Of Cottages and Cloud Houses
Home Is Where the Heart Is
“Here we are. What do you think, Flutter-Butter?” the gold pegasus stallion asked his daughter after showing her around a large cloud house.
What Fluttershy thought was that she wished her father wouldn't call her Flutter-Butter. And that she never liked cloud houses much, especially the large ornate ones her family preferred. The one her father had shown her was big enough for a good sized family, but her parents had bought it for her to live in by herself, her first home of her own. She thought she had made it clear that she wanted to move to the ground, to take care of animals. She thought that maybe her parents never noticed that she learned how to speak when she was a baby.
But Fluttershy thought a lot of things that she didn't say.
“It's. . . nice.”
An orange pegasus mare with a carefully styled pink mane smiled at the stallion. Fluttershy had never seen her mother not smiling. She smiled when she was worried, sad, angry, and even when she was happy, as she was now. “You see, I told you she'd love it. Mummy knows that you wanted something simple, dear.”
Fluttershy usually tried to hide behind her hair when her mother was smiling, just in case. “It's not really-”
Her father interrupted, or didn't notice that she was talking. “And Ponyville is a peaceful little town. The perfect place to look after those flowers you like so much.”
“Ponyville is very nice,” Fluttershy whispered her agreement, “and, um, I do like flowers, but animals are what I really-”
“Well you can have lots of little bird friends live here.” Her father said with a smile.
“Just not inside,” her mother added. “They'd make a mess of the flooring.”
“She knows that, dearest. Fluttershy is very good with birds. She has them for a cutie mark.”
“Butterflies.” Fluttershy corrected softly.
Her father waved his hoof. “Of course Flutter-Butter, that's what I said.”
“Don't correct your father. He's worked very hard to make sure you had someplace to stay near Ponyville where you didn't have to be on the ground.” Her mother said the last words distastefully, despite Fluttershy having mentioned at least a dozen times that she wanted to live on the ground.
“I'm sorry.” She said to her father. “But I really like-”
He smiled proudly. “I knew she'd love it. I know my little Flutter-Butter.”
“Of course you do, dearest! She's so lucky to have a father like you, aren't you Fluttershy?”
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy nodded. “Of cour-”
“I'm lucky to have you too, Flutter-Butter.” Her father wrapped a foreleg around her. “You know Sky Top was just saying the other day how charming you are.”
Fluttershy blushed. “That's very-”
“You know, he has a son.” Her mother hinted broadly. “A fine young pegasus, top of his class in flight school. We could invite them to dinner one night.”
“Oh, that would be, um-”
Her mother interrupted, speaking to her father, “What about next Wednesday?”
“No good,” Her father answered. “I have an important meeting. Thursday?”
“Charity dinner. A week from Saturday?”
“We'll be in Manehatten.”
Her mother turned back to her. “Oh, we'll figure it out dear. I'll let you know in time to get your mane done.”
“Um, that's very nice of you Mother, but maybe if you don't mind-”
“You're very welcome, dear! Anything to make our little girl happy.” Her mother beamed.
“Of course!” Her father added, “And when you're finished with your little flowers just say the word! We'll find you a proper place in Cloudsdale.”
“It's, um, animals, Daddy. And I don't think-”
“One never knows where life might take you, Flutter-Butter. We all go through phases. Why, there was one time when I nearly bought a ranch out near Applewood. Can you see me as a rancher?”
Her mother laughed. “Oh dearest, you're a card.”
“I know,” her father agreed. “But of course I got over that. What self-respecting pegasus wouldn't end up in Cloudsdale eventually?”
“What your father is saying is that you should keep an open mind.”
“But we support you no matter what. I hope this little present of ours proves that.”
Fluttershy sighed and looked down, avoiding the smiling faces of her parents. “Thank you Mother, thank you Daddy. It's. . . nice.”
~*~
A few months later a very different scene was playing out in another pony's first home of her own.
