Twilight Sparkle always thought the ‘affectionate’ nickname Rainbow Dash gave Ditzy Doo was kind of offensive. But if it ever bothered her, Twilight could never tell. Those wandering eyes and optimistic smile eternally on her face reminded Twilight of Pinkie’s pet alligator, but even that could be considered offensive.
“Um... can I... help you?” Twilight’s newly acquired wings fluttered in anticipation.
“Rainbow Dash said I was supposed to teach you how to use your wings!” Ditzy piped up, flapping her own happily.
Twilight’s hoof slapped her forehead.
Okay, Rainbow... you got me.
“I think I kind of already know how to use them.” She glanced over her shoulder, still getting used to the feeling. “Comes with getting them, I guess.”
Ditzy shook her head, sending her scraggly blonde mane flopping about. “Nope! Rainbow Dash said that you needed to be taught how to fly super awesome!”
“Then why doesn’t she teach me?!”
Ditzy waved a hoof. “She’s busy with the weather, silly!”
Twilight watched as Ditzy lifted off the ground, her wings barely keeping her stable as she wobbled around in the air and soon found herself magnetically attracted to the nearby wall. A loud crash and a rain of heavy books resounded through the library, but Twilight noticed no cries of pain. She rushed to the pile to help Ditzy from her literary prison, grabbing the single protruding hoof and pulling hard.
Ditzy broke free, sending Twilight scrambling backwards and landing on her rump, her wings splayed awkwardly from the vain attempt to catch herself. Maybe she hadn’t mastered wings fully after all.
“My bad...”
A lavender hoof gently placed itself on Ditzy’s shoulder, and she raised her head to look Twilight in the eyes as best she could.
“It’s okay. We all have accidents.”
Ditzy’s smile reassured Twilight that no harm had been done. “If you want to teach me to fly, you can.”
Seeing her trot in place and flap her wings excitedly made Twilight smile. “Okay! So what do we do first?”
Twilight groaned and massaged her temple. “Maybe go outside?”
“Oh! Right! Let’s go outside!” Ditzy twirled around and walked into the door. Instead of falling down, she broke through the wooden obstruction and kept going. Twilight felt her jaw go slack, but picked it up off the floor and followed hesitantly.
Ditzy spread her wings, which Twilight had to admit were impressive to look at. If her attention wasn’t drawn to the awkward eyes against her will. “The number one rule of flying is to not crash into anything.”
Well, that much was obvious. As thrilling as it was to learn how to break the rules, Twilight felt that it would probably be much safer if Pinkie had wings and were teaching her instead. At least there she’d know what to expect. “So we need to find an open area then?”
“Nope!” Ditzy held her head high. “I know what you’re thinking, but I am a good flyer! I had to be when I went to Wonderbolt Academy.”
“You... went to Wonderbolt Academy?” Twilight tried not to sound too impressed or skeptical, but her natural sarcasm seeped through anyway. It was obvious she hadn’t passed, otherwise she wouldn’t be standing here crashing into things.
“Yep! Though I had to be discharged.” Ditzy frowned and hung her head. “It wasn’t my fault, really. Stupid Dizzatron...”
Twilight tilted her head. “What happened?”
“Used to have a higher setting. I was the first to try it.” Watching that cross eyed stare jerk up to meet her own startled Twilight, and she jumped back a bit. “But, we’re here for you! Not for me! So... you ready to do this?”
Against her better judgement, Twilight swallowed her objections and nodded. Maybe she was just being unfair to Ditzy by assuming the worst. “Okay... I’m ready.”
Ditzy bounced in place. “Awesome! Rainbow Dash told me you never fail at anything, so this should be easy!”
Twilight blushed and stared at the ground. “Yeah, well... Rainbow says a lot of things about me.”
She watched as Ditzy took to the air once again, holding herself stable. “Righto!” She turned and took off into the sky and Twilight followed. She never attempted flying this high before, and the expanse of Ponyville below as ponies went about their lives like tiny ants brought out the studious side of Twilight. From up here, she could observe everything.
Her attention was drawn to Pinkie Pie, setting up some kind of party behind Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash helping with the decorations and only getting tied up in the constant barrage of streamers. Information she wouldn’t have known about until later. The thrill of having an edge on situations mixed with the quiet whispering doubt of spying.
Wait... I thought Ditzy said Rainbow had weather work?!
Pinkie loaded her party cannon and fired off another ball of decorations, which went a little too high and clipped Twilight. The cluster of decorum lodged a few colorful streamers in her pinion feathers, giving her a makeshift rainboom trail of her own. Any surge of confidence and good humor were quickly dashed, however, when Ditzy took an attraction to one of the colorful ribbons and snagged it in her teeth. The red string pulled taught, jerking Twilight to a halt and dropping her like a weight, supported only by Ditzy’s struggling.
She glared down at the troublesome duo, her bottom lip out in a mock pout and hooves folded to her chest. The duo waved back, Dash in particular pointing and laughing at the sight of the mighty alicorn Twilight hanging like a Hearth’s Warming decoration. She made a mental note to get revenge later, and rushed to keep up with Ditzy after being unceremoniously dropped and left to right herself.
