Sky Weaver's Day in Ponyville

Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash

Sky Weaver skipped merrily through Ponyville. The stinging sensation of guilt from facing Twilight Sparkle’s wrath was already behind her, and instead she greatly anticipated the delights still in store for her. As she trotted, she took in the scenery around her - at the picturesque houses and market stools, and other ponies going about their daily business, all seeming happy and content to do so. She took a deep breath, and upon releasing it, found herself in a state of blissful wonder - the strongest she’d ever felt. She pondered how this simple place evoked such strong feeling, despite being nothing like the fantastical worlds of whimsey and wonder she spent all of her life devising. While living with Royal Blue was calm and quiet, Ponyville seemed to be far more alive, brimming and bustling with activity. It was an all new kind of adventure - one that she could experience for real.

She looked up into the clear, cerulean sky, and she started to think about just how big it was. Big enough to hold Celestia’s shining sun, and every single one of Luna’s stars, each one having its own place. She knew that there was a place in this life for her, as well.

Then another thing struck her. For all of its vastness, the sky was completely empty.

“That’s weird,” she thought to herself. Then she realised that she had just noticed there were no clouds. Noticing something that wasn’t there? That was even weirder. It was like looking at a table and specifically noticing there wasn’t a sandwich on it.

“Table...” she mused to herself, out loud. “Sandwich...” She let out a giggle. “There are some even more funny sounding words!”

Then a small, lone cloud caught her eye. Floating lazily by, just out of the corner of her vision. Upon closer inspection, the cloud seemed to have something dangling down from it. Some kind of floppy, brightly rainbow-coloured thing, rippling in the gentle breeze - as if inviting her to investigate.

Sky stood and craned her neck upward, squinting in utter bafflement as her mind tried to make sense of the curious sight. Ponies walked past the stationary pegasus with looks of confusion. One stallion walked past. “Oh, I see. ‘What’s up there’, right? Very funny. Not gonna work, filly,” he scoffed, and walked on.

Sky remained frozen. “...What?” she replied vacantly, several seconds after he had passed by.

“Awww - you lost, dearie?” came a croaky but gentle voice from beside Sky. This time she looked - to see an elderly lime-green Earth pony smiling up at her, the wisened but eccentric Granny Smith.

“Oh! N-no, ma’am,” Sky explained awkwardly. “I just saw that one little cloud, right up there, and it’s the only one in the sky, and it’s got this dangly thing coming down from it...”

Granny chuckled. “Goodness me, don’t be frettin’, sugarcube, the sky ain’t falling,” she reassured her. “That there’s just our resident top flyer havin’ a good old laze after a hard day’s clearin’ of the sky!”

“Ohhh...” Sky realised. “That makes sense. Wow, pegasi clearing the sky? That’s like, so new to me.” She pondered to herself. “I grew up in Manehatten, you see.”

“Ohh, Ah see. Yeah, I thought you looked new here,” the old mare said. “Name’s Granny Smith!”

“Sky Weaver,” Sky introduced herself, smiling brightly.

“And what a right pretty name that is!” Granny replied. Sky blushed and grinned wider.

“Well, you come stop by Sweet Apple Acres sometime, ya hear? T’aint far from town, just head on, eh...” she stopped to recall the exact directions to the orchard. “...That way!” she pointed with a rickety hoof. “...Ah think, anyway. Or was it th’ other way? Aw, forget it!” she blustered. “Well, don’t be lettin’ these old bones slow ya down, if y’all have business with Rainbow Dash up there.”

“Oh! Well, I guess I wanted to go talk to her today. But how am I supposed to reach her?” She asked.

Granny Smith couldn’t help but chuckle. “What, are ya ditzy? Just use yer wings, sweetie!”

“Oh, yeah!” Sky realised, extending out her soft, white wings. She giggled nervously. “Eheh... silly me...” she went a little red at her own forgetfulness.

“Gosh, what Ah would give to have wings as pretty as yours, dearie,” Granny soothed. Sky Weaver blushed more deeply, and retracted them a little out of shyness. “Now now, you should be mighty proud of them! You take good care of ‘em, ya hear?”

Sky nodded firmly. “I will. Thanks!”

“Just wait till you get to mah age,” Granny Smith chuckled. “You’ll find yerself fergettin’ all sorts o’ things! You appreciate what you’ve still got, ya hear?”

“I will!” Sky nodded again, beaming to Granny in acknowledgement. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around!”

“Sure hope so! Take care, y’all!” Granny Smith smiled as she slowly went about her way.

