A pegasus as blue as the sky she called home counted the number of clouds hovering over Ponyville at that very moment.
Thirty clouds, with twenty sharp turns between them. She could do it. She was sure of it. Maybe.
The pegasus steeled herself, and pushed the "maybe" out of her mind. The Wonderbolts certainly didn't have time for ponies who hesitated in the face of challenge--and if there was one thing Rainbow Dash loved, it was proving that she was better than challenge.
She put on her flight goggles and, with a cocky grin, took off in a streak of color. As each cloud was approached, Rainbow Dash stuck out a front hoof, grabbed a piece of every one she passed though, and added it to the trail. At no time did she look back to check her progress. At these speeds, doing that was a great way to separate one's head from one's shoulders. Eventually, she found herself on autopilot. This was a good sign. This meant she could handle it.
The last cloud was reached. Finally! Now she could see if it'd worked...
"...all riiiiiight!"
Her grin went from cocky to downright elated as she rose a hundred feet and saw that, indeed it had! All the clouds around her were now connected by strands of steam in a beautiful web of white.
Now for the easy part.
She flew to the web's center, positioned herself vertically, and spun in place as fast as she could, pulling in all of the clouds into a giant airborne twister which sent everything as close to outer space as she could manage. When it was all over, the zone was clear.
Success! Another morning, another sky free of clouds--and in record time!
Except for one.
One, fortunately, was all she needed for her last task of the day. Humming a tune to herself, she pushed it along, towards the outskirts of Ponyville, where a mass of similar clouds were gathered over a meadow.
A pony she'd been waiting all morning to see was currently under that mass--a pony Rainbow Dash was more than happy to help, if it meant a strengthened friendship...
...or for that matter, a friendship in the first place.
Truth be told, that pony was worrying her...
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My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Pony Permutation Project!: Episode 3
"Lightning Round"
by Bookish Delight, 2010–2011
All characters and referred properties belong to Hasbro.
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"Aaaaaaand... there! All righty, Twilight, here's the last of the cloud cover you ordered," Rainbow Dash said as she pushed it into place. "Again..."
"Hmm?" A purple unicorn lying on the grass below raised her head, speaking idly. "Oh, uh, thanks a lot, Rainbow Dash. I really appreciate it."
Her head quickly went back to being buried in her book, with her horn acting as a reading light. Rainbow Dash watched, unimpressed, as she hovered above and in front of the unicorn.
"You know, if you really need light that badly? I could open up a tiny hole in this sucker." She pointed upward with a flourish. "'Cause no cloud-cake is a match for Rainbow Dash, Ponyville's star weather-pony-"
"-no, thanks. If I use my horn for light, I'm free to move wherever I want." Twilight got up, moved a few feet to the side, rolled onto her back and commanded her book to float above her head using unicorn magic.
"See?" said Twilight, with a smile that showed just how proud of herself she was right now. "Check it out: hands-free page turning, too!"
Grandma Dash had always said: never let them see you seethe. For a pegasus used to saying exactly what was on her mind, however, it was always tough advice for her granddaughter to follow. She forced a smile of her own as she slowly floated further up.
"Right, right. Well, I'm going now. Got a perfect sky-napping spot all picked out! Right under a sunbeam for that warm an' toasty feeling. Heh heh."
This time, Twilight didn't even bother moving her head. "That's good! Well, take care! Same time tomorrow?"
"'Same time to'-"
Rainbow Dash stopped, first completely dumbfounded... then completely incensed. Twilight... Twilight did just not get it. She didn't understand one bit!
It was officially all Rainbow Dash could stand to watch!
Going from zero to sixty in a sonic second, she barreled through the cloud mass she'd created, destroying it on the spot.
"Waaaugh!"
That got Twilight's attention. She recoiled in the burst of sunlight which flooded her eyes--and directly in the center of that light, she could just barely make out one angry winged pony!
"This is it, Sparkle! Enough is enough!"
"What the--what gives, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight, still shielding her eyes. "Enough is enough of what... whoa!"
With not a word in response, Rainbow Dash darted down, grabbed Twilight by both hooves, and shot them both off into the sky. Twilight could only shriek as the ground left her hooves all too quickly.
Soon, the sky was all either could see in every direction. They were officially in Rainbow Dash's domain. Twilight Sparkle knew as well as anypony that without wings, she didn't belong here. But as determined and annoyed as Rainbow Dash looked right now, it didn't look as if she was going to get to talk any sort of sense into her.
They traveled for some time, until Rainbow Dash finally calmed down enough to talk again:
"Look. The first time you asked me to make with the overcast action? I thought you had some kind of super-geeky unicorn plan in mind. But it's been a week now, and the only thing you do with my cloud cover is stay in your own little world, away from the rest of us!"
"Um..."
Twilight was at a loss for words. Rainbow Dash, however, most certainly was not.
