Look to the Cloudline

Written By:
Cloudline Dasher

Chapter One: First Impressions.

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It had been a long time coming. Cloudline Dasher was fresh out of college, and quite happy with the small fortune of bits she had received due to her hard work participating in scientific studies. Ranging anywhere from simply participating in first pony trials of a new product, or even traveling across the world to spend a given amount living with a tribe of ponies with a rudimentary language, or village consisting of huts, or crude housing. In doing so, had both made a name for herself as a rising scientist, as well as the funds to open her very own laboratory for her inventions and studies.

Which led her to the perfect place; Ponyville. A quaint little town full of ponies. What was first a town mainly consisting of farming earth ponies, now a quickly growing network of many species around a castle. With a princess by the name of Twilight Sparkle residing inside. The main part that drawn Cloudline to this town, was of course, all the intense magic and goings on. Not only was it home of the Elements of Harmony, but was next to the Everfree forest. Filled with a countless amount of research material that could send her scientific career careening to whom only knows.

Cloudline sighed, glancing at the abandoned greenhouse to which was soon to be her laboratory. It was a dank, dirt covered building. The glass brown with the passing of time. A few panes broken or cracked here or there, but was in decent shape. The metallic frame that held the place together lacked rust, and had the remnants of a durable spell on it. Keeping its structural integrity far better than if it had been left on its own. The glass however was something to be desired. For some reason glass always seemed to not hold magic like a solid mass.

Within a flash, she was quick at work cleaning. She had to be prepared for when both her new equipment, and her current experiments arrived.

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All was already busy as Twilight made her way through town. Humming a happy little tune as she headed toward her destination. Confident of where she wanted the day to head. After a year and a half of being a princess, she was finally getting used to planning her schedule. Making herself able to return to her studies, and experiments. However, that wasn't the plan for today. A new pony had moved to town. A scientist, the first of scientific academics since she had moved here so many years ago. She deemed it up to herself to make sure this new pony had a pleasant first impression of Ponyville. No being filled to the brim by Applejack, rained on by Rainbow Dash, prettied up and molested by Rarity, the awkwardness of Fluttershy, or bombarded by a freak surprise party from Pinkie Pie. Not to mention, a former villain, Nightmaremoon daring to spiral Equestria into eternal night.

It had been a long time coming since Twilight found herself willingly, and joyfully searching for a new friend. Being excited of where the friendship could lead. They could even be partners on the turning point of Equestrian scientific discovery! She couldn't help but give a little squee in her giddiness.

It wasn't that she didn't absolutely adore her current friends, but those kind of just happened. Even against her best efforts at not making friends. She saw this as a challenge. A challenge for the princess of friendship to make a friend without fate stepping in. Even if it didn't turn out as grand as she was hopping, she at least hoped to make a good acquaintance that she could talk about science and various studies with. Somepony that she could sit down with, have a cup of tea, and talk about the evolution of anything really; Chemical composition, quantum mechanics, chemical hygiene and safety. Twilight giggled happily as she jumped in the air for a moment, hastily steadying herself, “So exciting!”

Speaking of all her friends, made her panic a bit. What if one of the others had introduced themselves to her first? While she loved her friends, she wanted to be the first impression on this young scientist. To show this town wasn't only farmers, bakers and country ponies. Her hooves clopped louder against the cobble as she picked up her pace, knowing exactly where she was headed. The abandoned greenery on the outskirts of town.

“Twilight!”

Twilight turned her head, smiling as she changed direction, “Applejack, selling apples early as always!”

“Darn tootin!” Applejack chuckled, “What're you doing up this early? Don'tcha have princessing to do?”

“I'm getting used to organizing my uh. Ah hem... Princessing, and was able to clear my schedule. Today is a very special day after all!” Twilight beamed.

A large question mark formed in Applejack's mind, tilting her head, “Is it somepony's birthday or somethin'? Pinkie didn't say anythin'.”

Twilight's mouth opened, before she snapped it closed, 'I can't tell her! She'll want to come, then my grand first impression will be ruined!'

“Oh uh...” Twilight paused, looking for the right word.

Applejack chuckled, tapping Twilight on the shoulder, “Yer wantin' to meet that scientist that came to town, aren't ya?”

Dumbfounded, Twilight's mouth fell open and closed a few times before words found her, “Wha, how? What?”

“Yer not hard to figure out, Twilight. A pony moves to town that is a scientist, the first other than you. Then here ya are, first break in a long while, and yer off somewhere. Excited as all git out, and wont tell me where? Though, one thing does bother me...”

“Wha-what would that be?” Twilight's ears flickered, her eyes locked onto her friend.

“Why are you tryin to get to her before the rest of us? Are you embarrassed, or worried we may run her off?” Applejack raised a brow, glaring at Twilight.

Suddenly, a puff of pink smoke appeared and dispersed as a pink pony threw her hoof around Applejack's shoulder, “No silly filly!”

“What tha!” Applejack clambered back, nearly falling to her rump if not for the hoof that was tight around her, “Horse apples, Pinkie! Ya nearly sent me to see ma and pa there for a minute!”

