10 Days, 3 Adventures - Part 3 - "Cloudsdale Reunion"

by TP Night

Chapter 3 - A Home Away From Home

Rainbow looked around, and took deep breaths once again, exhaling slowly.
A smile started growing on her face as she drew in the familiar cold air,
and the sights. This was her “home away from home”, one of the two places
she felt truly home. The second was her cloud-house in Ponyville.
Or rather, not in Ponyville. Hovering just above it, chained to the ground to prevent
it from escaping anywhere. She looked over at Fluttershy, who was smiling too,
and looking very calm and pleased. This place, despite how she had been bullied
as a child, was still her home away from home too, and she felt a connection
similar to what Rainbow felt when she stood on the clouds.

“Feels good to be back up here...” Rainbow began.

“Mhm... It really does.” Fluttershy agreed. She looked down at her hoofs,
softly stomping the “ground”. “Hmm... These feel... different...”

“Now that you mention it, the clouds do feel different. Softer. more like cotton.”

A dark-orange pegasus mare in a hardhat and a white coat approached them.

“That would be because the clouds you are standing on is a new soft-cloud
we are currently field-testing, and if successful, it is intended to replace
all other landing spots as well, in order to give fliers a smoother landing
experience. Would you mind answering a couple questions? It’ll only take a minute.
Short survey about the new clouds.”

“You’re with the Cloud Factory then?” Rainbow asked.

“Indeed I am, Madame. My name is Windy Wings, Public Relations department.”

“I’m Rainbow Dash, and this is Fluttershy. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. Now, about those questions...”

“I can answer, I guess.” Rainbow started. “I mean, we’re not in a hurry,
plus you said it would be quick, so... Go ahead.”

“I’ll answer them too, if it’s helpful...” Fluttershy added.

“Well then, how about I ask, and you both answer? It’s an anonymous poll,
so your names won’t be on the papers anyway. Now then, first question.
If you had to choose, would you rather keep the old rug-like landing pads,
or replace them with the new, cotton-like ones?”

“Cotton did feel a lot softer... So I’d say, replace.” Rainbow replied.

“I Agree. Replace.” Fluttershy said.

“Okay, two votes for replace. Second question. Given the option, what color
would you prefer on the landing pads? Standard white to blend in,
or something colorful to stick out more?”

“Color.” Both ponies said in unison.

“Very well, and could you elaborate on why?”

Fluttershy cleared her throat and then spoke.
“Allow me. Colored landing pads are easier to see, especially during night landings
or in bad weather, and makes it much more likely for landing ponies and griffins
to ensure they land on the allowed landing spots rather than the off-limits areas,
or worse, some unstable spot. Therefore, safe landing zones should be brightly colored.”

“Seems you’re educated in the subject, Ma’am.” Windy said as she wrote down
everything Fluttershy had said.

“Uhm.. yes.. I... I’m... I’m a nervous flier, so.. When I land here,
I want to be sure I land in a safe zone, and.. having the zones colored would help
a lot, like I said...” Fluttershy replied, becoming shy again.

“I see, I see. Good. And you agree on that, Miss... Dash, was it?”

“Yes, and yes.” Rainbow nodded.

“Okay then, last question. Are you current residents, or visitors?”

“We’re both visitors this time, but we both used to live here too,
for about 17 years each. we were born and raised here.” Rainbow replied.
“Nowadays, we visit a few times a year.”

“I see. I’ll put you as ‘Former residents, occasional visitors’ then.
Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.” Windy lifted her hat,
and then flew off to another group of ponies that had just landed.

* * *

“Well, that was... interesting.” Rainbow dash smirked. “Anyway, we should
get going.” She added, the smirk turning to a regular smile.

Fluttershy agreed. “Yes. Let’s get going.” She started walking, while Rainbow hovered
beside her just above ground, as she usually does. Fluttershys parents lived in another
district of the cloud city, so they’d have a long walk ahead, since Fluttershy preferred
staying on her hooves when she had the option. Rainbow didn’t mind it though,
she loved taking long walks through Cloudsdale, and especially with Fluttershy as
company, talking and looking around to see if anything had changed since last time.

After they had walked for a while, they arrived at Fluttershy’s parents home.

Inside, they could hear somepony moving around. Fluttershy knocked on the door,
and after a few seconds an old stallion with a pink mane and moustache opened.

“Oh! Fluttershy!” He smiled and gave her a hug. Then, he noticed Rainbow.
“And Rainbow Dash too! Come here, give me a hug will you?”

Rainbow landed and gave the stallion a hug. Fluttershy smiled. “Hi dad. We’re here...”

“Welcome home, sweetie. And you too of course, Rainbow.” The stallion smiled.

“Where’s mom?” Fluttershy asked curiously. “I’m guessing she’s not home
since you didn’t call out to her yet.”

“You’re right. She’s out shopping, but she should be back in twenty minutes or so.
Meanwhile, would you girls like something to eat, or drink?”

“Well, we had lunch like, an hour ago, so no food yet, but thanks for the offer.”
Rainbow replied. “Buuut, maybe something cold to drink?”
She added in a suggesting tone.

The stallion nodded. “Sure. I got some lemonade, if that’ll do.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy both smiled and nodded silently.

They both loved lemonade, and knowing Fluttershys dad, it was probably homemade,
which was even better. When they were kids, they always got homemade lemonade
during the summer, so it had a lot of nostalgic value for them.

They all sat down around the kitchen table, sipping the lemonade - which was indeed
homemade, and with only a small amount of sugar, to just barely remove the sourness,
but not quite make it sweet, giving the lemonade a very refreshing taste.

“This tastes just like how I remember it!” Rainbow smiled widely as she put her glass
down after emptying it in a few quick gulps.

