Scootaloo trotted down to Sweet Apple Acres on another frigid Saturday morning. The weather had been like this for so long she could hardly imagine what it had been like in summer. Her nights spent camping out here with Rainbow Dash during the fall, waiting for cider season, seemed like forever ago.
She followed the path alongside the fence until she spotted Apple Bloom trudging through the snow towards the barn, hauling a wagonload of wooden planks behind her.
“Hey, Apple Bloom! You doing anything today?” Scootaloo called, running up to meet her.
“Well, uh…” Apple Bloom scratched her head, and looked back at the wagon. “Yeah, actually. I kinda am.”
“Really?”
“There’s a hole in the roof of the barn that’s about to give out. I’ve gotta patch it up before we get another snowfall,” Apple Bloom said. “Sorry. It’s probably gonna take a while.”
“You’re doing it all by yourself?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
“Applejack and Big McIntosh were busy fixin’ up the apple cellar today, so they said I should take care of this one on my own,” Apple Bloom said. “Besides, this is the kind of stuff I’m good at!”
Scootaloo glanced at the hammer on Apple Bloom’s flank. It was as familiar a sight by now as all of this snow was.
“Sorry. Maybe you and Sweetie Belle could hang out today without me,” Apple Bloom said.
“Nah, I already went over to her place,” Scootaloo said. “Rarity’s working on a new outfit for Sweetie Belle’s next performance. They’re doing fittings. You know how that goes. They’ll be busy all day.”
Apple Bloom frowned. “Yeah, you’re probably better off just leavin’ ‘em to that.”
“I guess I’ll see you later, then, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said.
“Yep. See ya!” Apple Bloom gritted her teeth as she pulled on the cart until it finally started rolling again.
Scootaloo stared up at the cloudy grey sky. A whole weekend ahead of her, but everypony was busy. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the weather was nicer and she could work on her scooter tricks, but the snow was too deep for that.
She turned and sulked down the path back into town. Maybe she could go to the library and reread one of the Daring Do books or something. She wondered if Twilight was still stressed out over the whole mysterious sleeping illness. She probably was. Even Luna didn’t know much more than when they started fighting the nightmares.
It was getting so frustrating. After all they had been through, they still weren’t any closer to finding out what was causing all of these dreams. And to top it all off, Scootaloo was still the only one left without a cutie mark. That was the cherry on top, wasn’t it?
“Hey, kid! What’re you up to today?”
Scootaloo picked her head up to see Rainbow Dash swoop down and land next to her. She folded her wings at her side and yawned.
“Oh. Hey,” Scootaloo said.
“So are you skipping school or what?”
“It’s the weekend.”
“Oh. That’s right,” Rainbow said. She scratched her head. “Guess I’ve been out of it lately. These snow clouds have been out of control, and half the weather team’s been calling in sick. If the rest of us don’t keep the skies clear, Ponyville’s gonna have an out-of-control blizzard on its hooves.”
“Whoa, really?” Scootaloo said. “That sounds bad.”
“It sure is. Good thing I’m a good enough flier to pick up everypony else’s slack,” Rainbow Dash said. “What would Ponyville do without me?”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, nodding absently. Then she stopped. “Wait, then shouldn’t you be working right now?”
Rainbow shook her head. “Nope! It’s my day off. Besides, I worked twice as hard yesterday, so we should be okay for a while.”
Scootaloo stared up at the sky again. It seemed about as cloudy as it always did, but at least it wasn’t snowing right now.
“Seriously, though, I’ve been on the weather team for years now, and I’ve never seen a winter like this. It’s been keeping me busy, so sorry if I haven’t had much time to hang out lately,” Rainbow said. “But I’m free today, so we can totally do something together if you want.”
“Sure! That’d be great!”
Rainbow Dash started walking towards town. Scootaloo followed alongside her, feeling a little better already. Maybe today wouldn’t be so boring after all.