“Well, I guess this is what you get when you take a job with weather patrol in the flank end of nowhere.” The older gray pegasus stallion said, frowning at the roomy but rustic cottage his daughter had rented.
Rainbow Dash flew up, carrying a large box, her saddle bags stuffed full. She rolled her eyes. “Will you leave it, Dad? I got a job.”
“Yeah, not that easy when you drop out of flight school, is it?” He followed his daughter as she flew into the house. “You end up in some shack on the ground. You think this is what I wanted for you, Rainy? You think I wanted you to end up in some backwater ground town?”
“Gosh, you mean this wasn't what you wanted?” Dash said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Here I thought I was doing it all for you.”
“Don't backtalk, young lady. You're getting a taste of real life now, not that flight school, junior speedster, Wonderbolts daydream. When I was your age, I was working-”
“Sixty hours a week at the weather factory, cause you dropped out of flight school and met Mom, and she got knocked up with me.” Dash opened a closet and raised an eyebrow at a family of mice that seemed to have made a home there. “I've heard this once or twice, ya' know.”
“Rain Drop, talk to your daughter.” Her father said, throwing his hooves in the air.
“Rainy, honey, your father is just trying to tell you how life is. He knows. You should listen to him.” Her mother replied automatically. This conversation might as well be a record, they had it every day since Dash had dropped out of flight school.
“You mean, so that someday I might get to be shift supervisor at the factory, and have my own dumpy little cloud house in the crummy part of Cloudsdale? Yeah, Dad's really got this life thing down.”
“You listen here," her dad started up again, "the factory pays a lot more than weather patrol in a little hay hole town. You need to be thinking of that if you ever expect to live anyplace other than a shack on the edge of no mare's land.”
“I told you, this is totally just temporary.” Dash said through gritted teeth. “One day soon I'll be a Wonderbolt, and I'll have a huge cloud house. Just wait.”
Her father rolled his eyes. “Oh, I'll be waiting. The day you're a Wonderbolt is the day I'll be King of Equestria, Miss Drop-Out.”
“Shut up!” Dash shouted, flying up in his face. “Shut up shut up shut up!”
“Don't you tell me to shut up! I'm your father!” He yelled back.
“Well you kind of stink at it!”
Her father turned away. “Rain Drop! Talk to your daughter!”
“Rainy, watch your mouth.” Her mother said automatically. “Your father is just saying-”
“He's saying that I oughta try to get the same boring job that he has, so I can have the same boring life and raise some more dumb foals who will drop out of flight school! I'm sick of it! He can get out of my house!” Dash gestured to the door, her eyes narrowed.
“You don't have to tell me twice! Come on, Rain Drop!” Her father stormed out of the little house.
“I'll write to you soon, Rainy.” Her mother said, before hurrying after her father.
“Great.” Dash said to the closing door. She looked around the empty, dusty room and sighed. “Home sweet home.”
Rainbow Dash never really settled into her house. She hung a Wonderbolts poster on the wall and got herself a bed, but she never spent time at home if she could help it. For one thing, there were her roommates. Half a dozen kinds of animals had made homes in her house, and no matter how many times she moved them outside they never seemed to stay there.
Whenever she wasn't on duty at work, she flew around the area. She did some training, kept in shape, and tried out different spots to catch a quick nap. Clouds were always a favorite, but on days when the sky was supposed to be clear she had to make do with a nice tree branch.
A few weeks later she was napping in a tree on the local apple orchard, a favorite spot. The branches were big and comfortable, and if an apple went missing every now and then Dash figured it wouldn't put out the farmers that much. So far she'd never seen a sign of anypony, but that wasn't surprising since from the air she had seen miles and miles of trees. What were the chances they'd be working on the one tree Dash was napping in?
“Ooof!” Dash woke suddenly because the ground slammed into her. She shook her head clear and decided that it might have been the other way around, as she opened her eyes and looked into a concerned orange face topped by a cowpony hat.