“Hey!” Twilight called. “I don’t appreciate that!”
“I’m sorry. It just looked so pretty, I had to grab it.” Ditzy fumbled with her hooves, breaking eye contact.
Twilight sighed. “It’s alright. Just... be careful next time.” Such was the price of being a good friend, she supposed. “So, what’s next?”
“The second thing to learn is... uh....” Ditzy’s eye landed on a cloud. “Busting clouds!”
“Shouldn’t we work on building stamina first?” Not that Twilight needed to. Her magic was enough to prevent her from getting tired as fast as a normal pegasus would. But giving Ditzy the benefit of the doubt was the right thing to do.
Ditzy was already jumping on a particularly stubborn cloud, shaking all manner of meteorological mishaps from its puffy interior. Twilight watched with rapt curiosity, gliding under the cloud to get a better view of what processes were taking place. She knew of wild clouds being made of water vapor, but pegasi made ones seemed to act like pockets where everything was stuffed until jarred out. She was sure a bit of magic was involved as well, but having wings didn’t mean she fully understood the field of magic of an entire race.
Now that she thought of it, Princess Cadence didn’t fly all that much either. Already she was ahead of the curve, and that thought made her smile. She may not be a fully fledged princess yet, but the thoughts of how jealous her foalsitter would be when she found out were too funny to ignore. Of course Cadence would never be envious of Twilight and, in fact, encourage her to keep up her stellar performance.
Yes, Twilight was both literally and figuratively on top of the world. That is, until a ball of ice hit her between the eyes.
“Ow!” She looked up to see Ditzy’s stomping began shaking hail loose from wherever it was stored, and she had made the mistake of flying under it. Hailstones ranging from the size of a pea to the size of one of Rarity’s golf balls pelted her body. One clipped her wing, sending her spiraling out of control for a few moments until she could right herself. She knew all too well of the ‘death spiral’ that Rainbow Dash talked about.
Finally free of the rain of hail, Twilight frowned when she saw it ceased as suddenly as it began. Now lightning was arcing out of the cloud, setting her poor tail on fire. Twilight whizzed around in a circle, screaming in a panic. Her logical self - much more versed in such incidents after having endured many a lab accident or bout with her anger - would’ve suggested to stop fanning the flames, but the adrenaline of the whole new skybound experience drowned out that voice in her head.
“My bad!” Ditzy called, stopping her cloud stomping. She frowned at the cloud. “This cloud is pretty tricky. You want to give it a try?”
Twilight finally stopped flying, her tail a charred smoldering mess. Not even the summer wind could get rid of the smell of burning hair lingering around her. “Yes... please...” she gasped, trying to catch her breath. Anything to stop you.
Ditzy smiled and nodded, leaping off the cloud. Her push off sent another bolt of lightning right past Twilight’s head, making rainbow spots dance before her eyes. In a wobbling flight pattern befitting of her ‘instructor’, Twilight found her footing on the cloud. She always marveled how soft they were, and learned long ago why Rainbow Dash slept on them so much. Now that she could do it whenever she wanted without having to use spells, she made a mental note to take Dash up on the offer of trying it out.
Twilight began hopping on the cloud much like a foal would on a mattress. Ditzy watched intently while Twilight gave another batch of hops. The cloud let out a sound like an airbag being deflated. She glanced over the edge to see a shimmering rain of purple magical dust, glimmering in the sunlight as it piled onto the street below.
“What in the—?”
“Oh! Pretty!” Ditzy exclaimed. Apparently Pinkie Pie thought it was too, as she was below the cloud with a plate of cookies, trying to gather as much of the dust as she could.
Twilight’s eyes widened in horror when she saw Pinkie open her mouth and stick out her tongue. “NO! DON’T EAT THAT! I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT —”
“YUCK!” Pinkie cried, spitting the dust out. After a few seconds of blinking and licking her lips, she opened her mouth for more.
“Maybe we should try something else, Ditzy.” Twilight rubbed her head with her hooves.
“You’re right! Next is seeing how well you fly when dizzy!”
“Dizzy? You mean as in...” Before she could finish, Ditzy grabbed Twilight and spun her around violently. The world went by in a colorful blur while Twilight’s stomach wound up in her throat.
While regaining equilibrium on solid ground was a simple process - one she had mastered herself after one too many Pin the Tail On The Pony and Pinata Pinkie Pie Parties, especially after a few drinks on top of it - doing so in the air was an entirely different affair, as with no purchase, every direction felt like up.
The scientific study would have to wait until later, as the urge to examine what she ate for breakfast lingered on the back of her tongue.
A few dry heaves later and Twilight managed to flap a few inches forward before grabbing the cloud in a vain attempt to stop the world spinning. How Rainbow Dash did it she’d never know, but stunt flying was definitely out of the question as a career path for Twilight.
“Now I see why... Rainbow... got herself... expelled...” Twilight gasped, every word threatening to be followed with something more.