"And if you're not half-covered by clouds over here, then you're cooped in your library house!" Rainbow huffed, and looked across the horizon.
Their flight path took them over a busy Ponyville, where Rainbow Dash swooped a bit lower. At this height its inhabitants were more like ants than ponies, but they could still be seen milling about their day-to-day activities... and many of them did so while staying close together. Rainbow Dash rose again, her point made.
"Day in, day out, the same two places, and not a peep out of you! Today, you're getting a change of scenery if it kills me," the pegasus said, as a large cloud structure approached from the distance. It grew closer, until the two settled and sat upon the front steps of a literal castle in the sky, made entirely out of clouds--Rainbow Dash's home. She dropped Twilight Sparkle gently on one of the surrounding clouds.
"Ta-da! Feast your eyes on Rainbow Dash's Swingin' Stable!" With a sly smile, she added, "Maybe one day I'll let you in."
It certainly looked inviting, with an architecture straight out of classic history books, rainbows crisscrossing through the windows and doors, and even a rainbow waterfall at the cloud mass's edge. Twilight craned her neck to view the spires at its top. "Why not now?"
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "You ain't earned the right yet! When I don't have to ponynap you, then we'll talk. Right now, all you get to do is gaze and be amazed!"
Twilight walked around the estate, doing just that in spite of herself. The castle's build was sound and consistent all around. She poked the side of a wall, and found that the "clouds" making up this castle felt the same as if she were pressing against stone.
Moving further, she eventually found herself at the back, the centerpiece of which was a huge, glorious fountain. The water it spouted shone beautifully as the sunlight glinted off of it. A rainbow arced over the device as well, keeping its theme consistent with the rest of the property. Giving in to her curiosity, Twilight rushed towards it.
"Found the fountain, I see. Isn't it killer?" Rainbow Dash rushed to Twilight's side, and the two peered into the sparkling fluid. "It's fueled by thundercloud moisture, so it never runs out!" Her voice and expression were light and happy now--a far cry from the wrath of earlier.
"It's... this is amazing," said Twilight. "How did you end up with all of this?"
"Ehhh... this whole place is just something I did in my spare time. When you're as fast as me, putting a house together isn't the huge project it is for everypony else. Before this, though? Used to just live and sleep on whatever clouds I saw. Went where they took me. Ended up somewhere new whenever I woke up." Rainbow Dash sighed wistfully. "Still do sometimes. Adds adventure to life, y'know?"
"I've noticed you're quite fond of that."
"Keeps me alive, sister. Speaking of which, why don't you try it?"
"Huh?"
"I've always wanted to try playing my favorite game with you: hopscotch!"
"Hopscotch?" Twilight stared. "Isn't that a little pony's game? Not that I ever played it even back then..."
And the sly grin was back. "You ain't tried it pegasus-style. Come on!"
"Wh-whoooa!" Again, Twilight found herself being dragged. Life with Rainbow Dash was going to be a constant battle to keep up, it seemed.
The winged pony led them to the edge of the castle, which was especially high up at the moment. Sometimes it could be seen from ground level, but today, ground level was very, very far away. Twilight Sparkle tried to check, and instantly became mildly dizzy before she felt herself being pulled back away from the cloud's edge.
Rainbow Dash chuckled, sighed and shook her head. "Newbies. Always looking down."
"You realize," said Twilight, "that I don't have wings, right? Does pegasus-style hopscotch require them?"
"Require them? You kidding? They're against the rules!"
"Oh."
"So to play, all you gotta do is just jump on any cloud you see, and try not to run out of them!"
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"You're serious about all this."
"Serious as a monsoon. You ready?"
"No! In fact, I don't think I ever will be re-"
"Perfect! Off you go!"
"Wh--whaaaaaaaaaa-..."
And with a somersaulting kick to Twilight's rear, she launched her friend-to-be off of her castle, screaming all the way....
"-aaaaahhhhhh..."
(ploomf)
(bloomf)
...until Twilight found herself making a two-point landing on a cloud.
"...huh."
She prodded at it. Against all logic, it held her own weight. She looked around, and saw more clouds passing by. When one came close enough, she took a running start, jumped... and landed. She did it again, and again.
Twilight's mathematical mind went to work. Being so high up, she realized, this actually wasn't a bad way to travel around. Of course, getting up here would forever be the tricky part.
As if on cue, Rainbow Dash showed up on her own cloud a small distance away, and called out. "Wow! For a wingless, you're a total natural at this! Awesome!"
Twilight bounded onto another cloud. "This is really all I'm supposed to do?"
"Yep! You just see how long you can hop on clouds passing by! First one to get stranded or miss a jump loses! And I never lose!"
As the game went on and the two bounded around, something strange and unexpected happened. Twilight Sparkle found herself... laughing.