“What the- I mean, sorry, didn't see ya' there. You new 'round here?” the pony asked.
“Yeah. I got a job with the weather patrol.” Dash got to her hooves, then tested her wings. “The name's Rainbow Dash.”
“I'm Applejack, and this here's Sweet Apple Acres. It's always nice to meet new ponies. Ain't every day I buck 'em outta a tree.” The earth pony chuckled.
“It's not the nicest way I've ever woken up.” Dash said. “Is that what you do for fun around here, kick trees?”
“Nah, this here's work. I gotta get the apples out somehow. For fun I like to play some horse shoes, or run, or practice for the rodeo.”
“Hey, I'm in training too!” Dash grinned. “I'm getting ready to try out for the Wonderbolts. Wanna work out together?”
“Sure!” Applejack answered cheerfully. “Not til I'm done workin', though. You can go back to sleepin' in that tree, if ya' want. It's done bein' bucked.”
“Awesome.” Dash flew back to her branch and laid down, relaxing. She watched Applejack move to the next tree, then pivot and give it a buck. “You work hard.”
“Yup.” Applejack said with a smile. “Hard work is good for a pony. 'Sides, I got my family countin' on me. I'd never let 'em down.”
“That stinks.” Dash said sympathetically.
Applejack stopped and stared at her. “What the hay is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing!” Dash said quickly. “Just, it stinks that you're stuck working for other ponies instead of living your dreams.”
“There's nothin' wrong with givin' your all for other ponies. At the end of the day, family and friends are what's important in life.” She trotted over to Dash. “But it happens, I'm livin' my dreams right here. I love farmin', and I love my family, and I love Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Oh.” Dash considered that.
“Is that how you feel 'bout weather patrol?” Applejack said with a sad smile. "Stuck there instead of livin' your dreams?"
“Yeah.” Dash admitted. “I mean, it's not as hard as your work, but it feels like someplace I'm trapped until I get to be a Wonderbolt.”
“Aw, sugarcube. You ain't trapped. You're in trainin' now, learnin' the things ya' need and gettin' good. And from what I seen of weather patrol ponies, it looks like a good way to train. Not that I know much 'bout flyin', but you gotta be all over the sky, buckin' clouds and pushin' them 'round. You'll be a Wonderbolt in no time.” Applejack finished with an encouraging grin.
“Thanks.” Dash grinned back. “You're right, this good training. Other than the house, this ground thing isn't half bad.”
“Where do ya' live?” Applejack asked as she moved to another tree.
Dash flew to a closer tree branch and answered, “This lumpy shack, over by the creepy forest.”
“I know the place. The cottage by the Everfree. It ain't that bad.” She turned to buck the tree.
“It stinks.” Dash countered. “There are no clouds to sleep on, and I keep having to chase out animals. I think I have squirrels in my attic, and there's the rabbit that keeps getting into my kitchen and glaring at me when I put him back outside.”
“That does sound like it'd drive a pony crazy.” Applejack agreed, turning back to Dash. “We just had to get somepony to move a family of opossums outta our barn. You might wanna try her, she did a real good job.”
“What's her name?”
“I didn't quite catch it. She's a yellow pegasus, and she's quieter than a mouse in a room fulla cats.”
“Where's she live?” Dash asked. “I'll find her tomorrow.”
“She lives in the big ol' cloud house that just went up on the other side of town.” Applejack nodded in the direction of Ponyville.
“Must be nice.” Dash sighed, laying back on her branch and closing her eyes. “Some ponies have all the luck.”
~*~
Fluttershy really, really didn't like most things about her house. One of the only things she did like was that a cloud house didn't get many ponies just dropping by. So she was surprised the next day to find that somepony was knocking at her door.
She opened it a crack and peeked out. Between the narrow slit she was looking though, and her hair guarding her face from having to make eye contact, she was able to make out a cyan form with an unmistakable rainbow mane.
