The Cumulus. There's no finer mattress in the world. It's just like sleeping on a cloud, because that's exactly what you're doing. It just happens to be a cloud that's been saturated with pegasus magic, to the point where anypony (and anyone) can rest upon it. The support is perfect, the temperature ideal, and Rainbow would do a lot to own one -- except saving up for it, because that's clearly stupid.
But the company has a factory in Canterlot. One which just started offering tours to the public. So in theory, all she has to do is get in there, see how it's done, and then apply that to creating one herself. Getting locked in after hours wasn't part of that plan, but if you're going to be stuck anywhere at night...
A mare who loves sleep, and sixty of the world's best mattresses.
Welcome to one of the worst nights of Rainbow's life.
Cover art provided by Rambling Writer, with thanks.
(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages. The current Ko-Fi drive is for a new mattress. That is why this story exists.)
(The author is not subtle.)
Posted in
The Triptych Continuum Rebooted
Year 3 Folder
Because Dash has Tank and Twilight is still a unicorn.
You get a waterbed. Well, mostly water and mostly in the bed area. We've never even tried a real waterbed. Had a Select Comfort for 30 years, then bought one to replace it. (Yes, that hurt in the wallet)
When you mentioned Rainbow’s dehydration, I was worried the staff might have words about a suspiciously yellow test mattress.
I'm tempted to lock Rainbow Dash into a room with the Sunset Shimmer from Justice3442's Sunset Shimmer is MAD about EVERYTHING until she can get Rainbow Dash to understand the concept of deferred gratification, but I'm not sure RD would survive.
Rainbow's is a fascinating life, isn't it? Every moment a new opportunity for glory, because she's already forgotten about everything else. And here... Yeah, it's amazing she functions as well as she does. I can only imagine how she got by before she made five friends for life, given how much she relies on them. But that's her expression of Loyalty; she's always there for them, and she knows they'll always be there for her.
Sadly, the same can't be said for a Cumulus. Truly, there is nothing worse for such a connoisseur than "Almost perfect, but not quite."
Delightful tale of Dash being Dash, warts and all. Thank you for it.
I was totally expecting the solution to be to stack them all.
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I find that such situations are often best resolved with liberal use of a rolled-up newspaper or spray bottle.
Has Twilight really not caught on by now that Rainbow Dash is completely and totally immune to the powers of logic?
Twilight also apparently hasn't caught on that Rainbow has well-demonstrated by now no meaningful ability of planning and/or thinking ahead...at least, not properly.
Now that part, she's well caught onto.
Huh. "Cleanest" and "public restroom" are not normally two terms I see being associated with each other like that.
Twilight would be interested in that, so much so I'm fairly certain the little personification of scholarship that lives within her core still whimpered quite a bit at having to miss it, having to put up with Rainbow Dash's antics or not.
Of course she's on a first-name basis with these ponies. I don't know why I expected otherwise.
Also, if Garda is usually the one whose handling Rainbow Dash-related affairs, I hope she gets paid extra for enduring the trouble. Not unless "dealing with Rainbow Dash" counts as "stick the newbie with the dumb jobs the rest of us don't want to do" which...let's be honest...could totally be the case too.
In any case, I'm sure Garda was doubly glad this all happened on her day off, allowing her to miss this hassle entirely--this day it was somepony else's problem for a change.
Okay, that I gotta agree with. I'm starting to suspect this whole tour is just a farce to swindle tourists of extra money.
And then try and sell them an expensive mattress at the end of it, because don't think I forgot the tour guide's quip about deliberately trying to get them all tired.
There's a couch in this restroom? Speaking as a housekeeper who cleans a lot of restrooms himself, I'm both very impressed at the skill of the factory's cleaning staff at keeping such a thing sounding so pristinely clean in a public room not known for keeping routinely clean at all times (no matter how well up-kept it is--things still happen even in the best of restrooms, people) and also dismayed at the thought those poor cleaners have to deal with cleaning that as part of their shift every time, as that's...just a needless and massive complication that shouldn't be worth the trouble.
And they probably aren't paid enough to make it worth the trouble either. Wonder what their turnover rate among the cleaning crew is...
Wow. That's surprisingly logical of her. That's not her usual forte--usually it's "act first, ask questions later, unless that upsets a lot of ponies, in which case you skip the questions and fly away fast until those ponies stop chasing you."
Anyway, it's for the better that her plan to try and build her own Cumulus didn't pan out, because that would've only ended like that time she tried to build her own fire alarm.
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But mostly newspapers. Delivered by a very annoyed Sunset.
Want to know my random thought on this? Rainbow asking what a patent is, then later learning they are public access.
(Would Tartarus be able to sense the scream?)
I wonder if someone that scatter-brained knows when she's being trolled by an expert. Negative One suggests that she doesn't.
As for the pointy bits coming up . .
Have you thoought about turning
the mattress in your bed around
so that they do not poke into you?
The story is good, i just had expected more Twilight in it.
The Blurb read like she was in the factory with Rainbow.
I have found neither typos nor any other errors so far.
So does Dash even want a Cumulus after this. Now that she knows none are absolutely 100% perfect and she can't sleep on them.
Mattress shopping is always hard because no bed is exactly what you are looking for.
But Rainbow being paralyzed from indecision was priceless.
Okay, that probably would be adorable
Reading this, I'm reminded of a scene in the Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett: the Elf Queen has kidnapped the protagonist's toddler brother, and, being an elf, had the brilliant idea of raising him (as a pet basically) by giving him whatever he wanted, all the time (wanted, not needed).
The protagonist found next to a giant pile of many different sweets, bawling his eyes out. The problem: if he reaches for any single individual sweet, it means he isn't eating (at that very moment) all of the others. His toddler brain responded the only way it knew how to this travesty: meltdown.
I think Rainbow would get him and his pain.
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No amount of angry 🗞️ hits are going to change Estee Dash. At least no permanently.
It is an actual miracle that Rainbow actually manages to walk and breathe at the same time, let alone fly.
👍
Much as I would like to help with the tip drive, my government has decided this week it ultimately wants everyone to be Slave Labour or go away and die (as much as your does), so I am now having to look forward to being in your position in the future as soon as the reserves I have managed to acrue built up for such eventualities down the line are burned up.
In a land where comfort was paramount, there existed a peculiar tale woven around five dozen mattresses. It all began when a weary traveler, known for his discerning taste in sleep, arrived in the quaint village of Pillowhaven.
Legend has it that the traveler sought a single night's rest but found himself faced with an unexpected challenge. The benevolent innkeeper, eager to please, insisted on providing the finest sleep experience. Thus, a tower of sixty carefully stacked mattresses awaited the weary soul.
As the traveler ascended the lofty stack, he marveled at the commitment to comfort. Little did he know, a single pea lay hidden beneath the mountain of bedding. The next morning, the traveler emerged with a puzzled expression, unable to fathom the source of his restlessness.
Word of this peculiar night spread far and wide, turning Pillowhaven into a destination for those in search of an extraordinary slumber. The legend of the "Five Dozen Mattresses" became a whimsical tale, shared with laughter and fascination by locals and visitors alike.
And so, in the heart of Pillowhaven, the stack of mattresses stood tall, a testament to the village's dedication to hospitality. Travelers from distant lands arrived to test their own fortitude against the notorious tower, each adding a chapter to the folklore of a place where sleep was not just a necessity but an art form.