpy mass making a beeline toward town. She had no reason to panic, only to gape in awe as the orange celestial body said hello to its two early morning observers. Its rays reflected off the cloud seed’s remains, making them appear as though the sky was burning.
“What a way to start over, huh?” said the stallion, securing his goggles back over his eyes.
“Huh?”
“We made up and we saved the day with the Cloud Burst of all things. Totally awesome.”
“Mhm. Too bad nopony got to see it, though.”
Flying gave her a subtle glare.
“What,” she replied with a shrug. “I mean, it’s great and all but try explaining all this to our bosses. They won’t buy it.”
He started up his wings. “We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”
She followed alongside him on the journey back to Ponyville, content about everything that unfolded throughout the night. However, there was one thing bugging her.
“Hey, Fly-Fly?”
“Yeah?”
“Tapping her hooves together, “Do you really have to leave today?”
Winking, “Nah! When I told you that during the party, I was just pulling your mane.”
They laughed aloud, just as two good friends would.
Cloud Buster Extraordinaires.
Over one of the many bridges leading to Town Hall was a sign indicating the reason for the festivities unfolding there. Many of the residents were already present, either speaking to one another by some picnic tables or milling about the open area by a temporary raised platform.
All of Rainbow’s friends stood below the banner patiently waiting for Flying and Rainbow’s arrival. None of them has seen them around, knowing only through an announcement from the mayor that their actions late night yesterday had saved everypony from a dangerous storm.
“I still can’t believe such a terrible thing was coming here,” Twilight spoke, head shaking. “I should’ve been able to identify it and at least begin evacuations.”
Applejack patted her dejected friend, “That’s okay, sugar plum. Them two ponies took care of it and it ain’t no problem no more.”
Twilight sighed. “You’re right but I just wonder if they are friends again. You’d think Rainbow would’ve told us by now.”
“I reckon they are. They had to really work together to do that Cloud Burst thang, at least, that’s what somepony told me. I couldn’t understand all that fancy talk.”
“They’ll be here to ask them,” Rarity interjected. “They are the guests of honor after all and I’m certain Rainbow wouldn’t miss that for the world.”
Pinkie Pie pointed skywards, “They’re here! They’re here!”
From afar was a grey and cyan dot coming in at a rather slow pace. The ponies were in no hurry as they were in the middle of conversation.
“Cloud surfing, huh?” said Rainbow, rubbing her chin.
“Not an easy thing to pull off,” Flying remarked, “but I can show you what I know.”
With a hoof pump, “Yes! Just watch. I’ll pick it up so fast, I’ll be better than you in no time.”
He gave her a raspberry. “You got your head in the clouds, Dashy.”
She cackled without restraint. “Oh, that’s so rich! Are you trying to challenge me?”
“Dashy, if I told you I was better than you in basket weaving, you’d challenge me to that too.”
“Of course I’d challenge you to… basket weaving?”
Flying snorted amusedly, “I’ll get the needles.”
They touched down right in front of Rainbow’s friends, expecting a bombardment of questions. Instead, Pinkie glomped them both before anypony else could get in a word.
“Oh my gosh! You two were so great in beating that bad, bad cloud and I’m so happy you two are friends again! I never doubted it, not even for a teensy weensy itty-bitty second! I knew it would work out when…” her mouth then continued with a ramble about friendship, cupcakes and clouds.
Flying tried wriggling away from Pinkie’s ironclad grasp, “Is she always like this, Rainbow?”
“You get used to it,” she groaned. “Now let us go, Pinkie!”
The pink pony squeezed even harder before ending the embrace.
“Ummm,” Twilight tiptoed toward the pair, “hi, I guess. So, you two are… um, how are you two getting along?”
Flying smiled, “Hmmm. Do you want to answer that, Dashy, or should I?”
“Well, let’s see. After we did the Cloud Buster together, we pretty much hung out all day yesterday, you know, watching a few movies, playing some Cloud Ball in Cloudsdale, had a few races in between. Big enough clue for ya?”
“Big as a barn,” Applejack answered, tipping her hat. “You could’ve told us a lot sooner, though.”
Rarity’s eyelashes fluttered. “Oh, I see. Maybe there’s a different reason for spending all that time yesterday by themselves.”
Both pegasi stuck out their tongue. “Ewwwww! Gross!”
Fluttershy approached Flying with Leo on her head. “I brought your turtle, Flying. He said he really wanted to see you.”
“Oh, you miss me already, Leo?” He reached out to him. “Ok, come here buddy.”
As expected, the turtle leaped away from his grasp and landed on the ground.
Flying rolled his eyes, “So much for missing me.”
Before he could try again, Rainbow bent down for her attempt.
“Gotcha!” She put him on top of her head. “Heh! I think he likes… heyy, that tickles!”
“Le-oooo?” Flying watched him with great suspicion. “What are you trying to do?”
The whole group shared a laugh, as did the young grey stallion. At that moment, he believed the ponies (and dragon) were more than just Rainbow’s friends– they were his as well.
“Before I forget, thanks, to all of you. Talking things out really cleared up everything for me.”
“Yeah, same here!” Rainbow added. “That was kinda sneaky what you guys did but I’ll let it slide,” prodding Twilight, “this time.”
Twilight nodded, “Glad we could be of service. If anything, we should be thanking you,” said Twilight.
“You’re absolutely right, my faithful student,” a royal voice called out.
The whole group turned around and bowed to the approaching Princess Celestia.
“Rainbow Dash? Flying High?” She beamed at the two subjects. “I cannot tell you how appreciative I am for your heroic actions. I’m also thrilled to hear that you’ve learned an important lesson about friendship during your adventure.”
Rainbow took a step forward. “That’s right! You see, even great friends will sometimes say or do thing to one another that hurts them, even if they don’t mean it. That doesn’t mean that the friendship is over. You just need to have the courage to reach out to them and try to patch things up , that’s all.”
“And that may take time—”
“Too much time for us, Fly-Fly,” Rainbow added.
“—but that’s okay. Sometimes, you end up with a friendship that’s stronger than ever.”
“Well done,” the princess complimented with a wink. “I won’t keep you all waiting anymore. Let’s go and celebrate!”
Everypony crossed over the bridge toward Town Hall. Before reaching the tables, Spike pulled Flying aside for a private conversation. Twilight stayed a few feet away, well aware of what would unfold.
Spike whispered into the stallion’s ear, “You got the goods yet?”
He pulled out a rolled-up sheet. “Goods delivered, little dude.”
Spike unfurled the parchment. “Lady Pony Conversation Starters – Hoof-Notes Edition, hmmm.”
“What do you think?”
“You know—” Spike waved around the scroll “—these aren’t too bad but I wonder… why do these tips look familiar to me?”
Flying yanked on an invisible shirt. “Oh, really? Um, well—”
“I can’t wait to try these out!” Spike pranced away in glee.
Twilight sneaked over for a hoof bump. “Nice job, Fly-Fly. We probably should keep an eye on him, though.”
“What’s the hold-up?” Rainbow called from afar. “They’re about to give us really cool medals!”
“Cool your jets, Dashy! We’re coming!”
As Flying followed Twilight, he wondered on how this assignment had unfolded from start to finish. What should’ve been just another routine job in an ordinary town turned out to be a jack-in-a-box. Somehow, he ended up here, ready to accept an award from Princess Celestia in front of an adoring crowd alongside his rediscovered friend.
Hey, boss! Job well done, huh?