“Rainbow Dash?” She squeaked.
“Fluttershy!” Dash's eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh, this is awesome! I haven't seen you since you graduated! So you live here?”
Fluttershy nodded.
Dash looked up at the house, and around the cloud bank that acted as a yard. “Wow. . . this place is totally cool. You've got a rainbow fountain and everything!”
“Yes. . .” Fluttershy nodded and looked down to avoid having to say anything about her house that would either be rude or a lie. “Um, would you like to come inside?”
“Sure!” Dash said, entering the large, ornate front hallway. “Now this is what I'm talking about! Someday I'm gonna have a place like this.”
“Where are you living now?” Fluttershy asked softly.
“Some shack.” Dash said with a shrug. “That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. Applejack said you could get the squirrels out of my attic.”
“Why would you want them out?”
“They're late on their rent.” Dash said dryly.
“Oh, I should find out why. Maybe we can work something out.”
“I'm not charging the squirrels rent! They just can't live in my house! Neither can the mice, or the birds, or that dumb rabbit. That's why I need your help.”
“Those poor animals. . . I'd love to help you. It's no trouble at all.”
“Great.” Dash grinned. “So is that what you've been up to? Getting rid of animals?”
“I. . . um. . . don't get rid of them.” Fluttershy explained, her eyes lighting up. “I just ask them nicely to move someplace else. I usually help them find a nice, cozy new home, and get them set up with everything the sweet little things might need. Then I check on them after a few weeks to make sure they're happy and comfy and settled in, and I bring them a house warming present.”
“Wow. That's, uh, really cool of you.” Dash said, seeming slightly overwhelmed by Fluttershy's dedication.
“Thank you. . . what about you? Did you finish school?”
Dash cringed. “Well. . . I'm finished with school. I kinda dropped out, but I got a job with weather patrol here, while I finish training.”
“For the Wonderbolts, right?” Fluttershy asked, recalling the hours Dash spent obsessing over the flying team.
The cyan mare's face lit up. “Yeah! You don't have to have finished flight school, I checked.”
“Oh. . . then I guess you won't be staying here long. You're the best flyer I've ever seen.” Fluttershy said honestly.
“I know!” Dash grinned. Then her face softened. “I mean, thanks. Really. It's awesome to have a friend like you here. And Applejack too. This is gonna be a cool place to live.”
“I'm glad I have a friend like you, too.” Fluttershy said, leaving off that she was actually glad to have a friend. She'd met several ponies since coming to town, but she couldn't really call them friends since she couldn't make herself speak loudly enough to get them to hear her name. She actually liked friends, and wanted friends, but she assumed that she was so boring that it didn't matter if other ponies heard what she said.
“Come on, let's go kick some animals out of my place- I mean politely ask them to leave, and then we'll go get some lunch.”
Fluttershy smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”
Over the next week, Fluttershy's life improved a lot. Having Rainbow Dash around meant that she could interact with ponies the way she liked: Letting somepony else talk to them while she watched. Dash wasn't the best pony for this, they mostly spent time with Applejack talking about sports, but it was better than never being around other ponies.
The time she wasn't with her friends she spent with her other friends, the creatures in the areas around Ponyville. She visited the forests and swamps, checked on the mice and bunnies in the meadows, and met all of the animals Applejack kept on Sweet Apple Acres.
On her occasional trips through town, there was only one thing that she felt she was missing out on. Every time she passed the building she considered going in, but talked herself out of it. Finally one day she stood in front of the door, screwed up her courage, and walked inside to treat herself to a day at the spa.
An hour later, relaxing on a lounge with her hooves freshly polished she was glad she did. The spa had been blissfully empty so far. But the sweet solitude was broken as a white unicorn walked in and laid down on a lounge next to her.
