Scootaloo lay on her back, gazing up at the clouds that floated by lazily on the breeze, each one a different shape, a different size. Usually she would try to spot familiar shapes in them to pass the time, but not today. Today she was wondering how they looked from above, how they felt. As a pegasus, she would be able to find out one day, but her curiosity and impatience was over whelming right now.
Scootaloo sighed and kept on looking upwards, when a familiar blue pegasus zipped above head. She smiled as her idol waved at her, and slowed down for a landing nearby. Scootaloo leapt up and ran to meet her as soon as she touched down.
“Rainbow Dash! Hey Rainbow Dash!” she shouted as she grew closer. Rainbow Dash smiled at Scootaloo, who came to rest by her side, jumping up and down eagerly. “Hey Rainbow Dash, how's it going?”
“Oh not bad Scoots, not bad at all. What're you up to down here?”
“Not much. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom are off in Manehatten for the day, so I'm on my own. I've just been watching the clouds, wondering what it's like to walk on one.” she said solemnly.
You've never been on a cloud before, Scootaloo?” Rainbow Dash smiled.
Scootaloo shook her head from side to side and frowned.
“Well, how would you like to? I've got some free time this morning, I could fly you up to one, if you wanted?”
Scootaloo beamed at the suggestion. “I'd love to, that'd be awesome!”
“Okay, let's go find one! Climb onto my back and hold on tightly, because I fly fast!”
Rainbow Dash bent down and let Scootaloo jump up onto her back. She grabbed the pegasus' mane and smiled widely as Rainbow Dash took off into the skies, accelerating at high speeds. Scootaloo began to feel the surge of adrenaline in her veins, loving the sensation, despite how nauseous it made her feel at the same time. She looked back down at the ground and saw it growing smaller and smaller with each passing second. She soon couldn't bear it any more and clenched her eyes shut, waiting until they landed.
Rainbow Dash continued to fly across the skies with Scootaloo hanging onto her mane, straddling her back. She eventually spotted the perfect cloud for Scootaloo to walk upon. Large enough to roam around safely, a safe height from the ground and above a lake, so if she fell, she would be safe. Rainbow Dash landed softly on the cloud's all too familiar surface and slowly walked to the centre before nudging Scootaloo, who still clung tightly to Rainbow Dash's mane, her eyes clenched shut.
“Hey Scootaloo, you can let go, we're here already,” she whispered, gently shaking her back from side to side.
Scootaloo opened her eyes and looked around her. She was surrounded by the cloud's white, fluffy surface and hilly like terrain. She gasped in awe at how large it was compared to their appearance from the ground, not to mention how soft and inviting it appeared. Scootaloo loosened her grip and looked around tentatively, unsure if she wanted to get down.
“What if I can't walk on clouds, Rainbow Dash? What If I fall straight through?”
“Trust me squirt, all pegasus ponies can walk on clouds without even thinking about it. The day we're born, we can run about on them! Most parents' don't let their kids do it however, after several of 'em just ran straight off the edges.”
Scootaloo winced and pulled tighter on Rainbow Dash's multi-coloured mane. “Ran off? As in they fell off the edges of the clouds? I don't know if I wanna do this now, what happens if I fall?”
“If you fall then I'll catch you, trust me! Just like all the parents' did with their kids, no one fell to their deaths! It's perfectly safe Scoots, come on, just try it!” she said, smiling at the orange pegasus.
Scootaloo nodded and slowly released her grip from Rainbow Dash's mane, now just resting freely upon her back. Rainbow Dash flicked her head around, relieved to feel her mane moving freely again without Scootaloo's tight grip pulling on her scalp. She looked to Scootaloo who still sat warily on her back, blowing at the cloud while flapping her small wings ineffectively.
“You can't blow it away Scoots, nor can you break it by jumping up and down. Come on, it's fun!” Rainbow Dash said, gently prodding and poking at the surface of the cloud.
Scootaloo nodded her head again and slowly lowered herself off Rainbow Dash's back, squeaking nervously as her rear legs came close to the cloud. She breathed a sudden sigh of relief as her rear legs touched the surface and remained firmly on top of the cloud. With a bit more confidence, she let go of Rainbow Dash entirely and closed her eyes as her front hooves fell through the air, expecting them to pass straight through the cloud.
