Paty Cake was nervous; it was his final class before the Flight Exam. The Flight Exam that would get him out of school and make him an official adult. His Instructor had taught him well, but he still had not passed a single practice run and the Exam was four days away. "Okay class, I have taught you all to the best of my ability and I have full confidence that you will pass. However, I received an important letter last night holding information that you should all be aware of. The cloud kicking Section has been replaced by a cloud spinning one. All you have to do is fly fast around the clouds to make them spin instead of kicking them apart," Paty's Instructor said. Everypony was shocked; Paty was more frightened than ever before. They trained for the Exam half of a semester and learned to kick clouds during the first Section, not to spin them. Paty felt completely unprepared for the Exam. Every other pony started complaining that they shouldn't change how the Exam is ran just before they take it. "I know how you ponies feel, this has put a lot of pressure on me, too. I believe that you ponies can pass, anyway. Remember, you have trained at this Academy for years. Some of you even earned cutie marks in flight. I know you can do this." Then the Instructor looked at Paty.
"Paty, I would like to see you after class, please."
"Okay sir," Paty said.
"Wow," somepony said. "Looks like Paty Blank is going to get a cutie mark in trouble making." It was Lightning Spree, a pony that picked on Paty for years, making fun of the fact that he had a blank flank. Paty Cake was the only Pegasus in The Flight Academy that didn't have a cutie mark; it made him feel real stupid. Lighting Spree was one of the ponies that actually got his cutie mark in flight. It was a big bolt of lightning on his flank. Spree himself was a red pony with a blue mane and yellow eyes. He was one of the super fast, popular Pegasi that could run the Academy if he wanted to, but he wasn't the only pony. His friend Storm Cloud could, too. Storm had a light grey fur coat with a yellow mane. He had the same yellow eyes that Spree did, even though they were not related. His cutie mark was a cloud with two lightning bolts shooting out of it and was also earned in flight. The two ponies made Paty's life miserable, giving him a clever nickname that was insulting and rhymed with his actual name. Luckily, his Instructor was right there when Spree spoke out.
"You better keep it down or I'll make sure you never pass the Exam," the Instructor said. Spree and Storm started laughing together along with a few others in the class. "Calm down ponies, you should know better than to make fun of a Pegasus that does not have their cutie mark," the Instructor said. A few seconds after that, the bell rang and everypony rushed out of the classroom. Paty waited for all of them to be gone, then got up and met with his Instructor.
"Anything you need help with, Sir," Paty asked.
"Yes there is. You can start by bringing your poor confidence up and believing that you have this," his Instructor told him.
Paty looked down at the cloud floor and said," Sir, I just can not do it. I got closer and closer to beating the practice run, but now I have to change my flight plans because I will be spinning clouds instead of kicking them. Plus, you've seen me fly. I am a lot slower than the other ponies and I have major balance issues, sometimes."
"Look at me, Paty," the Instructor said. "It does not matter if you have balance issues, it does not matter if they changed a Section of course, it does not matter if you are slower than the others, it does not even matter if you have a cutie mark or not. Even ponies with cutie marks in poetry are taking this Exam! All that matters is that you a have the courage and the belief that you will pass this Exam. It may be a little difficult, but I am positive that you can do this."
Paty clenched his teeth then asked," what if you are wrong? What if I fail the Exam, even if I had all the confidence in the world and the strongest belief that anypony could have? What will happen to me, then?" His Instructor sighed.
"I have no idea what will happen to you if you fail. Nopony does. The rumor is that they ban you from Cloudsdale. That is it though, you can still make a decent life anywhere in Equestria. Getting banned from the city is not that bad. However, I don't think you will go through that, anyway. You are going to pass, no questions asked."
"Thank you, Sir," Paty said. The Instructor nodded.
"You have a good day, Paty."Paty nodded back, fear of failing still lingering in his soul.
"You too, Sir," he said then walked out of the classroom. The Instructor sighed.
"May Celestia and Luna have mercy on your soul, Paty Cake," he thought. "Your future and your very life, depend much on this Exam. Do not mess it up for yourself."
Paty Cake lived in the most famous place in Equestria; Cloudsdale. Other than Canterlot and Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale was the most beautiful, rich, and the most socially acceptable city in the world. Why it was such a wonderful place is the fact that it had perfect weather every day, it was the home of the Pegasi, and the entire city was made out of clouds. The buildings, homes, floors, the Flight Arena, Cloudsdale's Flight Academy, Coliseum, even the factories, all made out of beautiful white clouds. The Pegasi were lucky! Because of their ability to control the weather, the Pegasi had the ability to stand on clouds. Clouds were the most comfortable source of weather, so the Pegasi lived in and slept on them frequently. Out of all of its wonderfully constructed buildings and decor, Paty's favorite view in the City was the Rainbow Factory. Recently separated from the other factories, the Rainbow Factory became the most popular view for most Pegasi. Rainbows in liquid form came out of the top of the building, and drizzled down the sides in beautiful bright colors. Almost as if the Factory was a giant fountain. When the rainbows hit certain parts on the sides of the building, energy got released and the rainbows converted into light, making wonderful streaks of color in the sky. The left over rainbows fell out of Cloudsdale and disappeared into a colorful mist, never touching the surface below.
If Paty ever had a shot at going inside the Rainbow Factory, he would have taken it. However, despite all the happy attention given to the building, the Rainbow Factory was a strange place. For nopony seemed to go in, or come out of it. There was only one door to the facility, heavily guarded by Pegasi in black colored armor. Nopony could figure out or understand how Rainbows were made. Since the rainbows start out as a liquid and turn into a rainbow going into the sky, the Pegasi assumed that some kind of magic was involved in the production process , so nopony questioned it. Rainbows were a necessary source of weather stability; the Pegasi relied heavily on the product of rainbows. Weather stability was a vital thing to have in Cloudsdale. Without it, Cloudsdale's structure would tear apart. Rainbows released a special kind of energy that made the clouds harder, making for better building supports and a more protected city. So much protection, that when anything created a hole in the cloud, the cloud would regenerate and the hole would be gone like it was never there. Plus, because of Cloudsdale's success on making weather stable for it to function, the city became super rich. So rich, that most of Equestria's actual weather came from Cloudsdale's Weather Corporation, making anypony that lives in the city rich themselves. Such a society doesn't believe in questioning who runs anything that keeps it all together, such as rainbows. They just live their normal lives with all their bits and big fluffy houses.
Why would anypony question something that held the city together and kept ponies from easily walking through walls? Why question something that makes you feel safe and makes your society look like the city upon a hill? Why question the ponies that have prevented your home from utterly collapsing beneath your hoofs?