Sky waved goodbye, then turned her attention back to the cloud. With a look of determination, she bravely extended her wings out and lowered her head, harkening back to Royal Blue’s advice:

“Now look, sweetie, I’m no flying expert, but if I had a pair of wings on me, here’s what I’d do. Take a deep breath and root yourself to the ground. Flying, like any task, begins in the mind. You have to believe you can fly. Start flapping your wings, get them warmed up. Feel yourself getting lighter and loosen up, let your hooves off the ground. Keep flapping, don’t be afraid, and you’ll be airborne before you know it!”

“But... what do I do when I’m in the air then? What do I do when I want to land?”

“Sky, I told you I wasn’t an expert.”

“I never thought I’d ever HAVE to fly...” Sky thought to herself. “Well... here we go.” She shut her eyes tight and started flapping as Royal Blue had instructed before. Flying was something that came naturally to Pegasi, surely, she thought to herself. There must be no reason that she wouldn’t be able to fly as well as any other. She felt silly, having to clear her head and get into this deep state of concentration even before taking off – why couldn’t she just do it? Well, it had been rather a long time since she’d actually used her wings for anything. And that cloud was so high up, so far away. It wasn’t just a shelf a couple of hooves off the ground that she only needed a small boost from her wings to reach. Sky Weaver groaned a little in frustration, but flapped harder to try to force herself into the air. But to no avail. She was rooted to the spot.

“Agh... POOPIE!” she squeaked, unwittingly catching the attention of several ponies walking past her. But she was too annoyed to care. “Forget it. Walking’s easier, I can just do that,” she sighed, shutting her wings tightly and stomped off in the direction of the cloud.

On the outskirts of town, the scenery of cottages, cobblestone and lampposts were replaced with a landscape of open meadows and a few clusters of trees. The gentle breeze seemed to be carrying Rainbow Dash’s cloud along at quite a fast rate, and Sky quickened her pace, trying to let the wind carry her too, in order to catch up with it. Her frustration from earlier had boiled over, leaving her despondent. She trotted up a large incline with a lone tree sitting upon it and gazed up at the cloud. At the top of this hill, she was about as close to the cloud as she was going to get. The breeze was gone, and the cloud was only slowly drifting. Still, it was just out of reach. If only she could just fly up there and talk to her. She sat, and wistfully watched the cloud continue to float on its way. Was it too late already? If only she could think of something...

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash yawned as she stirred back into consciousness. Bleary-eyed, she raised a hoof to block the sun’s intense glare as she sat up on her cloud. As her vision came back into focus, she took a moment to scan the expanse of the clear blue sky – a sign of her good work, for all ponies to see and enjoy. She gave a happy sigh, then gently lay on her back and stretched her hooves out.

Back on the ground, Sky Weaver caught a glimpse of the movement and her head shot up in surprise to see newly visible limbs poking out of the sides of the cloud. She snapped out of her trance - she felt that she had hesitated enough, and that it was time to act while she still had the chance.

Wait… what was her name again…? ”RAINBOW!” Sky called up to her, as if her little life depended on it. “RAAAINBOOOW!!!”

Rainbow jolted at the sudden commotion, undoing what the stretching had done. She gave a light groan as she rolled onto her hooves, rubbed her eyes, and peered over the edge of the cloud to find the source of the commotion. She squinted to see the younger beige Pegasus staring up towards her, pure white wings outstretched. Sky shrunk back apologetically when Rainbow’s gaze met with hers.

“Huh,” Rainbow Dash contemplated, before giving her wings a brief stretch, then effortlessly launching herself off the cloud, flapping lightly and letting gravity do the work as she descended gracefully towards the hill. Sky regarded the multicoloured trail that Rainbow left in her wake.

“Ooh...” Sky cooed in wonder.

“Uh, yeah, hi,” Rainbow replied awkwardly. “Say, you’re... Sky Weaver, aren’t ya?”

“Oh! Yeah,” Sky nodded. “And you are...?” she added hastily.

Rainbow blinked. “Rainbow Dash. I thought you knew. Weren’t you just calling me?”

“Agh! Sorry, I did know that!” Sky stammered. “I’m a little bad with talking to ponies, sorry. I’ve... never known that many, to be honest. When I met you all in town – it was the most ponies I’ve ever met in one day...” she murmured, and she bowed her head.

“Hey now...” Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, and reassured her. “Don’t you wanna count yourself lucky you got to meet the fastest flier in Equestria?!” she asked proudly, extending her wings out.

“Oh. Well, when you put it that way...”

“Come on, kid! I thought you’d look a little happier to see me! So anyway, those wings of yours. Whyn’t you show me how you can use ‘em?” she challenged, pointing at them with a hoof.