Ignoring the little scare, or oblivious to it, Pinkie giggled, “Twilight just wants to be the first is all, she wants somepony that can keep up intelligently with her experiments, not to say we aren't intelligent, just not HER intelligent. There are different types you know! Of intelligence I mean! Like you are with apples, AJ. Or Rarity and fashion! Fluttershy with...”

“I get it...” Groaning, Applejack shoved a hoof into Pinkie's mouth, “Wait... is that why I haven't gotten an invite for this new pony, yet?”

“Pinkie.” Twilight grinned, warmed at her friends actions, “That's so insightful and kind. Letting me be the first to introduce myself. I...”

“OH! I almost forgot, here is your invite, Applejack! I never let the mail deliver to my besties!”

Opening the letter, Applejack read aloud, “You're cordially invited to a party featuring Twilight welcoming Cloudline Dasher to town.”

Twilight blanked, forcefully grabbing the letter out of the air, “P-pinkie, the party is set to this morning. I'm on my way now, how could you have known?”

Pinkie merely grinned as she made her tail twitch. Twilight sighed, slapping her hoof to her forehead, “Pinkie sense...”

“How did ya even think you were gonna organize this, anyway? She's on her way, and I just now got the invite...” Applejack held out her hoof as Twilight placed it in it, “I can't just drop everythin'.”

“Pinkie, no...” Twilight stated as she pulled Pinkie from Applejack with her magic, “I wanted to have a long QUIET talk with her, not have all of Ponyville crowding the poor mare right after having a princess introduce herself.”

“B-but... party, Twilight! Everypony deserves a Pinkie party!” Pinkie's mane slightly deflated, “what will she think when she hears everyone else got a welcome to Ponyville party, and she didn't?”

Twilight sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, “Fine, but later today or something. I at least want to talk to her in depth first... Okay?”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie jumped up and away, her mane instantly returning to its usual bounce, “Then I have planning to do!”

Applejack and Twilight locked worried eyes for a moment, before letting out a sigh.

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A little tune could be heard whistling through the stale air, as Cloudline Dasher kicked up dust with her broom. She managed to buy an abandoned greenhouse on the outskirts of Ponyville, with the money she had saved up from participating in various scientific studies in Canterlot. It was sort of better this way anyway. She was a pegasus, that had a profession that was usually either for unicorns, or for the technician weather ponies in Cloudsdale. The world was changing, and rather rapidly. Just a few years ago, there was only one princess, now there were many. Especially after having just one, for a thousand years.

Thanks to all the dust being trifled around, her usually light purple coat was dingy, her purple and white mane sweaty and matted. Even her cutie mark seemed to be dull under the layer of grim of years of neglect the greenhouse had received, but Cloudline didn't care. She managed to own her own laboratory, that was in relatively good condit--

Bang!~~ Every single glass pane in the greenery shattered as a rainbow circle spiraled outward from a singular point. Cloudline covered her head and eyes with her wing as glass showered her from above, luckily not scratching her up. She looked on in horror as her newly bought laboratory was reduced to a frame within seconds.

“Hehe... sorry about that...” A mare's voice chimed as a rainbow maned pony flew in through the now open ceiling, “I'll get somepony to fix that right up for ya!”

“But I, but... What was that? A Rainboom? I've only heard of them, you I... you're Rainbow Dash, aren't you?” Cloudline Dasher's eyes went wide.

Rainbow instantly smiled, puffing her chest out in pride, “So you've heard of me, eh? The only pony to perform a sonic rainboom.”

“Well, technically, somepony probably did perform a sonic rainboom before you.” Cloudline flashed a matter of factually grin.

“Say what now?” Rainbow's ears flickered and rotated toward Cloudline.

“I mean, how could it of been a legend if no one performed it before? Sure, ponies can speculate and scientists can determine what's possible, but looking at history, it's far more likely somepony, just as yourself had once performed a sonic rainboom. Many probably didn't believe her, but still inspired a legend around the story.”

For a moment, Rainbow's heart sank. Unable to hide her deflated ego, “So, I'm not the first?”

An awkward silence befell the two, before Cloudline caught on. Cringing as she realized her possibly harsh words. Despite her demolishing her new home, she decided to rectify herself, “Look at it this way. Even if it had been performed before, it's not in the history books. I'm sure Celestia would have made sure of that, so if it IS true, you're still the first in over two thousand years.”

Rainbow instantly perked up, her grin and ego quickly returning, “Yeah! Yeah, you're right? It's so impossible, a pony like me only comes around every two thousand years! Maybe they'll make a legend about me or something! The legend of Rainbow Dash and the Rainboom. Awesome, right?”

A droplet of sweat formed on Cloudline's brow, “Hehe... yeah... I suppose it does. I mean, it was part of the basis of why I chose Ponyville. While my main focus is my inventions, I'm also here to study the rainboom. I hypothesize that if I could turn your movements into a mathematical algorithm, then it could be reproduced. I fully understand that you also need a well trained body to compensate the g-forces, but I...”

“Uh... huh?” Rainbow tilted her head, “Whoa whoa, you turned total egghead on me, and lost me.”