Ditzy tapped a hoof to her chin then shook her head. “You need work. Next up is precision diving!” With a mighty flap of her wings, Ditzy zipped from the sky like a gryphon swooping after prey, and crashed smack dab into a thick tree. The tree buckled under the impact, rotting wood chipping away as the mighty oak toppled over and started a domino effect that left a path of nothing more than firewood halfway across the park.
“NO! No, I’m fine... really!” Twilight shook the head that she valued more than anything right now. “I’m pretty sure I can manage on my own, but you’ve... uh... definitely given me insight.”
Twilight slowly turned around, the slightest movement sending the world spinning again. A cursory glance down revealed Rainbow Dash smiling up at her, waving with both forehooves.
She is so dead...
Her exit was halted by a wall of grey feathers and hooves flying into her face. “We’re not done! Rainbow Dash said I had all day!”
“All...day...” She looked down at the smiling pegasus in question and narrowed her eyes.
“Yup! Now we’re gonna do weather work! It’s the duty of all pegasi!” Ditzy’s salute showed that she took the rules seriously, and that was all Twilight needed to know she wasn’t out of the fire yet.
Twilight groaned, making the mistake of rolling her eyes. “Fine...” It would be a good opportunity to learn the ins and outs of weatherwork. Her quick tour of the weather factory in Cloudsdale only showed her the manufacturing side of things, and books weren’t hooves on.
Now, she was going to get to push honest to goodness clouds. Any trepidation of what could possibly go wrong had been muted by the little voice chanting ‘yes’ over and over in her head. Weather work was something all pegasi had to be skilled in, even if it wasn’t their career of choice. Much like the majority of unicorns in Canterlot had to be ready to take up arms if need be.
Ditzy had taken Twilight’s lapse in attention to push some clouds into place. Twilight noticed how each one was a different type of cloud for the weather they represent. Perhaps Ditzy was smarter than Twilight was allowing herself to believe? Not everypony was as intelligent as her, after all.
“I’m not going to tell you which is which. It’s easier if you find out on your own.”
Twilight reached out to touch a cloud, but pulled back. “They’re not going to set me on fire again, are they?”
“Maybe the storm cloud.” Ditzy shrugged.
Observing the various shapes the clouds took, Twilight noticed one in particular that made her giggle at the thought it invoked. Suddenly, Dash’s comments about one of her co-workers being a ‘cirrus chaser’ made more sense. The cirrus cloud did look a lot like a pony’s tail, and Twilight couldn’t help but reach out and bat at it.
“Stratus, stratocuilmunus, altostratus...”
“Sometimes, they look like udders!” Ditzy exclaimed before she deflated and stared at the ground. “But we’re supposed to stay away from those.”
Twilight’s ears perked as she looked at the various clouds. Pushing clouds was one thing, but her element was magic first and foremost. Her mind raced at the possibilities of using her magic to streamline the process, maybe even turn one cloud into another. Though she would never dream of putting Cloudsdale’s number one industry out of business, it did help to expand her knowledge base.
Ditzy watched with wide eyes as Twilight wrapped the clouds in a aura of red magic and began swirling them around herself. Forms changed, stretched, and warped before turning to vapor to be recycled. Feeling confident, she stepped up her game, using matter transformation to change the very contents of the clouds.
That is, until she found herself wrapped in cotton candy. Her face flushed, hooves struggling to break out of the sticky mess. Thoughts of Discord laughing at her rang in her ears, forcing her to glance around to make sure he really wasn’t there.
“Hey! That’s pretty neat!” Ditzy began licking the pink clouds, a dreamy smile on her face.
“UGH!” Twilight groaned, her horn glowing intensely as the cotton candy vaporized, leaving a lingering smell of burning ozone and caramelized sugar. “All I wanted to do was study in my library! But you drag me out here, force me to do all these tests, then I get stuck in cotton candy and my tail set on fire!”
Ditzy stared at Twilight while she caught her breath. Rather anything was getting through that wall eyed stare remained to be seen. “Flying is something that all pegasi, or any pony with wings, has to learn. You never know when we’ll be called to duty or have to change the weather.”
Twilight blinked at the matter of fact tone. “You’re right... I shouldn’t take my mistakes out on you.” Her eyes narrowed and a malicious grin spread across her face. “But I think I know somepony I can take my anger out on.”
“It’s okay,” Ditzy replied, watching Twilight eagerly wring her hooves. “We’re done for the day anyway! I got mail to deliver now! Bye!” She flew off, leaving Twilight hovering in the air with her jaw hanging open, dumbfounded that all of this was seemingly over as quickly as it began. She didn’t even notice Rainbow Dash fly up beside her.
“So,” Dash spoke up, nudging Twilight with a hoof to snap her back to reality. “Learn anything?”
Twilight slowly turned her glare to the rainbow pony, a sly grin sliding across her face. “Oh, I learned something alright...”
The next thing Dash knew, she was encased in a floating ball of cotton candy. “Hey! C’mon! No fair!”
Her pleas fell on deaf ears, however, and an exhausted Twilight cuddled up on a passing cumulus she’d grabbed in her magic.
“Mmmm... you’re right, Rainbow. Clouds do make comfortable beds.”