Mr. Shy smiled. “Thank you. Same recipe as I’ve always used. would you like some
more, Rainbow? I have another pitcher already made in the fridge.”

“Yes please, but only half a glass this time, otherwise I’m just gonna keep drinking
until there’s none left at all...” Rainbow gave a sheepish smile.

“Oh, that’s alright, I can always make more.. it’s lemon season after all,
and the fruit market in town imports almost everything from the large farmlands
nearby, on the ground... obviously. Can’t plant stuff on clouds.” he smiled
and almost laughed at himself.

“Oh, I’m sure Twilight could. She’d just enchant the clouds somehow.” Rainbow
laughed.

“Twilight? Oh, that’s right.. You mean the new princess, don’t you? Fluttershy has told
us all about her and your other friends, and all your adventures and what-not.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Yes, I’m sure she could make plants grow on clouds..
Oh, by the way, Dad, did you know they might replace the landing pads at the borders
of Cloudsdale? They even had some new kind of cloud.. I thought, since you collect
samples, and you used to work in the factory, you probably already knew, but I just
wanted to make sure...”

“Oh, I know. My old colleagues told me about it, and they even let me have some
special samples from the experimental batches! Very unique, since the test samples
never reached mass production, so they’re extremely limited editions.”
Mr. Shy smiled widely. He was a cloud sample collector, and kept his collection
in a small cabin in the back yard, in glass containers. So far, he had collected nearly
a hundred different clouds, including many rare and foreign ones, and every cloud
type in Equestria - apparently even including the new landing-pad clouds.

They sat and talked for a while, and after some time passed, they heard the door open,
followed by a mares voice. “Honey, I’m home. I found all the vegetables you wanted,
so I can make that stew. Did Fluttershy and Rainbow arrive yet?”

Fluttershy replied with a happy, almost singing tone, “Yes mom, we’re here.
We got here a while ago, while you were out shopping.”

Mrs. Shy entered the kitchen, carrying to bags - one under each wing - full of groceries,
mainly vegetables and fruits, some bread, and some coffee beans. Rainbow smiled.

“Hi, Mrs. Shy. Long time, no see.”

“Hi, and welcome, Rainbow. How have you and Fluttershy been?
I hope you’ve had a nice summer. Oh, and how was the journey from Ponyville?
Everything went okay, I hope? No troubles?”

“Don’t worry, Mom, the journey was good. We took the train most of the way,
and only flew the last part from Ground Station below.”

“Oh, I figured you’d do that, flying all the way from Ponyville would’ve been a
very long, exhausting flight, even for trained long-distance fliers, and you two are
not trained for that kind of distances.”

“Yeah, we know. And we’ve had a great summer. What about you, Mrs. Shy?
How was the summer up here in Cloudsdale?” Rainbow asked.

“Warm.” Mrs. Shy replied shortly, as she started to unpack.

“Very warm.” Mr. Shy added, and then continued, “We had some trouble with the cover
clouds, so for a couple of whole weeks, Cloudsdale had constant sunlight all day long.
We tried using rain clouds as substitutes, but they became unstable and dispersed
since they were on a non-optimal altitude, and Weather Factory clouds are quite
sensitive to such conditions, as I’m sure you know, since you work with them
yourself, Rainbow. We spent many of the days going on trips to the ground,
to take baths in the lakes. The rest of the time, we tried to stay in the shadows,
when we found any that wasn’t already fully occupied.”

“It’s okay now though, the cover clouds has been repaired, and some even needed
replacing, which is why it took so long - Factory had to make some new ones,
the reserves had gone beyond expiration date.” Mrs. Shy added.

“By the way, where will I live? In the guest room?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, that’s what I thought would be simplest, yes. Unless you have some
other idea of course, we can always change it... Although, the room’s prepared
already, I’ve made the bed for you, and cleaned up the room a bit.” Mrs. Shy replied.

“Oh, that’s awesome! Thanks.” Rainbow smiled. “I thought I’d get my stuff in there,
and maybe take a short nap until dinner, if there’s enough time?”

“Well, I was planning to start making the dinner soon, so I’ll be done in maybe, an hour
at most... is that enough for you?” Mrs. Shy said.

“Hah, more than enough! I fall asleep in ten second flat!” Rainbow smirked.

“Sounds good. I’ll get my room in order too, and then I’ll read while Rainbow naps..
Unless you want help with dinner, Mom?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, I’d love that, if it’s not too much trouble, dear. I could make the main dish,
and you could make something for dessert, okay? Maybe a pie, or cake.”

“I can do that, yes.” Fluttershy smiled.

Meanwhile, Rainbow headed upstairs to the guestroom, threw her bags
at the foot of the bed, jumped up on it, lay down, and fell asleep in exactly ten seconds,
wrapping her wings around herself like blankets as she crawled into a ball-like form,
head resting on the pillow. Today had been a good day, and after her nap, she’d get
some delicious food. In her dreams, she once again heard the strange words,
“Hoc Est Somnium”...

Author's Note:

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Fluttershy's parents are based on her canon parents from the "Flutter Brutter" episode.
In the episode, they were never officially named, only called Mr. and Mrs. Shy - and therefore,
I will never metion them by name either in this story. They will be referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Shy,
Mom / Dad, and words like "dear" when talking to each other.

Comments

[Mares-a-Mares]

Curious. Will Fluttershy's brother ever be involved in this mess?

[TP Night]

7436088 well, I'm kinda improvising half the story as I go, and half is pre-planned...
Buuut, as of right NOW, I have no plans to involve Zephyr in this story, no.

it all takes place pre-Tirek, so Zephyr would be away somewhere at this point in time.

He might be mentioned though, but he will NOT show up in this story.