After a minute, Rainbow stopped in her tracks. “Actually, Ponyville’s kind of a drag right now, with everypony out sick and all that. Feel like heading over to my place to hang out instead?” she said, nodding over her shoulder.
“Yeah, sounds good to me!” Scootaloo said.
“Come on, then, squirt. Follow me!”
Rainbow Dash broke into a jog, and Scootaloo trailed along behind her. She was constantly just at Rainbow’s heels, never quite catching up to her, but she could still tell Rainbow was going easy on her. There was no way she would be able to keep up if Rainbow ran full speed.
They raced all the way through the streets of Ponyville and out to the fields on the other side, the current location of Rainbow’s house.
The cloud house hung in the air above them. Scootaloo stared up at it. Even against the dull grey skies, the rainbow falls didn’t seem as bright as they usually did. This winter weather seemed to make everything look dreary.
Rainbow looked down at her. “Think you can make it on your own, or do you need a boost?”
Scootaloo gave a weak smile. “Uh, I don’t think I’m ready to fly quite that far on my own yet.”
“Not a problem. Let’s go.”
Rainbow Dash hoisted Scootaloo up with her front hooves and took off into the air. Scootaloo could feel the cold winds biting at her face, but the feeling of flying—really flying, not just dreaming about it—never stopped feeling amazing.
It only lasted less than a minute, though. Rainbow’s hooves touched down on the front steps, and Scootaloo hopped down onto the soft clouds.
“Not exactly the best flying weather, is it?” Rainbow said, staring at the gray skies and wrinkling her nose. “Speaking of which, how’s your practice been going lately? Made any progress on your own?”
Scootaloo tilted her head, trying to remember the last time she’d tried to fly. It had been a while, if you only counted the times when she was awake.
“I guess I haven’t,” she said. “I’ve been hanging out with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle a lot lately.”
“Oh yeah. Too bad you haven’t gotten yours yet, but it’s just a matter of time,” Rainbow asked. “I’m actually surprised you haven’t been pulling any crazy stunts trying to get it. I haven’t seen you guys do much of anything, really.”
“You know. The usual,” Scootaloo said. “I mean, it’s not like we can get into much trouble when the weather’s like this, you know? We usually hang out in the clubhouse or something.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Rainbow said with a shrug. She pushed the front door open and Scootaloo trotted inside ahead of her into the entrance hall.
Pegasus houses were amazing. Scootaloo had lived in Ponyville her whole life, so she hadn’t seen many until she started coming over to Rainbow Dash’s house. Once you were inside, it was hardly like being inside a cloud anymore. All the fluffiness was gone. The walls were smooth, just like any other house, but all the curves and columns and archways made it look so cool.
“Hey, just make yourself at home,” Rainbow Dash said, trotting in behind her. “Let me know if you need anything, alright?”
A few hours passed, just the two of them hanging out. They were sitting in the living room, playing the same board game they usually did. It was Rainbow Dash’s favorite. She usually won, but Scootaloo was beginning to figure out what the tricks were.
Scootaloo couldn’t remember how long it had been since they last did this. Over the summer she used to come over to Rainbow Dash's house at least once a week, but ever since the dreams had started, she had actually been making excuses to hang out with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle instead.
She stared down at the tiny clouds and pegasi on the game board in front of her, trying to figure out her next move. But then her mind went blank. Suddenly it was like she forgot all the rules. She stared at the board for a minute or two.
Rainbow Dash gave her a light nudge on the shoulder. “Something on your mind? You’re awfully quiet, squirt.”
“Uh... I guess I was just thinking about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They’ve both been too busy to hang out lately,” Scootaloo said. She sighed. “I guess that’s part of the whole ‘growing up’ thing, isn’t it?”
“It’s not all that bad, right? You said you guys are still doing your whole crusading business,” Rainbow said.