Scootaloo felt a dull thud on her hooves and opened her eyes to find she was standing safely on the surface, just like she had been on the ground. She took a step forward and felt her hooves slowly sink into the cloud. She started to panic, but her fears were alleviated when her hooves continued to rest on the cloud's surface. She prodded the cloud with a hoof, checking the solidity, continuing to prod it harder and harder each time, finding that it was as solid as the ground, but with one difference. There was a mild springiness to it.
This was something Scootaloo hadn't considered or thought possible. That while all pegasus ponies make clouds appear to be completely solid and stable, there is a slight bounce to them, a spring to each step, like walking on a soft mattress. She took a deep breath before taking another step, then another, growing more confident as each hoof remained safely on the cloud. She exhaled relievedly, feeling satisfied she wasn't going to pass straight through.
Scootaloo leapt up into the air happily, landing with a soft whoooff as her hooves touched down again. But as her hooves touched down, she began to panic as they sank further into the cloud than she anticipated. She started flapping her wings hurriedly, only to find her hooves sprang back up to their normal height, safely remaining on the surface.
Scootaloo sat down to rest for a minute, breathing reassuringly, when she began to giggle softly, lifting her front hooves up from the cloud as it tickled underfoot. She looked up to Rainbow Dash who stood nearby, grinning.
“Are all clouds ticklish like this?” she asked, continuing to laugh as the cloud ticked her hooves.
“Rainbow Dash laughed back. “Yeah, they are, but you get used to it and eventually you'll barely notice. It's also why most pegasus choose to fly around Cloudsdale. Even though they can walk on the clouds, they just can't stand being constantly tickled!”
Scootaloo smiled at the thought before beginning to run around on the cloud, leaping and bounding happily with each step as the cloud bounced underfoot, launching her into the upper reaches of the cloud. A few light pieces broke off as Scootaloo touched them, turning to dew in the air. Scootaloo felt the gentle misting of the dew upon her face, causing her to smile widely. She continued to jump around, flapping her wings excitedly at being so high in the air. Rainbow Dash looked on, smiling as Scootaloo enjoyed her first time on a cloud, just as she had the first time she felt a cloud underfoot, when she was but a foal.
Rainbow Dash had only been able to crawl around at the time, but still remembered how it first felt to walk on a cloud, the sensation under hoof, not to mention the thrill she got from looking over the edge, staring down at the small houses and ponies on the ground. Her parents always told her to stay away from the edges, but it was just too exciting not to. She had barely been a year old when she first jumped off the edge, eager to fly. She remembered gliding for what felt like an eternity, until her father caught her and carried her home, chastising her for being so careless. But she hadn't cared. The thrill she felt when the wind rushed through her mane was the greatest feeling ever.
Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky in remembrance, when she noticed a grey rain cloud slowly floating away in the distance.
“Shoot, sorry Scoots, I forgot, I'm meant to be moving rain clouds today! Are you gonna be okay up here while I go to work?”
Scootaloo turned to face her idol, unsure what to say. She wanted her to stay just in case she fell off, but knew she couldn't show such weakness in front of the brave and fearless Rainbow Dash. She swallowed dryly, before opening her mouth to speak.
“Sure thing Rainbow Dash! I'll be fine!” she said, forcing a brave smile across her face, despite the butterflies that fluttered furiously in her stomach, eager to escape.
“Okay, I'll be back in an hour to check on you and take you back down! Have fun!” Rainbow Dash smiled, before taking off with force, speeding away until she was little more than a speck on the horizon.
Scootaloo took a deep breath in and exhaled sharply. She slowly sat back down on the cloud, feeling it gently tickling her flank. She giggled and lay down on her stomach, hugging the cloud, smiling widely as it tickled her entire body.
Scootaloo rolled over onto her back and looked up at the sky again, noticing a few faint, wispy clouds drifting above her. They always looked so plain from the ground, like the blue of the sky. Something untouchable, unreachable, something that will always evade your grasp. Yet here she was, laying on an actual cloud, rolling around in its soft, fluffy goodness. That was something else she hadn't expected from a cloud. For them to be so fluffy, to be so comfortable. Like a giant bed. She could see why Rainbow Dash constantly slept on them.
As Scootaloo lay on her back, looking skyward, the urge to look over the edge and see the ground far below her swelled within. But she knew she didn't want to know how high up she was, nor did she want reminding of what she had to eventually return to. For now she was contented to just lay on the cloud, looking up at the sky, feeling the warmth of the midday sun on her body. She closed her eyes as the cloud gently drifted along the sky, and as she gently drifted off to sleep with it.