Sky shrunk back. “I... I can’t fly. Not really. I never learned how,” she said resentfully.

Rainbow blinked. “Whoa whoa whoa, hold up! You serious?!” she blurted, incredulously. “But... you’re a fully-grown PEGASUS!”

“I spent my whole life on the ground. I was born in Manehatten,” Sky explained morosely.

“...Oh.”

“My parents were an Earth pony and a unicorn. They planned for a daughter, but... they didn’t expect... me.” She half-opened her wings, presenting her point. “So they just brought me up as what they wanted me to be. Royal Blue tried to teach me, but...” Sky sniffed, tears welling up in her eyes. Rainbow didn’t know how to respond. “I’m sorry. You don’t want to hear all this. I… I think I’ll just go now…” Sky whimpered, as she began to turn and walk back towards town. Rainbow Dash watched her, somewhat confused as to what had just transpired.

“Now, hold on a second!” she called out to Sky apprehensively. “Just where the hay do you think you’re going?” Sky’s head turned back to her with a sorrowful expression.

Rainbow Dash exhaled. “I only asked if you wanted to fly with me!” she blustered. Sky looked back at her with droopy ears. Rainbow sighed. “Look... I wanna help you, alright?” she explained. “I want you to show me what you’re made of. So how about you stop crying... and start flying!” she finished, taking pride in the snappy finish of her impromptu pep talk.

Sky Weaver cracked a small smile, and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Th...thank you, Miss Dash.”

“That’s more like it!” Rainbow cheered. “But please, can the formalities. Let’s get you off the ground! Follow my lead!” She extended her wings out, and launched herself several metres up into the air.

“How do you do that so quickly? And easily?” Sky spluttered.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow replied. “It’s not hard. You just do it!”

Sky gave pause to the remark. She ran it through her head. ‘Just do it’, huh? Maybe that was just the ticket. She closed her eyes and she jumped and flapped her wings wildly, shooting straight up. Sky yelped, having surprised herself with the suddenness and speed at which she ascended. She shut her eyes again in panic.

“Yeah! That’s it!” She heard Rainbow’s voice. “You’re a fast learner, Sky Weaver!”

Sky opened her eyes, and saw that the frantic motion of her wings were holding her a good few metres off the ground. She gasped with delighted surprise. “I-I’m doing it!” Then her expression flashed with worry. “What do I do now?!” she panicked.

“What do you mean ‘what do I do now’?! You’re up! Just... fly around!” Rainbow shouted.

Sky was taken aback, but she collected her thoughts. She stopped worrying and just focused on her wingbeats, steadying their pace to keep herself aloft without going overboard on her upward acceleration. Then, she slowly leaned forward, letting her wings carry her along. She found herself sailing along at a good, steady pace. It wasn’t effortless, but... it was taking far less effort to do than she thought it would. She gasped with delight again. She was flying! And she saw no reason to stop. Then Rainbow Dash whizzed past, almost knocking her off trajectory. She dropped in altitude, but swiftly regained control.

“Hey, looks like you’re getting into it!” Rainbow Dash smiled, flying over. “You feelin’ ready to start flying for real? How about trying to keep up with me?”

Sky frowned, and went to protest, but Rainbow soared past her in the opposite direction. Sky’s eyes followed her, and she tried to swing herself around. She turned a little too far and flailed her hooves clumsily to try to get her balance back. Then she found herself sinking groundwards, and before she could correct herself, she plummeted, crashing unceremoniously to the earth below.

“Owww...” Sky grumbled. She hadn’t fallen far, but had landed rather painfully on her behind. She tried to rise, but winced from the dull pain that shot through her. She sighed sadly. She’d messed up.

...No! She hadn’t! Being airborne had exhilarated her. She wasn’t just going to give up after one mistake – not when things had started off so well! She looked up at Rainbow Dash off in the distance, hovering expectantly, waiting for her.

She quickly rose back onto her hooves, and tried to jump into the air again. She landed straight back on her hooves, and the effort caused another twinge of pain to shoot through her. She grunted with frustration. It would have to take a bit more effort to get off the ground again. Or, perhaps not as much. A more elegant motion, she pondered. She took a deep breath, and readied herself once again. She slowly lowered her body, then launched herself upward like a spring, and let her wings do the rest. She flapped to fight back against gravity, and just like that, she was climbing back into the air. She was getting the hang of this now. It was a balance between hard effort and gentle motion. She fluttered over towards Rainbow Dash, trying to maintain her altitude more carefully than before. Rainbow Dash gracefully met her halfway.

“I see you had your first tumble. How you feelin’ now?” Rainbow asked.