Scootaloo sighed. “Kind of. Things just haven’t felt the same since Lu—“ She stopped herself. She hadn’t meant to say anything about Luna, it had just sort of come out. “Since, I mean, uh…”
“Since they got their cutie marks?” Rainbow said. “Yeah, that makes sense. I remember when the fillies in my class started getting theirs.”
“Yeah.”
She stared back down at the game board, trying to get her mind back on the game. But now it was completely hopeless. There was no way she could even remember what she was doing with so much other stuff on her mind.
“Uh…” Scootaloo looked up again. She scratched her head. “Rainbow Dash… You’re serious about this whole ‘sisters’ thing, right?”
Rainbow blinked at her. “Of course I am! I told you I’ve just been busy with weather duty, that’s why I haven’t been around as much,” she said.
“Right…”
Rainbow reached across the board and messed with Scootaloo’s mane. “You really do remind me a lot of myself at your age. It’s like we were always meant to be sisters, you know?”
Scootaloo looked up at her. “You really mean that?”
“Of course I do!” Rainbow said. She looked down at the game board. “So, you going to move or what? It’s been your turn for a while now.”
Scootaloo gave a weak smile, and pushed one of her clouds to a new square. Somehow she doubted Rainbow Dash had ever been anything like her, but hearing that did kind of make her feel better.
“So, then…” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Cloud five?”
Scootaloo checked the board. “Looks like that’s my cumulus. You win again.”
“Aw, yeah!” Rainbow said, pumping her hoof in the air. “So, how about we keep going for best two out of three?”
They swept the pieces off the board and set them back up for another round. Scootaloo sat back and steeled herself for another match. They kept going until the sun went down and the skies went dark.
Scootaloo blinked in the darkness. The faint blue light was coming into view. She knew what that meant.
“Good evening, Scootaloo. Are you feeling well?”
The princess’s question seemed odd, somehow. “Yeah, I feel fine,” Scootaloo said. She glanced around the dream forest, a familiar sight, no matter how unnatural it always was. “Why do you ask? Does this have something to do with what happened to Sweetie Belle last time?”
“That was an anomaly,” Luna said. “I have never heard of a pony being trapped in another’s dream, but then again, I have never taken apprentices before.”
“It was weird. But ever since that happened, Sweetie Belle and Rarity have been getting along great. I’ve never seen them like that before,” Scootaloo said.
“I am glad to hear it,” Luna said, with a trace of a smile. “It is a strange and dire situation we find ourselves in, but it seems some good has come of it. That is thanks to your efforts, of course.”
“If you say so,” Scootaloo said. “So, any idea what’s going to happen tonight?”
“You should know by now that I cannot say.”
“Right...” Scootaloo said. She kicked at the ground mindlessly, then glanced up to see a yellow form taking shape next to her.
Apple Bloom looked around, and let out a sigh. “Shoot. I was lookin’ forward to gettin’ some rest after today…”
“We never get off that easy,” Scootaloo said.
Another shape shimmered in the hazy darkness, and the next moment Sweetie Belle was there.
Luna came over to where she had just materialized. She lowered herself down to the ground in front of her. “Ah, Sweetie Belle. I have been anxious to see you especially. Are you feeling well?”
“Yeah. I’m ready to get going.”
“That is good to hear,” Luna said. She paused a moment, and frowned. “But… are you certain?”
Everypony was silent.
Sweetie Belle looked up, her eyes wide. “Um... If this has something to do with what happened to Rarity—“
“It has far more to do with what happened to you,” Luna said. Her tone was grim. “I knew from the beginning that what I was asking of you all was dangerous. I speak true when I tell you that I do not know what to expect each time I send you to a new dream. I was hesitant to bring you all here tonight.”
“But the nightmares are still happenin’,” Apple Bloom said. “We’ve gotta keep goin’, don’t we?”
“Protecting the dreams of ponies has always been my responsibility alone,” Luna said. “I have never faced a threat such as this before, so I called upon you to help me. It seemed sensible at the time. My sister has taken students under her wing plenty of times. From the beginning, I knew you would have to face the dreams of your friends and family, but... I did not anticipate the consequences.”