Chuckling, Cloudline shook her head, “Sorry about that. I got a little carried away.”

Flapping her wings, Rainbow headed upwards, “Anyway, I gotta go. Going to be a decent sized rain tonight. By the way, you should go meet Twilight Sparkle. You two eggheads would hit it off!”

“The princess?” Cloudline questioned, but was too late. Rainbow waved goodbye and took off. Cloudline lowered her gaze to the ground for a moment, 'That's right! Princess Twilight calls this town home. Why did I forget something like that?'

“W-wait, rain?!” Cloudline yelled out, flying up and out of her greenhouse, “But I haven't a place to stay...”

Cloudline groaned, looking down to her stuff that was placed in the corner of the greenery. She sighed, closing her eyes, “Guess I'm not saving money on a hotel tonight...”

She had originally planned on cleaning the floor the best she could, and using a sleeping bag to get through the night. Then look for an actual home in the morning. Though with a large, and rather breezy greenhouse, that choice was hastily taken from her. She quickly landed and started to throw her most important things on her back. Making sure to throw a good tarp over the rest.

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First thing that came into view was the greenery, but as Twilight neared, her first instinct was worry. While she knew the greenhouse was old, and abandoned, knew it was at least in tact. She had passed it at least a few times in her flight training over town. While dirty, it was still definitely usable if cleaned. Now it lay in shattered glass, with only a frame to signify that it was in fact a greenhouse.

Poking her head through the opened doorway, Twilight called out, “Miss Dasher? Anypony home?”

But none answered. The only sounds were of birds that chirped in the trees that surrounded the greenery. Glancing back over her shoulder, Twilight looked to the only road to the greenery. A desolate little dirt trail, in which she had came from. Twilight hummed to herself, 'she may have went to town.' She couldn't help but look at the greenery, frowning, 'did something happen? This is no good, what if she was attacked?!'

Upon that note, Twilight's heart raced, pulling herself from the doorway and clambering about, “I should get help!?”

Closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath, Twilight calmed herself, 'steady girl, she may have arrived to this and went to town to hire someone to repair it... Yeah, maybe I can check the market place!'

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(not at the market)

Cloudline huffed as she carried her most important supplies. Mainly that of her bits, and several laboratory experiments that couldn't be left in the elements. It wasn't even that they were particularly heavy, but dangerous if mishandled. She had visited Ponyville before, and her previous experiment was on the properties of poison joke. Its potency in different states, and altering its effects to be positive. Cloudline hoped that one day she could alter the poison jokes life altering effects into something that could cure disease, or even replace missing body parts. However, as of yet, only succeeded in making a liquid that randomized the joke. Making the outcome different every time it was used. By now, Cloudline had been morphed, shaped, recolored, resized, and even turned into a unicorn at one point, minus the magic of course. However, science must go on!

A little bell chimed as she entered a quaint little in. The main lobby wasn't anything too special. It was a decently cleaned room with a desk that sliced the room in half. An older earth stallion behind it, flipping through what was most likely the hotels documents. His mane nearly white with age, with what looked like as blue through out. His coat a light brown, and his cutie mark a large book and key.

“Sir, I would like a room for the night.” Cloudline panted, re-configuring herself so something in her bag wasn't poking her in the side.

“Hmm?” The stallion looked up, a grin quickly adorning his muzzle, “Good day to you miss. One room coming right up, I just need you to sign in.

Sliding the book across the table, Cloudline took the quill into her mouth, hastily jotting down her name. The stallion kept up his smile as he slid the book back to himself, and slid a key toward Cloudline Dasher, “By the way, we have a special going on. Stay two or more nights, and get the first night free.”

Looking over her shoulder and out the front door, Cloudline thought to herself, 'that rain will probably have the whole lab soaked.' She sighed, nodding, “Yeah, I'm not sure how long I'll be staying anyway.”

“Fantastic!” The stallion happily chirped, “Your room is up the stairs and to the left. Have a great stay with us, miss Cloudline Dasher!”

Nodding and shooting a forced grin, Cloudline made her trip to her room. Not caring to really get a feel for the place. She unloaded her supplies out on a nearby vanity dresser before turning to leave. Locking the door behind her. She had hoped to get someone to fix her greenhouse as soon as possible. Her job did depend on it.

Dropping off her stuff in the corner, and making sure her vials and poison joke essence was alright, she turned to her bed, dropping herself down on it, “Uhhggg...”

She merely lay there, breathing deeply and letting her aching body settle. Suddenly catching the smell of some odor. Groaning, Cloudline pushed herself from her bed, “I should probably shower, before I go out to hire someone to fix my lab...”

Frowning at herself, Cloudline turned her head to the window, seeing the weather team getting ready for the rain, “Dumb Rainbow Dash... Great first impression there. More like Rainbow Crash!” Right before she entered the bathroom for her shower, she muttered under her breath, “T-that sonic rainboom was pretty cool though...”

Author's Note

I really feel like my writing skills are really rusty. This is just a little something to polish up so I can get back to my other stories, and if people don't horribly hate this, I'll continue Look to the Cloudline.