Into the Clouds

by Thunder Roller

Rating: everyone
Tags: Scootaloo, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash
Length: 1109

After learning that Scootaloo has never seen the clouds from above, Rainbow Dash takes her on a flight so she can finally experience the simple joy.

After learning that Scootaloo has never seen the clouds from above, Rainbow Dash takes her on a flight so she can finally experience the simple joy.

~~~~~~~~~~~
This story slightly diverges from the series.

Published 2015-04-13 19:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-04-13 19:20:02 UTC

Into the Clouds

It was a partly cloudy day in Ponyville, and Rainbow Dash had taken Scootaloo for banana split ice cream at Sugarcube Corner. They were sitting together in a booth with a window view. Outside, a mother bird was feeding her three babies a worm.

The mother bird apparently realized that she didn't have enough worms, so she turned and flew away. Her babies got as close to the edge as they could without falling and began to chirp loudly for their mother. The sight was almost heart breaking, yet cute at the same time.

Scootaloo watched with sympathy for the baby birds. She knew how it felt to not be able to fly yet. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was retelling her story about how she got her cutie mark, Scootaloo's favorite story, but she wasn't paying much attention.

"And so, I flew as fast as I could to the finish line, and BOOM!" Rainbow Dash threw her hooves into the air to add to the effect. "A circular explosion of rainbow stretched across Equestria! Hey, Scoot?"

"Oh, yeah? That was an awesome story, Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo said in a monotone voice.

"Is something bothering you?"

"No, nothing's wrong." Scootaloo lied.

Rainbow Dash arched her eyebrow, unconvinced. "Uh, huh."

Scootaloo exhaled, and looked back to the birds that was nested outside the window. She knew she couldn't lie to her sister figure.

"It's just, I hear awesome stories about you all the time, and it's always about flying. I've never even seen what the top of a cloud looks like, I can only imagine. But I just know it's not the same."

"Now, I think your just exaggerating. I'm sure you've seen clouds from a helicopter."

Scootaloo just shook her head.

"A blimp?"

She shook her head again.

"From pony back?"

This time, she covered her eyes with her hooves, placing her elbows on the table. Rainbow Dash started thinking. She knew it would probably be a while before Scootaloo's wings were strong enough to carry her high enough off the ground, but her patience wouldn't be strong enough to wait long enough.

She didn't want Scootaloo to do something stupid, like trying to hang glide off of a mountain, untrained. So Rainbow Dash decided to do something special for her. Something she would never forget.

"How about this, squirt." Scootaloo rose her head from her hooves, looking at her Sister-figure with anticipation. "You finish your ice cream, and I'll personally show you what the clouds look like from above."

Scootaloo's eyes widen with excitement, and she started to scarf down her banana split, occasionally getting brain freeze. Once she was done, Rainbow Dash left a tip at the table, and they walked out the door. Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo to a hill, just outside of Ponyville.

Just to add to Scootaloo's excitement, Rainbow Dash acted like a Wonderbolt instructor. She had Scootaloo stand perfectly still, eyes ahead, hooves close together, while she paced back and forth and rambled on.

"So, you think you have what it takes to fly on my back and see the clouds from above?" Rainbow Dash half shouted.

"Yes Ma'am!" Scootaloo half shouted back.

Rainbow smirked. "You think you have the stomach to fly that high?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

Her grin grew. "Most importantly, do you think you're cool enough to fly with the fastest, most awesome pony in Equestria?"

"YES MA'AM!" Scootaloo shouted loudly, losing control of her excitement.

"THEN LETS GO!"

Rainbow Dash grabbed Scootaloo's hoof, and slung her onto her back. Once she was sure Scootaloo was securely on, Rainbow Dash took a running start and flew up into the air. She was taking it slow, nowhere near as fast as she normally would fly, but she wanted to make sure Scootaloo didn't lose her grip.

She flew higher, and higher, and higher until the clouds were about ten feet below them. After they were high in the sky, Rainbow Dash looked back to Scootaloo. She saw that her eyes were wide, her jaw had dropped, and she was grinning from ear to ear. The sight made Rainbow Dash smile, but she quickly turned her head back to see where she was going.

She avoided anything that might steer them off track, such as helicopters, blimps, or other pegasi who were flying much faster than them. She flew above many parts of Ponyville, such as the The Gazebo, Sweet Apple Acres, Carrot Top Acres, and the Main Square. They must have been flying for hours, even though it felt like only moments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun started to set, so Rainbow take a look back to see Scootaloo had fallen asleep, and was resting her head in her mane. The sight of the sleeping filly was even more beautiful than the golden sunset, or the orange colored clouds that it caused. Her orange coat glowing in the dimming sunlight, her purple mane blowing with the wind, and the way the light caused her facial features to cast shadows, making every detail of her face to pop out, it was all just beautiful.

Reluctantly, Rainbow Dash began to fly lower and lower, until her hooves were touching the ground. She avoided bumping into anyone so she didn't wake Scootaloo up. Eventually, Rainbow Dash found her way to a three story building.

Even though it was painted a yellow, with the cherry red door that was meant to be inviting, it was a building Rainbow Dash hated to go to. She knew that Scootaloo didn't like it too much either. In a way, the building was dreaded.

Until she met Scootaloo, she never went to it. It's not that she purposefully avoided the building. She just never had a reason to go to it.

Rainbow Dash then looked to the sleeping filly on her back with caring eyes. Even though the sunset wasn't directly on her anymore, she was just as beautiful as before. Maybe even more beautiful, if that was even possible.

"I promise you, Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash whispered quietly, careful not to wake her up. "I promise you won't live here for much longer. Please, be patient."

Rainbow Dash then walked up the steps, hesitantly reading the golden plated sign next to the door: 'Ponyville Orphanage'.

Author's Note

This is a little story I wrote a while back when I was still learning how to write. Originally, I didn't want to post this story, sense I wasn't that good at the time. But, I had a change of heart.

In fact, this is the story I sent to Cloudfilly as a test when they asked to be my Editor.