She stood up again, and paced across the clearing to the other end. For a moment, she stared silently into the darkness beyond the trees. Scootaloo squinted, but nothing seemed to be out there.
“You’re leaving it up to us if we want to keep going, then,” Scootaloo said quietly.
“Yes.”
The three of them exchanged glances. None of them spoke, but Scootaloo could tell they were all thinking the same thing.
“We’ve come this far, though,” Sweetie Belle said finally. “What happened last time was my fault. We all just need to be more careful.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, nodding. “We’ve been through a lot, but I think we can keep going.”
Luna did not move at first. Scootaloo watched her, then took a step forward.
“We’re all ready for whatever comes next.”
Turning around, Luna studied each of them, then smiled. “Very well, then,” she said. “So it goes without saying that you are ready to depart immediately.”
The three of them nodded in unison.
Luna’s horn began to glow, the same blue as the distant lights flickering in the strange woods surrounding them. She lowered her horn towards them, and a blinding light engulfed them until they could no longer see her.
Scootaloo’s first thought was that they were in the snow again. Her hooves were buried in something soft and white, but it wasn’t cold. The sun shining overhead felt warm. And maybe bigger than usual…
“Whoa!” She glanced over to see Apple Bloom scrambling away from an the edge of an overhanging cliff. But as Scootaloo looked closer, she could see that wasn’t what it was.
She crept over to the edge of the cloud and peered over the edge. Green fields and forests spread out below them, and the occasional house dotted the landscape. She was reminded of her few trips to Cloudsdale with Rainbow Dash. This was a view she’d only seen a few times before while awake.
“Of all the places Luna could’ve sent us, why the hay did we end up here?” Apple Bloom said.
The cloud they were standing on was small, just big enough for the three of them to fit on. Others like it were floating above them, beneath them. It would be a short distance to fly between them.
“It’s not that bad.” Sweetie Belle poked at the cloud with her hoof. “We can still walk on them. It is a dream, remember?” She took a peek over the edge, then quickly stepped back towards the center.
“I s’pose so…” Apple Bloom looked around. “Aren’t we kinda stuck here, though?”
Scootaloo blinked. “Good point.”
Sweetie Belle tapped her chin with her hoof, thinking. “Maybe we aren’t. Let me see if I can do something.” Her horn began to glow. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus.
A pair of wings shimmered into existence on her back. They were a transparent lavender, with spotted yellow and green patterns on them.
“Nice!” Apple Bloom said. “How’d you do that?”
“I remember Rarity talking about this spell. I think it’s a lot harder to do when you’re awake, though,” Sweetie Belle said, moving her wings slowly, testing them. “Want me to give you some?”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Sure!”
It only took a few seconds for Sweetie Belle to conjure up another pair of wings for Apple Bloom.
“Would ya look at that?” Apple Bloom said, staring at her new wings. “Those look pretty nice. But are you sure we’ll be able to get around with ‘em?”
Sweetie Belle slowly crept up to the edge of the cloud. She stared down, biting her lip. “Guess we’d better see if they work, huh?”
“You wanna go first?” Apple Bloom said.
“I… uh…”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, and leapt over the edge of the cloud. She looped back in midair and hovered just in front of them. “Come on. If you fall, I’ll catch you. Alright?”
Sweetie Belle glanced back, then swallowed the lump in her throat. She nodded. “Sure. Here goes nothing…”
She closed her eyes, then stepped forward, her wings fluttering wildly. She instantly plummeted downwards.
“Sweetie Belle!”
Scootaloo dove down, but before she could reach her, Sweetie Belle swooped back up on her own. Her temporary wings shone in the light, sparkling as she flapped them as fast as she could. She seemed short of breath.
“I think… I’ve got the hang of it…” Sweetie Belle wheezed, smiling weakly.