Sky giggled merrily. “I feel like one in a million!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “And you should, since you’re flying with Number One!” she winked. “You ready to step it up? Meet me up by that cloud! Think you can do it?” Once again, without pause, she shot straight up towards it.

Sky’s eyes followed Rainbow’s upward path towards the cloud. She had travelled a fair way up. It felt like it would be quite a stretch to get up there. Okay, come on, she reassured herself. It wasn’t that high up. She had to stop kidding herself – she could handle that. A challenge? An adventure? What was the difference? She nodded courageously.

Leaving no time for second thoughts, she gritted her teeth and launched herself even higher. However, her nerves crept in and she felt her head spinning as she tried to steer herself closer to the cloud. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath to relax, and felt herself climbing more steadily.

“Alright, that’s it! Not bad, kid,” came Rainbow’s voice. “Uh... you can stop climbing now.”

Sky Weaver’s eyes snapped open, and saw that the cloud and Rainbow were retreating downward from her.

“Huh?!” she called out in confusion. “Wh... what do I do now?”

“JUST COME DOWN!” Rainbow Dash shouted up at her.

Down? Sky thought. Her head turned downward. Her pupils shrank to pinheads when she saw how high up she was.

“Aaagh!” she squealed, flailing her hooves. This caused her to lose balance and her wings soon followed, spiralling her out of control.

Rainbow Dash looked up with shock as she saw her plummet. In an instant, she zipped around the cloud and swiftly repositioned it. Sky Weaver’s wailing descent ended as she landed smack dab in the middle of it.

“That... wasn’t what I meant. Geez, Sky, you can be a hoofful,” Rainbow sighed. She waited for a response, but none came. She looked at Sky, and she seemed to be in a trance, lying still on the surface of the cloud.

“Huuuhhhh...” she burbled. “What...IS this...?”

“You don’t know? This is one of the perks of bein’ a Pegasus,” Dash explained. “Don’t worry, it’ll hold ya.”

“It’s sooo comfy...” Sky murmured, a smile slowly emerging on her face.

“Heheh, you’re telling me. Clouds are my go-to place for napping. Count yourself lucky, Sky. Who needs hooves when you’ve got wings?” Rainbow smirked.

Sky turned on to her side and felt the softness of the cloud nursing her side. She let out a sigh as the sensation soothed her from her previous panic, and her fall from earlier. She was reminded of the comfort of her bed, on those particular nights where there was enough of a chill in the air that she would be warm and snug without feeling all hot and stuffy. She stretched out her wings in front of her, smiling gratefully at them, and let them gently settle onto the surface of the cloud. She relaxed her entire body and closed her eyes, shutting out everything but the feeling of the cloud, her breath, and the beating of her heart, settling to a slow and hypnotic rhythm.

“Uhm... Sky?” Rainbow Dash called her. But the young mare was already fast asleep.

“Huh...” she muttered with a mix of surprise and puzzlement. “Well... guessed you earned it.” She chuckled to herself.

Just then, she felt the breeze picking up, and noticed the cloud beginning to drift away. Rainbow jolted, and swifty swooped to the other side of the cloud, raising her forehooves against the side to keep it in place. Her eyes looked to the sleeping Sky Weaver on top of it, sound asleep, and blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Rainbow Dash tapped her chin with one hoof while debating what to do. She couldn’t just leave it, or Celestia knows where it might drift off to. Rainbow Dash had never seen Sky attempt a proper landing, especially from this height. Chances were she’d be stuck there if she woke up. But she couldn’t just hang around waiting for her. Her eyes fell back towards town.

“Ah!” she cried, struck with inspiration. The breeze had slowed and she released her grip on the cloud. Carefully moving off so as not to wake Sky, she zipped towards town to find the one pony who she knew could lend a hoof.

And so, there Sky lay, now curled up, quitely and peacefully snoozing in blissful comfort. Her subconscious mind conjured images of flying freely and effortlessly through bright skies, soaring in delight and catching wayward gusts of wind to carry her, twirling about and getting giddy from the sheer joy of it all. She was joined by a school of dolphins, flying along with her with wings as majestic as Princess Celestia’s, their smooth shining coats sparkling when they caught the sun’s rays at the right angle. Sky laughed right along with their merry chattering as they engaged in freeform aerial displays, using the sky as their very own playground. When the aerobatics ended, the sky dolphins gathered around Sky Weaver, each giving her a heartful hug to signify their fond farewell. The touching display bringing tears to her eyes, she bade them all farewell, and vowed that she would never forget this moment that they had shared together as they disappeared in a prismatic flash of light.