Fluttershy eyed the mare carefully, but she just had a cheerful conversation with the pony who applied her facial, then levitated a magazine over and started reading it. Fluttershy closed her eyes, pretending that the spa was still empty.
That illusion was broken when the unicorn gasped loudly, then moaned. “Oh no no no. This is awful. I don't know what Hoity Toity was thinking! This is not haute couture, this is cold couture.”
Fluttershy tried to surpress a giggle, but the unicorn looked up. Fluttershy's eyes went wide, and she hid behind her mane, but the unicorn smiled at her.
“Will you look at this? Somepony has confused fabulous with hideous.” She levitated the magazine to Fluttershy, who immediately saw exactly what the unicorn was so upset about.
“Oh. . . dear. Well. . . I'm, um, sure they're a very nice pony. . . even if they can't fit a bodice.”
“You may be right darling. I'm Rarity, by the way. And you are?”
“Um. . . Fluttershy.” She said, just as softly as usual. But through the magic of the echos in the nearly empty spa, it was audible.
“Pleased to meet you, Fluttershy.” Rarity smiled. “I love your mane, where did you have it done?”
“Cloudsdale.” She whispered.
“Well I suppose that's a little out of the way for me, but it does look lovely. I would expect as much from somepony with an eye for fashion.”
“I, um, don't really have an eye for fashion. I just used to go with my mother to the fashion shows. . . the ones in Manehatten.” She explained.
“In Manehatten? The Manehatten?” The unicorn's eyes went wide.
Fluttershy nodded.
“Well then you simply must come to my boutique and tell me what you think of my creations! I've never had the chance to show them to somepony who has experienced true fashion. To know that the same eyes looking at my styles may have viewed garments by Savior Faire, or Chicelle. . . please please please say that you'll come!”
Fluttershy gaped, and started to shake her head, but the look of distress on Rarity's face gave her pause. She couldn't bear to make somepony unhappy. “Um. . . okay.”
“Thank you, darling. I must find a way to repay you.” Rarity smiled and relaxed. “Would you like a dress, or a hat? I could design the perfect one, just for you.”
“Um, no. . . I'd just like to see your designs.”
Rarity's smile grew to a grin. “We are going to be best friends! Tell me, which designers are your favorites?”
“Well, I've always liked Laureate and. . .” Fluttershy trailed off, blushing and waiting for Rarity to tell her she was wrong.
Rarity just waited a few seconds and said, “Go on, darling.”
“Silver Lamé.” Fluttershy whispered.
“I adore Laureate. As for Lamé, he's a little over the top for my taste, but his garments are amazingly constructed. I can see the appeal.” She smiled. “Ponies are entitled to their opinions.”
“They are?” Fluttershy asked cautiously.
Rarity laughed, “Of course. Think of how boring fashion would be without them!”
Fluttershy smiled a genuine smile. “Well it's very nice of you to listen to me, even when you don't agree. Thank you.”
“I told you, we are friends! Think nothing of it, darling.”
Fluttershy thought a lot of it. It made her happier than she'd been in a long time. Everything in Ponyville seemed to make her happy, except for her house.
~*~
A few weeks later, Rainbow Dash was returning to her house. As she approached, she saw a pink pony sticking something to her door. Her heart stopped. She was 93.5% sure that she'd paid her rent for the month, but the last thing she needed was to get evicted from the only house in town that she could afford.
She darted to the door to look at the note, and breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever it was was addressed to Fluttershy. Dash turned and saw the pink pony bouncing away.
“Hey! Weird pink pony!” She called. The pink pony paused for a second, hovering in the air, then darted back to Dash at a speed that actually impressed the pegasus.
“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! You must be Rainbow Dash. I'm going to learn everypony's name, and it's so easy when their name matches their mane, like you and me! I'm really good at names. I'm not so good at manes, mine is kind of wild, but that's okay 'cause you don't want to see it when it's-”
“Yeah, great.” Dash interrupted, having caught about every other word. “I just wanted to let you know that Fluttershy doesn't live here.”