Scootaloo flew back up to where Apple Bloom was still waiting on the cloud, staring down at them. Sweetie Belle followed behind her, managing to hoist herself up into the air with some difficulty. She was still panting from the effort.
“See? Nothing to it,” Scootaloo said, touching back down on the cloud and folding her wings at her sides. “Ready to go?”
Apple Bloom stood on the cloud, her hooves rooted in place. She watched the two of them hovering in front of her, staring at Sweetie Belle’s wings as they moved and shimmered in the sunlight. She readied herself, then took a running start over the edge of the cloud, flapping her wings as hard as she could.
“Is it working?” she said. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she floated in the air, her wings beating furiously.
“Well, you didn’t fall,” Scootaloo replied. “You can open your eyes now.”
Apple Bloom hesitantly opened one eye, and looked down. “Whoa!”
“You’ll get used to it,” Sweetie Belle said, flying over to Apple Bloom’s side. “These wings should hold up pretty well. I mean, I’ve never tried this spell before, but it’s a dream, so we shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
“I think we’ve been to a few too many nightmares to say that,” Apple Bloom said. “We promised Luna we’d be more careful, remember?”
“Right…” Sweetie Belle nodded. “We should probably start looking around, shouldn’t we? Which way do you think we should go first, Scootaloo?”
“Let’s stick close. I’ll try to let you guys keep up,” Scootaloo said. She revved up her wings and shot out ahead, then let her wings relax as the wind swept her into a gentle glide.
The air was clear and the sunlight felt warm, the perfect condition for flying. Glancing back, Scootaloo could see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle flapping their new wings, trying to get used to the feeling. She fell back to let them catch up.
“You doing alright?” Scootaloo said.
“Uh, I think so,” Apple Bloom said, gritting her teeth as she worked her wings furiously. She dipped down, then caught herself and swooped back up.
“You just flap your wings to get yourself up, then let yourself glide,” Scootaloo said, catching up to fly at her side. “Otherwise you’ll just get tired out quicker.”
“That’s how it works, huh?” Apple Bloom said. “Gosh, you’ve always made this look so easy.”
It felt good to be the one giving the flying lessons this time. Scootaloo was just repeating all the same tips Rainbow Dash had always given her.
“It’s not so bad once you get used to it,” Sweetie Belle said. She flew up higher, and went into a dive, picking herself up at the last second. “It’s actually pretty easy.”
“We’d better still keep an eye out for anythin’ strange,” Apple Bloom said. She looked over at Scootaloo. “Any clue what we might be lookin’ for? Or who? I don’t see anythin’ up here but clouds. Maybe we should try closer to the ground.”
Scootaloo surveyed the skies around them. True, it didn’t seem like anything was up here—they weren’t anywhere near Cloudsdale, and there weren’t any other cloud houses as far as she could see. But they probably started up here for a reason. There had to be a reason.
“Let’s try to spread out a little bit,” she said. “Everyone keep an eye out, and yell if you see anything.”
Sweetie Belle nodded, and flew out to the left. Apple Bloom watched her shrink away into the distance, then took the right side.
Scootaloo stared down at the landscape spreading out far below them, then up towards the sky. This was probably a pegasus’s dream. It had to be. This was the kind of perfect flying weather that Rainbow Dash loved to talk about. The skies just went on forever, you could keep flying as far as your wings would take you…
She closed her eyes, just for a moment, and let herself feel the breeze on her face…
A blast of air hit her with full force, sending her spinning backwards out of control.
Her legs kicked at the air helplessly, and her wings buzzed furiously as she recovered. She recovered, steadied herself in midair, trying to reorient herself. Hopefully that gust hadn’t hit the others as badly as it had gotten her…
Wait, where were they?
The wind was blowing strong, and the clouds were rolling in. The sunlight faded away as dark clouds blocked out the light. And there was no sign of Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle anywhere.
Scootaloo hovered in midair, turning around, searching frantically for the others. For a brief moment, she remembered Rainbow Dash’s story about the competition in Cloudsdale. What had happened to Rarity. Those wings might be pretty, but they weren’t durable at all.