Laughing in the sun, in the sky, fresh air all around--restricted by cloud-jumps, true, but at the same time never having felt such freedom before!
Rainbow Dash was laughing as well. Twilight wondered what she was thinking. Maybe she was just happy to finally have a new friend who didn't mind joining her up here. Twilight would normally have questioned the methods used to do so, but right now, she was unable to argue with the results.
Eventually, she landed on a cloud pretty far from the rest of the pack. Curses--she'd let her mind wander again. If she got stranded, she'd lose!
Then, she saw it.
Just a little ways below her, she spied a dark gray cloud--a storm cloud, most likely. With no other choice in sight, she went for it.
Halfway through her jump, she heard Rainbow Dash cry out, "No, Twilight! Wait-"
"Huh?"
Completely through her jump... she fell through the cloud. "Whoa! What the..." Twilight screamed as she fell fast.
Rainbow Dash thought and acted even faster, going into her speediest dive. "Hang on, girl! No one pancakes on my watch!"
Despite the pegasus's words, it was nearly too late. The ground was rushing up fast. Twilight closed her eyes, and braced for an impact... which was far lighter than expected. She stopped screaming, and opened her eyes to find herself being airlifted again, on Rainbow Dash's back.
"Th... oh, wow... thanks so much, Dash."
"You remember when we first met, right? Wasn't that long ago. I told you back then: I never leave my friends hangin'!"
Twilight gasped to catch her breath. "This from the pegasus who roped me into a game where having wings keeps you from going splat if something goes wrong?"
"You were never in any danger with me around, Twilight. But if you knew that, it'd only be half the thrill! I saw you laughing up there! Not only is pegasus hopscotch good air training, it's a whole lot of fun! And that's all I wanted to see you have for once. Glad I could."
Twilight Sparkle "hmm"ed before finally conceding the point and changing the subject. "All right, you win. In more ways than one. But... why didn't that last cloud hold me?"
"Storm clouds are weird. You'll need more skill to handle those, and this is only your first time in the sky."
Twilight nodded in understanding, then replied with, "Well, I hope it isn't the last."
A warm, triumphant smile appeared on Rainbow Dash's face.
"That's up to you, Twilight. You call me, and we'll hang out anytime. Definitely prefer being your chauffeur to dragging you around against your will... sorry 'bout that, by the way."
"It's all right. It appears I needed it." The two settled on a nearby safe cloud again, and Twilight sighed. "Back in Canterlot, there really wasn't anyone aside from Spike and Princess Celestia who I felt close to. But here it's... different. Staying friends with all of you is something I really want to do. But I'm not used to being social. I never tried. So I don't know how, and... well, I never could find a book to give me the answers on this kind of thing-"
Just then she noticed that Rainbow Dash was laughing.
Rolling on her back, laughing, no less! The nerve! Here she was, pouring her heart out, and... maybe Twilight was wrong abut her after all! "What exactly is so funny?"
"A book? Seriously, Sparkle?" She calmed down, her voice and words becoming less derisive and more encouraging. "You don't learn this kind of thing by reading! You learn by doing. And I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure you're not a stranger. Look, if you're really having trouble with this whole friendship thing? Then just practice on me. Take it one pony at a time." Rainbow Dash took Twilight's hooves in hers. "Whatever you've got, I can take it, and if it means I get to see more of you... well, I'll do anything. As you've already seen," she added, just before the two shared a mutual blush.
"We can..." Twilight struggled to remember the word Rainbow Dash always used. "...'hang', anytime?"
"Twenty-four-seven. You should see what it's like up here at night," the pegasus said, her voice growing eager. "Ooooh, or during a thunderstorm! The clouds are dangerously awesome during those--and only I can get you in there!"
Twilight Sparkle shuddered a bit. "Wh-why would I want to go into the middle of a thunderstorm?"
"Fantastic light shows! Duh!" Rainbow Dash said as she jumped backwards off of the cloud and used her wings to hover in midair, never once taking her eyes off of her new best friend.
"Stick with me, Twilight, and you'll be riding lightning before you know it. Deal?"
In response, Twilight jumped off of the cloud as well. Rainbow Dash panicked for a moment, until she felt a tap on her shoulder from behind.
She turned around, saw Twilight hovering next to her, by way of her glowing horn.
"Deal? More like an adventure," Twilight Sparkle said with a wink.
A satisfied smile from Rainbow Dash was the last thing Twilight Sparkle saw before the pegasus zoomed off, leaving a trail of color behind her.
The words, "Now you're getting the hang of it!" echoed through the skies.
As Twilight Sparkle slowly lowered herself to terra firma, she made a promise to herself to finally take her assigned studies on friendship seriously. After all, the magic it afforded her was clearly intense.
Self-powered high-altitude hovering had been impossible for her until about five minutes ago.