As if on cue, Dash heard a soft voice behind her.
“Rainbow, I- oh, I'm sorry. . . excuse me.”
Dash turned and smiled at Fluttershy. “Hold on, stick around, I was just telling Pinkie Pie that you don't live here, 'cause she accidentally put this envelope for you on my door.”
“She left one for you on my door. . . I was just bringing it to you. In case you needed it.” Fluttershy explained.
Dash looked confused. "But she's an earth pony. How did she stick it on the door of a cloud house?"
“With tape, silly!" Pinkie said with a grin. "They're invitations to my 'Welcome to Ponyville, Me' party! I'm sorry I got them mixed up, I just saw you both in town the other day, and I asked somepony who you were, and they said Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and I looked for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy places to live, and I thought I found them, but I guess I didn't.”
“No problem. Fluttershy's place probably does fit my style a little better.” Dash said with a grin, proud that sompony thought that she was the kind of pony to have an amazing cloud house.
“And I do love Rainbow's cottage. . . there are so many animals.” Fluttershy said with a soft smile towards the lumpy building.
“Yeah, dumb animals.” Dash grumbled. “What I wouldn't give for a cloud house. You never get raccoons in a cloud house.”
“I love raccoons.” Fluttershy said dreamily. “I wish I could take them home, but they can't live with me. I'd have trouble flying them up there anyway.”
“You know I love flying to your house. Let me know if you need me to carry anything, that's no problem.” Dash offered.
Fluttershy nodded, then turned to Pinkie. “So, you see, it's perfectly understandable that you got mixed up.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie said with a giggle. “You two should switch houses!”
The two pegasi stared at Pinkie and blinked. Then they both cautiously looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.
Pinkie just grinned. “Well, gotta go! I have lots more invitations to pass out. I'll see you at the party!”
As she bounced off, the two ponies left behind continued looking at each other, neither wanting to be the first to say it.
After a long silence, it was Fluttershy who spoke up. “Rainbow Dash. . . would you mind if we. . . I mean, I don't want to be a bother. . . but I would love to live in a cottage like yours.”
Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. “You really wanna switch houses? Like, I'd get to live in a totally awesome cloud house and still just pay the rent for here?”
Fluttershy nodded. “But you don't need to pay the rent. Actually, I'll see if the landlord would sell it to me. It's everything I've ever wanted in a house.”
"But I thought your parents had your house built for you. Aren't they gonna mind?" Dash asked. She was thinking about her own parents, and the look on her father's face when he found out she was living in a cloud house like that. This was too good to be true.
Fluttershy considered the question for a moment, then smiled. "I, um, really want to switch houses, Rainbow. If you don't mind."
She had only just finished speaking when Dash zoomed into the house. She was back in less than thirty seconds with all of her worldly possessions. “I'm packed. Let's go!”
~*~
Dear Mother and Daddy,
I'm writing to tell you that I found a house a little closer to the ground. Actually it's on the ground. And I can take care of my animals there, which makes me very happy. Including butterflies, because that's what my cutie mark is.
I've met some very nice ponies. They listen to me even though I'm quiet, and they care about what I think. I'm very glad I moved here.
Also, I do not want to go to dinner with Sky Top or meet his son. If that's okay with you.
Love,
Fluttershy
Dear Dad,
See that picture? How's that for a cloud house? Guess who lives there? That's right, Miss Drop-Out herself, so you can kiss my tail!
Not only that, but I'm training harder than ever since weather patrol actually gets me out and flying, not stuck in a classroom or a factory. One of my awesome new friends pointed that out. My awesome new friends who all want me to have a shot at being a Wonderbolt, and try to help me get there.
I guess this is what I get for taking a job with weather patrol in the flank end of nowhere. I'm gonna go look at my rainbow fountain again.
Your daughter,
Rainbow NOT RAINY Dash.