“Sweetie Belle?” she called. “Apple Bloom?”
There was no response. Scootaloo gritted her teeth, and dove down below the cloud layer. The air was clear down here, but there was no sign of them anywhere. The skies were empty as far as she could see.
She shook her head. “No. I need to stay calm,” she muttered under her breath. “The worst that could’ve happened is they got surprised and woke up… Yeah. They’re probably awake right now.”
It sounded good, but they’d been through a lot before without waking up. Scootaloo could feel her heart racing. The air felt like it was getting thin.
No. She couldn’t afford to panic.
She just needed to go back up, above the cloud layer. Keep looking around. Chances were she would find the others, or maybe whoever was having this dream, and everything would be fine…
“Hey, what’re you doing down here?”
Scootaloo spun around at the sound of the voice. Strangely, there was another pegasus there—somepony she didn’t recognize. She had a teal coat, and her blond mane was swept back from the wind.
“You’re not getting worn out already, are you? We barely even started,” the pegasus said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s get going. These storm clouds aren’t going to bust themselves, you know.”
“What are you... talking about?” Scootaloo said, but the other pony had already zoomed off, knocking out clouds as she sped across the sky.
Whoever she was, she was acting like they knew each other. Maybe she was a weather pony, like Rainbow Dash. Chances were she wasn’t from Ponyville, since Scootaloo didn’t recognize her, but she was the only other pony in this dream. What else could Scootaloo do but follow her?
“Hey, wait up!” Scootaloo flapped her wings, trying to build up enough speed to catch up. The other pegasus hadn’t slowed down at all.
“What’s the matter? Am I too fast for you?” she called back.
Scootaloo gritted her teeth. Something about the way the other pony had said that really dug at her. She flapped her wings harder, giving herself another boost of speed.
“Where are you going?” Scootaloo shouted to be heard over the wind blowing in her face. She was flying faster than she thought she could, but she wasn’t making any headway. The other pony was still far ahead of her, and still gaining distance.
“Come on, wingpony. You’ll never make it to the Wonderbolts like that!”
Scootaloo heard her voice clearly, but the teal pegasus had vanished into the clouds ahead of her and out of sight. She slowed down, realizing she was out of breath.
There was no way she could go on like this. She had to rest. She needed to find a cloud to sit down on, just for a second…
Something shot past her, creating another gust of wind that nearly knocked her off course. Scootaloo blinked, and turned around to see what it was.
She had expected to see that pony from before, but this time there was a griffon hovering in front of her—about three times her size, with her talons crossed in front of her chest.
“Heh. Thought you’d get a head start on me, is that it?” She rolled her eyes. Her voice sounded positively bored. “Gotta admit, you’ve always been pretty fast. For a pony, I guess. Let’s see if you’ve still got it in you, yeah?”
Something clicked in Scootaloo’s mind. She knew who this was. What was her name again?
Before she could say anything, the griffon had taken off ahead of her. Scootaloo raised a hoof to shield her eyes from the wind, and brush away some strands of red hair out of her eyes…
Wait, red?
That wasn’t her mane. Her mane wasn’t even long enough to get in her eyes.
That wasn’t all, though. Her hoof. She stared at it, waving it back and forth to make sure it was actually hers. But it was blue, not orange. Something was seriously wrong here.
Whatever was going on, she needed to catch up to that griffon. Maybe she’d have some answers for what the hay was going on in this dream. Just like that, though, Scootaloo remembered the griffon’s name.
“Gilda?” Scootaloo called, but she nearly choked when the voice coming out wasn’t her own.
Her hoof shot up to her mouth. A part of her knew what was going on here, but it made no sense. Even for a dream, this was too crazy to be happening.
There was no time to worry about it right now. With these wings, she could definitely catch up to Gilda and find out what was going on. With no time to lose, she shot off after her.